LeFors Tribe

http://www.leforstribe.com/

Hello! It is election time. It is nice that we have the opportunity to vote for our country’s leaders such as state governors, congressmen/women, legislatures, and so on. I would like to share my thoughts on this upcoming election.

Often in elections, we have two candidates competiting against each other.  Sometimes, for one candidate I support, he/she have issues that I disagree and prefer another candidate’s perspective on these issues. If you are a die-hard democrat or republican, you will agree with everything one candidate has in mind but that’s not me. I like some issues one candidate has and some other issue the other candidate has. So, how do I figure out which candidate to vote for?

I think the bottom point comes to our identity. People vote according to their identity. If I identify myself as a “Deaf” person, I will, of course, find out which candidate has a better  view of Deaf and how he/she plans to support and contribute to our needs. If I identify myself as a business owner, I will, of course, look into which candidate’ supports people who own businesses. If I identify myself to my own race; black, white, hispanic, and etc, I will, of course, pick which candidate has more value on my race. If I view myself as a wealthy man, a very high class man, I will look for which candidate will give me an advantage.  If I’m a hunter, I will look into which candidate supports NRA, the right to use guns. There is a lot of different identities.

My identity is: “In Christ”. When I became born again, my identity became of Christ’s. I have a new identity and that is Christ in me. My identity in order, with the first on my list, is being a Christian. My second identity is being a husband, and third being that I am a father. My 4th, that I am a jock, haha, really, I’m teasing.

Now, as my identity in Christ, I’m a Christian, what important issues should I look into to be able to select which candidate I should vote for? Economy? Hmm, the economy is pretty important, but let’s see what the Scriptures says about economy.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my House, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” -Malachi 3:10 

“But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19

Those two Scriptures tells us that God will take good care of His people. Those who tithe faithfully and follow God’s commandments regarding to money will be blessed. God enjoys blessing His children so with the economy of the candidates will not affect me because my economy source comes from God. God is my supplier. So for the economy issue, that is put aside.

What about health care? Insurances? Hmm…

“…And by His stripes, we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5

“and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross…for by His wounds, you were healed.” -1 Peter 2:24

My health does not come from the doctor. My health does not come from a good insurance coverage. My healthy life comes from God’s provision through Jesus Christ. God provided, through His mercy and love, for us to have good health. So, health care is not a primary issue for me so that is put aside.

Now, hmm, what about war? Iraq? Is this a primary issue for us? Let’s see.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightned or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” -Matthew 24:6 

“For nations will rise against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms…” -Mark 13:8

The Scriptures show clearly that Jesus said wars will happen and countries will fight against countries. In the “Last Days” it gets worse. Can we stop this from happening? No. Can we help the situation get better? Maybe yes. We can defend America better, yes. But is war a primary issue for us Christians to look into? I think it is not.

Now, Economy isn’t a primary issue for a Christian to look into. Health Care/Insurance isn’t a primary issue to look into either and so is war. Now, what issues are primary?

My priorities as a Christian is to look into the lives of both candidates and how they relationship with God is like– their Walk– their everyday life.

Now, America brings us two men; McCain and Obama.

Now, this is from what I know. I do not know in depth of their personal lives because I have not shook hands with them nor hung out with them. This is only from what I know by reading information about them. As far as now, I’m not impressed with both of them. I don’t feel thrilled that one of them is a president candidate.

McCain goes to a baptist church but he has rejected several pastors’ endorsements. McCain did not accept them and that puzzles me. McCain does not share often about his faith and his relationship with God. He does not say to the public that he is a born again man. He’s very quiet about that and I’m waiting on that. That does make me wonder.

Obama goes to church. He labels himself as a Christian, but I question his church attending record for 20 years. There’s some sticky issues in this. He denounced his church pastor and does not want to associate himself to his pastor. I looked through Obama’s voting records and it does not match a Christian voting record. So, having a person’s walk play a important role in who I should vote, both Obama and McCain isn’t helping me decide.

