WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM?

 “Faith is trusting what the eye can’t see. Eyes see the prowling lion. Faith sees Daniel’s angel. Eyes see storms. Faith sees Noah’s rainbow. Your eyes see your faults. Your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt. Your faith sees His blood.”[i]

The above is Max Lucado’s paraphrase of Hebrews 11:11(NIV): “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 

But where does faith originate?

1.                  Our Creator wrapped faith in our DNA

Dr. Andrew Newberg, neuroscientist and author of "Why We Believe What We Believe," says our brains seem to have a special place for faith. He has tracked how the human brain processes religion and spirituality. It's all part of new field called neurotheology.[1]

Newberg says the frontal lobe, the area right behind our foreheads, helps us focus our attention in prayer and meditation. The pari-et-al lobe, located near the backs of our skulls, is the seat of our sensory information. He says it's involved in that feeling of becoming part of something greater than oneself. The limbic system, nestled deep in the center, regulates our emotions and is responsible for feelings of awe and joy.

Newberg says similar areas of the brain are affected during prayer and meditation. He suggests brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in God. He says there may be universal features of the human mind that actually make it easier for us to believe in a higher power.

I believe people search for God because of the “God-shaped void” within. If they haven’t heard the gospel or reject it, they worship the earth, an idol they know is nothing but a figure humans created, or devise their own religion—even making unbelief into doctrine.

2.                  God has given each person the ability to believe and his own lump of faith: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (Romans 12:2-4).

Often people, who don’t think they believe, find themselves praying when they or a loved one is in danger. A cry for God’s help comes from us spontaneously sometimes in crisis.

3.                  Faith arises from the need to know our Heavenly Father. Since the Lord gave humankind a choice of whether to serve Him, God prevents us from “proving” He exists and leaves that and other vacancies for our faith to fill.

In my book, Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, I tell how medical science and common sense show we’re more than a body,  discovering our whole body keeps daying and regenerating cell by cell,  parts being removed and sometimes another transplanted from someone else.  Yet there is room for doubt when it comes to proving we have a soul that lives forever.  We have to believe the evidence.

4.                  Faith comes through hearing the Word—the gospel.

The Apostle Paul wrote “Faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17NIV).

 Because faith is necessary to be redeemed from sin and to have our name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, God “breathed” truth into those who wrote His love message to humankind. It is through that love letter—the Bible—we gain knowledge of Him and why He allows us (anybody) to choose to accept it and love and obey Him.

 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Timothy 3:16KJ).

5.         Faith results from acting on what was heard. From Romans 10NIV: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

6.          Faith comes through the will. We decide whether to believe God’s Word, a false religion, or atheism. Everything about who we are, why we are here and where we are going takes faith. Yet it takes a leap—a decision.

7.         Faith is created by combining belief with common-sense actions. James calls it faith and works. (James 2:22).

8.         Faith develops out of our hopes. We hope for something, but it takes faith to receive it.

9.         Faith can come as a fruit (KJ) and Gift of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 12:9).

10.        Faith comes from a combination of our will to believe, and the Holy Spirit’s revelation. The Word must be planted, watered, and then our lives bear fruit.

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[1]CNN report by A. Chris Gajilan on April 4, 2007,

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[i] Excerpted from Everyday Blessings, Max Lucado, “What Faith Sees,” http://www.maxlucado.com/

©Ada Brownell 2012

HOW WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD

A SWORD FLASHES IN THE DARKNESS (THE BIBLE IS GOD’S INFALLIBLE WORD) by Ada Brownell “Seek ye out the book of the Lord, and read.” (Isaiah 34”14) I was over at my neighbor’s house picking up some Avon products when she told me about her friend who was visiting. “I don’t know what to do to help her,” Roberta said, tears in her eyes. Roberta’s friend came from South Dakota to take her child to a Denver specialist for tests on his heart. A blood clot developed in the young boy’s arm after the test, and doctors told the mother if the clot moved the short distance up the artery to the heart, the child would die. If they operated to remove the clot, he might lose the use of his arm. I told Roberta we believed in prayer and told her I’d pray for the child. After I went home, however, I realized that wasn’t enough. The mother needed some faith of her own. So I took one of my Bibles and underlined the 91st Psalm: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust .... A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways .... He shall call upon me and I will answer him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” I put a marker in the Bible and took the Bible to Roberta. Later, Robert related to me what happened. When her friend came home from the hospital, she sat down and read the Psalm. Tears soon dripped on the marked page, but the mother found hope. At the hospital, doctors circled the little boy’s bed in consultation about what they should do. One of them gently began to examine the thin, inflamed arm where needles had inserted dye for the X-rays. “It’s gone!” the doctor said in amazement. “The clot has dissolved.” Like the boy’s mother, many people have found comfort and hope in God’s Word. The Bible is a unique book. There is none other like it -- although many books have been written to take its place. No other writing in the history of the human race has been preserved with the care that has been given the Bible. Not only is it the oldest book of antiquity, throughout history men have spent their lives preserving, copying and translating Scripture. Some of the copying was so meticulous one scribe copied the consonants, another inserted the vowel points and accents, and a third revised the copy. Manuscripts were preserved on fine animal skins and kept in dry places where they would be safe for generations to come. The writing of the Bible also is unique. Unlike Mohammed’s Koran, or Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon, written almost completely by one man (Mohammed wrote the Koran, but his followers also wrote some of his sayings for the book), the Bible was written by 40 authors over a 1,500-year span, over 30 generations. The authors included peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars, a doctor and a tax collector. It was written on three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, and in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Hundreds of controversial subjects are included in the subject matter, but although the authors were so different, they wrote with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation. There is one unfolding story: God’s redemption of man. Another test of the Bible is the fulfillment of prophecy. One of the most outstanding fulfillments of prophecy is taken from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel and was fulfilled in this generation when Israel became a nation. Read it in Ezekiel 37, and then read the book of John in the New Testament. Dozens of Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, including His resurrection from the dead. A great book to read besides the Bible: Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell which will help you understand how amazing God’s Word is, and the reality that Jesus is God.

