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Kelly Steffen - Her amazing response to "Unanswered
Prayer"
Kelly Steffen's sister and husband have passed away..... She is now a young Christian widow with 2 small children. She is currently a member of Campus Crusade for Christ and has honestly and openly shared her story on her website. She is an amazing servant of Christ, a picture of faith to many and I'm honored to call her a friend of mine. She touches my life by how she lives hers. The most recent example was at her husband, Erik's, funeral. At a time of reflection during the celebration of Erik's life, while everyone was sitting in their chairs, the music played Fernando Ortega's, Our Great God, a beautiful song........In the front row, Kelli stood up, lifted her hand in worship and sang her heart out - - the church followed her lead - - - what worship in the face of tragedy! - - - It reminds me of another saint's response, when he said "Though He (God) slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Job 13:15.
Kelly has written a wonderful, short article: A Response to Unanswered Prayer
Suffering
In the City of Indianapolis....
This is quite interesting......
A group of concerned pastors in Indianapolis, Indiana, wrote an "open letter to Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson" in response to the 14 murders in Marion County from August 1, 2006 to August 8, 2006 - all in a 1 week period! The letter was signed by Bishop T. Garret Benjamin Jr, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, the Rev. Charles Harrison and other black pastors......The Open letter entitled: Treat Underlying Causes includes the following:
Then, the article says "we are asking you to lead an initiative to raise a minimum of $25 million per year from public and private sources within the next 12 months to expand and strengthen existing social and community organizations as well as create new opportunities through faith based and other organizations to help turn our city around."
A short, editorial response a day or so later printed in the same paper from Scott Tibbs in Bloomington, Indiana, is an absolutely incredible and loving response to the Ministers: Ministers Look to Wrong Source for Solution.
Even non-Christians disagree with the approach - - Imam (an Arabic word meaning "Leader", in Islam) Muhammad Saddeeq said in a recent Indianapolis newspaper article, "the problem did not take place in the mayor's office.. and the solution will not be found there." Continuing - "we must do more than talk about the great works of Jesus, we must live those works as individuals and congregations daily in our blood-soaked communities;" Also, "Money is not the solution, Faith is the solution." Read Sadeeq's article: Lets Go Into Streets, Not Mayor's Office.
The pastor's respond back !!!! T. Garrott Benjamin Jr. (one of the pastors) responds on 1/9/07 with an article in the Indianapolis Star newspaper entitled - No world class city should have blood on its streets
Try as we might, the many ways known to man, the only true solution to a corrupt human heart is the saving Grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ. When we, only by the grace of God, give our hearts wholeheartedly to Christ, God does the following:
So -- what do you think?
Kurt Warner - "The Secret of My Success"
Four years ago, Kurt was stocking shelves in a Hy-Vee supermarket in Cedar Rapids Iowa - Today, he is perhaps the greatest sports success story ever!
From a no name, undrafted NFL quarterback, to becoming the NFL and Superbowl MVP in 2000! He has one of the greatest success stories ever - a must read ! The last line of his amazing story reads, "the secret of my success is simply Jesus Christ!" The Kurt Warner story
The Life of Blind Chang
Of all the Chinese martyrs, none died with more courage than Chang Shen (Blind Chang), the most famous evangelist in Manchuria...... What a great story of a great faith !
A clumsy native doctor robbed Chang of the little eye-sight missionaries had previously restored. No matter—Chang continued his travels from village to village, winning hundreds more, praising God when cursed and spit upon, even when people turned loose ferocious dogs to drive him away.
He learned practically the whole New Testament by memory and could quote entire chapters from the Old Testament. Unbelievable !!!!!
Q & A : Am I suffering because of a lack of faith?
Singles pastor at College Park church in Indianapolis, IN (College Park church's website), Rich Vincent answers the relationship between faith and suffering in responding to this question.
Glory Alozie - Her Biggest Hurdle in the Sydney 2000 Olympics
Glory Alozie is a 22 year old Nigerian 100Meter hurdler who participated in the Sydney Olympics. Being the second best hurdler in the world, her goal was the gold medal in Olympics. She was engaged to be married in January to a male teammate, Hyginus Alonzi, a member of Nigeria's 4x100 relay team.
"On Sept. 7, at about 9p.m., right after his nightly prayers, Hyginus, a devout Christian, jumped up off his knees and ran to a nearby 7-Eleven. Coming back, a bus slowed to let him cross the street, and he waved and ran. Maybe he forgot how everyone drives on the left in Australia instead of on the right, like at home. Maybe he never saw the car that would make him a resident of a far more silent village."