Because of this, I have to move onto the second important issue and that is, Life. The issue of Life. Life for people who cannot defend for themselves. Now, a baby in a mother’s womb is defenseless. They are all innocent. All babies are at the mercy of people who decides their “fate”. So, if you ask why I am putting babies’ lives as a second important issue, this is because the Scriptures say that a baby is valuable.

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born, I santified you…”Jeremiah 1:5 

“You are He who took me out of the womb…”-Psalm 22:9

God, Himself, took the time to plan the life of the baby and we take it lightly and take that away. Really, this isn’t right, so, the issue of life is important to me. I looked at both candidates’ standing on this issue.  McCain is pro-life. He has shared and said that he will not agree to Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. McCain disagrees with abortion and is a big supporter of pro-life. Obama has declared that he is pro-choice. He will allow women to choose whatever they want to do with the living human baby in their wombs. Ooh, ack. This gives me a clearer picture of which candidate I should support.

Another topic in line is marriage. The Scriptures shows clearly that a marriage is between a man and a woman. A man and a woman will leave their parents and be united. This is the definition of marriage.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” -Genesis 2:24

“For this cause, shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?” -Matthew 19:5

I checked out the candidates’ view on marriage. McCain agrees to the definition of marriage to be between a man and a woman according to the Bible. Obama does not. Obama says any two people can get married- regardless of their sex gender. This causes a great concern with me.

With the priorities of life and marriage and seeing how the candidates view them makes it easier for me, as a Christian, to know who I ought to vote for and that is McCain/Palin.

Now, if you ask me what my sources are and how I knew these information, I checked out their voting records, their campaign websites, and from websites that I appreciate for their service to the public. I will share with you the website and please write it down and check it out. It has a nice list of different standings each candidates have on different issues. Are they in favor? Do they disagree? etc. You can click on that information and it will share with you the candidates’ background and where they got that information.  

www.afa.net/08VG/index.html

It is our responsibility to vote smart, to vote as God would want us to vote. So, don’t take this responsibility lightly. Make sure you look into this right, not because of a minor issue such as deaf rights or race. Look into specifically what God would want you to vote for.

I cannot go to sleep good knowing that I voted for someone who supports abortion. I can’t. Those are my thoughts.

Be blessed and vote smart.

http://www.leforstribe.com/

Women. Today I want to talk about how women have shaped history–election is coming up closeby and this is making me think about the women who fought for the right to vote. We ought to thank them for their work. We also ought to thank their mother for delivering them into this world. We ought to thank their mother’s mother for delivering her into this world. We ought to thank their mother’s mother’s mother’s mother for delivering her into this world. We ought to thank their mother’s mother’s mother’s and so on all the way through the Scriptures and to Day number 5. Why day number 5, you ask? Because it is the day that God created a woman. This v-log may be a connection to my recent v-log titled, “I Am Crying Because I Am A Woman”. You know, a lawyer at the court house always prepare his/her case with many evidences to show proof that their foundation is true and honest.  I want to thank a couple of women for sharing their thoughts with me. Again, I am not talking about liberal women who despise men or womanpride where women grab their breasts. I do not want to make men feel inferior.

The Scriptures has over 200 names that belongs to a woman. I want to bring up the issue again how God sees women—priceless.

The Scriptures mentions a lot of stories and I cannot mention them all to you so I will share some of them. There is a famous quote saying, “Actions speaks louder than words.” Chapter and verses of the stories will be displayed and you can read them yourself. I will paraphrase the story (for the sake of ASL).

We will see, in action, how God uses women and even bother to have her mentioned in the Scriptures.

Genesis 2:18-24

God created the earth and it was still not good enough without a woman on it. God has acted and created a woman. Women exist because of God’s action.   

Judge 4 and 5.

Israel was under oppression of another country and God wanted to see the country become a free nation. He wanted men to begin fighting for their freedom, but the men in Israel was afraid. They did not want to fight against another country. When God saw that there was no one to actually stand up, God chose Deborah. She became like a commander in chief. She was a judge. Now, in the country of Israel, I would assume there were about 2 million males (I guess, I don’t know) but we know that there were many. And still, God saw that none of these males were good enough and He picked Deborah. She was a strong woman.

