Abortion Survivor

This is an incredible talk given by abortion survivor Gianna Jessen. It takes about 20 minutes, but is well worth the time and I think you will want your family to hear this as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPF1FhCMPuQ You will need to click on Part 2 to hear the rest of it.

Gianna gave this speech at Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Victoria. Australia, on September 8 2008. This was the eve of the debate on "Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008" which would decriminalize abortion in Australia. Sadly the bill did pass even after the politicians listened to this witness.

Sober Thoughts

Surprisingly, I have not dropped off the face of the earth but rather have been very busy! : )

This was my first year to can salsa, jelly and catsup! They turned out well, so I hope to do more of the same next year.

Lately the Lord has been helping me to examine myself, to see if I am truly saved. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

I have been raised in a Christian home and by that I do not mean a typical "Christian" home. I know the Bible, I have been taught how to live and how to seek the Lord. I know these things, but are they just in my mind, do I just know them by knowledge? Or, do I know Him? For Real?

Oh, it is easy to fool other people into thinking that you are saved, many people do that, but I have never thought that I was deceiving people. This then brings the question, can a person deceive themselves? The answer is sobering. Look at what Jesus said: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) This is a serious thing! Read the same chapter through verse 23, Many will say Lord, Lord we did this and that in your name but Jesus will say to them, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." So, is this saying that many who think they are saved and think that God is working through them, are still under the wrath of an angry God? I think it is and the question that makes me tremble is; am I like that?

A person who is deceived does not know they are deceived. Think about Paul when he was persecuting Jesus' disciples. If you could have asked him what he thought about his standing with God, would he not have told you something like this: "God is very pleased with me, look at all the good he is doing through me. See how zealous I am for his Holy name." Paul was not looking for salvation on the road to Damascus! He thought that he was just fine. It was only the incredible mercy of God that revealed to him his need for the Saviour.

How many are in such a state? How many are going along in life, calling Him Lord, yet they do not know Him?

It is only the mercy of God... and that of an angry God, that will bring us to salvation. Can we say this is unfair? Read Romans 9, especially verses 14-29.

1 John gives some wonderful tests for the professing believer to examine themselves with, and it says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)

So, I have been looking at these things and asking, do I have the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-25, John 15:2 and vs. 16

*Have I repented of sin and continue to repent? Do I hate my sin and turn away from it, crying out to God to help me? Luke 5:32, Acts 11:18, Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Timothy 2:25, 2 Peter 3:9

*Do I love God and His people? Do I keep God's commandments? 1 John 5:1-3, ch. 2:3-6 1 John 3:18

*Where and what are my thoughts? 2 Corinthians 10:5

*Do I love the world? 1 John 2:15

*Who or what do I talk about most? James 1:26

*Do I walk in darkness? 1 John 1:5-7

*Do I have fellowship with God through His Spirit? 1 John 1:2

.......and more.

As all this has been going on, I have come to realize that I am not what I thought I was. I was deceiving myself in thinking higher of myself than I ought to think. (Romans 12:3) Now when I look at my life, it is with grief and sorrow for all the ways I have disobeyed my Lord. But...when seeing my depravity, I see that the fruit which does show forth cannot possibly come from myself, it must be Him.

"But, oh Lord, look how great my sin is."

"No, look at Me, see how much greater I am."

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:8-9)

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:4)

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)

As a side note of proclamation: It is snowing right now!

On being a good witness

In these days that we live in, we hear so much about God's love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion. Phrases are used, such as: "accept Jesus into your heart", "just believe", "Jesus is knocking on your heart's door, won't you let Him in?" and many other sayings.

While it is very true that God is love (1 John 4:8), that He is full of mercy, forgiveness and compassion, (Psalms 145:8-9) (Isaiah 63:7), He is also a Holy God (1 Peter 1:15-16) (Revelation 4:8), a just judge (Jeremiah 23:5) (Deuteronomy 32:4) (1 Peter 4:5) (Romans 2:16), an angry God (Psalms 7:11), full of fury (Nahum 1:2) (Isaiah 59:18) (Isaiah 63:3-4) (Isaiah 66:15-16) (Ezekiel 8:18), and wrath (John 3:36) (Romans 2:5-6) (Revelation 6:16-17) (Revelation 19:15) (Colossians 3:6) (Ephesians 2:3).

