Chen Guangcheng Doesn't Settle For Less Than The Best, Why Should You?

God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost is a God of excellence and completion. He doesn't want us to behave halfheartedly and haphazardly toward Him or toward other people. Luke 10:27 Amplified Bible says, "And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 3 John 1:2 Complete Jewish Bible says, "Dear friend, I am praying that everything prosper with you and that you be in good health, as I know you are prospering spiritually."

Creyentes (believers) are reinas y reyes (queens and kings.) We are valuable and deserve outstanding treatment both male and female and of whatever racial, ethnic or other background. Satan wants us to think small and settle for less than God's best.

For years abolitionists and women's rights activists worked together supporting each others causes. Yet when the Fifteenth amendment was ratified in 1870 effectively extending the right to vote to African American men and other men of color, some wanted women to suck it up and shut up about their lack of a right to vote.

Abolitionists and women's rights activists like Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others said we are going to stand up and to continue to seek all that is due us. 

Christopher Yuan, who used to practice homosexual sex and is now a celibate, public speaker for Jesus Christ says that unconditional love is not unconditional acceptance of bad behavior.

Are you refusing to deal with bad behavior in a relationship? God doesn't settle for less than the best. God cares enough about us to bring His best out of us and in our relationships.

About one year ago the US and China agreed to allow Chen Guangcheng, his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children to leave China and to come to the United States. China agreed not to harass or to harm the Chen Guangcheng family still in China. In 2005 Guangcheng, a blind, self-taught lawyer, filed a class action lawsuit against local government authorities involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one child policy. He was put in jail then in house arrest in Shandong, China.

Guangcheng, Weijing, their son and their daughter are in the United States now, but Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, was arrested shortly after Guangcheng left China last spring after Chinese authorities burst into his house, and he attempted to defend himself. Chen Kegui is currently in jail and has not been taken to a hospital for treatment of acute appendicitis. Chen Kegui is married to Liu Fang. The couple have a young son, Chen Fubin. Last Thursday morning Guangcheng's brother, Chen Guangfu, was beat up by unidentified men who stopped him while he was riding his electric bike, which they destroyed. Other acts violence have been perpetrated against the Chen family since Chen Guangcheng came to America last year.

In addition to testifying before Congress on April 9, 2013, Chen Guangcheng and others have been speaking and seeking to get China to honor all of their side of the agreement that allowed Guangcheng to leave China while bringing attention to forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China's one child policy and other human rights abuses in China.

One of Guangcheng's friends is Bo Fu, founder and president of ChinaAid. They have been meeting with members of Congress. They reaped some fruit from their labors when a letter dated May 13, 2013, was sent to Secretary of State John Kerry signed by both House Speaker John Boehner and Minority leader Nancy Pelosi as well as six other senior Republican and Democratic members of Congress including Chris Smith, Frank Wolf, Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, Joseph Crowley, James McGovern and Rick Larsen.

Some of the things the letter urges US Secretary of State John Kerry to obtain are:
1) medical treatment for Chen Kegui
2) medical parole for Chen Kegui
3) a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Chen Guangcheng and Yuan Weijing
4) denial of US visas to 44 officials involved in persecuting Chen Guangcheng's family

Bad behavior can be brought around to good. God doesn't often speak to us audibly. He usually speaks to our inner person leading us to what is right. If we don't do what He says, God can use community correction. Unity can be used for good. An East African proverb says, "When minds are the same, that which is far off will come."

Pray that US Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barak Obama's administration takes the actions requested in the bi-partisan Congressional letter. Don't only pray about leaders, pray about all of your life and relationships. God enjoys a lot of communication and is very responsive. He wants the best life for us privately and publicly. 1 Tesalonicenses 5:17 Biblia Bilingue Version Reina-Valera 1960 dice, "Orad sin cesar." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Bilingual Bible New King James Version Bible says, "Pray without ceasing."

What Would You Do For Love?

A Kaonde African proverb says, "Husband and wife must be loyal to each other." Wife, Ellen Craft, and husband, William Craft, were reliable to make their relationship work with the benefits of freedom. Ellen was also so fair-skinned that she could pass for white even though she was of mixed European and African ancestry. William was of African ancestry. They were both slaves. Ellen cut her hair and posed as a white man traveling with her black slave. Traveling in this manner the married couple escaped slavery in Georgia and went to freedom in England.

True love inspires great actions. Romans 5:8 Amplified Bible says, "But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us." 1 John 4:11 Complete Jewish Bible says, "Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another."

"... In the Bible we are all considered brothers and sisters despite our race, color or nationality," wrote Pastor Saeed Abedini in a letter to his wife, Naghmeh Abedini. Pastor Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 573,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org.

Everyone can thank God for having a birthday to celebrate. God is author of  life, but not of discrimination. Acts 10:34 Amplified Bible says, "And Peter opened his mouth and said: Most certainly and thoroughly I now perceive and understand that God shows no partiality and is no respecter of persons." Please call Governor Mary Fallin at (405-521-2342) to ask her to sign into law HB 1403 The Nondiscrimination in Treatment Act of Oklahoma which protects the elderly, seriously ill and disabled by preventing medical providers from denying individuals life-saving treatment based on their quality of life.

Discrimination is deadly for the young too. Since China's one-child policy was implemented in the 1970s more than 336 million babies have been killed by abortion;that's more Chinese baby boys and baby girls have lost their lives to abortion than the combined total population of the United States of America and Australia; in America since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion 55 million babies have been killed.

When righteousness reigns, God is pleased. It's easier to receive a right relationship with God and people in free and open societies. China is not such a society.

One person trying to open up China and to eliminate forced abortions and forced sterilizations is Chen Guangcheng. Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.

Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night. His wife and daughter were living with him under house arrest. This family was prevented from meeting their wider family, including Chen Guangcheng's and Yuan Weijing's son, who lived elsewhere with an aunt.

Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."

Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong is a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?

A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.

On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.

Wherever evil exists, so do fear tactics. 2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control."

What are some ways love is winning over fear?

Hasty and Happy Don't Often Go Together

An African proverb from Kenya and Ethiopia says, "Hasty marriages bring hasty divorces."

Sometimes we can fall in love and marry a fantasy. How many people thoroughly communicate their beliefs about spirituality, sex, money and other areas of life and seek to learn these from their potential spouse and his/her family before marriage?

