Ebola-infected doctor’s extraordinary sacrifice

Jason Sickles, Yahoo News, July 31, 2014 Even from his own sickbed in Africa, American physician Kent Brantly continues putting the well-being of others before his own. Brantly, a medical missionary in West Africa, and fellow American Nancy Writebol both contracted Ebola last weekend. They spent the past several days under quarantine and are struggling to survive. On Wednesday, an experimental serum arrived in Monrovia, Liberia, but there was only enough dosage for one patient. “Dr. Brantly asked that it be given to Nancy Writebol,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian humanitarian organization Brantly is working for. The gesture fits the description of selflessness and sacrifice the 33-year-old’s family back in the U.S. has given. “Kent prepared himself to be a lifetime medical missionary,” his mother, Jan Brantly, told The Associated Press on Monday. “His heart is in Africa.” After the merciful move for Writebol, a local family made its own offering to Brantly. “Dr. Brantly received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old boy who had survived Ebola because of Dr. Brantly’s care,” Graham said in a written statement. “The young boy and his family wanted to be able to help the doctor that saved his life.” The organization said Brantly, a married father of two young children, took a “slight turn for the worse overnight.” Samaritan’s Purse says Brantly and Writebol, 60, remain in grave but stable condition. “Their heroic and sacrificial service—along with the entire team there—is a shining example of Christ’s love in this crisis situation,” Graham said. The 2014 Ebola outbreak is the worst ever recorded and has now claimed more than 700 lives in West Africa. On Thursday, U.S. health officials warned Americans to not travel to the hardest-hit areas. Humanitarian groups such as the U.S. Peace Corps and others are evacuating all volunteers. In a statement, Samaritan’s Purse said all its nonessential personnel should be evacuated to their home countries by this weekend. “None of the evacuating staff are ill and the World Health Organization and CDC continue to reiterate that people are not contagious unless they begin showing symptoms,” the organization said in a statement. “Following their evacuation, Samaritan’s Purse will work with staff to monitor their health.”

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Pastor Anderson Reveals Pre-Trib Rapture Deception

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Federal review stalled after finding forensic errors by FBI lab unit spanned two decades

By Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, July 29, 2014

Nearly every criminal case reviewed by the FBI and the Justice Department as part of a massive investigation started in 2012 of problems at the FBI lab has included flawed forensic testimony from the agency, government officials said.

The findings troubled the bureau, and it stopped the review of convictions last August. Case reviews resumed this month at the order of the Justice Department, the officials said.

U.S. officials began the inquiry after The Washington Post reported two years ago that flawed forensic evidence involving microscopic hair matches might have led to the convictions of hundreds of potentially innocent people. Most of those defendants never were told of the problems in their cases.

The inquiry includes 2,600 convictions and 45 death-row cases from the 1980s and 1990s in which the FBI’s hair and fiber unit reported a match to a crime-scene sample before DNA testing of hair became common. The FBI had reviewed about 160 cases before it stopped, officials said.

The investigation resumed after the Justice Department’s inspector general excoriated the department and the FBI for unacceptable delays and inadequate investigation in a separate inquiry from the mid-1990s. The inspector general found in that probe that three defendants were executed and a fourth died on death row in the five years it took officials to reexamine 60 death-row convictions that were potentially tainted by agent misconduct, mostly involving the same FBI hair and fiber analysis unit now under scrutiny.

“I don’t know whether history is repeating itself, but clearly the [latest] report doesn’t give anyone a sense of confidence that the work of the examiners whose conduct was first publicly questioned in 1997 was reviewed as diligently and promptly as it needed to be,” said Michael R. Bromwich, who was inspector general from 1994 to 1999 and is now a partner at the Goodwin Procter law firm.

Bromwich would not discuss any aspect of the current review because he is a pro bono adviser to the Innocence Project, which along with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is assisting the government effort under an agreement not to talk about the review. Still, he added, “Now we are left 18 years [later] with a very unhappy, unsatisfying and disquieting situation, which is far harder to remedy than if the problems had been addressed promptly.”

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole this month ordered that reviews resume under the original terms, officials said.

Revelations that the government’s largest post-conviction review of forensic evidence has found widespread problems counter earlier FBI claims that a single rogue examiner was at fault. Instead, they feed a growing debate over how the U.S. justice system addresses systematic weaknesses in past forensic testimony and methods.

