Finger Painting for ADULTS 101

While in the hospital in 2019 at the age of 53 (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) when I was recovering from being paralyzed, as a part of my therapy, I started coloring again. I hadn't done that since I was a child of 10 years old in 1976 (Oops ❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again), but I discovered I was actually very good at it and my career as an illustrator took off, once again proving that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. (INSERT JOKE HERE)

In 1971, at the age of 5 years old (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) I began going to kindergarten and was introduced to something called Finger Painting. We were each given a big sheet of white paper and several bowls of different colored paints were placed around the table which we were seated at. Then we were encouraged to put our fingers into the paint and use our fingers and hands to create on our paper whatever came to mind.

 I immediately took a strong dislike for this.  😡 My OCD was already well in place even at the young age of 5 years old. But things turned from bad to worse when several of the other children decided to stop painting on their white piece of paper and instead start painting on EACH OTHER. Since I was wearing my good school clothes, I decided to go and hide in a corner until the teacher decided to get control of the situation. I told Mom about it when I got home and she wasn't overly thrilled about it either. 😠

But just like discovering a talent for illustrating at a late age, I have decided to start embracing Finger Painting again. Perhaps I will also discover I have a great talent for that as well. 

I dedicate these, my first endeavors, to the Neo-Nazis ✋️  who are a wee bit displeased with me 🤏 because I have not fully embraced the German, Aryan heritage of my father.

It is my intention to stick to my paints, my Crayola Crayons and God's Chosen people, who ARE “my kind”. 

 

Laura-Lee Paints a FINGER

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee

Mom always told me to do my best at whatever I did, so your treat for scrolling to the bottom is the song,  "The Best - Hakhi Tov"  by SOLU Israel sung in Hebrew (with English Subtitles) 💃

Who Are the Players in the Middle East Conflict (Simplified)

 

When I say "Simplified", I mean EXTREMELY Simplified.

The conflict in the Middle East has been going on all the way back to Abraham in the Bible who is the common ancestor of both the Jews and the Arabs.

The Jewish people are the descendants of Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah.

The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Sarah's slave, Hagar.

This conflict between these two groups will continue to rage for quite some time and I thought I would set down for you the basics of who everybody is so that, when you watch the news, you'll know who the major players are.

We have ISRAEL vs IRAN

The current Prime Minister of Israel is Benjamin Netanyahu, sometimes referred to by the nickname, Bibi.

(Israel also has a President, but he's not the person in charge)

The current leader of  Iran is Ali Khamenei. He is referred to as "The Supreme Leader". He is both a political AND a religious leader.

 ISRAEL is a Democracy. They vote for their leaders.

IRAN is a Theocracy. 

According to the dictionary, "A Theocracy is a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god."

Israel's military is the IDF (Israeli Defense Force)

Iran has several groups they control scattered throughout the Middle East. The groups listed are defined Internationally as "Terrorist" groups.

The main ones are 

🔴 HAMAS - located in Palestinian territories within Israel. These two main territories are GAZA & the West Bank.

🔴 HEZBOLLAH - located in IRAQ, SYRIA & LEBANON.

🔴 HOUTHIS (pronounced "Hooties") are in Yemen.

There is a place in North Eastern Israel known as The Golan Heights. For many years this has been a buffer zone between Israel and Syria. Recently Israeli forces have moved into this area.

The Iron Dome is an ISRAELI defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 to 70 kilometres (2–43 mi) away.

The main religion in Israel is the Jewish religion, but being Jewish is also an ethnic group, so someone can be ethnically Jewish by birth, but not practice the Jewish religion.

The main gathering site for Jewish people in JERUSALEM is the "Wailing Wall" which is a small portion of their previous Temple.

The main religion for Arabs is Islam and it is not an ethnic group. A person is a Muslim when they practice Islam. (The leader of Iran is a religious leader of the Islamic religion.)

Their main gathering site in Jerusalem is the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The phrase “From the River to the Sea,” refers to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 

The phrase currently used, "From the River to the sea Palestine will be free" is just a recent version of the saying which was originally coined by Yasser Arafat the original leader of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). The PLO, under Arafat, did not believe Israel had a right to exist at all, but he switched this stance many years later in order to seek a "Two Territory Solution", which is the idea that Palestinian Territories and Israel each become a Territory in what is now Israel.)

NOTE: Currently both sides of the conflict reject this as a feasible solution.

