ATTENTION: Please SCROLL DOWN this page to find the article titled on this post in LARGE BRIGHT BLUE CAPITAL LETTERS. Thank you.)
[NOTE: If you scroll down the right side of this page, you will note my first update in my JOURNAL in just over a year. Check it out for the latest concerning me.]
JANUARY IS “SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE” MONTH - To help you to pray for the end of abortion in America"21 Days of Prayer for Life Prayer Guide," pdf - http://www.colsoncenter.org/images/content/colson2011/21-days-of-prayer-for-life.pdf (Read post #1463 below.)
UPDATE: "IRS Won’t Ask Nonprofits to Collect Social Security Numbers" - Kelsey Harkness / Jan.07, 2016; http://dailysignal.com/2016/01/07/irs-wont-ask-nonprofits-to-collect-social-security-numbers/ “... Nonprofits have neither the financial resources nor sufficient staffing to combat hackers who will see an easy source for Social Security information,” he said. “This also creates a liability nightmare for innocent nonprofits…To be asked to share their address, their credit card number and their Social Security number all in the same place would be enough to scare even the most committed donor to decline to give.”
PRAYER MATTERS:"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting Him to accomplish His perfect and loving will." - Stan
9/24 - LATEST UPDATE ON PASTOR SAEED: This week, Iranian intelligence officers interrogated American Pastor Saeed Abedini.They repeatedly used a taser gun on Pastor Saeed as they threatened him with additional time in Iran’s most deadly prison. Pastor Saeed needs two surgeries while Iran denies him the medical care he so badly needs. And now they shock him repeatedly. The interrogators abused him and threatened him with new bogus charges based on more lies. Pastor Saeed again denied all of these allegations.
"'We Can't Forget' Pastor Saeed's 1,000 Days in Prison" - By Abigail Robertson, June 24, 2015, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/June/We-Cant-Forget-Pastor-Saeeds-1000-Days-in-Prison/
"Pastor Saeed Abedini has been imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith for 1,000 days, June 23... 'We cannot move forward with an Iranian nuclear deal while Pastor Saeed sits in prison as well as three other Americans,' he said. Mahoney also called upon Christians around the world to come together in prayer.
'Pray for Saeed and his family, pray for safety for our brothers and sisters around the world, and also pray for our elected officials and President Obama that they would not be silent, ' Mahoney urged. 'We believe that as Christians pray around the world, we can see Pastor Saeed's release.' "
Urgent Petition: Defend Christians - Defeat ISIS. - Go to http://aclj.org/jihad/say-no-to-a-third-term-of-president-obamas-failed-foreign-policy?view=donFrmB&utm_expid=7567081-8.vdNbXkfzQUyJhpww3WXtYQ.1&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign= "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted...
7/24 - ASIA BIBI CONVICTION OVERTURNED! PRAY THAT SHE (IN VERY POOR HEALTH) MIGHT BE RELEASED WHEN HER CASE IS REVIEWED SOON. - A Christian mom had been sentenced to death in Pakistan for her faith. Asia Bibi was falsely accused of “blasphemy” – speaking against the prophet Muhammad. Now this wife and mother of five will hang for her Christian faith.She would be the first woman executed under Pakistan’s Shariah blasphemy law.This is the ultimate human rights violation. We’re mobilizing our international affiliate – the European Centre for Law and Justice – and its partner in Pakistan to stop this atrocity. Go to http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/breaking-pakistans-supreme-court-accepts-petition-to-hear-asia-bibis-appeal;please add your signature to over 300,000 others AND continue to pray for Asia Bibi.
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"God's Promise to All Peoples - CELEBRATING THE EPIPHANY" - By: Eric Metaxas|Breakpoint.org: Jan.5,2016;
http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/28687?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=ecb125afe9-BP_Daily_1_06_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-ecb125afe9-6541173
Another Christmas has come and gone. Or has it? If you look closely, there’s one more gift yet to open.
Every year, PNC Wealth Management calculates the cost of the gifts mentioned in the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” From a bill of $12,623 in 1984—the first year of the survey—Christmas has gotten increasingly costly, totaling more than $34,000 this year. If you were to pay for each gift every time it’s mentioned in the song, you’d be more than $155,000 poorer. Who knew that labor costs for “10 Lords a-Leaping” would be so high? Not included in their estimate, apparently, is the price of therapy to help you get the song out of your head.
Even without “The 12 Days of Christmas” ringing in their ears many people are ready to be done with Christmas by the day after. But to end Christmas too soon neglects one of the most important elements of the Christmas story. In some churches, the Christmas season on the church calendar begins on Christmas Day and runs for twelve days, ending on January 5. January 6 ...brings both the final story of Christmas and launches a new liturgical season, Epiphany.
The word “epiphany” means “to show” or “to make known,” and the feast of Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the magi, or Three Kings, as some traditions call them. As recorded in Matthew 2, after a long and arduous journey, and guided by a mysterious star, these wise men find the Christ-child in Bethlehem. In Christian legend, the three wise men hailed from the near mid-East and were named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Various stories describe them as coming from Persia, Yemen, and even India.
