Christians Crawling Out of Their Comfort Zones

2009-12-13T18:19:00.001-06:00

Dear Santa,

It’s been many years since I’ve written you a letter. I apologize for that, but you know how it is. You grow up and you get really busy raising children and working and generally just trying to survive that you never quite find the time to check in with old friends. This year has been no exception—and, in fact, has been busier and more hectic than ever—but something just starting niggling in the back of my mind telling me that I should drop you a line. Here goes.

“What do I want for Christmas?” you ask. I have everything I want this Christmas, thank you very much. I have my handsome husband Adrian who is every girl’s dream man beside me and things couldn’t be better. My oldest daughter is coming home for Christmas from her graduate studies abroad, and she’s staying with us for the month. I am very grateful for that, but after the month of sharing the same bathroom we might be singing a different tune.

My youngest daughter will be home soon from college, too. She can’t wait to see her sister, and I can’t wait to see her. She attends school only 120 miles away, but she rarely gets a ride into town. I’m praying for reconciliation and times of honest conversation with both her and her sister.

If there’s one thing I wish you could bring me, Santa, it’s another way to make a living. I really miss writing and promoting my books, but it doesn’t pay the rent (or even the groceries or the electric bill). My day job is now ten hours a day and they’re pressuring me to work overtime as well. I physically and mentally can’t take it much longer there. Could you please help me to find a more uplifting job closer to where I live that doesn’t drain me so much? With the extra time and flow of creative juices, I could get back into writing again. It would make me ever so happy. Thanks.

Also, if you could, can you tell those folks on your “naughty” list that pirating e-books (as well as song files and movies) is just plain wrong? I never really worried about e-book pirating until recently—the big sales of Kindles and Sony e-Readers has caused the plague of e-piracy to grow. I’ve even come across some of my books being pirated at various pirate sites. I suppose I should feel flattered, but instead I feel worse than ever. I have little energy to write lately with the long hours at the day job that I’m forced to take since writing pays so very little, and people are stealing royalties from me whenever they don’t purchase my e-books from legitimate sources. And it’s not just me who is hurting—I have hundred of writing acquaintances who are also being robbed of royalties by e-pirates. I know many of these new Kindle owners don’t understand how important it is to us small fry authors and how little money we make on our books. Could you please put a bug in their ear and ask them how they’d feel if someone stole something they created so callously and without regard to the income they’re denying their families? Thanks again.

I suppose it’s time I sign off now, Santa. You’ve got a busy night coming soon, and you need to save your energy to give to those who are truly in need. I’m looking forward to the time when everyone everywhere will receive what they truly need at Christmas—of peace on earth, goodwill to men. Then the need to spend massive sums of money we don’t have, on presents we don’t really need, will simply fade away…

Affectionately yours,
Cindy

Wherever you go...

2009-06-16T15:25:00.003-05:00

God will be with you wherever you go. --from the book of Numbers

Some people have great and intricate plans for their lives. They work through these plans step by step, goal by goal, year by year. They cross off things on their to-do lists and ocassionally reward themselves for a job well done by taking a trip, buying a new car, or simply going out to eat or to see a movie. At the end of the day, week, month, year or lifetime these intelligent and well-organized folks sit down, setlle back, put their feet up, smile and say to themselves, "Well done!"

Then there are the rest of us.

I do believe the "rest of us" are in the majority. We may dabble with being organized from time to time, but we quickly revert to our inherently sloppy, live-by-the-seat-of-your-pants ways. We act spontaneously and rashly, then later chide ourselves over and over again for the mistakes we've made. We berate ourselves for choosing the wrong path in life. We curse and condemn ourselves for the sheer stupidity of our choices. We loathe our lack of decision-making abilities.

Frankly, we teach ourselves to hate ourselves.

"Why did I do that?" has been my mantra for most of my life. The apostle Paul in his letters to the early church repeatedly exclaimed, "I am the worst of all sinners!" If I had been there, I'd have chimed in with, "Me too!"

Beating myself up for my "crimes" against myself became a hobby.

It's not a pasttime I recommend. Unfortunately, it's an all too common one. Being human (as opposed to Vulcan, Galifreyan or your generic little green man from Mars) I fell prey to this epidemic of self-loathing early on, perhaps even earlier than I give myself credit. To be a citizen of Planet Earth means no one--no one can ever become fully immune from this "sin sickness".

What escape is ther from this dreaded disease? None. A person can't simply walk away from their troubles. A person cannot time travel (as much as I'd like to) and go back and fix mistakes and poor decisions from years past. "Emotional baggage" will be packed along with your winter sweaters or heirloom china or even your bobble-head baseball figurine colection and taken to wherever you go... No matter how far or how long or how fast you run your problems tag along for the ride.

So, I can't get away from my dysfunctional hobby of beating myself up. I feel hopeless in my helplessness, a horrible feeling for a control freak like myself. I want to take charge of the situation and fix things all by myself, but the more I try to fix things, the worse things become. It's a vicious cycle. What can I do?

Then God enters the picture.

No matter how far I've gone (all the way to the wilds of West Texas) or how much I've tried to hide from the Creator of the Universe (pretending to be someone I'm not), God has been there. Like the passage from the book of Numbers says, there is no place I have visited or will visit that God isn't already there. Even more intriguing, God recognizes me in all my false disguises.

I can't ellude him in the chase. He's after me--I sense his pursuit in the drive he has given me to share my story with others. It is my hope it will help you see how God has a plan for your life as well, even when you're living by the seat of your pants.

Prayer: You are with me wherever I go, God. Thanks for all the help and protection you have afforded me thus far. Continue to watch over me and guide my steps in this journey called life. Amen.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2009-04-04T14:43:00.000-05:00

Another month has come and gone—and I didn’t get hardly anything I wanted to get done in March, done. For some reason, I just can’t give up sleeping, eating or taking daily showers. Those sorts of things really cut into your free time, you know—especially the sleeping.

I’m not getting any creative writing projects I’ve started finished. I’d had hoped to do so during my week off, but I just didn’t have the will to write more than a few pages on my work-in-progress. I’ll admit it, too—my heart simply isn’t into writing fiction lately. E-publishers are folding right and left it seems, taking some of my books along with them. I can’t afford to go to writing conferences and schmooze with the agents and editors from the big houses, so I can’t get a foot in the door by making a personal connection. And having a foot in the door seems to be the only way to gain the big guys’ attention these days.

Everyone with a computer seems to have written a book this past year. The submissions are flooding the slushpiles. You have to do something outrageous or illegal—or both—to get an editor’s attention. Just look at former governor Rod Blagojevich. He’s done both—and now he’s got his own radio talk show. You really wonder if becoming a criminal is where it’s at for becoming a best-selling author.

Oh, well. I can sit around and mope and groan, or I can crawl back into the saddle and get going again. Since I like horses, I’ll go the saddle route.

I think I’ll put the novel writing on hiatus until I’m unemployed at the end of May. Between trying to find another job and keeping the work I have currently, I don’t have energy to write creatively. I can write a short piece here or there (like my blogs), but the stamina to keep my concentration focused for 50,000 words or more isn’t there. I have to spend my free time sending out resumes and dealing with the rejection emails/snail mails. You think an editor’s rejection of your manuscript is bad? “Sorry, but we don’t want you to work for us,” is a lot worse, especially when your bills are due.

Lots of writers tell me this phase will pass, but I’m not so sure. It just feels like that if I give up writing fiction for a short while I’ll never return to it, and that’s tantamount to cutting out my heart. The good news is that my heart is in good hands. April may bring showers, but I’m hoping to have plenty of flowers by May when my fiancé arrives in the US. Then I’ll have another excuse for not writing—but it will be a much happier one!

LIfe goes on... God provides

2009-01-31T11:55:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry I've let this blog sit idle for so long. I hope to do better in 2009, God willing. I'll be in touch with y'all again soon.

In the meantime, you can read my other blog at http://momsday.blogspot.com to see what all I've been up to lately.

God's blessings to you and your loved ones during these difficult times.

The Sparrow

2008-01-18T23:19:00.000-06:00

I sing because I'm happy; I sing because I'm free--
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
--C. D. Martin, "His Eye is on the Sparrow"

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your
Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many
sparrows.
--Matthew 10:29-31 (NIV)

I don't consider myself much of a "bird person," but on
occasion I have tried to help a poor feathered friend or two
in trouble. Our former home in West Texas was surrounded by
four large trees, a rarity and a blessing in that dusty part
of the world. Hundreds of birds made their nests in our
trees, and we were lucky to observe many species over the
years--from the comical red-headed woodpecker and the flashy
male cardinal on down to the lowly sparrow and the common
house wren. The birds were our pets in a way, and we
looked after them the best we could. Several times we
brought injured birds to others for mending, and it gave us
a good feeling to know we had given them a new lease on
life.

We found our share of dead birds, of course, particularly
after wind and hail storms. One sunny day, however, I heard
a loud whack at the front picture window. As I
stepped out onto the porch, I immediately surmised what had
happened: A large, strikingly beautiful yellow-breasted
bird which hadn't seen the glass had attempted to swoop
through what he thought was an open window into our house.
Apart from his oddly twisted neck, there wasn't a scratch on
the magnificent creature. My daughters and I gently placed
his body in a shoe box and buried him in our side yard
alongside some other birds we had interred previously. We said a short prayer and marked his grave with a plastic heart decoration that had once topped a Valentine
cupcake.

It is the baby birds, fallen out of the nest too soon to
survive on their own, which have always given me the most
heartache. Whenever something like this happened,
we would frantically call the headmistress of the local Episcopal school, the town's resident bird expert. She is a kind yet practical person who always seemed to give us the same advice: "Place the baby back up in the closest tree which it probably fell from. If the mother can find it and feed it, it will survive. If she can't, then it's going to be eaten by the cats. Either way, it's what God and nature intended."

How many times our hearts were broken as we tried to rescue
some poor fallen chick who just wouldn't cooperate. I remember one day my daughters and I constantly placed one ornery fledgling, who was big enough to hop but not fly quite yet, back up in the crook of a tree only to see it leap to the ground moments later.

"Look, you stupid bird, we're trying to save you from our
neighbors' cats! Trust me!" I yelled at it, but it was hopeless. Soon dusk fell and we were forced to give up our rescue attempt. The next morning, we could find neither hide nor feather of it.

This morning on my walking route I found myself once again
in a similar situation. Two newborn birds had fallen out of their nest. I found them in the middle of the sidewalk, and I could hear the mother bird singing frantically for them to come home. They must have been there all night, as they were both too weak to peep. I scooped up the first frail chick and placed it in the tree where I gathered their nest was located, then turned to rescue its sibling.

This bird would have none of it. It had just enough strength to flutter off in the direction of a garbage can placed at the curb for trash collection, where it decided to hide itself underneath. The can was heavy and I tried to move it carefully, but I must have crushed the little sparrow underneath. I knew it was dead as I retrieved its still body and placed it at the foot of the tree. Breakfast for the cats. "What God and nature intended," I sighed.

This morning the baby bird's death really struck home. I couldn't help but shed tears over the hopelessness of it all--how its poor mother would never understand what had become of her child. I thought about how only the day before a dear friend of mine back in West Texas had buried her own firstborn child. He was a young man on the cusp of adulthood, blessed with a loving mom and step-dad and two little sisters who idolized him. He "fell out of the nest" two days before while playing around with a handgun.

Accidents like this happen all the time. You read about them in the newspaper, hear about them on the TV and radio and sigh, "Oh, dear, not again. When will people ever learn to keep their firearms away from children." These words offer little comfort to the grieving. I can only imagine how my friends must feel. Like the wind blowing a bird down from the tree, there just wasn't enough
time for them to place their beloved son back up in the protection of the branches. I know they would have kept on trying, even after the darkness came.

Questions remain. Are we not worth more than the sparrows? Is this tragedy what God intended? Is He watching over us? Why do little birds have to fall out of the nest? Are we ever truly safe in this "veil of tears?" The Psalmist sings:

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young--
a place near your altar,
O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in you house;
they are forever praising you.
--Psalm 84:3-4

Perhaps the only way to find the answers we seek and to reach our ultimate dwelling place is to fall--fall into His arms, gathering strength from the branches of the cross itself.

"Trust me!" says the Father through His only begotten Son who died on a tree to give eternal life. Then no longer are we sparrows without a nest but sons and daughters with a heavenly home.

Children of the heavenly Father,
Safely in His bosom gathered,
Nestling bird nor star in heaven
Such a refuge e'er was given.
--Caroline V. Sandell Berg, tr. Ernest W. Olson, "Children
of the Heavenly Father"

Thanksgiving while living on the streets

2007-11-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

The latest from the Extreme Faith Ministry, Saint Louis...

Wednesday night – November 21 11:30 PM. Homeless ministry notes

My feet are still frozen. Tonight was cold and windy with light sleet. My hands ached with the cold. I thought I dressed for the weather. I layered a long sleeve tee shirt, windbreaker, sweatshirt and a winter coat. I wore a pair of tights under my jeans; good socks and athletic shoes. A scarf, hat and knit gloves topped off the Alaska style ensemble. My body was warm enough, but the cold penetrated my feet and hands. I truly appreciate the warm air currently blowing from my furnace.

We served seventy-six meals at three stops. Some of the regulars obviously found a place to burrow. Even a hot Thanksgiving style meal did not entice them to brave the 34 degree night. Spirits for the most part, is surprisingly high. Laughter and prayer are the two most common sounds. We were even entertained with a little spontaneous street rap and dance. But the desperate need is revealed in the anxious request for socks, sweatshirts, coats and blankets. They clutch the blankets around their shoulders. No warm furnace will greet them tonight. The only heat they will have is their own body heat.

