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Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Saving Babies: March for Life Trip Update

Posted on November 16, 2020

The Deep Digging trip to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life is on (https://marchforlife.org)! The date for the March is January 29th.  Ladies will be responsible individually for transportation to Washington and for transportation from the airport to meet the group. We will be staying at the Westin in Alexandria, Va:(https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasxw-the-westin-alexandria-old-town/. If you are willing to share a room with three other ladies (2 double beds per room), your cost for the two nights (checking in on the 28th and out on the 30th) will be approximately $100.00. (Cost will increase, of course, if you prefer not to share.) I need a final count by January 10th, so we can cancel, at no cost, any rooms that we do not plan to use and so that we can make a plan for our meal and devotional time together on Thursday night.  Please remit 50.00 via paypal by 1/10 to colley@westhuntsville.org (or send us a check)  and let us know it’s for the March. This deposit will be applied, of course, to your final hotel cost. All ladies will be financially responsible for all meals and incidentals while on the trip. West Huntsville ladies will be traveling on the church van. There may be an extra seat or two there for ladies in our area. I will let you know. 

I’m working on getting us hoodies (…it was cold last year) so we can match and represent Digging Deep and Life at the rally. These pro-life DD hoodies will be available to those who go on the trip at cost. If you want one and are not going on the trip, they will be priced at retail. We will pre-order these, so there will be no leftover hoodies in my basement. =) I’ll get a pic of these hoodies for you soon! It’s fun to be able to find each other easily and stay together.

Bring snacks to the actual rally/march because, last year, we got very hungry and there was little accessible food on our route. Bring good walking shoes, warm socks and an outer coat, just in case. Please do not include any wood or metal in any signs you may bring, but feel free to bring paper/plastic signs. We may have some Digging Deep signs specially made for us to carry, with our website info. Who knows?… We could be “discovered” and enlist some new diggers! (Let me know if you have a good and cheap source for signs for us to carry. This could be someone’s important contribution.)

Of course, the political climate may be very different by the end of January, 2021. However, the March, historically, has been extremely peaceful and the security is excellent. You will be surrounded by thousands upon thousands of people who take the sanctity of life very seriously and that makes the environment comfortable and relatively safe. 

The people there will be of various faiths, with the largest numbers of marchers being Catholic. For that reason, there may be religious comments from the stage in the rally that precedes the march with which we do not agree. There may be prayers led by people who are not New Testament Christians. We will be together as a group, though, and will certainly, throughout the weekend, be lifting our own prayers and praise. Our huge endorsement and support of the cause that brings this crowd together does not imply that we endorse everything that might be stated publicly while we are there. 

I think it is important, though, that we make some effort during our short trip through life, to state that we are in extreme opposition to the heinous violent sin of our day: the killing of the innocents. You may be choosing another venue, or multiple other ways to voice opposition. But all of us should be making our voices heard. And yes. The killing of over 60 million does eclipse the rare (but awful) illegal killing of innocent persons by police brutality. This legal massacre eclipses, in reference to numbers, even the holocaust of the Third Reich.   

(One more thing. I’m pretty tired of hearing, often from people of faith, that the Republican presidential terms are historically the ones with the most abortions. This claim is often made in justification for supporting people who are openly promising to proudly continue the killing. This statistic, even if true, is irrelevant. Making murder illegal is the right thing to do, in any nation, regardless of any statistics on any ledger.

But, just think about the current situation, for a moment. Our [apparently] outgoing president has just placed three justices in the Supreme Court who, we believe, will fight to limit abortion rights. The last one was Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett had no time to do her constitutional duty in the Court during the tenure of Mr. Trump. It will be during his successor’s term in which she, along with what is now a majority of constitutional preservationist justices, will be making decisions that will limit abortions. The numbers will absolutely be reduced during Mr. Biden’s presidential term if the strategy of the republican president is effective.  The after-effects of a pro-life president are often very positive DURING the term of a pro-choice president.