“I see this as a tip-of-the-iceberg problem,” said Erin Murphy, a New York University law professor and expert on modern scientific evidence.

“It’s not as though this is one bad apple or even that this is one bad-apple discipline,” she said. “There is a long list of disciplines that have exhibited problems, where if you opened up cases you’d see the same kinds of overstated claims and unfounded statements.”

According to a Justice Department spokesman, officials last August completed reviews and notified a first wave of defendants in 23 cases, including 14 death-penalty cases, that FBI examiners “exceeded the limits of science” when they linked hair to crime-scene evidence.

However, concerned that errors were found in the “vast majority” of cases, the FBI restarted the review, grinding the process to a halt, said a government official who was briefed on the process. The Justice Department objected in January, but a standoff went unresolved until this month.

After more than two years, the review will have addressed about 10 percent of the 2,600 questioned convictions and perhaps two-thirds of questioned death-row cases.

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Running Just Minutes a Day Cuts Death Risk

By Matt Cantor, Newser, July 29, 2014

Good news for those who keep meaning to exercise, but can never seem to find the time: If you can manage a few minutes of running a day—even going slowly—you may cut your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. So suggests a new, 15-year study of more than 55,000 adults. Researchers found that the risk of death from any cause among runners in the group was 30% lower than the risk among non-runners; runners also faced a 45% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to a press release.

The fascinating part: “The benefits were the same no matter how long, far, frequently, or fast participants reported running,” the release notes. Nor did a person’s sex, age, or body mass index matter, and even smokers saw the same benefits. Runners lived an average of three years longer than non-runners. The study prompts the researchers to suggest that running should be promoted as seriously as smoking and obesity are discouraged. Researchers do, however, note a caveat: The study doesn’t prove that running causes longer life, and it’s possible—despite efforts to control for outside factors—that those who run are just healthier in general, WebMD adds. (But be careful: Earlier this year, another study found that running too much could kill you sooner.)

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The Jews & Their Lies - Pastor Anderson

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Sucesso Moderado

Marcus Vernier
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/sucesso-moderado/

Fui lembrado recentemente sobre moderação com relação a rotinas de exercício, pois parece haver uma linha fina para mim entre sentir-se bem e energizado depois de malhar e cansado demais ou com a cabeça um pouco aérea. Como a maioria das coisas na vida, a moderação parecer ser o segredo.

Ao buscar na Bíblia sobre o assunto, só encontrei uma referência sobre moderação: “Seja a vossa moderação conhecida de todos os homens.”[1]

Moderação é uma qualidade que poderia ser interpretada como de pouco valor, um sub ponto em comparação com outras qualidades espirituais mais notáveis ou mais faladas tais como amor, alegria, mansidão, etc., a moderação quase parece um fracasso, um nada. O que tem de tão especial em ser moderado? Eu me perguntei. Mas a maneira como ela faz a diferença nas coisas práticas do nosso cotidiano, tais como exercício como me referi acima, com certeza mostra que ela tem o seu lugar.

Para sermos moderados, precisamos ter restrições e seus resultados. Ser moderado significa que não seguimos demais para um lado nnem para outro, mas nos impomos, ou permitimos que o Espírito de Deus nos imponha, certas restrições, para nos manterem no caminho “estreito e apertado”.

Eu estava lendo um artigo outro dia e vi como isso até se relaciona ao estresse:

Algo que nos ajuda muito a reconhecer e superar algumas formas de estresse é seguir uma vida balanceada. Onde há equilíbrio, deve haver restrição, e aprender limites e disciplina vai ajudá-lo a evitar o estresse.

O estresse tem tudo a ver com ir além dos limites de uma maneira que não é saudável, ou passar tempo demais se preocupando com os limites. Para derrotar o estresse você tem que estar agradecido pelos seus limites, e aprender a permanecer dentro deles, porque eles lhe dão equilíbrio.[2]

Um artigo mais antigo, escrito em 1976, chamado “A Terra do Nada Demais,” ilustra ainda mais este ponto. Apesar de infantil em sua simplicidade, ele nos dá uma nova maneira de ver a moderação e como esta qualidade está longe de ser algo insignificante, mas é sim um fator chave para resolver os problemas de todo o mundo!



