Did the Prophet Ezekiel write the morning news?

My friends don't have to agree with me, of course.

But I'm of the school of thought that with the political and military alliances in the news today, Ezekiel 38 is unfolding before our eyes.

Eze 38:1
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 38:2
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Eze 38:3
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Eze 38:4
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Eze 38:5
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Eze 38:6
Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.

Gog meaning Russia. Persia being Iran!

In other words, it looks like we are the generation for whom all the signs are falling into place.

And we will see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

I'm not setting a date. But a generation will see the signs and recognize them. Consider these:

Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Mat 16:3 And in the morning, [It will be] foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O [ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not [discern] the signs of the times?

(He was angry at those who didn't know their prophecy enough to recognize Him as the promised Messiah. One writer said He fulfilled 33 prophecies in one day.)

(That tells me He wants us watching for the signs, though!)

Some are called to write light uplifting stories, others may be called to write heavier themes. One way or another, we are all called to present the Gospel. How we work it out and whether or not it's in our books is as the Lord leads.

Here's a powerful word from God to Ezekiel 33, something that may be applied to some of us in our writing, others, not:

Eze 33:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Eze 33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

Eze 33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

Eze 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

Eze 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

Eze 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

Eze 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

The important thing, of course, is to do what God has called each of us to do in our writing.

Here is one of my favorite sources. See what you think.

http://raptureready.com/rr-pre-trib-rapture.html

I think we should type fast! : )

New punctuation mark needed--the frisson ~

In my writers' critique group last night, they read where my heroine Maggie saw the murder and jumped into another cab. They liked the tension of the story and the funny second cab driver, but they also stressed that I use too many punctuation marks!

Well, the woman is overwrought, having just seen a murder! No, just a body, actually~

And this morning, I decided we need another punctuation mark~ And that's it. You just saw it. The "tilde" in Spanish, the "similar to" in math.

Because, doesn't it even just look like a little "whoo~"

Not quite a shout, (or the mental equivalent thereof, Browne & King in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers ) but more emotion than a period indicates, just a little frisson of enthusiasm~

And that's it~ I'm adopting the tilde and calling it the frisson! That is, the frisson~

A lot of us live relatively quiet lives and don't often see bodies in cemeteries, but I have a feeling that in some of these life-or-death situations we write about, if we were facing them in real life and someone quoted us, they would find a period inadequate. I suspect they would use exclamation points in our quotes more than we do in our fiction.

There are cases when a period is too blah and an exclamation point too strong. And without the right kind of punctuation, a sentence's words could be misconstrued and understated.

Words are not always enough. Context is not always enough. That's why we have punctuation. Even so, who hasn't had their email or note misunderstood in some way?

So, here's to a new punctuation mark, the frisson~

Works for me~ : ) What do you think?

Are Christians losing sense...

...of hearing?

My heroine, Maggie, often turned a deaf ear to the counsel of others . When her husband told her, "Get into a playpen with serpents, sooner or later, you get bitten," she did and she did. She dabbled in the occult and paid a terrible price before she was restored to her fun-loving self, to love, and to God.

But she chose not to hear.

I'm talking about going to church and not even knowing our hearing is damaged until it's too late.

"Just 15 minutes of exposure to high-decibel music can cause permanent hearing loss. That's right. Permanent. Research indicates that 30% of rock musicians have a measurable hearing loss. Classical musicians fare even worse - with up to 52% experiencing hearing impairment. That means that members of your praise band, your harpist, your worshippers and your sound crew are all at risk. The good news? Hearing loss can be prevented. "
http://www.shurenotes.com/how8/article.asp?flash=true

I love exuberant praise and worship as much as anybody, and have for years. But the volume of the music in churches is causing hearing loss and people do not even realize it!

65 decibels is the level of normal conversation.

85 decibels is the level of permanent damage to the fine, tiny "hair cells" by which we hear!

100-120 db is a typical concert and some church services and rallies.

Too many churches have that one glaring--or should I say blaring fault.

I suggest that (half-deaf!?) sound engineers and leadership not depend on the meters entirely, but also walk around the service and listen. If it's so loud you must shout over the music, painfully loud or causing ears to ring, it's causing permanent damage. It's certainly not fellowship, either.

Plus, when you're invited forward for prayer for your needs and you can barely share your needs or hear the prayers over the music, that is not music. That is ridiculous!

I would urge anyone with influence in church to beg pastors to keep the decibels below the permanent damage level of 85!!!

