pornography - where does it all lead? do you want your children viewing porn magazines or on-line websites? what would have happened to this little 12 year old girl if her mother hadn't been concerned about the time she was spending on-line? would she have been lured into child pornography as a participant?
Former B.C. prosecutor on trial for child porn
Louise Dickson, Victoria Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Former Victoria prosecutor Roger Denley apologized when his children found pornography on the family computer in 2003, Denley's former wife Dr. Ellen Skinnerland testified in B.C. Supreme Court yesterday.
"I confronted Roger, and he said he was sorry," Skinnerland told Justice Jon Sigurdson. "I asked him to account for what he was doing with pornographic pictures of young girls. He said he wouldn't do it anymore. We left it there."
Denley, who worked as a youth prosecutor, is charged with possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography. He sat calmly in the courthouse, taking notes as the evidence was presented. He appeared to have no contact with his family.
After the couple separated in August 2004, Skinnerland became concerned her youngest daughter, Julia, was spending too much time on the computer. When Skinnerland's sister checked the computer's history, she found the young girl, then 12, had set up a personal website with sexually explicit conversations.
On the advice of her daughter's counsellor, Skinnerland took copies of the website to Victoria police forensic computer expert Const. Paul Brookes, for advice. The meeting was also attended by Francis Graf, president and chief executive officer of Forensic Date Recovery Inc.
In September 2004, Skinnerland brought the family computer to Graf and paid him $2,500 to copy and analyze the hard drive.
Graf told Skinnerland much material had been deleted.
"There were 160,000 images, and he told me he saw some pre-pubescent girls. He said he could show me a few pictures," she said.
Graf, as he is required to, brought the matter to the attention of Victoria police.
Skinnerland also testified that earlier, before the separation, she had found pornographic magazines with names like Barely Legal and College Girls. Although Denley told her he destroyed the magazines, she found others, she told the court.
Defence lawyer Stephen Kelliher asked Skinnerland if she recalled Denley trying to show her "that once you get into the website, it's unpredictable what pops up?"
Skinnerland said she couldn't remember.
ldickson@tc.canwest.com
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is an independent agency responsible for regulating Canada's broadcasting and telecommunications systems. They report to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage
The Minister of Canadian Heritage is also the Minister for the Status of Women. Unbelievably this minister that is head of the CRTC that approved the license to Northern Peaks, the new pornographic channel, is a woman. I am outraged and dumbfounded.
What does she think the Status of Women is that she would allow this application to be approved?
What kind of message does she think this sends to the women and girls of Canada. Does she think that it's ok to show this violence, degradation and indignities perpetrated against women on tv? We should be fighting against it not condoning it.
An animal is treated with more dignity than a woman or girl in a pornographic movie.
Please write to the following and voice your opposition to this obscenity.
CRTC
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1A 0N2
By fax:
819-994-0218
_____
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
The Honourable Josée Verner (what is honourable about approving pornography?)
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
_____
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
_____
Your local Member of Parliament.
Your local cable or satellite provider.
Would you want your daughters to watch pornography or worse yet to be drugged or seduced into it as a participant?
What kind of message is this sending to your sons, that it's ok to abuse and debase women?
The Minister of Canadian Heritage is also the Minister for the Status of Women. Unbelievably this minister that is head of the CRTC that approved the license to Northern Peaks, the new pornographic channel, is a woman. I am outraged and dumbfounded.
What does she think the Status of Women is that she would allow this application to be approved?
What kind of message does she think this sends to the women and girls of Canada. Does she think that it's ok to show this violence, degradation and indignities perpetrated against women on tv? We should be fighting against it not condoning it.
An animal is treated with more dignity than a woman or girl in a pornographic movie.
Please write to the following and voice your opposition to this obscenity.
CRTC
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1A 0N2
By fax:
819-994-0218
_____
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
The Honourable Josée Verner (what is honourable about approving pornography?)
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
_____
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
_____
Your local Member of Parliament.
Your local cable or satellite provider.
Would you want your daughters to watch pornography or worse yet to be drugged or seduced into it as a participant?
What kind of message is this sending to your sons, that it's ok to abuse and debase women?
porn channel an abomination
i read this on-line today and sent it to everyone in my email address book. i hope each one of them will send it to everyone in their address book and so on and that everyone will write to the crtc voicing their objections. i hope that everyone will also write to their cable or satellite provider so that with enough objections the cable and satellite providers will not add the channel to its service list so they will not get a contract and the licence will expire.
Porn Channel an Abomination
Fred Henry, For The Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The CRTC approved a Canadian pay-television pornography channel called Northern Peaks last week on the basis that 50 per cent of its pornographic content would be produced in Canada, which in turn, will also lead to the creation of a pornography industry in Canada.
In justifying its decision, the CRTC argues that it never takes a moral perspective on the contents of the applications it reviews. This explanation is not only ludicrous in itself but simply not credible because the CRTC has been noticeably reluctant over the years to license religious broadcasting.
Without question, pornography has a devastating impact upon all of society, especially women and young children. Pornography teaches that women enjoy "forced" or perverse sexual activity; advocates prostitution, exhibitionism and voyeurism as normal behaviour; and regards women as sex objects to be used for one's self-gratification.
For some men, the regular use of pornography normalizes aggression toward women in sexual and other interpersonal encounters, and increases the tolerance for such aggression against women in the larger culture.
Sadly, the greatest impact may be on the young, especially males 12 through 17 years of age, because pornography portrays sexual activity outside of marriage as acceptable without the dire consequences of AIDS or other venereal diseases, and without the responsibility toward conceiving a human life.
These assertions are supported by criminal evidence. A proven direct correlation exists between crimes of rape, child abuse, and the physical abuse of a spouse, and the proliferation of pornographic materials and the presence of live porn and sexually oriented businesses in a community.
Pornography is not simply linked to a "one time, one action" phenomenon, but may become like a spiritual cancer that corrupts the person.
Dr. Victor Cline has posited four progressive effects of pornography:
(1) addiction, where the need to view pornographic materials leads to a loss of free control over behaviour;
(2) escalation, where the person delves into progressively harder pornography, usually to attain the same level of sensation and arousal;
(3) desensitization, whereby the user is no longer morally sensitive to the shocking, illegal, repulsive, perverted or immoral quality of the material, but instead views it as acceptable and begins to look upon others as objects; and
(4) acting out, where the fantasizing becomes overt behaviour.
Additionally from a moral point of view, there are three reasons why pornography is wrong and sinful behaviour for individuals.
First, pornography offends the dignity of the participants (actors, vendors, the public). Each one is exploited himself or exploits others in some way for personal pleasure or gain. In all cases, the dignity of the human being -- whether the person posing, the person producing, the person distributing, or the person enjoying -- is debased.
Second, those who engage in pornography immerse themselves in a fantasy world, withdrawing from reality. While genuine love always involves a self-giving of oneself for the good of others, pornography entices a person to withdraw into a selfish world of perverted fantasy which may later be acted out to the detriment of oneself and others. This problem has increased dramatically, since the Internet offers "virtual reality" sexual interaction.
Third, pornography offends against the virtue of chastity and constitutes an assault on marriage. Each of us must respect the sanctity of our own human sexuality, which involves the integration of his physical and spiritual being. Furthermore, conjugal love which reflects the union of husband and wife, and the enactment of their vows is sacred. The conjugal act ought to express that faithful, permanent, exclusive, self-giving and life-giving love between husband and wife.
Economic values that are important today must include the enhancement of people, not their exploitation and debasement.
In making its decision on Northern Peaks, the CRTC specified that the channel would only be given its formal licence if at least one cable or satellite provider agrees to add the channel to its service list. The channel has three years to obtain such a contract or else the licence will expire.
Consider writing to your own cable provider (name and address available on your monthly bill) and advise it that if it includes this pornographic channel on its service list, you will immediately switch providers. If the cable provider believes that doing so will harm business -- the company will refuse the pornography channel.
In addition, write to the CRTC, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0N2, Fax: 819-994-0218, raising your objections to its approval of this channel -- Canadian content or not.
Fred Henry is the Catholic bishop of Calgary.
Keep the porn channel out of Canada
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Re: Stop porn channel, family group says, Aug. 22.
I think Charles McVety of the Canada Family Action Coalition is right: Canadian content is no compensation for an increase in pornography.
When I read your news article on the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) decision to licence a pornography channel, my first thought was "What good are they?" (The CRTC, that is).
I object to having my tax dollars run an organization that is either unable or unwilling to protect Canadian women from continued sexual degradation, objectification, and exploitation.
Maybe it's time to get rid of both of them, the CRTC and the pornographers.
Peggy Lynn Kelly, Nepean
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
Porn Channel an Abomination
Fred Henry, For The Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The CRTC approved a Canadian pay-television pornography channel called Northern Peaks last week on the basis that 50 per cent of its pornographic content would be produced in Canada, which in turn, will also lead to the creation of a pornography industry in Canada.
In justifying its decision, the CRTC argues that it never takes a moral perspective on the contents of the applications it reviews. This explanation is not only ludicrous in itself but simply not credible because the CRTC has been noticeably reluctant over the years to license religious broadcasting.
Without question, pornography has a devastating impact upon all of society, especially women and young children. Pornography teaches that women enjoy "forced" or perverse sexual activity; advocates prostitution, exhibitionism and voyeurism as normal behaviour; and regards women as sex objects to be used for one's self-gratification.
For some men, the regular use of pornography normalizes aggression toward women in sexual and other interpersonal encounters, and increases the tolerance for such aggression against women in the larger culture.
Sadly, the greatest impact may be on the young, especially males 12 through 17 years of age, because pornography portrays sexual activity outside of marriage as acceptable without the dire consequences of AIDS or other venereal diseases, and without the responsibility toward conceiving a human life.
These assertions are supported by criminal evidence. A proven direct correlation exists between crimes of rape, child abuse, and the physical abuse of a spouse, and the proliferation of pornographic materials and the presence of live porn and sexually oriented businesses in a community.
Pornography is not simply linked to a "one time, one action" phenomenon, but may become like a spiritual cancer that corrupts the person.
