Grande Meadows Men's Night Golf Committee
Food Bank Donation
Grande Meadows Men's Night Golf Committee recently made a donation to the Salvation Army Food Bank in Marystown recently. Committee members Ches Cribb, John Bugden and Edmund Antle presented a cheque to Linda Stockley of the Food Bank at the Salvation Army church in Creston South.
Ms. Stockley was very appreciative of the donation as she says the demands on their services have been very high this year. She told the committee that there are many demands and they just don't include food because things like heat and light are also in demand. The Men's Night committee would like to commend Ms. Stockley and the Salvation Army for the great service they provide to the local area.


THURSDAY (July 9, 2020)
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)
We see the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirt. Jesus, the creator comes to His creation to make all things new. Jesus, God, comes to His creation, in the most ordinary of ways—He takes on the humble form of man and becomes our servant and our brother. Jesus, true God and true man, points to the Father. In fact, Jesus is the way to the Father as St. John tells us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Prayer for Holy Cross Member
Show your grace to Jeff this day, as he goes about the callings you have given to him. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of the Week (from Sunday)
Gracious God, our heavenly Father, Your mercy attends us all our days. Be our strength and support amid the wearisome changes of this world, and at life’s end grant us Your promised rest and the full joys of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.


Gregory Mo-Fr vor 16 Uhr Bestellen & Versand erfolgt noch am Gleichen Tag ~ Creflo Dollar. Take a tour of our Ministry's websites. Connect With Us. Get in touch with one of our International offices below. A Community touching a world. To go where no one goes and to do what no one else will do - that's the mandate from God that our ministry has. In this stunning never seen before documentary, you will see first hand what our missions team does both locally and. Life can be a confusing mystery if we do not know why we were born. God has given all of us a purpose for our lives; He is committed to guiding us to clarity and understanding of that plan Creflo Augustus Dollar (* 28.Januar 1962) ist ein US-amerikanischer Fernsehprediger und Begründer der World Changers Church International.Er erregte globale Aufmerksamkeit, als er seine Gemeinde dazu aufrief, ihm beim Erwerb eines 60 Millionen Dollar Privatjets finanziell unter die Arme zu greifen
Gregory bei CAMPZ - Große Rabatte auf Gregory
ational World Changers Church International based in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Dollar also heads the Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records
Creflo Dollar Ministries 10,698 views 28:31 Atlanta Megachurch Pastor Responds To Churches That Held Sunday Service During COVID-19 Pandemic - Duration: 6:53
Your Life Is THAT Special | #FFWT Day 17 (ft. Special Guest Creflo Dollar) - Duration: 19:42. Gregory Dickow 703 views. 19:42. Sunday Service - How To Use Your Spiritual Authority - Duration: 1:07.
We have a powerful and dynamic line-up of speakers - Creflo Dollar, Taffi Dollar, Gregory Dickow, Earl Johnson, Michael Smith, and Andrew Wommack, with special musical appearances by Karen Clark Sheard and Brian Courtney Wilson. But, it doesn't stop there. We have something for the entire family! CONFERENCE SCHEDULE. GraceLife Youth Conference 2019. GraceLife Youth Conference will be in.
THIS IS THE OFFICIAL YOUTUBE FOR CREFLO DOLLAR MINISTRIES. Understanding Grace | Empowering Change Creflo Dollar is the founder and senior pastor of World Ch..
I'm really excited to share this conversation I had with my friend, Dr. Creflo Dollar. We talk about how to have a healthy soul, elevating your self-worth, and practically applying the grace of.
Como liberar sua fé - Creflo Dollar Dublado Português - Duration: 27:41. Edson Conceição Oficial 34,624 views. 27:41. Myke Murdock 12 Decisões Que Mudarão Sua Vida - Duration: 1:17:25..
Creflo Dollar house Atlanta worth an estimated $3.4 million and is surrounded by a large fence and stone walls. The backyard has a pool and large fountain to accentuate the large field of land. It is set far back down a long driveway which gives the family their much-needed privacy. The home was originally built in 1996 and has since been renovated by the Dollar family. The original home was. Creflo Dollar House and Jet. Dollar owns two Rolls-Royce cars, a private jet, and high-end real estate such as a million-dollar Atlanta home and $2.5 million Manhattan apartment. Creflo Dollar Real Name. Creflo Dollar was born as Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr. Creflo Dollar Books. Walking in the Confidence of God in Troubled Time Interact with Creflo Dollar Ministries anytime, anywhere! Engage with Christians on a deeper level, ignite your walk with the Lord, embolden your faith, and witness! Yes, you can now put all of this at your fingertips with our state-of-the-art, custom-designed app. This app is free gives you unlimited access to each of these prime features: • BROADCAST: Watch and listen from home, work, or.
Home Creflo Dollar Ministries CDM Internationa
Creflo Dollar has been married to his Taffi Dollar. The couple has got five children, including daughters Lauren Dollar, Alexandria Dollar and Jordan Dollar, and sons Jeremy Dollar and Gregory Dollar. He lives with his family in Atlanta Creflo Dollar. Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr. is an American televangelist, pastor, and the founder of the non-denominational World Changers Church International based in Fulton County, Georgia, Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records. Each of th.. This year's speakers, a powerful and dynamic line-up, include Dr. Creflo Dollar, Taffi Dollar, Gregory Dickow, Michael Smith and special musical guests. Make plans now to tune in and take notes from wherever you are! See you online! Date And time. Mon, Jul 6, 2020 - Fri, Jul 10, 2020. 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM EDT. Location. Virtual. Share with your friends. Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram.
Video: Creflo Dollar Ministrie
Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr. (born Michael Smith) is an American Word of Faith teacher, pastor, and the founder of the non-denominational World Changers Church International based in Fulton County, Georgia. Creflo Dollar Ministerial Association (formerly called International Covenant Ministries), Creflo Dollar Ministries, and Arrow Records. Each of these enterprises is overseen by Dollar and. Creflo Dollar was born as Creflo Augustus Dollar Jr. Creflo Dollar Wife. He is married to Taffi Dollar. They have five children. Creflo Dollar Children. Dollar and his wife Taffi have five children and live in Atlanta. Creflo Dollar Cancer. Pastor Creflo Dollar revealed on the Rickey Smile Morning Show that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, but he is now cancer free. One Ministry, One Church, One Message Worldwide. DONATE; Home; Prayer; Testify; eStore; About Us About us. Dr. Creflo Dollar; Ps. Taffi Dollar Creflo Dollar is married to his wife Taffi Dollar and together they have been blessed with 5 kids. Among these 5 kids are daughters: Lauren Dollar, Jordan Dollar and Alexandria Dollar, and sons Gregory Dollar and Jeremy Dollar. Creflo Dollar Net Worth lives in Atlanta with his adorable family. Creflo Dollar has been seen to concentrate in.
Creflo Dollar. Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr. was born in College Park, Georgia on January 28, 1962. Though he was raised in a church-going home, he did not have a conversion experience until the summer following his freshmen year at West Georgia College. Even after this experience he felt no pull toward full-time ministry as his heart was set on.
Creflo Dollar - Wikipedi
Don't miss Taffi Dollar, Gregory Dickow, Andrew Wommack, Michael Smith, Tricia Gunn, and Special Musical Guest, Israel Houghton, July 10th -14th, at the..
Daily Confessions Your tongue is a very powerful instrument. It can either call down blessings from heaven or bring curses (failure) into your life. The Bible says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21). If there are areas in which you would like to see change, your tongue is a powerful tool to help bring about.
Creflo A. Dollar July 4, 2017 · July 10th - 14th, I'll be partnering with Taffi Dollar, Gregory Dickow, Andrew Wommack, Michael Smith, Tricia Gunn, and Special Musical Guest, Israel Houghton for the 2017 Grace Life Conference at World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia
february love gift offer God's grace provides everything we need, but faith takes what grace has made available to us. God's grace is relevant to every aspect of our everyday lives
Creflo Dollar Busted and Exposed. Creflo Dollar is clear proof that if you lie to people by telling them God wants them rich in this fleeting world, you will become rich in this world. Yet hell awaits (2 Peter 2:1-3)
istry and is also a published author, revealed that he had been prone to drugs and even contemplated suicide before he was eventually rescued by his foster father. Creflo and his wife went on to adopt another son named Jeremy Dollar before beco
Monday, June 11, 2012. The Bible preaches using the rod sparingly to subdue and train up an unruly child. But Fayette County police allege that Creflo Dollar, the charismatic founder and leader of World Changers mega-church in Stone Mountain, skipped the rod and, instead, used his bare hands and fists to beat his youngest daughter into submission
Atlanta Mega Pastor Creflo Dollar wants the church goers
Spider Loc on Creflo Dollar's Coronavirus Cash App
Grace Life Conference 2019 - Presented by Creflo Dollar
Creflo Dollar Ministries - YouTub
Grace Life: My Conversation with Creflo Dollar - YouTub
Destino: Prosperidade sem limites - Creflo Dollar Dublado
Creflo Dollar House: His 17,000sf Atlanta Kingdo
Creflo Dollar Bio, Age, Wife, Children, Family, House
Creflo Dollar Ministries - Apps on Google Pla
Creflo Dollar Net Worth 2020: Age, Height, Weight, Wife
Watch Creflo Dollar Ministries (May-20-2020) Wednesday
GraceLife 2020 Conference - Creflo Dollar
Why did Creflo Dollar change his birth name?? Lipstick Alle
Creflo Dollar Biography, Age, Real Name, Wife, Children
Submit Prayer Request CDM Internationa
Creflo Dollar Net Worth 2019 See Latest Updated Net wort
Watch Creflo Dollar Ministries (May-24-2020) Sunday
The False Teachers: Creflo Dollar - Tim Challie
Don't miss Taffi Dollar, Gregory Dickow, - Creflo A
Daily Confessions CDM Internationa
July 10th - 14th, I'll be partnering - Creflo A
Love gift - Creflo Dollar Ministries CDM Internationa
Creflo Dollar Busted and Exposed - Todd Tomasella
Massive Creflo Dollar Net Worth! His Wife, Children, Hous
Pastor Creflo Dollar denies choking, punching his daughter
Grace Life: My Conversation with Creflo Dollar
Special Guest Dr. Creflo Dollar
Your Life Is THAT Special | #FFWT Day 17 (ft. Special Guest Creflo Dollar)
Grace Life Conference 2019: Sit With Me - Part 1
Wednesday Service - Understanding on How to be Content
The Spirit of Mammon | Dr Creflo Dollar
How to Overcome Negative Emotions | Creflo Dollar Ministries


Target One desires to direct all attention to God. The Technology Ministry volunteers use their skills and talents to run our technical equipment and tools to maintain high quality sound and proper lighting for the enhancement of our services.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1)
There are many ways to serve God at Target One behind the scenes. One such opportunity is through the Technology Ministry. There are several roles covered by this team including sound crew, light crew, MediaShout crew, website administration, and IT assistance. If you feel your talents lie in any of these areas and you would like to assist the team, please don’t hesitate to contact us or visit the sound booth after our next service!


