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Spiritual direction for Americans questioning God

A study of The Barna Group conducted in April of 2011 reports that nearly one out of three Americans feel they aren’t living up to their “fullest potential” while three out of ten adults report they are “dealing with unresolved emotional pain or conflict in life.”   And 15% of Americans are questioning God due to “their experiences with religion.” The director of the study 70 Million Americans Feel Held Back by their Past concludes the report by saying “the research shows that internal doubts about fulfillment, faith, emotion and personal history significantly define millions of the nation's residents."   Clearly many Americans are not content with the current status quo and are seeking truth, meaning and purpose for their lives. One can find direction from the Westminster Assembly of Divines . The Westminster Larger Catechism composed in April of 1648 begins with this question: What is the chief and highest end of man? And responds with the answer: Man's chief and hi

Christian Adoption: Opening hearts and homes to orphaned children

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27, ESV Due to be released in February of 2012 is the documentary “ Rescued: The Heart of Adoption and Caring for Orphans ” created by Wintons Motion Pictures and Hedrick Brothers Productions. The film challenges the Church and Christians to take a greater role in caring for orphans through adoption while exploring its common “thread” with missions: "Today, over 130 million children have lost one or both parents, and every 18 seconds, another child in the world becomes an orphan. In America, 114,000 children in the foster care system are currently waiting to be adopted, and an estimated 65,500 of those children have been adopted by homosexual parents. These staggering statistics should cause Christians to ask some probing questions. What would Christ’s church look like if we acted upon James 1:27 which states th

Generations with Vision plans 2012 Family Economics Conference

Generations with Vision , a daily radio ministry that addresses cultural issues from a Biblical viewpoint featuring home school advocate, father of five and pastor Kevin Swanson as host is planning their Family Economics 2012 Conference for March 8 -10 at Wheaton College, 501 College Avenue, Wheaton, Illinois . This will be their third annual event; topics to be covered include : Raising Sons to Provide Household Budget Management Marketing a Family Business Facing the Onslaught of Socialism Household Chores and Time Management The Duties of Dominion Keys to Being a Successful Family Entrepreneur Stories from Successful Family Start-Ups A Special Proverbs 31 Track for Moms Speakers scheduled for the 2012 conference include Kevin Swanson, Erik Weir, Steve and Teri Maxwell, Bill Roth, Alex and Cassie Michael, and RC Sproul Jr.   A full schedule of events can be found here .   The Family Economics Vision page of the Family 2012 Economics Conference website tells us that: In March of 20

Thanksgiving and our Christian heritage

"Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people." ( 1 Chronicles 16:8, KJV ) While preparing for the gathering of family and friends this Thanksgiving season, let’s not forget to also prepare our hearts in humble gratefulness to God for the blessings and grace which He has bestowed upon us as individuals and as a nation. Here is a bit of history about Thanksgiving which you may not have been taught in school as taken from the website “A Puritan’s Mind” by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon : The celebration we now popularly regard as the ‘First Thanksgiving’ was the Pilgrims' three-day feast celebrated in early November of 1621 (although a day of thanks in America was observed in Virginia at Cape Henry in 1607)... The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620, sailing for a new world that offered the promise of both civil and religious liberty. The Pilgrims had earlier left England in 1608, as the Church of England had curtailed their

The Morning Center: New pro-life ministry birthed in Illinois

By Angela Wittman Samaritan Ministries based in Peoria has taken the next step forward in the pro-life movement with developing a new project to directly help mothers and their preborn babies in need of prenatal care: The Morning Center .  Their website states that they were founded in 2011 with the goal to “ provide free full-service pre-natal and maternity care to women in urban and under-served areas.”  Their goal, as stated on the “About Us” section of the website is to eventually establish pro-life hospitals that will offer: Complete prenatal care, counseling, mentoring, and professional photography that celebrates the joy of new life. A birthing center atmosphere in a full service maternity hospital, allowing a mother great flexibility in making birth choices – from facilities for water birth, and space for family, to highly trained staff and equipment needed for any medical situation. Staff members who have a clear sense of God’s calling to demonstrate the Good News of Jesus

In Honor of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

By Angela Wittman “Your Imperial Majesty and Your Lordships demand a simple answer. Here it is, plain and unvarnished. Unless I am convicted [convinced] of error by the testimony of Scripture or (since I put no trust in the unsupported authority of Pope or councils, since it is plain that they have often erred and often contradicted themselves) by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted [convinced] by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God's word, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us. "On this I take my stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen." ~ Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, April 17, 1521. (Source: Martin Luther: Excerpts from his account of the confrontation at the Diet of Worms ) Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses  to the All Saints Church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 has long been said to be the beginning o

On Behalf of the Preborn Babies: An Open Letter to Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina

Dear Governor Haley, I am writing to you as a sister in Christ, who is 100% pro-life (no exception, no compromise) which you have also been designated by Holly Gatling, Executive Director of SC Citizens for Life . Below is the text of a letter which is posted on your website NikkiHaley.com : [Emphasis mine, AW] May 20, 2010 The Honorable Nikki Haley P.O. Box 47 Lexington, S.C.  29071 Dear Representative Haley: This letter is to thank you for returning your candidate survey to South Carolina Citizens for Life.  Your survey is rated 100 percent.   Legislation and political action save innocent human life.   We appreciate your dedication to protecting pre-born children and the medically fragile members of our human family from abortion and euthanasia. It is a credit to the Republican candidates for Governor in the 2010 Primary Election that the pro-life surveys on record are all 100 percent; therefore LIFEPAC, the state political action committee of South Carolina Citizens for Life, did n