The menu was a very traditional Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, a roll, a slice of Pumpkin pie with a dollop of Cool Whip. Quite a feat considering it is served from the rear of a van. The food is kept hot in Styrofoam coolers (12" x 12" x 18" tall). The kind used to store fishing bait. These are lined with oven bags for better clean up. The only time my hands felt warmth was when I scooped food into a plate. Those we serve do not sit at a table to eat, but are grateful for what they have received and that someone came to see them on Thanksgiving Eve.

Joy and blessings,

Linda

Come Ye Thankful People Come...

2007-11-03T23:21:00.001-05:00

This is an open invitation. Y'all are invited to my cyber-establishment for Thanksgiving cyber-dinner. We're going to have cyber-turkey (both cyber-white and cyber-dark meat) and cyber-mashed potatoes (fresh--not out of a cyber-packet) and, of course, the traditional cyber-pumpkin pie. Yum, yum! The best thing about a cyber-banquet is the that cyber-calories do not go to your hips, midriff or thighs--in fact, they go nowhere at all. So feel free to pig out at my cyber-party. You can never feel guilty--even when taking that last slice of cyber-pie since your cyber-hostess can easily click on "edit" and hit "copy" at any time...

Well, by now I'm sure you've guess I'm being plain silly here. What else is new? You haven't taken my dinner offer seriously I suspect, but I am serious--Why not throw a cyber-Thanksgiving celebration?

All right let's start with who's bringing what... How about you in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex bring the potatoes and the rolls, you guys up in the northern section of the country can bring the stuffing--make it cornbread for me if you can, but if you can't, we'll ask our neighbors from Dixie to do the honors. I figured my Southern guests could bring the sweet potato pie and that my Western guests could bring some rattlesnake meat for a little variety. Cranberries? Oh, sure--some of my Massachusetts readers can provides those--right, guys? Pumpkin pie... who's going to bring that? How about we give that particular honor to the Midwesterners. The St. Louisans can bring toasted raviolis and Ted Drewes' frozen custard so others can sample some of the regional cuisine.

The best thing about a cyber-celebration is that there's simply no need for advance preparation. Can you tell that my home isn't completely spotless online? Of course not! Can you tell I'm passing out cheap paper plates and not the good china? Not really! Can I tell that you just spilled your iced tea and cranberry sauce onto the light beige carpeting? No way! Entertainment? Heck, the Internet is entertainment enough already, so who needs charades and sing-alongs? You don't even have to worry about us pulling out our family photo albums and boring you for hours with our girls' baby pictures. It's a totally stress-free party. I don't even have to worry about kicking you out before midnight--I'll simply "switch off" and let you wander the worldwide web by yourselves...

Stop and think here a minute about how fortunate we are even to be considering throwing a party, cyber or otherwise. Think about how many individuals are eating a warmed-over turkey dinner courtesy of their local Salvation Army or other non-profit organization. We worry about getting our holiday shopping done--others worry about having a roof over their heads come winter. We worry over whether or not to buy a bigger, faster hard drive for our computer--others worry whether or not they should eat or pay on their mounting medical bills. We citizens of cyberspace have a great deal to be thankful for.

Let's be honest: As Americans, the idea of giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessings He has bestowed upon us this past year is usually the last thing on our "to-do list." Whenever we hear the phrase "Happy Thanksgiving" we drool thinking about the succulent turkey and spicy dressing we're about to consume. We crave the sheer joy of being able to sleep in on a weekday. We make big plans to head out to the mall to walk off those extra pounds we gained in our gluttony and start our Christmas shopping in earnest. Prayer and thankfulness are the furthermost things from our minds the last weekend in November.

The modern manifestation of the holiday really wasn't what George Washington had in mind when he declared the first official Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1789. Neither was it for the Pilgrims. William Bradford and the survivors of the Plymouth Colony were just plain grateful to be standing after a harsh first year which killed half of them off. I doubt there were any slugs snoozing late at that original Thanksgiving celebration. Our ancestors may have not known what a "Butterball" was in the 17th or 18th century, but one thing they did know: They knew whom to thank for the blessings of liberty, home and family.

Don't let the glitter and gloss of the Brave New CyberWorld and the new millennium blind you to whom your prayers should be directed to on this national day of giving thanks. God isn't "virtual reality"--He's the real thing. And you don't need a modem to "chat" with Him, either.

Drive-by Feeding...

2007-09-01T11:41:00.000-05:00

You'd think it was the worst thing in the world--dishing out a hot meal for a homeless person living on the streets of downtown Saint Louis. But now that the downtown area is becoming "revitalized" with condo loft apartments, some listed at almost a half million dollars, it seems that the homeless aren't welcomed anymore. And neither are the ministries and groups that occasionally provide them with food, hygeine supplies and clothes.

The cops were out last Wednesday night when "Extreme Ministry" (sponsored by Faith Lutheran Church in the suburb of Oakville) did their usual bi-weekly rounds of the abandoned warehouses and downtown public areas. We had to make sure we were done by 10 PM, as they can slap fines on us for violating the curfew. The homeless were a bit scarce that evening, too, afraid to come out and accept a meal, as they'd already suffered from of their "new neighbors'" paranoia.

My friend Linda summed up her activities well:

I must apologize to all of my good friends and family for my illicit behavior. I do not apologize to God. I have officially been called a 'drive by feeder' by the St. Louis city police. Last night while providing food to a group of homeless people a police officer stopped his car and approached our group. He asked how long we intended to be there. He very definitely let us know that "drive by feeding" is being discouraged. We asked whether it is illegal. He had to say No, but that we would be watched. If we were still there after 10 PM we would be arrested for not obeying curfew laws. He followed us to all 4 of the locations we visited. It made the homeless nervous. We only fed 80, half of our normal numbers. Those that did partake advised us that the police patrols have been very heavy and harassing. Over half of the churches that provide this service have not shown up this week. The homeless are making themselves scarce for the time being. They are there and hungry. Just afraid and out of sight. By the way - we passed out our last plate of food at 9:50.

My next T-shirt will read:

Convict Me,

I'm a Drive By Feeder

Yeah, make me up a T-shirt like that as well--if you're going to be thrown in jail for Christian charity, you may as well dress the part...

UPDATE: Extreme Ministry has been given permission by the police to feed the homeless on the streets. We have demonstrated that we are an orderly operation, so we have their blessing (for now).

The Dog, the Cross, and the Grave

2007-04-03T12:25:00.000-05:00

In honor of the seventh anniversary of my dad being in heaven, I resurrected this essay on what Easter is really all about.

Have you walked on any graves lately?I've been in a funk lately. In all honesty it's been a rather tough year for me on a personal level. One moment it's New Years Eve and the next it's Easter, the start of spring. Somewhere along the way I celebrated yet another birthday and another wedding anniversary. Somewhere along the way I sold another book and picked up some writing assignments which keep me busy from dawn to dusk. Somewhere along the way I think I lost sight of what is mankind's true reason for being here in the first place. And so I've been doing some reevaluating.

Today I'd thought I'd share my take on the "Big Question" or the "Ultimate Question" with you. You know which one I'm talking about--the one satirist Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame wrote extensively about in his book, Life, The Universe and Everything. The ultimate question the deserves an ultimate answer. It being such a large one, where can I begin but with something familiar to me and work my way out. . .

As every good novelist knows (please, no comments here from my editors and critiquers) you have to intuitively know how your story is going to turn out before you begin it. Sure most people enjoy "character driven" stories--I know I do-- but the writer must have some idea where the characters are heading to before she or he sets them off on their fictional journey towards it. The romance genre is a perfect example. Somewhere along the line, in spite of all misunderstandings or terrible interventions by other usually well-meaning characters, the hero and the heroine have to discover their true love for each other.

Despite what people unfamiliar with the genre think, this doesn't necessarily mean the hero and heroine will end up walking down the aisle together, living together, or even sharing a kiss. All the romance reader wants to know at story's end is whether or not these two people have come to terms with what is in their hearts. Therefore, the romance novel is not so much a "formula story" peopled with cookie-cutter characters and predictable plotting, but a window on an evolving relationship between two individuals. It's the process the protagonists must endure--and not the outcome of it--which is in doubt, and romance fans have come to find great satisfaction in the endless variations on that theme of relationship building.

What's all this nonsense about novel writing have to do with the search for the answer to the "ultimate question to life, the universe and everything?" Well, let me tell you in one word--everything. In order for us to know how to live each day of our short existence on this planet it is essential we know where we are going. In other words, we need to focus on the outcome of our journey, and we need to work on our relationship with the One who ultimately will lead us there.

To clarify further, I'm not talking about going down to the corner store to pick up some hamburger buns for dinner. I'm talking about where we're all going to wind up sooner or later. To be succinct, allow me to quote a line from a popular science fiction movie, spoken by a famous alien from the planet Vulcan: "How we face death is how we face life." Our life's journey ends in the grave, pure and simple.

There's no way around it, so we all must come to grip with this fact. It's the how we deal with this distressing bit of information which separates the women from the girls, the men from the boys, and the humans from the aliens. This is where the relationship bit comes into play.Allow me to digress a moment and tell you a story in order to make my point.

My sister Cathy e-mailed me a digital photo of our father's new headstone. It was put in place a little over a month after the funeral, and she was kind enough to travel back up to Kentucky in order to snap a picture of it. It's very nice as headstones go, and Cathy joked, "I had to stand on top of Daddy in order to take a decent shot. I felt funny doing that. It reminded me of all the 'graveyard etiquette' we learned." I knew exactly what she meant.

When we were young, we used to walk around a cemetery directly behind our grandparents' home near Greer, South Carolina. Both of them now rest in that particular cemetery, but that isn't why that field comes to mind. I remember how our grandmother told us not to "go running on top of people" in the big green field whenever we went on a walk with her. We learned it was the epitome of ill-breeding to dance across someone's grave, and so we politely refrained from doing so.

It makes sense--we certainly shouldn't distress the loved ones of the deceased by chewing up the grass with our heels and possibly kicking over their lovingly placed flower arrangements. By showing respect for the dead, we are showing respect towards the living, loving our neighbors as ourselves as the Golden Rule tells us to do. However,--and this is a big 'however'--this is the only reason people should refrain from trampling on graves.

Let's be honest--the folks six feet under aren't going to care much one way or the other. In fact, I believe a good portion of them aren't really there anyway. Huh? What I'm saying is that, yes, you could dig up their bones and retrieve bits of clothing and keepsakes from their corpses, but they aren't really there anymore.

My father wasn't really there under Cathy's feet while she snapped the photo of his gravestone--his journey's end on earth has springboarded him into a new adventure, an exciting adventure which has no end.You see, despite all my dad's faults he never stopped believing for a second that when his earthly trip was over he wasn't going to meet up with his Lord and Savior and begin a new journey through eternity with Him. This is where "journey" and "relationship" meet.

Just as Jesus rose from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion and death, all who come to faith in Him--begin a relationship with Jesus--believe that after this brief period of time called life we will do likewise. Our bones rest in the earth for now, but our spirits keep on traveling until they come to our ultimate destination, being one with God. Our trip isn't over just because we're placed in a coffin--it's just begun.

Whenever I'm feeling down, I stop and make myself contemplate where my journey will ultimately end. I think of Jesus, our loving "shepherd," who will guide us "sheep" on this next step of our existence, and that thought snaps me out of any self-made misery. My daily journey doesn't seem so overwhelming and tiresome whenever I think of the "Big Picture" and visualize our "Big Guide" waiting there at Heaven's gate for us.

It's the ultimate romance story, I think--the relationship I have with Jesus here today will be celebrated tomorrow with all believers in Heaven. It should be quite a party. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Dad and lots of other dear friends and relatives. We'll have to lots to talk and joke about--particularly when I tell Dad about how I spotted a stray dog running up to his grave right after the ceremony when we were driving off and did, well, you know, a doggy thing on top of it. . .

Obviously that dog had never been taught any graveyard etiquette! But before you get too upset about it, just stop and think: Maybe this little incident demonstrates a very important truth... One of God's simpler creatures, the dog, demonstrates a faith stronger than we humans possess.

The dog instinctively knew Dad wasn't there.

The Screwtape Letters comes to the Big Screen

2007-03-23T16:20:00.000-05:00

This is encouraging news--C.S. Lewis's classic tale of a "minor demon" attempting to pull a young Christian off the straight-and-narrow, The Screwtape Letters, is coming to the big screen next year... Thanks to Walden Media once again (the company that produced the lavish Chronicles of Narnia story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.)

And of course, this news comes right after the critically acclaimed film about abolitionist William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, opened in theaters.

Let's continue to encourage filmmakers to produce movies on Christian and family-friendly topics and stories. Attend these films with your loved ones and let the box office give Hollyweird a big hint.

The Lost Tomb of Christ?

2007-02-26T15:31:00.000-06:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070226/ap_on_sc/
jesus_s_burial;_ylt=AiaqqkVronuLyXqI29hQQGpbbBAF

Coming to the Discovery Channel, The Lost Tomb of Christ, a documentary by Oscar-winner James Cameron that proposes bone boxes found in 1980 contain the remains of Jesus of Nazareth. The film's claims have been universally panned by academicians and theologians alike.

Any bet that this thing is blown up in the press as big as The Da Vinci Code was this past year?

What is it with some folks? Why do they try to "destroy" the Gospel. What are they afraid of? That God would send a Savior to the world to save sinful man from hell because man is too weak to save himself?

Or do they just follow the bucks and think since The Da Vinci Code flopped this documentary is sure to be a success?