New Review of Swallowed by LIFE posted on Amazon

From Jesse's Dad - This review is from: Swallowed by Life (Kindle Edition)

 Having lost my 10 year old son, Jesse, to Burkitt's Leukemia just over a year ago, Swallowed by Life by Ada Brownell echoes some of the very questions that I was asking after my son's death. I highly recommend it to those who are grieving and those who wish to come alongside someone who is grieving.

 I especially enjoyed her thoughts on the person being more than just the body. This is illustrated wonderfully by examples of body parts and organs being removed, cells and tissues constantly being replaced, and yet, the person we are remains.

 I also appreciated her take on Heaven: a child enjoys playing with toy cars, but an adult drives a real car. A child can't imagine giving up the toy car, whereas an adult realizes that driving a real car is far superior to playing with a toy car. So it will be in Heaven. We will find that all of our earthly pleasures where but a training ground for their Heavenly counterparts.

LIFE QUIZ

Questions

1.  Your body developed from ____ cell.

2. Your body now has about _____ ________ living cells.

3. These cells are constantly ______ and being __________.

4. When God designed you, and loved you, He made you more than a _______.

5. Our skin is rebuilt in ______ days.

6. Cells ______ to replenish themselves.

7. About ________ die every minute.

8. When God created Adam, He made him a living _______.

9.  It is the Spirit of God that gives us a ________ and ________.

10. When sin came into the world and brought death, God promised a Redeemer that would give us back ___________life.

11. For nearly _______ years, prophets wrote and preached about the coming Messiah.

12. The Bible says, “Greater love hath no man than to __________________

for a friend.

13. ___________did that for us.

 14. God loves me just as __ ______.

Choose from these answers:

Messiah

Dying, replaced

Body

Seven

One

Eternal

Lay down his life

Life

Jesus

Soul

I am

Divide

75 trillion

4,000

© Ada Brownell 2012

Mama Liked the Chicken's Tail

 THE CHICKEN’S TAIL

           By Ada Nicholson Brownell

                                               

            When I was growing up, our family went to church most Sundays knowing dinner was still running around in the chicken pen.

            Whether we got out at noon or 1 o’clock, the family tackled the necessary chores to put dinner on the table. Dad or one of my brothers caught the chickens. Mom put water on to boil and went to the cellar for vegetables and fruit.  My older sisters, four of them until they started getting married, peeled potatoes and helped prepare other side dishes. Dad or a brother killed the fryers, dunked them in boiling water, plucked the feathers, and over an open flame burned off pinfeathers.

Mom washed and cut up the chickens, immersed them in flour, salt and pepper, and slithered the pieces into the frying pan.  The aroma filled the comfortable two-story house.

I helped set the table and fill the glasses.

            Often friends, relatives, preachers or missionaries joined the 10 of us for dinner. After someone prayed, Mom glanced around at each child and said, “FHB.” Translation: “Family Hold Back. Don’t take all the food before our guests have some.”

            Since I was the youngest, I usually got a meaty “wishbone” which you don’t see when you buy a cut-up chicken today. Mom always ate the chicken’s tailpiece.

 “I like it,” she’d say with a smile.

            It was a bony piece, and none of us liked the idea of eating the “last piece over the fence.”

            Years later, after I became a mother, I understood why Mom loved the tailpiece. It was because she loved us and wanted us to have the meatier parts.

            Sacrifice is just part of love.  Jesus gave us that example when he sacrificed Heaven and came to earth to suffer and die so that we could have eternal life.  “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

            I’ve always been a little like the chicken’s tail piece—last in many ways, and not the most beautiful and desirable.  But Somebody loves me anyway.

                                                            ###

LOST IN A SNOWSTORM OR GOING DOWN IN QUICKSAND?

My nephew, lost with his brother-in-law while tobogganing, had no idea which way would lead them out of the white mountainous area and back to the car. His desperation almost led him to burn the toboggan for one last bit of heat before they died. But his buddy insisted the toboggan was the only way they would get out and sure enough they kept climbing hills and sliding down the other side until the vehicle came into view.

 When we went exploring near our home in Colorado picking asparagus and hunting arrowheads my brother often spoke of quicksand. I’d heard Daddy warn about it, too. Given Colorado doesn’t have much swampy land the risk wasn’t great, but we did have many ponds, drainage ditches, canals and the mighty Colorado River. I’ve seen the stories on television about people who fell into quicksand. The more a person struggled, the deeper down they went. Rescuers often threw a rope to a person being sucked under because if they got too close, they would sink, too. Sometimes they had to tie the other end of the rope to a horse in order to pull the person out.

David, the Psalmist, wrote of sinking into the mire, but he spoke of spiritual mire. “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mier, Where there is no understanding. Where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry, My eyes fail while I wait for my God.” He wrote of enemies who would like to destroy him and then he begins to confess: “O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me.... I am the song of the drunkards.” Finally he prayed, “O God, in the multitude of Your mercy…Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink..let not the pit shut its mouth over me.”

 Often David mentions his enemies. Today Satan is our worst enemy and he likes to trap us in the soggy mire of life’s temptations and problems. Quicksand has been known to swallow up buildings or at least make them fall over. Jesus spoke of the foolish man who built his house on the sand. The home fell and great was the fall of it. But the wise man built his life on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, and when the storms came, or the underground rivers that cause quicksand, the wind and rain didn’t affect that house at all.

