Ed's Note:
750 years before Christ's birth, the prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the promised Messiah!
Dec 23, 2016
Dec 15, 2016
Saint Mark At The Wailing Wall in 1981 ~ The City Of The Great King!
1981 ~ The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, Israel
Dec 8, 2016
Garratts recount dark odyssey through China’s security apparatus ~ The Globe & Mail / Dec.8/2016
The Garratts didn’t realize they were being set up until it was too late.
It was August, 2014, and the Christian aid workers were at a restaurant in the remote northern Chinese city of Dandong, on the North Korean border, where they had lived and run a café for years.
An acquaintance had asked them for advice on sending his daughter to study in Canada – so there they were, prepared to offer assistance, as they had been doing in China since falling in love with the country 30 years before.
Shortly after arriving amid what looked like a wedding party, Kevin and Julia Garratt were grabbed by strange men and driven away in separate cars.
The surprise arrest launched a dark odyssey through the Chinese state security apparatus: Mr. Garratt was imprisoned for two years on espionage charges, Ms. Garratt was detained, then placed under surveillance, and the family was traumatized, immiserated and finally reunited, with troubling questions to spare. The episode would also become a flashpoint in Sino-Canadian relations as the countries negotiated the launch of talks on an extradition treaty.
Three months after returning to Canada, the Garratts sat down with The Globe and Mail to give their most detailed account yet of the harrowing journey.
As they try to put their life back together, the couple are trying to find meaning in a trial that often seemed meaningless.
“How did you make it through?” Mr. Garratt said. “It was our faith, it was our trust that God would see us through.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the couple refuses to think of China with bitterness.
Ms. Garratt tried to sum up her feelings toward a country that gave them so much, and then nearly took it all away: “Twenty-eight years of thank yous,” she said, “and two years of hell.”
As she was driven through the August night two years ago, Ms. Garratt was confused and scared. Neither she nor her husband had any idea who had taken them, or why.
“Is it thugs?” she thought. “Is it North Korea kidnapping me? Is it China kidnapping me?”
“I said, ‘You must have the wrong people.’ And they said, ‘No, you’re the right people.’”
After years of charity work throughout China, the Garratts had moved to Dandong to pursue aid projects in North Korea, opening their coffee shop in May, 2008. At the invitation of the country’s regime, the couple had built bathrooms for orphanages, helped with flood relief and rebuilt facilities at a school for the disabled.
All the while, they ran a coffee shop in the Chinese border city that was frequented by students and foreign journalists. The shop also attracted local diplomats hoping to learn about North Korea through two Canadians who had been given rare levels of access to the country. The couple would later learn through their Chinese interrogators that a U.S. military attaché had visited the café.
Former foreign affairs minister John Baird requested a meeting during his tenure. And in 2009, the Garratts were contacted by Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canadian spy agency, to ensure the couple hadn’t violated sanctions through their aid work. (They hadn’t.) Ms. Garratt now believes all of the attention from foreign diplomats and security agencies put a bull’s eye on their backs.
Unbeknownst to them, another drama was playing out, as the United States sought the deportation from Canada of Su Bin, a Chinese man accused of masterminding a plan to steal U.S. military secrets. Diplomatic discussions suggested very strongly the Garratts had been seized in retribution.
“The Su Bin thing was front and centre,” said James Zimmerman, a prominent U.S. lawyer in Beijing hired by the family. “In my view that was pretty much the reason for all this happening.”
Still, Ms. Garratt knew none of this when she was taken to a local police station for questioning. There she was told, in a Mandarin she still understood imperfectly, that she was suspected of being a spy.
“Then you’re shaking, and you’re in shock,” she said.
The state security officers told her to remove all of her personal belongings but her clothes – rings, her phone, her computer, supplies from her teaching job. With her husband still in a separate room, Ms. Garratt was driven for about an hour to an empty compound in the country. It was “pitch black,” she recalled.
Still in a dress and high heels, she was placed in the room that would be her home for the next six months. Two female guards stood by the door. Ms. Garratt wept.
