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Archive for the ‘Our Christian witness’ Category

Daughter of CCWC Conferee shot in Aurora theatre

Posted in Our Christian witness, Uncategorized on July 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One of the victims of the shooting at the theatre in Aurora is Petra Anderson, the daughter of one of CCWC’s conferees, Kim Anderson.  Petra was shot three times. Once through the nose. They removed the bullet and she is walking. Miraculous . . . but still quite a trial. On top of that, Paula Moldenhauer, ACFW Colorado Coordinator, emailed me that  Kim’s cancer is back. Below is information about a fund to try to get Kim to a cancer center.

Dear Friends, Kim Anderson began her fight with cancer after her diagnosis in October of 2009. She has since then faced difficult obstacles with steadfast faith, exemplary strength, and an amazing resolve that is an inspiration to all who know her. Kim’s cancer went into remission at the beginning of 2011. Unfortunately, 18 months later, her stage-3 cancer is fighting back.  After this recent diagnosis she and her family discovered the Burzynski Clinic in Texas, an alternative cancer treatment center that offers hope for her inoperable condition. She is determined to continue living a life of purpose, resolve, and blessing. However, treatment is expensive and your help is greatly needed.

But today, July 20th, the Anderson’s are facing a new tragedy. Kim’s daughter, Petra, was among those shot and wounded during the massacre at the Batman premiere in Aurora, Colorado. Petra suffered 3 shots in the arm and one through her nose that lodged in the back of her skull and required emergency brain surgery to remove. Petra’s condition remains serious, adding to the difficulties for this dear family.

With limited resources, Kim now must balance her own urgent treatment needs with her daughter’s critical situation. It would be wonderful if they could experience an outpouring of love and assistance through the prayers and donations of an army of well-wishers from around the world.

Kim Anderson has lived a life of pouring into others. She lovingly raised and homeschooled her three children. Now as a single mother she continues to inspire and encourage them on their life journeys. Kim also pours into the community. For many years she volunteered long hours in helping to develop the homeschool speech and debate opportunities from which many Colorado families have benefitted. She was a state and regional leader for a national speech and debate league, has written curriculum, taught debate classes, and coached a local speech and debate club. Kim has helped homeschooling students achieve academic excellence, and then turn that excellence into opportunities for college acceptance, scholarships, and other career-launching opportunities. She has led with vision and strength, and has made a difference in many, many lives.

You can capture glimpses of Kim’s heart and soul on her blogspot “Mother-Lode” at:http://mother-lode.blogspot.com/

Please consider how you can help Kim raise the funds she needs to be admitted for treatment at the Burzynski Clinic by the end of July and to ensure her daughter receives the critical care she needs!

We believe that through God all things are possible and that together we can bring hope and blessings to this family.  Here’s how you can make a difference:

For those living in Colorado, you may go into any US Bank and write a check or give cash to the “The Kim Anderson Healing Fund”.

For those living out of the area you may mail a check or money order to:
The Kim Anderson Healing Fund
c/o US Bank – Thornton Office
4301 East 120th Avenue
Thornton, CO 80233

Please pass this information along and thank you in advance for your support and prayers for the Anderson Family.

In His Service, Maggie Carabelos and Laura Yeates

Also, click here for a powerfully inspiring news clip interviewing their family.

And below is an amazing fb post from Petra’s cousin. Shows the kind of family they are.

Update from Petra’s cousin: WOW, was my time visiting Petra at the hospital today encouraging!! PRAISES: 1. she was able to walk through the halls! 2. she was able to eat a sandwich, chips, fruit and 2 bite of angel food cake! 3. the nurse was able to get the IV into her vein on the 1st try!!!! 4. the doctor estimates she has an 80% recovery in her brain. 5. she’s able to joke with the nurse about golfing! 6. that Andrew, Austin, and Chloe put in hours to get her and other victim’s stories out on youtube, twitter, FB and email!! I was humbled by God to see all those things happen right before my eyes! PRAISE HIM!!!! I also thank the Lord for the amazing prayer time we had as a family praying for Petra, Aunt Kim and the victims!

