God welcomes people without getting stuck in a web of sin. He wants us to do likewise. God the Son Jesus Christ is Wisdom and Power that He gives to creyentes (believers) for living the good life He promised us. "Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power" (1 Corinthians 6:12 Amplified Bible.)
A Chinese proverb says, "No one's ten fingers are all the same length" meaning "You cannot expect that everyone will be like you." Paul, an apostle of God, was a keen observer of people who found multiple things in the way people are and act to show and tell them about God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit and to unite them into the family of God which has love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Paul celebrated diversity without practicing Biblical disobedience.
Patience is about cultivating consistent godly character not about putting off godly action. Un dicho (a proverb) says, "No hay tiempo como el presente" ("There is no time like the present.") Christian Minister and Civil Rights Activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said in his August 28, 1963, I Have A Dream speech given at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood .... There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights." 1 Corinthians 13:6 New Living Translation Bible says about love, "It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out." Another word for injustice is wrongdoing. 1 Corinthians 13:6 English Standard Version Bible says about love, "It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth." The truth is God created equal people of all races, sexes, ethnicity, ages and abilities; He expects us to love Him and to love all people not make exemptions for wrongdoing.
While racial and other wrongdoing still exists today, legal segregation doesn't; also African Americans are more fully enjoying citizenship rights than in 1963. What are some wonderful ways from African American heritage to lead people to Jesus Christ and to more fully enjoy American citizenship? Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virginia 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on http://www.Twitter.com/Michelelove30.
Showing posts with label Citizenship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Citizenship. Show all posts
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Stop Excluding People. Reform Immigration Now!
1 Peter 2:9 New Living Translation Bible says, "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." God wants creyentes (believers) to do good like He does good. God also wants creyentes to enjoy the best of this earthly life without idolizing things or people.
One good thing to have is citizenship. The Apostle Paul, a Jew who had Roman citizenship, wrote most of the New Testament. African Americans gained American citizenship via the 14th amendment to the US constitution. Rafael Damani Fowler and I are African Americans, and we value and enjoy our US citizenship.
We also pray that as our legislature is considering immigration reform that many others who are currently being denied US citizenship but value and desire to enjoy it will be granted US citizenship. Diversity in America is good for Americans and people globally. Diversity in America is a world witness as America is the world's leading nation.
Nick Vujicic is of Serbian heritage but born in Australia. Later in life he moved to the United States of America. Vujicic was born without arms and legs not because of a botched abortion but because of tetra-amelia syndrome. Ana Rosa Rodriguez was born without an arm because of a botched abortion. Vujicic, a husband, a father, an evangelist, a motivational speaker, head of the non-profit organization Life Without Limbs and author, writes in his book Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life, "Researchers found that many who successfully deal with physical adversity actually grow in positive ways, including these:
* They realize they are stronger than they thought, and they tend to recover more quickly from future challenges.
* They discover who truly cares about them, and those relationships grow stronger.
* They put greater value on each day and on the good things in their lives.
* They become stronger spiritually."
Rafael Damani Fowler and I enjoy listening to CDs which were invented by the Japanese. Gospel singer Andrea Helms says in her song "Changed" on the CD Ultimate Gospel vol. 2 Women of Gospel Spirit Rising that she was not supposed to be born. She says about the time before she was born, "The doctors said that I would never walk that I would never talk that I would be nothing ... but I was born healthy." Doctors and other medical professionals know a lot, but they are not all-knowing like God. Doctors and others were not able to tell me that my son, Rafael, has autism, but it's okay. Rafael is glad to be alive instead of aborted.
Un dicho (a proverb) says, "No hay tiempo como el presente ("There is no time like the present.") Now is a good time to pass immigration reform not like the wicked US Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 but a law that welcomes people, doesn't burden them financially and treats them with equality.
One good thing to have is citizenship. The Apostle Paul, a Jew who had Roman citizenship, wrote most of the New Testament. African Americans gained American citizenship via the 14th amendment to the US constitution. Rafael Damani Fowler and I are African Americans, and we value and enjoy our US citizenship.
We also pray that as our legislature is considering immigration reform that many others who are currently being denied US citizenship but value and desire to enjoy it will be granted US citizenship. Diversity in America is good for Americans and people globally. Diversity in America is a world witness as America is the world's leading nation.
Nick Vujicic is of Serbian heritage but born in Australia. Later in life he moved to the United States of America. Vujicic was born without arms and legs not because of a botched abortion but because of tetra-amelia syndrome. Ana Rosa Rodriguez was born without an arm because of a botched abortion. Vujicic, a husband, a father, an evangelist, a motivational speaker, head of the non-profit organization Life Without Limbs and author, writes in his book Limitless Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life, "Researchers found that many who successfully deal with physical adversity actually grow in positive ways, including these:
* They realize they are stronger than they thought, and they tend to recover more quickly from future challenges.
* They discover who truly cares about them, and those relationships grow stronger.
* They put greater value on each day and on the good things in their lives.
* They become stronger spiritually."
Rafael Damani Fowler and I enjoy listening to CDs which were invented by the Japanese. Gospel singer Andrea Helms says in her song "Changed" on the CD Ultimate Gospel vol. 2 Women of Gospel Spirit Rising that she was not supposed to be born. She says about the time before she was born, "The doctors said that I would never walk that I would never talk that I would be nothing ... but I was born healthy." Doctors and other medical professionals know a lot, but they are not all-knowing like God. Doctors and others were not able to tell me that my son, Rafael, has autism, but it's okay. Rafael is glad to be alive instead of aborted.
Un dicho (a proverb) says, "No hay tiempo como el presente ("There is no time like the present.") Now is a good time to pass immigration reform not like the wicked US Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 but a law that welcomes people, doesn't burden them financially and treats them with equality.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Children Are People Too
Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco, California, to parents who were Chinese immigrants. He decided to take a trip to China in 1895. When he came back to the United States, he was told that the laws didn't allow Chinese immigrants re-entry into the United States. Wong Kim Ark wasn't an immigrant.
He took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court which in 1898 ruled that children born of immigrants in the United States are automatically US citizens.
Creyentes (believers) are reinas y reyes (queens and kings). We are called to stand up for justice. Proverbs 31:8 Amplified Bible says, "Open your mouth for the dumb [those unable to speak for themselves], for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless."
Even before children are born they are people. On Christmas of 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached the following words: "Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God…Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such….And when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won't exploit people, we won't trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won't kill anybody."
Righting the wrongs done to immigrants, the unborn, parents and other people is a process. Some pieces of the process are to be informed about legislation and to pass good legislation. Here's a link of a former abortionist, Anthony Levantino, who is now against abortion and supporting H.R. 1797 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szDctI9lXM&feature=youtu.be. Here's a link to send an email to your member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 1797 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and to support the bill as is without changes: http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/alert/?alertid=62650516&type=CO.
Our Creator wants us to be a moral people who do not mistreat people by killing them through abortion or discriminating against them in immigration laws or in any other way. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:12 Amplified Bible, "So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets."
He took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court which in 1898 ruled that children born of immigrants in the United States are automatically US citizens.
Creyentes (believers) are reinas y reyes (queens and kings). We are called to stand up for justice. Proverbs 31:8 Amplified Bible says, "Open your mouth for the dumb [those unable to speak for themselves], for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless."
Even before children are born they are people. On Christmas of 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached the following words: "Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God…Man is more than a tiny vagary of whirling electrons or a wisp of smoke from a limitless smoldering. Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such….And when we truly believe in the sacredness of human personality, we won't exploit people, we won't trample over people with the iron feet of oppression, we won't kill anybody."
Righting the wrongs done to immigrants, the unborn, parents and other people is a process. Some pieces of the process are to be informed about legislation and to pass good legislation. Here's a link of a former abortionist, Anthony Levantino, who is now against abortion and supporting H.R. 1797 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szDctI9lXM&feature=youtu.be. Here's a link to send an email to your member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 1797 the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and to support the bill as is without changes: http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/issues/alert/?alertid=62650516&type=CO.
Our Creator wants us to be a moral people who do not mistreat people by killing them through abortion or discriminating against them in immigration laws or in any other way. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:12 Amplified Bible, "So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets."
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Isn't It A Blessing To Have American Citizenship?
In the United States the second Sunday in June is National Puerto Rican Day. A few years ago Rafael and I paid tribute to Puerto Rican heritage, culture and traditions when we vacationed in the US commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
For many Christians Sundays are a vacation to love God.
The Chinese invented matches. The Bible can be used as a match to strike a fire burning up the idea that one can love God without loving people. Mark 12:29-31 Amplified Bible says, "Jesus answered, The first and principal one of all commands is: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
An African proverb from Zaire says, "A kind person is the one who is kind to strangers."
The United States is a country mostly founded by strangers who voluntarily and involuntarily immigrated from other countries. Immigrants have come to the United States throughout our history. It is wrong that they have not always been treated well.
Let's welcome strangers/immigrants and treat them well like we want to be treated well. Isn't it a blessing to have American citizenship?
Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virgina 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
For many Christians Sundays are a vacation to love God.
The Chinese invented matches. The Bible can be used as a match to strike a fire burning up the idea that one can love God without loving people. Mark 12:29-31 Amplified Bible says, "Jesus answered, The first and principal one of all commands is: Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (with your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment. The second is like it and is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
An African proverb from Zaire says, "A kind person is the one who is kind to strangers."
The United States is a country mostly founded by strangers who voluntarily and involuntarily immigrated from other countries. Immigrants have come to the United States throughout our history. It is wrong that they have not always been treated well.
Let's welcome strangers/immigrants and treat them well like we want to be treated well. Isn't it a blessing to have American citizenship?
Write to:
Michele F. Jackson
P. O. Box 2106
Woodbridge, Virgina 22195
Follow Michele F. Jackson on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/michelelove30.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Interconnect
Raizy Glauber and Nathan Glauber were 21-years-old, Orthodox Jews of the Satmar Hasidic sect who had been paired by a matchmaker before marrying about a year ago reports The New York Times. The Glauber's were also killed in a car accident Monday, but doctors were able to perform an emergency Caesarean section to save the life of their son who was born at 24 weeks gestation, according to The New York Times's March 4, 2013, article "Emergency-Room Crisis: When Pregnant Woman Is Dying."
The Glauber baby boy is the age of babies now protected from some second-trimester and third trimester abortions in some American states. Read my article "Abortion Hurts."
Because of the age and place of residence of the unborn they are being discriminated against. The unborn have few legal rights.
Issues are interconnected. Christian minister and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." King also said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
The injustice of discrimination is widespread. During segregation African Americans and other people of color were compelled to sit in the back of buses and to go to colored only public places. The Voting Rights Act got rid of things like poll taxes, literacy tests and other administrative barriers erected to block African Americans and other people of color from voting. Are today's citizen tests, English tests, long waiting periods to become citizens like the past discriminatory poll taxes and literacy tests?
All Rafael and I had to do to become American citizens was be born. We thank God that we are not slaves, undocumented or living in countries where much of the population is living in circumstances comparable to segregation and even slavery.
Is anyone advocating for making American citizenship for immigrants almost as easy as it is for those born citizens?
A proverb from Zaire says, "A kind person is the one who is kind to strangers." Matthew 7:12 New Living Translation Bible says, "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." It does not matter if people want to stay in a country permanently or temporarily, God encourages us to treat them like ourselves. Deuteronomio 10:17-18 Palabra de Dios para Todos dice, "porque el SEÑOR tu Dios es el Dios de todos los dioses y el Señor de todos los señores. Él es grande, poderoso y terrible. Él no tiene favoritismos ni acepta sobornos. Él se encarga de hacer justicia a las viudas y a los huérfanos. Él ama al inmigrante que habita contigo y le da comida y ropa." Deuteronomy 10:17-18 Complete Jewish Bible says, "For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing."
Of course, we would not want to offer citizenship to drug lords, terrorists and other real criminals, but many foreign people will add great value to our American society by becoming citizens. Ruth, who was from Moab, was also in the human heritage of King David and Jesus Christ. Ruth said to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi, in the book of Ruth 1:16-17 English Standard Version, ". . .“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”"
Ruth was brave enough to escape the paganism of Moab. For other escapes, read my article "Audacious Escapes" and "Only One is All Good."
Ruth married the Jewish Boaz and lived the rest of her life in Israel. The women of Israel said to Naomi about Ruth in the book of Ruth 4:15 New Living Translation, " . . . your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons."
How much value and goodness are we missing through discriminatory practices like abortion and the process for foreigners to become citizens?
The Glauber baby boy is the age of babies now protected from some second-trimester and third trimester abortions in some American states. Read my article "Abortion Hurts."
Because of the age and place of residence of the unborn they are being discriminated against. The unborn have few legal rights.
Issues are interconnected. Christian minister and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." King also said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
The injustice of discrimination is widespread. During segregation African Americans and other people of color were compelled to sit in the back of buses and to go to colored only public places. The Voting Rights Act got rid of things like poll taxes, literacy tests and other administrative barriers erected to block African Americans and other people of color from voting. Are today's citizen tests, English tests, long waiting periods to become citizens like the past discriminatory poll taxes and literacy tests?
All Rafael and I had to do to become American citizens was be born. We thank God that we are not slaves, undocumented or living in countries where much of the population is living in circumstances comparable to segregation and even slavery.
Is anyone advocating for making American citizenship for immigrants almost as easy as it is for those born citizens?
A proverb from Zaire says, "A kind person is the one who is kind to strangers." Matthew 7:12 New Living Translation Bible says, "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." It does not matter if people want to stay in a country permanently or temporarily, God encourages us to treat them like ourselves. Deuteronomio 10:17-18 Palabra de Dios para Todos dice, "porque el SEÑOR tu Dios es el Dios de todos los dioses y el Señor de todos los señores. Él es grande, poderoso y terrible. Él no tiene favoritismos ni acepta sobornos. Él se encarga de hacer justicia a las viudas y a los huérfanos. Él ama al inmigrante que habita contigo y le da comida y ropa." Deuteronomy 10:17-18 Complete Jewish Bible says, "For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing."
Of course, we would not want to offer citizenship to drug lords, terrorists and other real criminals, but many foreign people will add great value to our American society by becoming citizens. Ruth, who was from Moab, was also in the human heritage of King David and Jesus Christ. Ruth said to her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi, in the book of Ruth 1:16-17 English Standard Version, ". . .“Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”"
Ruth was brave enough to escape the paganism of Moab. For other escapes, read my article "Audacious Escapes" and "Only One is All Good."
Ruth married the Jewish Boaz and lived the rest of her life in Israel. The women of Israel said to Naomi about Ruth in the book of Ruth 4:15 New Living Translation, " . . . your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons."
How much value and goodness are we missing through discriminatory practices like abortion and the process for foreigners to become citizens?
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