Christians are instructed in the Bible not to be unequally yoked. In the Old Testament, the Israelites are instructed not to marry people from the occupied lands. The reason for this is that we are often enticed to follow the gods of the other people.
In today’s modern world, this translates into Christians not being in a relationship with non-Christians for the same reason. After a while, we tend to gravitate towards the non-Christian lifestyle of the other.
This book presents 52 weekly devotions designed for couples to read and discuss together. The subjects covered are very important to couples who are striving to have a Christian relationship and a successful marriage.
If a couple will sit down together and truly discuss each weekly devotion, they stand a much better chance at a successful marriage than they would if they did not.
Together With Christ also makes a great text for a small group Bible study. Your church should strongly consider this.
If your families are from different Christian denominations, it would be well to sit down with both sides of the new family separately, and maybe even together, to work through this book.
Remember, one must put God in charge of your married life. Therefore, if marriage is a good thing right now, it will be a good thing a year from now. Don’t rush it; grow together and give your marriage the best chance at success that you can. Together With Christ will help you to do that.
We were sent a complimentary copy of this book. We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.
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Today on our inaugural post of Tuesdays with Gindy, I would like to share with you a sneak peek of one of our stories over on How to Manage Your Monkey.
This story is a retelling of a story told time and time again by many different storytellers. I hope you will watch the video, even though, for the most part, it is the same story as the written story.
It is also Taco Tuesday. As you all know, Glen Bell, a former Marine, invented the taco. He based his taco on an old traditional Mexican meal. This meal traces its roots back to the Mexican silver mines where workers would take a tortilla and wrap it around whatever they had on hand, usually leftover beans.
Bell created the hard shell that has become so popular to make it easier to prepare by standing the shells on edge. This meant he could make more tacos per hour and reduce labor costs. Bell’s lemonade stand became known as Taco Bell.
Celebrate Taco Tuesday every Tuesday. Remember the Marine Christmas charity, Toys for Tots, every time you eat a taco.
And now, without further eloquence, is our story, God Will Take Care of Me. Please watch the accompanying video.
There is an old story that has been told and retold for many generations. Of course, it gets enhanced just like a fish story does each time it is told.
One day, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that due to heavy rains upriver, the area below the Hartwell Dam would soon be flooded. This dam is situated on the Savannah River right on the South Carolina/Georgia state line.
An evacuation order was issued and volunteers began helping people in the flood area get to safety. Old man Simpson was kind of set in his ways, but he was a devout Christian and trusted the Lord in everything.
Mr. Simpson decided to sit on his front porch and watch the flood waters rise as he prayed, “God, please take care of me.” The flood waters got closer.
Mr. Simpson kept praying, “God take care of me.” The flood waters kept rising. Shortly, an Army Corps of Engineers boat approached and a corporal said, “Git in the boat.” Mr. Simpson replied, “No, God will take care of me.”
The waters got higher and higher and soon Mr. Simpson was sitting on the roof of his porch and continued to pray, “God, take care of me.” About that time, a rescue boat from the Iva Rescue Squad approached. A member of the dive team yelled out, “Get in the boat and we will take you to safety." Mr. Simpson replied, “No, God will take care of me.”
Later, the waters had risen even higher and Mr. Simpson was sitting on the roof of his house praying when along came a boat from The American Red Cross. The rescue worker yelled out, “Get in the boat and we will take you to a shelter where you can get food and water.” Mr. Simpson replied, “No, God will take care of me.”
The water rose even higher and Mr. Simpson was standing on his tip toes on top of his chimney praying when a helicopter from the 82nd Airborne out of North Carolina hovered over and lowered a rope. A voice came out of a speaker on the helicopter saying, “Catch a hold of the rope and we will fly you to safety." Mr. Simpson replied, "No, God will take care of me.”
Soon, the water was above Mr. Simpson’s head and he drowned. He stood before the Lord in heaven and said, "Lord, I trusted you to save me. Why did you let me drown?" To which God replied, “I sent you three boats and a helicopter”.
God always answers prayers. Sometimes the answer we get comes in a completely different form than what we are expecting. This is a story of just such a case.
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Years ago, my kids asked if they could have a cat. I told them no, we could not afford to buy a cat. I went on further to say, “If God wants you to have a cat, He will give you a cat.”
The very next day, I had to go under the house for something. There, in the crawl space was not one, but four little kitties. They were just barely old enough to be weaned, but there was no mama around.
I did not want to tell the kids that I had found the cats because now they would want them and make the rationalization that God had indeed given them a cat.
Well, I knew that I had been licked. I told the kids and they came and got the cats out from under the house.
There was one solid black one, male; one solid black one, female; one black and white one (black with white feet and a white chest), female; and one solid white one (really kind of cream colored), female.
The kids named the male Whiskers, the black female Charcoal, the black and white female Mittens and the white one Glaze.
Princess Mittens
Glaze decided she did not want anything to do with being a house cat and out she went. Soon after she moved outside, she disappeared.
The other cats stayed in the house and were no problem.
We had the boy neutered since we did not want him to spray in the house.
