In so many ways we use and abuse our bodies. Jesus' coming to us in the body and his being lifted with his body in the glory of God call us to treat our bodies and the bodies of others with great reverence and respect.
God, through Jesus, has made our bodies sacred places where God has chosen to dwell. Our faith in the resurrection of the body, therefore, calls us to care for our own and one another's bodies with love. When we bind one another's wounds and work for the healing of one another's bodies, we witness to the sacredness of the human body, a body destined for eternal life. <:))))><
Henri Nouwen Society
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
LOVE DOES NOT GIVE UP
I don't know how you feel to see that single parenthood life is becoming more admirable and an alternative to marriage, and the church seems to be getting more and more comfortable with it. Financial independence seems to be the only required ingredient to a family unit. Is God as comfortable as we seem to be?
A friend's marriage was falling apart for many genuine painful reasons but one day she made a decision to involve God to help. She prayed to God to save her husband and make him a pastor.
She spent six continuous months in serious prayers until God answered her desire and today her husband is a good pastor, a wonderful husband and father.
But before God changed the husband, God dealt with this friend first. She quit complaining and determined that she was to do her part as unto God.
God is not blind, brethren. God transformed her attitude to one of not fault finding or revenging. She saw her husband as one in need of God, not one full of faults.
May God help us realize that much as we would like to own our marriages, marriage is as sacred as life since it is not a man's idea, but God's.
If we honor God seriously and care for His institution, we will be concerned and view our marriages not as our own, but God's property.
Before we give up on our marriages, have we taken time to involve the Initiator of it all on a serious note?
May God help us individually to make a decision to work on our marriages with God as the interested party.
In marriage, we sign up to succeed, and the beauty of it all is that one can refer to the Initiator for help.
And God is very much wiling to help and is able to sustain a victorious marriage, helping us to understand that love does not give up!
by Mumbi Vickie Ngangu
A friend's marriage was falling apart for many genuine painful reasons but one day she made a decision to involve God to help. She prayed to God to save her husband and make him a pastor.
She spent six continuous months in serious prayers until God answered her desire and today her husband is a good pastor, a wonderful husband and father.
But before God changed the husband, God dealt with this friend first. She quit complaining and determined that she was to do her part as unto God.
God is not blind, brethren. God transformed her attitude to one of not fault finding or revenging. She saw her husband as one in need of God, not one full of faults.
May God help us realize that much as we would like to own our marriages, marriage is as sacred as life since it is not a man's idea, but God's.
If we honor God seriously and care for His institution, we will be concerned and view our marriages not as our own, but God's property.
Before we give up on our marriages, have we taken time to involve the Initiator of it all on a serious note?
May God help us individually to make a decision to work on our marriages with God as the interested party.
In marriage, we sign up to succeed, and the beauty of it all is that one can refer to the Initiator for help.
And God is very much wiling to help and is able to sustain a victorious marriage, helping us to understand that love does not give up!
by Mumbi Vickie Ngangu
Thursday, November 10, 2011
10, 2011
Wilberforce: The Great Parliamentarian Reformer
"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."1
To be politically correct many would say that Christians should keep out of the political arena. But think about William Wilberforce (1759–1833), the British politician who became the leader of the movement to abolish the inhumane slave trade. His life is a prime example of Christian political activism par excellence.
When he first became a committed Christian, however, he seriously considered withdrawing from parliament, but John Newton (a former slave trader himself) and author of one of the world's best known hymns, "Amazing Grace, " convinced Wilberforce to remain in parliament, as God had placed him there for a useful purpose. It turned out that as a politician Wilberforce had a much greater influence on the social ills of his day, and campaigned fervently for decades to help, with other Christian leaders, end the slave trade. He was actually dying when he received word of his success re the end of the slave trade.
Wilberforce said, "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners."
To this task this one man committed his entire life … and helped greatly to change a great part of the world. Would that we had such parliamentarian reformers today! There is a desperate need for them. Furthermore, you and I may never become another Wilberforce, but with God's help each one of us can make a lasting and eternal impact on the world in which we live and circulate. Will YOU volunteer today to be one of these persons? Remember, we Christians are called by Christ to be the salt (purifying effect) of the earth.2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me in whatever role my life is invested to be actively involved in being 'salt of the earth,' and thereby help in a positive way to be a purifying effect in every area of life here on earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Romans 13:1. (NIV).
2. Matthew 5:13.
<:))))><
Wilberforce: The Great Parliamentarian Reformer
"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."1
To be politically correct many would say that Christians should keep out of the political arena. But think about William Wilberforce (1759–1833), the British politician who became the leader of the movement to abolish the inhumane slave trade. His life is a prime example of Christian political activism par excellence.
When he first became a committed Christian, however, he seriously considered withdrawing from parliament, but John Newton (a former slave trader himself) and author of one of the world's best known hymns, "Amazing Grace, " convinced Wilberforce to remain in parliament, as God had placed him there for a useful purpose. It turned out that as a politician Wilberforce had a much greater influence on the social ills of his day, and campaigned fervently for decades to help, with other Christian leaders, end the slave trade. He was actually dying when he received word of his success re the end of the slave trade.
Wilberforce said, "God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners."
To this task this one man committed his entire life … and helped greatly to change a great part of the world. Would that we had such parliamentarian reformers today! There is a desperate need for them. Furthermore, you and I may never become another Wilberforce, but with God's help each one of us can make a lasting and eternal impact on the world in which we live and circulate. Will YOU volunteer today to be one of these persons? Remember, we Christians are called by Christ to be the salt (purifying effect) of the earth.2
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me in whatever role my life is invested to be actively involved in being 'salt of the earth,' and thereby help in a positive way to be a purifying effect in every area of life here on earth. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Romans 13:1. (NIV).
2. Matthew 5:13.
<:))))><
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