John 9
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
A Silence Can Be Heard In The Heavens!

America lost something this week! She lost a group of fine individuals who dared go where we will never go until the rapture. These were some of America's best and we are all grieving with the families who lost their loved ones. Why we lost Columbia will probably never be known because of the powers that be who keep everything secret. However we do know that aboard that great ship were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. For them they found an even shorter way to Glory!

As we see the prophetic scriptures unfolding daily before our eyes, a tragedy such as this reminds us of how fragile life really is. The call to be ready spiritually to meet our maker is even more significant. Let us be busy telling others about our Lord and encouraging them to get in the boat of salvation. Truly time is short for all of us. The time comes when "no man can work".

Here is a testimony of one of our astronauts that was sent to me in an email from Chris Davis. Thank you Chris. This story touched my heart and I pray it will bless you. After the article, there is a link to a memory page for the Shuttle crew. Get your kleenex and buckle up for a blessing.

May God Bless America and may she once again turn back to Him in this perilous time. I truly believe that:
WE ARE CLOSER NOW THAN WE HAVE EVER BEEN!

Elaine

Dear friends,

I had the privilege of attending a Steve Green concert on the night of Feb.1, just 12 hours after the loss of Columbia and her crew of seven. What a surprise to learn that Steve Green (a Christian artist) was a close friend of Rick Husband's, the astronaut who was selected to be captain for this mission. Their friendship began a number of years ago when Rick and his wife stood in line to meet Steve after a concert in Houston. As Rick told Steve how much he enjoyed his music, Rick's wife whispered to Steve that Rick was an astronaut. Steve said he (Steve) made a big deal about that and soon the people were lined up to ask Rick for an autograph instead of Steve! Thus, their friendship began.

Steve was in attendance for Rick's first shuttle launch several years ago and was also in attendance for this launch. He sang both times at pre-launch receptions. He said the reception for the Columbia launch was very Christ-honoring, and that there were many unbelievers in attendance. Steve described Rick as a quiet, unassuming man who was, however, very vocal about his faith. He said Rick did not miss an opportunity to give glory to God and mentioned that when Mission Control said it was a beautiful day for a launch, Rick responded with, "The Lord has given us a perfect day!" A suit technician shared the following story with Steve. He said that after the astronauts suit up they walk down a hallway and then open a door to "face the press!" Rick stopped the crew before they opened the door and said he wanted to pray for them. Later the technicians talked about this and one said that in all his years he had never heard of a captain praying for and with his crew.

The spouses of the crew each get to pick a song for them to wake up to one of the mornings they're in space. Rick's wife selected "God of Wonders" by Steve Green. Steve played a tape for us of Rick communicating with Mission Control after the song was played. The conversation went something like this: Mission Control - "Good morning. That song was for Rick. It was 'God of Wonders' by Steve Green." Rick - "Good morning. Thank you. We can really appreciate the lyrics of that song up here. We look out the window and see that God truly is a God of wonders!" (Unfortunately, we probably won't hear that one on the news.) Steve also shared part of an e-mail he received from Rick, transmitted from outer space! Did you know that was possible? I didn't! Anyway, Rick wrote about how overwhelming it was to see God's vast creation from space. He said he had never cried while exercising before, but peddling on the bike and looking out the window at God's incredible creation brought tears to his eyes.

Steve also shared that he had been in Texas for a concert about a week before coming here. While there, Steve and his "crew" spent the day with Rick's wife, Evelyn, and their two children and also Mike Anderson's family. Mike was also aboard Columbia. During the concert that evening, Steve had the two women stand and he asked the audience to pray with him for these women while their husbands were in space. It was encouraging to hear Steve say that there were at least three astronauts (including Rick and Mike) aboard the Columbia who were believers in Jesus.

It was a moving concert and a welcome surprise to learn all these things. What a blessing to know that at least three of these astronauts loved Jesus! Steve did not name the third person or mention if there was a family left behind. But two of the families, at least, will be relying on God to carry them through this and will have opportunity to share God's love with families/friends of the other astronauts. Steve mentioned that before President Bush talked to the families, they had formed a circle and were praying.

Steve was even able to share with us pictures of Rick at different stages of his life, his career and family. He and Rick's wife had put this together to be set to one of Steve's songs. They had done it awhile back for some special event. Steve had it with him and shared it with us. He also gave us all a challenge from Rick's life. He said that astronauts lead extremely busy lives, and he (Steve) had been impressed with Rick's commitment to discipling his two children. Steve asked us to think about if our lives were to end tomorrow and there would be no more opportunity for us to disciple our kids. Would we be happy with what we had done, or would we have regrets?