Many people in America have participated in sex outside of marriage. Not everyone has the same beliefs about it. Some spouses are able to receive forgiveness from God for participating in sex outside of marriage, but they don't extend that forgiveness to their spouse and distrust their spouse for some or all of their marriage. Some spouses also misinterpret uninhibited sex as a sign of sexual infidelity. Many other marital, sexual misinterpretations and mistreatment goes on.

What precisely are your expectations of marriage?

Jesus Christ says in Matthew 7:12 Complete Jewish Bible, "“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the Torah and the Prophets."

Don't you want someone to understand and appreciate the real you? Wouldn't spouses, family and friends want likewise? Communication and compassion are critical.

While we can share a relationship with God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost with whosoever, whosoever cannot be in our circle of intimacy.

Proverbs 18:22 Amplified Bible says, "He who finds a [true] wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." A true wife wants a true husband. A good marriage is the fellowship of two spiritually mature Christians who are continuously cooperating with God to change into His likeness.

Many people receive Christ, but refuse to grow in their relationship with Christ, themselves and other people. The Bible gives us the blueprint for living after having received a relationship with God the Father, God the Son and Messiah Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. Joshua 1:8 Amplified Bible says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Some people want to succeed in their relationships and other areas of life, but they are not willing to do what it takes to succeed. Love includes discipline. Brian Tracy writes in his book No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success, "One of the most important requirements for success, once you have decided what it is that you want, is the quality of willingness. Successful people are willing to pay the price, whatever it is and for as long as it takes, until they achieve the results they desire. Everyone wants to be successful . . . . But most people are not willing to pay the price. Occasionally, they may be wiling to pay part of the price, but they are not willing to pay the whole price. They always hold back. They always have some excuse or rationalization for not disciplining themselves to do everything that they need to do to achieve their goals."

Many of the qualities we seek in a spouse are desirable for friends too. He Peirong is not married to Chen Guangcheng; they are friends and human rights activists. He Peirong was not one of Chen Guangcheng's first followers, but later she became a key member of a group of activists who organize support for Guangcheng in China.

Standing up for human rights in China is a threat to one's own life and the lives of one's family and friends because China is not a free and open society. Making these decisions should not be done lightly neither should the decision to marry someone be made lightly.

Chen Guangcheng is the husband of Yuan Weijing and the father of a girl and a boy. He became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy.

Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, access to the Internet blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.

Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."

Guangcheng, who became blind as a result of a childhood illness and now wears dark sunglasses, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012. He Peirong drove Guangcheng to the US embassy in Beijing. Were they traveling in a Corolla, the best-selling car of all time produced by the Japanese company Toyota?

A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who also helped the disabled win public benefits and aided farmers fighting illegal land seizures, lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and their two children.

On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.

"Abre tu boca por el mudo en el juicio de todos los desvalidos," dice Proverbios 31:8 Biblia Bilingue Version Reina-Valera 1960. Proverbs 31:8 Bilingual Bible New King James Version says, "Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die."

Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini was setting up an orphanage and Christian house churches in Iran when Iranian authorities put him under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for threatening Iran's national security. The US State Department, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union have all called for Pastor Saeed Abedini's release, and over 572,000 people worldwide from over 180 countries have signed a petition lending him support. A campaign to write letters to him for his May 7th birthday and to sign the petition is being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org. In a February 18, 2013, letter to his wife, Pastor Abedini wrote about physical and psychological abuse inflicted on him to compel him to deny his faith in Jesus Christ. He also wrote of plans to persevere in his relationship with God and to share it with others: "There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ."

Sometimes our relationships are difficult because we made wrong choices to enter certain relationships and/or wrong choices within the relationship. Other times our relationships are difficult because we are growing spiritually and are being attacked by the kingdom of darkness. No matter the reason for relationship difficulties, a beautiful hymn to sing that Abolitionist and Women's Rights Activist Sojourner Truth sang is:

"In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
In my trials -- Lord walk with me.
When my heart is almost breaking
Lord walk with me . . . "

Awaking a Sleeping Giant

Frederick Douglass started out as a slave named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. When he was hired out by his slave master to work in a Baltimore, Maryland, shipyard, he met a free-born, African-American woman named Anna Murray. Bailey and Murray fell in love.

Galatians 5:13-14 Complete Jewish Bible says, "For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”"

Murray used her freedom and finances to help Bailey get his freedom. Using money that Murray gave Bailey and another friend's borrowed identification papers, Bailey escaped from slavery in Maryland to New York, which was considered the "grand station" of the Underground Railroad. In New York Bailey met from African-American Abolitionist and Author David Ruggles.

Later Murray left Maryland too. She met Bailey in New York.

Reverend James W.C. Pennington, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York, was born a slave in Maryland who later escaped to New York. Pennington earned a doctorate of divinity from Heidelberg University in Germany and had the honor of marrying Frederick Bailey and Anna Murray. 

Together the married couple left for Massachusetts where Bailey changed his name to Douglass to escape slave hunters. In Massachusetts Douglass met William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist and newspaper publisher of The Liberator, and began his own career as an abolitionist. Douglass became a speaker, writer and activist. He wrote books and published his own newspaper called North Star, which is also the name of a newspaper I wrote for and edited in high school and the name of the star runaway slaves used while traveling the Underground Railroad to freedom.

Douglass' North Star's motto is "Right is of no sex--Truth is of no color--God is the Father of us all, and all we are brethren."

Douglass spent his youth in slavery and forced silence about slavery's evils. As an adult he spoke. A Dutch proverb says, "Sooner or later, the truth comes to light." 

Like Douglass' slave authorities tried to keep him submissive and silent, Chinese authorities tried to keep Chen Guangcheng submissive and silent. Guangcheng became internationally known for filing a 2005 law suit against a local government for forced abortions and forced sterilizations practiced as part of China’s one-child policy. Guangcheng's lawsuit was rejected, and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong, China, with guards surrounding his house, his cell phone service cut off, Internet access blocked and bright lights shinning on his house at night.

Tejas is the name the Spanish gave to the area that became the US state of Texas. The Spanish chose the name based on a Native American word for "friend."

Guangcheng, a self-taught lawyer who wears dark sunglasses because he is blind, had friends help him to escape from house arrest in April 2012 and to enter the US embassy in Beijing. A deal was worked out between China and the United States; now Guangcheng lives in New York with his wife, Yuan Weijing, and two children.

