The Lady at the Post Office February 10, 2010

       I’m writing this blog with a very heavy heart; I feel like I could start crying again at any second. Today I witnessed such a terrible moment in a lady’s life. I went to the post office today and there was a very long line (as usual). I was in line behind this man. There was one lady working the counter; she’s probably in her late 40’s. After a few minutes, it was the man’s turn in front of me. He walked slowly up to the counter and put some papers down in front of the lady. She stared at them for about a whole minute. Neither of them said a word that whole time. Then she pushed the papers back to him and said, “I can’t handle this right now.” He then took them, stepped back, looked at her for a few seconds, and then he turned and left. The second he was out the door, the woman had tears running down her face. And it hit me what had just happened. They were divorce papers. Her husband brought divorce papers to her work and gave them to her with 10 people watching her and just a few days before Valentine’s Day.

       I walked up to the counter with my boxes, not knowing what to say. She looked at me, grabbed a tissue from under the counter, and as she was wiping her face, she kept saying, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry….” to me. I just looked at her and said, “No, that is absolutely fine.” She took my boxes and I could tell that she was trying not to cry. She started to say, “Is there anything liquid, fragile, or perishable” (I go to the post office 2-3 times a week so I know all of their sayings) but she couldn’t even get through the sentence. So I said, “Neither of these boxes has anything liquid, fragile, or perishable. I don’t need conformation and I need to send them both priority. And I need two books of forever stamps,” to try and help her not have to say anything. I could just feel the hurt coming off of her and I could feel all of the eyes of the people in the line just staring at her. I almost started to cry myself. She cried the entire time she helped me. When she handed me back my debit card, I said to her, “I’m going to pray for you the second I get out to my car.” She looked at me and nodded; tears rolling down her cheeks.

       When I stepped out of the door of the post office, I burst into tears. As I drove away, I thought, “You know, God put me there at that moment for a reason. What can I do?” So I drove to the florist down the street and bought her a flower arrangement. I prayed that not many people would be at the post office when I got back. When I pulled in, there were only two cars in the parking lot. I walked in and there was only a little old lady at the counter buying stamps from the broken hearted lady. Her face was all red and her eyes were swollen. I walked up to the counter and set the flowers next to her station. She looked at me with a confused look. I said, “I just thought that you needed some flowers today.” She then burst into tears. I felt myself about to start crying too so I just smiled at her and nodded and walked out.

       PLEASE pray for this dear lady and for her marriage. I just hurt so badly for her. Please pray.

People Who Hurt Us May 21, 2009

 

I was reading a book the other day that discussed something that REALLY helped me. First, let me explain what I had been struggling with. I’ve unfortunately had a few people in my life who were extremely close friends hurt me terribly. I had been struggling with the thought, “God, why did you allow those people to do that to me? Why did you allow them to hurt me? If you’re my father, why didn’t you protect me? Why didn’t you stop them from doing that?”

 

Now back to the book I was reading. It talked about Joseph and his brothers who sold him into slavery. Well, later on in Joseph’s life, he was given an opportunity to get back at his brothers (when they came to Egypt for food and he was 2nd in command) but he showed mercy. Here’s what he said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)  The book then went on to explain what I REALLY needed to read. It said that the only reason God permitted Joseph’s brothers to throw him into a pit, sell him into slavery, and then tell his father that he was dead was because God looked into the future and saw that it would bring something wonderful into Joseph’s life. I can’t explain it as well as Beth Moore did in her book so here’s what she said:

 

“God thinks of His children continually. And when God thinks of His children, He only thinks in terms of what can be used toward our good, toward His plan for us, and toward the future. His intentions can only be pure. Right. Full of hope. Promoting peace. Listen carefully. God did not haphazardly or accidentally let Joseph’s brothers throw him in the pit. He had already thought it out in advance. Considered it. Weighed it. Checked it against the plumb line of the plan. He had looked at the good it could ultimately accomplish, the lives that could be helped and even saved. Then, and only then, in His sovereign purpose did He permit such harm to come to His beloved child. Had the incident not possessed glorious purpose, God would have disarmed it.”   – from the book “Looking Up When Life Is Looking Down” by Beth Moore

 

I NEEDED to read that! I learned that God NEVER allows ANYONE to hurt his children unless it will ultimately be good for them and for others. And you know that’s so true. I look back now at the sad situations that have happened in my life and I can see that those situations put me where I needed to be, taught me what I needed to know, and I am so much better off today because of going through them. It is so comforting to me to know that if anyone or anything hurts me in the future, the only reason that God allowed it to happen is if it will ultimately be for my good and that if it isn’t something that will lead to good for me, God will stop it from even happening. He will stop them. God will protect me and He always has.

