Snippets

This page contains the resources that I have found useful in my personal and professional life. Admittedly, it is an eclectic list. It contains everything from quotes and books that I like to podcasts, videos, and slideshows.

If you don’t want to scroll through the entire list, you can click on one of the links below and filter the resources by specific category.

I will update this list as I discover new resources. If you have a resource you think I should add, please email me.

Using Prayer to Fight Crime and Violence

lightstock_42850_xsmall_user_7954000 - child- praying - peopleHundreds of people gathered in Baltimore last week and prayed together in a demonstration of unity against crime and violence that has shaken the city to its core. Armed only with their prayers, the people who joined the Cherry Hill Prayer Walk paraded on the streets to declare their determination to fight crime. “It’s very important because we believe that God can do any … and prayer changes things,” said Pastor Ebony Harvin.

The Cherry Hill Prayer Walk was established four years ago with just 46 people. On Saturday, nearly 200 people in their red and white T-Shirts graced the event, all believing that prayer changes things.

For more on this see: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/baltimore.residents.turn.to.prayer.power.to.fight.violence/55758.htm

How Lilian B. Yeomans Was Healed of Drug Addiction

JesusDr. Yeomans said that if anyone would have asked her how she managed to become a drug addict she would have had one response: “Thorough my fault, through my most grievous fault.” She had experienced salvation in her younger days, but under the heavy stress of practicing medicine and doing surgery she would take morphine, or other drugs, so that she could sleep. She was extremely aware of the dangers of this habit, having treated addicts in her own practice. She believed that she had it under control, until the terrible day she discovered that the drug was the master and she was the slave. She was taking drugs at levels fifty times of those prescribed for an adult male. Dr. Yeomans tried to quit numerous times. She said that if she managed to go twenty-four hours without them that she would go into withdrawal where she had heart palpitations, hot and cold sweats, nausea, racking pain, mental delusions, intense cravings, and an inability to even stand. She made at least 57 attempts do break free of her addiction. She would throw away the drugs swearing to never use them again, only to be driven back into them. She sought medical help and attempted medical cures. None of which made any difference. Her health was disintegrating and one nurse described her as “a skeleton with a demon inside”. She prayed day and night to be delivered, but she did not believe that God really healed people. Dr. Yeomans came to the point where she was bedridden. Her doctors would not take away the drugs, for fear that she would just die. She came to John Alexander Dowie’s healing homes in Chicago in 1898. She was left alone for long stretches and turned to the Bible for solace. God began to speak to her, not just in a single verse but throughout the entire thing. She read in Job about healing, saw God’s heart in Genesis that God called us to walk in His image, saw in Exodus that there were “no feeble among them” in the wilderness, that Deuteronomy called for ritual cleansing of lepers, Numbers showed sickness being dealt with through prayer, sacrifice, and atonement, and many others. It became clear to her that the Word of God had healing as a part of every section, not just some but every section. She also came to the realization that she was healed. Her craving for drugs was gone and her health returned. She never again took drugs. The truth of God’s healing power became a reality, which she shared from that time on.

To read more see: http://healingandrevival.com/BioLYeomans.htm 

Christians In Cambodia Aid in Stopping Sex Traffic

made-in-cambodia-barcode-vector-illustration_GyX50Wd_Cambodia: What was once the world’s top destination for sex tourism has essentially eliminated child sex trafficking. A decade ago, 15 to 30 percent of Cambodia’s sex workers were 15 or younger, International Justice Mission (ijm) reports. The nation went from no laws and little social accountability to having an antitrafficking police unit in every province and a Christian-run reporting hotline. “The beauty of this story is that you have God’s people coming alongside a nation,” said Christa Hayden Sharpe, IJM’s Cambodia director. “That’s why so much has changed.”

From Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/may/stopping-traffic.html?share=ARW1yQv%2faZpUmBgH3apf5IUfTyyJVVWQ

Jesus Visits ISIS Fighter in Dreams

ISISReport: ISIS Fighter Who ‘Enjoyed’ Killing Christians Wants to Follow Jesus After Dreaming of Man in White Who Told Him ‘You Are Killing My People’
“One of our YWAM workers in the Middle East was contacted by a friend earlier this year and they met up and he was introduced to an ISIS fighter who had killed many Christians already. I mean that’s a horrible situation, and admittedly, he was probably on guard,” Gina Fadely, director of Youth With A Mission Frontier Missions, Inc. (YWAM), said during a recent appearance on The Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network.
Fadely, who appeared on the VOM radio program along with Kevin Sutter, another YWAM leader, went on to share that this Islamic State jihadi confessed not only to killing Christians but “that he had actually enjoyed doing so.””He told this YWAM leader that he had begun having dreams of this man in white who came to him and said, ‘You are killing my people.’ And he started to feel really sick and uneasy about what he was doing,” Fadely continued. “The fighter said just before he killed one Christian, the man said, ‘I know you will kill me, but I give to you my Bible.’ The Christian was killed and this ISIS fighter actually took the Bible and began to read it. In another dream, Jesus asked him to follow him and he was now asking to become a follower of Christ and to be discipled.”
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/report-isis-fighter-who-enjoyed-killing-christians-wants-to-follow-jesus-after-dreaming-of-man-in-white-who-told-him-you-are-killing-my-people-139880/#p1LXUFvqtlLCdpHw.99
See Also: Dreams: One Way God Communicates Today [Podcast]

Russell Wolfe, Producer of ‘God’s Not Dead,’ Dies at 50

Gods Not DeadRussell Wolfe, prolific producer of faith-based films such as recent hit “God’s Not Dead” through his Pure Flix studio, died May 27 in Scottsdale, Arizona of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Russell produced and co-starred in 2014’s “God Not Dead,” which grossed $60 million dollars. He was diagnosed with ALS during the film’s release.

He continued to work during his illness, producing the sequel “God’s Not Dead 2,” planned for a spring 2016 release.

For more on this story see: http://variety.com/2015/film/news/russell-wolfe-dead-dies-gods-not-dead-1201508419/

How to Display Spiritual Maturity as A Servant

MaturityThe opening verse of James (James 1:1) shows the apostle’s penetrating humility. His maturity pops out like a pumped up vein. James knew Jesus. After all, brothers know brothers. The siblings flourished in the home of Joseph and Mary. They played and laughed together. They developed into men of God together. James shared his toothbrush with the Messiah. Except he didn’t know he was the Messiah then. Jesus was just his kid brother. Despite knowing the star maker, James chooses not to reference it. What he does mention is the link that mattered most to him. “James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Put yourself in his place. How would you write this opening? Would you have written, “James the half-brother of Jesus?” A mature Christian understands the spiritual is higher than the physical. Blood is not thicker than water, in the Spirit realm. The new birth fuses believers together into an everlasting inseparable family. Two blood washed disciples living unknown to each other on separate continents have a greater bond than the closet unsaved relatives living under the same roof. These opening words of James are a sharp picture of what maturity looks like, an image the world knows nothing about. Service is life. Those playing the world’s game would have taken advantage of knowing someone as famous as Jesus. Can’t you hear the worn expression, “it’s not what you know but who you know?” Name-dropping, networking for status and positioning “for self-promotion is the game. Call it Selfishness Inc.; against this, the words of James stand in stark contrast.

Collapsed Teen Says He Saw Jesus

good_friday_1000004528-120613intFORT WORTH(CBSDFW.COM) — Doctors can’t seem to explain it, but one Texas family is sure it was the hand of God that brought their son back to life. 17-year-old Zack Clements is a strong, healthy and outgoing high school athlete. He goes to school and plays football at Victory Life Academy in Brownwood, Texas. It was there last week the teen suddenly collapsed while running in P.E. class. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors worked to revive him. According to Clements, “they said I was without a heart beat for 20 minutes.” When doctors finally got a pulse, Clements was airlifted to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. He would wake up there in the intensive care unit days later. His recovery has been hard to believe, but even more amazing is the story he tells of what he saw when his heart stopped beating.
“When I was out those 20 minutes, I saw a man who had long ruffled hair and kind of a thick beard, and it didn’t take me long to realize that that was Jesus,” he said.

