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Sordid Details of Evil...

By Angela Wittman Amy Carmichael Helped the Helpless 'Please help me! Please don't send me back!' screamed 7-year-old Preena as she jumped into Amy Carmichael's lap, clinging to her neck. The little girl had just escaped from a Hindu temple in the middle of the night while her guardians were sleeping. She tiptoed quietly through an unlocked door and pushed open the heavy gate running as fast as she could. Preena's mother had given her to the temple priests in hopes of winning the favor of the gods. Amy did not know what was going on, but she knew this little frightened girl needed her love and protection. - Posted at Church History Timeline/ Christianity.com One of my favorite Christian heroines is Amy Carmichael, who lived during the Victorian era, was a missionary to India and who effectively stood against the common religious practice of child prostitution. In the biography "A Chance to Die - The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael," Elisabet

Can we please get serious about child sex abuse?

By Angela Wittman I have never watched an episode of the Duggar's television program and frankly have no desire to do so. In fact, I don't really care about their program being cancelled because I think most folks are probably watching it because they either like escapism or they want to laugh at caricatures of Christian families. So, for me it's uninteresting and a waste of time. When the story about the "molestation" of the Duggar's daughters by their son first broke, I thought I had better take a closer look at this family as they are portraying themselves as devout believers in Jesus Christ for all the world to see. And frankly, I'm appalled at the image they are presenting in front of a watching world. This morning I decided to watch a 15 minute clip of their interview with Megyn Kelly  and had to stop after the first ten minutes due to the lack of seriousness they displayed toward child sex abuse. Maybe I'm an alarmist, but I take the vio

Facing Fear

By Angela Wittman As a follow-up to yesterday's post:  Thoughts on the Duggars, the Ninth Commandment, Reporting Child Sex Abuse and Repentance , I'd like to encourage those who are grappling with sins that others have committed against them. One of the hardest things for me to do is to confront others who have sinned against me.  I would rather walk away from any type of confrontation, but this isn't always possible, nor is it always the best course of action. I try to discern whether the offense is strictly personal or if it will impact others. If it hurts only me, I tend to lay it at the cross and place it in Christ's safe keeping, knowing He will do what is right and just. But if the offense is of a nature that it affects others or may lead to additional abuse, either physical, spiritual, or mental, then I feel it is my duty to speak out or confront the abuser to see if I can help remedy the situation. So, please take some advice from a seasoned sister and

Thoughts on the Duggars, the Ninth Commandment, Reporting Child SexAbuse and Repentance

By Angela Wittman "And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. "And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly." (2 Samuel 13: 11, 12) By now, most have heard the news reports of Reality Television stars the Duggar family and their experience of child sex abuse, so I won't go into the sordid details because I really do try to be respectful of others privacy and don't want to cause further harm to the victims. I'm not even going to question Josh Duggar's repentance because he was a youth at the time of the sex abuse and I am a firm believer in the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. But I am going to address the need for openness, transparency and truthfulness in this and other matters of child sex abuse within the Christian Church. For almost a week now I've been researching the Duggar scandal and dis

Yes, I'm a Lonely Christian... Are You?

If you are also a 'lonely Christian,' then please take heart... We're in good company! Please be blessed and listen to this message preached by Pastor Curtis Knapp at New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas : http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=522111526556 Scripture Text: 1 Kings 19:10  (AKJV) 10  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. Details: True Christians will almost always be lonely in this world. If you love God and love His Word, you are in an extreme minority. There are many Christians all over this world who have to travel miles and miles just to get to a true Bible honoring church. They are like Christians of old -- aliens, scattered throughout the world. What is comforting to the Christian, however, is to realize tha

