Honor God with Your Family This Thanksgiving

Honor God with Your Family This Thanksgiving
Gwen EllisAuthor, Simply Fun for Families

There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.
Deuteronomy 12:7 NIV

You work hard. Whether you are the breadwinner and go to a job every day or the one who keeps the home fires burning, you are fully occupied in providing for your family. You contribute finances, whether by earning them or saving them. You labor physically, whether by sitting at a desk plugging away or carrying laundry up and down the stairs. You are continually improving your investments, whether you are putting money into an account that grows or improving your house and yard. All work is good, and it should bring a great deal of satisfaction as you care for your home and family. But there needs to be a time for rewards.

Family celebrations are one of the rewards of faithful services. More than trophies that only collect dust, more than monetary rewards that are soon spent, family celebrations are rewards that will be remembered for a lifetime. So celebrate. Celebrate everything - birthdays, special occasions, anniversaries, beginnings, and endings. Enjoy life, enjoy your family, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Family celebrations are one more time to teach your kids your values and help them understand they are part of a larger plan. Your children are pieces of a family that has a great history and far-reaching possibilities for the future. Teach your kids that they are an important link in the chain of life and of your family. They are the hope for the future of your family.

Make family celebrations your very own. Don't be sucked into doing it the way others in your family have done it or the way some television personality says you should celebrate. When a couple marries, the two individuals will bring traditions from their families.

Make those traditions the starting point for building your own family unit. Included in building your own traditions is permission not to spend every holiday at someone else's house. Your kids need to spend time with you in your own home. So stay home with your children and enjoy them. They will be gone before you know it.

Thanksgiving

A little more than three hundred years ago, our forefathers stood on the shores of a new land and gave thanks to God for keeping them through the previous year.

Consider all that has happened in the three hundred years since then. Today our land is teeming with people, industry, health facilities, automobiles, homes, and thousands of wonderful things. We have much to thank God for. We should value God's good gifts to us in America. We should teach our children to value them as well. Thanksgiving is a time to do that.

Here are a few celebration ideas.

• Review the story of the Pilgrim's by reading a storybook from the library.

• A delightful film available on video is An American Tail, which tells the story of a Russian mouse family that immigrates to America. At one point, all the mice are pouring onto Ellis Island. In the background, a song can be heard with the words that are engraved on the Statue of Liberty:

Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door.~ Emma Lazarus

Although An American Tail is a fantasy and not about people, it may help your children understand what it was like for immigrants to come to this country from poverty, oppression, and fear. Talk about it and lead your children in giving thanks for this great land.

• Invite a great-grandparent or a friend who immigrated to the United States to share his or her story with your family. Each person you talk to will have a unique view on what the experience was like.

• Many churches and civic organizations have programs in which volunteers cook and serve dinner to the needy. What a great learning experience it would be for your whole family to be a part of serving the hungry together. Your children will see firsthand that you value people and generosity.

• Invite those who have no place to go for Thanksgiving. Every person who sits at your table brings a new insight about life.

• Whatever you do, make giving thanks a part of your celebration. If your church has a Thanksgiving Day service, attend it with your children. Talk afterward about how to give thanks to God. Pray together and, by your example, teach your children to offer prayers of thanksgiving to God.

Adapted from Simply Fun for Families by Gwen Ellis.
Used by permission of Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, copyright © 2005. All rights to this material are reserved.

Gwen Ellis lives in California, where after retiring she started her own business, Seaside Creative Services. Gwen writes, speaks, and consults with publishing companies.

Security or Anti-Muslim Hysteria? Imams Removed From Plane

Security or Anti-Muslim Hysteria? Imams Removed From Plane
Susan Jones
Senior Editor

(CNSNews.com) - An Islamic advocacy group is calling for an investigation into an incident in Minnesota, where six imams (Islamic religious leaders) were removed from a US Airways flight after a passenger complained that they were acting in a suspicious manner.

The imams told the Council on American-Islamic Relations that they were simply conducting their evening prayers. The Associated Press reported that three of the six stood up to recite their prayers.

The imams also told CAIR they were humiliated when they were handcuffed and escorted off the plane. They denied the airline's claim that they refused a request to leave the flight voluntarily.

"We are concerned that crew members, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We call on relevant authorities to investigate whether proper procedures were followed by security personnel and members of the US Airways flight crew."