Then, one day the kids found a solid black male kitty who appeared to be very sick. I told them to leave him alone because he might make the others sick.
You know kids. They brought him in anyway. We were a struggling household of nine people trying to make it by on my disability. I found out that a local animal charity had a program to take care of vet bills, so off to the vet we went.
This new cat was named Kris by my wife, which was short for Krispy Kreme.
Krispy Kreme
These four cats moved with us to Texas and all eventually went to live in Rainbow Bridge. I have learned to never say “If God wants…” because He WILL show you His power, and His sense of humor.
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Let me begin by saying that I would love to give this book all five stars. I say that not because of anything to do with the book itself. The reason is that this author lives in Clemson, South Carolina, which is near my old home area of Starr and Iva, South Carolina and the Flat Rock Community.
Maybe I am not the brightest bulb in the string of lights, but I had a very hard time trying to ascertain what this Collier was trying to say.
Reading this book seems very much like being inside the mind of someone with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Collier switches from one point to another with very little to string the thoughts together.
The author expects his reader to know of all these people mentioned in his book. I read a great deal. In fact, I am often reading several books in one day. I have heard of the poet Rumi, but only recently learned anything about him from my friend David Cawood from his book The Secret Sabbatical. I was not aware of some of the other people quoted in the book. That being said, when a book is meant for those of us who do not have a masters degree in theology, literature, or mythology it would be great for the author to provide a brief explanation as to why a quote from someone we have never heard of is helpful.
The author does explain some things in the note section. But, face it, the average reader will never see the note section. Those of us that are looking for answers to life's questions would rather read a book instead of a foot noted, documented research paper. From reading the promotional information regarding the book, I was under the impression that somehow reading this book would help the reader come to some type of resolution within them that all is not lost, that there is hope when we place our faith in God. I never saw this.
Instead, I read from a man who had found no resolution. If anything, he told us of his doubts and fears but gave no hope for overcoming them.
I fail to see how Collier links his sex life with his wife along with the professed lusts he had for others with assisting his readers find a faith they are struggling with.
As I neared the end of this book, a former pastor came to mind. This pastor was hired to preach at the church I attended in my youth. Most of the members of the church were older. This new pastor was struggling. It was his first church.
He was also the father of one child of about two years old. We had seven at the time ranging in age from about 4 to about 17. The pastor, who was having a hard enough time keeping up with one child, attempted to give me advice on being a parent.
The advice came about because as we were talking, my youngest son came up to me and asked me something. I answered him and turned back to my conversation with the pastor.
The pastor began to lecture me about how to handle interruptions from my child. I explained that in life there are priorities that one must set. To me, any communication with my wife and children was infinitely more important than the chit chat in which he and I were engaged.
My point here is that the author appears to be trying to advise his readers on a topic he is still fighting through himself. Very much like my pastor friend who was giving advice on child rearing when he had not yet figured it out.
I received this book free of charge or obligation through the Tyndale Rewards Program. I was under no obligation to write a review positive or otherwise.
Very often we will be sitting in a church and the pastor will ask if anyone would like to share a word or two of testimony. The problem I have with doing that is limiting it to a word or two.
God has done so many wonderful things in my life that it would be impossible to tell it all yet impossible to stop telling it once I got started as well.
I never had a knee crawling to the altar experience. I am jealous of those who did. But I do know the Lord and I do have a story to tell. When I was about nine years old my sister decided to give her heart to Jesus. At that time I didn't know exactly what that meant.
But I could answer yes when the pastor of New Pisgah Baptist Church in Inman South Carolina (Now First Baptist Church of North Spartanburg) asked me did I believe that Jesus was the Son of God. And yes to did I believe that Jesus died on the cross to save me of my sins. I was baptized shortly after that. I was raised in Sunday School and going to church most Sundays so I never really questioned anything about God.
In the summer of 1976 I went to Myrtle Beach South Carolina with the youth group from First Baptist Church of Iva. While on that trip diabetes decided to make itself known to me. I was 300 miles away from home and very sick. I really didn't know I was that sick until the last night we were there. I was in such pain I couldn't sleep so I sat out on the front porch of the beach house we were staying in and asked God to let me die. I knew I would be in heaven and I knew that Jesus was there for me.
Thanksgiving of 1997 looked like it was going to be pretty sparse.. I sat at my desk balancing the checkbook and trying to rob Peter to pay Paul but Peter had hired a bodyguard and just wasn't budging. The money just wasn't there to have a Thanksgiving dinner. We would have had sandwiches or something like that to eat but no real Thanksgiving dinner.
I breathed a quick prayer "God Please". Only a few seconds later came a knock on the door. Ken, a man from a church we sometimes visit, was there. His daughter had to leave town unexpectedly and had some perishables she wanted him to throw away for her. He decided that he should give them to someone and he thought of us. Ken brought lots of things. When he left I said a thank you prayer but God wasn't through yet.
Shortly after that the telephone rang. It was Charlotte “Granny” Madden. She said, "Bird" which was my nickname to all my friends when I was growing up, "They gave away turkeys at the place where Doyle, her son, works today and there was one left over and I thought of you." I thought, "Wow, God had this all taken care of." But God wasn't through yet.
