More On Church Unity

There can still be unity among all Christians even if there are differences between them. As long as the issues are not doctrinal, there can be absolute unity among all Christians. God would never give a command that we would be unable to follow. Everything else is opinion. Romans 14 refers to inconsequential things, opinions. Opinions will always differ because we are all unique individuals. Opinions do not get us to heaven or keep us out of heaven. But other matters regarding Christian living can be embraced by all Christians, and we can still be unified.

Different religions include different ideas in their group of key issues, hence their creed statements. But if we stick to the Bible, then there is no disagreement until personal preferences start to creep in. As for members of our congregation who disagree, are they matters of opinion or not? If they believe differently on important issues, why are they still there? There are plenty of denominations who have differing viewpoints. Surely one of them would match their beliefs. If they are not going to a different denomination, they either do not think the matter is important enough to change or they are not totally sure and they would rather be safe than sorry.

It is very easy to determine who is saved – anyone who does God’s will, which He gave us in the Bible. He would not provide a Bible for us and then make it too hard or confusing to understand. It is not my job to judge the intent of another’s heart, thankfully! But where we go to worship does say something about what we believe. That is why we have a sign on the door saying church of Christ. There are other acceptable Biblical names as well, but this is just what it is called in these parts. I have visited a congregation in Vienna where the only thing on the sign was The Lord’s Church meets here with the times. After speaking with them, the only difference I could see was a different order in the services and they had wine for communion. My point here, is it is not the name (as long as it is Biblical), it is what we believe and practice.

Members of other denominations are not members of the church of Christ because our differences mean too much to them. To them, our differences are a matter of doctrine, not opinion. It matters to them enough to mark the difference. So if they believe one way strongly enough not to be members of the church of Christ, they have already drawn the line of separation.

As far as denominationalism, the definition is a religious organization uniting in a single legal and administrative body of a number of local congregations, a sect. Sect means to cut or divide. We get the word "section" from this word. How can a church who follows only what the Bible teaches (nothing more or less) be a sect, a division of the whole? Divisions only come when some part is added, changed, or taken away from the original. Some churches who claim to be non-denominational merely refuse to take a stand on any tough religious issues, resulting in what they call "unity". This is unity in error. Christ demands unity in truth. By biblical example, there is no church government above the eldership at the local level. So a church with no higher government cannot be a denomination by definition. The Lord’s church is often imitated but never duplicated.

Scrooge

We took a field trip yesterday and visited a local university's production of Scrooge.  We had a really good time!  They did a child-friendly version that wasn't as long as their regular production, and I'm guessing they left out some of the scarier bits.  One of the children in our homeschool group played Tiny Tim, and he did absolutely wonderful!  The costumes were outstanding too.

DS was able to follow the story very well.  DD kept saying that Scrooge was mean, and a grouch pot, and naughty, and that he needed a spankin'.

More Laundry Experiments - Laundry Detergent Success!

Well, as promised, I experimented with laundry soap.  I think it's a success :)  There was something on the news about how when you wash your clothes, you just basically recycle the germs around your washing machine and redistribute them throughout your whole load.  The example they gave was something like the germs on your underwear being deposited on your handkerchiefs.  Gross.  There is a simple way to get past this - sunlight kills those pesky little germs.  If we all hung our clothes outside on a line, this wouldn't be a problem.  But we haven't had a sunny day here in over a month.  Not to mention, it's not warm outside, and clothes would take forever to dry.

The reason for my experiment with laundry soap is money.  Wow, it's expensive!  We have an HE machine, so we have to use the HE detergent, which can be more expensive too. 

All the ingredients can be found at Kroger on the laundry soap aisle.  The only thing we could find at Wal-Mart was the Borax.  Here is the recipe I went with:

Homemade Laundry Soap:
4 c. hot tap water
1 Fels Naptha soap bar
1 c. Washing soda (not baking soda)
1/2 c. Borax

*Grate the bar of soap.  We decided it would be easier to use a food processor or something.  Add soap to a LARGE pan with the water.  Stir continually over medium-low heat until the soap completely dissolves and is melted.

*Fill a 5-gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water.  Add the melted soap, washing soda, and borax.  If the water is really hot, this step will go really fast.  Stir well until all the powder is dissolved.  Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water (but leave room for stirring tomorrow).  Stir, cover, and let it sit overnight to thicken.  It will thicken and also turn into gel.

