Leigh Thomas
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Battlefield on...MC???
||July 05, 2009|525 reads
 

To add a comment to "Battlefield on...MC???"
Mike n Laura
July 05, 2009
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Sheree Timms
July 05, 2009
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Leigh, you keep ruffling feathers and stop apologizing for standing on the Word of God, that is the problem we don't want to ruffle feathers, you are absolutely correct sin is sin, no one bigger than the other regardless to whether or not they are our friends or family, we as Christians are to hate what God hates and God hates sin.  He loves the sinner and nothing can separate us from the love of God but our sin separates us from God but because we quote the scripture the way we want to hear it "nothing can separate us from God" that is a false statement and you have just taken Gods Word ans twisted it or watered it down to make our friends and family feel good about the sin that they live in and enable them to stay there comfortably.  Bless you Leigh and continue to watch where the devil is trying to get a foothole.
Leigh Thomas
July 05, 2009
Thank you so much, Sheree!  Let's be friends...uh, SISTERS in Christ!!!

LoveLeigh
Preston Pittman
July 05, 2009
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That's a good word right there sis. Luv ya.
Leigh Thomas
July 05, 2009
Thanks, Bro!!!  Luv ya, too!!! ;o)
KEN
July 05, 2009
The greatest Sin is Supporting/enabling Sin.  Right now in our society Homosexual Fornication  is one of the Sins getting the greatest support and enablement from within the so-called Christian Community. Whenever a Sin is labeled an  'Abomination' by The Lord God of Hosts in the Old Testament, and then, this is confirmed in the New Testament, it deserves a lot of attention.  The 'Politically Correct"/Sin Enabling "Christians" are keeping the issue in the forefront. 
KEN
July 05, 2009
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Lara Leger
July 05, 2009
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Most of what I've read has been fine, by way of blogs.  Like people seem to be quite loving in their approach. My above bro, Ken is, Preston wrote a moving blog about such recently, and so on.  I've had the struggle and the devil still tries to trip me up, so I do have a special love and understanding for homosexuals, having been there myself.  Just another sin of the flesh is all, to practice it.  I hate sin, period.  But yeah; judgment didn't bring me to repentance;  Like the Word says, it's God's kindness that brings us to repentance.  Love you, sister.
HigherGround
July 05, 2009
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I have noticed a bit of anger rearing here and there...but a lot of love to focus on too. Prayer is key. Love the open hearts. Lara, I had not known before today about your past. Mine is a different past but no less sinful..hopping beds any way you want to slice it .....sinful. Love you.

Love the desire for peace in this blog, hugs juanita mae
Liz Bell
July 05, 2009
Let us see each other as Christ sees us. We are adopted into the family of God and should love each other. I know that in family life spats are quite common
but if we can see beyond them and love and forgive when we trample on some toes. Think what Iam trying to say is love as Christ loves and forgive as Christ forgives
Lara Leger
July 05, 2009
I've done plenty of stupid things before Christ....broke every single commandment.  Glad Jesus saves AND sanctifies.
HigherGround
July 05, 2009
Lara, I sooooooooo love you! lol You are so purely honest.
crystal
July 05, 2009
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I've noticed, and that's why I have decided not to comment any longer on blogs.
At least for now. Just because I do not get in peoples face and point out their faults with a Holy Selfrightess Attitude, doesn't mean that I am condoning their sin. I do not condone or support any sin. We all have a different way of approaching someone to share the love of Christ my way happens to be in love. If they choose not to listen, so be it, but I have touched more hearts for Christ this way than comdeming. I came to Christ because came to me in love, plain simple love. I could not believe some of the hurtful messages I received just because I made a comment that we are not to judge. I guess just because some are here on myChurch doesn't necessarily mean anything. I will keep my opinions to myself. I just got over one hurt from a "RELIGION THING".
REMARKABLE TERRY
July 05, 2009
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I feel you but please keep reading my poetry and sending comments of encouragement and prayers...I LOVE YOU
Go Cubbies
July 05, 2009
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Sherlock
July 05, 2009
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Sheree Timms
July 05, 2009
Lara, i know without a shadow of a doubt, everyone on here has a BC (befoe Christ) and now we are living in the AC (after Conversion), the thing i see in most cases is that there is no true conversion and some sre led to believe that it is o-kay to stay, but we have a call to fall
7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I Bless God that everyone on MC has answered the call to fall and if not already operating in the gifts God has manifested matured and released, that they soon will begin to.

