Praise Jesus Everyday

Tebow to Plummer: I’ll take every opportunity to praise the Lord

Posted by Michael David Smith on November 22, 2011, 12:15 PM EST

 

Getty Images

Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer recently offered a critique of current Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, not because of the way Tebow plays the game but because of the way Tebow expresses his religious beliefs before, during and after every game. Today Tebow responded.
In an interview on ESPN First Take, Tebow was asked about Plummer saying that he doesn’t need to say he loves Jesus Christ all the time. Tebow responded that, in fact, he does feel the need to say he loves Jesus Christ all the time, and he has no intention of stopping.

“If you’re married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife, I love her, the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and have the opportunity? And that’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ,” Tebow said. “It is the most important thing in my life, so every opportunity I have to tell him I love him, or I’m given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I’m going to take that opportunity.”
There’s a distinction, however, between what Plummer criticized Tebow for and what Tebow responded to. Plummer wasn’t objecting to Tebow saying “I love you” to Jesus. Plummer was objecting to Tebow saying “I love Jesus” to the public, and saying it in just about every public appearance he makes. There’s nothing wrong with a man saying “I love you” to his wife every day, and there’s nothing wrong with a man saying “I love you” when he prays every day. What Plummer was saying is that he doesn’t think Tebow should inject his religious beliefs into a football discussion. Just as Plummer would, presumably, think it a little weird if an NFL player mentioned that he loves his wife in every interview.

But that leads to the next thing Tebow said in his interview — that his love for Jesus is greater than a man’s love for his wife, greater than Tebow’s own love for his family and greater than Tebow’s own love for football, and so it doesn’t matter to Tebow what Plummer thinks. Tebow said his relationship to Jesus is more important than anything else.

“I look at it as a relationship I have with him, I want to give him the honor and glory every time I get the opportunity,” Tebow said. “And then after I give him the honor and glory I always try to give my teammates the honor and glory, and that’s how it works. Because Christ comes first in my life, and then my family, and then my teammates. I respect Jake’s opinion, and I really appreciate his compliment of calling me a winner, but I feel like every time I get the opportunity to give the Lord some praise he is due for it because what he did for me, and what he did on the cross for all of us. I really appreciate his opinion and I respect him, but I still will give all the honor and glory to the Lord because he deserves it.”
Tebow added that he thinks being a Christian has helped him as a football player “because it gives me a peace beyond all understanding and it gives me a sense of comfort.”
But Tebow did say he has no hard feelings toward Plummer, who has said he thinks it’s great that the Broncos are winning games with Tebow at the helm.
“Thank you,” Tebow reiterated he would say to Plummer, “for the compliment of calling me a winner.”

Church Thieves Strike 27 Times In Rockingham Co. This Year

Written by

Lauren Melvin

• FILED UNDER
• Local & State

Reidsville, NC -- Who would steal from a church? That's the question sheriff's deputies in Rockingham County have asked 27 times, so far this year.
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Department reported that 24 churches, some more than once, have been hit over the past 11 months. Sheriff Sam Page said thieves are stealing everything from air conditioning units, to electronics, speaker systems, and cash. He said the bottom line is, churches are targets.
"The world is now twisted because people were made to be loved and things were made to be used. Now, it's things are being loved and people are being used," said Pastor James Hodges, of the Burton Memorial Missionary Baptist Church in Reidsville.
Hodges' church was hit twice this year. The first time, thieves broke in, looking for cash. The second time, thieves stole an air conditioning unit worth $5,000.
Hodges said they've forgiven the thieves, but they're also protecting themselves. They've installed security cameras, lights, and signs to warn them that they're going to get caught.
Nevertheless, it still shocks even law enforcement.
"A few years ago, criminals didn't mess around with churches. It was hands off. Now, if a criminal can steal your air conditioning unit, if he can steal your lawn mower from the church, if he can break in and steal change out of the office, they do it," said Page.
Page is telling more than 430 churches in Rockingham County that they too need to beef up security by installing alarm systems, lighting, security cameras and limiting the number of people who have access to the churches.
When it comes to stolen items, pawn shops and recycling centers have to report everything sold to them to law enforcement. In North Carolina, it's a state law.
However, not everything is pawned and not everything has a serial number. So without giving away all their tricks, Page is urging churches to contact the crime prevention officer in the sheriff's department to find out how they can mark and identify their property that could be targeted. He added, unfortunately, nothing seems to be sacred anymore.
"Criminals now realize that churches, like businesses, have things of value and they are targeting them," he said.
The sheriff's department is also asking the public to play watchdog.
"If you see someone around a church at night, and it's after hours, it doesn't look right, call law enforcement right then, city, sheriff's office, whichever, call them," said Page.
Page said so far, detectives have made some arrests, but come December 1, 2011, they are going after church thieves, hard.
Hodges said whether the thieves are arrested or not, there are still consequences for their actions.
"Hopefully, this can be used as someone's own conscience can get to them. They have to live with this the rest of their life. We don't really break the law, the law breaks us," said Hodges.


