Michelle Obama cites Jesus as model for citizenship

 

First lady Michelle Obama Thursday offered a rare public reflection on her religious faith, telling a conference of the African Methodist Episcopal church that the life of Jesus Christ is a model for democratic organizing.

“It’s kind of like church,” Obama said. “Our faith journey isn’t just about showing up on Sunday for a good sermon and good music and a good meal. It’s about what we do Monday through Saturday as well, especially in those quiet moments, when the spotlight’s not on us, and we’re making those daily choices about how to live our lives.

“We see that in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t limit his ministry to the four walls of the church,” she said. “He was out there fighting injustice and speaking truth to power every single day. He was out there spreading a message of grace and redemption to the least, the last, and the lost. And our charge is to find Him everywhere, every day by how we live our lives.”

Obama, who is not a regular churchgoer, said citizenship like the practice of faith is “not a once-a-week kind of deal.”

“Democracy is also an everyday activity,” she said. “And being an engaged citizen should once again be a daily part of our lives.”


The first lady said such engagement involved “the tireless, the thankless, relentless work of making change, you know, the phone-calling, letter-writing, door-knocking, meeting-planning kind of work.”

Her appearance at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn., was dubbed an official event by the White House to recognize the history and legacy of the AME church, particularly its role in the civil rights movement.

“Time and again, history has shown us that there is nothing – nothing – more powerful than ordinary citizens coming together for a just cause,” Obama said. “And that is particularly true of folks in the AME church.”

The first lady concluded her trip to Tennessee with a campaign fundraiser in Memphis.

Source: abc News.

Only for Singles

Many single people may keep asking themselves if is okay to stay single or is it better to get married. Well staying single is not a sin. But if been single causes you to have sexual sin then you should married.

Keep in mind that as Christians singles, we are not to be going out and start dating different people like the world. We are to stay clean for that special someone that God will put in our path. Now a days people think that is okay to “try before you buy” this means they want to see if things will work out and we allow to have intimacy with our partners before committing to marriage. Often times people live this kind of life for some time and you need to understand that this is a sinful way of living your life and you are not bringing glory to our God at all. So if you meet someone well is okay to have a friendship and to go out as long as there is no intimacy. Keep in mind that if you can not control yourself and you happen to have a weak flesh then you should get married. Not to just anyone but to the right person. A godly person that has God and loves the Lord before anything else, even yourself. Not just loving and believing by words but by actions. Anyone could say that they believe in the Lord but do they walk the talk?
Avoid touching each other to prevent temptation. A good friend will never want to start something that he is not willing to finish. You never want to go there since it is a path for a sinful relationship and ones you start how can you stop it?
If you do get married, be loyal to each other.

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
1 Corinthians 7:2 NLT

Remember that if you and your partner are both believers you need to understand that you are marrying that special one for life.

6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Matthew 19:6
New Living Translation (NLT)

9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Mark 10:9
New Living Translation (NLT)

Nothing should break this marriage apart but two things. Death or adultery. If you do get divorce without any of this 2 reasons, then you will make her/him to commit adultery.

31 “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ 32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.
Matthew 5:31-32
New Living Translation (NLT)

Five reasons for singles to go for marriage.
1. Procreation

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 1:28
New Living Translation (NLT)

2. Pleasure

4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
Hebrews 13:4
New Living Translation (NLT)

3. Provision
You take a wife in order that you might protect her and care for her and nourish her as the Lord does the church. You are now to support your wife and kids. You are also to learn more about God so you could now teach your first ministry which is your family about the Lord and His commandments.
4. Partnership
It is not good to be alone, you need a helper. Many people are very okay to be on their own while others suffer greatly from loneliness and they often times get depress because they feel that no one will ever marry them. God intension is to give us a partner. In this way, we won’t feel lonely and we could serve God as a couple. Remember, it doesn’t mean that as soon as you find a godly man from your local church that you will stop attending and now you will dedicate your life to your husband. We are to love and dedicate our life to God and a godly partner will be with you all the way and will understand the real meaning of growing in knowledge of Christ.
5. Purity
The bed is not defiled, it’s undefiled. The husband then must fulfill his duty to his wife and likewise also the wife to her husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs.
1 Corinthians 7:3
New Living Translation (NLT)

Paul says, “Look, it’s okay to be single, it’s okay to live without any relationships with the opposite sex, but it’s a whole lot better to marry because of immoralities. And then when you do marry, you have the duty to fulfill to each other.” That duty, obviously, is to render the physical affection that is consistent and God-ordained for the procreation and the pleasure of people in a marriage.
In fact, the duty is so high in a marriage that the wife doesn’t even have authority over her own body, the husband does. And likewise, the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body but the wife does. So, stop depriving one another. Paul says that’s not what God is asking. Have your own wife, have your own husband and fulfill your duties to each other. And do not deprive each other of that.”

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
1 Corinthians 7:5
New Living Translation (NLT)

If there is some exigency in your life, some trauma in your life, some issue in your life which much like fasting from food, consumes you with sadness and sorrow, these kinds of things flee your mind. You agree to that. But come together again.” Why? “So that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Don’t do that. You give Satan opportunity.
So the opposite is true. You think that you’ll be more pure by withholding that. The truth is, you’re going to go right down the path that Satan wants you to go into sin cause you’re going to be tempted because of your inability to exercise self-control. Get married for the sake of purity and when you’re married, fulfill your marriage covenant physically, do not deprive each other except for some great spiritual cause and come back together again so that you don’t put yourself in a position that Satan would tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
While you are still single

32 I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him.
1 Corinthians 7:32
New Living Translation (NLT)

I want you to be free from concern, one who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord, but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world how he may please his wife and his interests are divided.

34 His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:34
New Living Translation (NLT)

So there are some benefits to being single. If you have been given by God the gift, each man has his own gift. Spend that time and invest it with the Lord. Get closer to Him and learn more and serve Him in your local churches and join a ministry. It is hard to stay away from temptation but if you do have that gift then be bless and enjoy your time with happinness. what did Jesus say? “But not all men can handle that. Not everybody can handle that.”

10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!” 11 “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps.
Matthew 19:10-11
New Living Translation (NLT)

Staying singles It’s honorable. It has great potential to keep you single-minded and focused. But it’s a gift, it’s a unique gift. The gift is best known by those who feel strong, complete comfort in being single and no strong desire for a partner, for an intimate partner, a life partner. It’s an option. But please don’t conclude that there’s anything wrong with a God-given gift of physical intimacy. Singleness, the last thing that God wants out of singleness is sexual promiscuity. Be single if that’s not a problem. If that’s a problem, get married.
Is sexual activity unspiritual? No. But it must be perform while been in a marriage so it won’t become a sin in your life.
If you don’t have the gift of singleness. Should the formerly married remarry? Yes if they desire to be married because it’s better to be married than to burn. But if you can be single, be single and focus on the Kingdom.
You’re single and you come to Christ. Are you now supposed to be a monk the rest of your life? Are you supposed to be celibate the rest of your life? No. If you have that gift, fine. If you don’t, get married.
Becoming a Christian does not of necessity mean that you have to make some dramatic alteration of your marital status. That’s not what the Lord requires.
If you can remain single in the service of Christ, do so, but not to the jeopardy of your purity. If that’s an issue, get married. And if that’s an issue, don’t postpone your marriage cause marriage postponed constitutes an illegitimate single life. Just think about it if you are indeed getting married in a year from now? What might happen between now and then, do you have any idea?
Single people, don’t delay. If God’s designed you for marriage, get married. If you’re divorced or widowed and you can stay single, stay single. If not, and you have grounds for remarriage, get married. If you’re widowed and you can stay single, if not get married.
“I’m so far down the line, I’ve already messed up all that.” Well you’ll be glad to know if we confess our sins, He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It’s all about His forgiveness.
Are you ready to be forgiven? Make the decision and follow Christ and be ready to be use in a magnificent way to glorify the name of the Lord.

