President Barack Obama called Jason Collins on Monday to express his gratitude after the NBA playerpublicly announced that he is gay, two sources familiar with the call told The Huffington Post.

A White House official confirmed the call, saying that the president wanted to “express his support” and tell Collins that “he was impressed by his courage.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/obama-jason-collins_n_3181170.html

Daca le-am da la tineri microfon, sa vorbeasca fara sa stiti cine vorbeste si sa va spuna prin ce trec ei, Duminica dimineata nu ar mai fi rugaciune- ar fi numai strigate catre Dumnezeu!

http://rodiagnusdei.wordpress.com

In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked “non-participating members” to stop attending.

“No more Mr. Nice Church,” says the executive pastor, newly hired from Cingular Wireless. “Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission.”

“Freeloading” Christians were straining the church’s nursery and facility resources and harming the church’s ability to reach the lost, says the pastor.

“When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal,” he says.

Read full article: http://www.larknews.com/archives/574

According to numerous Islamic leaders, Islamic law endorses the use of war to expand the rule of Islam. The law, dubbed Shariah, also endorses the killing of Islam’s critics, including poets Christian preachers, and it allows only grudging recognition of non-Islamic governments.

For orthodox Muslims, civilian law is subordinate to Islamic requirements.

Shaker Elsayed, the ethiopian imam of a prominent mosque in Arlington, Va., has urged immigrant Muslims in the United States to wage war for Islam, on January 26, 2013: 

“The enemies of Allah are lining up. The question for us is, are we lining up or are we afraid because they may call us terrorists?” ……

“Let me give you the good news: they are already calling us terrorists anyway. Whether you sitting at home, watching TV, drinking coffee, sleeping or playing with your kids, you are a terrorist because you are a Muslim.”……

“Well, give them a run for their money. Make it worth it. Make this title worth it, and be a good Muslim,” said the Cairo-born Muslim.

“Muslim men when it is a price to pay, they are first in line. … They are the first in the community-service line. They are the first in jihad line” he declared to applause.

Elsayed’s comments add to his history of controversial statements that match orthodox Islam.

In 1990, The New York Times quoted him saying that the murder of a radical Jewish nationalist in New York was legal under Muslim law.

Watch the speech of the imam, especially the last 10 minutes:

Amendment 28:
        “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .”

FINALLY SOMEONE ASKED HIM THE QUESTION!
ON “ABC-TV” DURING THE “NETWORK SPECIAL ON HEALTH CARE”…. OBAMA WAS ASKED:
“MR. PRESIDENT WILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GIVE UP YOUR CURRENT HEALTH CARE PROGRAM
AND JOIN THE NEW ‘UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM’ THAT THE REST OF US WILL BE ON ????”
THERE WAS A STONEY SILENCE AS <>OBAMA IGNORED THE QUESTION AND CHOSE NOT TO ANSWER IT !!! 
IN ADDITION, A NUMBER OF SENATORS WERE ASKED THE SAME QUESTION AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS.”WE WILL THINK ABOUT IT.” 
AND THEY DID. IT WAS ANNOUNCED TODAY ON THE NEWS THAT THE “KENNEDY HEALTH CARE BILL” WAS WRITTEN INTO THE NEW HEALTH CARE REFORM INITIATIVE ENSURING THAT THAT CONGRESS WILL BE 100% EXEMPT ! 
SO, THIS GREAT NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND I… IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR OBAMA, HIS FAMILY OR CONGRESS…?? 
WE (THE AMERICAN PUBLIC) NEED TO STOP THIS PROPOSED DEBACLE ASAP !!!! THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG !!!!! 
PERSONALLY, I CAN ONLY ACCEPT A UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL THAT EXTENDS TO EVERYONE… NOT JUST US LOWLY CITIZENS…. WHILE THE WASHINGTON “ELITE” KEEP RIGHT ON WITH THEIR GOLD-PLATED HEALTH CARE COVERAGES.

If you don’t pass this around, may you enjoy his Plan!

Recently, when he left his apartment at Domus Marta and went out into the hall, the Pope found a Swiss Guard standing at attention outside his door.

