Archive for the ‘CHILDREN AT RISK!’ Category

From Roger Oakland of Understand the Times

On August 5,2010, it will be nine years since our son Bryce suddenly passed from this world to his eternal home in heaven. Not a day goes by that we don’t think of him and long for his presence. He was twenty-seven when he left us. If he were alive today, he would have turned 36 on June 23rd.

Several years ago, on my first trip to the country of Myanmar, I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart. Phillip and Mang had shared with me the tremendous need of looking after poor and orphaned children in the country of Myanmar (Burma) that was hopelessly impoverished. When I saw these children face to face and the great need there was to establish Christian homes for their care and education, a thought came to my mind. Would it be possible for Understand The Times to financially assist Christian leaders in Myanmar to establish a place for a few children to be rescued from the clutches of Buddhism and abstract poverty?

Then another thought dropped into my head: Why not initiate a program for children in memory of Bryce! He loved little children. This would be a great project that we could endorse and promote in his memory!

February, 2010, will be the 4th anniversary of the Bryce Lodge program that was launched in 2006. There are now five Bryce Lodges that have been established in Myanmar housing over 80 children. These children have been sponsored by various individuals from all over the world. It has truly been a blessing to see them growing up in a home where they are being provided food, education, clothing, shelter with Christian leaders who have dedicated themselves to their care and Christian upbringing.

Myrna and I thank God for what He has done and what He is doing in the memory of Bryce. We pray that this ministry will continue and that Jesus Christ would receive all the glory for what He has done!

As most of you will know, I spent the last year on the sidelines from ministry because of an accident and breakdown of my health. For months, I did not think that I would ever return to a state where I could be used by the Lord again. Meanwhile, through this difficult time, God’s people continued to support the ministry of Understand The Times and provide support for our Myanmar commitments. Myrna and I are so grateful for this.

One day, just a little over a month ago when I was attempting to force myself to relearn some of the basics on my notebook computer, I came across a video clip of a song sung by Bryce Lodge. Two children that I had recorded on my last trip to Myanmar. The words of the song I will follow touched my heart: If only I could have the same enthusiasm as these children and continue to “follow” the Lord and do His will, I thought. When you listen to the song I know you will understand how the Lord spoke to me through these children.

The clip is available on our UTT web page at: http://www.understandthetimes.org/bl2song.shtml

I want to thank everyone who has contributed through prayer and finances to Understand The Times during my absence from active ministry. Please continue to pray for Myrna and me, Understand The Times, and those who have faithfully stood with us – especially Ron Pierotti, our web master, who truly is a mighty servant of God.
If you would like to assist Understand The Times to support our general expenses for the Bryce Lodge Program which includes support for leaders and the yearly rental for the housing facilities you can do so online, or by sending a check to either our USA or Canadian office.

Sincerely In Christ,
Roger Oakland

Understand The Times, International
________________________________________
email: roakland@aol.com
web: http://www.understandthetimes.org

Posted to follow up yesterday’s article on teens using digital sounds to engage in esoteric experiences.

by Larry DeBruyn

On music’s ability to engender mystical experiences.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16

Music engenders mystical experiences. This can be discerned from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera containing the song The Music of the Night. The lyrics read:

Night time sharpens heightens each sensation / Darkness wakes and stirs imagination / Silently the senses abandon their defenses / Helpless to resist the notes I write / For I compose the music of the night / Softly, deftly music shall caress you / Hear it, feel it secretly possess you / Open up your mind let your fantasies unwind in this darkness which you know you cannot fight / the darkness of the music of the night.[1]

Subject to the individual impulses, tastes and delights of consumers and composers, there is much about music that is creative, experiential and ethereal. But as every genre from military marches to love songs indicate, music possesses a mysterious, if not occult, power to sway the soul. The only question for Christian believers becomes, do their musical preferences, acquisitions and experiences hinder or facilitate the Holy Spirit’s work in their souls? (See Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16.)

In an internet article, former rock musician Tom Beaudoin makes statements and employs quotations that connect rock music with “spirituality.” Consider his description of rock music: the “digital environment of the CD is the plastic, virtual ‘enclosure’ today in which younger generations taste and hear . . . the grandeur and intimacy of God”; he refers to “rock’s inherent religiousness”; he says, “both rock itself and religious experience may yet be open to further transformation”; “the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22), are often experienced through rock music”; and rock music is a “form of religious experience” [and] “capable of mediating religious experience and knowledge.”[2] But what is the religion inherent to the medium? Click here to continue reading.

