Our Brethren in Chains

A few days ago I mentioned The Voice of the Martyrs.  This is an organization that works to help those people who are persecuted because of their love for Jesus.  They are also a voice for these people to those of us who live in America and other "free" nations.

One of the ways in which people can help is to send letters to believers in other countries who are in prison because of their faith.  This is something that I have decided to do once a month.  It's not that hard, and it doesn't cost that much-- only the cost of postage to mail your letter.  (And of course two pieces of paper and an envelope!)

To start, go to Writing Prisoners.  From there you can click on "Writing Prisoners" at the top, and it will give you some helpful tips as well as some things to do and not to do.

Then back to the first page where you can write a letter to the "featured" prisoner or scroll to the bottom to write to someone else.  Once you click on a name, you will learn more about that person, the charges against them, and a map of their country.  To the write will be a place to click to "Encourage" them.

You may then choose twelve phrases in English.  (Don't fret.  When this prints, it will print in the language of the prisoner!)  You may arrange and rearrange these twelve phrases in any way you wish.

Then just follow the directions to print your letter and the address of the prisoner.

Before mailing it, be sure to cut off the web-address at the bottom.  (Sometimes this prints, and sometimes it doesn't.  It depends on your printer settings.)

Then take it to the post office to mail it.

What a small price to pay to share the love of God with Christians throughout the world who are willingly imprisoned because of their love for Christ!

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“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’  Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”                ~~ Matthew 25:30-46

Quote about Prayer

"If you want to learn to pray like Daniel,

be prepared to spend some time with the lions."

 ~A Voice of the Martyrs worker

(For more information about Voice of the Martyrs, check them out at Voice of the Martyrs.  Be sure to sign up for their free monthly newsletter.  It's an eye-opener of what believers around the world face today because of their love for Jesus.)

Reading Through the Bible

At some point most people make it a goal to try to read through the whole Bible at least once.  Having read through it a number of times in the past few years, I thought I'd take a break from reading it through this year and focus on studying a book or two of the Bible instead.  But then a blog from someone I admire crossed my email desk, and now I'm rethinking that decision.

Ray Comfort's daily blog (which can be delivered to an email address) now lists Scripture references to read as well as a bit of a commentary on the reading.  If you follow his reading plan, you will read through the whole Bible in a year.  Here's the link to his blog: http://raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/.

Happy reading!

The War in Afghanistan

One of my favorite speakers is Voddie Baucham. I somehow got a copy of one of his messages about six years ago, and Wayne and I really appreciated what he had to say. When we found out he was one of the main speakers at a conference we were thinking about attending, we signed up immediately! (That was two years ago.)

Voddie Baucham has written an interesting blog today that I think is worth mentioning here. In his blog he writes about the two wars that are being fought in Afghanistan. And since he has said it much better than I could, here is the link to his article: http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/Blog/Entries/2010/9/2_The_Real_War_in_Afghanistan.html

May it open your eyes to the atrocities that are going on in Afghanistan. Islam and Christianity are two very different religions. We do not serve the same God. But we do need to pray for these people. They are living in a state of spiritual darkness, and they don't even know it.

Timez Attack!

I think most kids struggle with learning math facts, and yet these math facts are vitally important. To get a good deal at the grocery store, a young mom needs to know which is a better deal, a six-pack of toilet paper for $3.50 or a 24 pack for $12.00. Basic math is vital. A young husband needs to know how to compute interest when purchasing a first home for his young bride. Again, basic math is vital.

That's why when our daughter was struggling with her multiplication facts and a friend steered me to Timez Attack, I took a close look, and I liked what I saw.

Timez Attack is a free game that teaches multiplication facts. (You can pay for the version that has more graphics, but we didn't.) In the game your character learns a new math fact. Once he's learned 2x6, for example, he must face the ogre. To defeat the ogre your child needs to correctly answer the problems that he has already learned. So, the first time is easy... it's 2x6 over and over. If your child gets it wrong, the ogre pokes him with his club, but it's not violent at all.

Timez Attack is a game that the kids enjoy playing. Now, I must confess that my kids don't play many computer games. All their games are educational ones. So, if your child is hooked on video games, they probably won't enjoy this one as much as my kids did, but it's still a fun way to learn the times tables.

You can play Timez Attack at http://www.bigbrainz.com/.

If, by any chance, you know of a similar game for addition facts, please feel free to pass that information along. Thanks much, and enjoy the game!

Website of Interest - Laine's Letters

It's been a number of years since I stumbled across the website www.lainesletters.com. Laine is a Christian wife and mother who started her website before blogging hit the nation like a whirlwind! While there are undoubtedly many other wives and mothers who have blogs that are similar to Laine's, I still find myself going back and rereading her articles.

Laine used to write very faithfully, but she has since cut back on her computer time. Her website is divided into three parts: recipes, letters, and "in my home." The recipes are self-explanatory, but they represent "real" food. You likely won't have to make a trip to the grocery store before trying most of the recipes. The letters are short devotionals about things, and those are very good as well. But it's the "in my home" part that I enjoy the most.

In this part of her website, she lists some of the things that happened in her home during the past week. I realize she hasn't written any updates in a number of years, but most of the things she writes about are pretty timeless: how to save money, how to stick to a budget, how to make your house a home, how to heal with herbs, how to cook, how to clean, etc.

Timeless.

Take a half hour today, and sit down and read some of her stuff. May it inspire you to get ambitious and work a bit more at making your home a refuge from the cares of this world.