In a recent BreakPoint, I shared the amazing history of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. But I didn’t mention a legend from the time that the Persians invaded Palestine in 614. It is told that the invaders spared the church because of a mosaic depicting the magi in Persian dress.While we don’t know many factual details about the magi, the Bible tells us that when they saw the baby Jesus, they fell to their knees and worshipped Him, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. From their example comes our practice of giving gifts at Christmas.
However, Epiphany isn’t so much about the gifts of the magi, but about an even greater gift—the fulfillment of a promise for the long-awaited messiah, Jesus Christ. I’m sure you recall the stirring words of the aged Simeon who took the infant Jesus in his arms at the Temple and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
At Epiphany we’re reminded that the promise of redemption has always been for the whole world. God came not only to His own, but to us outsiders—like the Magi—the lost and darkened souls who had never even heard about God’s promise. That’s the reason that Epiphany is also known as the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
Which is why this feast day is a particularly joyful celebration for the likes of you and me. Epiphany is the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:2: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
But here’s another critical message in the Epiphany event. One of the gifts of the Magi, myrrh, was used for burials. As the famous carol goes, “its bitter perfume/breathes of life of gathering gloom/Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying/Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.”
Jesus didn’t come to Earth to stay a cute baby boy, but to grow up, manifest God’s love through words and deeds, and ultimately die on the cross to atone for the sins of the entire world. Starting with Epiphany (for this year, Jan. 6 till Easter Sunday) the next few months of the church year follow the Incarnate Word of God as He journeys to the cross and draws us ever closer to the heart of God. Let us journey with Him.
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION - Find out more about the history of this season [of Epiphany] in the Church's calendar by clicking on the links below. As Eric mentioned, it's a great time to celebrate the gift of the good news given to all peoples of the world.
RESOURCES
"The Season of Epiphany" - Dennis Bratcher | Christian Resource Institute; http://www.crivoice.org/cyepiph.html
"When Is Three Kings' Day? Facts, History Of The January 6 Holiday" - Connor Adams Sheets | International Business Times | January 2, 2015;http://www.ibtimes.com/when-three-kings-day-facts-history-january-6-holiday-1762917
"We Three Kings of Orient Are" - Lyrics - http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh254.sht
[NOTE: If you scroll down the right side of this page, you will note my first update in my JOURNAL in just over a year. Check it out for the latest concerning me.]
JANUARY IS “SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE” MONTH - To help you to pray for the end of abortion in America"21 Days of Prayer for Life Prayer Guide," pdf - http://www.colsoncenter.org/images/content/colson2011/21-days-of-prayer-for-life.pdf (Read post #1463 below.)
UPDATE: "IRS Won’t Ask Nonprofits to Collect Social Security Numbers" - Kelsey Harkness / Jan.07, 2016; http://dailysignal.com/2016/01/07/irs-wont-ask-nonprofits-to-collect-social-security-numbers/ “... Nonprofits have neither the financial resources nor sufficient staffing to combat hackers who will see an easy source for Social Security information,” he said. “This also creates a liability nightmare for innocent nonprofits…To be asked to share their address, their credit card number and their Social Security number all in the same place would be enough to scare even the most committed donor to decline to give.”
PRAYER MATTERS:"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting Him to accomplish His perfect and loving will." - Stan
PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14) Short of that, we should not be saying "God Bless America"but instead "God be merciful towards America!" - Rev. Franklin Graham once delivered this insight to his Facebook friends: "I do know that the president defends Islam and chastises Christians, rebukes our allies and befriends our enemies, and fully supports gay marriages and abortion but denies the religious freedoms of those who don't agree. Our nation is ridiculed abroad and morally crumbling within. We are in trouble. We have turned our back on God.")
PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS: Let's be praying that they might be Spirit-filled, leading us with Godly wisdom and integrity; that the Congress and the the President will find only pass legislation and enact policies that will benefit America today and future generations and NOT do any lasting harm.
Pray DAILY:1) For the Supreme Court, Pray that the justices will demonstrate more judicial RESTRAINT rather than judicial activisim as it has the past few years, esp. on issues having negative impact for generations yet born. Pray in particular that religious liberty will be defended rather than eroded by any decision handed down.2) For the National Elections NEXT November. Pray that Americans will elect leaders at the state (Governors, state legislators) and national(Congress and President)levels who have Spirit-filled wisdom, integrity, and a Biblical world-view, who will know and do what is best for us today as well as for future generations.
PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS: Let's be praying that they might be Spirit-filled, leading us with Godly wisdom and integrity; that the Congress and the the President will find only pass legislation and enact policies that will benefit America today and future generations and NOT do any lasting harm.
Pray DAILY:1) For the Supreme Court, Pray that the justices will demonstrate more judicial RESTRAINT rather than judicial activisim as it has the past few years, esp. on issues having negative impact for generations yet born. Pray in particular that religious liberty will be defended rather than eroded by any decision handed down.2) For the National Elections NEXT November. Pray that Americans will elect leaders at the state (Governors, state legislators) and national(Congress and President)levels who have Spirit-filled wisdom, integrity, and a Biblical world-view, who will know and do what is best for us today as well as for future generations.
