Blood Money narrated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's niece

http://www.bloodmoneyfilm.com/trailer.php

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE LUCRATIVE, DIABOLICAL ABORTION INDUSTRY.  AFTER ALL, ABORTION IS THE MERCILESS, VIOLENT SLAUGHTER OF PRECIOUS, DEFENSELESS, VULNERABLE BABIES!  Buy it today!

PEACE is possible in this world? Really?

A so-called "friend" on facebook posted a message about the wonderful speech President Carter delivered at James Madison University back in the fall.  He gave her reason to announce, "Peace IS possible!"  Since she claims to be a follower of Jesus, I couldn't believe her comment, and proceeded to leave her a message concerning her posting.  I told her that peace is not possible in this world, according to Jesus.  His own words proclaim in Matthew 10:34-36, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'"  I John 5:20 declares, "the whole world is under the control of the evil one."  Either this person does not read her Bible, or she is one of those who delves into cafeteria Christianity, picking and choosing the verses that give her warm fuzzies, while discarding those she finds unsavory.   

Thomas Becket delivered T. S. Eliot's Christmas sermon in the play Murder in the Cathedral:

But think for a while on the meaning of this word "peace."  Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the fear of War?  Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise was a disappointment and a cheat?

"Will you take one of these parcels and pray that you will be guided to give the clothes to those most in need?"

So, with one of the unopened bundles sent from Christians in England, the merchant set off for Macao, China. Immediately upon arriving there, he went out to buy some food. Coming down the street he met a man who looked ill and starved, yet carried himself proudly in spite of the fact that all he wore on his emaciated body were a sleeveless waistcoat and a pair of ladies' panties!

The merchant stared, then gasped. This man had once been one of China's most prominent men.

"Sir, would you come and eat with me?" inquired the merchant.

"Thank you, I accept," was the dignified reply.

Together they went to a small eating house and the merchant ordered a simple meal.

"I recognized you as you came down the street," the merchant remarked as the meal progressed. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I believe you are a Christian. Will you pray with me?"

The merchant bowed his head, and very simply the nobleman said, "O Lord, thank You for answering the first two parts of my prayer. You have brought me to safety; You have given me something to eat. Now please answer the third part and give me something to wear so that I can get employment and so keep my self-respect."

"I believe God has answered that prayer already," the merchant said eagerly. "Come home with me now."

Together they opened the bundle which had been sent, with loving prayers, from London and there, right on top, lay something which had very seldom come into our hands - a man's complete suit! Rarely was there ever an entire matching suit!

Weeks later those who had sent the bundle of clothes from London, received a letter from Macao, China, bearing the signature of a man who had been one of China's wealthiest and most influential men before the Communists came into power and robbed him of home, money and family.

In that letter were many grateful thanks for the clothes he had received, and through which he had been able to gain employment. Now he was hoping to save a little money so he could help his wife and family to escape and join him once more.

He told how he, a prominent Buddhist, had been stripped of all he possessed, then thrown into prison. But it was there he had come to know Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord.

He had lost all in this world, but he had peace and joy in his heart because he was a Christian, and nothing the enemy could do would take that from him.

~excerpt from GLADYS AYLWARD with Christine Hunter

Reflect now, how our Lord Himself spoke of Peace.  He said to His disciples "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Did He mean peace as we think of it:  the kingdom of England at peace with its neighbours, the barons at peace with the King, the householder counting over his peaceful gains, the swept hearth, his best wine for a friend at the table, his wife singing to the children? Those men, His disciples, knew no such things:  they went forth to journey afar, to suffer by land and sea, to know torture, imprisonment, disappointment, to suffer death by martyrdom. What then did He mean?  If you ask that, remember then that He said also, "Not as the world gives, give I unto you."  So then, He gave to His disciples peace, but not peace as the world gives.  *

“Realize that the aim of the Prince of Peace is not peace with unbelief and disobedience. Those are the enemies that must be destroyed, lest they destroy. When the amnesty of Jesus is despised, division is inevitable. What we meet in the biting language of Christ is a form of love that corresponds with the real world of corruption, the dullness of our hearts and the magnitude of what is at stake in our choices. If there were no great evils, no deaf hearts and no eternal consequences, perhaps the only fitting forms of love would be a... soft touch and tender words. But such a world does not kill the Son of God and hate his disciples.” ~John Piper

