JESUS AND THE CHURCH  -  HUSBANDS AND THEIR WIVES.

JESUS AND THE CHURCH  -  HUSBANDS AND THEIR WIVES.

JESUS AND THE CHURCH  -  HUSBANDS AND THEIR WIVES.

The Bible makes this analogy...that IN THE SAME WAY CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH AND WAS WILLING TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HER... so ought husbands to love their wives.   I think the key word is that Jesus was WILLING to lay down his life for the church.. and that's why He did it.  If he hadn't been willing to do it... then it would not have been done. And if Jesus wasn't willing.....then we would have died.  Why was He willing?  He loved us.  We were worth MORE to Him than His own life.  Having us was worth losing Him - to Him. 

What kind of LOVE is this?   Amazing love.  And it's the STANDARD of the kind of love a husband MUST have for his wife.   If he doesn't have it...then he won't be willing to lay down his own life for her.  Jesus is not the church's puppet - doing whatever the church tells Him - and yet He has the kind of love for us that assures us that OUR needs are His FIRST concern.  We needed him to die and be resurrected for us - and He did.  The REAL Body of Christ - the REAL church - is so LOVED by Jesus.. so protected by Jesus... that the REAL church (as opposed to people who simply go to church on Sunday) wants to do whatever it can to please Jesus.  Jesus is LORD. 

And so this is the mystery... One half of the relationship LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE for the other half of the relationship  - and the OTHER half, in response to this amazing love cannot do enough to please Him.   This requires faith on the part of men.   As a woman, I know that I must have faith in God - not my husband - in order to submit to him.  I must believe that however my husband treats me (good or bad) I must trust that God sees it all. 

And for a man it takes great faith also to believe that IF HE WILL SIMPLY OBEY GOD - . that He will live a life of freedom....by doing what he should do with regard to the wife God has given him.  I guess most men just don't have enough faith in God to trust Him in this area.   Maybe a man thinks "If I lay down my life for her, she will walk all over me."  A woman feels the same way about submission - "If I submit to him, he will walk all over me." But just the opposite is true.    A godly woman will not be able to find enough ways to honor a husband who is obedient to God... and a godly husband must have enough faith in God to believe that loving his wife more than his own body will be the best thing for .... him!!!

I know lots of married men - Christian men - who aren't willing to be what they are supposed to be.  Lots of times they won't admit it to themselves.  They hear it, but they don't do it. They aren't even WILLING to love their wives as Christ loved the church. They  aren't willing to obey. They NEVER consider their role in the marriage.  NEVER. 

They want what they want when they want it - and God help the wife who gets in the way.   God help the wife who craves spiritual leadership from an unspiritual man.  God help the woman who desires fellowship with a man who resents her.   God help the woman who is afraid and has a husband who doesn't protect her. God help the woman who wants some of her husband's time.  God help the woman who wants to be the kind of wife she is supposed to be who is married to a man who doesn't care about what kind of husband he is required to be.  And God DOES help her. 

I know lots of men who go to church but aren't at all like Christ in their relationship with their wives.  I often wonder why there aren't brothers around them - or pastors - who instruct these men.  Why isn't somebody reminding these men that loving their wives is the best thing  they can do for themselves.....as well as their wives.    Broken hearted women sit in silence in the  pew.  These men are married on the outside but single on the inside. GOD HELP THE MAN WHO HAS TO STAND BEFORE A HOLY GOD SOMEDAY AND EXPLAIN TO HIM WHY HE MISTREATED GOD'S OWN DAUGHTER.  

IS THERE ANYTHING WORSE THAN A "CATTY" FRIEND? Yes!  An envious one!  No, wait! - a self-centered one!  NO... NO...wait!  A gossiping one who tells all the secrets you told her and she promised NOT to tell a SOUL.  A good friend is a gift from God.  I know it's sounds schmaltzy but it's true.

Today... I want to thank GOD for the GIFT He's given me by the GIRLFRIENDS who surround my life.   "Thank you God for Lori, Carol, Ruth, Rebecca, Wendy, Debi, Angie, Darci, Joyce, and my young friends Kara (who 'gets me' like she's clairvoyant or somethun) and Lindsey" (who said something to me last week that took my breath away. She said, 'You always see the silver lining.  You never see the cloud') Of course, that isn't true. Just ask anyone who lives with me every day.. but.. still nice to hear."  

