Life or Death

This evening I read a great post regarding life and death on Randy Alcorn's blog as I held my precious daughter, a miracle of life. Randy posted a video of an incredibly, articulate, 12 year old young lady who shared her beliefs in her seventh grade class. Wow! Check out this post for more...

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

January 18 is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

In 1983, an organization now known as Care Net asked President Ronald Reagan to create a special day to focus on the intrinsic value of human life. That same year, Reagan issued a proclamation establishing a National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

This year's Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is January 18. Please take an opportunity this weekend to consider how God may be calling you to, as President Reagan's proclamation put it, "care for the lives and freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings."

~ above info taken from Randy Alcorn's website

Pray for Our Leaders

This campaign/election process has been a long ride, but now it's history and we as Christians must unite (regardless of who you supported) and pray for our leaders. I've read several blogs that say it better than I could...

Randy Alcorn - It’s Over; but It’s not Over (one Day it will be)
Kay Day - The People Have Spoken
Robbie Iobst - Hope is a Good Thing
Tiffany Stuart - America's Choice My Response (go to post dated November 5)

I think its great when Christians can have different opinions and agree to disagree. Most importantly we need to unite in prayer! Check out the Presidential Prayer Team and commit to pray for President elect Obama. Go here to sign up to receive a 77 Days of Prayer for Our New President email in your inbox every morning until Inauguration Day, January 20. There is also a Presidential Prayer Kids page in case you have children who would like to join us in prayer (as of today it hasn't been updated, but hopefully soon will).

Scriptures to Consider:

Pray for those in Authority - 1 Timothy 2:1–2
Submission to the Authorities - Romans 13:1-3
Heal Our Land - 2 Chronicles 7:14-15

Join me in praying for our country and our leaders!

A Contribution in Eternity

How can $4.00 make a difference in eternity? Because of the increase in the cost of gas these days $4.00 can barely buy a gallon of gas. BUT $4.00 supports one minute of World Mission Broadcast (WMB) airtime through radio, the Internet, or television. On the air since 1951, WMB reaches even the remotest parts of the world, with words of hope and holiness... Each year millions of people hear WMB programs and lives are changed because of what they’ve heard.

As of April 22, 2008, World Mission Broadcast is reaching the unreached in:

30 Languages
73 Countries
94 Programs
7,012 Broadcasts

Last year was the first year I was truly challenged to make a sacrifice to give to WMB. Previous years I just gave a token offering that didn’t require sacrifice on my part. The challenge came through a work of fiction based on real life – Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. His novel shares how radio broadcasts encourage persecuted Christians who can’t openly attend church and reaches those who don’t know of Jesus. Randy’s book made the plight of those who haven’t heard of Jesus very real to me – so real that it hurt and made me want to do something that mattered, something that made a difference.

Excerpt from Safely Home:

“They have been praying for three hours before we arrived.”
“So the meeting must be nearly done?”
“No. Just starting. Chinese believers have motto: ‘Little prayer, little power. No prayer, no power.’” (p. 289)

Join with me in prayer for persecuted Christians and for those who are yet to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and HIS gift of unconditional love and salvation through World Mission Broadcast. Consider what amount you will share to reach the unreached with the good news of Jesus.

From WMB Website:

Giving to World Mission Broadcast provides the means to reach millions around the world for Christ, providing the funding for program production, airtime, and follow-up materials. Holiness programming, delivered by radio, television and the Internet, is reaching into the far corners of the world with the message of Jesus and his redeeming love and helping to disciple those who respond. The prayer and financial support of individuals and local churches are vital to this broadcast ministry.


Gifts to World Mission Broadcast can be given through the following methods:

Online – World Mission Broadcast

Send a check made out to:

World Mission Broadcast
6401 The Paseo
Kansas City, MO 64131

To learn more about the work of World Mission Broadcast sign up for the newsletter here.

Or

Contact WMB online or call 816-333-7000 ext. 2745


If you have a few moments, I encourage you to read through these requests and pray for the listeners they represent. Nothing will support the work of World Mission Broadcast (WMB) globally, like your prayers. Feel free to pass these requests on to your church’s prayer groups. Thank you for your support of WMB, and especially for supporting the listeners.

Rick Guilfoil, Director,
World Mission Broadcast


Responses from South America
www.Esperanza.net—October 2006

Below is just a small sampling of the prayer requests sent in by WMB listeners in October 2006:


“I need strength and hope to keep going in this world.”
Margarita, 41 (Venezuela)


“I want to know more about God.”
Gabriel, 42 (Argentina)


“I want to know Jesus.”
Felix, 20 (Peru)


“I need spiritual peace.”
Daniel, 45 (Colombia -Listening to the radio in a taxi)


“I want to know how to be a ‘valuable woman.’ I want to learn to be a woman of wisdom. I have low selfesteem.”
Carmen, 45 (Chile)


“I need to leave this spiritual poverty.”
Luis, 25 (Bolivia)


“How can I know the will of God?”
Islene, 32 (Colombia)



Please pray for these individuals and the families they represent and consider once again what you might do to make an investment in eternity! Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Marriage

My dad walking me down the aisle.

What is marriage? Why do we marry? Why do so few Christian marriages go the distance? How is your marriage different? What advice to you have to share with those who are considering marriage or those in any phase of marriage?

Marriage according to Mirriam Webster's first definition is: 1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law.

I remember when I was in graduate school, my Sunday School teacher, mentor and friend, Carolee Loar challenged our class of young singles to consider what marriage was and write out our definitions. I took the assignment seriously and wrote a great deal. I spend a long time this evening looking in vain for that piece of paper that I kept somewhere safe... Maybe someday I will find it...

Marriage was a frightening prospect for me back then because I was terrified of failure. I had seen too many marriages end badly and wanted to avoid that for myself even if it meant never marrying, but at the same time I wanted to be married so much. I wanted to be loved and to be special to someone. I spent a lot of time praying about marriage and for a possible future spouse and for several young men I hoped would fill that role at various times.























Next month Rick and I will celebrate our eleventh anniversary. We married on the 50th anniversary of my grandparents.

I've read some challenging books about marriage in the last year by Gary Thomas and I highly recommend them to anyone who is married or considering marriage. Sacred Marriage and Sacred Influence are both powerful books that have the potential to change the way we think about marriage. For more info check out my Reading Room Blog - do a search with Gary Thomas' name or the titles of the books mentioned. Consider this quote, Gary shares this quote in Sacred Marriage, "If we view the marriage relationship as an opportunity to excel in love, it doesn’t matter how difficult the person is whom we are called to love; it doesn’t matter even whether that love is ever returned. We can still excel at love. We can still say, “Like it or not, I’m going to love you like nobody ever has.”

Randy Alcorn, a favorite author of mine, shared some of his thoughts about marriage on his blog because an assistant of his married this weekend. Check out his post here.

Let's all spend some time praying for our marriages and the marriages of those who are dear to us. Marriage can be wonderful, yet it can be the most challenging thing we'll ever experience. Storm heaven on the behalf of marriages everywhere!

How should being a Christian effect the way we live...

How should being a Christian effect the way we live during our short visit to earth?

I just finished reading "50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light" by Randy Alcorn that tackles that question. Below is a quote from the book...

What are your thoughts?

"Heaven should affect our activities and ambitions, our recreations and friendships, and the way we spend our money and time. If I believe I'll spend eternity in a world of unending beauty and adventure, will I be content to spend all my evenings playing video games or staring at games shows, sitcoms, and ball games? Even if I keep my eyes away from impurities, how much time will I want to invest in what ultimately doesn't matter?" page 270