Some news on this "new find" comes from respected historian Dr. Paul Maier:

Paul L. Maier, Ph.D., Litt.D
Department of HistoryWestern Michigan
University
Kalamazoo, MI
February 25, 2007

Dear
Friends and Readers,

Thanks for the profusion of e-mails I've received over the last two days regarding the Talpiot tombs discovery in Jerusalem, a.k.a., "the Jesus Family Tomb" story. Some of you also suggested that "life seemed to be following art" so far as my A Skeleton in God's Closet was concerned. Believe me, this is not the way I wanted my novel to hit the visual media!
Alas, this whole affair is just the latest in the long-running media attack on the historical Jesus, which I call "More Junk on Jesus." We all thought it had culminated in that book of falsehoods, The Da Vinci Code. But no: the
caricatures of Christ continue. Please, lose no sleep over the Talpiot
"discoveries" for the following reasons, and here are the facts:
1) Nothing is new here: scholars have known about the ossuaries ever since March of 1980, so this is old news recycled. The general public learned when the BBC filmed a documentary on them in 1996, and the "findings" tanked again.. James Tabor's book, The Jesus Dynasty, also made a big fuss over the Talpiot tombs more recently, and now James Cameron (The Titanic) and Simcha Jacobovici have climbed aboard the sensationalist bandwagon as well. Another book comes out today, equally as worthless as the previous.
2) All the names - Yeshua (Joshua, Jesus), Joseph, Maria, Mariamene, Matia, Judah, and Jose -- are extremely common Jewish names for that time and place, and thus nearly all scholars consider that these names are merely coincidental, as they did from the start. Some scholars dispute that "Yeshua" is even one of the names. One out of four Jewish women at
that time, for example, were named Maria. There are 21 Yeshuas cited by
Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, who were important enough to be recorded by him, with many thousands of others that never made history. The wondrous mathematical odds hyped by Jacobovici that these names must refer to Jesus and his family are simply playing by numbers and lying by statistics.
3) There is no reason whatever to equate "Mary Magdalene" with
"Mariamene," as Jacobovici claims. And so what if her DNA is different from that of "Yeshua" ? That particular "Mariamme" (as it is usually spelled today) could indeed have been the wife of that particular "Yeshua," who was certainly not Jesus.

4) Why in the world would the "Jesus Family" have a burial site in
Jerusalem, of all places, the very city that crucified Jesus? Galilee was their
home. In Galilee they could have had such a family plot, not Judea. Besides all of which, church tradition and the earliest Christian historian, Eusebius of Caesarea, are unanimous in reporting that Mary, the mother of Jesus, died in Ephesus, where the apostle John, faithful to his commission from Jesus on the cross, had accompanied her.
5) The "Jesus Family" simply could not have afforded the large crypt uncovered at Talpiot, which housed, or could have housed, 200 ossuaries.
6) If this were Jesus' family burial site, what is Matthew doing there - if indeed "Matia" is thus to be translated?
7) How come there is no tradition whatever - Christian, Jewish, or secular -- that any part of the Holy Family was buried at Jerusalem?
8) Please note the extreme bias of the director and narrator, Simcha Jacobovici. The man is an Indiana-Jones-wannabe who oversensationalizes anything he touches. You may have caught him on his TV special regarding The Exodus, in which the man "explained" just about everything that still needed proving or explaining in the Exodus account in the Old Testament! It finally became ludicrous, and now he's doing it again, though in reverse: this time attacking the Scriptural record. - As for James Cameron, how do you follow the success of The Titanic? Well, with an even more "titanic" story. He should have known better, and the television footage of the two making their drastic statements on Monday, February 26 was disgusting, and their subsequent claim that they respected Jesus nauseating.
9) Even Israeli authorities, who - were they anti-Christian - might have used this "discovery" to discredit Christianity, did not do so. Quite
the opposite. Joe Zias, for example, for years the director of the Rockefeller
Museum in Jerusalem, holds Jacobovici's claims up for scorn and his documentary as "nonsense." Those involved in the project "have no credibility whatever," he added. - Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the conclusions in question fail to hold up by archaeological standards "but make for profitable television." -- William Dever, one of America's most prominent archaeologists, said, "This would be amusing if it didn't mislead so many people."
10) Finally, and most importantly, there is no external literary or
historical evidence whatever that Jesus' family was interred together in a
common burial place anywhere, let alone Jerusalem. The evidence, in fact,
totally controverts all this in the case of Jesus: all four Gospels, the letters
of St. Paul, and the common testimony of the early church state that Jesus rose from the dead, and did not leave his bones behind in any ossuary, as the current sensationalists claim.

Bottom line: this is merely naked hype, baseless sensationalism, and nothing less than a media fraud, "more junk on Jesus."

With warm regards,
Paul L. Maier

Polygamy and Islam

2006-12-07T12:38:00.000-06:00

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-12-07T161451Z_01_JAK17807_RTRUKOC_0_US-INDONESIA-POLYGAMY.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

Yet another reason why God never intended for Adam and Eve to be Adam and Eve and Jill and Betty and Suzy and Debbie...

I think Jesus says it pretty clearly in Matthew--God didn't intend for divorce or polygamous relationships. Our poor relationships in this life reflect the poor relationship we have with our Creator.

When we try to do it "our way" it almost always winds up a shambles. Perhaps this outcry against polygamy will be the undoing of Fundamentalist Islam?

You can't have Christmas without Christ...

2006-11-28T15:10:00.000-06:00

The latest incident in a long series over the years that proves the ridiculousness of celebrating Christmas without Christ:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061128/ap_on_re_us/christmas_movie_snub

All I want to know is, what would you think a crafts market called "Christkindl Market" would be about? The city of Chicago definitely has some problems.

Most Believe in God--But not in Forgiveness

2006-09-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

Is it surprising? Most Americans believe in God according to this survey:

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/091506survey.aspx

But why do so many think God is "authoratarian" but not "forgiving"? Obviously there are more out there who believe in the God of the Old Testament who sets down Law, yet do not believe God's promise of sending a Messiah (Jesus) to free us from the heavy burden of keeping the Law perfectly (Gospel--New Testament).

We can't have one without the other... Without the Gospel, all you have is an authoratarian God you fear about crossing the wrong way. That's essentially Islamic philosophy for you. You'd better watch your step or do something really spectacular (crash a plane into a building and take out lots of "infidels") or else you don't have certainty that you'll get into heaven.

But without the Law, you find yourself mixed up in all kinds of things that aren't good for you--stealing, lying, cheating, killing. God forgives, but He loves us too much to simply "walk away from His Creation" (which a good percentage of Americans believe he did) and leave us to rot in our own sorry sinful condition.

God loves us enough to give us the Law for guidance, and He loves us enough to give the Gospel of Jesus declaring His forgiveness when we can't quite keep the Law as we should. It's a win-win situation all around!

The Pope can't quote others on the topic of Islam?

2006-09-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

Muslims express fury over Pope's remarks:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/pope_muslims

Freedom of speech is obviously not a guarantee in the Muslim world. Pope Benedict simply quoted a Byzantine emperor who held a discussion with a Persian scholar during the 14th century over the differences between Christianity and Islam.

The quote essentially says that Islam spread primarily through the use of the sword more than anything else. And who can really argue with that? Show me that the same isn't true today--in predominately Muslim countries if you convert to Christianity (or any other religion or no religion at all) you are threatened with severe ostracism and even death. Why should 21st century Muslims get all bent over shape that these same actions were observed in the 14th century as well?

Perhaps Pope Benedict should have erred on the side of caution and simply said, "By their fruit ye shall know them..."

Stem Cell Research doesn't have to Destroy Embryos

2006-08-23T20:05:00.000-05:00

http://health.msn.com/healthnews/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100143549>1=8404

I've heard about this line of research before... Between this method of harvesting only one cell from the frozen embryo without harming it and the stem cells scientists can harvest from umbilical cords and placentas, why have so many pushed to destroy IVF embryos in order to harvest stem cells?

It just doesn't make sense. Stem cells can be obtained from other sources, yet the current political culture seems convinced that it's not possible. Those who are "pro-stem cell research" try to paint those who are not as being "unreasonable" because they wish to preserve an unborn child in the embryonic stage.

But here you go--genetically viable stem cells can be obtained without destroying the frozen child. Who's being unreasonable now?

It does make one wonder whether these "pro-stem cell research" politicians aren't just your run-of-the-mill abortion rights activists in sheep's clothing. You can almost hear their thought processes:

Hey, if we can kill a baby that's eighth months old in his/her mother's womb, why don't we slaughter thousands of frozen kids in a laboratory?

It's a puzzle to me. We'll see which politicians applaud this newly released research and which ones will continue to sing the same ol' tune... that babies must die in order to raise the quality of life for those rich enough to afford stem cell research treatments.

A Chocolate Virgin Mary?

2006-08-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

Workers discover chocolate Virgin Mary

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14400252/?GT1=8404

Would a lump of chocolate in the shape of Mary strengthen your faith? What does this say about the "shape" of the church today when people find comfort in confection over the cross?

A witness to the faith

2006-08-07T16:40:00.000-05:00

Be sure to read this excellent article about Billy Graham. Truly he is a strong witness to the faith Christians profess in Christ.

"Pilgrim's Progress"
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14204483/from/ET/

When will the bombing stop?

2006-07-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16954495&BRD=2185&PAG=

When a news story is about a family member of a writing friend, it really hits home. Bombs falling on Lebanon--again.

Twenty years since its civil war and some semblance of tourism and prosperity had returned to Lebanon and now this happens. Innocents are hurt and scared because a bunch of terrorists have taken up camp in parts of the countryside.

My question is why do people tolerate these thugs? In the end, terrorist groups only bring death and destruction to all who have contact with them. Even if you agree with their political objectives, do you want to be associated with their campaign of senseless bloodshed?

Only one person's blood needed to be shed for the forgiveness of all. If only more people in the Middle East would call upon His name and confess their sins of aggression against their neighbors and ask and accept forgiveness. Only then will they be able to live in peace with each other.

But without Jesus on either side? There's no "winner" in sight for this centuries old conflict. The bombs will continue to fall.

When the Holy Spirit Says Act—Act!

2006-05-11T12:26:00.000-05:00

I was recently asked if I would be willing to serve on a church “action team” to help chart our church’s path for the future. After mulling it over a while, I decided it wasn’t for me.

Is it because I’ve never served on a church board or committee before? No, it isn’t. I’ve served on several and have even held an office.

Is it because I have something against accepting a “paper pusher” type of position? The answer to that is an unequivocal “yes”.

Is it because I’m not an “office-type” with no experience in paper pushing? No, unfortunately I have worked in an office or two in my time. Actually I worked in the epitome of paper pushing quagmires, a state government agency which handled federal funds and human services programs. If you have ever wanted to know what it’s like to drown in paperwork and constantly wonder what, if anything, you have accomplished to help your fellow man during the course of a stressful day, then may I suggest you obtain a government job in the human services field? You won’t be disappointed.

But the main reason I’m not all that excited about jumping onto another church board, committee or “action team” (the latest term that means pretty much the same thing) is that I don’t feel the Holy Spirit is telling me to park my hips in a chair at church for several times a month discussing for hours what “actions” the congregation should take.

Am I against our church growing and planning and taking action? No, not at all. But I’ve got this gut feeling that when the Holy Spirit says “Act,” he means “Act!” The Holy Spirit doesn’t mean we have to sit down and write up long, detailed business plans with timelines and quantifiable outcomes. Call me insane, but I don’t believe God wrote out an “action plan” when he created the world. He skipped the paperwork, took action and created it. And it was good.

Here’s a true story to further explain my viewpoint on this subject:

I sat for several years on a church board/committee where we discussed how our small but growing church needed a new sign proclaiming to the community that we were here and that we wanted to share the Good News. The reason we were considering a new sign was that over the years the state highway going through our small town had expanded. Our church’s back parking lot now faced this very busy road. People could access our church via the back parking lot instead of driving around the block to an off street to enter it from the front. The amount of traffic that daily passed by our back parking lot on this active thoroughfare was enormous... What a great way to witness to these folks!

But the back of our church didn’t look much like a “church”. The backside contained no stained glass windows or a steeple. It simply was a flat brick wall—perfect for a lighted cross or other sign announcing that this parking lot and building was a church and that we welcomed visitors.

So I sat down with my fellow church board members and discussed and researched and telephoned and wrote up “action plans” about how great it would be to have a new sign… We discussed its cost, where the money would come from, how much electricity would be needed to light it, etcetera. We received estimates from local sign makers and discussed what if any city regulations we might need to clear before erecting the sign on our property. We put this issue before the elders, the church council and the voters assembly and got their approval. We wrote up new detailed “action plans” when the old ones had become outdated since we hadn’t taken any action yet. We did all these things for a period of two to three years.

Then my husband got transferred and we moved out of state. Sadly enough, the sign had yet to appear on the backside of the church.

About two years later, I returned for a short visit to our former hometown. To my happy surprise a beautifully lighted cross and sign with our church’s name graced the brick wall in the back parking lot.

“Wonderful,” I said to my former church board members. “How long has the sign been there?”

“Richard put it up just this past year,” I was told.

“Richard?” I knew who they were talking about, but I was confused. Richard had not been on our committee to put up a sign. Richard didn’t “do committees” really, but he was a very active church member. I asked him about how he came to put up the sign.

“It’s like this,” he said. “I was driving down Gregg Street (the highway) one day and realized just how many people pass by the back of our church—and they don’t even know it is a church. They don’t know how much we’d like for them to stop by and visit with us. I felt that the Holy Spirit wanted us to put up a sign in the back parking lot along the brick wall.”

“I went to a friend who makes signs for a living and asked how much it would cost and how long it would take him to make one for us. He gave me a discount and finished it within a week. I paid for it out of my pocket—the least I could do—and got my son and some other members to help me erect it.”

He smiled and continued, “And you want to know the best thing about our new sign is? We’ve had quite a few visitors tell us that they never knew this building was a church. They never knew our church family existed until they saw our new sign. A few of them are our newest members, too. Isn’t it wonderful reaching out to the community this way? Why on earth didn’t we put a sign up earlier?”

Why indeed.

What I learned from this incident is when the Holy Spirit says “Act,” he means “Act!”

For me it means I don’t sit and discuss things until I’m blue in the face. I simply get to down to work. When the ESL ministry needs tutors to help new Americans learn English, I don’t sit down and construct an “action plan”—I show up on Thursday nights and help tutor new Americans. When “Rebuilding St. Louis” needs volunteers to help fix up elderly and disabled individual’s homes, I don’t write up a report on the value of being a good neighbor—I show up with my paint brush in hand. When a sister church needs people to help with their outreach ministry to inner city children, I don’t sit down and write long essays about what a great thing it is to reach out to those less fortunate and share the love of Jesus with them—I show up at their street Vacation Bible School events and help share the love of Jesus with the children who gather there.

Because when the Holy Spirit says “Act,” he means “Act!” I’m more than willing to let those who demonstrate the gift of paper pushing handle the write ups for me. I’ll be too busy out in the field helping to spread the Good News.

United 93: A Film that Defines Our Generation

2006-04-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

I just got back from a sneak preview of the film “United 93”. It opens in the US this Friday, April 28.

You need to see this film. Take your family members, friends and co-workers to see it with you. Take your high school age and older children to see it with you. Take your neighbors along if they can’t get a ride to the movie theatre. Just go and see it.

There are very few films that I would say define a generation. This one is it. If you only see one film this year, see “United 93”. If you attend only one film per decade, attend “United 93”. You won’t be sorry.

I don’t know when the film opens overseas, but as soon as it hits your shores go and see it. You don’t have to understand “American” to understand it. In fact, you don’t have understand any of the dialogue to read the surprise, shock, fear, horror and awe on the faces of the actors-and some of the actual people who manned the air traffic control centers on that fateful day. If they gave an Academy Award for ensemble casts, this one would win big time.

This is a movie that everyone will be discussing around the water cooler. Forget “The DaVinci Code”. It’s Mickey Mouse stuff. If you read the book, who needs to see the movie? “United 93” ranks miles above such a silly thriller. "United 93" is based on a real-life drama. It will provoke real-life and real, meaningful discussions. Perhaps positive, life-altering discussions.

I won’t get into it here. You have to see the film--then we can talk about it. Yeah, people will definitely be discussing “United 93” for a long time after they’ve forgotten the brouhaha over Dan Brown’s infantile piece.

And skip the popcorn. You’ll be riveted to your seat. It’ll be cold and you won’t want to eat it by the time you leave the theatre anyway.

Christians Can Persecute Christians, Too

2006-04-12T11:21:00.000-05:00

A Serbian Orthodox priest jailed for practicing his faith:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/opriest;_ylt=AqeDNvylr.
W6Grr0_fCEzwNbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-

It's stories like these that give all Christians a bad name. The bad blood between the Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches is nothing more than nationalism thinly disguised as religion. Macedonians simply do not have it in their hearts in the 21st Century to forgive Serbians for past persecutions.

Let's pray these two churches can come together in the Spirit of Christ and forgive their ancient hurts. Let's pray that all denominations can agree that the most important thing is to share the Good News, not to address old political and culturual scores. Let's pray that 1 John is taken to heart: "God is love." That leaves no room for hatred of our fellow man--including fellow Christians.

P.S. My Easter blog is posted at my Every Day *Is* Mother's Day blog site: http://momsday.blogspot.com or http://www.cynthianna.com/momsday_index.html

A Blessed Easter to you and yours. He has risen! :)

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it."

2006-03-28T11:51:00.000-06:00

From the Associated Press:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060328/ap_on_re_as/afghan_christian_convert

Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press.

"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was taken."

Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had issued a letter calling for Rahman's release because "he was mentally unfit to stand trial." He also said he did not know where Rahman had gone after being released.

He said Rahman may be sent overseas for medical treatment.

On Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting "Death to Christians!" marched through the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to protest the court decision Sunday to dismiss the case. Several Muslim clerics threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion."

Rahman was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible during a custody dispute over his two daughters. He was put on trial last week for converting 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He faced the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws.

I don't know. I used to be open-minded when it came to Islam being described as a "religion of peace". But then you hear its leaders crying:

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it."

Islam demands those who don't agree with its basic beliefs to be killed? I'm really confused. If these Afghani clerics are mistaken in what Islam really stands for, why doesn't anyone else in a position of leadership in the Islamic tradition step up and quickly correct these bloodthirsty clerics or simply tell them to hush up?

I'm afraid the real reason no one ever steps up to deny these claims is because these outraged Afghani clerics are speaking the truth about Islam... That it does demand death for anyone who doesn't stay within its folds.

Many modern day Muslims bring up the past by saying the Christian Crusaders were just as bloodthirsty. Probably. But most in the church didn't agree with the Crusaders' tactics of "convert or die" and Christianity has moved on from those disgraceful practices.

After all, Jesus said, "Love your enemy--do good to those who persecute you." Christians have asked for forgiveness from those they've wronged and from God. And they have moved on, confident that they have received it because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

If Islam is such a "peaceful" religion, then why hasn't it moved on from utilizing these medieval or "Dark Ages" tactics? It seems to be a religion that is evolving backward...becoming darker rather than enlightened. It's transforming out of a "peaceful" religion into a violent, hate-filled, xenophobic religion.

So why doesn't anyone in the Islamic world point out this paradox and stop this madness? Could it be because, deep down, this is reality of the Koran? Kill all non-believers, scare your own believers into toeing the line or else...

The more these clerics yell for an innocent's man blood, the more I'm reminded of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Abdul Rahman has been freed, but let's continue to pray for his safety. Let's continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Christ in that turbulent area of the world in our prayers.

Ready to die--freed on a technicality

2006-03-26T18:34:00.000-06:00

Abdul is free--for now. But for how long? And will his fellow countrymen kill him for leaving Islam?

From the latest news on Abdul Rahman:

In an interview published Sunday by an Italian newspaper, Rahman said his family, including his former wife and two teenage daughters, reported him to authorities.

He stressed that he was fully aware of his choice to convert.

"If I must die, I will die," Rahman told the Rome daily La Repubblica, which did not interview him directly but channeled questions through a human rights worker who visited him in prison.

Rahman said he chose to become a Christian "in small steps" after leaving Afghanistan around 1990. He moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, then Germany and tried to get a visa in Belgium.

"In Peshawar, I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics," Rahman said. "I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind."

After saying he was ready to die, he told La Repubblica: "Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," in a clear reference to Jesus Christ.

___

Associated Press correspondent Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.

How many Americans Christians would be strong enough to say the same thing? God bless and keep Abdul safe. His battle to believe as his conscience tells him is far from over.

Facing the Lions in Afghanistan...

2006-03-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

From WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49345

Man faces death penalty for becoming Christian
Despite ouster of Taliban by U.S., court still prosecutes ex-Muslim

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Despite the fact the hardline Taliban regime is no longer in power, an Afghan man faces possible execution for allegedly abandoning his Islamic roots and becoming a Christian.

"Yes that's true, a man has converted to Christianity. He's being tried in one of our courts," Supreme Court judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada told the Middle East Times.

The case centers on Abdul Rahman, believed to be 41, who converted from Islam to Christianity some 16 years ago. His relatives reportedly notified authorities about the conversion.

The constitution in Afghanistan is based on Shariah law, which states any Muslim who rejects his or her religion should be sentenced to death.

"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge told the Associated Press. "It is an attack on Islam. ... The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty."

If he indeed is sentenced, Rahman would be the first person punished for leaving Islam since the Taliban was ousted by American-led forces in late 2001, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S.

Prosecutor Abdul Wasi says he offered to drop the charges if Rahman made the switch back to Islam, but the defendant is maintaining his Christian beliefs. The judge is expected to rule within two months.

You hate to admit it but the death penalty is one very effective means of preventing your population from switching religions.

This story is yet another illustration how "Allah" is not the God of the Bible, no matter what the universalists believe. The apostle John tells us "God is love," and "We love because God first loved us." How can Allah be God if he decrees death sentences on those who refuse to worship him?

But isn't it awe-inspiring to know that Abdul Rahman is willing to die for his belief in Christ as the Son of the one and only true living God? Pray that Abdul will receive justice and be set free. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who face death and other punishments for their belief. Pray that they will remain firm in their faith in a loving God who cares enough about sinful mankind that he sent his son Jesus into the world for the forgiveness of our sins.

Pray that more people's eyes will be opened to the true horrors that non-belief in Christ wreaks upon the world...

The Guilt of the Already Born?

2006-02-21T12:09:00.000-06:00

Anne Lamott, essayist and novelist, speaks out on the LA Times opinion page in a piece called “The Rights of the Born”. Read her thoughts here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lamott10feb10,0,6836804.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

To quote Ms. Lamott:

"Most women like me would much rather use our time and energy fighting to make the world safe and just and fair for the children we do have, and do love — and for the children of New Orleans and the children of Darfur. I am old and tired and menopausal and would mostly like to be left alone: I have had my abortions, and I have had a child.

"But as a Christian and a feminist, the most important message I can carry and fight for is the sacredness of each human life, and reproductive rights for all women is a crucial part of that: It is a moral necessity that we not be forced to bring children into the world for whom we cannot be responsible and adoring and present. We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society."

I can see now why Anne Lamott felt like she gave a “spewy” emotional answer to the panel question of how a caring society can allow so many abortions to occur each and every day… Her own words convict her:

“We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society.”

Anne—are you saying you resent your own mother bringing you into the world? Was society “inflicted” with you? (Did not want you?) Or are you saying that your life possesses more "sacredness" than other human beings' lives because your tiny body didn’t wind up in a waste can?

So, what I really want to know is who makes the judgment that one child is “inflicted” and another child isn’t "inflicted on society"? The pregnant woman? The child's father? A politician in Washington?

Do any of these individuals really understand what it means to be inflicted on society? Who has the wisdom to determine a child's "wantedness"?

What does a woman who has experienced several abortions tell her living child each and every night at bedtime? Does she tell her living child that she did not “adore” his/her siblings enough so they had to be aborted instead of carried to term and given to adoptive parents who could "adore" and care for them instead?

And what does a child--when he/she comes to realize that by sheer happenstance he/she is still breathing--really believe about a mother who callously ends her other children’s existence? Will this child grow up fearful, concerned that if he/she does something bad Mommy will terminate him/her just as easily?

Who says one day we can’t legalize abortions up to the 200 months after conception? Let's get rid of all those whiny pre-teens and teenagers who “inflict” themselves upon our society. I resent their awful loud music and their tacky dyed hair and tatoos. I don't see why we couldn't abort "unwanted" teens.

Have I lost my mind completely? I'm saying I want to kill teenagers... Hey, if their little bodies once resided inside of mine they belong to me. It's for me to decide their "wantedness", right?

I understand now why so many people are fleeing from liberal political parties and organizations. They say they are fighting for world peace and the end of the death penalty around the world—good. But at the same time, these groups don’t grasp that cutting a defenseless baby out of a mother’s womb is also an act of killing.

Let's skip the euphemisms here and call abortion what it is: The death penalty for the unwanted--without benefit of a trial.

An individual kills dozens of innocent bystanders in a terrorist bombing—that person shouldn’t receive the death penalty for his crimes you say. Fine. A woman routinely ends the lives of fetuses she didn’t plan for in the first place—that woman shouldn’t get the death penalty, either. Okay, I see your logic. But, still, in both cases unique human beings our Creator deemed fit to bring into this realm of existence have died at the hands of others.

I remember reading something against taking such actions in the Bible somewhere… Oh yeah. “Thou shalt not kill,” and "Thou shalt not bear false witness." (Hey, a fetus is innocent until proven guilty of being an unwanted, infliction upon society, right?)

A moral, caring individual should feel remorse over sanctioning millions upon millions of abortions. She should give a “spewy” emotional answer to a hot question on a liberal panel. Anne, let me spell it out to you in easy to understand terms that even a novelist can comprehend: What you’re feeling is called “guilt”.

Thank God Almighty that He sent our Savior Jesus into the world. Jesus came to grant forgiveness of even our most deepest and darkest guilty feelings. We can cut the “spewy” answers and confess our grief and guilt to him and receive forgiveness.

And then we can share the Good News with others that God never “inflicts” human beings upon society. God has a special purpose for each and everyone of us. And it doesn’t go against any political agenda to want to support the rights of precious, unborn human beings.

Bring on the Lions: Will an Italian judge have to rule on the existence of Christ?

2006-01-27T10:19:00.000-06:00

From Yahoo News:

The Associated Press

VITERBO, Italy - An Italian judge heard arguments Friday on whether a small-town parish priest should stand trial for asserting that Jesus Christ existed.

The priest's atheist accuser, Luigi Cascioli, says the Roman Catholic Church has been deceiving people for 2,000 years with a fable that Christ existed, and that the Rev. Enrico Righi violated two Italian laws by reasserting the claim.

Lawyers for Righi and Cascioli, old schoolmates, made their arguments in a brief, closed-door hearing before Judge Gaetano Mautone in Viterbo, north of Rome. They said they expected the judge to decide quickly.

Cascioli filed a criminal complaint in 2002 after Righi wrote in a parish bulletin that Jesus did indeed exist, and that he was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth.

Cascioli claims that Righi's assertion constituted two crimes under Italian law: so-called "abuse of popular belief," in which someone fraudulently deceives people; and "impersonation," in which someone gains by attributing a false name to a person.

"The point is not to establish whether Jesus existed or not, but if there is a question of possible fraud," Cascioli's attorney, Mauro Fonzo, told reporters before the hearing.

Cascioli says the church has been gaining financially by "impersonating" as Christ someone by the name of John of Gamala, the son of Judas from Gamala.

He has said he has little hope of the case succeeding in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Italy, but that he is merely going through the necessary legal steps to reach the European Court of Human Rights, where he intends to accuse the church of what he calls "religious racism."

Righi, 76, has stressed substantial historical evidence — both Christian and non-Christian — of Jesus' existence.

"Don Righi is innocent because he said and wrote what he has the duty to say and write," Righi's attorney, Severo Bruno, told reporters.

He said he told Mautone during the hearing that Righi was not asserting a historical fact when he wrote of Jesus' existence, but rather "an expression of theological principles."

"When Don Righi spoke about Christ's humanity ... he was affirming that he needs to be considered as a man. What his name is, where he comes from or who his parents are is secondary," he said.

Fonza said he countered that there have long been questions of Christ's existence and that the matter warranted discussion in the court.

"When somebody states a wrong fact, abusing the ignorance of people, and gains from that, that is one of the gravest crimes," Cascioli told reporters.

Righi's brother, Luigi Righi, attended the hearing and said his brother was "serene but bitter."

**************************************************************

Doesn't this case sound like something out of the Twilight Zone? Unfortunately, it's for real... The EU Human Rights Commission will probably knock out 2000 years of Christianity in one fell swoop by declaring it to be "religious racism."

It's a sad world we live in. Christians can't afford to stay put in their "comfort zones" any longer. It's time to speak out and share the Gospel more boldly than ever before.

I find it somewhat ironic that this court case is to be tried in Italy, the modern country that came from the remnants of the Roman Empire.

Bring on the lions.

THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2006/Did God Create Everything?

2006-01-18T16:01:00.000-06:00

THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2006

1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

--Author Unknown

(Thanks to Karen S. for sharing these "predictions" with us. Amazing how the more things change, the more the stay the same... And here's another email story that may or may not be true, but makes a good point either way.)

Did God Create Everything?

This is a really great answer to a question you may be asked or have asked. Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied "Yes He did".

"God created everything?" the professor asked.

"Yessir, He certainly did." the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil. And since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."

The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's
hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of a question is this? Of course it exists."

"Have you never been cold?" The other student snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According
to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body, or object, is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does notexist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said, we see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name was Albert Einstein...

(Not sure if this is a true story, but it's still a good analogy for God's love.)

A Top Twenty Not to Be Proud Of...

2006-01-13T12:43:00.000-06:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10823343/

St. Louis makes the top 20 list of "the meanest places in America for Homeless people". (Not exactly a top 20 list you'd like to see your town listed on.)

Gee, you'd think with all the churches and church schools around here we'd treat the homeless (most of whom are mentally ill) with a bit more Christian charity, wouldn't you?

Something to think about...

Valentines Carols

2006-01-01T17:27:00.000-06:00

Some of my fellow church members and I decided to make "Christmas caroling" to our shut-ins a year round activity. And what better way to kick off the New Year than by going "Valentines Caroling"?

Here are some of my attempts at re-writing carols to fit the day that honors that great and loving saint, Valentine.:

Valentines, Valentines (Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

CHORUS:
Valentines, Valentines
And we'll tell you, too
Jesus came to give us life
And this good news to you! (repeat)

Dashing through the snow (cold), we came here today
To sing a silly song with laughter all the way! Ho, ho, ho…
Our glad voices ring, lifting hands, we sigh--
What fun it is to praise our Lord
The love of God most high!

On Valentines Day (Sung to the tune of Away in the Manger)

On Valentines Day we sing you this song
To tell you we love you and wish you life long--
The knowledge our Savior will be by your side
Forgiveness of sins is why he did die

On Valentines Day we know this is true
Jesus rose from the grave for me and for you
Together in heaven with Him we will share
The love of the Father and His tender care

God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen (Sung to the tune of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

God bless ye merry gentlemen
And ladies of this place
Remember Jesus loves you so
I'll show it on my face
My smile and hug are tokens of God's peace and loving grace.
Oh-oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, oh-oh, tidings of comfort and joy!

God's Love's All About! ( Sung to the tune of Silver Bells)

CHORUS:
Red and pink! Red and pink!
Valentines cards by the plenty
Hear us shout-His love's all about!
We share it this Valentines!

Pretty windows, busy mall stores
Dressed in hearts and love scenes
In the air there's the feeling of cupid
People hugging, people smiling
But what does this all mean?
It means Jesus' love reigns supreme!
(Repeat CHORUS)

Everyone is God's child! (sung to the tune of Silent Night)

Valentines hug, Valentines smile-
Everyone is God's child!
We share the gospel by singing to you
Telling of Jesus who loves us all true
Jesus' love covers the earth!
Jesus' love covers the earth!

Valentine's hug, Valentine's smile-
Every heart is worthwhile
God made us all to be his children
Together forever in heaven we'll spend
Jesus saves all of mankind!
Jesus saves all of mankind!

O Little Day of Valentines (sung to the tune of O Little Town of Bethlehem)

O Little Day of Valentines
How beautiful you shine!
Today we share good news with you
Of Jesus' love divine
Our hearts and happy voices
Tell of our joy and mirth
Of this we sing, our Lord and King
Who came to bless the earth.

O Little Day of Valentines
Why is it on this day?
That people think of candies pink
Instead to Whom we pray?
Valentine shared the gospel story
With those he called most dear
So we will too, share this with you
Our good Lord's always near!

Valentines is Here (sung to Joy to the World)

Valentines is here, the day of love
God tells us from above
How to love each other
Be sisters and brothers
Travel Christ's pathway true
Travel Christ's pathway true
Travel Christ's pathway for me and you!

Valentines is here, this day of hearts
Let loving thoughts impart
To every son and daughter
Mother, child and father
Share the gospel news
Share the gospel news
Share the gospel news from me to you!

Feel free to "Valentines Carol" your loved ones with these songs… If you decide to print the lyrics out, don't forget to put "all lyrics copyright 2005 by Cindy Appel, all rights reserved" somewhere on the page. And don't forget to tell folks where you saw these songs first. Thanks!

P.S. Drop me an email and tell me how folks reacted to your "Valentines Caroling". Email me with "Valentines Caroling" in the subject header to cynthianna @ hotmail.com (no spaces)
Thanks.

Christmas Presents in the Snow

2005-11-30T17:19:00.000-06:00

Christmas Presents in the Snow
copyright 2005 by Cindy Appel

There was something I could do as a big sister to protect my younger sibling from pain.

In the dim autumn light, I took my six year old brother by the shoulders and lead him away from the snow drifts in the front yard. These snow drifts contained the charred remains of our Christmas presents which Mom had bought early this year and hid in the attic over the garage where the fire began.

The firemen had thrown the secreted gifts out into the yard the night before as they chopped holes in the roof to get at the fire. The fire had started with a stray spark from the water heater and spread upward into a crowded crawl space overhead.

I felt a sickening knot in my stomach as I spied the half-melted Barbie Country Camper I had begged my parents for sticking half way out of the pristine snow. I sighed. No Santa Claus this year, I reckoned.

But there was to be a Santa Claus that year. God watched over my family and showed us his love through the helping hands of friends and neighbors. As an eight year old I didn't understand the magic of rental insurance, but, after a few rough weeks spent in motel rooms, we were able to rent another home and replace some of the things we had lost. The insurance even paid to have all our smoky clothes dry cleaned.

I remembered how hard we laughed when we discovered out starched underwear! Mom was no June Cleaver, but she never did anything quite that crazy with our laundry. We couldn’t stop giggling. It was a relief to be able to laugh about the silliness of starched underwear after the horror of being awakened in the middle of the night and unceremoniously rushed out the door clad only in pajamas, running barefoot in the falling snow, a pure, white snow that would baptize the smoldering remains of our roof by next morning.

Since that time, fire and Christmas have become forever linked in my mind. One type of fire I observe at Christmas is the fire which blazed from afar in the Star of Bethlehem, a heavenly fire flooding the night sky with its light and warmth, hovering over the manger where baby Jesus lay. Another fire of sorts is the fact that Jesus’ birth into the realm of men is a perfect example of God's love, a love that "only takes a spark to get a fire going" in our hearts according to the words of a popular Christian folk song.

Sometimes during the Christmas season when all seems cold and lost like it did to me on that snowy November morning after our house caught fire, I remind myself that God's fire burns within the hearts of all who love Him and follow his Word. "Is not my word like fire?" declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23: 29a, NIV) Whether it’s cold outside--or inside--we need to wrap ourselves in the warmth of His Spirit each and every day.

I try to do this through prayer and Bible study, but in the hectic holiday season I realize how much better it is if I make myself slow down and gather with fellow Christians to loudly proclaim to the world, "God’s fire burns within our hearts! Jesus is born! Jesus is Lord!"

As a Christian I know I need to focus less on buying presents that can easily be lost in a house fire. Instead, I need to focus my energies on sharing gifts of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23, NIV).

These gifts were given to us by our loving Father long ago on a similar wintry night in a stable in Bethlehem. And the best thing is knowing how these “Spirit gifts” warm a heart all year round.

With God’s eternal fire burning in my heart, remembering something as sad as Christmas presents in the snow will never again take away my joy. God’s fire burns within me--Jesus is Lord!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOW AVAILABLE!
http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/best-xmas-gift.htm

THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT
by
Cindy Appel
A Wings of Faith Children's Book
Guardian Angel Publishing
Illustrations by Kevin Scott Collier
ISBN: 1-933090-19-7

In a day and age of generic "Happy Holidays", young Jake learns the real meaning of "Merry Christmas.". This picture book makes an excellent present for that special child/grandchild in your life.

To order, click on the link below:

http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/best-xmas-gift.htm
An excerpt from THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT:

“What is it, Jake?
Haven't you had fun today”
“I don't know, Grandma.” Jake sighed.
“What’s Christmas about anyway?”

“I mean, everywhere people are getting ready for the season,
but why do they do it? What's the big reason?
The shopping and bustling and rushing and noise
can't be over one silly old man who brings children toys.”

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving All Year 'Round

2005-11-01T15:03:00.000-06:00

The more I think about it the more I wonder… Why do Americans only celebrate one day of “thanksgiving” per year?

Are we not “thankful” the other 364 days of the year?

Do we not have more than one day’s worth of “thanks” to give the Creator for the blessings He’s bestowed upon us?

Are we in it only for the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberries?

Are we in it only for the four day long weekend and all the great football games on TV?

Is it because we lack manners that we don’t give thanks to our Maker more often?

Or is it (and I suspect this is the root cause)we EXPECT to be blessed materially, financially, physically, mentally, academically, spiritually, etc., because we DESERVE it by virtue of being Americans living in the twenty-first century?

I hate to break the news to you, but NO ONE deserves to be blessed because of where or when they were born.

The Pilgrims had it rough. More than half of them died during the first winter after they landed on these shores. If anyone “deserved” a break from a life of grueling hardship and sudden death, I’d say it was these poor souls.

But they didn’t expect a break. They didn’t expect to be blessed because of who they were and where they were. But, in the end, they were blessed. They survived.

And they gave thanks to God for being able to draw breath for another day and for the help their Native American friends gave them in teaching them how to fish and plant corn.

Looking back at that moment in time, shouldn’t we feel a bit ashamed of ourselves for crowding shopping malls to buy things we don’t necessarily need after a day of stuffing our stomachs with an overabundance of food our waistlines don’t necessarily want?

Here’s a radical idea: Let’s replace our current “Turkey Day” with a national day of prayer and fasting. Most of us could go without food for twenty-four hours and suffer few ill effects. In fact, our physicians and fitness trainers may just love us all the more for it.

Instead of watching football or hitting the early Christmas sales at the mall, perhaps we could all spend some time with our family and friends… sharing with each of them how thankful we are for them being in our lives. (Including the non-communicative teens. We can express our thanks that at least we see them on occasion, even though they rarely confide in us anymore.)

If you get the chance to help out at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen this holiday season, consider yourself lucky. Consider yourself blessed. You are learning a valuable lesson firsthand—what it’s like for the vast majority of the world who experiences an empty stomach more often than not.

Let those images of hungry folk stay with you for a while. They will remind you to give thanks year ‘round because you have a home and a turkey of your own.

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

2005-09-29T14:23:00.000-05:00

Let's face it: Halloween is dying a slow and agonizing death in the Bible Belt. Trick-or-treating is fast becoming a lost art.

We're being surrounded by "Harvest Festivals" and "Costume Parades" without one mention of the All Hallowed Eve whatsoever. All the fun has been sucked dry from the holiday--completely unaided by vampires. Halloween has become a symbol of evil and darkness and crime. (Thanks a lot "Hell Week" participants.)

I say it's time to "take back the night". It's time to give trick-or-treating a good name again. It's time to celebrate what is good about October 31.

And what is that? Why the costumes and goodies of course! What better way to stretch a young imagination than by transforming a child into a make-believe creature of some sort? What better way to reinforce how visiting your neighbors can be a good thing than by freely giving out candy one night a year?

