Make Me Over

Lord make me, make me over,

Wash me clean in Living Water.

To love you more, more than before,

Lord, my Lord.

Lord wake me, to wake others,

Let me go and tell my brothers.

In every land, raise up Your Hand,

Lord, my Lord.

With a song on my lips and a yearnin’ in my heart.

Let Your Spirit come and meet all of my needs.

There’s a River that flows, deep inside of me it goes,

Rushing forth to quench the thirst in me.

Lord fill me, with Your Spirit.

Speak Your Word, let me hear it.

Open my eyes, open my heart,

Lord, my lord.

This is one of my favorite songs. It was written by Pastor Michael Wilshire of Cornerstone Church of The Roanoke Valley Virginia.

Miracles Happen

For most of his daughter's three years, Gashawoy Asfaw Tessema has had to flush her colon out with water every three days to keep her alive.

In between, he prayed.

Last month, his prayers were answered when the toddler was brought to Cincinnati from her native Ethiopia for the complicated surgery that saved her life. It was largely the generosity of the local community - particularly one tiny Covington church - that made it all happen.

The 50-member West Covington Baptist Church launched a campaign last winter to bring 3-year-old Kalkidan to Cincinnati after learning she was dying of Hirschsprung's disease, a defect which shuts down much of the colon. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center operates the world's only center specializing in the treatment of pediatric colo-rectal problems like Hirschsprung's.

After learning of the little girl's plight, the hospital agreed to perform her surgery at no cost. But her father - an evangelist earning about $50 a month - still needed visas and more than $7,000 to make the trans-Atlantic trip.

The local community responded to that call.

After stories in The Kentucky Post earlier this summer, thousands of donated dollars and services poured in to West Covington Baptist Church, which brought Kalkidan and her father to Cincinnati in early July for surgery July 14. Two weeks later, Kalkidan - who her father said once rarely cracked a smile - giggled constantly as she played with stuffed animals at the Ronald McDonald House in Avondale, where she and her father are staying.

The 29-year-old father spoke softly in his native Amharic of his daughter's transformation. Translator Hareg Fissehaye relayed his words in English.

"She used to hate me, I think, because I always had to do the enemas. And mostly she didn't smile much before the surgery," he said. "But now she's very happy and laughing. My wife and me were always expecting this laughing, but I've never seen this laughing until now. ... Now we have more fun together, and she tells me she loves me and that she will share with me always whatever she has.

"It's very hard to explain what has happened to us. First, we were in the dark, and now we are in the light. I can't believe we are here. We are very, very happy." Kalkidan's doctor here, Colo-rectal Center Associate Director Dr. Marc Levitt, said Kalkidan is receiving approximately $40,000 in free medical services. He said Children's Hospital agreed to donate its services because her case was ideally suited to the hospital's mission.

"The hospital recognizes that this center can take care of things like this that can't be (treated) anywhere else in the world," Levitt said. "This was an ideal case because it was complicated ... and we felt it was unique enough that we could really help her. There was really nowhere else for this little girl to turn."

Levitt said the 8-hour surgery removed the dysfunctional part of Kalkidan's colon and connected her remaining healthy colon to her anus, allowing her to have normal bowel function. Levitt said Kalkidan is thriving since the operation, but she will remain in the country another month to ensure there are no complications.

"She is a very special little girl - tough and very bright. ... And her father is a unique individual who has really gotten into the nitty-gritty of taking care of her. ... He has saved her life ... to get her here. So I thanked him and the (West Covington Baptist Church) congregation that pulled this off," Levitt said. "He said he was just observing God's work. I told him, 'It's your job to point out to us what is God's work.' ... And it truly is God's work because they made a miracle occur here."

More miracles may be needed as Kalkidan heads home to a place with very little food and even less medical care. Tessema's eyes well up as he speaks of his fears for his only child's future. He whispers that he would much rather leave her with a family here than put her in harm's way again, although he knows the Ethiopian government has mandated they must both return soon.

"But, myself and my wife, we have huge questions on her future. We have no hospital, no labs, no X-rays. There is no doctor. I am worried. ... My main fear is she will not get enough food or the medicine she needs. I know what it is like in the place we live, and we cannot afford to live in a better place like Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital). ... So I am fearful."

But the church community that pulled off Kalkidan's small miracle is not about to abandon her or her worried father now.

The missionaries and West Covington Baptist are mulling ideas about helping the family by possibly establishing a trust and devising a plan should she need medical care in Ethiopia.

