Playing with Poison

How much poison would you take it?

Are you willing to "test your limits" and see how much you can use before it harms you?

My guess is that you AVOID poison like the plague.

This week on FamilyLife Today we're talking about a different kind of poison - the Poison of Pornography. This is a poison that too many take it with their eyes, never realizing the devastating effects it WILL have. Listen to this 3-day broadcast and take heed from this poison.

Many times this becomes an addiction leading to other issues like Emotional and Physical Affairs. Next week on FamilyLife Today we'll air an interview where Judy Starr tells of her emotional affair and how the Lord healed her marriage. Here's a link to an excerpt from Judy's book, Enticement of the Forbidden.

Take the counsel of these victims and STAY AWAY from these poisons.

Remembering God's Promise

Whenever I see a rainbow I am reminded of God's promise, His love, His mercy and His faithfulness.

I saw this one outside of FamilyLife one evening. It stopped me in my tracks and caused me to give praise.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim His handiwork. (Ps. 19:1)

The War of Words

This is a post that a friend of mine put on his blog today. I found it so convicting that I too wanted to share it. Thanks, Jason, for your heart and transparency.

Speech

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
-Ephesians 4:29

I love this verse and hate it all at the same time. I love the verse because this is how we are to be as followers of Christ but I hate it because it's a huge struggle of mine. Jerry Bridges, in his book Respectable Sins, says this, "We see that we are not to let any corrupting talk come out of our mouths. Corrupting talk is not limited to profanity or obscene speech. It includes all the various types of negative speech I mentioned previously (lying, slander, critical speech, etc.). Note Paul's absolute prohibition. No corrupting talk. None whatsoever. This means no gossip, no sarcasm, no critical speech, no harsh words. All of these sinful words that tend to tear down another person must be put out of our speech. Think about what the church of Jesus Christ would look like if we all sought to apply Paul's words." I debated whether to post this or not. This is not easy stuff but Christ did not promise easy, He promised a battle that can be won by His grace. These challenges or convictions should do nothing more than take us to our knees in prayer to the Father. We are called to examine ourselves and last night was a wake up call about my speech. Praise God for the cross that allows us to confess and repent and keep pressing on toward the goal in Christ Jesus.

We got floored!

This past weekend we installed an oak hardwood floor in our house. It was a family-affair as we all pulled out the carpeting, removed the tack-strips and prepped the floor. Then, on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., we began troweling out the glue and laying the boards.

This was the 1st floor that Caleb and Jeremy helped to install. The did great fitting the boards, measuring the end boards that needed cut to length and actually using a chop-saw to cut them.
I think they enjoyed helping, though it was a long day.

We worked 11 hours on Saturday, then Jill and I worked another 3 hours on Sunday afternoon to finish. It looks beautiful!

My favorite part is the transition between the living room and the hallway because there is no transition strip. This floor fits together perpendicular as easily as it does parallel (and to think, I never knew that I'd use those words outside of Geometry class).


We are so grateful to the Lord for His provision and kindness. We prayed as a family before we began and this was completed without a major injury or error.

Laying this floor reminded me of how we need to stick together as a family. Though life gets rough at times, when we come alongside each other we can provide the support needed to endure whatever comes our way. The Lord has placed us in the family we are in and we need to give Him thanks and show gratitude for His many blessings.

Cast Away

Jeremy finally got his cast off!!! I tried to tell him what to expect, but until you've experienced it first hand, it's difficult to describe.

Caleb, our resident movie director, produced this piece so you too could enjoy this momentous occasion:


There was a surprise finding although ...

After the cast was removed they took another X-ray and found that one of the bones (the top one in this photo) had not healed completely. So, Jeremy is now wearing a removeable splint for a few weeks.

Jeremy is thrilled to be able to bend his elbow once again. It won't be long before he's playing as if he'd never broken his arm. God certainly has made the body in an amazing way where it can heal itself over time.

Detour Ahead

I teach 5th/6th Grade Boys Sunday School. We were talking about how God banished Satan and 1/3 of the angels from heaven after 1 sin. They have no hope of forgiveness or reconciliation. We contrasted that with the kindness of God to offer us the free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.


You see, God had provided a "detour" for us in Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross to propitiate God's wrath and bring us back into a perfect relationship with the Father. Jesus is our "detour" from hell.

Have you taken the Detour? If not, may I encourage you to reconsider your path? Detours are established for our own good.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY path to a right relationship with God. You can accept the free gift of God's "detour" and find true life, or you can keep going your own way and trying to make your own way to God, but in the end, you'll die trying.

Learn the lesson of the fallen angels and take the Detour.

The 3-Year Old Murderer

This is a short movie we made in our backyard while watching a friend's son for a few days. We hope you enjoy it.

Caleb DeLon
Director, Producer, Cameraman