Adventures in Denver

Friday, June 29, 2007

Soon Enough...

For all of you hoping to find out if we're having a boy or a girl, there is a chance that we will know very soon. We have a sonogram appointment scheduled for this Monday, July 2nd. Ben thinks it's a boy. I think it might be a girl, but really I have no idea. I'm just super excited to find out what it is so that I can go through all of Elijah's old stuff. Speaking of Elijah, we have observed that his favorite way to eat blueberries is to grab them by the handful, squish them, and then try to drink the juice as it runs down his arm...yes, it's very fun to watch, but must be followed swiftly by a bath. Oh, congratulations to Pete and Nikki on their new little baby boy, Noah! He's super adorable, and I'm sure Eden will help take good care of him.

Have a happy weekend!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Summertime News

So, Kim is now through the first trimester, and things are going pretty well. It is a big bummer that she has to give herself shots everyday, but it will all be worth it when we have that lil' person staring at us and filling its diaper! Ha! I am doing research for KU this summer, so that is keeping me pretty busy and also paying the bills. Elijah is exploring most things these days, we taught him about the air conditioner the other day, so he was running around the apartment pointing to all of the vents and saying "There's another one airtondishen"...
Well, that is about it for now, Elijah's birthday is on July 13, so for anyone who is contemplating presents, he needs clothes! (3T-4T)

Elijah says:
"Tooshie pockets have pictures"

And now for your Elijah pic:

Devotions

Click the link above for the Daily Devotional, daily excerpts from the book "A Day's Journey" by Pastor Jon Courson.

Selected Article from Abiding Life Ministries Intl.

Coming to a Place of Deception

By Michael Wells

James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”

Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

I am starting to believe that people are deceived because there is something in them desiring the deception. First, if Satan has the ability to deceive all men, then all men would be deceived. Obviously he does not have that kind of power. So what does he look for in a man that would allow for a deception? Satan is looking for something in the heart of man where the deception can begin. It would be impossible for Christ to deceive any person, for there is nothing in Christ that the flesh desires. True Christianity cannot deceive, for again, nothing in the flesh wants anything at all to do with Christianity.

Christianity has one message for my flesh: “Move over!” So what is it that makes man’s heart open to deception? I believe it is the desire of a heart that says, “I can be God.” Rephrased, it is the desire of the heart to be independent from God. This is why the Mormon religion is so successful; it is cleverer than the early Catholics who embraced the local gods of the people, or just gave them different names. As you know, many “Catholic” countries are rife with blends of Catholicism and witchcraft. Haiti is an example. However, the Mormons offer something more: man can actually become a god. Man can invite his wife to his celestial kingdom, where she can be eternally pregnant. This “deception” has incredible drawing power to those who have suffered under the hand of their unjust god, or who have served a god all of their lives. After all, who would not want to believe that he could become the one who hands out punishment and receives gifts from others?

Such a person is deceived with a ludicrous teaching, but moving past the cobweb to the spider, we see at the root a heart that says, “I want to be God.” Deceptions all offer the flesh something, and Christ is always taking something away from the flesh. When someone converts to Mormonism, or any of the other “-isms,” I never feel that the Mormons won one while the Christians lost one. Instead, I believe that the person, in believing the deception of Mormonism, actually revealed a heart previously hidden that is anti-Christ. Again, we see that nothing is working against us. God is permitting all the “-isms” for the revelation of hearts. The germ of every cult is this promise of keeping the flesh alive through some kind of God-playing. The amazing thing is that it holds any attraction, when it is so much easier to have a God than to play God.