PRAYER REQUESTS: 1. that she can continue to get her short term memory back! 2. that she can get healed enough that Aunt Kim and my mom, Renee, would be able to fly to TX to get her cancer treatments. 3. That God would continue to be glorified through this….

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Praying the News

Posted in Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on July 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Why? Why would a twenty-four-year-old enter a theater in Aurora and begin shooting?

Oh Father, show me how to pray . . .

Impacting Our World Through the Power of Prayer

Donna Brennan interviews GPCWC keynoter Craig von Buseck

It’s easy to become fearful, angry, or cynical when watching the news. It can make us want to retreat from the larger world or to stop watching the news altogether. But Craig von Buseck, Director of Ministry for CBN.com and one of the Keynoters at the August 1-4 Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference, offers us another option: intercessory prayer.

As he shows in his new book Praying the News: Your Prayers are More Powerful Than You Know, co-authored with Wendy Girffith of CBN News, prayer can change people, transform communities, and solve problems facing our world. By praying to impact headlines, we impact more than just the way the news is reported – we impact the actual events that make up those headlines.

I contacted Craig to ask him questions about his book and his Keynote Address, “Praying the News,” Thursday, August 2, at 7:30 pm in Chatlos Chapel on the campus of Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne. (The community is welcome to come free of charge.) Here are his answers.

Question: What do you mean by “praying the news”?

We live at a time in history when it is critical for the Church to learn to be led by the Spirit in prayer. God wants to raise up a company of intercessors to pray the news – which is to watch, read, or listen to the news, then to intercede for God’s will to be done in the issues we face today. God desires for His people to be so in tune with His Spirit that we are actually praying His will in advance of world events. By cooperating with God in prayer, we are actually helping to shape those events in the spirit realm. God is seeking prayer warriors who will agree with Him in faith to make an impact on the course of history through their intercession by walking in the Spirit. The apostle Paul wrote of the privilege and importance of the believer to live in the Spirit in Romans 8: “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14, NASB)

Far too often, the Church has been reactionary in our prayers. A tragedy or a disaster happens and believers react with ‘catch-up prayers.’ But we serve the God who sees the end from the beginning. He desires for us to become so in-tune with His Spirit that we are praying His perfect will in a circumstance before it ever occurs in the natural. But this sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit only comes by maintaining a daily, intimate relationship with our Father and our Lord.

Question: I’m just one person. Can my prayers really make that much of a difference in political decisions, crime levels, and major weather events?

Yes, they can! As we say in the subtitle of the book, “your prayers are more powerful than you know.” Scripture says, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16, NLT.) Throughout the book we give numerous examples, both from Scripture and from modern times, where individuals prayed fervently in faith and they saw the headlines change as a result.

Question: If I pray for one kind of result and my neighbor across the street prays for a different result, aren’t our prayers just canceling each other out?

All prayer comes under the sovereignty of God. We don’t dictate to God. Instead, we pray as Jesus taught us: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done.” When we take an issue to God in prayer we leave it in His hands and He decides to answer that prayer in His way and in His timing.

Question: What are some important components of intercessory prayer? Does your book suggest concrete ways to do this?

As we put the First Commandment first; to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – He then empowers us by His Spirit to fulfill the Second Commandment; to love our neighbor (and our city, our nation, and this world) by being led by the Spirit in intercession.

Judson Cornwall writes of the importance of Spirit-led intercession that flows from us as a result of abiding in God. “There are times when we desperately need to know more than what God is doing and saying. We need to know God, for He works according to His nature and will, and only an understanding of that nature and will enables us to be involved with Him before His actions are demonstrated. We do not need to have great knowledge of God to know what God is saying if He is saying it publicly, but if God chooses to withhold communicated knowledge and yet we know the heart of God, there will be an intuitive or spiritual understanding that gives us knowledge out of relationship with God, not too unlike the understanding that develops between a husband and wife who have lived in a loving relationship for many years.”

It is this kind of heart that God is seeking in His people today – a heart that cries, “I want to know You, God. And I want to serve You, my Lord.” By walking in this type of love relationship with God, we position ourselves to be used by God on the earth. This is especially true in the realm of intercessory prayer.