What We Believe
We are glad you have expressed an interest in what we believe and why. This page will help answer questions you may have concerning us. Our prayer is that the answers provided here will encourage you to make your home with Christ and with us.
A Church With Vision
As Christís church our purpose is to go and make disciples of Christ (Mt. 28:19), foster their spiritual growth (Mt. 28:20), and equip them to serve the church and community (Eph. 4:11-16), thereby glorifying God. (Mt. 5:16; 1 Peter 4:11)
Worship with Purpose
We have worship services that are amazingly simple yet uplifting, sermons that are relevant to the current issues facing us today, congregational singing that encourages unity and fellowship, a weekly remembrance of our Lordís death through the sharing of the Lordís Supper, the offering of prayers, and the opportunity to give a free-will offering. (1 Cor. 14: 33,40, 31, 15; Eph. 5:18-21; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; 16:1-4; 1 Tim. 2:1-8)
A Bible Based Church
We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and in it we find Godís character, our purpose, and the meaning of life; therefore, we fully submit to its teachings in our worship, ministry, personal lives, and leadership capacity. (2 Tim. 3:16-18) Because of this we look to no centralized organization or creed for direction other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; (Col. 1:9-18) thus, we are free of denominationalism and simply desire to be the kind of church prescribed in the New Testament. (Acts 2:40-47)
Our authority for church leadership is based solely on scripture. We have ordained elders and deacons whose purpose is to lead, tend, and feed the flock of Jesus. (Acts 14:23, 20:28; Titus 1, Phil. 1:1) The work of the leadership is summed up best in Eph. 4:11-16. These verses reveal that as leaders we are to promote, encourage, and lead the congregation to spiritual maturity and in developing their talents. We accomplish this as the early church did without institutional concepts that can take away from personal responsibility, initiative, and parental authority. (Eph. 6:1-4, 4:16; 1 Sam. 8; Acts 9:31) We find in scripture the grand approach of training faithful men to effectively teach and preach the gospel in the worship assembly. We are following this same example of maintaining a plurality of effective teachers. (Acts 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-2)
We understand that the great mission of the church is to save souls and our first and primary goal is to accomplish just that. This is a tremendous mission and everything we do here begins with this Christ given commission. The scriptures also show the important role of evangelists. We support several evangelists, work closely with them, and tutor younger men who desire this great work. (Mt. 28:19-20; Titus 1:5; Eph. 4:11; Ro. 10:14-15; 2 Tim. 4:5; 1 Cor. 9:14; 2 Cor.5:18)
What About Membership?
In Acts 2:38 we find that on the first day of the existence of Godís church, those who believed, repented, and were baptized were saved. We also see in Acts 2:47 that those who were saved were added to the church by the Lord himself, thus, when one became a Christian, he/she automatically became a member of Christís church; therefore, we cannot demand of people anything beyond their simple submission to Jesus. Grace! We believe in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and understand that we contribute nothing to the purchase price of our salvation (John 3:16). Jesus has in fact paid for our sins and this payment is truly a free gift but it is a gift that is conditionally received:
Is this the kind of faith you have?
- One must hear the Gospel (Romans 10:17).
- One must believe (Hebrews 11:6).
- One must confess Jesus as Lord (Matthew 10:32 & Romans 10:9-10).
- One must repent of past sins (Acts 17:30).
- One must be baptized (Acts 2:38).


Born: September 25, 1947
Died: November 25, 2012
DREW - Linda Lou Bright, age 65, died on Sunday November 25, 2012. She was born on September 25, 1947 to the Late: Oather and Rosie (Lewelling) Ferguson Sr; in Greenwood and resided in the Drew area most of her life. She was a hairdresser at Headliner Salon in Drew MS, and Walter B Crook Nursing Home in Ruleville MS. She was a member of the West Drew Baptist Church. She is preceded in death by a sister Joyce Smallwood.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday 11/27/2012 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at the West Drew Baptist Church in Drew. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday 11/27/2012 2:00 PM at West Drew Baptist Church in Drew, MS with the Rev Ricky Milam officiating. Burial will be at the Drew Cemetery. Pallbearers will be Wayne Parks, A.W. Parks, Bobby Blackwell, Tony Champion, Kelly Davidson, Doak Fulgham, A.J. Wilson, and Andrew Wilson.
She is survived by Husband, Larry Bright of Drew, MS, Daughter, Becky (Bart) Alley of Collierville, TN, Son Ron (Lisa) Smith of Stringer, MS, Step-son, Dale (Tammie) Bright of Yazoo City, MS, 3 Granddaughters Alex Brower of Collierville, TN, Jennifer Duffy of Brandon, MS, and Sydney Bright of Greenwood, MS, 1 Grandson, Lane Bankston of Stringer MS. 2 Great Grandsons, James Duffy of Brandon, MS, and Matthew Duffy of Brandon, MS. 2 Sisters, Dolly Sherron of Drew, MS, and Margaret Morgan of Jackson, MS. 3 Brothers, El Hugh Ferguson of Cleveland, MS, Oather Ferguson Jr of Grenada, MS, and Pete Ferguson of Poplarville, MS.


Allyson A. Robinson is on assignment to inspire women of all ages to deconstruct the boxes society has created for their lives and to step brazenly into their God-appointed purpose.
Allyson can speak so passionately and authentically to people about embracing God’s purpose for their lives—even when it demands changing course—because she had to do exactly that. A songstress at heart, Allyson was once known only for her ability to minister with vocals. Her parents, friends, church family— essentially anyone who had ever heard her give new life to lyrics—just knew she was born to perform. Singing became who she was, who she had always been. After enrolling in a graduate-level vocal performance program in 2011, Allyson was on her way to fulfilling what she thought was her destiny, singing on stages and in studios around the world. But then the unthinkable happened.
She lost her voice.
Finally forced to fill her ears with God’s voice and not her own, Allyson left graduate school and was soon led down the path to her true destiny—ministry. Beginning her journey as a youth minister, she discovered the song that God has always intended for her to sing. One that draws youth and women closer to Christ and walking boldly in their God-given identity. One that encourages them to step up and have a say in who they are becoming. One that can lead you to the purpose God has for your life—if you are brave enough to seek Him.
An up-and-coming and undeniably powerful voice in youth ministry, Allyson is unafraid to touch the topics that many traditionally shy away from. As an author, transformational speaker and international teacher, she shares the intimate details of her personal story and struggles—unashamed and unbowed—to encourage others to follow suit.


|The Little Princess||Just David||Understood Betsy||Library Builder Bundle 1|
|The Pilgrim’s Progress||Christiana’s Journey||The Birds’ Christmas Carol||Library Builder Bundle 2|
|A Little Maid of Old Maine|
The books in the new “Whatsoever Things” series have been specially selected and edited to ensure wholesome reading content. Our primary motivation in producing them is to have quality literature for our children and future grandchildren to enjoy. Not just “cut and paste” reprints, these have been carefully read through and altered wherever necessary (in the writing style of the original author) to remove the dross* and allow the solid heart of the story to shine through. Occasional editorial notes at the end of some chapters also point the reader to appropriate Scriptures for properly understanding certain passages in light of a Biblical worldview. It is our desire to add to this series over time, Lord willing, until it becomes a true library builder for the Christian family.
* Dross may include anything from God’s name being used in vain, to sinful behavior being glorified, to allowing worldly philosophies to stand uncontested, etc.
You can find a more detailed explanation of the series here. Scroll over any book cover to see a quote, or read a sample chapter from each of the titles below.
New title available on page 2 !
To be added to our mailing list to know when new titles are released, click here.