So if you have a true friend....be thankful for her.  Be thankful today.

It never occurred to my parents to stay home from church on Sunday.   I don't remember a Sunday that I wasn't in a Sunday School class and then church service. I don't remember a Sunday that we went to an amusement park instead of going to church.  Sundays were set aside as a day that everything stopped and the family worshipped God and rested.  My dad was a pastor, but he became a pastor when I was 11 years old.  Before that, we were STILL in church all the time. 

I'm sure that there were things about church that bugged my parents, but I never heard them say so.   We got up, got dressed and went.  And we fellowshipped with God's people.  And we heard God's Word being preached, and worship being offered up to God.  And even as a young child, I knew God was real because I could sense that there was a Presence that came when these people gathered together.   And we came home and ate macaroni....took a nap........and went back to church on Sunday night.   

It never occurred to me until today that I'm glad that it never occurred to my parents to stay home from church on Sunday

YEARS AGO, THE STATE SLOGAN FOR PENNSYLVANIA WAS "You've Got A Friend In Pennsylvania."  I think they spent millions of dollars to come up with a new slogan... I think it was (or still is) "America Starts Here".  And.... that means??? What?   Anyway, it appears however, that I have many friends in Pennsylvania.   At least I have PA people reading this blog like crazy.   Many of the IP addressess that are showing up are PA internet addresses.   Charter Business.

So.. to those of you in Pennsylvania who are still my friends... or even to those of you who are just nosy and want to know what's going on in my life.. I say.. "Hey!  How y'all doin'?"   

THE WHOLE POINT OF THE WHOLE THING ABOUT GOD IS THAT HE WANTS TO BE KNOWN.  Yeah, He wants us to know Him.  He wrote the best selling book EVER in an attempt to reveal Himself to us.  Nature declares His glory.  He sent His Son to show us His heart and love for us.  He gave the Ten Commandments to Charlton Heston... I mean.. Moses.  He wants us to know Him,  Why? Because as a result of knowing Him, we will find that He knows us.  And loves us.  And it's that knowledge that brings us peace. True peace.   "God knows me.  He knows everything about me.  And loves me anyway.  All is well."  

And within EACH HUMAN BEING....because we are made in His image.. is the desire to be known.  

Little children are our example.   They haven't "learned" yet to hide their hearts.   Jesus said,  "Unless you become as little children you will in no way enter the Kingdom of Heaven."  I observe my grandchildren and their desire is to tell me about themselves. 

"Mema, I can swim underwater!".  "Mema, I can color in the lines!"  "Mema, I have a cut on my foot."   And they tell me these things because they know I CARE about hearing them.  Their desire to reveal themselves to me is the greatest joy of knowing them.  I'd be heartbroken if they never talked to me.  Or if they assumed I didn't care about hearing. 

And THEN they want to hear stories -and the stories that fascinate them the most are the ones in which THEY are the main characters.  It can be stories about when they were babies ("You loved flowers. And you used to say "FAHVA" for flower".. etc.) - or stories in which they are the heroes.  

And that's how God is.  He wants us to EAGERLY talk to Him about ourselves. And tell us stories in which we are the main characters (it's called "History")  And He wants to reveal Himself to us - because His love is what we are longing for whether we know it or not.  But we grow up.  And become "mature". And as we grow, and as people hurt us we learn to hide our hearts.  From one another.  And from God.  

And the horror of hidden hearts is that it's not our natural state.  It's a learned behavior.   And our Father in heaven didn't teach it to us.  So,then, who did?

YESTERDAY WAS ONE OF "THOSE" DAYS... nothing major.  Just busy, dealing with family members who need my help - they're not feeling well.  Just busy.  Phil was gone all day.  And so

around dinner time - I was all alone - and so I indulged myself and went to our local and NEW Super Target - just to walk through the aisles.   I can't remember the last time I had the time to just meander through any store looking around.  It was a little vacation. 