What is the motive in your life?

Now a days, most of us, think that success comes in a big peace into our life. But instead success comes in peaces into our life. Most people don’t have a formula for their problems. You want to get from one place to the other without suffering and expect to have success in your life without picking up the cross.
So what do we do? We pick up the pieces, develop a plan, and put the pieces together. Some might say that they don’t have enough money so they decide to go to school, which is a process that at the end will put you in a different place in your life.
So what to do? When you have a problem, work the pieces. Take it in small pieces and don’t dream of a big solution because that is most likely not going to happen. When you decide to work on your problems and you start to lay down the pieces, the biggest mistake that you could make is to start laying down the wrong pieces. When you are laying down a plan to solve an issue, make sure you don’t get distracted and get thrown off by a person, an issue, a relationship or spiritual warfare.
A person can have a strong passion to do the right thing, has a very clear, holy and righteous motive and then they can meet somebody. As you are laying down the pieces to develop a plan in your life, this distraction could make you get the wrong piece and this will change the course of your life.
We have been focus, we have been doing great, we were clear about the assignment but along the way we get manipulated by this distraction and they introduce a different set of values and priorities in your life.
Maybe you were married or in a relationship and all of a sudden you met this other person and now you’re not sure? Has this happen to you?
When you are succeeding in your plan, you become a target. As your motive is to spread the word of God and preach the gospel, you become more vulnerable. We must stay focus on the plan that we had lay down and stick to it. But as you are bringing glory to our Lord, we might be victims of this distractions.
Now you had a distraction in your life, which cause a change in your plan and now your life changes and often times we tend to focus on what the distraction did to you not on what we allow to happen. In order for you not to fall in this dirty plan from satan to get you off track, keep in mind this simple questions.
Be careful who you allow to override God’s will for your life.
Be careful when you allow someone to get into your life because you feel lonely, or you feel you have no friends. Maybe the lack of attention at home or the experimenting draws you into this distraction.
Some people are not thinking of you but just a moment of glory. 
They are not focus on you but themselves, on their needs, on their desires. They don’t care on the plan God have set up for you and the consequences of your distraction will bring into your life.
There is a story on 1 Kings 13 which explains how a young prophet was given a  commandment to follow and was given instructions on how to return back home but there was also an old prophet that heard about this young prophet prophesying the word of God to the king Jeroboam so he went and look for him. He lie to the young prophet about how to return back home. He told him that and angel of God has send him there to take him back home. He was not to eat or drink but to go back home in a different route and the young prophet believed him and fail to follow God’s commands. He was then kill as a punishment and the old prophet was not punished.
Is this fair? You are trying your best to fulfill the Lord’s plans and we allow a distraction to alter the plans. We get punish but how about the distraction? Well have you ever been the young prophet in your life and someone has taken advantage of you? Or have you ever been the old prophet and you have used others to your convenience making them stumble along the way?
Well my beloved brothers and sisters, I have been both in my life time. I have allowed distractions to get my focus off God’s plan and also there has been times when I don’t act mature enough to think about the other person’s feelings. We need to understand that there is one goal in this lifetime and is not about you all the time nor to fullfil your dreams and desires. People also have a plan in their life and we must ask ourself “are we the old prophet in their life?”
So what is your story? What have been your distractions in life? Has it been addictions, relationships, trouble forgiving, self focus? Whatever the distraction is you must repent and confess it to the Lord so your sins could be forgiven. Keep in mind that there is only one sin that will lead you to death and that is to not believe in the Son of God Jesus Christ.
Has this message touched you in any way? The love of our Heavenly Father could change hearts. Start the walk and make a change for youself and your family. Be the leader your family deserves. All you have to do is Surrender and make the decision to follow Christ and be ready to be use in a magnificent way to glorify the name of the Lord.

by Chr1stlike. 

Father's Day Celebrations Around The World

Father's Day is an important day in the modern era. And acquiring all the knowledge we possibly can would not only enhance our ideas about the importance of a Father in our lives and the family, but also, steer us to create a further awareness among our friends, peers, and dear ones to respect the Day even more. Here's a brief information on the celebration of Father's Day across the world over. I am are sure you wont miss out on forwarding the page for others to read as well...


 Surprisingly, the dates of the celebration of Father's Day are not the same everywhere. The customs and traditions differ from one country to another. With the earliest record of Father's Day found in the ruins of Babylon, one can easily understand the fact that Father Day has been celebrated for centuries. The Countries, where the Catholic Church were of significant influence on the culture and society, Father's Day is celebrated on St. Joseph's Day (March 19). However, a more secular celebration which is not associated with any religion is followed in recent times to reflect the increased diversity of the people who live there. There are times when the Dads get a little lucky and enjoy Father's Day goodies more than once every year!
Indulging the sweet daddies with breakfast in bed; gifting out cards, flowers, chocolates ,neckties, shirts, electronic gadgets, stationery items; games and various other activities, get-together mark Father's Day to strengthen the bond between a father and child and are the traditional way of celebrating Father's Day not only in U.S. but also, all over the world in the recent times.

Father's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm and gifts galore to reflect on the invaluable role and contribution of fathers in the family. People honor their father and express gratitude for his love and affection on Father's Day . As a Father's Day tradition, people in US and Canada, along with their Dads, pay tribute to grandfather, stepfather, foster father, uncle or men who plays the Father figure role in their lives.

The tradition of celebrating Fathers Day in Canada has been influenced from US. People in Canada too wear roses to express gratitude and love for their father as their US counterparts. The event is popularly observed as a time for family reunion as well, with children staying away from families coming together to celebrate the day with their fathers and other loved ones; Paying tribute by giving out donations in the name of their fathers or by performing acts of service; Dining out. Business in restaurants and eating joints witness a huge rush on the occasion.

Several clubs, schools and cultural societies in United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia, South Africa organize Fathers Day parties and get-together and provide people an opportunity to celebrate the day in a wide scale to stress the importance of Father's role in the development of the family and the society as a whole. The effort to spread a sense of responsibility and devotion to fathers are also made besides, children who in turn are encouraged to pay full attention and respect to their father.
The occasion in Australia is celebrated privately in households. Breakfast meeting for families is also a common affair of Father Day celebrations in Australia.

