Why We Are not Quiverfull – Part 3 – Idolatry and Cultic Tendencies

 

Here is Part 3 in the series on why we are not followers of Quiverfull.  If you have not read the introduction or Part 1 and Part 2, you may wish to start with those by clicking on the respective links.

Part 3 is dealing with the fact that Quiverfull has some factors that lead some people to idolatry in various ways, and because of its nature, it lends itself to some cultic behavior.  Both of these issues are very serious and unacceptable in the body of Christ.

Excerpt:

1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

One of the significant problems with the ideology of Quiverfull is that it easily falls into idolatry. The first point we will discuss is worship of the family.

The assumption that we can take over the world for Christ by having lots of babies is a foundational idea behind the larger movement as we discussed in Part 1.  This need of "raising arrows" can then quickly take the preeminence in people's lives to the point of taking the place of well-rounded Christian living as commanded to the church.  The focus really does end up on the family and it can, and does at times, become an idol.

Ephesians 4:14-15 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

More than one church, ministry, and family has become imbalanced in the Christian life because they focused too much on one subject to the exclusion of all others.  It doesn't matter how good that subject or issue may seem, when it is the "all-important" one it leads to a lopsided view at best, and idolatry at worst.  God intends us to be well balanced, not running to any extremes but teaching and believing the whole counsel of God, not just the parts that relate to our favorite topics.  Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. When anything becomes so important that we will ignore or contradict other doctrine and even deny the truth of scripture to defend it, it has become an idol.  As we already discussed in Part 2 of this series, the free will of mankind has been negated by the teachings of Quiverfull in at least some instances.  I believe there are other things that are idolatrous as well.

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Continue Reading.

Evening Song - Mercy Tree

Acts 10:39-40  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;

Watercolor Painting with Plastic Wrap, Bubble Wrap, and Waxed Paper

Here is an interesting technique for working with watercolor.  The artist doesn't show all of the process, but after she removes the masking fluid from the dry paintings, she fills in the flowers with more paint.  However, you could leave whatever designs you make with the masking fluid as silhouettes.

Card makers, you could skip the masking fluid part entirely and make the interesting backgrounds for card making purposes.  It appears to me that you would need real watercolor paper of a decent weight to do this, though.  Not just any paper would work.

The Thousand Word Project - When Day Is Over...

Psalms 104:19  He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

Worth Reading – More Links for Your Consideration

"Woman Reading In A Garden" by Mary Cassatt

Clear back in January I thought I would start posting links that I thought were worth reading.  I don’t think I posted any more after that.  Sigh.  I have big ideas but very poor follow through sometimes. 

Disclaimer:  Please keep in mind that just because I use a link from a specific site or author it does not mean that I necessarily approve all their writings or of them personally.  And, as always, I disclaim other versions of the Bible which may say things very differently from the one I use - the KJV.  (I am shocked sometimes at the changes some versions make, but that's a subject for another time.)

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Spiritual Issues

Why Are There So Many Superheroes? – A very useful and thoughtful article on why we have so many superheroes.  Did you ever stop to think that it might be a supstitution for the real Savior?  This does give one pause to think.

The Potty Humor Problem – This blogger talks about the very real and ligitamate problem with potty humor in childrens’ books and media.  I ran across some of this last year.  After some friends talked about how much they liked certain cartoon characters, I looked up some video clips online and was unimpressed with the potty humor involved.  My husband and I determined that we would not be buying anything with those characters it for our nieces or nephews, or anyone else for that matter. 
I remember years ago when my brother and I were in our teens and a ceartain Christian man we looked up to had been telling a lot of potty jokes at a gathering where we were present.  We went home, and thinking they were funny and must be ok if so-and-so told them, we repeated them to our dad.  He was quite disappointed and gave us some instruction in not lowering our talk to that level of vulgarity.  The author of this blog post points out some good reasons to avoid these things.  1 Timothy 4:12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

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Home, Nature and Health

Outdoor Adventures In Michigan July 2014 – There are some beautiful photographs of Michigan here.  I was born in Western Michigan and lived there at various times, amounting to quite a few years.  I have visited some of the locations represented here and have fond memories of them.

Experimenting in the Kitchen with Food Coloring – One bloggers experiments with creating her own natural food coloring for frosting.  This is inspiring for those who try to avoid using chemical based food coloring.


