{For Nina}

A mighty woman of God and friend went to be with Jesus today.  She is not dead, only gone.  She did not loose her battle with cancer...she overcame with everlasting life.  She wears the crown of victory today! She was an awesome example of how we should live each day in worship to the Lord.  She not only spoke the words, she lived them.  She was someone that lived in the Spirit and shared the friut.  Well done good and faithful servant.  Well done Kendrick family.  May God be glorified.  Peace and Grace be with you. 

What Does Your Fruit Look Like?

"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

LOVE...benevolence, affection, charity

JOY...gladness, rejoice, happy

PEACE...harmony & security

LONG-SUFFERING...patience, endurance, steadfastness

GENTLENESS...integrity & benignity

GOODNESS...uprightness of heart & life

FAITH...conviction of truth, fidelity, trust

MEEKNESS...mildness & humility

TEMPERANCE...self-control & moderation

These are the fruit of the Spirit {Galatians 5:22-23} in the King James with definitions from the Greek. These are the things that the Spirit enables us to be if we walk with him on a day to day basis. If we try to be theses things on our own we will eventually fail or give up. We must ask for the Spirit to enable us. We are given the seeds of these fruit and we must water them in the Spirit to make them grow and bear even more fruit. With an abundance of fruit, not only do you have enough for yourself, you have enough to give away.

Running On Empty

Been thinking a little more on what drives us to seek pleasure. As I said before pleasure in and of itself is not wrong unless it is outside the principles and truth of God. Otherwise God is a God of pleasure. He meant for our lives here on this planet to be enjoyable. So why is it that so many people are unhappy? A Christian would say "Well it is because you don't have the Lord in your life." But when I look around I seem to see just as many Christians "Holding out for heaven. " and completely miserable. Is this our testimony? Is this the joy and contentment of a life in Christ?

One of the most difficult things I have found raising my 6 and 3 year old is teaching them how to be content. In this day and age with the constant barrage of consumerism it has proven to be challenge. Not only that but also the non stop stimulation. Television, computers, cell phones, portable DVD players in the car, video games, portable video games, ballet practice, girl scouts, PTA meetings, field trips, potlucks, karate practice, swim team, gymnastics...aaahhh!!! It's no wonder that kids don't know how to sit still anymore! Or just sit and play with blocks or something simple.

Father Knows Best

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Are You Happy?

Instant Gradification Gradifies Only for an Instant

Building on what we discussed in the last couple of posts about desire and lust. How do we know the difference between righteous desire and violent desire{lust, coveting}? I think we first need to define the difference between desire and need. Need is something that is a necessity or requirement. What is it that man absolutely needs for survival? We often hear of hikers lost in the woods or mountain climbers losing their way in a blizzard. So if you were one of these people what would you do? Find food, water and shelter; right? Really with those three things man can last for quite some time. On the other hand desire is a wishing or longing for something beyond necessity. These are the things that we often define as pleasures. Pleasures are things that we don't need to survive but are also things that can enhance or make life more rich.

You Are Worth More Than You Think {my photography}

Some of my photography...

More photography...click the "my photography" label below.

Lust in Action

Who Told You You Were Naked?

What was one of the things that the devil gained from Adam and Eve in the garden? Why was it that the devil had to mess with Adam and Eve? Think of your quintessential action movie for a moment.

Good guy has something that the bad guy wants.
Bad guy can't get to the good guy to get it.
But bad guy can get to the good guy's kid.
Bad guy takes good guy's kid hostage for ransom.
Bad guy slanders good guy to the kid.
Good guy's kid begins to question whether his dad is a good guy.
Kid thinks if his dad is in fact bad, he must be bad too.
Good guy saves his kid from bad guy.
Bad guy doesn't get the ransom.
But bad guy still wins. Why?
Because for the rest of the kids life he wonders if what the bad guy said was true.
The good guys relationship with his son has been destroyed.

The Emperor's {and Queen's} New Clothes

Many, many years ago there was a king and queen who were exceedingly rich and wise. They lived in the most beautiful kingdom of Edemshire. They had everything they could ever want and were totally content.

One particular thing the king and queen of Edemshire were known for were their glorious clothes. People from all over the kingdom would come to banquets and parties just to see what the master tailor had created for them. Their style set the stage for the kingdom. Everyone wanted to dress as gloriously as they did.

One day a swindler came to the kingdom posing as a tailor. Upon entering Edemshire he demand that the guard at the gate take him to see the king and queen. He told the guard that his name was Planos. He went on to say that he was a master tailor from a far off kingdom and that he had been summoned by the king and queen. The guard obliged. He thought the new tailor must have been summoned for the upcoming Jubilee.

Planos was taken directly to the king and queen. They were both very excited to meet this new tailor. Planos declared to them that he could make clothes even more magnificent then they had ever seen. Not only would the colors and patterns be splendid, but the clothes would have a special power. Planos the swindler tailor went on to explain that the clothes that he would make would be invisible to anyone that was stupid or unwise. The king and queen had never heard of anything like it. They were sold! Their curiosity got the better of them. So the king and queen gave Planos a large some of gold to get started on the new invisible clothes.

Longing For The Spirit

Heart and Flesh Cry Out

Total Recall of Sinful Nature

As I was browsing the web on the question of mans sinful nature I was delighted to find one particular post. It was from "Better Bibles Blog" regarding the gross mistranslation of the Greek word sarx. The Greek word sarx should be translated as flesh and is in most bibles. In the ever popular NIV ,TNIV and NLT however there has been a long dispute among bible scholars of their mistranslation of the word. NIV, TNIV and NLT translate the Greek word sarx as sinful nature in certain verses and body or flesh in other verses. All the while it is the same Greek word sarx. Not only is this a mistranslation it is doctrinally misleading and wrong. But there may be hope in the matter. The NIV is coming out with a new version of the NIV next year. The word on the street is that the term sinful nature will be removed and replaced with the word flesh. To read more on this click here.

Now why is this such a big deal? Because the verses take on a whole new meaning when they are translated correctly.

Get Up And Walk!

Building off the last few posts I think it is safe to say that man does not have a "sinful nature". Man is not intrinsically evil. Man was created in the image of God for good purpose. The notion that God created someone in His image to be evil means that God is evil. God is not evil, He is good. Man has chosen against his Creator to sin. It is the devil that is evil and desires to destroy us. We sometimes get talked into that destruction via the devil's deception and our choice to sin.

Stop Killing Yourself

Your Heart Has Reins...Use Them!

I would like to think I am more a "glass half full" kind of gal. I tend to always give people the benefit of the doubt. Since I was a little girl I have longed to help people. Maybe all the time I spent in the refugee camps of Asia aided in that desire. If anything it gave me a keen sense of the suffering and injustice man has caused in this world.

Isn't it interesting than man though the ages has always had cause for justice and fighting the lack there of. A longing to be treated the way he deserves. To have rights to certain things and have freedom from others. This fight is unique to mankind. You don't see the family of the murdered antelope taking the lion that killed him to a court of justice. So what is it in mankind that rejoices at justice and sympathizes with injustice? It is because man above all other things in this creation has value. Mankind is the crown of God's creation. Man was created in the image of God, little lower than the angels. He was crated with a will, an intellect and with emotions. Animals do not have these to the capacity that man does if at all. Animals have instinct; man has a conscience. A notion of the difference between good and bad, just and unjust.

For the most part people think they are good people. More often than not you will hear the same words spoken at a funeral. "He was such a good man." "She really led a good life." In fact one of the most common responses man has in the face of suffering is "Why is this happening to me? I know that I am a good person." So if most non-Christians hold this believe why is it that we as Christians get so caught up in the all consuming wickedness of man's heart? The mantra for Christians such as these seems to be found in Jeremiah.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it?" Jer. 17:9 KJV

Let's break this verse down into the original Hebrew. Using only the Hebrew words it looks like this "deceitful the heart all desperately who understands?" Well we did away with the word wicked pretty quickly didn't we. The word wicked is not there in the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for desperately is anash meaning weak or sick. The Hebrew word for deceitful is aqob meaning crooked or polluted. It is from the root word aqab meaning take by the heel or tracked with footprints. People...who is the one that bruises the heel? Genesis 3:15 says the devil will strike at the heel but the seed of the woman {Jesus} will crush his head. The heart of man is sick and has been invaded by the footprints of the enemy. Wicked & deceitful is not the way God created you. Let's read on to the next verse.

"I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 17:10

God know that the relentless attack of the enemy on the heart of man has caused deception. So we are to not only judge by the heart but by the reins as well. What are reins? Think in terms of a horse and rider. The reins are a means of restraint and guidance. The reins control which direction the horse is to go. In the same way man has reins to control his heart. I believe that is exactly what God is saying in these verses. The heart is easily deceived so keep it in check with the reins. He goes on to say that you will be held responsible for your deeds and whether you allowed your heart to be deceived or not. Here are some other verses that link the heart with the reins. Ps 7:9, Ps 16:7, Jer 11:20, Jer 20:12, Rev 2:23. A couple more with just reins Ps 16:7, Is 11:5. Be sure to look in the King James Version. The NIV and others have the Hebrew word kilyah (reins) mistranslated as heart, mind etc. How do we know this? Because the Hebrew word kilyah also means kidneys. Confused? Allow me to explain.

If you look at the blood sacrifices in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy you will see that the kidneys are specifically mentioned. The kidneys were the last or most inward part of the animal to be seen when preparing it for sacrifice. This is where we get "my inner most parts" in Psalm 139:13. The kidneys were also covered in fat making them most hidden. Because of this the ancient Hebrews believed that the kidneys were the seat of emotion.

What comes to mind when I say emotions? Feelings...happy, sad, love, hate, excitement, fear. Now also think of moral emotions or virtues. The cardinal virtues are known as prudence {discretion}, temperance {self-control}, fortitude {strength/courage} and finally justice. These put simply in the Bible are faith, hope and love. So it could be said the virtue is the control of your emotions. These are the reins to your heart.

What is interesting then is that the kidneys were specifically burned in the alter as sacrifice to God. A kind of "not my will but thy will be done" of the old testament. What it also tells us is that God built something into us to help guide our emotions. A sort of moral compass if you will. Kind of the benefit of the doubt I was talking about earlier. Now not to say there are not people who are deceived. Yes there are. But the key is exactly that...they are deceived not born wicked. Deception is a twisting of something away from the truth. So it is with the heart of man. But also note the deception is from the devil not from man himself.

If anything I hope this is an encouragement to you. To see that God did create man good. You don't have to be a slave to your emotions. He created you fool proof. He created you and everyone else to be free. God knew of the schemes of the devil when He created you. That is why He created us in a way to be able to resist! Just as we teach children how to be aware of their emotions we can do the same. Your choice along with the will of God is powerful. But you have to believe it first. The longer that we tell ourselves that we are just desperately wicked sinners the longer we stay broken and lost. Usually it leads to more sin! People who believe they are just sinners live as just sinners. People that believe they can be or are free by the power of God move in a much healthier direction.

Look guys the message of the gospel should never be "You horrible, worthless, wicked thing!" Many have fled from the church having been under that constant ridicule. If we few the lost this way we devalue who God created them to be. Thinking that people were desperately wicked was the attitude that spurred burning people at the stake in the middle ages. That was the mantra of the crusades and other holy wars "Kill the wretched wicked!" That is not the heart of God. I bet you the man on the street corner with the poster reading "ALL WICKED SINNERS DESERVE TO BURN IN HELL. REPENT OR DIE." has never brought anyone to Christ. If he has it was out of fear on behalf of the "sinner" and that is not God.

The lost are deceived and misguided. They are hurting people that need compassion and freedom from injustice. Young people that have been called worthless and rejected their whole lives. They don't need to hear that they are wicked or that there is no hope for them. We need to be building them up and putting them on the right track. Yes, we all have sinned. But the sin is gone before we even finish saying "God forgive me." We are the ones that choose to continue to carry it around. This will only prolong healing. When you sin repent quickly and move on.

God called us to shepherd the lost. Not to wait and see if they have a change of heart. We need to seek them out and show them before it is too late. Many proclaim that God must move on the heart of man before he can change. But God says that we Christians will be held responsible for how his flock was treated. Not the church the lost. I'd say we better be putting our pious sinner pity party to an end and start looking for some sheep.

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not the shepherds take care of the flock?...You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally...they were scattered and became food for wild animals...no one searched or looked for them. Therefore I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock." Ezekiel 34:2-10

Who Stole Your Identity? {Part Two}

Continued from part one...click here.

How come God allowed this crushing blow of the enemy? How come He didn't step in and save them? How come He didn't work His Spirit into them? Because He didn't want to override the choice that they had made. Notice the cry of the prophets in the old testament. It was always in the form of a warning. A warning telling the people to cry out and turn back before they are crushed by the enemy. Unfortunately the ravishing and deception had taken it's toll and they choose not to turn back. They kept sinning and self destructing. This led to the crushing blow and devastation of the enemy. Bondage ensued.

The Israelites were in Egypt nearly 350 years before they cried out to God for deliverance. They were in Babylon 70 years. Listen to the warning of Hosea prior to the exile in Babylon.

"I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me. They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds." Hosea 7:13-14

Even after God had responded to the cries from Egypt they were so broken they didn't believe it.

"Moses reported this [deliverance] to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage." Exodus 6:9

They had completely lost their identity. I can hear people saying "Nope. This is just who I am. This is my life now. I guess this was meant to be. I'm just a sinner." Lie from the pit of hell! God created you with loving intention and good purpose from His image. If you choose to cry out God He will be faithful to bring you back to that good purpose. But we like the Israelites trade this truth for a lie.

"But they will reply 'there is no hope': but we will walk after our own devices, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart." Jeremiah 18:12

See how the crown of God's creation now in fact thought they were evil. The oppression had totally robbed their identity. Again the Hebrew word for evil is 'ra; which simply means bad or dysfunctional as was discussed in the prior post. The Hebrew word for imagination in this verse is sheriruth meaning stubborn. It is from the root word sharar in the sense of twisted. This Hebrew word is also sometimes translated as the word lust. See it is a twisting of reality, a lie. Their heart is not evil just as lust is not love.

But the choice of the people usually swayed the response from God to the situation. When they did not choose to repent he would hand them over to the enemy.

"So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices." Psalm 81:12

But at the same time God would always leave the door of hope open. He always gave the option to return to Him and the identity that He had created.

"...remove all it's vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 11:18b-19

So what was to become of this virgin who had been ravished and deceived? This people who had lost their identity. This people who were broken and in bondage. This people that were now giving themselves to prostitution. They repented and turned back to God. God forgave them and comforted them. That was the first step to a process of healing. In the next step God called to rebuild the foundation and walls, rebuild the temple, rebuild the intimacy. In the book of Nehemiah they rebuild the wall. In Ezra they rebuild the temple. Isaiah calls for all those things.

"Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and raise the age old foundations." Isaiah 58:12

Countless times in the old testament God calls people to "Be holy, for I am Holy", "Seek righteousness", "Follow my laws, decrees and celebrations." Other times He says "Choose this day whom you will serve." or "Choose life." In this process of healing God comforts, gives hope and teaches righteousness. Moreover He takes this broken, blemished prostitute and make her clean and married.

"No longer will they call you deserted or name your land desolate...for the Lord will delight in you, and your land will be married." Hosea 2:15

"In that day you will call me 'my husband' you will no longer call me 'my master'...I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion." Hosea 2:18-19

Remember that it takes a long time to recover from abuse. It takes the support of God and others. It takes a daily renewing of the mind, heart and spirit. The Israelites were in the wilderness 40 years trying to work through the damage bondage in Egypt had caused. They were no longer in Egypt but still had the oppressed identity that had formed there. Heck some of them even wanted to go back. They didn't know how to live free of bondage. Like a battered wife returning to her husband. Like Stockholm Syndrome where the person taken hostage falls in love with the captor. Their vessel was shattered. That vessel had to be rebuilt before God could fill it. This is why the time in the desert learning the law and sacrifice was so intense. They were on house arrest and in rehabilitation all at the same time.

