Why Were You Water Baptized?

     I learned this weekend, from my teacher Mr. Wendall Parr, that there is a very specific reason we are to be baptized after being born again, by accepting Jesus as our Saviour.  I did not know of this reason. It made so much sense to me.  I wish that more people knew this and that is why I am sharing it below. Feel free to ask questions.  I may not be able to answer them right away, but as the Holy Spirit leads. I am still learning myself.  I am so excited to know this and it makes so much sense now.  Much more than before.

     The church has not done a good job, like Paul warned us to be in 1 Cor. 10 (start from vs. 1), about rememebering why we have the two baptismals, but specifically the water baptismal.  In the bible the cloud is another way of saying Holy Spirit and the Sea is the water, so you see how they are talking about the baptismals.  Well, when you look at the Jews exodus from Egypt, it is just like our choosing God and being saved and then starting our Christian journey.  It is a type and shadow of our being redeemed/saved.

     The Jews celebrated royally after they crossed the Red Sea.  Why?  Because the allure and pull and hold that the Egyptians had on them was destroyed by the Red Sea.  Remember the Sea here is symbolic of water baptismal.  Remember people in the new testament raced to get baptized after being born again.  Why?  Because they were taught that the baptismal buries your old sin nature and when you come out of the water you are free from any pull or tug or hold that sin nature had on you before being baptized.  You are free, clean, and in your new life!  

       They were taught that and so were able to believe for it when being baptized.  So we do not have to work and work to kill our sin nature after being born again, we just have to believe it is buried when we are baptized.   That makes a lot of sense as to why the devil has worked so hard to make this hidden and not known in the churches of today.  I was taught you get baptized to set yourself apart to the world, to just tell the world you believe in God.  But it is not that, it is to severe the ties the world had on you..to break those bonds and to free you once and for all from sin!  Praise God for this!

     People have coined a phrase, called 'back sliding', when people return to their sinful ways after being born again.  But this occurrence of 'back sliding' rarely occurs in people that are taught the real reason why they are being baptized, what wonderful things to expect from the baptismal.  When you come up out of the water, you are free from your old sinful life and any bondage that it had on you!  This my friends is why the people in the new testament were so quick to be baptized after being saved!

      And yes you can be baptized again, so you have a chance to believe for the true reason of baptismal.  And yes we can be free from all temptation to have any of our old yucky habits!  No more alcoholism, no more debauchery, no more riotous living, no more hatefulness, Hallelujah!  We are free.

Cedar Shavings are NOT Toxic to Pets

     As a child we always used cedar shavings with our small animals, rabbits and guinea pigs and hamsters.  And none of them had short life spans.  None of them died young, unless a predator got them.  They all lived to ripe old ages. There is nothing wrong with cedar chips.  We still use cedar to this day and have never had an issue.
       The only reason people keep telling you there is, is because they make a fortune from the new bedding.  It is made from recycled paper, the stuff you give away for free.  So yes, they make a fortune off of that stuff! 
       You would be more wise to stay away from walnut/wheat/corn in your cat litter instead of your small animal cages.  We have experienced first hand the dangers of that!  We used an an natural litter that was made from that stuff.  It was some walnut based cat litter we got at Petsmart.   We cleaned it every day.  We only have one small cat.  But the litter would never fully dry out.  So mold grew in it.   Not the obvious mold on the wall kind, either.   Within no time, like a week or two, I was sick and my cat was sick.   She was severely congested, so much so that she could hardly breathe and would not eat at all.  We had to force feed her.   She almost died from it.  She got to 3 pounds!  The only time she has ever been sick in her life, I might add.  So we threw that litter and box away and went back to what we know a clay or silica based litter.  I had tried that walnut litter to see if it would help me with my allergies to the chemicals in other litters like Tidy Cat.  We now use Cats Pride Complete or Dr. something or another's silica litter (can't remember the name).  That doesn't track out like the other litters.
     

The War Was Over Big Government, Not Slavery

     Speaking of the Civil War, which coincidentally was not over slavery, as the winning yanks would have you think, but was in fact over the federal government trying to take away the states supreme right to govern itself and the feds were starting to tax like crazy.  Back then all of the wealth was in the southern states…each state was like it's own country and were some of the wealthiest little countries on the planet back then, all from agriculture, like sugar cane.  The feds didn't want all of it's bank roll to leave the union and so they started a war.  Plain and simple.  That is why the european nations were on our side and was the only reason the president signed the bill abolishing slavery was to keep the europeans from coming over and helping the south.  Do some research, you'll see it's true.  But for now, check out this beautiful southern cake!
 We made a General Robert E. Lee Cake recently.  I could not find my other 9" round cake pan and so we had to do square layers. But it is still a pretty cake and turned out really well.  It is one of the types of cakes where you have to separate the eggs and do them separately in the batter.  It also has no butter in it.  So the layers are light and a little spongy, like sponge cake.
    You have a lemon jelly/pudding in between the layers.  My daughter was keen  and did a great job with the stirring while this was in the double boiler.
     Then you have an orange lemon butter icing that has coconut in it and on it.  I only use coconut that is natural with out the chemicals in it.  I buy it frozen in little bags…works great and won't kill you either…lol.
     If anyone wants the recipe I will post it. I got it from an older southern cake book.  It takes a dozen eggs to make this cake…no salt, and no baking soda, either.  Loved the experience of making this, especially with my daughter!  A real blessing from God to be able to do that!
     And no, I am not a food photographer.  Don't want to be one either.

Incredibly Thankful

     I have not posted over the holidays.  It's just too busy of a time, and I did not even think to post a blog.  
     I am incredibly thankful to God for bringing reconciliation to our family!  I can see progress and love flowing more than anger and strife and I am so so thankful to God for making that happen.  I tried on my own for years and things just got worse.  But since I have been letting God do more, and letting myself trust God, the tide has shifted and things are better!  Praise God for new, peace, joy, and no offenses taken!
     Even though it is cold, it is a wonderful day!