Click here and read some of these articles if you doubt this is a major problem.

"Make a joyful noise," the Lord said. He didn't say to make a harmful one. Who wants to go to church to worship the Lord and unaware, go out with damage to one of the five senses with which He blessed us!

Do ya hear what I'm saying? : )

Has your church's music ever hurt your ears? Have you ever wished they'd just turn it down? Comments?

Combatting The Da Vinci Code

The followers of Jesus were imprisoned, tortured and murdered because they claimed they saw Jesus alive after the cross, after the resurrection, and saw him rise to heaven.

But Dan Brown, Ron (Opie Taylor, Richie Cunningham) Howard, Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou have no sensitivity about how much this belief means to their many long-time fans.

And according to a Barna poll, two MILLION of these fans--believers and non, many of them who do not know art history or church history, much less the Bible, have changed their religious beliefs because of Brown's allegedly fictitious claims.

Yes, he says it's fiction, but he told an interviewer that if he were writing this as non-fiction, he would change--nothing. He can't have it both ways. And eternal destinies are at stake.

Page 309: "The early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex. In the temple, no less." This is blasphemy.

“The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God” (page 231). But the earliest followers of Christ were committed, self-sacrificing persons, both men and women, who were willing to die because they believed in Christ’s divinity and in His role as Savior. And we will again, if we don't start defending our truth now.

A detailed rebuttal is the book, Breaking the DaVinci Code by Darrel Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary. Speaking in church, recently, Dr. Bock stated that most Christians know very little about early church history or the writings, so they just accept Dan Brown's earnest and erroneous claims that Jesus Christ fathered children and the conservative Catholic group Opus Dei is a murderous sect.

Dr. Bock cited the very liberal Christian scholar Dominic Crossan, often seen on PBS shows "debunking" evangelical Christianity. Crossan said, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a camel." Even a liberal scholar agrees that with all the evidence to the contrary, Dan Brown chose to advance this erroneous theory that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene.

Dr. Bock said since Jesus is all man and all God, that even if Jesus had married, it wouldn't change the power of his salvation. But the truth is, we, the Church, are the Bride of Christ.

Another excellent source is from Josh McDowell who wrote the excellent Evidence that Demands a Verdict and many other great books, and now offers booklets called The Da Vinci Quest for giving away. A carton of 36 is $58 which covers shipping. http://www.josh.org/

He says if we just answer "It's fiction," people will think we're uninformed and in denial or something. It provides answers re art history and early church history, specifics from the novel to impress the skeptic and refute Brown.

The council of Nicea did not determine that Jesus was divine. The church believed that from the very beginning eyewitness reports.

Also, during the Renaissance, when Leonardo painted, it was typical to depict young men students as clean-shaven with long hair, which he did with John the Beloved Disciple seated next to Jesus. Leonardo--and that's his name, Da Vinci is his address--depicted wilderness man John the Baptist the same way. If Leonardo did paint Mary Magdalene next to Jesus instead of John, because Jesus and Mary were allegedly married, then where is the "beloved disciple"? Under the table?

Leonardo never referred to the Mona Lisa by that name. She was called "Lisa...(wife of ) Giocondo," or "La Giaconda" until Leonardo's biographer called her Mona Lisa. It has nothing to do with the masculine and so-called sacred feminine.

The Gospels were not proven wrong by the Dead Sea Scrolls! The DSS did not even refer to the New Testament!

Other so-called gospels were written by the Gnostics who had a pov of their own to promote. The apostle Paul addresses those who were bothered by those presenting "another Gospel," "another Jesus."

When DVC first came out, I read it and returned it for a refund, stating I could not support anyone who said Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.

It bothered me enough that I bought Breaking the Da Vinci Code.

Later, two summers ago, I had the opportunity to travel with Clan Carmichael in Scotland. We visited Rosslyn Chapel outside of Edinburgh, which happens to be where TDC ends. There is no Star of David on the floor. But in the bookstore of this church, I was appalled to see they sold The Da Vinci Code. That chapel is selling a book that states that the church has lied for 2000 years!

Knowing we would visit Rosslyn, I carried Breaking the Da Vinci Code with me on the trip. When I saw TDC in the bookstore, I went back to the bus to retrieve Bock's book. I wanted to show it to the bookstore manager and ask him to at least sell this one too. But we were on a schedule and the bus had to leave.

"Email them," I was told. Well, that's not the same, but I did so, and heard back--nothing.