Renee J
July 05, 2009
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Joey     R
July 07, 2009
Love one another...
Prentiss United Methodist Church
July 07, 2009
Dearest Joey, It is not just in the church, this is a battle being fought in the trenches in society at large. People have tried to justtify sin since the beginning of time. But you are right..sin is sin. And Jesus died to cover all sin. Our church on a Denominational level is fighting this too. If we claim to be Christians and claim to believe in His word than there are things that cannot be justified. It does not mean God love anyone less. Once I read a book years ago entitled "For Preachers and Other Sinners." Contradiction in terms? Hardly the fact that sin efffects everybody and no one is immune. What we need to preach is Repentance not justification...this is a slippery slip we are on and once the standards are lowered you can be assured they will continue the slide. I love all sinners including myself, but God loves us all adn love can conquer all. God love you sis! PC
Debra Alphs
July 07, 2009
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A great big...Amen! I have been feeling a great (stirring) myself...dealing...OM!
Yvelisse
July 07, 2009
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Let us put aside all hatreds  and save the lambs for whom Christ died.

Yvelisse
July 07, 2009
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Amen, Let us put aside all hatreds  and be who Christ has called us to be.

mstovall2003
July 07, 2009
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7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
DENISE
July 07, 2009
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Prentiss United Methodist Church
July 07, 2009
Dear Leigh, No apology needed. Paul says the gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. The unregerate heart cannot and is incapable of understanding spiritual truth....LY in Christ PC
Sista Divine Mind
July 08, 2009

My sisters and brothers don't keep saying that people have hatred because they don't see things as you do. You don't have to agree with everything someone else feels or think but one thing is for sure ....God's word never changes and as long as we are all speaking God's word there is no room for the adversary to come in....But if the adversary is showing His face then as Children of God we know what to do to put him on the run......Peace and Blessings my friends

Gordon Greene
July 08, 2009
A couple months ago their was a picture that made the news of a soldier who was fighting in his boxer shorts and flip flops. He was out of uniform but not out of the battle. Roused from sleep by gunfire he responded to the danger to his brothers without thought of himself.

Mychurch is not the battlefield or the enemy. It is made up of a motley collection of misfits, cowards, and hurt and wounded.

Misfits don't fit in right. Either because they try too hard or give up too easily. They are unfit for service or battle.

Cowards live in fear. Their fear controls their lives as they always look for the next thing to hide from. Sometimes they hide behind their rigid beliefs and intolerance. Sometimes they hide at the first sound of conflict.

The hurt and wounded are those who life has left incapable or unable to fight at this time. Many have been faithful but life has dealt them crippling blows.

No, Mychurch is not a battlefield. It is more like a bootcamp where the unfit and cowards learn how to work together under the watchful eye of the Holy Spirit.  Though they each may have individual specialties they are all part of the same unit. After bootcamp they battle as a unit not individuals. There lives depend on each other. 

And when a part of the unit is wounded they are not left behind or criticized. They are protected from the enemy, cared for, and honored for their sacrifice. With proper training (from the Spirit not man) the hurt fight though hurt because they know that everyone else in the unit has suffered in one way or another during the excursion into enemy territory.

The mission is not to see how many scores (kills) we can get by "friendly fire". The mission is to seek and to save those who are lost and to retrieve prisoners of war.

The mission statement, the Semper fi so to speak, is 1 Corinthians 13.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013;&version=31;9;45;65;

We never leave bootcamp until we are prepared. Bootcamp was never intended to be a lifetime experience anymore than the journey to the Promised Land was intended to take forty years. 

Before bootcamp we are controlled by our emotions and me first. After bootcamp we are under the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He leads us into all truth. Truth cannot be separated from love. NEVER!

Below is an article of the soldier in pink boxer shorts in battle. For a time he was concerned about repercussions from the photo because he was out of uniform. But he was definitely in the midst of the battle. Notice how the Secretary of Defense reacted.

Defense chief praises soldier in pink boxersGI jumped into action with flip-flops, too, after surprise Taliban attack
Image: Soldier Pink Boxer
David Guttenfelder / AP
Zachery Boyd, in pink boxers, was routed from his sleep on May 11 by Taliban fire on a base in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province. With him are Cecil Montgomery of Many, La., far right; and Jordan Custer of Spokane, Wash.
Slideshow
Image: U.S. soldiers on patrol in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan
  Camp Restrepo
Members of the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry man an isolated outpost in Korengal Valley.

more photos

updated 2:30 p.m. CT, Fri., May 22, 2009

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says American soldiers have more than their military might and training on their side in the war in Afghanistan. Some have pink underwear.

Gates told an audience in New York about Specialist Zachary Boyd, routed from sleep by enemy fire on his post in eastern Afghanistan.

"He immediately grabbed his rifle and rushed into a defensive position clad in his helmet, body armor, and pink boxer shorts that said 'I Love New York,'" Gates said Thursday night.

"Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, an AP photographer was there for a candid shot," Gates continued.

The photograph by David Guttenfelder ran on the front page of the New York Times and is featured in the msnbc.com slide show on this story.

Gates said Boyd, from Fort Worth, Texas, later told his parents he might get fired. Gates assured his audience at the Intrepid museum, and Boyd, that his job is safe.

"Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage," Gates said, adding that Boyd may have hit on a new kind of psychological warfare. "I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban.

Just imagine seeing that — a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his crosshairs."

At least initially, the soldiers were worried the photo would make them look bad, Guttenfelder said. But Firebase Restrepo, on a steep mountainside where soldiers are on constant lookout for Taliban fighters, isn’t a place for formality: Uniforms have holes in them, and some men wear flea collars because of bugs in their beds, he said.

Boyd called his parents at 12:30 a.m., Fort Worth time, to warn them about the photo. He was legitimately worried about losing his job, said his mother, Sheree Boyd.

Her husband, Tommy, immediately got on the computer to find the photo and roared with laughter, she said. The boxers were emblazoned with “I Love NY.”

“We thought it was such a funny picture but so typical of him,” Sheree Boyd said of her son, who turned 20 on Sunday. “He’s always liked boxers, the wilder the better. But we’d never seen him wear pink before.”

The photo drew a wide response on the Internet. A handful of commentators found it an undignified representation of America’s fighting forces but most supported Boyd. “I think this is great,” a woman named Melissa wrote on a TV station message board. “I wish I had an address for him. I’d send him some that say ‘Don’t mess with Texas.”’

Guttenfelder said Boyd was one of the bravest soldiers he’d seen in Afghanistan. The photographer believes that most people recognize what he saw in the situation. “When the Taliban starts shooting, whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re wearing, you run to your station,” he said.

Sheree Boyd said she and her husband had heard from many people expressing admiration for their son. She’s eating that up, as any mom would, but said she appreciates how the photo reminds Americans that it’s the “kid next door” fighting the war.

She said she hopes to see her son back home by the Fourth of July. Would he be wearing pink boxers in any Independence Day parades?

“Don’t challenge him,” she said, laughing. “He just may do it.”

Sis Cece
July 08, 2009
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Joey     R
July 08, 2009
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Joey     R
July 08, 2009

When you are in love with Jesus Christ, it's all been washed away.

Coreena
July 08, 2009
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Kathy
July 08, 2009
Leigh, although you and I probably do not see eye to eye on the issues you mention here, I hope you would agree that that does not mean one of us is not Christian or that one of us is of Satan.  It more likely means we have been exposed to different Christian teachings and to different life experiences, and both of us are equally convinced that our view is the most Christlike.  Thanks for posting your heart.  It's nice to meet another sister in Christ.
http://www.mychurch.org/blog/219849/sexual-orientation--its-not-a-sin
Teral McDowell
July 08, 2009
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Brother Todd
July 08, 2009
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Speak the truth in love and that is what you have done.   Keep in mind though this is an open forum and we have many who come from various backgrounds and persusions.  We will not agree on everything, but we must remember that Jesus Christ is God and is LORD.  But even with that said, many would not agree with that statement.  All I can say is be true to your core values and live to please Christ.
GrammyB
July 08, 2009
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pandabear
July 08, 2009
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Amen & amen, Leigh.  Love you. 
mom n daughter
July 08, 2009
Leigh...can you give any scripture that proves that no sin is any greater than any other????
I think this is part of the problem in mychurch....people are putting blogs and comments and blaming the bible and God for their own beliefs.  Sometimes God gets blamed for stuff He never said...and the bad thing is that we have His words written down for us to read and we still misquote him.
Leigh Thomas
July 08, 2009
Robin, it seems to me in the teachings of Jesus he taught his followers that no sin is any greater than another, except for one.  I will check out the Gospels and see what I find...

