Saturday, July 31, 2010

Last Day to Save!



I wanted to remind you all that today is the last day to save using the Vision Forum unlimited coupon, so it's a great time to stock up on gifts for friends and family!

Friday, July 30, 2010

A Free Coupon!

I love it when I get a coupon! That's why I'm so happy to share with all of you that Vision Forum has an unlimited coupon of $25 off your order of $75 or more! Just enter the code  NOLIMIT25 when you check out, and you will automatically recieve the discount. Happy Shopping!

Click here to begin browsing the Vision Forum store.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Wanted

Recently, we showed some friends the short Western film, Wanted, and wanted to share it with all of you again!


Wanted from Conquest Productions on Vimeo.

Be sure to let me know what you think, and I'll be sure to pass it onto the creators!

Segregation

Peter Bradrick and the LeClerc Brothers are working on a film for the NCFIC, called Segregation. I would highly recommend you watching this clip!


Segregation from Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Ace Wonder

John Moore, creator of The Widow's Might and Heartstrings, is working on another film! Find out more here.

Homeschool Dropouts

If you haven't seen this documentary yet, you should!


Homeschool Dropouts Trailer from Western Conservatory on Vimeo.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Thank you to Michelle Duggar


Thank You Michelle Duggar from Douglas Phillips on Vimeo.

Statistics on the Baby Conference Attendees!

The votes are in!

We had a wonderful time last night doing a bit of polling at the Baby Conference here in San Antonio. And the questions all had to do with babies and the Baby Conference! :)

43% of the people at the Baby Conference traveled up to 1,499 miles to get here

28% of the people at the BC are first generation Christians

56% of the people at the BC married between the ages of 18-23

34% of the people at the BC have had at least one home birth

50% of the people at the BC have between 3-6 children

44% of the people at the BC have had 1 or 2 miscarriages

90%  of the people at the BC believe that abortion is wrong in all circumstances

91% of the people at the BC are currently home educating their children

94% of the people at the BC desire as many children as the Lord will give them

66% of the people at the BC have used birth control at some point in their marriage, but no longer use it

83% of people at the BC have not adopted

37% of people at the BC have a desire to adopt, plus 15% are seriously considering adoption

Notes from a Symposium on Biomedical Ethics for Birth

This afternoon there was a symposium held on Biomedical Ethics for Birth, with a panel of Doug Phillips, Geoff Botkin, Dr. Ed Payne, and Dan Becker. The Symposium was subtitled, The Brave New World Your Children are Inheriting.

This symposium posed some very though-provoking questions- Is In Vitro Fertilization right or wrong? Is IVF consistent with the right use of medicine? Does man have the right to determine 'quality of life'? What are some of the critical issues that Christians are facing?

I really appreciated Mr. Doug's sentiment, "Science is not the author of life. Doctors are not the authors of life. God is the Author of life!"

Dan Becker, of the Georgia Right to Life, asked, "By what standard?" Think about it. Where do we get our ideas and worldview when it comes to birth, life, and babies? Do we get our viewpoint straight from the Word of God? Or have we been so influenced by our surrounding culture that we view these things the same way it does?

Mr. Becker gave a startling statistic during the panel discussion: "90% of Down's Syndrome children are being aborted today." Shocking, isn't it?

Interestingly, the panel fell on two sides of the debate over IVF. Dan Becker represented the view that IVF is not inherently wrong, and, in fact, looks upon surrogacy and embryonic adoption as "a form of rescue" for these children.

Mr. Phillips, however, articulated the position that,

1.- There is such a thing as medical adultery, and we need to begin using this terminology.

2.- Any attempt to introduce elements from other people outside of the marriage is wrong, perhaps even sinful.

He went on, "I think we should take a stand against surrogacy. Period... I am an emphatic no-surrogacy man. It's clearly unnatural."

Mr. Phillips clearly propounded the position that while we should be concerned about the murder of children, embryonic adoption is not a way to rectify the situation. Thus, "it is better to be obedient than to disobey and 'save life'."

And as he said in closing, "It's either right or wrong."

We must defend life, especially that of the unborn.

We must draw a line in the sand, and stand firm in the face of opposition.

God Bless!