Dr. Victor Cline has posited four progressive effects of pornography:
(1) addiction, where the need to view pornographic materials leads to a loss of free control over behaviour;
(2) escalation, where the person delves into progressively harder pornography, usually to attain the same level of sensation and arousal;
(3) desensitization, whereby the user is no longer morally sensitive to the shocking, illegal, repulsive, perverted or immoral quality of the material, but instead views it as acceptable and begins to look upon others as objects; and
(4) acting out, where the fantasizing becomes overt behaviour.
Additionally from a moral point of view, there are three reasons why pornography is wrong and sinful behaviour for individuals.
First, pornography offends the dignity of the participants (actors, vendors, the public). Each one is exploited himself or exploits others in some way for personal pleasure or gain. In all cases, the dignity of the human being -- whether the person posing, the person producing, the person distributing, or the person enjoying -- is debased.
Second, those who engage in pornography immerse themselves in a fantasy world, withdrawing from reality. While genuine love always involves a self-giving of oneself for the good of others, pornography entices a person to withdraw into a selfish world of perverted fantasy which may later be acted out to the detriment of oneself and others. This problem has increased dramatically, since the Internet offers "virtual reality" sexual interaction.
Third, pornography offends against the virtue of chastity and constitutes an assault on marriage. Each of us must respect the sanctity of our own human sexuality, which involves the integration of his physical and spiritual being. Furthermore, conjugal love which reflects the union of husband and wife, and the enactment of their vows is sacred. The conjugal act ought to express that faithful, permanent, exclusive, self-giving and life-giving love between husband and wife.
Economic values that are important today must include the enhancement of people, not their exploitation and debasement.
In making its decision on Northern Peaks, the CRTC specified that the channel would only be given its formal licence if at least one cable or satellite provider agrees to add the channel to its service list. The channel has three years to obtain such a contract or else the licence will expire.
Consider writing to your own cable provider (name and address available on your monthly bill) and advise it that if it includes this pornographic channel on its service list, you will immediately switch providers. If the cable provider believes that doing so will harm business -- the company will refuse the pornography channel.
In addition, write to the CRTC, Ottawa, Ont. K1A 0N2, Fax: 819-994-0218, raising your objections to its approval of this channel -- Canadian content or not.
Fred Henry is the Catholic bishop of Calgary.
Keep the porn channel out of Canada
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Re: Stop porn channel, family group says, Aug. 22.
I think Charles McVety of the Canada Family Action Coalition is right: Canadian content is no compensation for an increase in pornography.
When I read your news article on the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) decision to licence a pornography channel, my first thought was "What good are they?" (The CRTC, that is).
I object to having my tax dollars run an organization that is either unable or unwilling to protect Canadian women from continued sexual degradation, objectification, and exploitation.
Maybe it's time to get rid of both of them, the CRTC and the pornographers.
Peggy Lynn Kelly, Nepean
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
outrageous wage increases in bc
the following is taken from the vancouver sun august 9th. i couldn't believe it when i read it.
"On Friday the government gave retroactive raises to deputy and assistant deputy ministers ranging from 22 per cent to 43 per cent, depending upon position. For Campbell's deputy minister, Jessica McDonald, her salary will rise to $348,600 from $243,936.
The increase comes less than two years after the government gave its other political staff, including those appointed by Cabinet, raises of 25 per cent." not mentioned was the 53% increase gordon campbell gave himself.
the same government's website says "The First Job/entry level minimum wage rate is $6 per hour. This only applies to employees with no paid work experience before Nov. 15, 2001. After they have worked for a total of 500 hours with one or more employers, these employees are entitled to the regular minimum wage rate."
the minimum wage rate being $8.00/hour which has not been increased in 7 years.
i am outraged. i'm sure none of these fat cat bureaucrats have ever felt the humiliation of standing in line at the food bank because you live at or below the poverty line and can't afford to feed yourself or your family on the minimum wage income.
make poverty history - well that's sure not happening in this province. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
when i worked people voted to go on strike to get a 2 or 3% wage increase.
don't wait til next year - call the election now and get rid of them.
"On Friday the government gave retroactive raises to deputy and assistant deputy ministers ranging from 22 per cent to 43 per cent, depending upon position. For Campbell's deputy minister, Jessica McDonald, her salary will rise to $348,600 from $243,936.
The increase comes less than two years after the government gave its other political staff, including those appointed by Cabinet, raises of 25 per cent." not mentioned was the 53% increase gordon campbell gave himself.
the same government's website says "The First Job/entry level minimum wage rate is $6 per hour. This only applies to employees with no paid work experience before Nov. 15, 2001. After they have worked for a total of 500 hours with one or more employers, these employees are entitled to the regular minimum wage rate."
the minimum wage rate being $8.00/hour which has not been increased in 7 years.
i am outraged. i'm sure none of these fat cat bureaucrats have ever felt the humiliation of standing in line at the food bank because you live at or below the poverty line and can't afford to feed yourself or your family on the minimum wage income.
make poverty history - well that's sure not happening in this province. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
when i worked people voted to go on strike to get a 2 or 3% wage increase.
don't wait til next year - call the election now and get rid of them.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
offensive advertising on vancity's website
i found their advertising the queer festival on their banking website offensive so i wrote them and told them so. when i was logging off the gay pride advertising came up. if i wanted to watch any of this garbage i'd google it so i wrote them again. i don't understand why a bank website would display such morally bankrupt advertising.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth
this is a very cool video some guy made dancing in 39 countries. it is so fun to see people dancing and having fun in so many different countries. the silliness of it all would make anyone smile. i don't know how he managed to get it posted on nasa's astronomy picture of the day site but i'm glad he did. it's nice to see people from all over the world laughing and having fun instead of hearing about wars and violence.
check it out - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
check it out - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Monday, July 21, 2008
the world is starving for the knowledge of the God who can satisfy the needs of the human heart.
this is the signature line that goes out with every email i send.
i have been phoning and emailing someone for several months with no reply. today i got an email from someone else saying " he has asked me to tell you that his computer will not accept any e-mails from you if the word God is included. So maybe you should delete your quote about the world starving for knowledge of God etc."
i have not mentioned God in any of our conversations so there's no reason why he could not have returned one of my several phone calls over the past 6 months. it's sad but he won't be the first person that stopped talking to me since i became a christian.
i have been phoning and emailing someone for several months with no reply. today i got an email from someone else saying " he has asked me to tell you that his computer will not accept any e-mails from you if the word God is included. So maybe you should delete your quote about the world starving for knowledge of God etc."
i have not mentioned God in any of our conversations so there's no reason why he could not have returned one of my several phone calls over the past 6 months. it's sad but he won't be the first person that stopped talking to me since i became a christian.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
bible couriers
check out http://www.millionbibles.com/ read about an on-fire christian spending his 2 week vacation smuggling bibles into a closed country. it's an amazing story of God's victory over the enemy.
1. While all mission trips are good, do you know of any other mission trip with the sort of impact that Bible smugglers have? If you spent just one week as a Bible smuggler and smuggled even just 1,000 Bibles, at the 1:5 ratio of delivered Bibles to new converts, that’s 5,000 souls won for Christ which will be linked to your heavenly account. Can you think of anything else you can do for a week that will result in 5,000 souls won for Jesus? How about 500 or even 50?
2. Being a Bible smuggler for even just a week will take your faith in Christ to another level. Every passage as a Bible smuggler is a miracle of God, so you end up praying and relying on God like never before, and then watching Him grant humbling miracles. Not only do you get to watch God win, you also have the immense privilege of being used by Him in His victories! I think every Christian should spend a week or two basking in the privilege of serving as a Bible smuggler.
3. You’ll have the added privilege of meeting and fellowshipping with some incredible Christians from around the world. Every Bible smuggler I met on this trip was a sold-out, on-fire-for-the-Lord Christian. After a hard, sweaty and exhausting day, you get together with the other Bible smugglers to share combat stories of the day, personal testimonies and prayers that give you a second wind. The only downside is that you sometimes end up staying up all night and lose sleep, but who cares when you’re being so blessed?
1. While all mission trips are good, do you know of any other mission trip with the sort of impact that Bible smugglers have? If you spent just one week as a Bible smuggler and smuggled even just 1,000 Bibles, at the 1:5 ratio of delivered Bibles to new converts, that’s 5,000 souls won for Christ which will be linked to your heavenly account. Can you think of anything else you can do for a week that will result in 5,000 souls won for Jesus? How about 500 or even 50?
2. Being a Bible smuggler for even just a week will take your faith in Christ to another level. Every passage as a Bible smuggler is a miracle of God, so you end up praying and relying on God like never before, and then watching Him grant humbling miracles. Not only do you get to watch God win, you also have the immense privilege of being used by Him in His victories! I think every Christian should spend a week or two basking in the privilege of serving as a Bible smuggler.
3. You’ll have the added privilege of meeting and fellowshipping with some incredible Christians from around the world. Every Bible smuggler I met on this trip was a sold-out, on-fire-for-the-Lord Christian. After a hard, sweaty and exhausting day, you get together with the other Bible smugglers to share combat stories of the day, personal testimonies and prayers that give you a second wind. The only downside is that you sometimes end up staying up all night and lose sleep, but who cares when you’re being so blessed?
israeljerusalem.com
The Bible says that the Messiah already came 2000 years ago and that when we die, those who believe in him will go to heaven as discussed, while those who deny him will go to hell, a place of unspeakable, eternal torment (Luke 16:19-31).
One day a grave will have your name on it. On that day, which could be decades or even hours away, where will your soul end up?
If you feel tempted to insist that the Bible is wrong and that there is no heaven or hell, consider this. You wouldn't critique a movie without having watched it, right? Have you ever read the Bible for yourself? I'm not talking about hearing things about the Bible or watching people give their opinions about the Bible. Have you ever watched the movie for yourself?
If not, isn't the destiny of your soul too important to be outsourced to anyone? Why not watch the movie for yourself before passing an opinion that could affect the rest of your eternity? If the whole Bible seems daunting, just read or study in-depth the Gospel of John, which is only 18 letter-sized pages long.
But before doing anything, pray to a God you don't believe in. That's right. Tell him you neither believe nor particularly want to believe in him. But you do want to know the truth - whatever that may be - and if he really does exist and needs to help you on this one, that he will.
the above taken from http://www.israeljerusalem.com/jewish-graves.htm
One day a grave will have your name on it. On that day, which could be decades or even hours away, where will your soul end up?
