Family Holiday Gatherings: A Biblical Perspective

I love Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Having hubby home, the spirit behind the seasons, the amazing food… its all enough to make me dream about these holidays for weeks before hand.

But there is another side to gatherings, one that can be sometimes stressful.

The truth is sometimes we just dont get along.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I deal with family.  Sometimes I look for the negative and not the positive in the people I love.  Sometimes I react to them in defensiveness based on my own issues, not on what they have actually said.  Sadly, its been easier for me to be in a pattern of critical thinking during those long holiday gatherings.

I forget how impactful the words I say are, and how lasting their impression is.  Even if what I am saying is not a true reflection of my heart, but simply an indication of a sour emotions or a bad attitude.

I came across these verses and I believe they have a direct correlation to how I can choose to think about extended time with family.

1 Peter 3:10-11 NLT

For the Scriptures say,  “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.  Turn away from evil and do good.  Search for peace, and work to maintain it…”

I love that part, “search for peace”.  What if I looked for good in others?  On purpose?

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 NLT

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.  For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.

This is Paul talking to the Corinthians.  One interpretation I heard of this message was that he was saying to them, “I am not here to listen to the gossip or the quarrels.  I am not focusing on this things of this world, I only want to focus on Jesus.”

I can only imagine the changes that others would see in me if my focus was truly on Him!  If I did not get caught up in strife, yet set my focus to the Lord.

Proverbs 19:11 ESV

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

One observation that I have noticed is that the deeper you love someone, the more vulnerable we are to feeling hurt.  I dont know about you, but I have heard words from family or close friends that cut like a knife.  Coming from a stranger would not have nearly the impact.

I know that those people love me,  and want the best for me, but I cant help but be torn up at how painful their sharp words are.  The above verse speaks to that so acutely for me.  I know I would want my family to forgive me when I say things I shouldnt, and here God is telling us that it is wise to do this right away!  Dont let things fester and turn into bitterness.  Forgive and let go.

Here are a few more versus that can help a troubled heart:

1 John 4:19-21 ESV

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Romans 12:18 ESV

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

John 13:34 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

From the OpenBible.info.

 Heavenly Father,

I pray that your holy words will be permanently cemented into my heart.  That I will look for the good in others always.  That I will seek positive and loving words when speaking.  That I will honor you with my thoughts and actions.

Lord, please bless my family and our time together.  Help me to overlook things that may hurt, and to forgive as readily as You forgive me.  Help me to be an example of Your peace and love.  Help me to love others as You love them.

Thank you for this wonderful time we have together, where we can celebrate the birth and life of your Son.

In Your precious name I pray!

Amen.

 

· 11 Comments

Rainbow Cupcakes and Gay Pride?

I dont often weigh in on political issues.  I try not to overwhelm folks with my opinions and views.

I try.

But every now and then an issue comes along that I feel like I want to speak out on.  I had thought it was Katy Perry on Sesame Street.  But no, I will spare you from that emotional tirade.

Its Rainbow Foods.

We all know I have made my fair share of rainbow foods.

Cakes

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And Pancakes

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And cookies of course

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I tend to embrace rainbow items because of what it represents to me.

As a Christian the rainbow is extremely significant.  

It appears essentially twice in the Bible, once in Genesis 9:13-14 and in Revelations 4:3, 10:1. In Genesis, the rainbow came after the great flood brought by God in order to remove sinful and evil minded men from the earth.

The rainbow symbolized the covenant God made with Noah (who represented mankind) that He would not destroy the world in such a way again.

I love that God allowed us a tangible representation of His promise, and every time I gaze upon the glorious beauty and awe of a rainbow I can feel security in Gods faithful covenant to us.

Now, I dont know if you have heard, but there is a bakery in Indianapolis called Just Cookies that was asked to make an order of rainbow cupcakes for National Coming Out Day.

They declined.  

They first stated they dont make cupcakes. (which is true) The husband and co-owner then came forward and stated that, "I explained we're a family-run business, we have two young, impressionable daughters, and we thought maybe it was best not to do that."