Remember this:

  1. Legalizing murder is fundamentally immoral. Always. [Pretend that those being killed are two-year-olds. Is it still okay to support those who want to keep the killing of our toddlers legal? It’s the same thing.]
  2. The reduction of abortion numbers due to legislation and judicial choices often is not immediate. Citing numbers that indicate fewer abortions during the tenures of pro-choice presidents is a disingenuous tactic.)
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Family Ties in the Social Distance #39: Proverbs 14:26–A Nation Exalted

Posted on May 7, 2020

My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but  we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.

From Glenn:  

My Favorite Proverbs:  What Exalts a Nation

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov. 14:26).

Be impressed with the hard, cold fact of this statement. So long as this world stands, this will be true. Be reminded that Christianity is a world religion, not merely an American religion.  Our real success as a nation is in proportion to the degree to which we live according to the precepts of God’s Will. So many of the blacks and whites of right and wrong have turned to a sickening grey in the minds of citizens.  One doesn’t have far to look to find a politician who trades in debauchery, deceit, and compromised morality. People may turn a blind eye and elect him or her to whatever office he or she aspires.  We will do better as a nation–be exalted, lifted to a higher place– if we can strengthen voices against sin, as defined in the Bible, and if we can elect leaders who insist on a Biblically-framed virtue in all parts of our government.  

So far as I’m aware, only one U.S. President, James A. Garfield, was a member of the Lord’s church.  As we approach the next election, nothing would please me more for our government than if the executive, legislative and judicial branches were all filled with New Testament Christians; but that’s, of course, unrealistic.  What we must do this November, as in all our elections, is to choose leaders who will do the most to accommodate the cause of Christ in our land.  I’m surprised to have come to the point at which saying the following is realistic rather than a knee-jerk reaction, but it is not hard for me to imagine an America in which Christians are persecuted in ways similar to the ways our early Christian family was persecuted in the first century.  In the interest of my children and grandchildren and, obviously my family in the Lord, I’d like to delay that time as long as possible.  God has blessed us to live in a democracy, a republic, in which we have the vote and voice to choose our leaders.  We must take advantage of that gift and vote with the benefit of Christianity in mind.  May this be our chief motivation; not earthly issues that have no real bearing on the souls of citizens.  

Today, make time to step away from the political wrangling and hatred to lay the interests of our nation again at the feet of God.  Doesn’t He still work in the governments of men?  Don’t allow your heart to be driven by those things which won’t matter in eternity, but rather beg for His will to be done in our government. Then, use your influence, however small, for good.

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I Tim. 2:1-4).

 

Family Bible Time with Glenn and Cindy:

Tonight’s phrase from Matthew 25 is “I was a stranger and you took me in.”

This one’s a little more difficult to practically apply, especially during a pandemic. But you should try and make your children understand that, although we cannot house all of the people who might be traveling through our area, when we know of Christians who have a need for housing, we should be happy to offer our homes as places for them to stay and our tables as places for them to eat. Even if we know of non-Christians, who need a place, and they come to us recommended by fellow-Christians, we should be happy to use our homes in this service. There are lots of people in our West Huntsville family who routinely offer rooms at home, hotel rooms, meals in their homes and restaurant meals, cabins and couches, for people they’ve not ever even met before. The guests are gospel preachers who visit, people who are moving to our area, those who have temporary work in our area, and those who may be temporarily homeless. There are just many examples all around your children during times of normalcy (non-pandemic times). See if they can think of some and talk to them about how you want to make “our house” available for people, because that’s making it available for the Lord. It’s a serious setting in which the Lord instructed this.

Have big people pretend-call the teeny people on the phone and tell the teenies that they are needing a place to stay and sleep because they are on a journey. Have the teenies respond with “Sure, we have a place,” and let them arrange the blankets on the sofa and put a pillow there and bring a bag with a bar of soap and some toothpaste and a spare toothbrush and put it on the pillow along with a towel (and whatever else you have on hand that a guest could use). Have one of the visiting big people lie there for the rest of the story time, profusely thanking the little person.

Tell the story of 2 Kings 4: 8-17. Be sure your children can name the simple things that the woman of Shunem put in the room for the prophet. Make sure they can also tell you that when she did this she was serving the prophet, but she was, most importantly, serving God. She was helping the prophet  to be able to preach the Word of God. She was helping God to work on this earth. When we offer to house God’s people, we help God’s cause on this earth!