Article by Huntley Brown October 15, 2008

Why I Can’t Vote For Obama
By Huntley Brown

 
Dear Friends,
A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out
an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner
I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have
seen some of this before but it’s worth repeating…

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer
support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I
need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I
process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Chris t
follower) means He leads, I follow. I can’t dictate the terms, He
does because He is the leader.

I can’t vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian
because that’s who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither
should anyone from other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200
years from now I won’t be asked if I was black or white. I will be
asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society
gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human
cloning – to name a few, then wrong economic concerns will soon not
matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King’s words, “don’t judge someone by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I
don’t know Obama, so all I can go on is his voting record. His voting
record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US
Senate in 2007.

http://NJ.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/ NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama:
Most Liberal Senator in 2007

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton as the most liberal senator,
takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I
wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work
with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating. There
is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason
Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason
he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There
is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason
he voted “No” on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

There is a reason he voted “No” on banning partial birth abortion.
There is a reason he voted “No” on confirming Justices Roberts and
Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since
overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to
continue.

Let’s take a look at the practice he wanted to continue. The 5 Step
Partial Birth Abortion procedures:

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby’s leg with
forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby’s leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby’s entire body, except for the
head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby’s skull. The scissors
are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The
child’s brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The
dead baby is then removed.

God help him.

There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.

Think about this: You cannot give a child an aspirin without
parental notification but that same child can have an abortion with out
parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason Obama went to Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20
years.

Obama tells us he has good judgment, but he sat under Jeremiah
Wright’s teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright’s
sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A
disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 – 20 “Go
and make disciples of all nations.” This means reproduce yourself.
Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you believe
what you believe etc.

The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has
tenets that said they have a
1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills
available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for
Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace
the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of
Obama’s former church. If President Bush was a member of a church
like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al
Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after
20 years and just discover he’d been going to a racist church. The
TRUE church can’t be about race. Jesus did not come for any
particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can’t have a value system based on race. The churches value
system has to be based on biblical mandates. It does not matter if
it’s a white church or a black church based on racial values, it’s
still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this
would never get my vote.

Obama’s former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal
theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book “The Goals of the
Black Community”. “If God is not for us and against white people, t
hen he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.”

Cone is the man Obama’s mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama
to lead a nation it meant one thing – judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1
Samuel 1:9 “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them
know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

Then God says

1 Samuel 1:18 ” When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from
the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that
day.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said.
“We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other
nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our
battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated
it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give
them a king.”

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for
McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot
stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God. Maybe I am
the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama
contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God
in the face and say; Father ,based on your word, I am voting for
Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of
partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four
Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal
judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he
will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other
way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama’s positions.
Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someones value system has to be placed on the nation,
1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation?

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the
nation?

Blessings,
Huntley Brown

What If You’re Wrong? October 2, 2008

 

