Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Christianity Under Fire


Valerie J. Steimle

Over 2 years ago I wrote this for my Heart Thoughts from the Heart column which was food for thought.  It still is as our times have not improved. Hold on to your convictions.......

            From the United Kingdom, we hear some very disturbing news: Christianity is “almost vanquished in the UK.” This report seemed believable but as I read the story, I was astonished to find an attack of Christianity in Great Britain. 

Jesus Christ
            In Times past in Britain, especially in England and Wales, Christianity was used as a “backdrop” to people’s lives and moral decisions where as in the present time the rise of secularism and other non-Christian beliefs has caused basic Christian principles to be ignored by its people. 

            As it was reported by members of several churches in Britain, their society has been demoralized with people seeking transient happiness in alcohol, drugs and pornography as well as a rise in new age and occult practices replacing Christ as something in which young people could trust. This rise in secularism has led their liberal society to be hostile to Christian morals and values in which religious beliefs are viewed as “a private eccentricity.” It was also reported that there are serious tensions between Christians and secularists in which atheists are becoming more vocal and aggressive in society. 

            This is a scary thought for the United States as the UK seems to think that our country is next to feel the effects of this demoralizing attack. That is not possible if we keep our beliefs and churches in the forefront of our lives. We should ask ourselves what is considered too “eccentric” in a society when we try to safeguard what we know to be the backdrop to our moral decisions. 

            Is the basis for the Ten Commandments and a Christian lifestyle wrong in a society? I say it is not. How are we to govern ourselves to be peaceful and upstanding citizens if we don’t have any belief or faith in what we know to be right? Certainly our Constitution should not charge us with every minute detail of our life. That would be detrimental to our freedoms. Governments are formed to govern with laws in secular decisions.  Our belief system in God should govern our lives in moral decisions. If we destroy Christianity from our country, what would be the result in our moral decisions to treat others as we would like to be treated? 

            As the first Amendment of the Constitution has stated, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….  We still have our right to worship however we may, and with our Christian/Judeo belief, should never experience what Britain has over the past five years.

           Our country has always stood for the Christian values of our Forefathers and I hope for our sake, we stand by our moral principles, never to be overcome by secularism.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Ginnie West Adventures.....

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to read The Secret Sisters Club by Monique Bucheger, two months ago and loved it!!!  A great "tween" or teen book about losing a parent in death or divorce, how adults can handle the situation in an uplifting manner and how young girls can be such great friends.
Here is what I thought:

 This "tween" book is heartwarming and interesting. For any girl who loves horses and "best friends forever", this story has what you are looking for in a novel.

There are other themes the story touches as well such as single parenting and the loss of a spouse by divorce and death. Great themes for children who are trying to understand their own family situations.

A clean and appropriate writing for children of all ages and I would recommend this book to my own children and grandchildren.



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What is really great is that there are more Ginnie West Adventure stories!!!!!  See Below......




THE SECRET SISTERS CLUB: A Ginnie West Adventure (BOOK 1)
Blurb:
Twelve-year-old
 BFF’s Ginnie and Tillie, want to be sisters. Ginnie's widowed dad plus
Tillie's divorced mom could equal a lifetime of round-the-clock girl
talk and slumber parties. Too bad Dad vowed to never marry again. Ginnie
 and Tillie form a secret club and come up with the perfect mission to
change his mind: ‘Operation Secret Sisters’.

Before
 long, Tillie seems happier about gaining a dad than a sister. Ginnie
suspects that Tillie has turned ‘Operation Secret Sisters’ into a scam
called ‘Operation Steal My Dad.’  Things get more complicated when
Ginnie stumbles across her real mom’s hidden journals. Ginnie can
finally get to know the mother she doesn’t remember and Dad doesn’t talk
 about.

When
 Dad discovers she has the journals, he takes them away. Ginnie needs to
 figure out what the big mystery is before her relationship with her
father and her best friend are ruined forever.



If you like farms, friends, horses, and secrets, you’ll love: Trouble Blows West: A Ginnie West Adventure.  So saddle up and be ready to ride with Ginnie as she explores the true meaning of friendship.
Debbie Shakespeare Smith, middle-grade author of The House of Chicken


TROUBLE BLOWS WEST: A Ginnie West Adventure (BOOK 2)

Blurb:
Putting
her body in motion before her brain is in gear creates a mountain of problems for 12 year-old Ginnie West. She is certain that defending her twin brother, Toran, from the biggest bully in sixth grade was the right thing to do. But Ginnie couldn’t be more wrong.

She
 quickly figures out that Toran doesn’t appreciate being rescued by a
girl any better than Charlie likes being knocked down by one. When
Charlie seeks revenge on Ginnie, Toran sets aside his anger and helps
her plot a playback prank at Charlie’s house.

Sadly,
 Ginnie learns that Charlie has a reason for being a bully when she sees
 his dad drop him to the floor like a ragdoll with one awful blow to the
 chest. Realizing he's a boy in big trouble, Ginnie switches gears and
decides to be his ally, even if he won’t let her be his friend.


I loved this book! I didn’t know a book without
zombies could be good! 15 yr-old Amanda



SIMPLY WEST OF HEAVEN: A Ginnie West Adventure: (BOOK 3)
Blurb
Twelve
 year-old Ginnie and her BFF, Tillie, schemed to get Ginnie’s widowed
dad to fall in love with Tillie’s divorced mom. It worked. But before
they could become ‘for real’ sisters, Ginnie stumbled across her dead
mom’s journals. Which was
totally awesome sauce… until her dad took them away and won’t tell her why. Now all their plans are starting to unravel.

If
 that’s not bad enough, Ginnie’s favorite uncle drops the mother of all
bombshells and leaves her in a maze of uncertainty. While her head is
still spinning from that news,  a blast from her late mother’s past
shows up and makes Tillie goes nutburgers. Ginnie realizes her best
friend has her own agenda and Tillie’s plans to merge their families may
 not be so innocent.

SIMPLY
 WEST OF HEAVEN is a contemporary MG novel that follows
Ginnie West as she tries to make sense of one too many curve balls
tossed her way in the most pivotal summer of her life.






Social networking links: 
Purchase link:







Author bio:

Monique Bucheger  
was born in Landstuhl, Germany to active duty Air Force parents. After watching her
creative writing teacher's astronaut son lift off in the Space Shuttle
Endeavor, she recalled a promise to her teacher to write the books only she
could write. In January of 2011, her first book made it through the first 3
tiers of Amazon's National BreakThrough Novel Award Contest to the top 5%. In
November of 2012 Mrs. Bucheger was offered a 3 book contract for her Ginnie
West series. Book one: THE SECRET SISTERS CLUB: A Ginnie West Adventure was
published March 8, 2012. Her second book: TROUBLE BLOWS WEST: A Ginnie West
Adventure was published April 14, 2012. 
Mrs. Bucheger has championed the cause of children as a foster parent to over 120 children and
her books embrace and empower people on all sides of the child abuse issue.