For more on this story: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/05/14/texas-teen-says-he-saw-jesus-before-being-revived/

Found! Man lost at sea for 66 days in Answer to Prayer

Sea - OceanA South Carolina family’s prayers were answered this week after their loved one was found after being lost at sea for 66 days. “From what he told us on the phone, he was catching fish and collecting rain water and drinking it,” Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Krystyn Pecora told The News & Observer.

Louis Jordan was found around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. He had gone fishing near Conway, South Carolina on January 23.

Jordan’s family was thrilled he was found alive.

“It’s amazing,” Norma said. “It’s been very difficult not knowing anything and I just feel like all of our prayers have come true. They’ve been answered.”

“We prayed, and prayed, and hoped you were still alive,” Jordan’s father, Frank, added.

For more on this story see:  http://www.christiantoday.com/article/man.lost.at.sea.found.after.66.days.we.prayed.and.prayed.says.family/51393.htm

The Boneless Tongue

smiley-vector-illustration-tongue-out_m1bRTb (1)“The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
Can crush and kill,” declares the Greek.
“The tongue destroys a greater horde,”
The Turk asserts, “than does the sword.”
The Persian proverb wisely saith,
“A lengthy tongue–an early death!”
The English takes this form instead,
“Don’t let your tongue cut off your head.”
“The tongue can speak a word whose speed,”
Say the Chinese, “outstrips the steed.”
The Arab wise men say in part,
“The tongue’s great storehouse is the heart.”
From Hebrew was the maxim sprung,
“Thy foot should slip, but not the tongue.”
The sacred writer – the Bible – crowns the whole,
“Who keeps the tongue doth keep his soul.”
— author unknown

What Happens When An Atheist Goes to Church

HillsongSanderson Jones, a former stand-up comedian who leads the Sunday Assembly – also known as the ‘atheist church’ – spent Sunday attending three London churches and tweeting about his experience.

What started as a visit to his friend Dave Tomlison’s church became an impromptu tour of London Christianity. The three churches he visited were St Luke’s, Holloway, where Tomlinson (author of ‘How to be a Bad Christian’) is vicar, Hillsong in central London, and St Mary’s Bryanston Square.

Contrary to popular belief, Jones said he found them welcoming places, and said churches should realize that there is much they are doing well…

For more on this article see:  http://www.christiantoday.com/article/a.well.known.atheist.visited.three.churches.in.one.day.this.is.what.he.made.of.it/51034.htm

Is God a Miracle Working God? See This Miracle Pregnancy!

Baseball_diamond_marinesAs baseball season begins this week, a Triple-A pitcher for the Texas Rangers organization has much to celebrate. Jon Edwards underwent surgery to remove testicular cancer in December; one day later, his incredulous doctor had a good report.
Now, defying the odds in a turn the media proclaims a “miracle,” Jon and his wife Katelyn Edwards are expecting their first baby this fall.
Briefly on the mound for the Texas Rangers during pre-season, Edwards was reassigned to the Triple-A team this past weekend – though he’s not one to be down in the count. They share their story in an exclusive Bound4LIFE interview.

For More on this story see: http://www.christianheadlines.com/news/after-cancer-scare-major-league-baseball-pitcher-and-his-wife-experience-miracle-pregnancy.html

7.5 Million Americans Lost Their Religion since 2012

Religion_Philosophy_by_dragontroveA new survey shows in stark relief that what some are calling the Great Decline of religion in America continues: Since 2012, the U.S. has about 7.5 million more Americans who are no longer active in religion.
1. More Americans prefer “no religion.”
When asked their religious preference, nearly 1 in 4 Americans now says “none.” Up until the 1990s, the percentage who were in this group known as “nones” hovered in the single digits.  The 2014 GSS showed that nones are 23 percent of the population, up 3 points from 2012.
How large is this group? There are nearly as many Americans who claim no religion as there are Catholics (24 percent). If this growth continues, in a few years the largest “religion” in the U.S. may be no religion at all.