It should be noted that there are several Arabs (who have been democratically elected) as members of the the Knesset (pronounced Kin-nes-it, at least as best as we English people can say it). 

The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things.

I hope I have been helpful as I continue to strive to bring you....

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 

Biblical account of Abraham, Sarah & Hagar (Genesis 16)

🔻⬛️🔺️⬛️🔻⬛️🔺️

"Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations."

-Yasser Arafat 

Christians Validate the Theory of Evolution

 

When I was only 5 years old in 1971 (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) we owned a new house with a big back yard that hadn't been landscaped yet,  so it was all still dirt. I wasn't in school yet and one early autumn day it had poured rain most of the morning. It stopped just before lunch and Mom put me in my pink, rubber boots and let me go outside for a while. I sat on the back step to enjoy the sun that had just come out. 

A neighbor kid came over into our yard (a common thing back then) and started putting his hands into the different puddles left by the rain. I watched him with fascination. Then he came over to me, held up his two muddy hands and said,

“Look, Laura-Lee, one hand is covered in black mud and the other hand is covered in brown mud. Which muddy puddles are you going to put your hands in?”

“None of them.”

“Why not?”

“Because I'm not stupid.”

I had completely refused to engage in a stupid act, even though he continued to try to get me to do it.

🙋

My older brother, Jim, was highly intelligent, with a very high IQ. He had the ability to read quickly and retain information and he also had the drive to learn and a penchant for science. In fact, when he was just 9 years old in 1973 (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed Jim's age on the internet. - Don't tell him I did or he'll be sore at me), Mom bought us an entire set of scientific encyclopedias and I mean the kind for ADULTS. Jim would spend hours reading through them. 

Later, when he became a Christian, he read the Bible in the same way.

Jim also thinks systematically and is very articulate, so it's not a surprise to hear he was asked more than once to participate in a debate of Christian Science versus the Theory of Evolution.

 Yet he always declined with the answer, 

“No. Why would I lower myself to debate something that stupid?”

But there were several times an Atheist would waylay him somewhere and try to bait him into the argument. I'm assuming they were under the belief that if they could convince Jim it would be a feather in their cap.

One time somebody did this and Jim just let him speak his piece for a few minutes, while people started noticing and gathering around. When the guy had run out of steam, Jim answered with conviction,

“If YOU want to believe you came from monkeys, fine. But I know the truth. I'm a person, created by God in His image and I come from Adam and Eve.”  🤨

Then he left. 

I've looked back on that and wondered if more people were converted by that one statement, spoken with surety, than all the debates he would have undertaken (and won).

In 1980, when Carl Sagan came out with his TV miniseries, “The Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” non-Christians took it as a joke. I remember many stand-up comedians would launch into their “Billions and billions and billions…”  Carl Sagan impersonation to big laughs.

But then the Christians got involved and decided to “fight fire with fire” (so to speak) and DEBATE Atheists on their own terms by using (not the Bible) but scientific facts and, in doing so, we elevated their ridiculous beliefs by making it something worth our time to debate. What we should have done was FLUFF it off 🌬 🍂 and move on to something worth talking about.

I am not anywhere near as smart as Jim, in fact my intellect is quite average, but I have an insatiable desire to know things, which has propelled me forward. I became interested in Archeology at the age of 9 years old in 1975 (Oops❗️🙊Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) because we lived near the Badlands in southern Alberta, which is Dinosaur Bones HQ for North America. That led me to learning about Geology and Biology. I also became a Christian in 1978, a month before my 12th birthday (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) and started to read and study the Bible.

Like Jim, I think systematically and express myself well, but unlike Jim, I DID debate the Theory of Evolution on several occasions. But as the years passed (Okay. DECADES passed), I began to see the logic behind what Jim had said and agreed with him (Please don't tell him or I'll never hear the end of it. 😖)

 I also came to realize the great fallacy of debating the Theory of Evolution because it is a debate that will never end. It will go on because it is based on opposing BELIEFS and not science.

The three main disciplines of science that Atheists use as their basis are Archeology, Geology and Biology, all of which can be interpreted and manipulated in many different ways to suit a specific person's bias. 

Case in point, you never see Evolutionists challenging MATHEMATICIANS to a debate, because they would be toast. 🧨🔥

 (BTW the largest group of Creation Scientists are Mathematicians because it demonstrates God's existence in a way not open to individual interpretation.)