They are now being ripped apart in the media and being called horrible names.  People are boycotting their business and going on to business rating websites and claiming that in addition to being biggots, the baked items they sell taste horrible and are inedible.

The very people who say they are striving for peace and tolerance are now making it their mission to destroy people who have a different view.

I guess that doesnt sit right with me.

When I received an abundance of negative feedback for my rainbow pancakes I was also fortunate enough to receive some kind and supportive feedback.  Occasionally, it was from a homosexual individual applauding me for promoting gay pride in my home or for teaching my kids not to be homophobic.

I questioned myself how to best reply to those kind of comments. When I teach my kids about the rainbow, its is always accompanied by a message of hope and grace, and that they can serve a God who always keeps his promises.

What it all boils down to is that a rainbow can mean very different things to people.

Is it fair to criminalize and demonize a business because to them, a rainbow represents something that directly counteracts their belief system? 

And in all fairness, they never declined to serve gay customers, but instead chose to not promote a specific event. 

You know I am totally curious about your opinion.  Would you boycott them?  Should the city be allowed to force them into making those cupcakes?  Where do you stand?

*Please keep your comments respectful and do not attack other commentors.

*****

As of March 6th, 2011, the comments on this post are closed.  Some people who adamantly disagree with my views and the views of some of my readers have chosen so leave harassing, demeaning, derogatory, hurtful, negative and just plain mean comments. 

There is no room for disrespect here, no matter what your belief system is. 

You are free to debate this elsewhere.

KDWB Claims “Praying is Ignorant”

This messenger is weak (me), but His word is strong!


I received an email from a friend who had an awful experience with KDWB Thursday morning (it was on between 6:50 and 7:30am, and is all transcribed below). 


I just want to ask that you take a moment to pray for this DJ (Dave Ryan).  Then, if you would be so willing, to pray for every impressionable child and adult that heard his "anti-God, pro-self" rant this morning.


Even if you are not Christian, chances are you have uttered a prayer in your life.  Chances are you are familiar with a Higher Power, and chances are you have turned to God in a desperate, lonely, joyful, or glorious time.


What do you think about Dave Ryan and his whole morning crew claiming that "praying for change is ignorance"?  


How do you feel about these DJ's spreading this type of information to kids, to impressionable youth who may not have thought twice about it before, but will now dismiss God as an option when in need?



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If you are one of the few… one of the few who feels compelled to take it a step further and stand up for Truth, there are a couple options.

  

If you text you can send a message to 53921.  (I dont, so I dont even know how that works)


You can call this number 

+1.952.417.3000


I called and spoke to the program director who claimed that everyone is entitled to their opinion and that as long as the DJ did not break any FCC rules they would stand behind the statement.


He then went on to say that I was the only person to call and protest at this point (as of last evening around 6:30pm) so my opinion didnt carry much weight.  However, if enough people disagreed with this statement then maybe they would address the issue.


Now… all I am really asking for is a prayer.  If you feel compelled to call or text them feel free.  But as we all know, its the prayer that will change things.




***

(email I received)



I wanted you to help me protest KDWB (a very popular younger radio station in MN) after what I heard on the radio this morning and the way they responded to me.


Conversation on the radio:

“And now a story in the press about Lady gaga.  Apparently, lady gaga took 45 minutes before she would come on stage because she was praying and waiting for God to tell her it was the right time.  What a crackhead…do you honestly think praying is going to help the situation?  And what is God going to do about it….I’m so sick of people saying that they prayed and it came true.  I was at a wedding last weekend that was outdoors and the bride got up on stage and said “I just want to thank god for this day, I woke up this morning and prayed that god would let the weather be great for this day – and here it is.  It’s just proof that God does answer prayers”.   He went on to say how ignorant people are who pray and to not doing anything because “God is going to answer prayers”. 

 

 

 

SOOO….at this point I’m livid.  They then advertised that you can text the show.  So I picked up my phone and sent a text message that went like this. 

 

Do you realize the age of your listeners generally?  Do you realize how susceptible their minds are, and you are filling their heads with this garbage.  Please don’t preach religion if you have no idea what religion is about.  If I want to hear religion that is truthful I will turn on a station with someone who knows something about Jesus and the powers that he does have and the significance of prayer in people’s lives. 