If you feel tempted to insist that the Bible is wrong and that there is no heaven or hell, consider this. You wouldn't critique a movie without having watched it, right? Have you ever read the Bible for yourself? I'm not talking about hearing things about the Bible or watching people give their opinions about the Bible. Have you ever watched the movie for yourself?
If not, isn't the destiny of your soul too important to be outsourced to anyone? Why not watch the movie for yourself before passing an opinion that could affect the rest of your eternity? If the whole Bible seems daunting, just read or study in-depth the Gospel of John, which is only 18 letter-sized pages long.
But before doing anything, pray to a God you don't believe in. That's right. Tell him you neither believe nor particularly want to believe in him. But you do want to know the truth - whatever that may be - and if he really does exist and needs to help you on this one, that he will.
the above taken from http://www.israeljerusalem.com/jewish-graves.htm
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
feel like i've lost my best friend
since my best friend passed away a year ago i have been asking God for a new best friend. in february He brought someone into my life and i wondered if they were in answer to my prayers. He put it on my heart to pray for this person and He gave me agape love for him. somewhere along the line my feelings deepened and grew. today he went away. we hugged and said goodbye. if he is faithful to God he will be gone a year. whether or not i'll ever see him again i don't know. i know he had to go and i wanted him to go but now i'm sad. God brings people into our lives for a reason or a season and i wonder if this was a season that is now past. or is it for a reason and there is more to it. i certainly hope so. i praise God that He worked out all the details for my friend to go. i will miss him so much.
Friday, June 06, 2008
if you want to know God's will - ask Him
I am wondering if God is wanting me to go to Peru next month. I prayed about it a month ago when the pastor I went to the Philippines (Bill) with first asked me about it. I said yes and then wondered if 'I' said yes or God did. At that time it was only going to be with another pastor (married man) and me (single woman) and I thought no because just the two of us wouldn't be appropriate. Since then Bill has told me that there are a couple of other women that are going and maybe another man. I prayed about it again and thought yes then wondered if again it was me. My heart is in missions and I love to travel and except for the evangelistic crusade with Bill in the Philippines in April I have always done work trips. For this trip they wanted 2 workers capable of working with children. When Bill said that I thought well that let's me out. I'm more comfortable serving the homeless at Sally Ann than working with children. I prayed about it again and thought yes and I was sure it couldn't be God because I suck at working with kids. Bill had told me it cooled off at night and after praying about it again because I want to do God's will I thought I was thinking yes again. I asked a friend about it and she asked if I had peace about it. I didn't have peace saying I wasn't going. Then I checked CNN weather and I 'knew' God couldn't be asking me to go. I am cold here when the temperature goes below 70. The high temperature where the team is going is 65 and the low is 33. I would die - I did NOT want to go. Then I would read a devo and it seemed that God was trying to tell me I was supposed to go.
this morning i got a devo from a lady pastor "How do we know when it’s God asking and not the world or ourselves or Satan? - it will require more than you have or want to give."
reading her devo i wondered again if God was trying to tell me something. like that He would require more than we want to give, this after saying i'm His servant and will do whatever He asks of me.
she said she would love to hear what God is asking of us. so i was writing this to her and i was going to ask her what she thought and if she would pray about it.
then i remembered if we want to know God's will for us ask Him not someone else. who else would know His mind. i prayed about it again and now i have peace that i am not going.
this morning i got a devo from a lady pastor "How do we know when it’s God asking and not the world or ourselves or Satan? - it will require more than you have or want to give."
reading her devo i wondered again if God was trying to tell me something. like that He would require more than we want to give, this after saying i'm His servant and will do whatever He asks of me.
she said she would love to hear what God is asking of us. so i was writing this to her and i was going to ask her what she thought and if she would pray about it.
then i remembered if we want to know God's will for us ask Him not someone else. who else would know His mind. i prayed about it again and now i have peace that i am not going.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
baptism of fire
But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11)(Luke 3:16)
I emailed this to four pastors wanting to know what they thought this meant. One pastor responded. I emailed a fifth pastor, 8 days later I got a second response.
Does it mean God will burn off our sin (the chaff)? or... as Hillsong United's Consuming Fire lyrics say
There must be more than this
O breath of God, come breathe within
There must be more than this
Spirit of God we wait for you
Fill us anew we pray
Fill us anew we pray
CHORUS:
Consuming fire, fan into flame
A passion for your name
Spirit of God fall in this place
Lord have your way
Lord have your way with us
Come like a rushing wind
Clothe us with power from on high
Now set the captives free
Leaves us abandoned to your praise
Lord let your glory fall
Lord let your glory fall
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Stir it up in our hearts, Lord
A passion for your name
I emailed this to four pastors wanting to know what they thought this meant. One pastor responded. I emailed a fifth pastor, 8 days later I got a second response.
Does it mean God will burn off our sin (the chaff)? or... as Hillsong United's Consuming Fire lyrics say
There must be more than this
O breath of God, come breathe within
There must be more than this
Spirit of God we wait for you
Fill us anew we pray
Fill us anew we pray
CHORUS:
Consuming fire, fan into flame
A passion for your name
Spirit of God fall in this place
Lord have your way
Lord have your way with us
Come like a rushing wind
Clothe us with power from on high
Now set the captives free
Leaves us abandoned to your praise
Lord let your glory fall
Lord let your glory fall
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Stir it up in our hearts, Lord
A passion for your name
Sunday, May 25, 2008
is God trying to tell me something?
this morning in church the pastor said something that was so profound, to me anyway, that it was like God was speaking to me. i had to write it down so i wouldn't forget it and i didn't have any paper but because i had to write it down i wrote it in a book i had in my bag.
'i want you to prove your commitment before you prove your attraction.'
God uses various ways to speak to us so if this is from God i wonder what it means and how i would do that.
'i want you to prove your commitment before you prove your attraction.'
God uses various ways to speak to us so if this is from God i wonder what it means and how i would do that.
Friday, May 23, 2008
unmet longings
the Lord is my Shepherd; i shall not want. psalm 23:1
reading the above scripture i think but i do want Lord. unmet longings. i longed for a husband for a long time. i thought i needed a husband. what i needed was God. then i thought God was enough. He filled my heart with such love and joy. in february God stirred my longings and desires. He awakened in me something that i thought was at rest. He brought someone into my life and i started wondering what life would be like with him. i was content in my singleness and i thank God for that but now i'm wanting more. the book i'm reading right now, walking with God, says it's not good to bury the deep longings of our hearts. having been awakened to my unmet longing i have wanted it more and more. God awakened this desire in my heart and i can't help but wonder what He's going to do about it. cs lewis says in 'the weight of glory' that what God uses to awaken desire is not necessarily what we long for. if it is not that relationship that i desire but what it points to then what is it. i have wondered for months why God brought us together. now i wonder how He is going to meet that longing that He has awakened in me.
reading the above scripture i think but i do want Lord. unmet longings. i longed for a husband for a long time. i thought i needed a husband. what i needed was God. then i thought God was enough. He filled my heart with such love and joy. in february God stirred my longings and desires. He awakened in me something that i thought was at rest. He brought someone into my life and i started wondering what life would be like with him. i was content in my singleness and i thank God for that but now i'm wanting more. the book i'm reading right now, walking with God, says it's not good to bury the deep longings of our hearts. having been awakened to my unmet longing i have wanted it more and more. God awakened this desire in my heart and i can't help but wonder what He's going to do about it. cs lewis says in 'the weight of glory' that what God uses to awaken desire is not necessarily what we long for. if it is not that relationship that i desire but what it points to then what is it. i have wondered for months why God brought us together. now i wonder how He is going to meet that longing that He has awakened in me.
walking with God
is a great book and i highly recommend it. by john eldredge. it's about having a conversation relationship with God. it's certainly got me thinking. i've hardly been able to put it down. i had borrowed it from the church library but now think i want to buy it so i can read it again and share it with others.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
a futbol game - a gift from God
sometimes God just gives us gifts cuz He loves us.
i haven't watched much futbol this year because i don't get the channel that the best games are televised on. i planned to finish reading a book while eating my breakfast and decided instead to check my email. upon opening my email there was one advertising THE best two teams in england playing in the champions league final.
i put the tv on to see what time it might be coming on and if i got the channel it might be on. it had just started here although it was midnight in moscow where they were playing. it was the first time that the champions league final was an all english futbol game.
it was a tie game so they went into extra time, it was still tie so they went to penalty kicks, it was still tie after the normal five kicks that they allow and they kept going. i absolutely loved it. the best footballer in the world, cristiano ronaldo, scored a goal but missed the penalty. he was a shoe-in, no pun intended, but he missed. then the captain of the other team who you would've thought would also be a shoe-in missed.
it was exciting. thank You Lord.
i haven't watched much futbol this year because i don't get the channel that the best games are televised on. i planned to finish reading a book while eating my breakfast and decided instead to check my email. upon opening my email there was one advertising THE best two teams in england playing in the champions league final.
i put the tv on to see what time it might be coming on and if i got the channel it might be on. it had just started here although it was midnight in moscow where they were playing. it was the first time that the champions league final was an all english futbol game.
it was a tie game so they went into extra time, it was still tie so they went to penalty kicks, it was still tie after the normal five kicks that they allow and they kept going. i absolutely loved it. the best footballer in the world, cristiano ronaldo, scored a goal but missed the penalty. he was a shoe-in, no pun intended, but he missed. then the captain of the other team who you would've thought would also be a shoe-in missed.
it was exciting. thank You Lord.
Monday, May 12, 2008
my addiction
i have had a friend staying with me for about 7 weeks. i've enjoyed their company. i know i used to eat / snack all the time out of sheer boredom but when my friend was here i never did. now that they're gone i find that i'm eating just for the sake of eating again. i miss my friend, in more ways than one.
wills
i have been the executrix for and working on my best friend's estate for over a year now. i'm sure she had no idea everything that is involved, i know i certainly didn't. it's made me realize i want to update mine and simplify it if i can.
i had always planned to donate my organs for transplant but i guess having a blood cancer that would be impossible now considering that blood is in every organ.
if you don't have a will don't wait. my friends will was very clear about the distribution of her assets but it still cost over $10k just in legal fees, probate fees were on top of that. if there is no will the public trustee gets everything and then you have to deal with them to try and get anything.
if you refer to something in your will that you no longer have make sure you delete it so the executor or family isn't searching for something that isn't there.
i had always planned to donate my organs for transplant but i guess having a blood cancer that would be impossible now considering that blood is in every organ.
if you don't have a will don't wait. my friends will was very clear about the distribution of her assets but it still cost over $10k just in legal fees, probate fees were on top of that. if there is no will the public trustee gets everything and then you have to deal with them to try and get anything.
if you refer to something in your will that you no longer have make sure you delete it so the executor or family isn't searching for something that isn't there.
