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.........................."We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." - John Stott

Monday, June 29, 2009

The economy is destroying our business.

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I run a restaurant, and in this economy, we are suffering terribly. I even thought of closing for good on Friday. But...

One of my young waiters had told me about his church. He's the son of migrant workers, and I, missing the worship we had when on mission trips to Juarez, went to their evening service last week. They prayed for our business & family.

Now, they are coming in here to eat, as one said, "instead of Burger King," and one woman offered to make authentic Mexican food for the menu, while another offered to help with whatever I need - volunteer- (when she can't be in the field.)

And a man is trying to fix our suburban so that we can still make it to Bible camp.

Thank you, Jesus. We serve an awesome, overcoming, God.
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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Life is so hard. Nothing is working

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We only made it 20 miles last night before our radiator blew. I am grieving, because we needed so badly to get away as a family to Bible camp at LFBC. This last year has been so very hard.

Praise God that we were still close enough to be towed home. But the Lord knows that I don't have the money to fix the Suburban. Why are all these things happening?

I am grieving, but trying to praise God at the same time - I cried out to Him this morning. I do not understand what is happening or why, but I do understand He has a Refining fire and God willing, all things can be accomplished no matter where we are. I need to submit to that. And praise him.

The Lord provided a miracle two years ago when some kids busted most of the windows in the suburban. That next morning, a church that had never met us went to a junk yard, bought new windows, and installed them that afternoon. Please, please, please pray with us another miracle.

I need, need, need to go to the camp. I need to be away with people, praying and listening, and thinking and talking and fellowship. The speaker is said to be very good. I had told the 14 year-old, who was rushed to the hospital three weeks ago with alcohol poisoning, to take the opportunity to see and hear. And the other two kids wanted to see their friends so badly. And we were to meet my 19-year old there tonight and spend the week with her there. We were bringing her her dog because I can't take care of it. And I was going to get to play with my grandson all week. I was going to take his stroller and push him around and play in the park after sessions.

Is there any chance for us still to go? Only by a miracle of the Lord. Please, please help us pray for a miracle. I have so many questions, and such a struggle here with our business and in where we live. I need help.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Church Ministry Prays Homosexuality out of Boy

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A 20-minute YouTube video shows a 16-year-old boy convulsing on a church floor as members of Manifested Glory Ministries, a Connecticut church, cast a "homosexual demon" from his body.
"Rip it from his throat!" "Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip!"

The boy had come to the church and asked for help. He'd been to the altar several times for prayer prior to the filming of this particular event.

Gay advocates are calling it abuse and are demanding an investigation.

An investigation into what? What thousands of churches believe and are doing during their services? Are the thought police - or the Obama administration - now going to tell churches what they can or cannot do during their services? Will there be a law against doing spiritual ministry with children? Will there be a law against praying over homosexuals, even if they request it?

I'm not a member of a Pentecostal church and do find some churches - (not all Pentecostal churches) - and some prayer to be not quite genuine. But the behavior and attacks from the far left are a lot more disturbing to me than doctrinal differences I might have with some brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Robin McHaelin, executive director of an advocacy group for youths that claim to be gay, said "I think it's horrifying. What saddens me is the people that are doing this think they are doing something in the kid's best interests, when in fact they're murdering his spirit."

OF COURSE they're murdering the spirit. That's the whole point! Didn't she listen to what the church was saying? "You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip!" They were "casting out of spirits!" The whole point of the prayer is to get rid of that spirit - the same spirit that McHaelin wants to protect!

What scares me more is that she says kids call HER to ask for help against their parents or caregivers, as if she knows and loves them more than their parents do. I assume she then proceeds to help them do the things that their parents don't want them to do. She is the type of person I choose to keep my kids far away from.

She admits that the boy said that the church has prayed for him three times at his request, but, knowing very little about this boy, assumes she knows everything and blames the risky behavior he's practicing on the church's treatment. She hasn't listened to the boy at all.
Excuse me? He came into the church wearing women's clothing and begging for help. He had been in reform school for stealing. He was already engaged in risky behavior before he came to the church.
The church listened to him, loved him, gave him clothes, and prayed for him, as he requested. But she claims the church is at fault for the problems he came to them with? Right.
Now she plans on reporting "the situation" to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Lord, help us all from that kind of person. It's her behavior and meddling in the lives of children and families that needs reporting. I pray the evil spirit comes out of her and that she will see, know and understand the truth. I ask this in Jesus' Holy Name, Amen.
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Newsweek Editor says Obama is "god".