 Today I thought about people the Lord has rescued from sin, but then they jump back into that life that can destroy them and perhaps those around them. Why would someone turn away from the vehicle ready to take him from the cold, severe snowstorm and certain death? My nephew certainly didn’t.

 Why would someone jump back into quick sand after being rescued? This weekend is Easter where we celebrate the Resurrection of the One who will rescue from sin and death anyone who wants to be saved. The Apostle Paul wrote about how it’s done: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

” Other places Jesus added “And come. Follow me.” Have you been saved and are you committed to following Jesus?

A loud instrument

We were at the altar call in a Wednesday evening service. I was playing a song of dedication softly on the organ.

            Suddenly the organ leaped to full volume.  I nearly fell off the bench and the pastor had a wide-eyed, surprised look in his eyes as he turned to look at me.

            The chunky high heel of my right shoe had slipped off the volume pedal and the shoe’s toe was stuck holding the pedal completely down. Finally, I had enough sense to take my hands off the keys to stop the deafening chord.

            Our wonderful pastor smiled, then went on with the invitation while I got my foot out and reached down with my hand to remove the shoe.

            That was only one of the times I embarrassed myself during ministry.

            In a church ministry preparation class someone said, “Be sure and examine your motives.  If you only want ministry because you want the rewards and applause . . . .”

            I started laughing.  “You won’t find a bunch of people lining up to shake your hand and thank you for the great job you’re doing when you teach a Sunday school class, especially one with a bunch of rowdy little boys,” I said.  “You won’t be given fame or fortune for many jobs you do for the Lord.  After about 40 years in various types of ministry, I’ve had almost as many embarrassing moments as I have people telling me how wonderful I am.”

          

         It doesn’t matter who notices, or even if we make mistakes, or embarrass ourselves -- if we

 have  properly prepared ourselves and done our best.

             But another thought comes to mind.

             In many parts of the world people risk their lives to tell others about Jesus and how He died to forgive sins so that anyone can live forever with Him. He sees. He knows. He even watches the sparrows and counts the hairs on your head, the Bible says.

             Those delivered from the brink of hell because someone ministered are thankful, as I am for the people who brought the full gospel to our house.

            If you desire to ministe, it's not even necessary to embarrass yourself, as I did that day when my shoe stuck.

               Incidentally, I didn't let that embarrassing moment stop me from using my talent to minister.

            “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

© Ada Brownell 2012

                                               

Mysteries of Life

In the morning, take a good look at your egg before you fry it. The mystery of life lies before you. If the egg was fertilized, before you broke it there was enough information there to boggle your mind.

God put DNA into the clear and golden slime of a chicken egg that blueprints the breed,  the ability to eat and digest food, the machinery to make more chickens, what color the feathers will be, how big the chicken will grow, the cluck and the crow, and beady little eyes that see—all sorts of wonderful things, just as he put amazing things in the eggs that became you and me.

Life. What a mysterious gift.

We see life everywhere, but we have difficulty grasping what it is. Scientists appear to have found ways to define death; they have more trouble with life.

The abortion rights and pro-life groups are at loggerheads over when life begins—whether it’s when the egg is fertilized with the sperm, when the egg attaches to the uterine wall, at a certain trimester, or at birth.

I interviewed the director of an agency that dispenses morning-after pills who said a woman isn’t pregnant until the fertilized egg attaches to the womb. The morning-after pill causes the woman’s uterus to shed its lining, preventing a fertilized egg from attaching and living. Abortion advocates say because the egg isn’t fastened to the womb, it’s not an abortion.

Other developments surround life. Human pregnancy was reported from artificial insemination in 1799. In 1952, frogs were cloned from tadpole cells. In 1970, mice embryos were cloned, then other cloned animals soon followed. Sheep embryos were cloned in 1979 and cattle in 1980. An adult sheep, Dolly, was cloned in 1997.

Cloning is the process of making an identical copy of something asexually with DNA fragments, cells, or organisms. In 1993, George Washington University researchers cloned human embryos, but there are no documented cases of a living human produced through cloning.

Test-tube babies, though, are somewhat common today. The first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978 in Britain. A frozen embryo from test-tube fertilization produced a girl named Zoe in Australia in 1984. In 1986, surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead, who agreed to have an embryo implanted in her uterus so that another couple could have a child, refused to relinquish the baby girl and sparked a landmark court case.

In vitro fertilization is common today for infertile couples who can afford the expensive procedure, and often the births are multiple.

 All this work with living cells, yet humankind has not been able to adequately explain life or create it. We always have to start with something living, such as sperm and eggs, a seed, tissue, or a cell.

            According to Pasteur’s law of biogenesis, if ‘life comes from life,’ then life’s information must come from its parent’s information.

            “Biologists have long sought the laws that govern life, but it is only now that we see the molecular detail that these laws have appeared. What we discover is not a naturalistic phenomenon, but intelligent design,” says Alex Williams of Creation Ministries International in his article, “How Life Works.”

            The Bible says, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

According to the Stanford School of Regenerative Medicine, the human body is estimated to have about one hundred trillion cells, a living community, with each individual cell having an assigned place to occupy and a specific role to play. Eventually something happens, even with all those living cells, that causes a person to die. Without life, every cell in the body dies and decays.

Death came because of sin (Genesis 3), but God promised a Redeemer. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

That’s why I wrote the book, Swallowed by LIFE. “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:3–5 NLT).

Jesus said, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:26).

Do you believe?

          

LIFE AND "THE MORNING AFTER"

When President Barack Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ announced employers, including religious organizations, must provide women’s reproductive services through insurance, the national debate quickly shifted from the morning-after and abortion pills, to traditional contraception.

 In media terms, that’s “spin” and the truth about the morning-after pill vanished.

