Happiness Is a By-Product

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) wrote this short but insightful line about how we achieve happiness.

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.”

Happiness Is a By-Product

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) wrote this short but insightful line about how we achieve happiness.

“Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.”

What to Aim For

Logan Pearsall Smith (1865 - 1946) wrote the following about the order in which we should set our goals. 

“There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.”

What to Aim For

Logan Pearsall Smith (1865 - 1946) wrote the following about the order in which we should set our goals. 

“There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.”

Songs in the Morning

We had an emotional morning today as we discussed our family, church, and home. After talking together, I had this song singing in my mind as I fixed Trevvor's lunch and long after he departed for work, so I thought I'd share it with all of you.

The Lord knows we want a baby to raise up in the nurture and admonition of Him. He knows we're searching for a church where we can serve Him. He knows we want a home of our own before too long.  He knows we desire an income which doesn't take Trevvor away from his family every day, all day.  He knows our hearts desires.

But while we are waiting, He has us in His arms.

Songs in the Morning

We had an emotional morning today as we discussed our family, church, and home. After talking together, I had this song singing in my mind as I fixed Trevvor's lunch and long after he departed for work, so I thought I'd share it with all of you.

The Lord knows we want a baby to raise up in the nurture and admonition of Him. He knows we're searching for a church where we can serve Him. He knows we want a home of our own before too long.  He knows we desire an income which doesn't take Trevvor away from his family every day, all day.  He knows our hearts desires.

But while we are waiting, He has us in His arms.

"The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween"

By Doug Phillips

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)

Our country is in the grip of a fear crisis. The tension because of this fear is almost palpable. There is fear over elections, fear over the economy, and fear over hundreds of other issues ranging from the environment to terrorism.



The one fear that America is missing is a fear of the Lord. As a people, we no longer fear God. Because we do not fear God, we no longer hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).



Instead of hating evil, Americans toy with it. We toy with holidays like Halloween that were conceived in evil and that promote the “cute-ification” of evil, whether that evil takes the form of witchcraft, sorcery, ghoulishness, or some other form of malevolent imagery paraded before our children. We laugh at the very things that the Lord describes as “abominations,” and we find ourselves obsessively fascinated by, and attracted to, all things dark.



Yet we do not fear the Lord.



Those who “hate evil” are very scary to a secular society that fears man more than God. They are scary because they dare to declare that there are absolute standards by which society must be governed. They are scary because, if they are successful, industries like Hollywood that make billions of dollars by promoting ungodly fear will lose their influence. They are scary because such people will not be swayed by political candidates who use fear as a tool for manipulation.



With this in mind, I offer you the five “scariest” things you can do this Halloween:

1. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not make light of evil. Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6).


2. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not be fearful. The media wants you to be afraid of everything from overpopulation to global warming. The politicians want you to be afraid of the economy and political instability. God wants you to do what is morally right, trust Him completely, and never be gripped by an ungodly spirit of fear. You can place your trust and hope for this nation in the King of Kings. Jesus said: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5). Believe this, and you will be light to the world.


3. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to completely skip Halloween and remember Reformation Day. It was 493 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his world-changing 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These theses included rebukes to ungodly fear and superstition. 501 years ago, sometime near October 31, a baby named John Calvin was conceived who would dedicate his life to eradicating an ungodly fear of superstitious beliefs and proclaiming the gospel of grace. His emphasis on reformation, revival, and the sufficiency of Scripture had such far-reaching implications for nations like the United States that he has been described by Christian and secular scholars alike as the true founding father of America. The Reformers did something that was very scary to the world of their day. They stood against all forms of dark superstitions which grip the minds and souls of men. It was their emphasis on the fear of the Lord and the wisdom of Holy Scripture that was used by God to liberate untold numbers of men and women. But to remember the Reformers instead of Halloween is very scary to the world. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).


4. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to refuse to watch or allow your children to watch any of the toxic Halloween and horror films emerging from Hollywood. America’s fascination with ungodly fear has made horror the most popular and fastest-growing film genre amoung youth. When parents allow their children to toy with this genre, they promote ungodly fear, and they contribute to the fear-factories in Hollywood that prey upon the youth of our culture. Say “no” to Hollywood horror and you will be dangerously scary to the media elite. “Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence....?” (Jeremiah 5:22).


5. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to get on your knees as a mother and father and pray that the Lord will send you many, children who will fear God, not man — children who will especially shun the glorification of witchcraft, the bondage of ungodly fear, and the “cute-ification” of evil that is promoted through holidays like Halloween. Cultures that toy with evil end up being cultures of death. The Christian response is to be a people of life. That means babies. It means fearing God by honoring His command to “be fruitful and multiply.” It means remembering that the Scripture describes children as a “blessing” and a “reward.” Raise children that fear God more than man, and that will be answer enough to our Halloween- and darkness-obsessed culture; for if you trust God over your womb and commit your children to a holy education, you will be very scary to the modern world. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11).

Note:  I'm sure most of you saw this when he sent the email out last week, but for those of you who hadn't, I figured it was good enough to repost.

"The Five Scariest Things You Can Do This Halloween"

By Doug Phillips

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)

Our country is in the grip of a fear crisis. The tension because of this fear is almost palpable. There is fear over elections, fear over the economy, and fear over hundreds of other issues ranging from the environment to terrorism.



The one fear that America is missing is a fear of the Lord. As a people, we no longer fear God. Because we do not fear God, we no longer hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).



Instead of hating evil, Americans toy with it. We toy with holidays like Halloween that were conceived in evil and that promote the “cute-ification” of evil, whether that evil takes the form of witchcraft, sorcery, ghoulishness, or some other form of malevolent imagery paraded before our children. We laugh at the very things that the Lord describes as “abominations,” and we find ourselves obsessively fascinated by, and attracted to, all things dark.



Yet we do not fear the Lord.



Those who “hate evil” are very scary to a secular society that fears man more than God. They are scary because they dare to declare that there are absolute standards by which society must be governed. They are scary because, if they are successful, industries like Hollywood that make billions of dollars by promoting ungodly fear will lose their influence. They are scary because such people will not be swayed by political candidates who use fear as a tool for manipulation.



With this in mind, I offer you the five “scariest” things you can do this Halloween:

1. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not make light of evil. Halloween was conceived in evil and has remained a celebration that uses children to promote a fascination with darkness and superstitious fear. Simultaneously, it makes light of things that the Bible describes as evil. Stand against such things, and the world will find you very scary indeed. The fear of the Lord makes men turn from evil (Proverbs 16:6).


2. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to not be fearful. The media wants you to be afraid of everything from overpopulation to global warming. The politicians want you to be afraid of the economy and political instability. God wants you to do what is morally right, trust Him completely, and never be gripped by an ungodly spirit of fear. You can place your trust and hope for this nation in the King of Kings. Jesus said: “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him” (Luke 12:4-5). Believe this, and you will be light to the world.


3. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to completely skip Halloween and remember Reformation Day. It was 493 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his world-changing 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. These theses included rebukes to ungodly fear and superstition. 501 years ago, sometime near October 31, a baby named John Calvin was conceived who would dedicate his life to eradicating an ungodly fear of superstitious beliefs and proclaiming the gospel of grace. His emphasis on reformation, revival, and the sufficiency of Scripture had such far-reaching implications for nations like the United States that he has been described by Christian and secular scholars alike as the true founding father of America. The Reformers did something that was very scary to the world of their day. They stood against all forms of dark superstitions which grip the minds and souls of men. It was their emphasis on the fear of the Lord and the wisdom of Holy Scripture that was used by God to liberate untold numbers of men and women. But to remember the Reformers instead of Halloween is very scary to the world. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).


4. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to refuse to watch or allow your children to watch any of the toxic Halloween and horror films emerging from Hollywood. America’s fascination with ungodly fear has made horror the most popular and fastest-growing film genre amoung youth. When parents allow their children to toy with this genre, they promote ungodly fear, and they contribute to the fear-factories in Hollywood that prey upon the youth of our culture. Say “no” to Hollywood horror and you will be dangerously scary to the media elite. “Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence....?” (Jeremiah 5:22).


