Why I Believe God Exists

Note: Please turn off my music playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video.

This is a video my 17 year old daughter made explaining why she believes God exists (within 1 minute). It is an entry for the Always Ready contest by Creation Science Evangelism. I would really appreciate it if you'd vote for her here :)! You don't need to be on Facebook.  Just click "Vote Now".  You can vote once per day until Nov. 28th.  Thanks so much!  Soli Deo Gloria!

~Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Thanks so much to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays every week.  Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!

Friday's Fave Five #24

It's time for another Friday's Fave Five (hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story).

My fave five this week include:
1. Congratulations to our 17 yo daughter, Alyssa, for placing third in the local Bible Bee competition and for qualifying for the National Bible Bee! We will not be able to go to Illinois for the national competition due to the expenses.  We are thankful and pleased that she enjoys hiding God's Word in her heart.  "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." (Psalm 119:11) To God alone be the glory!

2. Summer Reading Program at our  local library.  My 3 kids and I participated in it.  We turned our reading logs in for chances to win prizes (we love to read, anyway :)).  I won a $5 giftcard for a local coffee shop and Alyssa won a $50 Fred Meyer giftcard.

3. Free evangelism training webinar hosted by The Way of the Master. 
Great speakers included Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Emeal Zwayne, Tony Miano, Mark Spence, and Stuart Scott.

4. My latest post on Faithful Feet: How You Live
To read other posts written by me on that international Christian blog: click this link http://faithfulfeet.byethost3.com/author/livingforgod/

5. This video by The Way of the Master: Are You a Good Person?. 
Note: Please turn off my music playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice." Romans 3:23-25a

Eternal Perspective

As this year comes to a close and you may be making plans for the new year, please keep an eternal perspective with you.  Don't waste your life/your time/your resources.  "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16

Note: Please turn off my playlist at the bottom of this page before starting the video.

Tears of the Saints from HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

IN THE PAST HOUR:
1625 children were forced to live on the streets
1667 children died from malnutrition or disease
115 children became prostitutes
257 children were orphaned because of HIV/Aids.
It gets worse...
2 billion people in the world today have never ever heard of Jesus. 1% of missions financial support, goes to reaching those unreached people. 30000 people starve to death every day.
  ~ Info. taken from historymakers.info/

While you are enjoying your new gifts, feasts with your family, and the comfort of your home, billions of people are suffering and many of them are on their way to hell. 

Lord, please move our hearts to have Your compassion and love and move us into action to save the lost, to reach the unreached, to feed the hungry, and to help the needy.

If you "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," you will want to obey Him/His Word, including the Great Commission.

If you "love your neighbor as yourself," you will want to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with the lost and not want to see any of them spend eternity in hell.

Let's put aside our denominations and our differences on the secondary issues. Instead, let's unite together in prayer and in our resources to move toward fulfilling the Great Commission...to reach those who have never heard of the Gospel...to give them hope in Christ. One Body of Christ under one God working toward one common goal!

"There is enough evangelism taking place today to reach the world dozens of times. Unfortunately, most of it is happening among people who have already heard the Gospel." (~K.P. Yohannan)  Please take a look at this table (taken from Come, Let's Reach the World by K.P. Yohannan) below and let me know what you think.

     To Those Who Have Already Heard  To The Unreached
Tract Distribution 5 billion (99.8%) 10 million (0.2%)
Scripture Distribution 4.6 billion (99.6%) 20 million (0.4%)
Full-time Workers 5.5 million (99.6%) 20,500 (0.4%)
Christian Books 3.5 billion (99.9%) 4 million (0.1%)
Christian Broadcasting $5.8 billion (99.9%) $6 million (0.1%)

"It is unjust to share the Gospel of Jesus repeatedly to people who have already heard when there are those who have not heard the Gospel of Jesus even once." ~Eric (my husband) I agree.  Please check out http://www.gfa.org/ , a wonderful ministry that focuses on sharing the Gospel with the unreached. I recommend you read Revolution in World Missions and Come, Let's Reach the World. You can request a free copy of Revolution in World Missions here .