Friday, July 9, 2010

An Interview with Michelle Duggar

One of the messages I attended today was an interview of Michelle Duggar by Beall Phillips. It was an amazing time that gave an intimate look at the Duggar family!

One of my favorite parts of the discussion was when Beall and Michelle were discussing family size and allowing God to control the womb. My two favorite quotes, one from each of them, are as follows-

"It's not the number of children, it's the heart."

Michelle Duggar

"It's your heart attitude before the Lord that matters."

Beall Phillips

What a reminder that God cares about the state of our hearts in any issue, whether that be submitting to our Daddy, or allowing God to decide the number of children we have (or will have)!

Naming Babies

This morning, Doug Phillips gave a wonderful message on how to give your children (or future children) epistemologically self-conscious names!

He gave advice to pick names that reflect-

1.- A Vision for the Kingdom of God

2.- A Vision to inspire the recipient of the name

3.- A Vision to disciple the recipient through his name

4.- The meaning and context the parents ascribe to the name

5.- The fact that great generations give great names to their children


He went on to give five common approaches to naming babies-

1.- Virtue Names (such as Faith, Remember, Ebeneezer)

2.- Biblical Honor (such as Joshua, Mary, Adam)

3.- Historical Names (such as George Washington, Patrick Henry)

4.- Generational Honor (names that honor family members)

Mr. Doug pointed out that five of the Alamo defenders were named George Washington, and six of the Alamo defenders were named George, most likely after George Washington. Isn't that amazing?!

As Mr. Doug said, "Names are a huge deal!"

The Wonders of Embryology

Last night, Mr. Geoff Botkin gave a wonderful message on The Wonders of Embryology,  in which he showed photos similar to the one below.



Thursday, July 8, 2010

Doug Phillips on The Triumph of Life over the Culture of Death

1.- Faith trumps fear

2.- Hope trumps heat

3.- Legacy trumps lies

4.- Life trumps death

Doug Phillips on How to Change the World

"You can change the world by loving life. You are the future. You are the blessing. You are the culture of life... We must be a generation of life-givers."

Choose Life!

Doug Phillips gave a charge to all of us at the end of his lecture:

"Choose Blessings. Choose Life. Choose Life and Multiply!"

The Presuppositions and Ethical Guidelines for the Baby Conference

1.- Sufficiency of Scripture

2.- Humility before God

3.- The Fear of the Lord

4.- The Creation Order and Design

5.- The Dominion Mandae

6.- Sovereignty and Sanctity

7.- The Unity of Marriage

8.- The Right use of Medicine

9.- Children are a Blessing
"We apply for curses and reject blessings"

10.- Obedience is the Highest Priority
"It is not life at all costs, it is life according to God's Program."

The Baby Conference has begun!

The Baby Conference has begun! The purpose of the Baby Conference is to rally people to the cry- "We recognize that babies are not a burden, babies are a blessing!" as Adam McManus puts it.

Mr. Doug Phillips began the evening with his lecture, The Long War Against Babies.

"All across America, by the millions, Christians abort children throught abortifacients such as the Pill," Doug Phillips said. "One in five women never have any children, up from one in ten in the nineties."

He went on to say that it has been guessed that somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000,000 infants have died because of abortifacients.

Mr. Doug raised questions such as,

How badly should married couples desire children?

Who is responsible for the opening and closing of the womb?

How many million children have died in the wombs of unwitting Christian parents?

The Baby Conference Begins Tonight!

Three Things to Remember

Three things that I walked away from the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour with was:

1.-We must recognize God's Providence, for it is God who governs the affairs of men.

2.- We should honor our father's sacrifices, in accordance with the Word of God in Deuteronomy 32:7.

3.- Persevere! The next generation depends upon us- we are the ones who will be leaving the legacy to the next generation.

10 Lessons from the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour

As we closed the tour yesterday, Wesley Strackbein gave us 10 Lessons that we should learn from the tours. They were:

1.-The Spaniards could conquer, but not colonize, because they failed to value the family.

2.-Do not underestimate the power of a multi-generational vision.

3.- Men follow Courage.

4.- When there is a battle to fight, we must draw lines in the sand.

5.-Men must act like men, and defend women and children.

6.- Great men of history study great men of history.

7.- Do not remove the ancient landmarks.

8.- No man knows his time.