World-Wide Prayer Requests:
"'We Can't Forget' Pastor Saeed's 1,000 Days in Prison" - By Abigail Robertson, June 24, 2015, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/June/We-Cant-Forget-Pastor-Saeeds-1000-Days-in-Prison/
"Pastor Saeed Abedini has been imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith for 1,000 days, June 23... 'We cannot move forward with an Iranian nuclear deal while Pastor Saeed sits in prison as well as three other Americans,' he said. Mahoney also called upon Christians around the world to come together in prayer.
'Pray for Saeed and his family, pray for safety for our brothers and sisters around the world, and also pray for our elected officials and President Obama that they would not be silent, ' Mahoney urged. 'We believe that as Christians pray around the world, we can see Pastor Saeed's release.' "
Urgent Petition: Defend Christians - Defeat ISIS. - Go to http://aclj.org/jihad/say-no-to-a-third-term-of-president-obamas-failed-foreign-policy?view=donFrmB&utm_expid=7567081-8.vdNbXkfzQUyJhpww3WXtYQ.1&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign= "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted...
PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that coalition forces will be able to destroy the leadership and infrastructure of ISIS. (see post #964)
/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*That President Obama would use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
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http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/28687?utm_source=Colson+Center+Master+List&utm_campaign=ecb125afe9-BP_Daily_1_06_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_84bd2dc76d-ecb125afe9-6541173
Another Christmas has come and gone. Or has it? If you look closely, there’s one more gift yet to open.
Every year, PNC Wealth Management calculates the cost of the gifts mentioned in the song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” From a bill of $12,623 in 1984—the first year of the survey—Christmas has gotten increasingly costly, totaling more than $34,000 this year. If you were to pay for each gift every time it’s mentioned in the song, you’d be more than $155,000 poorer. Who knew that labor costs for “10 Lords a-Leaping” would be so high? Not included in their estimate, apparently, is the price of therapy to help you get the song out of your head.
Even without “The 12 Days of Christmas” ringing in their ears many people are ready to be done with Christmas by the day after. But to end Christmas too soon neglects one of the most important elements of the Christmas story. In some churches, the Christmas season on the church calendar begins on Christmas Day and runs for twelve days, ending on January 5. January 6 ...brings both the final story of Christmas and launches a new liturgical season, Epiphany.
The word “epiphany” means “to show” or “to make known,” and the feast of Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the magi, or Three Kings, as some traditions call them. As recorded in Matthew 2, after a long and arduous journey, and guided by a mysterious star, these wise men find the Christ-child in Bethlehem. In Christian legend, the three wise men hailed from the near mid-East and were named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Various stories describe them as coming from Persia, Yemen, and even India.
In a recent BreakPoint, I shared the amazing history of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. But I didn’t mention a legend from the time that the Persians invaded Palestine in 614. It is told that the invaders spared the church because of a mosaic depicting the magi in Persian dress.While we don’t know many factual details about the magi, the Bible tells us that when they saw the baby Jesus, they fell to their knees and worshipped Him, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. From their example comes our practice of giving gifts at Christmas.
However, Epiphany isn’t so much about the gifts of the magi, but about an even greater gift—the fulfillment of a promise for the long-awaited messiah, Jesus Christ. I’m sure you recall the stirring words of the aged Simeon who took the infant Jesus in his arms at the Temple and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
At Epiphany we’re reminded that the promise of redemption has always been for the whole world. God came not only to His own, but to us outsiders—like the Magi—the lost and darkened souls who had never even heard about God’s promise. That’s the reason that Epiphany is also known as the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.
Which is why this feast day is a particularly joyful celebration for the likes of you and me. Epiphany is the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:2: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
But here’s another critical message in the Epiphany event. One of the gifts of the Magi, myrrh, was used for burials. As the famous carol goes, “its bitter perfume/breathes of life of gathering gloom/Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying/Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.”
Jesus didn’t come to Earth to stay a cute baby boy, but to grow up, manifest God’s love through words and deeds, and ultimately die on the cross to atone for the sins of the entire world. Starting with Epiphany (for this year, Jan. 6 till Easter Sunday) the next few months of the church year follow the Incarnate Word of God as He journeys to the cross and draws us ever closer to the heart of God. Let us journey with Him.
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION - Find out more about the history of this season [of Epiphany] in the Church's calendar by clicking on the links below. As Eric mentioned, it's a great time to celebrate the gift of the good news given to all peoples of the world.
RESOURCES
"The Season of Epiphany" - Dennis Bratcher | Christian Resource Institute; http://www.crivoice.org/cyepiph.html
"When Is Three Kings' Day? Facts, History Of The January 6 Holiday" - Connor Adams Sheets | International Business Times | January 2, 2015;http://www.ibtimes.com/when-three-kings-day-facts-history-january-6-holiday-1762917
"We Three Kings of Orient Are" - Lyrics - http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh254.sht
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