On April 9, 2013, he testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee On Foreign Affairs about his family's and other people's persecution in China and other ongoing human rights abuses in China. Guangcheng gave Congress a list of 130,000 Chinese officials involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.

Since China's one-child policy was implemented in the 1970s more than 336 million babies have been killed by abortion; that's more Chinese baby boys and baby girls have lost their lives to abortion than the combined total population of the United States of America and Australia. In America since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion 55 million American babies have been killed. 

Guangcheng's house arrest in Shandong, China, meant that he could not leave his house and people couldn't come to him. During this time Actor Christian Bale tried to visit the activist to publicize his plight, but was prohibited by plain clothes Chinese security.

Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times with others attempted to visit Guangcheng when he was under house arrest. Jacobs was met by a man who swatted at his car with a broom and called for back up who detained Jacobs. The security back up took the reporters' camera and deleted their images. When Jacobs was driving out of town, he was followed by a car with the license plate covered over by paper.

Guangcheng's nephew, Chen Kegui, has been in jail after using knives to fend off local officials who burst into Kegui's home after Guangcheng's escape.

Chen Guangcheng said, "Recently, many friends and neighbors who I have been in touch with by phone have been taken into custody by the authorities for questioning. They have been threatened and made to describe what our conversations have been about," (January 29, 2013, Reuters article entitled "Blind dissident urges global pressure on China over rights" by Paul Eckert.)

When asked about having regrets on speaking out about forced abortions and forced sterilizations in China, Guangcheng told Anderson Cooper of CNN through a translator, "I have no regrets."

During an April 8, 2013, George W. Bush Institute interview Guangcheng recommended that Americans listen to various Chinese media to learn the ways that freedom of speech, the right to vote and the right to protest are missing in China and human rights violations are being committed.

A Persian proverb says, "Opportunity should be grabbed."

Chen recommended that once people are informed about the situation in China they can show support for life, freedom and human rights by wearing dark sunglasses like he wears, blogging or something else according to ability.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese forces that bombed Pearl Harbor bringing World War II to America, says about the attack, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" (Japan Enchantment of the World.)

What are some ways to stand up for life, love and liberty?

Keep Out?

Solomon, preacher, poet and king, wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9 Complete Jewish Bible, "What has been is what will be, what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun."

Comedian Dave Chappelle, a nonbeliever in God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost, recently made a Solomon-like observation. "Remarking on the feat of building the Great Wall of China, he marveled, tongue in cheek, "I didn't know they had Mexicans" (The New York Times, April 2, 2013, "Comedian And Jokes Return, Tweaked.") Efforts to keep out foreigners, war and poverty are continual themes in human history.

Defense is necessary. So are major peace offensives.

John Maxwell, author, speaker, entrepreneur, has a daily email, A Minute with Maxwell, with a thought word for the day. Today's thought word is "maximizer."

Fe (faith) comes by hearing. Let's maximize the numbers of people who hear about God and enter into relationships with Dios (God) and creyentes (believers).

Of course some people will not receive Jesus Christ. Some also will not form close relationships with us. An Egyptian saying for a person who is unsuccessful at becoming intimate with another person is, "A thousand raps at the door, but no salute or invitation from within."

The Apostle Paul teaches us to examine ourselves to see our spiritual state; we may find that we have some barriers to forming good relationships that need to be broken. Paul also encourages us to go out of our way to relate well, not in a way that violates Biblical principles but rather shows Biblical principles lived beautifully. 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 the Message Bible says, "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!"

Please share some major peace offensives.

Strong Feet

Abraham Lincoln said, "I do not like that man. I must get to know him better." Creyentes (believers) are here to connect with people, enemies included, to introduce them to God and to encourage a growing relationship with Him. Growing in God includes growing in human relationships.

Ephesians 6:15 Amplified Bible says, "And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace."

All creyentes (believers) have their feet shod in peace to move into relationships and to develop them. Having something is not the same as using it effectively.

Jan Ernst Matzeliger's mom was a black woman from Suriname, South America, and his father was a Dutch person from Holland. Matzeliger eventually left South America and came to the United States of America. After 1877 as he worked in a shoe manufacturing company, he noticed that production was slow because workers had to attach the bottom of shoes to the top by hand. Only 50 shoes could be made by hand daily. So Matzeliger invented a machine to increase production. Matzeliger was a man who clearly had a good mission in life, but many rejected him because of his race.

A Chinese proverb says, "Climbing a tree to seek for fish;" it means "attempting to do the impossible." Embracing people who are different may seem impossible. We may not like the personality, physical characteristics and/or something else about a co-worker, boss, spouse, child, family member, acquaintance or someone else. Our ultimate enemy and adversary, Satan, wants us to believe the lie that it's impossible to form a godly relationship with people, especially people we may not initially like. Satan also speaks various lies to us designed to destroy relationships.

Matzeliger developed more than one machine before he got a patent for the "Lasting Machine" that could rapidly stitch the leather of shoes to their soles. Matzeliger's machine turned out 150 to 700 shoes daily.

God has given creyentes feet with the Gospel of peace, so we can live out things like Acts 10:34 New Living Translation Bible which says, "Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism." God's goodness is for whoever will receive Him.

Anytime is the right time to talk to God. When we find we know the Bible, but we cannot use our feet effectively or any part of the Bible, ask God for the strength to do it.

Where are some amazing places God has strengthened your feet to go?

El Fuego (The Fire)

A long time before we receive God in relationship, He has been talking to us, but we have given God the cold shoulder.

Saul was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee. Yet Saul was cold to Dios (God). Saul did not have a relationship with God and wasn't doing anything according to the will of God. So God put some friction into Saul's life. Romans 9:4-6 Amplified Bible says, "And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]? And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance]. Trembling and astonished he asked, Lord, what do You desire me to do? The Lord said to him, But arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

The Chinese invented matches. God is both the match and the flame who creates friction in our lives, so that we catch on Fire. John 6:44 Amplified Bible says, "No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day."

George Washington Carver was an African-American slave who became a leading American educator and agricultural scientist. How did he do it? God put Carver on Fire.

Truly good thoughts and deeds are fueled by God. Is your fuego (fire) from God or someone else?

Beautiful Butts

More than 1.3 billion people live in China, the world's most populous nation. Most belong to the Han ethnic group. The rest belong to more than 50 ethnic groups. Likewise a variety of sexual practices exists.