1 Samuels 25:3-39

We have Abigail. She was married to a very wealthy man. King David wanted some things from her husband. Abigail’s husband didn’t agree and began to say foolish things to King David. Because of his stupidity, King David became angry and threatened to destroy his things. Abigail recognized that her husband was a fool and she did not want her properties to be destroyed so she came up with several items and went up to King David and talked with him. She displayed great wisdom, knowledge, and beauty. This impressed King David and he applauded her of her wisdom, intelligence, and beauty and withdrew his threats. King David is known to be a man after God’s heart and with that being said, God saw Abigail as wise, smart, and knowledgable. Let alone that there was an effort to mention this story in the Scriptures.

Genesis 21:14-20

Hagar, mother of Ishmael. Ishmael’s descendants are currently in the Middle-East part. Many of them are Muslims. Abraham sent Hagar and her son, Ishmael out into the desert to die. Hagar was grieved by that and God saw her pain. He sent an angel to provide for her and He made a promise with Hagar saying that out of her, God would make a great nation. He had given her honor.

The Book of Esther

Esther, oh, we cannot forget her. If not for her, there would be no jewish people on the face of earth. Her husband, a king, was decieved by another man to wipe Jewish people off the face of Earth. This is like another holocaust and the king would be like Hitler. By God’s timing, Esther was placed in the right place and time for the King to want to marry her. She became a queen and was the very one that saved a nation. She had wisdom and planned a stragety to convince the king not to kill Jews. We see that God, in action, picked a woman to save a nation. If the king had wiped all Jews off the face of earth, we would not have a Savior, a Messiah. 

Luke 2:36-38

Anna. she was an old lady, a widow, who was a prophetess and annoited by God. She was the first person to begin telling people that the Messiah has arrived–the baby was the son of God. It required a woman to tell the world that the time of salvation is here.

Philippians 4:2-3

Eudoia and Suntche both had a disagreement. Paul encouraged them to resolve their issues and become likeminded. The point here is that Paul did not condemn these women for talking by saying that they ought to be quiet and not to speak a word. Instead, Paul tells them to resolve which means that these women had brains.

Luke 10:38-42

Mary and Martha are sisters. Jesus and his disciples came to their house and wanted to visit them.  One sister became concerned on how to please her guests. She was busy cooking, cleaning, and making sure all was well. The other sister just sat down and spent time talking with Jesus. The hard working sister complained to Jesus saying that her sister ought to be helping her. Jesus answered by saying that the sister who was sitting by him was doing a good thing. The point here, Jesus, Son of God, tells a woman to relax and chill and for her join her sister. Another point here, Jesus is considered a wise person, many other religions recognize Jesus as a wise man, wise teacher, or a wise prophet. They do not consider him to be the Son of God. The issue here is wise. Jesus went to a female’s house and chatted with them. The sisters were obviously intelligent enough to be able to have a conversation with Jesus, who is a wise man. And this story was mentioned in the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14

Lois and Eunice. Lois is a grandmother of Timothy and Eunice is the mother of Timothy Who is Timothy? He was a pastor who grew up learning about God through his mother and grandmother. Paul wrote several letters to different churches and one of his letters were to Timothy, a pastor. Paul encourages Timothy to continue listening and learning from these ladies; Lois and Eunice. The point here is that Paul had encoruaged a pastor to continue learning from a female. The scripture uses the word “continue”.

Matthew 28:1-10

We have Mary Magaledine. She was the first person Jesus walked to and told her to go ahead and tell others that He had come back alive from the dead. Mary saw Jesus alive and went ahead to tell others that Jesus had risen. It is a honor to be able to do that. Now everyone knows her. She’s famous because she was the first person Jesus saw when He was risen. If God was about degarading women, He would have wanted Jesus to find a male and then give this certain male the honor to spread the word But no, it was a woman.

