FASTDOMAIN 

FIRST, PRAYER AND PRAISE:

To read and pray for one article each day, click HERE and add the link to your browser's Bookmarks!

Sun. – Pray for Christians to dedicate 10% of their free time to do diakonia-ministry to widows, orphans, and the disabled.

Mon. – Ask the Lord to stop the illegal federal funding of abortion that takes place by skirting around the intent of the law.

Tue. – Pray that pregnant mothers will give at least a 10% chance at life to their unborn babies diagnosed with a defect.

Wed. – Intercede for the OCU parishes in Crimea, Ukraine that have "effectively ceased to exist," by Russian occupiers.

Thu. – Pray that the Special Olympics will find a word that doesn't conflate “special” with the R-word (retarded).

Fri. – Ask God that any and all Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox people in Ukraine will stop collaborating with Russia.

Sat. – Thank the Lord that people with disabilities in the European Union will be able to have free movement in the EU.



WE NEED YOUR HELP! Perhaps you've read this before and are wondering, "Why am I seeing this again?" But millions of other Christians haven't seen it! So please use the "share" buttons above to share it with your social media friends. Thanks!!

PLEASE LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF

CDC stats 4 Are you getting 24 hours older every day, 168 hours older every week, and 8,736 hours older every year? We sure are! How can we turn around that fact to our advantage? Of those 168 hours, subtract 40 hours for work, 10 hours traveling to and from work, 56 hours for sleep, 30 hours for household tasks, leaving 32 hours of "leisure time." This article encourages readers to reconsider their use of leisure time and proposes dedicating 10% or 3 hours per week to diakonia-ministry, aiding widows, orphans, and people with disabilities.

The author, a semi-retired former Evangelical missionary to Russia, emphasizes the potential societal and personal benefits of redirecting free time towards meaningful service. Drawing from personal experience, the author advocates for a shift in focus from individual pursuits to community building and restoration. The article also promotes a free 1-year online training program, "Social Ministry of the Church," aimed at equipping individuals to serve and build up the community. [read more...]

Click → CONTACT US for more info!

 

Here's our next free online course: (click →) 300 - A Biblical Theology of Ministry" - deadline to enroll: 9 Jan. 2023 (← click). So enroll today, before you forget!


If 5% of the people who see this would give $5 per month (just 17¢ per day!) – two cups of coffee with your favorite friend at your favorite coffee shop – we could cover our operating expenses and do much more in spreading the word, serving and providing accessible housing for the disabled. My wife and I left our careers over 30 years ago to serve in Russia as missionaries: we're now "semi-retired" – we've put on a new set of semi tires and keep on trucking! We live on our retirement income and volunteer our time: we receive no financial support from Agape Restoration Society. Our websites and ministry are funded by us and just a few friends. ...thanks in advance!

 
 
NEXT, THE NEWS:
 
 

SHOCK REPORT: ABORTION GROUPS RECEIVED NEARLY $2 BILLION IN TAXPAYER FUNDING OVER 3 YEARS
from: LiveAction News

U.S.. gives $2 billion to abortion providers (12 Dec.) A newly released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report reveals that in just the past three years (2019-2021), Planned Parenthood – along with four regional abortion facilities and two international abortion organizations – received nearly $2 billion from U.S. taxpayers, a similar amount to what GAO documented for FY2016-FY2018.

The GAO report, “Federal Funding for Certain Organizations Providing Health-Related Services, 2019 through 2022” indicates that Planned Parenthood received $1.78 billion, International Planned Parenthood Federation received $2.03 million, MSI Reproductive Choices received $1.35 million, and four domestic regional abortion providers received nearly $108 million in taxpayer revenue. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This program explicitly disqualifies Planned Parenthood since they employ more than the 500 total employees eligible for the payments – approximately 16,000 among all their affiliates. PP also skirts the Federal law against funding abortions by receiving U.S. funds for "providing health services" while 97% of their services are abortions. PP's share of this $2 billion was $1.78 billion and they performed 1.11 million abortions: thus U.S. citizens pay PP over $1,500 for each abortion. Killing babies is big business!

 
 

FIGHT OVER ABORTION CONTINUES IN TEXAS
from: BioEdge.org

Kate Cox (14 Dec.) Texas has been a battleground over abortion for years and the shooting hasn’t stopped since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year. In the latest development, a mother of two from Dallas, Kate Cox, sought an abortion at 20 weeks because tests revealed that her unborn baby had Trisomy-18.

With the help of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Cox’s doctor applied for permission under Texas law to perform an abortion. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble agreed on December 7, but the Texas Supreme Court blocked her ruling. According to the New York Times, her case highlights the rigor of the Texas law, which "permits abortions after 20 weeks if the mother’s health in seriously endangered" but the court examined the evidence and found that her life is not in danger and the baby might live. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Of babies born with Trisotomy 18, "nearly 50 percent will not survive beyond the first week of life. However, around 10 percent will reach their first birthday, and some may live to their teen years or even adulthood, but they will need medical support or therapies, including: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy" – Healthline.com. Give these babies a 10% chance at life!

 
 

CRIMEA: CONTINUING RUSSIAN ATTEMPTS TO CRUSH RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES
from: Forum 18 News Service
Hebrews 13:3 – "Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them..."