“I was just thinking, ‘Are they going to execute us?’” she said.
Meanwhile, her husband was being taken to the couple’s apartment in Dandong. “They whisked me into an unmarked car,” he said. “They said, ‘Think of us as the FBI.’”
Investigators were ransacking the apartment, he recalled, asking suspiciously about household items such as salt shakers and jars of honey. It was one of many moments tinged with the surreal that would mark the following two years.
Later that night, he was taken to the same compound as his wife. But for months, guards refused to tell him her whereabouts. He suspected that she was in the building, but lived in terrified doubt.
For six months, their only excursions were occasional separate trips to meet with consular officials in Dandong without seeing the other person. Protocol prevented the officials from discussing the Garratts’ case with them. Nor did the couple have a way of contacting their relatives; their son found out about his parents’ detention from the Chinese news.
Eventually, Ms. Garratt was released on bail, on the condition that she meet with the authorities once a week, among other restrictions. She was told that this arrangement was a “great privilege.” Instead, she found it paralyzing. Fear kept her cooped in the couple’s apartment. Unable to work, she was provided with food by local friends who visited with whatever they could scrounge.
Mr. Garratt faced a worse fate. He was transferred to the Dandong prison and placed in tiny cell crammed with about a dozen inmates. Some of his cellmates were drug addicts suffering from withdrawal who would steal food and moan for a fix in the night. Others were accused of murder.
Soon, Mr. Garratt noticed that some of the inmates were wearing bright yellow vests. When he asked what the vests meant, he was told that they were given to prisoners awaiting execution. Another class of prisoners were given purple vests, indicating that the men had AIDS.
Although he never experienced violence behind bars, he had some close calls. When a fight in an adjacent cell led to one of the brawlers being bunked next to him, Mr. Garratt placated the man with offerings of food.
Other cellmates were easier to get along with, and provided a window into the sometimes cruel vagaries of the Chinese justice system. Mr. Garratt befriended a doctor accused of selling medical equipment without a licence he didn’t know he needed. Another frightened young man was locked up for betting on NBA games. There was even a senior police officer among his cellmates – the head of the local drug squad, who had been busted for allegedly manufacturing drugs of his own.
The prison guards, like the system they represented, could be capricious. Sometimes they enforced odd rules, such as banning red socks. And every night at 7 p.m., inmates were made to gather around the TV in their cell and watch the state news broadcast.
Other times, the guards performed small acts of kindness, such as bringing Mr. Garratt family photos. Other prisoners liked to gaze at these snapshots from home, Mr. Garratt said, as if experiencing family life vicariously through them.
Mr. Garratt received many favours denied to other prisoners. The couple believes that local security officials tacitly acknowledged the peculiarity of his case, and took pity on him.
While the Garratts were still in custody together, officials organized a Christmas dinner for them and their son. The following year, an investigator on their case took Ms. Garratt shopping at a local market to buy Christmas treats for her husband. As the investigator carried her bags, she bought beef jerky and tinsel.
Other privileges ranged from the small – a trip to the hairdresser – to the immeasurable, such as confinement in the prison’s medical wing, where the cells were about half as crowded and inmates didn’t have to work all day. (Mr. Garratt also developed an irregular heartbeat while in custody, along with other heart ailments.)
After a hasty trial on April 20, during which he wasn’t able to speak to his lawyer, he waited nearly five months for a verdict. That finally came on Sept. 13. Without warning, he was summoned to hear an eight-page judgment that he only dimly understood. Later, a consular official would tell him that the document’s key word was “deportation.” He had been found guilty, but he would be going home.
The compromise appears to have resulted from a diplomatic coup by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who raised the Garratt case with Chinese leadership during an official visit earlier that month.
Mr. Garratt returned home on Sept. 15; Mr. Trudeau called with congratulations on the flight to Vancouver. But the Chinese government did not let Mr. Garratt go before he accepted a roughly $20,000 fine for espionage, and paid back about $9,000 in unidentified expenses. The government also seized the couple’s business in Dandong and their personal savings, which amounted to about $40,000.
