We had a pretty enjoyable trip to the dentist this time, I suppose as enjoyable as going to the dentist can be! I was done in probably 5 minutes or less, since all they did was take me back to the room to give me my next 3 sets of aligners, check out my teeth, and put the new aligners in.
Levi got his filling and was only in there about 20 or 25 minutes! One side of his mouth was completely numb and it was really funny to see him try to smile or laugh. We did forget to take Mom’s book so she could read in the waiting room, but she wouldn’t have gotten any more than a couple of pages in anyhow.

It seems I won’t be tutoring McKayla again for a little while, since she’s now reading pretty good (as good as can be expected for a 1st grader!) and seems to be doing pretty good in school, so now my tutoring isn’t needed. I’m glad she’s doing better though!

At the dentist office, both Levi and I got asked if we were getting ready for ‘the holidays’, so I decided to make a quick poll here, just because I’m curious to see the response. According to the Scriptures, should Christians celebrate christmas? Please vote!

This morning we cut another tree down, and it was a whole lot bigger than the one we cut down on Saturday. Here is Dad tying the rope on the tree. He had to try to get up as high as he could, since this tree was pretty big, we needed it as high as we could get it.

This tree was no easy one to pull over, even with Mom, Levi, and I all putting our weight on the rope (we also had a come-a-long attached to another tree). The only problem was, that if it didn’t start falling the right way, it could’ve went backwards onto the house! Not a very pleasant thought! We were putting all the strength we had into pulling that rope, and it was barely, if at all, moving that tree. Dad had just about cut completely through it with the chainsaw, and it wasn’t falling our way yet…..

I guess the thought of it going back on the house made us all put some more energy into pulling that rope! And finally, after Mom and I were about exhausted, it started falling our way. As you can imagine, we all scattered in different directions real quick. Mom went left, Levi went right, and I just turned around and RAN! I heard that thing falling down behind me, and that just made me run even faster, LOL. Praise the Lord that it came down in the right direction!

(Levi took these pictures)

After we got it down, we got a little break because Dad’s chainsaw wouldn’t start back up. After Dad fixed it, the ‘clean-up crew’ got busy! We used the backhoe bucket to pile all the limbs in and everything went much faster! After we finished all that, got all the wood stacked, we stopped for lunch and then got busy again digging the stump out!

It looks so different now with the tree and stump gone. We even got the hole filled back in and packed down! Levi and I packed it down with the backhoe….well, Levi did, I was just along for the ride, as you can tell by the picture! Pulling down trees is exciting, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, Levi and I get to make a trip to the dentist tomorrow. I, to get my next 3 sets of aligners, and Levi to get a filling!

Oh, before I forget, I wanted to post a really, really nice picture I happened to take of Sammy. I think it’s the best one so far, even better than the last one! But, tell me what you think!

The first ‘What Am I?’ for the new blog!! Let’s see if y’all can guess it this week.

What Am I?

1. Be slack in my use and you will become poor; be diligent and I shall rule.
2. I can be dextrous and strong, but also the recipient of a thorn when drunkenness prevails.

I’ll have to post later on the tree we cut down this morning. We sure had a hard time getting it down!! Well, happy guessing!

This evening my brother and I worked on getting my blog moved over to our website, instead of wordpress.com, since self-hosting it gives you tons of more options (plugins, different themes, template & css editing, etc). Only having a limited amount of themes was beginning to irritate me.

As you all have probably already noticed, I’ve already switched my theme into something that looks a bit nicer than what I had before!

Like I said on the post on previous blog, if anyone’s got me linked please update the link! And if anyone’s got the blog bookmarked, you should also update that, since I won’t be posting on the wordpress one anymore, but this new one instead.

Well, I hope you like it! If you find anything wrong or any errors, be sure to let me know!

I just barely skimmed the top with my last ‘Born A Sinner?‘ post, so I decided to write a part 2. If you haven’t read my first post on this subject, I suggest you do so before you read this one. ;)  Let’s start off by analyzing Romans 3:23 in context; For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Before we just jerk that verse out to try to prove children are born sinners, we must understand that sin is a free choice. 1 John 3:4 plainly says that sin is the transgression of the law. Sin is a choice, a willful transgression of God’s law. Everybody still with me so far?

Since we understand that sin is a choice, what this verse means is that all those who can sin have sinned. All those who are capable of sinning have sinned. All those who are able to transgress the law have done so. This is what the word all in this verse means.

