Verse Of The Day 11-27-09

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will – to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

Ephesians 1:3 - 8

Verse Of The Day 11-26-09

Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it.

1 Corinthians 12:27

Verse Of The Day 11-25-09

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19 - 20

Verse Of The Day 11-24-09

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.

Hebrews 4:14 - 16

Verse Of The Day 11-23-09

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.

Romans 5:1 - 2

More Dangerous Than AIDS?

During the 1980's I remember when AIDS was first being discovered and talked about. There was a lot of fear. We didn't know how exactly a person got it. We didn't know if latex gloves could prevent it. Now, you've all grown up with a lot of knowledge about AIDS and much less fear.

Several weeks back we learned that more children die each year from preventable illness than AIDS. Certainly there is much we can do about AIDS but the solution is very complicated. Here is an article that discusses the 3.5 million children who die every year of another disease. Can you guess what it is? You may have had it at one point.

(Click Here)

Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Verse Of The Day 11-20-09

I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.

John 5:15

Verse Of The Day 11-19-09

You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
– even death on a cross!
As a result God exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5 - 11

Verse Of The Day 11-18-09

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Verse Of The Day 11-17-09

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

Another Kind Of Childhood Slavery

In our discussions of slavery, we have only mentioned bonded labor and forced prostitution. There is another kind of slavery that is estimated to have affected some 300,000 children and teens worldwide. They are called child soldier, boys and girls who are forced or abducted into a rebel army and forced to fight in armed conflict. The following is a brief story about a girl in Uganda, Africa. It is from http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/child-soldiers

"I would like you to give a message. Please do your best to tell the world what is happening to us, the children. So that other children don't have to pass through this violence."

The 15-year-old girl who ended an interview to Amnesty International with this plea was forcibly abducted at night from her home by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an armed opposition movement fighting the Ugandan Government. She was made to kill a boy who tried to escape. She saw another boy being hacked to death for not raising the alarm when a friend ran away. She was beaten when she dropped a water container and ran for cover under gunfire. She received 35 days of military training and was sent to fight the government army.

The use of children as soldiers has been universally condemned as abhorrent and unacceptable. Yet over the last ten years hundreds of thousands of children have fought and died in conflicts around the world.

Children involved in armed conflict are frequently killed or injured during combat or while carrying out other tasks. They are forced to engage in hazardous activities such as laying mines or explosives, as well as using weapons. Child soldiers are usually forced to live under harsh conditions with insufficient food and little or no access to healthcare. They are almost always treated brutally, subjected to beatings and humiliating treatment. Punishments for mistakes or desertion are often very severe. Girl soldiers are particularly at risk of rape, sexual harassment and abuse as well as being involved in combat and other tasks.

The Lord's Resistance Army is certainly not Christian, but they have taken elements of Christianity and replaced the substance with a violent agenda. I wanted to say that so you wouldn't be confused. To find out more the Wikipedia page is accurate. Wikipedia Link

Be sure to spend some time browsing the War Child Website this week and learning about the plight of teens in war torn countries. War Child

Verse Of The Day 11-16-09

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Verse Of The Day 11-13-09

My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work. Just as it is written, “He has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 - 9

Verse Of The Day 11-12-09

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:33

verse Of The Day 11-11-09

John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

Luke 3:11

Is Your Chocolate Slave Free?

Based on the discussion we had at youth group on Sunday here is a page that discusses chocolate slavery and lists brands that are slave free. Be sure to look at the take action page too as it has several good ways to voice the truth to companies that profit from slavery.

Good Chocolate Production

Verse Of The Day 11-10-09

Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:42

Fall Of The Berlin Wall

Peace Is Baffling

Kru Nam: Story of the week

This video is from 2007. It's an interesting story of how one person's pursuit of justice lead her to act first and find support later.

Verse Of The Day 11-9-09

“‘Sure to be judged is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms.

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

He says, “I will build myself a large palace

with spacious upper rooms.”

He cuts windows in its walls,

panels it with cedar, and paints its rooms red.

Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink.

He did what was just and right.

So things went well with him.

He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’

But you are always thinking and looking

for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.

Your eyes and your heart are set

on killing some innocent person

and committing fraud and oppression.

Jeremiah 22:13 - 17

Verse Of The Day 11-6-09

The Lord says, “Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land.

Jeremiah 22:3

Is It Kidnapping?

This is an interesting story. 23 Americans who worked for the CIA and the Air Force were convicted in an Italian court for kidnapping a terrorism suspect and illegally transporting him to Egypt where they allegedly tortured him. The CIA has done this since the Clinton administration but their frequency increased during the Bush administration.

The Italian government tried this case to send a message to the US and others who do this that they disagree with the tactics.

The lawyer in the case said, "This decision sends a clear message to all governments that even in the fight against terrorism you can't forsake the basic rights of our democracies." - Armando Spataro, deputy public prosecutor in Milan, Italy,

What do you think? Is the actions of the US just as bad as others who kidnap people and take them to other countries? Or does the threat of terror justify us going around the justice system of another country? Should the fact that we follow Christ make a difference in our support or disapproval of these tactics? Leave comments with your thoughts.

Italy Convicts 23 Americans

Verse Of The Day 11-5-09

Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.
But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
No one is concerned about justice;
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression
and give birth to sin.
They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.
Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes.
They are eager to do evil,
quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy.
They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust.
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.

Isaiah 59:1 - 8

Verse Of The Day 11-4-09

Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak,
for the legal rights of all the dying.

Proverbs 31:8

Verse Of The Day 11-3-09

“‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God."

Lev. 19:9 - 10

Website of The Week

This is the International Justice Mission site. They are the organization who helped put together the videos we see on Sunday afternoons.

http://www.ijm.org/

Verse Of The Day 11-2-09

"When you finish tithing all your income in the third year (the year of tithing), you must give it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows so that they may eat to their satisfaction in your villages. "

Deut. 26:12

The Organized Crime Link

Sex trafficking is perhaps the form of trafficking that yields the most profit and organized crime syndicates understand that. This article is talking about a huge crackdown across the country. The youngest victim was 10.

52 Children Rescued