5. The scariest thing you can do this Halloween is to get on your knees as a mother and father and pray that the Lord will send you many, children who will fear God, not man — children who will especially shun the glorification of witchcraft, the bondage of ungodly fear, and the “cute-ification” of evil that is promoted through holidays like Halloween. Cultures that toy with evil end up being cultures of death. The Christian response is to be a people of life. That means babies. It means fearing God by honoring His command to “be fruitful and multiply.” It means remembering that the Scripture describes children as a “blessing” and a “reward.” Raise children that fear God more than man, and that will be answer enough to our Halloween- and darkness-obsessed culture; for if you trust God over your womb and commit your children to a holy education, you will be very scary to the modern world. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11).

Note:  I'm sure most of you saw this when he sent the email out last week, but for those of you who hadn't, I figured it was good enough to repost.

"Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Indoctrination"

This is an incredibly powerful and courageous speech by a public-school valedictorian who is examining the pitfalls of American institutionalized education. (The words "indoctrination" and "brain-washing" are used--how's that for brave?)

It would be interesting to see how she got to the mindset she has now, what her thought process was. And is it just me, or do those folks in the back little rather uncomfortable??

"Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Indoctrination"

This is an incredibly powerful and courageous speech by a public-school valedictorian who is examining the pitfalls of American institutionalized education. (The words "indoctrination" and "brain-washing" are used--how's that for brave?)

It would be interesting to see how she got to the mindset she has now, what her thought process was. And is it just me, or do those folks in the back little rather uncomfortable??

Baby Blurbs

We returned from the Baby Conference this past Monday, and I keep meaning to sit down and write a long, reflective post on how wonderful it was, how inspiring and encouraging all the speakers were, how lovely it was to be surrounded by like-minded families....  Obviously this hasn't happened, so I thought I'd just write a couple of blurbs from the week instead, hopefully with more to come later.



First, thank you for telling me about yourselves on my last post!  It was great to get all those comments and find out a little more about my readers.  Btw, I LOVE getting comments, so don't feel like you need to wait until I ask to give them!  ;)

Like I've already said, the Baby Conference was such a blessing.  We were able to hang out with Luci and Randall quite a bit and get to know this awesome couple better.  It was so great being able to see Luci speak with Jennie Chancey!  She did splendidly, and really conveyed some much needed info to the audience.  It was also wonderful meeting up with some friends I'd met at the Father & Daughter Retreat, and of course getting to meet lots of like-minded families (and then hold their babies)!  I even met a lady and her family who I'd found only a few days before on an online home-steading forum!



If I had to pick a favorite thing about the conference, I think I would pick the fellowship with all the Christ-followers.  That's just something "radicals" like us don't get very often, and I can't tell you how encouraged we were just by seeing these other families who were following the straight and narrow path.  Of course the speakers were wonderfully articulate and inspirational (and, most importantly, scriptural), but you can get that on CDs--and in fact, we did.  But at conferences like these, you go for the fellowship, the communion with like-minded Christians who are willing to be extremely counter-cultural in order to follow Christ.



I encourage you to visit Vision Forum Ministries and read about the Baby Conference topics.  I encourage you even more strongly to consider purchasing the CDs (today is the last day of their introductory special).  I can't re-tell the messages better than they were told from the stage, though I will probably be visiting some of those topics in the near future on the blog.

On a similar note, I've been reading a great book this week (courtesy of Luci!) that I highly recommend called Start Your Family:  Inspiration for Having Babies (as if I need any inspiration).  It's by Steve and Candice Watters.  SYF isn't quite as "extreme" as Be Fruitful and Multiply (which I highly recommend as well).  Because of this, it is ideal to introduce more mainstream Christians to the almost-forgotten-in-evangelical-churches idea that children are a blessing from the Lord.  The Watters examine common fertility myths and reasons many couples delay children, and then give a compelling but fair look at why this is unnecessary, using statistics, anecdotes and most importantly Scripture in their conversational (and controversial) argument.



