Interview with Jessica Renshaw about Yacht Phoenix of Hiroshima

Jesus vs. Santa: The Babe or the Blarney

     One night-before-Christmas when I was two or three, I needed to tell Mummy and Daddy something after they'd tucked me in. I worked my way out of bed and was halfway down the stairs when I heard their voices. I peered through the railing and saw my parents standing before the fireplace. Murmuring together, one bent to pick up objects and hand them to the other, who was stuffing them into our stockings.
     They were doing Santa Claus' job and I knew at once they wouldn't be doing his job if he existed to do it for himself. Although they never knew I saw them, I never believed in Santa again. I felt betrayed. It was hard to believe Santa had betrayed me since he didn't exist. So I knew Mummy and Daddy were the frauds.
     I lost trust in my parents' credibility and I haven't liked Santa Claus since.
    I probably wouldn't have wanted to raise my children believing in Santa anyway, but when I became a believer in Jesus Christ at 19, my commitment to the only Source of "every good and perfect gift," who is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another, cinched my convictions. An invisible Being who was omniscient about motives and actions, omnipresent at least on Christmas Eve--an eternal Being who could reduce himself supernaturally to fit down a chimney, who answered prayers and performed miracles--was definitely competing with my God for His glory. Perpetuating the lie was idolatry.
     I knew the person of Santa Claus was based on St. Nicholas, who was good to the poor. It didn't make any difference. I didn't want my children finding out one invisible, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal Being we'd taught them to believe in was a fraud. Wouldn't they doubt the other One, the real One--the One who could supernaturally fit Himself into a manger, even into a woman's womb? Wouldn't they doubt us, the ones who had taught them myth and truth side by side? Wouldn't they throw the Baby out with the blarney?
     But Rick, my first husband, didn't see any problem with including Santa Claus in our Christmas. Santa had been a fun part of his growing up. He dismissed my concerns as groundless. Of course our kids would be able to distinguish between J. C. and S.C.!
     So on Christmas Eve, we'd send the kids to bed early "so Santa could come." Sometimes Rick got them really excited as they lay there trying hard to sleep, by telling them he could hear hooves scrabbling on the roof or distant whinnies. In the morning, a couple of the gifts would be labeled "from Santa." For my part, I downplayed the portly elf. I avoided Santa-decorated wrapping paper and figurines (except for the one where Santa, hat off, kneels before the manger). I still do.
     I don't know when I realized the kids were playing the game with us--as a game. Maybe it was the first time our daughter spoke into the lull after she and her brother had emptied their stockings: "Oh, I think Santa's coming back! He forgot something. Mom and Dad, I think you'd better leave the room."
     When we came back, our own stockings were bulging with all our favorite treats: nuts and sugar-free syrup for Rick, peanut M & Ms and marinated artichoke hearts for me. We gave Santa big hugs by proxy and the tradition was set.
     Time passed. Now our children were teenagers and the only child in the family was their cousin Andy. One Christmas morning when Andy's mother Linda (Rick's sister) went into the living room to turn up the furnace and turn on the tree lights, she discovered that the bichon frise had chewed through the wrappings of a package containing something edible and had ingested a good chunk of it (with no effects on him at all).
     It took all of us to convince a dubious Andy later that Prancer had eaten the left rear panel of his new chocolate Ferrari.
     Somehow, through it all, the kids grew up believing Jesus Christ is God and Santa Claus is a game. I underestimated them. They're not confused and their faith survived intact. And each year I add an angel or manger scene to the branches of the Christmas tree.

First posted Dec. 19, 2010

LOVE YOUR REPUBLICAN/ DEMOCRATIC NEIGHBOR

If you claim to be a Christian - LOVE YOUR REPUBLICAN NEIGHBOR!

I am a Republican. A pro-life, anti-nuke Republican.

It hurts when those of you who don't agree with me yet claim to represent the party of inclusivity, tolerance and love drag into every discussion of these issues name-calling and condemnation not only against my--our--President but against all Republicans. Against me.

I, too, hate the president's policies regarding nuclear weapons. They are scary, appalling. I voted for him because of his policies on so many other issues: abortion, marriage, the economy, Israel, immigration, freedom of speech, religious freedom. I support his choices for members of his cabinet and of the courts, including the Supreme Court.

And I thought the alternatives were worse.

If you claim to be a Christian - LOVE YOUR DEMOCRATIC NEIGHBOR!

I used to be a Democrat. A pro-life, anti-nuke Democrat.

It hurts when those of you who didn't agree with me yet claim to be the party of truth and integrity dragged into every discussion of these issues name-calling and condemnation of all Democrats. Of me.