Empower me through your Spirit to love you with my whole being today and to love others with your love.” Jesus is offering you an abundant, Spirit-filled life every single day. Take hold of that life by faith: keep him the center, run to him whenever you fall, trust him for everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1.1-4). Become.
Buy New Spirit-Filled Life Bible-NLT (Signature) 2nd ed. by Thomas Nelson, Hayford, Dr Jack W (ISBN: 9781401674991) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
The New Spirit-Filled Life Bible for Women beautifully presents the rich and timeless truths of God's living Word with wisdom from more than 100 of the most respected women in the body of Christ. These beloved authors, speakers, and ministry leaders have come together to help you understand and apply the Scriptures to your life as you discover God's promises and fulfill His holy purpose for.
Formerly titled Full Life Bible Commentary to the New Testament. The Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary is the first one-volume commentary to present a distinctly Spirit-filled perspective on the Bible. If you’re a Pentecostal, charismatic, or empowered evangelical Christian, this is one resource you’ll consult often for authoritative insights into the New Testament.
Discover the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible! Dr. Jack Hayford, founding pastor of The Church on the Way, has led a team of anointed leaders to produce the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. Even after more than twenty years, the Spirit-Filled Life Bible offers a fresh look at the Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit. This Bible addresses important issues of Spirit-filled living in the.
If a person is filled with faith, he will be filled with the Spirit, the Spirit of joy and peace. The most important text in Paul’s writings to show this is Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”.
One of the ideas I applaud the most in this book is Borg's suggestion that the power of the Spirit can create new life for believers. Life in the Spirit not only draws one away from culture but it can actually create an alternative community and culture. Borg describes Jesus as a Spirit-filled figure in the charasmatic stream of Judaism. JESUS.
God made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law. It is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
Open Network is a free library of church resources from Life.Church. There are more than 35,000 free videos, sermon prep resources, kids lessons, graphics packages, music, ministry tips, and more that you can download and use in your ministry.
The translators of the New Living Translation set out to render the message of the original texts of Scripture into clear, contemporary English. As they did so, they kept the concerns of both formal-equivalence and dynamic-equivalence in mind. On the one hand, they translated as simply and literally as possible when that approach yielded an accurate, clear, and natural English text. Many words.
Well, as we have been very deeply entrenched in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the eighth chapter of Romans, it occurred to me that we have been talking an awful lot about the work that the Holy.
This Bible addresses important issues of Spirit-filled living in the context of solid biblical scholarship.Find the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible.New Spirit-Filled Life Bible.Features include.
We must understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to be part of this special revelation of the power of God. The study of the Holy Spirit is one of the major doctrines of the Bible. A doctrine is all the teachings which relate to a particular subject. Paul said: .give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (I Timothy 4:13) It is not through the natural powers of man.
Experience the Holy Spirit. For the NKJV Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Jack Hayford, founding pastor of The Church on the Way and chancellor of The King’s University, assembled a team of respected, Spirit-led scholars to produce this resource of solid biblical truth. Now in a full-color third edition with new contributors, it is even more dynamic. With over 2 million copies sold, the NKJV.
The Spirit-filled life is a life of calm poise and quiet confidence (Isaiah 30:15). (2) To be filled with the Holy Spirit is not to reach a state of sinless perfection or to attain a state where the old nature is eradicated (1 John 1:8,10). (3) The Spirit-filled life is not a life free from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).Download a Free Sample: Product Description: Find the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible. Dr. Jack Hayford, founding pastor of The Church on the Way, has led a team of anointed leaders to produce the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible. This outstanding resource offers a fresh look at the Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit. This Bible addresses important issues of Spirit-filled living in the.Dr. Jack Hayford, founding pastor of The Church on the Way, has led a team of anointed leaders to produce the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, which offers a fresh look at the Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit. This new edition addresses important issues of Spirit-filled living in the context of solid biblical scholarship. More than a one-man, one-denomination, or one-emphasis study.


We offer the ability to donate to non-profit organizations. Make a pledge if you will donate to this memorial's charity.
Find A Memorial
Manuela Villa's Memorial
Submitted By: Maria Quiroz
- Birth Date:
- Apr 26, 1932
- Death Date:
- Jul 07, 2009
- United States
About Manuela Villa
She was my grandmother but raised me, she was my guardian.
Manuela Villa's Legacy
My grandmother was born on April 26, 1932 in La Feria, Texas. Her parents were Manuel Yanez and Rosaura Gomzalez. She married Natividad A. Villa on November 25,1950 in Roswell, New Mexico.
She recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues in January 1981, then was baptized in the name of JesusChrist on February 15,1981 at the age of 48 by Pastor Felix Luna in the Apostolic Church in Cutler, Ca. ( the Hanford church did not have a baptistry yet. )
She proceeded in death by her parents Manuel and Rosaura Yanez, her brothers Guadalupe ( lupe ) Yanez, Santos Yanez and only son Rolando Villa.
She is survived by her husband of 58 yrs, Natividad A. Villa, her sisters Josephina Longoria,Tomasita Longoria, brother Manuel Yanez and daughters Yolanda Villa,Marisela Hernandez and daughter inlaw Syvia Villa. 9 grandchildren,20 or so great grandchildren and 1 great, great granddaughter.
She was a member of the Apostolic Church of Earlimart for the past 11 yrs. Her favorite Bible verse was Galations 2:20,
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Her favorite songs were " Que Grand es Dios " and " En Luchas Y Pruebas."
She will be missed and remembered by her children, grandchildren, friends, and church family.
She went to be with the Lord at the Delano Regional Medical Center in Delano, Ca. on July 7, 2009 at the age of 77 yrs old.
This memorial doesn't have any videos.
- Oct 28, 2009
my name is helen, i saw your profile today and became interested in you, i will also like to know you more, and if you can send an email to my email address, i will give you my pictures here is my email address, (helennhiany003@yahoo. Com) i believe we can move from here! awaiting for your mail to my email address above helen. (remember the distance or age or collour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
please don't forget to email me here on (helennhiany003@yahoo. Com)
- - helen nhiany
Respond to condolence
Write a CondolenceYou must be logged in to write a condolence.
If you do not have an account, Please register now.


Impossible is a word these kids in Thailand were never taught and thank god for that
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left”
(Exodus Chapter 14 verses 21 – 22)
These kids did something similar without the Lord’s help.


Saint Agatha is the patron saint of the city of Catania. Persecuted after rejecting the Roman governor Quintianus-having consecrated her life to the Christian religion-she was martyred on February 5, 251. To the “Santuzza,” venerated as a saint, virgin and martyr, is dedicated one of the most beautiful and impressive religious festivals in the world, celebrated between Feb. 3 and 5, in which faith and folklore are mixed.
The bust of the saint, which contains part of the relics and is carried in procession on the ferculum, was made in the 14th century: made entirely of silver, it is covered with more than 300 jewels and votive offerings made of precious stones, some of which were donated by famous historical figures,the value of which has been declared priceless.
|Dimensions||1,7 × 4 cm|


Tue, 21 Jun 2011 7:40:35 am
I notice under author it says you are a female friar. Since friar means brother, don't you think that choice of titles is a bit silly?
The comment above appeared this morning under a post from April 23. Because it's so far back in the blog, I didn't want the conversation to get lost so I'm putting it up and will also answer here rather than back under the April posting.
Here's the answer:
Yes, the etymology of "friar" is brother (from the Old French and Latin). The term is generally used to refer to a member of one of the mendicant orders (Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite, and Augustinian).
The Augustinians of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have both female and male professed within one community so our custom is to use one term to signify our membership within the order and our bond to each other. So yes, female friar in this case. You can read about this more on our website.
In our daily interactions the precise term that people address us by varies according to whatever the person interacting with us is most comfortable using. So sometimes people will use "Sister" or "Friar" or just my first name---any of those is fine.
The more important issue has less to do with the title used, but with what it means to be a professed religious and the place of outward signs (habit, title, etc) in religious life.
One of the best comments I've seen on this comes from our Prior in a discussion we had with a novice:
"Remember that any outward sign, should point to the inner reality of our life and commitment. The outward signs we should strive to "wear" are open hearts aflame with God's love for all, especially those on the margins and each other in community(chastity), a love for God's WORD and sacraments (poverty), and loving imitation of our sister, Mary, in following God's will no matter how hard (obedience).
Without these inner realities, our habits and medals [and here I would add the word 'titles'] (as important as they can be) become nothing more that drag wear and bling-bling."
The heart of religious life is less about the specific title used (or what we wear), but is ultimately centered on how we live our vocation in relation to God and each other.


Enigma 442a: Hark the herald angels sing
30 March 2018
Posted by on
From New Scientist #1592, 24th December 1987 [link]
“Have a mince pie.”
“Thanks. How did the carol singing go this evening?”
“Very well indeed. There were 353 of us. We started from the village church at 6:00pm and arrived here at the hall some time ago. Have a look at this map here on the wall.
“We divided into groups and between us we covered every one of the 12 roads once. For each road, the group would enter at one end, sing the carols as they walked along the road, and leave at the other end. At each of the five junctions, all the groups due to arrive at that junction would come together and then re-divide before setting off again.”
“Did you sing many carols?”
“On each road, every member of the group would sing one verse as a solo. A verse takes one minute to sing.”
“Did people get cold waiting at the junctions for the other groups to join them?”
“No. That is the marvellous thing. We had divided into groups so that, at each junction, all the groups for that junction arrived at precisely the same time. Similarly, all the groups arrived at the hall at the same time.”
“You were very fortunate — a little miracle.”
“Don’t forget,” said the vicar who had been standing with us, “it is Christmas Eve.”
What time did the singers arrive at the hall and what was the total number of verses that they sang?


Hello!! My name is Stevie, and I am the wife to Aaron and mother to Rylee, Logan, and Charlie. I joined LuLaRoe in November of 2014 and I am so glad I did! What an amazing journey we have been on! I have found my workplace calling with LuLaRoe which has given me the opportunity of building relationships, coaching our team of LuLaRoe BossLadies, and helping woman find their confidence and beauty through something so simple…clothing.
Interesting facts about me… I cry at parades, I mirror emotions, and I am afraid of all birds. ALL OF THEM! I am a lover of treats, baths, brownies, and most of all my family. I thank my Heavenly Father every day on multiple occasions for this beautiful life he has given me. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, but together we find the simple joys in life and I couldn’t feel more blessed.


meet the team
Dr Sean Penny
Who is your role model?
My Role model is my brother. He is wise beyond his years, an amazing father and husband. His character traits exude gentleness and calm.
What books are currently on your bedside table?
I am reading the Prophecies Of Christ by John MacArthur
Name one guilty pleasure?
I eat chocolate because I like it. Sometimes I even make my own
Name one wish?
I hope to live each day as my last, gracious kind and giving.


