Discussing with some people about the possible need for a magazine/internet publication for Christian short story fiction and nonfiction. I know there is a definite need from my point of view, but polling people on their views and, if so, what kind of format.  I know print medium for newspapers and magazines are struggling to compete with internet, but ,with Nook downloads, may be a good possibility of success.  As with anything, quality and planning a must.  We'll see.  We never know what exciting adventure the Lord will lead us into.  I think young through old writers need an outlet for their creativity and the world needs to have an avenue to see what talent is out there and be exposed to new and unique styles of inspiration.  We are not all inspired by the same style and ideas.

     The world is too small, in that there are billions of people and only so many resources such as food available, to have a few nations with so much and a majority of the nations with so little.  We have the technology and know how to distribute resources on a fair basis, and, as Christians and Muslims, we have an obligation to God to do this.  There should be no one go to bed hungry in this world...there should be no one go without a comfortable place to lay their head at night.  We do not have to give up everything we possess if we are the haves.  We just have to share. If we who have, would each share just a little, we would feed with abundance all who have not, and we will have lost nothing and gained everything.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 

Romans 12:9-13

     I was watching the BYU (Brigham Young University) channel yesterday.  I am not a Mormon, but am a Christian.  The channel has some good, interesting programs.  We Christians should love and support one another and not let our doctrines get in our way.  When we let doctrine cause rifts and fighting between us, it interferes with our mission to spread the Good News.  We should stand united before the world as brothers and sisters in our Lord. 
     The host of the program I was watching told a story from the 1800's.  The story was about an old gentleman that sat on the porch of his seaside home somewhere along the southern Atlantic coast of the US.  He sat there watching a boy throwing starfish back in the ocean that had been stranded as the tide moved out.  The man eventually walked down to where the boy was busy throwing the starfish back to the ocean.  He remarked to the boy, "son, there are thousands upon thousands of starfish along the beach.  What difference are you going to make by throwing a few back?  You can throw them back all day and not make a dent in them."  The boy stopped what he was doing and held up a starfish saying, "I'm making a difference to this one."  The rest of the afternoon one saw the boy along with the old man throwing starfish back into the receding ocean. 
     This really made a deep impression on me.  Our Lord is always teaching if we but listen.  The lesson he taught me is this:  As Christians, we go about our lives most of the time passing up opportunities to save one lost soul.  Thinking, what dent can I make in the millions of the unsaved upon this earth at just this point in time?  Not realizing that we would be making a huge difference to that one person we saved and gave eternal life to.  If each of us brought just one soul to Christ in this lifetime, what a mammoth impact that would make in the big picture of life.  Never discount the impact you can make by what you perceive as an insignificant contribution.  It may, and most likely will, influence others to do the same.  The ripple effect is tremendous when each of those persons influence several others to do the same.

Sing to the LORD! Bless his name! Proclaim his deliverance every day!