LTRP Note: The following article describes how teens are ”getting high” from listening to certain high frequency digital sounds on the Internet. Basically, what is happening is the sounds are being used as a mantra to take listeners into altered states of consciousness, similar to drug use or contemplative/centering prayer (i.e., eastern meditation). It was the contemplative mystic, Thomas Merton, who compared contemplative meditation to that of an LSD trip. Now, parents have a new worry – their kids getting “high” without drugs. All the more reason for Christian parents to make sure their teens understand the dangers of contemplative spirituality.

In an article Lighthouse Trails wrote regarding Rick Warren’s promotion of contemplative, we referred to Saddleback pastor Lance Witt who spoke of “changing frequencies” when meditating. After you read the article below, we hope you will read the Rick Warren article to better understand what is meant by “changing frequencies” as it ties in with the Atlantic article on teens.

“A new worry for parents – ‘digital drugs’ sold on the Internet”
Press of Atlantic City Media Group

For decades, parents, doctors and school administrators have worried about the dangers of drugs. In the digital age, they’ve got a new arena for concern: Sound waves that, some say, affect the brain like a drug – and cost only 99 cents on iTunes and Amazon.com.

Many scientific experts say they’re unfamiliar with “digital drugs” – sometimes sold under the brand name I-Dosers – and doubt whether sound patterns could have the same effect as chemical drugs. But some parents – and at least one Oklahoma school system – worry that downloading these sounds could be a teen’s first step toward physical drugs.

As proof, they point to YouTube, where hundreds of videos – some of teen “users” getting “high” – have been posted. On the I-Doser Facebook page, users recommend tracks with comments such as, “Last night I did ‘peyote’ and ‘alter-x’ and they really worked.” The I-Doser free software is the second most downloaded program in the science category on CNET.com, with 6,500 downloads in a single recent week. Click here to continue reading.

LTRP Note: We believe the following commentary is thought-provoking and useful in further understanding the methods of the new spirituality. Keep in mind that a growing number of Christian musicians are becoming involved in the contemplative emerging movement.

By Ellen Pope
Free-Lance Writer
A Commentary

Maybe you’ve noticed the difference on some of the Christian radio stations – how that songs lifting up Jesus Christ are blended with many  others that sometimes make you scratch your head and wonder: “What are they actually saying?” or “Is that biblical?” or “This sounds a lot like … [insert name of secular band here].”

Vague and indistinguishable lyrics are sometimes yelled (or whined, or moaned) amidst raw electric guitar chords, emotional electronica, and mind-numbing freight train drum beats moving at break-neck speeds. Other times young men and women rap and hip-hop their way into frenzy. Some sing ballads about their doubt and confusion to the tune of sorrowful violins and piano solos, synthesized to be as hauntingly sad as possible. Once in a while words like “forgiveness,” “justice,” “peace,” “save,” “love” and “God” show up. Much of the time, it’s hard to tell if it’s a Christian singing or not; hence some songs have been granted play-time on secular radio rotations too.

Given the power that music has, especially (but not limited to) the youth, could it be that this is one of the most powerful “tools” used to propagate the deceptions of the emergent, seeker-sensitive, and New Age movements? Movements, which often claim Christ, but deny the Word? It only stands to reason that “another Jesus” would demand its own worship, being a tool to edify an erroneous faith. Is this it?

With the (almost indistinguishable) similarities between much of this music and the world’s music, as well as the questionable convictions behind the lyrics, questions must be asked. Millions of listeners and listener’s dollars are actively purchasing, supporting, and giving over their minds to this music.

Not long ago I opened my mailbox and found a large, multi-page newspaper advertisement for an event called “Creation 2010.” I still get mailings like this from my former years as a very naïve, “all-is-well if it has the word ‘Christian’ attached to it” years. I signed my name and address on all kinds of ministry lists, attended mega conferences (featuring surprise guests like U2, and Rick Warren). I donated to what I thought were “missions,” and even participated in leadership groups. Now I know better.