Le Culte de la rive Noire vous invite à connaître la guilde Âmes de la Lumière Noire.
Âmes de la Lumière Noire est désormais compatible avec l'extension FastNews.kiwi disponible pour votre navigateur. Avec cette extension, vérifiez s'il y a des nouveaux sujets sur ce forum en un clic depuis n'importe quelle page !Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus.
Life is noisy. But what would happen if every day - for the next 40 days - you soaked in God's love as He intimately whispered words of rest just for you? WHISPERS OF REST is a 40-day devotional detox for your soul, a spiritual journey to refresh you and guide you to greater peace, while helping you discover who God truly made you to be: His beloved. Renew your spirit with powerful affirmations of God's love with uplifting words of Scripture, journaling prompts for reflection, and practical challenges to spark joy. Bonnie will lead you to places of rest, where you can deeply experience the Savior's presence in your everyday life.
This beautiful guidebook will create space for your soul to breathe:

Soul Care Tips & Trail Notes - Reduce stress and nurture your body and spirit.

Daily Beloved Challenges - Brighten your day by taking simple soul care actions.

A Simple Prayer Practice - Deepen your intimacy with God through easy-to-enjoy prayer prompts, inspired by classic devotional practices.

A lot can happen in 40 days. A new rhythm. A new heart. A renewed faith.
Transform your life as you take the journey to say yes to God, embrace your true identity, rediscover your dreams, and begin your healing. Dare to enjoy each day fully and celebrate your calling as the beloved.
Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God's Love to Revitalize Your Soul Bonnie Gray Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God's Love to Revitalize Your Soul link online francais access book
Treasure this book, as I have." Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Author of Design Your Day and Entrepreneur, ClaireDiazOrtiz.com "In an culture where we wear busyness like a status symbol, slowing down and resting can feel uncomfortable, like failure.Along with a Scripture passage, that is retold or paraphrasedI'm so glad I got this book!As the title suggests, the book is about restingI like those challenges
It wasn't until my second time through the book, as I worked through it with an accountability group, that I started doing the activitiesMay 22, 2017 Monica rated it it was amazing Shelves: book-read-in-2017 Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God's Love to Revitalize Your Soul by Bonnie Gray is a beautiful devotional book that truly is refreshment for your soul.According to Gray, Whispers of Rest is a "devotional detox for your soul" designed to guide you to feeling more peaceful while you savor the fact that you are God's belovedIt is more than a "how-to" or a "self-care" reading experience; it is the purest form of soul care presented in a contemplative mannerThen Gray includes God's Whispers to You,(words that Jesus would say to you based on Scripture), a prayer for the day, journaling questions to reflect on, an activity challenge to do something to help refresh your spirit and some notes of why that activity would by especially beneficial for you to take time to doIt is a process to be loved and to really identify yourself as beloved
The daily pressures, activities, and social media can leave me depletedEach chapter ushers us into deeper soul rest, with Bonnie sharing her experiences, several scriptural references, God's whispers to her heart (and to our own), and thought-provoking quotes.Each day's devotional also offers a word to guide us, a prayer, soul permission slip, room to prayerfully reflect and journal our story, an intriguing, helpful Beloved Soul Care challenge and Soul Care Trail Notes to offer extra inspiration and encouragement.My biggest faith shot takeaways have been: getting back to keeping a prayer journal again, enjoying times of prayerful listening and stillness in God's presence and savouring each new soul care challengeBonnie Gray has a uniquely beautiful, lyrical, spirit-filled style of writingBe my Beloved.more flag Like see review I found myself being more in the moment throughout my dayTaking this 40 day journey through Whispers Of Rest by Bonnie Gray has the potential to rekindle a flame in your heart, renew and refresh a latent passion, and to "dare, dream, and shine" as Christ whispers His good, pleasing and perfect will into your life! Whispers of Rest by Bonnie Gray will be released on Tuesday, May 23, 2017Shop Now Movies & TV Movies & TV Customer Favorites Bestsellers New Releases Coming Soon Blu-ray Box Sets 4K Ultra HD Categories TV on DVD British Television Classics Documentaries Drama Fitness Kids Related Categories Electronics Music Special Collections Arrow Video Criterion Collection Disney Doctor Who Game of Thrones Harry Potter Outlander Star Wars Star Trek Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Deals All Movies & TV Deals 30% Off B&N Selects Up to 50% Off Sci-Fi Movies & TV Up to 50% Off TV Classics Save on your favorite TV shows for a limited time 5d8a9798ff


We have a Pope!!!!! After only five votes, at the end of the first full day of voting, the Cardinals have elected Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires as the 265th successor of St. Peter. :-D
The cord to my laptop died yesterday, and I've been unable to blog or to follow the updates properly, though Facebook has been a friend, keeping me apprised of the black smoke as friends message me or post to their feeds. Then today, it happened. Someone posted, "We have a Pope!" And had I been drinking something, my Kindle would have been wearing it. Already?!? And, not having TV or a laptop to stream EWTN on, I hurried to her house to watch with her family.
We sat on the edge of our seats, huddled around her computer, waiting for the official announcement and Papal blessing. SO EXCITING!!!! I was unable to understand his given name when the announcement was made, only making out that he had taken the name Francesco, or Francis in English. What a moment, to watch him walk out onto the balcony and speak to the crowds!
Before his blessing, he asked the crowds (and all those watching/listening around the world) to take a moment to pray for him. A man of humility, and of faith--I think I just fell in love a little! You can see the surprise and the trepidition on him as he stands on the balcony looking out over his flock. May he be strong and bold in leading the Church, and may he also be faithful, loving, and merciful. God, give him the grace to be all that Your Church needs.


Sermon for Pentecost 23 at Grace Cathedral
The book of Job that we have been hearing over the last few weeks feels tragically relevant today. Job, a righteous man, is visited with undeserved suffering losing his wealth, his family and his health. He cries out to God, in anger and distress. He cries out as we do when we hear of another mass shooting – this time at a Jewish synagogue as a violent anti-semite brings untold suffering down on innocent heads.
Job has three so-called friends in his affliction who are ironically called comforters. Their form of comfort is to tell Job that his suffering is basically his own fault – that he must have done something sinful and bad that has brought down God’s punishment on him. They, like us very often, want their world to make sense. They don’t want to believe in a universe where suffering is random, where our prosperity and flourishing is not entirely under our own control. They are trying to persuade themselves as much as Job that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished.
But Job is having none of this. He knows he hasn’t done anything wrong – nothing to merit the sudden tragedy that has overwhelmed him. He refuses their simplistic view of the world and instead rails against God. He cries for God, he all but swears at God, he demands God’s attention and explanation. And what does he receive? Silence. Absence. No response, no engagement, no explanation that could make sense of all this grief.
The silence of God in the face of Job’s pain has worried faithful Christians across the centuries. But it speaks to me of something that is very real in my own spiritual journey. There are many times when I pray into silence – when my cries seem to be swallowed up into an eternal silence that gives nothing back. When my certainty of the continuing presence of God is an act of will rather than a felt reality. If the Bible is to speak truly then this experience needs to find a place in its pages.
But God’s silence in the book is not absolute – as we heard last week and today it’s broken at the very end. Then God speaks to Job in both affirmation and admonishment. God affirms Job’s righteousness, he agrees with Job that this tragedy was not caused by Job’s sin, and he tells Job’s friends off for their callous lack of empathy and compassion. And in affirming Job’s continuing righteousness it is clear that Job’s questioning and lamenting were also not sinful. Job’s sin didn’t cause his suffering, and Job’s ranting and railing at God wasn’t sinful either.
There are two big hairy theological points being made here. The first is that prosperity and suffering are not linked to virtue and sin. The person who won the billion dollar lottery this week did not win because they’re good; the congregation of Tree of Life Synagogue who faced loss and grief this week did not do so because they’re bad.
I’m not sure how Christians could ever believe otherwise. It’s clear in our most foundational, truest, formative story: the story of Jesus. You can be completely without sin and still end up nailed to a tree. Our faith and virtue are not given us as armour to protect against suffering, they are given as weapons to fight against suffering. Or a less martial example – they are the same construction tools that Jesus’ wielded in his life – love, compassion, forgiveness – that bend the arc of existence towards righteousness.
We, like Job, long for an answer as to why this is so. Why do bad things happen to good people? The answer that Job gets is to be reminded of how little he comprehends about God and the world. God lets him know quite clearly that she is beyond Job’s grasp and understanding. That there is beauty and grandeur, meaning and pattern, wildness and creativity that is visible to God’s eyes but not to our limited human vision. We get above ourselves if we think we have God figured out. We get above ourselves when we think the whole universe revolves around us and forget its glorious breadth and scope. This is no answer, but it takes a lifetime’s prayer to find a better one.
The second big hairy theological point is that God will not judge us for howling out the pain this causes in her face. Job rants at God, blames God, shouts at God – and God still calls him righteous. It is Job’s comforters who are dismissed by God for their smug self-satisfaction, not Job for his rage and defiance. Do not be afraid of bringing your whole self into your relationship with God. Do not be afraid of shouting at God from the depth of your hurt. God’s love is not such a feeble thing that our anger can bruise it, let alone ever break it.
And I don’t only know this from reading Job. Just as I see the silence of God reflected from time to time in my own spiritual life, so I know from my own experience that our anger does not dent God’s love. I have sworn at God for the pains of my own heart and for the pains I have ministered to in others. This has never broken anything in my spiritual life but done the opposite – opened me up so that God’s healing Spirit can come in. In this year of truth be true and honest with God in your prayer life, not polite and inauthentic!
There is only so far that words can take us in exploring the mystery of the world’s suffering. Our truest and best response to the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue is not to explain its theological implications but to work to ensure such shootings never happen again. To take up our virtue and faith as peace-wielding weapons, as holy tools, against violence and hate. To counter anti-semitism and all forms of racism whether we see it in others or in our selves. To take practical steps to addressing gun culture. To live out of love, compassion, kindness and forgiveness.
God’s final answer to Job was not an explanation but a presence. God came to him. In our Christian faith God doesn’t offer explanation but presence. God came to us in Jesus, God comes to us in her life-giving Spirit. Together we find God’s presence in prayer and music, in bread and wine. Together we can be God’s presence in the world – loving, nurturing, courageous, open. Playing our part in our shared Jewish and Christian calling of tikun olam – healing this hurting world.


