Haiti One Year Later, Where are the Atheists?
Haiti, one-year after a devastating earthquake destroyed many peoples lives, is still in desperate need. The earthquake, as devastating as it was, was followed by a hurricane and then a cholera outbreak. This only compounds the sadness of those affected.
It seems that most of the promised secular aid has not materialized. There is great need, and who is responding other than national governments, surely there are millions of dollars and hours of volunteer labor being provided by the likes of the Red Cross, or caring groups of humanists?
Nope… it’s just those “faith-based” organizations like Catholic Relief Services, Samaritan’s Purse, the United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. These are the groups providing the lion’s share of private aid donations to help those affected.
These groups are also providing corps of volunteers to help out. They continue to do the heavy lifting, as government sorts out the red tape.
People I know have taken “vacations” to go down to Haiti to help those affected, others have donated money to help. Still others collect food and clothing, which is collected at local churches.
But, let us get back to the names of those “faith-based” groups. It is evident to me what “faith” they are talking about, none other than Christianity!
We, humans, by nature are selfish creatures… it is because ot the outstretched hand of God that we help those in need.
For all of those humanists and atheists that stress how they need no “sky man” or any other appeal to religion to care for their fellow brothers and sisters… I ask…
WHERE IS YOUR SWEAT AND TREASURE IN THIS CRISIS?
If you really care about you fellow man, how about sending $10 to help. You can do it through Samaritan’s Purse, or UNICEF.
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TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS…
TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I’D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN’T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
‘SANTA DON’T CRY,
THIS LIF E IS MY CHOICE;
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON’T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY! COUNTRY, MY CORPS.’
THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT’S CHILL.
I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, ‘CARRY ON SANTA,
IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.’
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
‘MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.’
This poem was written by a Marine.
The following is his request. I think it is reasonable…..
PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities.
Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make
people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed
themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed
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The Best Pro-Life Resources Online
If you are looking for the best place to find pro-life resources, start with Scott Klusendorf‘s Life Training Institute. With audio for defending the unborn, pro-life articles (check out “The Five-Minute Pro-Lifer“), podcasts, video, and more.
Looking for books to educate you on the pro-life position? On a recent Stand to Reason program, Scott Klusendorf recommended his top five recommended books:
1. The Unaborted Socrates
2. Precious Unborn Human Persons
3. The Case for Life
4. Defending Life
5. Natural Rights and the Right to Choose
From Apologetics315: The Best Pro-Life Resources Online.
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Is Christianity Religion?
All religion, basically, is man’s effort to raise himself or make himself acceptable to God. Muslim, Hinduism, Buddhism even Mormonism and to some extent Catholicism require certain work or duty to become accepted. They all have their different tenets, but there is always something YOU have to DO to become acceptable to God.
This is played out in the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. After their eyes were opened to good and evil, they knew they were naked. They tried to cover themselves with leaves to hide their nakedness and make them acceptable before God. That was the first religious act.
But Christianity is different…
The Bible tells that there is none righteous and that no one seeks after God. (Romans 3:10-18) In fact it goes so far to say that we have all sinned. (Romans 3:23) It instructs us that the burden of death on the physical world is the result of sin. (Romans 6:23)
But there is a Remedy offered in the second half of Romans 6:23, where Paul speaks of a gift from God through one man Jesus Christ. If we step a few verses backward, it tells us that even though we were not yet born, nor even considering to stop sinning, that Jesus died for us. (Romans 5:8)
So there is nothing any of us can DO to please God. What condition are we left in if we then have no hope to please God?
Romans 10:9 offers the solution. It is to look upon yourself, and agree with God on your condition and the finished work of Jesus who took our penalties upon Himself willingly! A few verses later in Romans 10:13 it is declared "For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”"
The results of salvation are summed up in a few more verses. In Romans 5:1 we find we have been justified and have found peace with God. Romans 8:1 then explains that we have been removed from our former condemnation. A little further ahead in Romans 8:38-39 we read that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
That is Christianity… we are justified by faith alone, through God’s grace alone in Jesus Christ alone!
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Clinton texts a $10 donation to Pakistan flood relief
Wow! A whole $10!
All this week we have been saturated with the approaching “royal” wedding. After all the Clintons are busy planning to spend up to $5,000,000 for Chelsea’s wedding. Yet, Hillary Clinton has the time, and extra cash to “set an example” for the rest of us. by texting $10 for some truly in need.