Many in South Africa go out for picnic, fishing or just for a meal in restaurant.
Celebrating Father's Day is a new concept in other African countries and as well as in India and highly influenced by the U.S. celebrations. It is perhaps not even a decade old. The idea of honoring fathers has been appreciated by Africans/Indians as well to a large extent like all other countries. The event is marked by expressing gratitude for fathers. Father's Day celebration in Africa and India takes place in the same way as in UK or US though in a limited way. Awareness about Fathers Day festival is much greater in metropolitan cities and bigger towns due to the greater exposure of people to the western cultures and is fast catching up with people in smaller towns and cities of Africa and India as well. The idea is to instill noble values and principles in children to pay due respect to the elders especially dads and understand the importance of a family.

However, the popularity of Fathers Day has also led to an extensive commercialization of the event. According to critics the rigorous marketing campaign has spoiled the noble idea of honoring fathers on Father's Day as many observe the day by performing the mere formality of presenting gifts to dad. Others, on the other hand see the positive side of commercialization and consider that it has helped to spread awareness and the significance about the day for children to honor their fathers.

In a few days I will be coming up with another post to honor my own father Mr Oscar Don Korosso and I will as well like to dedicate it to all other caring and loving fathers who have lost their beloved children through death,drugs,drunkenness,possessive spouses,etc.

I just find this a bit hilarious....

New Life In Christ

So you have met the Master. You have made Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of your life. That is your first and biggest step. Now what?

In the Bible Jesus tells a Parable (a story with a spiritual point) about a sower who went out to sow seed. The seed represents God's word and Jesus tells the different results that come to the seed depending on where it falls.(See Luke 8:5-8)I remember coming across this scripture in my Bible soon after I made the decision you have just made. I saw that some of the seed fell on good ground and that is the seed that produced a hundredfold crop. I remember praying very fervently: "Lord make ME the good ground where your seed falls. I want to produce the BIG hundredfold crop in my life!" And that is what I pray for you right now; I hope you will also want the most fruit for yourself-every single blessing and joy God has for you. I can tell you for sure that is what He wants for you.
The decisions you make in the beginning of your walk with the Lord lay the foundation for your whole life and help you to stay clear of bad soil that has thorns and rocks and wayside places where you can be devoured. By the way, don't doubt your decision. If you asked Jesus to come into your heart, that's were he is right this minute. Now let us begin to explore how you can make your life the "good ground."

Communion with God - Prayer

The most important starting place is that place in your heart where you have communion with God called prayer. Prayer is nothing more than talking to God and you need to do it daily. If you have ever been in love you know how you want to talk to that person all the time; spend as much time with them as you can. That's how God feels about his relationship with us; he is absolutely crazy about spending time with us and he is available and eager 24/7 to listen and share. You share what is on your heart and as you go along you will also listen to him tell you what is on his heart. It's a two way street. (For a greater discussion on prayer, go to The Prayer Closet.)
You can talk to God anywhere, anytime. While you are driving. Taking a shower. Sipping some tea or doing the laundry. It is also a good idea to have some special time set aside each day to talk everything over with him and ask him for your daily needs. Just be yourself and be honest. No special or fancy language is needed; he isn't impressed with stilted "thee's and thou's." Tell him how you really feel; he's the only one in the whole universe who absolutely loves you unconditionally no matter what.

Read the Bible

If you do not have a Bible you need to get hold of one as soon as possible. The Bible is the best selling book of all time and there is a reason for that: God wrote it. It is his own inspired handbook in which he tells us who he is and all about how to make the very most of life. In the Book of John, Chapter 10, verse 10 it says: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
I suggest a translation of the Bible that is written in modern language that is easy to understand. When Jesus walked the earth, he talked to his disciples and the crowds who followed him around in the popular street language of the day. There are many choices in Bibles so you might want to head out to a Christian book store and ask for some help from a knowledgeable staff person. Make time every day to read God's Word. Ask the Lord to give you a hunger for his Word and see how your desire to read the Bible grows. Before you start reading, ask for God's help to understand and then apply what he shows you in his Word.

Find a good Church

You will find it immensely helpful to find fellowship with other Christians. God designed the Christian walk to be one of interdependence. In fact, he compares his church to a human body with many parts that are all fit together with himself as the Head. (See 1Corinthians 12:12-27) The Christian church is not so much an organization as it is an organism.

Find a church where they believe that the Bible is the true Word of God and the believers in the church appear to have made the same decision you have. Find a church that is alive and relevant and where the love of God and each other appears to be the priority. You will want a church where the teaching and preaching is deep and powerful and where you feel like you are growing more and more each week you attend. A place you can be excited about and say each Sunday after the service, "Oh I can't wait for next week when I can come again."

Many good churches offer small weekly fellowship groups or Bible Studies. It is an opportunity to meet with a smaller group of people who you really get to know well and who care about you personally and will prayer for you. Take full advantage of every ministry and opportunity that the church offers and you will see how fast you will grow. If you are already in a church but it doesn't seem like what I have described here, talk to the Lord about finding a new church home. Trust him to lead you to the right church for you.

There are many helps in the Christian walk and I hope you will find some additional ones right here in the Cupboard. Wander around and enjoy yourself. As you start your new journey I would love to hear from you and know how you are doing.

Pastor Creflo Dollar denies attacking daughter

In this Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 photo, Rev. Creflo Dollar gives his Wednesday night service at World Changers Church International, in College Park, Ga. Dollar has been arrested after authorities say he slightly hurt his 15-year-old daughter in a fight at his metro Atlanta home. Fayette County Sheriff's Office investigator Brent Rowan says deputies responded to a call of domestic violence at the home around 1 a.m. Friday, June 8, 2012. Rowan says the 50-year-old pastor and his daughter were arguing over whether she could go to a party when Dollar "got physical" with her, leaving her with "superficial injuries."

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar has taken to his pulpit to deny punching and choking his 15-year-old daughter, telling his congregation the allegations made in a police report are nothing but "exaggeration and sensationalism."

"I will say this emphatically: I should have never been arrested," Dollar said Sunday in his first public appearance two days after police charged him with misdemeanor counts of simple battery and cruelty to children.

The pastor got an enthusiastic ovation from the packed church as he took the pulpit at the World Changers Church International in the Atlanta suburb of College Park. He addressed the criminal charges head-on for several minutes before moving on to his sermon.

"I want you all to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household," Dollar said.

The 50-year-old Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta, with 30,000 members in the Atlanta area and a ministry of satellite churches across the U.S.

He was arrested after his 15-year-old daughter called 911 at about 1 a.m. Friday and told a Fayette County sheriff's deputy that she and her father argued when he said she couldn't go to a party. A police report says the girl told a deputy her father charged at her, put his hands around her throat, began to punch her and started hitting her with his shoe. The deputy noted a scratch on her neck.

The report said the deputy also interviewed Dollar's 19-year-old daughter, who said her father grabbed her sister's shoulders and slapped her in the face and choked her for about five seconds. She said her sister tried to break free, but did not fight back. When her father threw the 15-year-old on the floor, the older girl ran to get her mother. Dollar's wife, Taffi, told the deputy she did not see the fight.

Dollar launched into a lengthy denial of the allegations from the pulpit.

"The truth is that a family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional," he said. "And emotions got involved and things escalated from there."