Monday, May 05, 2008
lost
my heart breaks for a friend with addictions. God gave me a burden to pray for this friend and i have been praying and crying for 6 weeks now but nothing seems to help or work. how do you help someone with no hope who doesn't think they are worthy. grace? mercy? love? nothing seems to be enough. they have lost fellowship with God and it seems too hard to find something when it's lost but i no sooner thought this than i thought of the lost coin, the lost sheep. every time i think nothing will change i think of what God says.
i keep asking God why He put us together. i have prayed for healing and the word believe comes to mind.
i keep asking God why He put us together. i have prayed for healing and the word believe comes to mind.
palawan
i absolutely loved it. everyone asked if i was coming back again and i said i didn't know. they said they would not say goodbye but only see you next time. it was very similar to where i lived in costa rica, very hot and humid, except it was at the ocean. the people are so amazingly warm and friendly. if God called me to go there long term i'd be on the next plane. i can hardly wait til next year to go back.
we would go to the market in quezon a few minutes ride away from the manna home and while walking around we would find one of the pastors or boys from the home right beside or behind us, watching over us to make sure we were ok. i felt so at home there i felt bad that the boys had to wait and watch while we shopped.
the food was incredible, fresh mangoes, pineapple, coconut, calamari, shrimps, prawns, fish almost every day.
we lived right on the edge of the jungle and within walking distance to the sea so the scenery was absolutely beautiful in any direction.
the kids learn english in school at the manna home so we could converse a little bit but candy, nail polish, skipping ropes and volleyballs broke any language barrier.
the national sport in costa rica is soccer. in the philippines it's cock fighting and they had an arena in one village we went to. i asked the pastors about it thinking they wouldn't condone it and was surprised to learn that they all do. not that i have any love for roosters, especially after they keep you awake all night but...
after checking out the 'facilities' in the villages we went to we would not drink all day and pray that we wouldn't have to use them.
the sea was every shade of blue and green you can imagine, incredibly beautiful, and so warm. it was jellyfish season when we were there and little ones came in and lined the shore every afternoon and were washed out with the tide during the night. the ones we saw out in the ocean were over a foot across.
the caving was so cool. our very first day there our pastor had a business meeting so a couple of pastors that had come for the bible conference took us out to some caves. going through the blackness of the caves and coming out into the bright sunshine was like seeing an undiscovered land for the first time, it was beautiful. a bunch of teenage boys that live there came with us because even though they live so close they had never had the opportunity to go to the caves and it was so fun watching them having so much fun. the local beach was all mud so they got to go swimming in crystal clear waters in soft white sand.
we would go to the market in quezon a few minutes ride away from the manna home and while walking around we would find one of the pastors or boys from the home right beside or behind us, watching over us to make sure we were ok. i felt so at home there i felt bad that the boys had to wait and watch while we shopped.
the food was incredible, fresh mangoes, pineapple, coconut, calamari, shrimps, prawns, fish almost every day.
we lived right on the edge of the jungle and within walking distance to the sea so the scenery was absolutely beautiful in any direction.
the kids learn english in school at the manna home so we could converse a little bit but candy, nail polish, skipping ropes and volleyballs broke any language barrier.
the national sport in costa rica is soccer. in the philippines it's cock fighting and they had an arena in one village we went to. i asked the pastors about it thinking they wouldn't condone it and was surprised to learn that they all do. not that i have any love for roosters, especially after they keep you awake all night but...
after checking out the 'facilities' in the villages we went to we would not drink all day and pray that we wouldn't have to use them.
the sea was every shade of blue and green you can imagine, incredibly beautiful, and so warm. it was jellyfish season when we were there and little ones came in and lined the shore every afternoon and were washed out with the tide during the night. the ones we saw out in the ocean were over a foot across.
the caving was so cool. our very first day there our pastor had a business meeting so a couple of pastors that had come for the bible conference took us out to some caves. going through the blackness of the caves and coming out into the bright sunshine was like seeing an undiscovered land for the first time, it was beautiful. a bunch of teenage boys that live there came with us because even though they live so close they had never had the opportunity to go to the caves and it was so fun watching them having so much fun. the local beach was all mud so they got to go swimming in crystal clear waters in soft white sand.
pictures from palawan, philippines
kids having a bath in a dirty, polluted river.
the market in quezon, palawan.
some of the girls after having a manicure.
houses are made of bamboo.
caving on our first day there. where the light shone in the darkness there was new life.
the boys in palawan reminded me of the boys in costa rica. it was so much fun watching them having so much fun. they are hams everywhere.
this is our boat and some of the boys swimming after eating fresh fish and rice cooked on the beach.
stopped at a sand bar to walk in the middle of the south china sea. it was so cool.
some of the kids on our patio filling balloons with candy.
baptism in the south china sea.
some of the pastors cooking lunch. the people were so amazing, i could so live there.
curious onlookers watching being set up for the crusade
walking by flashlight down the beach at low tide after the crusade
this tiny little island was just a white spot in the middle of the sea. another fresh fish & rice lunch cooked on the beach and 3 hours and we were fried.
mission trip to the philippines
this was not like any mission trip i have ever been on but it was the most incredible. after signing up i asked what we would be doing. the pastor said it was an evangelistic crusade and i would be giving my testimony. i might not have signed up if i'd known that in advance. i've always done work trips and hate being up front so i asked some friends to pray for me. it was so amazing to feel the Holy Spirit at work in me. i was filled with the power of God and the words and the boldness with which i spoke blew me away and if you know me you would've been blown away too. we gave our testimonies at a 3 day bible conference then did crusades in 3 different villages. 12 people received Christ as their Saviour at the first one, 5 at the second one and 197 at the third (since then 2 more have been saved). it was mind boggling. of the 5 people at the second crusade 2 of the people were the witch doctor and his wife. that's going to have an incredible impact on that village. we took a boat to the 3rd village where there was no power except the Holy Spirit and it was amazing.
i would never have gone on a trip like this before but now after seeing the power of God at work i want to do it again.
i talked with and prayed for a young homosexual man who repented and was reconciled to God and he has since emailed me to thank me for taking the bad stuff out of him. i can't tell you how blessed or privileged i feel to have been part of that. i wouldn't have known what to say, or had the boldness to say what i did, except that it was the Holy Spirit doing it all.
i don't know what impact my testimony had (it wasn't about what my life was like before God but what it's been like since) at the crusades but it was amazing to see God at work in so many people's lives.
i know God is with me and i have felt God's special presence in my life many times but have never felt His power like this. submitting everything to God and letting Him work through me was one of the most amazing experiences in my life and recommend it to everyone.
i would never have gone on a trip like this before but now after seeing the power of God at work i want to do it again.
i talked with and prayed for a young homosexual man who repented and was reconciled to God and he has since emailed me to thank me for taking the bad stuff out of him. i can't tell you how blessed or privileged i feel to have been part of that. i wouldn't have known what to say, or had the boldness to say what i did, except that it was the Holy Spirit doing it all.
i don't know what impact my testimony had (it wasn't about what my life was like before God but what it's been like since) at the crusades but it was amazing to see God at work in so many people's lives.
i know God is with me and i have felt God's special presence in my life many times but have never felt His power like this. submitting everything to God and letting Him work through me was one of the most amazing experiences in my life and recommend it to everyone.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
He also made the stars
Genesis 1:16. He also made the stars. like it's an afterthought after creating the sun and the moon.
these are some pretty amazing afterthoughts. if you've never checked it out before take a look at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Monday, March 10, 2008
hungry sinners or pharisees
i love helping at alpha. there are a couple of hungry people in my group and i just love them and i just want to love them to Christ. they find it hard to believe that Jesus could love them as much as He does. they find it hard to believe that they could be forgiven for their many sins. i love talking to them. i love telling them how much Jesus loves them. i love telling them they are precious, beloved children of God. i love telling them that there is absolutely nothing that they have ever done that Jesus won't forgive them for. i just love telling them about Jesus. i can see Him at work in their lives and i get so excited and am so happy for them.
they are going to be more blessed than others in the group because they know they are sinners and Jesus came to save sinners just like them.
it's the others i can't reach that remind me of the pharisees. they are not hungry, they are not searching, they are closed-minded to what Jesus is trying to teach them and what He is offering them.
they are going to be more blessed than others in the group because they know they are sinners and Jesus came to save sinners just like them.
it's the others i can't reach that remind me of the pharisees. they are not hungry, they are not searching, they are closed-minded to what Jesus is trying to teach them and what He is offering them.
prayer
Heavenly Father rescue me from the misery of blaming others for my sin. Help me to admit my own guilt and to bring it to you for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Amen.
husbands
years ago i had asked God for a husband but for the past few years i have vacillated between wanting one and not wanting one. and God isn't going to give us something we're not even sure we want. i know i don't need a husband because God fills that place in my heart.
years ago i thought i was in love with a man that talked about God and the bible. i could listen to him for hours. it used to stir my senses listening to him. i have a friend that knows the bible very well and i realized yesterday that that turns me on. it opened my eyes to a new truth, one that i knew but had never really applied it to myself.
i have always looked at man's outward appearance but God looks at the heart. we each have a favourite 'thing' we look at in a person. i notice eyes and hands, some people notice smiles, others notice ears or noses.
when i lived in costa rica and invited the youth on saturday nights to come to church they would say they weren't dressed for it. i told them God didn't care what they looked like He just saw their hearts.
thinking about how this friend talks about God and the bible made me realize i don't really care about eyes or hands i just care about a person's heart for God and their relationship with Him. age difference never meant anything to me but a person usually has their stereotypical opposite in mind, ie tall, dark and handsome. but i have to admit listening to this friend talk about God and the bible really stirs my senses.
years ago i thought i was in love with a man that talked about God and the bible. i could listen to him for hours. it used to stir my senses listening to him. i have a friend that knows the bible very well and i realized yesterday that that turns me on. it opened my eyes to a new truth, one that i knew but had never really applied it to myself.
i have always looked at man's outward appearance but God looks at the heart. we each have a favourite 'thing' we look at in a person. i notice eyes and hands, some people notice smiles, others notice ears or noses.
when i lived in costa rica and invited the youth on saturday nights to come to church they would say they weren't dressed for it. i told them God didn't care what they looked like He just saw their hearts.
thinking about how this friend talks about God and the bible made me realize i don't really care about eyes or hands i just care about a person's heart for God and their relationship with Him. age difference never meant anything to me but a person usually has their stereotypical opposite in mind, ie tall, dark and handsome. but i have to admit listening to this friend talk about God and the bible really stirs my senses.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
the beauty of math
Is this a God thing or what?