We Validate Evolution by giving it all this attention AND ☝️ I've discovered we can't argue people into Following Jesus. 

Now, I'm not saying people don't become Christians from seeing these debates, but it is not because of our profound debating skills or our intimate knowledge of an ocean of scientific data, but because we are quoting from the Word of God, which never returns void. (Isaiah 55:11)

So, I decided to stop debating on this topic and move on to utilizing my time in a more productive way. However, ☝️there were a couple of more times I was asked and I agreed because I felt it was the Lord opening a door for me, but ☝️ I decided to take a different approach. I baked cookies and gave them out to the people who were attending (from both camps).

“I thought you might like something to munch on while you're listening.”

The positive (and amazed) responses I got from my thoughtfulness about the cookies I'm sure made a much greater impact than all my years of debating.

🐷🐷🦆

When I was 12 years old, in 1978 (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed - WE KNOW, WE KNOW! Get on with it), I first came across this Theory in a short film shown to my class made by the National Film Board of Canada. In this cartoon there were these charming little critters with a horn on their heads (like the kind on a trumpet). There was a Blue pair that held hands standing in front of a blue background. Then the Mommy critter shot out of the horn on her head a Blue baby critter. Then the Blue baby grew up and found another Blue critter, but they moved to an area that had a Yellow background and, low and behold, the mommy Blue critter shot out of her head a YELLOW baby.

This is the essence of the Theory of Evolution that, depending on the environment the critters live in, they will SUDDENLY mutate into another critter that better suits the environment they are currently living in. And over MILLIONS and MILLIONS (and MILLIONS) of years,  we have EVOLVED into the FABULOUS critters we are now.

Well, after the film my teacher, Mr. Hughes (who was a proclaimed Atheist) led us in a discussion about the topic. After a while he said to me, 

“Laura-Lee, you've been unusually quiet (insert joke here). What do you think about all of this?”

Now, I come from generations of Alberta farm folk and my immediate family had previously lived on a farm so I replied,

“I think it's stupid.” (which made my class mates chuckle)

“Why do you think it's stupid?”

(Pause for effect)

“Because no matter how long a male and female pig tread water, they are NEVER going to give birth to a DUCK.”

My little 12-year-old common sense completely shut down the discussion and we moved on to something else.

Now, if you've been debating the Theory of Evolution up until now, you haven't done anything wrong. I applaud you for taking a stand, but from here on out consider taking another tact. Why not tell whatever Atheist is trying to engage you in an argument the Gospel message.

 Tell them, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for them on a cross to pay for their sins and ☝️ if we repent (turn away) from our sins and hand our lives over to Jesus, He will forgive us and give us an abundant life. And we won't just receceive a FULL life only in the here and now, but for all Eternity. 

(I personally can testify to this) 

And, to prove He was God, Jesus rose from His grave and conquered Death once and for all. 

Atheists live in profound Darkness and Loneliness and I guarantee that speaking the Truth to them for a couple of minutes will affect them much more than hours of debate.

Just as I have spoken to you…

The Truth with Love, 

 Always Laura-Lee 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10

🫠🌸🌿

Reverend Billy Crone from Get a Life Ministries (who BTW used to not only be an Atheist, but a Satanist before he gave his life to Jesus) has a great and simple way to describe this ridiculous theory.

Thank you, Pastor Billy, you said it even better than I did about the pigs.

Link Get a Life Ministries with Billy Crone

🎶

Now, as your treat for scrolling to the bottom, here is a song that on the surface sounds silly, but actually reflects what people are feeling underneath.

(Views on YouTube, just for this audio version, is 357 MILLION  and 3.7 MILLION Likes)

BLUE (Da Ba Dee Da Ba DIE) by Eiffel 65

* When I wrote about Jim,

 "there were several times an Atheist would waylay him" 

 SpellCheck automatically changed it to 

"there were several times an Atheist would lay him."

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEANING 😅🤣😂

It's a good thing I proof read what I write ... MANY times. 

Martyn Iles's Australia

My love affair with Australia began when I was only four years old in 1970 (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) when I was watching TV from my home in Canada. An American TV show called, “Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom” came on and I got my first look at a creature called a kangaroo. 😳

Then the following year, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - “All hail the CBC” 😵‍💫) started airing reruns of “Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo”.

“Mom, where's Australia? How long would it take for us to drive there?”

