Goodbye Christian Missus

Dear Readers,

For reasons I will leave unspecified, I have deactivated my Twitter account, and will no longer be posting updates to this blog.

However, I am leaving this blog open for the time being, as Christian Missus has regular visitors, as well as many new visitors.

On the off chance that this blog and it's posts can reach the lost or encourage/uplift other brothers and sisters in Christ, it is enough of a reason not to delete it. May the Lord's work be done through here, if He Wills.

Stay strong and unwavering in the faith, brothers and sisters. "...For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." - James 1:6 (partial)

May the Lord bless and keep all His children.

With love in Christ,

Rennie

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary - Proverbs 14:1-17

Good [Lord's] day, everyone! I was on the lookout for a few quotes to tweet on Twitter today, notably quotes that pertain to wives and marriage. During my search, I came across Proverbs 14, and Matthew Henry's commentary on Proverbs 14 (verses 1-17). 

Now, I do want to make clear that I am very careful when reading commentaries, opinions, teachings, sermons and the like outside of the Bible. The modern church is just saturated with false teachings (and teachers, for that matter), so to find things "right on the money" is quite challenging. In light of this, I find that reviewing preachers' commentaries and teachings from the 1800's and earlier are usually not sugar-coated, scathingly true, and as close to the Truth as you can get. Of course, my husband vets these preachers as I find them! Of course, I'm not saying that I've read every single piece of Matthew Henry's works, but from what we've seen so far, what he writes can be of great value to every, and any, Christian.

In Scripture, we read:

The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

² He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,
But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.

³ In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride,
But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

⁴ Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

⁵ A faithful witness does not lie,
But a false witness will utter lies.

⁶ A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it,
But knowledge is easy to him who understands.
⁷ Go from the presence of a foolish man,
When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.

⁸ The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.

⁹ Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is favor.

¹⁰ The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy.

¹¹ The house of the wicked will be overthrown,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹² There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

¹³ Even in laughter the heart may sorrow,
And the end of mirth may be grief.

¹⁴ The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied from above.^[a]

¹⁵ The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps.
¹⁶ A wise man fears and departs from evil,
But a fool rages and is self-confident.
¹⁷ A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
And a man of wicked intentions is hated.

Please, take a moment to read what Matthew Henry has said along with this:

14:1 A woman who has no fear of God, who is wilful and wasteful, and indulges her ease, will as certainly ruin her family, as if she plucked her house down. 2. Here are grace and sin in their true colours. Those that despise God's precepts and promises, despise God and all his power and mercy. 3. Pride grows from that root of bitterness which is in the heart. The root must be plucked up, or we cannot conquer this branch. The prudent words of wise men get them out of difficulties. 4. There can be no advantage without something which, though of little moment, will affright the indolent. 5. A conscientious witness will not dare to represent anything otherwise than according to his knowledge. 6. A scorner treats Divine things with contempt. He that feels his ignorance and unworthiness will search the Scriptures in a humble spirit. 7. We discover a wicked man if there is no savour of piety in his discourse. 8. We are travellers, whose concern is, not to spy out wonders, but to get to their journey's end; to understand the rules we are to walk by, also the ends we are to walk toward. The bad man cheats himself, and goes on in his mistake. 9. Foolish and profane men consider sin a mere trifle, to be made light of rather than mourned over. Fools mock at the sin-offering; but those that make light of sin, make light of Christ. 10. We do not know what stings of conscience, or consuming passions, torment the prosperous sinner. Nor does the world know the peace of mind a serious Christian enjoys, even in poverty and sickness. 11. Sin ruins many great families; whilst righteousness often raises and strengthens even mean families. 12. The ways of carelessness, of worldliness, and of sensuality, seem right to those that walk in them; but self-deceivers prove self-destroyers. See the vanity of carnal mirth. 14. Of all sinners backsliders will have the most terror when they reflect on their own ways. 15. Eager readiness to believe what others say, has ever proved mischievous. The whole world was thus ruined at first. The man who is spiritually wise, depends on the Saviour alone for acceptance. He is watchful against the enemies of his salvation, by taking heed to God's word. 16. Holy fear guards against every thing unholy. 17. An angry man is to be pitied as well as blamed; but the revengeful is more hateful.    

This piece of Scripture is powerful, and should strike a chord of truth in even the most unbelieving of people. I wanted to share what Matthew Henry said here in particular, not only because what he said in response is so searing and true, but also because there are many people who walk the earth today (and all the times before today) that just fit that description. Even people who are close to me, I am sad to say.

All the information I copied and pasted here can be found at Bible Hub and Bible Gateway.

Book Review! "A Christmas Gift for Rose" by Tricia Goyer

Rose Yoder is a young Amish woman living in Berlin (Ohio) during the Great Depression. Her potential husband is on questionable circumstances with the rest of the Amish community, and Rose herself is unsure of her feelings of him. In the midst of her relationship woes, she unexpectedly finds out a very important detail about herself, concealed from her until now. Her life as she once knew it was no longer. Or was it?

This story was very short, only 144 pages, yet the entire storyline fit perfectly into the pages. To say the least, it was a quite a quick read, and proved to be uplifting and heartwarming all at once. The writer put a lot about God in the book, and naturally with Amish Fiction, examples of Godly living in it as well. Living in such a fallen world, it is quite inspiring and soul strengthening to read such a work.