I just saw a commercial for the movie “Religulous” with Bill Maher. Ok, first of all, this movie looks extremely sacrilegious and like nothing that I would ever want to see or support. But there is a portion of the ad for that movie that shows Bill being asked by someone, “What if you’re wrong?” Then Bill says back to him, “Well, what if you’re wrong?” That really got me to thinking. I believe that the only way to Heaven is through salvation. Meaning, I believe that a person must ask God to forgive them of their sins, sins that crucified his son, Jesus. They must ask God to come into their heart and save their soul. This is salvation. This is the only way to heaven. Salvation doesn’t mean that you’re perfect but it does mean that you are trying to live in a way that would please God. Salvation isn’t just the words; it’s something that happens inside of you. True salvation produces evidences of salvation: you read your Bible, you grow spiritually, you try and follow the Ten Commandments, etc. Now I’ve heard many people like Oprah and Barack Obama say that there are many ways to God and Heaven. I’ve also heard many people say that there is no God, like Kathy Griffin. Ok, so let’s just say that I’m wrong. If there is no God, I have nothing to worry about because when I die nothing bad is going to happen. And if I’m wrong about salvation being the only way Heaven, again, I have nothing to worry about because surely the beliefs and lifestyle of a Christian would be one of those many ways to Heaven. But now let’s look at the other side: if they’re wrong. If they are wrong about there being no God or wrong about there being many ways to Heaven, then they’re in BIG trouble. Because that would mean that there is a God, there is a Heaven, there’s only one way to get there, and there is also a Hell. There’s a song by Nichole Nordeman that’s about this very subject; it’s called “What If.” It’s an amazing song that everyone should hear.

Abortion

 

I am beyond fired up about this. Get ready, because this is going to be a book; I have so many feelings on this subject and a ton of information. What brought on this blog is what I’ve learned about Barack Obama and the “Born Alive Infant Protection Act.” Ok, I am going to tell you exactly what it is and what happened but if you’d like to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, go to this link to watch the video:

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3041755&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,407882,00.html

The “Born Alive Infant Protection Act” is a bill that protects babies that were born alive from a botched abortion. This is not partial birth abortion. This is called induced labor abortion.  For this procedure, the physician inserts a medication into the mom’s birth canal that dilates the cervix and the intent is for the baby to be delivered prematurely. They’re fully formed but they’re very small. So when the cervix opens, basically, the baby falls out of the uterus, and it’s anticipated that the baby will die during the birth process. But sometimes these babies live for a time. Jill Stanek was a nurse that worked at Christ Hospital. She testified, under oath, to the Senate what she witnessed at that hospital. She said that 10% to 20% of babies survived this type of abortion at that hospital. The hospital even confessed that fact to the “Chicago Sun-Times” in 2001. She gave an example of one of these abortions where the baby lived. The mother and father did not want their baby because he had down-syndrome (and don’t even get me started there. I’ll discuss that later on). Here is what she said:

“One night a nursing coworker was taking a little baby boy who had been aborted alive, between 21 and 22 weeks because he had down-syndrome, to our soiled utility room for him to die there because his parents didn’t want to hold him and she didn’t have time to hold him that night. When she told me what she was doing, I couldn’t bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone. So I cradled and rocked him for the 45 minutes that he lived.”

Here is a picture of a 21 week old baby holding a surgeon’s hand.

Can you believe that this hospital was going to let a baby suffer and die alone in a dirty utility room?! The thing is, with the majority of these born alive abortions, the babies would have lived if they had been put on life support and attended to medically. This bill would have given rights to these alive babies. They would have been given medical attention. If they lived, the parents could have given them up for adoption. So again, if it was a botched abortion and the baby didn’t die, as “planned,” that baby would then have been entitled to, as a person, get medical care. Barack Obama was the only senator to speak out against this bill in the Senate. He voted against this bill. He said that this would negate the intentions of the mother to abort and was an invasion of a woman’s privacy. Are you kidding me? As they discuss in the video link that I posted earlier, Obama is lying about these facts and his vote. Also, Barak said that his daughters were only 6 and 9 but that he would bring them up with good morals. But that if in the future they made a mistake, he would not PUNISH them with a baby. PUNISH! That was the word that he used!

Ok, now I’m going to leave the Obama portion of my rant and move on to my feelings on abortion, ANY type of abortion. I believe that at the moment of conception, there is a LIVING baby there. 1.6 million babies are aborted in the United States every year. Out of those 1.6 million, 1.5 million of these abortions are classified as an unwanted pregnancies (Sources: Planned Parenthood, National Center for Health Statistics). I have SO many problems that I’m just going to list them.