Years later, the advertisements and invitations still trickle in from these and other sources (apparently they thought it was okay to pass around my information). But I’m not upset. Getting these kinds of mailings lets me know what’s going on “out there” in this world so full of traps and deceptions. It also reminds me that many are still taking part, some for the very first time, as I once did not that long ago.

Creation 2010 boasts as being the nation’s largest Christian Music Festivals. It has on the surface, an innocent mission. “To worship the creator,” promote Jesus Christ, and minister to young people through music, camping, teaching, fellowship, and baptism. We do need all of that! But is it all that it seems?

Amidst schedules, photographs, seminars, and advertisements for humanitarian causes (fighting AIDS, hunger, and aiding the third world), we find that the event is also featuring big names in the Christian music industry. Groups like Toby Mac, Newsboys, Casting Crowns, and [contemplative promoting] David Crowder are all joining in, marking this as a major Christian event, which will draw enormous crowds.

In addition to the big names, there are many included on the schedule that I’ve never heard of (which isn’t saying much; I’m not exactly “in the loop”). Bands like Family Force 5, Tenth Avenue North, Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, Red, Downhere, Remedy Drive, Reilly, Abandon, Kari Jobe, KJ-52, Chris & Conrad, John Mark McMillan, Francesca Battistelli, Israel Houghton, Unhindered, Sons of Day, December Radio, and Carlos Whittaker.

On the “Side Stage” there will be bands like The Classic Crime, Oh Sleeper, Sleeping Giant, Brian “Head” Welch, Superchick, Group 1 Crew, House of Heroes, R-Swift, The Letter Black, Secret & Whisper, Seabird, Thi’sl, B. Reith, Jason, Young Joshua, We As Human.

Intrigued, I took the time to read the pamphlet’s summaries posted for the “Main Stage” artists. Some of them seemed fairly benign. But a few really jumped out. Tenth Avenue North, for example, claimed to have “all come from church backgrounds and families, and therefore, are not satisfied saying the same old things in the same old ways” (emphasis mine). “What they’re hoping for with the music they are making is to not just entertain people. They want people to encounter faith. They desire to be [sic] cut to the heart and be honest, genuine, and faithful to what they believe is truth.”

I see three things happening here. First, these individuals are telling people that being raised in a Christian home automatically equates to stagnancy and an un-genuine faith. Second, they are attempting to make music to help people “encounter” faith. Is this different from “having” it, as the Bible says?

While it’s no secret that much of the organized Christian church in America is lukewarm at best, and totally apostatized at worst, I think it’s obvious that the faux spirituality of dry denominationalism is what’s really wrong. However, the simple remedy to unbelief, is belief, which happens as the Holy Spirit draws us (1 Corinthians 2:10-11), and not anything else. Especially not anything that forsakes the “old way!” Is that, I wonder, what they mean when they qualify the concept of “truth” with the statement “what they believe to be.” (As if there could be more than one version!)

That might be presumptuous to infer. But maybe not. Reading further, I found that the same idea expressed by Tenth Avenue North, regarding Christianity’s “problem,” is shared by Sons of Day, a Ukrainian band who came to the US in 1992. They found that “In this country Americans are unresponsive to the Gospel if it is told from the same perspective all the time.” (What perspective they’re talking about I’m still not exactly sure. If it’s the perspective of the Bible and that of a believer, then I don’t see a problem, except that the hearts of many Americans have hardened.)

Family Force 5 seeks to remedy the problem of people being “turned off” by the Gospel, by using elements of rap, post-hardcore, alternative rock, punk rock, and club orientedcrunk, electropunk, electronica and nu mental, with “positive, party lyrics in their music…” (emphasis mine) to draw in the crowds. Very “post-modern” don’t you think?

Sons of Day says: “We want to make music that is for God, but at the same time, we want to make music that people enjoy and that they’re not turned off by.” Switchfoot takes this a step further by boldly stating that “Calling us ‘Christian rock’ tends to be a box that closes some people out. Music has always opened my mind – and that’s what we want.”

I realize that these little snippets are just that, little snippets. But, it’s not without its context. Looking directly at the fruit of world-oriented “Christian” bands, especially ones that scream a lot, you know these aren’t innocuous statements. They mean what they say. People walk away from expensive concerts as if they would from a secular one: the same as they were before… except maybe partially deaf. So where is the theology behind this coming from?