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Newsweek editor Evan Thomas told Chris Matthews during a taping of Hardball that President Obama is "sort of God."

“In a way,” Thomas said, “Obama is standing above the country. Above … above the world …
“He’s sort of God.”

Wow. Isn't that something? Most of us have never seen this kind of maniacal behavior in our lifetimes.

It's comforting to know that the One True God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who spoke to Moses, the God who parted the sea and died on the cross for our sins, is in control. He knows exactly what is going on - and nothing - no one - is more powerful than He. He Loves His children and will take care of us through all hardships. We praise His Holy Name; Jehovah; Yhwh; the Great "I Am". No human can ever hold a candle to our God the Father; his son Jesus Christ, and the comforter Holy Spirit - Our One God in three persons. Praise Him. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to worship the True God. To say that He is greater than a mere man is the grandest of understatements.
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Tulsa: Can't talk about God when helping children living in Housing Projects..

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Child Evangelism Fellowship of Missouri, an organization that had been working with children in a Tulsa, Oklahoma housing project for 20 years, was recently told that they can come in and play games and talk about moral things, but they can't mention the name of God.

Larry Koehn, head of the fellowship's Tulsa chapter, said that they were told that holding Bible Studies and discussing God with the children was a violation of a policy prohibiting religious instruction on public housing property. He said that housing authority officials told him the rule has "always been in effect, but it's just never been enforced."

Liberty Counsel, a Florida law firm specializing in religious cases, has gotten involved, Founder Mathew Staver said he will file a federal lawsuit against the housing authority if the fellowship isn't allowed to conduct their programs as usual. Staver says that a Supreme Court ruling in 2001 affirmed that religious groups have the same right as anyone else to meet in public buildings.

"Youth at Heart" is the non-profit company that runs the recreational programs for the Tulsa Housing Authority. The Youth at Heart organization is not faith based. One has to wonder about Obama's changes with the Office for Faith Based Inititiatives, which he now calls the White House Office of Faith-Based and "Neighborhood Partnerships." Some of us have been expecting that faith based efforts will be pushed off the map in favor of secular programs.
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Monday, June 8, 2009

Is President Obama a Christian?

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I'm not ready to say, as some do, that President Obama is a Muslim. But I certainly question his commitment to Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John, who walked with Jesus Christ, quotes Jesus; "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 ISV. John also wrote, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”1 John 5:11-12 NKJV

President Obama stated, “I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.” He said, “As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.”

But a Christian - a disciple of Jesus Christ - who truly believes Jesus when he says he is the only way, truth and life, and that there is no way to the Father other than through Him, knows there is no other way to peace other than following Jesus Christ. To say that there is, with complete rest in one's heart, would mean that the person doesn't believe what the Holy Scripture states for fact.

President Obama went on in his speech, saying, "As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."

But a Christian would never call the Quran Holy. A Christian knows that the Bible alone is God's Word, and therefore, the only Holy Scripture.

President Obama stated, "And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."

When did it become the responsibility of the President to "fight against negative stereotypes of Islam"? He has never promised to defend Christianity in the same way, and in fact, appears to go out of his way to distance himself from Jesus Christ as much as possible, from refusing to acknowledge the day of prayer to asking Georgetown University, a Catholic Institution, to cover up and hide its inscription "IHS" during his speech there on April 14. Apparently, he and his staff didn't want Jesus' name to show up on TV.

How come he has never offered to fight against negative stereotypes of Christianity? Well, that would involve a daily rebuke of CNN, the ACLU, Wahington Post, the AP, the New York Times, MSNBC, ABC, and too many liberal organizations to mention. Much too time consuming.

Obama's grasp of and respect for the Holy Bible - the Scriptures from which he told us last year that he was seeking God's truth - also seems non-existent.

Instead, during his mid-east tour he quotes a Muslim story that the Bible does not support at all.

President Obama said, "...when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra — as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed — peace be upon them — joined in prayer."