Metropolitan Kliment baptizing a baby (14 Dec.) After Russian occupation authorities seized all the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's places of worship in Crimea and its priests fled after at least some received summonses for mobilisation, Metropolitan Kliment says its Crimean Diocese "has effectively ceased to exist."

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine was recognised as canonical by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2019. It is separate from the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate and its affiliate in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism and other agencies continue to raid churches, mosques and community members' homes. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: The Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea "has effectively ceased to exist," per Metropolitan Kliment. Christ said – "If you abide in Me, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." St. Paul wrote – "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." So it appears that there is neither truth nor the Spirit of the Lord in Russia's occupation of Crimea, because there is no freedom of religion in Crimea.

 
 

AFTER TACKLING 'R-WORD,' DISABILITY GROUP SEEKS TO ERASE STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH 'SPECIAL'
from: Disability Scoop

special needs children (11 Dec.) With a new campaign, Special Olympics wants to take back the word “special” and other language that they say has been turned against people with disabilities. The international sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities is rolling out the effort dubbed “Yeah, I am Special” with a pair of New York City billboards and a video voiced by ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith.

This is all a precursor to a global digital campaign planned for next year, Special Olympics said, to address the stigma that’s associated with the word "special" and other similar language used around the world to demean people with disabilities. The effort will coincide with the 15th anniversary of the group's "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign, which asked people to pledge not to use the word "retard." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: Has the word "special" become just a euphemism for the r-word? Each and every person is special and unique, just like everyone else. We're all "special"! There are two kinds of people: those who divide people into two kinds, and those who don't. But let's stop playing word games! Perhaps it's better to use "people with disabilities" that better describes them, recognizing the fact that we need to use words that describe reality rather than disguise it.

 
 

SBU APPREHENDED THE AGENT LEAKING UKRAINIAN MILITARY DATA TO RUSSIANS VIA THE UOC-MP LIAISON
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

SBU arrested traitor working with UOC-MP (15 Dec.) The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested an agent who was leaking information to Russians about the Armed Forces of Ukraine through a connection with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). Tetiana Oleksyk was an assistant to the "agent in cassock" from Donetsk, and after his escape to Russia, she continued to maintain contact with him.

She leaked the geolocations of Ukrainian military units in the Kramatorsk area to him, correcting the Russian Federation's strikes against the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Donetsk. And the cleric passed the information to the FSB, Russia's Federal Security Service. The Security Service detained the traitor in her own home in the town of Krasnotorka. She faces up to 8 years in prison. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This is horrific! It is morally inexcusable for someone to misuse their position as a religious worker to act as an intelligence agent for their own or another government. We have laws in the U.S. outlawing such behavior, but I was personally told by a Russian aquaintance who worked in Kirill's office that he passed on info about me to the FSB. He assumed that I did the same to my government, but I sternly corrected his false assumption.

 
 

EU ONE STEP CLOSER TO ACHIEVING FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
from: Disabled World

(description of photo) (17 Dec.) The European Disability Card aims to facilitate the ability to travel and access various services across EU member states, promoting inclusivity and equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

According to the European Commission, there are 30 million Europeans with a recognized disability, and Eurostat data show that around 27% of the EU population aged over 16 have some form of disability. That is 101 million people, or one in four adults in the EU. The law should state clearly that the Disability Card should be free of charge and that those entitled to it should be able to choose whether they want to use it. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: This commendable act by a secular organization should challenge Christians to return to Christ's commands to combine preaching and healing, as He did. Too many people calling themselves Christians either focus on the "spiritual" side of evangelism while neglecting the present-world needs of people's problems. On the other hand, secular people and governments lack a sufficient reason to perform acts of mercy if they don't believe in a personal, loving God. Belief in such a loving God enables us to love our neighbor!

NOW, OUR VIEWS:
 

 

Transformed Into His Likeness

 

 

(description of photo)[From our 15 Dec. 2018 issue of Hosken-News:] "The Word became flesh, and dwelled among us. We beheld His glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Right at the beginning of his Gospel, the Apostle John describes the glory of Jesus Christ. A bit farther in this chapter, John tells us how that glory was revealed: "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on Him. ...I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God" (verses 32 & 34). This is the first "Epiphany" (revelation) of Jesus as the Son of God in His glory.

In Luke 9:28–36 we read of the Transfiguration of Christ – "As He was praying, the appearance of His face was altered, and His clothing became white and dazzling." This transfiguration is very likely what John was referring to in John 1:14, when Peter, James and John beheld His glory. St. Peter testifies of the Transfiguration - "For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased'" (2 Peter 1:17).

And Christ intends to share His glory with us – "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue; by which he has granted to us his exceedingly great and precious promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust" (verses 3-4). This is St. Peter's testimony on participating in Christ's glory.

Get the full article in 5.5" x 8.5" booklet format at https://agape-biblia.org/literatura/#transformed or read it in our ARC-News blog at blogspot.com and share it!

 

 

Who Are We?   Please remember to pray for Christians in Secularized Countries, and for...

  Your fellow-servants,

  Bob & Cheryl

  p.s. How will we ever know how good we have it, if all we ever know is having it good?

 

 

 

This page may link to our FastDomain.com affiliate account, so when you click on a link and buy something there, a small commission is credited to that account.