“Oh, you can't drive to Australia, Laura-Lee because there is a big ocean between us and them. So you would need a boat or a jet airplane to get there. (Yes we had jets in Canada back then.)

Why don't you get your brother to show you where it is on His globe?”

Mom was right, you ARE really far away. 

After supper, while Mom was doing dishes, I'd put on our record player the 45 of your (then) National Anthem and gave Matilda a run for her money in the waltzing department. 💃

(Oh. Side note to those of you not familiar with Australian terminology, a “Billabong” has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with smoking Marijuana. 🙅‍♀️ Just FYI.)

From then on, I was always fascinated with Australia. But it went to the next level, when in high school, for history class we watched the movie "Gallipoli' by Peter Weir. 

I HAD to know more and I hit the library that weekend and started deep diving into the history of Australia in a big way. 

I couldn't find a suitable and large enough map of Australia, so I made one out of poster paper. I put it on the wall of my bedroom and every time I read a book or learned a fact about Australia, I would place a dot on it and label whatever city I was reading about.

(I actually read a book about the founding of Canberra, which was absolutely fascinating. )

I kept that map on my wall for 25 years until it disintegrated and I had to take it down, but I still have the remnants of it to this day. 

After that, I headed into the area of life I love the most. Pop Culture.

Your Movies

Strictly Ballroom (“A life lived in fear is a life half lived”  “Show me your Pasa Doble!”

“We all knew Scott and Liz were going to be the next Pan Pacific Latin American Dance champions. They've worked for it their whole lives.”

“Laura-Lee, what kind of weird, Australian movie have you got me watching now?!” - Mom

Guardians of Ga'hoole (the best animated movie ever created. I just know it in my gizzard.)

Gallipoli 😔

Everything by director, Peter Weir, including

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" (“I think

 Peter Weir was doing hardcore drugs when he made this movie.” - Mom)

Mad Max (I just knew that guy wasn't going to be able to cut off his limb fast enough. 😳)

Road Warrior ("You wanna get outta here, you talk to me.")

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ("But this ain't just one body's tell, it's the tell of us all. So you gotta listen it and members cuz what you hears today, you need to tell the birthed tomorrow.”

“I'm NOT Captain Walker. I'm the guy who keeps Mr. Dead in his pocket and I say we're gonna stay here, we're gonna live a long life and we're gonna be THANKFUL. Right? 🤨”

(OKAY. Alright. That's enough about Thunderdome…for now.)

Mad Max Fury Road (Who's bright idea was it to cover up Tom Hardy's face for half the movie? I'm looking at YOU, George! 😠)

Shine (I really didn't want to see Geoffrey Rush's butt, but I learned a lot from it. Good tunes too)

The Sapphires (speaking of great music and great movies)

The Year of Living Dangerously (Mel, Linda Purl and my gal Sigourney! - my FIRST friend on Social Media back in MySpace days. 😃 Plus, it started me on my quest to learn more about Indonesia and Sukarno)

Tomorrow, When the War Began (Which is like Red Dawn, Australia. Aussie teens saving their country from a Communist invasion. Fabulous (over) acting in it too. Truly worthy of my man Bill (Shatner). 😘🇨🇦)

Everything created by Baz Luhrmann. Yes, even his remake of Romeo and Juliet (Oh, I have suffered for you people, but “Trust me on the Sun screen”)

Everything with David Wenham (at least half a dozen times each. I even endured “Dust” but only once, ☝️ which was one time too many.  😖 YOU definitely need to repent of that mess, Davey-boy.)

Anthony LaPaglia (I endured, “So I Married an Axe Murderer” and “Mixed Nuts”, but I forgave him when “Without a Trace” came along. But don't let it happen again,Tony. My patience has limits.)

Momento (because it starred Guy Pearce - never worked so hard to watch a move in my life.)

I was freaked out by Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane in Dead Calm 🫣

“One ping only, Vasilli.” (Yes, I know he's from New Zealand but he's in so many Aussie movies and he's great so cut me some slack. - I hope he's doing alright. 🥺)

All Russell Crowe movies. (Yeah, I know he's a Kiwi too, but he lives in Australia, so that's good enough for me)

Hugh Jackman movies (even the bad ones. Oops❗️🙊 Don't tell him I said that or he might go all WOLVERINE on me. 😲)

Babe (it's set in New Zealand but ☝️ it was actually filmed in Australia and it was made by George Miller - BTW if anybody has any spare time, could you please explain to me the ending of Happy Feet, because I just don't get it. 🤷‍♀️)

I endured Kirk Douglas stomping around with one leg in order to watch The Man from Snowy River.

