rambling rosemarie

HT Dave at http://david-ball-photography.blogspot.com/

I have told you all before that I am retired from working in public safety/law enforcement. I had it easy. I didn't have to strap on a gun and go deal with the public. That doesn't mean I don't know how dangerous the job is, on the contrary, my training was to help keep officers safe by dispatching them the resources they needed to do the job. Old habits die hard. I am writing this to try and help provide some essential resources to law enforcement men and women across the United States. A ministry that I have recently become aware of for their counseling resources, 10-4 Ministries , also have a project they call the "Armor of God." In it they take used ballistic vests that are donated to them and they donate them to law enforcement personnel that do not have them. You can find more information at Vests for Life . Listen, I know my friends from law enforcement/public safety aren't all Christians. I wont pretend I wouldn't like to proselytize you al...

As I sit here preparing to review Nancy Leigh DeMoss' " Voices of the True Woman Movement A Call to Counter-Revolutio n" I am realizing just what a radical change having a biblical perspective makes in your life. As a new Christian, I would have thrown this book in the trash before bothering to read it. Thankfully I have matured in my faith and wisdom. I no longer dismiss books or people because I assume (even rightly so) that I disagree with their position. I have to wonder what my various groups of friends must think of me now as they read this. Those friends who knew me in high school, those who knew me as a wild young adult, those who knew me in my career at the sheriff's office and/or at the fire department, those are all folks who knew me a feminist and liberal. Truthfully, I have a hard time believing I am a conservative let alone that I am reading books like this one and agreeing with the premise. Becoming a woman of faith is easy if you don't f...

Recently I had the privilege of giving some seminars to the women in our community bible study. The topics were the biblical concepts of fear, hope and peace. Of the three, hope is the one I dreaded giving the most. Hope had been something I despised. Our God is a very clever and economical God, it's the natural outcome of His sovereignty. When I met with the leaders of the bible study, I was the one that suggested hope as a topic. I could scarcely believe that the idea came from flying from my lips because I was really repelled by it. Of course, it was exactly the topic I needed to study and one of the top areas of my life that needed repentance and reformation. My friend Carla Rolfe had helped me by making some gorgeous PowerPoint slides to go along with my presentation. Carla is extremely creative and you should really check out her stuff . Well, you know the old saying; "No good deed goes unpunished." As Carla's reward for helping me I let her listen to t...

I used to think that God had singled me out to go through every crisis known to mankind so I could fulfill what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians about comforting others with the comfort that we have received. How else could I know what it was they were going through unless I too had been in their situation? When you're full of yourself and bad theology, it's easy to think those sorts of idiotic things. It is also easy to think that you are receiving more than your fair share of hardships whether or not your theology has improved and even though you realize that you are not the center of God's universe. When you're the one that hurts, when your pain is the focus it's easy to lose perspective in large increments. That's when bitterness and/or resentment sets in and takes hold. Bitterness is like a creeping vine that takes root in the cracks between God's truth and your lost perspective. I have been guilty of being focused on my pain of late both physical and ...

Yesterday and this morning I watched the news, something that always leaves me a little crazy because I have higher standards for professional journalism than most journalists do, and my standards aren't that high.... but never mind that... there I was watching Steven Slater being made into some sort of folk hero or champion of flyers everywhere....and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Read for yourself, here, here and here . You can use your favorite search engine or check out his supporters on Face Book. It seems Mr. Slater has been a flight steward for many years and, having started the flight on the wrong foot with this particular passenger, had his last nerve stepped on when the passenger unbuckled, unseated and tried to retrieve items in the overhead compartments before the jet had finished its taxi to the gate. After being cussed out and having his head hit, Mr. Slater decided he'd had enough. He grabbed a few beers from the galley, spewed some venom ...

The passionate intensity of cheap grace is seductively attractive to a weary, plodding soul. Like a blast of adrenaline to a dying heart, it infuses energy. Energy that is mistaken for life. The problem is a deadly one. Our hearts don't need to be kick-started by motivational speakers and charlatans hawking holy snake oil falsely labeled 'the gospel'. What we, all of us are in dire need of is a heart transplant. A heart of stone must be removed and replaced with a heart of flesh. God is the only surgeon capable of undertaking the procedure and the gospel of Christ is the only tool He uses to bypass the death our sins have earned us. I believe one largest mission fields we have is assembled every Sunday morning. In fact, it assembles itself in church pews where cheap grace is spewed with wild abandon. Like sheep led to their slaughter the potential harvest comes in to partake of entertainment packages custom made to hold their attention. They watch the spectacle... waiti...

Here's the thing.... I am sick of the Caner scandal and absolutely done with reading the likes of Peter Lumpkins and his band of inimical associates. I will continue to pray for Dr. Caner's repentance and leave it at that. I am no longer the slightest bit interested in anything but their repentance. (I include Lumpkins and his band of inimical associates and anyone else enjoying this sad state of affairs within God's church.) I am praying for the 'Dearborn Four' though in my opinion of that situation I am conflicted. I am OK with having conflicting thoughts and opinions, God knows every minute detail and the outcome is in His hands. It's His justice I pray for, if that matches the US Constitution, that's incidental. So, what else can I possible write about? About a million other things come to mind, but the chances of anyone reading this unless I tag the post with something scintillating like, Liberty University, Dr. Ergun Caner or Lumpkins I don't...