What Are Infantile Spasms and How to Recognize the Symptoms – This video briefly explains what Infantile Spasms are, how to recognize them, and what to do about getting help.  Some friends of ours have had to address this health problem with their toddler this summer.  Thankfully, they noticed the problem and sought out help quickly.  Infantile Spasms Awareness – This is a slightly longer and more informative video from the Epilepsy Foundation of Metropolitan New York.

Well-Fed - A Poem and A Thought

I was working on an article for today but, due to physical limitations, I'm not going to be able to finish it till later.  So, here is a little something to think upon.
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2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The Well-Fed

We feed upon His holy Word;
We hear His preachers preach;
And gladly sit before the ones
Whose gift it is to teach.

And at each goodly feast our souls
Become full-fed, replete.
Then, Christian, do we go to sleep
Until next time we eat?

Good soldiers eat that they may fight,
Nor linger overmuch
Before the board, though richly spread.
The Lord has need of such.

So let us feed with thankful hearts
Upon His precious Word,
And then go forth refreshed and strong
To battle for the Lord.

By Martha Snell Nicholson

1 Timothy 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

It is easy to fall into the habit of receiving what is given us in the way of Bible teaching and preaching without ever doing much with it.  We need to remember that food is meant to provide strength for work, and so it is with spiritual food.  Let's be attentive to what we hear that we may not only grow thereby, but that we may go and pass those things on to others.

1 Peter 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

2 Timothy 2:2  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Evening Song - Marvelous Grace (Grace Greater than Our Sin)

Romans 5:20-21  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Feel Good Friday - A Dog Changes the Life of A Boy with Autism

A touching story about how a dog changed the life of a boy with autism.  God has placed many things in nature that will help us with life.  Sometimes we fail to realize the extent of that.

The Thousand Word Project - Mexican Hat

Why We Are not Quiverfull - PART 2 - It denies the free will and common sense.

This is a new series about the reasons that we are not part of the "Quiverfull" movement.  Today we are discussing how the ideology denies the free will and common sense.

Why We Are not Quiverfull PART 2 - It denies the free will and common sense.

Excerpt:

Proverbs 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 

Men are expected to make wise choices in many areas of life, but not the size of their family.  They are to choose their employment, their location, with whom they fellowship, goals, and objectives.  They are told to determine God's will for themselves and their families.  They are encouraged by some to make 200 year plans for their family's future.  They are supposed to tell their wives and daughters how to run the household, and in some cases even dictate all their use of time.  They are, in practice, to choose their daughters' husbands for them.  They are even supposed to figure out what work their sons are supposed to be doing, according to some.  But, they are not allowed to choose when to stop having kids or how many to have according the the Quiverfull ideology.  This makes no sense.

Continue Reading.
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To see the main page of this series:  Why We Are not Quiverfull

Evening Song - The Glory of Your Presence

FREE Bible Verse Coloring Page for Grown Ups - Romans 8:28 - Crazy Quilt

Here is another free coloring page for you all!  This one is a lot more complicated than the last one.  :-)

I "colored" the above sample with my graphics program, but it is meant to be printed and colored by hand for your enjoyment.  However, if you would prefer to color this on your computer, I think you should be able to do so if you have program in which you can open a Jpeg file.

CLICK HERE to go to the image and download it to your computer.

I enjoyed creating this in Photo Shop.  It is very pleasant to work on a project like this while listening to an audio book.  :-)  I hope you enjoy coloring it, and you can listen to audio book while doing so as well if you wish.  There are a lot of free ones available at LibriVox.org or you can listen to the Bible (KJV) here. [Disclaimers may apply to other content on this channel!]  LibriVox is a secular organization, so do a search for a book title, author or historical person to find something you will enjoy listening to while you work.  I think they only read books in the public domain.

Tennessee Memories - Snowball Bush

Why We Are not "Quiverfull" - A New Series

Ephesians 4:14-15  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Recently I saw a report that zika virus has been found in Texas (presumably "in the wild").  Although I don't know if this is a confirmed report, I have expected this for awhile.  It made me think about the issues surrounding the Quiverfull movement and the concern I already had about what they would decide to do among themselves about this very serious problem.

I honestly believe that the overweening zeal of some of the them at least will lead them to plow on ahead with their self-proclaimed mission to "trust God with their families."  I can well imagine some claiming that if God wants them to have a baby with microcephaly then they will "just accept it."  Of course, if such a thing happened inadvertently obviously it would be wrong to kill the baby in the womb (abort it).  The thing that I'm concerned about is that in their typical zeal against all forms of birth control and the supposed urgency of making lots of "arrows" (babies) for "the war on culture", that the people within the Quiverfull belief system will not even consider to possibility of postponing further pregnancies, even in areas of elevated risk.