Grease because of Olivia Newton John (Don't worry, I repented of it later.)

Xanadu (Don't worry, I repented of it later. Twice ✌️)

Crocodile Dundee (Yes. Even the Last one. “Good job, Skippy.” 😅🤣😆)

A Cry in the Dark 😥 (which motivated me into another deep dive into that moment in your history)

and on and on it goes.

Your TV Shows.

I've binge watched “Neighbours” (and lived to tell 😖)

But relax, 🫠 you made up for it with FARSCAPE and

The Mentalist (Simon Baker. Meow 😻)

I've seen every episode of “Wife Swap Australia” 

(You people are Fabulously Nuts)

I couldn't even fathom to guess how many hours of documentaries and miniseries about Australia I've seen. (and the number has gotten even larger with YouTube)

I'm currently watching old episodes of “World Chef Australia (and getting very hungry).

Which segues perfectly into my next category…

Your Food

I know you don't put “Shrimp on the Baa-Bee” but actually Prawns (Although WHY I don't know 🤷‍♀️ They're big, nasty sea bugs, people❗️🦐)

But considering your primary go-to meat is innocent, baby sheep, I wouldn't put it past you to eat anything.

I know what an HSP is.

I have eaten Fairy Bread on multiple occasions (Mind you it was a great sacrifice that I felt compelled to do as an act of Solidarity ✊️)

I know that ScoMo is a Person not a Food (“HEY, Everybody! 😃 I brought chocolate waffers and marshmallows. Let's make ScoMos!”)

I not only know the ingredients to Vegemite, but I actually know the HISTORY of Vegemite (don't worry your secret is safe with me. Shhh. 🤫)

Then there's Your Literature. I've probably read more than a THOUSAND books about Australia. (No. I'm not exaggerating. If anything my estimate is conservative.)

Your Music

Men at Work 

Crowded House 😘

Flock of Seagulls (even in spite of their bizarre haircuts)

Keith Urban (BTW your new National Anthem should be “Never Coming Down”. Can you picture that at the next Olympic Games? “All rise for the Australian National Anthem. ‘I can feel it coming on now…everybody sing ooooo. Dance baby, dance baby'”

The Last Farewell by Roger Whittaker, which is the most romantic song EVER. 🥰🥹

6 White Boomers Every Christmas by Rolf Harris (but let's not go there)

Kylie (but let's not go there either)

"Whispering Jack" Farnham (I actually busted the tape of my cassette while playing “You're the Voice” over and over.)

🦘

If Martyn is actually reading this right now (I hope he is), his head is probably spinning because he has no clue about the majority of what I've been gushing about, so let's change gears a bit.

I stood in the hot, summer sun for 2 ½ hours at Expo 86 (in Vancouver) just to get into the Australian pavilion for ten minutes in order to buy my cardboard Kangaroo Crossing sign.

Another milestone for me came along when I saw the movie “Breaker Morant” and I spent the next year of my life hunting down the truth of what really happened. Mind you, this was before the internet existed, so it took a long time and a lot of effort. But I finally got hold of the transcripts to the court martial when I wrote to the National Archives of Australia and a wonderful man there, not only mailed me photocopies of the Transcript, but also  photocopies of the poems by Harry Morant.

Another massive Australian impact on my life was when I was a teenager and I attended a small church in Vancouver and one of my Pastors was an Australian who was finishing up his training at Regent College here in Canada.

For years growing up, Adrian Cooke was my window into everyday Christian life in Australia. And what an education it was. 

(Now for those of you not aware, in the Southern Hemisphere, water goes down the drain in the opposite direction to what it does in the Northern Hemisphere. Which is something Adrian taught me. 

Some months later a friend, who knew I loved all things Australian said,

 “Laura-Lee, did you know that toilets in Australia flush in the opposite direction?”

 I responded with, "What, you mean UP instead of DOWN?” 😅😆😂)

Another major impact on my life was when YouTube recommended a video from the Australian Christian Lobby. 

I immediately started laughing out loud. 😆😅😂

“Australian politics❗️Boy did YouTube get THAT one wrong.”

But I know the Lord was behind it as I watched my first video of “The Truth of It”.

The topic was “Born Alive and Left to Die”.

