Take a Stand on the Abortion Issue ... God Has!

As I was praying this morning in my appointment with the Lord, I was reminded about the recent passing of abortion laws by various states across the country ... so I prayed thus:

Father,

As our nation sees the drawing to a close of an era devoted to the sacrificing of our unborn, each state is faced with taking a stand and drawing up sides in this battle for the fall of Roe vs Wade. New York was the first to set state abortion laws earlier this year; thus allowing for the continued murder of innocent lives when the federal abortion laws are overturned. Now Vermont and Illinois have joined with them in allowing for these murders to continue. In fact Lord, Illinois went so far as to boast that they would gladly choose to be the nation's leader in state-sanctioned abortions. Father, please "forgive them for they know not what they do!"

Lord, I am so glad that I live in a state that values all life and has chosen to stand on Your side of this line that has been drawn in the sand, so to speak. I pray that Tennessee doesn't have to stand alone with You on this matter. I pray that many, if not all, of the rest chose to join us and stand with You in this quest to preserve the lives of our unborn. For the majority of Americans are opposed to abortion, yet our leaders refuse to listen to our voices. Instead, they continue to listen to the lies that the enemy of our souls' whispers in their ears ... not the shouts of their constituents.

Father, I repent for the sin of our government officials in this matter. I pray that they will hear Your voice of truth, and that right soon!

Now, this was my personal prayer on the abortion issue. I hope that you will stand with me, chose to oppose the continued murder of our children, and pray this prayer as your own. 

As you consider your stand, please watch this video of Petra's song, Not Gonna Bow To Yout Idol. Just click this link to view it now.

In Support of Life

Christian Brothers and Sisters, this is a Call to Action … YOUR ACTION!

In my last article I spoke of our need for repentance in light of the many abortions that have taken place legally since the passing of Roe vs. Wade. Today, as I was listening to a Christian talk radio station, I learned that there is a bill set to come before the US Congress to protect the lives of children who have survived their mother’s attempt to end their lives by having an abortion. The presentation of this bill gives the church a new call to action on the abortion front.

Until today I had never heard that there were children who had survived an abortion procedure. But the lady (I will call her Lily) being interviewed on the radio said that she was connected to 250+ others who had survived. “Lily” also told the story of her survival.

Her birth mother had undergone a late-term, Instillation abortion. Per Wikipedia Instillation abortion is now rarely done late-term. “Instillation abortion is performed by injecting a chemical solution consisting of either saline, urea, or prostaglandin through the abdomen and into the amniotic sac. The cervix is dilated prior to the injection, and the chemical solution induces uterine contractions which expel the fetus. Instillation methods can require hospitalization for 12 to 48 hours.” You can read more about it here.

“Lily” said that her mother was injected with a Saline Solution, but that it didn’t expel her as it should have. She lay surrounded by that Saline Solution for five days before doctors had successfully induced her mother’s labor and she was born ALIVE. That she had survived totally shocked the doctors who were in attendance. Her birth mother put her up for adoption and she was raised by a loving and nurturing family. “Lily” did say that she is in contact with her birth mother to this day. They have a good relationship and that she is very supportive of “Lily’s” work with other abortion survivors and telling her story to anyone who will listen.

Annual U.S. Abortion Statistics

Abortion is murder and God calls murder a sin, and so do I … do you? Are you appalled by how many children have been killed by abortion? Here are a few abortion statistics 

·         Based on the latest state-level data, approximately 881,000 abortions took place in the United States in 2017—down from approximately 885,000 abortions in 2016 and 913,000 abortions in 2015.

·         According to the Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 926,240 abortions took place in the United States in 2014—down from 1.06 million in 2011, 1.21 million abortions in 2008, 1.2 million in 2005, 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2011, nearly 53 million legal abortions occurred in the U.S (AGI).

·         In 2014, approximately 19% of U.S. pregnancies (excluding spontaneous miscarriages) ended in abortion.¹

·         According to the United Nations' 2013 report, only nine countries in the world have a higher reported abortion rate than the United States. They are: Bulgaria, Cuba, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine.

You can read this entire article at: U.S. Abortion Statistics

So how are we as Christians to respond to this call to action? We need to contact our Senators and Congressional Representatives with any and every avenue available … snail mail, email, phone calls, etc. We also need to tell everyone we know of this upcoming bill and how they can help get it passed and to pray for those who have had or are considering having an abortion. And to repent for the passing of any and all abortion laws and the lives that have been lost due to their passing.