If you’ll notice, a common thread among the statements issued to “summarize” these bands’ makeup and mission, seems to be a desire to “shatter” the perverted ideas surrounding what being a “Christian” is all about, and present the Gospel in a “new way.” They proclaim to desire to renew and revitalize the church. This is very tricky because, as I said earlier, the church is in desperate need of renewal. The question is: is that what’s being accomplished? Are people coming to the Cross?

Many of these bands are attempting to bring Jesus in “by the back door,” by choosing not to mention His name, but singing about forgiveness in general. This kind of method, however, will only feed the distortions of today, and increase the confusion.

Whereas the Holy Spirit brings clarity (the opposite of confusion), seeker-sensitive methods that avoid confrontation at all cost, only bring haze. Common sense and the Word of God would tell you that! Clearly, the Gospel doesn’t belong in the shadows of the background, nor should it be relegating it to a mere “suggestion” that is buried underneath much noise and personal “thoughts” in lyric form. This only invites perversion. Christians must come to grips with this reality. Even while the “premise” might be valid (these “Christian rock” bands claim to be using the music to reach the lost), it is those same methods they are employing to “mend” the spiritual disconnect that are causing grave problems.

As a sterling example, Switchfootnever shares a clear biblical Gospel message in their music. Instead of giving their talents to the Lord to become instruments of righteousness, they have created their own “version” of serving the Lord. It is simple. When the “seeker” doesn’t receive the uncompromised Word of God, how can he or she come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? In fact, the watering down “in His name” only makes it that much easier for people be led off in the wrong direction, away from Jesus, (all the while thinking that they are coming to Him in some way). This, dear readers, is the most dangerous place of all.

By making statements about inclusiveness and “open-mindedness,” Switchfoot is ambiguous enough to appeal to some professing Christians andnon-Christians. It jives with pluralists who like the idea of God, but hate the idea of Jesus being the “only way.” At the same time, it appeals to the confused Christian who thinks that hiding Jesus Christ and conforming to the world’s “norms” are the best ways to reach the world. For Switchfoot, this position is the “best of both worlds”… for the pocketbook anyway.

To be frank, what many of these bands really seem to want, is to be able to claim Christianity, whilst still being in and of the world. Much of the modern “Christian” music industry is evidencing rudiments of the world as the foundation, rather than the Rock of all ages. In attempting to bring a “new spin” on what it means to be Christian, artists have spun themselves right into false doctrine, and in so-doing became part of the problem.

Some artists don’t realize exactly what they’re doing. Some may be new believers or perhaps are unsure of what they actually believe (and no wonder in this environment)! Being thus, it would be easy to get up in the greater movements that call themselves “Christian.”

Young people are particularly vulnerable to deception, thinking that its “right” simply because it is popular, has a snazzy looking Christian veneer, or everyone they know (including their parents, and church leadership) is involved. We learn, after all, by seeing and hearing, and this music is marketed toward the youth. Creation 2010 appears to be geared even for very young children, with puppet shows and other acts as well.

One young artist, Francesca Battistelli, who is also scheduled to perform on the fourth and last day of Creation 2010, states part of her mission as bringing “something authentic to the scene that even non-Christians could listen to.” Again, the same thing is echoed over and over. Bring the world into your music, and the world will accept the bits of truth that might be in it.

If I could talk to Francesca, I’d lovingly tell her that the unconverted can listen to anything. But what they like to listen to is much different from what they need to listen to. We ourselves don’t have the power to convert a soul. No “non-threatening” lyric, catchy melody or “fashionable” cover art is going to affect any change.

The truth is, God doesn’t need “entertainment” to draw people to Himself! If people wanted to go to a club, they’d go to a club. If people wanted to hang in a coffee house and tickle their ears, they can. But Christians shouldn’t be the ones on stage doing the tickling!

Scripture shows the music is spiritual. Jesus said, “…true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24).

Christians gifted in music need to know that their music is, by its very nature, spiritual. Before the first note ever leaves a singer’s lips, there is a spirit behind it, producing it. What you must be able to do as a Christian, in order to affect any “change” for Christ, is to discern when you are entertaining the spirits in the world, or if you are worshiping “in spirit and truth,” through the power of the Holy Spirit. The difference is vast. God the Holy Spirit is the only One who can move people to conviction through you. The world needs the Holy Spirit, not its own, and not your own.

Music that evokes booty shaking, head banging, or, as December Radio put it “an adrenalin-fueled rock spectacle,” neither glorifies God nor is pleasing to Him, and nor can it touch the heart of a dying soul in need of the blood of Jesus Christ. Again, you don’t get saved under the influence of the spirits in this world. It’s God’s Spirit alone, and He is sufficient to do the Work.

Worldly music and worldly messages (which imitate the world) don’t offer the world anything different than what they can get anywhere. Yet, that’s exactly where much of the Christian music industry (and many “churches” too) have tried to recreate. They’ve gone in the seeker-sensitive direction, with staggeringly disastrous results!

To be blunt, the world doesn’t need any more of what its already got. Satanic and self-glorifying songs are prevalent enough. They don’t need Christians to become “like that,” and water-down the message either. What they desperately need is the same old Gospel the apostles preached, in the same way that God anointed from the beginning, from people who aren’t afraid to stand for it even at the risk of appearing “uncool” or “unfashionable” according to the Hollywood standard. Why should we take our cues from Hollywood anyway?

This issue is really quite simple. We are to avoid even the appearanceof evil (I Thessalonians 5:22). We are to glorify God, not ourselves (Galatians 6:14). We are to live by the Word of God (Luke 4:4), separated unto Him (II Corinthians 6:17), casting off the “old man,” and living as the new (Romans 6:6-11, Colossians 3:9-10).

By trying to play chameleon, many of these contemporary “Christian” bands are influencing young people in the wrong direction, even in some cases, into the clutches of the emergent church. Take Carlos “los” Whittaker for example.

His profile reads:“Carlos Whittaker is an artist, pastor, thinker, experience architect and Web 2.0 junkie. His passion for leading the church into a relational worship experience every Sunday was his heart’s goal. Recently, Carlos signed with Integrity Music to pursue a recording career and to continue to disturb the Church as a whole. Carlos lives to ignite a movement of authenticity among all generations of Christians that morphs the face of the evangelical church into a place of being real with yourself.”

Suspecting that this man may be part of the emergent movement, I decided to do some research and find out just where he was coming from, and what exactly he is attempting to “morph” the church into.

I came upon his blog, where quotes from New Age “theologian” Thomas Merton and emergent leader Rick Warren surfaced in page after page. Interviews with (and dreams of) Mark Driscoll, another young emergent founder, pepper the blog. Whittaker acts as a “minister” by opening up each entry to discussion, where he spurs conversation among readers, injecting his subtle emergent theology… where doors are many and “rules” are malleable.

Whittaker, a long-time close friend of Rick Warren’s, even took part in blogging for an unadvertised by-invitation-only “stealth leaders conference” at Saddleback Church, where leaders came together from all corners to discuss “ministry” and further their plots to engineer “world transformation,” (no doubt via with emphasis on the P.E.A.C.E. plan). Whittaker is obviously no stranger to social engineering, the social gospel, Christian psychology, and the confusion that is emergent “Christianity.”

I listened to samples of his songs online and heard nothing out of the ordinary. If I were listening to this five years ago I might have even liked it. But knowing better than to passively allow the spirit of the music do whatever it wanted with my emotions, I listened to it with a discerning ear of detached observation, as one should when approaching “New Age” contemporary Christian music. That’s when I realized something.

Were it not for the hypnotic beat (which has been a tool of Satan for ages) and the swells of the diatonic chord progression (which are designed to keep the listener in a perpetual state of suspense, and sometimes even induce a drug-like euphoria…), the song wouldn’t really be anything at all. Words are repeated, they are vague, and the message could be interpreted many ways. But here’s where the danger lies. Young people probably won’t know exactly what is going on theologically, just by listening to songs like “Rain it Down,” “Jesus Saves” and “We Will Worship You.” Elements of truth are used in the deception occurring behind the music.

To most professing Christians today, emergent worship music might sound good, but look a little deeper into the people behind them, and you’ll find a very different story… one where the Word isn’t really the ultimate authority, and where drug abuse, smoking, swearing, rebellion, participation in paganism, and even homosexuality aren’t necessarily sins. Where doctrinal error is not exposed but created, and what has been dubbed the “post modern worldview” becomes the new view of “the church.” All religions lead to God, so they say. But while claiming Christ with their lips, they have made themselves their own gods. And young people are diving in and worshiping with men and women who believe this new faith.