*The next day, stir it up.  Spoon it into a used clean container (we used cleaned out gallon milk jugs) with 1/2 jug of soap and then fill with water.  You have to shake it up before each use. 

*The instructions I found said if you want it to smell good, you can add about 20 drops of essential oils to each jug.  To combat those pesky little germs, we added 20 drops of Tea Tree Oil.  Tea tree oil is an anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-microbial.  We also did one jug with Sandalwood essential oil, and it smelled good too.

*Yield - 10 gallons of liquid laundry soap.  Think how much money you just saved!
Top loading machine - 5/8 c. per load - This is really close to 2/3 c. on my measuring cup in case you're wondering how much 5/8 c. is.
Front loading machine - 1/4 c. per load.
You can increase if your clothes are really dirty or smelly.

*Tip - some people said the Borax might leave a residue akin to soap scum inside your machine over time, so they recommend putting 1/2 c. plain vinegar in each load to combat this.  I just pour it right on top of my clothes at the beginning.  Another benefit is that the vinegar helps to soften your clothes.  Some people just use vinegar instead of fabric softener, but my clothes weren't soft enough with just vinegar.  We have really hard water, though.

If you try this, please share your results with me.  I'm interested to see what others find.  Also, if you scent yours, tell me what you used and how it turned out.

Swine Flu and 16-Week OB Appointment

Well, my OB appointment on Monday marks my 16-week milestone.  I can't believe it has gone so quickly!  He checked the heart rate - 156.  Any guesses as to what it will be?  He said baby and mommy are healthy and apparently happy :)

He brought up flu shots.  I told him we don't do flu vaccines.  Then he brought up the H1N1 vaccine.  We don't do that one either.  But I told him I thought I had already had it.  We talked about fever and other symptoms.  He said he would go ahead and mark it down as swine flu and wouldn't bother worrying about the vaccine.  I felt safer getting the swine flu than getting the vaccine.  Not that I wanted the swine flu, but it's a lot safer than that vaccine, in my opinion. 

He asked about the AFP test (I think that's what it's called) for my next visit.  Not quite remembering what that one was, I asked what the results of the test could do for me.  He said I could either continue the pregnancy or choose to terminate it.  Such a nice way to put murdering my baby!  I told him that I wouldn't be doing that test because there was no way I was going to abort, no matter what the test might find.  That just makes me sick to my stomach!  I'm so glad he's not pushing me to do this or some other tests.  He actually seemed very glad that abortion was not an option.  That's a relief to me :)

More Utility Problems Like Water Under The Bridge

We ended up losing water three times.  In my opinion, when they added the new neighborhood close to ours and then put all 130 houses on the same water lines, well, they just couldn't take it anymore.  No kidding, we drove by them fixing it last time (on our way to lunch), and we saw water gushing everywhere from a hole in the ground and a fire hydrant.  On our way back, they had filled the hole and fixed the underground pipe.  But the fire hydrant had DUCT TAPE on it!!!  Then a few days later, there was a brand new hydrant next to the old one, which still had the duct tape...

Then last Thursday, we awoke to a bunch of rain and no electricity.  That's not entirely true.  We had lights in some of the rooms, but nothing would come on that was plugged in.  I flipped all the breakers, and nothing changed.  So long story short, I called the electric company.  The nice woman I talked to told me that it sounded like I had partial power.  I had never even heard of this, but apparently she knew what to do.  She sent out a crew to our house.  They discovered that lightning had probably struck the electric pole by the road.  The one that goes to our house.  No one else was affected - just us.  They said the line was actally partially melted!   Then they said they would have to dig up our yard because the line was buried from the pole to the house.  The problem was that it was really wet and rainy, and they couldn't dig up our yard in the rain.  Especially in our swamp of a yard...  So they ran a temporary line from the pole to our house and strung it through the trees in our yard to keep it off the ground.  That was nice to have power again because I was worried we were going to lose all the perishable food.  So we at least had power all through the weekend for my DS's birthday party.  But they said it would be intermittent power and not to run too many things at once.  That's one reason why I haven't posted anything in a bit.

Then on Monday morning, I awoke to tractor-type noises in our yard.  Yay!  They were out there bright and early digging out by the pole.  They told us that the wire appeared to be fine for most of the way.  Just right by the pole was where they needed to dig :)  They had to turn the power off to finish attaching the new line, but it was only for a few minutes.  It was pretty exciting to watch them work, and they were very nice to my children who wanted to watch every single thing they did (from a distance, of course).  When they brought up our power the last time, everything seemed brighter than it had before.  Don't know if I was imagining it or not, but I was sure happy about having full power.