Read Rick Reilly's (Sports Illustrated) excellent article on Glory's struggles .......... Article
The Story behind Da Vinci's Last Supper painting
This is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.... It took Da Vinci 7 yrs to paint the Last Supper painting shown at left. The figures representing the twelve apostles and Christ himself were painted from living persons. Each figure took about 6 months to paint !!!! It also took weeks to find the right person to represent each of the figures. See the story behind the selection of the person to represent Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot, Christ's betrayer. Da Vinci's Last Supper
9 Steps to Identify With Those in the Developing World
Leadership magazine gives us 9 steps to identify with our brothers and sisters in third world countries....... This quick list made me really focus on all the blessings that Jesus Christ has given to us in the United States....The first 2 steps in this process are:
1. take out the furniture: leave a few old blankets, a kitchen table, maybe a wooden chair. You've never had a bed, remember?
2. throw out your clothes. Each person in the family may keep the oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. The head of the family has the only pair of shoes.
Take a look at the list and put yourself in their position...... Let me ask you one question - - If the Lord took all 9 of these blessings from you, would you still worship Him? Honestly ? Without anger ?
See the 9 steps to identifying with those in the developing world
Who is Santa Claus and what does he have to do with the suffering Jesus Christ?
Americans mess everything up ........... We're so busy finding out "what's best for me" that we turned the life of a suffering servant for Christ into a character named Santa Claus that meets every one of our selfish needs for more and more........presents.................
Who is the real Santa Claus and what's his relationship to Jesus? Take a look...........................
In 1986, as a junior at North Carolina State University, Kathy was the NCAA record holder in the 10,000 meter event at the NCAA Championships that night at IU Track and Field Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Running with the lead pack beyond the 6,500-meter mark, Ormsby ran off the track on the back stretch and across a field. She climbed a chain-link fence and ran west. Her race ended on the bank of the White River, 40 feet below the railing of the New York Street bridge. She dived. In 1996, 10 yrs. later, she was interviewed about that fateful evening. What an incredible Christian woman !
A very good paper on a question asked by Christians worldwide. This article
is written by J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. is a 1966 graduate of Dallas
Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. See other
"Suffering" articles and studies written on the
web.
Philip Yancey on the Advantages of Suffering
Philip Yancey is the author of many books including Where is God When It Hurts, The Gift of Pain: Why We Hurt and What We Can Do About It, Disappointment With God, The Dilemma of Pain as well as many others. In his book, Where is God When It Hurts, he and Monica Hellwig (a Catholic nun) prepared a very useful list of the advantages of suffering.
Columbine High School - April 1999
Cassie Bernall, a 17 yr old student at Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado, was known for carrying her Bible to school every day and wearing a "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelet. Cassie was in the library, reading her bible at the Littleton, Colo., school April 20, 1999 when a gunman burst in. He went up to Bernall and stood face-to-face with her, witnesses said...."Do you believe in God?" the gunman asked. Bernall said she believed in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and was shot in the temple, witnesses said. Bernall, who became a Christian two years ago, was studious and a member of her youth group at West Bowles Community Church in Littleton. Previously, she had dabbled in the occult, including witchcraft.............
Eyewitness accounts of other surviving students said that when Rachel Scott was confronted by one of the gunmen, she gave a bold testimony of her faith. The killer asked her, "Do you believe in God?!!" She boldly answered, "Yes I do!" She was instantly gunned down.
"For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21
Darrell Scott - Father of Rachael Scott
Who is to blame for Columbine????? Scott gives a wonderful and touching Christian response to the tragedy at Littleton, CO. Calling his daughters murderers by their first names, with no hatred or malice, he speaks the truth boldly. The issue is not an outside issue - - guns, or the NRA -- The issue lies within us ; it is spiritual and we, as a nation, and as individuals accountable to God, are starving..........
Lauren Beyer, 15 yrs old and Heidi Johnson, 16 yrs. old, shared their story from the Columbine high school tragedy and their testimony for God in Lafayette Indiana.
"We've all got to get together in this. Sure, we'd like to blame this or blame that. But the truth is, they gave their hearts over to Satan." Heidi hopes to persuade kids in Lafayette -- kids everywhere -- to give their hearts to God instead. "I want them to see a different perspective on life and the way they should be living."
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