A firm, full butt may inspire a spouse to squeeze and to kiss it. Some husbands and wives may also enjoy licking between the butt cheeks, inserting their tongue or finger into their spouses butt hole, using anal toys and/or anal intercourse.

Not all spouses enjoy the sexuality of the butt. Just because a husband or wife does not want to participate in a certain sexual activity does not mean he or she is sexually repressed or rejecting his or her spouse. Don't try to force a spouse to participate in sexual activity that is contrary to his or her faith. Romans 14:23 Amplified Bible says, "But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]."

Exalta a la roca de nuestra salvación. Charla con Jesús. (Exalt the rock of our salvation. Chat with Jesus.) Ask God to change your spouse's mind about certain sexual practices.

Even when having spousal sex arguments, "You can have peace in the middle of a storm when you know joy is coming in the morning time" (song "God's Up To Something Good" from the album Next Now by Hart Ramsey & The NCC Family Choir featuring John P. Kee and Ms. Ty Scott.)

Conflict can be creative. Patricia Bath, MD, pioneered the worldwide discipline of community ophthalmology, a volunteer-based program to bring necessary eye care to under served populations, co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness and secured four patents in the United States. Many of Bath's accomplishments came out of conflict.

What joy and accomplishment has come from sexual conflict?

May your marriage have jiu (long life.)

Have You Tried Chinese Pillow Books?

A Mali proverbs says, "If you want sex while traveling, travel with your wife." Spicy sex is for spouses. Proverbs 5:18-19 Amplified Bible says, "Let your fountain [of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant doe [tender, gentle, attractive]—let her bosom satisfy you at all times, and always be transported with delight in her love."

When a spouse has to travel solo, send him or her off with lots of love and some of your custom-made, Chinese pillow books. Some spouses like to create scrapbooks. Why not expand into creating your own Chinese pillow book? Chinese pillow books are small, sex-instruction manuals, each on a specific topic with illustrations. You can include erotic poems written by you or someone else, pressed flowers, cards, mementos, clippings from magazines and/or books with your notes, prose of your own on special paper and whatever you and your spouse enjoy. Books can be titled Touch Me Like This, Play Time, Hot Dates, Beautiful Butts, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Intercourse Positions or something in a code known only to each other.

Sex is good. Sex is created by God. Sometimes people abuse or fail to appreciate God's creative work. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Amplified Bible says, "But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast."

Hermes Alberto Carvajal writes in his blog Palabras Que Fortalecen Words That Give Strength in his article "5 cosas que crean conflictos entre hombres y mujeres," "Los hombres odian que invadan su espacio." Women generally like to talk more than men. However, husbands hopefully will not feel that their space is invaded by wives who prepare a lot of Chinese pillow books for their husbands and practice the advice frequently.

Getting In The Mood

"Leaders have to keep learning. It's the learning that keeps us fresh," says Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur John Maxwell in his A Minute With Maxwell daily email entitled "Fresh." The same can be said for spouses who want to keep their marriages fresh. Learning excites the brain. Excitement can spark sexual desire.

Proverbs 18:15 Amplified Bible says, "The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge."

We are all born with certain physical characteristics that can be changed a little. The amount of knowledge we acquire can be changed dramatically. Acquiring and applying useful sexual knowledge can have an adhesive quality. King Edward gave up the English throne for an American divorcee who was not attractive but who was said to be skillful sexually.

Sex matters. Sex doesn't have to be sinful. God celebrates sex. Génesis 2:24-25 Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy dice, "Por tanto el hombre dejará a su padre y a su madre y se unirá a su mujer, y serán una sola carne. Ambos estaban desnudos, el hombre y su mujer, pero no se avergonzaban." Genesis 2:24-25 English Standard Version Bible says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."

Good sex inspires poetry. An ancient Egyptian man wrote to his loved one:
"When I embrace her,
And her arms open wide,
I feel like a man in Spiceland,
Who is overwhelmed with perfume.

Then I kiss her;
And she opens her lips.
Without a taste of beer,
I am intoxicated."

Some spouses have trouble opening their mouths much less other parts of their bodies to sexual relations. Sexless marriage is a sin. To stop sinning, we need to ask God to cause us to overcome ourselves. Watchman Nee writes in his book Sit Walk Stand The Process of Christian Maturity, "God never asks us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by His grace, we are living it and doing it. The life we live is the life of Christ lived in the power of God, and the work we do is the work of Christ carried on through us by His Spirit whom we obey. Self is the only obstruction to that life and to that work. May we each one pray from our hearts, "O Lord, deal with me!"

When God empowers us, instead of being irritated, disappointed, hurt, etc., by our spouses, we can find a way to like and to love them, and even to enjoy pleasuring their G-Spot and other places sensitive to touch.

What are some places sensitive to sexual touch?

Even if you have been married 40 years or more, you don't know everything about your spouse. What sexual questions haven't you asked? Ask them!

Keep the Conversation Going

As believers have you asked yourself, "Am I talking with God about the things I should?" God doesn't want us to become so guarded in our conversation with Him that we are uncomfortable and unable to discuss everything respectfully. We can relax because God has already compensated for our conversations that go astray. Romans 8:26-27 Amplified Bible says, "So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God’s will."

Even if we are on the wrong subjects God is always on the right subject. And not only that if we are pursuing Him, He will make sure we become increasingly like Him. God is for us. He wants goodness for us.

Satan, our enemy, however, likes to accuse us of doing things wrong. God does correct us. He doesn't condemn us.

A Nigerian proverb says, "One should keep one's eyes on one's destination, not on where one stumbled." For believers our destination is to grow in relationship with God.

Reject condemnation. Keep on talking and cooperating with God.

Love Without Limit

"I absolutely love, love my life. Every year seems to get better for me," said International Bible Teacher Francis Chan in a speech at Liberty University encouraging believers to cultivate an intimate relationship with God that they share with both believers and non-believers in their every day, ordinary lives.

Chan's message is in agreement with Gospel Singer Kim Burrell's song "Sweeter." Burrell sings, "Every day is sweeter, sweeter than the day before, learning how to love you more . . . . The more I get to know ya', know ya', find out that you're so good for me . . . . You're good on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday . . . . Every day makes me want to add another day to my week cause you're so sweet.

God's sweet is too good to keep to ourselves. 1 Juan 3:16 Dios Habla Hoy Biblia dice, "Conocemos lo que es el amor porque Jesucristo dio su vida por nosotros; así también, nosotros debemos dar la vida por nuestros hermanos." 1 John 3:16 Contemporary English Version Bible says, "We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other."

Some people falsely think that love has a limit. When Hollywood Actor Lauren Bacall discovered she was pregnant, she excitedly told her husband, Hollywood Actor, Humphrey Bogart. Bogart cried. "What's wrong?," she inquired. Bogart responded, "I'm happy, but I'm also very sad." Bogart said his joy was mixed with sadness, "Because once you have a child, I'll never be as important to you as I am now."

While some spouses do neglect their spouses when children are added to the family, God didn't design His love inside of believers to express itself this way. Marital love takes priority over parental love while simultaneously, extravagantly loving spouse and children.

Our children are important, but we don't cleave to them. One day they will form families of their own or branch out into single adulthood. Genesis 2:24-25 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not embarrassed or ashamed in each other’s presence." Genesis 2:23-25 the Message Bible says, "The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone,flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.”Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh. The two of them, the Man and his Wife, were naked, but they felt no shame."

Sometimes we close our hearts when God wants to increase our capacity to love Him, ourselves and other people. In addition to developing vibrant relationships with our children, having children is supposed to increase the love between husband and wife. Godly love is a multiplier. Division is of the devil.

Jesus Christ is not arrogant, but He is certainly confident. When Christ added apostles and other disciples to His life, Christ was not diminished as a person, neither were His original relationships diminished by adding new ones.

God seeks to make us like Him. We have corrupt ideas about companionship. Reading, studying, meditating on God's Word, the Bible, and talking to God about His Bible is a primary way that God teaches us to love Him, ourselves and other people. Second Corinthians 3:16-18 the Message Bible says, "Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him."

We want to be loved by the people we share a relationship, and we will often say and do things to indicate how we want to be loved. Some times our loved ones miss the message. An Egyptian saying for this type of miscommunication is, "A thousand raps at the door, but no salute or invitation from within."

Sometimes we miss the plea for love because we expect other people to be like us. Yet no two people, even twins and other multiples, are the same. Like we study God in the Bible, and talk to Him about what He has to say, we have to study people and talk with them about what they have to say. Then empowered by the Holy Ghost, give love the way it can be received.

Embrace Disability. Reject Abortion.

Jennifer McKenna Morbelli, a 29-year-old woman 33 weeks pregnant entered the Germantown Reproductive Health Center in Germantown, Maryland, on February 3, 2013. LeRoy Carhart peformed a multi-day abortion procedure where the goal was to induce labor and deliver a dead baby. Instead by February 7 both Jennifer Morbelli and her daughter, Madison Leigh, were dead.

Morbelli, a full-time substitute teacher at the Church Street School in White Plains, New York, may have sought the late-term abortion due to a medical condition of her daughter. Dan Morse in his February 11, 2013, Washington Post article, "Antiabortion activists blame Germantown clinic for woman’s death," writes, "The family of the dead woman, preparing to bury her this week, could not be reached for comment.  An online gift registry linked to her and her husband indicated that her pregnancy had been wanted.

In Maryland, late-term abortions — those that occur when the fetus is developed enough to survive — are legal when the life or the health of the mother is at stake or when the baby develops a fetal abnormality."

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:9 Amplified Bible, "Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the [very] sentence of death, but that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of on God Who raises the dead."

Learning that we have a disabled child to raise may feel like a sentence of death to some.

Did Morbelli have people around her telling her regularly that anything can be overcome?

No matter who we are we need to regularly hear words of encouragement and edification. Proverbs 18:21 the Message Bible says, "Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose." What we say and do comes from what we think which is influenced by what we are hearing.

We need to hear that God still does miracles, and He wants us to ask Him for them. Miracles come in different manners.

Sometimes God can work through fetal surgery to fix a problem. Most ectopic pregnancies occur when new human life grows in mom's too-small fallopian tubes instead of her uterus/womb creating a life-threatening situation for mom and child. Two percent of ectopic pregnancies occur outside the fallopian tubes. Jayne Jones could have had a life-of-the-mother abortion since, her son, Billy, was growing outside her uterus threatening both his and her lives, but she choose to continue her pregnancy. At this time science is not usually sophisticated enough to preserve both the life of the mother and child when an ectopic pregnancy occurs. But Jayne and Billy's story has a happy outcome. Billy was born through a special surgery called a laparotomy on April 19, 2008, weighing 2lb 2oz and breathing on his own at 28 weeks gestation.

We also need to hear that sometimes people make mistakes, and we need to ask God for knowledge, understanding and wisdom. A child diagnosed inside the womb with a medical problem can be born without a medical problem due to a wrong diagnosis.

We also need to hear that a child diagnosed in the womb with a medical problem can be prayed for, and God will supernaturally heal the child.

We also need to hear that sometimes it is God's will for a child to live with a disability.

God meant for us to have an enjoyable life with or without having a disability. In John 10:10 Amplified Bible Jesus Christ says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

A Chinese proverb says, "To plug the ears while stealing the bell;" it means "to deceive oneself." We are deceived if we think we can have an enjoyable life without the energy of the Holy Spirit. God's idea of joy does not mean that we will not experience pain. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." Romans 5:3-5 Amplified Bible says, "Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] [joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us."

With a disability and without a disability there are some days and even some years where we just rather not deal with them and/or are not sure where it all is going to end up. But the good thing about being one of God's people is that nothing that happens is without purpose. The Apostle Paul writes about God the Son Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:16-17 Amplified Bible, "For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together)."

God created people with disabilities and abilities to live and not to be killed by abortion, infanticide, suicide or any other deadly scheme to handle problems. 

God wants to spend now and eternity with us. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."

God want us to ask to receive a now and eternal relationship with Him. John 1:12 Amplified Bible says, "But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name."

"I like you very much just as you are," says Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) to Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) when she lists her faults to him in the romantic comedy Bridget Jones's Diary. God would like for us to do like Bridget, and He'll respond like Mark. We don't have to get ourselves together before seeking a relationship with God. God considers all our faults (sins) forgiven and forgotten because of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God accepts us as we are, and He wants us to keep on getting better empowered by His Spirit. God is God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit (1 X 1 X 1 = 1). The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Amplified Bible, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit."

Sexual Silence No More

"A lie cannot live," said Christian Minister and Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Many women actually enjoy sex, but not sex stripped down to physicality without spiritually and mentality. Sexuality is a relationship. Even masturbation is not isolation; God is present and participating. Dialogue is abrir la puerta (opening the door) to the best relationships. Proverbs 31:26 Amplified Bible says, "She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]."

Relationships don't contain identical people, and God made us different on purpose. Compare the mindsets of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles.

Be who you are, and let Jesus Christ keep on making you better. I'm not called to tone it down, but rather to take it up to a heavenly level. What are your thoughts on a Biblical, global, sexual revolution? God created sex and sexuality. What God creates is good, very good.

God designed sex for oneness with Himself, a husband and a wife. Out of this union God sometimes wills for children to be conceived. What God wills, He means to live and not be killed by abortion. While more than one million babies lose their life to abortion in America annually, some survive abortion. Gospel singer Fred Hammond is an abortion survivor. Read my article, "Thoughts About Abortion," for more on his story.

God designed sexuality for singles too, but not in the context of partner sex. What are your thoughts on single sexuality?

Hammond sings about Jesus Christ protecting him and his family in his song, "Jesus Be A Fence Around Me." All of us need God's protection. Satan hates when the Christian Church talks openly, accurately and lovingly about sex and sexuality. Pray for the truth bearers. Satan wants America and the globe to preach and practice promiscuity and portray Biblical sex and sexuality as boring and bondage.

But God built us with an appreciation for pleasure. God is for pleasure. David says about God in Psalm 16:11 Amplified Bible, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore."

What are some passionate, provocative and pure ways to celebrate Biblical sex and sexuality?

Some believe the truth about sex and sexuality has to be covered up and certainly not discussed by certain people like singles and/or women. Some also believe that sexuality talk should be limited to the night instead of at any time. Some also believe that sexuality conversation is only for married people. But God makes the Bible available to whosoever will read it!

Climbing a tree to seek for fish is a Chinese proverb that means attempting to do the impossible. China is the world's most populous nation with more than 1.3 billion people. What are some Chinese sayings about good sex and sexuality? What are some other good sayings about sex and sexuality? 

What are your favorite books or other media about sex and sexuality? Henry David Thoreau says, "A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting."

Reading multiple translations of the Bible can help guard against the sterility of stiffness. Some have a tendency to get stuck in certain wrong mindsets. By looking at Scriptures in multiple ways, God will reveal new insights. What translations of the Bible do you study regularly?

The Apostle Paul was a single man who wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:3 New Living Translation, "The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs." How delicious to feast on marital sex for seven or more days. After a fast, does the ecstasy increase? A French saying about sex is, L'Appétit vient en mangeant. (The more you get the more you want.)

Some say that they get tired of marital sex. This doesn't sound true to me in the long-term. I enjoy both cooking and eating out at restaurants. There are times when I feel I can't get enough. Is any Christian feasting on marital sex multiple times daily?

Did your children accidentally or on purpose walk into where you were making love? How did you handle that? Do you think your response was Biblical?

Training our children can be progressive learning for our children and for us. A Japanese proverb says, “Fall down seven times, get up eight times.”

Happier marriages and happier singles would do a wonder for the reduction of HIV, abortion, divorce, promiscuity, infidelity and other evils globally.

Some say we should not discuss sexual positions publicly because they are not in the Bible. Read Song of Solomon and consider John 20:30-31 Contemporary English Version Bible which says, "Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life."

It is curious that what may be the most practiced sexual position, the missionary or man-on-top, is named after spiritual/religious people. What is the history on the missionary sexual position?

Divorced = Eliminated from the Race?

Thank God for Hazel Scott. Before Oprah there was Hazel. Hazel was the first African-American woman to host her own nationally syndicated television show in musical format.

In a time when most television hosts were men, The Hazel Scott Show aired on July 3, 1950.

Sometimes people do not notice a mistake, or they are afraid to point out a mistake. The general manager of the mint in Chile was fired in February 2010 after thousands of 50-peso coins were discovered with the name of the country spelled Chiie instead of Chile. The coins had been in circulation for two years before the error was reported.

Sometimes people create situations. Scott was eventually accused of being a Communist or Communist sympathizer, her contract was not renewed and the show was canceled in September 1950.
　
Multi-talented Scott played piano, trumpet and saxophone professionally. She sang and acted on Broadway and in film, arranged songs, wrote songs and didn't let racism or sexism stop her from working the dynamic range of her talents and serving as a Civil Rights activist.

Scott was born June 11, 1920, in Port au Spain, Trinidad. As a toddler she began to play piano. When she was a tween in 1932 her father, R. Thomas Scott, died.

Scott and her mother, Alma Long Scott, toured together. The younger Scott made her first appearance at Carnegie Hall, playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23.

Scott was playing regular nightclub gigs by age 15, started her own radio show the following year and performed in her first Broadway revue when she was 18. Read my article, "Youth Uprising," for more on talented youth. Please leave an on-line comment about talented youth and/or African-Americans.

Life was not perfect. Later in life, Scott attempted suicide twice. Please leave an on-line comment about Satan trying to take out someone successful who bounced back.

In 1945 in Connecticut Scott, a Catholic, married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a Baptist minister and U.S. Congressman, who was the first person from New York of African American descent to be elected to Congress and became a powerful and prominent national politician. The couple had one child, Adam Clayton Powell III, who is the first black to direct a major national radio news network, National Public Radio.

Scott and Powell Jr. divorced in 1960 after a separation. I don't know why they divorced. Bishop T.D. Jakes says in his sermon, Love Story, "Marriage does not work until a man dies. There's a wild nature in him that has to die, and every now and then it kicks up. And you got to kill it again. And if you don't kill it, it will destroy what you got." Jakes goes on to say in Love Story, "Christ gave Himself. Let the men say, 'Give it up.'" International Christian Minister Ravi Zacharias says about a husband and wife, "The Bible tells us to mutually submit to one another." International Christian Minister Joyce Meyer says in her sermon, Hindrances to a Good Marriage, that her ministry did a questionnaire and the number one and two reasons the respondents reported for trouble in marriage are:

1) lack of communication/not knowing how to communicate
2) selfishness/pride.

Dr. Derek Grier says in his Ministry Minute "Strong Marriage," "We really have no idea how selfish and how self-centered we are until we commit to spend the rest of our lives loving and making decisions with another person."

Please leave an on-line comment about the causes for trouble in marriage and/or divorce.

Scott did not succumb to a pessimistic view of life: "All good things must come to an end;" "If it is not one thing, it's another;" "This is as good as it gets." Cavett Robert says, "If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one." After her divorce Scott went to Paris, France.

Learn to relate well, so that you can date and mate well.

Scott married Ezio Bedin, a comedian, on January 19, 1961.
　
Scott opened the door for African Americans in the arts. Today America and the world is filled with the talents of African-American entertainers who dared to try something different using the talents God gave them.
　
God made it so that no two snowflakes are the same. Likewise even though today more than 7 billion people live on planet earth, God made it so that no two people are alike. Even twins have different fingerprints and odor prints! By swabbing the scene of a crime, investigators can compare  the scent samples taken from suspects with those taken at the scene of a crime.
　
God likes diversity displayed in daily living. Dr. Cindy Trim says,"Revelation without application is frustration." Let your unique light shine according to Matthew 5:14-16 New Living Translation Bible which says, "You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."

Please share an on-line comment reporting good deeds. 

Rejection

In the pursuit of finding a spouse, many people will not be selected. Some may remain friends, others will not. Some people have problems processing rejection properly.

God calls believers to give and receive rejection with elegance and esteem. Romans 12:18 New Living Translation Bible says, "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone."

It's a lesson Majid Movahedi needs to learn. In 2008 the Iranian Supreme Court convicted Movahedi of throwing a bucket of acid on the face of Ameneh Bahrami. The court sentenced him to jail, to be blinded and to economic compensation to Bahrami.

Bahrami rejected Movahedi's romantic advances for two years. Movahedi just couldn't accept "no." So Movahedi blinded Bahrami and disfigured her face with the acid.

Sometimes we have to accept a "no" to love ourselves and to love someone else. True love learns to manage negative emotions and to tap into the self-control of the God the Holy Ghost to manage emotions effectively. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:14 English Standard Version Bible, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

View rejection as God redirecting and preparing you to possess something better. With more than seven billion people living on planet earth, a good possibility exists that another person is available to say "yes" to our romantic pursuits. Comedian Carl Reiner says in the Huffington Post newspaper article, "Carl Reiner -- The Art Of Being Funny," on February 1, 2013, about his wife of 64 years, Estelle, who had one of the most famous movie lines when she said, "I'll have what she's having," in response to the simulated-deli-orgasm scene with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal directed by Carl's and Estelle's son, Rob Reiner, in the movie, When Harry Met Sally, "My wife . . . said, "Marry someone who can stand you." And that's absolutely true! There are many, many reasons to break up but if you can stand the worst of what they do, why break up? (Laughs) You're only going to get someone who will annoy you in another way so whatever little annoyances there are, you can stand that. We were able to stand each other very, very well."

While Bahrami does not know Jesus Christ, she has accepted that forgiveness is better than an eye for an eye. She asked that Movahedi's blinding be stopped and that only economic compensation be pursued for the more than one dozen surgeries she has undergone.

Acid attacks like Movahedi's of Bahrami happen mostly to women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda, Liberia, Afghanistan, Iran, the United Kingdom, Columbia and the United States. IoL News reported on January 23, 2013, that Bogota Columbia Councilwoman Olga Victoria Rubio says that acid attacks happen because men want to punish women for their beauty; they use the acid attack to fulfill their desire to isolate women. Rubio says that so far 55 cases of acid attacks have been uncovered in Bogota, Columbia, but she thinks this is just scratching the surface of the problem.

Acid attacks are not always well known, but romantic rejection is. Romantic rejection happens almost everywhere.

Yet one person will never reject us. He will help us to properly process rejection. David writes about God in Psalm 27:10 New Living Translation Bible, "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close."

God holds believers close and never lets them go. John 17:3 Amplified Bible says, "And this is eternal life [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed one, the Messiah), Whom You have sent."

Hold God close. He will be our forever friend and lead us to other friends. He will also led us to a spouse if that is His will for us. Psalm 73:24 New Living Translation Bible says, "You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny."

Please leave an on-line comment sharing stories of rejection turned into finding true love.

Woo 'Em

God loves to woo us and others constantly. The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life study in 230 countries as reported in the January 8, 2013, issue of the newspaper USA Today found that Christians make up 32 percent of the world's religions followed by 23 percent of Muslims, 16 percent of unaffiliated, 15 percent of Hindus, seven percent of Buddhists and another seven percent of Jews and other faiths.

God and believers have been loving and living Matthew 28:18-20 Amplified Bible which says, "Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be)."

Pastor and author Francis Chan says about making disciples in his article "A Time to Make Disciples" in the January/February 2013 issue of Relevant Magazine, "Realistically, the task will require a life-time of devotion to studying the Scriptures and investing in people around us. Neither of these things is easy, nor can they be checked off a list. We are never really "done." We continually devote ourselves to studying the Scriptures so that we can learn with ever-greater depth and clarity what God wants us to know, practice and pass on. We continually invest in the people around us, teaching them and walking with them through life's joys and trials."

Making disciples is starting and stretching relationships by investing in people qualities like the love and the truth of God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:15 Amplified Bible says, "Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

What a tall order! Don't feel up to it? No worries mate. God's got your back. Philippians 2:13 Amplified Bible says, "[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight." God lives inside of believers, and He passionately desires and is able to love people through us the way they need to be loved. Trust God. Don't listen to the terror tactics of Satan trying to convince us love doesn't work or is too much trouble.

Today we have so many ways to communicate love, truth and the other goodness of God not only in person but also through cellular telephones, email, Skype, instant messages, text, mail and other modes of communication. Be creative and consistent in cultivating loving communication. It's impressive that Christianity is the world's number one religion, but still billions are not lovers of Christ and the billions who are lovers of Christ need to be nurtured to new levels of overflowing with the character of God for all eternity.

An eternity doesn't mean that God has called us to love beyond our limits. Sometimes we need to say "no" to say "yes" to the best disciplining. Our first relationship is with God, then our spouse and ourselves, then our children, then other family and then others. If you talk to God and find that a business colleague has priority over God, spouse or family, ask God for forgiveness and transformation. God is willing, able and faithful to fix it.