Psalm 96:2

THE JOURNEY

  Once upon a time, not so long ago, a man sat at the side of a path formed in times of lesser heat and greater rain in a place not so far away as it once seemed in that time.  He sat under a small tree that provided the only canopy from the extreme heat of a cloudless summer sky at midday.  The find of the tree was an unexpected yet very pleasant surprise as anyone might imagine.  It was a lonely path through that stark landscape of utter nothingness.  The man leaned against the tree as he sat staring out into the void seeing nothing that he looked at for he was in deep thought about his passage over this barren land.  He sipped slowly from his goatskin water flask as he thought.  One might suppose he regretted this passage, but they would be mistaken for he chose this road through this land with great purpose.  A purpose he was concentrating on while he sat sipping water under a tree that appeared as if from nowhere in a land that offered but little, if any, life giving sustenance to such a plant.
     The man saw no other humans, nor did he expect to...find another human.  Not necessarily, but somewhat hopefully, he expected to find the one being he longed to meet.  After a time he knew not how long, his mind came back to the present from its trance.  He took a twig from beneath the tree and began to dig down in the sand in an absent minded, half hearted manner. 
    While he occupied himself with the small hole he dug for what reason he knew not, he happened to look down the path and, to his amazement, saw a man walking toward him from the direction in which his journey was taking him. A mirage he thought.  Watching him intently, as he came nearer, he could see a person dressed in commonplace attire.  The man kept a steady pace as he came down that path with a smile on a face that seemed to be illuminated with an unusual glow about it which surely was brought on by the intense sun overhead. 
     After what surely was but a minute or two at the most, the man was standing in front of the traveler sitting in the shade.  He asked if he might share the shade and sit with him.  The traveler nodded and said, “Only God can own the shade, and he surely put it here to be shared.”  The man sat down facing the traveler staring into his eyes that stared back at his. 
     The man spoke, “Do you think the one you seek will be found by digging a hole in the earth?” 
     The traveler was taken aback by the words.  Who is this person sitting in front of me, he thought?  After a few moments of mentally examining the stranger before him, he said, “What would lead you to think I seek someone?”
     “There can be only one reason a man should be traveling in this inhospitable, deserted,  lonely land,” the man said,  “and only one person he could be seeking.”
     The traveler replied, “In turn, you must be seeking him also.  Is that not the logical conclusion to your statement?”
     The man locked his eyes into the travelers eyes and, leaning slowly forward,  replied with one word, “Or?”
     “Or”, said the traveler in a confused manner.  “Or”, he said again in almost a whisper.  His mind was sent reeling by this word.  He prided himself on being very intelligent to a degree that he was full of himself much of the time.  But, now, someone had put something so simple, yet so powerful before him.  The stranger kept his eyes locked into his.  His eyes…so piercing, so different.  Or, what does this mean, and why do I spend so much time on it, he said in his mind.  Why not ask him the meaning?  Ah, but my pride will not allow this.  Suddenly, his thoughts united into one.  A very shocking, yet, crazy thought.  This is the only answer, or is it, his mind concentrating heavily on this thought.  I surely must be insane from the heat and the lack of food.  His eyes continued locked into the strangers eyes as his mind rolled the self doubts about his sanity around.  Then, he spoke, “Or, slowly, very slowly he said, Or you are God?”
     The man’s smile deepened as he responded, “I Am.”
     “You are? The traveler, mystified, leaned back slowly and skeptically, saying, God… you really are God?”
     “I Am the Alpha and the Omega.  I Am, he said softly.  I  Am the one that is, was, and forever shall be.  I Am.”
     The traveler’s mind was reeling as he said, “Why are you here talking to me if you are God?”
     “Did you not come here to find me?”
     “Yes, but you are a mere mortal man before me.”
     “That is what you see, yes.  You expected to see a monster, possibly?  Perhaps, a horse with a man’s head.  I am the God that loves you.  Why would I come in some grotesque form or try to make you fearful of me.  As you might have imagined, I am quite capable of instilling fear, but, would that be the way of a loving creator?  “No, he continued by saying, in this imperfect world, you cannot see me as I really am for that would burn away your imperfect body that I have covered your spirit with in this world I created to teach you the many lessons you need to be my son.”
     Thinking fast and intently with belief beginning to rise within him, he said, “Why did you not let me find you without coming to this wilderness?”
     “The Lord your God does not hide.  I am always here, there, and everywhere at all times, in all places, in all things.  I am every person you meet.  I am the earth you walk upon.  I am the stars shining above your head at night.  I am the air that you breath.  I am the Lord your God that loves you unconditionally.  When you treat your fellow man to scorn, hate, or ridicule, you are doing these things to me.  When you love another, you are loving me.  You traveled through this wilderness to find me, and I am here to meet you as one of you for I love you.” As he spoke, his face brightened till it shown with an otherworldly radiance.
     As any man faced with the glory of  being in the presence of  God, the traveler bent to the ground face down and worshiped the Lord.  He said wonderful things in praise of God Almighty.  He did these things for some time before rising upright.  The traveler was shocked for he was now alone.  God or the man was nowhere to be seen.  The traveler was crushed.  He had so many questions…oh, so many questions, but now God was gone, or was he?  He looked down where the Lord had been sitting and there was an impression as a man would leave when sitting in the sand. 
     It took some time before the traveler started back down the path in the direction from which he had come.  He set about his journey home with a joyfulness in his heart and a soul that seemed to lighten his steps tremendously even in the searing heat which, now, he hardly noticed.  After a short distance, he stopped and turned for one last look at the tree under which he had met with God.  He was in for another shock.  There was no tree, only the vast open desert with a few scrub bushes and here and there a plant, but, just the same, no tree.  What!  Had he really experienced this…but the impression in the sand.  As he stood there bewildered, he pulled the skin water flask up to moisten his mouth after the shock.  Now, the flask, to his amazement was full.  He turned slowly and, with a refreshed spirit and faith, began the journey, not just to home, but to spread the good news…never having noticed the extra set of footprints in the sand mixed with his.  Not now, nor ever, would he make his journeys alone.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Peter 5:5