In Revelation 3, the Holy Spirit speaks of the Laodicean church which is poor, wretched, miserable, blind and naked--and too blind to know it. Powerless. Vulnerable.

Some teach that Revelation 3 represents not only local congregations, but time periods, and the lukewarm Laodicean church is the last church period before the Second Coming of Christ. Today's church.

(Bill Bright also lamented this poor state of the U.S. church compared to the growing church in the Third World in his book co-authored with Ted Dekker, Blessed Child. )

Dr. Bock urged the church to do what Jesus told Mary Magdalene to do. She was the first person He commissioned to spread the Gospel--a woman, mind you! Like her, we are called to go forth and tell everyone the truth.

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50221 Whose God May We Mock?

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50165 Josh McDowell

Southern Baptists reply: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23206

and http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23291

Catholic Church comments, Tom Hanks defends movie.... http://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/modules/Article/print.jsp?itemId=22582687

http://www.davinciandjesus.com/?src=overture Da Vinci and Jesus

Josh McDowell's podcast: http://pcgmedia.org/davincianswers.html

More sources:

Peter Marshall http://www.petermarshallministries.com/commentary.cfm?commentary=55

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50231 British tax rules to provide Sony with 100 million pounds because it was partially shot in the United Kingdom.

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23210 Teabing says in the novel, “The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God” (page 231). But the earliest followers of Christ were committed, self-sacrificing persons, both men and women, who were willing to die because they believed in Christ’s divinity and in His role as Savior.

*The List* (book and future movie!) on top of my list

The other day,
while packing to go on a long weekend vacation in North Carolina,
I looked for a book to read on the plane, and chose the
thriller,
The List by Robert Whitlow.

When I emailed him to tell him I enjoyed it, he told me it will soon be a movie! Now I'm praying for deliverance from envy! LOL Finished March 5, it was shot in Wilmington and includes a day along beautiful Charleston's Battery.

In this intriguing story, a group of people formed a mysterious pact over a hundred years ago, and the spiritual power of this pact draws in a modern heir to the list, even as he learns about yet another form of spiritual power. Opposing powers he was not aware existed. His past relationship with his father and his new relationship with a woman, both on the list, also influence him.

"God is not like your father," someone tells him and touches his heart.

It's not a light story that just entertains and skims the spiritual surface, although I love those, too.

This story demonstrates the reality of spiritual warfare, the power of prayer, and the need and power of fellowship and prayer support. The hero's spiritual growth spurt entertains, challenges and plunges the reader into the depths of the Spirit.

The List had waited its turn on my TBR shelf for several months. I suddenly chose it because the story takes place in South Carolina, near our destination. I haven't been to this region in years, since a visit to Charleston and Savannah and once living in Virginia. That plus the novel's history, intrigue, romance and danger would hold my interest against the noisy and distracting backdrop of flying.

We landed in Charlotte, North Carolina, and drove to Wilkesboro. In that small town in the scenic green mountains, we visited old friends and former neighbors from Orlando, including Neal and Susie Hatfield at their beautiful, remote conference center, Uplands Reach.


We searched for and found a grave of the wife of one of my husband's ancestors and some of our group attended Merlefest, the annual Bluegrass festival.

Had we more time, we would have visited Mt. Airy, home of Andy Griffith and Mayberry. His wholesome tv show's wholesome stories and lifestyle are enjoying a resurgence of popularity. Someone has even written Bible studies based on Mayberry called Back to Mayberry.

I was bemused when the main character traveled from South Carolina to, of all the cities I've been to in the South, to the city where we'd just flown into: Charlotte. To me, little coincidences are God-incidences. And it's no coincidence that I loved _The List_.

*********

"Get into a playpen with serpents, sooner or later, you get bitten," my book's hero tells my heroine in New Orleans beside the tomb of a voodoo figure. She does--and she does--or will, as soon as that one savvy editor comes along and adds it to their list! : ) In faith believing!

So, like, does the name "Tuesday Weld" ring a bell?

A cousin in New Orleans just sent me an email with jokes like, one of life's mysteries is how a 2 pound box of candy can make a woman gain 5 lbs., God doesn't give babies to older women because they'd forget where they put them, and my mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely. Things like that.

I told her I could relate. Tonight, for the first time, I went to Wednesday night choir practice at this church I've been visiting up the street. For various good reasons, I was 15 minutes late, which I hated--I feel so rude walking in late, especially the very first time. But I decided to go anyway, since several friends had invited me and said it was fun, not strict.