I, too, believe we must respect and obey the law. I believe civil disobedience, when necessary, should be first and foremost--civil. I believe we should respect each other's rights and property. I believe in equal opportunity, free enterprise and the Constitution. I believe in God.

Can't we set the expletives aside and discuss these things as brothers and sisters in Christ?

Atheist Bird

PRAY AGAINST ANTIFA'S PLANNED ANARCHISM AND CHAOS

On November 4, ANTIFA, officially declared a domestic terrorist organization, has called for the beginning of nationwide anarchy--in 14 major American cities--to bring about the violent overthrow of the "Trump/Pence regime."

This is not an empty threat.  They have been fomenting discontent with lies since before the peaceful and legal election of President Trump--whether you voted for him or not, a majority of Americans did.  Bypassing the sane, civil, legally established ways of changing our government which our Founding Fathers put in place, they prefer to "steal, kill and destroy" instead.  You know whose tactics those are!

 

They claim to be "Anti-Fascist" but their definition of "Nazi" includes every one of us conservative, law-abiding citizens.

PRAY NOW and until this madness is quelled:
--THAT THE PLANS OF THE TERRORISTS BE THWARTED, THAT GOD'S PEACE AND SANITY REIGN.
--THAT OCCULTIC CURSES AGAINST OUR LEADERS WILL NOT GO INTO EFFECT.
 --FOR PROTECTION FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND INNOCENT CITIZENS.
--THAT ANY LEGITIMATE CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE WILL BE MADE WITHIN THE LAW.

Philosophy of Martin Luther and the Reformation

Episode #5 of the course “Brief history of Renaissance and Modern philosophy”

The German theologian Martin Luther lived from the end of the 15th through the middle of the 16th century. He is most well-known for his 95 Theses, which he famously nailed to a church door to officially announce his philosophical separation from the church. He called for reform in the practices of the church itself, but even more so, in the ways that people thought about their relationship with God. Luther caused a great divide among believers of Christian Europe, and his words have rippled through history in unforeseen ways. Today, there are over 80 million Lutherans around the world and over a billion Christian Protestants, all because of Martin Luther’s influence.

Highly educated, Martin Luther received his Master’s degree the same year he had a life-threatening experience that gave him a spiritual revelation. He became a monk and dedicated his life to the service and understanding of God. Luther received multiple Bachelor’s and doctoral degrees and instructed at the University of Wittenberg. He preached against the contemporaneous Catholic practice of selling indulgences, which he saw essentially as receipts for a person’s payments toward salvation. He believed that people could come to salvation through faith alone and not by actions (including charitable donations to the church).

Martin Luther was one of the first secular writers whose work was widely distributed because of the newly-invented printing press. After declaring his perspective that each person who had been baptized could serve as a direct communicator with God, Martin Luther also was the first to translate the biblical scriptures into a language other than Latin. His translation of the Bible into German paved the way for translations into other languages and caused outrage in Catholic Europe. Luther died with his Catholic excommunication still in effect.

From  https://gohighbrow.com/philosophy-of-martin-luther-and-the-reformation/

---

I know how Lot felt

"[God] rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds)..." 2 Peter 2:7

Acknowledging that I am "righteous" only by the imparted righteousness of Jesus Christ, I want to say that I know how Lot felt.  My soul, too, is tormented day after day by the "sensual conduct of unprincipled men (and women)"!

In Long Beach over the past 20 years we have seen such a rapid playing out of the terrifying passage in Romans 1:18-32 which depicts the downward and ultimately lethal spiral God permits when people choose to push away and spurn their knowledge of God.

In this passage, note the causes and effects: what God revealed to people, what certain ones did and didn't do with that revelation and God's resultant verdict.  Note what was "exchanged" for what and the 3 things to which God "gave them over" as a result.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of an incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 

"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 

"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their acts.

"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

My posts now published as books--available on Amazon.com

Posts from this blog about my mother became the book, MUM: THE CONSCIENCE, COURAGE AND COMPASSION OF BARBARA REYNOLDS, June 15, 1915 - Feb. 11, 1990.


                           

Posts of true fun animal stories became the book THE DOG WHO ONLY ATE TACOS and Other Stories.




 Posts about our adventures on the yacht PHOENIX OF HIROSHIMA--going around the world and sailing into the Pacific nuclear test zone (1958) and to the USSR (1961) to protest nuclear weapons--became THE REYNOLDS FAMILY, THE NUCLEAR AGE AND A BRAVE WOODEN BOAT.