I looked at makeup, tried on liquid face foundation samples, accidentally broke a bottle of nail polish.( I got "skeered" and just walked away.. I'm a criminal) .. you know.. just wasting time.   Trying to recuperate from the day.. lost in thoughts...busy.. tired.....feeling a little bit confused by the business of life. 

And then...as I walked through the lawn and garden section... a BRIGHT light rose, the sun  shined his face on me and my life became bright and warm.   I heard the sound of a tiny voices.. filled with JOY.. saying my name ("MEEEEEEEeeeee MAAAAAAAaaaaaa") as loud as they could.   Phil, Renee and my three grandchildren were in SuperTarget also.   And there it was - JOY!  JOY!  JOY!   

After I went to the ladies room to wash the sample makeup off my face ("Ma," says Philip, "What did you do to your face?  You look like Queen Amadalla"  Evidently, my face looked white and chalky instead of the lovely tan a person gets from living in hot sun of our town... "Gates of Hell, Tennessee".  It's always HOT here. He's a funny man, my son.  And plus, I never wear face makeup...)  I confessed to him that I'd walked away - embarrrassed - by the bottle of nail polish I'd broken.  So we went back to the scene of the crime and got someone to do a "cleanup on B3"... 

And then we spent the next hour or so pushing carts and buying two new DVD's for the kids.   And when we were done, and waving goodbye in our cars... the sun was going down in the sky.... but it was still blazing brightly in my grandmother heart.    

I care about what's going on in the world.  I do.  I care about the fact that I need to do more to care for orphans and widows. 

BUT yesterday... I found the cutest pair of shoes.. and they fit me.. and they were HALF price.  Cute little black shoes with black sandal top.  And when I showed them to my mom, she loved them so much she asked, "Do they have them in another color?".. and she gave me the money to buy ANOTHER pair in brown.... And I drove back to the store, and there was just one pair left in my size (6 and 1/2).

And so, I must admit, that the fact that I was able to find a pair of adorable shoes that fit my chubby feet, and that they were on sale for ONE DAY ONLY at HALF PRICE.. and that my mom was generous enough to buy me a second pair.. REALLY... REALLY.... REALLY made me happy.   I'm so excited about it. 

Anyway, just saying thanks to God for these things He gives... and because He understands what it's like to be a girl.  And sometimes, finding new shoes at half price is great big deal to one of His daughters.   Thank you, Lord, for understanding women.

YESTERDAY'S BLOG  (scroll down a little) was about how RICH I am to have parents like I do.  And one of the emails I received about it was from our dear friend..no....dear BROTHER...Neil Enloe.   Neil is a great songwriter ("Statue of Liberty") and member of The Couriers, and someone who is giving to his children the same wonderful legacy my parents gave to me.  He knows my parents.. and in an attempt to continue to honor them.. I'd like to  post his email to me below: 

Marie-

Everything you said about your parents is true.  They remain models of true disciples of Christ.  Their loving compassion for humanity and their strong walk with the Lord are standout qualities that one immediately sees upon meeting them.  And those qualities don’t diminish with time; they only strengthen.

When I desperately need an answer to prayer I enlist the supplications of Molly Bruno, your dear mother.  She has an open direct line to Heaven and is anxious to take my urgent plea to the throne of God .  And she gets answers like no other that I know of.  Your father is a prince with bulletproof Godly character.  Our nation and our culture could use a multitude of men of God like your father.

So yes, you are indeed a rich girl.

Neil       

I'M A RICH GIRL.   Well not financially... although God has always been faithful in every way.  But, I grew up with two people - my parents - who's focus was always on the things of God.  They loved God more than any other people I know.  They read the Bible as if it was their actual food.  They lived a life in front of me of always being honest and true and IN LOVE WITH THE LORD OF THEIR LIVES.   I thought every other kid in church went to sleep with the sound of her father and mother praying.. and waking up to the same sound.