Question: If I’m not a pastor or a prophet, what authority or right do I have to pray these intercessory prayers and expect results?

God has chosen to use every individual in the Church as His tool to communicate His love to the world. The apostle Paul speaks of our role as individual ministers of reconciliation and God’s ambassadors: “…who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20, NASB).

That is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” By doing so, we are placing ourselves in agreement with God’s plan for the earth. By praying the news, we stand up in the Spirit and declare, “thy will be done” in every issue that we face. C. S. Lewis referred to this kind of intercessory prayer as being “God’s fellow-worker” in the world. When we enter into the ministry of praying the news, we become “God’s fellow-worker” in this ministry of reconciliation. Lewis explains that to enter into intercession is to go from being a suitor – one who prays on his own behalf – to being a true servant of the Lord. “…the vast majority of the time, Jesus, who is our example, plays the part of the servant, interceding for others.”

This intercession is part of the Priesthood ministry of Jesus that continues to this day: “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”(Hebrews 7:24-25, NKJV). God invites us to join with him in this ministry of reconciliation. And we too have a role to play as priests before God – standing as representatives of fallen man, crying out to heaven for mercy.

Question: Can I “Pray the News” from the privacy of my own home? Or does it sometimes require something more?

Scripture directs us to “…pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17, NASB). Does this mean that we have to stop all human activity and just pray all the time? No, the Apostle Paul is encouraging us to always be ready to pray when the Holy Spirit moves on our heart to do so. The Bible says, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21, NASB). That is how the Holy Spirit leads us in prayer. So it doesn’t matter where you pray – just be obedient to intercede as the Holy Spirit directs you, and you will see God move as a result.

Question: In your recent book, Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men, you talk about ways to reach others for Christ through the internet. Can some of these same methods be used to find fellow prayer warriors to join together in prayer?

Absolutely. The Internet has become a 21st century Roman road. But it is also a worldwide marketplace, a theater, front porch and backyard fence, and an office water cooler. The World Wide Web can be like an electronic train terminal connecting you to intercessors around the world and providing the crucial means for people to agree together in prayer.

One of the most powerful aspects of praying the news is the power of agreement in intercession. Jesus declared, “If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you” (Matt. 18:19, NLT). As people watch or read the same news story around the world, then pray for God’s will to be done in that situation, tremendous spiritual power is released. The Internet can aid in this process, first by bringing awareness to news stories, both through traditional news outlets and through person-to-person contact, then as a communication platform allowing people to agree in prayer.

Question: Of course we all know stories of how prayer impacted events in Biblical times, but what are some examples of ways prayer has made a difference in newsworthy events in recent years?

During one of the darkest moments during World War Two, in May of 1940, the Nazis had trapped 400,000 British and French troops between the cliffs and the sea at Dunkirk on France’s north coast. If those troops had been killed or captured, Britain would have fallen to the Germans. All of Europe would have been under the iron rule of the Nazis before the United States even entered into World War Two. At this critical time, God raised up a man named Rees Howells of the Bible College of Wales to lead intercession in Britain. Howells took the initiative to organize nightly intercessory prayer meetings with his students. He instructed them: “God will not do a bit more through you than you have faith for. … You are more responsible for this victory today than those men on the battlefield.” He added, “I feel tonight that whatever the Nazis do, they cannot escape the Holy Spirit.” Soon prayer meetings were being held across Great Britain in response to Howells’ leadership.

Howell’s group poured their hearts out to God for hours every day, and soon much of the nation joined in. Parliament recognized the need for God’s intervention and called for a national day of prayer. Suddenly there was a change in the course of the war. Instead of wiping out the troops as he could have, Hitler held his army back, content to bomb Dunkirk instead. During that time, ships, yachts, and even rowboats evacuated 338,000 troops across the English Channel – as the water remained miraculously calm. Hitler’s behavior made no military sense. It was clear that God intervened in response to the prayers of believers.