Rose was only an “okay” character. I’m not trying to sound over-critical or picky, but sometimes her train of thought and her decision-making made me furious. Her head always seemed to be in the clouds, and she was so indecisive and didn’t know what she wanted. In the end, all was well, but to some extent, I believe the writer added in some extra stresses to make the story more entertaining, whereas I think it made it more drawn out and maybe even a tad annoying.

All in all, I would highly recommend this novel to others. It’s truly inspiring and very God-centered. Talk about uplifting! Beware, though, it is quite a short book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Autumn, Pumpkins, and God's Creation

To me, autumn is the most picturesque, tranquil, most alluring time of year. Just witnessing the red, orange, and yellow leaves cascading down from a tree branch, and then landing onto a bed of their crunchy counterparts just makes my heart sing. What a creation! Whoever thinks that such a thing is a product of chance is beyond me.

Another thing I love about autumn is… drum roll please… PUMPKINS! No other woman gets more excited about pumpkins than THIS WOMAN! I’m telling you, I purchased a few small ones, orange and white, and even a bagful of mini ones, back in late September, very early October. I roasted pumpkin seeds, had a few McDonald’s pumpkin latte’s, made pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies, made pumpkin cheesecake - twice! I’ve been eyeing a few pumpkin pie recipes, and even a pumpkin ice cream recipe. I’ve even been debating a pumpkin facial, but that’s probably just the wonders of marketers and advertisers at work in my mind.

I could also tell you about my squash obsession, but I won’t, *wink*! But, pumpkins do make me more excited.

I also purchased a book from Christian Books for the kids called The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. What a wonderful book to highlight the glory of God’s creation during the fall season, and instead glorify Him and His Word, rather than following the way of the worldly-minded and their primary focus at this time of year: everything Halloween.

(That is for another post closer to the day. I’m just getting all my research done beforehand.)

I just wanted to share something our family did on Thanksgiving weekend, something I think we will keep as a family tradition for the coming years. We went to a pumpkin patch! It was actually a farmers market, a really big one. There were animals, hayrides, a corn maze, games, and of course, a huge field of pumpkins. Not just orange pumpkins, but pink ones, white ones, bumpy ones, tall ones, and just plain weird ones. All of us went and just had the greatest time.

I highly recommend a trip to the pumpkin patch for a family looking for innocent, wholesome fun. It is so easy to glorify, praise, and thank our Creator for just everything at such a place. And of course, it’s perfect for you if you have a love and appreciation for fall, and a slight pumpkin fancy. But seriously, seeing as how much fun all of us had, I felt I had to share it with all of my dear readers, so that they too may have their own pumpkin patch experience!

With Love in Christ

Diamonds Aren't Forever

If you live in the West, you are probably aware of what makes the world go round: money, money, money. Stuff, stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Everywhere you look, there’s money and STUFF. If someone has a lot of money, they might have a big house, maybe a nice car, perhaps a thing of jewelry or two, and possibly plenty of stamps on their passports. Also known as: stuff. If someone has not as much money, well, their list of possessions (or "things") might not be as extensive or as expensive. Of course, this is a broad generalization and I do not mean to sound stereotypical or judgmental!

It’s quite obvious that a lot of people in our Western culture are looking for the next “thing”, like the newest version of the iPhone, the highest-end TV, that cute lampshade at Homesense (even though the one at home is just fine). I’ll admit openly to everyone reading this that I have these inner urges! ... Especially the Homesense thing.

Why are we so compelled to go after the next “thing”?

Regardless of why, there is a bigger picture here. It doesn’t matter how many “things” we waste our money on. It doesn’t matter how many “things” we fill our houses (another “thing”) up with. It doesn’t matter how much these “things” cost. (Well, it kind of does matter, but this post isn’t about debt and why it’s against Scripture. And why it’s just plain smart not to be in any kind of debt at all. Anyhow, I’ll save that for another day.) After all is said and done, it really doesn’t matter if or when we end up having all these “things”. When we look past this life and turn our focal point to the end-all bottom line: no matter how much we spend, no matter how much we buy, no matter how much we have material wise, we can’t bring it with us where we’re going. These “things” just do not matter, plain and simple.

Why store up our treasures here? We know the earth is going to pass away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33 - That’s written in three Gospels!). We know we are going to die. (The reason behind this can be found in the very beginning, in the book of Genesis.) We [should] know that storing up treasures on earth is foolish (1 Timothy 6:17-19). (A good example of what is written there can be found in Matthew 19 and Luke 18.)

Perhaps it is time, if you feel as if your focus is not where it should be, to persevere in the faith and shift the attitude of your heart. It’s time to think about our priorities, and think about the long term of things. Keeping our minds and hearts focused on God and living a life pleasing to Him will make everything fall into place (Colossians 3:2, Matthew 6:33, 2 Timothy 2:15). 

And one more thing! Something simple to say in our minds or even out loud, on the spot, when we have that urge to buy some useless or unneeded"thing". Just remember, diamonds really aren't forever - neither is that "thing" we're about to buy - we can't take these "things" with us where we're going!