The example brings to mind words like stingy, cheap and miserly… however these do not even begin to describe the discrepancy! That is just .0002% of the projected spending on 1 PERSON! There may be an estimated 12 million who will need aid in and around Swat Valley Pakistan due to the floods.
Those who work hard to bring home an average salary will probably never come close to earning $5,000,000. Yet these same people will gladly send $10 to help another. That $10 costing them personally almost an hour of labor. This would be a great sacrifice to a majority of generous and self-less Americans.
While those in Pakistan will have trouble finding just clean water to drink, the political elite (read left) will be wining and dining on all the best that there is!
These are the same people who tell us they are the champions of the poor. I think they are nothing more than modern day slave traders who steal from hard working Americans.
Do we need any other example of the hypocrisy of the democrats?
Regardless of your political leanings, if you would like to help those in need and live in the U.S., please text the word SWAT to the number 50555. Please bear in mind that the donation goes to a United Nations relief agency UNHCR.
Clinton texts a $10 donation to Pakistan flood relief
And for those so inclined, please pray.
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The Pickle Jar
The pickle jar, as far back as I can remember, sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents’ bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar.
As a small boy, I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled.
I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar to admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate’s treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window. When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank.
Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production..
Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.
Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. ‘Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You’re going to do better than me. This old mill town’s not going to hold you back.’
Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly. ‘These are for my son’s college fund. He’ll never work at the mill all his life like me.’
We would always celebrate each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got chocolate. Dad always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. ‘When we get home, we’ll start filling the jar again.’ He always let me drop the first coins into the empty jar. As they rattled around with a brief, happy jingle, we grinned at each other. ’You’ll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters,’ he said. ‘But you’ll get there; I’ll see to that.’
No matter how rough things got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar. Even the summer when Dad got laid off from the mill,and Mama had to serve dried beans several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar.
To the contrary, as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me ‘When you finish college, Son,’ he told me, his eyes glistening, ‘You’ll never have to eat beans again – unless you want to.’
The years passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town. Once, while visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the pickle jar was gone. It had served its purpose and had been removed.
A lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar had always stood. My dad was a man of few words: he never lectured me on the values of determination, perseverance, and faith. The pickle jar had taught me all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have done. When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly pickle jar had played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than anything else, how much my dad had loved me.
The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from Dad’s arms. ‘She probably needs to be changed,’ she said, carrying the baby into my parents’ bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room, there was a strange mist in her eyes.
She handed Jessica back to Dad before taking my hand and leading me into the room. ‘Look,’ she said softly, her eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement, there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak.
This truly touched my heart.. Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life, for better or for worse.
God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way. Look for GOOD in others. The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched – they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller
- Happy moments, praise God.
- Difficult moments, seek God.
- Quiet moments, worship God.
- Painful moments, trust God.
- Every moment, thank God.
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AA will fly Drs and Nurses to Haiti for free
Please call 212-697-9767 talk to
the Haiti consulate in New York.
I got the news in a tweet that American Airlines will fly doctors and nurses to Haiti for free. these posts are from HAITI911.COM
I called the number (212-697-9767) and it goes to the Haiti consulate in New York.
If you are a medical worker (or know one) and would like to help, please call this number during business hours
Home > Earthquake in Haiti Forum > AMERICAN AIRLINES taking doctors nurses to Haiti
AMERICAN AIRLINES is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for free.
Please call 212-697-9767.
Pass It On
Thank you Kira Andre / Facebook
Posted by Haiti News on 1/13/10 9:26 PM
Home > Earthquake in Haiti Forum > Doctors Nurses Paramedics Wanted in Haiti
HAITI URGENT** PLEASE CUT/PASTE & FORWARD TO YOUR CONTACTS.
IF YOU ARE A DOCTOR, NURSE, PARAMEDIC, FIREFIGHTER OR KNOW OF ONE THAT CAN TRAVEL WITHIN A WEEK’S NOTICE TO ASSIST IN HAITI, PLS RESPOND TO ME ASAP W/ YOUR NAME, JOB DESCRIPTION, EMAIL & TEL#.
DETAILS TO BE PROVIDED AS SOON AS RECEIVED.
JORGE/FERNANDO BECERRA, EMMAUS MEDICAL MISSION
Contact Leni Andrews- Weber on Facebook
Posted by Haiti News on 1/13/10 10:05 PM
Please call 212-697-9767 to talk to theHaiti consulate in New York.
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