Paul wrote many letters to many different churches. He wrote 2/3 of the Bible. In his letters he mentions many names. Less than 50% of these names belong to a woman. This is less than half. He praises women for their wisdom, work, dedication, service, and intelligence in talking to others about the Scriptures. Again, read the Bible in God’s view and in context. God *smack fist* women. Also, don’t forget that these women also suffered pain and some death for continuing to spread the word about God’s unconditional love.

Women, you are far more valuable than r..u..b..i…e…s.

http://www.leforstribe.com/

I cried because I am a woman. *sob sob* I read the Bible as it talked about women. There’s a lot of tears on my neck and cheeks. I felt touched and feel that God wants me to talk to you about women issues in the bible- Women that follow Jesus. *sob sob* The Bible talks about women, *oh, sob sob* I’m crying because I was born a female. You, women,  cry with me.

The Bible says women are valued far above than rubies.

*picture of rubies*

Ruby is a beautiful stone and the value of a woman exceeds the value of rubies.

I am expensive.

I am valuable.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”-Proverbs 31:10

Before I begin, please, when you want to make a comment, comment over at http://www.leforstribe.com/. There is a video comment you can make. If you cannot make a video comment, go ahead and make a comment elsewhere but come to http://www.leforstribe.com/ and let me know about it and where to find it. My vlog goes out to different websites and I cannot go out and look for your comments. Thank you very much.

I am not talking about liberal women who hate men or about women pride where they grab ahold of their breasts. I’m talking about the heart of a woman. Female. Those who are born a female. Woman.

Adam was created in a perfect world–utopia–waterfalls and all the animals roaming about. He wrestled and played with them–talked to them (hey, Eve talked to the snake so yeah, they could talk to the animals back then).Yet, God saw that it was not good enough. He created a woman, then it was good.

Likewise, if you’re married, God instructed husbands to love their wives like Jesus loved the church. How did Jesus love the Church? He DIED! My husband will die for me. This is how far God wants a man to go for his woman. Love her. Protect her. Love her to death.

“Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her.” -Ephesians 5:25

In the perfect world, Adam and Eve walked equally together but as they both disobeyed God, they had to reap the consequences. They were no longer equal. But with Christ coming in the picture, man and woman are now equal.

The story: Satan came as a disguse of a snake and spoke to Eve decieving her to take the forbidden fruit. Eve told Adam and he gulliably ate the forbidden fruit. They both faced their misery and God was upset. God went to the source of this whole thing. The snake. God punished the snake by removing its arms and legs. Now, the woman, she will have to deal with childbirth. The man, he will deal with weeds and so forth. The equality was broken off. Now, through Jesus, He brings the equality back together.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” -Galatians 3:28.

99% of you probably thought I was crying because I am SAD that I am a woman. This is normal. We automatically on the back of our head think negative thoughts. Our mind reacts negatively when someone says, “I am crying because I am a woman”. We say, “Goodness, she is so sad that she is a woman.” We think negatively at first in our minds then we ask the person, “Why?”

I am not sad. I am crying because I’m thrilled! These are tears of JOY!

This concept can be applied when we read the Bible and read only one verse and take it out of context, then create an issue out of one verse and it becomes very severely twisted. “The Bible degrades women!”, “The bible does not make sense and it has contradictions.”, “God is cruel and hates women!”. Our minds automatically thinks negatively. We must read the Bible in its entire context and see it in God’s views not human’s because humans’ minds react negatively automatically. *sob sob*

Rubies are expensive. Men, die for your wife- love her to death. God said that even in the perfect world, it was still not good enough without woman. This is God’s love for women.

I am a woman.

With God’s view of a woman in mind, we have to keep it with everything else in the Bible. Blend it in. Blend this concept in all the issues related to women. A woman is expensive–especially what kind of woman she is.

God has said for us love ourselves, love our body, love others as yourself. Respect yourself.