 Obama is trying to make us think businesses and religions can opt out of the requirement. Regulators now solicit public input on how to implement the mandate—an appearance of openness while doing nothing.

I visited Planned Parenthood as a reporter, probably in 1994 or 1995, when I first heard of the “morning-after” pill being used in the United States.

The way I understand it, when the Food and Drug Administration wouldn’t approve the abortion pill RU-486 for use in the United States, Dr. Carl Djerassi, who helped develop the first oral contraceptive pill and founder of Planned Parenthood, decided a large dose of birth control pills would keep a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb, and thus he invented the “morning after pill.” Planned Parenthood began offering the treatment for women within 72 hours of unprotected sex, although the medication hadn’t been approved for that use and women sometimes had significant side effects.

 The morning-after medication causes the uterus to shed its lining, preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. The dosage also might cause a woman not to ovulate.

Planned Parenthood claimed until the fertilized egg attaches to the womb, the woman is not pregnant, and that’s true. But invitro fertilization shows a fertilized egg is pregnant with life before implantation in the womb.

Certainly not everyone who takes morning-after pills has a fertilized egg bursting to life and searching for a safe place in the womb. But some do—and that’s the reason for the pill—to prevent another person from entering this world.

Christians, among them Evangelicals, Catholics and many others believe “Thou Shalt Not Kill” in the Sixth Commandment includes the unborn. People are speaking out against the requirement, even after Obama transferred responsibility to insurance companies.

 The U.S. Catholic bishops noted the full range of contraceptives approved by the FDA that would be available without any co-pay under Obama Care included “drugs which can attack a developing unborn child before and after implantation in the mother’s womb.

Yet, because of the world’s exploding population, population control is a goal of many in government. The number of people on earth who need food is worrisome, but it’s not a reason to kill—or to force people, especially those whose conscience or religion forbids it, to assist with the killing.

 If killing were the answer to earth’s problems why do we worry about genocide in Syria, Ruwanda, and other places? We know in our gut it is wrong and horrific.

I suggest our citizens learn self control where sexuality is concerned, not population control.

                              

God created you with a soul--and loved you

Man with all his knowledge has never created anything that compares with the machinery in the body. Think about all the neat things about your flesh and bones--how the fingers bend in all the right places, and even though they are different lengths, they fold together into your hand so you can grasp things and make a fist to really get a grip.

 Think about all the organs and machinery inside your body. Evaluate the wonder of your seeing eyes, your hearing ears, and other senses. You have electrical circuits in your brain to help you think, learn and make decisions.

 As David said, we are beautifully and wonderfully made! But we also have a spiritual side.

 When God created Adam, the Bible says he became a living soul. The person you are, that God made you, is not flesh and blood. Watchman Nee, a Chinaman who did one of the most profound studies on the soul, wrote his evaluations  in his book, “The Spiritual Man.”

 The Bible says in Genesis as soon as God breathed life into Adam's nostrils and this life poured through the body, Adam became a living soul. Nee believed the soul is the combination of man’s body and spirit.  The breath of life became man’s spirit; that is the principle of life within him. The Lord Jesus tell us,, “It is the Spirit that gives life” (John 6:63).

 This breath of life comes from the Lord of Creation, Nee continues.. Before they sinned, Adam and Eve had the capacity to live forever. But they sinned and became mortal, meaning that they would be subject to sickness and death.

 God warned Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed him, they would be punished. Satan told Eve not to believe it. But God is a just God and in spite of his love for Adam and Eve, He took away their immortality (he'd warned them they would die if they ate of the forbidden tree) and caused them to be mere mortals who had to work, sweat and get sick and die.

 God wanted Adam and Eve and everyone who lives thereafter to know there are consequences for evil and rebellion. That’s still true today. We reap what we sow. God had made Adam and Eve in His own image, and the book of Genesis says God blessed them in spite of their sin. He gave man dominion and authority to care  over the every beast and bird

 The Lord made all sorts of things for humankind to enjoy. He gave us water to drink and swim in. Flowers to smell and look at. Furry animals to touch and love. Birds to sing and flap their wings above us in blue skies. The sun to warm us in the day and make things grow. The moon to light our way at night so we do things such as play Kick the Can.

 Every good thing comes from God. Love also comes from God, because God is love (1 John 4:16) And he loves you! God said his creation was very good, but when sin came into his wonderful world, there was a need for man to have a way back to holiness and purity -- and eternal life. God promised a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, way back in Genesis when He told Adam and Eve, in a prophecy that foretold Jesus would come and crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15).

 For nearly 4,000 years prophets wrote and preached about the coming Messiah, and one day H, Jesus,  was born in a stable in Bethlehem, fulfilling every one of those prophesies. According to both of the Apostle John’s books in the Bible (John 1:1 and 1 John 1:1) Jesus, the Word, God’s Son, was there at creation. Jesus is God, just like God the Father and God the Holy Ghost. And God’s love was shown for us in something that can never be changed when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so that we could live forever.

 “What manner of love is this!” one scripture says. “Another verse says, “Greater love hath no man that to lay down his life for a friend.” That’s what Jesus did, and it shows God’s love for us better than anything. God loves you, just as you are and will always love you, even if you don’t serve Him. But He longs for you to give your life to Him, to accept Jesus as your Savior, and turn from sin. That’s the love story of the Bible, and it has a happy ending -- living forever with Jesus in joy and bliss.

©Ada Brownell

Swallowed by Life, the book, free for Kindle May18-20

The Kindle version of SWALLOWED BY LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal will be free on Amazon in the United States May 18-20.

Skating on the River

By Ada Brownell My father always told me not to go near the river. I didn’t until one winter when I was about 12 years old, my friends suggested we go ice-skating there. I declined at first, but soon grabbed my skates.