For to me to Live is Christ…
When God gave His Son for the redemption and salvation of repentant sinners, He gave all – giving the only begotten Son as the infinite sacrifice. He gave the world not only the author of faith but also the finisher of faith; not only the Alpha, but also the Omega. He gave fallen humanity Christ “who is all and in all” (Act of Apostles: 245).
Christ who is “all and in all” requires the same willing and sacrificial spirit and service from the sons and daughters of God. This calls, first and foremost, for the total surrender of all that we are as evident in King Ahab’s formulation “My Lord, oh King, according to your saying I am yours and all that I have” (1King 20:4). When one submits “I am yours” this means Jesus becomes One’s Lord and King and one becomes His servant. It means ones’ very being or self belongs to Jesus including thoughts, will, desires, affections, relationships, rights, – all belong to Christ.
When we offer self as total living sacrifice, Paul’s perspective becomes a reality namely, the self is “crucified with Christ”, “not I that lives but Christ that lives”, “for to me to live is Christ…”. With us living for Christ and the latter living in us, we can then surrender all that we have to Christ. The all includes my time, wealth, abilities, accomplishments, reputations etc (Pipim 2006: 24).
The total commitment of all we are and all we have to Christ is possible if we emulate the unquestioning faith and obedience of Abraham. When the sacrifice of all was demanded by God, Abraham by faith offered the sacrifice required of him. Over and above, his was a life of prayer. Wherever he pitched a tent, adjacent to it he would set up an alter, calling all in his encampment to the morning and evening sacrifice. Thus he was conferred the great honour of being the friend of God and the inheritor of faith (James 2:23).
Such is the thrust and premise of ASI! Sharing Christ in the Marketplace requires total surrender of all we are and all we have to the supreme lordship of Jesus Christ. Apart from him we can do nothing. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens and constrains us! For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phi 1:21 KJV).
Look up and live!
Professor Themba Sirayi


The following is a list of Lakeville churches (both active and historic) listed in order of organization date and condition of records if known.
- Assawampsett Indian Church and Nemasket Indian Church. 1665. Both churches were organized circa 1665. In the early 1700s, both churches were absorbed into the Titicut Indian Church. According to Harold F. Worthley’s Inventory of Records of the Particular Congregational Churches of Massachusetts, p. 311-312, “no records of [these churches] are known to exist or even to have been kept”.
- Lakeville Congregational Church alias Church of the Middleborough and Taunton Precinct alias The Second Church in Middleborough alias The Precinct Church. 1725. Worthley reports, p. 313-314, “the church records antedating 1842 have disappeared, those for the first pastorate (of Benjamin Ruggles) being reported lost or destroyed in 1794, and those for 1761-1842 having been dropped from sight since 1851. The extant records are owned and held by the church”.
- Beech Woods Church alias Second Separate Congregational Church. 1751. According to Worthley, p. 377, “A church was gathered in the Beech Woods section of Middleboro (now lying in Lakeville) on Oct. 3, 1751. Following the death of the minister (James Mead) in 1756, the church members joined forces with the persons gathering the Beech Woods Baptist Church.” No known records.
- Second Baptist Church of Middleborough. 1753/1757. In 1753, a Baptist Church was organized at the Nelson home at Assawompsett Neck, with preacher Rev. Ebenezer Hinds. After the death of Rev. James Mead from the Beech Woods Church, members of his church became Baptists and united with those who had worshipped in the Nelson home to form a new Baptist church on 16 November 1757 with Rev. Ebenezer Hinds as pastor. In 1841, the church divided, with a majority of members following pastor William Shurtleff and organized the Mullein Hill Baptist Church, and a minority of the members forming the Free Will Baptist Church.
- The Pond Church alias The Old Pond Meeting House alias United Brethren alias the Fourth Baptist Church. 1800. 25 members of the Second Baptist Church of Middleborough met on 30 November 1795 to build a new meetinghouse. The meeting house was built in 1796 between the turnpike and Assawompsett Pond (present-day Sampson’s Cove) and officially organized on 19 August 1800. Public worship discontinued in 1861 and the meeting house burned in 1870.
- Mullein Hill Baptist Church alias Christian Baptist Church. 1842/1952. 111 Highland Rd Lakeville, MA 02347. The Mullein Hill Church was organized 19 February 1842 by 16 members of the Second Baptist Church with pastor William Shurtleff. Land on Highland Road was purchased from Samuel Robbins for $30 to build the meetinghouse. In the early years, the church was only open during pleasant weather from April until Christmas. The church ceased services in 1929, then was reopened in 1932. Morning services ceased in 1937, then began again in 1952 under the ministry of John A. Burgess.
- Grove Chapel alias Union Grove Chapel alias Grove Chapel Congregational Church. 1875. Grove Chapel was built in 1875 on Bedford Street on land given by Sidney and Sarah Tucker of Middleborough for $1. The chapel was dedicated 7 October 1875. Present-day Lakeville Historical Commission building. Bedford St., Lakeville, MA.
- Union Chapel. 1876. Union Chapel was built on Taunton Road in North Lakeville in 1876. Worship ceased in the early 20th century, and in 1935 the North Lakeville Community Club began holding meetings in the Union Chapel.
- Lakeville United Church of Christ. 1957. 1 Precinct Street Lakeville, MA 02347-0804. Records held by the church.
- Saints Martha and Mary Roman Catholic Parish, 1958. 354 Bedford Street, Lakeville, MA 02347. Records held by the church.
- Church of the Nazarene, 1968. 180 Main St. Lakeville, MA 02347-1615. Records held by the church.
- His Land Bethany House, 1992. 17 Loon Pond, Lakeville, MA. Records held by the church.
- The Lakeville Family Worship Center, 2010. 86 Highland Rd., Lakeville MA 02347. Records held by the church.
Harold F. Worthley’s Inventory of Records of the Particular Congregational Churches of Massachusetts, p. 311-314. Available at Archive.org.
Gladys De Maranville Vigers, History of the town of Lakeville, Massachusetts, 1852-1952: One hundredth anniversary of the town of Lakeville (Lakeville, Mass., 1952), p. 192-205. Available online at HathiTrust.


During a prayer gathering for Day School staff Tuesday evening, Rev. Matt Tuggle reminded us that the one thing, the first thing, we can do for others who are in the midst of struggle and grief is to pray. We can help be their voice and speak to God on their behalf when, perhaps, they cannot. There will be other ways to help later when the appropriate time comes. For now, we pray.
Matt also reminded me that when I am at a loss for words, I can find them in Scripture. This week, I asked God to help me be present and mindful, and to be at peace in the understanding that sometimes there are no words; just love. I have been reading and praying the following Scriptures. Will you join me in prayer?
2 Corinthians 4:14-18 (NLV)
"We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."
"I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
"We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son."
In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.


Before becoming a huge business for chocolate manufacturers, food-processing industry, toys manufacturers, cosmetic industry and basically anybody who has a brand out there, Advent Calendar was a way of patiently waiting until the Christmas day.
Originally a German tradition, this special calendar was made of drawings representing scenes from the Gospel and a prompt for a good action. Nowadays we all know what Advent Calendar has become.
Since I was not into the modern version but I still liked the idea of counting the days until Christmas with my daughter, I decided to do my own Advent Calendar. I found 24 ideas of things we can do together, one for each day and I printed them out on small cards along with a picture representing what we will be doing each day.
To craft the calendar I used envelopes, suspended with ribbons on a coat-hanger. The only thing I bought to make our Advent calendar were some star stickers because my daughter is fascinated by stars at the moment.
The “activities” I have selected for each day are are more or less things that we do anyway: listening to music, reading books, baking,.. and I wanted to add some related to the Christmas' values: giving, sharing, being grateful, .. Each card is about the time we spend together in a mindful way.
Another thing about our calendar is that we keep our time flexible. If we have to do what’s on the cards then we do it, if we don’t we just keep the ideas for later. No pressure, no “to-do”, just some ideas about how we could spend out time together
So here is our plan:
Most cards start with "Today we will..."
read all our books about winter
go to a German Christmas Market
Today it’s Saint Barbara. We will sow wheat
Today we will bake “Mannele” (the original, Alsation version of Mr Ginger Bread)
Today it’s Saint Nicolas: we will have a shadow theatre play telling St Nicolas' story
One of the values of Christmas is giving. Today we will donate something to a child
make a gift for a friend and send it out
make winter cards for your grand-parents and send them out
experience with Christmassy and sensorial play dough
listen to Christmas songs
Experience with snow dough
Experience with sparkling snow sand
bake a white cake
Sensorial experience with white fabrics
Arrange white flowers into vases
Winter –inspired Montessori activities
read books about seasons
paint snow flakes
Christmas-inspired Montessori activities
bake Christmas cookies
Montessori-inspired activity with Christmas paper dolls (easy to do in the car as we will be traveling on that day)
go to a French Christmas Market (We will be in France that day and the style of the French Christmas markets is quite different from the German one)
read books about Christmas
celebrate Christmas all together
I think that the most important things that our Advent Calendar brings are firstly, the focus on the time we spend together, mindfully doing activities we enjoy and secondly the opportunity for my daughter to "see" how time goes by.


We believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord and that salvation comes only through faith in Him ( 1 Jn. 2:2). We recognize His life, death, and resurrection as the process whereby God made it possible for us to be redeemed to Him.
We believe the Bible as the inerrant word of God in the original autographs. Prepared for our sake so that we might understand the significance of our sin and our complete inability to address our sinful state except through faith in Christ.( 2 Tim. 3:16, 2Pet. 1: 20-21)
We believe that Christ was born of a virgin, grew to manhood and was crucified. That He rose from death to life and that He will return one day to gather His followers to Him. (Matt. 1: 18-25, Luke 1: 26-28)
We believe that it is the duty of our church to represent Christ in our words and actions and to live out the instruction provided by the Bible, to the best of our abilities, to our families and community.
We believe that marriage can only exist between a natural born man and a natural born woman, and that abortion is a sin, however, as sinners ourselves, we understand that we are to love, and not judge, all who come into our lives as creations of a loving and merciful creator. (Gen 2:24, Matt. 19: 4-5 Jer. 1:5))
We perform communion on a regular basis. We believe that every believer should be baptized after accepting Christ as Savior. ( Acts 1:22 Acts 2:38) We do not believe that either of these practices are necessary elements of salvation.
We ascribe to the 2000 Southern Baptist faith and message


Book of Honor Folio 1 of 2 As art director for The Book of Honor, the donor volume for The Saint John’s Bible, I was responsible for the design, lettering and illuminations. This process took more than five years and was completed in May of 2015 with new donor names being added each year. Some of the illuminations reflect art and stamps from the original seven volumes that were created by Donald Jackson and other artists, other illuminations were my original designs.
Also in this category are ‘dedication’ pages hand lettered for the Heritage Edition, some of which were lettered in the volumes and others were larger framed pieces.
© Images used by permission of Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN. All rights reserved.


Learn about our Team
Congregation leader Steven Halford and his wife Elizabeth Halford
My name is Steven Halford and I am married to the love of my life Elizabeth.
We have three children, three fun loving and extremely noisy children, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I have been in the ministry for 20 years having been saved as a teenager in Orlando, Florida.
We have been residents at the heart of the community in Lee-on-the-Solent since January 2006 where we led a local congregation and helped to plant churches across the south of England.
My heart is clearly seen in my love for evangelism, to see lives dramatically changed by the power of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, for discipleship of the Church and for people to become the best versions of themselves. This evangelistic thrust has taken me to many nations where we have seen so many people transformed in so many ways by the preaching of the Gospel and many churches planted which are still bearing fruit to this day.
We so want to see people equipped to do whatever God has called them to be in life. Ministry is not just a person preaching from a pulpit but life lived out in a relationship with our heavenly Father to the fullest.
Elizabeth is a photographer and helps run the ministry alongside our team. She is definitely an original and God broke the mould when He made her.
Elizabeth also has a gift and passion for the prophetic and flows in the gifts of the Spirit. She is often the voice of the Holy Spirit to me. It would do me well to listen to my wife 🙂
If you’d like to contact me personally my email address is steven@LivingWordChurchNetwork.uk
We hope to hear from you and welcome you with arms wide open to Living Word Church Lee. We will love you, challenge you, give you the necessary tools for life, introduce you to the Jesus found in the pages of the Bible and then send you out to live your life with full assurance of your salvation and peace with God.
May God’s blessings be upon you and your family.
Steven and Elizabeth.


above II. B. 6, no. 43) contain numerous liturgical directives and diverse explanations of the purpose of the cultic order. The fundamental distinctions between pure and impure, on the one hand, and holy and profane, on the other, serve to organise space and time, even to the details of daily life , and consequently social and individual living is regulated. Ritual activity includes multiple purifications to re-integrate the impure into the community. 165 Inside the circle of purity, another limit separates the profane (which is pure) from the holy (which is pure and also reserved to God). The holy (or the sacred) is the domain of God. The liturgy of the “Priestly”(P) source also distinguishes “holy” from “Holy of Holies”. Holy places are accessible to priests and Levites, but not to the people (“laity”). Sacred space is always set apart. 166
Sacred time restricts profane employment (prohibition of work, the sabbath day, sowing and reaping during the sabbatical year). It corresponds to the return of the created order to its original state before it was delivered to mankind. 167
Among the pre-exilic prophets, we notice one prominent feature – repeated condemnation of liturgical sacrifices 173 and even of prayer itself
Space, persons and sacred things must be made holy (consecrated). Consecration removes what is incompatible with God, impurity and sin, which are opposed to the Lord. The cult includes multiple rites of pardon (expiations) to restore holiness, 168 which implies that God is near. 169 The people are consecrated and must be holy (Lv -45). The purpose of the cult is that the people be made holy – through expiation, purification and consecration – and be at the service of God.
The cult is a vast symbolism of grace, an expression of God’s “condescension” (in the patristic sense of beneficent adaptation) towards human beings, since he established it for pardon, purification, sanctification and preparation for direct contact with his presence (kabod, glory).
The collections of the Law (cf
47. Prayer and cult in the Prophets. The book of Jeremiah contributes a lot to the appreciation of prayer. It contains “confessions”, dialogues with God, in which the prophet, both as an individual and as a representative of his people, expresses a deep, interior crisis about election and the realisation of God’s plan. 170 Many prophetic books include psalms and canticles 171 as well as fragments of doxologies. 172
174 The rejection seems radical, but these invectives are not to be interpreted as an abrogation of the cult, or a denial of their divine origin. Their aim is to denounce the contradiction between the conduct of the participants and the holiness of God which they claim to be celebrating.
Prayer and cult in the other Writings. Three poetical books are of immense importance for the spirituality of prayer. First Job: with a sincerity equal to the art, the protagonist expresses all the states of his soul directly to God. 175 Then there is Lamentations, where prayer and complaint are mingled. 176 And, of course, the Psalms, that constitute the very heart of the Old Testament. In fact, the impression given is if the Hebrew Bible has retained so few developments on prayer, it is to concentrate all the beams of light on one particular collection. The Psalter is the one irreplaceable key to reading not only the whole life of the Israelite people, but the whole of the Hebrew Bible itself. Elsewhere, the Writings contain little more than vague general principles 177 and some samples of more or less elaborated hymns and prayers. 178


Many of the discussions on unity vs. uniformity in "The Urantia Book" inspired this painting. One quote that comes to mind is "(1591.6) 141:5.1 One of the most eventful of all the evening conferences at Amathus was the session having to do with the discussion of spiritual unity. James Zebedee had asked, �Master, how shall we learn to see alike and thereby enjoy more harmony among ourselves?� When Jesus heard this question, he was stirred within his spirit, so much so that he replied: �James, James, when did I teach you that you should all see alike? I have come into the world to proclaim spiritual liberty to the end that mortals may be empowered to live individual lives of originality and freedom before God. I do not desire that social harmony and fraternal peace shall be purchased by the sacrifice of free personality and spiritual originality. What I require of you, my apostles, is spirit unity � and that you can experience in the joy of your united dedication to the wholehearted doing of the will of my Father in heaven. You do not have to see alike or feel alike or even think alike in order spiritually to be alike. Spiritual unity is derived from the consciousness that each of you is indwelt, and increasingly dominated, by the spirit gift of the heavenly Father. Your apostolic harmony must grow out of the fact that the spirit hope of each of you is identical in origin, nature, and destiny."
October 29th, 2011
Viewed 6,378 Times - Last Visitor from Cupertino, CA on 02/02/2023 at 3:34 PM


“Faith is not something to grasp; it is a state to grow into.” –Mohandas Gandhi
Organized religion plays a major role in the culture of our Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin region. We enjoy highlighting places of worship, one in the country and one in the city, in each issue.
Lighthouse United Methodist Church • Est. 1836
4938 S. Daysville Road, Oregon, Ill.
This church will mark its 175th anniversary in 2011. In 1836, Dr. John and Elizabeth Roe arrived in what was yet to be organized as Ogle County. Coming from New York, Elizabeth noted in her diary the arduous last leg of their journey, crossing the windblown Illinois prairie in winter along the “Old Indian Trail.
The couple’s house was on a high point that was clearly visible for miles, and this is the origin of the name. Elizabeth kept a light in the window to help her husband find his way home after his rounds, and to guide others migrating west in their “Prairie Schooners.”
The couple attended Methodist services at Chapel Hill in Washington Grove (now Chana). When that church burned in 1838, the Roes held services in their home, and from this sprang what would become the Lighthouse congregation. The Roes donated three acres of land on which to build a church and cemetery, and by 1844, with more than 100 members, work began on a parsonage. The members milled their own wood and fired their own bricks for this and the church, which was completed in 1846, the same year the Roes moved to Chicago.Elizabeth spent her later years in Chana, and the couple’s descendents still live in the area.
A new church with brick veneer replaced the old one in 1876; the first 125-foot-tall steeple blew down, and the shortened, 83-foot version, was twice struck by lightning. Electricity and a furnace were added in 1930; in 1932, the church was destroyed by a furnace fire. The present all-brick building was dedicated in 1933, built at a cost of about $11,000 and with many donations of materials and labor.
Today, Pastor Rich Fassig leads 9 a.m. Sunday worship, with an average attendance of about 75, followed by 10 a.m. Sunday school for kindergarten through 6th grade. ❚
Grace Episcopal Church • Est. 1835
309 Hill St., Galena, Ill. (815) 777-2590, www.gracegalena.org
In 1826, Galena was incorporated as a town, and the congregation of this church held its first service, on the banks of what is now the Galena River. Services were held in members’ homes until it was officially established as a parish in 1835.
For the next year, the congregation met at the courthouse and then, above a downtown storefront, until it was able to take possession of a wooden chapel on Bench Street.
In a little more than 10 years, the burgeoning membership demanded a larger building, and in 1848, the cornerstone for the existing church was set. Built of limestone quarried on site, it was completed in 1849. Its beautiful stained glass windows are made of Belgian glass. The chapel, altar area and sacristy, added in 1893, along with extensive stenciling and historic plaques, give character to the church’s interior. The organ, which is still played, was purchased in 1838, from the Henry Erben Organ Co. in New York and first used in the Bench Street church. The marble baptismal font was also used there. A complete $450,000 restoration was completed in 2001. Its Parish House Gallery hosts art exhibits throughout the year.
One of the church’s hidden gems is its meditation garden, flanked by the building’s stone buttresses and guarded by an arched wrought iron gate. Inside, a water fountain, icons, statues, landscaping and benches offer a place for quiet contemplation.
It is the oldest Episcopal church in continuous use in the Chicago Diocese. Led by The Rev. Linda Packard, interim rector, services are held twice per week, at 10:30 a.m. Sundays and 7:30 a.m. Wednesdays. ❚


Please take a moment to say the March for Life UK prayer.
ALL NIGHT VIGIL
St Dominics Priory (concluding all night vigil)
St Patricks Soho: (official March for Life mass)
8.00 (Latin Mass)
De Vere Connaught Rooms
LIFEFEST DEVOTIONS ROOM:
Prayer Ministry – A team of people will be waiting to pray with you.
Confessions – A team of priests will be hearing confessions from 10.00 – 12.00
Cross of Life – Place your prayer petition on the cross of life.
Praise and Worship – 10.00 – 12.15


Jesus Christ, Movie Star
Ranking six movies about the Son of God.
Ranking six movies about the Son of God.
Max von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told; Robert Powell in Jesus of Nazareth; Jeffrey Hunter in King of Kings (Photos: UA; NBC; MGM)
With Easter just around the corner, now’s an apt time for viewers to come to Jesus.
The list of movies based on the life of Christ is a lengthy one, ranging from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1964 The Gospel According to St. Matthew (considered by many to be the best Biblical flick ever made) to 1973’s delightful Godspell (with Victor Garber as Jesus) to the same year’s The Gospel Road (co-written by, co-produced by, and co-starring Johnny Cash). Below are six more films about the Son of God, ranked from best to worst.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Forget the unwarranted criticism that greeted Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel: This is the most faith-inspiring religious epic ever made, as Scorsese gives us a fictionalized account of the trials and tribulations suffered by Christ (Willem Dafoe) in His final days. Jesus was both fully God and fully man, and this is the rare movie to understand that, as such, He must have possessed such qualities as a thirst for answers and an appreciation for the pleasures and agonies of life itself. Thus, by presenting Him as an immediate figure rather than an untouchable icon, we’re allowed to feel closer to Him than ever before. David Bowie makes for a thoughtful Pontius Pilate, and Peter Gabriel’s score is nothing short of phenomenal. ★★★★
Jesus of Nazareth (1977). For those preferring something more traditional than Temptation, the best bet is Franco Zeffirelli’s six-hour TV miniseries (it was released theatrically overseas, which is how I first caught it). The length allows each chapter of the life of Christ (Robert Powell) to be properly developed, and Zeffirelli shows tremendous reverence without ever adopting a sanctimonious tone. Powell is one of the best Christs yet seen, effectively mixing a divine countenance with recognizably human emotions. Many major stars are smartly cast (Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdalene, Michael York as John the Baptist, Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate), with the most notable turn coming from James Farentino as Simon Peter (appropriately, he was the only actor in the supporting ranks to earn an Emmy Award nomination). ★★★½
King of Kings (1961). Because the makers of this film took a chance by casting heartthrob Jeffrey Hunter as Christ, this was quickly labeled I Was a Teenage Jesus (a play, of course, on the era’s I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein). But the film is far better than that tag would suggest, even if Hunter, for all his sincerity, is a bit too bland in the pivotal role. Treading off the beaten path of most religious epics of its era, this one foregoes many of the traditional scenes (e.g., the money changers in the temple) to focus more on the politics of the Roman court, as well as to offer a running contrast between the efforts of Christ to free Jewish souls and the attempts of Barabbas (Harry Guardino) to liberate the Jewish flesh. Miklos Rozsa’s score is outstanding. ★★★
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Introduced to the original London album at an early age, I can immerse myself in that magnificent soundtrack anytime, anyplace, anywhere … but my enthusiasm doesn’t completely carry over to Norman Jewison’s screen adaptation. Jewison’s minimalist approach (scaffoldings in the middle of the desert) and modern touches (jets flying overhead) neither enhance nor detract, but many of the singers simply don’t compare to their original counterparts, and even Barry Dennen, who does reprise his role as Pontius Pilate, is far less subtle in his film portrayal. Still, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice score and the complex interpretations of Christ and Judas win out over any shortcomings. ★★★
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Director George Stevens certainly knows his way around an awe-inspiring shot, and some well-staged sequences are primarily what this ambitious epic has going for it. But the movie is ultimately crippled by the poor spot-the-star casting. In his first English-language film, Max von Sydow (RIP) is too pious as the Messiah — his lack of animation is better suited to a fresco than a movie — while, on the other end of the spectrum, hammy performances are hand-delivered by Charlton Heston as John the Baptist and Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate. And in a notorious bit of casting, there’s John Wayne as a Roman centurion present at the crucifixion. “Truly, this man was the son of God,” he drawls, evoking his Western persona so strongly that you half-expect Walter Brennan to pop up alongside him as his sidekick, Gimpus Maximus. ★★
The Passion of the Christ (2004). Many of Mel Gibson’s movies have displayed a fetishistic fascination with blood and guts, and this one’s no exception. In relating the saga of Christ from his betrayal by Judas through the crucifixion, Gibson has taken the greatest story ever told and turned it into a snuff film. The pacifist teachings aren’t even allowed to take a back seat to the beatings suffered by Jesus (Jim Caviezel) — instead, they’re locked away in the trunk, with Gibson paying them only fleeting lip service. The emphasis is squarely on employing the best visual effects, makeup designs and slo-mo camerawork that money can buy to lovingly reveal every whip mark slashed across Christ’s back, every thorn driven into His head, every nail hammered into His flesh. It’s Kill Bill for the hypocritical branch of the religious right, an unrelenting orgy of evangelical ire that’s sorely missing any type of meaningful context. ★★
Leave a Reply


In keeping with our mission statement, we only offer grants to Christian, Bible-believing families. We desire to see children placed in homes where they will be taught about the Savior in hopes for a second, and more important, spiritual adoption into God’s family. You can read about our beliefs here.
We are a small organization consisting of 6 board members and we desire to be about more than just money. Often times, we will request either a phone or skype interview in addition to your paper application. Our intentions are to build relationships with one another, to be encouraging and supportive of your family now and after your child(ren) come home.
As we consider adoption grant applications, the following criteria will be applicable:
- The parents must have an approved home study and be matched with a child.
- Sparrow’s preference would be for two-parent families.
- The parents must consist of one man and one woman.
- Both parents must demonstrate an understanding of the Gospel.
- Both parents must express a clear profession of faith in the Gospel.
- Both parents must have a clear commitment to the same local church.
- The church must be a Bible-believing evangelical church. This requires that the church believe that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only means of satisfying the wrath of God. The church CANNOT believe that there is anything else (additional signs, works, etc.) required for salvation. The church also must have an orthodox understanding of the Trinity and of Jesus as both fully-God and fully-man.
- Both parents must demonstrate a basic understanding of sin and its existence in the heart of every child.
- The parents must show a basic level of fiscal responsibility.
- The parents must show a clear fiscal need.
- The child being adopted must be a child (not an embryo).


The Trinity Dome at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. is one of the most visually striking and physically challenging installations of its kind. Located at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. it is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the United States and the second largest church in North America. As one of the 10 largest churches in the world, the Neo-Byzantine basilica features 70 chapels and extravagant domes with detailed mosaics.
As the national and patronal Catholic Church of the United States, the shrine has experienced several Papal visits including Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and most notably, Pope Francis in 2015. During Pope Francis’ first visit to the United States, the pope canonized 18th-century Spanish Franciscan missionary Saint Junípero Serra during a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
The Crowning Jewel of the shrine is the Trinity Dome which depicts the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception, and a procession of saints who have an association with the United States and the National Shrine. Here, MAPEI intervened with products to complete the delicate installation of over 18,300 square feet of Venetian glass tile.
A team of artisans from Rugo Stone completed the mosaic fabrication and installation process using a unique scaffolding system anchored into the Basilica structure. A deck/base with an enclosed compartment was six floors above the central aisle (known as the nave) and featured eight floors of scaffolding rising above the enclosed compartment’s deck to the apex of the dome where the oculus marks 159 feet above the floor of the nave. The enclosed work site also included an air exchanger and ceiling cover to allow for discretion and to avoid interruption of regularly scheduled services.
To begin, the Rugo Stone team removed the old plaster and installed the handmade tile throughout the 20,000 square feet project. The mosaic embellishment consisted of 14 million pieces of specialized Venetian glass, totaling 24 tons of tile across 18,300 square feet of the dome. The work was completed using MAPEI’s ANSI A118.15-compliant Kerabond/KeralasticTM System. An installation of this kind required a tile mortar with high-performance bond. This two-part system provided exceptional bond strength, flexibility, elongation and freeze/thaw durability.
Another unique aspect to this very delicate project was the installation style. To complete the complex design of gold and glass tile, the installers were required to lay on their backs in a style reminiscent of the Renaissance Masters. There are only a handful of contractors in the U.S. that are capable of completing this project; however, Rugo Stone’s team had completed three smaller domes on the property, along with the balance of the Basilica, and were ready for the challenge.
The Trinity Dome project is one of the largest mosaics of its kind in the world. Since the laying of its foundation stone in 1920, the basilica and dome have now been completed in advance of celebrating its 100th anniversary.
For more information on MAPEI Tile and Stone Installation Systems, please contact (800) 361-9309 or visit www.MAPEI.com.