He asked him, “And what are you doing here? Were you awake all night?

“Yes,” the guard answered respectfully.

“Standing?”

“One of my colleagues gave me a break.”

“And you’re not tired?”

“It’s my duty Your Holiness, for Your safety.”

The Pope looked at him with kindness. He went back into his apartment and, after a few minutes, returned with a chair in his hand: “At least sit down and rest.”

Shocked, the Swiss Guard replied, “Forgive me, but I can’t! The rules don’t allow it.”

“The rules?”

“My captain, Your Holiness.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, I’m the Pope and I am asking you to sit down.”

So, between the rules and the Pope, the Swiss Guard, complete with his halberd, chose the chair. And then the Pope brought him some bread and jam for a snack, saying, “Buon appetito, brother.”

http://piadesolenni.com/but-im-the-pope-sit-down/

After his son Matthew  die (taken his own life), Pastor Warren ask his congregation to pray for him and his family. Let join in this time for praying……

To my dear staff,

Over the past 33 years we’ve been together through every kind of crisis. Kay and I’ve been privileged to hold your hands as you faced a crisis or loss, stand with you at gravesides, and prayed for you when ill. Today, we need your prayer for us.

No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. Our youngest son, Matthew, age 27, and a lifelong member of Saddleback, died today.

You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them.

But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.

Kay and I often marveled at his courage to keep moving in spite of relentless pain. I’ll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said “ Dad, I know I’m going to heaven. Why can’t I just die and end this pain?” but he kept going for another decade.

Thank you for your love and prayers. We love you back.

Pastor Rick

1 Corinthians 15:14-17 : “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.  and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

Easter Sunday is the most triumphant day in the calendar of the Christian Church.

The resurrection quickly became the central theme of the apostles preaching. Within 50 days of the death of Christ and of the apparent collapse of His cause, the city of Jerusalem rang with the cries of those who with all boldness declared that God had raised Jesus from the dead and that they were His witnesses. Hundreds had seen Him after His resurrection! On the day of Pentecost cowering cowards were changed into courageous confessors. Fishermen from Galilee became heralds of the King. All who saw and heard them were compelled to acknowledge that something had happened which had utterly transformed their lives. When questioned by their critics, the apostles had no hesitancy in making reply. They accounted for their own boldness by attributing everything to the risen Christ.

On the day of Pentecost the resurrection was the keynote of Peter’s sermon, (See Acts 2:14-40) which inspired 3,000 people to confess Christ as Lord.

Acts 2:41: “Those who accepted His message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day”.

The resurrection was the dominant theme in all of Paul’s preaching. Everywhere he declared: “By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.”  1 Corinthians 6:14

Thousands of people will go to church on Easter Sunday to hear sermons about the resurrection. But how many actually believe that Christ is alive?

What a difference it would make if they did!

What a difference it would make in domestic and international affairs if people understood that Christ is risen!

What a transformation would take place in our families!

On the day of the resurrection the angel at the tomb delivered the most important message that has ever fallen on the ears of mankind: “He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.” Matthew 28:6 ( Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6)

The power of those words changed the course of history, brought hope to a hopeless world and gave men and women a purpose and a power which they had never before known.

We live in a day when science has harnessed the power of the universe. But such power has not made the world better. It has not solved the riddle of human evil; it has not helped us to cope with the problems that threaten the world’s peoples.

What relevance has the resurrection of Christ to our human dilemma?

Christ’s resurrection can have everything to do with answering our problems. Alive forevermore, the risen Christ can do today what He did for those who received and believed Him in days gone by.

1). THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION SAVES AND REDEEMS INDIVIDUALS

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)

I have seen hundreds, thousands of men and women who are among the living dead. Life to them has become a hollow mockery and a sham; life has lost its purpose and meaning. These people are bored and fed up; they have no zest for living.

I have seen them come in simply, trusting faith to the living Christ. They have put their trembling hands into the strong hands of the crucified and risen Christ.

I have seen them in the glow of the living Christ step out of a casket of broken hopes and dreams to become happy, useful, integrated people, filled with purpose and power.

Jesus words have not changed. Time has not robbed them of their power.

When “the dead … hear the voice of the Son of God … they will live.” (John 5:25)

The Christ who lived on this planet still lives today, raising from their lifelessness all those who believe in Him, raising them from a wretched existence that is worse than death.

I have seen them in the glow of the living Christ step out of a casket of broken hopes and dreams to become happy, useful, integrated people, filled with purpose and power.

Jesus words have not changed. Time has not robbed them of their power.

When “the dead … hear the voice of the Son of God … they will live.” (John 5:25)

The Christ who lived on this planet still lives today, raising from their lifelessness all those who believe in Him, raising them from a wretched existence that is worse than death.

We read in the Bible:

a). “and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.”(Ephesians 1:19-20)

b). “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins”. Ephesians 2:1. “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-6)

Have you been raised to a new life in Christ – you who are discouraged and despondent? You who are bored with living? You who cope with psychological and mental problems? You who experience gnawing fear and insecurity? You who are dead in trespasses and in sins? I tell you on the authority of the Bible that the risen Christ can raise you out of your spiritual lifelessness and can transform you.
2). THE RESURRECTION EMPOWERS US TO LIVE VICTORIOUSLY IN THIS LIFE

The living Christ is able to bring all of our energies and powers into focus and to help us to be conquerors over the world, the flesh and the devil.

The Bible says: “Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

With the risen Christ as our Commander in Chief we can say with Paul: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

I have exciting news for all that are staggering under the burden of life’s load. After the resurrection Jesus promised: ” … and surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

God wants you to have His power today. He longs to give it to you, but you must be faith open your heart to Him. When you come to the cross of Christ for forgiveness of sin, the Holy Spirit will raise you from the mundane, the monotonous, the hopeless, to a new, thrilling, adventuresome life filled with dynamic power.

3). THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION GIVES HOPE

“Is there hope?” That is the constant question of humanity, and Easter is the answer to that question. The New Testament is the textbook of hope. The word hope occurs over and over in the New Testament after Christ’s resurrection. It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that sets off a chain reaction of hope in the world.

Thomas Carlyle wrote: “Man is … based upon Hope; he has no other possession but Hope.”

On the purely human level there is little hope in the world. Immorality and lawlessness seem to be increasing. Wrong seems to be winning and right seems to be losing the battle for the minds and hearts of people. But the living Christ can bring glorious hope to individuals and to the world. 

Scripture says: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)

Many of us have put our faith in stocks, bonds, gadgets, pleasures and thrills.

Many of us have tried to bypass God. We are in trouble because we have left out God; we have left out the Ten Commandments; we have left out the Sermon on the Mount.

Now we are reaping the tragic results. But there is hope in the Easter message: in Christ there is hope for all.

All of us are facing death, and we can know that with Christ there is hope beyond the grave, because the same power that raised Christ from the dead will also raise those who confess Him. Death becomes only a veil, only a river to cross; on the other side is heaven, home and Christ.

One moment we say “Good night” here, and the next moment we say “Good morning” there.

I do not know how people outside Christ cope with the thought of death. They must experience utter hopelessness, for there is no hope outside Christ.

Easter, with its message of resurrection power, brings us face-to-face with the living Christ. 
Will you reject Him and be eternally lost? Or will you receive Christ and the eternal life that He alone can give?

An open letter to Victoria’s Secret regarding their choice to make an underwear line aimed at young teenagers. 

by Rev. Evan Dolive

“……….Recently I read an article that Victoria’s Secret is launching a line of underwear and bras aimed at middle school aged children. The line will be called “Bright Young Things” and will feature ” lace black cheeksters with the word “Wild” emblazoned on them, green and white polka-dot hipsters screen printed with “Feeling Lucky?” and a lace trim thong with the words, “Call me” on the front.”

As a dad, this makes me sick.

I believe that this sends the wrong message to not only my daughter but to all young girls.
I don’t want my daughter to ever think that her self-worth and acceptance by others is based on the choice of her undergarments. I don’t want my daughter to ever think that to be popular or even attractive she has to have emblazon words on her bottom……….”

http://evandolive.com/2013/03/22/a-letter-to-victorias-secret-from-a-father/