Let's live in the light of eternity!

~Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Thanks so much to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays every week.  Have a blessed New Year, everyone!

12 Pearls of Christmas: Gifts of Purpose

Too Precious to Wear
by Sarah Sundin

One Christmas when my mother was a girl, she received a string of pearls from her father. Since her parents were divorced-an unusual situation in the 1950s-she treasured the pearls as a sign of her father's love. When he passed away her senior year in high school, the pearls took on even greater significance.

When I was growing up, my mother talked often about the pearls, but my sister and I never saw them. Mom kept them safe in their silk-lined velvet box tucked in her jewelry box. For dressy occasions, she wore other nice jewelry, but never the pearls.

The pearls were too precious to wear.

What if the strand broke and even a single pearl was lost? What if the clasp broke and she lost them forever? She couldn't risk it. Better to keep them cocooned in silky security.

When my mother offered to let me wear her pearls on my wedding day, I was deeply touched. This was more than "something old" or "something borrowed," but a sign that she trusted me and loved me.

A few days before the wedding, my mother pulled the box from seclusion. My sister and I watched with curiosity and awe.

The pearls had turned a deep grayish-yellow, they were flaking, and some had fallen apart.

They were fake.

For over thirty years, my mother nurtured a piece of costume jewelry. All that time she could have worn them and enjoyed them without worry. Her father gave them to her for a purpose-to wear them and feel lovely and ladylike and special. He didn't mean for her to hide them away.

On our wedding day, my husband gave me a strand of real pearls. They symbolize my husband's sacrificial love for me-they were expensive for a graduate student with half-Scottish blood.

I vowed never to tuck them away but to wear them often. Yes, I'm careful. I inspect the cord and knots and clasp, and I plan to have them restrung when necessary. But I wear them and enjoy them. That's why my husband gave them to me.

Our heavenly Father gives us gifts too-brilliant and costly. We should cherish them, but we should use them. Whether our individual gifts involve serving, teaching, encouragement, evangelism, or even money-they have a purpose. The Lord wants us to use our gifts to bless others and to spread the message of His love.

While pearls make women look lovely, using our God-given gifts for His kingdom makes us even lovelier. And just as pearls grow more lustrous with frequent wear, our gifts from God grow in beauty and strength the more we use them.

This Christmas I plan to wear my string of pearls, a sign of my husband's love-and to display my pearls from heaven, a sign of my Father's love.

Have a lustrous Christmas!

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Sarah Sundin lives in northern California with her husband and three children. She works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. Her first novel, A Distant Melody, historical fiction set during World War II, will be published by Revell in March 2010. Please visit her at http://www.sarahsundin.com/ or her blog or find her on Facebook.

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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit http://www.pearlgirls.info/

Pencil with a Purpose

This week, I'm sharing something different than usual :).  I wrote "Pencil with a Purpose" (see below) two years ago to encourage people to participate in the Operation Christmas Child (a project of Samaritan's Purse founded by Franklin Graham).  My kids get excited every year around this time. Why? They get to pack shoe boxes!!! Their boxes along with boxes from others will be given out to children around the world who are living in extreme poverty, in constant fear because of wars/fighting, or in disaster-struck areas. These simple gifts will brighten up the children's life with God's love, joy, and hope. These shoe boxes are also evengelistic tools; they give local believers the opportunities to tell children about Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, through Gospel literature and evangelism programs.

This is a wonderful project to get your kids involved in. Kids in America have so much to be thankful for, yet many take their plenty for granted. This is one of many ways we can share with others in need. For details (including how to pack a box and the location of the collection center near you), please visit https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/ or call 1-800-353-5949. The collection week this year is November 16-23.  If you choose to make your donation ($7 for each box to help cover shipping and other project costs) online using a credit or debit card, instead of putting your donation in an envelope and placing it in your box(es), you will receive an EZ give label (one for each of your boxes).  The barcode on the label enables OCC to track each gift. You will receive an e-mail telling you the destination of your gift, along with information about Operation Christmas Child in that country.  Isn't that cool?  I was always curious about where our boxes traveled to.

