| Author | Message | ||
| Maryann |
I think that we can all be thankful for the change of atmosphere on this, God's website, and for the new people that are adding so much glory to God in their words for God and in their lives. Praising God is what this life is all about and sharing God's love with all we meet. God DOES have a need! That is us to proclaim HIM! Onward and upward.........Maryann | ||
| Max |
Hi, Maryann, Yes, I think we can all thank God in prayer for the Christ-like spirit displayed on this website. Thank you for praising God for this blessing. About God having a need: What thinkest thou about the following Scripture? NIV Luke 19:37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." What would God do if we kept quiet and thus failed to meet his need for us to proclaim him? A. Stone | ||
| Chyna |
dear friends, thank you for praying for me. I had a really troubled night last night. after i tearfully wrote the walter martin site that his endorsement of SDA's led me to believe the credibility of the church and the cri publication was devastatingly misleading. leading me into a heartache i had never known before. i just stayed up and cried and cried (already sick, i knew this was bad) but i just kept crying because how could Andy have been with me and let us dream together so much when they were impossible things. i was very upset so i wrote him an e-mail on my computer. i was all set to just copy it over and send it when i had to look up a quote. i ended up browsing through our old chats. on icq you can record chats like phone messages. uncanny to some, maybe. but sweet to me. I read a handful of them. i was just so astonished by the amount of warmth and love in them shared not just by me, but him also, and evidence of real genuine talks about Christianity and our spiritual lives, concerns for each other's spiritual health. i ended up revamping that e-mail entirely, the tone entirely changed, entirely more loving. now i remember why I hated to lose him so much and why it was such a devastating thing. somehow through rewriting the e-mail my feelings toward Andy grew more peaceful also, but more than peaceful, really loving. so i just sent it to him, asking him to please read it b/c i think maybe God will touch him through it. so praise God. i won't have to spend anymore time in a funk (other than the fact that I'm sick) but not because i'm overwhelmingly sad or bitter, or angry about andy. love, Chyna | ||
| Max |
May God make his face to shine upon thee, Chyna, like the morning sunrise. | ||
| Patti |
The Lord answered our prayers this AM. Unfortunately for us, it was not the answer we were hoping for. Jerry slipped away from us shortly after midnight this morning. "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord." | ||
| Cindy |
Dear Patti, I am sad for you and your family at this time...My prayers are with you. You have been such a "kindred spirit" to me. I know the next few months will be hard for your family. I was glad and encouraged to see how you explained "the Lord answered our prayers...". My specific prayers for changed circumstances in my life have so OFTEN not been answered the way I wish they would... or thought they should have been!! I have been angry at, and despairing of God. I've been blessed in reading what Gerald Sittser writes in his book "A Grace Disguised". This was written after the loss of his mother, wife, and daughter!! in a tragic car accident caused by a drunk driver: "I simply do not see the bigger picture, but I choose to believe that ther is a bigger picture and that my loss is part of some wonderful story authored by God Himself..." "I knew that God was somehow in control. If I had anyone to turn to for help, it was God. Then again, if I had anyone to blame, it was also God. My belief in His soveriegnity was not always a comfort to me, but it did focus my attention less on people, however terrible their wrongdoing, and more on God". "I held God responsible for my circumstances. I placed my confidence in Him. I also argued with Him. In any case, God played the key role". This life is so brief and we really know so little of what the future may hold for us...all we can know is WHO holds our future. Grace always, Cindy p.s. Our family suffered a death this past spring from acute leukemia, also; so I knew how serious a disease it was with your brother. From diagnosis to the end was only 8 weeks. It still seems hard to comprehend. | ||
| Patti |
Thank you, Cindy. You are always a blessing to me. Could you do me a favor, please? Tell me the story of Jesus. You do it so well, and I need to hear it right now. The Gospel is the only thing that will get us through this. God bless, With love, Patti | ||
| Maryann |