Below you will find a link that will assist you in finding the contact info for your Senators and Representatives. The passing of this bill is in our hands. Please don’t sit on them … answer this Call to Action. Reach out to others, including your Senators and Representatives, and let them know that you are in favor of the passing of the Born Alive act to protect the lives of children who have survived abortion.

God hates the loss of these innocent children … do you?

Find Your Representatives and Senators

America is Worshiping at the Altar of the Canaanite gods

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 18:9-13, NIV

Sunday morning, January 27, 2019, our pastor, Pastor Eddie Reed, announced that on the 46^th anniversary of the passing of Roe vs. Wade, the state of New York had passed a law updating their abortion laws, and that even giving approval of late-term (24+ weeks) abortions. He went on to say that, if said abortion wasn’t completed before the baby exited the womb it could be completed upon delivery. Pastor also said that when it was announced in their legislature that Governor Cuomo had signed S2796 into law there was a standing ovation in the legislative hall.

Upon hearing this announcement I hear the Lord saying to me, “The worship of Molech and Chemosh is alive and well in the land.” Then the verses I have noted above were running through my mind.

The Canaanites practiced the sacrifice of their children to their gods in order to have abundant crops, fertile animals and prosperous business endeavors. But the Lord abhors these practices. Many times throughout the Old Testament He admonishes the Children of Israel against intermarrying with the Canaanites because He knew that they would adopt their gods and their worship practices.

I know that we don’t actually have “high places” with their altars in our country where we go to make sacrifices to these false gods. But we do allow popular culture and our government officials, instead of God’s Word, to dictate to us what our moral and ethical values are. For this we, as Christians in America, have a lot to repent of with the passing of laws that allow us to murder our children.

We also have much work to do with respect of the healing of families that have participated in these practices. Abortion causes great mental and emotional hardship for these families, and in some cases physical damage – even to the inability of having children in the future. The Church must stand in the gap for these families to aid in their recovery. For recovery IS possible with Jesus as our Source … our Guide.

When ministering to women who have had abortions we find that they know the names of these babies and grieve deeply for their loss. When they come looking for help, we walk with them through the grieving process and lead them down the road to repentance and wholeness of body, soul and spirit … that is their spirit working in unity with the Holy Spirit.

The Church in America must come together in repentance for the passing of this new law and every other law in our land that makes it legal to kill our children. We must stand together in prayer for the healing of those who have been afflicted with the grief of having lost children in this manner. And we must work in unity with the church at large to get these laws off the books and keep others from being passed. For God will hold us accountable for our in actions as well as our actions. As Matthew 24 states:

          ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

          ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

          ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Lord Jesus,

I repent for my inactivity in this matter of abortions in our land and ask for Your forgiveness for my lack of standing in the gap for the affected families. Show me what You would have me to do and where to go to lend a helping hand to those in need in this area.

And I will ever give You all praise and honor.

In Your precious Name,

Amen!

The Time Has Come for Your Sweet, Perfect Rest

In loving memory of my "baby brother", Kenneth Joel Morton Senior, AKA; "Kenn."

Kenn and his granddaughters (left side - Addie, Right side - Avery)
 8/31/2018 - his last good day with them.

Gone before his time, many would say

But God always chooses our perfect passing day

Our time of sorrow upon us, though it may be short it will be unsweet

But your perfect rest is now made complete

Time has now come to lay your burdens down

Time also to pick up your life's golden crown

A crown of recognition that your human sojourn has reached its end

Now resurrection life with Jesus in earnest begins

Eternal rest, perfect and sweet

Eternally to sit joyfully at Jesus' feet

Walking hand in hand with Jesus and Trish on heaven's golden shore

All the while joining others in singing His praises forevermore

Peacefully resting, no longer in pain

neither does fear or doubt linger, only pure joy and peace remain

Growing in relationship with Jesus, the King

Working in His Kingdom at whatever may a smile to Him bring

Brother, I do miss you more than I'd ever thought

For surely you gave me loads of brotherly harassing

But there will come a day we'll all be together again

 Our great God's eternal praises forever to sing!

Finding Joy In Light of Events Soon to Come

“...Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper! You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

Psalms 30:10-12, NKJV”

As many of you know, I traveled east with my oldest brother, Dave, last summer and fall so that I could visit with my mom and youngest brother, Kenn in Tennessee and then attend my grandson’s wedding in Kentucky in late September. I arrived back in Carson City, Nevada October 4^th.

In early November the Lord started telling me that I needed to go back to Tennessee because my little brother was dying of liver cancer. I knew that God was right, I needed to go, but I had no funds to pay the way and my RV van conversion was in need of some major repairs to make it roadworthy once more. So I began praying and preparing for this new chapter of my life. He didn’t give me a “leave by” date, so I planned for a spring departure in early April so that I could be there by my birthday on the 21^st. This would give me time to save some money to have the repairs done on the van and stock it with all the necessities of life for the trip.

Well, April came and went without bringing the funds needed for the trip east, so I continued to wait, pray and prepare. God had supplied the money needed to fix the van in early December, so I kept busy going through my things, deciding what I needed to take and what could be given away and stored for later.

December also lent itself to my seeking help from our local U.S. Senator to get my long-awaited Disability back pay released to me to finance my trip. With the help of Catherine Cortez Masto's office, I received this payment in mid-May … nearly two years after having been awarded my Social Security Disability. So I started making plans in earnest to leave Nevada for Tennessee. I set the date for Sunday afternoon, May 20^th, after church and our fellowship lunch.

I was able to travel through places I had never been and spend time with a friend in Branson, MO, too. I loved the time spent with Tina and the kids. I was blessed with a home cooked meal, shower and a comfortable bed in their home Friday, May 25th. The trip took me a week, I arrived at mom and Kenn’s home on Sunday afternoon, May 27^th.

I have been here helping mom with the house and meeting Kenn’s needs for nearly two months now. I am working on finding my place in the community and the local body of believers. But God is very, VERY good. He gives me songs in the night and eases my mind.

This morning, July 17, 2018, my mother shared with me her prayers for Kenn. She said that she has been praying that if God was going to heal him, to do it soon. But if not, to let him begin his rest and be at peace. Listening to her, I thought of my recent prayers. Mine centered on her. I have been asking the Lord to give my mom peace and comfort.

This afternoon, as I was running some errands in town, I prayed again for my mother. I prayed that the Lord hear and answer her prayers and give her peace and rest.

This evening, as I was doing my daily Bible reading in [Isaiah 51:1-Isaiah 54:3, I couldn’t read these verses without singing the choruses contained therein.

As music is a part of my very being, I couldn’t help myself … I sang what I heard echoed deep in my soul and my heart filled with Great Joy in Jesus my Lord. The songs in this portion of the book of Isaiah [Therefore the Redeemed of the Lord, Put on the Garment of Praise, and Our God Reigns] and one not found in these chapters, but is a theme that runs throughout the Bible [Arise and Sing, you Children of Zion] are still ringing in my ears, especially the last one. Let me share those words with you:

                                    Arise and sing, you Children of Zion

                                    For the Lord has delivered thee.

                                    Arise and sing, you Children of Zion

                                    For the Lord has delivered thee.

                                    Open up your hearts and rejoice before Him

                                    Open up your hearts and rejoice before Him

                                    Open up your hearts and rejoice before Him

                                    For the King is our God!

 

It was in the singing of these scriptures that I felt God impress upon me that it was time. Time to let Him turn my mourning into His precious joy.

After reading the words and letting them flow through my mind, through my soul, way down deep into my very heart of hearts – into the very throne room where Jesus reigns; how could I allow sorrow and mourning back in?

The passage in Psalms that I quoted above states that He, Jesus, turns our mourning into dancing. He has ripped off our “sackcloth” and clothed us in His joy and gladness. But, He can’t do these things if we tie His hands up in our grief. We have to “let Him in.” We have to allow Him to access to our grief, pain, and suffering so that He can share the burden and give us His peace (Ephesians 2:14) and rest (Deuteronomy 5:14, Matthew 11:28-30).

Have you ever thought about the words Matthew used in the passage I referenced above? I have. Let me share a few things I have learned from this setting of scripture:

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30, KJV.

Jesus is calling all those who labor under a heavy load or burden to ‘take up His yoke.’ So what is a yoke and how do you take it up? In agricultural cultures, before mechanized farm equipment was invented, farmers used teams of cattle, horses, or mules to pull their plow and other equipment used to prepare their fields for growing crops. They would place them in pairs, hooked together with a yoke. Jesus is asking us to share OUR load … OUR burden with Him.

When farming was so primitive, and a farmer bought a new ox, etc. to pull his plow, he would yoke an older animal to the new one so that it would learn how to read the farmer’s signals from the older animal’s experience. Thus, Jesus, our Head Shepherd, has requested that we take up our position in His yoke so that we can learn from Him our position in the team and how to ‘hear’ the Father’s signals and commands.