The Garratts are elated to be free, and especially to see their four grown children, who live on the West Coast. But they also face a hard road ahead. Their life was in China, and so was their livelihood. They’re currently couch surfing with friends, family and supportive church communities.
“Now we’re just thinking about how to get enough money to buy a car and a house,” Ms. Garratt said.
“It’s taking us a while to feel comfortable and we’re not quite there yet,” Mr. Garratt added.
Still, inspired by their Christian faith, the couple are trying to find a silver lining in the terrible ordeal. They hope to use their experience of injustice and abuse to help others who have faced the same.
“We belong now to a community that we didn’t before – people who have been wrongfully accused, people who have become pawns in other people’s arguments,” Ms. Garratt said. “Let’s now use this positively to say, ‘Let’s love our neighbours. Let’s serve each other.’”
With a report from Nathan VanderKlippe
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story said for six months the Garratts' only excursions were occasional trips to meet with consular officials in Dandong. To clarify, these trips were taken separately and they didn't see each other.
_________________________________________
Oct 2016
Kevin Garratt, the Canadian missionary held for two years in China on suspicion of spying, spoke publicly for the first time Thursday since his high-profile release, detailing the brutal prison conditions he and his wife dealt with during their ordeal.
Reading from a hand-written statement in the House of Commons foyer, Mr. Garratt said the “horrendous” 775-day ordeal for him, his wife and their family passed by in long minutes. Mr. Garratt and his wife, Julia, were initially detained in August of 2014, after living and working as missionaries in China for 30 years.
“Julia and I were suddenly taken to a remote compound and held in isolation separately for six months, unjustly interrogated as suspects, accused of espionage and stealing state secrets,” said Mr. Garratt, with his wife by his side.
After spending six months confined to one room with the lights on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Ms. Garratt was released on bail in February, 2015 without identification and multiple communications restrictions. Mr. Garratt’s situation worsened.
“I was criminally arrested and transferred to a small prison cell with up to 14 other prisoners. Cot to cot, we were right beside each other … with 24/7 fluorescent lights on,” said Mr. Garratt.
Mr. Garratt said his only contact with the outside world during his two years in prison was a 30-minute supervised, monthly visit with a consular worker. His wife experienced the same restrictions during her time in prison.
He was suddenly released last month after a massive effort by the Canadian government, its embassy in Beijing and two prime ministers. Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director Michel Coulombe became involved, as well. According to sources, Mr. Coulombe met with Minister of State Security Geng Huichang to explain that Mr. Garratt, a Pentecostal pastor, did not work for CSIS.
Mr. Garratt’s release came one day after Ottawa agreed to bilateral extradition-treaty talks with China, a long-time demand of the Asian giant. Despite the timing, the government insists Canada made no concessions for Mr. Garratt’s return.
The Garratt family was in Ottawa Thursday to thank the government for the pair’s release. The family also met with Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion to express their gratitude.
“Prime Minister Trudeau, former prime minister Harper and their teams, family, friends and communities in Canada and worldwide persevered in prayer, and quiet, but strategic action, never stopped until we were on home soil. We are so, so grateful,” Mr. Garratt said.
Letter to an atheist: A birdbox and a tree ~ David Catchpoole
Photo by Tuohirulla, Wikipedia.org
Dear ‘open-minded atheist’,
You ask me how I could possibly believe in a Creator given that certain high-profile scientists1 say that no Creator was necessary? Well, let’s take a simple example. Do you see (in the photo at right) the birdbox—where did it come from?
Of course you would say that somebody must have made it, but how do you know that? After all, you didn’t see anyone making it, so how do you know the birdbox had a maker?
(I’m being quite serious—like you, I also realize the birdbox must have been made by someone—but I would like you to ponder how it was that you came to that conclusion.)
Here’s how I would answer. Even though I didn’t see anybody making it, I can see that it has a degree of organization and complexity which, though limited, is never seen to come about by natural processes. Someone must have made it, and attached it to the tree—probably for the purpose of attracting birds so that the maker/owner of the birdbox could enjoy their singing and admire them at close range.
And now, three questions:
- Can that birdbox capture the sun’s energy and convert it into useful fuel? Answer: No.
- Can that birdbox repair itself if part of it is broken off, e.g. by strong winds in a storm? Answer: No.
- Can that birdbox generate copies of itself, which in turn can produce further copies, which in turn can reproduce themselves, and so on? Answer: No!
And yet, the tree, to which the birdbox is attached, can do all of those things—yet you say that the tree had no Creator, that it’s simply the product of time and chance? Where’s the logic in that? When you consider just the ordered complexity of photosynthesis (capturing of the sun’s energy),2 man hasn’t even yet fully described all that’s going on in photosynthesis, let alone been able to duplicate it!3,4,5 If the birdbox had a designer (and it obviously did, as we both acknowledge) then so too did the tree—and whoever designed the tree is obviously one super-Intelligent Designer!
Just as it is written in the Bible:
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.
Romans 1:20a (English Standard Version)
Waiting for Marriage Doesn't Mean You'll Have a Great Sex Life ~ Debra Fileta
~From Relevant Relevant Magazine & shared by Focus on the Family
- It's worth it but not for the reasons you think.
- Just like anything significant in life, good sex takes time, energy and practice to get better.
~Debra K. Fileta is a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in Relationship and Marital issues.
__________________________________________________________
A couple I knew had been dating for two years and remained abstinent until their wedding night. This inadvertently cause them to enter the process of being sexually intimate with baggage.
Up until this moment, they’d been told how shameful and dangerous sex would be to their relationship, and now they were supposed to see it as good and purposeful blessing. They didn’t even know where to begin unpacking and unlearning all that they’d come to believe.
There were things to work through and wounds from their past that needed to be healed. Like many others caught in this predicament, they didn’t know where to start.
It might sound crazy to you, but these are some of the things you don’t get to hear from the outside looking in: Men and women who save themselves for marriage, but then struggle to enjoy all that they have saved.
Somewhere along the way, there’s a misconception that if we save ourselves for marriage, our wedding night will be filled with hours and hours of amazing hot sex. We imagine all the stars aligning in that perfect moment, our bodies naturally taking over, knowing exactly just what to do.
And then the moment comes, and it’s never exactly how we thought it would be. Though maybe not as extreme as the couple I mentioned above, I hear from so many couples whose wedding night was filled with frustration, fears, and the shedding of a few tears.
Just like anything significant in life, good sex takes time, energy and practice to get better.
Part of the problem is that we often go into marriage with unrealistic expectations. I’m not even sure where these expectations come from, but they are definitely ones that I, too, believed somewhere along the way. I’m thankful for honest friends and mentors who came alongside me and spoke truth into my life long before I got married, helping me set things straight.
Here are some truths I learned about this very important subject:
Waiting is always worth it, but not for the reasons we think.
We often tell young men and women that they need to wait until marriage to enjoy sex, but fail to tell them why, or make them think that virginity is the one and only key to a fulfilling sex life come wedding night. But none of those things are the reasons we wait. We don’t wait so that we can we can have an evening of ecstasy on our honeymoon night—because trust me, that’s rarely the case.
We wait because through the process of waiting our relationship is built, our trust is strengthened and our commitment to one another is tried, tested and refined. We wait because through the process of waiting, we learn discipline, self-control, reverence for the sacred.
We wait because it’s an act of worship and obedience to a God who knows exactly how we’re wired, what we need and what is best for our lives. Our waiting is an act of trusting. And trusting God always leads to greater things, including greater sex along the way.
Sex is a Process.
We often tell young men and women that they need to wait until marriage to enjoy sex, but fail to tell them why, or make them think that virginity is the one and only key to a fulfilling sex life come wedding night.