WFMY News 2

Spec-Ops Command: SEAL raid book 'a lie'

 By KIMBERLY DOZIER - AP Intelligence Writer | AP – 5 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is denouncing a former Navy SEAL's book that claims to describe the "real" version of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

"It's just not true," U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Col. Tim Nye said. "It's not how it happened."

Laden with conspiracy theories and attacks on the Obama White House, Chuck Pfarrer's "SEAL Target Geronimo" claims an alternative version of the raid in which the SEAL team shot bin Laden within 90 seconds of arriving at the Pakistan compound where the al-Qaida mastermind was holed up.

Pfarrer claims the White House issued a fictional and damaging account of the raid that made the SEALs looks inept. He says President Barack Obama's speedy acknowledgement of the raid was a craven political move that rendered much of the intelligence gathered on the raid useless.

Pfarrer's account broke into Amazon's top 20 book sales list last week, and Pfarrer has appeared on Fox News, CNN and in other venues to promote it.
"I have truth on my side," Pfarrer said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I spoke to the guys on the ground and in the secondary bird," he said, referring to the aircraft full of a second SEAL team that was there to rescue the first if it came under attack so far inside Pakistan's borders.
"This is a fabrication," Nye countered, issuing an on-the-record denial on behalf of Navy SEAL Adm. Bill McRaven, who took command of all special operations this summer.

In his previous role, McRaven executed the raid in May as head of the military's elite Joint Special Operations Command. Nye said McRaven was concerned the book would lead Americans to doubt the administration's version of events. He also disputed Pfarrer's portrayal of friction between the CIA and the military special operations forces who carried out the raid.

"We have never come forward and gone after an author and say that is a lie," Nye said. "That tells you how far off the mark we believe this book is."
Nye says Pfarrer had no access to any troops connected to the mission. He said there will be no investigation into whether individual SEALs spoke to Pfarrer because his account is so off-base.
Among his other claims, Pfarrer insists the stealth helicopter that the White House said crashed within moments of launching the raid — and local Pakistanis reported hearing crash — actually crashed later. He says the SEALs were able to launch their raid as they'd planned it all along, landing on top of the building while another team surged from below.
Pfarrer defended the book as a patriotic way to laud the "heroes of the bin Laden mission." He insists the money he earns will barely cover his medical bills for a long and losing battle with colon cancer. His ruddy complexion and expansive girth bely an illness the personable Pfarrer says has now spread to his lungs.
Pfarrer claims he is still part of the fighting SEAL network, even intimating that he was part of the bin Laden raid preparation.
"In the weeks and months leading up to Neptune's Spear (the code name for the bin Laden mission), it was my privilege to help troops and platoons train for submissions and run parallel HVT (high-value target) missions," Pfarrer writes.
"That is categorically incorrect," spokesman Nye said of the passage. "He was not involved in mission planning, execution or close mission analysis."
Two senior military officials with knowledge of the raid seconded that denial. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Pfarrer deflected that criticism, saying he was conducting training for the SEAL Team 6's parent organization, the Naval Special Warfare Command, through his defense security company Acme Ballistics. He refused to describe how closely such training was related to the raid, saying the contracts are classified.
That is Pfarrer's frequent refrain when asked for proof of his controversial claims: that the accounts are from a top secret world only he has access to and that a reader must take his word on faith.
But Pfarrer gets a multitude of facts wrong in describing events that are part of the public record. For instance, Pfarrer states that Obama appointed McRaven as the first Navy SEAL to head JSOC in April of this year. McRaven was actually appointed to that post in early 2008 by President George W. Bush. He states that the Army Special Forces Green Berets were established in 1962, instead of 1952. When U.S. special operations forces rehearsed for the famous Son Tay Raid in Vietnam in 1970, they trained at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, not Offutt in Nebraska.
And a jet bombing run, not a drone strike, killed Iraqi al-Qaida ringleader Abu Musab al Zarqawi in 2006.

A series of special operations leaders have stepped forward to say Pfarrer is at best misinformed and at worst a profiteering self-promoter.

"The reaction is stunning, chagrined, disappointment," said retired SEAL Rear Adm. George Worthington.

"This is exactly the sort of thing the special operations community does not need," added retired Navy SEAL Capt. Rick Woolard, known for commanding some of the most elite units, and a contemporary of Pfarrer's.

Pfarrer has made a two-decade career out of his roughly eight years with the SEALs. After retiring as a lieutenant in the late 1980s he co-wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film "Navy Seals," starring Charlie Sheen. Two books about SEALs followed. His current book traces his own history with the unit, and finishes with two chapters on the raid. It includes romantic descriptions of the SEAL raiders.

"When a room is entered, SEALs go into a state like satori — a wide-awake Zen consciousness," Pfarrer wrote. "All of the SEAL's senses are magnified."

The Attack of Extreme Islam

The Attack of Extreme Islam

 

The escalating changes we have experienced in the United States and around the world have been more numerous, more consequential, and more threatening than any in our lifetime.

The morals of our culture are under attack.

There has always been a stark difference between life as the Scriptures describe it and life in our fallen world, but today the contrast has grown even more stark.

We are now suffering through a barrage of cultural assaults challenging our faith, the freedom to express our faith, and the biblical principles that anchor the foundation of this nation.

We can no longer stand by and allow a slow drift in the wrong direction. America's departure from God's standard has occurred so slowly that many of us do not realize just how far we have drifted.

In the coming days I will expose the NINE MORAL ATTACKS THREATENING TODAY'S CULTURE. I examine each issue in great detail in my new book, I Never Thought I'd See the Day!: Culture at the Crossroads, but I feel so strongly about informing you about these issues, that I want to send you bite-sized alerts so you can prepare, plan, and pray!

And here is the first . . .

Culture Threat #1: The Attack of Extreme Islam

A few weeks ago, the world paused to remember the thousands of innocent lives that were killed on September 11, 2001, at the hands of Islamic extremists. The early morning terrorist attacks that day on New York, Washington D.C., and in the countryside of Pennsylvania served as a wake-up call to the rest of the world that there is nothing peaceful, religious, or godly about Islamic extremism.

Islamic extremism is a threat to our culture and to our religious freedom.

At the center of this jihad is one nation that is holding the security of the world hostage - Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran is praying for the conquest of all non-Islamic nations, positioning itself as a theocratic and militaristic state determined to acquire nuclear capability, and is intent on creating instability in the Middle East. Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and of her allies.

We need to recognize the threat Iran poses, but Christians should not be intimidated by its maniacal leader. We should not live in fear, but we should certainly be wary of the danger this nation is to our world. Simply stated, no nation is safe with this radical faction moving in our midst.

What you can do:

Prepare:

• Educate yourself on the difference between the Muslim faith and extreme Islam.
• Be ready to effectively share Jesus with a person of Muslim faith.
• Read Chapter 8 of I Never Thought I'd See the Day! that examines the threat of Iran's leadership.

Pray:

• Pray for the people of Iran. The nation may have defied God, but within that nation are Christians and potential Christians who are not enemies but brothers and sisters.
• Ask God for a special measure of grace to love your enemies.
• Pray for the spiritual salvation of Iran.
• Pray for Turning Point as we daily broadcast Turning Point into the Middle East reaching the hearts of Muslim people in Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and many more Middle Eastern countries.

Participate:

• Get involved in your community to secure your religious rights.
• Be knowledgeable about any extreme religious sects in your community.
• Listen and watch I Never Thought I'd See the Day! on Turning Point Television and Radio.

I want to help you know what God's Word says about the cultural and spiritual changes impacting America and the Church today and also how to live faithfully in the midst of them.

Order I Never Thought I'd See the Day! now, and discover the extraordinary opportunity to help reverse the destructive trends and call America back to faith in God, back to the solid foundation of His Word.

God bless you,



David Jeremiah

 

Catholic Church is Accused of Selling Porn

Church in the World

Publisher owned by German Church accused of selling pornography

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt and Robert Mickens - 12 November 2011

The German Weltbild publishing group, which is one of Europe’s major booksellers and is entirely owned by the Catholic Church, is facing mounting accusations that it is selling erotic, satanist and pornographic titles.
On Monday the Pope himself appeared to make reference to the furore, when he told the new German ambassador to the Holy See that he would make sure the Catholic Church in Germany was more decisive in fighting prostitution and the spread of pornography.