Another commonly used Scripture verse taken out of context is Psalm 58:3; The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. …

Okay, before we use a verse to try to prove a point, we must always remember that we must not use it in a way that would contradict other parts of the Bible, and we must not use it in a way that would contradict reality. The Bible does NOT teach nonsense!!
If you’re going to use this verse in its literal sense, then you must believe that each and every baby is born speaking. For it has to be able to speak, before it can ever lie!

Because sin is a choice we cannot possibly be “born sinners,” or “guilty.” It cannot be both ways - either sin is a choice - or we are born that way. And since the Bible clearly explains that sin is a choice… we cannot be born sinners because God is a just God and it would be unjust if He created us sinners and then condemned us for the way He made us.

This false doctrine, along with total depravity, was developed and created by Augustine, ‘the father of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation’. The early Christians and the Anabaptists both believed children were born innocent and pure. They believed what the Bible clearly taught, unlike Augustine, who created these heretical doctrines.

We also believed at one time that all babies were born sinners, and we were taught this in the churches we used to attend. It wasn’t until we began to study the Word of God on our own that He opened our eyes to this truth. You also have to notice that most churches and ungodly people today believe in the doctrine of being born a sinner. And you know that, if just about all the world believes it, and since they like to walk on the broad and easy road, that its got to be wrong.

I have often read that Adam’s sin is imputed to us, and that in Adam all have sinned. This is not Biblical doctrine! No one bears the iniquity of the father, nor of anyone who has sinned before our birth. [And that includes Adam] The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:19-20:

Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
[emphasis mine]

Bear with me here, I would like to respond to some of the comments that I did not approve on my other post, at least, some pieces of some comments.

Comment:

I don’t know how you can say that the belief of babies being born sinners is “anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-truth, and anti-common sense!” when there is scripture to support this belief. This really sounds like you are putting down other believers in Christ who believe differently than you.

There is no Scripture to support such a claim. There may be some if you try to pull it out of context, but not otherwise. I’m not ‘putting down other believers’. I am simply exposing a false doctrine, a tool of Satan, that is being used very effectively to draw others away from the truth of God’s Word.

Comment:

To the scripture in Ezekiel text you gave me, I never once stated that I inherited my father’s sin, i.e., if my father murders or steals, I will not go to hell for the things he has done. I will go to hell because of the curse we placed on ourselves THROUGH ADAM.

Whoa, wait a second here. The only curse passed down from Adam’s sin was death. You are correct, you never stated that you inherited your father’s sin. Rather you implied that you inherited Adam’s sin at birth, which again, is entirely un-Biblical.

Comment:

If you believe that all babies are born perfect and will automatically go to heaven until they commit a sin, you have the moral obligation to kill all babies. Because you cant just stand back and LET them go to hell. Because you KNOW they are going to sin ( because they have a sinful nature, which is exactly my point.)You would be a horrible person if you didn’t send them straight to heaven. And also (just following your logic, here) YOU would be God, because you would decide if someone went to [censored] or not. Which would absolve our Holy Savior from all his power, because we can save people, and we don’t need Him. Hmmmm… great philosophy.

So, according to this, you suggest that I have the moral obligation to disobey God’s law by murder? Ahem…wrong. We have the moral and Biblical obligation to train up a child in the way he should go, so he will know the difference between right and wrong.

Quote from “Are We Born Sinners?” by Brother Mike Miller:

This perverted doctrine denies the justice of God. It removes the responsibility for sin from the sinner, but worse than that, it places that responsibility on God himself. What blasphemy!

It is an outright lie because it teaches that sin is a substance passed through the genes, and particularly, the blood of our physical bodies. It makes sin a NATURAL thing and it certainly is NOT. God did not create man to sin, so it is completely UN-NATURAL.

This hellish idea makes God the author of sin. Only the devil himself is mean enough to come up with an idea like that and make it acceptable to men who claim to love and serve God.

As akhomeschoolfun said, I stirred up a lot of long-smoldering disagreement with this on my previous post, and I’m sure I’ve stirred up a lot more with this one. I am not attacking anyone, but I am attacking what I believe with all my heart to be a false doctrine.

What is at stake is too important! We must get it right! “Make straight the way of the Lord!” We just can’t be slothful and careless with the souls of men, so please read and consider this challenge to what has become the foundation of modern Christianity. - Mike Miller (Read Entire Article)

Children are born into a sinful world, but they are absolutely not born sinners! Sin is a moral issue — a matter of the heart — the result of a choice.

“For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil”
and
“sin is not imputed when there is no law”

I simply don’t see how it could get any clearer than that..

I said it once, and I’ll say it again……

This is anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-truth, and anti-common sense!