Good morning,
This is the day the Lord has made. . . Hallelujah! One of the Church fathers said, "We are doubly blessed". He said that we are blessed first when God created us, and second, though we fell in sin He redeemed us. We read in Ephesians 1:3-8, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us." We praise the Lord, for He blessed us through the ministry of the Continentals last Friday evening. Their presentation of DREAMER was anointed and very powerful. We praise the Lord for the way he provided for the meal for them. One of our local Indian chefs fixed a five course Indian meal for them. Many of our church family hosted them overnight, and were blessed.
Saturday was our annual Thanksgiving Banquet at the church. We praise the Lord for the Marthas of the church for their work of faith and labor of love in preparing, serving, and cleaning up the turkey dinner, complete with all of the trimmings. It was an abundant and delicious feast. It was abundance beyond belief. We were able to send the speaker (who came from Elmira) home with a full turkey, and the dinner to go with it, for his family.
Praise the Lord for His abundance of grace, love, and mercy. The story is told of two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, "What has the world done to you, my old friend?" The sad fellow said, "Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars." "That’s a lot of money." "But, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear." "Sounds like you’ve been blessed...." "You don’t understand!" he interrupted. "Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million." Now he was really confused. "Then, why do you look so glum?" "This week... nothing!" That’s the trouble with receiving something on a regular basis. Even if it is a gift, we eventually come to expect it. This is the “entitlement" mind-set many suffer with. We have been blessed to live in a land of plenty and, as a result, we become complacent and many times we are completely unwilling to give thanks to anyone for anything. We have been blessed by God in ways too many to number. Perhaps you aren’t feeling too blessed today. Maybe you cannot see the gifts that God has given you. Maybe the pain of life has overwhelmed you to the point where you can no longer see how blessed you truly are. Like so many people today, maybe you have been so blessed that even those blessings don’t look all that good anymore. As we look around us at the land of plenty in which we live, it is my prayer that we will see through new eyes each day the ways that God has blessed us and never take God or those blessings for granted. This year, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, may we each see God for who he really is. May we also see ourselves as who we really are, people who have been blessed beyond measure and people who NEED to give thanks to the giver of all good gifts.
Let us give thanks with a grateful heart,
Brown
"Just a quick note to ask you to add Linda's Dad, George Cameron, to the prayer list. He was taken to the ER of Fletcher Allen Hospital last night somewhat incoherent and unstable on his feet. His blood pressure was dangerously low. At first they thought it was just one more "tweek" the blood pressure control medicines, but after a few more diagnostics they concluded that he is bleeding somewhere internally. He is now in intensive care, has received at least one transfusion, his blood counts continue to drop and they have yet to locate the source of the bleeding. The family is beginning to gather in case ..."
Your prayers are always appreciated.
Warren
Wed, 19/11/2008 - 9:25am Echo in British Parliament
British Parliament condemns the Kandhamal riot saying the UK would continue to urge India to uphold the right to freedom of religion. “The UK unequivocally condemned recent violence attack against Christian and wide spread displacements in Orissa”.
Britan’s Parliamentary under secretarial state, Ministry of Justice, Lord Bach said responding to a debate.
posted in: Current Issue, Religion, Other Countries
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Wed, 19/11/2008 - 9:23am G20 leaders too stocked Kandhamal says Pawar
The Prime Minister’s report embarrassment on Kandhamal did not end with his meeting to French President Nicholas Sarkozy some months back.Union Agricultural Minister Sharad Pawar today revealed that several leaders, during the recent G20 Summit in Washington, did broach it with Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India.
Critizing those who want to make Kandhamal violence and election issues, Pawar said they once succeeded in Gujarat and have no set an agenda to the entire country. Kandhamal is one of the forest areas in the country and situation will change there only by development.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
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Wed, 19/11/2008 - 9:05am Regressive Politics threat to Constitution, says Chief Justice of India
19 Nov 2008,
NEW DELHI: With mindless violence unleashed by Raj Thackeray’s MNS against north Indians fresh in the mind, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnanon Tuesday condemned regressive politics as the biggest threat to the Constitution of India.
Voicing his concern at the belligerent posture struck by political parties over divisive issues, Mr Balakrishnan told a conference here that the regressive brand of politics was contrary to principles that “our Constitution stands for.”
“There have been several instances of senseless violence in recent times to polarise the nation for the flimsiest of reasons,” he said addressing a conference on National Value Crisis and Redressal.
posted in: Current Issue, , North India
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Wed, 19/11/2008 - 8:49am Orissa- Raped nun disposed before Orissa police in Delhi
The nun who was allegedly raped during communal violence in Kandhamal in Orissa on Tuesday recorded her statement with Orissa police in Delhi. However, she is unlikely to attend the much-awaited test identification parade (TIP) of the accused persons scheduled to be held on Wednesday.''Both the nun and Father Thomas Chelan appeared before the crime branch team in Delhi and recorded their statements in connection with the rape and other incidents this afternoon,'' Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archbishop Raphael Cheenath said.
posted in: Current Issue, Persecution, East India
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Tue, 18/11/2008 - 2:26pm Orissa police to question raped nun in Delhi
17 Nov 2008,
BHUBANESWAR: A crime branch team of the Orissa police is likely to head to New Delhi soon to question the nun who was raped during the communal violence in Kandhamal district in August, officials said on Monday.
"A team of five or six police officers may go to Delhi on Monday or Tuesday to question her," a senior crime branch said.
The crime branch, which is investigating the crime, has already arrested 10 people in this connection, but officials say the probe is not progressing because of the non-cooperation of the nun.
posted in: Current Issue, , East India
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Tue, 18/11/2008 - 9:22am Govt. of Orissa Okays guidelines for riot damages
Compensation to shrine and churches range from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000. Orissa State government has finally prepared a guideline for giving compensation to churches and other shrines damaged during the communal violence in Kandhamal district after the visit of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as per the complaint lodged with the conversion by GCIC.
According to the guideline, which got the finishing touches, shrines would be given compensation ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 2,00,000 depending on the degree of damage.
The district administration has been asked to complete the assistance process by November 25th. For the fully and partly damaged big churches and prayer halls, the assistance amount would be Rs. 2,00,000 and Rs. 1,00,000 respectively.
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