Have your children look around your home and give ideas about how rooms and provisions and appliances can be used to help God’s cause.

Pray with your children. Pray that you will be able to use your home for His glory. Pray specifically for each room, that you will find ways to use your kitchen to feed God’s people, that you will find ways to use the bedrooms to help His people rest, that you will use your living room as a place to share His Word, etc….

We will be a closer family if we are serious about hospitality.

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Fair and Just Election Results

Posted on November 3, 2016

Unknown-7Next week, America offers her citizens the most direct influence they have on her government. Voting for governmental leaders is a privilege not enjoyed by all peoples. It’s a right that came at great expense to many men and their families when our independence as a nation was won. It’s an honor that’s been defended in several wars since that first revolution against Britain. America is still a young nation and the security of the freedoms we enjoy has not been proved. There are impending threats to the liberty that our Constitution was intended to guard. The rejection of its original intent, the mighty arms of terrorists, those who would usurp intended power from the states, and self-serving interests of elected officials are but some of the foes that daily attack our foundational freedoms in America today.I love this country. I pray regularly for her. I pray that she can return to principles of morality that are clearly the basis upon which she was founded. I pray for her leaders and for changes in government and culture that can result in an awakening to the truth of God’s Word in her homes and communities. Much has already been lost, and so I pray that my children and grandchildren could be blessed to enjoy at least a vestige of the great nation into which I was born.

But I constantly remind my kids that, no matter what happens in or to America, we will be okay. God has granted us citizenship in His nation (Phil. 3:20). We are a royal priesthood and a holy nation (I Peter 2:9) that is headquartered outside the arena of evil influence or danger. Our sovereign Governor is not vulnerable to terror, the usurpation of His power or the twisting of His laws.

At the conclusion of the contest (which may be several days after November 8th), we will have some new legislators in the U.S.  We will have a new president. The well-worn mantra of “change” will be heralded once more. I hope it will be change for the better. No doubt there will be some mistakes or unfortunate inevitabilities in the process. Some people will mistakenly mark their ballots—that is, they will vote for a person accidentally. Some computer glitches may occur and might even influence an election one way or another. Some person might have an accident or a flat tire or an ER run on the way to the polling place and be unable to cast the intended vote. Some politician might be able to convince a constituency that he stands for some proposition for which he has no intention of actually voting and thereby gain votes by dishonesty. (It could happen, you know!) A villainous political opponent could put out a bit of last-minute slander to gain votes, leaving an opponent no time to prove the slanderous allegations false. Lots of things can occur to upset the political apple cart and cause the electorate to have to suffer through a term of politics that should never have happened. As my mother used to tell us when some inevitable occurrence predicated our disappointment: “Sorry, but circumstances alter cases.”

God has elected some folks, too. There are those living today who’ve been elected to eternal salvation (II Tim. 2:10). It was a very costly election (exacting the blood of Jesus) and there were some very specific qualifications to be met by the candidates for salvation (I Peter 1:2). But, at the end of the day, there will be no recounts, mistakes, mitigating circumstances, or computer errors. The calling and election will be certain, once the day of decision is over. The God of Justice never gets it wrong. Because of the holiness of the Election Official, Christians can, just like those candidates on CNN, say “We are confident of the victory.” But, unlike them, we really ARE confident (I John 2:28).

…with God is terrible majesty.
Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart (Job 37:22-24)

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Sister to Sister: Where Are Our Non-Negotiables?

Posted on August 7, 2014

Unknown-7While driving home from Bible Study last night I heard a snippet of talk radio in which a Catholic man was being interviewed about his political work as a representative of “Catholic Answers”. The topic was a voter-guide pamphlet that has been published by his organization in which five non-negotiables are listed for Catholics to consider when they go to the polls. The non-negotiables, as listed for Catholics, are these:

Candidate must be opposed to:

Abortion

Euthanasia

Embryonic Stem-Cell Research

Human Cloning

Homosexual Marriage

Now, while I believe Catholics are responsible for one of the biggest religious perversions of “Christendom” existent in our day, I believe they are dead-on about this list. The talk show host then asked this man why these are the non-negotiables (Why not the economy, securing the borders or our involvement in the Israeli conflict?). The answer was a bit nebulous, but to be fair, I did not get to listen to all of the segment.