LoveLeigh

Thank you to everyone who has posted here...I just don't want to give Satan a foothold to there being disagreements among us as the Pharisees.  God's Word is THE WORD and there is no changing it.
Debbie
July 08, 2009
I definitely agree with this statement...God's Word is THE WORD and there is no changing it.
Ronnie's blog
July 09, 2009
            Can't help it, i have to tell this story.  I was taking a shower one evining in the Republic of Vietnam had a soldier was supposed to be guarding as I had no weapon in the shower, as expected. I had a bar of soap and the water was cold. we had to clime a latter and fill a sack with it that had a showered on the end.
     The soap was sent to me in "care package" by a couple in the states. I finished my shower and came out to dry off. An NVA (North Vietnamese Army) soldier came up the hill and bolted his rifle taking aim at my head. I yelled for my partner to shoot him. But he said he could not shoot anyone. I stood there as the NVA aimed and pulled the trigger on his AK-47. It went, "click" and no round went off. I yelled again to this guy and he would not fire on the enemy. again I stood there in my altogether as the NVA took aim and i heard another "click". At that time I threw my bar of soap at him and it hit him in the mouth. (I could not do that again ever. I ran for my rifle and as the enemy ran down the hill, I opened up and put about 10 shots in his back.
  My, so-called buddy came over and said how great it was that I got him. I turned to him and said, "Yeah, and your next!" He started running, but I caught up with him after I got my cloths on. I told him I would have shot him but I would not want to have a round go through him and hit a good man. But, I promised, "I will kill you at some point in time for not shooting." I went looking for him later after but he was so scared, he beged the First Sargent to get him out of there. So, he had been lifted out by a chopper just before. I'm kind of glad he did. It was a personal thing and the only time I had to threaten a man was when he started to run. You may have many thoughts as to how you would have handled this situation. Think about it, would you do the same? Or would you say, "Oh, I forgive you, your just a sinner!!
Debbie
July 09, 2009
Goldie, I'd feel the same way...NO DOUBT!!!
Leigh Thomas
July 09, 2009
For crying out loud!  What was he even doing in the military???  I praise God for it was HE that who protected you from the enemy!!!  And HE was the one that guided that gooey bar of soap right to where it needed to be to get you time to be able to protect yourself from the enemy!  As I was first typing this, I typed, "fry coring out loud!" I was so frazzled.
Debbie
July 09, 2009

Leigh,...AGREED!  You know (and this is another subject) we just went thru' this when the War on Terror began...enlistees and family of the Nation Guard mainly were OUTRAGED that they/their kids actually had to "go do something" in exchange for the $ and benefits...It was just disgusting to see...and my tho't as yours above was (and is), Well, what are you doing there to start with...not like it was a draft! 

btw, thank God, the AK47 jammed!!!

Leigh Thomas
July 09, 2009
Debbie, FOR SURE!!! 
Tim
July 09, 2009

AK47 is usually pretty reliable...Glad as all get out, it wasn't this time...

Debbie
July 09, 2009
    What would you say to a group of believers about to enter a land occupied by pagans?  What would you say to the faithful if you knew their faith would be challenged at every turn?  What would you say to a group of people upon whom the burden of carrying and representing the covenant message of God rested?  Moses knew exactly what to say.  He gave them God's Word.  That Word echoes through the halls of history and still resonates today. 
an excerpt from FAMILY DRIVEN FAITH~Voddie Baucham
Jude and Sarah
July 09, 2009
I think that this subject is often confused, so let's look at some scripture.

James 2:10,11"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." Does this say that if someone tells a lie they automatically guilty of rape? No, but it does say that regardless of which commandments you break you will be counted a transgressor and a rebel before a just and holy God and therefore worthy of damnation. The bible says many times that every man will be judged according to his works. (Rev. 20:12,13 / Isaiah 59:18).

Another point I would like to look at is that God brings judgement on this earth to fit the severity of men's crimes. God has destroyed entire cities for sodomy (act of homosexuality) (Jude 7) but he hasn't destroyed Jacksonville NC, even though most of it's inhabitants are not born-again believers and all have obviously broken some of his commandments at some point(Romans 3:23).

