God Speaks to His people
I made a big mistake yesterday. I watched the news on my computer. One situation after another seemed hopeless until I listened to a small group of Christians from the Ukraine sing: “It is Well with My Soul.”
This article is published on our Joy In Troubled Times Website. Click Here to read more.
Children being cyber-bullied can have self-esteem issues, confidence problems, and even thoughts of suicide. It is important to work towards deleting cyberbullying because of the impact it can have on a child. Cyber-bullying adds another level of bullying to a child’s mind.
Cyber-bullying penetrates the barrier of your child’s thinking he is safe from bullies at home. When I was around 14 I had a friend named Ryan. Ryan was being messed with by a kid named Liam. Liam somehow got a hold of Ryan’s cell phone number and was always sending mean, harsh statements to him. Ryan was telling me how he couldn’t seem to just get a break. He always felt depressed and stressed at home. I suggested Ryan tell his parents but he didn’t want to because he felt embarrassed. I couldn’t stand seeing Ryan like this so I decided to tell Ryan’s parents and they got the whole thing taken care of. My point is kids don’t need those kinds of problems at home. They should feel safe and secure, not threatened, it can really mess with their heads.
Cyber-bullying can cause problems for kids psychologically. The constant badgering that happens to victims can make them have low self-esteem and not much confidence in themselves from the insults they receive. There are also many kids that have thoughts of suicide from being bullied.
In conclusion, we need to work towards deleting cyber-bullying to protect our children’s safety and well-being. To make sure kids can feel comfortable and unthreatened in their own house. And to prevent kids from having psychological problems like not enough self-confidence or self-esteem or worst of all suicidal thoughts.
This article on cyber-bullying was written by Alex Love, age 16 years old while attending high school.
How to Have Faith in Troubled Times
Some of you may be suffering today. Some of you may be in physical pain. Some of you may be in emotional pain. Yet all of us have something to be thankful for. Remember the Children of Israel as they walked out of Egypt to the Promised Land. The trials and suffering in that desert. The complaining.
They forgot at times what an awesome God they had. A God who parted the Red Sea. A God who heard their cries in Egypt. A God who delivered them from the death angel when they placed the blood on their door posts.
They forgot so quickly, the powerful God they served. You and I have been redeemed from the bondage of our Egypt. The blood of Jesus has been placed on our door posts protecting us from the death angel that we might live forever in heaven with our Lord. Yet today we are walking through the desert of this earth as ambassadors from Heaven. You may be attacked on all sides by the messengers of Satan, but our God is greater. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us. You may be in physical pain.
Trust HIM, Praise HIM. He is your deliverer…He is your God. If He doesn’t heal you of that pain, He will give you the power to rejoice in it. For it is in suffering that we become more like Christ and somehow love him more. And if the demons of fear, worry and discouragement attack you,,,,the power of praise will cast them away. I love you. Take courage today in your Lord and Savior and remember how much he loves you. He is the God that parted the Red Sea for you. He is the God that delivered you from Egypt… He loves you.
The words, “I am a failure” filled my mind this morning. I could give you all the reasons I am a failure, but that wouldn’t encourage either of us. Instead I will tell you what God said to my heart. “Let me live through you,” He said. “Let me empower you. Let me be your strength.”
If we are honest, we are all failures. But we have great power, strength and wisdom available to us with just a whispered prayer. “Father, I give you my thoughts and ask you to fill me with your wisdom. I give you my body and ask you to give me your strength. I give you my weakness and ask you to fill me with your power. My strength is made perfect in you. You are all wisdom, knowledge and understanding. If you leave me to myself, I will be like a lamb wondering in the wilderness of my own foolishness caught a thicket of the world’s voices seeking my destruction. You are my salvation. Hold me close to you as a Shepard holds an injured lamb. I love you as a child loves their daddy. I love you as a bride loves her husband to be. I love you more than words can express for you are the joy of my mornings, the hope of my tomorrows. Let me be a reflection of you. For you are magnificent glory.”
You are my salvation. Hold me close to you as a Shepard holds an injured lamb. I love you as a child loves their daddy. I love you as a bride loves her husband to be. I love you more than words can express for you are the joy of my mornings, the hope of my tomorrows. Let me be a reflection of you. For you are magnificent glory.”
I am no longer a failure.
There are ministers who refuse to conduct a funeral of someone who has committed suicide. Some see suicide as an unforgivable sin and refuse to help anyone who is suicidal. Is suicide a sin ? In this blog post, I will share what some of the great ministers of our time, such as Billy Graham have to say. We’ll also show the “being human” many of the great, great leaders in the Bible and of our day suffered. Even Jesus suffered despair.