Creation 2010 might be a noble concept, and some leaders and participants will, no doubt, approach it with innocence in a right attitude and heart. Some children may indeed hear the Gospel from people with genuine faith, and some may give their hearts to the Lord. However, mixed and mingled with things deemed “acceptable” are also things which are not, and it so happens that many of them are on stage.

The spiritual end of the emergent church is death to the things of God, its fruits, and even to His mighty salvation. This is not something that can be ignored or shrugged off. We can’t keep silent. The source of the spirit of deception knows that in order to achieve the goal, it must all go down tastelessly silently, and undetected, so that once it’s in the body it can accomplish its ultimate end.

So it seems that the greatest danger to the church is actually in the church. Now, more than ever before, we need to speak up. Ridding with what appears to have a semblance of truth is a spirit that is false. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Even in this much-loved music. This is why every voice counts. Especially yours. Souls depend on it.

 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

“…true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24).

“Jesus saith unto him, I am… the truth.” (John 14:6).

“…And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 John 5:6).

“…the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21).

“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” (1 Corinthians 10:21).

“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9).

Related Articles:

The Music and the Mystical

Associated Press

Benedict said he was comforted by such a “beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity” and again denounced what he called the “sin” that has infected the church and needs to be purified.

Citing estimates from Vatican police, the Vatican press office said 150,000 people had turned out for the demonstration organized by an association of 68 Italian lay groups.

Despite a drizzling rain, the balloon- and banner-toting faithful from around Italy overflowed from the piazza; banners hung up on Bernini’s colonnade encircling the piazza read “Together with the pope,” and “Don’t be afraid, Jesus won out over evil.”

“We are here to show both to other people and to ourselves our solidarity with the church in this difficult time,” said Simone Pleticos, a 24-year-old student who traveled from Milan for the occasion.

Such large crowds are usually reserved for major holiday Masses and canonizations, not for Benedict’s brief, 10-minute Sunday blessings from his studio window. The crowd interrupted Benedict frequently with applause and shouts of “Benedetto!” and the pontiff himself strayed from his prepared remarks to thank them again and again.

“Thank you for your presence and trust,” he said. “All of Italy is here.”

Benedict didn’t refer explicitly to the scandal, but repeated his recently stated position that the scandal was born of sins within the church, which must be purified.

“The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the church,” he said.

The Vatican has been mired in scandal amid hundreds of reports in Europe, the United States and elsewhere of priests who raped and molested children while bishops and Vatican officials turned a blind eye. Benedict’s own handling of cases has also come under fire. Click here to continue reading.

Related Reading:

A Special Mother’s Day Story – No Longer a Secret

Book Review: Laughter Calls Me

As many Lighthouse Trails readers know, Lighthouse Trails’ goal is to bring light to areas of darkness in our society and in the church - that is why we have covered topics such as spiritual deception in the church, Christians who survived the Holocaust, homosexuality, and child sexual abuse. Yesterday, we were contacted by one of our co-researchers, Dwayna Litz, director of Lighting the Way International. With her permission we are posting her story because we believe it will minister to many.

For many years, Dwayna lived with a secret that was too painful to share with others. Like so many children who have been sexually abused, Dwayna felt shameful and even responsible for what had happened to her. She has come forth with the hope that her story will bring glory to the Lord. And please see our  links below this story, which are related to this issue.

Giving Up the Secret of My Life

by Ingrid Schlueter
CrossTalk 

Operation Rescue reports on the hate messages they have been receiving from child-killing fans since the passage of the health care bill.

Wichita, KS – Telephones at Operation Rescue’s national headquarters were inundated with hateful messages in the wake of the weekend vote on health care in the House of Representatives. Operation Rescue has been outspoken in its opposition to the Obama health care takeover plan, especially provisions that would provide taxpayer funding for abortions.

The calls filled the mailboxes of several extensions and ranged from nonsensical messages, to sexually explicit “dirty phone calls,” to anti-Christian, hate-filled tirades. In weeks preceding the vote Operation Rescue staff members received death threats.

“Normally we don’t give the threats and hateful calls we receive much thought. But lately there has been much made about threats to Democrats that supported the health care takeover, and we thought that people needed to know that the hate calls are flowing both ways,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Click here to read more.