Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Praying for our nation’ Category

Let Freedom Ring!

Posted in Pondering Biblical Truth, Praying for our nation on July 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Father, help us to move beyond the celebration of Independence Day to repentance. Heal our land, Father. 

I encourage you to make time to read the insightful article below written ay Cheryl Meakins who spoke at this year’s Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Posted with her permission.

Does Freedom Ring or Clang?

by Cheryl Meakins

FREEDOM – we celebrate our freedom today, this Fourth of July.  We remember the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Revolutionary War that cost so many lives but gave us our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

But freedom was challenged when our nation divided two generations later, experiencing a Civil War.  Brother fought and killed brother – in the name of freedom. The Civil War was launched by the South’s rebellion against a national government’s policies regarding what they believed was personal property: slaves. When Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, the war’s rationale was transformed from states’ rights to freeing slaves.

Just as freedom rang clearly from our Liberty bell after the Revolutionary War, after the Civil War it rang for repressed African-Americans in our land. The next swing of liberty rang for the freedom of women – voting and workplace rights. 

Americans have always been abolitionists, fighting for freedom, taking up the challenge to tackle each form of oppression as it was revealed. In succession we fought England, then those that held others captive even among our own members, and extended that fight for equal representation of women. We have always risen to the call to arm ourselves and fight against any form of oppression. 

We only hesitate when the oppression has crept its way into our culture and claimed our own as the culprits and propagators of evil.  We hesitate because repentance is the only way out.

It is easy, looking back, to think there was a clear beginning and end to the war for freedom.  Maybe the war’s beginning is clear but the sin that was propagated and became the basis of the war was not.  The truth was that slavery was etched into the southern culture, to the extent that the “negro” of that day was bought, held captive, bonded, fed and bred like any other livestock.  And even today, we have a new culture of slavery. There has too often been a perception, most notably before the Civil War, but present in every generation, that people are animals, owned and used for the enjoyment or service of others. 

I question today if our Liberty Bell, rung for freedom, is presently Ringing… or Clanging?

I am involved in yet another movement of abolitionists.  Human trafficking is our modern-day slavery, and its very existence causes me to think our bell can only clang.  It no longer resonates clear and crisp.  Its tone is marred and muted. 

Human trafficking exists as part of our “tolerable” culture.  We have taken our liberty to pursue the happiness of sexual freedom, and a person’s freedom has been ransacked, manipulated, coerced, and extorted in the process.  No, not a person: 30 million worldwide; and even 200,000 U.S. children, our citizens, taken captive every year. 

When did we as a nation close our eyes and stop our ears against the cries of this earth?  When did we begin our journey to the pit of tolerance, not wanting to see the end result of so many “Johns” who provide the demand for the business of trafficking?  When did we begin to extoll promiscuity as the right and symbol of a woman’s independence? When did we begin to allow ourselves so much freedom that we have robbed others of theirs?

The little foxes have spoiled the vine of genuine relationships between Man and Woman, and have muted our once-clear eyes, ears, and consciences. 

I will repent for all the ways that I have turned a blind eye, convincing myself that prostitution is a personal choice instead of a crime perpetrated against women and children, only to find victims prosecuted as criminals; where the Johns who increasingly demand more flesh to consume get off for mere coins; where Pimps become icons in Hollywood, elevated and esteemed – Pimps who establish their rank, power, and prosperity on the altar of innocent lives.

I will lead the charge in repentance and be a part of those who restore the Bell of Liberty and Freedom.  Not freedom from religion; freedom of religion.  Not freedom from the law; freedom to honor all through upholding the law.  I join with my friend the author Charles Patricoff when he states, “by fighting to provide freedom for others, we preserve freedom for ourselves.” 

Like an annoying alarm clock, Americans today keep hitting the snooze button.  We are reluctant to wake up to our own condition.  I have started to clean up that Liberty Bell of Freedom by purging my own house.  And I will do my part, to keep cleaning because I long to hear the clear and crisp tone resonating across our country, for all those oppressed, longing to be free…

LET FREEDOM RING!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=K0MuQnCnKIE

Cheryl Meakins is an author and speaker called and compelled to ignite the power of women who exchange curses for blessings, insecurities for confidence, and self-reliance for giving and receiving. Cheryl is author to her blog Cheryl Meakins Speaks, as well as a contributing author to “If I can do all things through Christ, why can’t I find my car keys” and “Dream Big from Small Spaces” both scheduled for release in the fall of 2012 by Group Publishing. She has been a guest speaker for women’s events and is following the call to become an advocate for the fight against Human Trafficking.  Cheryl currently serves as Chair for ministries of Compassion, Mercy and Justice for Women Ministries of the Covenant Church in her region. She can be reached at www.MeakinsSpeak.com.

Charles Patricoff is another conferee from the Colorado Christian Writers Conference who is making a difference. I highly recommend his novels, Separation (OakTara 2010) and Emancipation (OakTara 2011).   

Read Full Post »

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.

ASSIST News Service is Sponsored By
 

Read Full Post »

CCWC & GPCWC Keynoter – Praying the News

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Pondering Biblical Truth, Praying for our nation on April 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

  • Impacting Our World Through the Power of Prayer

    Donna Brennan interviews CCWC & GPCWC faculty member
    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 May 16-19 Colorado Christian Writers Conference and August 1-4 Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference, offers us another option: intercessory prayer.

    Important conference updates: The price increases for the Colorado conference April 15, the same day online registration opens for the Philly conference.