"I think he (Tessema) is scared to death that she will go back to the way she was before ... and he did talk to us about the possibility of leaving her here with us," said Wilson. "As complimented as I am by that, I don't feel God is leading us in that direction. I think the doctors feel she can go back and lead a perfectly normal life in her country. And I think she will grow up to do great things in her country, too."

excerpted from the Cincinnati Post 08/07/2006

We Did Not Listen, Therefore This Trouble Has Come Upon Us

Genesis 42:21. When the brothers stand for the first time before Joseph, they realize that the hand of God is at work. They have been brought low, and they know this is because of their past sin. And so they say to each other, "Indeed, we have sinned and are guilty because of what we did to our brother. We witnessed the pain of his very life when he pleaded with us and we did not listen. Therefore, has this trouble come upon us."

This principle is later transformed, as is always the case in the Torah, from narrative into mitzvah, law, and commandment. The Torah uses the very language of the Joseph narrative when it teaches about suffering.

God says, "For indeed if he or she cry out to me, I will hear their cry, and I will become enraged with you. … and it will be when he or she cries out to me, 'I will hear, for I am compassionate.'"

Exodus 22:21. Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him: for yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt.You shall not hurt a widow or an orphan. If you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their cry and my rage shall be enkindled, and I will strike you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

It is obvious that we may not commit evil against another person. In this verse, the Torah is teaching us something new. A person may not be in a situation in which there is suffering and someone is crying out and the response is that of the brothers of Joseph: callous indifference.

We must hear the cry of their suffering in Lebanon. Evangelicals must hear the cry of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim citizens of Israel. Likewise we must also come to hear the cry of the nation of Israel.

What are the principles that we should use to understand what is happening, to more clearly discern the cries of the innocent? Yes, it is true that Hezbollah kidnapped "only" two soldiers, killed "only" eight, and fired many dozens of inaccurate missiles into Israeli towns on that day two weeks ago that initiated this latest conflagration. Yes, it is true that Israel responded with war against Hezbollah. That seems disproportional. Can the world hear that Israel's response is proportional to the threat? Or how does it imagine the proper Jewish response to the demonization of Israel, in which only one party to the conflict is held responsible from its very birth for all evil in the region?

Israel unilaterally withdrew from southern Lebanon six years ago. Despite sporadic hostilities inflicted across the border by Hezbollah, Israel has kept the peace by not responding to the provocations, Israel's message was clear: peace at almost, but not any, price.

During those six years, Hezbollah (with the blood of more than 200 American Marine peacekeepers on their hands) was allowed by all those who sat in Lebanon, by all those who were in witness, to function as no group may function in a civil, democratic society, to run a military state within a state, to arm itself with thousands of rockets and missiles that have no target other than Israel's civilian population, to develop an armed force of its own, unaccountable to the struggling democracy that is Lebanon and supported by two states that have called for the "erasure" of Israel.

It is the responsibility of the Jewish people in relationship with Christians to assert at one and the same time the moral obligation to practice self-defense and the acknowledgement of the suffering that brings upon the innocent. This is the dilemma of the moral person in an immoral world. There is shared responsibility.

The Christian who sits in Lebanon must acknowledge that he or she, with nary a word of protest in the past six years, has witnessed this murderous group build huge stores of rockets with the purpose of raining down upon the civilian population of Israel, and to embed themselves in the midst of the civilian populations. How was it allowed that armed terrorists could take up residence in hundreds of Lebanese homes to play upon Israel's excruciating difficulty in attacking the wicked who dwell in the midst of the righteous?

And in response to this, Israel does what no other army in the world does: She announces in advance where she will bomb, thus giving the enemy the opportunity to flee. Or worse yet, to lie in ambush. When Israel bombs, and Lebanese civilians die, that is a mistake, a failure, and unintentional—and it is mourned, painfully regretted, and not forgotten. When Hezbollah rockets fall on Israeli civilians, it is purposeful, a success, and intentional—and celebrated as a victory.

Already palpable is the Jewish people's anguish for the loss of civilian life and for human suffering in Lebanon. There will be more of this accompanied by deeds in the days and weeks to come. This will be based on the Torah's standard that even where there is no guilt, there is responsibility Deut.21:1-9.

1. If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, (2.) your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. (3.) Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke( 4.) and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck.

(5. )The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.