My other books, also available on Amazon.com:
                            
   GIANNA: Aborted and Lived to Tell About It, the true, triumphant story of a baby girl born alive in an abortion clinic. Gianna Jessen has testified in legislatures around the world to the fact of life before birth. She  was a consultant for the movie October Sky and sang one of the songs in it.

COMPELLING INTERESTS: A novel about abortion from the hearts of people on both sides. Set against the background of the history of abortion in the United States, this book follows the lives of a woman scarred by an illegal abortion, a baby saved from abortion, a Supreme Court justice and others. 


"Jessica Shaver Renshaw has done the impossible. She's written a highly readable, informative and entertaining book on an extremely controversial topic: abortion. She seamlessly weaves fact and fiction while accurately conveying the logic and emotions of both sides with respect and compassion. Compelling Interests is in a category by itself and should be read by anyone who has an interest in truly understanding abortion and the debate surrounding it. If you've never really studied much about abortion because you don't like the heated debates it often generates, this book will be especially helpful. I highly recommend this book whether you're pro-choice, pro-life or somewhere in between." Roger Resler, Author, Compelling Interest


 
NEW EVERY MORNING, a novel: A broken relationship between father and daughter is healed through Alzheimer's.  

Jessica's Journal, an 11-year old's diary while sailing with her family from Hawaii to New Zealand. (Jessica Reynolds) is published in full online at http://betweenthemasts.blogspot.com/

My book To Russia with Love: An American Family Challenges Nuclear Testing, a 17-year old's account of sailing to the USSR during the Cold War, is only available from Wilmington College Peace Center at https://www.wilmington.edu/the-wilmington-difference/prc/, Attn: Dr. Tanya Maus, Director.

(Note: Since my first book, Jessica's Journal, was published when I was 14, it was published under my maiden name, Jessica Reynolds. The rest are published under one of my married names, Jessica Shaver or Jessica Renshaw or some combination thereof. Sorry for any confusion.)

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Jessica+Renshaw

FOREVER ALIVE

 
One year ago today (it was Easter), Jerry and I completed what God had assigned us to do at GBC, to "stay and stand" for the church which had been dedicated to Him and His gospel in Long Beach in 1913, to bring the deeds of darkness which had diverted its purpose since 1990 into the light for His judgment.

He released us to leave but He is still enlightening the eyes of people attending GBC. He is bringing them out by ones and twos and by families, many of them dazed as they hear the Bible preached and realize (like lobsters in a pot) how they were gradually seduced away from the truth and duped for so long, how they filled in the gaps in the sermons with their own assumptions that the gospel was still being preached there.

The darkness has gone underground, covered with a happy, thriving facade now that those calling the leadership to account have all been banished. God has more to expose and to judge, in His own time and through other means. But we thank God that we were faithful through tremendous spiritual oppression and attack and that our part in all this is over.

Jerry and I are grateful new members of Cornerstone Church, Long Beach, where the Bible--including sin, repentance, salvation, heaven, hell, and prophecy--are openly and unashamedly preached and where Jesus Christ is joyously worshiped in three services every weekend. Altar calls bring people to forgiveness, restoration, or healing at every one of them. So many refugees from GBC are joining the church, Cornerstone is having to expand to include 175 new seats!

We appreciate Pastor Jerry Rueb. You can listen to his Resurrection Day sermon (3-31-13), "Forever Alive" at http://www.cclb.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=126127&id1=592&id1t=c&id2=5421&id2t=i You can also watch each Sunday's service live from anywhere in the world at 10:45 AM. We welcome you to worship with us in person or online!

NOTE: This blog never had more than 15 people following it publicly and it hardly ever has new posts anymore. Yet it is still averaging 30 hits per day. Last month it had over 1,000 hits--and the total count is 72,630! I don't know who you are* or what brought you here (frankly I hope some of you are from the IRS), but we pray each of you will receive truth, wisdom, courage, peace, joy and every spiritual blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ!

*Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	58662
Russia	3502
Japan	1884
United Kingdom	799
Canada	665
Germany	637
Australia	393
Ukraine	308
France	252
Mexico	214

I forgive you

In Neil Anderson's "Seven Steps to Freedom in Christ," Step 3 deals with "Bitterness vs. Forgiveness." I have led many people through this step. Now it is my turn.

I choose to forgive the pastors and elders of Grace Brethren Church for hurting us. I choose to forgive you for hurting so many of our friends. I choose to forgive you for continuing to hurt those who do not agree with you, who agree with the Bible instead. 

I choose to forgive those friends of ours who still believe the leaders at GBC. 