It motivated me to click on another video, then another. But since I'm a trained Behaviorist, an expert at reading body language, facial expressions, etc and I TRUST NOBODY 🤨, I was frustrated that I was only seeing Martyn behind his desk and couldn't get a good “read” on him. So I scanned the ACL YouTube channel and came across his debate at The National Press Club against Fiona Patten. I thought, “Great. I'll see all of Martyn Iles at once, away from his comfortable, little studio when he's under some pressure."

My initial reaction was,

“WOAH❗️😃 How tall is this guy anyway❓️”

Once I pegged him at about 6 feet, 6 inches (off by an inch), I settled down to watch the debate and Martyn completely won me over. He was intelligent, knowledgeable, he thought systematically, wasn't phased under pressure and, most of all, he was unwavering in his convictions. My read on him was that he was absolutely sincere.

I subscribed to the ACL channel, bookmarked their website and thus my education into Australian politics began. But the ACL was just my starting point.

I have made myself well aware of what was going on in Australia, especially as you all struggled through the Covid years.

Another massive source for me was Avi Yemini as he reported for Rebel News Canada 🇨🇦

 (HEY!🖐 Shout out to the Av-Man. Australian AND Israeli❗️People don't come any better than that.)

I would download photos of ACL volunteers and pray for each one of them.

I watched you “Walk for Life” and “March for Babies”.

I participated in Zoom meetings every month with the folks from Voice of the Martyrs Australia, where I got to pray WITH Australians not just FOR you.

I prayed with the people at the Canberra Declaration.

I subscribed to Sky New Australia (Thanks Rita for keeping me sane with “Lefties Losing It” 😘)

I subscribed to ABC and “60 Minutes Australia”. (HEY, it's always a good idea to know what the enemy is up to)

I prayed for Izzy Folau through all his turmoil.

And because I'm 15 hours behind Australia in my time zone, I would eat breakfast on Sunday morning while listening to sermons from various Churches around Australia.

I hit my knees hard when you were all enduring the Christmas and New Years storms that ravaged your East coast.

I've watched countless Live Stream events, even though it meant having to get up at 2:00 or 3:00 am in my time zone.

And when the ACL suddenly fired Martyn, I started praying not just for him, but for the impact of him leaving that position would have on all of Australia.

Then he went to work for Ken Ham…

😠

(Let's pause a moment as I try to gain control of my temper)

I first “encountered” Ken in 1983 when my Christian High School showed a video he had made while he was still in Australia, even before Answers in Genesis  existed.

 I encountered him during the years I worked for Focus on the Family (Canada). 

At that point, I appreciated his stand for Creation Science, which was SO desperately needed at the time, but there was just something about him I found creepy. I wasn't trained in Behavioral Science yet, so it was just a gut reaction. But as I followed him through MANY years, it was his obvious obsession with money that made me completely write him off and I gave Ken and Answers in Genesis a wide berth until …

…he leeched onto Martyn.

I thought, “Of course, Martyn's perfect. Ken's been trying for YEARS to break into the Australian and GenZ market and Martyn completely fits the bill.”

At that point I decided to do a deep dive into Ken and AiG, but by then I was a trained Behaviorist with thirty years of experience as a Criminal Profiler. I can identify a cult immediately. I was alive to see the whole Jim Jones tragedy play out on the news before my innocent, 12 year old eyes, which motivated me to study cults in a big way.

Answers in Genesis is a TEXTBOOK example of a  cult and the second I identified it as one, I hit my knees in an even bigger way. When I saw Martyn take the role of the leader of Ken's Cult, I also started posting evidence of my findings too. I have been doing that for almost two years now.

I witnessed Martyn use his substantial influence to LURE people (particularly YOUNG people) into Ken's waiting arms. (ie. The Catalyst program)

But my focus right now is on those of you who had the ability to contact Martyn directly.

Even if you didn't know Answers in Genesis was a cult, surely you must have been seeing the same posts as I was seeing.

When he was equating Freedom to law breaking, gun-toting, Harley riders.

When he went to the shooting range and was given a MASSIVE gun to play with which was well beyond his abilities. 

When he was telling us what a great Christian Russell Brand is.

When he would end his sermons with a 7-minute sales pitch for the Ark Encounter (even to the point of saying which hotels people could get a discount from) etc. etc.

Couldn't you all see that the man had gone WACKADOODLE?!

Do you know why you didn't say anything?