I knew the room number and opened the right door. I saw no risers, pianist or organist, just a young man in his sock feet in front of people in rows of padded chairs. I wondered if I'd interrupted a class, since the quiet was deafening as they all turned and looked at me.

I got a flash of inspiriation for a brilliant entrance line: "What's today?"

My friends tittered and said hello and the director said, "Wednesday. This is Choir. Welcome," and started directing again from behind his little electronic keyboard. Oh, okay.

A friend handed me some music and I joined in, in spite of the fact the only glasses with me were my sunglasses on top of my head. I knew I had had my readers with me when I left home.

Talk about your mind leaving completely, I should have gone out to look for mine.

Anyway, as it was, I told some sweet young thing who never even heard of Tuesday Weld that I was Wednesday Weird.

Okaay.

And when I got back to my car, my reading glasses were hanging attached to my seatbelt where they had launched themselves from my neckline.

At least, I do make a joyful noise! Especially when I find my reading glasses.

To refresh your memory, Tuesday Weld starred in many movies, but the ones I loved were The Cincinnatti Kid, set in New Orleans, and that sweet Soldier in the Rain, both with '60s heartthrob Steve McQueen. (Not to forget his dramedy,"Love with the Proper Stranger" with Natalie Wood. Trust me, the ending is a pleasant surprise.)

The Baby Boomers enjoyed some good movies. And a nostalgic tv show about the 'sixties ran for eight years, much later--in the 'eighties and 'nineties. Baby Boomers and everyone else loved it. "Among the awards bestowed on The Wonder Years were an Emmy for best comedy series in 1988--after only six episodes had aired--and the George Foster Peabody Award in 1990. TV Guide named the show one of the 1980s' 20 best.

That's why my book is set in the '60s. Baby Boomers are retiring, will have time and money to read. They deserve some good, healing stories about their life and often difficult times.

"God-incidence" and Pampers prod: NEVER GIVE UP!

Perseverence has never been my problem. My problem is assurance. I want to know all my efforts are in God's will.

Just yesterday I looked at my dozens of writing books and my membership renewal bill from RWA and thought maybe it was time to "retire," give away those books and move on. Go back to painting! I have garnered so many rejections along with so many encouraging words.

Even sweet people who said they would read it just never had the time to do so, and I do understand that. Everybody's so busy.

So, I wondered if this was just a training period in obedience that God put me through, and the book would not be published and it was time to move on.

Then, just today, I attended the church I've been visiting. I almost visited another one--again, I don't want to miss God's will--but ended up at that one,and was so blessed: The whole message was on Galatians 6:7-9 "Weary not in Doing Good" and we will sow in *God's perfect timing* if we persevere. What confirmation!

The pastor cited Marion Donovan who, in the 1940s, got tired of washing diapers and cut off a piece of her shower curtain and pinned it on a diaper. Later she used absorbent paper. She shopped her idea around for ten years, until a grandfather at Proctor & Gamble recognized its value. Thus was born Pampers!

There were many other points, of course, and the whole message was so good, and I thanked the pastor, who said its confirming me confirmed him, too.

I told him I was buying the sermon CD. I got to that counter and there were two CDs there, a sign saying they were $5, and nobody to sell them. I asked another woman standing there if we were just supposed to leave our money and take one, and she said she guessed so. Then she said all she had was a $10 and she'd like to buy mine! (Sowing into the Spirit, according to the sermon, she was.) I told her okay, that she would get a $5 blessing and more!

I went back and told the pastor someone gave it to me and he said "Another confirmation!"

So, if you know you are in God's will but are discouraged, please, do not get tired of doing the right thing. Keep on trustin' and obeying, and you will bear the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of your labor, in God's perfect time.

Tonight I went back to church to a brand new group, a woman's prayer group. I met some new people and one said to me she liked the name, Margo--that it sounds like a writer's name! She had no idea! One more confirmation to persevere--in God's will.

To download your own copy of this wonderfully encouraging message (which includes the invention of Pampers!) go to

http://www.valleycreek.org/HowToPod.pdf

and download the Sunday April 23, 2006 message, Part 4, Galatians 6:7-9, "Weary Not in Doing Good."

Christian-Jewish preacher Zola Levitt goes to his Messiah!

Zola passed on on April 19 after a bout with cancer.