He said the mark on his daughter's neck had been there for about 10 years and was caused by a skin condition, eczema.

"The truth is she was not choked, she was not punched. There were not any scratches on her neck," Dollar said. "But the only thing on her neck was a prior skin abrasion from eczema. Anything else is exaggeration and sensationalism."

Dollar didn't publicly display any anger toward his children.

"I will never put any fault on my children, as Jesus would never put any fault on me," he said.

Dollar's wife is a co-pastor at the church. She addressed the congregation before her husband but did not touch on the allegations.

Dollar's congregation appeared supportive Sunday, giving him sustained applause as he took the stage. As he spoke, people in the sanctuary yelled encouragement: "We love you!" and "We've got your back!" As he talked about the difficulty dealing with teenage children in a "culture of disrespect," many in the crowd nodded in agreement.

Members of the church seemed to close ranks around Dollar even before he addressed them. Dozens of people approached by The Associated Press as they arrived for the service declined to comment, and the few who did expressed support. After the service, many were still reluctant to comment, but those who did said they were satisfied with their pastor's comments.

"When I first heard what he was accused of, I didn't believe it. I knew there had to be more to the story," said Phyllissa Wolley, 23, a daycare worker who has attended the church for about five years. "I felt like he addressed the accusations today, and I believe what he said. To hear from him personally, I really appreciated that. I was glad to hear his side of the story."

Others said the media blew the accusations out of proportion without having all the facts and they felt vindicated after hearing Dollar speak.

"I think you're looking at a bunch of sensationalism," said George Blake of Ellenwood, adding that he thought the media rushed to tell the story without knowing the full story. The 49-year-old said he never questioned his pastor of eight years.

"It's not up to me to me to be satisfied with what he had to say," Blake said. "This is a man of God spreading the word of God."

Dollar, who has five children, is a native of College Park and says he received a vision for the church in 1986. He held the first service in front of eight people in an elementary school cafeteria. His ministry grew quickly and the church moved into its present location, an 8,500-seat sanctuary, on Dec. 24, 1995.

Along with Bishop Eddie Long, Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta who have built successful ministries on the prosperity gospel, which teaches that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches. Ministers in this tradition often hold up their own wealth as evidence that the teaching works

Dollar said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press that he renounced his church salary, and his income only comes from personal investments, including a real estate residential property business and horse breeding company called Dollar Ranch. He's also published more than 30 books, focusing mostly on family and life issues, including debt management.

He said he also sometimes got up to $100,000 for a single appearance on his packed schedule of speaking engagements.

 Source: CBSnews.

God Desires All to Be Saved, and Grants Repentance to Some

          

Put two texts together, and see what you see.

“God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (eis epignōsin alētheias)” (1 Timothy 2:4).
“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth (eis epignōsin alētheias)” (2 Timothy 2:25).

Here’s what I see:

1. Though God desires all people to be saved, he “may perhaps grant repentance.” Which I think means that God’s desire for all to be saved does not lead him to save all. God has desires that do not reach the level of volition. They are restrained by other considerations — like his wisdom, which guides him to display his glory in the fullest way. He has his reasons for why he “may perhaps grant repentance” to some sinners, and not to others.

2. The “knowledge of the truth” is a gift of God. God “grants [i.e., gives] repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” Without the gift of repentance, we would not know the truth. This is evidently what 1 Timothy 2:4 means also: We must be “saved and [in that way] come to a knowledge of the truth.” Saved from our blindness to the truth.

3. Therefore the truth Paul has in mind is not truth that the natural man can see. But the natural man can see a lot of truth. Tens of thousands of truths are open to the natural mind. What truth can the natural man not see? The natural man cannot see the glory of Christ in the gospel. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

4. This is why God must “grant” what it takes to see the truth of the gospel. We are blind to it. And Satan keeps us that way. Until God “grants” repentance (metanoia) — the change of mind that can see and receive the truth of the gospel.

5. Therefore, our prayers for the unbelievers we love, and our evangelism, should be driven by this one and only hope for their salvation: “God may perhaps grant them repentance.” Since he alone has the power to overcome spiritual deadness and Satanic blindness, we lay hold in prayer and witness on the truth: “God may grant repentance.” That is our only hope.

So let us follow Paul: “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1). And: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

What Will Be the Sign of His Coming?

Both the disciples (Matthew 24:3) and Jesus refer to "the end" (v. 14). That means that there is a time appointed by God in which the world "as we know it" will come to an end. The terrifying events of the Last Days will usher in the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ to the earth (Matthew 24:29-31).

If we take no other comfort from the words of Jesus, we ought to rejoice that he clearly is the Lord of history and the master of all earthly circumstances. Because he is the Son of God, he could see clearly into the distant future. He knew about the wars that would ravage mankind, and he knew that his followers would be brutally attacked. He knew that many false messiahs would claim his name, and he also looked to a day when the true gospel would be spread across the earth. No wonder he could say, "See to it that you are not alarmed" (Matthew 24:6). That's a good word for times like these. The very next sentence reads: "Such things must happen." This is not a promise that we will be spared from suffering, but it is a declaration that hard times are foreknown by the Lord. They "must happen" because Almighty God has willed it so.

The world "as we know it" is coming to an end.
There are many things we know and many things we don't know about the future. This much is certain: Jesus is coming again. And his return may be sooner than we think.
Jesus is coming. Are you ready?

LeBron being LeBron!

LeBron James is having another great post-season. But don't tell that to his critics

This whole We Hate LeBron thing reminds me of a story.

A woman is in front of an apartment house that's engulfed in flames. She's screaming, "Help! Help! My baby's in there!"

A man sprints up and says, "Which floor?"

"Tenth!" she screams. "In the back!"

He rips off his coat and goes running in. Five minutes later, he's back, coughing, choking, and handing the woman the baby.

She looks at the man with a frown and sniffs, "He had a hat."

That's life for LeBron James.

Anything short of an NBA title makes James a useless wad of pre-chewed pork gristle in your eyes. Whatever he does -- three MVPs in nine seasons -- it's never enough.

You hate him -- still! -- for the way he botched the announcement of his free-agent move from Cleveland to Miami.

Forget that hundreds of people move from Cleveland to Miami every year.
Forget that dozens of NBA players change teams every year.
It was only one mistake. Has he showed up in any police reports since? Has he cheated on his fiancée ? Has he left his children stranded in the pick-up circle at school?
Has he refused to speak to reporters after a single game this season? Has he called out his teammates for their poor play, as Kobe Bryant did twice this postseason? Has he gotten his coach fired? Been fined for criticizing refs? Asked to be traded, released or named general manager?
Has he punched anybody? Choked anybody? Screamed at any parking valets? (Mom doesn't count.)
Smashed a chair? Drop-kicked any equipment? Tiger Woods does that on the front nine.
OK, LeBron is not perfect. Threw a Gatorade cup. Punched a walking stick. Carries that stupid little man purse. But if you were to fill a plane with the most spoiled superstars in the country, he'd be boarding in the D group.
You despise him because he passes too much. Imagine that. You hate a modern NBA player for not being selfish.