If the phone rang and I didn't want to speak to whoever it was calling....my father would never lie for me.  He always simply told the truth in every situation.   He'd say, "If you tell one lie, you'll have to tell fourteen others to cover the first one."  (don't know where he came up with the number 14.. but he's right)  

OH.. and he always taught me to THINK.. and not take someone else's answer as truth.  Especially when it comes to the Bible and the things of God. And they both loved to read.. and so do I.  Anyway..I simply want to say that if there is any thing in ME that loves God.. it came from them.  As I look at people's lives...and many of them are churchgoers.....and they are being shaken by the "shaking" going on in the world.. I thank God that He chose me to be the one who grew up in a home with two parents who had a REAL relationship with the LIVING GOD.  They never cared about "STUFF" on earth.. and their treasures are in heaven.

They are 84 and 85 years old.  I won't have them forever.   I cannot imagine life without them and their prayers.  OH..... how I've leaned on those prayers.  When they're gone, I cannot think of any other people I know who PRAY.   What an inheritance they will have left behind when they leave this earth.  And what a gift to a child.... for that child to KNOW that their parents LONG to see Jesus.. And see Jesus they will.   I'm a rich girl. 

Last night an ad for mascara came on TV... and it was OBVIOUS that the actress had HUGE FALSE EYELASHES on.  And the whole 60 seconds had her smiling at us with those HUGE false eyelashes on.  No wonder women feel such pressure.  We go out and buy the mascara and our eyelashes DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT.  It's that way for EVERY MASCARA ad. 

Come on people... let's have a mascara advertising revolt!! Let's demand truth in advertising.  You know?  Like the government requires pharmaceutical companies to do with their medicine ads.   "This medicine will help your knees not to hurt.  It's GREAT knee medicine.  Of course, some side effects include death, heart attack, melanoma, and blindness.  Ask your doctor to give you a prescription."

Cosmetic ads need to be like ads for medicine - "This mascara doesn't do what we say it does, therefore, the model is wearing a pair of $900 false eyelashes in this commerical.  Oh, and by the way, she is wearing the SAME false eyelashes in our advertisting, and in the display at your local Walmart.  The whole thing is a big lie, but PLEASE believe it." 

Once we fix the mascara advertising problem, everything else will just fall in to place - world peace, gasoline prices and the economy.  Just let the mascara do for me what it does for the woman in the ad.........and all will be well.  Thank you very much.

I'm not a meteorologist and I don't play one on TV -  but I can pretty much sense when the winter is over and a new season is arriving.   I can tell when fall is here.  I can feel it in the air, I can see it on the trees.   I know that summer is behind and winter is ahead.  How do I know that?  How do you?

Jesus told us we should be able to recognize the signs of the times.  He says we CANNOT predict the day or the hour of His Coming -  but we should be able to see the signs of the season.  We get off track sometimes, with preachers and teachers who want to tell us where we are in this process.  So we debate if they're correct or not.  But... the one thing that we DO KNOW is that "The Times" will have "Signs".  You KNOW when winter is coming..don't you?   You KNOW that He's coming soon too.. don't you? 

The Times have Signs.   The end Season will be obvious to everyone.  What are the signs of the times. Do you know?  Jesus said that it would be like it was in the days of Noah.  People buying, selling, and just living their lives without a thought to the fact that The Flood was coming.  But.. Jesus said the signs would be obvious.  Truth is that even if our PERSONAL lives are all in order - we have enough money, we aren't ill, we have peace in our homes - we can still "sense" that the world is getting crazier...right?  Right.  Things are getting shaky right?  Right.   The Times may be upon us.   Can you see the signs?  Get ready.   Are you?

THREE GRANDKIDS - AGES 6,5,4.  SATURDAY MORNING GOING ON A BREAKFAST DATE TO CRACKER BARREL WITH "BABA" and "MEMA". (I AM "MEMA").  Mommy and Daddy out the door for a morning Starbucks date.  

Blueberry pancakes.  Scrambled eggs.  Toast.  Two rounds of chocolate milk.  One trip to the rest room.  Pay the bill. In the car. 

Across the parking lot to Super Target.  In to the big red cart.  Baba is the only one strong enough to push the laugh filled cart. Everybody gets to pick one toy.  We walk through the aisles.  Examining the treasures.  One by one they decide.  A baby doll in a bathtub.  A stuffed animal that moves and purrs.  A very real looking chain saw.   We walk to the register, treasures in hand.  Baba pays.  Well taught grandkids say, "Thank you, Baba".  Baba's face lights up.