I am so sad to think he won't be
climbing the ruins of Israel anymore.
But he'll be doing much more enjoyable things, face-to-face with his Messiah, worshipping, dancing, singing. His ministry and the tour I took 10 years ago this September blessed me so much. It was a major birthday of mine, and we sat, listening to a lecture, on the very steps leading up to the temple where Jesus and his family took sacrifices as Jewish families did. I chose one step and walked back and forth to be sure my feet touched a spot where the feet of Jesus walked.

Now, Zola's walking with Jesus down those streets of gold! Hallelujah!!!

We'll see you again, Zola, thanks to the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, but meanwhile, oh, Zola, you will be missed.

I had wanted to go to the Holy Land for a long time. I had heard my late, great, little grandmother in New Orleans say many times over the years that she would love to go. She inspired me.

One of my main characters longs to find his Jewish roots, and spurned by the heroine in New Orleans, David goes to Israel and finds more than he expected--a new love, and practical use for his U.S. Air Force pilot training. And something more. But, as we used to say on book report day in school, "If you want to know what happens, you'll have to read the book." Some day, in faith, believing! LOL

So, finally, I went with Zola Levitt Ministries to Israel on a major birthday, to see what my character sees. It was wonderful! I now read the Bible with such an awareness of where things happened. (I wish I had had my digital camera, then. One of these days, I'll scan and upload some photos. Meanwhile, I'll use Zola's.)

On my birthday, we walked up to the Temple, climbing the very steps that Jesus walked. I chose one step and walked back and forth to make certain my feet touched every inch where Jesus could have stepped! We heard clearly as two men read the Beatitudes without microphones, halfway down the hill of the Sermon on the Mount's natural amphitheater.

We walked into the Garden Tomb, and saw Gordon's Calvary a stone's throw beyond, right above the Jerusalem bus station where the world passes by, just as it did during the crucifixion. If only the world would not pass Him by, today. "He came unto His own, but His own received Him not. But to as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become children of God--even (namely) to them who believe on His name. (His nature and identity as Messiah, Lord, Savior. We are all His creatures. Only some are His children. It's our choice.)

We floated on the Dead Sea, where our guide said if you get the water in your mouth, you need first aid. If you swallow it, you need last aid!

We were baptized in the River Jordan, walked around, high up on Masada, rode camels and horses in Petra, site of Indiana Jones' Last Crusade, where people will probably hide during the Tribulation.

A most memorable moment was reading from Revelation as we ate a picnic lunch from a cafeteria on the hillside above Megiddo, site of Armageddon; and ate Peter's Fish on a dinner cruise on the Sea of Galilee. Oh, and we saw the stacks and stacks of books, books, books in the office of David Ben Gurion, first prime minister of the new state of Israel in 1948. My husband mentions my books, books, books, amd is not impressed when I show him my photo of the desk of this world leader--!

And the roommate they happened to assign me was a born-again Jewish woman seeking her Jewish roots, like my character! She and I were the only ones using micro-mini recorders, and could share blank cassettes. And my spellchecker had recently said to me, never heard of Margo, try Mango, so I laughed and took that as a sort of nickname. In Israel, we saw many small signs with a new cell-phone ad, back-lit in white. Its name--Mango. At the corner beside our hotel in Jerusalem, one of the signs hung on the street sign, to read together, Mango/Shalom Aleichem, as if to say, Mango--hello, friends! The whole trip was a fabulous time of blessings with new sights, new friends, and teaching from Zola and his wonderful friends and guides. So many wonderful things. I know I say wonderful a lot, but I hate the buzzword, incredible. It actually means not believable. Hey, I'm a believer! LOL.

But sometimes, it's hard

His wonderful ministry will continue with the help of his wife, Sandra, his son Mark and others, and the awesome collection of teaching and music materials he left behind. People who take advantage of these will also bless the ministry at a time of many medical bills. I've already made my shopping list.

Visit Zola's website and its store for its *wonderful* books, study guides and original music.

http://www.levitt.com/zolastatus/

"You Gotta Have Art," the song says--doesn't it?

I bought a piano last weekend!

We sold mine last time we moved, and I almost went into withdrawal!

So, last weekend, I went shopping and played a digital piano--as a rich concert grand, as a bright modern piano, as an organ, my little repertoire of favorites on that new keyboard. As I realized this had to be my piano, this would be my piano, I had to stop and wipe away the tears.

The salesman's eyes turned red around the rims, too. He's his church pianist, and he said, "Sometimes, the right chord--" Yes, and something about music touches the right chord within the heart.

I also tried out a Celtic harp at an Irish festival recently. I seriously considered renting one and taking lessons. Even my inexperienced strumming of those strings produced beauty that brought tears to my eyes.