A Terra do Nada Demais
Um Sonho sobre o Milênio
De David Brandt Berg

Na “Terra do Nada Demais” era impossível fazer algo demais. Você não podia comer demais, nem beber demais não podia trabalhar demais nem dormir demais.

Não podia ver demais, nem ouvir demais, nem aprender demais, nem falar demais. Também não podia brincar por tempo demais, não podia correr demais nem se preocupar demais.

Você simplesmente não podia fazer nada demais. E isso parecia resolver os problemas. Ninguém queria demais, de modo que ninguém tinha demais, e assim ninguém lutava para ter demais nem havia lutas e guerras, porque ninguém queria demais, ou mais do que os outros. Ninguém queria nada demais; ninguém tinha nada a mais.

Havia muita paz e muita segurança e felicidade, mas não demais—apenas suficiente para todos. Todos tinham o suficiente para comer e beber, e o bastante para vestir, mas não demais. Ninguém tinha demais.

Ninguém ficava com muito frio nem com muita fome nem molhado demais nem forte demais. Ninguém era muito de nada ou tinha muito de nada nem tinha demais de nada.

E todos tinham a verdade, e a verdade era que ninguém tinha demais ou era nada demais de coisa alguma. E isso parecia resolver o problema de todos.

Tudo era resolvido por não haver demais. “A Terra do Nada Demais”, onde todos estavam contentes com nada demais. Ninguém queria demais, de modo que todos tinham o suficiente e isso resolvia todos os problemas. Ninguém era bom demais nem mal, orgulhoso ou mal demais, nem era demais de nada.

Era simplesmente impossível ter demais ou fazer algo demais ou ir longe demais ou rápido demais. Você simplesmente não podia ter nem fazer nada demais, e assim todos eram felizes. Todos eram tão felizes porque ninguém tinha demais nem era demais nem falava demais na Terra do Nada Demais.

Acho que a razão para todos terem o bastante era porque ninguém tinha demais, e é por isso que ninguém tinha que trabalhar demais ou fazer demais, porque todos tinham o suficiente, faziam o suficiente, faziam a sua parte e não demais—simples assim! Ninguém era justo demais, apenas o suficiente, na Terra do Nada Demais. Isso não é demais? Não, isso não é demais. É apenas suficiente, não é?



Apesar da palavra “moderação” só seja mencionada uma vez na Versão King James da Bíblia, há outra palavra, que significa basicamente a mesma coisa, “temperança,” e ela aparece poucas vezes no Novo Testamento, mas notavelmente com referência aos frutos do Espírito em Gálatas 5:22–23: “Mas o fruto do Espírito é amor, gozo, paz, longanimidade, benignidade, bondade, fé, mansidão, temperança, contra essas coisas não há lei”.

Em outra versão em inglês, temperança se torna “domínio próprio,” sugerindo que nos cabe fazer algo para regularmos nosso comportamento.

Vamos terminar com uma citação de Jostein Gaarder:

Saúde é uma condição natural. Quando há doença, é um sinal de que a Natureza saiu do curso por causa de um desequilíbrio físico ou mental. A estrada para a saúde para todos é através da moderação, da harmonia e de “uma mente sã em corpo são”.

Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.R.Flandoli.


[1] Filipenses 4:5 ARIB.

[2] De uma mensagem de Jesus, falando em profecia, publicado em novembro de 2006.

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The Things That Count

A compilation
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/things-count/

Audio length: 9:39
Download Audio (8.8MB)

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.—1 Corinthians 13:131

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I read something recently that got me thinking: Giving up some of the things we enjoy or desire can seem like a sacrifice, but when we get to heaven and see things in proper perspective, we’ll be ashamed that we didn’t make those little sacrifices more cheerfully.

Even now I feel bad, remembering little jobs I weaseled out of, arguments that I had to have the last word in, times I was sure to get the biggest piece of the pie. I’m beginning to see how temporary those things were and that the things that have really counted were the times I gave up a few minutes of my downtime to help someone out, the times I let a mean comment pass without answering back, the times I helped someone save face, and the times I saved that biggest piece of pie for someone else—in short, the times I gave when I could have taken or when I made the day a little better for someone. It doesn’t seem like such a sacrifice anymore, giving up these inconsequential things, when I consider that I’m investing in forever.—Michael French

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Out of this life I shall never take
Things of silver and gold I make.
All that I cherish and hoard away
After I leave, on earth must stay.
Though I have toiled for a painting rare
To hang on my wall, I must leave it there.
Though I call it mine and I boast its worth
I must give it up when I quit the earth.
All that I gather and all that I keep,
I must leave behind when I fall asleep.
And I wonder often what I shall own
In that other life, when I pass alone.
What shall they find and what shall they see
In the soul that answers the call for me?
Shall the great Judge learn, when my task is through
That the spirit had gathered some riches, too?
Or shall at the last it be mine to find
That all I had worked for I’d left behind?
—Edgar A. Guest

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Some people spend so much time and energy trying to make themselves attractive and perfect their bodies, but they neglect their inner selves, the unique and eternal spirits I gave them. This is short-sighted, because in time their bodies, their mere outer covers, will be no more. What matters the most is what’s inside, your spirit. I would prefer that you devote more of your time to activities that beautify your soul. My love is what will bring true contentment and make you glow.

Your body is an outer covering that is only for a time, but your spirit will last forever. When you invest in your spirit, you’re investing in eternity.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

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A quote hanging in Albert Einstein’s office read, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” In other words, a lot of the things you do in a day or week can’t be “counted.” I’m talking about things like time spent in prayer, energy spent pouring into the children, doing what you can to invest in the mission, or forgoing something that you wanted to do in order to sacrifice for someone else. They’re not things that you can tick off of your to-do list—and yet they are vital, defining moments.

We must be sure to always keep in the forefront of our minds that love is the most important thing. If we don’t have love, all of our ticked-off to-dos, all of our great accomplishments, will be of no benefit.

The number-one priority is and always should be love! If you can go to bed at night knowing that you have shown love, then you can rest well, knowing that you’ve accomplished something truly great.—Maria Fontaine

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You are investing in eternity when you invest your time, love, and effort in your children, because children are forever. Those eternal lives are going to last forever, and everything you've put into them is going to count.—David Brandt Berg

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I’ve seen everything that you have ever done for others, and I haven’t forgotten any of it. I am like a faithful accountant, and I make note of all these things in My book. Every kind word, every bit of love, and every unselfish deed is entered into My book. I also see every affliction, every hardship, every wrong you endure, and every trying of your faith. These are also recorded in My book.

In all of these things, you have been investing in eternity. You don’t realize how much you have invested or how much interest your investment is earning for you. In the day of accounting, when I tally the books and you see how much you have stored up in the next life, you just might be surprised at the rewards that await you!—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

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The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?” So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.—Luke 12:16–312

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It’s been wisely said that life on earth is a testing ground and a learning experience, and with Me as your guide and coach, you will be successful in this life. Your success may not always look like success as it is popularly perceived, but you will be successful in the things that matter, the things that count, the things that last beyond this life and into eternity.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

Published on Anchor July 2014. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso. Music by Michael Dooley.


1 NLT.

2 NKJV.

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Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) Have NOT Been Proven Safe

Carole Bartolotto, Huffington Post, July 24, 2014

The resounding claim of GMO proponents is that GMOs have been proven safe. Some scientists are quite emphatic about this, such as Dr. Pamela Ronald from UC Davis, who says:

“Genetically engineered crops currently on the market are as safe to eat and safe for the environment as organic or conventional foods.”

Dr. Roger Clemens, from the USC Department of Pharmacology, also weighs in, saying:

“They’re tested and evaluated in voluminous documentation that would fill this backyard. We don’t know of any health risk at this particular time.”

Dr. Clemens also defends food additives, sugar, and processed foods, but I digress…

The problem with concluding that GMOs are safe is that the argument for their safety rests solely on animal studies. These studies are offered as evidence that the debate over GMOs is over. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Animal studies have value in that if something demonstrates harm in animals, it will also likely cause harm in humans. Although some animal studies have found harm from a GMO diet, these hotly debated studies are not the point of this article. The point is, if an animal study does not find harm with a particular substance, it could still cause harm in humans.

A good example of this is what’s happened with artificial sweeteners. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved artificial sweeteners for use using animal toxicology studies. Once these sweeteners were added to the food supply—and labeled as such—scientists were able to do epidemiological studies (also called observational studies) in humans. Several of these studies found that artificial sweeteners are linked with negative health effects.