By the way, there are so many ways we can give, especially near Christmastime. Many Christian organizations (ex: Samaritan's Purse, Gospel for Asia, World Vision, etc.) have gift catalogs available from which you can purchase lambs, cows, chickens, pigs, goats, fishing boat, Gospel literature, VBS material, wells, etc. for native missionaries and needy children/families. These kinds of gifts touch lives and make a significant impact. Giving (especially secret giving) is such a joy!

"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." Emily Dickinson

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord JESUS Himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35
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Pencil with a Purpose

     Pick me...pick me, please! Yes! A 7 year old girl picked me and put me in a clear plastic box next to sweet-smelling candies and a beautiful rag doll. There are more things in this container: a box of crayons, a sharpener, Bible activity pad, a writing pad, bouncy balls, a yo-yo, a jump rope, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a purple comb, a washcloth with heart shapes all over it, several glittery hair clips, a pair of pink socks and a pair of white socks. Before the girl closed the lid, she placed an envelope addressed to Samaritan’s Purse, and a letter on top. Then her mom and she bowed their heads and prayed for the child who would soon receive this special gift.
    
     I have to admit...it’s a little crowded in the box but I’m glad it’s a clear plastic box. I can look out and see the world while having a fantastic adventure. First stop was a local church which was one of 2,000 drop-off locations nationwide. I could see rows and stacks of all kinds of shoe boxes and plastic boxes. Christmas music was being played in the background. I felt festive all of a sudden. From there I traveled in a huge semi-truck to a regional processing center where boxes were inspected and prepared for shipment overseas. Volunteers cheerfully checked each box to make sure that there were no used or damaged items, war-related items, chocolate (which can melt), liquids or lotions (which can leak), breakable items, medications or vitamins (no-no items). A lady looked in my box and she smiled at me (wasn’t she sweet?) These volunteers also took out the envelopes with the donation. Then they secured the boxes by using rubber bands. I was thankful for that because I didn’t want to risk falling out of the box and getting lost. Oh...what a nightmare that would be.
    
     Ooh...my next stop was at an airport. I got to be on a plane for the first time. Millions of box gifts were loaded onto ships and planes and delivered to more than 90 countries. I wondered what country I would end up in. How exciting!!! I was so excited and bewildered that I didn’t realize we were in the sky for over 10 hours. Finally, the plane landed and boxes were transported to a rural orphanage by a pick-up truck and by a motor boat, respectively. People speak a different language here. They speak Thai. I’m in Thailand...can you believe it? Tons of children gathered in a small room. The room was filled with excitement and anticipation. How lovely those smiles were! The National Leadership Team explained about the Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse and told the kids that these gifts were packed by caring people from several parts of the world who wanted to share the love of Jesus with them. They introduced the children to God’s greatest Gift of all–Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Then the team members distributed boxes along with Gospel booklets written in their own language to the orphans who were beaming with joy.
    
     I was anxious to see who would receive the box I was in. Then the moment came...when the box was handed to a long, black-haired 8 year old girl. She said, "Kawp Koon Kha" (thank-you in Thai). She quickly opened the lid and took out the items inside one by one. When she picked me up, she looked at the words on me: "Jesus is God’s Greatest Gift." She wanted to know what they meant so she asked one of the team’s staff. The man took the opportunity to share with her the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. She listened attentively. The man invited her to join in the children’s Bible study program after school. She said yes and was so happy (I could tell because she couldn't stop smiling). She also asked that same man to translate the letter she found in the box. She then sharpened me and started to write a letter to the girl who wrote her. She asked the man if he could translate her letter into English and send it for her. He assured her that he would. Now...do you understand why I’m a pencil with a purpose? What better purpose is there than to be used to share a message of God’s amazing love and to spread His joy? I know...my life is short but it has been well spent. Don’t you think? :)
                                                               
~Written by Urailak Liljequist
Copyright 2007
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Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts.
Please visit here for the links to other blogs that are participating in the Operation Christmas Child Carnival.
Have a blessed week in the Lord, everyone!