But I already know how to play my favorites on the piano.

Ballet, with its music creates soaring beauty, literature has great and moving scenes that motivate us. And of course, the Bible with its awesome eternal truths has great power to move us to tears, to joy, to action, to our destiny with God. Standing in the incomparable Louvre put tears in my eyes, too.

But not colors and images--not creating them when I was an art major--nothing moves me like a string of notes on piano keys.

My hero plays the piano one morning before arguing with the heroine about her own desire to take her art students on tours of European art capitals. He doesn't want her so far away without him. But he knew that was her dream when he married her. She's angry, he's angry, he leaves the beach house for his workday flying with the Navy.

A little while later, she sees him die.

The usually happy-go-lucky Maggie is devastated and wracked with guilt. This is the second person she knew who died after she said something she regretted. And this is her precious husband. He will never come home again.

Why has God allowed this? She now believes God is her enemy.

Only after seeking truth and power down many blind and dangerous alleys and dating a murderer without knowing it--and experiencing laughter along with her tears--does she find peace with God again. And love with another man.

My late parents both encouraged my writing. And they both flew, (and played the piano, painted, made pottery) a long time ago. (See the photo of the type of planes they flew, below.) My scene of the young pilot's funeral made my dad weep. It's nice to know my art could create tears in someone else. And he assured me it wasn't because of bad writing, LOL!

It had touched a universal chord within him.

Three years ago this week, he went to be with the Lord--and with Mama. I'll forever treasure that memory of him wiping his eyes as he read my work.

Yes, I know: The show, "Damn Yankees," about baseball, is the source of the song, "You Gotta Have Heart."

But I submit you also gotta have art! Miles and miles and miles of art!

Often, they're one and the same.

Guarding the *Stuff* & Sharing the Spoils

My late, great Commander Daddy, as my heroine, Maggie St. James, calls her own father, was a journalism major who painted theater sets in college ( and ended up a Navy flight instructor in Stearmans, as in the photo--my mother flew those, too, as did Maggie's mother-in-law--but that's another story--a skipper of a PBY, and a Navy photographer. ) With his love of the language, he encouraged us not to use the word, stuff, since there are always better, more specific words.

So, we were amused when I showed him stuff in the Bible--in a very interesting admonishment:

1Sa 30:24 "For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part [be] that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. "

If we help soldiers in battle by guarding their stuff back home, we share equally in the spoils.

If we give for the furthering of the Gospel, we share equally the blessings of the missionaries! Amazing!

By the way, I believe this following means garage sales are not necessary, yay!

Lev 19:10 "And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather [every] grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I [am] the LORD your God." (also Deu 24:21 )

But I digress. Receiving back should not be our only motive, as we know from "It is more blessed to give than to receive," " the love of money is the root of all evil" and "God loves a cheerful giver."

But it's not wrong to expect to receive when we give, because as the saying goes, we can't outgive the Lord:

Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it].

Luk 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. "

Mat 19:29 , Mar 10:30 "But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. "

(Wish He hadn't included persecutions.)

Skeptical, I once tested this and gave $1 after hearing this teaching on The Hundred-fold Return at an evangelist's meeting. I told a friend I'd let her know when I got my $100. ( And I do believe it's not often just handed to us, it's usually opportunity to work and earn it. )

A few days later, I realized they hadn't called me in over a week to substitute teach, my job at the time as an otherwise stay-at-home-mom. So I called the sub clerk and she said I had said I didn't want to sub anymore. I assured her that wasn't me.

Later that day, I also realized that since giving that $1, I had earned just over $100. I called my friend and reported it.

And the sub clerk called back and said a teacher wanted to go home, if I wanted to work that afternoon!

So, I had more opportunity as soon as I kept my promise and acknowledged what the Lord had done in keeping His promise.

(Yes, of course, I called my friend to report that, too! God has made me rather excitable. And I'm convinced, sometimes He says, "I need some PR down there on earth, so I'll do something nice for Margo because she gets all excited and tells everybody." And He created me that way! So it's a double blessing. God is so good!)

So, we needn't hesitate to give and share in the blessings--the spoils of the war against the spiritual darkness of this world!

And we can't outlove the Lord. The nature of God the Father is expressed in every part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit-- love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,Gal 5:22 all of which we receive through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us! Wow! (Glad He's still workin' on me!)

Well, that's what I'm excited about this morning, anyway.

Once again, meet your abba--Daddy--Father God-- here.