HEAVEN IS FOR REAL

 "A little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back"
by Todd and Colton Burpo

There are books you read that just fill you with hope and happiness and a sense of anticipation.  “Heaven is For Real”  is such a book.  I almost missed the special blessing of this book because I didn’t think a child could say anything that was deep enough to make me consider it worth the time to read.  I saw the interview on TV with Colton and his father and thought that was enough.  However when my daughter read it and told me I just had to read it… I did, and have read it twice!

Having read serious books about heaven and hell, afterlife and end time prophecies I felt that this book would be too light of reading.  As I began to read and the story unfolded I became aware of the beauty of the simplicity of the Gospel Story all over again.  Colton begins to tell his story of experiencing heaven and everything that goes with that.  As I read I remembered in the gospels when Jesus said,  " I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven". Matt 18:3

God reaches out to us in so many ways to tell us of His love for us, even through a child’s experience. God shows us love to us from creation; the sun, the moon and the stars, the oceans and mountains, the sunrise and sunset, our children, how we are wonderfully made, and how everything is knit together. The daily reminders of his blessings and care are all around us.  Then in His Word; written by the prophets of the Old Testament down through the ages,  the scarlet thread woven throughout the Bible, telling us in advance of His Son Jesus and His mission to save us from our sins, so that we might see and believe. It is truly amazing.

This is not a book on theology nor is meant to be an infallible statement of what is or is to come, it is a recalling of an experience a child had and his impressions of Jesus and Heaven and the angels.  The fact that he learns of things that he did not know before and then told his father, is enough for me.  Enjoy the pure innocence of seeing these heavenly things through a child's eyes.


If you have someone who has gone before you, this book will be a great encouragement, all we have to do is believe ( John 3:16).

 
 
May Your Territory be Expanded and May You Look Heavenward!
 
Barbara

The Christmas Story

Joseph and Mary needing to register with the government to be taxed traveled to Bethlehem the city of David, because Joseph was of that family line.  Having no rooms available to stay in they had to stay with the animals so that when Jesus was born they had to use a manger for his bed.

The story goes on to tell about the shepherds tending their sheep in the fields and having an angelic visitation announcing the birth of our Savior, "Christ the Lord".  Then the most magnificent concert ever heard by man, a multitude of angels praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men".

We all know the story.....or do we?  Is Christmas celebrating Jesus birth; God becoming flesh...or is it about Santa Claus, reindeer, magic, materialism and miracles?    Hmmmmm, miracles?  The greatest miracle of love happened two thousand years ago yet it seems the memory is fading, being replaced.

Yes we do give overwhelmingly to charities and we are probably more kind to each other at this time of year than any other time, but do we contemplate the real meaning of what we celebrate, why we give gifts and look for that Christmas miracle?

I am guilty of being a part of this frenzy we work ourselves into every year. Decorating, spending, partying, spending, glitter, lights, wrapping, spending, baking, sentimental Christmas movies, family, friends and expectations. Materialism to the extent of exhaustion. Then the disappointments; the gift wasn't right, the party wasn't fun enough, the decorations weren't glittery enough, can't eat enough, drink enough, party enough, whew!  Then it is all over, it gets quiet, do we listen, do we have eyes to see or ears to hear our Savior gently nudging us and saying "In Me there is rest"?

Even in this economic time of crisis we still have not learned the value of slowing down, praying, praising and really grasping what happened the day Jesus was born.  More than just a baby born, all of eternity was to be forever changed for mankind.  God becoming flesh in the most humble way to communicate with us and feel our pain, struggles and temptations.  All he wants is our fellowship. What do we give in return; denial, distortion of truth, fairy tales and distractions.  Jesus wants to love, protect, comfort and guide us and all He wants in return is trust. Jesus gave all to tear the veil that separated us from God the Father, so that we might commune with our Creator.

This Christmas season, dust off your Bible, read Luke 2 or Matthew 2 & 3 and if you want to read the foretelling of Jesus life and purpose in the old testatement read Isaiah 53. Make the time to be quiet and listen to God speak to your heart. Let His love shine through your acts of kindness and giving. Remember we are celebrating the greatest miracle ever!

God Became Man, The second Adam to correct what the first Adam had destroyed - Communion with God!


May you find the peace that passes all understanding this Christmas Season and let your territory be expanded with others by sharing His peace.

Barbara

Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

I began reading this book as we traveled to Washington DC. It reads like a novel and puts you in the time of the civil war.  As we visited the various sites such as the White House, Ford's Theater, the Peterson House, where Lincoln died, it became a surreal feeling as we walked the streets of history.  Here we are a couple from a small grass roots community of Victorville, California reliving a devastating time in our country's history.  This book creates an understanding of the greatness of what our forefathers created in the Constitution.  We are all created equal with inalienable rights. We can rise to a higher consciousness in a time of turmoil and political unrest. To read about Lincoln as the divisive factions in our country grow, gives me hope that we can overcome this phase of growing up as a nation. We should all reflect on a great leader who saw our nation through to victory, and then his end came.  He was compared to Moses leading the nation to the promise land but not able to enter in.

Our country needs a man like Lincoln to come to the forefront and unite us again, one who believes we are a great nation and will rise to that greatness once again. We need someone to encourage the greater good in all of us instead of spurring discontent and unrest.

I find myself longing for a President that would:

• Inspire instead of condemn
• Create an environment of self sufficiency instead of dependence
• Encourage new opportunities for business instead of regulating us out of the marketplace
• Be a leader instead of a dictator
• Have a moral compass for the greater good of all

Lincoln was a president that sought wisdom from God and longed to bring the states together in unity.  We are at a crossroad now and we must choose our leaders wisely, based on values and integrity not based on how well they can speak or read a teleprompter, or how they appear on TV.

From the final days of the civil war, moment by moment on the day of the assasination to the hunting down of the assassins and the trials that followed makes "Killing Lincoln" a great read. The epilogue is also instructive as it has the articles that were written in Harper's Weekly that really give you a sense of the attitudes of the day.

Take the time to read this book and look back in history to a time when our nation was ready to crumble and learn what real leadership looks like.

May Your Territory be Expanded and may you take your citizenship seriously,
Barbara

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Little Princes

Little Princes
One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
by
Conor Grennan

I have read many different types of books, political, self help, business, historical novels, 2012 end of the world books and many more. This book was a breath of fresh air for me, full of love and discoveries, wonder and struggles. 

  In November of 2004  Conor takes a year off to travel the world after saving up for a long time. He starts the trip volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal for two months. This was during the decade long civil war when the Maoist rebels took up arms against the king. Child traffickers would take children, especially boys, from their families in remote villages. They promised to protect the boys from the rebels who wanted to teach them to take up arms. They also promised to give them an education, for all of this the parents needed to pay a great sum of money . Then these traffickers would abandon the children in Katsmandu leaving them to defend for themselves with nothing but the clothes they were wearing..

 This story of Conor and his transformation from a person who is just "doing his duty" so he can get on with his vacation,  then becomes captivated with the children and their lives is an inspiration. These boys in spite of their place in life are so playful and happy and make the best of their situation. He spends his time at the orphanage getting to know the boys and their stories and then it is time to continue on his vacation. The whole time traveling he's thinking of the children he grew to love. Before  returning to the U.S. Conor returns to see them again and then has to leave to go back home.

Upon returning to the states, trying to get back into the social groove and sharing his story, he realizes he wants to go back to Nepal to try and find the families of the children and reunite them. Then he begins working on the logistics of creating a non profit to help fund his vision and overcoming the obstacles it entails. Eventually he gets enough funds together to return and start the process, first thing is to find a home for the children and working with his good friend Farid from France they accomplish just that . 

Now the fun really begins as he starts the process of finding the families. He walks for days through the foothills of the Himalayas with the team he has put together to the remote villages of southern Humla. As he finds each family you feel the emotion of talking with the them as they realize that their sons they have not seen in years were not lost, and the joy of making this possible.

During this time Conor falls in love with a girl from the states, as they get to know each other through the Internet she changes his life even more. There is transformation all throughout the book,  growing up and realizing that everything doesn't revolve around just us, we are put on this earth to help others.

There is so much joy in reading this book as you feel the gift of love Conor gives to these lost children by reuniting them with their families and how he finds love in return.

My favorite quote in the book: "The children had become little spinning tops that splattered joy on everyone they bumped into" Conor.

To further enjoy this story review his web site of the non-profit "Next Generation Nepal", www.nextgenerationnepal.org, and see the pictures of the children and where they are from and the families that were found.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress James 1:27a

May your territory be expanded in reaching out to others!

Barbara

You Were Born for This

YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS



7  Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles

by

Bruce Wilkinson

Have you ever felt that you missed a moment to extend a hand of support to someone that you have come in contact with? Maybe you did respond and then wondered why this can't be a part of your life experiences more often. Would you like to be a part of God's plan to extend miracles on a regular basis to those you come in contact with?

To write about this book has been a struggle for me because the lessons from it became real in a very tragic way. "You Were Born for This" is a great handbook to walk you through the process of every day miracles. Not only will the other person receive something special from God but your faith will be increased day by day as you experience the  "God moments" he wants you to be a part of.

Through the years my husband Ross and I have  been on a mission to help people.We have been blessed with new friends and the privilege of ministering to those we come in contact with.  However there have been times when we responded to someone in need and then failed to let them know why we do what we do. This last year in mid December, Ross and I were at out LA office and we were dealing with some heavy decisions to be made that was consuming out thoughts. That evening we stayed in Pasadena and went to have a nice dinner, getting there very early we were seated at a booth that overlooked the rest of the tables.Shortly after we were seated  a group of about eight women sat across from us. Ross noticed that there was a real sadness over all of them, being sensitive to this he asked our server to give us their bill.  One of the women came to our table to thank us and told us she was a celebrity, we had no clue who she was. She was overwhelmed by what Ross did for all of them so she asked us to come to one of her performances and proceded to write her name and personal phone numbers with the theatre and date she was performing. She came back to us several times to make sure that we would come and even took my business card so she could leave tickets for the best seats in the house. Being so touched by her and her friends and family, we assured her we would try and make it to the performance which was several months later.They all asked why we did what we did and Ross said that we just wanted to have a Hallmark moment with them, still feeling the weight of our pain.

After all the Christmas celebrations I sat down to have some facebook time and noticed that there were a lot of postings of her performances and I was somewhat confused till I discovered she died of unknown causes at the age of 54. Needless to say we were saddened and shocked  by the news. I'm writing all of this because what Ross and I do on a regular basis is because of what God has done in our lives, realizing we didn't get a chance to tell her that night that the Lord gives us the incentive to do these things left us feeling like we failed her and God. We really thought we would have a chance to minister to her and many others because of the circumstances. Now she is no longer here. I can only hope that God redeemed the situation, the reaction of everyone at the table that night made us realize that we were there at that restaurant for a reason, what we have come to call a "God Appointment". 

This was a lesson of major proportion. You never know when you reach out to someone how much time they have left on this earth or what they might be experiencing in their lives. It is not appropriate to put off the message that God wants to extend to those hurting in this world. The good news is that Ross and I have experienced many times when we were able to extend God's love and give him the credit and watch the miracles happen in individuals lives.


"You were Born for This" gives us the tools to be sensitive to others and reach out to them even if it is uncomfortable. The book is filled with stories of actual situations when people allowed God to use them for that "God appointment". The everyday miracles will inspire and challenge you to take that step of faith to reach out and touch someone with God's love. The beauty of living this kind of life is that so much comes back to you in blessings.


I challenge you to Take the plunge in to a life of everyday miracles and watch how it will change your attitude of everyday living.

May Your Territory be Expanded and may you reach out and touch someone in God's name,

Barbara

If you Want to Walk on Water You Need to Get Out of the Boat.

by John Ortberg

• 
  
  Walk on water?    
• Is that possible?
• Are you ready for the challenge?

Do you have fears that keep you from stepping out in faith?

What is your greatest fear?

What do you not do because of fear?

 This is the story from Matthew 14:25-32 in which Peter sees Jesus walking on water and steps out of the boat amidst a storm and begins to walk toward Jesus. Unbelievable you say? Yes, to our way of thinking in this world we have created for ourselves, with our comfort zones and our preconceived ideas of who we think God is and how He should do things. This is a lesson in belief, trust, fear and failure and what happens to us in our daily lives when we allow these different aspects to become a part of us. We can triumph or sink.

Hope got Peter out of the boat.

Trust held him up.

Fear sank him.

This book takes us through the process of the faith that is required to do great things in this life for the kingdom; how we think, what we feed our minds, those we associate with, the books we read, the programs we watch and the music we listen to. How does all this affect us in our thoughts and daily lives?

How ofter do we shrink back when we should confront; worry when we could pray; cling to things when we could generously share; and stay in the boat when we could walk on water.

What speaks to me about this story is that Peter took a step of faith and got out of the boat into the stormy sea and began to walk on the water; as long as he looked to Jesus and not at the waves and the storm surrounding him he stayed afloat but the minute he took His eyes off of Jesus he sank. There is so much to be learned in this simple story yet the ramifications of what this could mean to you and I on a daily basis is incredible. To be linked to the creator of the universe on His missions is so amazing that He would allow us to be a part of His Work. What better purpose can we have in life and what would be more fulling than this.

I believe

I trust

I act

I focus on Him

I wait for Him to act.

This is what I aspire to do on a daily basis.

But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall walk and not faint they shall run and not be weary. Forty three times in the Old Testament the people are told to wait on the Lord. What God does in us while we wait is as important as what we are waiting for.

If you are looking for an encouraging book to discover the process of taking a chance with God then this is the book for you, it will light your way and give you the tools to understand this story in a new way. If He asks you to get out of the boat to walk on water He will give you the strength as long as you keep your eyes on Him, just remember this is not during a calm time in your life it is during the stormy seas that happen to all of us,  it is a matter of trust.

So as we go about life in these uncertain times it is important to remember that God has a plan for each of us and He wants us to be a part of it but sometimes that requires us to get out of the boat and hold His hand and not look to the storm raging about us as we WALK ON WATER!

May God increase your territory and may you have the faith to walk on water with HIM,

Barbara

The Israel Omen

The Israel Omen

by David Brennan

In August of 2005 my husband and I decided to drive across American going east on Interstate 40 and then down to Florida and back toward home on Interstate 10. While driving east we listened to the news reports about how President George Bush was part of the agreement to force the Jews from the Gaza strip. They were driven away from their homes and land, never to return. We began discussing this situation as respects to our country being so closely involved in this action. Having heard and read of a omen in the old testament that when a country went against the will of God regarding the land of Israel there would be judgement, also if a country was to bless Israel it would be blessed. So we wondered at the possibilities of what could happen here in the states. We had no idea of what we were in for.

After visiting relatives in Virginia for a couple of days we continued our trip toward Florida oblivious to the news. Our daughter called us and asked "Where are you?" when we told her she exclaimed "are you crazy, have you not heard about Hurricane Katrina?". Then we realized that all the telephone and cable repair trucks we passed on the highway, must be driving down to Florida ahead of the hurricane so that they would be there to make immediate repairs. There were maybe a hundred of them, needless to say we then recognized the severity of the situation and got serious about driving across the country, only stopping to eat and sleep. Driving through Florida the preparations the people were taking, boarding up windows and restaurants moving the furniture to higher ground, people in line for gasoline and etc.was apparent.  When we drove through New Orleans, two days before the hurricane hit land, there was no traffic to speak of because no one was leaving, it seemed as if it was a normal day, the people didn't seem to be preparing for anything, especially a hurricane. There was a sense of dread as we drove through the city and felt this was the last time we would see this area this way again. Arriving in Cave Creek, AZ where we had planned on staying the last part of our trip, the hurricane hit New Orleans, we were glued to the TV not quite able to grasp the tragedy and the forethought of what was  happening. I write this experience because it corresponds to the theme of this book in a very personal way.

If you have any interest and wonder about the great disasters of the last two decades you might find this book revealing. It covers ten specific happenings since 1991 and how each one corresponds to our nation taking part in the process of  forcing Israel to give up land for peace. This land was promised and given to the Jews in the Bible thousands of years ago and to them it is the "promised land".

This might seem far fetched at first, but when you examine the circumstances more closely it could change your mind. After all as our country had a part in forcing the Jewish people out of their homes in the Gaza strip never to return, a storm was brewing and exploded over New Orleans and beyond and took out more homes and lives.Over 1 million people were displaced and many never returned. My husband and I went on a ministry trip almost two years later to New Orleans and we were stunned at the devastation that was still there, it looked like a third world country, miles and miles of destroyed homes, offices and shopping centers. It didn't make a difference if it was the poor areas or the affluent areas, all were destroyed.

This book will really make you think and wonder as you read of just the few disasters David Brennan has documented and how they coincide with the interactions of our government with the Israeli government.

Coincidences? You decide.

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Genesis 12:3

May Your Territory be Expanded and May You Pray for Israel in these uncertain times we live in.
Barbara