Get in the car, holding the toys till we "get home".  The sparkle in the eyes as they hold the little toys.. "if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your grandchildren..."...

We get home a few minutes before Mommy and Daddy. We unpack the toys in the family room.  Mommy and Daddy pull up.  The children hide.  "Where are the kids, Mom and Dad?", we ask. Giggles can be heard behind the chair.  "Weren't they with you?" .. they ask.. They act concerned... and then... the giggles are replaced with "BOO!"... 

They show Mommy and Daddy their new toys.... and... Mommy and Daddy brought home some surprises too.   We see the toys.  Stay a while.  We say goodbye.  Kisses. Kisses.. Hugs and kisses.   We pull out of the driveway.. 2 minutes to our house. We just had a few hours in heaven.  Cracker Barrel Heaven.  How wonderful God is to invent grandkids.

"You can trust me - God."  Phil bought me a wall hanging that says that.  I saw it in a little shop in downtown Franklin.. and when I saw it.. it made me tear up.  We have high ceilings in our home (I finally had Phil measure them.. They're 14 feet hight)... and it hangs up HIGH... to remind me that I CAN trust Him. Even though He has NEVER harmed me in all these decades of my life.. even though He always works things out... sometimes I just don't... trust Him.   It must break His heart.
 

"You can trust Me that I already know what you will have to face today and I have already made sure that you have what it takes to get through it" - God.

Ten million years ago - wait - ten trillion years ago - wait - a hundred, million, trillion years ago - God created THIS day.  And because He's had a couple of trillion years to plan today, He's made sure that EVERY SINGLE THING I go through today has been worked out for my good.  There is nothing that will happen today that will surprise Him.  It may surprise me, but He's cool.  He's good. He's fine.  He's in control. 

He has been creating a history of yesterdays which has deposited lessons in to my heart which will give me the grace and the strength to get through and conquer and be victorious over whatever comes my way.  Except sometimes I complain.. and whine... and don't like what's happening.   BUT... He already knew.  So.. as I get myself together and get OUT THERE... I will remind myself that I can trust Him.   And...I will.

Today, the news reports are about a cave that has been uncovered in a middle east town.  This cave is showing all the evidence of being a place where first century Christians HID and lived.   And maybe died.   They were fanatics.. zealous zealots. Jesus was everything to them.   Nothing else mattered.    But.. are they the example we are to follow?  

How much Jesus is too much Jesus? 

How much of my time is supposed to be spent thinking about and doing "normal" things like my home, my marriage, my family, my hopes, my dreams, my wants and wishes?  How much? What percentage of my time should I spend meditating on Him?  On His will?  On His Word? How much of me does He really expect?   How much Jesus is too much?  What percentage of Him is the correct "balance" to have a normal and healthy existence on earth?  Where is the saturation point of spirituality?  When am I so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good?   

AS IF these cave dwellers even asked themselves these questions. 

As if a wife would say to her husband,  "Our children are missing out on their education by hiding in this cave."  or 

"I want to take a HOT shower now and then, ya know???"  or 

"I cannot believe I am giving up my house and car to hide in this cave with you."  or  "I need a manicure!" or "My roots are showing" or "What about our retirement?"
 

This woman didn't care!!  Jesus was worth it to her.   She could never get enough Jesus.  There was never too much Jesus in her life.   Is she my example?  There isn't a sword in sight... nor a lion to devour me... or a crucifixion on the horizon.   Can't I just go to the mall?

In honor of those unnamed cave dwellers, especially the women, who gave up their lives for the Gospel, who gave up their comfort for the Gospel, who gave up their future for the Gospel,   I want to say "Thank you for never asking yourself those diabolical questions... Thank you and praise God!"

Supposedly - if you watch the news and Hollywood actors and actresses -  concerns about Global Warming is a new and very "in" kind of thing to be concerned about. 