(6.) Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, (7.) and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. (8. )Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

(9. )So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Indeed, Israel has in the past affirmed this principle for its armed forces. And how will the evangelical world learn to hear the Israeli sense of the threat that awaits on borders where evil crouches?

excerpts from an article by Rabbi Yehiel Poupko

Jesus Camp

There is a new documentary that is scheduled for release very soon. It is titled Jesus Camp.

It is about the youngest foot soldiers for the Lord in their native environment. Becky Fisher is a children's pastor who runs "Kids on Fire," a summer camp for evangelical Christian children in North Dakota. Fisher believes in the political and moral importance of a Christian presence in America, and uses her camp to reinforce the religious training most of her charges are already receiving at home (the majority of the campers are home-schooled by their parents).

Using video games, animated videos, and group activities to help put her message across, Fisher encourages the kids to pray for George W. Bush and his Supreme Court appointees while urging them to help "take back America for Christ." For the most part, the children seem reasonably ordinary beyond the fact they pray with uncommon fervor and sometimes speak in tongues.

Along with Fisher and her cohorts, Jesus Camp features interviews with Ted Haggard, an evangelist and advisor to George W. Bush, and Mike Papantonio, a Christian talk show host who believes the right-wing slant of many Christian evangelists is taking the church into a dangerous direction. Jesus Camp was directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

Some controversy has raised it’s ugly head this past week. Michael Moore wanted to screen this feature at his film festival.


In case you aren't aware, Michael Moore has his own festival up in Michigan, where he showcases hand-picked films that he loves, as an alternative to the "assembly line" movies made in Hollywood. This year's festival begins next week, but without one of the films that Moore had planned on screening. Magnolia Pictures has pulled Jesus Camp so that the documentary will not be tainted by being associated with Moore. The distributor is hoping to market the film to Evangelical Pentecostals as well as to liberal documentary fans.


They are afraid that Mr. Moore will put his stamp on the film. He has a reputation for producing left wing documentaries that are somewhat beyond the pale.

As I read about this film it would appear that the producers fear Moore may equate the fervor at this Christian youth camp with an Al-Qaeda camp that trains young terrorists. While many Christians may not understand the traditions of the Pentecostal Church or even agree with their tenants, I believe as Christians we can all agree on the principal that the Word of God will not return void.

Why Is This Not On The Frontpage? Seattle Jew Shot and Killed - Five Are Wounded

Last week a Muslim from Seattle, Washington vented his hatred of Jews on 6 women that were in the town’s Jewish Center. He shot one woman to death and wounded the other five. In my opinion this is certainly newsworthy and deserving of the front page. Yet the big story over the past couple of days has been Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic, drunken tirade that occurred when he was arrested last Saturday.


Here is the story:

A mother-of-two who was shot dead when a Muslim gunman stormed the offices of a Jewish organisation was buried on Monday as the Seattle community tried to come to terms with the shocking attack.
Pam Waechter, 58, was killed and five others injured in the shooting spree at the downtown offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday in what the police are treating as a race-hate attack.

The suspect has been named by police as Naveed Afzal Haq, 30, who lives around 200 miles from Seattle. He appeared in court on Sunday where a judge ordered that he be held on $50 million bail pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder.

According to police reports, the suspect waited in hiding outside the organisation’s offices before grabbing a teenage girl as she entered the building. He then opened fire with two handguns before emergency response workers were able to convince him to surrender himself

Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske told reporters: “He said he wanted the United States to leave Iraq, that his people were being mistreated and that the United States was harming his people. And he pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems. He stated he didn’t care if he lived.”

Waechter, who was the Jewish Federation’s annual campaign director, was remembered during a funeral service at Temple B’nai Torah on Monday. She had been a member of the shul for some 30 years after converting to Judaism when she married four decades ago.

In a message on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle website, the organisation’s head, Robin Boehler wrote: “I cannot express enough my personal sense of loss from the death of one of our dear friends, Pam Waechter, who many of you know well given her countless years of committed service to the local Jewish community. Pam was killed only yesterday and yet we feel her absence already.”

She added that “Cheryl Stumbo, Dayna Klein, Carol Goldman, Layla Bush and Christina Rexroad were shot and taken to Harborview Medical Center. We are hopeful that ongoing reports of their improving conditions continues”.
Muslim groups in the region expressed their sorrow at the incident and issued a plea for the Middle East conflict not to be “transplanted to this country”, while security at synagogues and mosques was beefed up, with a heavy police presence around Jewish institutions.

But Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: "We will not be intimidated. We will attend our Shabbat services and gather at our institutions. This is the United States of America and we have full confidence in our police to ensure the community's safety."