Hi Patti, I too, am sad for you. Like Cindy said above, you are blessed to be able to accept God's answer even though it was no. You asked Cindy to tell you the story of Jesus. But I'll put Fanny Crosby's wonderful song down that we all knew so well as kids and sometimes forget as adults. "Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart ev'ry word; Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels, in chorus, Sang as they welcomed His birth, "Glory to God in the hightest! Peace and good tidings to earth." Fasting alone in the desert, Tell of the days that are past, How for our sins He was tempted, Yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of His labor, Tell of the sorrow He bore, He was despised and afflicted, Homeless, rejected and poor. Tell of the cross where they nailed Him, Writhing in anguish and pain; Tell of the grave where they laid Him, Tell how He liveth again. Love in that story so tender, Clearer than ever I see: Stay, let me weep while you whisper, Love paid the ransom for me. (and Jerry) Chorus: Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word; Tell me the story most presious, Sweetest that ever was heard." Pointing to Jesus......Maryann | ||
| Cindy |
Patti, I left for a day on the Mountain (Hood), just after I posted this morning; just got home, ate something, and checked back on here... Thank-you, Maryann, for printing the words to that wonderful song! So many great songs, aren't there?... I get "teary" just reading or singing them. A few of the hundreds I love: "Like the woman at the well, I was seeking... for things that could not satisfy, and then I heard MY SAVIOR speaking, Draw from MY WELL, that never shall run dry!" There are millions in this world who are craving, the pleasures earthly things afford. But... NONE CAN MATCH THE WONDROUS TREASURE, THAT I FIND IN JESUS CHRIST MY LORD! Fill my cup,Lord, I lift it up, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. BREAD OF HEAVEN, feed me till I want no more; Fill my cup, fill it up, And make me whole!" And... "And the OLD RUGGED CROSS MADE THE DIFFERENCE; in a life bound for heartache and defeat. I will praise HIM forever and ever! For THE CROSS MADE THE DIFFERENCE FOR ME!" Also, our assurance because of Jesus' work for us: "When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and "time" shall be no more; and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair; when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore--when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!" and of course: "AMAZING GRACE! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now am found; was blind but now I see! 'twas GRACE that taught my heart to fear, and GRACE my fears relieved; How precious did that GRACE appear, the hour I first believed! Thru many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come... Tis GRACE hath brought me safe thus far, And GRACE will lead me home! When we've been there ten thousand years, bright, shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing GOD's praise, than when we'd first begun!" I think God loves music, too! I love this from Zephaniah 3:17: "The LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU, HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE. HE WILL TAKE GREAT DELIGHT IN YOU, HE WILL QUIET YOU WITH HIS LOVE, HE WILL REJOICE OVER YOU WITH SINGING." Grace always, Cindy | ||
| Colleentinker |
Patti, I'm so sorry. I've been praying for you and for your brother. Did he ever accept Jesus, or were you able to know that? I will continue to keep you in prayer. In His love, Colleen | ||
| Max |
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Job 13:15 | ||
| Patti |
Dear friends, Many of you have lived through the death of my brother with me and with the rest of my family. Your prayers and support have been invaluable to us. Having never experienced such a close tragedy before, I can understand many things much better. First, it has been so much comfort for people to write us, call us, or email us with any word of concern and condolence. Even those responses that merely consisted of not knowing what to say are a comfort. Second, there has been such an outpouring of love from so many people that we feel truly blessed. Those of us who loved him will always remember Jerry, and we must remember him as he was. The things that endear us to our loved ones are not their perfections, but their idiosyncracies. And it is Jerryís imperfections that we will remember and cherish for the rest of our lives. He made no claims of piety or righteousness. He was a sinner and never tried to deny it. But the good news for all of us is that Jesus died for sinners, not for the righteous. I am going to close with a part of a letter from Martin Luther to his sidekick, Philipp Melanchthon: "If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from HimÖ. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner." Yes, Jerry was also a sinner, as I am, as you are. But sinners are what Christ came to save. 