Gratitude in Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving celebration has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. It was actually first observe to keep a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. This is also to commemorate the ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. Near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic.
The tradition have been long foretold but sometimes we only care the need of Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. I consider the celebration not just a mere feast for family crowded the dinner table but to celebrate the goodness of the Lord for sustaining us all year round with His bounteous blessings. We have to develop in our hearts the feeling of gratitude and the spirit of thanksgiving. Isn’t that a wonderful thought to live in thanksgiving daily? Count your every blessings and for all of us Happy Thanksgiving!

Divorce. Is this the only way?

Despite the truth about the sanctity of marriage, divorce become a commonplace in many societies and has increased even among Christians. Too often, it is the bitter fruit of anger and failure. Divorce is an ugly word and a shattering experience, but the victims are not ugly or evil people, especially the children. Couple needs to consider that the cure of most marital troubles does not lie in divorce. If you are married and you and your spouse experiencing difficulties, remember that the remedy for most marriage stress is not in divorce or separation.

Studies show that the main causes of divorce among couples are failure by husband and wives in discharging their responsibilities, the others were low grounding in religion, interference by third parties, difference in culture, sexual problems, money and careers.

Marriage is a very difficult institution to hold together. It is a hectic life. It's stressful. But successful marriage is possible...the key is communication. Ask about your finances, which church to go, how many times you need to visit your relatives every year, how many children you both want, things like these can cause problems and disagreements and they can add up quickly and lead to divorce. But too often, couples don't do it too soon enough. Marriage takes a lot of give and take, a lot of loyalty to the other person and a lot of love and caring.

So, why people get divorced when most common reasons are preventable? The top reasons were 'lack of commitment', 'too much conflict and arguing', and infidelity - reasons that can be addressed by counseling and interventions included in various healthy marriages.

Think of what is the effect of divorce on your children's lives. It is a stressful experience for all children regardless of age or developmental level. The pain they experience composed of a sense of vulnerability as the family disintegrates, a grief reaction to the loss of intact family, loss of non-custodial parent, a feeling of anger as the disruption of the family and strong feeling of powerlessness, but one of the most profound effects is in the impact on a child's later marriage.

The scriptures counsel against divorce generally and advise husbands and wives to love each other in righteousness (Matt 19:3-9). Think of your marriage vows, the sweet memories of courtship, and the gifts God has given you in your marriage: your loved ones and your children. Afterall, it's worth saving your family and giving up your pride.

The Blessings of Forgiveness

"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times'" (Matt 18:21-22)

An excellent definition of forgiveness as it applies to human relationships is freeing up and putting better use of the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. Forgiveness is not an option, it is a commandment. It does not matter how bad the offense, if we cannot forgive and allow the Lord to deal with it as He promised,we will have issues of resentment, anger, bitterness and depression.

Forgiveness is often difficult to others because offenders may deny their behavior or avoid acknowledging it. It is important to note that forgiveness does not necessarily mean forgetting the offense, trusting the offender, or even associating with him/her. There is no peace in being abusive to others in any way, whether it be emotionally, physically, or sexually for those who are abusive will remain in mental and spiritual turmoil until they come to Christ in all humility and seek forgiveness through complete repentance. And even the most hardened, may at times feel the prick of conscience and thus the need for forgiveness from God.

An attitude of forgiveness generates a feeling of peace and optimism about life. It is a blend of charity, forgiveness and respect; and it takes into account the realization that God stands at the helm and we are His children. If we develop that heart to center around virtues of love, compassion, forgiveness and long-suffering, we refuse to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us - the quality that enable us to deal with our fellowmen more compassionately.

If someone fails to give up their anger and trust in the Lord, standing ready and willing to forgive-they are committing themselves to bondage of their own anger and pride, and a slave of someone else's sin.

Our Body is a Temple of God

The trend of new generation seems to go off beyond the limit of what we called modesty. Young men and women are often dummies of this fashion evolution. The sense of respect to our body are set aside wanting to be 'in' in the new world of trends and fashions. Don't we know that in us lives our spirit and dwell the Holy Spirit? Why allow the world to clothe us as a dummy if we have a higher standard than that of a mannequin? I believe in modesty as one way of portraying oneself to gain respect from other people. If you try to reveal private parts of your body, what do you think is the message you are trying to imply to those who sees it?

Even tattoos and body piercings seemed to be a part of social trends and so is the alcoholism, drugs addiction, and everything that destroy our body as a creation of God. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are (1Cor 3:16-17).

Halloween, Trick or Treat?

Every holiday you keep, you probably have an idea of what it commemorates. If you were asked WHY you observed Christmas, you would probably say,- "To honor the birth of Jesus Christ." If you were asked WHY you observed Easter, you would probably say,- "To acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus."

But think for a moment. . .WHY HALLOWEEN? Just what does its observance commemorate? Do you really want to participate in a festival that has its roots in DEMONISM, demanding HUMAN SACRIFICE?