We are vile, sinful, evil and wicked. (Isaiah 59:2) (Romans 3:23) (Philippians 3:21) (Psalms 38:4) (Psalms 90:7-8). We cannot make ourselves clean; "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

How many times did Adam and Eve sin before they were cast out of the garden? God's standard is absolute perfection, Himself. Can we be like God? If even our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him, where does that leave us? We cannot even pay off our debt of sin by doing good, even our best works are abominable in His sight. Imagine a thief who repents and stops stealing. Is his debt now paid off, just because he is not stealing anymore? We are commanded to do good, so doing good won't pay for our past debt. We must conclude that we are utterly doomed and deserve to be crushed under the wrath of the One and Only Omnipotent God, Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that we are completely cast upon His mercy.

Oh but "He's a pretty forgiving guy isn't He?" (I have actually been asked that). Well...no, have you ever read the Old Testament? He is the same God now as He was then. God is not obligated to save us, it is of His own choosing to redeem us. There is nothing in you or I that would cause God to want to save us. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-24)

God does not need us, He is complete in Himself; "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Revelation 22:13) His aim is to get glory for His own name; "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another." (Isaiah 48:9-11)

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; (Psalms 33:18)We are commanded to fear the Lord; "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen." (Deuteronomy 10:20-21)

This is why God's mercy is so very incredible! He, the Holy just judge, is willing to pardon wicked vile sinners? And at what price?

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)

Jesus Christ, God's Son, took the fierce wrath of God on Himself, in our place. He drank of the cup of wrath from God's hand and when He was finished there was nothing left against us. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12) Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and has ascended into Heaven. He has promised to come again: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:12-14)

It is the work of God to save a soul but He has commanded us to preach the gospel. We must be careful to give the gospel that is in the whole Bible and not just one that has been fitted to make everyone feel good.

For more (really good) discussion on this topic please visit: http://fruit-of-her-hands.blogspot.com/2008/10/handmaiden-of-lord-post-2.html

Salvation!

There is something I have been wanting to share with you all, but I had to first make sure that all our friends who read this blog knew about it first.

On Tuesday September 30, 2008, my brother Michael was saved!

We are rejoicing!

At the age of seven he had such a fear of going to hell that he prayed and asked God to save him. He made a confession of faith through baptism and as life went on he became very passionate for righteousness. He could pray wonderful prayers and talk knowledgably about the Bible, those who knew him outside our immediate family did not question his salvation.

But...on that particular Tuesday we were packing chickens and we all wanted something to listen to, so I put on a sermon by Paul Washer entitled: "Examine Yourself" based on 2 Corinthians 13:5,

"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

In 1 John, there are tests that we can give ourselves to see if we really are in the faith.

Michael began to examine himself and realized that he was not saved. 1 John 1:5-7 struck him hard:

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Michael fell on his knees and cried out to God to have mercy on his soul and save him. God answered mightily! All of a sudden Michael was quiet and then said in amazement, "I'm saved. Praise God, I'm saved! He did it, He saved me!" Can you imagine the joy, excitement and rejoicing that we all had?

Now I have a new brother, he is completely changed, old things have passed away behold all things have become new! He is different! What used to be controlled by emotion and passion is now led by the Spirit of the living God and there is a big difference! Praise God!

This last Sunday, the 5th, as some friends looked on, Michael made a true confession of faith through baptism, in cold Lake Superior!

Can we trust our flesh?

I have been studying Philippians 3 recently and something that struck me is the phrase in verse three "and have no confidence in the flesh"

How often do we forget and begin trusting in our own abilities and what we can do for the Lord, or how we can overcome some temptation? We think we can do many things and forget that it is God doing a work through us. Sometimes we may think that it is our faith and belief that save us, when in reality it is the grace and mercy of God, who gives us faith as a gift (Ephesians 2:4-9) and out of goodness grants us repentance (Romans 2:4).

There is nothing in us that is trustworthy, our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). We are told not to lean on our own understanding or be wise in our own eyes (Proverbs 3:5-7).

Paul goes on to say that if anyone should be able to have confidence in the flesh it would be him, because of all the things he lists, but those things he counts as dung, they are nothing compared to Christ. The things of the flesh can not save us, the law can not save us (Galatians 2:21), in verse nine Paul reveals that he does not want to stand in his own righteousness. Remember that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), the best we can offer is disgusting and abominable before our Holy God. (Romans 10:3) Our only hope is found in the righteousness of Christ Jesus which he imputes (Romans 4:24) to unworthy us (2 Corinthians 5:21)(those who have been saved).