Mel Gibson has his own demons to deal with and I hope he seeks God's help. His words were hurtful, but not fatal. When a man decides to anihilate a group of people that he disagrees with due to religious, cultural or racial issues and he lives within the United States of America, I say this needs to be something that should be trumpeted much louder than Mel's issues.

What Would Jesus Sell?

This week in Denver Colorado there is a convention going on for retailers of “Christian” merchandise. Marc is feeling nauseous about this. So here is a synopsis of what the money changers will be offering this year. (From Celebrity Theatre)

The fake rose petals strewn across the tablecloth gave Milton Hobbs' booth a romantic aura. He stacked crystal-cut perfume flasks in a pyramid and set out pink candles tied with ribbon. The effect was almost sexy -- at least compared with the other booths at the International Christian Retail Show.

Hobbs liked it. He needed a striking display to call attention to his most unusual product.

"Christian perfume," he said. "It's a really, really new genre. We're the first.”

“Virtuous Woman perfume comes packaged with a passage from Proverbs. But what makes the floral fragrance distinctly Christian,” Hobbs said, is that it's supposed to be a tool for evangelism.

More than 400 vendors packed the Colorado Convention Center in July to showcase the latest accessories for the Christian lifestyle. There were acres of the predictable: books, CDs, greeting cards, inspirational artwork, stuffed animals wearing "Jesus Loves You" T-shirts. Many of the newest items, however, put a religious twist on unexpected products -- marketed as means to reach the unsuspecting and unsaved.

Follow the Son flip-flops, for instance, have patterned soles that leave the message "Follow Jesus" in the sand. A start-up company called Christian Outdoorsman was taking orders for a camouflage baseball cap marked with a red cross. And, in Booth 235, Revelation Products of St. Louis was pitching Gospel Golf Balls with the slogan "a great golf ball with a greater purpose."

Manufactured by Top-Flite, the golf balls are printed with well-known verses from the Bible, such as John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son ..."). Dave Kruse, president of Revelation, said they were meant as "conversation starters," to help men share their faith while teeing up.

Michael McCarron has no time to contemplate capitulation.


Wearing a stars-and-stripes shirt and a harried look, the owner of Scripture Candy rushed about filling plates with samples of Christian chocolate for the more than 9,000 vendors and retailers who visited the five-day trade show. His company, based in Birmingham, Ala., sells an extensive line of candy packaged in little bags printed with Bible verses.

The candy is all top-quality, he said: "You can't put the word of God on something that someone will taste and go 'Blech!' and throw away."

McCarron absolutely believes his sweets can and do save souls. He once received a letter from a man who came across a Bible verse on a packet of candy corns while going through his son's trick-or-treat loot. "The verse touched him and he decided right there to stop drinking and go back to Christ," McCarron said.

Skin-tight, scoop-neck T-shirts for teenage girls bore slogans that practically begged those not in the know to ask questions. "Wood & nails -- a powerful partnership," one read. On another: "Life without you is not an option."

Would-be evangelists can carry little plastic key chains printed with the slogan "Got Christ?" They can serve their child's birthday cake on a paper tablecloth bearing the message "May God Bless You Today and Always." And for rebels with a cause, Good News Temporary Tattooz lets kids stamp their love for "JC" on their arms -- and rub it off next time they shower.

I know where you're coming from if you think it looks like we're merchandising or trivializing Christ, but this is a way to connect," said David Lingner, who developed the Christian Outdoorsman line, including a camouflage-print Bible cover.

Though she doesn't doubt the vendors' sincerity, Ellie Cupps was taken aback to see booth after booth of Christian kitsch. She and her husband, Don, had come to the trade show seeking handcrafted gift items for their two Catholic bookstores in Albuquerque, N.M. They had to search for them amid Queen Esther action figures, Christian pirate decals, David and Goliath balloons, Armor of God pajamas and Bible-based cartoon greeting cards.

"It's getting a little bit overboard," Cupps said. "It's faddish. If you can slap Jesus on it, it will sell."

I’m with you Ellie.

Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen

This song has been used recently on several television shows. It was written by Leonard Cohen and sung by Jeff Buckley.

Jeff Buckley

Cohen is a wonderful tunesmith and poet. His lyrics are awesome and the simple but aggressive repetitive pattern of the tune pulls the listener into the song's message.

This song is perhaps Buckley's finest vocals. He passed away in 1997 at a very young age.

Hallelujah

Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you do not really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you

To a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did, well really, what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light

In every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

And even though

It all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah