D0 Not Be Anxious About ~ politics

Memorial Day ~ when we’ve been attacked on our soil

Honoring the brave men and women in the American Armed Forces…and…

Whether the Corona Virus was designed to be a biological weapon and just got away from the Chinese Communist Party or not, in the aftermath they used it as if it were a weapon. They threatened the United States of America with the possibility of withholding our medicines which are manufactured in China.

This year, 2020, I honor those who have died in the line of duty in every branch of the US Armed Forces: The Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. I especially want to remember those sailors and medical personnel on the two Navy hospital ships. I want to remember the Army that built entire hospitals in a matter of weeks. Hopefully none of them died of Covid19, but if they did, they were there for us, as they always are and I honor their sacrifice.

I also honor those working round clock in hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities who lost their lives fighting Covid19. I honor those in meat and other processing plants who lost their lives, cashiers and stock clerks in supermarkets and drug stores, and other necessary markets. Yes, also dollar stores. Truck drivers and delivery personnel who lost their lives due to Covid19 so that the rest of us could continue living, though living was restricted. I think of them all as first responders, those on the front lines who perished. Maybe they are the New Minute Men/Women, resisting a deadly virus sent to our shores by a foreign power, an enemy. This year it’s been a different kind of Memorial Day for me.

Throwing Out My Rug Runners ~ the devil made me do it

The Chinese Wuhan Corona virus is a great motivator.

This was something I’d been “fixin” to do anyway. Fixin’ is southern. I moved from Brooklyn (NYC) three and a half years ago to live in Florida and I’ve picked up a few southern tid bits to add to my vocabulary.

A person can be fixin’ to do something, as in they’d get around to it sometime-or-other. If there’s energy in their tone, it means they’re gonna get right on it. My relationship with the rug runners fell into the first category. I keep multiple animals in my condo unit, and the rugs are there to catch things. Of course I constantly vacuum them. However they were beginning to annoy me. This is hair shedding season and they were catching too much cat hair…and sometimes cat throw up. Blech.

COVID19 became a true motivator, as we enter what is being called the “peak.” The issue is the rugs do catch things and hold them. I was concerned about going to Walmart, to my doctor’s office (I have an appointment and although it’s not an emergency, it’s one I must keep), etc., and coming back home with the virus on my shoes. Then my rug runners might catch and hold it. So, the rugs that were annoying me anyway had to go.

There is one rug at the entrance. I’m going to wash it, and also replace that one if I feel that’s needed. I’m making a shoe station there. I will take off shoes I’ve worn outside and leave them by the door until this is all over.

I’m a true Floridian now. I’m not living in fear. I do go out for necessities. I’ve visited two friends to help keep them and myself up and cheerful. Attitude is so important. I’m treating this like I would a Cat 5 Hurricane (only this is of much longer duration). I prepared three weeks ago building a food and household products supply. I forgot about toilet paper. It never occurred to me there would be a run on TP. Thankfully, I was able to get a 6-pack last week and a 4-pack this week. So, I have enough of everything now. I take washing hands and hand sanitizing very seriously, especially when I’m out and immediately when I get home. I try to stay 4-6 feet away from people when I’m out. I do talk people. I need that, and so do they. I have not been wearing a cotton mask, yet. I’ve heard it protects others more than oneself. However, I do believe it offers some self-protection, and if this gets much, much worse (and I pray it won’t) I will wear some type of face covering which I will change and wash frequently. And very important, I’m limiting how much news media I’m listening to. They stress the worst scenario, scare tactics to garner higher ratings.

When people from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut flee the virus and run to Florida, please do NOT treat my new and beloved state as carelessly as you’ve treated your own home. I lived in New York City for thirty-five years, so I do know what I’m talking about. Don’t throw your cigarette butts and trash on our sidewalks. If you see that you’ve come to a semi-tropical paradise and want to stay, at least for a while, don’t try to turn it into the place you just fled. Florida is a paradise because we don’t think like you. We don’t rush like you do. It took me about four months to slow down when I got here. There is culture shock. But I knew there was something special here, and I wanted it. I didn’t want to bring New York City with me. I liked that people were kind to each other down here, polite, and took time for each other. I loved that I never, ever heard the F-bomb uttered on the streets. We don’t use the F-bomb as five parts of speech in one sentence. I can still do that, I chose not to on purpose. We don’t think it’s cool. It’s truly slovenly.

So, I pray for America at this time of the COVID19 pandemic. I pray for the world. This plague is not of God. There is no disease or sickness in God. This is outside the shelter of His wings. So, pray, and seek the shelter of His might shadow in this pandemic storm. He loves you and will be there for you, if you seek Him.

Psalm 91 New American Standard Bible [NASB]

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in ^[e]trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

A Memorial Day Tribute ~ in photos

Thank you soldier.

A child’s love.

World War 2

Brother Warriors

A Woman’s Love

 

A woman’s touch

 

Heart

Celebration Church ~ 20th anniversary

The main entrance to Celebration Church’s Arena Location

 

Sunday I drove to my church, Celebration Church in Jacksonville. It has four locations in Jacksonville, one in Zimbabwe, and one in Paris. I attend at the arena in the Baymeadows area of Jacksonville. I was in a state of anticipation, as we will be celebrating the church’s  20th anniversary the entire month of November.

On the way to church, I prayed there would be not one pretzel stuffed with spinach and cheese left in the cafe. I got on line, with resolve to purchase only a large coffee. When I got up to the counter there was one spinach and cheese pretzel left. This is absolute proof that the old adage is true, the devil does indeed go to church. [LOL] I took a deep breath, prayed through and got the coffee. Whew!

What profoundly hit me in Senior Pastor Stovall Weems preaching Sunday was that the church was holy ground, but not just church property (which certainly is sacred space), but, the body of Christ, we are also holy ground. The Kingdom of God on earth is holy ground. I had a revelation in a new and profound way what “kingdom” meant in Biblical terminology, history, culture. I came away with a new understanding of how I am a citizen of the that holy kingdom right here on earth.

I had a deeply insightful revelation of myself as a child of the King. Now, even in the earthly realm, a king can have many children. Solomon did. Many kings of old did. My heavenly Father has billions of children and I am one of them. I’m a daughter of the King. I’m in His family. I am family to the King and this just tickles me and I’ve never felt that before. I have the right to sit at His table…and He’s got a big table. This became more real to me than it ever has before, and it was such an enriching, uplifting, and fun experience.

Pastor Stovall went through a list of things that are holy ground, that perhaps we don’t have enough reverence for. I can’t give you his exact list, but here is my list: communion, water baptism, Christian schools and colleges, Christian radio and TV stations, and yes, yes Christian homes.  My home and the homes of all saints are holy ground and to be treated as such. At the end of the service, Pastor Stovall blessed everyone’s home. This was particularly meaningful to me as I just moved into a new condo. When Pastor Stovall gave the blessing, I felt as if the King was in the sanctuary…His Holy Spirit was…and that my home was indeed blessed, thoroughly blessed.

Celebration Church

 

 

Trump’s First Reaction To Charlottesville ~ spot on as Alt-Right & Alt-Left make USA their battleground

President Donald J. Trump’s initial reaction and speech was spot on. What happened was the Alt-Right and the Alt-Left, both armed to the teeth, met in Charlottesville and rumbled over a local issue. AntiFa was there too, not just white supremacists. Both were armed and it’s still unclear which side started the violence. The police should’ve been the adults in the room, but appeared to stand down. When Trump spoke, he could not have had complete info. We still don’t know exactly what and why. We have yet to hear who the individuals were on the Alt-Right and Alt-left who planned and financed these groups that weekend.

The Alt-Right and Alt-Left have been battling for years and now they are tearing this country apart. Most Americans of all races, nationalities, ethnicities, and religions have political views that are not extreme, though half fall right of center and half fall left of center center. Time for the adults in the room to regain control of the political process.

The Insanity In Charlottesville, VA ~ LOVE is the only Christian response.

Violence and hate erupted in Charlottesville this weekend. This type of bigotry and viscous enmity is evil at its core. Christians must stand against this type ugliness wherever it appears. If it comes from the KKK, white supremacist and white nationalist groups, ISIS and radical Islamic terror, North Korea, Venezuela, the Castro regime and other despots, or students who don’t allow others to speak and destroy their own campuses. Christians must stand against all types of hate and violence. That said, we are called to love by the Master Himself. We are to love with the God type of love in all circumstances.

Matthew 5:45-47 [NASB] ~ ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

By all accounts, the white nationalists gathered Saturday in Charlottesville for a “Unite the Right” protest came filled with racial hate and were armed and ready to rumble. There is nothing good, or commendable in this. In fact, it ended horrifically with one death. Those who broke the law should be prosecuted according to their crime to the full extent of the law. Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. And yet, in every circumstance Christians must look to Jesus and point to Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 [NASB] ~ ¹⁵ See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

The type of love that can heal this situation and can heal our nation is the God kind of love. Christians must lead the way with love and by lifting Jesus up.

Matthew 11: 28-30 [NASB] ~ ²⁸ “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is ^]easy and My burden is light.”

Galatians 3:28 [NASB] ~ ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.