"There is no way to peace along the way of safety.  For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe.  Peace is the opposite of security.  To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself.  Peace means giving oneself completely to God's commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes.  Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God.  They are won when the way leads to the cross."  ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As stated in Colossians 3:15, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace." Within the body of Christ, peace is possible, of course, if we are willing to surrender all authority to Jesus.  Face facts folks, that's a big "if."  By the way, the person on facebook, who sings in her church choir, claiming to be my friend, deleted my comment on peace. How ironic that immediately after professing how peace is possible, as one key is pressed, she demonstrates how unlikely that possibility is with one swift stroke of her hand.  

*The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950, New York:  Harcourt Brace, 1952, pp. 198-99.  

BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

The other day, my twenty-five year old twin sons and I engaged in a stimulating conversation centered around God's mercy, fairness and judgment of those who have not heard the good news of Jesus, from those who have surrendered their all to Him.  Adam spoke of how blessed we are to have been born in the U.S. of A.  Of course, we had no control over where and when we were born, for that was all in God's plan.  Romans 1 instructs us that "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  Romans 10:17-18 tells us, "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  But I ask, Did they not hear?  Of course they did:  'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.'"  Psalm 19:1 declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."  Titus 2:11-14, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good."  Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  As we progressed deeper into our discussion, I suggested that perhaps we are not truly the blessed ones.  Yes, we are surrounded by abundant material blessings, safety and health.  However, the fear of God has been cast away in our rotting culture.  Around the globe, there are people who fear God and are eager to learn of and serve Him with their whole hearts.  Many of them live in squalor, poverty and disease.  Who are the truly blessed?  Those who were born into wealthy countries where they have no need for and no desire for God?  Or those who were born into poor, undeveloped countries where they yearn to give their all to Him?  The Bible clearly teaches in Luke 6:20 that the poor will inherit the Kingdom of God, while it's hard for the rich to enter heaven.  In Acts 9:36 and Galatians 2:10, His Word teaches us to treat the poor with high regard.


My entire life I've known of Christian churches equipping Americans to go and be missionaries on foreign soil.  My thinking is that is a wasteful use of money, time and energy lavished upon sending those who do not know the language or culture, when, instead, it makes much more sense to equip indigenous missionaries to spread the Gospel of Jesus to their own people.  I believe we were born for such a time as this to make a difference for our King of kings and Lord of lords here in our native country.  In recent years, missionaries from other countries have been coming here in an attempt to dispel the darkness spread by satan in the U.S. of A.  Jesus' light, love, salt and truth are desperately needed here, and we must heed the call.  Millions of Muslims around the world are professing Jesus is Lord.  Folks are dreaming dreams and seeing visions in countries where the strongholds of materialism, intellectualism, narcissism, pride, humanism, feminism and the total disregard for the value and dignity of each human life are not getting in the way of their hunger and thirst for Jesus Christ.  They have the ears to hear and the hearts to understand.  God is moving mightily among the poor, forgotten and downtrodden of the world.    

Thanks to Jesus Walking in My Life

Presence of mind for problem solving and quick wit,
Such fine abilities are among Emmaline's gifts.
Jesus walking.

Displaying insight far beyond her brief years,
To our Lord, Hannah Rose both listens and hears.
Jesus walking.

Finding humor in every situation,
Quite a talent Adam has for inspiring fun.
Jesus walking.

Hanging out with his sisters and mother,
Joseph watches the back of his brother.
Jesus walking.

Teaching with wisdom that is very sage,
Counseling from Chuck can help any age.
Jesus walking.

Lavishing immense care on both young and old,
Under Ellie's watchfulness, lives she helps mold.
Jesus walking.

Her gentle, sweet spirit is such a rare find,
All know dear Sarah to be one of a kind.
Jesus walking.