They say good sex starts in the kitchen and it does. What that means is that it’s in the everyday interactions with one another that our sex lives begin to grow. Through marriage you learn that sex isn’t this one-time action like Hollywood movies tend to portray. Sex in its intended form is a process.
It’s a process of learning selflessness, trust, communication and a whole lot of grace. It’s a process of learning to be vulnerable, asking for what we need and trusting our spouse to meet us where we’re at. It’s a process of becoming a better person as much as it is about becoming a better lover.
The framework of marriage is the one way that we get to watch this process unfold in the most meaningful way—the process of becoming healthy, whole and one. There’s a lot to learn about having a healthy sex life. It’s a lifelong process of learning along the way, not something you can figure all out on your wedding night.
Practice makes Perfect
I look back at my wedding night and I have to chuckle a bit. I’ll spare you the details, but it was quite a learning curve filled with laughs, trial and error, and a whole lot of practice. But practice makes perfect, and I have to say I am honored to have the chance to practice with this man that I love so deeply for the rest of our lives. That’s what marital sex it’s all about.
Just like anything significant in life, good sex takes time, energy and practice to get better. I hear from older couples who are investing in their relationship and thriving in their marriage that their sex life always follows suit—getting healthier, happier and more exciting as time passes.
The honeymoon is simply the start: the beginning of the lifelong journey. It’s important for us to have healthy expectations of this thing called “sex” long before we enter a marriage relationship.
For those of you who are still waiting, continue trusting God with your heart, your desires and your needs—He will always come through. Your wait will never be in vain.
For those of you who are married, remember that sex is a process—one that must be talked about, learned about and practiced. one that comes with its ups and downs, yet can always lead to greater intimacy along the way. If you find yourself struggling, don’t be ashamed or afraid to seek the help of a professional counselor to help you along the way, that’s our job!
Sex is holistic because it involves the health of our bodies but also the health of our hearts, minds and souls. No matter who you are or what your relationship status, may God guide you into the healing of every one of these parts starting today.
Nov 30, 2016
Your Son or Daughter Just Looked at Porn… Now What? ~ Brian Orme
So, your son or daughter recently looked at pornography and you found out. What do you do now?
That’s what porn does. It destroys lives a little over a long time and then all at once.
Well, your action plan could affect the course of his or her
life—for a long, long time. It’s no small thing. Porn and
porn addiction has ruined countless lives. What begins as a stolen glance, if
unchecked, can swell into an avalanche of sin that crushes lives, families,
churches and communities.
That’s what porn does. It destroys lives a little over a long time
and then all at once.
This isn’t meant to scare you, but to remind you that the
situation is serious. As a parent and a leader, you need to have an action plan
to both prevent, discuss and confront the dangers of porn with your kids.
Here are seven things to consider if (or, more likely, when)
that conversation happens.
1. Talk about it right then.
Don’t just pass it off, ignore it, or worse, act like it’s a macho
thing to do and inadvertently encourage it. Sit down, right then, and talk
about it together. Don’t overreact, don’t go crazy, just have a conversation
about how it happened and what he or she saw. Ask for the details.
2. Discuss the why.
Instead of reacting with outrage or disappointment dig a little
deeper and ask the why questions. Why did they confess? Why didn’t they? Why
did they view porn?
You could find out it was accidental or you may dig up some deeper issues about
what’s really going on with your son or daughter. Then, discuss their
motivation for viewing pornography—including the steps leading up to it and how
they felt when they saw it and how they feel now.
3. Hit the Gospel.
It’s important to bring up the Gospel and talk about it early in
the conversation. How? Explain to them that their sins are
covered in Christ—that God looks at them and sees Jesus and his work on the
cross and his resurrection. God still cares, listens and loves them deeply no
matter what they’ve done, but the right response to sin is always repentance.