 

They RESPONDED to say: 

 

We’re not preaching at all.  Just stating facts.  Relying on prayer to make anything happen is ignorant.  Results require action, not prayer.

 

Me:

Not sure it’s the best way to keep an audience by calling them ignorant. 

 

They responded with

I don’t think you’re ignorant at all.  But people praying for things but no taking action themselves is ignorant.  I know this from experience.

 

Me:

It’s very clear to me that you don’t know this from experience.  Yes, results require action, but the word of God is what drives the right action.  If you’re not listening to him, then you’re going in the wrong direction.  Clearly you are showing this by today’s program. 

 

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No response.




Updated:  I revived an email from my friend about this mornings show:


This morning, I thought…I’m going to turn on the station to hear if they bring this up again.  The first thing I heard was….No Joke:  Steven Hawking announces today that he does not believe that God created the universe.  They went on to say how 

he now believes in the big bang theory.  It carried on a little bit talking about the laws of gravity and how it makes perfect sense that matter could be created through spontaneous combustion and that God had nothing to do with it. 

 

To Which Dave Ryan responds with:  You want to know why I believe in God?  Because he made dogs…and dogs are so nice.  They’re man’s best friend. 


***


Clearly this is all a joke to them… but is it to you? 


If this has touched you in any way, and you feel compelled to do something, please know that you do NOT need to link back here or mention me in any way.  My ultimate goal in this would be to glorify God, and if you felt spurred into action, I am sure that is your goal as well!  So check out the facts, blog about it, tweet about it, get the word out to as many prayer warriors as you know… do or say whatever you need to and please, feel comfortable doing it all from your perspective!

· 17 Comments

Cupcakes and Salvation

I would like to share some news!  Thanks to a tweet from the amazing Bridget, my cookie mentor and 'boss' over at the University of Cookie, I was able to enter a recipe in a contest at Sweet Surrenders Cupcake and Cookie Cafe.

I
will let you check out the details if you are so inclined, but if I
won, I would get 10% of all the earnings for the entire month of July!
(and to have it named after me, but that is way to embarrassing for me, so I opted to let them choose how to name it for their shop)

Well.  I did.  I won!  I was SHOCKED to put it mildly.

And unbelievably honored.  And shocked.  And scared to tell anyone for days because I didnt think it was real.

Well.

I have decided to donate 100% of the profits to The Christian Research Institute, and amazing educational organization that happens to be run by Hank Hanegraaff, my absolute favorite authority on apologetics.

Hankh

Have you heard of Hank?  He is awesome.  On his radio Show, The Bible Answer Man, he answers the questions that folks throw at Christians when they are trying to dispute their faith; as well as the questions that Christians themselves have about the Bible.

For example, have you ever wanted to know:

Can a Christian lose their salvation?

How should Christians respond to Halloween?

Is baptism necessary for salvation?

Are generational curses Biblical?

What is abortion? (link goes to a different post on my blog, not the specific answer)

Should Christians be tolerant?

Should Christians use birth control?

Who is the antichrist?

What is the meaning of 666?

Why pray if God already knows what we need?

These are just a few examples of the tough questions that Hank tackles, and legitimately answers in his books.  Every single answer is backed up with Scripture.  

(if you really seek an answer to these questions, please email me manda2177@aol.com, and I will try to share with you some of his insights)

Hanks greatest desire (in my opinion) is that people know the Bible for all its worth.

I love listening to Hank on his radio show, I love reading his books, and I love learning more and more about God, His character, and the Bible.

Hank is bold and righteous (the good kind) in his faith and I want to be too!

So!  That being said.  If you live in the Boynton Beach, FL area, and would also like to support the Christian Research Institute, then please, feel free stop and have a Chocolate Hazelnut Delight cupcake!

· 24 Comments

You Asked, He Answered

Thanks for all the great questions ladies!  I love your creativity and thoughtfulness… and I have to admit, I learned a few things!   Your questions are in black, his answers are in red.  I just want to say thank you to Chad for taking the time to answer them… and [...] Read more »

· 30 Comments