Nice Thoughts about Becoming Old...

This was passed along, years ago, from my friend Sara. I found it a refreshing outlook on becoming old and gray and all those other adjectives that go along with getting on in years.

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I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of  myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but  looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be  messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before  they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60's and 70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with  abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.  They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I  eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not  break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will  never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.  So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive.  You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

I like being old. It has set me free. I  like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could  have been, or worrying about what will be.  And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).


May our friendship never come apart especially when it's straight from the heart! 

Pagan Practices and Halloween

Year after year I cringe when it comes to the popular man made holidays which good people celebrate without question, including Halloween.

The folks at Cutting Edge have covered this topic pretty well:

God lists Satanic practices that He absolutely forbids- Every one of them is uniquely associated with Halloween!

1. Enchantment -- Act of influencing by charms and incantation using the practice of magical arts. Such practices draw directly upon the power of Satan. God forbids it in many places, chief among which is Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

2. Witchcraft -- Dealing with demonic spirits, using their prescribed methods, commonly called rituals and the "magick arts". The Bible forbids it, as in Galatians 5:19-20. Go to a video store sometime and walk down the "Horror" aisle, where you will see the popularity of Witchcraft in America today.

3. Sorcery -- Use of power gained from the prescribed rituals demanded by the demonic host. Once the witch or wizard performs the particular ritual correctly, the demonic host is required to provide the power to accomplish that action desired by the witch.

4. Divination -- Fortune telling and seeing into the future. God wants us to trust in Him and His power, and not worry about tomorrow. Satan, on the other hand, loves to get people consumed by the idea that they can know what lies ahead of them. Forbidden in the Bible, Jeremiah 29:8-9 and Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

5. Wizardry -- The art or practices of a wizard, sorcery. A wizard or witch is one skilled in the magick arts, a sorcerer. God forbids such practices in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Leviticus 19:31.

6. Necromancy -- Communication with the dead. Specifically, conjuring up the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. Forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Isaiah 8:19.

7. Charm -- The practice of putting a spell on someone in order to change or control their mind and/or behavior. Wizards love to get their enemies "one-on-one" because they can "charm" them through the use of ritual done before the meeting, and by the demonic host residing within him. Adolf Hitler followed this practice closely as he dealt with the leaders of Europe, Britain, and Russia. British Prime Minister Chamberlain was totally charmed by Hitler as he sought to appease the German dictator in Munich in 1938; Chamberlain was so totally "charmed" by Hitler, he enthusiastically proclaimed after returning from Munich that he had achieved "peace in our time".

When dealing with a powerful member of the Illuminati, do not attempt to meet with him, nor place any confidence in the testimony of people who have met with him. A "charm" ritual is easily performed and results in the leader exuding confidence, character, and sincerity they most assuredly do not possess. God forbids this activity in Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

8. Stargazing or Astrology -- Divination of the supposed influence of the stars and other heavenly bodies upon human lives and the affairs of nations. Occultists literally order their lives according to Astrology and numerics. God forbids this activity in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 and Jeremiah 10:2. Also called "Observing the Times".

9. Soothsaying -- foretelling events and prophesying through a spirit other than the Holy Spirit. Forbidden in Micah 5:12 and implied strongly in Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

10. Prognostication -- To foretell from signs and symptoms, also prophesying without the Holy Spirit. Forbidden in Isaiah 47:12-13.

11. Magic -- Tapping into the power of the demonic realm through the use of prescribed ritual so that the action carried out is accomplished through demonic power. Forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, 2 Chronicles 33:6, 1 Samuel 15:23.

All these activities are uniquely associated with the activities and traditions of Halloween! Christians have no business participating in Halloween. To do so is to act against a great number of Scriptures in which God uses the strongest possible language to forbid it. In fact, in most instances, God decreed that people practicing these activities be put to death!

Yet, we see many churches having Halloween parties in which many of these pagan practices are followed! The Apostle Paul gave us strong warning that should stop us dead in our tracks. Listen:

"Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments for these sins, for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience." Ephesians 5:6]

YHWH will Tell Us What to Do

Quote:

Noah is an example of a man who was told of impending danger and did what he was told. He was not concerned about how he might look to his neighbors. He did not put together a committee to discuss the issues. He did not even send the ark plans down to the closest engineer to see if the boat would be sea worthy or if changes should be made in its design. Noah simply acted on what he was told to do. He proved out his faith by putting it into action.

In the Book of Matthew, Y'shua tells us that there will be another day similar to those Mr. And Mrs. Noah faced. They would be days evil men and women following after every manner of sinful way they could devise. It would be a time in which man’s heart would grow so black and hard toward his Creator that judgment and annihilation would be the only way out. It would be a time to once again start over. The time spoken of would not be with another flood though, but rather with a time of great tribulation. This time it would not be a sudden event, but rather one in which man could have time to think about his actions. 

Noah reminds me that day by day I need to be consistent, and to put into action that which I believe. One man can make a difference to those around him if he never loses sight of what he has been called to do. His life is a reason to put our feet on the floor every morning with purpose and to know that we are given another day, not for ourselves, but to move one step closer to fulfilling His purposes for our lives. 