 The river was probably a mile or so from my home, but I didn’t mind the walk in the near zero temperature. These girls didn’t usually hang out with me, but they knew I could skate and invited me.

 Tranquil water had frozen in a little tributary of the mighty Colorado, and we skated and skated. Suddenly we noticed it was about dark. Quickly we put on our shoes and started toward home.

 My feet were beginning to feel numb and soon they felt like they weren’t even part of my body – only heavy bricks. My friends lived closer and soon they were home. I had to keep walking.

 As soon as I reached the house, I ran to the bathroom, took off my shoes and placed my feet in very warm water. My feet turned black and began to swell. With tears on my cheeks I had to confess I had disobeyed.

 I learned I had frozen my feet, but thank the Lord, they didn’t require amputation. For days, though, I couldn’t wear my own shoes because my feet were too swollen. No, I didn’t fall through the ice as I could have if I’d ventured out on the river, but I learned a hard lesson. Parents do their children a favor when they care enough to tell them to avoid risky activities and teach them to obey

. My Heavenly Father had me in mind when He said, “Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right” (Ephesians 6:11). ©Ada Brownell 2012

FAITH: A FORCE THAT MUST BE FED

 Faith is a force that must be fed. Every day, we either nourish our faith or unbelief. It’s like depositing funds in the bank. Every day we use a little of our cash, but most of us know we need some put away for emergencies.

 Life, especially in these times of media saturation, challenges our faith from many sides. Sometimes getting up in the morning is like stepping out into a shooting range between the guns and the target. We duck and wonder why we’re not carrying a shield to get through this mess. Then we notice the enemy of our soul lurks on the edges of the hillside. He roars like a lion and we realize this is no game.

 “Where is my sword?” we ask ourselves.

 Ephesians 6 tells us a little about preparing for the battle and what our enemy is like: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

                                                           Be Prepared

The ultimate attack comes against faith in life and death issues. God warned Adam and Eve if they disobeyed him, they would die.

 Most everyone is subject to the ultimate lie Satan, that slimy snake, told Eve in the beginning. Satan opened his fangy face and guffawed. “You won’t die!”

 His bony fingers grabbed a peach from the forbidden tree and thrust it toward Eve. “Eat it. It’s delicious.”

 Eve ran to Adam and offered him a bite. Soon the couple chewed the sugary fruit, juice dripping from the edges of their mouths as they watched one another change from immortal to mortal beings.  They knew they now their flesh was subject to sickness and death..

 Satan’s venom fills every earthly body and grave since that time. Read about it in Genesis 3.  But God's because of His compassion, promised a Redeemer who would bruise Satan’s head, although the Redeemer’s heel would be bruised by the serpent when the Savior came to redeem every man who wanted to be saved. We know the Messiah was crucified. The amazing thing is death could not hold him! Yet, although we know the story, when Satan whispers, “Don’t even think about it. You won’t die,” we avoid putting that faith deposit in the bank

When someone we know has a troubling diagnosis or dies, we’re deceived into thinking he or she is the only one going. We think like the leaders of our nation that plunged us into owing $15 trillion in debt and the bank account is empty! But the problem doesn't go away because we don't want to think about it.

Perhaps that’s why it took me 15 years to see Swallowed by LIFE published. When I showed a proposal to editors, I suspected they thought the market for this category of books was limited, and it should be left to ministers with a long list of credentials and a huge following. Yet, I knew my book is unique because it has exciting news about life and how we are made, urging you to take time to see the evidence we are more than a body . To encourage you  to view the powerful hope everyone has in Christ as we look at all the aspects of John 3:16. The book asks you to look at heaven; to contemplate the joys of knowing God walks with us every day here.

 Whether we live until He comes and we’re caught away to meet Him in the air, or if we walk through the valley, He will walk with us and hold our hand.

 In short, the book reveals exciting things scripture, medicine and witnesses tell us about life and the eternal. "While we live in thee earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying boies will be swallowed up by life" 2 Corinthians 5:4NLT).

 John 3:16 ties it all up: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life."

LIFE IS IN GOD'S HANDS

A nurse stood beside critically ill patients and watched many die despite fervent prayers and tears.

 “I can’t help but wonder about the effectiveness of prayer for healing,” he told me. “I do know a Christian dies differently and more comfortably than a sinner.”

 I’ve seen miracles, such as the healing of a childhood friend of leukemia and of a kid about 10 years old who had childhood diabetes. I saw people who appeared to have deaf ears opened, all sorts of pain disappear, and we’ve had numerous miracles in our own family.

 Two grand nephews born with holes in their hearts were normal before they went home from the hospital, and we believe God intervened. Our middle daughter was healed so that she didn’t need tubes in her ears although she was set for surgery. Our granddaughter, Melissa, was only a toddler when her parents were moving from Colorado to Oklahoma and got caught in a blizzard. When Melissa left, her chest was tight with croup and her two grandmothers went to their knees. When her parents arrived in Oklahoma, Melissa had no symptoms of croup.

 All of our four youngest grandchildren are miracles because God delivered them from complications during their mothers’ pregnancy. Our middle daughter had symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and after many tests was found to be perfectly normal. That was at least a decade ago and she has received her master’s degree in nursing since then and is doing fine.

 A MRI revealed our son-in-law had a brain aneurysm, but a CT scan showed it wasn’t there. Tests showed our oldest son had only 40 percent of kidney function. He went to a large hospital some distance away, and doctors there found he was perfectly healthy.

 All of these miracles occurred after our family engaged in fervent prayer. Yet, I admit, not all my prayers for healing have been answered. My mother died of a stroke at age 58, despite our prayerful petitions. Our oldest daughter died of cancer. I have several medical conditions. Is there an answer?

 One day I was thinking about the truth of the matter. I know God answers prayer and does heal, but I also know people die every day for whom someone was praying.