I saw a vlog bashing Leviticus 12;1-8. This chapter talks about women during their menstration and childbirth. For this topic, a lot of people do say, “Look at this! God degrades women!”, “Really God–yadda yadda yadda yadda.”

 “The Lord said to Moses, “Say to theIsraelites: “A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding. When the days of her puriciation for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering.” -Leviticus 12:1-6

The bible does say that a blood is dangerous to drink or touch. Blood to blood. During that time, people bak in these days did not bathe often–if you’re lucky, maybe once a year. Perhaps many of them have never even taken a bath, I guess. They did not santize anything. No latex gloves back then! Today, we know many things and we improve by santizing many things–wear latex gloves– YET we have AIDS and staph! And you think God is stupid? Wake up.

Menstration is a time of cleansing the woman’s body. WHy did the bible use the word ‘unclean’? It is because the body is going through a cleansing process and at that point it is not clean. Does this mean that the woman is dirty and that everyone ought to flee away from her? No! Did God make a woman in the Garden of Eden just to have people look down on her when she gets her period? No! The Bible also says to honor your mother. Did God make mothers so that her children will flee away and say, “ewww!” and dishonor their mother? No! This does not make sense. God encourages us in the Bible to be fruitful and multiply, and then when a woman delivers her child, God tells us to look at her as a wicked person and to condemn her? No! Oh, God says in the Bible that children are a GIFT from God…and when a woman has a baby son, He says it is a shame, with a boy you stay separated and unclean for 33 days and with a daughter, double it to 66 days? No!

Degrading and degrading women….

This perspective only happens because the person DOES NOT KNOW GOD AND HIS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. They read one thing and in the back of their mind builds up a negative thought and concept.

*sob sob sob*

I am a woman.

This is a red tissue I am using. It is red like the rubies. Red just like blood. Blood is also very expensive. “My flesh and blood…” Jesus had to die. His blood was shed for us so that we can have a relationship with God.

Back to Leviticus, what is the purpose of menstration? It allows a fresh egg to enter the womb to be fertilized. The bleeding is of old eggs and lining in the womb. Women is to stay away from society because of her blood. Her blood could touch other people. Why circumcision on the 8th day? Your body develops Vitamin K on the 8th day. Google it and you will see. God knows. His timing is perfect. Why does the mother of a daughter have to stay away from people for 66 days? Bonding time with daughter. The daughter is going to be a woman. She will carry the seed and a woman will deliver a son–the son of God. God knows and God encourages the mother to develop a bond with their babies. There is no punishment or degration in this. It is all about bonding! Today, many women take maternity leave– they last for 6 weeks. That’s 48 days and often mothers say that it isn’t enough. They want more time. God knows! He gave us women 66 days to rest and enjoy our time with our babies.

We see that this chapter talks about making a sacrifice. A mother at the end of her purification will need to sacrifice a lamb (or pigeon if she cannot afford a lamb). This is a typeshadow of Jesus as the lamb. Jesus was born of a woman, he grew up to be a man and died for us once and for all. He loves the Church.

This ceremonial law is fulfilled. Christ nailed it to the cross. Today, there is no need to do this.

Yeah, people will try to find ugly things in the Bible and take it out of context and blast it out. Why do they do this? It is because they, themselves, have no love. They are angry and have issues. So when they find things that appear in their mind as negative, they view it very negatively and cannot understand it the way God views it.

This is exactly how you thought when you read the title of this vlog, “I am crying because I am a woman.” You automatically assumed that I was very sad at the fact that I am a woman.

No, I’m crying because I’m thrilled.

Love, TRUE Love cannot fail.

I’m a woman. A phenominal woman. You, women who follow Jesus, cry with me. You have no pricetag on you. You are VERY expensive in God’s eyes. God loves you. And for you other women who have heard and read about this topic–that the Bible degrades women–these are LIES from BOTH women and men blabbing what they think is right according to their own mind. Don’t feel discouraged. Come to me, and let me hug you and tell you God’s unconditional love for you through the Bible. You are a woman.

*sob sob*

I am a woman.