God gives us as Christians specific instructions when dealing with some sins and not others (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) and to the Jewish people (see Leviticus). He calls some sins abominations and not others (Proverbs 6:16-19)

When Christ left earth on a cloud, He commanded us to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe everything that he commands us (Matthew 28:19,20)
Ronnie's blog
July 09, 2009
  Leigh, that is exactly why I entered that on your blog. I give ALL the glory to God. Just to think, that you stand in front of a man with a rifle and wait twice for him to kill you is over the top, I'm sure you'll agree. The grass looked greener, the soil looked so deep in color and even the air was so great. I surely did not want to die! That through was certainly an assistance from the Father. I think if I tried that again. I could have not hit my target as I did in ten thousand shoots. I have seen a great deal on the battlefield that can only be of God's good grace.
   The man who was supposed to be guarding me as I showered was one who would not even fire to save his own life. The NVA new this, or he would not have picked the man who was unarmed. My anger was not really too scientific. I think although many agree with how I felt. I may have been considered 2nd degree murder if I did shoot him.

    "Tim," there are many myths. The AK-47 is no more reliable than any other weapon made.
Ronnie's blog
July 09, 2009
P.S  Pink undershorts are not regulation!1 But God bless him. I'm sure he didn't catch any "flac" for this. He's a hero!!
Gary Robison
July 13, 2009
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What sin did Christ die on the cross for?

He died for ALL sins.

Hell fire and damnation is reserved for the fallen angels and for those whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life.

The question is.... is the persons name in that Book.

According to Paul and the other apostles, we can tell who is a true follower and who is a fake or lukewarm believer. By their fruits (or works). If a person is a believer, then the Spirit of Christ dwells within the person, and the person has a new heart, one which no longer seeks to do sin, because the new heart now seeks to please the Lord. Does the flesh get in the way? Of course, but that is why We are to crucify the flesh, and allow Christ to live through us.

So if a person is truly saved, he will repent and seek the Lord's desires, which is found in the Word.

This is true for all sin, whether it be a little white lie, to a molester, or even the murderer.

Paul wrote to Corinth about the man in fortification and told them to deliver him to Satan, shutting him out of the fellowship, lest he pollute the rest of the believers. But when he repented, they were told to accept him back into the fellowship.

Few will truly sacrifice themselves, and have their names written in the Book.

 

We are to be the example of Christ's love. He loved the sinner. Christ loved the dirty beggar with leprosy enough to touch him. He loved the sinner so much that He offered Himself as their (our) sacrifice. Nailing ALL sin to the cross. He wants us to be just as He is, as gentile as a lamb.

But we ARE to judge, but not the sinner living on the street with the needle in his arm, and HIV running through his veins. We are to hug and cry with the prostitute, to take the homeless sinner with alcohol and vomit on his shirt into our embrace.

We are to judge those in our fellowships that are a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with these we are told not to even eat.

But those in the world (the sinner, murderer, fornicator, molester, drunkard, worshippers of false gods, wife beaters) , we MUST love, without condition!

We should copy Christ in all of His actions.

Even when judging. Even if we have to fashion a whip out of reeds. And kick the tables over. Or calling those as they are, whitewashed sepulchres.

Too often those in our fellowships, drive many of the world deeper into sin, because of their hypocrites. Hollering and yelling at the sinner for doing what they themselves do behind closed doors.

Our places of worship have become as the temple in Ezekiel's vision, (Ezek 9&10)

Sin runs rampant in our fellowships, and we turn a blind eye. Will He not condemn those that say nothing, just as much as those in the act.

But we point our fingers at the sinner in the world, telling them to repent, to quit being homosexual, to quit cheating on their wives, to quit aborting the babies, while we say nothing about the evil sitting by our side singing vain and empty praises to a God that is ready to spew them from His mouth!
Leigh Thomas
July 13, 2009
AMEN, Gary!!!

In Christ,
Leigh
Bren
July 17, 2009
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The Talking Mule
July 18, 2009
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Satan sits in the church pews so, of course, he'd show up here. I fight with love because the enemy is not the person (we fight not flesh and blood) but the spirit. Love conquers all. It is the best weapon I can use because it pours salt on the wounds of the guilty. My spirit is in union with the Holy Spirit, who gives discernment as to how to deal with the circumstance. Nicely put Leigh and notice the responses! I like what Jesus said when He said my word testifies of me. He spoke about the Toro and the books of the prophets. The bible also testifies by the words Jesus said that we can know who's His by our fruit. We will be a witness as to whom we serve and Christ Will be the Judge. Amen.  :o)
HigherGround
July 18, 2009
Hey Mule, you should read my friend Preston Pittman's blogs about LOVE being key to destroying the enemy tactics.
Leigh Thomas
July 19, 2009
Thank you, Mule!  Love is the best weapon of all - why?  Because LOVE IS GOD!
Deb Rockwell
July 19, 2009
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Amen!