9.- Know your history, but don't just know your history, live in the fear of God.

10.- Freedom is not free.

Today's Little Girls...











Are Tomorrow's Mothers!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Even Sweeter!


Even sweeter than ice cream is the joy of the mother and daughter relationship!

A Sweet Ending to the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour

We had a wonderful ending to the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour- we stopped at a Blue Bell Ice Cream Shop in Fredricksburg, Texas!! Even better, Doug Phillips and filmmaker and actor, John Moore, got in on the action-- serving people in the ice cream shop!

"May I take your order?"




Dishing it up


Huzzah for ice cream!


This is good!




Mission Accomplished, my friend!



The Final Day of the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour

Well, the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour 2010 has come to a conclusion. Too soon! It has been an amazing few days, and my love for Texas has become even stronger! :) (If you haven't told already- I love Texas!)

We loaded back onto the buses a little after 8:00 am this morning, and headed out for the hour and a half drive to Fredricksburg, Texas. Our first stop there was to the Pioneer Museum.

A Sunday House


We then went to the Admiral Nimitz Museum, which we toured with WWII veteran, Bill Brown.


Bill Brown


Scott and Bill Brown


Doug Phillips and Bill Potter

A few of the Tour Participants


The tours were wonderful, and I was so blessed by the inspiring tales I heard from Bill Potter, Doug Phillips, Bill Brown, and the main tour guide, Wesley Strackbein!

Virtuous Daughters

Virtuous daughters are distinguished by their dress and speech, as well as the way they carry themselves. May we all strive to be virtuous daughters!

Jubilee Phillips reading to Providence and another young man


Jubilee Phillips and Mercy Morecraft

Texas Faith and Freedom Tour: Day Two

Day Two of the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour has concluded... already! Time is going by far too fast! I wanted to share with you all some of the photos I got today. Our day began by boarding a bus at 8:00 am, and heading for Austin, the Capital.

Our first stop was to the Texas State History Museum, where this HUGE star was.



Daddy and Myself




Daddy, Mamma, and Myself
Taken by Bill Potter

From there we traveled to the Capital Grounds, where we had lunch, fellowshipped, and enjoyed the friendly squirrels and birds. (They really enjoyed our chips!)





After lunch, Wesley Strackbein and Bill Potter spoke to us about various topics, including Bill Potter sharing the story of Robert Louis Dabney.





We then toured the Texas State Capital



And finally, we visited some memorials surrounding the Capital, and the Texas State Cemetery before loading up and heading back to the Menger Hotel. While we were at the Texas State Cemetery, we saw this gravestone- a distant relative perhaps?! :)


A monument to the author of Old Yeller and Savage Sam


After we arrived back at the Menger Hotel, some dear friends of ours from here in San Antonio, Diana and Regina Hawley, picked us up for dinner. We met some other friends, Matt and Emily Deamer at a Mexican restaurant, and they had a surprise for us! Our friend Micah Pogue, from back home, had flown in early today! It was so nice to see the Hawleys and Deamers again after six months, and we all had a wonderful time of fellowship, filled with much laughter! :)

Emily and Matt Deamer

Back row: Daddy, Micah, Diana Hawley, Matt Deamer
Front row: Mamma, me, Regina, Emily Deamer

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

In Memory of Roy Rogers

Twelve years ago today, Roy Rogers, "King of the Cowboys" (1911-1998) died. One of my personal heroes, I would encourage all of you to read this biography of him.



Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes


Roy Rogers and Pat Brady

Roy and Dale








Happy Trails!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Pictures from the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour


Remember the Alamo!

The first day of the Texas Faith and Freedom Tour is over! It's so hard to believe- the day went by so fast.

It all started in the Menger Hotel's Lobby

Bill Potter and Myself

Then we went to the Moses Austin Memorial


Where Wesley Strackbein and Doug Phillips spoke on the lives of Moses and Stephen Austin, and gave some details on the original layout of San Antonio.





Then we walked to the Benjamin Rush Milam Monument, where Wesley Strackbein and Bill Potter spoke.






Mamma and Daddy

We then ate lunch- with Bill Potter! Following Lunch we went to the Alamo, where Doug Phillips, Bill Potter, and Wesley Strackbein shared the history of this amazing "holy ground" of Texas.












Good night, and God bless!