Just a few random thoughts I wanted to share....

     I just wanted to share some odds and ends that I am thankful for today. In the midst of my heart breaks and tribulations it gets too easy to forget the things we have to be thankful for.  I hope I never forget to sing His praises, even in the hard times. So please rejoice with me for...

Annabelle is turning one year old on the 20th (the same day my precious granddaughter Sara turns 11). Krista (also my daughter's name, now that I think about it! More similarities!) is busy planning a pretty pink birthday party for her youngest princess...AT HOME!!! That is a HUGE Praise!

In the worst of my recent fight with the devil I felt so weak and could fight no more and I laid out flat on the floor before God, crying my heart out. Then I remembered something I read in "Something Stirs"! Thomas wrote that the battle was too much for man, and only Jesus could take on this demon! I lifted my voice to Heaven and asked Jesus to take this battle for me because I knew only Jesus could win this one! Thank you Thomas for writing this so that it could come to my memory so that I had it just when I needed it most. Praise you Father God for taking over the battle for me!
     Amy and Joseph Clipston are both home after the kidney transplant surgery...Praise you Jesus! More answered prayers! No one was happier to see the come home than their kids.
     And in the end my praises surpassed my prayer requests this week...God is Good...ALL THE TIME!

Do you believe in Spiritual Warfare?

     In recent weeks I have joined multiple discussions concerning the belief in spiritual warfare, ghosts, the supernatural, and demons. It amazes me that so many people refuse to believe in hell or evil spirits, and yet they believe in angels.
     Like the frog placed in the pot of cold water who never attempts to jump out as the water temperature rises to the boiling point, we have quietly allowed the enemy to fill our thoughts with acceptance and thirsted for more even though we know these things we are watching are wrong for us. Christians are flocking to the theaters to watch movies with explicit sex, witch craft and sorcery, and demons and entities we know we should avoid, but are somehow unwilling to turn away from. Like passing a traffic fatality we know we shouldn't look at, we are drawn to stare for the forbidden sight of the lifeless body sprawled on the pavement or twisted in the wreckage. Even small children watch cartoons that display the occult in every story.  I was recently reminded that every Disney Princess story featured a disfunctional family, single parent, or even magic and spells. So why should we be alarmed ?
     Like everyone else, I have enjoyed the antics of the adventures in Hogwarts, and wanted to find a forever love like Edward or Jacob in Twilight. I never thought for a minute there might be a subliminal message leading us to accept the temptations they offered. I grew up watching "The Wizard of Oz" every year as a tradition! As a girl I wanted to be like Tabitha on Bewitched. Casper was the cutest ghost we ever saw, and everyone wanted to be his friend. Isn't it only natural to want to watch ghost hunters looking for the unexplained?
     What concerns me is where did we start crossing the line? When did it become dangerous?
      How do we explain to our children that anytime you start playing with the dark side you are putting yourself at risk? Isn't that sort of like me telling my children not to talk to strangers...when I talk to everyone I see? I understand people who are afraid of the unseen not wanting to face that reality, but that doesn't change the fact that they are real.
     I have lived in haunted houses, seen the shadows that have no soul disappear into the night, and have watched door handles turn when no one is there to turn them. As a teenager, we used to go tell ghost stories in the old cemetary to scare ourselves...and saw things we never told to anyone after that. I remember someone bringing in a book of shadows and suggesting we try some rituals or spells just to see if they worked. It was surely just a coincidence that someone dove into a swimming pool at the same moment and broke their neck just as we repeated their name. That fatal car accident couldn't have been because we were angry at that girl and did a nasty little spell on her that night to get even...
     How do we explain the pictures we took that clearly showed a demonic face over the shoulder of a man who had sworn allegance to the devil himself and had a 666 tatooed on his neck in a barcode? Is there any way to reason why there are screams on the battlefields of Gettysburg in videos played back when the visitors returned home, or mysterious soldiers marching in time up to Roundtop as the tape recorded it? The evidence is clear, there is an unseen world we do not understand. Just as there are Angels there are the evil equivelent in demons. And there are those who died who are not at peace. We may never understand all of that until we get to Heaven.
     Before our children get wrapped up in a world beyond their control, I believe we need to teach them about spiritual warfare, and warn them about dabbling with the occult. It isn't a game of thrill, or a fun rush to pick up a boring week end.
     That is why I believe Thomas Smith's book "Something Stirs" has such an important message.  Sure it starts off with the stereotypical teenage foursome wanting a thrill and planning a seance to summons up a demon to to their bidding for them...but then it takes the next step. He reminds us that we do not have the power to control these entities...that comes through Jesus Christ alone.
     I remember hearing the furniture moving around in my living room and voices getting louder and louder. I stood and commanded them to leave in the mighty name of Jesus! They only got louder! I called on the blood of Jesus to save me from these frightening beings. He did, but they did not leave...I did. I moved the next day! This book could well be written from a real life event...it could have happened. If we are to fight the enemy we must recognise him and know what we are up against! Soldiers do not go into battle without wearing the armour they are issued, and undergoing training to understand their enemy...and neither should we!
     How well do you really know that abandoned house on the hill that the kids hang out in? Perhaps this story was based on your own neighborhood...how much do you really understand about the world of the undead? Are you sure that doll is where you left it and didn't arrive there on her own power? Is it strangely quiet in yor backyard these days? What really happened to the third of the angels of Heaven who joined allegance with Satan as he left Heaven? Do you know what your kids are planning to do this week end? Just asking...
    

Do you enjoy the thrill of a bump in the night?

Do you love reading a book that brings chills to your spine as you read it in the night, with subtleties so gentle they sneak up and whisper in your ear and leave you dreaming about it long after you close your eyes? Something stirs in the haunted house on the hill...but it isn't just a haunting, it is more. Four teenagers decided to hold a harmless seance, or so three of them thought. One knew what he wanted. He wanted to summons a demon to do his bidding for him. What he got was a demon who needed blood for strength, and was fighting to enter the portal never finished. This demon was far greater than he could imagine, and was not going to be controlled by some teenage boy...or anyone else. The blood was spilt, the entity was alive and growing...and the four teenagers had no idea what they had done.  Don't let this sound too familiar because that is where other stories end...and the mind of Thomas Smith  begins to take it to new levels. The family who moves in to the house on the hill are so well written you believe you already know them, after all you may have met some of their friends, like Dean Koonz or Mike Dellosso before. The town is charming and the house is a dream, who wouldn't want to live there? That is until noises start, and the destruction begins, and things that go bump in the night take on a new life of their own. Do you like the kind of chiller that has the doll slowly turning her head to watch you while you aren't looking? Do you enjoy the page turning coolness of things creeping around in the night and shadows disappearing between the cracks in the floor? "
    "Something Sirs" by Thomas Smith is the newest release to join the ranks of heart stopping horror, and you will want to remember his name...because he is going to join the masters in his genre! I can see this becoming a movie complete with the haunting music that used to build the thrill in old time greats. Stop by http://ThomasSmithonline.com and get the latest news of his releases, and meet some of his friends. You can order your copy of "Something Stirs" today from Amazon.com I loved it!