Maybe math/physics really is related to seeing the patterns of music.
After all, great musician's have always claimed that it is!
Beauty of Math!
1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321
- - - - - - - - - - - -
1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 111111111
- - - - - - -
9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888
Brilliant, isn't it?
And look at this symmetry:
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321
Now, take a look at this...
101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all be en in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, and it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
Maybe math/physics really is related to seeing the patterns of music.
After all, great musician's have always claimed that it is!
Beauty of Math!
1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321
- - - - - - - - - - - -
1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 111111111
- - - - - - -
9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888
Brilliant, isn't it?
And look at this symmetry:
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321
Now, take a look at this...
101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all be en in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER 100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, and it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
Friday, February 29, 2008
philippines
march 28 i am going to the philippines for 2 weeks with manna ministries, people i have met at northview. they have planted churches there and just go to show God's love to people that don't know Him. they said that the filipinos are amazed that white people would travel so far just to tell them about God.
it all just came together yesterday. i had been talking to their son at alpha 2 weeks ago saying that i had been checking out their website and that i'd like to go to the philippines and he said they were going in a month.
they asked what talents i had and i couldn't think of any, nursing, singing, drama, sports - nada i just love God.
so i'm typing out tagalog phrases so i can hopefully communicate a little although we will have interpreters.
i'm building points on my visa until my tax return comes in.
it all just came together yesterday. i had been talking to their son at alpha 2 weeks ago saying that i had been checking out their website and that i'd like to go to the philippines and he said they were going in a month.
they asked what talents i had and i couldn't think of any, nursing, singing, drama, sports - nada i just love God.
so i'm typing out tagalog phrases so i can hopefully communicate a little although we will have interpreters.
i'm building points on my visa until my tax return comes in.
girls night out
Girls Night Out is a two-hour evening of faith, fellowship, and fun for women. The program begins with a short music program led by one of our artist and worship leaders. A social time follows, giving participants an opportunity to mingle, share their experiences, and indulge in delicious snacks.
For more details, please go to www.gnolive.ca
Tuesday April 15th at 700pm
Chilliwack Alliance
8700 Young Road
Chilliwack BC
I went to this before and the speaker had an amazing testimony and was absolutely hilarious. If I remember correctly it was free and they just took a love offering.
Plus they had a free gift for every woman there. It's definitely an evening you'll enjoy.
For more details, please go to www.gnolive.ca
Tuesday April 15th at 700pm
Chilliwack Alliance
8700 Young Road
Chilliwack BC
I went to this before and the speaker had an amazing testimony and was absolutely hilarious. If I remember correctly it was free and they just took a love offering.
Plus they had a free gift for every woman there. It's definitely an evening you'll enjoy.
Monday, February 25, 2008
speaking in tongues
paul tells us to eagerly desire spiritual gifts.
in the past 6 or 7 months two people had told me i had the gift of speaking in tongues. they had tried to encourage me in speaking in tongues but it just wasn't there and i felt silly trying to make up words. i know what my other spiritual gifts are and speaking in tongues had not been one of them. last week i was reading 'drawing near' and it was talking about speaking in tongues and it said to just open your mouth and let it happen. so i did and it did. it was total gibberish. i have heard many people speak in tongues but i'd never heard anything like what was coming out of my mouth.
this weekend at the alpha weekend away i wanted to ask someone about it. there were a few pastors i knew and many others i knew but i went to someone else. i asked an elder from northview about it. i wasn't sure how to talk about it because it sounded like gibberish to me i thought he would think i was a kook or something.
he said we should pray about it. he started praying and all of a sudden he's speaking the same gibberish that i was. tears were just pouring down my face and when we both stopped speaking at the same time he told me to keep going. when i opened my eyes i saw his eyes filled with tears.
he said he had started speaking in tongues about 6 months ago but he thought he must be making it up himself because it was such gibberish. he had never heard anyone else speak it before. he was happy to hear me speak it because it was confirmation to him that it was a heavenly language and not something he had made up. neither of us have the gift of interpretation so we have no idea what we said.
that the Holy Spirit led me to talk to this particular man whom i had never spoken to before was also confirmation for me.
1 Cor 22: Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers... Someone who came up for prayer was surprised to hear someone else speaking in tongues and said it helped them to believe.
in the past 6 or 7 months two people had told me i had the gift of speaking in tongues. they had tried to encourage me in speaking in tongues but it just wasn't there and i felt silly trying to make up words. i know what my other spiritual gifts are and speaking in tongues had not been one of them. last week i was reading 'drawing near' and it was talking about speaking in tongues and it said to just open your mouth and let it happen. so i did and it did. it was total gibberish. i have heard many people speak in tongues but i'd never heard anything like what was coming out of my mouth.
this weekend at the alpha weekend away i wanted to ask someone about it. there were a few pastors i knew and many others i knew but i went to someone else. i asked an elder from northview about it. i wasn't sure how to talk about it because it sounded like gibberish to me i thought he would think i was a kook or something.
he said we should pray about it. he started praying and all of a sudden he's speaking the same gibberish that i was. tears were just pouring down my face and when we both stopped speaking at the same time he told me to keep going. when i opened my eyes i saw his eyes filled with tears.
he said he had started speaking in tongues about 6 months ago but he thought he must be making it up himself because it was such gibberish. he had never heard anyone else speak it before. he was happy to hear me speak it because it was confirmation to him that it was a heavenly language and not something he had made up. neither of us have the gift of interpretation so we have no idea what we said.
that the Holy Spirit led me to talk to this particular man whom i had never spoken to before was also confirmation for me.
1 Cor 22: Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers... Someone who came up for prayer was surprised to hear someone else speaking in tongues and said it helped them to believe.
Monday, February 11, 2008
raising peliquey in el salvador
peliquey's are a sheep raised in hotter climates for it's rich meat. they eat anything and are easy to raise, they have babies every 6 months and mature in 6 months.
world vision supplied 3 farmers with a male and 2 female peliquey's and when each has raised 11 animals they will start marketing them. they eat anything and what appears to be hay is the leaves left over after harvesting beans. they will be able to feed their families and supply their communities with fresh meat. wv gave the farmers the option of raising ducks, chickens or peligueys and 3 chose the sheep. they provide everything, the pens, the training in raising the animals and business and marketing.
fish farming in el salvador
world vision contributed the money to buy the materials to build the first tank and with help from other organizations supplied the money to build additional tanks (1.8 metres deep) and for fish fry and food to get this community set up with a fish farm. it's a 15 man coop and everyone pitches in and they get fresh fish. wv provided the business and marketing practices and training so everyone involved in the coop can earn income as well. wv provides materials and training and the people in the community supply the labour.
it had started as an irrigation project for a vegetable garden but it was too hard to get the water from the tank to the garden so they gave up the garden and started raising tilapia.
world vision sewing project in el salvador
world vision gave these 3 women a sewing machine, the materials needed to get started and training in how to sew, business and marketing and training in how to invest their income. they had made a couple pairs of sheets, tablecloths, aprons and pillow cases. they sell their merchandise in the local village but we bought everything they had and gave it to the family we were building the house for.
unbelievably though these women do not have electricty and the corner where their sewing machine is is so very dark even in bright daylight. i can imagine they won't have good eyesight for long.
but having this sewing machine gives these women an income in which to feed their children and a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
world vision projects in el salvador - computers
wow! it was wonderful to see all the projects world vision is involved in in el salvador.
world vision places a high priority on education and this is a computer classroom wv donated to the school. wv provided the money for the computers and pays for servicing them. the lady is the school principal and the man is danilo our translator.
the computer centre started in 2003 and 420 kids from grade 5 to 12 have taken courses. last year the school children won a national award in creating a website. the 3 best students get certified by microsoft. grade 12 students come to the centre to use the computers. the teachers and community leaders also learn how to use the computers.
most of the kids in the grade 3 class we visited are sponsored children. there was a boy in grade 3 that looked a little embarrassed when the teacher said he was 14 years old. i was just glad that he's getting the opportunity to go to school, better late than never.
faith in el salvador
at the end of our trip i went to the beach with another girl from the team. we registered at a small, new hotel, walked down the beach, then watched a soccer game across the street from the hotel. when i tried to lock our door on the inside the lock wouldn't work so i asked the staff if they could fix it. they used a little wd40 and the lock worked.
during the night we heard people talking in the walkway (hallway) that went from the street through the hotel to the beach. we didn't understand what they were saying so we didn't pay any attention to them. about 10:30 someone tried to break into our room. i just figured it was maybe another guest who had too much to drink and had the wrong room.
i had absolute peace and calm, my roommate however was terrified. i couldn't help but talk about how God knew exactly where we were and that nothing could touch us that He didn't allow and that i knew He had His angels watching over us keeping us safe.
the next morning when i was talking to God i asked Him about the gift of faith. we are given spiritual gifts to help people. i can see how i can use my other spiritual gifts to help people but i was asking Him what good it was having faith if i didn't know how to use it and i couldn't use it to help people.
a while later 3 police and the hotel staff came to our door asking if we had been disturbed during the night. i told / showed them what someone had been doing as they tried to get into our room but as they didn't speak any english i didn't understand everything they said. i closed the door and again the lock didn't work. hm a new hotel, the lock didn't work, then it did when we needed it to, then it didn't.