Awad said that public prayer is not a threat to safety or security and should not be viewed as suspicious or criminal activity.

The imams were questioned for several hours and released, but press reports say US Airways is refusing to let the imams board another flight - and has placed them on the "no-fly" list.

The men were in Minnesota to attend a conference of the North American Imams Federation, and they were trying to return to Arizona when their travel plans were interrupted.

One of the imams removed from the plane told the Associated Press that ignorance about Islam is at the root of the problem.

CAIR's Arizona office said it would hold a news conference Tuesday morning in Phoenix to discuss the incident.

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HOMELAND INSECURITY Spokesman for 6 Muslim clerics barred from US Airways flight

HOMELAND INSECURITY

Ejected imam linked to Hamas, bin Laden

Spokesman for 6 Muslim clerics barred from US Airways flight

Posted: November 21, 2006

5:00 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

One of six Muslim imams pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last night by federal authorities is affiliated with a Hamas-linked organization and acknowledged a connection to Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.

Omar Shahin, who served as a spokesman for the clerics, is a representative of the Kind Hearts Organization, which had its assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury pending an investigation, notes Islam scholar Robert Spencer on his weblog JihadWatch

Treasury spokesman Stuart Levey in February said KindHearts "is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the façade of charitable giving."

The imams had attended a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, who is president of the group.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident last night.

Today, Shahin called for Muslims and non-Muslims to boycott US Airways unless the company changes its policy.

"They know what they have to do, they have to be fair and just with everybody," he said.
The Washington, D.C., based lobby group Council on American-Islamic Relations planned to file a complaint, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

"Because, unfortunately, this is a growing problem of singling out Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims at airports, and it's one that we've been addressing for some time," Hooper said.

CAIR, however, has its own ties to Hamas, having been identified by two former FBI counter-terrorism chiefs as a spinoff of a front group for the Palestinian terrorist organization.

A Sept. 28, 2001, story in the Arizona Republic that said Arizona appears to have been the home of an al-Qaida sleeper cell, named Shahin as one of three part-time Arizona residents who "fits the pattern" of the terrorist group.

Shahin, identifed as being with the Tucson Islamic Center, said members of his mosque may have helped bin Laden in the early 1990s when the al-Qaida leader was fighting against the Russians.

The CIA at that time, Shahin said, called bin Laden a "freedom fighter."

"Then they tell us he is involved in terrorist acts, and they stopped supporting him, and we stopped," he said.

In the story, Shahin expressed doubt that Muslims were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks and said he "didn't trust much of what the FBI has divulged - including the hijackers' identities."
As for Al-Qaida nests in America, Shahin said, "All of these, they make it up."

Witnesses to the imam's explusion last night said some of them made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq before boarding the flight, according to Minneapolis airport spokesman Patrick Hogan.

Also, some of the men asked for seat belt extensions even though a flight attendant thought they didn't need them.

"There were a number of things that gave the flight crew pause," Hogan said.

Shahin claimed three members of the group prayed in the terminal before the six boarded the plane. Last night, however, he said they had prayed on the plane.

The imams boarded the plane individually, Shahin said, except for a blind member who needed assistance. They didn't sit together and "did nothing," he contended.

LAW OF THE LAND Houston Bible ban to be reviewed by court Earlier ruling said monument was OK, then became unconstitutional

LAW OF THE LAND

Houston Bible ban to be reviewed by court

Earlier ruling said monument was OK, then became unconstitutional

Posted: November 21, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A court opinion that participants said could have left any public facility or building in danger of being declared unconstitutional if a prayer meeting was held there will be re-heard by the federal appeals court that released the first opinion.

A federal court order said the dispute over a Bible in a monument on public property in Houston will be heard by the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the earlier opinion, from a panel on the court, was being vacated.

"We are very pleased that several of the justices saw the inequities in the decisions by Judge Lake as well as the Fifth Circuit panel and initiated further hearing of this case by the full court," said a statement from the Houston Area Pastor Council. "The fact that every judge who has and will be involved in this case swears their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution with their hand on a Bible illustrates the fallacy of declaring the Bible in the Mosher Monument unconstitutional."

The dispute is over a Bible in the monument, which is designed like a podium.

An atheist challenged the existence of the monument, and on an appeal from the Judge Sim Lake's district court decision the Bible was unconstitutional, the 5th Circuit panel carried it even further.