Why can’t we just say that God is the author/creator of life and, thus, it is sacred!? Four of these listed behaviors directly or indirectly involve the destruction of life. The fifth on the list is a slap in the face of God who repeatedly condemned homosexuality—the very act, much less the inclusion of that heinous sin in the definition of the marriage relationship that He also invented, instituted and protected in His Word!

Most importantly, why are the Catholics louder and more organized about this than we are in the body of Christ? Several years ago my husband was in a preacher’s meeting in which the idea that preachers should be saying things from the pulpit that could be construed as political was met with fervent opposition from some in the room. There are congregations today in which elders and deacons are supporting political leaders who are supportive of all of the items on the above list. They pledge allegiance to these leaders based on economic promises. Never mind that their political heroes are responsible, as a conglomerate, for the deaths of one out of every three pre-born babies in America today.

As a result of our failures to teach, our girls are getting abortions. Our teens are experimenting with homosexuality. Several times within the past few weeks I’ve been painfully reminded that our silence is paving the way for our own members to participate in the sins that will lead them to hell at the expense of the innocents. A member (in good standing) of a congregation in the Southeast U.S. makes her living as a nurse who preps women for abortions. She justifies this by the rationalization that she is not actually taking the life; she is only taking the blood. Besides, “Someone else will take the woman’s blood, if I quit this job.”  Another Christian sister in another state wrote to me descrying that fact that her grand-daughter, brought up in the church, also works in the abortion industry. I recently was upbraided for trying to convince a sister that the dozen or so babies that she has placed in a freezer (as she is enjoying the one or two she chose from the test tube) are living children and that she has a grave responsibility to them. She brought those lives into existence. (What are we thinking?) My husband recently traveled to another state to counsel a young member of the church as she revealed she had become involved in a relationship with a “girlfriend” at school. And, yet again, my husband was recently visiting in the home of  Christians in another state when they revealed to him that their child was  involved in homosexual pornography. And the list goes on…

Thankfully, all preachers are not silent. All elderships are not blind to the dangers. I applaud and am grateful for those brave church leaders who are vigilant even when the political landscape is a battleground.  Not all of these instances might have been prevented if we were boldly teaching the truth, even against the political and cultural tide. But some of them and some others would have. Some lives that are currently being snuffed out, would be preserved. Some children, and now many adults would be living and working and some would be leading our churches if we had been vocal all along.

I’ll close today with a  news article that I recently received from a friend.

fetalmodel

 

A NICU nurse, who worked a long time at a Baptist Hospital in _________said, “When I first went to work in NICU I helped to care for a baby this size until it died, because it was too small and the lungs were too underdeveloped for the doctors to be able to do anything for it. We put it in an isolette and kept it warm and did all we could, but though it slept, and didn’t seem uncomfortable and didn’t cry or grimace, it couldn’t breathe right and I think it died in under half an hour. I then had the sad job to help to get it ready for burial, and take it back to its grieving mother.”

“Baptist had a special kit with a tiny hand-sewn dress, a ceramic footprint mold, a tiny little fleece-lined box like a bed, a sympathy card with a sweet poem about the baby’s early departure, etc. I think that particular baby was a girl, because the little care package I used was pink. That was the difference in the doctors’  attitudes at Baptist vs. the ones at a hospital  across town. At the other hospital they would have treated it like a “fetus.” At Baptist they treated it like a baby. I was so blessed to work in an environment like that.”

The saddest thing about this letter from my friend is not that it was her daughter who held this baby until it died. The saddest part was that she went on to state that her grand-daughter, this NICU nurse’s daughter, is now a nurse at the “other” hospital. Will you join me in praying for these three anonymous women? While we are at it, let’s pray that we, as Christian women, will have some non-negotiables as we vote and as we raise our children…as we vocally (not silently) remember the conveniently orphaned children who are daily being killed in the “other” hospitals around our country.