We also share a more recent story in the book of how God changed the town of Manchester, Kentucky, as a result of united prayer. Community leaders had enough of their city being overrun by drug dealers, so they called for the people of the community to come together to march through town to intercede. On that day, several thousand citizens marched in prayer, singing hymns and praise songs. In what many believe was the key to the success of that march, pastors from every denomination stopped in the city’s park and repented. They asked God to forgive them for being more concerned about their buildings and programs than the Kingdom of God and the people. “Lord,” one minister prayed, “as pastors, as churches, as Christians and citizens, we have too long hid our heads in the sand and not stood up to the evil and the poison of drugs in this county and this community.”

The moment the pastors and people repented, something in the Spirit broke in Manchester, Kentucky that changed that community forever. Drug arrests went up by 300 percent in the first year. Drug dealers started getting saved and coming to church. Corrupt politicians were arrested or voted out of office. The story of Manchester aired on The 700 Club, inspiring other towns with the same problems to hold their own marches. Thousands of people e-mailed, called, or literally showed up at Community Church in Manchester saying, “This is where I heard I can find hope.” Suddenly, the town that had been hopeless was giving hope.

We share many more stories of people who prayed the news like this and literally saw the headlines change.

___________________

Craig will also be teaching a 2-part workshop on Narrative Nonfiction on Thursday and Friday, August 2-3, at 1:00 pm. This exciting new genre lets your true story read like a novel. This is the style Craig used when writing his upcoming narrative biography on Holocaust survivor, Nina Morecki.

For more information on the August 1-4 conference and to register for the workshops (the keynotes are free of charge), please visit www.writehisanswer.com. Mention this blog when you register online or at the door and take $10 off the price that increases July 22. And please consider coming to the Thursday  Special, “A Culture in Peril,”  from 10:00 am to noon, August 2. Rather than a traditional lecture, this is a forum where we will grieve for our nation’s ills and encourage each other as God’s warriors to defend biblical principles

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Reflections on Psalm 40:1-3

Posted in God's promises, Our Christian witness, Pondering Biblical Truth on July 11, 2012| 1 Comment »

My main website, www.writehisanswer.com, has been redesigned by SKWD Associates and I couldn’t be more excited. If you visited the site in the past couple of  months,  you found only one page with no banner or navigation buttons. There was more; it just wasn’t accessible. I’m praising God for the new look and SKWD’s EZ-CMS (content management system). It’s amazing and really is easy, just as Bruce promised. He told me it’s like using a word processor. And it is!

I hadn’t seen EZ-CMS in action, and I admit I was a little anxious. (I didn’t realize there is a video on their website.) I don’t do well with the learning curve of using new software (a computer can make me feel so stupid!), and with the Philly conference just three weeks away this was far from an ideal time. I’m so grateful Father encouraged me to trust Him and SKWD. I’ve not been disappointed!

Finally, I have a website that is EZ and FUN to use. I can make changes, deletions, add photos, and add pages so easily from the management menu. It’s quicker and easier than having someone else do it for a price that would have been more than I could afford. PTL! No more HTML code or CSS Style sheets!

I’ve got lots more I’m eager to add to the site but it, and the “real” shopping cart that SKWD is going to build, will need to wait until after the conference.   

A professional website is such an important ministry tool, but creating one on our own can be an enormous challenge. Been there – done that! Tried so hard  and yet, as I shared in a recent blog, I became very discouraged by the accusations of the evil one that my best was not good enough.

I really can’t recommend SKWD highly enough. Not only are they gifted professionals, they love the Lord and have a heart for ministry. They are certainly the answer to my prayers. Perhaps yours too!

SKWD will have a table at the August 1-4 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.  If you’re able to come, I hope you’ll stop by. But don’t wait until then! Click here for the special offer for conferees good through August 4. If you’re not able to make the conference, SKWD is still offering a discount because you’re on my mailing list.

Thank You, Father, for connecting me with SKWDMinistries. Thank You for “Their Heart” for ministry and their primary goal is also mine.

 Our primary goal is to bring glory to God in all that we do . . .
            with our lives,
                   in our websites,
partnering with other ministries,
       reaching our towns, cities, country, and world . . .