About an hour later, we had just gotten all the things Ken had brought put up in the cabinets when the phone rang. It was Mrs. Harris. Mrs. Harris is the mother of one of my very best friends and like an adopted grandmother to the kids. From time to time she will call up and say "Bird, I got something for the kids, can I bring it over?" Usually it is Ice cream or freeze pops. On this day she said she had some things to bring over for the kids. I thought well God has taken care of dessert too.
Well not only did she bring dessert, this lady had bought a whole ham, a large turkey, fixings for any type of casserole you could ever imagine, things to make pies and cakes and banana pudding, as well as hot dogs for later and more. When she left there were boxes and boxes of food all over our kitchen and living room. We said a prayer of thanks to God and told him we couldn't store any more food.
Jesus walked everywhere he went. However, God realizes that this isn't practical in today's world and has constantly performed miracles to show us He is here for us. Like:
We had a station wagon. It was on its last legs but somehow it managed to get us where we needed to go. One day the poor thing had gone as far as it could go. It broke down in front of a used car lot. The man at the business next door observed my wife, Suzanne, and the kids get out and start walking down the road to find a telephone. He offered to let her use his telephone.
In the course of events he offered to tow the car off the street for her since he has a tow truck. My wife says she isn't sure about that but he says he can do that and he and I can work out the details later. When she tells me about this, a red flag go up. When someone won't give you a price like that it usually means you can't afford it.
Well, the next day he calls first thing to tell me what WAS wrong with the car is that it needed a fuel pump and to have the carburetor adjusted. I cringed since he has already fixed it. I ask him what the cost of the repair would be. He tells me he will call me back with the total. Soon he called back and said that every time he went to figure the bill the Holy Spirit told him not to charge me anything. He said he tried to figure and he kept hearing the clear message not to charge anything.
So he says that he can have his employee run the car home if my wife can bring him back. On the way back he tells my wife that the place will be closed when he gets back and could she just run him on home. He then said he noticed that she didn't have much gas and offers to put gas in the car. He puts ten dollars’ worth of gas in the car. Not only does God provide a repair but almost a tank of gas too.
Finally that station wagon can no longer be fixed. We had been taking our children to AWANAS at Temple Baptist Church. I wrote a letter to the church asking them if they could provide a ride to the awards night ceremony since the kids had worked so hard to earn the awards. They provided rides for us.
The assistant pastor showed up a few days later with a man named Ronnie Wright. He said Ronnie thinks he should take a look at the car and see what he can do. They tow the car off. Ronnie says that it can’t be fixed. The motor is blown and the car just isn’t worth putting a motor in. Well we prayed about a car but had no money to do anything
.
Meanwhile back at the church. A man, George, went to trade his van for a new one. The dealer told him what he would allow him in trade for the old van. George said he would give the van away before he would take that for it. He made the deal for the new car without a trade. On the way home he heard a voice that said “Did you mean that George?” George said, “Yes God if you show me someone who really needs this van I will give it to them.” George, who was in charge of game time at AWANAS pulled into the church to get things set up and began talking to the assistant pastor. The assistant pastor told George about us needing a car. George and his family gave us the van.
A few years later we are driving that van to Jubilee. This is a special revival service. Well the transmission fell completely out of the van. Just behind us is the preacher’s son. He pulls over, and gets us to church.
Well, Pastor Joey at another church we had visited (The same church Ken with the food went to, Lakeside Wesleyan Church hears our story. He finds a used transmission and his church pays for it. He drives to Roebuck South Carolina to pick it up. He brings it back and it doesn’t work. He takes it back and gets another one. Ronnie Wright installs the transmission both times and only charges $100 which is the cost of a seal and what he has to pay a man to help him.
Well Ronnie says that the transmission will get us going for a while but not to plan to have that van too much longer. We begin to pray. I get an E-mail from a lady in North Carolina named Sherri Griffin. She and her husband Shawn have to move with their seven children from North Carolina to Washington State. She says they have several things they would like to give us. One of them is a van. That van is the 1995 Ford Aerostar we are still driving today. We have to put water in the radiator every time we go out but it is still working. The air conditioner no longer works but it is still going. All we have to do is get to Charlotte to pick it up.
Later her husband Shawn calls and says he has a problem. I think that maybe for some reason they can’t give us the van. The problem is that he has two collector cars that will cost too much to move across the country and if I can find someone with a rollback wrecker that he can give us both of those. A 1972 Roadrunner Clone and a 1970 Satellite Station wagon. So, we need one van, pray for it and get one van and two cars. God is good.
Lest you think that the only reason that I believe in the power of God is because what He has provided for me let me tell you that Jesus is my Lord and Personal Savior. I know that Jesus died on the Cross to save me of my sins. Our God is an Awesome God.
Help us reach 1,000 YouTube subscribers. Please watch some of our videos. If you like them, please subscribe. Also, please share our YouTube information with your friends. We thank you so much for all your help.
Christians are instructed in the Bible not to be unequally yoked. In the Old Testament, the Israelites are instructed not to marry people from the occupied lands. The reason for this is that we are often enticed to follow the gods of the other people. 
.