In their closing chapter, they include a quote from J.R. Miller's book Home-Making which I found particularly inspirational, and with which I will close:

It is a new marriage when the first-born enters the home.  It draws the wedded lives together in a closeness they have never known before.  It touches chords in their hearts that have lain silent until now.  It calls out powers that have never been exercised before.  Hitherto unsuspected beauties of character appear.  The laughing heedless girl of a year ago is transformed into a thoughtful woman.  The careless, unsettled youth leaps into manly strength and into fixedness of character when he looks into the face of his own child and takes it in his bosom.

New aims rise up before the young parents; new impulses begin to stir in their hearts.  Life takes on at once a new and deeper meaning.  The glimpse they have had into its solemn mystery sobers them.  The laying in their hands of a new and sacred burden, an immortal life, to be guided and trained by them, brings them to a sense of responsibility that makes them thoughtful.  Self is no longer the centre. There is a new object to live for, and object great enough to fill all their life and engross their highest powers.

Baby Blurbs

We returned from the Baby Conference this past Monday, and I keep meaning to sit down and write a long, reflective post on how wonderful it was, how inspiring and encouraging all the speakers were, how lovely it was to be surrounded by like-minded families....  Obviously this hasn't happened, so I thought I'd just write a couple of blurbs from the week instead, hopefully with more to come later.



First, thank you for telling me about yourselves on my last post!  It was great to get all those comments and find out a little more about my readers.  Btw, I LOVE getting comments, so don't feel like you need to wait until I ask to give them!  ;)

Like I've already said, the Baby Conference was such a blessing.  We were able to hang out with Luci and Randall quite a bit and get to know this awesome couple better.  It was so great being able to see Luci speak with Jennie Chancey!  She did splendidly, and really conveyed some much needed info to the audience.  It was also wonderful meeting up with some friends I'd met at the Father & Daughter Retreat, and of course getting to meet lots of like-minded families (and then hold their babies)!  I even met a lady and her family who I'd found only a few days before on an online home-steading forum!



If I had to pick a favorite thing about the conference, I think I would pick the fellowship with all the Christ-followers.  That's just something "radicals" like us don't get very often, and I can't tell you how encouraged we were just by seeing these other families who were following the straight and narrow path.  Of course the speakers were wonderfully articulate and inspirational (and, most importantly, scriptural), but you can get that on CDs--and in fact, we did.  But at conferences like these, you go for the fellowship, the communion with like-minded Christians who are willing to be extremely counter-cultural in order to follow Christ.



I encourage you to visit Vision Forum Ministries and read about the Baby Conference topics.  I encourage you even more strongly to consider purchasing the CDs (today is the last day of their introductory special).  I can't re-tell the messages better than they were told from the stage, though I will probably be visiting some of those topics in the near future on the blog.

On a similar note, I've been reading a great book this week (courtesy of Luci!) that I highly recommend called Start Your Family:  Inspiration for Having Babies (as if I need any inspiration).  It's by Steve and Candice Watters.  SYF isn't quite as "extreme" as Be Fruitful and Multiply (which I highly recommend as well).  Because of this, it is ideal to introduce more mainstream Christians to the almost-forgotten-in-evangelical-churches idea that children are a blessing from the Lord.  The Watters examine common fertility myths and reasons many couples delay children, and then give a compelling but fair look at why this is unnecessary, using statistics, anecdotes and most importantly Scripture in their conversational (and controversial) argument.



In their closing chapter, they include a quote from J.R. Miller's book Home-Making which I found particularly inspirational, and with which I will close:

It is a new marriage when the first-born enters the home.  It draws the wedded lives together in a closeness they have never known before.  It touches chords in their hearts that have lain silent until now.  It calls out powers that have never been exercised before.  Hitherto unsuspected beauties of character appear.  The laughing heedless girl of a year ago is transformed into a thoughtful woman.  The careless, unsettled youth leaps into manly strength and into fixedness of character when he looks into the face of his own child and takes it in his bosom.

New aims rise up before the young parents; new impulses begin to stir in their hearts.  Life takes on at once a new and deeper meaning.  The glimpse they have had into its solemn mystery sobers them.  The laying in their hands of a new and sacred burden, an immortal life, to be guided and trained by them, brings them to a sense of responsibility that makes them thoughtful.  Self is no longer the centre. There is a new object to live for, and object great enough to fill all their life and engross their highest powers.