So, it seemed like a good time to write an article which I'd already been planning to do.  Not surprisingly, it turned out to be quite a bit more work and content than I expected, so I'm making it into a series.  I realize that someone will undoubtedly be offended that I would deal with this subject as I am, but sometimes it is necessary to offend some in order to warn the many of a serious error or problem in the church.  When any group is teaching something that cannot be supported by scripture or is taught by the misuse of God's word, it is time to point it out and give scriptural reasons why we object.

Galatians 4:16-18  Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.  But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing...

Here is the link to the main page of the series:  Why We Are not Quiverfull
This contains an introduction and some basic thoughts.  If you are not familiar with what Quiverfull is, I recommend that you start here.

And here is the link to PART 1:  Reasons We Are not Quiverfull, PART 1
1. Quiverfull is based on the misapplication and misuse of scripture.
This section deals with some of the favorite Bible texts that are used to "prove" that it is "wrong" to limit pregnancies in any way.  It also discusses the heavy influence of Dominionism on the Quiverfull movement as a whole.

Evening Song - Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

Photo by Stephen Van Nattan.  Graphic work by Mary Stephens.

Monthly Challenge - July 2016

Last month we were reaching out to others, so this month it would be good to work on ourselves again.  I've been struggling with using my time wisely of late (hence the late posting of this challenge), so I thought maybe we should have a challenge relating to time management.   I hope it helps us all!

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Prioritize something that is important for you to do and make extra effort on it this month.

And/Or

Set a timer and spend 15 minutes a day on something you've been neglecting.

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The priority item could be anything from sewing to attending Bible study.  It could be getting your preparations for the next school year done if you're a homeschooling mother.  It could be visiting a friend or relative who is shut in or in a nursing home more faithfully.  It could be getting more exercise.  It could be reading more.  The opportunities are immense!

Setting a timer and working on a specific task daily is pretty self-explanatory - sewing, weeding, writing, art, whatever you need to work on daily.  The two challenges could be combined very nicely as well.

As my mother would say, let's "knuckle down and get it done!"  :-)

Enjoy!

Tutorial for the Wonky Four Patch Quilt Block

Here is another tutorial from Susan Claire, the Gourmet Quilter.  This one is a clever idea for a wonky 4 patch.  It will take a little fussing as far as making the template is concerned if you use that method, but it looks like a fun quilt and I like the way the lines appear "wavy" when she gets it done. This could be made in different sizes for different effects.  If you notice at the end, the quilt she made with smaller squares doesn't have as much "movement" as the one made with the larger squares.

This would be a nice project for using up scraps, leftover charm squares or for using your stash.

Just a reminder - I have no control over the advertisements that come up on these videso.

Snapdragons by Debbie Ray

Debbie Ray at My Favorite Things once again made a post of photographs that I just have to share here.  Snapdragons were also a common flower from my childhood and I always like them.  Please go over and look at her lovely photographs here:  Snapdragons.

Photo property of Debbie Ray.

We Rest on Thee– A Poem and Reminder

We Rest on Thee

"We rest on thee" - our shield and our defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
"We rest on thee, and in thy name we go."

Yea, "in thy name," O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear name, all other names above:
Jesus our righteousness, our sure foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

"We go" in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
"We rest on thee, and in thy name we go."

"We rest on thee" - our shield and our defender!
Thine is the battle, thine shall be the praise
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors - we rest with Thee, through endless days.

Edith Cherry, ca. 1895

2Chronicles 14:11 And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

Notice how Asa says in this verse, “let not man prevail against thee.” It is a good reminder that when we are standing where God wants us to be, and doing and being what He wants us to do and be, then when the enemy comes against us it is not against us that he is coming but against the LORD God Himself.  This is a knowledge we can rest in.

Psalms 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

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First published here Nov. 2011. Edited.

Evening Song - All I have Is Christ

Galatians 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.




John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Sew Happy Friday - Tutorial for an Easy Starbust Quilt with Jenny Doan

Here is a tutorial for a quick and easy way to make a starburst quilt.  The "diamonds" will not be perfect diamonds, but they still look nice and this is a nice, fast way to make it.  Jenny Doan from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. does a great job to showing us how.


Note: I do not put affiliate links on this page at this time.