     When I began writing this book, I wore the clothing of the proud.  My mission is for our Lord, and one does not do anything for our Lord that he does not teach you.  He is teaching me humility that comes from serving Him, who is the greatest and the greatest example of humility.  He has clothed me in the dress of the humble servant.  It is for his glory that I strive.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Matthew 23:12

     My friends daughter had her Thyroid removed to fight the cancer.  Our prayers were answered.  It appears they caught it early.  Thank you all for your prayers of mercy and hope you received the mercies of healing you needed also, as I know many of you have. Our prayers continue for you, if you have not yet received the healing. How great and loving is our Father.

How great thou are Father,

How mightily you dispense your mercies upon your servants,

We know you have brought healing to many around the world by our prayers,

We feel your love by these gifts of mercy,

Help us with the courage, love, and wisdom needed to be good servants to you.

Please, Father, accept our love and thanks for your gifts of healing.

In our Lord and Savior's name, Jesus Christ, we pray these things to you.

Amen

     Today is My Friend's daughters procedure to check for cancer.   Already, many miracles from all our prayers for our fellow saints around the world have come to pass from our most divine Father.  Let us keep up the prayers for one another.
     Let us include prayers for this man, Saeed Abedini, an American Christian pastor from Boise, Idaho, who was sentenced on January 27, 2013 to eight years in Iran’s Evin Prison.  Abedini is “guilty” of assisting home churches and converts to Christianity.  Saeed is of Iranian descent and much loved in this country.  He is a Christian Pastor building an orphanage for children in Iran when arrested:

Abedini expressed apprehension and concern to his relatives about his fate and openly asked if there were international efforts to secure his freedom, according to advocacy group American Center for Law and Justice.

It is believed that Abedini’s downtrodden spirit is due to abuse and brain-washing techniques used by officials at Evin Prison.

• 

The American pastor sentenced to eight years in Iran’s Evin Prison after being persecuted for his faith questions whether enough is being done to help free him.
Saeed Abedini mentioned his doubt during a visit with relatives on Monday. It was a second time he was allowed to see members of his extended family since he was convicted.
Abedini expressed apprehension and concern to his relatives about his fate and openly asked if there were international efforts to secure his freedom, according to advocacy group American Center for Law and Justice.
It is believed that Abedini’s downtrodden spirit is due to abuse and brain-washing techniques used by officials at Evin Prison.
“It is no surprise that the Iranian prison guards are engaging in this kind of psychological abuse. We know that Pastor Saeed is undergoing physical beatings and torture. And we know there is growing concern about his health,” Jordan Sekulow, executive director for ACLJ, said to FoxNews.com. “Now, a troubling report that the guards are trying to take away his hope - by feeding him false information about his fate - trying to convince him that no one cares - that efforts to secure his freedom have ceased. This tactic is predictable but also very tragic.”
“What the Iranian guards will never tell Pastor Saeed is that there's a growing international network of support. ... We continue to urge President Obama to personally call on Iran to release Pastor Saeed. And now that Secretary of State Kerry is on the job, it is time for him to follow through on earlier statements demanding that Iran release Pastor Saeed,” he added.
   
     Let us pray for him.  We must not hate.  We must pray for our Lord to soften the hearts of the Iranians in order to secure his release.  We should never pray out of hate.  Our Father hears us.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  

James 5