On His strength she relies for her talent to cope,
Living for Jesus has given Helen her Hope.
Jesus walking.

Countless young lives inspired by his mentoring skills,
The right path, purpose, assurance Lindy instills.
Jesus walking.

Devotion to family, community, job,
Nana's witness that she is by no means a slob.
Jesus walking.

God Is In Control

God could have shown us how great He is. He could have displayed how powerful and above us He is. Instead, He became as small as we are. What did Jesus know that enabled Him to do what He did? Here's part of the answer. He knew the value of people (His sheeple). He knew that each human being is a treasure. And because He did, people were not a source of stress, but a source of joy. Jesus knows how you feel. You are precious to Him. So precious that He became like you, so that you would come to Him. It is outrageous for the Christ whose rightful place is at the right hand of His Father to step out of timelessness into our world to live as one of us. For people with bodies, important things like love have to be embodied, or else people with bodies would never in a trillion years understand about love. It was not necessary to nail Him to His cross. His unfailing love, arms opened wide for us, would have held Him there. That I should such a life destroy yet live by Him I killed! He lived for us, then He died for us, and then He rose for us. His death atoned for our sins, and His resurrection opens the door to everlasting life. How much easier it would have been for Him to not give us a choice. But to remove the choice would be to remove the love. The one who chose to love created one who could love in return… Now …. it's our choice. Jesus is fishing for us, not to kill us but to give us life. God woos us with kindness. He changes our character with the passion of His love.

God is looking down on this earth, half angry because His beloved mankind has cheated on Him, has committed adultery, and yet He is hopelessly in love with her.  God's goodness is spurred by His nature, not by our worthiness. We are wanted by God, pursued by God. He is wanting to preserve us, to guide us through the darkness of the shadow of death up into eternal life in His presence. We are temporarily in these shells on this earth. Paul had no questions. That is how he could be beaten one day, imprisoned the next, and released only to be beaten again and never ask God why. He understood the earth is fallen. He understood the rules of Rome could not save mankind, that mankind could not save itself; rather it must be rescued. He knew he was not in the promised land, but still in the desert. We seem to forget - perhaps more truthfully, we refuse to remember - that we are the ones who betrayed Him, not vice versa. We are the ones who listened to the lies of the evil one in the Garden; we chose to mistrust the heart of God. Why, oh why do we have difficulty believing in the God who created the entire universe? Why do we have trouble believing in the One who sent His only Son to save us from ourselves? In the same way God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, so he has delivered us from eternal death to eternal life through His beloved son. He's delivered us from bondage to sin, bondage to narcissism, into fullness of life lived with and for Him. 

True, God is in control of the universe. True, He can prevent suffering whenever He sees fit. However, that doesn't mean that everything that happens is His doing.  Wherever free will exists, by the very nature of things, consequences of choice must exist. These consequences will be either good or bad, depending on the decisions that are made. We are all being tempted by satan. Pain, suffering and death are the result of man's abuse of free will. God does not prevent man's disobedience, even though He knows the consequences will be devastating. He allows a man to reap what he sows. Selfishness grows from the anarchy seed, the seed of the evil one. satan lashes out on the earth like a madman, setting tribes against each other in Rwanda. satan devastates many lives through starvation, alcoholism, substance abuse and pornography. satan is at work in economic chaos around the world, and the corporate-driven greed of American executives. satan is at work in the holocaust of violent, non-loving, disrespecting aborting of babies in the U.S. of A., the narcissism, materialism and intellectualism in America, social class snobbery, and the self-absorption we wallow in when we do not ensure our next generation is brought up in a culture with enriching, wholesome values. What a great responsibility it is to be human. We are human because God made us. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. We experience suffering and temptation because mankind chose to follow satan. God is reaching out to rescue us … God made nature to sing His praises, to declare His glory and to love Him. He made humans with the ability to choose. He could have ordered our obedience; instead He calls for our heart.