    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.” 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 continuing session on Narrative Nonfiction at the Colorado Christian Writers conference. 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.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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

Read Full Post »

GPCWC – Addressing Today’s Critical Issues

Posted in Called to write, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Persecution of Christians, Praying for our nation on July 29, 2011| 2 Comments »

Beyond the opportunity to learn from an outstanding faculty of over 65 editors, agents, and authors and to meet with them one-on-one, the August 10-13 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference will be addressing today’s critical issues in our new Seminars for Concerned Christians.

Thursday, 1:00 – 4:30, “Who Is My Neighbor?” Along with Michele Clark, professor at George Washington University and board member of Christian Solidarity Int’l, and Geraldine Ryerson-Cruz, Sr. Researcher and Policy Analyst for World Vision US, Steven Lawson, Senior Editor at Regal Publishing Group, will focus on human trafficking, orphans, abortion, the poor, racism, the learning impaired, the handicapped, the hungry, the oppressed and so much more that is close to the heart and call of Jesus.  Michele & Geraldine’s bios are at www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia/2011_agents_&_other.htm.

Friday, 1:00 – 4:30, “Help Save Our Nation!” Never before have I heard so many Christians that I deeply respect warning about the demise of our nation. What Rick Marschall, author, historian, and seminar leader, says is true. We are living “during a time of unprecedented moral decay and decline in biblical standards.” The question he asks can’t be ignored. “Will we defend America’s cultural heritage or be ineffective in fighting for a spiritual revival?”

Saturday, 10:30 – noon, seminar on Persecuted Christians. We’ve heard the statistics and some of the stories,  but what can we do? Dan Wooding, founder and chief editor of ASSIST News Service (Aid to Special Saints In Strategic Times), will interview C. Hope Flinchbaugh, CEO of History Maker Publishing, for his FrontPage Radio show that is heard via the Internet in some 200 nations. Hope has an exciting vision to get copies of History Maker’s first title, Out of North Korea: A Korean Boy Tells His Rescue Story in Pictures, into the hands of legislators in Washington, D.C.

I know these aren’t the topics you’d normally expect to be addressed at a writer’s conference, but then the days we’re living in are no longer normal. For such a time as this I believe God is calling an army of Christians to “write His answer.”

For more information go to www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia/New_Seminars.htm. The seminars, as well as all of the writers’ conference, will be available on CD.

Read Full Post »

Are you writing a novel?

Posted in Called to write, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Praying for our nation on July 3, 2011| 1 Comment »

Bonnie Calhoun asked me to write a 1,000 word article about the August 10-13 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference for the July issue of her Christian Fiction Online Magazine. I’m always careful to follow guidelines, but once I got started writing about all the opportunities for novelists, I ended up with 1,400 words and I could have written a lot more.  Check it out at http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/home_publisher.html.

Bonnie puts together a great magazine each month. If you’re working on a novel, you need to subscribe so you don’t miss out on the wealth of info each month. It’s free! And you need to pray about coming to the conference in August. I’m offering two scholarships for 50% off the registration fee to CFOM readers.

Speaking of “free,” as we celebrate our freedom this 4th of July, let’s also ask the Lord to set us free from all that  enslaves us as a nation and individuals. I hope ou’ll make time to read and reflect on the passages in this Bible study about freedom. There’s so much Father wants to do in our lives if we will only let Him.

God bless you, and God bless America!

Read Full Post »

Jesus Is the Reason!

Posted in Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on November 29, 2010| 5 Comments »

As reported on CNN, the billboard below recently went up on Rt. 495 at Kennedy Blvd (on the NJ side, right before the Lincoln Tunnel entering Manhattan). 

What is happening to our nation that was founded on Judeo/Christian principles? Are we like the frog in that kettle, unaware that the heat has been turned up and that we are in grave danger of losing our freedom to worship God?

Those who oppose the public display of nativity scenes become more militant every year. Public schools now celebrate Christmas as a “winter holiday.” Retail stores want the business Christmas brings but are careful not to mention Christmas in their ads for fear they will alienate someone. More often than not when the name of Jesus is spoken publicly it is in derision rather than reverence. “Political correctness” demands tolerance for every belief but Christianity!

I’ve never forgotten the words of a friend who grew up in Switzerland before the start of the Second World War. She said, “The church in Germany saw what was happening, but the church in Germany was silent.”

What of the church in America today? What about you? What about me? Will we remain silent? Is it a “myth” that Jesus has changed more lives for the good than anyone who ever lived – that He has changed your life? Will “reason” bring peace on earth and hope for the hopeless? Will we deny Him or proclaim Him as King of kings and Lord of lords?  

Father, please stir us to action. And please, as people drive by this billboard, blind them to the lie it proclaims. Cause them to only see Jesus in the manger and to KNOW that Jesus is the reason for the season!

Read Full Post »

Hallelujah!

Posted in Our Christian witness, Praying for our nation on November 21, 2010| 3 Comments »

Yes, hallelujah!

For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,Hallelujah.
The kingdom of this world is become.
The kingdom of our lord and of his Christ, and of his Christ.
And he shall reign for ever and ever. . . .
King of kings, and lord of lords. King of kings and lord of lords.
And he shall reign for ever for ever and ever.

The Hallelujah Chorus has always moved me deeply but never so much as in this video (http://www.philly.com/philly/video/106492678.html) of 650 choristers who burst forth into song at Macy’s in center city Philly on October 30. 

As we move into the Christmas season, please embolden us, Father, to point others to the One whose birth we celebrate. Please turn our nation back to You.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »