Life as a Christian Woman

Resources on Christian scrapbooking and other crafts can be used to help your ministry or energize your Christian website. A challenge for any webmaster is designing a site that will immediately grab a visitor’s attention and make them want to stick around. Utilizing professional graphics and stimulating visual interest will keep your readers around long enough for you to share Christ and your ministry with them. Smilebox is a new resource that can add to your digital ministry both within your church and as an evangelism tool.

SLIDESHOWS
Put a slide show on your website to highlight children’s projects, show important Bible verses, or even to share image slides of sermon notes. Use this feature to show photos of Christian holy sites or church buildings from around the world. Smilebox can also help your congregation stay up to date on new construction projects by putting together a slide show of the most recently started or completed phases of building. Create amazing slideshows with your photos & video–free!

Make a slideshow - it’s easy!

SCRAPBOOKS
Create a free Smilebox scrapbook in 5 minutes. Just drag photos into amazing e-designs, and even e-mail them. Featuring a scapbook on your website is a great way to highlight mission trips, youth rallies, special church services, and other events. The designs available for scrapbooks are colorful and eye-catching. The templates are so easy to use that youth and older children’s groups could enjoy making a scrapbook of their own to share with the congregation or e-mail to their friends they want to invite to church.

E-CARDS
Free ecards include your photos and videos, plus your own music.
Create digital church invitations, postcards, and holiday greetings with Smilebox and take advantage of your church e-mail list to stay in touch.

Make a free ecard - it’s easy!

The examples I have shown you here were made using the free service. As you can see, the free products do contain advertisements, but Smileboxoffers a couple of options for users. One option is to create your media and then choose to make it Premium by paying $1.99. The payment “buys” your creation, allows you to change the music, and removes the ads. You can reuse it as often as you wish and print your design.

A second option is to sign up for the Premium Membership for $4.99 a month, or $39.99 per year. The Premium Membership gives you access to many more features all ad-free, printable, and re-usable. Your choice of options would depend on how annoyed you are by advertisements and how often you plan to use Smilebox.

Give Smilebox a try, then come back here and share your creations with us. You can leave a link to your Smilebox website design in the comments section.

The Smilebox logo is a registered trademark of Smilebox, Inc.

christian resources, christian webmasters, Smilebox, christian scrapbook, christian e-card, christian site slideshow, image sharing

“F— Notre Dame,” “F— Touchdown Jesus,” “F— Jesus.” Those were the words of ESPN anchorwoman Dana Jacobson during her speech at a celebrity roast in Atlantic City, NJ. She admitted to being intoxicated at the event. When pressed on the issue by the Catholic League, President Bill Donahue received an e-mail of apology, which is posted in full on the ESPN website:

“I am sorry. My remarks about Notre Dame were foolish and insensitive. I respect all religions and did not mean anything derogatory by my poorly chosen words. I also deeply regret the embarrassment I’ve caused ESPN and Mike and Mike.

“My actions at the roast were inappropriate and in no way represent who I am. I won’t make excuses for my behavior, but I do hope I can be forgiven for such a poor lack of judgment.”

Yes, her remarks were insensitive. Notre Dame certainly did not deserve to be singled out in this way by a supposedly “unbiased” sports journalist. Donahue is calling for more, though, unsatisfied with the apology.

In his press release posted on the Catholic League website, Donahue is likening her remarks to those of Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder against blacks, for which he was fired from CBS. He also brings up the remarks against Jews made by Mel Gibson. But are Jacobson’s remarks comparable to the others?

Jacobson did not shout, “F— Christians.” She specifically said, “Jesus.” She did not single out a group of people (except maybe the college of Notre Dame) as the object of her words. I might even venture to say these are words Jesus has heard before, and will hear again from someone somewhere in the world. So was her statement, however ill-concieved, hate speech as Donahue claims? Or was she exercising her right to freedom of religion? After all, according to both the laws of the United States and of Christians, she has the ability to choose her god.

(story continued below)

Public figures do owe responsibility to their fans. They are role models for young people, whether they like it or not. At the same time, they deserve the same freedoms in this country granted to every citizen. And again, Jacobson did not say, “f— Christians.” I have told Satan to go to hell. Was that a slur against members of the Satanic Church? The public often expresses outrage against the practice of Scientology in quickly removing any media that presents it in a bad light. Are the demands of Donahue the same? If my freedom to worship Christ is protected, is not Jacobson’s freedom not to do so also protected?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Where is the line between hate speech and freedom of religion?

Would a better reaction to this story be to pray for a woman who allows herself to become intoxicated to the point she makes bad choices?

Image Source: Wire Image

ESPN, Dana Jacobson, Catholic League, christianity, freedom of religion

Spend just a brief period time on the global environment of the Internet, and you will come across Christian-bashing. Christians are a distinct minority often viewed with suspicion at best and hatred at worst. We are accused of being closed-minded, unaccepting, pushy, bigoted, unintelligent hypocrits. I try to ignore most arguments, realizing that accepting Christ is personal choice that must be made through free will as God intended. And then I read an article from a Christian source that makes me cringe and think, “No wonder you hate us!”

In a press release featured on Christian News Wire, the organization Concerned Women for America (CWA) published ” ‘Gays’ May Spread Deadly Staph Infection to General Population.” Based on a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, CWA is using a report rife with “maybe’s” to call for Christians to take action:

Citizens, especially parents, need to stand up and say, ‘No More! We will no longer sit idly by while politically correct cultural elites endanger our children and larger communities through propagandist promotion of this demonstrably deadly lifestyle.

The press release does not mention that MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is classified two ways — hospital-associated and community-associated. It does not bother to cite information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one of the world’s most respected public health organizations, that states men who have sex with men are only one of six different groups at higher risk for contracting the disease, which also include inmates in correctional facilities, competitive sports participants, military recruits, day care attendees, and Native Americans. The “homosexual lifestyle” is used as umbrella statement in the release, never mentioning that drug abuse, multiple sexual partners, inadequate hygiene and compromised immune system factor into that higher risk. And no where in the propagandist release will you find the cautionary statements from the published study itself:

Limitations: The study was retrospective, and sexual risk behavior was not assessed.

Cautions: The data were passively reported or retrospectively collected and are therefore subject to bias.

“Our study has limitations. Our incidence estimates for San Francisco come from a passive surveillance system and may underestimate the incidence of true infection. We relied on retrospective chart review for identification of risk factors for multidrug-resistant USA300 infection in the 2 clinic populations; because data were not collected or documented systematically, our estimates of risk may be influenced by selection, referral, documentation, or other biases. Specific sexual behaviors were not assessed or documented in clinic charts; we therefore cannot comment on the association between multidrug-resistant USA300 infection and specific male–male sexual practices. Finally, because the number of multidrug-resistant USA300 infection within risk-factor subgroups was small, some of our higher estimates of risk are statistically compatible with more modest risk increases (that is, many of the CIs are wide and their lower bounds approach 1.0).”

["Emergence of Multidrug-Resistant, Community-Associated, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clone USA300 in Men Who Have Sex with Men." Annals of Internal Medicine. Retrieved January 17, 2008.]

The CWA press release appears to be strongly approaching hate propaganda, using a thinly veiled concern for public health to stoke fear and prejudice against homosexuals. Is CA-MRSA going to replace AIDS as the next Christians-against-gays rallying cry? Matt Barber certainly seems to be trying his darndest to make it so. The spread of the disease in the community has to do with lifestyle choices, period. The term “gays” is not called for, and requires much more research and more controlled studies, as admitted to by the researchers themselves.

Barber further stated, “The human body is quite callous in how it handles mistreatment and the perversion of its natural functions. When two men mimic the act of heterosexual intercourse with one another, they create an environment, a biological counterfeit, wherein disease can thrive. Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences.”

He makes it sound as if MRSA is a direct result of men having sex with men. Never mind that it has long been a very real health concern in hospitals. Never mind that over-use of antibiotics increases risk. MRSA did not develop in the gay community. It is the natural evolution of a species (bacteria) fighting for survival against extinction by man’s development of antibiotics. Plants do the same thing by developing poisonous berries or thorns to keep from being wiped out by herbivores.

History has shown time and again that diseases will develop and spread. This is a process of nature, or even risky sexual behaviors, but not exclusively homosexuality. AIDS began its spread down the Kinshasa Highway due to the prevalent prostitution trade. The plagues in Europe owed their rise to economic trade. Ebola developed in the jungles of Africa. Christian medical missionaries were the first to bring Lassa fever to the US.

When I first read the press release on Christian News Wire, I sent it to fellow blogger Adrien who writes Darkside Rainbow. I was interested in knowing how it made him feel as a gay man. He very eloquently expressed his reaction in his post, I will stand. I urge you to read it and think about his emotions. Is this how you want your Christianity to impact someone? Is the goal of your Christian witness to alienate and ostracize? Or to love?

CA-MRSA is a very valid health concern. I simply ask that you take time to read the facts before buying into the latest anti-gay campaign. Exercise your Christian compassion and love. God accepts EVERYONE, and in His eyes your life is no better than anyone else’s. For Christ’s sake, use the brain God gave you to learn the truth!

Get the facts on MRSA from the CDC

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Matthew 18:19-20 gives us the word of Jesus Christ: Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We are also told to pray without ceasing (1Th 5:17).

So how does one pray? Is there a right way and wrong way? Are there guidelines for prayer? We find the answers in the Bible. Jesus gave us an example in the very simple verse we learn as children, The Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13). If you look at each line of his words, you find a pattern for offering a sincere exhortation to God.

Our Father, which art in Heaven - Begin by acknowledging God as your Father, provider of all needs and above every earthly thing.

Hallowed be thy name - How old were you when you realized God’s name isn’t Howard? The word “hallowed” means holy or sacred. Tell God He is sacred in your life.

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven - It is okay to express the desires of your heart to God, but your foremost desire should be His will.

Give us this day our daily bread - God provides everything you need if you just trust in him.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. - Forgiveness is open to all people. Ask forgiveness not only for yourself, but also for those who may have wronged you.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. - Whatever temptations you may be facing in your life, God can lead you out of them. His supremecy, power, and glory are enough for all time.

Amen. - The word “amen” means “truly.” Saying amen at the end of a prayer expresses your sincerity and belief in the prayer.

Sometimes developing a prayer life can be daunting for a new Christian. If you are new to prayer, the goal is really just to commune with God. Tell him what is on your heart. Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing or wonder if something is too trivial to pray about. God already knows your every thought. Prayer simply expresses your desire to God for him to be a part of those thoughts, and to lead your life according to his will. The guidelines offered in the Lord’s Prayer serve as a reminder of those things we should pray for, no matter the circumstance. The more you pray, the more natural it will be. Soon, you will be praying without ceasing and find a whole new closeness to God.

If you would like help with your prayer life, or have a prayer request, please let me know by leaving a comment or using the contact link.

Image Source: TimoArt.com

christian, prayer, how to pray, prayer life, Lord’s Prayer, faith

Jin Yani lives in China. She became pregnant before she could legally marry her fiancee, but they did marry when she turned 20 (at five months pregnant.) She carried the baby to term. At nine months, her water broke as she went into labor. That’s when the Chinese authorities seized her, injected her baby, and removed it’s dead body two days later.

In an unprecendented case, Mrs. Jin and her husband are suing the authorities for damages. In America and most other countries, it would have been murder. The most this couple can hope for is money to cover their expenses and distress. Not to mention the fact that, after the murder of her child, Mrs. Jin suffered severe bleeding and is now unable to conceive again.

I don’t care what side of the abortion debate you are on. No one can argue that a full term baby is not a human being. China’s one child policy has been responsible for the termination of pregnancies on a massive scale, as well as baby girls being left to die in the hopes that the couple might have a boy. This case will be the first of its kind in that the courts have agreed to hear it.

According to the Telegraph, the Mrs. Jin’s husband was offered a job and free medical care for his wife after the regional court agreed to hear their case. He turned it down, stating, “We can get a job anywhere.” What this couple cannot get is their baby girl back. They cannot get back Mrs. Jin’s ability to have another child. They cannot hold little Yang Yin, the name they chose for their infant.

What this couple from China can get is support from all of us. The outcome of this court case will set the precedent in a country whose government has ruthlessly slaughtered infants for decades. Enough is enough. Pray for Mrs. Jin and for the court system. Tell others about this case. Get mad. This is one time when righteous anger is called for, and the power of our Lord is needed to avenge Yang Yin’s murder!

christianity, china one child policy, christian news, forced abortion, women’s rights

Alabama churches have been burning. Again. Three churches were vandalized and set on fire beginning on January 1, 2008.

Every couple of years, congregations in Alabama are disrupted by a string of fires. The last time it happened, two years, ago, the culprits were college kids from Birmingham. This time, the two young men are self-professed Satan worshippers.

Usually when the fires hit the state’s Christian community, they are set at rural, small churches which abound state-wide. These out-of-the-way churches serve the small communities, and traffic around them is close to non-existent at night. The location is what makes them such targets. It also means that these churches bring in barely enough money to pay their pastor, much less repair or rebuild the damaged property.

I’ve got to hand to this grandmother. She refused to be cowed by her grandson and his alleged friend-from-hell, and turned them in to the police. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Geoffrey Parquette and James Clark, both 21, were arrested after a housekeeper found a cross in Parquette’s room. She reported it to his grandmother, who then searched his room and found other stolen items from the churches.

The three churches that were burned and vandalized were the Greater Peace and Goodwill AME Church in Crawford, the Greater Bethelpore Baptist Church in Smiths Station, and Woodland Baptist Church in the Ladonia community. A fourth church, Concord Baptist, had satanic graffiti painted in it. One graffiti message stated, “Teach children to worship Satan!!”

The arrests have set minds at ease across small churches everywhere, but the congregations effected have a lot of work ahead of them. Please keep those churches in your prayers as they begin cleaning and rebuilding.

I live in Alabama, so let me know if you add these churches or the boys to your prayer list. I will pass along any messages to the appropriate people.

If you have a prayer request or praise you would like to share, leave me a comment or use the contact link in my profile. The latest prayer request left by a reader can be seen here.

Image Source: Jay Reeves, Montgomery Advertiser

christian, Alabama church, church arson, arson arrests, church burning, prayer request

Well, I hope your new year has started off better than mine. I spent the first week of 2008 in bed sick! I am really hoping it was not an omen of things to come.

I did feel well enough to make it to church yesterday, and was glad I did. I attend a contemporary service and we have a live band that is very good. They played one of my favorite songs that always gets me in a good mood. Here is a YouTube video of “These Are the Days of Elijah”:

The words of the chorus say in just a few lines the whole of Christian faith:

Behold He comes
Riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun
At the trumpet call
Lift your voice
It’s the year of Jubilee
and out of Zion’s Hill salvation comes!

These are the words in which we as Christians place our hope, faith, and longing. It is the salvation through Jesus Christ that shapes our daily lives. We also watch for that Salvation to come riding on the clouds, heralding in the age of peace and the city of New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven (Rev 21:2). No matter the burdens of the days, the words of the song lift our hearts and serve as a reminder of what is really important: the Savior we are offered, and the preparation for His reign. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear (Isa 45:23), for out of Zion’s Hill salvation comes!

Share your favorite songs. Is there a traditional hymn you wish you could sing every Sunday? A new song that brings to tears to your eyes and hope to your heart?

For more of my favorites, watch the videos of Pie Jesu and No More Night.

Can’t remember the name of that song you heard? Try
Song Search

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