That ruling said the monument became an unconstitutional "establishment" after a 2003 rally was held by Christians to defend the display. The court noted that rally involved both prayers and clergy.

"The anti-religious content of Judge Lake's decision, particularly its attack on public religious expression by elected officials and clergy, must not stand," the pastors said.

Dave Welch, executive director for the Houston Area Pastors Conference, which has been working to defend the Bible, told WND the court earlier pulled a "Roe vs. Wade."

He was referring to the 1973 decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court discovered the right to an abortion in the U.S. Constitution. In this case, he said, the court divided the existence of the monument into three trimesters, and found that in the current trimester, it was unconstitutional.

"On one hand, this is not unique," Welch told WND. "We've seen this happening all over the country."

He said the monument had been on the county grounds for several decades without offense. It had been installed in honor of William Mosher, the founder of Star of Hope Mission.

The monument, however, had been damaged, and in 1996, it was repaired with donated funding. Then came one atheist and suddenly the religious rights of an entire community had to be compromised, he said.

Polling has shown that about 86 percent of the people in Houston want to keep the Bible monument at the public location, he said.

"The ramifications of this tortured decision are breath-taking and without any historic or legitimate Constitutional rationale," the pastors' organization said of the earlier conclusion. "For the court to state that if a private citizen exercises his or her First Amendment rights of religious expression and assembly on public property, that any monument, building or fixed item of any kind that contains religious references becomes 'establishment of religion' is simply irrational."

The pastors conference said under that now-failed reasoning, any monument, building or even feature of nature would be an illegal "establishment of religion" if a church ceremony is held there.

The case now will be heard "en banc," or by the full 5th Circuit Court, instead of just by a panel, the court order said. The same order also struck down the previous decision by the court's panel, leaving it open for the Bible to be replaced in the monument pending the next court decision, Welch told WND.

Welch said under such decisions as the court's earlier ruling, America is well on its way to a persecuted Christian church.

"We have history, law and the founding fathers who adopted the Constitution collectively affirming the truth expressed by revered Justice Joseph Story in 1840 that, 'We are not to attribute this prohibition of a national religious establishment to an indifference to religion in general, and especially to Christianity,'" a statement from the pastor's group had said.

The court's earlier finding could mean the Washington Monument's reference to God would have to be eliminated, and the Supreme Court's Ten Commandments might need to be taken down, officials said.

Welch said there are experts on constitutional law from organizations such as Liberty Legal Institute and the Alliance Defense Fund who have been and plan to continue assisting the county in its fight over the representation of the Bible.

Because the atheist's lawsuit was against the county over the monument on county land, the pastors and their advisors have been directing their assistance to County Attorney Michael Stafford, who has been leading the arguments in the case.

"The First Amendment was adopted to restrain government's interference with religion and through a series of revisionist court decisions over the past sixty years we have lost much of that restraint. We are mandated by our calling and by our God to proclaim truth and defend the freedoms bought by the blood of our savior and hundreds of thousands of patriots to this day," the pastors said.

Copyright 1997-2006All Rights Reserved. WorldNetDaily.com Inc.

Kelly Ripa Calls Into 'The View' About 'Homophobic' Comment

Kelly Ripa Calls Into 'The View' About 'Homophobic' Comment

Rosie O'Donnell Says She Thought Comment Was Homophobic

Darlene Dunn, Staff Writer
POSTED: 11:33 am EST November 21, 2006
UPDATED: 8:36 pm EST November 21, 2006

CLEVELAND -- Rosie O'Donnell, co-host of "The View," said Tuesday she was offended as a homosexual after Kelly Ripa made a comment about not knowing where Clay Aiken's hand had been during a recent show.

The comment stemmed from an incident on the "Regis and Kelly Show" while Aiken was guest co-hosting. During the show, Aiken put his hand over Ripa's mouth while she was conducting an interview with the winners of "Dancing With The Stars."

O'Donnell said she didn't believe that Ripa would have responded in the same manner if the visiting co-host had been someone considered heterosexual, such as Mario Lopez or a "straight man or a cute man."

When Aiken put his hand over Ripa's mouth, she said "that's a no no. I don't know where that hand has been, honey."

It seemed as if Ripa was on the phone within minutes to the show Tuesday.

"It's downright outrageous," Ripa said. "I never asked him about his sexuality."

Ripa, a mother of three, said she took issue with Aiken's hand over her mouth because it is flu season and he had shaken hands with many fans.