The Framingham Observational Study found that both diet and regular sodas are associated with metabolic syndrome (a constellation of symptoms such as abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, elevated triglycerides, and high blood pressure that are linked to an increased risk of heart disease). Yet another study revealed that diet sodas may increase the risk of diabetes. The Nurses’ Health Study found that two or more diet sodas a day were associated with a 30 percent decrease in kidney function over time. Yet none of these results were found in animal studies. Clearly, there are still many unknowns about the impact of artificial sweeteners on human health.

Dr. Walter Willet, from the Harvard School of Public Health, sums things up nicely by saying:

It’s difficult to make blanket statements about the safety or risks of low-calorie sweeteners because all are very different in their structure and how they work in the body. The reality is, some studies have been done in animals, but we really don’t have good long-term data on humans with any of these.

And the same is true for GMOs.

Considering that biology, gene regulation and expression, and the impact of a substance on a particular gene can vary so much, it makes perfect sense that animal research is not the best model to determine the long-term health effects of GMOs in humans.

In fact, Dr. Ralph Heywood, past scientific director of the Huntington Research Centre (U.K.), found that the agreement between animal and human toxicology tests is below 25 percent. He has determined that there is no way of knowing what kind of toxic effect will show up in animals versus humans.

Instead of animal studies, epidemiological studies have been identified as the best way to verify the effects of a substance and its risk to humans.

Ultimately, we need GMO labeling so we can do the epidemiological studies that are essential to determine their risk. Without long-term data—in humans—no one can make the claim that GMOs are proven safe.

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Realçar o Positivo

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/realcar-o-positivo/
Uma compilação

Sejam sempre agradecidos, haja o que houver, porque esta é a vontade de Deus para com vocês que pertencem a Cristo Jesus.—1 Tessalonicenses 5:18[1]

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Muitas vezes adquirimos o hábito de dizer, “Que dia bonito”, quando está sol, e “Que dia feio” quando chove. Mas os dias de chuva também podem ser lindos, principalmente quando o Senhor os dá para nosso bem, para reduzir o calor ou fazer as plantas crescerem. Em alguns lugares, as pessoas ficam muitíssimo agradecidas por dias de chuva. Quando estamos numa seca e sem água, e precisamos de água para as flores, para a grama, e para as plantas que nos dão alimento, ficamos muito gratos pela chuva e não consideraríamos um dia de chuva um dia ruim, mas sim um ótimo dia.

O Senhor deve ficar um pouco ofendido e triste quando consideramos ruim a linda chuva da qual muitas vezes precisamos, e que muitas vezes não é nada ruim, principalmente se as flores, as plantas e as árvores precisam dela. E, claro, se elas precisam, nós precisamos, pois precisamos delas para obter o nosso alimento, para ter ar puro e para nos inspirar. Por isso, se queremos ser mais positivos e pensar de maneira mais positiva, devemos mudar o nosso vocabulário para ser mais positivo, pois é bastante difícil pensar num dia positivamente se dizemos que é um dia "ruim". Então, temos que mudar não só a nossa maneira de pensar, mas também a maneira como qualificamos as coisas.

As palavras que você usa, a maneira como qualifica as coisas, a maneira como as diz, influi muito o seu modo de pensar. Se for negativo, o impede de ser positivo.

A Bíblia diz, "Em tudo dai graças. ”[2] Ou seja: em cada situação dai graças. Nós podemos Lhe agradecer por todas as coisas, pois todas elas contribuem juntamente para o nosso bem, pois nós O amamos.[3] Se algo "ruim" nos ensina a orar e nos ensina lições de fé, paciência, amor e perseverança, então podemos ver que não foi ruim, mas sim bom. Ou seja, teve mais efeito positivo do que negativo.

A maioria das coisas na vida tem um efeito bom e um efeito ruim. A maioria das coisas tem um lado negativo e um lado positivo. Tudo tem os seus prós e os seus contras. Mas se o positivo exceder o negativo, então podemos dizer que é uma coisa boa. E na nossa vida para Jesus, o Senhor faz com que o bem exceda o mal em tudo o que nos acontece.—Maria Fontaine

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Desejo que as minhas palavras e os meus pensamentos sejam sempre agradáveis a Ti, Senhor, minha Rocha e meu Libertador.—Salmo 19:14[4]

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Jamais esquecerei a ocasião em que eu estava guiando uma reunião na qual minha mãe estava pregando no lugar de L. P. Lehman numa cidadezinha nas minas de carvão no Oeste da Pensilvânia. Era uma igrejinha numa noite chuvosa e fria com um grupinho muito pequeno de umas doze pessoas. Eu não parava de dizer: "Sinto muito não haver mais gente aqui, não sei onde estão as outras pessoas.”

