The King James Version of the verse at the top of the page has "patience" for "endurance". The New International Version has it "perseverance".
What a drag it seems: we're always having to endure with patience and persevere like we're in some marathon.
Well, life wasn't always like that. When God started it all, everything was perfect. We, however, wanted to play God, so we threw it all away and now we're stuck with what we did to ourselves and to the rest of God's creation.
Thank God, He has had mercy on us, and has provided a way for us to get right with Him. He fixed it so the death we brought into the world stays in this world when we go home to be with Him.
Thank-you Jesus!
Jesus said "My yoke is easy, my burden is light". Wow. Loving
ones enemy is supposed to be easy?, or not worrying about the
future? How is this possible? The same way all seemingly
impossible things are possible. With God.
I've been privileged to know some saintly people, and a lot of
them tell a similiar story. They spent years, even decades, trying
to be a "good" Christian, with all the success one might expect
from banging one's head against a wall.
Then one day, in despair, they hit bottom, they gave up. They let go.
They let God. They turned their lives over to the only One who can save. It's the easiest thing to do once you're ready. Unfortunately, our stiff necks lie between our hearts and our minds. They lie.
In our arrogant pride, we imagine a vain thing; that we can come close enough to righteousness as to make no difference to a loving God. God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. God is love, man is in love with himself (this is why Jesus has to tell us "love your neighbor as yourself", so we'll know what He means).
God's love and mercy and forgiveness and salvation are all free to us because He paid. If we reject His gift and decide to go it alone, all we need do is turn back around again and He's right there waiting for us. God's love is boundless and it NEVER fails.
Some of us face challenges even more serious than staying alert during the pastor's sermon. If you are one of us, then I pray that one of these fourteen links will be a blessing to you.
1. Visit
The Home Schooling Page.
This is probably the best all-around site on the topic.
2. Visit
The Feminists for Life Page.
The core feminist principles of justice, non-violence, and non-discrimination, compel these authors to speak out against all forms of violence, including the violence done to women by abortion.
3. Visit
The Ultimate Pro-Life Resouce Page.
The most comprehensive listing of right to life resources on the Internet.
4. Visit
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Page.
5. Visit
The Good Shepherd Center Page.
The objective of the Center is to bring together leading family life professionals, educators, theologians, scholars and public servants to offer resources and support for families.
6. Visit
The PromiseKeepers Page.
This is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to uniting men to become Godly influences in their world.
7. Visit
The Ministry in Daily Life Page.
This site expores the tensions between the values of biblical living and working, and the challenge of executive leadership in for-profit companies.
8. Visit
The New Man Page.
One may subcribe online here or just read some of their articles.
9. Visit
The Focus on the Family Page.
One of the very first Christian sites on the Web.
10. Visit
The Attention Deficit Disorder News Page.
This site is intended to provide information, support and encouragement to Christian families living with Attention Deficit Disorders.
11. Visit
The Association of Retarded Citizens Page.
The Arc, a national organization on mental retardation, is committed to securing for all people with mental retardation the opportunity to choose and realize their goals of where and how they learn, live, work and play.
12. Visit
The Caregivers Page.
Caregiving -- the process of providing constant, vital care to a loved one -- is becoming a significant issue for many people. Our purpose is to help others cope with the demands of caregiving.Ê
13. Visit
The Alcoholics Anonymous Page.
More than 2,000,000 call themselves members, people who once drank to excess, acknowledged that they could not handle alcohol, and now live a new way of life without it.
14. Visit
The Vietnam Veterans Homepage.
This large site contains links to organizations all over the world.
It's like that old "Professor" Thomas A. Dorsey song that Mahalia Jackson,(and later, Nina Hagen) made popular;
I'm gonna live the life I sing about in my song.
I'm gonna stand for right, always shun the wrong.
If I'm in a crowd, if I'm alone,
In the street, or in my home,
I'm gonna live the life I sing about in my song.
Every day, everywhere, on that busy throughfare,
Folks may watch me, some may spot me,
Say I'm foolish, but I don't care.
I can't go to church and shout all day Sunday,
Go out and get drunk and raise sin on the Monday,
I'm gonna live the life I sing about in my song.
Not for gold nor for fame, but the love of Jesus' name.
I must always walk the straight and narrow way.
Jesus promised me, one of these days,
He's gonna give me a crown of life.
Yes, I've got to live the life I sing about in my song.
Perhaps you'd like to sound off regarding some of the matters dealt with on this page. These three links will hook you up.
1. Visit
The E-mail the President Page.
2. Visit
The E-mail your Senator Page.
3. Visit
The E-mail your House Representative Page.
Regarding political affairs, I would suggest that the two party system has worked very well for those who have money for a god.
If you're part of the one or two percent of the people who finance the politicians' election campaigns, you don't need me to tell you anything, but for the rest of us, all we can do is vote and I submit that if we keep voting for the two official government parties, we're going to keep getting more of the same.
For instance, H. Ross Perot ran on a platform of balancing the budget and got 19 million votes; not enough to win, but enough to force the Replutocrats and the Demagouges to balance the budget (not that balancing the budget with price earnings multiples and consumer debt both at record levels is a good idea [that's why I didn't vote for him: I voted for the OTHER third-party candidate] ) . After all, they want to keep their jobs.
Some will regard this as too dangerous a game, i.e. a third party candidate from, say, the Green or Libertarian party could win if too many people adopt this strategy of "taking back our government". The international bond market would drop the dollar as if it were an unclean thing, and real people would really get hurt.
Right; it is risky, but these are the stakes; a constitutional government of laws or a continued slide down into post-democracy.
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