Penn Jillette is the talkative half of Penn and Teller, the Las Vegas comedy-illusion team. He is an outspoken atheist. He posted a video on his blog about a man who gave him a Bible, which as much to teach Christians:
At the end of the show…we go out and we talk to folks,...sign an occasional autograph and shake hands……There was one guy waiting over to the side…and he walked over to me and he said, “ I was here last night at the show, and I saw the show and I liked the show….” He was very complimentary…..
And then he said, “I brought this for you,” and he handed me a Gideon pocket edition. I thought it said from the New Testament….And he said, “I wrote in the front of it, and I wanted it you to have this. I’m kind of proselytizing.” And then he said, “I’m a business man. I’m sane. I’m not crazy.” And he looked me right in the eye and did all of this. And it was really wonderful.
I believe he knew that I was an atheist. But he was not defensive…..He was really kind and nice and sane and looked me in the eyes and talked to me, and then gave me this Bible. And I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell and that people could be going to hell….How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?
And that’s all I want to say
(Source: the book Christ Among The Dragons by James Emery White)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Saturday, February 12, 2011
God At Work
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2010
God at work
God at Work…. An amazing story!
Yesterday, I met with friends/clients to discuss a 10 year giving plan. Since August 2008 they have been looking into adoption. In January 2009 they decided to go through the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS). They have seen and heard stories of many children in our state that do not have a stable, permanent home with a loving family to care for them. For many months they have been waiting on a call from DSS with a child. They spoke with their case worker about their greatest needs exists. The case worker said that they needed more foster families. She encouraged them to contact Miracle Hill Ministries regarding their fostering programs, which they did the following Monday.
In the words of the adopting mother:
“Meanwhile, I was cleaning our church building when a friend of mine from another church called me about a "crazy situation". She had friends of hers who had to move to Shanghai, China for work. They had met the couple (the woman is Chinese, the man is a US citizen) the previous weekend. The couple had recently found out their unborn child was diagnosed with Down's syndrome after she had an amniocentesis. They were planning on having an abortion on Monday. My friend's friend was able to talk with them about considering adoption rather than aborting the baby. Meanwhile she was frantically trying to find a family that might consider taking their baby. When she called our friend, our friend in turn called us. We were excited and willing to adopt this child. After the couple found out there was a US family willing to take the child, they did not go through with the abortion. We have started the legal proceedings to adopt this precious baby! What makes the blessing even more incredible is that even though the baby will be born in China, it will be a US citizen because of the father, so this will be a domestic adoption. We will go to China for his birth and then again when he is medically and legally able to travel. We have already gone through all the steps to adopt domestically, so it will not be as difficult to make this work out! It truly is a situation that only God could orchestrate. Praise be to God for what He has done!!!”
The child will be born in January 2011. A child’s life is saved and placed in the hands of a loving family.
God works in mysterious but miraculous ways.
Instead of having the baby in China the parents came back to the USA and had the baby here.
From an Email on 1/14/2011 midnight.
Hello Dear Friends and Family,
We just wanted to share another amazing climax to the journey God has led us on. Rhonda Littleton, whom many of you know, just called with amazing news. Caleb's birth parents, Ryan and Hidy, accepted Christ today! It is with tears of joy and a completely overwhelmed heart of gratitude and love that we send each of you this e-mail. So many of you have prayed for this with us. We knew God was revealing himself to them, but for some reason, we thought it would take them time, once they got back in China, to accept God's salvation through Jesus. I don't know why after all we have seen God do, that we would think He would delay on their salvation!
To make everything even more amazing, they want to be baptized before they leave on Sunday! We are e-mailing each of you to pray for and rejoice in this decision that they have made. We, also, would like to surround them with as much love and support as possible for their baptism service. Plans are not confirmed, but it looks like they will be baptized at Simpsonville First Baptist during their Saturday 5pm prayer service. If any of you could possibly be a part of this celebration, it would mean the world to us and them. We will let you all know for sure of the details as they are confirmed tomorrow, but we just could not wait to tell everyone! God has so much in store for ALL of us. Let us never doubt what He can do if we just make ourselves available and obedient- He will do the rest!
In His Love and Joy,
God at work
God at Work…. An amazing story!
Yesterday, I met with friends/clients to discuss a 10 year giving plan. Since August 2008 they have been looking into adoption. In January 2009 they decided to go through the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS). They have seen and heard stories of many children in our state that do not have a stable, permanent home with a loving family to care for them. For many months they have been waiting on a call from DSS with a child. They spoke with their case worker about their greatest needs exists. The case worker said that they needed more foster families. She encouraged them to contact Miracle Hill Ministries regarding their fostering programs, which they did the following Monday.
In the words of the adopting mother:
“Meanwhile, I was cleaning our church building when a friend of mine from another church called me about a "crazy situation". She had friends of hers who had to move to Shanghai, China for work. They had met the couple (the woman is Chinese, the man is a US citizen) the previous weekend. The couple had recently found out their unborn child was diagnosed with Down's syndrome after she had an amniocentesis. They were planning on having an abortion on Monday. My friend's friend was able to talk with them about considering adoption rather than aborting the baby. Meanwhile she was frantically trying to find a family that might consider taking their baby. When she called our friend, our friend in turn called us. We were excited and willing to adopt this child. After the couple found out there was a US family willing to take the child, they did not go through with the abortion. We have started the legal proceedings to adopt this precious baby! What makes the blessing even more incredible is that even though the baby will be born in China, it will be a US citizen because of the father, so this will be a domestic adoption. We will go to China for his birth and then again when he is medically and legally able to travel. We have already gone through all the steps to adopt domestically, so it will not be as difficult to make this work out! It truly is a situation that only God could orchestrate. Praise be to God for what He has done!!!”
The child will be born in January 2011. A child’s life is saved and placed in the hands of a loving family.
God works in mysterious but miraculous ways.
Instead of having the baby in China the parents came back to the USA and had the baby here.
From an Email on 1/14/2011 midnight.
Hello Dear Friends and Family,
We just wanted to share another amazing climax to the journey God has led us on. Rhonda Littleton, whom many of you know, just called with amazing news. Caleb's birth parents, Ryan and Hidy, accepted Christ today! It is with tears of joy and a completely overwhelmed heart of gratitude and love that we send each of you this e-mail. So many of you have prayed for this with us. We knew God was revealing himself to them, but for some reason, we thought it would take them time, once they got back in China, to accept God's salvation through Jesus. I don't know why after all we have seen God do, that we would think He would delay on their salvation!
To make everything even more amazing, they want to be baptized before they leave on Sunday! We are e-mailing each of you to pray for and rejoice in this decision that they have made. We, also, would like to surround them with as much love and support as possible for their baptism service. Plans are not confirmed, but it looks like they will be baptized at Simpsonville First Baptist during their Saturday 5pm prayer service. If any of you could possibly be a part of this celebration, it would mean the world to us and them. We will let you all know for sure of the details as they are confirmed tomorrow, but we just could not wait to tell everyone! God has so much in store for ALL of us. Let us never doubt what He can do if we just make ourselves available and obedient- He will do the rest!
In His Love and Joy,
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Facts About U.S. Poverty
The three most common reasons people fall into situational poverty are
illness, divorce, and job loss.
About 39.8 million Americans were living in poverty in 2008, up from
37.3 million in 2007. This number is more than the entire population of Canada.
The data for 2008 are in and the numbers tell a troubling story: Children represent 25 percent of the population, yet:
41 percent of all children live in low-income families.
19 percent--14 million--live in poor families.
Today children are nearly twice as likely as adults aged 65 and older to live in poor families.
-National Center for Children in Poverty, 2009
15.6 million people in the U.S. live at half the poverty level, in what is
qualified as “extreme poverty.”
Two-thirds of people living in poverty work more than one job in order to make
ends meet.
Of the 25 richest industrialized nations, the United States has the
highest childhood poverty rate second only to Mexico.
Forty percent of the poor are children, elderly or disabled.
Less than 60 percent of eligible children are served by Head Start, the
national school readiness program for children from low-income families.
Welfare accounts for only 1 percent of the federal budget and 2 percent of the
state budget.
Persons likely to be on welfare longer than the average time had less than 12
years of education.
The average family accessing welfare services is no bigger than the average
family not accessing welfare.
13 million children in America live in families with incomes below the
federal poverty level.
5 million children in America live in families with incomes of less than half
the national poverty level.
In 2004, almost 12 percent (more than one in eight) of American households
with children under 18 were food-insecure—meaning they were not able to access
enough food to meet basic nutritional needs.
Source: www.worldvision.org
illness, divorce, and job loss.
About 39.8 million Americans were living in poverty in 2008, up from
37.3 million in 2007. This number is more than the entire population of Canada.
The data for 2008 are in and the numbers tell a troubling story: Children represent 25 percent of the population, yet:
41 percent of all children live in low-income families.
19 percent--14 million--live in poor families.
Today children are nearly twice as likely as adults aged 65 and older to live in poor families.
-National Center for Children in Poverty, 2009
15.6 million people in the U.S. live at half the poverty level, in what is
qualified as “extreme poverty.”
Two-thirds of people living in poverty work more than one job in order to make
ends meet.
Of the 25 richest industrialized nations, the United States has the
highest childhood poverty rate second only to Mexico.
Forty percent of the poor are children, elderly or disabled.
Less than 60 percent of eligible children are served by Head Start, the
national school readiness program for children from low-income families.
Welfare accounts for only 1 percent of the federal budget and 2 percent of the
state budget.
Persons likely to be on welfare longer than the average time had less than 12
years of education.
The average family accessing welfare services is no bigger than the average
family not accessing welfare.
13 million children in America live in families with incomes below the
federal poverty level.
5 million children in America live in families with incomes of less than half
the national poverty level.
In 2004, almost 12 percent (more than one in eight) of American households
with children under 18 were food-insecure—meaning they were not able to access
enough food to meet basic nutritional needs.
Source: www.worldvision.org
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Great Quotes
“You make your choices and your choices will turn around and make you”
- Hugh Brantley, South Carolina Christian Foundation
“It is much more fun to be a giver than a consumer”
- Alan Barnhart
“To whom much is given, of him will much be required.”
(Luke 12:48)
"Your plenty will supply what they need....You will be made rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion." (2 Corinthians 8:14, 9:11)
- Hugh Brantley, South Carolina Christian Foundation
“It is much more fun to be a giver than a consumer”
- Alan Barnhart
“To whom much is given, of him will much be required.”
(Luke 12:48)
"Your plenty will supply what they need....You will be made rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion." (2 Corinthians 8:14, 9:11)
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