Maybe that's not quite what I meant--but I hope you can see there is some good to be had by knocking on doors on Halloween. On one particular All Hallowed Eve--the night before All Saints' Day in 1517--a man named Martin Luther, dressed in a monk's robe, knocked on one particularly large door at the Cathedral of Wittenberg.

Luther wasn't exactly begging for candy. He was asking for the church fathers to clean up their act and stop bilking the poor, illiterate populace of what little money they possessed by selling indulgences touted as "tickets to heaven". He wanted to tell others of the tremendous joy he felt when he read how God's love was freely given to all who believed in His Son as stated by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. . .(NIV)

The "works righteousness" concept disseminated by the Roman Catholic church at that time was invalidated simply by studying Scripture Luther discovered. His "trick" was to nail a long list of grievances (95 of them to be exact) for discussion on the church door the night before one of the most attended services of the year.

His defiant act started the Protestant Reformation whose repercussions can be felt to this very day. And all because he wasn't afraid to get dressed up and knock on a door.

So, let's stop being "Halloweenies." Why should we be afraid of October 31? Christ has effectively silenced our accuser, the devil.

Let's embrace the significance of the holiday by celebrating the fact that the "old ghosts" of "working your way into heaven" were driven away starting on that very night. Driven away by one strong knock on a door.

(Click here for helpful links for hurricane relief.)

How You Can Help Victims of Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

TO HELP HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

Support the American Red Cross just by searching the web...

You already use a web search engine, so why not switch to one that shares half of the profits with the American Red Cross? Now you can search the web while making a difference in your community. Allgive.com makes it simple and easy for you to search the web, save your favorite links, and comparison shop online.

For more information, please visit http://www.allgive.com

For information on how you can help out charitable and volunteer organizations assisting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina go to:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18473

You can also send your monetary donations to:
American Red Cross
National Disaster Relief Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013

When mailing a check, please indicate your designation on the check's memo line. (National Disaster Relief Fund)

Other web sites where you can find out how you can assist those who are hurting:

American Red Cross
www.redcross.org

Mercy Corps
www.mercycorps.org

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) - Hurricane Response
www.fema.gov

Charity Navigator
www.charitynavigator.org

Habitat For Humanity International www.habitat.org

The Humane Society of the US: www.hsus.org

For those in Australia who wish to donate to the Red Cross:
https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp

The Salvation Army has a ham radio network set up to search for information on those who are missing. It's called SATERN, and their addy is www.satern.org
They have a form to fill out right on the main page with as much info as you have, and you e-mail it to them. Hopefully, they will be able to find information for you.

To donate online to the Salvation Army:
https://secure.salvationarmy.org/donations.nsf/donate?openform&projectid=USN-hurricane05

To donate by phone, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

To donate by mail, send checks, earmarked 'Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief,' to PO BOX 4857 JACKSON, MS 39296-4857.

Visit your local Wal-Mart or Sam's Club to donate to The Salvation Army's Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

God’s blessings to all our friends affected by this terrible storm. Stay safe. :)

It’s Not Always Easy to “Love Thy Neighbor”

2005-08-30T11:01:00.000-05:00

It’s really sad to witness something “un-neighborly” happening close to home. Actually, it’s happening within a few miles of my house.

“Stop the Sunset Hills Land Grab” and “We're Ready to Go” are two neighborhood groups at odds with each other. What are they fighting about? They’re fighting over the right to sell their homes to a land developer who wants to build a shopping mall.

What’s so bad about yet another shopping mall? Well, nothing really except for the fact that an older, established shopping mall already exists within a few miles of the proposed new shopping mall the developer wants to build on the land currently occupied by an older neighborhood of moderately priced homes. This new shopping mall would cater to very upscale clients according to the developer. It would generate tax revenue for the city of Sunset Hills.

Sounds good, right?

It would be but for the fact that the Sunset Hills city council signed a deal with the land developer giving them tax incentives where they do not have to pay taxes for a set period of time in order to entice them to build in their city.

Uh-oh.

And if this new shopping mall is built so close to the older shopping mall, it will essentially put many of its stores out of business and cause area residents to lose their jobs.

Double uh-oh.

So many people in Sunset Hills aren’t happy about this situation. They want their voices to be heard. They want to vote on the issue of whether or not to allow a shopping mall to be built that won’t pay taxes into their city for many years. They don’t like the idea that the city will use its power of “eminent domain” to clear out the remaining residents.

Not nice at all.

Worse yet, the Sunset Hills city council pushed the land deal through without bringing it to a vote of the citizenry. In turn, those citizens who felt their voices were not being heard became angry. They brought about a lawsuit in county court to force the city to put the whole shopping mall/land acquisition deal question before the voters. The lawsuit is delaying anything from being built at the shopping mall site.

Even more un-neighborly-ness!

What’s even sadder is that many of the residents of the neighborhood that would be completely razed want to move. They want to take their money from the land developer and run… Some want to retire to places far away or simply move to another house.

These families have every right to sell their houses. But some of their neighbors do not want to leave their homes. They’ve lived in the quiet little neighborhood for a very long time. Over the years, the city of Sunset Hills has boomed and grown all around them. If these people are forced to move from their houses, they know will not find another house in Sunset Hills they can afford. They simply aren’t building homes in the Sunset Hills area these days for less than $500,000.

In a sense, the city council by threatening eminent domain proceedings has told these residents that they rather have an upscale shopping center that brings in rich consumers to their city than allow modest income, hard-working families to continue living in their modest, ranch houses in an established neighborhood.

How fair is that?

And it gets worse… The land developer at the last moment says his lender has backed out of the deal, and he doesn’t have the money to start purchasing the houses and clearing the land for the new shopping mall. He asked the city of Sunset Hills for an advance on the tax incentive money. The city gave it to him. Then the developer tells those who want to sell their houses that he can’t buy them at the price he quoted them earlier before since he doesn’t have a lender lined up.

Of course, these people have already made plans to purchase other homes and move out. Their moving plans depend on the money they were promised by the land developer, and they don’t want to take less. They’re not happy at all. They blame their neighbors (who haven’t sold their homes yet to the land developer) for their financial woes.

When Jesus told us to “Love your neighbor as yourself” he meant we are to treat each other in a kind and considerate manner—the way we would wish to be treated.

Has anyone in the Sunset Hills Shopping Mall fiasco acted neighborly? From the news reports filled with irate voices of the upset homeowners and the ringing “no comments” of the city officials, it doesn’t appear so.

What can be done about it? A guarantee that all parties involved will be able to speak on the issue without being forced into a corner by either the city government or the land developer would go a long way to ease tensions.

But, even then, only prayer and forgiveness will truly heal the wounds these neighbors have inflicted upon each other.

"Love thy neighbor," Jesus said. What would Jesus do if he found himself in this situation?

The Passion of the Christ vs. Jesus Christ Superstar: Retelling the Story—Then and Now

2005-07-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

The best thing about having lived so long is that you experience a lot of things that you later get the chance to compare to one another.

My husband and I attended a fabulous production of Jesus Christ Superstar last night at the Muny (http://www.muny.com), the country’s largest and oldest outdoor musical theatre according to their advertisements. Even with 11,000 seats it was a sold-out performance night after night. And from the looks of the crowd, even though it is a thirty-five year old “rock opera” from a bygone era, Superstar still appeals to a lot of people from all walks of life.

I find this heartening, as recent years have seen many attacks on theatrical presentations that were “Christian” in nature. Take for instance the recent film, The Passion of the Christ. Mel Gibson’s cinematic masterpiece of the last twelve hours of Christ’s life before his crucifixion brought out a maelstrom of naysayers and cries of “Bigotry! Anti-Semitism!” before it hit the movie theatres.

But the storylines of both Passion and Superstar are similar—they both follow Jesus’ actions from the time he enters Jerusalem up to and including his crucifixion. They both show how the chief priests conspired to trump up charges against Jesus in order to force the hand of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate into condemning him to death on the cross.

Searching my memories, I don’t recall any hullabaloo about anti-Semitism in the storyline of Superstar when it first hit the stage and screen. But I do recall my mother (and others) saying that it wasn’t proper to sing about Jesus using electric guitars and other modern musical instruments. (I smile when I think back on these statements, since we attend a contemporary service on Sundays that utilizes just these sort of “non-religious” instruments.)

But has thirty-five years really made a difference in the Passion Week story of Christ? Or is it those who harbor anti-Christian beliefs have come up with a new way to thwart the public’s interest in learning about the Gospel by using the “politically correct” tactics of claiming prejudice and race hatred?

I do wonder sometimes why these same “PC” folks haven’t gone all out and attempted to censor the New Testament, since it is the source material for both Passion and Superstar—and numerous other films, plays, musicals, books and articles. Maybe we won’t have long to wait… It could be what’s next on their agenda.

One thing you can’t miss about Superstar is that in spite of its great musical score, catchy lyrics and strong roles for talented singer-actors, it doesn’t have a “happy ending” like most musicals. It simply ends with Christ hanging on the cross. Could it be that creators Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice left off the Resurrection scene with an ulterior motive in mind? Did they mean to leave the “ultimate ending” of Jesus’ story up to the individual audience member to decide for him or herself? I’m not sure.

Mel Gibson at least was persuaded to make a brief mention of the stone rolling away from the tomb on that first Easter morning in his film. I feel that it really helps to complete Passion by not ending on such a down note like Superstar does. Gibson’s retelling hints that there is more to the Gospels than just Christ’s crucifixion and death—there is also resurrection, rebirth and forgiveness of sin for all who believe.

I guess when it comes down to it, no matter how the Gospel is packaged by the mass entertainment industry Jesus’ purpose still comes through. And Christ's story of forgiveness and life eternal still mesmerizes and attracts large crowds who hunger to hear its life-giving message again and again.

When Bad Things Happen…

2005-07-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

Some days you wake up and know that something bad is going to happen.

Other days you wake up and are taken completely by surprised by current events.

September 11, 2001 was one of those days. This second week in July is turning out to be another one.

My oldest child is still in Europe and I hear that bombs exploded in the London Underground. Thankfully she’s not in London today, but she will be next week when she flies home. Another terrorist-styled attack on a train system similar to last year’s horrible Madrid bombings… Not a comforting thing to hear about when your baby is half a world away.

And then I switch on the Weather Channel. Here comes Hurricane Dennis! My aunt and uncle and cousins all live on the Gulf Coast. Shades of Hurricane Ivan—and others—from last year’s record hurricane season. Tarps still cover many roofs from the damage inflicted by 2004’s seemingly endless march of storms. Not good news in the least.

The question that bothers many is “Why does God let bad things happen?”

My answer? I think the question should be rephrased: “Why does God let good things happen?”

We seldom take note when good things happen—sunshine for our company picnic, a miracle recovery for a sick loved one, a flattering book review—but we sure do seem to dwell on things when they go wrong.

“Why another terrorist attack, Lord? What did we do to deserve this?”

“Why another hurricane, God? Haven’t we suffered enough?”

If God allows good things to happen to us—like sunshine, healing and good book reviews—then he must allow the opposite as well.

If God didn’t allow the natural consequences of our sins to happen, essentially we would have no free will. We’d be zombies. Mindless automatons, controlled from above, puppets on strings creatures. So unless we want God to move our finger to scratch our nose, then we have to accept the fact that we have free will, like it or not.

In a way, it’s an honor to have free will. We’re the only part of God’s creation that has it. Animals follow instinct. They can’t make choices or decide between two or more possibilities. Only human beings can do that.

And only human beings sin… And sin is what brought “bad things” into the world to begin with—death, illness, crime, murder, violent weather.

So the answer to “Why does God let bad things happen?” is a simple one. It has to be because God loves us and respects us enough to allow us to make bad decisions.

Thankfully, He also loves us enough to send us his Son, Jesus Christ, to make atonement for our sins. (John 3:16) That’s Good News we can use everyday—even when we wake up to not so nice news reports.

Imagine that?

2005-06-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC.com:

"Alternative view says homosexuals can change
The idea that homosexuality is a treatable condition is one of the most controversial fields in modern psychology."
http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2

Hmm, imagine that... There are some psychologists out there who actually believe motivated gay people can be cured. This article reveals a slight bias from the reporter (particularly at the end), but it does tell you that 1973 was the year the APA unclassified homosexuality as a personality disorder, hence stopping or slowing all research in the field to help people who sought help for this disorder. Even more interesting to note, the shrink who led that change is now one of those who feel motivated gay people can be helped to live a heterosexual lifestyle through therapy.

Imagine that!

God does indeed work in mysterious ways.

Modern Day Atheists = First Century Athenians?

2005-05-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

Atheists gather to ‘push back’

San Francisco gathering aims to counter fundamentalism

The Associated Press
Updated: 6:04 a.m. ET May 23, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - To the uninformed, the gathering here may have seemed like a church revival, full of zeal and fervor. But worshipping God was most decidedly not part of the agenda.

The attendees of the “All Atheists Weekend” came together to discuss what they call the rise of fundamentalism in the U.S. and the blurring of lines between church and state.

Who says you have to believe in God to be “religious”? These folks are very “religious” in their non-beliefs almost to the point that I don’t believe that they don’t believe.

It almost makes one wonder why they bother with rallies and get-togethers. I mean, if you don’t believe in God, then it’s no big deal, is it? He isn’t the “man upstairs” since there is no “upstairs” (heaven) or “down below” (hell). He’s a figment of other people’s imaginations but, of course, not yours.

Atheists should be the most sane, self-assured, peaceful people on the planet. With no one to be accountable to (there is no God, remember?) they are free to do their own thing and act without impunity. They shouldn’t worry about what others think about their lack of belief in God and they, in turn, shouldn’t even give a care about the fact that the vast majority on the planet say that they do believe in God.