Mom's Hope

By Angela Wittman In Honor of my Lord and Savior who chose to save my mother and me from a wretched life of sin and misery. Mom and me. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2 Cor. 5:17 After much prayer and reflection, if there is any message or legacy mom would want to leave her loved ones, it is that she became a sold-out believer of Jesus Christ before her death. I watched her make a complete transformation and while mom wasn’t perfect, she truly became a new creation in Christ. Her message for her family and loved ones would be for you to repent of your sins and follow Christ. ... Mom’s in Heaven and while I still miss her, I look forward to serving our King together for all eternity. Do you have this blessed assurance? -  Angela Wittman Revelation 22 King James Version (KJV)   And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 

Christian Citizenship Bible Study

By Angela Wittman My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. - Hosea 4:6 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11, ESV) ------------------------------------------ Understanding Biblical Doctrine, Lesson XVI, “Christian Citizenship” Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” I. The Biblical View of Government A. Man’s need for civil government stems from the fact that God created him with the ability to live in an orderly society (Genesis 1:28 — And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the se

Words

By Angela Wittman Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. - Proverbs 16:24 (AKJV) It appears the good Lord has been giving me some first hand experience with the power of Words, and it is a lesson I need to learn. First of all, readers of my work need to know that I don't use words thoughtlessly. I try to be succinct and effective with almost everything I write.  In fact, I tend to weigh my words so carefully that I will often lay my thoughts before the Lord and wait to write for weeks until I feel my emotions have been tempered and my perspective is more objectively in line with God's Word. However, my spoken words are often indiscriminate, ill-mannered, arrogant, hurtful, etc.; you name it - I've probably said it and for this I sincerely apologize. Now having said this, let me please "speak" my mind on something many of us experience within the Church: judging others by one's self. Since becoming a Chri

A Birthday Tribute to Grandmother Lillian (Weaver) Somers

Reflecting on the heritage my grandmother Lillian left her descendants. I pray her memory is honored through sharing this bit of Somers family His-Story. By Angela (Somers) Wittman Lillian Mae Weaver (20 yrs. old) Tomorrow, September 24th, is my grandmother's birthday. She was born in 1903 in Randolph County, Arkansas, to the lovely and spirited Maggie Lenoa and the athletic William Izear Weaver*. Lillian was their first child and I can only imagine how much this first fruit of her parents was loved and cherished by both. Apparently Lillian inherited some of Maggie's spiritedness and when she met my grandfather, William Henry Somers, a WWI Veteran who was quite handsome, dashing and approximately 10 years older than her, she fell head over heels in love and could not be dissuaded from marrying him. The family story is that my grandparents requested permission from Maggie and William to be married. Their response was "Absolutely not!" Maggie and William probably thoug

Are You A Fearless Believer?

By Angela Wittman James Renwick - Martyred Covenanter I can think of nothing more stirring than hearing accounts of those martyred for their faith. While there are those who scoff at the zeal of Christians willing to lay down their lives for Jesus Christ, history proves that those who have done so were full of the grace and joy of the Holy Spirit even until the very end. These men and women who counted their lives not as dear as the Gospel impacted the world for Christ in a way that will never be forgotten. J. C. McFeeters, author of “ Sketches of the Covenanters ” writes this about those who spill their blood for the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “God has His own way of calling out His witnesses, and assigning service to them. The Church, as a whole, has invalidated and incapacitated herself for this responsibility, by weakness, declension, and compromise. God does not commit His testimony to the Church, while in such condition; nor to the faithful in the Church, whose voice and

Just whose fault is it anyway?

By Angela Wittman (Originally written in March of 2005 and still true today!) ...Nehemiah cared nothing for the applause of men and was totally unwilling to compromise the mission he had undertaken for God. The paganism Nehemiah feared was not the paganism of the pagans; it was the paganism of his own people. (Confronting Paganism, In the Presence of God by R.C. Sproul) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 Dear Friends, Since becoming a Christian twelve years ago, I have been aware of a serious illness plaguing the Church. At first I did not know what to do about it or if I should even say anything, as I was such an ignorant new convert. Who was I to question the church leaders and/or their wives? You can imagine my feelings of intimidation, as they would recite Scripture from memory and sing hymns without even looking at their hymnals. On the other hand, I could not re