 Then, I also thought, people also die every day after surgery that brought back health for someone else, and others die taking medicine that helped others with a similar condition.

 There are no easy answers to the dilemmas that surround our mortality, but through studying scripture I’ve found God is in charge of all matters of life and death. “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after death the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Furthermore, we can be confident he loves us, and whether we live or die, if we know Him, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:8).


 Ada Brownell is author of Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Her blog: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com ©Ada Brownell Feb. 9, 2012

Joplin makes us uneasy about storms

I live near Joplin, Missouri, where about 1/3 of the city was wiped out last year by a tornado. Visiting what's left of the city where the huge St. John's hospital was chewed to the bones by the horrid beasts that whirled through there. The paws of the monster storm wadded vehicles like tissue paper and threw them over the landscape like litterbugs throw trash out of a car window. Houses disappeared as teeth of the storm chewed hundreds of them down like kernels on a corncob. Thank the Lord they are rebuilding, but many of the building lots where homes formerly stood now are bare except for a "For Sale" sign. Today one twister hit Kansas. Thunder rattles our windows here tonight and lightning is writing graffiti in the sky. Uneasiness grips Missourians more than it used to. Devastation like we saw in Joplin makes us realize we should have a plan and be prepared at all times. We have a wonderful neighbor who allows us to go to his basement. Yet, when the sirens go off, we wonder what we should grab when we go and if anything we need will be left when we return. I had a garage sale recently and tonight as I looked into a closet I asked myself why I didn't sell the big pillows I used to have on my bed with European shams. Than I realized I use those pillows when we go into the bathroom when the sirens go off. Yet, the bathroom isn't safe. I have a huge mirror, a big picture with glass, and glass doors on the bath tub for the shower. I have covered the shower doors with quilts and taken down the mirror and the picture, though, during storm warnings when we couldn't go across the street. The Lord's disciples got caught in dangerous storm, but they were on the water. Amazing that all Jesus had to say was "Peace. Be still," and the winds stopped rocking the boat and the waves settled down like a big fuzzy dog finding the most comfortable spot on a fluffy scatter rug. The Lord has settled many emotional storms in my life. The Bible--God's Word--is where I usually hear His voice. My favorite verse right now is John 16:33. Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." That is cause for rejoicing. When we get to the other side of trials and tests our faith intact, I probably should rejoice like the folks who stand beside the bare roots of a blown-away home, knowing everything they owned, including their cars, are rubble. Yet they say, "I thank God we're alive. Everything else can be replaced." When we know the Lord, nothing can destroy us. Jesus said, "Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). * Copyright 2012 Ada Brownell

Happy Home

Ponder This: Solomon's hard-to-find virtuous woman looked well to the ways of her houshold and ate not the bread of idleness (Poverbs 31:27). Did you Know? You can clean out the dishwasher in only a few more seconds than it takes to microwave water for tea.

Young and then suddenly--old

I was talking today to a group of friends about the day I realized I really am a senior citizen. "I told my family," I shared, "'Seems like just a few days ago I was a teenager. How did I get old so quickly?'" I then shared that suddenly I am understanding that when Jesus said, "Behold, I come quickly," it's true. Our lives pass so fast if Jesus returns to earth today it will be "quickly" because when we think about it, if we added up all the generations from the time Jesus walked the earth until now, because life is here and gone so fast, His Second Coming, indeed, will be "quickly." One of the women recalled that a Sunday school teacher shot a puff of hair spray into the air and watched until it disappeared. "That's like our lives. We're here, then we're gone." the teacher said. The Bible compares our lives to a "vapor." "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:13-17NIV.)

For Easter: Excerpt from Swallowed by LIFE

The Apostle Paul wrote, “How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:12–14). When our daughter, Carolyn, died, I had the advantage of having not only read and studied the Bible for years, but having taught classes from Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict, a book that examines facts about the Christian faith. One significant part of McDowell’s work is to determine whether the Resurrection is historical fact or a mere hoax. The author wrote, “After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I have come to the conclusion that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the ‘most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most fantastic fact of history.’” When a student asked McDowell why he couldn’t refute Christianity, the author answered, “For a very simple reason. I am not able to explain away an event in history--the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.” McDowell’s first two books were his attempts to refute Christianity. When he couldn’t, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and became a Christian. I knew the Bible has several internal claims that it is the Word of God. For instance, 2 Peter 1:21 says the Bible was written by holy men of God as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. I’d already read the testimony of many witnesses, but I needed to read them again. I decided to look again at the Bible’s authenticity, at the divinity of Jesus, at His miracles, and at why we can believe He was dead but came out of the tomb alive. Several biblical writers witnessed the dead raised to life and saw Jesus’ victory over the tomb. I noticed what John says: “That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us” (1 John 1:1–3). Luke also pointed out he was an eyewitness: “Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses…” (Luke 1:2). The Apostle Peter wrote: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16). Josh McDowell points out the lives of the apostles were transformed after the Resurrection. According to scripture and biblical historians, every one of the apostles, with the exception of John, who died as a prisoner on Patmos, and Judas, who killed himself, gave their lives because they preached that Jesus rose from the dead. McDowell adds people often become martyrs because of their beliefs—but no one would give his life for something he knew was a lie. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, the disciples would have known it. The disciples knew the earthly body of Jesus was dead and His body was changed and came out of the tomb alive forevermore. Despite being thrown in prison and threats against their lives if they didn’t quit telling everyone about the Jesus rising from the dead, the disciples kept on preaching the truth so others could be saved from eternal death and live. They believed, spread the news, and died for it. Do you believe it? Faith is required for Salvation and if you want to live forever you need to believe. Although much evidence is available to prove Jesus lived, died and walked out of the tomb alive, Romans 10:9 says "If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." That means saved from separation from God for eternity, saved from hell, and saved from death hell and the grave because for you, death will be swallowed by life.

