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RECAP NEWSLETTER - 8/8/4 Issue 17 When the servant asked Abraham about making sure he found the right one, Abraham told him where he could find help. Abraham recalled to his servant how he had walked with God, following His Will (vs. 7, 40). Abraham then said that the same God that led Abraham from the land of Ur to the land of Canaan, would also guide and go with his servant. Later, after the servant asked God for wisdom and direction, and the Lord answered, he praised the Lord saying, "I being in the way, the LORD led me..." (vs. 27). Later, in giving testimony to Laban, the servant again remarked that it was the LORD who led him "in the right way." (vs. 48) As Christians, sometimes we have to make decisions that go beyond human intellect. Abraham's servant had to find a godly wife for Isaac, without being allowed to bring Isaac along (vs.6). Sometimes we, too, are given choices in life that seem self-defeating or impossible. "How can I follow the Lord's will, when it looks like my finances..." "I would serve God, but it looks like..." "How will my needs be met if I serve Him..." Faith, combined with action, resulted in God's choice. When we, like Abraham's servant, are "in the way" that we are supposed to be, the Lord will guide and provide in ways that are above and beyond our intellect and reasoning. "And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not." vs. 21 Am I in the way that I am supposed to be? Am I trying to solve the problems in my life without God's help? Am I willing to be led instead of leading? Am I willing to let the LORD lead me anywhere?
The LORD will never ask you to go somewhere where He will not be. Follow
Him regardless of what this world says.
MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS I'VE FOUND "Shun the company that shuns God, and keep the company that God keeps." - John Willisor We should not be more man-conscious than we are God-conscious. The outside of a Christian should reflect what is on the inside, not the other way around. "A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards." Proverbs 29:11
ADDED RESOURCES
CURRENT EVENT RECAP (All of the news referenced herein has been listed in the Current Events for this past week) It is a painful irony that the most advanced civilizations on our planet today are the most barbaric. Abortion - the killing of the most innocent form of life at the most vulnerable and helpless stage in life - for convenience and money. America, Canada, and Australia are all presumptuous leaders of abortion. Each of these three abort at least 23.7 percent of all their pregnancies. That is almost a quarter of all the pregnancies in three nations! America aborts 24.4 percent! No loss of life goes unnoticed by God. When a nation willingly endeavors to promote the act of child killing as a choice, then God cannot bless that country. Just this week we saw the insatiable appetite for blood as abortion is promoted, and conscience is silenced. Increasing pressure is being placed on individuals who voice opposition to abortion. Even just placing signs on front lawns is being legally brow-beaten. Many Christians do not do anything because "they do not want to mess with trouble." I'm sorry, did we make you feel uncomfortable? Go back and watch your TV, I'm sure the problem will just go away. I'm sure God will understand your explanation. If you have not read the article, "The Only Moral Position On Abortion" (8/6/4), I strongly urge you to read it. One poignant excerpt reads: "That abortion has become legal is not a valid excuse, because if murdering a group in America became legal today, decent masses of individuals would physically stop it from occurring. The fact that abortion has attained legal status in a religious, Judeo-Christian nation only proves that the vast majority of its adherents do not consider it murder." Another article this week, "Why is my church so silent on abortion?" (8/5/4) strikes a nerve when it states, "Or do we imagine that this is not relevant within our churches because churchgoing people don't have abortions? Certainly churchgoers don't talk much about it, but evidence from Britain suggests many women in our congregations will have had the procedure." Do most Christians not protest against killing children because they naively think that they are isolated from these ills in their comfortable, padded-pew churches? The Laodicean church has grown lukewarm not only in their spiritual fervor for Christ, but in their love for life! Truly, the love of many is waxing cold. More and more abortion butchers are pushing to offer their 'services' without parental consent. Britain has now "made it explicit that girls under 16 years of age do not require parental consent or notification." One reason why the city of Hong Kong has the greatest percentage of abortions is because it is not 'acceptable' in their culture to be unmarried and pregnant. If the rest of the world starts to 'market' abortion as a way "out" of embarrassing situations for young women, then not only will hedonism and promiscuity increase, but the number of abortions will rise. Already we are at the point where abortion is seen as a more popular alternative than adoption! In Australia, adoption has shrunk to double figures annually. Just this week we learned about the NBC TV program that touted embryonic stem cell research, prepping the populace to readily accept Kerry's statement the next day that he would remove restrictions on stem cell research. Judging from the audience's glowing applause for his statement, many in America have no qualms about killing children for 'medical' purposes. It just rips my heart when I read about the 'documentary' that Julia Black made which showed an abortion procedure, and was aired on British Channel 4. After showing the dismembered remains of children aged 12 to 21 weeks, she states that you can be opposed to what abortion actually is and still be pro-choice. Has our world sunk to such lows that a mother can be void of conscience when plainly seeing a butchered child and still supporting the practices?!! In other news showing our world's contempt for God, HBO is making a documentary of Rosie O'Donnell's gay cruise. It will most likely be used to condition the masses and show that 'gay marriage' is 'normal' and that they can have families also. I found it ironic and alarming that Netherlands, the world's most liberal nation, is seeing a rise in 'homophobia'. Alarmingly, they credit the rise in "incited hate" to "religious extremists". The opening ceremony for the Olympics will be ending Friday the 13th at midnight in Athens. I am not superstitious, but an event that originated at Olympia and is played in honor of the gods and goddesses is not scheduled for midnight of the 13th by accident. "The Olympic flame is supposed to be ignited by the rays of the sun near the time of the solstice, which is a Wiccan sabat." (Pastor David Meyer, http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/1998/Mar98.html)
REMINDERS & PRAYER REQUESTS
May God richly bless,
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