Is Unity In The Church All-Inclusive?

Some believe unity in the church should extend to all denominations or at least a few. If this is true, where do we draw the line? Where does God draw the line? We are to have one faith as Christians. I Corinthians 1:10 says that it is possible for everyone to be of the same mind and judgement. This is contrary to what most people will say – that there is no way people will interpret the Bible the same way as everyone else. They believe that people aren’t wrong when they believe differently, they just have differences in opinion.

There is only one body who is going to heaven. This body won’t include the majority of people –Matthew 7:13-14. There will be lots of people who thought they were included in this body, but will find out on the day of judgement that they were not –Matthew 7:22-23. Inclusion in this body is gained by the one baptism –Ephesians 4:4-6. We get into this body one way – baptism for the remission of sins –Acts 2:37-38. Those who are not cleansed by Christ’s blood cannot enter heaven because His blood continues to cleanse us of our sins. Sin separates us from God –Romans 6:23.

So this is how we become part of the unified body of Christ. Now how do we stay in it? We can’t continue in sin. To do so would not be repentance –Matthew 3:8. We must continually study God’s word –Acts 17:10-11. II Timothy 3:16-17 says that if I study the Bible, I should be able to glean everything I need to know for life as a Christian. God has given me everything I need. My job is to study what he wants me to do and follow through with obedience.

Everyone who reads the Bible and truly searches for the truth will find it. This is a promise from God –Matthew 7:7. The Bible is absolute truth. If not, then God doesn’t know what He’s talking about, and the Bible is irrelevant. This being the case, you can’t have one set of beliefs that is “true” and a different set of beliefs that is also “true”. God compares His word to a seed. A seed produces the same thing over and over again. It doesn’t change. God’s church today should be following the same model it followed when it was first started.

God wants His Christians to be unified. He hates division. Those who cause division in the church are sinning –Galatians 5:19-21, and they won’t be in heaven. So obviously if they won’t be in heaven, their followers won’t be in heaven either. We are supposed to know who they are and avoid them –Romans 16:17. Additionally, these divisive people are to only have 1 or 2 warnings and then we are to leave them alone and have nothing to do with them –Titus 3:9-10.

We can have unity when we don’t ignore the Bible and the commands of God. Being united in error is not what God intended. We are united in truth through God’s word.

Laundry Experiments - Fabric Softener

Prices keep going up, and I am getting tired of paying so much!  A friend recommended this, and I tried it with a small batch - SUCCESS!  Here's my recipe:

1 container liquid fabric softener of your choice

water

big bucket with a lid

1 regular sponge cut in half

Pour the fabric softener in the big bucket.  Fill the container two times with water and pour into the bucket as well.  Put your cut-up sponge in the bucket (don't worry, they will float).  Put your lid on your bucket and store close to your drier.

When you are ready to dry your clothes, put your clothes in the drier, squeeze out a sponge (this is a perfect job for a child - they love to get their hands messy) till it's not drippy and toss it in the drier.  Have your little helper wash their hands.  Start your drier as usual.  When the load is ended, take the dry sponge out and put it back in your bucket to use again later.  Voila!  Nice, soft clothes that smell good too :)

If you try this, let me know how it works for you!

I'll be trying homemade laundry detergent soon...

On The Mend

I've had the flu, and I think I'm finally feeling better.  Yay!  I felt like getting dressed in regular clothes today, which is more than I can say since Friday.  And Ds suggested stuffed cheeseburgers for supper, and I really wanted one - right now!  So I'm actually feeling like eating again :)  Still have all those nasty little flu symptoms, but they aren't so bad anymore.

On another good note, my family seems to have been strong enough to withstand my barrage of germs.  I think everyone else is still healthy.  I tried hard to sneeze the "right" way into my sleeve, and washed my hands about a gazillion times (thank you for your wonderful soap, Marlene! - I used the Rosemary since it is anti-viral).  It was harder than you think to only kiss my children on the back!  So maybe it will have all paid off.

Break Down The Barriers

I saw this on a friend's Facebook page.  It was too good not to share.

Break Down The Barriers

The Bible speaks extensively of certain people with whom Christians cannot associate themselves or be in fellowship (Ephesians 5:11; Romans 16:17; 2Thessalonians 3:14). The Bible also shows the path of reconciliation or the way that barriers which divide can be broken down. The way in which biblical fellowship can be exercised is in Christ. Paul said, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28). The key to reconciliation is Christ. This is seen in the first statement — “For as many of you were baptized in Christ have put on Christ.” Then Paul mentions specifically three of the barriers which are broken down in Christ.