The Bible holds no record of such an event. Interestingly, neither does the Quran. There is even disagreement within the Muslim community whether the event happened at all.

Barack Obama's Muslim background was taboo to talk about during the campaign. All evidence of his anti-Israel position was hidden. Obama's friendship with PLO member Rashid Khalidi was important to his world view, but the LA Times refused to release the video proving that this relationship helped mold Obama's views regarding Israel.

I can't tell what's really in President Obama's heart. I can only discern from the outside fruit. I don't believe that attending a Christian church necessarily makes one a Christian anymore than sitting in a garage makes one a car. From what I see, it appears that his years at Rev. Wright’s church were more about networking with potential constituents and furthering his political career than it was about giving one's heart over to Jesus Christ and becoming His disciple. That's why it was so easy for him to walk away when it appeared that the church was threatening his political career. Outside of South Chicago, it was no longer an asset. It was now a liability.
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Thursday, June 4, 2009

Obama's Decision to be a Christian

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In Barack Obama's book, the Audacity of Hope, he wrote, "During the five years that we would live with my stepfather in Indonesia, I was sent first to a neighborhood Catholic school and then to a predominately Muslim school. In our household, the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf."

But he states that his mother was skeptical of religion, so as a result, he said, "I was not raised in a religious household."

He goes on to write about his experience as a community organizer for churches in Chicago and says that he was repeatedly asked to join various Christian congregations.

But, he wrote, "I remained a reluctant skeptic, doubtful of my own motives, wary of expedient conversion, having too many quarrels with God to accept a salvation too easily won."

He goes on to claim that after much soul searching, he was baptized at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

Soul Searching? Today he was in Egypt touting his Muslim background. Not a word about being a soul-searching Christian. Today, it was more convenient to be Muslim.

I suspect that in reality, joining a large Christian church in Chicago was a political move. It was one way to network with a large number of constituents. His "soul searching," it seems to me, consisted of assessing which of the several churches asking him to join them would benefit him politically the most. In the end he decided on a church that had a sharp political edge and attracted angry voters; a place that would best help Obama reach his goals. He did not choose a church that focused on the goals of Jesus Christ.

This is further evidenced in another quote from the book, in which he describes his decision;

"It came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

Most people, when truly submitting to God's will, dedicate themselves to serving Him. That's the whole point. True submission = humbling servitude. It's a decision to serve Him even if one doesn't fully understand God's reasoning and purpose. Obama states that he was only willing to continue asking questions, dedicating himself only to "discovering His truth." Whatever that means, and however long that takes.

No, we're not supposed to be judging the hearts of others. But we are supposed to be wise, keeping an eye out for wolves and charlatans, watching their fruit in order to discern their spirit. Just as with Joel Osteen and his ilk, President Obama is a salesman. He doesn't seem to understand the deity and purpose of Jesus Christ, nor the purpose of Scripture, nor the purpose of Christians.

Again, pay close attention to God's warnings in Matt 7:15, Acts 20:29, Romans 16:18, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, and 2 Peter 2-3.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Doctor Tiller Murdered; yes, Saint; no


Dr. George Tiller as shot and killed Sunday; murdered, presumabley by a pro-life advocate.

As many have pointed out, it makes no sense for a pro-life advocate to take the life of another human being.

Some pro-life advocates disagree and claim that because Dr. Tiller was murdering children and continued to do so despite years of legal attempts to stop him, there were no other options.

However, Nancy Keenan, president of abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, issued a statement praising Tiller's commitment. "Dr. Tiller's murder will send a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive-health centers that serve women across this country. We want them to know that they have our support as they move forward in providing these essential services in the aftermath of the shocking news from Wichita," Keenan said.

They have her support. Wonderful. The murder of Dr. Tiller is a crime and much more important than the rhetoric that Nancy Keenan spits out. Did you notice how she took his murder and turned it into an advertisement for her and her group? I imagine, having been aquainted with her work and rhetoric in Montana government years ago, that she is tickled this tragedy happened as it gave her a chance to get some attention in the papers and might help bring favor on Obama's Supreme Court pick. The Supreme Court fight probably had her worried this last week. I hate it when people use a tragedy to bolster their sick agendas.

Dr. Tiller was murdered and the killer needs to be punished. But that doesn't suddenly make the killing of innocent children okay.
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