Reflections on Psalm 40:1-3 (TLB)

I waited patiently for God to help me;
Well, I waited because I didn’t know how to fix the website problems.
As for patiently, let’s not go there . . .

then he listened and heard my cry.
It is clearly not a “coincidence” but a “God-incident” that a postcard connected me with SKWD Ministries.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair
After MONTHS of trying to learn Expression Web I was despairing.

Out from the bog and the mire
HTML and CSS Style Sheets were so beyond me.

and set my feet on a hard, firm path,
Through SKWD Ministries He has given me a beautiful new website 

and steadied me as I walked along
and an EZ-CMS (content management system) that really is easy and FUN to use.

He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God.
But help me, Father, not just to praise You when everything is going well.

Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me,
Father, please use the new www.writehisanswer.com website in Ephesians 3:20 ways.

and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him.
Help us  to “write Your answer” so that many will come to know You as Savior and Lord!

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Addressing Today’s Critical Issues

Posted in Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Pondering Biblical Truth, Praying for our nation on June 13, 2012| 1 Comment »

ASSIST News Service (ANS) – PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Friday, June 8, 2012

Addressing Today’s Critical Issues

For Immediate Release
Contact: Marlene Bagnull mbagnull@aol.com

LANGHORNE, PA (ANS) — August 1-4 hundreds of published and not-yet-published writers plus a faculty of more than 50 editors, agents, and authors from across the nation will meet on the campus of Philadelphia Biblical University in Langhorne, PA, for the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference (GPCWC).

Founded in 1983 by Lansdale, PA, author Marlene Bagnull, GPCWC’s goal is to “encourage and equip you to write about a God who is real, who is reachable, and who changes lives.” But GPCWC is more than just a conference for aspiring and published writers. GPCWC also offers workshops for concerned Christians to learn how to effectively address today’s critical issues. These “Thursday Specials” meet during the popular all-day Teens Write program on August 2 and include:

* A Culture in Peril (10:00 am to noon) – What can one Christian do in the face of our nation’s spiritual crisis? Rather than a traditional lecture, this is a forum where we will grieve for our nation’s ills and encourage each other as God’s warriors to defend biblical principles. Rick Marschall, author of many political, cultural, and biblical works and a correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), has addressed this before. So have others. And so have you . . . perhaps in frustration! What can you do in the face of society’s crises?

This forum offers a new approach. This will not be a lecture or seminar or workshop . . . but a creative blend of all these modes. There will be free-wheeling discussion on topics from biblical traditions, to our American heritage, to dilemmas Christians face living in today’s world. A highlight will be on-the-spot assignments, for discussion and writing. Whether you write sermons or novels, children’s books or romances, newsletters or letters to the editor [and we all can and need to write letters to the editor], you will be challenged to discover ways you can counter our cultural decline. You’ll discover your warrior’s strengths and weaknesses, exercise your skills in creative brainstorming, and come away with a clearer idea of what you can do, where you are, with what you have!

Rick Marschall has written or edited almost 70 books and hundreds of magazine articles in many fields, from popular culture (Bostonia magazine called him “perhaps America’s foremost authority on popular culture”) to history and criticism, country music, biography, and children’s books. He is a former political cartoonist, columnist, and editor of Rare Jewel magazine, the Christian worldview journal of culture and politics. He was on the editorial staff of the 1599 Geneva Bible Restoration Project (Tolle Lege Press, 2007).

* Compassion, Justice, Advocacy (1:00 – 3:00 pm) – Are you concerned about human trafficking, orphans, abortion, the poor, racism, the learning impaired, the handicapped, the hungry, the persecuted church, the oppressed, and so much more that is close to the heart and call of Jesus? If God has given you a burden to be an advocate, to tell a story, or make a cause or issue known, Steve Lawson, Senior Editor at Regal Publishing Group, invites you to join him to discover how we can be most effective. Steve ran a news service reporting on the Persecuted Church in the 1980s and formerly worked with Christian Solidarity International and on assignment for World Vision International.