The Truth Test

How do we know truth? Law enforcement, juries, judges, media, schools and parents search for truth, but are they really? The attorney who nearly always enters a “not guilty” plea, even when his client was caught in the act by cameras and there are multiple witnesses? Even television stations or other news organizations who allows the source to “spin” a story? The pastor or priest who teaches something he knows doesn’t agree with the Bible? For centuries before us, people have tried to determine truth. The second chapter of my new book, Swallowed by LIFE, is titled “Truth Sleuth.” Many things in life are so important, we need to know the truth. One of these things we should investigate thoroughly is what happens when our time on earth is over. Will we cease to exist, or will we enter somewhere else? Will we come back as bugs, animals or another person? You could be surprised at some of the truth tactics used down through the centuries and the reliability of current methods such as the polygraph. But you also may be surprised how we determine truth about eternity. To see some of the answers for determining truth read the book. But I'll give you some hints. If you want to know the truth about the eternal, look at the evidence, read witnesses' transcripts, weigh what you know and make a decision. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6). That's where to start. But the book will help. It's available on amazon in several countries. Swallowed by Life is available at http://amzn.com/1466200936 The Kindle version is http://amazon.com/swallowed-by-life-ebook/dp/B007BGCVSU/ref=sr_.1_3?s=books&ie+UTF8&qid=1330035854&sr+1-3 It is also available at www.barnesandnoble.com

A Speck in the Universe: Earth

 

      Last night a Christian astronomer spoke at our church. He has a giant telescope and his photos of the universe have been published in some of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world.

      Dr. Richard Hammer is a chemistry professor at Evangel University, and his work with astronomy began as a hobby. Now he’s teaching astronomy as well. He showed us several awesome photos and pointed out earth is only a little speck humankind can see through the windshield of our technology.

      He reminded us David asked, “What is man that God is mindful of him?” Then Hammer pointed out the wonder that God does pay attention to us and Jesus came to earth to end death, the curse of sin, and to give us eternal life.

      Last night after we returned,I read before going to sleep 1 John 3: 1-3:  “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

      John says it all.

Link to new Kindle book

The Kindle version of my book, Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, became available this week on Amazon.
The link to the Kindle version is

http://amazon.com/swallowed-by-life-ebook/dp/B007BGCVSU/ref=sr_.1_3?s=books&ie+UTF8&qid=1330035854&sr+1-3

The link to the paperback version: http://amzn.com/1466200936

The book is especially valuable to those searching for faith, but also is important to mature Christians who have never thought much about the hope of eternal life since they accepted Jesus as their Savior. Yet, in many Christians there is a hidden insecurity about the end of earthly life. Some refuse to make plans for the future and although some are senior citizens, they will not view the body at a funeral.

None of us knows if our faith is secure if we don't examine it. The Apostle Paul wrote. "Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves.

Swallowed by LIFE gives evidence for faith in the eternal because medical facts as well as the Bible show us we're more than a body. I talk some about being a reporter and how we gather facts, testimony and evidence, to relate to the public. Yet many people don't believe what is written and sometimes they believe things that are published or broadcast that aren't truth.

How do we know what is true?

The book talks about how societies have tried to determine truth historically and up to today. Yet, it takes a leap of faith to accept the evidence as true.

I think after reading Swallowed by LIFE your faith in God and the eternal will be strengthened and secure. But it does take a decision to believe. Each of us decides what we will believe, and we must do make the decision because everything about who we are, how we got here and where we are going is settled by faith.

Is your body like a locomotive? Telegraphing on the Rio Grande RR

A week ago I spoke to the local chapter of the National Association of Retired Veteran Railway Employees, telling the adventures we had when my husband worked as a telegraph operator for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in the mountains of Colorado.

I told about living in a boxcar when we were in Malta. We lived in the depot in Avon (that's nearr Vail)., where we could hear trains going uphill for miles, even with a helper engine on the rear, but when they went down the mountain we heard a little rumble, the depot would shake and the train was gone. That was before Centralized Traffic Control and Les handed up messages to moving trains with a Y-stick, his pants flapping in the wind, telling the engineer where to go into a siding, adjust speed, or warn about danger ahead.
The railroad brought our drinking water on a motor car.

We lived on the top of nearly two-mile-high Tennessee Pass, across from Camp Hale, and one soldier who got off the train said, "Mountains this way, mountains that way. Mountains over there and over here.  The only way out of this place is up!"

In two-mile-high Leadville Les had been bumped and worked out of town. That's where I got stuck outside at about 2 a.m. in only my nightgown and a big fake fur coat trying to thaw out the freezing water pipes. We had about two feet of snow on top of our mobile home and it was melting from the warmth inside causing water to dribble down the sides and freeze the door shut while I tunneled underneath. Lucky my mother in law was there.  I woke her up and she pushed and I pulled until I got back inside and dressed warmer.  I found out the next day it was 30 degrees below zero.

We moved 12 times the first three years we were married. We stayed in Thompson, Utah, population of about 100, for five years. But we enjoyed our years living different places and meeting people.

Les’s telegraph bug has a special place in a glassed-in display cabinet in our youngest son’s home in Florida now. His old lunch pail with his initials scratched on the side sits beside it.

This is how i ended my speech: We admire railroad relics and visited a number of train museums across the country, including the Casey Jones museum in Jackson, Tenn. Our favorites are old  steam engines, the muscled beasts that streaked across open land like an Indian’s arrow and like a mountain goat around the high peaks. Les has a small collection of HO model engines.

The real engines are the ones that bring back memories. the rhythmic puffing along the tracks, the whistle’s cry like a lonely coyote in the dark of night, as the train carried passengers, mail, cattle, sheep, oil, coal, uranium, war artillery, and vehicles.