Eu estava insistindo no negativo e nos lugares vazios em vez de os elogiar por serem tão corajosos e saído numa noite daquelas e lhes dizer: "Vocês são maravilhosos por terem vindo e enfrentado o mau tempo!" Eu deveria estar falando do positivo e encorajando-os, animando-os e elogiando-os em vez de pôr todo o mundo na fossa mencionando todos os lugares vazios e falando sobre todas as pessoas que não foram e por que não foram.

É sempre melhor enfatizar o positivo. Levei um grande sabão de L. P. Lehman, que era um bom empresário e um promotor inteligente. Ele tinha os melhores programas de rádio em toda a Pensilvânia.

Ele me chamou de lado e disse: "David, você não deveria ter falado em todas as pessoas que não estavam lá e por quê elas não vieram e se queixar a toda a hora dos lugares vazios. Deveria felicitar as pessoas que vieram, dando graças a Deus por elas, animando-as, agradecendo-lhes por terem vindo com um tempo tão mau, e salientar como foi maravilhoso que tantas pessoas tivessem saído com um tempo daqueles, em vez de falar das muitas pessoas que não vieram! Insista no positivo. Enfatize o positivo, o fato encorajador e inspirador, tentando levantar, e não esteja sempre falando sobre o negativo e o lado mau. Olhe para o lado positivo.”

É a velha história de como o otimista vê a rosquinha e o pessimista vê o buraco. O otimista diz mil maravilhas da qualidade da rosquinha e como é deliciosa e como é maravilhoso ter uma rosquinha, e o pessimista se queixa: "Puxa, eles nos enganaram! Colocaram um buraco no meio! Cadê o resto da minha rosquinha?" Muitas vezes somos tentados a fazer a mesma coisa com Deus. Em vez de Lhe agradecermos pelas bênçãos, somos tentados a nos queixar das provações, tribulações e sofrimentos

Lehman disse que se você não chamar a atenção para alguns erros no seu programa, a maioria das pessoas nem vão notar. Ter poucas pessoas na sua reunião é melhor do que não ter reunião nenhuma. Testemunhar para poucas pessoas é melhor do que não dar nenhum testemunho. Tente ressaltar o positivo, realçar o positivo!—David Brandt Berg

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Tenham uma conversa agradável e sensata, pois assim vocês terão a resposta certa para todo o mundo.—Colossenses 4:6[5]

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O poder do louvor e da positividade é contagioso. Seja um portador! Se você tem tido uma atitude negativa para consigo mesmo, situações ou pessoas é hora de virar uma página na sua vida e pedir ao Senhor para lhe transformar em alguém cheio de louvor, positivo e uma influência para melhor na vida dos outros. É possível, “porque para Deus nada é impossível.”[6] Você pode mudar e não apenas superficialmente, mas radicalmente. Sua fraqueza pode passar a ser o seu ponto forte! Sei que é possível, porque eu mesma vi pessoas que pensavam negativamente o tempo todo superar a própria natureza, graças à sua determinação de mudar e à infalível ajuda do Senhor.

O Senhor pode mudar seu coração, sua mente, seus desejos e até sua natureza, se apenas Lhe entregar tudo. Entregue tudo ao Senhor, peça-Lhe para transformar sua vida, e Ele o fará.—Maria Fontaine

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Quando você age em um espírito positivo, está vivendo em um espírito de fé e confiança. Está reconhecendo a Mim, confiando em Mim e aceitando que sei o que é melhor e estou no controle de tudo. É preciso ter fé para ser positivo. É preciso fé na Minha Palavra, a qual diz que todas as coisas vão concorrer juntamente para o bem. Não importa como se sinta na ocasião, sabe que todas as coisas vão por fim concorrer juntamente para o bem, não importa como pareça no momento. Quando acredita nessa promessa, age em fé, com credulidade, e em um espírito positivo, feliz e de confiança.

Eu não o deixo se meter em situações ruins das quais Eu não o possa tirar. Por isso, nunca considere uma situação difícil uma perda total, um fracasso ou sem esperança. Você pode considerar qualquer coisa de maneira positiva e com fé, por pior que pareça.