* Telling the Truth – Writing, Speaking, and Living as a Christian in a Postmodern World (3:30 – 5:30 pm) – “In postmodern America,” says award-winning author, Ann Tatlock, “we are experiencing one huge compassionate love-fest on the deck of the Titanic. With the loss of absolute truth and the rise of relativism, people are celebrating diversity and a myriad of custom-designed paths to God–even as the ship is rapidly sinking. How did this come about and what are the philosophies behind postmodernism? What’s the connection between this cultural phenomenon and New Age spirituality? How is this cultural shift affecting the church? And how should we as Christians respond when what is contrary to God’s Word begins to appear both right and good? Come and find out answers to these questions, and learn how you can speak out boldly for the truth of the Gospel.”

Tatlock’s ninth novel, Travelers Rest, was released in May from Bethany House Publishers. Her previous novel, Promises to Keep, was named by Booklist Magazine as one of the top ten historical novels of the year. She has also authored a non-fiction eBook, Writing to a Post-Christian World.

To register for one or more of these Thursday Specials, Teens Write, or the writers’ conference, visit www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia. No registration is needed for the keynotes and general sessions in Chatlos Chapel that include “Praying the News” (Thursday, August 2, 7:30 pm) with Craig von Buseck, Ministries Director, CBN.com and “Answering the Call of the King” (Friday, August 3, 7:30 pm) with Ken Gire, award-winning author and founder of Reflective Living. Contact Marlene Bagnull, conference director, at mbagnull@aol.com or 484-991-8581 for a free 16-page conference brochure.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

If this story has been forwarded to you, click here for your own subscription to Assist News.

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Concerned

Posted in Called to write, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on February 24, 2012| 2 Comments »

I’m concerned! Tonight’s news did a powerful “show and tell” of the struggle so many Americans are facing financially. My heart broke as I watched an interview of a sixty-four-year-old man from Philly who is living on food stamps and “barely surviving.” A college graduate, he was laid off from his job and hasn’t been able to find anything else. His unemployment checks will end in March. To save money, he no longer eats breakfast. He choked up when he said he worried he would lose his home.

More than 46.8 million Americans receive food stamps. And that’s just one aspect of the economic crisis in our nation. I think of the families who have lost their home, of those who are homeless right in my own community, and the children . . .

Yes, I’m concerned and especially so as I hear about the millions of dollars being spent on campaign ads. And then I think of the tens of millions more that will be spent before Election Day. This just feels so wrong! Isn’t there something we can do to put an end to political ads? Or what if a law was passed requiring that for every dollar spent on political ads an equal amount would be spent to help the poor? Seems to me that would also level the “playing field” that right now makes it near impossible for anyone who is not wealthy to get elected to public office.

Father, I am concerned. I want to make a difference. Please show me how.

“Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.”
Psalm 82:3 NLT

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Let your light shine!

Posted in Called to write, Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Persecution of Christians on February 22, 2012| 1 Comment »

“You are the world’s light – a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see.”
Matthew 5:14 TLB

Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission®, is letting his light shine in Hollywood. This Friday, February 24, Hallmark will telecast Movieguide®’s 20th Annual Faith & Values Awards Gala at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Central Time, and 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Movieguide® is a family guide to movies and entertainment founded by Ted. Movieguide® (www.movieguide.org), and its sister organization, the Christian Film & Television Commission® (CFTVC), is an international non-profit ministry dedicated to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.”  

The awards will honor the Best Movies for Families and Best Movies for Mature Audiences. They also include the Faith & Freedom Awards for Promoting Positive American Values, the Grace Awards for Most Inspiring Performances in Movies and TV, and the $100,000 Epiphany Prizes for Most Inspiring Movie and TV Program of 2011.

Ted keynoted at last year’s Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference on “Transforming Our Culture” and taught a continuing session on “Breakthrough Scriptwriting.” He will do the same at this year’s May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference. You’ll learn how to write a script that is structurally sound, entertaining, morally responsible and very marketable.

Dan Wooding, founder and chief editor of ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), received the fourth annual “Passion for the Persecuted” plaque from Open Doors USA at the NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) on February 20. Jerry Drystra, Media Relations Director for Open Doors USA, said, “It is a pleasure to give Dan and ASSIST this award. His passionate, professional documenting of persecution around the globe has influenced thousands to pray and support suffering Christians. I just returned from Egypt. The Christians there told me it is important to join them in prayer for their country and to get their story out during the revolution taking place there. And getting the news to Christians in the West is exactly what ASSIST has been doing for more than 20 years.”