First, the national or racial barrier is broken down. In Christ, “There is neither Jew nor Greek.” In Christ, there is no racial division but rather spiritual unity. In Acts 10:9-16, this is illustrated very well when the Lord appears to Peter in a vision and explains that there are no longer limitations on animals which man can eat. He also explains how Gentiles can receive the gospel (Acts 10:17-23). This is also seen in John 4 when Jesus goes through Samaria (something not commonly done then — John 4:4) and conversed with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. There were some who were advocating the idea that Christians of Jewish decent were better than Christians of Gentile decent. Paul was dealing with the foolishness of such a doctrine in the book of Galatians. This, of course, builds up to his statement already considered in Galatians 3:27-28. Christ has torn down any racial barriers by dying on the cross for all.

Next, Galatians 3:27-28 tears down a status barrier. While today, it may be hard for some to imagine the idea of slavery, such was very commonplace in New Testament times. Interestingly, the Bible was not primarily intended to abolish slavery. In fact, the Bible points out good reasons for slavery such as punishment for crimes (Exodus 21). Some have reasonably argued that while the Bible never set out to abolish slavery, the abolition of slavery came as a natural result of Christianity. Paul encourages both slaves and masters who are Christians to treat each other equitably (Ephesians 6:5-9). Paul encouraged Philemon, a runaway slave, to return to his master showing fruits of repentance after he had been converted (Philemon 8-16). While in life, many may have different roles, in Christ all are one. In Christ, the barrier of status is broken down.

Finally, in Christ, gender or sex is broken down — “...there is neither male nor female….” Perhaps of all the barriers mentioned in Galatians 3:27-28, this is currently the most controversial. Many tend to think since God made male and female one in Christ Jesus, there is no difference of roles between them. Passages like 1Corinthians 14:34-35 and 2Timothy 2:8-15 tell of the differences in roles which God intends for men and women. The church has different members each with different roles which together will accomplish the mission of the church (Romans 12:4-5). Accomplishing the purpose of the church, the members are all one in Christ. Men have a role in the church and women have a role in the church. When everyone does their part, the work of the church is being accomplished and the individual members are one in Christ.

The Bible also speaks of different women who were involved in the work of the church in the New Testament. Chloe was mentioned in 1Corinthians 1. In Romans 16:1, Phoebe was commended by Paul. Aquilla’s wife, Pricilla worked with him in teaching Apollos the way of the Lord more accurately (Acts 18:26). There is a work for women and the gender/sex barrier has been broken down in Christ.

Through Christ, so many other barriers can be broken down in addition to the ones mentioned in Galatians 3:27-28. Christ also abolishes cultural, language, geographical, and age barriers. In fact, in Christ there are no barriers or prejudice of any kind. Christ brings unity, not division. The unity is found in obeying His will, not man’s will. The unity is found in being baptized into Him, not someone else. The unity is found in living for God, not anyone else. The unity Christians seek is that all be one with God which will bring about unity with one another. This action will Break Down the Barriers.

-Jeremy Northrop

No Water?!?!

Last week, I realized we had no water.  Worried I hadn't paid the bill, I checked.  Tweren't me.  Twas a broken water main in town.  I could be without water for 2 days and possibly lose electricity too.  My friend swooped in and saved me and took us all to her house for the day.  Long story short, we had water later that night.

Fast-forward to today.  I get up, there's water.  All's well in my small little world.  Ds wakes up and is ready to eat.  Well, call me silly, but I usually wash my hands before preparing food.  So I squirt some soap on my hands, lather, and there's no water.  Not a drop.  And I have soap all over my hands.  Now, this time, I KNOW I'm not late on the bill.  Dh calls, and they weren't even aware there was a problem.  In fact, we were the first call.  Somehow, I don't feel special.  Don't know when we'll get water, but I'll sure be glad when we do!

Appropriate Punishment and Training

How should a parent punish a child for locking a younger sibling in the dark bathroom?  Then, and more importantly, how should the child be better trained?

Amateurs Outperforming Professionals

There is at least one profession where amateurs have consistently been outperforming the professionals.  Can you guess what profession it is before reading this article?

I was going to paste parts of it in, but didn't want to infringe on the copyright.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/amateurs-outdoing-professionals.html