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Mike, The martyred Christian is not a rare thing any longer. As a church we fast and pray for the martyred church the first sunday of each month, I will be sure to pray during this corporate time for these Christians, and now of course. It should be a strong call for all Christians to hold up, in prayer, those that suffer for His name. Eventually we will know what this means in this country, we can not escape it forever. I have not heard of these particular brothers and sisters but thank you for sharing their plight. Amanda

America: Freedom to Fascism, is a movie by Aaron Russo, that addressed this very issue, quite interesting viewing, even touchs a little on implants. It can be viewed for free at google video if you are interested.

An awesome testimony. Didn't know this about her. Not many men or women of her caliber, although I've known a few. Loren Cunningham and Joy Dawson. Loren Cunningham found Youth With A Mission and University of the Nations. Interestingly Joy Dawson is retired now, but passed her mantle of ministry on to her son. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of hearing him but once. Joy Dawson was the first woman preacher I'd ever heard. I was stunned. I hadn't heard such anointed teaching in any church I'd been to. She brought the Holy Spirit into the services and people were changed for the better. There is another white haired woman, Marianne Sitton, who founded a Christian University. Awesome ministry she has. Anyone can call in for prayer and these people are really trained to pray down the heavens. Thank you for sharing this. When I was going to another church, very oppressive to women, I found a book by Loren Cunningham and David Hamilton, "Why Not Women?" and found it very helpful in my own struggle with questions about women in church leadership. I find that the Lord uses the willing heart to do His work. Father, let me always be willing!

She was a woman in a man's world, and single at a time when women her age were suppose to be married. But she was willing to go, when God called, and was not limited by what she saw, but believed in the God who called her to fulfill the greatest call of all--the winning of souls. Aimee Semple McPherson once wrote: "You don't need to be an orator. What God wants is plain people with the Good News in their hearts who are willing to go and tell it to others. The love of winning souls for Jesus Christ sets a fire burning in one's bones. Soul winning is the most important thing in the world. All I have is on the altar for the Lord, and while I have my life and strength, I will put my whole being into the carrying out of this Great Commission." From its beginning at Angelus Temple, The Foursquare Church has now grown to include more than 50,000 churches worldwide. There are currently more than 5 million members in 147 countries around the globe. It presently ranks as one of the three or four most distinguished branches of Pentecostalism. The history of this church goes back to the early 1900's and they are still serving the Lord by saving souls. I have only been attending this denomination for a short time but have had the pleasure of having a woman pastor and then now a man for pastor. Both have had their strengths and weaknesses but both are serving God in the capacity of pastor without any issues of gender. Just passing on information. I have no intentions of trying to sway someones opinion about this issue. I doubt I have the power, only God through the Holy Spirit can reveal the true meaning of His word to those that are open. Peace, Amanda

ALL........ ALL illness is a result of sin.... whether directly or indirectly...... some illnesses (even those there is no cure for) have been taken care of by people that repent and worship the Lord..... for instance, two years ago, a woman with AIDS, full blown aids, who has four children, three boys and one girl.... her oldest son (8 years old) told her one day, that if she did not take them to church that they were all going to go to hell and it would be her fault..... the thing is, this family had not had any church raising.... the woman took the kids to church, we became friends with her in a very short time, and she was ministered to, and the children were loved and taken care of..... the second week she was there, she accepted Christ, and repented of her past life style and worshipped God..... she worshipped and well, the next time she had an appointment with the Doc, there was no AIDS to be found..... NOT EVEN HIV POSSITIVE any longer.... why? docs say remission... she says NO!, GOD TOOK IT AWAY..... that was two years ago..... she is still clean...... remission bah humbug..... GOD DID IT, through her obediance and submission and worship..... Smith Wigglesworth believes the same way I do, that all illness is a result of sin....... we can break the cycle.... mike Mike, This is so true and Wigglesworth is someone to glean from, one of my teachers. When I turned away from sin and started living my life for the Lord, and growing in His word I was finally healed of illness that has plagued me my whole life. I work in the medical profession and when the Lord heals the doctors really don't know what to do with it, they make all kinds of excuses, except that God can heal better than any doctor. I have to praise Him with everything I am, worship Him with my life. Peace, Amanda

My pastor had prayed to God for an answer to this and shared with us the response God gave. The fact that the world has become so greedy is a root of most cancer and illness. We have added hormones, preservatives, made synthetics, used cheap ingredients, eaten pestisides and herbicides that are sprayed on our crops, irradiated foods, genetically modified vegtables and animals.... etc. all for the mighty dollar. Corporations are getting richer and people are getting sicker. I live in a rural farm community in central Washington. It has the highest incidence of cancer, fibromyalgia, & leukemia then any other county in the state. We have also put work and making money before God and family, making stress, selfishness and sin the predominent forces in our lives.