as my roommate was still afraid we decided to leave. we called the transportation company we had been using and they came and got us. the driver spoke english and told us that the 3 hotel staff had been tied up during the night while the robbers posing as guests broke into every room and stole or smashed everything in sight. considering that our driver told us that gangs just kill people for the sake of killing i thank God that our 3 young staff were only tied up and not hurt.
my roommate told me that due to circumstances in her life she had lost her faith. she has it back now. thank You Jesus.
during the night we heard people talking in the walkway (hallway) that went from the street through the hotel to the beach. we didn't understand what they were saying so we didn't pay any attention to them. about 10:30 someone tried to break into our room. i just figured it was maybe another guest who had too much to drink and had the wrong room.
i had absolute peace and calm, my roommate however was terrified. i couldn't help but talk about how God knew exactly where we were and that nothing could touch us that He didn't allow and that i knew He had His angels watching over us keeping us safe.
the next morning when i was talking to God i asked Him about the gift of faith. we are given spiritual gifts to help people. i can see how i can use my other spiritual gifts to help people but i was asking Him what good it was having faith if i didn't know how to use it and i couldn't use it to help people.
a while later 3 police and the hotel staff came to our door asking if we had been disturbed during the night. i told / showed them what someone had been doing as they tried to get into our room but as they didn't speak any english i didn't understand everything they said. i closed the door and again the lock didn't work. hm a new hotel, the lock didn't work, then it did when we needed it to, then it didn't.
as my roommate was still afraid we decided to leave. we called the transportation company we had been using and they came and got us. the driver spoke english and told us that the 3 hotel staff had been tied up during the night while the robbers posing as guests broke into every room and stole or smashed everything in sight. considering that our driver told us that gangs just kill people for the sake of killing i thank God that our 3 young staff were only tied up and not hurt.
my roommate told me that due to circumstances in her life she had lost her faith. she has it back now. thank You Jesus.
our armed guards in el salvador
i had read that el salvador has the 3rd highest homicide rate in the world and believed it when we were met by 2 armed tourist police who stayed with us for the duration of our stay. even in the rural areas we couldn't cross the road and one of them would follow or watch us. they were absolute gems and i felt like royalty as they stood out in the street to stop traffic for us. there were armed guards in front of world vision national, in front of the gated compound where we stayed and in every kind of business everywhere we went.
world vision el salvador
the staff are amazing. their love and passion for the people they serve is evident in everything they say and do.
there are 5 adp's (area development projects) supported by canadians but there are lots more that are supported by other countries.
the wv national office visits the adp offices every week to deliver mail for the sponsored children in the adp as well as go over programs.
in 2001 there were 2 major earthquakes in el salvador leaving 2 million people homeless. considering that most houses were mud packed structures most of them collapsed in the earthquake. at a cost of $6400 for each house world vision has built 2000 houses since the earthquake, that's almost $13 million. the world vision houses are 46 square metres and made of concrete blocks.
people must own their own property in a safe area to get a world vision built home. if they don't own the property wv could build a house and then have the owner tell the people they have to leave as was the case with Damaris and her family.
sometimes the government helps but the houses they build are 7 square metres smaller than what world vision builds.
after the earthquake one family slept tied together at night because they lived close to where there was a landslide. world vision bought property for them and built them a house.
3% of the adp's budget goes to rebuilding houses. since the quake 5% of sponsorship money has gone to housing.
world vision national has 4 doctors, 1 dentist and 2 psychologists to provide preventive health and help to the communities. there are doctors and health care providers in each adp office. each newly sponsored child gets a medical checkup. the ministry of health has programs designed for each age group, moms & babies, teens, seniors, adults, etc.
they provide health training for teens and kids, have special projects for HIV cases and will have a rehab project for disabled kids to work with physiotherapists. physiotherapists from other countries are going to train people in their own communities how to care for disabled kids.
world vision aids program promotes abstinence, condoms and fidelity.
the culture is such that the men sleep with lots of women and women don't tell the men to use condoms because men would think that the women were not pure. the government provides anti-viral drugs.
health, education and christian impact are the first needs met by child sponsorship.
wv has a rapid response team and training in adp's for emergency response and security measures.
40% of the people live on $2 a day, 3 out of 10 kids are severely malnourished and 1 in 5 can't read, 90% of the rivers are polluted and 45% of the people lack good water.
wv is training mothers in nutrition and teaching agriculture and improving existing methods.
it is very hard to come back to this culture. my sister was showing me her latest acquisition, an expensive ipod that plays music, games, takes pictures, etc. all i could think of were the malnourished children of el salvador.
el salvador
this 4 year old cutie, Damaris, lives with her mother Wilma and father and 9 year old sister Cindy in a house made of empty rice sacks and black plastic. her crossed eye is the result of malnutrition. she lives in a mobile home and when the property owner, an american, tells them they have to leave they pack up their bags, literally, and move. they have no bathroom, they just go in the field somewhere. the father earns $80 a month and they pay $3 a month for water.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Alpha
last fall i felt that God was leading me to help out at the alpha course. towards the end of the course i thought about helping at the next course. nope. i told God i didn't want to help at the next course because it would be winter and i hate the cold. i told God i would help at the spring course.
my pastor asked if i'd lead a table at alpha for people from our church. i had said yes but when i thought about it being in the winter i kept thinking no-o i didn't want to do a winter course. it is so cold and even inside it's cold and i sit there in pain in cold. i don't know if it's from the cancer or that i've never acclimatized from 38 degree weather in costa rica but i really feel the cold.
i told greg i couldn't lead a table because i was going on a mission trip. i told the alpha leaders that i would miss a couple of weeks hoping they would say they didn't need me. then i would be off the hook and i could help in the spring. they said missing 2 weeks would be ok as long as i would be there for the weekend away.
the weekend away is absolutely the best weekend but in the winter i'm thinking the worst weekend cuz you're outside a lot. i hate winter, i hate the cold and i hate being outside in the cold.
i went to the training meeting last week and one of the leaders talked about treating each person coming to alpha with love and care and protect them and treat them if they were own beloved family. i thought of my daughter.
the next morning i thought of how selfish i was being, thinking of my discomfort at being cold and my daughter and what the leader had said. i thought how i had to with my whole heart love, care for, protect and treat each person as i prayed someone would be loving my own daughter,caring for her, protecting her and treating he as if she were their beloved child.
God calls us to preach good news to the poor whenever, wherever. He gave me a wake up call that morning. i thought of Jesus again and His suffering. knowing the suffering ahead of Him Jesus gave His life for others.
how is God trying to get your attention?
my pastor asked if i'd lead a table at alpha for people from our church. i had said yes but when i thought about it being in the winter i kept thinking no-o i didn't want to do a winter course. it is so cold and even inside it's cold and i sit there in pain in cold. i don't know if it's from the cancer or that i've never acclimatized from 38 degree weather in costa rica but i really feel the cold.
i told greg i couldn't lead a table because i was going on a mission trip. i told the alpha leaders that i would miss a couple of weeks hoping they would say they didn't need me. then i would be off the hook and i could help in the spring. they said missing 2 weeks would be ok as long as i would be there for the weekend away.
the weekend away is absolutely the best weekend but in the winter i'm thinking the worst weekend cuz you're outside a lot. i hate winter, i hate the cold and i hate being outside in the cold.
i went to the training meeting last week and one of the leaders talked about treating each person coming to alpha with love and care and protect them and treat them if they were own beloved family. i thought of my daughter.
the next morning i thought of how selfish i was being, thinking of my discomfort at being cold and my daughter and what the leader had said. i thought how i had to with my whole heart love, care for, protect and treat each person as i prayed someone would be loving my own daughter,caring for her, protecting her and treating he as if she were their beloved child.
God calls us to preach good news to the poor whenever, wherever. He gave me a wake up call that morning. i thought of Jesus again and His suffering. knowing the suffering ahead of Him Jesus gave His life for others.
how is God trying to get your attention?
Friday, January 11, 2008
THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2008
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind. Sometimes when you don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.
It's your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick.
Sadly most of us wait for the brick.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind. Sometimes when you don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.
It's your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick.
Sadly most of us wait for the brick.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
pain free
I met a lady yesterday that had fibromyalgia so bad she lived in pain although she took a lot of painkillers every day. One day after drinking Xango for awhile she woke up and thought she was paralyzed because she couldn't feel any pain anywhere. Then she realized she'd moved her hands and could feel them and was amazed there was no pain at all.
I know it works for cancer because I went off it for 3 weeks. I wanted to see if I could prove a point to my doctor so I stopped and I will never do it again. I felt like 100 years old, like I'd been hit by a mack truck, I had no energy at all, the brain fog was back, the bursitis in my hip was back, the pain in my hands was back and the cancer pain was everywhere. Now back on it for a couple of weeks I am almost pain free again, the brain fog is gone and my energy is back.
Thursday I see the oncologist and I am looking forward to seeing the results of my blood work and how it compares to 3 weeks ago.
A lot of people tell me that they go to their doctor who asks them what they are doing. They tell them the only difference is drinking this juice and the doctors tell them to keep drinking it because there is such an improvement in their health.
I know it works for cancer because I went off it for 3 weeks. I wanted to see if I could prove a point to my doctor so I stopped and I will never do it again. I felt like 100 years old, like I'd been hit by a mack truck, I had no energy at all, the brain fog was back, the bursitis in my hip was back, the pain in my hands was back and the cancer pain was everywhere. Now back on it for a couple of weeks I am almost pain free again, the brain fog is gone and my energy is back.
Thursday I see the oncologist and I am looking forward to seeing the results of my blood work and how it compares to 3 weeks ago.