É claro que precisa ser realista e admitir quando tem um problema, mas lembre-se que Eu sou o Deus do impossível. Sou o Alfa e o Ômega, o onipotente, onisciente, e estou do seu lado. Então, você não tem razão para se preocupar ou temer. Nada é sem esperança, existe possibilidade para tudo, e posso fazer com que qualquer coisa concorra para o bem de alguma forma.

Quando você vive em um espírito de fé e fala fé, por mais difícil que sejam as circunstâncias, cria um vácuo para o Meu Espírito fluir e fortalece a sua fé. Você colhe o que semeia, e se estiver semeando fé, falando palavras de fé e confiança, colherá os bons frutos da fé. Ficará inspirado e inspirará a outros. Terá um espírito de paz, seu semblante reluzirá, suas palavras serão edificantes e positivas, e você abrirá o canal para o Meu amor poder fluir através de você.—Jesus, falando em profecia

Publicado em Âncora em julho 2014. Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.F.Flandoli.


[1] Bíblia Viva.

[2] 1 Tessalonicenses 5:18.

[3] Romanos 8:28.

[4] Bíblia Viva.

[5] Bíblia Viva.

[6] Lucas 1:37.

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One Person’s Impact

A compilation
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/one-persons-impact/
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What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has feet to go to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and sadness. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.—St. Augustine


After the mutiny

The story of “The Mutiny on the Bounty” has fascinated readers and moviegoers for generations. What happened afterward, however, isn’t well-known—yet is equally fascinating.

For reasons that are still debated, in 1789 the crew of the HMS Bounty mutinied against the alleged cruelty of their captain, William Bligh. Bligh and a few others were set adrift in a small boat, but the mutineers stayed with the Bounty and eventually landed on an isolated, uninhabited speck of land in the South Pacific called Pitcairn Island. There were only twenty-five of them—nine British sailors and six men and ten women from Tahiti—and shortly after landing they burned the Bounty and set about forming a permanent settlement.

But their experiment soon turned into a disaster. Conflicts rose between the rough British sailors and the Tahitians, leading to violence and murder. One sailor also discovered a method for distilling alcohol from a native plant, turning their tropical paradise into a den of drunkenness, vice, and debauchery. Finally only a handful of the Tahitians and one British sailor, John Adams, survived.

One day Adams discovered the ship’s Bible that had been rescued from the Bountyyears before, but then forgotten. He began reading, and God used its words to convict Adams of his sins and lead him to faith in Christ. His life was dramatically changed, and almost immediately he began sharing Christ with his fellow exiles. Both Adams’s changed life and the Bible’s message spoke to them, and they too were converted. When some American sailors stopped by Pitcairn Island in 1808—the first visitors they had ever had—they found a prosperous and harmonious community... God had used the witness of one man, John Adams, to transform the … colony.—Billy Graham1


Nehemiah

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants.—Nehemiah 1:4–62

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Stephen Olford, a well-known preacher (now deceased), was asked, “What is the secret of ministry?” He replied, “Bent knees, wet eyes, a broken heart.” Nehemiah wept sorrowfully and for days mourned and fasted and prayed over the brokenness of God’s holy city and the people he loved.

What is it that sits so heavily upon us about the needs of this world which expresses itself from the deepest core of our being? Sadly, there are people who not only don’t go to that place within themselves, but can’t even get there because of defenses they’ve built around themselves. But the needs of our broken world can only be met by people with broken hearts. Something inside us must resonate with the heart of God, and until we have felt the pressure of His pain and compassion deeply within our souls, we will not fully participate in the work of God.

… It is ordinary men and women He uses for His purpose, and it is the condition of our hearts that He looks upon. It is this brokenness, the very depth of touching the heart of God, and God touching our hearts that will sustain and energize us. We are actually fed by our tears.

Nehemiah was impassioned and driven to fulfill the will of God, not out of pity, but out of genuine sorrow and compassion that resonated with God, and became a driving force. If the ingredients of fruitfulness in the Christian life are bent knees, wet eyes, and a broken heart, then as people of God, we need to make ourselves available to Him and, like Nehemiah, be driven by compassion for God’s agenda in this world.—Charles Price


Amy Carmichael

Amy Carmichael lived for one reason, and that was to make God’s love known to those trapped in darkness. She was born in northern Ireland in 1867 and was the oldest of seven children. Her father’s unexpected death when she was 18 had a profound effect on her, leading her to think seriously about her future and God’s plan for her life.