Some of us don't like differences and change and tend to just develop relationships with family not wanting to do anything like African-American Jarena Lee who in the 19century in one year traveled 2,325 miles on foot to preach 127 sermons. She also became the first woman approved to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church which is the first black-controlled Christian denomination in the United States of America. Neither Lee nor Jesus limited themselves to biological relationships, so neither should we. Imitate God. Stretch out. Ask God to prune out criticism and judgement from your heart. Someone beautiful is waiting to be shared. Embrace a diversity of people instead of noxious, needless, negativity. Cooperate with God to lose the "No es posible" attitude. Romans 15:7 Amplified Bible says, "Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God."

Biblical disciplining contains much common sense that can be corroborated in scientific research. Proverbs 25:2 the Message Bible says, "God delights in concealing things; scientists delight in discovering things." John Gottman, Ph.D., has a Love Lab at the University of Washington where he conducts counseling and research on couples. Dr. Gottman writes in his book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work that friendship between partners is critical. Friendship is desirable in marriage and other disciplining efforts. All relationships are disciplining opportunities.

Ask God today to cause you to not act distant and difficult but rather overflowing with the love of God and all the goodness of God that lays the foundation for new love and nurtures old love. A new friend/disciple and an old one will appreciate and thank you for eternity.

The Love of Her Life

When you are in love you have to talk about your loved one (if you can talk) and communicate in multiple ways with him or her frequently. Luke 2:38 Amplified Bible says, "And she too came up at that same hour, and she returned thanks to God and talked of [Jesus] to all who were looking for the redemption (deliverance) of Jerusalem."

The prophetess Ann was ecstatic about God. She was a widow for 84 years, and night and day she spent her time in the temple communicating with God. She couldn't get enough of Him.

God likes passionate lovers. He wants us to seek Him out with abundant energy, perpetually excited to find out every possible detail about Him. Ephesians 5:10 Amplified Bible says, "And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]."

Working in a church building full-time is not necessarily indicative of a red-hot love affair with God. God wants fiery, sizzling love with all believers. How could we not be turned on by Him, the one who is three in one (God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit)? And if that weren't enough to explore Revelation 1:4 Amplified Bible says, "John to the seven assemblies (churches) that are in Asia: May grace (God’s unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace (the peace of Christ’s kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits [the sevenfold Holy Spirit] before His throne."

Praying and fasting can be intimate. While God knows everything about us He still wants us to voluntarily share ourselves with Him. We don't have to hide anything from God. How freeing and fantastic to be in a relationship with someone who totally understands us and is more for us than we are for our self. How reassuring that there is someone who will never reject us and that finds us so wonderful that He is always willing to communicate with us and about us with the Godhead. God has to talk about us! We need never think that we are alone, alienated and abandoned. God abounds with affection for believers and an ability to keep us in eternal, loving relationship with Him.

What are some of your favorite experiences with God in prayer and fasting?  

Discrimination

Zelophehad died without fathering any sons (Numbers 27). His inheritance was about to pass out of his family, but Tirzah, Milcah, Hoglah, Noah and Mahlah spoke up and said to Moses, Eleazar, other Israelite leaders and other people that's not right; our father's inheritance belongs to us. These daughters loved themselves and their family and friends by recognizing they needed to secure a place and provision of their own to nurture themselves, their families and friends.

Moses went to God to see if the Zelophehad daughters were being discriminated against and were due justice. God said yes; it's not right to let others have Zelophehad's inheritance because his offspring are females.

Our God often does things big. God didn't only correct this case of sexual discrimination. God also granted justice and protection to multiple members of families by saying in Numbers 27:8-11 New Living Translation Bible, "And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses." That made it impossible for a family to lose its inheritance.

Later on God manifested His plan of making it impossible for all believers to lose their spiritual inheritance. God made believers joint heirs with God the Son Jesus Christ for eternity. Pilate showed Barabbas partiality, and Jesus died. God didn't keep quiet about the wrong. Jesus Christ got up from the dead in three days granting forgiveness of sins and an eternal relationship with believers.

Speaking up is critical to improving relationships and living. Don't keep quiet about discrimination. Speak up. Proverbs 18:21 Amplified Bible says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]."

Please share an on-line comment about speaking out against discrimination. 

Sleeping With the Enemy

Ephesians 5:17 Amplified Bible says, "Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is." God wants us to love Him, ourselves and others. God created sex and sexuality. What God creates is good, very good provided it's used according to His instructions.

When we are thoughtful, alert and sensitive to the leading of God the Holy Ghost we will carefully protect and cherish our whole person. When we are asleep spiritually we get into bed with the enemy. The Bible book of Judges records that Samson was a believer who was sexually confused, sleeping with the enemy. Here are four ways Samson was not thoughtful, alert and sensitive to God.

1. Companionship in the spirit: 

God designed for both husband and wife to be believers with an equal relationship with God. Samson was having sex with Deliliah, but he was not married to her. Samson was a worshiper of the one and only true and living God. Delilah probably worshiped Dagon. Samson and Delilah had nothing in common spiritually. They could not have companionship and unity spiritually because the spiritual source upon which their lifestyle was based were in conflict and opposition. 

2. Intellectual agreement: 

Relationships help us fulfill our God-given purpose in life. Sexuality is designed to reproduce a legacy of life, of multiplication. Samson had a pattern of choosing sexual partners who betrayed him to his enemies. His relationships brought destruction instead of multiplication.

Believers value freedom. Delilah talked repeatedly about bondage.

Believers affirm each other consistently. Delilah attacked Samson relentlessly.

Believers seek to help self and others. Delilah sought money for herself at the expense of Samson.

Believers seek the truth. Delilah lied.

Believers practice love with true affection. Delilah practiced false compassion.

3. Emotional encouragement: 

Joy and peace are experienced in good relationships. Samson experienced insults, harassment and other emotional torment in his relationship with Delilah.

4. Healthy physical bodies: 

God designed sex inside of marriage to be pleasurable and good for us. While Samson experienced moments of pleasure the end result of sex with Delilah was that he had his strength stripped and his enemies were empowered to bore out his eyes and put him in bondage.

Sometimes we attract enemies because they are persecuting us for right living, but Samson attracted enemies because he was an enemy to himself living sexually according to the ways of evil. He was asleep to the sexual ways of God.

Believers have God on the inside to empower us to stay awake and live well. No time is a good time to be vague and sleepy about our relationship with God and His will for us. The evil enemy is always seeking to seduce you to sleep with him.