What can I do to help someone? Matthew 10:41-42 Amplified Bible says, "He who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones [in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, surely I declare to you, he shall not lose his reward."
Many individuals signed petitions over a period of time to have Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday become a federal holiday in the United States of America. On November 2, 1983, former US President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating the federal holiday Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Will you sign a petition and write a letter to help free Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini from Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org? Join the more than 581,000 people worldwide from more than 180 countries who have signed the petition. Iranian authorities put Pastor Abedini under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two young children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for "threatening the national security of Iran;" Pastor Abedini had been involved in setting up Christian house churches in Iran and also a secular orphanage. Pastor Abedini is currently in solitary confinement, has been subject to physical and psychological abuse to pressure him to give up his faith and has not been able to receive medical treatment for internal injuries resulting from the abuse.
Un Dicho (A Proverb) says, "Una buena accion es la mejor oracion." ("A good deed is the best prayer.") Pastor Abedini's birthday is May 7th. Pastor Abedini and Naghmeh are both from Iran. They are also both Muslims who converted to Christianity and became US citizens. Naghmeh Abedini cannot surprise her sweetheart in person for his birthday because to do so might put her in jail too, but she and others can send a card and a gift by signing the petition and writing a letter to Pastor Abedini via http://www.savesaeed.org.
Asghedom Michael wrote a love poem "Asmeret" that says in part:
"Enthroned in love you are
You're as wise as you are beautiful
I'll spend my life with you if you'll let me."
Jesus Christ loves us and wants to spend the rest of life with us. This is Holy Week for Orthodox Christians. On a Friday more than 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross and died to make a way for God and believers to have a permanent relationship. Then Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. Thanks to the King of Kings believers have a spiritual birthday as eternal kings and queens.
In addition to parenting the Abedini children without their father's presence, Naghmeh has been speaking publicly to churches, the media and others about her husband's plight in prison for his Christian faith. The red-crowned crane is a symbol of long life and good fortune in China and in Japan. By signing the petition and writing a letter at http://www.savesaeed.org you are helping to free Pastor Abedini from prison and to allow a happy May 7th birthday and a long, happy family life together for Saeed, Naghmeh and their children.
Showing posts with label Good Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good Friday. Show all posts
Friday, May 3, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
La Familia
What would you do for love? Would you go to prison? Calvin Fairbank and Delia Webster were teachers and abolitionists who helped Lewis Hayden, Hayden's wife, Harriet, and the Hayden's son escape from slavery.
The Hayden's made it safely from Kentucky to Ohio then to Canada. Fairbank and Webster were arrested and charged with slave stealing. Galatians 5:13-14 Amplified Bible says, "For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another. For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself."
Calvin Fairbank, who was also a minister, agreed to plead guilty if Delia Webster was allowed to go free. Webster was freed. Fairbank was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Black people look different from white people. The Haydens, Fairbank and Webster prove difference can be dynamic instead of a reason for hatred and abuse.
Rafael, my son who has autism, and I live in Virginia which is a state next to the state of Maryland. Even though slavery has been abolished in the United States, and Rafael, I and other African Americans enjoy our freedom, racial problems still exist in America along with conflict among all kinds of people. In Frederick, Maryland, a young man, Robert Ethan Saylor, was killed in a movie theater in January 2013 because people didn't understand someone with Down Syndrome.
God made each person different. No two people not even twins and other multiples have the same finger prints, eye prints or scent. God made us different on purpose. God even made some people with disabilities. Exodus 4:11 Contemporary English Version Bible says, "But the Lord answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things?"
Yellow (huang) was a color reserved for the Chinese Emperor and members of the imperial family. The emperor had to grant permission for other people to wear it.
Partiality puts up barriers to treating people right. James, a brother of Jesus Christ and an apostle, writes in the book of James Complete Jewish Bible, "My brothers, practice the faith of our Lord Yeshua, the glorious Messiah, without showing favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fancy clothes, and also a poor man comes in dressed in rags. If you show more respect to the man wearing the fancy clothes and say to him, “Have this good seat here,” while to the poor man you say, “You, stand over there,” or, “Sit down on the floor by my feet,” then aren’t you creating distinctions among yourselves, and haven’t you made yourselves into judges with evil motives?"
Welcome and accept whoever wants to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to join la familia de Dios (the family of God) this Good Friday or any other day. La familia helps each other.
Lewis Hayden raised $650.00 which through a chain of other players helped free Calvin Fairbank from prison within four years.
The Hayden's made it safely from Kentucky to Ohio then to Canada. Fairbank and Webster were arrested and charged with slave stealing. Galatians 5:13-14 Amplified Bible says, "For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another. For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself."
Calvin Fairbank, who was also a minister, agreed to plead guilty if Delia Webster was allowed to go free. Webster was freed. Fairbank was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Black people look different from white people. The Haydens, Fairbank and Webster prove difference can be dynamic instead of a reason for hatred and abuse.
Rafael, my son who has autism, and I live in Virginia which is a state next to the state of Maryland. Even though slavery has been abolished in the United States, and Rafael, I and other African Americans enjoy our freedom, racial problems still exist in America along with conflict among all kinds of people. In Frederick, Maryland, a young man, Robert Ethan Saylor, was killed in a movie theater in January 2013 because people didn't understand someone with Down Syndrome.
God made each person different. No two people not even twins and other multiples have the same finger prints, eye prints or scent. God made us different on purpose. God even made some people with disabilities. Exodus 4:11 Contemporary English Version Bible says, "But the Lord answered, “Who makes people able to speak or makes them deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things?"
Yellow (huang) was a color reserved for the Chinese Emperor and members of the imperial family. The emperor had to grant permission for other people to wear it.
Partiality puts up barriers to treating people right. James, a brother of Jesus Christ and an apostle, writes in the book of James Complete Jewish Bible, "My brothers, practice the faith of our Lord Yeshua, the glorious Messiah, without showing favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your synagogue wearing gold rings and fancy clothes, and also a poor man comes in dressed in rags. If you show more respect to the man wearing the fancy clothes and say to him, “Have this good seat here,” while to the poor man you say, “You, stand over there,” or, “Sit down on the floor by my feet,” then aren’t you creating distinctions among yourselves, and haven’t you made yourselves into judges with evil motives?"
Welcome and accept whoever wants to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to join la familia de Dios (the family of God) this Good Friday or any other day. La familia helps each other.
Lewis Hayden raised $650.00 which through a chain of other players helped free Calvin Fairbank from prison within four years.
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