At the age of 19, after hearing Hudson Taylor speak about missionary life, she realized that nothing could be more important than living her life for Jesus, who, with nothing of worldly possessions, had given His life for her. She knew He was calling her to do the same and give all of herself to Him. This meant she must become “dead to the world and its applause, to all its customs, fashions, and laws.”

In many ways she was an unlikely candidate for missionary work. She suffered neuralgia, a disease of the nerves that made her whole body weak and achy and often put her in bed for weeks on end. Still, Amy wanted to be a missionary. She prayed about it and wrote down the reasons she thought it couldn’t possibly be God’s intention. One of the first things on the list was her sickness. But in her prayers she seemed to hear the Lord speak as if He were standing in her room, saying “Go.”

For over a year Amy tried to find a place to go, but no one wanted her. Eventually she set off for Japan in the company of three missionary ladies. She had a constant passion to witness. On board the ship, even the captain was converted to Christian faith after observing how cheerfully Amy faced the dirt and insects onboard.

Amy’s neuralgia later became so bad that the doctor told her she must leave Japan for a more suitable climate. After some struggle, Amy accepted that she would be better off in India.


“There have been times of late when I have had to hold on to one text with all my might: ‘It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.’ Praise God, it does not say ‘successful.’”—Amy Carmichael

In 1895, Amy was commissioned by the Church of England to go to Dohnavur, India. She eventually served 56 years there without a furlough, difficult though it was at times.

Mission work in India was hazardous. With each conversion of a high-caste Hindu, a wave of persecution followed. The community would leave no stone unturned to make life difficult for the Christians. They would force mission schools to close, burn others, vandalize churches, beat up missionaries, and file endless lawsuits.

Amy traveled and preached at first, going native in her dress, which was considered disgraceful by all the other missionaries. Dressed in a sari with her skin stained, she could pass as a Hindu.

In the end, a major part of Amy’s work was devoted to rescuing children who had been dedicated by their families to be temple prostitutes. Amy used to say, “You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.” She lived this so deeply that it got her into lots of trouble.

One time it seemed certain that Amy would be arrested and sent to an Indian prison on kidnapping charges. And technically Amy was a kidnapper—many times over, because she often sheltered temple runaways. Temple children were young girls dedicated to the gods and forced into prostitution to earn money for the priests.

More than a thousand children were rescued from neglect and abuse during Amy’s lifetime. To them she was known as “Amma,” which means mother in Tamil. Her work was often dangerous and stressful. Yet she never forgot God’s promise to keep her and those in her care.

“There were days when the sky turned black for me because of what I heard and knew was true . . . Sometimes it was as if I saw the Lord Jesus Christ kneeling alone, as He knelt long ago under the olive trees. … And the only thing that one who cared could do was to go softly and kneel down beside Him, so that He would not be alone in His sorrow over the little children.”


“It cost God Calvary to win us. It will cost us as much as we may know of the fellowship of His sufferings, if those for whom He died that day are ever to be won.”—Amy Carmichael

Amy died in India in 1951 at the age of 83. She asked that no stone be put over her grave; instead, the children she had cared for put a bird bath over it with the single inscription “Amma.”—Peter Amsterdam3


How can one person make a difference?

Even the little things you do can mean a lot: A little bit of love goes such a long way! The light of your smile, the kindness of your face, the influence of your life, can shed light on many, and have an amazing effect on some people you think might be the least likely to be impressed.

When people feel your love and you tell them it’s God’s love, they kind of feel like, “Maybe somebody up there does love me!” It changes their whole outlook and gives them a real uplook.

There are so many people searching for love. People everywhere are looking around for some little ray of hope, some salvation, some bright spot somewhere.—A little love, a little mercy, someplace where they can find some relief. If you can show them that love exists, then they can believe that God exists, because “God is love.”4—David Brandt Berg5

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I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.—Attributed to Helen Keller

Published on Anchor July 2014. Read by Jon Marc.


1 The Journey (Barnes & Noble, 2006).

2 NIV.

3 Originally published November 2008, adapted..

4 1 John 4:8.

5 Originally published April 1974, adapted..

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