Forgiveness doesn't mean what someone did to you was all right.

"Forgiveness is a choice, a crisis of the will. Since God requires us to forgive, it is something we can do. [Matthew 6:12-15; Ephesians 4:32] However, forgiveness is difficult for us because it pulls against our concept of justice. We want revenge for offenses suffered. [In my case, I have wanted vindication.] However, we are told never to take our own revenge  (see Romans 12:19). You say, 'Why should I let them off the hook?' That is precisely the problem. You are still hooked to them, still bound by your past. You will let them off your hook, but they are never off God's. He will deal with them fairly, something we cannot do.

"You say, 'You don't understand how much this person hurt me!' But don't you see, they are still hurting you!  You don't forgive someone for their sake; you do it for your own sake so you can be free. Your need to forgive isn't an issue between you and the offender; it's between you and God. [Matthew 18:34]

"Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another person's sin. You're going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness.

Forgiving someone doesn't mean we have to put ourselves in a position to be hurt by them again.You must set up scriptural boundaries to prevent future abuse. 

"Decide that you will bear the burdens of their offenses by not using that information against them in the future." [God called Jerry and me to "bring the deeds of darkness into the light for My judgment." When he released us to leave Grace Brethren Church, He released us from exposing their deeds.]

"How do you forgive from your heart? You acknowledge the hurt and the hate. If your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete. . . Let God bring the pain to the surface so He can deal with it. This is where the healing takes place."

"Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made. Freedom is what will be gained, not a feeling." 

Forgiveness is dealing with your pain and leaving the other person to God.

'Lord, by an act of my will, I choose to forgive (name the person) for (verbally share every hurt and pain the Lord brings to your mind and how it made you feel).'

"'Lord, I release all these people to You, and my right to seek revenge. I choose not to hold on to my bitterness, anger, and self-pity. I ask You to heal my damaged emotions. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.'"

                              
[Note: The way I look at it, we are all going to spend eternity together in heaven--so I'd better start learning to love you down here!]

Not Janus

There was one who stood out from all the rest. He made a point of quietly coming up to us and giving us hugs, asking how we were, really caring. He sent us emails now and then--just a line or two--wishing us a happy Thanksgiving or a merry Christmas.

At first I thought he must not have heard the accusations, must not have been aware of the ogres we were. But he must have known because he was--still is--an elder. Yet he did not look through us or away from us. He greeted us not as Judas but as Jesus. 

Of all the others, from those who set themselves against us to those who were deeply troubled and didn't know how to view us, he still stands out in my mind. This man did not judge us. This man exemplified Christ's command to love his enemies. I know he did not even consider us his enemies.

This man, Jim Siler, was walking in the sandals of his Lord. And I want to thank him: Jim, you kept me from utterly losing faith in the Church. 

Peace (written after church this morning)

"Don't pray!" they told us. "We're praying!"

"Don't sing!" they told us. "You're not worthy of worshiping God!"

"Don't speak! We will tell people not to listen!"

"Don't write! We will tell people lies about you

that will taint what you post."



"We think you'd be happier at another church,"

they told us firmly (two elders, standing before us)--

and to make their meaning clear,

they stripped away our 36+ year membership,

stripped us naked

in front of everybody.



Part of the diaspora,

we followed nearly 200 other dazed people

and limped elsewhere.


Our new pastor opened his arms to embrace us.

He told his congregation,

"We are expanding our worship center,

with seating for an additional 175."



Through him

the Lord whispered,

I love to hear you pray!

I love to hear you sing!

When you speak of Me,

I am exalted!

When you write of Me,

your words delight My heart!


You  will  be  happier  here!

PTSD

Another Sunday morning. Again I wake up tense, disturbed.

I sit on the edge of the bed, tears welling up.

"This is not that church," I say to Jerry. "Remind me the church we are now attending is not like that." I am breathing hard. "Not all church leaders are like that. These men will not treat us like that. They will not publicly denounce us. They will not humiliate us. They will not lie about us and turn our friends against us. Not all men are like that."

Jerry puts his arms around me. "No," he says gently. "He is not Lou."

New blog

Hopefully, a breath of fresh air after this one: www.hiddeninjesus.wordpress.com

To those of you who prayed Todd through--

Dear friends who prayed Todd Raynesford through his catastrophic head-on collision April 19 (see HisScribbler, April 30 and May 1):

You were such a blessing when you prayed for Todd-- Would you now please pray for Rhonda Miller (niece of our good friend Tom Hawks), a single mom, mother of two teenagers, schoolteacher, in Chico, California, who had a horribly similar head-on collision July 28. Both femurs, left tibia or fibula, all bones in right foot, left elbow, left hand--all broken, compound fractures. Both knees crushed and fractured. Plus punctured lung. Doctors just recently decided not to amputate both legs. Rhonda was transported to a hospital 19 miles away by Life Flight, which alone will cost her $31,000.