Noah did not see the concept of faith and preparation being two separate issues. Instead he seems to agree that faith without works is a rather useless thing. Noah did not hear the voice of Yahweh and decide to simply pray about it, but instead when he heard that voice he went to his workshop and began cutting the first board.

We can all be very thankful that Noah was not of the mindset that to prepare was a lack of faith. The earth would have been flooded, just as Yah had promised, but instead of Noah and his family living to tell about it, no matter how righteous they were, their lack of putting faith into action would have made them no more than another meal for some very full fish. 

He's Tired, I'm Tired... Are You Tired??

I was given permission to copy Mr. Hall's piece titled 'I'm Tired' from his blog-site and post it here. I really agree with his view on things and he captured my feelings, the ones that hadn't found the proper words just yet. I think the reason I come up short of words when trying to express myself in today's world is because America has never been in this state before! Please, read on:

I'm Tired

I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth around” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes.” Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them—with their own money.

I’m tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women’s rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won’t multiculturalism be beautiful?

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor;” of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers;” of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery;” of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I believe “a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.” I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers,” especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, “Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.

I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years—and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers—bums are bi-partisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the “Illinois Combine” of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor.” The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to get to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.

Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

Ezekiel 12:1 - Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

There is so much to heed these days that it can seem overwhelming, but we cannot give in lest we become slaves to Satan in one of his many disguises. Remember- he is the father of lies and the master of deception. In smooth talk he deceived Eve and turn her against Yahweh's command- one simple request! Do Not Eat of the Tree in the Center of the Garden! One simple rule to abide by in the Garden of Eden. 

Our president (Obama) was not especially forthcoming about his birth certificate and never did publicly admit where he was born, for example. A little white lie - by not saying anything, he convicted himself. And what if he is a believer in Islam? That does not bode well for our future. He is pretending to get friendly with the middle east muslims which could open the door for them to solidify their infiltration of the USA via Sharia Law (apparently legal) and build more terrorist cells throughout the land so they can force their hand when needed.   (Update 3/13/2017- I am leaving this in here as a reminder of days gone by ~ Candus)

A lot has happened in the world since the days of Adam and Eve, boy howdy!! But I believe, sadly, America has seen her peak and is on the way down. She began backsliding in 1960 when God was removed from the public school system and hasn't stopped since then. I read a comparison of women as shown on TV from the 1950-60's to today. It started with wholesome June Cleaver and ended with degenerate Ellen. How true that the modern day media/art reflects humanity as a whole. How true that without Yahweh we are nothing, yet with Him anything is possible!

Learn to tell the difference between a lie and the truth - stop pretending everything is O.K. and start living by the Instructions given us from our Creator.

A Painful Story

Abortion is murder, but I didn't know it back then. This is all in hindsight, mind you, otherwise I would have a child enjoying life today.

It was the late 70's. Women's Lib had already freed us from many 'responsibilities' and I was determined not to have 'his' child, not assuming any of the blame. He didn't even offer to help me out when I told him what I wanted to do and that made me dislike him even more. I was acting selfishly by not accepting the role of motherhood and didn't think any man would want me if I had a kid. (I just shook my head as I typed that, Yashua forgive me Again!) I thought I was doing the right thing.

Back then I was nothing more than a plaything that belonged to Satan and that is because I didn't belong to anyone and disregarded our Creator. I didn't believe in anything so I fell for everything. I was a 'free spirit' blowing in the wind, without direction, a pot smoking, 'recreational drug user' who could party with the best of them! I dabbled in New Age beliefs, felt drawn to the 'spirit world', tried to find god in peyote and LSD all to the tune of rock and roll.

Sounds cool? I thought I was! But it was an ugly waste of years and a waste of my health and a loss of friendships. I was blind to reality, in a satanic delusion, if you will. I was in a big delusional escapism of life while all the time thinking I was living it. (I will go into an analysis of 'why' that was happening in a later post, again in hindsight, in regard to what we understand about ourselves as we get older).

Such was my mindset which allowed me to see an abortion as a reasonable alternative.

Several years later did I learn the truth, of many things, and not just the killing of unborn children. I saw frames from an 'x-ray' movie, of an abortion taking place, you could actually see the child's face express pain as it was being sucked out, torn to pieces. Oh How I Cried! and tears still appear whenever I think about this, that I took part in such a procedure and that people can actually support this procedure!

It is a fact that abortion is an act of murder. There is no excuse for it. Lack of education from parents to their children is a fault. Lack of YHWH our Creator in our lives is a fault. But there is no excuse for murdering an unborn child. It is so bad that I have to go as far as to say a 'partially born' child, as well... I have seen a diagram of that procedure (WARNING!! Diagram of partial birth abortion), too, and it is just awful that anyone can agree with it.

So, now that I have shed more light on this awful procedure, pass it on to others.  Children are a gift from Elohim and society has turned it around as a bad thing.