OK, I'd like to see him use his bag of hoop tricks to drive more at the end of games, too. But it's not like he hasn't done it, dozens and dozens of times, including huge fourth quarters against Boston and Chicago in last season's playoffs.
You people seem to want him to take it every single time, even with Dwyane Wade as a teammate. And Chris Bosh. But it's The Big Three, isn't it? Not The Big One.
And just so you know: In playoff games, LeBron has taken 13 final shots in tight games in regulation and hit five of them to win or tie. Kobe has taken twice that and hit only seven. Can we all just take a Xanax?

Besides, he passes so exquisitely. His passes are clairvoyant, leading teammates to places they didn't even know they were supposed to go. They're as soft and buttery as croissants. Why wouldn't you want him passing?

And why is the hoops world so hypercritical of this one thing when he's so brilliant at every other part of the game? Defense? He's guarded every position against the Celtics -- the 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. "He's guarded everybody but me," says Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
Only Rajon Rondo is even close in all-around brilliance this postseason. James is second in points, fourth in steals, 10th in assists, second in minutes. He leads his team in double-doubles and the league in double standards. Wade missed an open jumper to lose Game 4 in overtime -- how come he's not "scared"?

Last year, you hated him for being a shrinker. Now you hate him for not being a closer. Every game, he must CLOSE. Was Magic Johnson a closer? A few times, yes. Every freaking time? No. And by the way, most of the time James doesn't need to close because he has been so drop-your-popcorn good the entire game.
Aren't we still playing the game of basketball? What happened to attacking the defense where it's softest? What's wrong with looking for the open shot? Aren't his 12 teammates getting paid, too?

LeBron James in 2003, around the time the expectations for him began to build.

People -- enough. This whole "Crown or Drown" thinking on James has to stop. Grown men are actually strapping microphones to their ties and saying that if James doesn't win the title, the Heat ought to be broken up. For what? For making the Finals last year? For making (at least) the Eastern finals this year? James has been with these guys only two seasons. It took Michelangelo four years to paint the Sistine Chapel. You people would've fired him in two?

But I think the reason you hate LeBron James the most is that he just doesn't seem to suffer his failures as much as you'd like him to. You want him to brood like Kobe after losses, glare like Jordan when things don't go his way, scream at teammates like Tom Brady when they're behind.
That's not James. His spirit is too light. He's too much fun. He's a 6-foot-8 pixie, a 27-year-old kid who's addicted to kidding. He's a genuinely sweet person. You think of the great athletes of our generation -- Jordan, Woods, Lance Armstrong. They all had a bit of the jerk gene in them. James is missing it. He is loved by his teammates, not feared. So sue.

That's probably going to work against him in the long run. It will keep him from being Jordan or Kobe or Kareem. It will keep him from being enough.

But isn't that somebody you want your kids to have as their hero?

Hat or no hat?

Source: ESPN News.

Without the Resurrection, We Would All Be Lost?

A family was watching The Greatest Story Ever Told, a film on the life of Christ. One of the children in the family was deeply moved. As Jesus journeyed to Calvary, tears rolled down her cheeks. She sat absolutely silent until Jesus had been taken down from the cross and put into the tomb. Then she suddenly grinned and shouted excitedly, "Now comes the good part!"
Now comes the good part! Indeed it does! The resurrection of our Lord is the basis of our faith. Without it, we would be lost! Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
 
The gospel would be meaningless.
[I]f you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9).
 
Forgiveness of sins would be hopeless.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).
 
Present life would be joyless.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:18-19).
 
Godly living would be fruitless.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father (John 14:12).
 
Future life would be worthless.
Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2).

Do you understand what is at stake? If there is no resurrection, there is no Gospel; if there is no Gospel, there is no forgiveness of sin; if there is no forgiveness of sin, there is no present joy; if there is no present joy, there is no future hope.
We may sit silently during part of this life; we may shed abundant tears of sadness as we watch and wait. But just remember that Christ is preparing a place for us in His Father's house . . . and then comes the good part!
 
Source: "Then Comes the Good Part!"

Jesus: Both God and Man?

    Before there was a world, before there were planets, before there was light, before there was matter, there was Jesus. Coequal, coeternal, and coexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus was with God—and He was God. John 1:1–2 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

    We cannot pinpoint the moment in time when there was the beginning, because John was going back in time to eternity past. He was going back further than our minds can imagine.

    Jesus is God, and He left the safety of heaven. He entered our world and breathed our air and shared our pain and walked in our shoes. He was fully God and fully man. This does not mean that Jesus had the capacity to sin; this could not and would not happen. Yet He was a man. He was in a human body. He felt human emotion. He faced physical limitations. He felt real pain. It was actual blood coursing through His veins. Yet He was deity. He was God in human form.
   
   Jesus did not become identical to us, but He did become identified with us. In fact He could not have identified with us any more closely than He did. As Hebrews 4:15 reminds us, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

   It was total identification without the loss of identity as He became one of us without ceasing to be himself. He became human without ceasing to be God. Jesus left heaven, lived our life, and died our death. He has walked in your shoes—and then some.

 Taken from “Fully God and Fully Man”

How Natural Gas Will Save You Loads of Money in the Future!

It wasn’t that long ago when natural gas wasn’t the bargain that it is today. It was only a few years that natural gas was nearly $11 per thousand cubic feet or Mcf but now, in the first quarter of 2012, the fuel has hit a low of $2.08 per Mcf. (1) The reason for this drop in prices is simple to understand but what is even more important is how it will affect the average  consumer in the future.

Why is it so low?

You may have never heard the name T. Boone Pickens. If you were looking for the stereotypical Texas oil tycoon from years ago, T. Boone Pickens was that guy. He has made a fortune finding oil and has turned that fortune in to a profitable investment but this old school oil man has turned his back on the fossil fuel that made him rich.
Pickens believes that our reliance on foreign oil is much too high and in light of that, he came up with the Pickens plan which, along with its reliance on wind and solar power, wants to see natural gas become the fuel of choice.
America has the lowest natural gas prices in the world making it the obvious choice for a domestic fuel source but the reason the price has dropped is the most basic of economic concepts: supply and demand. Because of new, efficient ways to collect natural gas, there is far too much supply and with an unseasonably warm winter, America is running out of places to put the natural gas. Most experts agree that we have enough domestic natural gas to satisfy our energy demands for a very long time and it only makes sense to transition to this fuel.

How does that help me?

First, if you have a natural gas furnace, your heating costs were surely lower than usual this winter. This along with water heaters, stoves, dryers, and any other natural gas powered household items likely made you a little more happy after looking at your gas bill.
But there’s more coming. With natural gas this low, there is a renewed call to transition our vehicles over to natural gas. With gasoline sitting around $4 per gallon, natural gas would cost slightly above $2.50 for the same amount. This represents a 40% discount on our weekly fueling costs. As commercial vehicles make the switch, the costs of transporting food will also drop hopefully making our food costs more affordable.
In addition, more electric power plants are transitioning from coal to natural gas, driving down the cost of electricity.

What’s the problem?

The problem is that the infrastructure isn’t in place. There are only a relative handful of natural gas filling stations across the country. Six states currently have no natural gas filling stations and those that do may only have a few. Giving a car the ability to burn both natural gas and gasoline comes with an $8,000 price tag while installing a system that allows a vehicle to fill up with natural gas at home may cost $5,000 or more. That can make you think twice about selling your gas hog – it’s a lot of money to recoup before a savings is realized.

The Bottom Line

Natural gas is still in its infancy. As more filling stations come online and automobile manufacturers begin rolling out cars that can run on natural gas and traditional gasoline, natural gas will become as mainstream as gasoline over time and this will likely represent a substantial fuel savings for consumers.



References:
http://geology.com/articles/natural-gas-prices

"If Anyone Loves Me He Will Keep My Word"

John 14:15–24,

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

Before I pray, let me say a word about where we are going in the preaching this summer. If the Lord wills. Today and next weekend I would like to finish the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Then on June 17, I hope to address the issue of homosexuality and so-called homosexual “marriage.” Then we will have a guest on June 24, Ed Stetzer, on 1 Peter 4. And in July and August a nine week series on 2 Timothy:

“To Him Be Glory Forever and Ever”
Unashamed of Christ and Ready to Suffer
A Summer in Second Timothy

The plan is for me to do five of those nine and when I am on vacation for other pastors to do four. Summer is for seeing and savoring and showing Christ. Keep Christ at the center. Wherever you go, don’t neglect worship with God’s people. The point of today’s sermon, and my experience in Bucharest and Geneva and Hamburg, is that Jesus Christ will be with you, and manifest himself to you wherever you are.

Enjoying the Risen Christ

I serve a risen Saviour,
He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy,
I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him
He's always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and He talks with me
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He live, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives:
He lives within my heart.

My prayer is that when this message is over, you will be able to sing that song with more conviction and more joy and a sweeter experience of fellowship with the risen Christ than you’ve ever known before.

Disciples in Need of Encouragement

These words in John 14:15–24 were spoken just hours before the greatest event in world history — the greatest act of love in history — namely, the death of the incarnate Son of God in the place of sinners so that everyone who receives him and believes on him will be forgiven all our sins and be accepted as righteous by the creator of the universe into the never-ending joy of eternal life. What Jesus is saying here assumes that. He is, as he said in John 10:15, about to lay down his life for the sheep.
And these sheep — these eleven precious friends, apostles — are very confused and fearful and in need of much encouragement because of what they are about to face in the loss of Jesus. And that is what Jesus does for them, and not only for them, but for you — for everyone who believes in his name.
And his message here to them, and to us, is that when he dies, he will live again, and he and the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to us and be with us forever, and never leave us, no matter where we are, or what is happening to us.

God’s Special Love for His Own

Let’s make two introductory observations about what Jesus says here.
First, he makes explicit that the gifts he is promising to us here are not given to the world. Or to say it another way, the love that he promises us here is not a love that he has for the world. There is the John 3:16 love of God: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes will not perish but have eternal life.”
But here there is a love — there are gifts — that God reserves for his own. Look at verses 16–17:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

And verse 19: “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.”
And verse 22: “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’”
So it is clear from verses 17, 19, and 22 that the gift of intimacy and help and love being promised in these verses is something the world cannot see, does not know, is not given, and does not experience. What is promised here is something so personal, so intimate, so reciprocal and relational that the world cannot receive it.
That’s the first introductory observation.

His Beloved People’s Love for His Son

The second is that whose who do receive these gifts — these promises, this love — are not simply called Christians or believers, they are described repeatedly — four times as those who love Jesus.
Verse 15–16: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.”
Verse 21: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father.” This is not a love God has for the world. This is a personal, intimate, relational, affectionate, committed love from the Father only for those who love Jesus.
Verse 23: “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him.’” We know from Romans 5:8 that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t wait for us to love him before he loved us. And we know that’s what John believed too, because in 1 John 4:19 he says, “We love because he first loved us.” No doubt about it. Gloriously true.
And now here is another glorious truth. Verse 21: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father.” Or again in verse 23, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him.” In other words, God’s love precedes and enables our love (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:19). And God responds to our love and loves with a unique, personal, intimate, affectionate, caring, committed love that belongs only to those who love his Son.
Those are the two introductory observations. The promises of these verses are not for the world. They can’t see them, know them, or experience them. Rather, this love is for those who love Jesus.
Now just two more questions. What does it mean to love Jesus? And what are we promised if we do?

1. What does it mean to love Jesus?

Jesus tells us four times that this love is of such a nature that it results in the keeping of Jesus’s “commandments,” or, more generally, his “word.”

• Verse 15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
• Verse 21: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”
• Verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”
• Verse 24: “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”

The first thing to notice is that loving Jesus is not the same as keeping his commandments. It precedes and gives rise to keeping the commandments. Keeping his word is the result of loving him, not the same as loving him.

• Verse 15: “If you love me, [the result will be that] you will keep my commandments.”
• Verse 23: “If anyone loves me, [the result will be that] he will keep my word.”

So, what is this love for Jesus that gives rise to keeping the commandments of Jesus? Jesus has no defects. He has no demerit. Therefore, we cannot and dare not love him graciously, the way God loves us. We dare not love him with a love that overcomes some fault or ugliness or sin in Jesus to treat him well. No. Love for Jesus is entirely deserved. He is infinitely worthy of being loved. He is perfectly lovely. He is loved not in spite of what he is, but because of all that he is.
Which means that love for him is a response to beauty and greatness and glory. It is not a response to need or weakness or defect. Which also means that love for Jesus is pleasurable. It’s desiring him because he is infinitely desirable. It’s admiring him because he is infinitely admirable. It’s treasuring him because he is infinitely valuable. It’s enjoying him because he is infinitely enjoyable. It’s being satisfied with all that he is, because he is infinitely satisfying. It’s the reflex of the awakened and new-born human soul to all that is true and good and beautiful, embodied in Jesus.
In short, loving Jesus is not a matter of doing excellent things. It’s a matter of delighting in an excellent Savior. Jesus says doing excellent things — keeping my word — is the result of delighting in the excellent Savior. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”

Love: Wanting, Desiring, Enjoying, Preferring

Two confirmations that we are on the right track. The word love in John’s Gospel is used like this. For example, John 3:19 says, “People loved the darkness rather than the light.” That is what they wanted. They desired it. They enjoyed it. They preferred it. They didn’t love the darkness out of duty. They loved it out of craving.
The same kind of love is in John 12:43: “They loved the glory of man more than the glory of God.” They wanted it. That’s what loving it means. They longed for it. They craved human praise. That’s how they “loved” it.
Or consider the Father’s love for the Son John 3:35: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” Remember the words of the Father at the baptism of Jesus and at his transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
This is the only way to love the Son: to be pleased with him. To feel pleasure in him. To esteem and admire and enjoy and treasure and stand in trembling, happy awe of him.
That’s one confirmation. The word “love” is used that way. The other is to ask: What are the commandments Jesus has in mind when he says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