The point to remember is that no one is a lost cause. God did not ask them to do anything He didn't think they could achieve. Why? Because God is a loving God. Now I am not saying that anyone could perfect the law. No man could do that. But when God was telling them "Be holy for I am Holy" He meant it. But how could He have such high expectations for man? Because man was created in the holy image of God. He gave man an image of His mind, of His heart and of His spirit. He created man out of love with good intention and for good purpose. So when he called man to be holy what He was really saying was "Be who I created you to be!"

What I hope you take from these last couple of blogs is a new sense of identity. God took special care in creating you. You are not a mistake. You are not wicked or evil. You are not beyond repair. Yes we all make mistakes but no one needs to be in bondage. Don't take on the dysfunctional identity of sin and the devil. Don't believe the lies that he tells you. Repent and be comforted by God. Then start on the road to healing. There is hope! You can't be worse than the Israelites with houses full of idols, the temple of God defiled with worship to other gods. Sacrificing their children to Molech and then having orgies with the temple prostitutes in the sacricifial blood. And if you are in fact that mixed up there is still hope for you because there was hope for the Israelites.

We are even better off than the Israelites! We have the benefit of Jesus and the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There was neither of these things in the old testament. They had to sacrifice and follow the law only by command of the Lord and their own volition. It was this way until the time Jesus came. Jesus came as the atoning sacrifice for all mankind. He came to bind up the broken hearted and to set the captives in bondage free. The Holy Spirit was sent to comfort, give grace and power. To give us supernatural power to overcome the schemes of the enemy and resist temptation to sin.

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak though the flesh, God did by sending His son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. And so condemned sin in the flesh." Romans 8:3

Now we have a vessel that has not only been repaired but made new. We have a vessel that can be permanently filled and fortified with the Holy Spirit. This doesn't make us impervious to temptation. But it should give you a new start. A new identity. You are a new creature created in the image of God, washed clean in the blood of Jesus and fortified by the Spirit. Stay on track to renew your mind, heart, and spirit. Seek the will of God, seek righteousness and be free. This is your starting point. Everything doesn't happen instantaneously it's a process. But I will tell you you will NEVER be free from bondage if you keep the identity of a sinner. You must start with the foundation of freedom. Don't settle for anything less. Don't believe the lie that "this is just who I am and that's that." I believe that when Jesus said He was the way, the truth and the life that it was two fold. Like this...

WAY- 1}the way we should follow here on earth; Jesus. 2}the way to the Father in heaven.

TRUTH- 1} the truth of who God is. 2} the truth of who you were created to be.

LIFE- 1}victory on earth over sin. 2}victory over death; that is eternal life.

Use this as your guide. Be patient and press on toward the goal of fullness and intimacy with Christ. I will be spending some more time on this subject in regards to what the new testament says. Specifically exploring the concept of the flesh and the Spirit. Also discussing some of my own bondage and how I got through it. So stay posted.

Who Stole Your Identity? {Part One}

One of the first verses I remember learning as a little girl was in the book of Psalms. I remember the day in school, probably about 1st grade, that we we told to draw a self portrait. Once we completed that picture we were to write this.

"For you formed my inward parts; you covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, my soul knows full well."
Psalm 139:13-14

That verse along with knowing that when God created man He said he was "very good" gave me a great understanding of the character of God. Even though I was only about 6 years old these verses told me that God loved me and knew me. That I was special, unique and created in His image. As I got older I learn about sin and the enemy. How the devil seeks to destroy what God has created. How he tempts you to take you off the path of relationship with God. So like any good parents do I was taught to make good choices. Choices that would keep me in the good and prosperous plan that God had for me. Choices that steered clear of the lies and deception of the enemy. My parents taught me that we were born into battle between God and the devil. That we were created as a vessel that was to be filled with God. When we don't the devil will chip away at your vessel till it breaks.