In accepting the award, Dan told the media professionals gathered for the presentation that it was Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors, who had first given him the “bug” to spend the rest of his life helping persecuted Christians. “It has been my privilege to have worked alongside Open Doors now for many years and I am honored to be able to receive this award on behalf of my wonderful team of writers from around the world, many of whom literally risk their lives to bring their stories to us.”

Dan’s GPCWC keynoteat last year’s GPCWC focused on “Persecuted Christians.” He also taught a workshop on “How to Become a First-Class Journalist.” He will do the same this year at the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference. You may subscribe free of charge to ASSIST News. I urge you to do so today.

Ted and Dan are both letting their light shine. If you did not hear them at last year’s GPCWC and are unable to come to Colorado in May, an order form for CDs is online at  www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia. I haven’t yet begun updating the GPCWC website with information on this year’s August 1-4 conference except for a partial list of faculty. I hope to have the website updated and the brochure at the printer early April. The website for the May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference is in transition from FrontPage to Expression Web.

God bless you and your writing. May He help us all to “Shine out . . . like beacon lights, holding out . . . the Word of Life” (Philippians 2:15-16 TLB).

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End of year message and free workshop

Posted in Called to write, Colorado Christian Writers Conference, God's promises, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on December 30, 2011| 1 Comment »

If your inbox is like mine, it was stuffed with pre-Christmas enticements to buy stuff we really don’t need. And now, pre-New Year, you’re also probably overwhelmed with requests for year-end donations from numerous ministries and organizations. The needs are legitimate and dear to my heart. No child should go to bed hungry, much less starve to death. No child or adult should be sexually abused or homeless. Human trafficking and the persecution of my brothers and sisters in Christ – the persecution of any person for we are all created in God’s image – is deplorable. How the Father heart of God must break.

Then there’s the burden I carry for the slippery slope our nation is on spiritually, morally, financially . . . Christians I highly respect are warning of the collapse of America. I can’t help but wonder if God will  lift His mantle of blessing on our nation because of how we have turned away from Him.

And then I wonder how this will impact my family and especially my precious grandchildren – seven-year-old Laura, six-year-old Ryan, and three-year-old Erin.

You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed and helpless. The evil one delights in feeding our worries and fears. When that doesn’t work, he lulls us into complacency and apathy.

But my “hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers” (1 Tim. 4:10 NLT). Rather than despairing, I am choosing to view problems as challenges and opportunities to make a difference.

I am more convinced than ever that “for such a time as this” God is raising up an army to “write His answer.” It’s what compels me to keep on keeping on directing the Colorado and Greater Philly Christian Writers Conferences even though I’m old enough to retire. (I can’t imagine ever retiring from the work I know Father has called me to do.) It’s why, despite the glum economic projections, I’m going to again go out on a limb with God to plan the strongest  conferences possible and trust Him to cover the costs.

Over half the faculty is in place for both conferences. I’m excited! I’ll begin posting info to the conference websites (www.writehisanswer.com/Colorado and www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia) by the end of the year. Yes, I know that’s tomorrow!

Meanwhile, because I believe Father is calling you to “write His answer,” I want to offer you free of charge the keynote message I gave this fall at the Vine and Vessels Christian Writers Conference in Delaware. The ten biblical principles in this message will encourage and equip you to “Get the Word Out.” It can be downloaded at www.writehisanswer.com. See “My Gift to You” near the top of the home page.

Father, as we move into a new year help us to keep our eyes on Jesus and not to miss the opportunities You will give us to write and to live Your answer.  

Because He came and is coming again – Marlene

P.S. The MP3 file will take approximately five minutes to download. If you prefer to listen to a CD, please send a check for $3 payable to Write His Answer Ministries to cover the cost of the CD and shipping. You can mail your check to me at 951 Anders Road, Lansdale, PA 19446.