The “Commandments” in Jesus’s Mind

When you read through the whole Gospel of John just looking for specific moral-behavior commandments, what do you find? You find about two explicit commandments that you might call moral-behavior commandments: the new commandment to love each other as Jesus loved us (John 13:34–35), and the command to Peter: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:16).
But Jesus didn’t say, “If you love me, you will keep my moral behavior commandments.” He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (verse 15). So if you read through the Gospel again, what you find is lots of commandments like: “Receive me” (1:12). “Follow me” (1:43). Get up, crippled man (5:8). Rise from the dead, Lazarus! (11:43). “Believe in the light” (12:36). “Believe in God” (14:1). “Believe me” (14:11). “Abide in me” (15:4). “Ask whatever you wish” (15:7). “Abide in my love” (15:9). “Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). These are the commandments that are all over the Gospel of John.
Now how does that confirm the way we have understood love for Jesus in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”? Because if the commandments in the Gospel of John are overwhelmingly receive, believe, ask, abide, then it makes perfect sense that Jesus would say, “If you love me — if you desire me and delight in me and treasure me — then you will receive me, and believe me and abide in me.”
In other words, if you have been born again so that you treasure Jesus above all other treasures, and he commands you, “Receive me,” “Take me,” “Have me as your treasure,” we will. If we have been born again so that we find him supremely and wonderfully trustworthy, and he commands us, “Trust me,” “Believe me,” we will. And if we are born again so that we long to be with him, and he commands us, “Abide in me,” we will.
So my answer to the first question: What does] it mean to love Jesus in John 14:15, 21, and 23 is that it means to treasure him above all others, to desire him, long for him, enjoy him, be satisfied in all that he is.

2. What are we promised if we love him?

Now the last question is what does Jesus promise such people, a few hours before he goes to die for them?
The sum of the promise is: The Father, the Holy Spirit, and I will be with you forever. We will never forsake you no matter where you are. But to say that, Jesus piles up an amazing array of expressions. Let’s walk through and spot them.
Verse 16: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” When he calls him “another Helper,” he means that this Helper is not the Father and he is not me, because I am the first helper. This second Helper is the Holy Spirit (verse 26). When Jesus returns to heaven, the Father will give the Holy Spirit, another helper. He promises.
Verse 17: “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” The Helper, the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of truth. That is, he will help you by opening you mind and heart to glorious truth about Jesus. He is with you now, in my presence, and he will be in you in a new way when I pour him out after my ascension.
Verse 18: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Not only will the Holy Spirit come. Jesus will come. And he will give us what orphans need: they need protection and provision and guidance. Jesus will be all that and more, now, in this life. He will not leave us without help.
Verse 19: “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” In three days I will rise from the dead. But I will not start my ministry over again on the earth before the world the way I have ministered for three years. I will appear to you. You will see me. I will assure your hearts by a bodily resurrection that you will see. And because I live, you will live.
Verse 20: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” You will have assurance. I will give it to you — assurance that I and the Father are one. And that you and I are bound together forever, I in you and you in me. If death couldn’t sever it, nothing will sever it.
Verse 21: “And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” My Father and I have a special, close, family love for you. And in that love I will manifest myself to you. I will show you things about me that the world cannot see or know. They are experienced by those who love me and treasure me and receive me. And keep my commandments.
Verse 23 in answer to the question why this manifestation will not be for the world, Jesus simply says again: It’s for those who love me — “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Heaven on Earth

I end with this. The word “home” is used only one other time in John, namely, verse 2, “In my Father’s house are many rooms [same word as “home” in verse 23]. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” Which means: If you love me and keep my word, my Father and I will come to you and — in all your suffering and trials — give you heaven on earth.
We have prepared a dwelling for you in heaven. We are that dwelling. And if you have me and keep my word, we will come and be that dwelling for you now.

Love Him, Receive Him, Abide in Him

Therefore, love him. Keep his sweet commandments to receive him and abide in him. Overflow with his fullness for others in love. And he will come to you, and the Holy Spirit will come and the Father will come, and they will protect you and provide for you and lead you — you won’t be an orphan. And they will comfort you, and love you in a very personal way the world does not know, and they will manifest Jesus to you, and make you their home.
Amen.

Religion Deserves More Study by Scientists, Say Researchers

Iranian men perform the weekly Friday prayer at Tehran University.

Two scientists who have met with would-be terrorists and cruel dictators in some of the world's hottest trouble spots have issued an unusual challenge to their colleagues: Focus your labs and your brain scanners and your cognitive skills on religion.
They aren't trying to convert anyone. They just think it's high time for scientists to stop ignoring something that plays a critical role in the lives of billions of people around the world.
"Religion is not something that scientists study very deeply," anthropologist Scott Atran, lead author of a study published in this week's issue of the journal Science, said in a telephone interview. "There is sort of an agreement between science and religion to remain separate, and I think that has not been a good thing."
Here's the problem, as seen by Atran, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his coauthor, social psychologist Jeremy Ginges of the New School for Social Research in New York City:

Religion can shape a society in which it flourishes, bringing about mutual trust and solidarity and sacred rituals that are so powerful that citizens are willing to kill or die for the good of the community.
 But religion can also hinder a nation's ability to work out differences with its neighbors, especially if the neighbors don't have a clue as to what that religion is all about.
And, according to the authors, that's precisely the mess we find ourselves in today.
We go to war without understanding the deep seated drives and dreams of adversaries who see a very different world. Atran and Ginges think scientists should pay more attention to that.
"Science can help us understand religion just as much as it can help us understand the genome or the structure of the universe," Atran said. So why aren't they more willing to dig into religion?
Probably, said Atran, because most scientists are "non-religious, including myself. If you look at the National Academy of Sciences well over 90 percent are non religious."
That may explain why some of the bestselling books by scientists aren't about science as much as they are about religion, or the reasons why it's no longer necessary to believe.
Atran was particularly critical of a cadre of scientists called the "new atheists" who have aggressively sought to discredit all religions, contending in general that science has now answered the questions that only religions could answer in the days before evolution.
"The idea that we can simply wish this (religion) away, or argue it away, is crazy," he said. "Arguing that facts and reason will get rid of religion is crazy. We sprinkle some kind of magical reasoning dust around and everyone becomes reasonable?"
Or, as the study puts it: "seemingly contrary evidence seldom undermines religious belief."
The researchers argue that incredibly few wars are started by religions, but once they start, religion -- and the values it imposes -- plays a central role.
"In fact, explicit religious issues have motivated only a small minority of recorded wars," they write. "There is little religious cause for the internecine Russian and Chinese conflicts and world wars responsible for history's most lethal century of intergroup conflict."
 Even suicide bombers do not act purely on religious grounds, Atran contends. He has met with failed bombers in Indonesia, Gaza, Morocco and elsewhere and found them generally a bland group who had been "infected" with the "bug" of radicalism, according to his testimony to Congress. They are infused with "sacred values," including devotion of the state.
The same issue of Science also chronicles the work of Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, who has studied 2,200 suicide attacks between 1980 and 2009. Pape and his colleagues contend their research shows "strong confirmation for the hypothesis that military occupation is the main factor driving suicide terrorism."