I am currently back in school, I'm in my mid fourties, to get my Master's in Nursing. Some of the courses I have had to take are teaching these very concepts. I am finishing a sociology course, The Family, is the text and it is written from a very liberal viewpoint. In my papers I analyzed that view but also gave my view. I was actually chastised(she sent me an angry e-mail) by the instructor for having"strong opinions" that did not coincide with the course material. It is the first 'B' I have gotten in any of my courses. The last semester I took an anthropology course and had the same issue. The instructor was 'offended' by my Christian views but I managed an 'A-' in that course. The refreshing thing is the instructors in my nursing courses, ethics and professional concepts, are encouraging when I share my thoughts from a Christian viewpoint. A sign of the times? I am a fairly new Christian, 4 years and raised athiest, but I will not be swayed and will continue to share my Christian views. I will stand by my right to free speech. The heck with my GPA. Peace, Amanda

Raise your own grass fed beef, we have 6 right now, hamburger, sirloin, rib eye, frank the furter, daisy and tenderloin. Buy grass fed beef from your local ranchers. And enjoy.

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Christmas 2005 when no one was saying merry christmas my local Walmart workers, Colville, WA, proudly called out "Merry Christmas" "God Bless". When shopping at Walmart in Spokane Valley I was able to talk to the men at the table set up near the front door, they were raising funds for a local men's Christian rehab and church, but those that weren't interested did not have to stop. It could also be a regional issue. I don't believe boycotting and purposely taking the Christ that is in us out of a place where we are needed, even if it is a bit quieter witness, solves anything. When you witness you will be facing opposition, that is the nature of witnessing, it is spiritual warfare. Satan would love it if no Christian ever set foot there again.

Praise you Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, the Sacrifice for my sin, without whom I would be lost forever, I shall praise you with my life of service, help me Father that it may be a worthy sacrifice, send your Holy Spirit as my guide, I seek Your will and Your face. He is alive!!!!!

1Peter 2:9-24 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Ron, I wanted to share that my Pastor spoke on just this subject this morning sharing most of the same scripture. I have not been active on this board lately for that same reason it gets so hurtful at times. I just sit and shake my head and it grieves me that we murder each other with our words. What kind of example are we setting? I pray that we can be sensitive to the Spirit talking to us and prompting us to speak life to all we converse with. Thank you for sharing your heart, I for one need to hear this often. Our words can kill. Thank you Father for the reminder. Amanda

Whatever, Giaour. That just is not so. Preaching is not something women are not gifted for! Women receive such unction by the Holy Spirit and speak with such passion and knowledge on some subjects that only they can do! God does not deny congregations the priviledge of hearing the wisdom of a great woman of God. Man does that.... You know, preaching does not mean authority, if that's what you are thinking. Noone is stopping women from preaching in the world. Biblically, though, preachers IN THE CHURCH are to be men. Noone is saying that women do not have gifts to preach but those gifts must remain within Biblical standards. If a woman has such great wisdom, she would know that her preaching is to be done outside the realms of the pulpit. Preach on sister but do it within the guidelines of God's word. Such a misunderstood directive. We are not told not to preach at all. Paul speaks directly to a particular problem with one woman who was leading the church at Ephesus astray, not silencing Godly women. Paul desired only reliable women to be in ministry. In 2 Timothy 2:2 we read: And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. The word used for "people" is "anthropos"---persons...genderless! People are called to preach, but not that particular woman in Ephesus. Ya know I've wondered about this myself many times. Paul does only address 'a woman' in the singular and not 'women' or 'men' like he did in the preceeding verses. ofcourse this is overlooked by the literalist. Literaly that is just what Paul is speaking about. Then only after he speaks of Adam and Eve then he uses the plural pronoun 'they' meaning 'husband and wife'. Even in v.15 the Greek is 'she' not 'women'. Cool, Axe. Yes. Paul used plural, then singular, representing one single woman there who was causing problems, then plural again...pretty dramatic switch. Elsewhere Paul instructs the church to silence anyone who teaches false doctrines..then again some who had wandered away from their sincere faith, following deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, and then later again, he instructed them to command certain ones (both men and women) not to teach false doctrines. Axe I read an informative book on this very matter written by Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, and David Hamilton called "Why Not Women?" (after being told I was only a woman and needed to keep silent) You are making one of the points that they also made and it is one of many that say women have been called to preach the Gospel. Chloe, Pheobe, Priscilla, Martha, the Samaritan woman at the well nd Mary Magdalene who recieved her commission directly from Christ ...... I will not argue the fact but if anyone would read this book and then come back and see if your interpretation of Holy scripture has changed. Peace, Amanda

Garden Dove, I had been plagued with severe panic attacks before in my life. First even though the way it happened sounded pretty traumatic I think that God has opened the door for intervention to start. With my panic attacks I started by treating them with anti-anxiety meds, which they should probably prescribe. Then an important step was counseling where I not only learned some breathing and focusing exercises to help get them under control but also was able to get to the root of the cause, a trauma that happened 20 years before. Then God, through a christian counselor, a supportive body of believers, prayer and faith healed me of the problem. So just stand on the fact that God is supplying a route for healing. Sometimes it starts with mental health care providers so that your son can get over the worst of it so God can work. Father I thank You for being with this beloved child and thank You for the work You are about to do. I ask that you give this child the assurance to know that You are in control. Work through those professionals to bring him back to a place where fear does not plague and affect him. Send your Holy Spirit to comfort a parent's heart. Thank You for Your mighty hand on this situation. In Jesus Holy Name,Amen. Amanda