by Barbara Ellin Fox

I’m not much for organized religion. I consider my self qualified and entitled to this opinion because I’ve spent a lot of time in church.

I grew up in the Methodist Church. I went to Sunday School in the morning, followed by church service. I attended Youth Fellowship in the evening and Confirmation Class whenever it was held. I learned the Apostles Creed, a little about Jesus, a lot about John Wesley and all about how to be a Methodist. And I learned about hypocrisy from a High School Band teacher who’d gotten angry at me for something I didn’t do. He called me horrible names, humiliated me in front of the rest of the band, and caused me to leave the band after playing the flute for 7 1/2 years. Then he served me communion on Sunday. He never did believe me and I entered community college as a voice major. I didn’t learn about salvation in the Methodist Church. I met Jesus at a Dave Wilkerson Crusade. Read more…

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Someone asked me recently, what kind of Christianity I prefer. Mmmm I thought, what kind? When you think about it, there are a lot of different kinds…….

My “kind” is totally based on Jesus as in Jesus Christ, the Christ in Christianity.  Without Him there isn’t any Christianity. Cover to cover, the Bible tells me everything I need to know about Jesus.

So what do I know about Him? He’s the Son of God, God who visited the world in the flesh. He was perfectly sinless but He was crucified for our sins, mine, theirs, and yours.  He was buried in a tomb and after 3 days He rose and He sits at the Father’s right hand.  He’s the one and only Savior. Jesus saved me when I asked Him to forgive me.  He is righteousness and the only righteousness that I have is because of Him, because He lives in me.  And my goal, every day is to become more like Him.  (I have a long way to go)

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Christmas is a wonderful time of year, and it’s a terrible time of year.  I look at the people who are  shopping and I hear, “I didn’t know what to get her so I got this…” and I look at moms and dads who have a need to “buy enough” for their children for Christmas…. and I wonder how long they will have to pay on their maxed out credit cards  at incredibly high rates.  And I wonder what else families go without just so they can do Christmas up right.

I drive around my neighborhood at night and view amazing displays of lights.  We are all too familiar with the light competitions.  But why does it seem the poorest of homes have the big displays with blow up Santas in airplanes, Santa on motor cycles or just a blow up Santa who passes the roof line.  These big decorations are so expensive.

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One day in the spring 1989 I felt a strange restlessness as I wandered around the house.  It was an unusual feeling because outwardly things seemed to be fine. There was no trouble in the home. My children were well. I was not ostracized for ready my Bible. I was able to attend my Bible Study classes, go to church, and do all of the things I loved to do. I was alone for the day and everything was peaceful, sort of. In the quiet peaceful atmosphere I continued to feel a sort of unrest. I examined and reexamined the various parts of my life and still could not get rid of the uneasy feeling

After awhile I said, “Lord is there something You want?” .  I may have even spoken this out loud. He answered immediately with,  “I want you to give up smoking.” I panicked. I remember saying, “Oh Lord, let me go to my Bible Study and ask them to start praying for me so I can get ready to do this.” And He said “No, I want you to do it now.” I ran into the bathroom with my purse to hide from the Lord and have one last cigarette. I can’t imagine what I was thinking, but there I was sitting on the toilet, hiding from the Lord, as I pulled an almost full pack of cigarettes from my purse. Read more…

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I can almost smell and taste the spent cigarettes in this picture.

I started smoking when I was 15 or 16 years old. I used to sneak my father’s Tareyton cigarettes out of his dresser drawer and I’d meet up with my friends to smoke. In the ‘60s it was  a lot safer to walk around town and out in the country. No one bothered us and we had a lot of freedom. Sometimes my friends and I  hid cigarettes in the woods. I don’t remember much conversation about cigarettes being bad for you besides,  it was something most parents did. We weren’t allowed to smoke because we weren’t old enough, kind of like drinking, but being kids in the ‘60s, we were rebellious and secret smoking made us cool..

So that’s how I started smoking, and I kept it up for many years, at least 25. My Dad was upset when he found out that I smoked because I’d been in a fire when I was 14 and had smoke inhalation and pneumonia. But I smoked anyway. I entered college as a voice major and kept on smoking, usually, a pack of cigarettes a day. Read more…

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I grew up in a Dodge family and I married a Chevy guy, but recently I’ve become a Ford lover. It occurred when President Obama decided the United States government should be in the car business. That bit of meddling from the man who’d rather I drive a plug-in vehicle than anything with strength was enough to turn my head from the power of the Cummins Diesel and the heft of the Duramax to the heart of the Ford-  Ford Tough.

In a few short months , our newly elected President has tried to up end my beliefs, my thoughts and my rights and frankly…I’m not falling for it.

At first I was angry but then I did some soul searching and revisited what I believe and where I stand on things.  And I decided the time for being quiet had ended.

First of all, since I abhor having people cram their ideas  and opinions down my throat, I’ve always made a huge effort not to cram my ways and ideas down any one else’s throat.  That probably won’t change a lot but then again I’m not going to hide my opinions either.  I have come to realize that there are a lot of us in America.  We have kept quiet about what we believe regarding faith, regarding rights, regarding morals because we believe that everyone has the right to their own opinion.

And the more Barak Obama and his crew try to shove their way through the Presidency the stronger the American Patriots become.  The numbers are growing  and the weak are being strengthened.  And I don’t mind telling you that God has not forsaken His people. Read more…

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