rambling rosemarie

I am always amazed by how little attention most people pay to words, especially the words they use. Words have meaning; they are the symbols or maps we use to communicate. While the map is not the territory, it's crucial that the map accurately reflect the territory it represents. Perhaps I care about this because of my personal experiences with words used carelessly and inaccurately. When you've been a liar and know the treachery of the lies you've told and when you've been on the receiving end of lies, white or Technicolor, you know their ability to gut you. If you've been on the receiving end of a rebuke, one that's hit the truth of your lie on the head and exposed your guilt, it brings with it the sort of shame you can only do one of three things with; repent, attack the one who has exposed you, or retreat like a coward and never deal with the issue in the light. I have spent the last couple of hours listening and reading through thoughts and opinions abo...

The best way to have to deal with something in your life is to tell people who love you, I mean really love you what that secret something you're dealing with might be. If you blog about being afraid to trust God and if you tell your pastor you're in a bit of a snit over the circumstances in your life, you can pretty much be guaranteed that you will have to face things that you would rather not and do it a whole lot sooner than you figured you were going to have to anyway. Confession is a catalyst for stuff to happen, good stuff and the not so good stuff. One of the first thing that happened was my heat went out. Did I face that problem by remembering God's goodness and provision? Sigh. No. I added it to the lengthening list of things that I am unhappy about. Neck injury, poor health, no job, no money being paid by the disability insurance, car needs maintenance, can't afford Christmas and now with the temperature is dropping my central heat is making sounds that resem...

Wit: I have said it before, I love that my pastor reads my blog. That he cares enough to read, encourage and hold me accountable is testimony to the type of godly man that he is. That he sent me this link to read tells me he is brilliant, witty and knows me too well. (HT Bill Haynes ) White: My friend and brother, James White, is going to be debating Bart Erhman on the topic, "Does the Bible Misquote Jesus?" I urge you to check out the information here on his website. If you can make it, I think you will be blessed. I plan on attending, Lord willing. You can listen to the Dividing Line podcasts to get an idea of what you would be hearing. You can find them here and here . You will also find a treasure trove of resources, books and videos on the website. It is well worth your time to peruse. Women: I have listened to three teachings given by Alistair Begg on the topic of "The Place and Posture of Christian Woman. It is in three parts and very much wort...

My great grandmother had some unique expressions. When the gaggle of kids that made up her great grandchildren would run barefoot through her tiny home and yard you could hear her in exasperation yelling at us to put our shoes. She didn't use our names preferring to describe us a bunch of "heathens" or "yahoos." The latter of which she pronounced with a long a sound. If she caught you doing something silly she would say, "If they put your brain in a hummingbird it would fly backwards!" Of course we would giggle and tell her, "But Grandma, they do fly backwards!" One of the things she said most often when we were naughty, "You're going to hell in a hand basket!" I still don't know what a hand basket is precisely but I do know, praise God, I am not headed to hell. Not that I don't deserve to go there directly, I do. God in His mercy has seen fit to spare me. I can't tell you why. It's not about me, that...

This Dividing Line is something you should listen to. It is something you should think about. It is something you should be in prayer over. If you read this post of mine- in the Dividing Line, James White takes a more in depth look at the house of cards we have built in the US by allowing feelings and minority agendas to drive legislation based on perceived rights.

James White addressed the heresy of black theology and Jeremiah Wright on today's Dividing Line . James, ever the scholar, bought the books that Wright was touting and read them. He takes the audience step by step through the book and exposes the heresy and racism for what it is. It is well worth the listen. Obama can distance himself from Wright all he wants to, he still sat in the church and listened to this for twenty years. It is no more moral to perpetuate hostility between races than slavery was. Christianity cannot be reconciled with racism.

The final day of debate between James White and Steve Gregg was the most beneficial day of the five. The two men posed and answered questions in a controlled manner allowing the listeners to hear and absorb more information. I was relieved. There are a lot of comments regarding the debate on the web- sadly some are downright nasty. Normally I provide links or citations to allow my readers to see for themselves, but at this point I find no benefit in reproducing or highlighting something that troubles me so greatly. In fact, most of the comments have been cut and pasted to me and I haven't bothered following or searching for the links to the authors. It wouldn't be productive to my post and my objective here. What is my objective? I want to encourage believers to learn how to make evaluations and assessments of positions or arguments while exercising control of their sinful desire to attack people personally. You may well ask what lends me credibility in this area. It is ...

We had two beautiful days of spring here. The redbud is in bloom, my patio peach tree is awash with deep coral colored blooms. My clematis is springing to life. There are daffodils and tulips blooming. Spring and fall are my favorite times of year here. The colors of the foliage are spectacular. Soon I hope to take a drive through the Smokey Mountains. They are simply stunning. Yesterday I ran errands, enjoyed the scenery and purchased some plants for my garden. Today is overcast and we are likely to get some rain. As soon as I got up I got dressed in my gardening clothes, grabbed my tools and headed outside. I had some lovely and huge terracotta pots on my deck that had lavender growing in them. I managed to keep the lavender alive but the pots did not fare well over the winter. If the plants have any hope of survival they need to be in the soil before the terracotta crumbles away. I took my shovel out in the yard and dug two massive holes, one on each side of the rose bush...

Dr. James White at his best. Be encouraged to live radically- as God has intended.