A lot of people tell me that they go to their doctor who asks them what they are doing. They tell them the only difference is drinking this juice and the doctors tell them to keep drinking it because there is such an improvement in their health.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
poison of unforgiveness
last week a friend at church said she felt led to invite me to a study at her place on the battlefield of the mind.
i'm looking forward to it. we are at war against the forces of darkness and we need to know how to protect ourselves. it's great to know that in the end God wins the war but we need to be ready for battle each and every day because satan will use whatever methods he can to destroy us.
drugs and alchol poison our bodies and destroy our minds but unforgiveness is worse, it poisons our soul. it doesn't do anything to the person we harbour the unforgiveness against, sometimes they aren't even aware of it, but it eats us up inside robbing us of the joy we have when we are in a relationship with Christ. when we become christians and grow in a relationship with God we consider Christ's atoning sacrifice. when we consider how much we have been forgiven how can we not forgive others. we don't forgive others for their sake, we forgive others for our sake. and when we can forgive others and the poison drains out of us satan loses the battle.
i'm looking forward to it. we are at war against the forces of darkness and we need to know how to protect ourselves. it's great to know that in the end God wins the war but we need to be ready for battle each and every day because satan will use whatever methods he can to destroy us.
drugs and alchol poison our bodies and destroy our minds but unforgiveness is worse, it poisons our soul. it doesn't do anything to the person we harbour the unforgiveness against, sometimes they aren't even aware of it, but it eats us up inside robbing us of the joy we have when we are in a relationship with Christ. when we become christians and grow in a relationship with God we consider Christ's atoning sacrifice. when we consider how much we have been forgiven how can we not forgive others. we don't forgive others for their sake, we forgive others for our sake. and when we can forgive others and the poison drains out of us satan loses the battle.
Happy New Year!!!
had a wonderful time last night having dinner at the old spaghetti factory with some friends. afterwards we went our separate ways, some had to work today and were going home and some were going to see a movie that my grandchildren want me to take them to so i didn't go with them.
this morning i met a friend for a very long coffee at timmy's.
it's going to be a good year.
this morning i met a friend for a very long coffee at timmy's.
it's going to be a good year.
Friday, December 28, 2007
working at sally ann
i volunteer in the kitchen at salvation army every thursday morning. i start the day bagging fruits and vegetables for the clients. the donations vary from day to day but we always get bread and buns. when we have so much of an item we just leave them in cases for people to help themselves. we put everything on rolling shelving units and the clients can help themselves.
yesterday we were busier than usual so i took one of the shelving units outside. men were instantly attacking the shelves above me and on both sides of me to get at the food and i was getting knocked down. i could hear a man tell the crowd to let me get back inside. it was kinda scary and made me think of what must happen when people panic.
some people just want what they want and to hell with everyone else.
the best part is serving coffee to everyone while they are having lunch.
last week a lady asked if she could hug me and pray for me. she said she never hugs anyone. she had lived in vancouver's east side and she said her life and memory were destroyed there but that God had resurrected her into a new life in Him. she prayed that God would double His use in me. it was a switch but it was cool.
i love working there.
yesterday we were busier than usual so i took one of the shelving units outside. men were instantly attacking the shelves above me and on both sides of me to get at the food and i was getting knocked down. i could hear a man tell the crowd to let me get back inside. it was kinda scary and made me think of what must happen when people panic.
some people just want what they want and to hell with everyone else.
the best part is serving coffee to everyone while they are having lunch.
last week a lady asked if she could hug me and pray for me. she said she never hugs anyone. she had lived in vancouver's east side and she said her life and memory were destroyed there but that God had resurrected her into a new life in Him. she prayed that God would double His use in me. it was a switch but it was cool.
i love working there.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas eve
i wanted so much to go to Christmas eve service with my grandchildren but instead went to my sister's for dinner. i couldn't get to my own church but stopped in at a church on my way home and managed to get the last 15 minutes. after singing silent night i wished the small, wrinkled little old lady beside me a merry Christmas. she wished me the same and hugged me. i had no idea how badly i needed that hug but after saying God bless you to her, and she to me, i left the church and started weeping as i walked out to my truck and started driving home.
BBB's top ten scams
This year’s list of the Top Ten Scams sees some old dogs coming back with some new tricks. New social marketing websites like Facebook and MySpace have opened new doors for identity thieves to access your information, while some unscrupulous door-to-door gas marketers put this category back on this list.
I have never signed on to facebook or myspace and can not believe the number of people that are on it. seeing this report on the better business bureau's website just confirms my suspicions that facebook and myspace are wide open to identity theft.
I have never signed on to facebook or myspace and can not believe the number of people that are on it. seeing this report on the better business bureau's website just confirms my suspicions that facebook and myspace are wide open to identity theft.
BBB
**TOP TEN SCAMS**
This year’s list of the Top Ten Scams sees some old dogs coming back with some new tricks. New social marketing websites like Facebook and MySpace have opened new doors for identity thieves to access your information, while some unscrupulous door-to-door gas marketers put this category back on this list.
This year’s list of the Top Ten Scams sees some old dogs coming back with some new tricks. New social marketing websites like Facebook and MySpace have opened new doors for identity thieves to access your information, while some unscrupulous door-to-door gas marketers put this category back on this list.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps Canadian, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Dieppe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in that Korean Land',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
Something red and, white, ... A Canadian flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a trench with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbour no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps Canadian, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Dieppe on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in that Korean Land',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
Something red and, white, ... A Canadian flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a trench with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbour no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
naturopathic vs traditional medicine
saw the naturopath last week, my numbers were so high they were almost off the scale. he asked if i had pain anywhere because his tests showed that i had inflammation everywhere. he asked if i still had the supplements he had given me, truthfully i said i did have them but i didn't tell him i hadn't been taking them.
i have pain in my ears, in my jaw, almost everywhere except maybe the small toe on each foot.
yesterday i saw my gp and told him i felt like 100 years old and like i'd been hit by a truck. he told me to quit taking the hormone drug he had prescribed 3 weeks ago because depending on a stress test (because the least effort exhausts me) he was going to order, which wouldn't be til january, they wouldn't be good for me. as it was i hadn't picked up the prescription yet but this is something he has prescribed for me for the past 15 years. he told me to take baby aspirin instead.
as the naturopath has said my lymph nodes are so completely congested they are causing the inflammation/pain. him i believe and i wonder what's the point of the gp's tests.
i can go to the naturopath and he can tell me which organs aren't functioning properly and he can give me supplements that restore my health. i go to my gp who prescribes something then tells me i shouldn't take it and can not tell me why there is so much pain in my body and yet he thinks all naturopathic medicine is a crock.
he's ordered blood work that is totally different from what the oncologist does so my wanting to have proof in black and white that couldn't be disputed isn't going to happen.
so in the morning i'll do the glucose fasting blood work and right after i'm back on xango. i may not be able to prove it on paper but my entire body will know the difference.
i know when i see the naturopath again that my numbers are going to be back down in the normal range because the inflammation will be all gone.
the research on mangosteen shows that it's effective in reducing inflammation in the body. it also says that most diseases are caused by inflammation.
i wish i could afford to give it away because i am convinced it will relieve people's symptoms. i know it will relieve mine.
i have pictures of a langley burn victim whose face and neck were badly burned and after applying strips of gauze soaked in xango the burns on his face totally healed. his hands didn't because he kept washing his hands after applying the gauze. this is another amazing xango testimony.
i gave a small bottle to a cbc student and told her i didn't expect her to buy it but asked her if it helped her extremely bad acne to tell others what it did for her. we agreed it might not do too much because it was a small 3 oz bottle. she told me it had helped a little and believed more would have helped more.
i have pain in my ears, in my jaw, almost everywhere except maybe the small toe on each foot.
yesterday i saw my gp and told him i felt like 100 years old and like i'd been hit by a truck. he told me to quit taking the hormone drug he had prescribed 3 weeks ago because depending on a stress test (because the least effort exhausts me) he was going to order, which wouldn't be til january, they wouldn't be good for me. as it was i hadn't picked up the prescription yet but this is something he has prescribed for me for the past 15 years. he told me to take baby aspirin instead.
as the naturopath has said my lymph nodes are so completely congested they are causing the inflammation/pain. him i believe and i wonder what's the point of the gp's tests.
i can go to the naturopath and he can tell me which organs aren't functioning properly and he can give me supplements that restore my health. i go to my gp who prescribes something then tells me i shouldn't take it and can not tell me why there is so much pain in my body and yet he thinks all naturopathic medicine is a crock.
he's ordered blood work that is totally different from what the oncologist does so my wanting to have proof in black and white that couldn't be disputed isn't going to happen.
so in the morning i'll do the glucose fasting blood work and right after i'm back on xango. i may not be able to prove it on paper but my entire body will know the difference.
i know when i see the naturopath again that my numbers are going to be back down in the normal range because the inflammation will be all gone.
the research on mangosteen shows that it's effective in reducing inflammation in the body. it also says that most diseases are caused by inflammation.
i wish i could afford to give it away because i am convinced it will relieve people's symptoms. i know it will relieve mine.
i have pictures of a langley burn victim whose face and neck were badly burned and after applying strips of gauze soaked in xango the burns on his face totally healed. his hands didn't because he kept washing his hands after applying the gauze. this is another amazing xango testimony.
i gave a small bottle to a cbc student and told her i didn't expect her to buy it but asked her if it helped her extremely bad acne to tell others what it did for her. we agreed it might not do too much because it was a small 3 oz bottle. she told me it had helped a little and believed more would have helped more.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
xango - it's a food product not a drug
xango - it's a food product. people have asked about it and said they want to ask their doctors about it to see whether it's ok if they take it together with the meds they are taking.
i wonder - do they take their orange or apple juice to the doctors to ask if it's ok to take them with their meds? what do they think mangosteen is?
absolutely i agree - people should check with their doctors when they're prescribed drugs to make sure there are no contraindications. you definitely want to make sure that the drugs your doctor has prescribed for you last year are what you should still be taking this year, and that they won't cause any problems with the new prescription he wants to give you.
i'm amazed at the number of stories i've heard lately from people that have gone to their doctors for whatever and the doctor's are saying 'oh are you still taking that medicine?' like they don't know. every one has said their doctor has taken them off the old drug. they have so many people going through their doors they don't remember who you are or what they've prescribed for you.
doctors and pharmacists have to know their drugs to know to warn about this or that. you have to read the warning labels on everything to make sure you can take cough syrup with aspirin and to know how much to give what age group.
oranges - just eat 'em. apple juice - just drink it. it's food - it's good for you.
doctors will even tell you it's good to eat fruit. fruit is good for you. you know - an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
well in this case it's mangosteen fruit - it's food - it's good for you. it's a fruit - fruit is good for you. and a lot of people are finding a couple of ounces of mangosteen juice a day is keeping the doctor away.
i have to remember to ask people when they say they want to ask their doctor if it's ok to drink xango if they also ask if it's ok to drink apple and orange juice.
i wonder - do they take their orange or apple juice to the doctors to ask if it's ok to take them with their meds? what do they think mangosteen is?
absolutely i agree - people should check with their doctors when they're prescribed drugs to make sure there are no contraindications. you definitely want to make sure that the drugs your doctor has prescribed for you last year are what you should still be taking this year, and that they won't cause any problems with the new prescription he wants to give you.
i'm amazed at the number of stories i've heard lately from people that have gone to their doctors for whatever and the doctor's are saying 'oh are you still taking that medicine?' like they don't know. every one has said their doctor has taken them off the old drug. they have so many people going through their doors they don't remember who you are or what they've prescribed for you.
doctors and pharmacists have to know their drugs to know to warn about this or that. you have to read the warning labels on everything to make sure you can take cough syrup with aspirin and to know how much to give what age group.
oranges - just eat 'em. apple juice - just drink it. it's food - it's good for you.
doctors will even tell you it's good to eat fruit. fruit is good for you. you know - an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
well in this case it's mangosteen fruit - it's food - it's good for you. it's a fruit - fruit is good for you. and a lot of people are finding a couple of ounces of mangosteen juice a day is keeping the doctor away.
i have to remember to ask people when they say they want to ask their doctor if it's ok to drink xango if they also ask if it's ok to drink apple and orange juice.