1. It’s the mother’s right to choose. Ok, wasn’t there a dad involved in the pregnancy? Doesn’t he have any say so or rights when it comes to a child that is half his? Besides that, just because you are the mother, that doesn’t mean that you always choose what is right for your child. Look at the lady who pushed her car into a lake with her children in the back seat or the mother who drowned her children in the bath tub. Does a layer of skin really change the rights of their children or override the responsibilities of that mother?

2. Rape Victims. Rape must be one of the worst experiences that I could ever imagine. I know that this one will be a terribly touchy subject, but I’m just going to tell you how I feel. Doctors have said that an extremely rare number of rape victims get pregnant during the rape because their bodies are in too much stress to conceive. Ok, here are the facts: 2% of all pregnancies in America are caused by incest, rape, and life of the mother. So for these 2%, we allow the other 98% of babies to be killed. You cannot build policies on exceptions. A study in Minnesota and Pennsylvania of 5,000 rape cases resulted in not one pregnancy. But there are a small number of victims who do get pregnant from the terrible act. But the thing is, the child should not be punished because of what that horrible man did. I know that the victims didn’t want or expect the pregnancy but there is now an innocent life inside of her. I think that the government should pass a law that states that all of the medical bills for a pregnant rape victim will be covered and the victim can, if she chooses, allow the child to be adopted.  Again, I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible and unfair that whole ordeal would be. But God can bring good from the most awful of situations. That child who had no fault in the rape and who was allowed to live and be adopted could grow up and discover the cure for cancer.

3. This brings me to my next point. The massive number of babies that have been allowed to be killed could have helped our world in ways that we can’t even begin to imagine. One of those babies could have grown up to discover the cure for AIDS, one could have been the best president we’ve ever had, and on and on.

4. There is going to be something wrong physically or mentally with the child. Ok, this one really burns me up! We can’t try to create a utopia of people where everyone is “perfect.” This is something that Hitler tried to do. During his rule, Hitler had “hospitals” formed where any child that was born with a physical or mental problem would be sent to receive “care.” What happened is that these children weren’t fed, weren’t cared for, and soon died. He also had adults with mental and physical problems sent to institutions. Where, again, they weren’t fed or cared for and most died. Hitler saw them as having no worth and that they could never contribute to their world. The fact is that God gives parents these special, wonderful children for them to look after and protect, not kill. My uncle has cerebral palsy and it makes me BEYOND furious that anyone would say that it would have been better for him or his parents if he’d been aborted! He has four children who love him dearly. He is intelligent and a fantastic Christian. His parents, my grandparents, wanted him. That’s the thing, people are just selfish and if a child appears that they may take too much attention or time or just not be what they wanted, they get rid of them. I know a lot of people who aren’t physically or mentally “perfect” who have contributed a lot more to our world than some people who have nothing obviously altered with their appearance or mind.

5. People who aren’t ready to have a baby. Ok, if you aren’t ready emotionally or financially to have a baby, that is no reason to kill the child. There is adoption. I know a family here in my town that paid all of a woman’s medical bills and adopted her child. The woman didn’t want the child but made the right decision not to have an abortion because there are TONS of people who want children, who want to be parents but are unable to conceive.

6. Another thought that I just had is this: You never hear anyone tell a grieving husband and wife that just had a miscarriage that they shouldn’t be so upset because their child wasn’t really a baby yet; it was just a “fetus.” No one would ever say that because they know just as much as that grieving parent that it WAS a baby, a person, a life; it was their child. Praise God that all babies who suffered miscarriages or abortions belong to God. They are all in heaven!

The lady in Roe v. Wade, Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”), claimed during the Supreme Court trial that her pregnancy was a result of rape. She now admits that she made that up. Did you know that she ended up never getting her abortion? And she has been quoted saying that she thanks God that she didn’t kill her child. She had the little girl and gave her up for adoption. In 1995, Norma gave her life to God and was baptized. She literally moved next door from the abortion clinic at which she was working to the national offices of the prominent pro-life organization, Operation Rescue. Norma is now dedicated to reversing what she was a part of some three decades ago. She has now started the “Roe No More Ministry.”

Let me just say that I in NO way think that a woman who has had an abortion is a monster. I do think that she was wrong and made a mistake to kill her baby because life is so precious. It is a gift from God. Psalm 139