When we walk with Jesus as our teacher and yoke mate, we have opened our hearts to hear from the Father all that He wants us to know. We also allow His joy to lift our burden and lighten our hearts and minds … thus our mourning can now be turned into dancing and He is able to clothe us in His Great Joy. Yoked together with Jesus we can …

            Break forth into joy, oh my soul

            Break forth into joy, oh my soul

            In the presence of the Lord, there is joy forevermore

            Break forth, break forth into joy, oh my soul!

AND

            God has turned my mourning into dancing for me

            God has taken my sackcloth

            God has turned my mourning into dancing for me

            I will ever praise His name.

Yes, as Solomon once said,

“To every thing, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance …” Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, KJV

As David said in Psalm 30:12, NKJV, “To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. “

So when your burden is heavy, take the time to mourn. But remember Jesus is waiting for you to take up His yoke and allow Him to help you to shoulder your load. He will lighten the burden and turn your mourning into dancing, filling your heart with His great Joy in the process!

Wednesday ... To Laguna Pueblo and Beyond

Tuesday night, after fueling the van and generator, I camped in the truck parking lot at the Acoma Pueblo truck stop, hoping to re-visit Laguna Pueblo this morning before actually starting today's adventure. When I reached the turnoff, however, I found that the overlook that Dave and I had stopped at on our last trip through this area was closed for maintenance and repairs. So gathering more pictures and information for another writing project was not possible at this time ... maybe on my return trip.

So I pointed the van towards Tucumcari, New Mexico, and my next fuel stop. The scenery on today's leg of the trip was gorgeous. All of the colorful rock formations and desert low lands would have made beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, my phone was telling me that the memory was full and pictures could not be saved. The memory was full? I had put a 128 GB micro SD card in it just before I left, how could it be full? Sorry, no more pictures this trip.  :-(   I think I will ask KJ, my nephew, how to correct this memory issue.

I didn't get as far as I had planned on today's leg of the trip; the weather wouldn't allow it. The day started out sunny and bright, but by the time I had reached Tucumcari, the clouds had gathered, thick and dark ... almost as dark as just after sunset. Clouds were OK, they kept the van's engine cool, but the atmosphere nearly melancholy.

As I approached Amarillo, TX, I had been through one major downpour and the sky looked as if it were priming for another round. As it was nearly 4:00 pm local time I started looking for a place to spend the night. As I left Amarillo, another deluge began which took nearly all my visibility. Lasting about 20 minutes, it quit just as quickly as it had begun. And I thanked God profusely for the clearing skies.

Just then I came around a huge curve in the road. Off the left shoulder was an eighteen wheeler laying on its side. It looked as if it had been gently picked up and laid there... except for all of the emergency vehicles that were rapidly joining the scene. For the rest of the time I was on the road this day, I prayed for the driver of that truck and any passengers he may have had with him. I also thanked God for my safety since I had been on my journey. Our God is SOOOO good!

About 20 minutes after passing this truck wreck the sky was looking thick and gloomy once more. That's when I saw the sign for a 'picnic area' a mile up the road. It seems that the roadside rest areas that are common in California and Nevada aren't in other states. But throughout Texas and Oklahoma, they have Picnic Areas. These are roadside pull-offs that provided picnic tables and trash cans. No restrooms or drinking fountains.

At this particular picnic area several trucks that had pulled off and were settling in for the night. I parked the van and got out to speak to one of the drivers that was setting up orange cones around his rig.

"Sir, do you think anyone will mind if I park here overnight?" I asked.

"No, Ma'am," He replied. " that is just what we plan to do, too."

Saying thank you to him, I set about preparing to start the generator and settle in for the night.

Having tucked us in for the evening, I will leave you here in the picnic area east of Amarillo, TX until tomorrow.

Good Night!

Tuesday ... turning in circles in Flagstaff, AZ.

The most notable thing about being in Flagstaff, AZ was that my GPS wouldn't let me leave. It kept me running in circles through the town for nearly 30 minutes ... that is until I realized that I needed to remove a location once I had arrived to get it to move on to the next destination.  Live and learn.

I had planned to stop at Laguna Pueblo, but I was very tired, so I stopped just 15 minutes short of the goal and parked among the truckers at Acoma Pueblo.

Today, Wednesday 5/23/18, I am headed to Elk City, OK for tonight's camping. I will be gassing up in Tucumcari, NM as that is the halfway point for today.  I will share a little more this evening or in the morning before I get back on the road.