Hannah Rose's Name and Quilt

Praying like Hannah did in I Samuel 1:11, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant‘s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life,” I also asked God to bless me with children, believing as Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a gift from the Lord.” Experiencing infertility as a young married woman, I believed He would bless me with such treasures, as told to Hannah in I Samuel 1: 17 “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.” Song of Solomon 2:1, “I am a rose of Sharon,” was the other verse fraught with meaning for me when naming my much prayed for daughter, the rose of Sharon symbolizing fertility. Believing one day I would birth a daughter, I chose her lovely name and stitched, for her in faith, a handmade quilt seven years before her birth. Gracing her hand wrought work of love are Hannah Rose’s name, the scripture verses from I Samuel and Song of Solomon and the year I created it.

God Is In Control

God could have shown us how great He is. He could have displayed how powerful and above us He is. Instead, He became as small as we are. What did Jesus know that enabled Him to do what He did? Here's part of the answer. He knew the value of people (His sheeple). He knew that each human being is a treasure. And because He did, people were not a source of stress, but a source of joy. Jesus knows how you feel. You are precious to Him. So precious that He became like you, so that you would come to Him. It is outrageous for the Christ whose rightful place is at the right hand of His Father to step out of timelessness into our world to live as one of us. For people with bodies, important things like love have to be embodied, or else people with bodies would never in a trillion years understand about love. It was not necessary to nail Him to His cross. His unfailing love, arms opened wide for us, would have held Him there. That I should such a life destroy yet live by Him I killed! He lived for us, then He died for us, and then He rose for us. His death atoned for our sins, and His resurrection opens the door to everlasting life. How much easier it would have been for Him to not give us a choice. But to remove the choice would be to remove the love. The one who chose to love created one who could love in return… Now …. it's our choice. Jesus is fishing for us, not to kill us but to give us life. God woos us with kindness. He changes our character with the passion of His love.

God is looking down on this earth, half angry because His beloved mankind has cheated on Him, has committed adultery, and yet He is hopelessly in love with her. God's goodness is spurred by His nature, not by our worthiness. We are wanted by God, pursued by God. He is wanting to preserve us, to guide us through the darkness of the shadow of death up into eternal life in His presence. We are temporarily in these shells on this earth. Paul had no questions. That is how he could be beaten one day, imprisoned the next, and released only to be beaten again and never ask God why. He understood the earth is fallen. He understood the rules of Rome could not save mankind, that mankind could not save itself; rather it must be rescued. He knew he was not in the promised land, but still in the desert. We seem to forget - perhaps more truthfully, we refuse to remember - that we are the ones who betrayed Him, not vice versa. We are the ones who listened to the lies of the evil one in the Garden; we chose to mistrust the heart of God. Why, oh why do we have difficulty believing in the God who created the entire universe? Why do we have trouble believing in the One who sent His only Son to save us from ourselves? In the same way God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, so he has delivered us from eternal death to eternal life through His beloved son. He's delivered us from bondage to sin, bondage to narcissism, into fullness of life lived with and for Him.

True, God is in control of the universe. True, He can prevent suffering whenever He sees fit. However, that doesn't mean that everything that happens is His doing. Wherever free will exists, by the very nature of things, consequences of choice must exist. These consequences will be either good or bad, depending on the decisions that are made. We are all being tempted by satan. Pain, suffering and death are the result of man's abuse of free will. God does not prevent man's disobedience, even though He knows the consequences will be devastating. He allows a man to reap what he sows. Selfishness grows from the anarchy seed, the seed of the evil one. satan lashes out on the earth like a madman, setting tribes against each other in Rwanda. satan devastates many lives through starvation, alcoholism, substance abuse and pornography. satan is at work in economic chaos around the world, and the corporate-driven greed of American executives. satan is at work in the holocaust of violent, non-loving, disrespecting aborting of babies in the U.S. of A., the narcissism, materialism and intellectualism in America, social class snobbery, and the self-absorption we wallow in when we do not ensure our next generation is brought up in a culture with enriching, wholesome values. What a great responsibility it is to be human. We are human because God made us. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. We experience suffering and temptation because mankind chose to follow satan. God is reaching out to rescue us … God made nature to sing His praises, to declare His glory and to love Him. He made humans with the ability to choose. He could have ordered our obedience; instead He calls for our heart.