BUT... When I was a kid... way...way....way... back then, we worried about Global Warming too.  Yup, I clearly remember the teachers having us practice hiding under our desks to avoid  Global Warming.  Oh... uh... except back then we called it Nuclear War.   Yeah, we USED to worry about countries attacking us with nuclear bombs.  You wanna talk "WARM"? Now that's WARM.   That's real Global Warming.  More like Global Melting.

Evidently, back then they used to make REALLY strong school desks because all we had to do was hide under one and we'd be safe in the event of nuclear war.  At least that's what they told us.. way back then. 

And then all of a sudden, we stopped worrying about Nuclear Bombs, and Nuclear Holocausts.    People were assassinating Presidents and Presidential candidates.  So then we started worrying about ourselves and the guy next door with a gun, instead of worrying about nuclear bombs in a country far away. 

And after that we worried about gasoline shortages in the 1970's.. but not enough to actually fix the problem.  Evidently it wasn't worth worrying about back when gas was 34 cents a gallon.   So we didn't worry about the oil crisis anymore and see... we were right.  Right? 

And we worried about stuff like AIDS for a few years but.. then we stopped worrying about that too.. and see.. we were right. Right?

And while we were busy having fun and making money in the 1990's we kind of ran out of anything  to worry about.. 

And then on September 11, 2001 we started to worry about something called "terrorists".  But.. after a while we stopped worrying about that.. and we were right. Right? 

Because NOW we have to worry about global warming and that the planet is getting warmer because we're being such bad consumers.   And truth is.. we better worry about it. Global warming is where our worry should be.

Because we don't need to worry about terrorists anymore... right? 

And of course we stopped worrying about nuclear war decades ago.  And we were right. Right?

I don't really like animals.  I mean, I don't HATE them.. I just don't care about them.  What do you think is the reason that some people love animals and other people don't?  Is there something wrong with a person who doesn't like animals?  I like people, I just don't really care about their pets.. (except of course for my friend, Carol, who's little dog Chloe is too cute for words.. OK.. I like Chloe.. that's it).  My granddaughter who is 6 LOVES animals.. and is fearless around them.  I was just talking to Lindsey.. who LOVES every kind of animal.  To me, they're.......well.....just......uhhh...........uhhhhhhhh... there. 

SUBJECT NUMBER TWO ON TODAY'S BLOG... EMBRYO ADOPTION   As part of a cover story I'm writing about adoption... this subject has got to be the MOST interesting thing I've investigated in years. Embryonic adoption.  People who do in vitro fertilization (fertilizing the child in outside the parents.. if you get the idea..).. this type of fertilization creates as many embryo's (read "PEOPLE") as 20 or so.  The doctor "implants" just a few.. and then the embryo's (read "PEOPLE) are frozen.. for further use.. 

Except sometimes the parents decide they have enough children.......and are donating the frozen embryos to places like "The National Embryo Donation Center"  (www.embryodonation.org) and saying, "We have embryo's we'd like to donate.. to give these children life."  And then OTHER women - who are having trouble conceiving their own children - give birth to these already conceived embryo's.  I interviewed a couple who gave birth (well, ok the WIFE GAVE BIRTH) to triplets in 2008 and whose children were conceived in vitro in 2001.   It's just a mind boggling thing to think of. 

IT'S another way to ADOPT a child... instead this time you adopt the child before it's born and give birth to it yourself.  Know someone who wants a baby?  You might tell them to visit the website:  www.embryodonation.org.  These people are on a mission to see these frozen orphans come to life in the warmth of someone's heart and home. 

OK.. back to writing.. Bye.   

Wow.  Not a lot of blogging lately.  Busy writing articles.  Have two deadlines tomorrow.. so I actually have to WORK

I am praying for friend who has drifted away from the Lord. Pray that God gets her attention again. 

I used to think it was important to pray that she would remember the past she's left behind.  The times of seeking God, and feeling His presence so closely.  But...I think the Lord is instructing me to pray.. in her case.. that she remembers the future she left behind.  His plans to prosper and not to harm her.  His plans to give her eternal life and a home with Him forever.  The path she is on is leading her away from Him and in to destruction. Would you ask the Holy Spirit to get her attention and remind her of the future she is leaving behind? Thank you.