God does not look at others and then at us and say, 'you are doing very well'. He looks at Himself, at His Son and do we think that we can even begin to compare with Him? Without His righteousness covering us we are lost. (Romans 5:17-18) (2 Peter 3:13)

For more discussion on topics like this go to: http://fruit-of-her-hands.blogspot.com/ and look for posts labeled "A Handmaiden of the Lord"

Bayfield Apple Festival

Friday and Saturday were amazing days for us!

My Mom, my brother Michael and a brother in the Lord Josh and I, went to the Bayfield Apple Festival in Bayfield Wisconsin to hold gospel signs and give the gospel.

This event is huge, with around 60,000 people attending. There are many many booths and tents set up with people selling their wares, mostly hand crafted items and tons of food. All crammed into a couple of city blocks, so the crowds are incredible.

On Friday we were not sure how we would be welcomed by the many police which patrolled the area, so we began on a sidewalk with one sign and handed out gospel tracts.

Even though many officers walked past us, they never said a word, so we went to a more prominent sidewalk. Then we moved into the middle of the street among all the people and again, not a word. So...we brought out another of the signs and began walking around on the streets through the crowds, handing out gospel tracts and giving the gospel to anyone who asked.

A couple from a Church with heretical teachings talked to my Mom for close to an hour. They objected to the sign that includes the words "stop sinning." They believe that once you are saved, you can continue living a lifestyle of sin. They teach that you do not have to repent, you can even become an atheist after you are "saved" and still go to heaven! Oh yes, it is good to stop sinning, but you don't have to and some people just can't stop sinning. We finally came to the conclusion that they deny the power of God. There are so many scriptures that point to the power of God to change a life completely around.

Here are a few:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:9-10) and all of Col. 3

A couple of young ladies said that they had never read anything like what was on our signs, they were very excited to be given pocket New Testaments.

Michael confronted a man at an Obama booth and was able to give him the gospel.

Saturday, Michael was not able to come but my Mom and I went with Josh again and this time we brought three signs. The streets were packed shoulder to shoulder and we walked among the crowds with the gospel signs just above their heads. People would crane their necks to read the signs and many young people shouted out what they read with a question in their voice, "Fear God(?)" and "Everything you ever Did, Said, Thought will be judged(?)" "what I think will be judged?"

Of course there were many sneers and jeers and many laughed, but the name of Jesus Christ was proclaimed on the streets and we pray that God will use the seeds planted in people's hearts to turn them to Himself.

One lady asked us for a tract because for the last five days she had been trying to find out who Jesus is! She listened as my Mom gave her the gospel and said she would continue to read the Bible.

At one point a small crowd gathered around us to listen in as we gave the gospel to a few. One lady asked me "How do you get saved?" Wow, what a sobering question! I told her to cry out to God for mercy and explained what Jesus did on the cross. She listened and had questions asking, (as she held a can of beer and a cigarette), "Is drinking and smoking sin?" She had never read the Bible and was very sincere in her questions, Praise God! By His grace I was able to answer her from the Bible. God knows what He will do with that seed planted, I pray that it will bring forth fruit.

Several professing to be Christians, told us that they felt our signs were turning people away from the Bible. We explained that Jesus, Paul, Peter and others preached out on the streets.

An example is found here:

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. (Acts 17:16-17)

These truly were full days and we praise God for the opportunities and for all the people that read the signs, may He use it for His glory.

Sunday night we went to a pro-life event were Michael played the piano and a friend of his played the violin. They did very well. Then we listened to the guest speaker Star Parker who had a very good message.

It has been a busy, but good weekend.

Hooray and...

Yea!! The chickens are DONE!

We had some wonderful help on Monday for the butchering, it was a blessing to talk and laugh, listen to music and enjoy the company of friends. It kept our mind off of the task at hand, (usually not a good thing, but in this case, believe me, it is : ) .

We packed chickens yesterday and today and we are all very grateful to be done.

Michael and I went to the abortion clinic this morning to plead for the lives of unborn people. Nine mothers went in to kill their children. Each heard the cry for mercy for their baby, we prayed that God would use it to get them out of there. We do not know how many change their minds, but God knows.

I have a new kitten! Her name is Hope...

That is her mother behind her. Joyce has been a great
mouser for us and since she is getting older, we thought we
should keep one of her kittens.

They are part American Bobtail, thence the lack of a proper kitty tail. These are cool cats!

This is very short but I wanted to say something.....ah, now to see how early I can hit the sack!

Keep praising our Lord Jesus Christ, He is worthy of all praise and glory!