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Mere Christianity
Jill Carattini

"I can't believe how many children there are here," I leaned and whispered
to my husband. We were visitors at a church whose smallest members were
helping with the service that morning. A young girl, no more than eight,
stood at the front of the altar beside the minister. As she began to
speak, her voice echoed the eagerness that her countenance gave away.
"Join me in saying the Apostles' Creed," she said with a tone that caused
me to read the words differently.

I believe God made the world, the sky, the stars, the animals, and all the
people in the world. I believe that God's Son, Jesus, came into the world
from heaven. That's what we remember on Christmas.

Thus began the Apostles' Creed reworded for children, and in these almost
familiar lines were the tenants of the Christian faith. The little girl's
voice rose above the sounds of a congregation speaking in unison. She was
clearly excited by the assignment she had been given. She seemed equally
excited by the words of the Creed, the statements of belief shared with
the very adults she was leading. It was a creed led in such a way as to
remind everyone present that the call of Christ is one a child can answer.
The substance to our hope is a simple, though profound, reality.

The word creed comes from the Latin credo, meaning "I believe."
When asked by Jesus, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter's response was his
creed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15-16).
The earliest creeds were used as baptismal vows, affirmations of belief in
God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For persons standing
on the precipice of faith, the creed was the statement with which they
prepared themselves to jump, and in so doing, found they had been given
something on which to stand. As Martin Luther noted of the Apostles'
Creed, the most common of ancient confessions, "Christian truth could not
possibly be put into a shorter and clearer statement."

In dire contrast to the ancient attempt to develop concise affirmations of
Christian belief is the call among us for a simplified Christianity that
lessens the significance of Jesus's life and death, while focusing more on
the responsibility his life imparts. Whether or not he was really born or
buried, whether he was fully human and fully divine is thought
nonessential; the call to love, the obligation to respond, the need to
build relationships, is considered more important. The creeds say so much
more than this.

In the letter to the Hebrews, the affirmation is given that faith gives
substance to our hopes and makes certain the realities we do not see.
Those who first said "credo" did so with the assurance that their lives
were dramatically about to change. They were saying in these vows that
their beliefs were worth the chance of persecution, suffering, and even
death. In their confession of faith was the conviction that what is true
is of greater substance than fear or self. They went to their baptisms
knowing that the life and death of Christ was the hope on which they must
live and die and believe.

The lines of the Apostles' Creed, the mere Christianity men, women, and
children continue to stand on, repeat this stirring hope:

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in
Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell, and on the third day
he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and now sits at the
right hand of God the Father Almighty.
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Thanks to those that have been Military....thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!



Civilian life vs Military life

Your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze and sleep for another 10 minutes.

He stays up for days on end.
__________________________

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

He goes days or weeks without running water.
__________________________

You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.

He gets shot at, as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.
__________________________

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.

He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.
__________________________

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.

He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.
__________________________

You talk trash on your "buddies" that aren't with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.
__________________________

You don't feel like helping out your dad today, so you don't.

He does what he is told.
__________________________

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.

He walks the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.
__________________________

You complain about how hot it is.

He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.
__________________________

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He does not get to eat today.
__________________________

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for months, but makes sure his weapons are clean.
__________________________

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.
__________________________

You are angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He is told he will be held an extra 2 months.

He does as he is told.
__________________________

You call your girlfriend and set a date for that night.

He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.
__________________________

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.

He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.
__________________________

You ditch class to go to a movie.

He goes where he is told.
__________________________

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.
__________________________

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.

He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own government and remembers why he is fighting.
__________________________

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of the men like him.

He hears the gun fire and bombs.
__________________________

You see only what the media wants you to see.

He sees the bodies lying around him.
__________________________

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.

He does what he is told.
__________________________

You stay at home and watch tv.

He takes whatever time he is given to call and write home, sleep, and eat.
__________________________

You crawl into your bed, with down pillows, and try to get comfortable.

He crawls under a tank for shade and a 5 minute nap, only to be woken by gun fire.
__________________________

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is a worse place because of men like him.

If only there were more men like him

PLEASE REPOST!! OUR HUSBANDS/WIVES, SONS/DAUGHTERS, COUSINS, FRIENDS ARE OUT THERE FIGHTING AND RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR US!! PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!!


Bill
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North Korea Freedom Week
Exposing Deeds of Darkness

April 19, 2006


Four years ago, President Bush described the "axis of evil," nations that, through their actions within and beyond their borders, "threaten the peace of the world."

While two of the axis members—Iraq and Iran—are seldom, if ever, out of the news, the third member, North Korea, gets only a fraction of the coverage. This despite the fact that North Korea already has nuclear weapons and its leaders have already killed far more people than even Saddam Hussein.

It seems that the only way North Korea is going to get the attention it warrants is if Christians force the issue.

North Korea is often called the "Hermit Kingdom" because of its isolation from the rest of the world. This nickname, which conjures up images of monks in serene repose, ought to give way to one that more accurately captures the essence of Kim Jong-Il: charnel house. The land of morning calm has become the repository for the bones of Kim's victims.

Since Kim Jong-Il succeeded his father in 1994, more than two million North Korean men, women, and children have died from starvation. Another 400,000 have perished in political prison camps, and I've seen reports from those camps. It's horrifying.

Fleeing Kim's nightmare is hardly better. Those seeking to escape through China are "victimized by traffickers, hunted down by police, and forcibly repatriated." China will not allow humanitarian organizations or the UN to feed and shelter North Korean refugees. To complete this hellish scenario, "children whose parents have died or been separated from them wander the streets in search of food and protection."

If this reminds you of places like the Cambodian "Killing Fields," you're right. And, just as with Cambodia, the world has turned a collective blind eye. If Kim hadn't developed nuclear weapons, nobody would have cared what happened in North Korea.

No one, that is, except the people of conscience like Christians. Groups like the North Korea Freedom Coalition work to keep the suffering of North Koreans from being another case of "out of sight and out of mind."

The first North Korea Freedom Day rally in 2004 led to the North Korea Human Rights Act, which we helped pass in the Congress. The act commits the United States to "defend human rights and bring humanitarian aid to those suffering in North Korea." Yet, to date, "not a single North Korean refugee has been helped by the Act's application," a result that Representative Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) calls "shameful."

Well, it's time to make ourselves heard again because our Christian brothers are in prison in North Korea and being brutalized and murdered in those camps. April 22-30 has been designated North Korea Freedom Week. The scheduled activities include congressional hearings, the North Korea Genocide Exhibit, and an all-night prayer vigil at the Chinese Embassy. These efforts will culminate at the North Korea Freedom Day rally on April 28 at the U.S. Capitol.

We need your help if we're going to have any effect. For the Human Rights Act to be more than a piece of paper, our elected officials need to hear from their constituents. You can call us here at BreakPoint (1-877-322-5527) to get their addresses and phone numbers. And also visit our website for more information.

Our elected officials need to know that somebody is paying attention, and that is our job as Christians.




Get links to further information on today's topic



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A husband and wife are getting ready for bed. The wife is standing in front
of a full-length mirror taking a hard look at herself.

"You know, love" she says, "I look in the mirror and I see an old woman. My
face is all wrinkled, my chest sags to my waist, my posterior is hanging out a
mile. I've got fat legs and my arms are all flabby."

She turns to her husband and says, "Tell me something positive to make me
feel better about myself."

He thinks about it for a bit and then says in a soft voice, "Well...there's
nothing wrong with your eyesight."
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