 They are not sacrificing their own lives for religion. They are doing it for the land. Thus, they conclude, no nation should become an occupier unless it is clearly welcome.
Yet religion plays a role, even in suicide bombing, in that it programs people to be willing to sacrifice all in defense of a "sacred value."
"A study we did on Iranians shows that having a nuclear program has nothing to do with religion," Atran said. "But it has become a religious subject for at least 13 percent of the population, and those 13 percent are closest to the regime. And so they now believe a nuclear program is bound up with the notion of national identity and with Islam itself."

Source: ABC News

'Serpent-Handling' West Virginia Pastor Dies From Snake Bite

Pastor Mack Wolford, a member of the Pentecostal "Signs Following" tradition, handles a rattlesnake during a service at the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, W.V., in this Sept. 2, 2011

A "serpent-handling" West Virginia pastor died after his rattlesnake bit him during a church ritual, just as the man had apparently watched a snake kill his father years before.
Pentecostal pastor Mark Wolford, 44, hosted an outdoor service at the Panther Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia Sunday, which he touted on his Facebook page prior to the event.
"I am looking for a great time this Sunday," Wolford wrote May 22, according to the Washington Post. "It is going to be a homecoming like the old days. Good 'ole raised in the holler or mountain ridge running, Holy Ghost-filled speaking-in-tongues sign believers."
Robin Vanover, Wolford's sister, told the Washington Post that 30 minutes into the outdoor service, Wolford passed around a poisonous timber rattlesnake, which eventually bit him.
"He laid it on the ground," Vanover said in the interview, "and he sat down next to the snake, and it bit him on the thigh."
Vanover said Wolford was then transported to a family member's home in Bluefield about 80 miles away to recover. But as the situation worsened, he was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Jim Shires, owner of the Cravens-Shires Funeral Home in Bluefield, told ABC News that Wolford died Monday. Wolford's church, the Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka, will host a viewing Friday and a funeral service Saturday morning. Wolford will be buried at the Hicks Family Plot in Phelps, Ky.

Officials at the Panther Wildlife Management Area had been unaware of Sunday's event until they were notified by callers after the service.
"We did not know that this event was happening, and if we had known about it or if we had been asked for permission, permission would not have been granted," Hoy Murphy, public information officer for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, told ABC News.
Hoy said West Virginia state park rules prohibit animals other than dogs and cats on the property.
While snake-handling is legal in West Virginia, other Appalachian states, including Kentucky and Tennessee, have banned the practice in public spaces.
Snake-handlers point to scripture as evidence that God calls them to engage in such a practice to show their faith in him. Mark 16: 17-18 reads, "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Wolford told the Washington Post magazine that he is carrying on the tradition of his ancestors by engaging in snake handling.
"Anybody can do it that believes it," Wolford said. "Jesus said, 'These signs shall follow them which believe.' This is a sign to show people that God has the power."
Wolford said watched his own father die at the age of 39 after a rattlesnake bit him during a similar service.
"He lived 101/2 hours," Wolford told the Washington Post Magazine. "When he got bit, he said he wanted to die in the church. Three hours after he was bitten, his kidneys shut down. After a while, your heart stops. I hated to see him go, but he died for what he believed in.
"I know it's real; it is the power of God," Wolford told the Washington Post Magazine last year. "If I didn't do it, if I'd never gotten back involved, it'd be the same as denying the power and saying it was not real."

House Rejects Ban on Sex-Selection Abortions

The House voted today to reject a measure that would have banned sex-selection abortions in the United States, pitting Republicans and Democrats in a showdown over a woman’s right to choose, which opponents contended was “intended to chip away at woman’s right to obtain safe, legal medical care.”
The measure, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), was defeated 246-178. Under suspension of the House rules to permit consideration of the bill more quickly, approval of the measure was subject to a two-thirds majority, and with 414 members voting Republicans fell 30 votes short of passage.
The bill was perceived by Democrats as political maneuver to coax liberal lawmakers into supporting the bill or face the prospect of an onslaught of campaign advertisements this fall highlighting a lawmaker’s vote to support sex-selection abortions.
Still, only 20 Democrats took the bait and broke from their party to vote with the majority of Republicans. Seven GOPers opposed the measure.
The House debated the bill Wednesday, but a vote was postponed until Thursday afternoon.
After the plight of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng captured international headlines this month, Republicans had hoped to capitalize on the momentum of that awareness to ensure that sex-selection abortions are not legal in the United States.
Many nations with staunchly pro-choice/pro-abortion rights laws and protections nevertheless ban sex-selection abortions. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands all have laws banning sex-selection abortions.
Earlier this week, a pro-life group released an undercover video purportedly showing a Planned Parenthood counselor in Texas assisting a woman seeking a sex-selection abortion. Gendercide, the practice of killing baby girls or terminating pregnancies solely because the fetus is female, is estimated to have produced a “gender imbalance” of more than 100 million girls around the world.
“For most of us, Mr. Speaker, ‘it’s a girl’ is cause for enormous joy, happiness and celebration,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said on the House floor Wednesday. ”But in many countries including our own, it could be a death sentence. Today the three most dangerous words in China and India are, ‘It’s a girl.’ We can’t let that happen here.”

Source: Yahoo!

Obama’s Only Hurting Himself

Gay marriage is arguably the most divisive social issue in the United States. Millions of Americans, especially those who adhere to the Christian faith, believe that marriage ought to be restricted to one man and one woman. Others, namely liberal Democrats, believe that marriage should be open to everyone, and that this issue is one of equality. Personally, I am against gay marriage, on the grounds that the act itself of sacramental nature. However, I don’t care to discuss my views on this topic. Instead, I want to focus on President Obama’s ignorant behavior over the past week. He seems convinced that this issue will single-handedly propel him to victory in November. He’s in for a rude awakening when millions of emboldened social conservatives show up at the polls to vote for Mitt Romney.

Obama’s decision to make gay marriage a wedge issue in the upcoming election betrays the incompetence of both himself and his campaign. Sure he may have used the announcement to net $15 million in donations at an exclusive Hollywood fundraiser, but at what cost? The President has nothing to gain from this announcement; he already has the “gay vote”, and few liberals are agonizing over whom to support. Essentially, Obama had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Now, he risks losing the vast number of Christians and Catholics who voted him into office in 2008.
Don’t believe me? A USA Today/Gallup poll released on Saturday shows that the announcement made 26% of Americans less likely to vote for  Obama in November. Only 13% said that his announcement made it more likely that they would vote for him. Also, a recent Pew Research Center poll showed that 25% of Americans now view Obama less favorably than before. 19% of voters they view Obama more favorably and 52% said his announcement made no difference.
These numbers speak volumes. Obama’s purely political decision to come out in support of gay marriage has done far more harm than good. Social conservatives are now emboldened to go to the polls and support traditional marriage. Republicans who may have been concerned about Mitt Romney now have a reason to vote for him: he’s the only one who will protect the sanctity of holy matrimony.
The President thinks that his announcement will make voters forget about the economy. If he truly believes that gay marriage is the best way to win this election, he’s delusional. Every time someone pay $4.00 for a gallon of gas, they will be reminded of Obama’s failures. No matter how much he tries to distract people from the real issues, the President will fail. In the end, people vote on the economy. Gay marriage won’t change the facts. Our economy is failing and the President has no answers.