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Please pray for North Korea

Posted in Called to write, God's promises, Our Christian witness, Persecution of Christians on December 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I know you are busy with Christmas just a few days away, but the news from North Korea compels me to write you.

As you may know, my heart is burdened for our brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted for their faith and especially for the children who see things children should never see.

Please take a momen  to visit my website (www.writehisanswer.com) and read faculty member C. Hope Flinchbaugh’s article, “Why Are the North Koreans Crying?” I also urge you to read the press release from International Christian Concern, “South Korean Church Leader: ‘Pray that the Sacrifices of Christians over the Past 65 Years Will Finally Bear Fruit.'”

Most of all I urge you to pray – and not just for North Korea but for Christians everywhere who are threatened, harassed, persecuted, beaten, and even killed for their faith in Jesus whose birth we are about to celebrate.

And let’s not forget to pray for our nation. Every year the effort to dim the Light of Christmas grows stronger. I cling to the promise:

His life is the light that shines through the darkness –
and the darkness can never extinguish it.  1 John 1:5 TLB

I also am reminded that you and I are called to be His lightbearers – to speak and write His answer and most of all to live it.

Because He came and is coming again – Marlene

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Give the Gift of Words this Christmas

Posted in Called to write, Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Our Christian witness on December 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s December – already! Although it’s a cliché, it’s true. This year has flown by, and while my grandkids are impatiently counting the days until Christmas (and thinking it will never get here), I’d like to put on the brakes.  Knowing how hectic the days until Christmas are likely to become, I want to encourage you (and myself) not to miss the opportunities to give the gift of words.

  • Instead of just signing your name to a store-bought Christmas card, why not enclose a letter? Family and friends you rarely see will appreciate an update even though it’s a copy of a mass-produced letter. But more than just the “news,” ask Father how you can encourage them through sharing a story of something He has taught you this year through a struggle.
  • Write a Christmas poem or story and post it on your blog. (Yes, it’s important to blog!)
  • Post Scripture promises to Facebook, Twitter, ShoutLife . . .
  • Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper to address efforts to take Christ out of Christmas. Write an intelligent, well-informed response and avoid preaching.
  • Give books by your favorite authors to family and friends. You’ll find some of my favorites at www.writehisanswer.com/Bookstore.htm as well as over 100 titles for writers. All are discounted 25% through December 10.
  • Give yourself the gift of The One Year Study Bible. Tyndale House released this bestselling Bible in the New Living Translation September 29. The paperback edition is $24.99; hardback is $29.99. I’ve ordered one for myself. I can offer you a 25% discount and $4 shipping.
  • Plan now to make 2012 the year of growing your writing skills by saving May 16-19 for the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and/or August 1-4 for the Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. Yes, I’ve missed my deadline to begin posting 2012 conference info on the websites by the end of November. I can tell you that about half of the faculty is in place for each conference and that I’m expecting Father will again do Ephesians 3:20 things. I’ll let you know when I begin posting 2012 info.

 Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son. Thank You for the promise that “His life is the light that shines through the darkness – and the darkness can never extinguish it” (John 1:5 tlb). Help us to be bearers of His light through the words we write and lives we live.

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Thankful for His Blessings

Posted in God's promises, Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on November 23, 2011| 3 Comments »

We Thank You, O Lord
To the tune “We Gather Together”

 We thank You, O Lord, for Your mercy and blessings,
Your love that we never can merit or earn.
Our praises we’re bringing to You on this Thanksgiving.
We worship You, O Lord -, our hearts for You yearn.

We need You, O Lord, in our lives, in our nation.
Forgive us for failing to follow Your way.
Thru darkness please guide us, please build us up and help us
To hold fast to our faith in these difficult days.

We cling to Your promise, we know You are faithful.
Our land You will heal if Your people will pray.
If humbly we’ll seek You and turn away from evil,
There’s hope that our- nation will see brighter days.

And so, Lord, we give You our praise and thanksgiving,
Our worries and fears we surrender to You.
We choose to rejoice in Your promise, Your provision.
We will trust You, O Lord -, for Your Word is true.

 Marlene Bagnull
Thanksgiving 2011

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