"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you don't do well sin is crouching at the door; and it's desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:6

This gave me a real sense of responsibility. It gave me an understanding that my choices on a day to day basis had an effect in the spirit realm. My choices would either glorify God or give way to the temptation of the devil. Remember in the garden we didn't just sin. We were tempted and deceived by the devil to sin. If the serpent wasn't there would we still have disobeyed? I don't think so. But God knowing the will and the character of the devil set boundaries to protect us. I learned to do the same in my own life.

"Do not remove the ancient boundary with your forefathers have set." Proverbs 22:28

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." Deuteronomy 6:4-6

I also learned to quickly repent when I had made a mistake. To take responsibility for my choice and get back on the right path. There was no "the devil made me do it" or "that was just my sinful nature acting up" in our house! If I ever said anything like that my dad would sit me down and say "No, Cherie that is not who you are or who you were created to be. You are a child of God in His image so act like it!" He would go on to say "Don't glorify the devil to say he has that much power over you. 'Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world' anything other than that is a lie from the pit of hell!" Ahhhh...I can hear those words as if it were yesterday, not 30 years ago. Maybe it is because I am now using those same word with my 6 year old daughter. A strong foundation is not easily broken. Boy was I glad about that. Years later the rebellion of the teenager began to brew. The foundation my parents had instilled in me was to be a saving grace.

What is sin? The Hebrew word for sin means to wander from the way. In other words you believe the lie of the enemy and turn from God. When we repent, we acknowledge the above and take responsibility then turn to God. The Hebrew word for repent means regret. It also means comfort...to comfort oneself or God's comfort. Now if you do not repent for a sin right away and just heap sin upon sin something different happens. The desire that you had to repent lessens. You sink deeper into the lies and deception of the enemy. You begin to forget who God created you to be and you still refuse to be comforted. Now you have wandered so far from the right path you have lost your identity all together. Not only is your vessel empty of God it is smashed by the bondage of the devil. You are lost, broken and in total despair.

Now a few things to point out here. Bondage and oppression is brought on by the relentless chipping away of the enemy. It is solidified by the choice of the person not to turn around. What often times happens is that the oppressed take on the identity of the oppressor. The person is not only in bondage the are putting others in bondage as well. Let's look at the old testament for examples of this.

Here you have a group of somewhat righteous people that God often refers to as virgin Israel. So God warns virgin Israel not to be deceived by foreign gods {the devil} but to keep their eyes on their first love God. But virgin Israel was deceived and forgot their fist love. The begin to act as an adulteress and their hearts deteriorate to that of a prostitute. See the progression?

"It {wisdom} will save you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with all her words which flatter, who has left the partner of her youth." Proverbs 2:16

"Why will my son be ravished by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of a foreign woman?" Proverbs 5:20

"They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosom caressed." Ezekiel 23:3

The Hebrew word for virgin when referring to Israel means pure, unblemished. Another interesting note. The English words ravish, rape and rob come from the same root word meaning to carry off. Rapture is in the same family. In french rape' means the refuse of grapes after the extraction of the juice in wine making. The oppressive rule of the Egyptians in the bible is described with the Hebrew word radah. This word means to tread as in a wine press. Can you tell I love word etymology? Really though where am I going with all this?

God created man good and in His image. It was a combination of the ravishing of the devil and personal choice to lead him away from God. The relentless attack of the enemy can lead a sinful person into bondage. The point being no one started out that way. No one is born a prostitute. Prostitutes or porn stars are usually people that have been abused, lost their identity and lead a broken life. The same was true of the Israelites when they turned from God. This grieved the heart of God to see the crown of his creation, man, to act so wickedly. Meaning they were not functioning in the way they were created; for good purpose and relationship with God.

In the Hebrew there really is no word for wicked or evil. Anytime you see either one of those words in the bible they are a translation of the Hebrew word 'ra. 'Ra simply means bad. It is my understanding that the ancient Hebrews didn't think in terms of good and evil but more along the lines of functional and dysfunctional. Good is functioning properly; how you were created. What does dysfunctional mean? Impaired or abnormal function. Can you see the difference? Sin and bondage to sin is not because you are evil. It is because you are broken. This breaks the heart of God who crated you whole.

"Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing. For my virgin daughter-my people-have suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow." Jeremiah 14:17

Click here for Part Two of this blog.

Finding Nemo