I'm guessing, from the pictures Steve showed, that Rick's son was around 5 years old and his daughter 10. I may be off, but that gives you an idea. They certainly are not close to adulthood. Rick made 34 devotionals, by video, before he left on the Columbia. There were 17 for his daughter and 17 for his son, one for each day he was to be gone. So each day his daughter and son had their own "devotion with Dad" by video. What treasures they will be to his children! Thank you, God, for leading Rick to do that!

Well, I think I've given you every bit of information Steve gave us. It was certainly an encouragement and comfort to hear these things. I wanted to pass it on to bless others and to help you know how to pray for these families in the days ahead. God IS at work in His world! To Him belongs all glory!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to pass this along to others.

Lorie

Click Here For A Memorial To The Shuttle Crew: We Praise Him In Memory








GIVE YOUR LOVED ONE THE GIFT OF HEALTH THIS YEAR

Those people who are not governed by God will be ruled by tyrants. -- William Penn

"Yes, we did produce a near perfect Republic. But will they keep it, or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction." -- Thomas Jefferson






Good Morning Everyone. Today I want to comment on the taxation issue once again and am posting a very interesting article by Neil Boortz written in the World Net Daily. The tax honesty movement is growing by leaps and bounds and will begin to make a difference in this fight against legalized theft. The horror stories that we are hearing about the Infernal Revenue Service and their total lack of concern for following the law are to numerous to put in one little blog site. However, we can point out some of the most famous assaults that are going on everyday in this country.

Here is a good one for you. My daughters received refunds last year from the State of Georgia as a result of the Tax Reduction Act. When they went to file their 1040's this year they discovered that the Infernal Revenue Service is taxing them on that refund.It seems that these scalawags consider this income. Now remember that they have already paid taxes on the income that produced the refund. This thing is getting more ridiculous by the day. The money masters through this un-American beauracracy are controling the income of the American People. My kids are not rich but they are bearing the brunt of this legalized theft of their hard earned income. When will the people get enough of this? When will they realize that there is a way the people can demand this evil be stopped? When will the people get enough courage to just say no to more bloated socialistic governmental spending? I do not have the answer but I think it just might be on the way. Take a look at what Neil has to say and Think About It!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Bortz
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Bonus-check blues

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Posted: February 4, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

It's been a week since the president's State of the Union speech, and my disappointment has yet to abate. Much to the disgust of my radio listeners, I rated the speech a "B" on foreign policy and a "D" on domestic policy for a composite "C" grade.

My chief complaints with President Bush's speech are centered on three areas. First, there was not one mention of one single government spending program that was to be targeted for elimination. Not one. As long as taxpayers are paying college co-eds 75 bucks to insert electronic probes into their bodies and sit back to watch a porno movie, we have programs to be eliminated.

Secondly, Bush was simply not strong enough in his defense of the concept of income tax cuts only for people who actually pay income taxes. Contrary to current liberal dogma, not every American listens to talk radio, the only venue where the "who pays what" statistics are regularly brought forth. My guess is that jaws would have dropped in Joplin if Bush had told the nation that the top 1 percent of taxpayers the Democrats are so fond of slamming actually pay almost 38 percent of all income taxes – though they earn only 17 percent of the income.

My third area of disappointment was the lack of a call for a complete, top-to-bottom overhaul of our system of taxation. It's broken, it's unpopular (at least with those who actually pay taxes) and it simply has to go. America is ill-served with a tax system that punishes achievement and rewards a lack of ambition.

Perhaps the president's failure to call for an overhaul of our tax system is understandable. It's hard to generate interest in tax reform in a country where almost one-half of wage earners don't pay income taxes anyway – and most of those who do pay taxes couldn't tell you how much.

Last week, a friend of mine – a life-long Democrat – called to tell me that he was considering his first vote for a Republican in 2004. He had just earned a $10,000 bonus. He knew the bonus was coming – knew it about a month or so – and had imagined the many things he could do with that money. When the check was delivered to him last week, he was dismayed to see that his total was less than $6,000. Over 40 percent of his bonus had been eaten up in income and payroll taxes.

Why was he so surprised, so shocked? He gets a paycheck every two weeks, and the same exact thing happens to each and every one of those checks. Each and every check is reduced by 40 percent or more by withheld income and payroll taxes. So, why was he caught so off guard by this bonus check?

Do I have the answer? You bet!

It's all about mindset and expectations. My friend has been conditioned throughout his working life to not think in terms of his total salary, but rather in terms of his "take-home" pay. If you approach almost any salaried American on any given April 15 to ask them how much money they make every pay period, if they tell you anything at all, they will tell you what they "take home," not what they actually earn. Ask them what the gross amount of their typical paycheck is and you will see a face normally reserved for brook trout. They don't know. They only know what they "take home." When the check comes, there are no surprises. Every penny of the take-home pay was there, and the rest had been forgotten long before.

Not so with the bonus check. My friend earned a $10,000 bonus and that figure was sticking in his mind through the four-week wait for the money. Realization dawned quickly when he opened the envelope … taxes. Forty percent … gone! The anger welled and it became time to start rethinking his continued support for the tax-and-spend Democrats. Suddenly, the idea of a tax cut sounded rather good!

The culprit here is withholding. The system of withholding income and payroll taxes from employee paychecks has numbed tens of millions of Americans to just what they are actually paying. Perhaps you don't know that withholding was supposed to be a temporary program! It was instituted during World War II as a way to generate a much-needed cash flow for a nation that needed to build the implements of war. The promise to Americans was that withholding would cease after the war, and citizens would go back to calculating and paying their taxes every April.

What happened to this promise of a temporary withholding program? Politicians, that's what. Politicians soon discovered the magic of take-home pay. They found out that under withholding most people stopped thinking about the taxes they paid, and started thinking solely in terms of take-home pay. This was a perfect atmosphere for higher taxes and spending … a politician's nirvana.

At the very least, Americans should have some clear idea of how much they are paying to cover the cost of government. Withholding stands in the way ... and politicians are certainly not anxious to change the system.


Visit World Net Daily For True News Reporting








GIVE YOUR LOVED ONE THE GIFT OF HEALTH THIS YEAR

We Are Closer Now Than We Have Ever Been!

"Signs of the times are everywhere.
There's a brand new excitment filling the air.
Keep your eyes upon the Eastern sky.
Lift up your head your redemption draweth nigh."

This is a great hymn made popular by Doug Oldham back in the early 1970's. Today, we are seeing the signs of the endtimes everywhere. I am amazed at what is happening in this old world but thrilled to know that the Lord told us about all of it in His precious word. The most important issue for anyone today is that they know the Lord and are ready when the rapture takes place. I believe it is so near and everyday as I read the news, it is as if the Holy Spirit softly reminds me of the lateness of the hour.

Today the blog post is a copy of a portion of email sent to me by The Cutting Edge Ministries. I think I will let these articles speak for themselves. Jesus is coming soon and our most important task now is to see that people know the Lord as their personal Savior. As mankind marches toward another possible World War, let us stay close to Jesus and trust only in Him. Are You Ready? If not, simply call upon Jesus and ask forgivness for your sins. Then simply ask Him to come into your heart and save you. I assure you on the authority of His Word that he will.

Revelation 3
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

No matter what happens, let us walk in true faith and love as we look toward that Eastern sky!

God Bless
Elaine

From the Cutting Edge Ministries

. America prepares to take on both Iraq in the Middle East and North Korea on the Korean Peninsula! Of course, this news is exactly what Cutting Edge has been saying for many years, i.e, that the World War III planned to produce Antichrist would be a three-war world war. After American units are fully committed in the Middle East, Korea is supposed to attack using Weapons of Mass Destruction; China is to intervene on behalf of North Korea, threatening us with nuclear annihilation if we intervene to aid South Korea. Mankind is literally to experience "nuclear fear meltdown", believing that, at any instant, we could be nuclear bombed into oblivion. Finally, China is to invade and attack Taiwan once we are overcommitted in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.

Last week, matters seemed to reach a crescendo with both Iraq and North Korea. Even while we declaring Iraq to be "in material breach" of the U.N. accords, we announced that North Korea may have nuclear weapons "within weeks". News reports indicated that our satellites have observed North Korean trucks hauling material from their nuclear processing sites; our intelligence instantly surmised this cargo must be the nuclear rods needed to make nuclear bombs.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Blair boldly confirmed our treatise in NEWS1761, when he stated: "dealing with Iraq, the UN would 'confront' North Korea about its nuclear weapons programme." [Guardian Unlimited, 1/29/03].

On Sunday, our Pacific Commander asked the White House to begin to move troops to South Korea. By treaty, America is committed to send 690,000 troops to defend South Korea should the North attack [NEWS1449]. If we send this number of troops to South Korea, after committing 350,000 men to the Middle East, we will virtually empty out our country of organized units comprised of native-born Americans.

Thus, whom shall we call when our cities explode in riots and panic after the planned terrorist attacks? Why, Henry Kissinger has told us: "Today, if U.N. should land in Los Angeles to restore order, people will be enraged; but the time is coming when they will applaud the arrival of U.N. troops." At this moment, the U.S. will cease to be a nation and become five U.N. military patrol zones [NEWS1291]. Only at this time will the confiscation of guns occur, by foreign troops going door to door.

But, the key is to empty out our country of organized units comprised of native-born troops. Watch the news carefully.

3. "Let My 'Temple Artifacts" Go! The Temple May Be About To Be Rebuilt! Christians the world over who know their prophecy, understand that Antichrist is going to rebuild his Temple -- Matthew 24:15. An Israeli fundamentalist organization called "The Temple Mount Faithful" is leading the fight to get that Temple rebuilt. They believe they are building a Temple for their Jewish Messiah, but we Christians know that Temple will be for Antichrist.

Last week, really exciting news came out of Jerusalem that possibly indicated the closeness of the hour. For the first time in history, the President of Israel, Moshe Katzav, asked the Prime Minister of the Vatican, Cardinal Angelo Sudano, to prepare a list of all the Temple treasures, vessels and Judaica that are being held by the Vatican. The goal is that one day soon Israel would recover them from the Vatican and return them to Jerusalem which would indicate the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the redemption of the people and land of Israel.

If the Vatican relents and gives this ancient treasure to Israel, the appearance of Antichrist will truly be at hand.

4. "Wars and Rumors of Wars, Famines, and Pestilences" -- The director of the Council On Foreign Relations (CFR) recently granted an interview with CNN, in which he gave a brief review of the current troubles sweeping this planet. ["Conflicts rage across the globe", CNN News, February 3, 2003]. When you listen to what this Illuminist director had to say, you can only think of this prophecy contained within the headline.

"Iraq and North Korea have dominated the world's attention in recent months, yet in countries and regions around the globe, strife smolders with sporadic notice. Civil war. Mutilations. Threat of nuclear deployment. Human trafficking. Starving babies. Those are some of the seeds and harvest of conflicts in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America ... depleted water resources ... soil contaminated with fertilizers ... Millions of Zimbabweans face starvation ... officials blame the impending food shortage on drought and the government's controversial seizure of farmland.

"Burundi could evolve into a genocide ... conflict over Kashmir has raised the specter of nuclear conflict."

Truly, Jesus was correct when He gave us these prophecies for which to look to determine when the true End of the Age has arrived and Antichrist is close. Jesus said: "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh." [Matthew 24:32] Since Israel is the "fig tree", we know Jesus is talking of Israel coming back to her land as prophesied; when Israel was reborn in 1948, the "fig tree" was alive and "putting forth leaves".

Now, the second part of Jesus' prophecy should thrill your heart. "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." [Matthew 24:33]

We are apparently here, at this moment, in world history!

5. Terrorism continues to be trumpeted as a major threat, especially after we begin our attack on Iraq. Let us review, from our Daily News Updates:

a. "World Health Organization issues alert on food terrorism." [BBC News, 31 January, 2003].

b. "Al-Qaida developing 'dirty bomb', Jerusalem Post, 2/1/03. For an examination of a "dirty bomb", you can read NEWS1565.

c. "Man charged in London with conspiracy to produce chemical weapons", Jerusalem Post, 1/31/03.

d. "Blair Warns Hussein, Al Qaeda 'Will Come Together in Deadly Form', CNSNEWS.com, 1/31/03.

Terrorism is planned to be the excuse to dissolve our form of government, impose Martial Law, impose vaccinations, and start rounding up dissidents; therefore, these stories of terrorism are exceedingly significant.

6. "Bush approves nuclear response", Washington Post, 1/31/03. President Bush signed the requisite document reversing decades of American policy on the first use of nuclear weapons. Bush authorized the Pentagon to use nuclear weapons should Saddam Hussein hit our forces with any kind of Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical. Christians the world over should see Joel 2:30-31 coming true, perhaps very soon.

Remember the context of this prophecy. This weaponry producing these "columns of smoke" would be used in the Middle East and would occur "before" the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. In other words, this type of warfare -- which certainly sounds like nuclear -- would occur before Antichrist arose, as his confirmation of the covenant -- Daniel 9:27 -- begins the 7-Year Tribulation, otherwise known as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.

7. Will it be peace or war with Iraq? While the news certainly seems like our attack on Iraq is inevitable, we still believe it is possible for peace to suddenly "break out", and all these military forces called back. Saddam might decide to take us up on our offer to give him sanctuary and bolt for his palace in Libya. How, you say, can this happen?

This could happen if the timing of the final act in world history was still not ready according to God's timetable. Certainly, the forces of Antichrist are overly anxious to get on with this World War III so their man, Antichrist, can be staged. In fact, in every era of time, occult forces have been anxious to arise, as we know from Paul's revelation of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; however, God is the One Who will finally determine when the Illuminati can launch their war.

You really have to pity the poor Illuminati; they may control the major political and military offices of the major nations of the world, they may control the military forces totaling over two hundred million men, and they may control all the exotic Weapons of Mass Destruction, but they cannot move their forces to accomplish their plan until their demonic Guiding Spirits give them the final authorization, and the Guiding Spirits are waiting for the final signal from God!

Therefore, if you suddenly hear that Saddam has bolted and there is to be peace in the Middle East, just know that the timing was not of the Lord!

God Bless and remember, Perhaps Today!

Elaine







GIVE YOUR LOVED ONE THE GIFT OF HEALTH THIS YEAR