"To imply that it is anything homophobic is outrageous, Rosie, and you know better," she said. "You should be more responsible."

O'Donnell didn't back down off her stance.

"I have to tell you from where I sit as a gay person in the world I have to tell you that's how it came off to me," O'Donnell said.

Ripa said it never occurred to her that how she responded to Aiken's hand over her mouth would be viewed as homophobic, because the act was "outrageous, out of line and disrespectful."
Ripa said she took issue with what happened but "it's water under the bridge" to her now.

Copyright 2006 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or Oppose Controversial Issues

November 21, 2006
Great News!

Wal-Mart Says It Will Not Make Corporate Contributions To Support Or Oppose Controversial Issues!

Send Wal-Mart a "Thank you" for its statement.

You have made a difference! Wal-Mart has announced they "will no longer make corporate contributions to support or oppose controversial issues unless they directly relate to their ability to serve their customers." AFA is pleased with this announcement.

Wal-Mart made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.

In response to Wal-Mart's statement, AFA has decided to cancel its efforts of encouraging people to not shop at Wal-Mart or Sam's Club this Friday and Saturday.

We believe that Wal-Mart will remain neutral in cultural battles.

Click here to see the Wal-Mart announcement.

Take Action
Please take a moment to send Wal-Mart a "Thank You" email for its policy statement.

Send Your Email Now!

Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

American Family Association P O Drawer 2440 Tupelo, MS 38803 1-662-844-5036 Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Prayers for November 14, 2006 From The Voice of the Martyrs

"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."(Genesis 28:15)

Prayers for November 14, 2006
From The Voice of the Martyrs

SRI LANKA

New Attacks on Christians - VOM Canada
On October 23, a church worker and his family at Vineyard Community Church in Gonawela, Sri Lanka, were attacked by five men claiming to be police officers. According to a November 3rd report from the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEAL), the family was guarding the church building when five men approached at approximately midnight. The five men threatened the family, beat the man with clubs and aggressively shook a child. They also stole a woman's gold necklace, damaged the building's electricity supply and smashed pots and vases. The beaten man sustained serious injuries. A week later the church was again attacked, this time by a group of 10 men. They unsuccessfully tried to set the building on fire. No one was injured in this attack. In another attack on October 30, the pastor of Calvary Chapel of Lanka in Polhena was accosted by a group of local men at approximately 9 a.m. Two or three men beat him while the others looked on. He has been hospitalized for arm injuries. Pray God will strengthen all who were attacked and they will be witnesses of Christ's love. Psalm 50:15

ERITREA

Christian Singer Freed From Prison - The Chicago Tribune
Gospel singer Helen Berhane, who belonged to a banned evangelical church in Eritrea, has been released after more than two years in detention. She was released in late October, according to a statement issued by Amnesty International. Berhane was arrested in May 2004. "She spent most of her detention in inhuman and degrading conditions inside a metal shipping container, which was used as a prison cell,” the statement said. The authorities reportedly tortured her many times to make her recant her faith. Give thanks to God Helen Berhane has been released at last. Ask our merciful Father to heal her mind and body as she continues to be a witness for Christ. Matthew 12:20, 21

INDIA

Dalit Christians Forced to Bow to Hindu Idols - Compass Direct
Lambini tribal villagers in Karnataka state prohibited Pastor Revanna Naik and his congregation from worshiping on Sunday, October 29, instead forcing them to bow down and worship Hindu deities. Three of the 11 Christian families at the church in the remote village in Chitradurga district refused to bow before the idols or partake of the prasad offering that would indicate allegiance to the Hindu deities. The local council chief ordered the village to ostracize those families. This stigma of being ostracized will crush the very spirit of the Lambani, who are very clan-oriented people. On November 6, Hindu extremists forced Christians in a remote village in southern Karnataka to bow down before Hindu deities. The Christians were marched to the village temple, forced to bow down before the Hindu gods and had the vermilion mark applied to their foreheads. A police inspector only watched this violation of the Christians' rights. Pray the families who are shunned by the villagers will draw close to Jesus and know His loving presence as never before. Pray the police officer and Hindu extremists will repent and come to know Jesus' forgiveness. Matthew 24:32

AUSTRALIA

Girl Who Rejected Islam Now Facing False Murder Charges - ASSIST News
Australian media reports that on October 9th, 17-year-old Kaihana Hussain was attacked with a knife by her father, Dr Mohammed Hussain, after she reiterated her commitment to convert from Islam to Christianity. According to the reports, Kaihana's mother was fatally stabbed when she tried to intervene, and her father attempted to kill himself after Kaihana escaped the apartment. Police confirmed at the time that Kaihana was not a suspect. Dr Hussain survived, and now alleges that Kaihana stabbed her mother to death and attempted to murder him because they disapproved of her boyfriend. Kaihana was subsequently arrested and faced a court on November 7, where she was charged with murder and attempted murder. She did not speak and no plea was entered. Kaihana Hussain remains in custody until her trial, which has been slated for May 22, 2007. Pray God will reveal the truth in this matter and Kaihana will be set free. Matthew 10:26

Major League pitcher shares Christian testimony

Major League pitcher shares Christian testimony By Marlena Hartz: CNJ staff writer marlena_hartz@link.freedom.com Created on: November 21, 2006 - 1:13AM - 26417

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Claussen spoke to about 200 Fellowship of Christian Athlete students Monday at Rock Staubus Gym. Claussen was drafted by the Yankees and later traded to the Reds. (Staff photo: Tony Bullocks)



The sea of fans was so dense it eclipsed all 6 feet, 1 inch and 200 pounds of Brandon Claussen.

Fans pushed baseball cards, a beanie and a purple Wildcats cap toward the Major League Baseball pitcher, who leaned against the wall and signed away with a black felt-tip pen.

But Monday night wasn’t really about autographs or baseball. It was about God.

Claussen, 27, flew into Clovis to tell approximately 200 local students about his path to Christianity. His rise from an eastern New Mexico town to Shea Stadium was simply a sidebar.

“I’m telling you,” said Claussen, pacing around the Clovis High School Rock Staubus Gymnasium, “God is real.”

The sandy-haired pitcher — a graduate of Goddard High School in Roswell — held a record for most strikeouts in the minor league. In the 1998 amateur draft, the New York Yankees swept him up in the 34th round. These days, he throws for the Cincinnati Reds.

Yet, in the Clovis gym, he toted a Bible, not a baseball.

Local teenagers — who are members of the largest Christian sports organization in America, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes — were enraptured.

“This book,” said Claussen, waving a Bible in the air, “the only way it’s worth anything is if you read it. This is what it’s all about. It’s about him.”

Citing scripture, bowing his head to pray — these things weren’t always part of Claussen’s life. The pitcher said he began drinking at the age of 13. He spent years partying, chasing girls and flaunting money made on the pitcher’s mound.

“Money can make you think you are bigger, better and badder than everybody else,” Claussen said.

“I was running,” Claussen said of those years, “but I wasn’t getting anywhere.”

Claussen found God at the age of 20, he said, urged toward faith by his born-again family and a fellow ball player. But his faith wavered at Howard Junior College in Big Spring, Texas, and later in Tampa, Fla., where Claussen again became a heavy drinker, he said. “I built my house on sand,” Claussen said.

Local students can relate, Clovis High School junior and FCA member Miles Ware said.

“It was a shout out to people in high school on that path,” Ware said. Claussen said his faith wasn’t cemented until the sudden death of his father.

His hero, he said, was snatched away when an artery in his brain burst. Claussen said he was drunk when his family called to tell him his father was in a Lubbock hospital on life support.

He arrived to watch as his father was detached from the machines. “Finally,” Claussen said in a booming voice, “I got on my hands and knees and prayed. It took my dad dying for me to get on my knees. That’s how lost I was.”

Despite his pleas, his father died. Claussen, however, stayed close to God. He has been sober for five years, he said.

Once he gave his life and baseball to God, Claussen said his career sped up.

He was chosen from hundreds of “dudes” to play with the Yankees, he said.

“I looked around and saw Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, Bernie Williams,” Claussen said of his first game with the Yankees. “These people were on my stinkin’ team. We won that game. Dude, I even got to bat. Guess what? I got a stinkin’ hit,” he bellowed.

Lowering his voice, he turned from sports to issues of faith. His triumph on the field, he said, would be hollow without God, he said.

“There is so much more to life than just goals and dreams. He is life,” Claussen said.

Claussen, his wife, Kelli, and their newborn daughter split their time among Hobbs, Cincinnati and Florida, where Claussen trains, according to Kelli.