A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


June 23, 2014

Reasons To Celebrate

   
     There are days when it is time to stop looking at the increasing deterioration of the world and look for those events that we can celebrate.  I will admit that the headlines seem to extol far more negative news than positive, but let's take a break, shall we?  For one day, let's take our eyes off the warnings of impending doom and bask in the joy of small victories.
     First off, we can take great joy in the fact that Justina Pelletier has been returned to the loving care of her family, after being a ward of the State for the last 16 months.  All the hostility directed by a Massachusetts child protection agency towards her parents seems to have accomplished nothing.  She  is still suffering from her digestion problems, even after 16 months of the psychiatric care the State insisted she needed.  It is hard to know exactly why the judicial system reversed its custody decision regarding Justina and returned her to her parents, but for now, we can celebrate that these medical child abuse charges have been dismissed.  We can also hope that the "Free Justina" campaign will be successful in championing legislation to avoid future cases like this.
      Then, there is the recent Gallup poll, in which nearly half (42%) of Americans say that they believe in Creationism; that God created the human race.  And when you consider that there has been a major push to indoctrinate our schoolchildren in the superiority of the theory of Evolution, then I would say that's cause for celebration.  Mind you, we must not give up the battle.  The numbers that believe there is Evolution guided by God, and those who believe Evolution with no God have been climbing, but God is still the primary factor in the existence of mankind.  And it feels as if Believers have finally developed a spine, and are speaking out to challenge any propaganda that seeks to eliminate God from the discussion.  It's about time!
     In the "Culture" category, I just have to give a standing ovation to Green Beret and Purple Heart recipient Bryan Sikes, who delivered a most appropriate slap-down to spoiled celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow, who compared getting nasty Twitter comments to "fighting in a war".  Here, in part, is Mr. Sikes's fitting response:
     Miss Paltrow,  I'd first like to start out by saying how terrible I feel for you and all your friends that on a daily basis have to endure mean words written by people you don't know ... You said, "Its almost like, how in war, you go through this bloody dehumanizing thing and then something is defined out of it." I could see how you, and others like you in "the biz", could be so insecure and mentally weak that you could pair the difficulty of your life on twitter to my brothers who have had their limbs ripped off and seen their friends shot, blown up, burned and disfigured, or wake up every morning in pain – while just starting the day is a challenge ....
     You know what is really "dehumanizing", Miss Paltrow? The fact that you'd even consider that your life as an "A-list" celebrity reading internet comments could even compare to war and what is endured on the battlefield. You and the other "A-listers" that think like you are laughable. You all have actually convinced yourselves that you in some way face difficulty on a regular basis. Let me be the first to burst your bubble: a long line at Starbucks, your driver being 3 minutes late, a scuff mark on your $1200 shoes and a mean tweet do not constitute difficulty in the eyes of a soldier.
     Understand me when I say this: war does not define me. It is a chapter in my life that helped shape me. Being a husband and father is what defines me. Remember, sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never…be close to what war is.  Now, that is worthy of public praise.  Good job, Soldier!  I salute you!
     And lastly, I want to salute Brian Fisher, the founder of Online For Life.  Brian listened to that nagging voice in his heart that urged him to find a technological method to counter abortion.  The Blaze reports his story:  “God just wouldn’t let this idea go of saving children from death in the womb and so in 2009 — honestly, begrudgingly -- I started this nonprofit."
     He realized that there’s 2 million searches on the Internet for abortion terminology -- in the United States alone!   “So that’s where the mission field is, if you will,” he says, and since its inception, the concept behind Online for Life has been simple: The group ensures that Internet searches for abortion include prominent links to pro-life causes instead of only showing women links to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.  The idea is to give these women alternatives, to urge them to visit pro-life clinics, and to bring their children to term, rather than seek abortions. Online for Life tracks the search results and appointments women make to assess how effective the ministry is in its reach.
      Fisher reports that his first victory came in June, 2010, when a baby was saved in Pittsburgh.  The mother contacted a pregnancy center she learned about through the Online For Life website and decided to keep her baby.  Since then the organization has saved 1,976 babies.  While they have a long way to go to offset the more than 1,000,000 aborted babies in the U.S. each year, we can celebrate each and every one of those precious 1,976 lives; and we can pray for further success stories from Online For Life.  The angels in heaven are cheering Brian Fisher on!
     So, while none of these stories captured the coveted spotlight in prominent news cycles, we can savor them for a moment, and take joy from the fact that the little things still matter.  These glimpses of God's Grace, in a world turned upside down, deserve our notice and our gratitude.  When the day seems gloomy, hang on to these moments of light and remember them.  There will be more, I promise.

Psalm 47:1     Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!



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