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." A few days before Jerry lost his battle with that dreadful disease, he was talking, talking, talking, although he was difficult to understand. One day, the last week of his life, his wife and a co-worker of his from US Customs was in the room. Among his ramblings Jerry very clearly said, "Praise the Lord." His wife bent over him and said, "Did you say, "Praise the Lord, Jerry?" Jerry responded, "Yeah, Praise the Lord." Those three words, seemingly so out of character for Jerry in his normal daily life, are priceless to those of his surviving loved ones who believe that the grace of God for the sake of Jesus Christ is sufficient. God's grace is a very real thing for us now. I know now more than ever before that we can trust in Him, not only in this world, but to keep His promises to us for the next. Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was another brother that died, and Jesus spoke to another sister hundreds of years ago: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told Him. "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God Who was to come into the world." (John 11:25-27) Likewise, I believe. Lord, help Thou mine unbelief. With warmest appreciation for your support in our time of sorrow, Grace and peace, Patti | ||
| Cindy |
Dear Patti, I have been thinking of you. Too bad we are separated so far from each other here on earth. Thank-you for your thoughts above... I read this by Reed Arvin a few years ago, and although the theology may not be exact, I like how he pictures the hope we have... "I don't understand the meaning of words like "time" and "space". But when I die, and time splinters before me, and all moments become one; I will see the Christ rise, the grave clothes tearing away in hanging strips on His arms and legs. When I see Him, I will cry out, 'Take me with you! Kill this death in me! Resurrect me!' With the Rising Christ we find the fulfillment of our hope!" Truly, our hope is built "on nothing less...than Jesus' blood and righteousness!" Grace always, Cindy | ||
| Denisegilmore |
Amen and Amen respectively. God Bless, Denise | ||
| Valm |
Dear Patti, I will pray that your family has comfort and peace through the grieving process. Thank you for sharing your story. It was a beautiful thing how God gave your family the peace and assurance that your brother is safe in the arms of Jesus. God is so good to us... even in the closure of our lives here on earth. Valerie | ||
| Colleentinker |
Patti, I'm so happy to hear about your brother's praising God. I continue to pray for you and your family. Colleen | ||
| Chyna |
hullo, i just wanted to thank God, and all of you here for helping me. everytime i start to feel bad about my friends in Adventism, i turn to this forum to read some of the posts. just knowing everyone and meeting people that come here I know that God is using this place. it makes me feel comfortable challenging the Adventists i know to come here and just simply read -- they don't even have to post. to figure out why there are FORMER adventists, and maybe why they should become former's too. love Chyna | ||
| Bmorgan |
Hi All, I am back in the States. It's rainy and cold. A great contrast to what I left yesterday, sun, sea and white sand. Thank you for praying for me guys. I reflect on all the events and incidents I encountered while I was in Grenada and praise God for every circumstance. I believe it was part of the "All things" that work together for good to those who love Christ. I Know that everything that happened was designed for me become more aware areas in my life that needed deeper healing. God can heal me in a deeper way when I expose myself to him. I accomplished the mission for my family. All the legal matters were resolved in the nick of time and I had an opportunity to share the gospel and some religious materials with the lawyer. As for those cruel people I encountered at the Adventist church, I praise God for them. I am better able to appreciate the blessing of having knowledge of and enjoy a REAL relationship with Christ in an intimate way. God has done more that I could even imagine in healing my soul and spirit and restoring to me the joy of SALVATION. We have and Awesome, awesome God. BMorgan | ||
| Denisegilmore |
I thank everyone that sent out prayers. I'm getting better and better by the day. Today, I can sit up most all day and have eaten twice in one day! That's unusual when I'm well! (the eating twice in a day part). Didn't have another seizure and my temp is down to 102. God is good. BMorgan, so happyy to hear your good report too! :) God Bless all, Denise | ||
| Chyna |
i'm glad you're better Denise! And PTL for you too, BMorgan. I just was reminded by Denise actually. Whenever I start to feel sad about Adventism, and those I know entrapped in it, I come here and read stories of people getting out, grace being heard and my spirit is renewed. God is working a great blessing through this forum. Chyna |