You can also talk about the fact that as sons and daughters of the King we’re
called to turn from anything that might hurt our relationship with Jesus. This
is real life stuff. Also, one caution, don’t Bible-shame. You’re
disappointed, I get it, but this is not a time to throw out Bible verses to
make your son or daughter feel worse. Point to the positive aspects of
forgiveness, grace and the Holy Spirit’s power to move us in a God-ward
direction.
4. Talk about safeguards.
Find the entry points in their lives where porn might creep in:
smart phone, tablet, T.V., laptop, etc. Discuss a clear action plan to help
safeguard their hearts and their eyes. You might consider downloading a
filtering app like Mobicip or Covenant Eyes. These apps block (for the
most part) porn-related content and they give you the ability to monitor the
activity on their devices. Discuss appropriate times to use devices. If your
son or daughter goes to bed with their phone or laptop that could be a
dangerous thing. Talk about it and set some smart boundaries. One note: just
because you add some software doesn’t mean the issue is over. Which leads me to
the next point.
5. Follow up.
One conversation and a filtering app isn’t the end. Not even
close. Make sure and talk about what your son or
daughter sees—both online and off—often. Check into their
history, discuss their online habits and create an open dialogue about the
dangers of porn. Do what you can to create a safe environment for you kids to
discuss, confess and ask questions. Don’t shut it down after one
conversation—that could do more damage than good by making them feel alone,
ashamed and disconnected.
6. Don’t make it weird.
OK, talking about porn with your son or daughter is weird in
itself, right? But you don’t have to make it any weirder than it already is.
Talk about the specifics openly and confidently. The more clear, open and
constructive you are the better.
7. Pray.
I mention this last, but it’s really something you should start
doing before the conversation ever begins. Pray on your own for guidance, pray
together and pray consistently. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer to
protect your kids from the dangers of porn. It’s our best weapon. Use it.
These tips deal with the immediate conversation, but there are
also many things you can do to prepare and protect your kids from the dangers
of porn before it strikes. Here are a few valuable resources.
Clifford Burton Barrows (1923 - Nov. 15/2016)
Note: This was an amazing man who died this month. Mr. Barrows with Billy Graham and Beverly Shea comprised the greatest evangelistic team this world has known!
Cliff Barrows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cliff Barrows | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clifford Burton Barrows April 6, 1923 Ceres, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 15, 2016 (aged 93) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Residence | Marvin, North Carolina |
| Occupation | music director, gospel music artist, evangelist, |
| Years active | 1944-2016 |
| Religion | Baptist |
| Spouse(s) | Wilma Newell (1945-1994,her death) Ann Prince (1995-2016,his death) |
| Children |
5
Grandchildren: Bonnie Barrows, Bobby Barrows, Betsy Barrows, JJ Barrows |
| Awards | Gospel Music Hall Of Fame inductee, 1988 Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee, 1996 |
Clifford Burton Barrows (April 6, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was a longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He had been a part of the Graham organization since 1949. Barrows was best known as the host of Graham's weekly Hour of Decision radio program, and the song leader and choir director for the crusade meetings.
Contents
[hide]Life[edit]
Barrows was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1944, and served as an assistant pastor at Temple Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota through 1945. Barrows joined Graham at a rally in Asheville, North Carolina that year, and had remained with Graham ever since.
He appeared in the 1970 film His Land with British pop singer Cliff Richard. The film reviews Biblical events as both Cliffs took a pilgrimage to Israel. It was produced by Graham's production company, World Wide Pictures.
In 1988, Barrows was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee by the Gospel Music Association.
In 1996 he was also inducted into the Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Religious Broadcasters. Barrows' longtime colleague, the late Canadian-born singer George Beverly Shea, is also a member of both halls of fame.[1][2]
Barrows died at a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, on November 15, 2016, at the age of 93.[3][4]
Personal life[edit]
Barrows was married to Wilma "Billie" Newell (1945–1994).[5] They had five children; Bonnie (born 1948), Robert (1950), Betty Ruth (1953), Clifford ("Bud") (1955), and William Burton (1962). Barrows married Ann Prince in 1995;[5] the couple resided in Marvin, North Carolina.[6]
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