Satan's agents, who represent themselves as Christians, do not want Christians to know that Halloween is about human sacrifice and they definitely do not want them to pray against it. That is the reason they do not mention the need to pray against ritual human sacrifice and instead, urge Christians to participate in the trick-or-treat ritual which represents human sacrifice. Since the trick-or-treat ritual looks cute on the surface, Christians who have not investigated this matter are entering into this annual custom for a little bit of "harmless fun." In reality, the trick-or-treat ritual is a culturally and even church-sanctioned way for Satan to gain access to their lives and that of their children.

The Apostle Paul says that these PAGAN GODS were really DEMONS "masquerading" as God. Since Lucifer (Satan) was cast down after attempting to take the throne of the true God, he and his demons have continually deceived mankind into worshiping them as God. 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 SAYS THAT Satan DISGUISES himself as an ANGEL OF LIGHT in order to deceive the unsuspecting. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan is presently the god of this world.

Abortion Word Games

Have you ever noticed how pro-abortion people like to use positive, nice sounding words? For example, words like pro-choice, or they will say abortion is a woman's right. And they try to pretend that the living human being that is being killed is not really a living entity by using clinical sounding words such as embryo, fetus, cell, or tissue.

Well, I thought it would be interesting to look in the dictionary to find out how the dictionary defines words such as "pregnancy" and "termination," since even the abortion groups such as Family Planning still use those words to advertise their services. Yes, look in any Yellow Pages directory, and there you will find listed Pregnancy Termination. So let's see what that REALLY means:

Pregnancy: 1. state, condition, or quality of being pregnant.

Pregnant: 1. having a child or other offspring developing in the body; with child or young, as a woman or female mammal.

Offspring: 1. children or young of a particular parent or progenitor. 2. a child or animal in relation to its parents. 3. descendants.

(Okay, so the dictionary says that pregnancy equals pregnant which equals having a child or offspring developing in your body. A child, not just some tissue)

Termination: 1. the act of terminating or the condition of being terminated.

Terminate: 1. to bring to an end; put an end to.

(Okay, so termination equals terminate, which equals "to put an end to." Let's see what other word has that same definition.)

Kill: 1. to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay. 2. to put an end to; extinguish.

So to recap, according to the Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary (1989 Edition) PREGNANCY means the same as CHILD, and TERMINATION means the same as KILL. Put them together and you have PREGNANCY TERMINATION equals CHILD KILLING.

I wish the pro-abortionists would stop hiding behind euphemisms. A rose by any other name still smells as sweet, and abortion by any other name is still the murder of children. Call it what it is!

If you don't believe me click the picture above...

We are Children of God

If we think about the divinity of our Heavenly Father and our state being carnal and our imperfections, we can feel the big gap between Heaven and Earth. The reason why people find it hard to endure all of the sacrifices and afflictions they are trying to battle with everyday. The way is to know where we from and what comes after this life. If we know that we are a literal children of our Heavenly Father and that this life is a test to prove ourselves worthy to go back to His presence, then we know what to fight for to live the life God expect us to be. We know that we have to make ourselves worthy for the companionship of the spirit and let God influence our lives. We have to make Him a center of our goals, a reason for every decision we make and the focus of our lives. Only then we will realized that there's not a single challenge hard to bear, there's no enemy hard to forgive and easier to love even those who hurt you as they too are children of God. Would it be nice if we can live with God as the center of our life? Love begets love and that's how we can bring peace and joy to our troubled hearts.

Marriage is Ordained by God

For all Christians, marriage is ordained by God as a lifelong union of a man and a woman. Most Christian wedding ceremonies usually take place in churches, but nowadays marriages happens anywhere they want even in a drive through wedding chapels. The sacredness of the marriage is seemed to be set aside. Currently same-sex marriage is recognized on some other state level in the US (two states, California and Massachusetts). The issue is a divisive political issue in the United States and elsewhere. Today, liberal influences of the sexual revolution are seen everywhere. There are even churches that tolerate couples living together without marriage (cohabitation, and if sexual, fornication), extramarital affairs (adultery), lesbian (gay) marriages and no-fault divorce.

Divorce is seen from a Christian perspective generally as less than ideal. Some see divorce as an unavoidable, but regrettable, part of life; others believe that a divorce is never truly recognized by God, and view it as universally wrong. There are many views in between these extremes.

This foundational principle was first articulated biblically in the Book of Genesis (2:24). Later, Jesus set forth his basic position on marriage by bringing together two important passages from Genesis (1:27; 2:7–25). He pointed to the completion of the creation — "male and female he created them." Then he described marriage as a relationship, a union, so intimate and real that "the two become one flesh." As persons, husband and wife are of equal value. In truth, they are one. Finally, Jesus added his emphasis on marriage being God-made and eternal:

Have you not read, he replied, that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate (Matthew 19:4–6, Mark 10:6–9).

In this view, I can't believe how many people accept this new trend of marriage that even Christians seemed to be okay with it? We are moving way far to what God taught us. How can we accept gay marriages, and 'live-in' couples. Several leaders in other churches still serving at their congregation after facing some sort of sexual accusations or after facing a rape cases, they just reassign them to a different location. Why don't they allow them to get married and commit such crime? Where is their devotion to their faith? How are they going to apply what they share to their believers? How can they call themselves as disciples of Christ? As advocate of Christ? We have to think what's going on here if who is true to the faith. Who's on the Lord's side, who?