In short, why should atheists gather together to push their agenda? It sounds oddly like an "organized religion" to me.

Or is it more like a classic case of insecurity? Perhaps atheists are secretly worried that there may actually be someone upstairs that they are held accountable to—and they have to prove the strength of their unbelief to the so-called Deity.

Remember, even St. Paul commended the Athenians on their religiosity when he spotted their idol dedicated to an “unknown god”. Modern day atheists, by protesting their unbelief, sound like they’ve rediscovered this idol for themselves.

The Island of Dr. Moreau Revisited or Do Mice have more Brains than Humans?

2005-05-20T11:57:00.000-05:00

An excerpt from an article from the Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7681252/

Mice with human brains
In January, an informal ethics committee at Stanford University endorsed a proposal to create mice with brains nearly completely made of human brain cells. Stem cell scientist Irving Weissman said his experiment could provide unparalleled insight into how the human brain develops and how degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson’s progress.

Stanford law professor Hank Greely, who chaired the ethics committee, said the board was satisfied that the size and shape of the mouse brain would prevent the human cells from creating any traits of humanity. Just in case, Greely said, the committee recommended closely monitoring the mice’s behavior and immediately killing any that display human-like behavior.

Okay... Is anyone besides me seeing a few ethical problems with giving animals "human brains"?

We give them human stem cells so we can grow a "human-like" brain in a lab animal, a mouse or a monkey, and then we study the creature to see how certain brain diseases/abnormalities work. Hopefully scientists can then come up with a cure for these brain diseases.

But if the animal starts showing any "traits of humanity" the researcher will immediately kill the animal. We can't have another H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau on our hands, can we?

Heaven forbid we create a part-human, part-mouse type of creature! Think of how grossed out you were when you first watched the movie The Fly.We don’t want to build monstrosities, freaks of nature, do we?

But if an animal did show human-like behavior… Wouldn’t it understand that mankind is playing God with its existence?

We bring the poor hybrid thing into the world, and we reserve the right to take it out if its behavior in any way offends us or makes us uncomfortable with our choices. If this isn’t playing God, then what is?

And how many human cells are necessary to create another “human”? Fifty percent? Forty percent? Eighty percent? One percent? Who determines who is a “human being” and who isn’t? The courts?

Does any of this make you nervous? It should. Remember the Dred Scott case in the 1850’s… Mr. Scott wasn’t allowed to sue for his freedom from slavery since he was judged by a US court of law to be a piece of property and not a man. And property can be used, abused and discarded at will by the property owner.

By attempting to make human-hybrids and clones, is mankind trying to create a new form of slavery? I wonder.

Cruelty is in the Eye of the Beholder

2005-05-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7791888/

Brain responses differ in gay, straight men
Study: Homosexuals react to male sex hormones like women
The Associated Press
Updated: 5:19 p.m. ET May 9, 2005

WASHINGTON - The brains of homosexual men respond more like those of women when reacting to a chemical derived from the male sex hormone, new evidence of physical differences related to sexual The finding, published in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows differences in physiological reaction to sex hormones.

In the Swedish study, when sniffing a chemical from testosterone, the male hormone, portions of the brains involved in sexual activity were activated in gay men and straight women, but not in straight men, the researchers found…

I’ve been reading similar studies for years now—long before I went back to college in the mid 90’s and got my degree in psychology. The big question on my mind is, “Why isn’t some pharmaceutical company out there working on a drug or other method to ‘cure’ gay people?”

After all, if it’s a “chemical imbalance” in the brain that is causing these individuals to act out in a homosexual manner, then another chemical (or chemicals) may be able to set them “straight.”

Think about it. We give lithium to bipolar people to stabilize their moods—by stabilizing their brain chemistry.

We give Prozac to depressed people to help them equalize levels of serotonin in their brains—and we change their outlooks on life for the better.

So why hasn’t the scientific community been working on a cure to help homosexual people? Why can't we help them to stabilize their brain chemistry?

I think the answer here is obvious. Homosexual people’s behaviors or brain chemistry isn’t considered “abnormal” by the American Psychiatric Association and other medical organizations. Up until the 1960’s, the DSM listed homosexuality as a personality disorder right along side alcoholism and addiction. But then it became politically incorrect to consider people who demonstrated homosexual tendencies “ill” even if the person himself wasn’t particularly happy with his situation.

And if someone is “acting normally” and isn’t considered sick, then he or she doesn’t need any treatment, right? Their behavior is labeled as “normal” and if you as a medical professional think otherwise you are sure to be called “cruel”. Fears of retaliation and hate mail alone have shut down much research in this area I'm certain.

God made us all male and female—human, animal, fish, bird and even plant. It takes one of each sex to create another living being. This was His plan for His creation. But somehow, man has put himself in God’s place and started dictating rules that go against God’s wonderful creation. The creature brashly tells the creator where to get off. The lump of clay tells the potter it wants to remain an ugly lump rather than be transformed into a beautiful work of art.

And the saddest, sickest thing about all this is that we’ve allowed these suffering “gay” people to think all these years that they didn’t deserve to have their brain chemical imbalances corrected. They were told there was no help for them. They were stuck feeling the way they did even if they knew it went against God’s plan for them as His beloved children and it caused them much anguish.

How cruel is that?

The Rights of Blastocysts and the Resurrection of the Tree Frog

2005-04-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

Watching PBS has become rather interesting in recent years… More and more I see how many of their old standbys such as the series Nova are becoming more and more propaganda outlets for the “Death-o-crats” or the Right to Die movement.

Tonight’s show (which I caught about halfway through) was a news magazine that featured different stories told by different reporters. The first segment I watched was about human stem cell cloning—and how wonderful it is.

We’re introduced to a young girl who has juvenile diabetes and must test her blood sugar levels about every two to three hours. It is hard to watch how brave this junior high girl is when it comes to poking herself in the finger and drawing blood and giving herself insulin shots. There’s no denying that it is a tough life and one fraught with many dangers, from going completely blind someday to complete kidney and heart failure. It would be nice if a cure could be found to save her—and the millions of children like her—from this horrible fate.

Enter the stem cell cloning scientist… He has all the answers. One day we will have the ability to help diabetics make insulin he declares. The answer lies in embryonic stem cells extracted from blastocysts, or that small clump of cells that forms after a human egg is fertilized (or made to think it’s been fertilized). By destroying the outer layers of the blastocyst, the stem cells can be extracted and grown in a Petri dish, encouraged to become whatever cells we want them to become.

The reporter telling the story blithely reports that the same clump of cells can also be implanted in a woman’s uterus and grow into a baby. Imagine that!

So, this is where the dividing line falls… Do you believe that blastocysts have rights? Are blastocysts “human”? Do “potential babies” have the same right as already grown human beings?

You can guess where the PBS reporter’s sympathies lie. It’s tough not to agree with her when shown pictures of sick children who need to take insulin daily or need bone marrow transfusions. Of course no photos of discarded babies were shown to give the story any balance. The only thing shown was the evil Congress and the president who voted to ban human cloning altogether.

Bad, bad Congress! Don’t you want little girls with diabetes to live healthy lives?

The next segment on the show was fascinating on its own merits, and it really struck me as odd. How was it odd? Well, it was all about a “resurrection” of sorts… It seems that the North American tree frog can literally “freeze” itself into a block of ice so it can hibernate through the winter and “resurrect” itself in the spring in time for the mating season.

What a wonderful gift these little brown amphibians display! They can stop their breathing, their heart from beating and their body from eliminating wastes for months while the world is frozen. Their bodies make some kind of sugary “anti-freeze” solution so their organs shrink and are encased in a protective coating while they freeze solid. The little things in hibernation look just like hard, brown rocks. What a miracle they are!

What do frozen frogs, which rise from the dead each spring, teach us simple human beings about the rights of blastocysts? If anything, the tree frog teaches us that we should trust God—He knows how to take care of us. He can take care of us during the “frost” of life, and He can take care of us even if we have to test our blood sugar numerous times a day.

How can we pronounce anything He has created—frogs, blastocysts, little girls—not precious and worthy of life?

How can we destroy any of them?

Why this blog isn’t called Onward Christian Soldiers…

2005-04-12T11:36:00.000-05:00

I’ve been writing this blog off and on for about a half month now and no one has left a comment online—yet. It’s fairly simple: You click on the “comment” link at the end of each day’s blog and you sign in and leave your message. You need to register first with Blogger.com but it’s very easy—you just need a name and a password. That way, no one else can leave a comment and attach your name to it. You approve of what you say and when you say it.

If you want to email me a comment instead, please email me at cynthianna @ hotmail.com (without the spaces). Please type “Christians Crawling” (or something along those lines) in the subject line so I don’t accidentally delete your message. I receive tons of spam email daily, you see. I go through my email box and delete lots of messages without reading them first since I assume they’re junk mail if the person sending it or the subject line doesn’t ring a bell. It saves time.

But I’d love to hear from you. Maybe you’d like to make a “guest appearance” here some day? Run your piece by me and I’ll give it every consideration.

The reasons this blog isn’t called Onward Christian Soldiers are:

1) It’s the title of a wonderful old Christian hymn and I wouldn’t want to confuse people, and
2) It doesn’t accurately describe the way modern day Christians operate.

Christians today don’t “march” as in “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war”. Christians today don’t possess that kind of zeal, that intestinal fortitude to band together to help spread the Gospel throughout the world—or even their suburban neighborhood—like their ancestors did.

Christians today try hard to be “politically correct.” They try not to “insult” people by telling them that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and the only way to the Father. Oh, no. We can’t say that. It wouldn’t be very nice. So Christians today bow to public pressure and worry what the neighbors will think if they’re caught wearing a cross or seen outside of a church building.

In short, Christians in the 21st century act like sell-outs.

But the message of Acts 1:8 still persists: “Go tell all nations…”

So, some Christians “crawl” out of their comfortable suburban existence (their “comfort zones”) and attempt to share the Good News with others on occasion. But as soon as things get “scary” or “non-PC” they shut down and hem and haw.

“I’d love to share the Gospel with those who haven’t heard it,” they cry. “But what will people think of me? Shouldn’t we tone it down a bit? Just tell them that ‘God is love’ and welcome them to a potluck dinner?”

Sigh… I guess it’s better than nothing. Still, what would Jesus think of Christians today? Would He appreciate our cowardice? Would he believe that we truly love Him?

At least the apostle Peter had the guts to slice off a guard’s ear in Gethsemane when he thought his Lord’s life was threatened… But I suspect most Christians today can relate better to Peter when he denied Christ three times before the rooster crowed.

P.S.
Here’s a link to some Christians who aren’t afraid to crawl out of their comfort zones:

Sudan Surprise: Christians Help Persecuted Muslims
Christians are reaching out to bring help to their former persecutors.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/CWN/040805darfur.asp

Just a Nagging Thought…

2005-04-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

My recent trip to an Islamic Center put a few nagging thoughts into my head. (See my blog entry for April 6.)

You know how some people are always arguing over which is the “true religion” or the supreme belief system in the world? Well, what if everybody decided to hold a contest—a peaceable contest, sort of like the Olympics—where believers of all faiths competed to show who practiced the “true religion”.

What kind of “contests” would be held? Let’s look at the Five Pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, fasting, tithing, and pilgrimage. Surely followers of the “true religion” would demonstrate these traits in abundance, wouldn’t they?

How about a contest called “Who really prays?” Monitors would stand outside of sanctuaries and other religious gathering places and count how many people show up and actually go through the motions of praying… It would be harder to get a tally of those who pray at home or in secret, but possibly a self-survey of private prayer time could be given to believers who practice this type of prayer life.

Fasting? Easy enough—let’s put all the believers of a particular religion on the scales and see which group averages out as the lightest in weight. “To fast” means not to eat, you know.

A contest idea that’s really intriguing is “Which religion is the most charitable?” We could compare donations in cash, time and abilities to help others less fortunate—particularly those outside that particular belief system. The recipients of the charity could then rate how generous, kind and non-demanding the believers are as they share of their wealth.

Most religions practice so form of “pilgrimage” or traveling to a certain destination in order to focus on things of a spiritual nature and leave worldly cares behind. The Muslim travels to Mecca, the Catholic to the see the Pope, the Protestant to a spiritual retreat in the woods, the Jew to Jerusalem, the Buddhist to meditate on a mountaintop, the Mormon to the temple in Salt Lake City, the Neo-Pagan to Stonehenge, etc. A quick headcount of which religion has the most active pilgrims would determine the “winner”.

Now faith is a tricky thing to compare and measure… If we measured faith by attendance at worship services, this would favor the major religions and those sects who make attendance mandatory. If faith is denoted by those who verbally confess their faith and help spread its message, this would penalize those religions that tend to be on the more personal, private side. Possibly a well-written survey could rank a believer’s “commitment” to his or her particular faith and give a numerical rating? Sort of an “A.C.T.” number for religious folks...

So, if the world held a contest like this tomorrow, do you honestly think Christians would “win”?

And what would be the “prize”?

A Visit to an Islamic Center

2005-04-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday evening I had the chance to tour an Islamic Center in south city area of St. Louis.

For those who aren’t familiar with St. Louis this might sound unusual, but it isn’t. There are a lot of Bosnians here—about 40,000 have settled here since the 1990s. Many Bosnians are Muslim or at least claim to be. Like Americans, most Bosnians claim that they belong to the Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox or Muslim religion, but they’ve never really practiced their faith either today or during the years of Communist rule in Yugoslavia.