Freddie Prinze was a young comedian and good actor. He played Chico in Chico and the Man. Prinze was arrested on November 16, 1976, for driving under the influence of quaaludes (a sedative, hypnotic drug). A few weeks later his wife Kathy Elaine Prinze filed for divorce saying he was endangering the life of his baby son, Freddie Prize Jr., with his drug use. Prinze suffered extreme depression after that. His business manager, Marvin “Dusty” Snyder got a call from Prinze that concerned him so much he went over to his apartment to encourage him on the night of January 28, 1977. Prinze called his mother saying, “Mom, I love you very much but I can’t go on. I need to find peace.”
He called his estranged wife saying, “I love you, Kathy. I love the baby, but I need to find peace. I can’t go on.” With his manager looking on Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself. He died at 1:00 p.m. on January 29 at the age of 22.
I was a young housewife living in the suburbs when I heard of Freddie Prinze’s suicide. There were those who I considered good Christians saying, “Prinze is in hell because he committed suicide.”
I started asking God to show me the truth. Was Prinze in hell because he committed suicide? Is Suicide a Sin ? As I prayed, a vision of Jesus holding young Prinze came to my mind with Jesus saying, “Some are not strong enough to endure the trials of earth.”
What does the Bible say about suicide? Since having that vision I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Freddie Prinze is in heaven with God. His mother Maria Graniela Pruetzel, a Puerto Rican, had strong Christian faith. Prinze kept saying, “I need to find PEACE.”
It wasn’t until recently I decided to look up Freddie Prinze and read the book his mother wrote, The Freddie Prinze Story. In the book, it tells of his saying to the news media, “Raised in our kind of neighborhood, the only thing that sustained me was my faith in God.”
He carried his Bible with him everywhere and talked to God in his diary. In his Bible, he wrote, “Dear Lord, I am not afraid to die. But please let me live until I buy my mom the house I promised her.”
He was a lonely kid. After he married Kathy he thought he would no longer be lonely, but when she chose to divorce him, he was devastated. His doctor had put him on quaaludes which have since been outlawed. A manager he had fired was suing him. Although he was very successful for a 22 year old, he had more loneliness, fear and worries than most 22 year olds.
Question: My sister struggled with severe depression most of her life and had to be hospitalized several times. Last year, she finally got so depressed that she took her own life. In spite of everything, she had a strong faith, but is suicide the unforgivable sin, as some people say? It’s all been very painful to me.
Answer: The only sin God cannot forgive is the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit’s witness to Jesus Christ and His offer of forgiveness. Only when we reject God will He reject us. This alone is the unforgivable “blasphemy against the Spirit” of which Jesus spoke (Matt. 12:31).
God understands your heartache and I want to assure you that He also knew all about your sister’s struggles. Medical science has made many advances in helping us understand emotional problems, but there’s still much we don’t understand. Take confidence in your sister’s faith in Christ, and rejoice that she is now beyond the pains and sorrows of this world.
I don’t want to be misunderstood, however. Suicide is extremely serious and tragic in God’s eyes, and if someone who is reading this is contemplating suicide, I beg of you to reconsider and seek help for whatever your problem may be. God loves you whether you believe it or not – and He does not want you to end your life. Satan does, however, and you must not listen to him
Instead, put your faith and hope in Christ and His love for you. You are never alone if you know Him because nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Question: My cousin had very serious emotional problems most of her life, and finally they overwhelmed her and she committed suicide. I firmly believe she was a Christian, but did she lose her salvation by doing this? Is suicide a sin ? Is suicide the unpardonable sin?
Answer: Whenever I answer a question like this, I’m deeply aware that someone may be reading this who is seriously contemplating suicide—and I would do everything in my power to convince them not to take that final, drastic step. With Christ, there is always hope.
God loves them; He loves them so much that Jesus Christ was willing to die on the cross for their salvation. And others care about them, as well, (even if they have a hard time believing it). Suicide is never God’s will, and even in the midst of life’s worst storms we can look to Christ and discover that He truly is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19). The first step back from the brink of suicide is to turn to Christ and open our hearts to Him.
Suicide is always a tragedy—but in itself it is not the unpardonable sin. The only sin God cannot pardon is the sin of rejecting Him. God knew your cousin’s heart, and He also knows that mental illness sometimes clouds a person’s judgment so much that they aren’t fully responsible for their actions.
At the same time, ask God to help you be sensitive to the needs of others—especially someone who may be facing discouragement or depression. Often simply knowing that someone cares will help them turn the corner.
Billy Graham answers Questions about Suicide
If you have questions about suicide, I encourage you to pick up my book on Suicide – called Suicide is Not Your Answer
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