We admire the old railroad relics. It’s sad in some ways to see the once powerful “iron horses” taken on one last trip, and like a tombstone, they stand there for us to remember the great things achieved when a locomotive could burst to life with fire in its belly.

In many ways we’re like an old engine. We’ll come to the end of the line on earth someday. But we’re different from man-made machinery.  We were created to live forever. Jesus said whoever believes in me will never die. So although our bodies may someday lie under a tombstone or in an urn, the person we are will live on.

Furthermore, there will be a whistle—or more accurately a trumpet blast, that will echo around the world calling our bodies to rise to new life.

This is more than the restarting of a refurbished train engine. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

I have written a book, Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal.

No one will get off this earth alive in his mortal state. But evidence shows we’re more than a body. Just ask the person who lost a hundred pounds, an individual  with someone else’s heart pumping his blood, a patient who has had part of his brain removed, or the soldier with no legs.

We are more than a body.  Study regenerative medicine and you’ll understand the experts estimate our skin rebuilds itself every seven days or so, and with the exception of our neurological system, almost every single cell in our body is replaced every seven to ten years. So we don’t have the same body we had last year, let alone the body in which we were born.

As a former medical reporter for a daily newspaper, in this book I reveal how science shows us that death is swallowed by life every day. I also examine the words of Jesus Christ concerning eternal life, as well as testimony from witnesses about His death and Resurrection. In addition, I tell the story of a man who was clinically dead, but revived; I interviewed medical professionals and did other research about life and death.

I told ___ (the president)  I would tell you about my book along with our story about telegraphing along the Rio Grande Railroad. If you are interested in a copy of Swallowed by LIFE they’re sold at Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com for $12.95, plus shipping and handling.

 Love for the railroad still pumps in my veins, and it’s much more than pointing out the “choo-choo” to children. Railroading is an adventure!

What does a head on a platter have to do with love?

My article, "Love is Dynamite," is a guest post today.  See it at www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com.

Check it out!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my followers.
 Ada Brownell

Would Jesus Weep Over My City?

              
The only time I remember seeing my daddy cry was when Grandma died. Dad and his brothers sat in the church after everyone but the family quietly trickled out. A deep guttural sob shattered the silence. Sorrow tore from mature male throats in baritone gasps that made me hurt.
         The sound of grown men weeping stays with me to this day and forever reminds me of Jesus sobbing His heart out over a city.
           The heart of Jesus broke over Jerusalem, where David started his reign, Solomon built the Temple and where the Messiah knew He would die.
           The Lord traveled toward Jerusalem that day on a borrowed donkey. The animal’s hooves clicked up the road carrying Him to the Mount of Olives where he could see the city in the valley below. Jesus knew who lived in each house. Some thought He was their King, but the majority rejected redemption from the Savior. Jesus knew enemies would soon descend on Jerusalem and lay the whole city even with the ground, killing many, including children.
            Jesus slid off the donkey, dropped to His knees, and wept.[1] “The word ‘wept’ in Greek means more than shedding tears,” writes Bible commentator Donald C. Stamps. “It suggests a lamentation, a wailing, a heaving of the bosom—the sob and the cry of the soul in agony.”[2]
         I wonder if Jesus weeps over my city. I’ve wept over cities myself.
         In the early 1980s, I noticed the waning of faith in our nation, and spent time on my knees praying for revival. When I went back to work as a daily newspaper reporter in 1984 I witnessed first-hand the agony sin causes. It increased the burden. I had been out of the news business nearly 20 years and it seemed evil bubbled to the top of our nation in my absence.
           I saw children in hospital mental wards in danger of suicide because of physical and sexual abuse. I saw babies mentally and physically affected by fetal alcohol syndrome or drug addiction.
          A group of 12-year-old boys were in court for gang raping an eight-year-old girl. I asked the juvenile judge whether she thought the boys would change.
           "Usually when they end up in my court they are too damaged to recover,” the judge said. “They haven’t had proper parenting.”
           I interviewed unwed teen moms, most of them angry at their former boyfriend, their parents and the world.
           An estimated 20 million new STD infections occur each year, almost half to ages 15-24.
            Since 1973, 45 million babies have been aborted in the United States and many of those parents still suffer emotionally from what they did. I’ve interviewed some of them.
          Once a year, I reported health statistics for our county, along with murders, suicides, divorces. This generation has trouble making relationships and marriages work, multiplying grief.
          More heart-breaking is what is happening spiritually. Many of our youth say the church is no longer relevant and they proceed to destroy their lives and their eternal future.
          No wonder Jesus wept when he prayed for Jerusalem. He loved them, as He loves us today. The cross demonstrated his deep love.
           Some of my Sunday school students couldn’t understand why Jesus had to die and innocent animals were slaughtered on the altar in Old Testament days.
           Blood is required by God to forgive sin[3] because sin is so terrible,” I explained. “Breaking any of God’s commandments will hurt you or someone else.”
           Love caused our Savior to be willing to die for us and deliver us from sin. Love caused Him to weep over those who rejected Him.
           He told the folks at Jerusalem, "You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.”[4]
           He waits to enfold us into His arms, deliver us from sin and make us into new creations—cleansed by His blood-- save us from our sins and eternal damnation. His goal is to allow us to be changed and swallowed by eternal life so that we will be forever with Him. Sometimes we need to weep over sin ourselves, but He stands near--ready to give us joy unspeakable and full of glory. We're told out of our belly will flow rivers of living water so others may know the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What a Savior!

---

[1] Luke 19:41-44

[2] Life in the Spirit Bible, Life Publishers International 1990, Luke 19:41 comments.

[3] Hebrews 9:21-23

[4] Matthew 23:36-38