Hit head-on by a drunk man who passed out--both drivers going 55 mph. The man had his 12-year old son in the car with him and is now in jail. He has only $100,000 liability insurance.

God did miracles for Todd and Tish in response to your prayers. I know He will again.

Thank you from all of us.
Jessica

Transplanted and growing again

Thank you, God. You take such good care of us!

The Lord led us to several churches before taking us back to and settling us in one of them. Like so many others who felt led or forced out of Grace Brethren Church over the past 22 years, I couldn't help weeping through the first sermons we heard, realizing how parched we had become.

We have been nursing greedily at a truly Biblical view of Jesus Christ--Almighty, Sovereign, transcendent yet God-with-us, exalted and lifted up, name above all names, worthy of worship by all His creation, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, compassionate Savior, willingly giving His life in place of ours, the only necessary and sufficient sacrifice for our autonomy and rebellion, the One who not only hears us but can answer our deepest cries for help and heal the brokenness in the innermost places of our spirit.

The church God led us back to already contains so many wounded refugees from GBC the sanctuary is being expanded to accomodate 125 more worshipers. It is comforting to go to an unfamiliar church and be embraced by dozens of familiar people. Some we barely knew at Grace welcome us as long-lost friends.

We now understand why those who left GBC before us left quietly and still do not want to talk about it. We never want to step on that property again. Its air is thick with the poisonous fog of deception. In my mind's eye I see there a circle of friends with their backs to us. Why would we want to relive reminders that they chose to believe lies about us and, under orders by the perpetrators, refused to read this blog, blocked our emails, and would not let us speak to them--much less seek us out to ask why we were taking a stand against the leadership?

Like so many other outcasts, we are skittish about committing to another institution. I have trouble trusting what any church claims from the pulpit on on their website. We have alighted and are willing to stay but I feel my wings are still partially open to lift off at any moment if we sense heresy or just-plain-meanness under color of authority.

Wall of Remembrance: Jerry and Jessica Renshaw

Jerry widowed 1998

Jessica widowed 2002

Married at Grace, May 2, 2004

Left Grace May 2, 2012

JERRY RENSHAW
Member of  Grace for 36 years.
Co-Prayer Team Coordinator.
Choir member, steward, deacon, usher,
served communion, Life Group co-host,
hosted pastors and students involved
in our Japanese ministry.

JESSICA SHAVER RENSHAW
Member of Grace for 39 years.
Women's Bible teacher, book of Hebrews
and other subjects. Wrote correspondence
Bible study, Who Is This Man? for church
prison ministry. Co-Prayer Team Coordinator.
Taught 2-3 year olds for Mothers of Pre-Schoolers
(MOPS). Worked in nursery. Choir member,
member of stewardship team, deacon,
served communion, Life Group co-host,
hosted pastors and students involved
in our Japanese ministry.

Done--

--in obedience to Jesus:

"And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them." Mark 6:11

Released

Jerry says it's time to leave. Thank you, Lord!

The same God who was with you then is with you now

The same God who led you in will lead you out

So take all the fear and doubt

Go on and lay them down

The same God, the same God is with you now. . .

                  from The Same God by Hillsong

Huge relief and grief, mingled.

Todd's God (Update from Tish)

WHAT AN AMAZING GOD...

Todd took ten steps today with 2 physical therapists.  Praise God for His mercies never fail.  He is going to an inpatient Rehab Hospital today.  It is not just a "Rehab Hospital."  This Rehab Hospital is known all over the world as one of the best.  It just "so happens" to be in the city where Todd and Tish live. 

New Prayers:

That the transition will be peaceful for Todd.  That Tish will be able to get some well-needed sleep and get refreshed to start this new journey called "recovery" with her husband.  Todd is going to need patience with himself and to keep his expectations for his body reasonable.  That both Tish and Todd will give themselves GRACE to grieve in whatever way it comes out at the time.  And mostly that our God who saved Todd will continue to heal and mend his bones so that others will be baffled and know that there is a God.  Continue to pray for finances as Todd worked full time and Tish part-time and this is causing a strain on them.  We just want to thank all of you who went to the Father and have fought this battle with us together.  For encouragement cards:

Todd & Tish Raynesford
P.O. BOX 247
Downey, Ca. 90241