Once Yugoslavia disintegrated, Bosnia became the “Killing Fields” of the Balkans. Ancient ethnic rivalries heated up and exploded into what can only be termed a genocidal bloodbath. Many Bosnians were forced to flee their homes at a moment’s notice with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many witnessed cold-blooded massacres of friends and family members simply because they were “Muslim”. Many witnessed the rape of loved ones at the hands of Serbs, who professed to be “Christian”.

Can you imagine how deeply these tragedies scarred their souls? Can you see the need for the Bosnian people to heal spiritually as well as emotionally and materially?

So, this is where Christian missions to the Bosnian community in St. Louis fit into the picture. One way to better serve this community is to understand its culture and religion, hence our visit to the Islamic Center.

Our tour guide was an Inman’s wife, a most charming lady originally from Egypt. Like any “Pastor’s wife” she showed us around the facilities, explained their customs and traditions and answered our questions. The center’s building used to be a small bank branch. They’ve done some renovations, mostly tearing out walls and installing a neat “washroom” of sorts where congregants can wash their face, hands and feet before prayer time.

Muslims are suppose to pray five times a day at specific times, but the Inman’s wife confessed that many in the Bosnian Muslim community aren’t quite that devout. They show up for services at the center or one of the bigger mosques in the area about once or twice a year. Mostly they like to come to the mosque for Ramadan, the month long holiday of fasting during the day and then feasting at night. (Sound sort of like “Christmas and Easter only” Christians, don’t they?)

Many in the Bosnian community enjoy the festivals and celebrating Muslim holidays, but they aren’t particularly concerned with more regular adherence to their faith and its “Five Pillars”: the declaration of faith, prayer, fasting, Zakah or tithing, and the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. And, interestingly enough, most Muslims would say that “Allah” is the same “God” worshipped by Christians and Jews.

This is where Christians can reach out and most help the Bosnian refugees, I believe. For Allah is not a loving God as Christians with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ know Him. The Apostle John tells us “God is love”, but the same isn’t true for Allah. Allah is a bit more staid and not quite as generous a deity. While the Islamic attributes of prayer and charity are quite admirable, like most religions they are considered requirements in order to make “Brownie points” with the Big Scary Man Upstairs. In other words, if you don’t faithfully practice the Five Pillars of Islam, Allah might not give you a passing grade for this life… And, when you die, if you happen to be on Allah’s bad side, you might not be allowed into paradise or heaven.

This one fact supposedly was behind the 9/11 hijackers’ motivation for their suicide plane crashes. They were taught that they would instantly go to paradise if they rid the world of non-Muslims. So, why wouldn’t they do it? A few of the hijackers reportedly had bad addictions to pornography and other moral failings, so without making some big “Brownie points” how else would these young men have impressed Allah?

This fear of Allah—and what he can do to their eternal souls—may be holding back many Bosnians and others from healing spiritually. It’s easier on the psyche just to say, “God is Allah is God, and we’re in America now and safe, and we don’t need to attend mosque and be reminded that we aren’t perfect enough to get into paradise.” So, they simply don’t take up any spiritual philosophy. They stay rooted in ignorance and fear. They unconsciously reason that no matter what they’d do, they can never make enough “Brownie points” at this junction in the game. And without a passing grade, Allah will judge them harshly, reviving traumatic memories of their people’s recent history.

But we as Christians know that God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son to die for us for the remission of our sins so that we may have eternal life in Him. (John 3:16) What a relief to know that we don’t ever have to practice certain rituals five times a day in order to make “Brownie points” with the Man Upstairs! We love God because He first loved us, and He continually demonstrates His love by grace through faith.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon all who are spiritually wounded by unspeakable atrocities such as the Bosnian community witnessed, giving them true, everlasting love and peace through faith in Christ our Lord.

John Paul and Terri Schiavo: Lessons in Life While Dying

2005-04-05T12:18:00.001-05:00

Here's a link for a short article on Terri's legacy:

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/CWN/040105schiavo.asp

With the passing of Pope John Paul II this past week, it seems that the forces of evil are on the ascendancy...

After all, two innocent people (at least innocent of any heinous crimes as our society would classify them) have died in the public's eye and the "deathlovers" seem pretty satisfied with the outcome.

John Paul was a vocal opponent of abortion and euthanasia. He stood tall and held his ground on these issues, even though many in America didn't like his stance. To quote some talk show guest I heard on the radio in passing this morning: "You may not have agreed with the Pope, but you respected him because you knew where he stood."

And he stood for Christ.

Terri's sad suffering and death and John Paul's gracious and gradual dying help illustrate Christ's own innocent suffering and death for the sins of the world. Possibly, these two recent events will open doors with friends and loved ones to share the Gospel?

Maybe that's why the Lord called them both home so soon?

DIAL-A-DEATH

2005-04-01T12:30:00.000-06:00

One day in the not so far-off future…

UPBEAT FEMALE VOICE ON PHONE: Hello. You’ve reached Dial-a-Death. How can we be of assistance to you?

YOUNG ADULT MAN: Uh, yeah… I’ve called about my grandmother.

VOICE: Your grandmother? How old is she and what is her current health state?

MAN: I’m not sure how old she is. She’s pretty bad off, though. She’s got a ton of wrinkles, and she’s pretty boney in places. She doesn’t even make me my favorite cookies anymore because she claims it hurts her back to stoop over the oven to pull them out.

VOICE: I’m sorry to hear that, sir. And how do you wish to put an end to your grandmother’s existence?

MAN: What method do you think is the most effective—and least painful?

VOICE: An overdose of morphine does the trick without any of those awful twin side effects, pain and consciousness.

MAN: Okay, let’s go with that.

VOICE: All right… (Sound of scribbling on paper) Is there anything else we can help you with today, sir?

MAN: Now that you mention it, there is. It’s about my girlfriend… She’s uh, um… you know.

VOICE: Unwanted pregnancy?

MAN: Bingo! It’s like you can read my mind.

VOICE: (Laughing) You’d be surprised how many times I’ve correctly guessed what a person will say next. So… you need a simple abortion? How far along is your girlfriend’s pregnancy?

MAN: (Clears throat nervously) I hate to say this, but she’s fairly far along. I’d say six or seven months. She didn’t want to tell me until I finally noticed she was putting on some weight around the middle.

VOICE: She’ll need our late-term, partial-birth abortion procedure then. Let’s see who we have available. Hmmm…Dr. Kevorkian has an opening on Thursday. Will that do?

MAN: Great. We’ll be able to attend the concert on Saturday night with no problems, right?

VOICE: (Chuckling) No problems at all for you at least, sir! Anything else you need from Dial-a-Death this week?

MAN: Well, I do have another slight “problem”… You see, my other girlfriend already has a baby—and she says it’s mine. I don’t know… The little thing sort of looks like me, but it’s pretty much a crying blob that can’t do anything useful. I guess you can’t really help me out—or can you?

VOICE: Actually, we can, sir. We have a separate division that works out of our office in China called, “Dump-a-Child”. They specialized in getting rid of children—especially little girls. There seems to be a marked preference toward boys there. Would you like me to send you some information about their services?

MAN: Could you? Wow, you guys really are a full-service agency! I’m impressed.

VOICE: Thank you, sir. Is that all for now then?

MAN: Uh, there is one other thing… (Lowers voice) I’ve been accused of molesting a kid down the block. Can you get rid of him for me—permanently?

VOICE: Why, sir! What kind of business do you think we’re in? We can’t just go around murdering people because they’ve accused you of a crime such as molestation. Everyone has the right to his or her day in court.

MAN: But, I… I mean… I… You can off granny and babies and the like with no problems with the judges. Why not a nine-year-old snitch?

VOICE: Well, I shouldn’t be saying this, but I do know of a private individual who may be able to help you out. I’ll send you his lawyers’ contact info. He lives in California and he’s very rich. Maybe he can offer you some pointers on that topic?

MAN: Thanks! You’re a real lifesaver, you know that?

VOICE: Lifesaver? (Chuckles softly) What a wonderful way you have with words, sir. I’ll be sure to pass your comments on to our marketing department.

Terri’s Crime? She’s Still Breathing

2005-03-30T14:31:00.000-06:00

I think as Americans we naturally assume that anyone who is found guilty of a crime deserves to be punished. Of course, many Christians will disagree on the amount and severity of a particular punishment for a particular individual for a particular crime. However, I think I can safely say that, on the whole, we do agree that God has set governing authorities over us in order to keep the peace and maintain order in our society. And punishing criminals is just one of the duties of a God-ordained system of government.

Sometimes the death penalty is given to individuals who commit very heinous crimes. Sometimes a suspended sentence and a small fine are given to those who commit “petty crimes”. In the eyes of the law there is a marked difference between ax-murdering your entire office staff in cold blood as opposed to going ten miles over the speed limit.

But in the eyes of God, a sin is a sin is a sin is a sin…

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

So, our society says that some people must die. But who makes these life and death decisions? A jury usually makes this decision in the case of a murderer on trial. In other matters, it’s left up entirely to a judge’s discretion.

Which brings us to the sad case of Terri Schiavo… A brain-damaged woman guilty of the most heinous crime of all—she refuses to die quickly and quietly!

I mean, she’s been sentenced to a long, protracted death by starvation/dehydration. Even the Pope, when he recently fell ill, was allowed sustenance via a food tube. But somehow Terri is not.

Animal rights activists would be up in arms if a dog or cat or horse or guinea pig in a similar situation was left to starve to death. So, why isn’t there an outcry about Terri’s inhumane treatment from these groups?

Why are so many Christians silent about this “murder by degree” treatment of a defenseless woman?

Why is Terri’s life considered a “crime” because she can’t speak for herself?

In the beginning, God created life and it was good. So, why are severely disabled people not considered “good”? And why are unwanted babies aborted and thrown into dumpsters behind abortion clinics?

Why aren’t their lives considered “good”? Didn’t God create them, too?

As Christians, we have to consider this an “either/or” proposition… Either we believe all life—particularly human beings—is “good” since God created man in His own image, or we believe all life is “bad” and worthy of death whenever we feel like it.

And the people who make these decisions… are they to be considered as “gods” and all life must reflect their “good” image?

I wonder what Judge Greer in Florida would think about having some government authority force him into giving up food and water, to slowly starve him to death? Since he’s acted as Terri’s judge, jury and executioner without impunity for so long, maybe it’s time someone turned the tables on him?

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God …

A sin is a sin is a sin is a sin…

Crawling Out of My Comfort Zone...

2005-03-29T17:53:00.000-06:00

Hello out there. This is a new venture for me as a writer and as a Christian. I just felt that I needed to shout about a lot of things in the news recently... I'm not a cable news junkie (well, not really) but there are just so many things going on in the world today that Christians aren't speaking out about--both for and against.

Now, I know that's a generalization, but it's probably close to the truth. The vast majority of Christians like to stay in their "comfort zones" and prefer not to get their hands dirty talking about life and death issues, same-sex marriages, people starving and homeless in their own cities and the overall level of "acceptable violence" apparent in our Western culture.

Most Christians just want to drive to their suburban church on Sunday morning, sit in the pew for an hour or two and then drive on home and forget about all this Jesus stuff... As long as they feel their "souls" are being "fed" with "feel good" ideas, then does it really matter that children are starving on the other side of the county or world? Wouldn't Jesus have preferred to hang out at the Country Club and sip martinis and shoot a game of golf every once and a while? He certainly wouldn't want to get his hands dirty or risk derision for taking a stand on the issues, now would he?

Not!

So, I hope you see where I'm coming from. Feel free to post your views and comments, too. Maybe together we'll be able to "crawl out of our comfort zones" and share the Gospel the way Jesus intended, dirt and controversy included.

Christians Crawling Out of Their Comfort Zones

Wherever you go...

April Showers Bring May Flowers

LIfe goes on... God provides

The Sparrow

Thanksgiving while living on the streets

Come Ye Thankful People Come...

Drive-by Feeding...

The Dog, the Cross, and the Grave

The Screwtape Letters comes to the Big Screen

The Lost Tomb of Christ?

Polygamy and Islam

You can't have Christmas without Christ...

Most Believe in God--But not in Forgiveness

The Pope can't quote others on the topic of Islam?

Stem Cell Research doesn't have to Destroy Embryos

A Chocolate Virgin Mary?

A witness to the faith

When will the bombing stop?

When the Holy Spirit Says Act—Act!

United 93: A Film that Defines Our Generation

Christians Can Persecute Christians, Too

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it."

Ready to die--freed on a technicality

Facing the Lions in Afghanistan...

The Guilt of the Already Born?

Bring on the Lions: Will an Italian judge have to rule on the existence of Christ?

THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2006/Did God Create Everything?

A Top Twenty Not to Be Proud Of...

Valentines Carols

Christmas Presents in the Snow

Thanksgiving All Year 'Round

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

More links to how to help Hurricane Katrina survivors

How You Can Help Victims of Hurricane Katrina

It’s Not Always Easy to “Love Thy Neighbor”

The Passion of the Christ vs. Jesus Christ Superstar: Retelling the Story—Then and Now

When Bad Things Happen…

Imagine that?

Modern Day Atheists = First Century Athenians?

The Island of Dr. Moreau Revisited or Do Mice have more Brains than Humans?

Cruelty is in the Eye of the Beholder

The Rights of Blastocysts and the Resurrection of the Tree Frog

Why this blog isn’t called Onward Christian Soldiers…

Just a Nagging Thought…

A Visit to an Islamic Center

John Paul and Terri Schiavo: Lessons in Life While Dying

DIAL-A-DEATH

Terri’s Crime? She’s Still Breathing

Crawling Out of My Comfort Zone...