I was born in England in the middle of WWII. I am a retired Spanish and French teacher, and in later years I became a Bible School lecturer. My husband and I celebrate our Golden Anniversary at Christmas 2019. We have three children and three grandchildren.
The most important choice I have made in my life was to ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and be my Saviour. I was born again during my first term at Leeds University, Yorkshire in 1961, after searching for the truth for several years. Jesus has brought me into a beautiful, close, intimate walk with Him and I chat to Him often during the day. The most precious part of my day is when I take Holy Communion each evening; Jesus makes that very special for me. I have learned how much it means to Jesus if we spend as long as we can worshipping Him every day. Those periods are also highlights of my busy day. Jesus speaks so tenderly during those times.
When my husband and I took early retirement, we worked as missionaries in India. We were privileged to see healing miracles, and many lives transformed by the power of God. I have also worked for Jesus in Spain, France and South Africa as well as the UK.
It is very much on my heart to write about the breathtakingly wonderful things I have seen Jesus do, and to encourage others to trust Him for themselves. The Lord has always been there for me throughout the fifty-eight years I have known Him. He has never let me down, and His grace is always sufficient in times of need. I am an Intercessor and consequently am sometimes on High Alert for weeks on end, praying for critical world situations.
I am disabled through severe Osteo Arthritis, and housebound now. I walk indoors with a walker. I spend all day in my recliner chair and, as I’m a night owl, I often continue working until midnight. I am writing an autobiography on my amazing life. That idea was given me by Jesus and we are writing it together. There’s so much to share. Jesus shows His boundless love for me in very many ways. Truly, I am So Greatly Loved.


Please follow my project Waves of the Sea. Here is our first article!
I don’t remember where, but I recall being told once that if you wanted to know God all you had to do was ask for him to reveal himself. It was in his character that he had to answer. He had to respond. I wanted to know if there was a god, was the one I was raised to “know” truly him or did some other religion get it right? I began praying and asking the real god to reveal himself to me, whoever he was.
As time progressed without a reply, I began to get a little angry because He wasn’t answering me. He wasn’t doing what I was asking Him to do and in my frustration I yelled out “God, why can’t you hear me?” Flipping open my Bible a second later, I looked down and read Isaiah 59:1-2
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2
Reading this was like having a direct conversation with the god of the universe. I asked a question and He answered it, right there in black and white. This wasn’t just a coincidence, it continued. God persisted on answering long unanswered prayers, one after another straight from the Bible. It made God a tangible presence and someone I wanted to know.
In college Nadine studied photography with an emphasis on her passion for photographing musicians. After her internship with Turner Broadcasting, she got married, and a few years later welcomed the birth of her daughter. Her dreams became less of a focus. Shortly after, she discovered that her child had a puzzling, recurring illness and Nadine was no longer able to work full-time. Still wanting to find purpose and a way to reach people with the life giving message of Jesus Christ, she became inspired by Psalm 107. From the story of the merchants at sea, Waves of the Sea was created. The story accounts, calling out to the Lord in a time of trouble and how He calmed the storm and led them to their desired haven.
23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
Anything in our lives that causes us distress can be considered “waves of the sea.” Just as the merchants called out to God in this story and He stilled the storm to a whisper, He calms the waves in our lives too. But we must keep our focus on Him.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
This is the purpose of the Waves of the Sea blog, to “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” We promise you will hear unique, inspiring and real life accounts of the goodness of God’s love to those willing to call out to Him.
Psalm: 107:15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
43 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.
This article was written by Lindsay Morgan Synder. Please check out her blog here.
Photography by Nadine Gillespie


Seated behind her daughter on the altar, the Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness nods in agreement as she looks on with pride, her hands folded in her lap over a purple robe.
“We cannot allow our minds to be tapped and tormented by the echoes of Amber Rose and Blac Chyna,” Ali Holness bellows to the church congregation. “We cannot allow our minds to be empowered by Yeezy and Kim K. … We must listen for God’s voice.”
It’s Youth Sunday at Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church, a tiny church tucked between buildings on the busy Upshur Street in the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest D.C. Holness’ daughter, Ali, is in town for the AME Annual Washington Conference, where she will finally be ordained as a pastor, and she stopped by her mother’s church to give a sermon.
The annual conference has served as a family reunion of sorts. Despite the cold, rainy weather in Washington that Sunday, the elder Holness and her relatives have a way of warming the entire church with their infectious spirit.
The mother-daughter pastor team that Holness and her daughter have formed is a rare case, even for a church that accepts women in the ministry. In the AME church, the region’s bishop appoints pastors to a church every year at the annual conference. Holness believes that men are easily favored for bigger and better churches, as well as elevations in the church hierarchy. Out of the 20 districts around the world, only one has a female bishop, according to the AME Council of Bishops.
You have to have a positive spirit to have the storied life Holness has led. Born and raised in Columbia, S.C., Holness was the youngest of 10 children in her family, all of whom, she says, went to college. Holness moved to Washington, D.C., in 1978 to attend Howard University School of Law after graduating from Clark University in Atlanta. She graduated from law school in 1981 and immediately went to work on one of the most notorious cases in American history: the Atlanta child murders.
“I represented Wayne Williams,” Holness says. She reminisces about the man who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murders of two men in 1982 and linked to the serial murders of more than 20 children in the Atlanta area. “I was 24 years old, right out of law school.”“I’m Quite Ecumenical”
As she sits in her office at Christ Our Redeemer, where she’s served as pastor for five years, Holness seems very comfortable. She regularly greets her parishioners with familiarity and hugs them after service as they leave, having genuine conversations with them about their lives. However, she hasn’t always been part of the AME faith.
“I’m quite ecumenical,” says Holness with a laugh, referring to her various stints in different Christian religions. She grew up in the Baptist church — though her father’s side of the family was AME — and chose to be Catholic as an adult before switching over to the AME church.
She began pastoring in the AME church in 2000 – first in her hometown of Columbia, S.C., and then in Washington. Holness switched from being a full-time lawyer to a full-time pastor.
“Both are male-dominated fields,” Holness says with a smirk, “so I really think God has a sense of humor with me.”
Though she was born in South Carolina, Holness has always had more of an affinity for Washington. “I would always take the train to D.C. to be with my Aunt May in the summertime,” Holness recalls. “I kind of grew up in D.C. halfway.”
“The Rainbow Was Always Enough”
Another reason for her move back to D.C. in 2003 was racism in her old hometown. “They are real racist; they kind of ran me out of there,” Holness admits.
After being instrumental in getting her hometown to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol building, she began receiving threats. “They threw [Molotov] cocktails through my church window and threatened to kill me and my daughter,” says Holness of some of the town’s residents.
Though after so many years away from the situation, she is able to take it in stride. “They did not like this colored girl, but I never considered suicide because the rainbow was always enough for me,” she says evoking the title of Ntozake Shange’s acclaimed Broadway play.
It turns out that Holness has always been a political person. When she was younger, she wanted to be a lawyer and politician. She already made her lawyer dreams come true at a young age, and now she serves as a commissioner on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for Ward 1B.
“I’ve been an activist all my life,” Holness says. She got interested in D.C. politics after noticing that kids were being killed and mugged for wearing expensive shoes and jackets to school. She was an early proponent of enforcing uniforms in D.C. public schools. “And what do they wear now?” Holness asks, smiling. “Uniforms.”
According to the international organization Women in Ministry, dedicated to women in the AME church, more than 3,350 women are in the ministry worldwide. Still, those within the church agree that women pastors are the minority.
“A Male-Dominated Place”
“Men are nurtured in ministry,” Ali Holness says. “Women comprise the majority of the population, but not even 50 percent of the leadership.” The AME church – like many other denomination’s churches – is a male-dominated place.
“A guy that may not have as much education or as much experience as I have … gets elevated,” adds the elder Holness. “They have a tendency to have their favorites.”
The Rev. Jeffery B. Cooper, the general secretary of the AME Church, agrees with Holness in that women pastors still have a ways to go in gaining more recognition. “Women may still be underrepresented because it’s been male-dominated for so long,” Cooper says, “but the numbers [of women pastors] are better than they used to be.”
Cooper, however, denies that men are more likely to receive special treatment. “There’s been no research or study to show that [men get better assignments],” he asserts. “There are 20 Episcopal districts, and it would be unfair to generalize the church in that manner. Women are gaining appointments on a continuing basis.”
Despite all her achievements in life – including a Doctorate of Ministry from the Howard University School of Divinity – Holness still hasn’t been elevated within the church for five years. She was reappointed to Christ Our Redeemer at the annual conference in April.
Although Holness loves her tiny urban church and its community, she is hopeful for an elevation at some point.
“I’ll just pray on it,” she says with a cheeky grin.


' this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' mat 15: 8
Spirituality is an goods thing, not an outward show. Those who dramatize holiness are hardly ever so. Some people equate holiness with such trivial things as the way one dresses, walks, talks and greets. While it is true that spirituality leads to transformation of life, it is principally an inner phenomenon. It begins no the inside and then radiates to the outside rather than the cosmetic approach we often see being displayed.
To be a godly person, a holy person or a deep spiritual person is not something one advertises by oneself. If you are; people will see it on you because it is glaring. Do you remember that it took a kiss from Judas iscariot to reveal Jesus christ to his captors? That tells you that jesus christ must have been dressing like every other disciple and there was nothing about his attire that gave him out or made him look special.
Church is one good place these days where you see many hypocrites. Everyone pretends to be spiritual and holy. Even, the teachings from many pulpits encourage it. You will be totally disappointed if you have cause to work, live or relate closely with many big names looked upon as highly spiritual or holy.
Spirituality is not cosmetic; it is an inner transformation. It is rooted on the inside, transforming to the outside. It is demonstrated through one's attitude, character and morals. It manifests itself in pure love and selfless service to other people. It is the display of a Godly character.
Do not be puffed up. Those that are godly, holy and anointed hardly flaunt it. Humility is a major characteristics of spirituality. Every godly person is supposed to be humble but to be humble but unfortunately, the opposite is what we see everywhere today in our society and churches.
It is not beyond you. To be godly, holy and anointed is within reach for no one is specially created by God to be more spiritual than others, we all have equal access to him. Ezekiel 34 http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000033653870&pubid=21000000000331353