Because you either have your hands in Ken's money bag

 OR 

you are getting your “jollies” from the prestige of knowing the “mighty” Ken Ham

OR

you were having too much fun playing at Christian Party HQ, AKA. “the popular Creation Museum and world renowned ArKENcounter” (Ken's constant sales pitch)

Whatever your reason, you abandoned Martyn to live out his life as the head of Answers in Genesis.

Now that doesn't excuse Martyn's behavior or get him off the hook. He is responsible for every person he influenced and all the AiG workers who needed him to watch out for them, when instead he was spending his days running Ken's Theme Park, playing VR games, being 

 “Mr. Personality” to curry favor with the Americans and EATING TWINKIES while the rest of the world was crumbling around us.

At this blog, and in my life, Jesus is not just Number One, HE IS EVERYTHING.

I have been commissioned by Him to expose this Cult. 

I've done my Ezekiel 3 duty to tell you the Truth God has asked me to speak, so your blood is off my head.

But if you don't listen to what I've said, then the blood is on your head.

The ANZACs and Harry and Peter Handcock sacrificed their LIVES for their country, but you are too gutless to confront a mediocre school teacher from Dalby who is running a cult in YOUR backyard. (Answers in Genesis Australia)

How many of you, after reading this, will even bother to check to see if what I'm saying is true?

(Yeah. That's what I thought.)

🤨

Well, regardless of what YOU do, I have brought you…

The Truth with Love 

Always, Laura-Lee 

🏅

“What are your legs?”

“Springs. Steel springs.”

“What are they going to do to?”

“Hurl me down the track.”

“How fast can you run?”

“As fast as a leopard.”

“How fast ARE you going to run?”

“As fast as a leopard!”

“THEN LET'S SEE YOU DO IT!!!”

Fast as a Leopard scene from Gallipoli

😞

Final Scene BREAKER MORANT

My post, "What Makes a Cult? (Simplified)"

Your treat for scrolling to the bottom is a chance to restore your integrity and do the right thing.

My blog post, "I AM Ken Ham's Worst Nightmare"

Documentary: Breaker Morant The Retrial

I might not have had the privilege of being BORN there but I've spent HALF a CENTURY earning it! 🤨

Fallen Christian Response (Simplified)

 

If you have sinned, committed evil acts or bailed out on Jesus, when you should have remained faithful, don't hide in shame in the dark. That is EXACTLY what Satan wants you to do. Remember that Jesus, himself has prayed for you and RIGHT NOW is interceding for you with the Father.

Own  up to your sins, come to Jesus, ask for His forgiveness and be reconciled to Christ.

Then use your Testimony of Restoration to strengthen your Brothers and Sisters in Christ to help us stay Faithful to Jesus.

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 

(Luke 22:31-32)

🌾✝️🌾

"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

(Romans 8:34)

The Truth with Love

 Always Laura-Lee 

Even though this was a short post, I'm still going to give you a treat for scrolling to the bottom. 

"Come take The Light to darker parts.

Share His Truth with hardened hearts.

Into the middle of Fallen Saints and Sinners, where Grace is needed most." 

Avalon "IN not OF" 🎶

"Let's Just Make Something Up" 💁‍♀️

 

During my last year of high-school (Shout Out to Vancouver Christian Secondary School 😃 ), my friend Kim and I volunteered to be on the Yearbook Committee. Okay. We WERE the Yearbook Committee (It was a pretty small school) 

The Graduating Class that year, which we were a part of (Shout out to 1985! 😃)  (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again)

we all needed to write a short blurb to have put next to our Grad Photos. We were all given a couple of months to think of something to say.

 What did our years at our school mean to us? 🤔

What were we grateful for? 🤔

Who did we wish to single out and Thank? 🤔

What were our goals for the future? 🤔

 You get the idea.

But as the deadline was approaching, we had to start tracking our fellow classmates down. What started out as reminding people turned into nagging them, then turned into hounding them and ultimately turned into THREATENING them. 🔪🪓

Time eventually ran out but Kim and I were successful in collecting everyones blurb (or so we thought). We were working on the Yearbook layout after school and I was typing up the blurbs then I realized one girl still hadn't given us her blurb.

We were stumped what to when I suddenly had a revelation. 🤯

"Let's just make something up, Kim."

"We can't do that, Laura." 😯

"Of course we can. Listen, she's had plenty of time, MORE than plenty of time, to write something. Her chance has past and now we are going to take matters into our own hands."