In his welcoming address to Reinhard Schweppe, Pope Benedict XVI said: “The time has come vigorously to restrict prostitution, as also the dissemination of material which has an erotic or pornographic content, especially via the internet.” In comments that are being seen as referring to the Weltbild affair, the Pope then told Mr Schweppe: “The Holy See will pay due heed to seeing that the necessary commitment on the part of the German Church regarding these defects is undertaken with greater energy and clarity.”

Weltbild is co-owned by 15 German dioceses. With 6,400 employees and an annual turnover of €1.7 billion (£1.46bn), it is the third largest mail-order bookseller in Germany and has a 20 per cent share of the book market. It is the number two in online sales after Amazon and also sells CDs and DVDs.

In mid-October the German book trade journal buchreport revealed in its newsletter that Weltbild’s mail-order business included titles on satanism, books which glorified violence, and pornography. If one put “erotics” in www.weltbild.de’s search engine, 2,500 titles appeared, www.buchreport.de said.

The secretary of the German bishops’ conference, Fr Hans Langendörfer SJ, who is on the executive board of Weltbild, and the executive board’s chairman, Klaus Donaubauer, immediately countered that those responsible had been asked to step up efforts to filter out “unsuitable products”. Weltbild had a particular responsibility to society and regularly checked its products to see if they conformed to “the Christian values of Weltbild’s owners (i.e. the Catholic Church)”, they underlined.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich told the press that if the bishops heard of pornographic titles or titles which glorified violence the matter was immediately investigated and the titles stopped. “There are filter systems that can prevent such literature from being disseminated,” he said.

But as protests from conservative Catholic groups grew, and more dubious titles on www.weltbild.de were found and their names published, the German bishops admitted that a “filtering failure” had allowed dubious titles to stray into Weltbild’s lists. Weltbild’s management has meanwhile threatened to sue certain far-right online networks for slander for publishing headlines such as “Catholic Church earns a fortune with porn”.

The Catholic Church bought Weltbild more than 30 years ago. In 1998 it merged with five other publishing houses. In 2008, at the height of its success, the German bishops considered selling the concern. The Weltbild group’s chairman, Carel Halff, said then that the size of the company had “gone beyond the bishops’ original concept”. At that time Weltbild had 7,400 employees and a turnover of €1.94bn, while one of its subsidiaries, www.buecher.de, listed 4,364 erotic titles. Criticism from conservative Catholics regarding these titles is said to have persuaded the bishops to try to sell. But their efforts came to nothing, apparently, because they were not offered the sum they were hoping for.

n In his address to the new German ambassador on Monday Pope Benedict defended the Vatican’s active lobbying against legalised abortion and embryonic research, saying it was based on upholding universal moral truths and not an attempt to impose Catholic faith on non-believers. “If the Holy See intervenes in the legislative field”, the Pope told Mr Schweppe, “it does so to defend values which are basically there for all to see as truths of human existence.”

The Power of Prayer

Stress Management Tip: The Power of Prayer

[20 Mar 2011 | One Comment | | Author: Dee Braun, DrR, CA, CCT]

 

 

Prayer is a direct way of way of communicating and conversing with God. Prayer is a spiritual exercise that helps strengthen your own spirit as well your connection to God.

The more you pray the more intimate your relationship with God becomes. It involves more than just asking for help. You can discuss the happenings of your day; you can give thanks to him for all his divine blessings; you can ask him to share his blessings with your family and the whole world; you can even use it as a way to listen to God.
The use of prayer can be a great form of stress relief. However it requires that you believe in God and that you have faith that he knows what is best for you and most importantly that he will look after you.
By praying to God for help, especially during stressful periods, during your darkest hours, you can rest assured that God is listening to you and will help. No matter how hopeless your situation may be, have belief that miracles can and do happen. This ultimately gives you hope and the strength to carry on in your time of need.
Incorporate a regular prayer schedule in to your life. It does not take much time or effort to say a small prayer just after you wake up and/or before you go to sleep. It is your opportunity to thank God for his continual blessings and help, to tell him you love him and acknowledge that he loves you. The more you do this, the more blessings you will receive. Over time, you will find that your life will become easier, and hence less stressful. And if times get tough, your strengthened spirit will help you deal with stress better.