Diabetes - Globe and Mail
i read the following article (check the Globe & Mail archives to view the whole article) and shook my head. lately i have become more aware of the risks associated with taking prescribed medicines. they warn about taking certain meds with foods, take others without foods, don't take with this drug, don't take with that drug. it's scary.
Study flags Avandia risks
ANDRÉ PICARD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
December 12, 2007 at 10:01 AM EST
A new Canadian study provides the strongest evidence to date of the dangers of the popular diabetes drug Avandia, particularly when used by seniors.
The research, published in today's edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association, is the latest in a series of studies calling the safety of the drug into question.
Older diabetics taking the drug have a risk of congestive heart failure 60 per cent higher than those taking other diabetes drugs, the study found. Those on the drug also show a 40-per-cent jump in the risk of heart attack and a 29-per-cent increase in the risk of death.
Study flags Avandia risks
ANDRÉ PICARD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
December 12, 2007 at 10:01 AM EST
A new Canadian study provides the strongest evidence to date of the dangers of the popular diabetes drug Avandia, particularly when used by seniors.
The research, published in today's edition of The Journal of the American Medical Association, is the latest in a series of studies calling the safety of the drug into question.
Older diabetics taking the drug have a risk of congestive heart failure 60 per cent higher than those taking other diabetes drugs, the study found. Those on the drug also show a 40-per-cent jump in the risk of heart attack and a 29-per-cent increase in the risk of death.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
100 years old & hit by a truck
i feel like i'm a hundred years old and i've been hit by a truck. wanting relief from pain and stiffness in my hands i started drinking xango. i had no idea it would do anything for the cancer. i heard stories from people saying they'd been healed of cancer but until i stopped taking it on the 29th i had no idea what the difference was. i wasn't expecting it to do anything for the cancer. man was i wrong.
my cancer is in my lymph nodes which are all throughout the body. some i can actually see that they are swollen. but the pain is everywhere because the nodes are everywhere. it goes through my core front to back, it's in my armpits and going down my left arm and it's in my groin. the rest of my body just aches everywhere with occasional stabs of pain. i have no energy at all and the least effort exhausts me. and of course the pain and stiffness is back in my hands.
but.... relief is in sight. i remember feeling this way before i went on xango and now that i know that xango will take the pain away and restore my energy i am so looking forward to the 17th when after i see my gp and have tests i'll be back on it.
when someone asks me how i'm doing i say i'm fine. i figure no one wants to hear about my aches and pain. now i know that xango is making a difference so when i am back on it i can truthfully say i am fine.
after this i don't ever plan on being without xango again. i thought of what a wuss i would be at the end stages of the disease but if i keep drinking xango maybe i'll never get to the end stages.
my cancer is in my lymph nodes which are all throughout the body. some i can actually see that they are swollen. but the pain is everywhere because the nodes are everywhere. it goes through my core front to back, it's in my armpits and going down my left arm and it's in my groin. the rest of my body just aches everywhere with occasional stabs of pain. i have no energy at all and the least effort exhausts me. and of course the pain and stiffness is back in my hands.
but.... relief is in sight. i remember feeling this way before i went on xango and now that i know that xango will take the pain away and restore my energy i am so looking forward to the 17th when after i see my gp and have tests i'll be back on it.
when someone asks me how i'm doing i say i'm fine. i figure no one wants to hear about my aches and pain. now i know that xango is making a difference so when i am back on it i can truthfully say i am fine.
after this i don't ever plan on being without xango again. i thought of what a wuss i would be at the end stages of the disease but if i keep drinking xango maybe i'll never get to the end stages.
Friday, December 07, 2007
God and Xango
since i started drinking xango and have noticed how it has helped me and listened to others tell me how it's helped them i have wanted to tell everyone about it. people say they have this or that ailment and i tell them about xango.
i know it works. i know it works for me. i believe it will work for others. so when people tell me they are sick i want to tell them about xango because i want them to get better.
i know God works. i know He works for me and i know He will work for others. so why don't i tell sick people what He will do for them when i know i want them to get better and i know He will make them better.
some people that are physically sick don't want to hear about xango. they don't believe it will do anything for them.
spiritually sick people don't want to hear about Jesus. they don't believe He can do anything for them.
i've been thinking about this 'comparison' a lot lately. i find it so easy to talk to people about xango and i want to talk to them about xango because i want them to get better.
i absolutely love talking about Jesus. He's my favourite subject. why will i go out of my way to talk to people about xango but only talk to people about Jesus when they ask me.
we live in a sick society. xango may give you relief from physical symptoms of illness but Jesus is the absolute sure-fire cure for what really ails you.
depending on what ails you, you need to keep drinking xango. i drink 1 oz 3 times a day and i feel great. but as i've discovered when i haven't had xango for a few days the pain comes back and i feel crappy.
you need to keep drinking in Jesus too. saying you believe in Him is one thing but if you really want to feel great you need to take Him in regularly throughout the day. i know when i don't get enough of Jesus. i feel empty and terrible.
you only drink 1 oz of xango and don't notice any change - drink more.
you only spend 1 minute with God and don't notice any change - spend more time with Him.
i thank God that He gave us the mangosteen to help us feel better. i thank God and praise Him for the precious gift of His Son to save us and His Holy Spirit to make us better.
i know it works. i know it works for me. i believe it will work for others. so when people tell me they are sick i want to tell them about xango because i want them to get better.
i know God works. i know He works for me and i know He will work for others. so why don't i tell sick people what He will do for them when i know i want them to get better and i know He will make them better.
some people that are physically sick don't want to hear about xango. they don't believe it will do anything for them.
spiritually sick people don't want to hear about Jesus. they don't believe He can do anything for them.
i've been thinking about this 'comparison' a lot lately. i find it so easy to talk to people about xango and i want to talk to them about xango because i want them to get better.
i absolutely love talking about Jesus. He's my favourite subject. why will i go out of my way to talk to people about xango but only talk to people about Jesus when they ask me.
we live in a sick society. xango may give you relief from physical symptoms of illness but Jesus is the absolute sure-fire cure for what really ails you.
depending on what ails you, you need to keep drinking xango. i drink 1 oz 3 times a day and i feel great. but as i've discovered when i haven't had xango for a few days the pain comes back and i feel crappy.
you need to keep drinking in Jesus too. saying you believe in Him is one thing but if you really want to feel great you need to take Him in regularly throughout the day. i know when i don't get enough of Jesus. i feel empty and terrible.
you only drink 1 oz of xango and don't notice any change - drink more.
you only spend 1 minute with God and don't notice any change - spend more time with Him.
i thank God that He gave us the mangosteen to help us feel better. i thank God and praise Him for the precious gift of His Son to save us and His Holy Spirit to make us better.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
xango and non-hodgkins lymphoma
i stopped drinking xango a week ago to prove a point to my gp. i had no idea i would notice such a difference myself considering i only started drinking it for the pain and stiffness in my hands.
i hurt. for the past several days i've noticed that the lymph nodes in my groin and armpits are painful, my hands hurt and are stiff again. i'm determined to see what the difference would be in my blood work from almost 3 weeks without xango when my gp checks me out to being back on xango for 3 weeks and being re-tested by the oncologist. i can tell him how i feel but if he can see the facts for himself how can he deny them.
most people are skeptics and need proof before they believe in something. thinking of Jesus just now and even then people didn't believe when the truth was right in front of them.
i hurt. for the past several days i've noticed that the lymph nodes in my groin and armpits are painful, my hands hurt and are stiff again. i'm determined to see what the difference would be in my blood work from almost 3 weeks without xango when my gp checks me out to being back on xango for 3 weeks and being re-tested by the oncologist. i can tell him how i feel but if he can see the facts for himself how can he deny them.
most people are skeptics and need proof before they believe in something. thinking of Jesus just now and even then people didn't believe when the truth was right in front of them.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
cancer
I read something that says we all have cancer cells in our body so it's just a matter of time before everyone of us gets it. And hearing daily of someone else being diagnosed with cancer I'm believing it.
I stopped Xango 3 days ago to see if it makes any difference in how I feel from the cancer and my lymph nodes that had hurt before Xango, that didn't hurt on Xango, are now hurting again. I saw my doctor on Thursday and he said he wants to do a head to toe physical on the 17th so I wanted to not be on Xango and see what my blood levels and everything says and then when I see the oncologist on Jan 10th compare my blood levels again.
I talk to friends who are all coming down with colds or flu and I'm not sure I want to have either so I can prove a point to the doctor except that I do want to prove the point to the doctor.
I stopped Xango 3 days ago to see if it makes any difference in how I feel from the cancer and my lymph nodes that had hurt before Xango, that didn't hurt on Xango, are now hurting again. I saw my doctor on Thursday and he said he wants to do a head to toe physical on the 17th so I wanted to not be on Xango and see what my blood levels and everything says and then when I see the oncologist on Jan 10th compare my blood levels again.
I talk to friends who are all coming down with colds or flu and I'm not sure I want to have either so I can prove a point to the doctor except that I do want to prove the point to the doctor.
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