Now one of the wonderful things I've always loved about Kim is once she's on board with something, SHE'S ON BOARD WITH SOMETHING❗️

So the two of us sat together and just made stuff up. 💁‍♀️

For instance, we wrote that her ultimate goal in life was to be an "aerobics instructor". 🤭 (snicker)

(HEY! Don't judge us, she had it coming. 🤨)

🌺🌿🌺🌿🌺

I see this play out everywhere these days, but NOT in a funny way. Christians don't speak out when we can (and should) be saying something and as a result others just make stuff up. And they can make up some be some pretty ridiculous things.

 Plus, when we do decide to speak Truth, they make it so miserable on us that we cringe into Silence.

But we are "Ambassadors for Christ", pleading His cause and that is the REAL reason they want us to shut up.

It's not easy to say things that will upset and rankle others (believe me I know), but we must speak anyway. People's lives and souls are on the line.

Don't be afraid. Jesus will give you the opportunity to say something and the Holy Spirit will tell you exactly what to say.

Even a scaredy cat like me can be emboldened to speak 

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 

Encouragement from God's Word is your treat for scrolling to the bottom this time.

2 Corinthians 5:11-15

Tug of War (Christian Style)

When I was a teenager back in the early 1980s (Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) my high-school (shout out to Vancouver Christian Secondary School) had a Track and Field Day and one of the events was Tug of War.

Now for those of you who are not familiar with this game, let me give you a brief description of it. You have a long, thick rope with a Red Flag tied to the middle of it, which is positioned directly over a mark in the dirt, or in our case a paint mark on the grass. 

Then you have two teams, of approximately equal weight, lined up on either side of the flag. Everyone grips the rope and when someone says "GO", everyone starts pulling. The team that wins is the one that can completely pull the rope onto their side.

I remember our teachers eyeing all of us and trying to make up the teams of equal weight and an equal amount of boys and girls on each side. 

At the end of each rope there was the largest boy available. This person is known as the Anchor. I was positioned  directly in front of our anchor.

Now, when I was in high school, I was already my full and glorious height of 5 feet 3 inches, and I weighed 110 lbs.

😟 Uh, okay. 115 lbs.

 Okay, okay! 120 lbs. Can we PLEASE get back to my story. 🤨

Our principal, Mr. Van der Kamp, said,

"On your mark. Get set. PULL❗️"

I'll spare you all the details of us pulling (and grunting) but both teams were pretty equally matched, so for quite some time the Red Flag would move THIS way and then THAT way.

 But at some point the other team gave a good YANK  (no not the American kind 😉)  and it threw our Anchor off balance and he let go of the rope, which means he was OUT of the game.

Suddenly I discovered that LITTLE ol' me was the new Anchor. 😳

 My first thought was, "Well, this game is over." 🤷‍♀️ (Which was probably the same thing everyone watching was thinking).

But. you know, my second reaction was one of ANGER. 😡

I thought, "There is no way my team is losing! NO WAY❗️"

So I dug my little size 6 running shoes into the ground, braced my stumpy, little legs, 

gripped the rope more tightly and started yelling, 

 in my tiny, sweet voice that sounds much like the gentle tinkle of a wind chime on a mild, breezy day 😊, 

"PULL...PULL...PULL...PULL..."

and my entire team started pulling to my rhythm and working as ONE.

And we quickly won the game, even though we were down a man. 

If you have never played Tug of War, I suggest you do, because you gain a lot of practical experience that I cannot adequately tell you here.

✝️💪

Christians are currently in a Tug of War against nothing less than the powers of evil "in this present darkness" (Ephesians 6:12) and the prize is nothing less than people's immortal souls.

We need to DIG in and start pulling in unison.

But, unlike in high school, when the only anchor my team had was an angry, Christian teenager with a bad attitude and a stubborn will (which is not bad thing ☝️),  we have our Lord, Jesus Christ as our Anchor.

And because of that ...

WE...CANNOT...BE..MOVED! 🤨

"I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

(Psalm 16:8)

BTW, Psalm 16 is the last Scriptures my Mom said to me before she died. I think she knew I was going to need it.

All of Psalm 16

The Truth with Love, 

 Always Laura-Lee 

Your extra, special treat for scrolling to the bottom (and patiently enduring my long story.) 😘

"(Oooh, Oooh, Oh) We Won't Be Shaken" by BUILDING 429 🎶