From Bull Dust to Gold Dust

I am going to commence blogging again . I intend to blog about my journey with and through serious mental illness.......... Stay tuned

Cyclone Devastates Burma.Please Pray.

We have two sponsored foster children in Burma.
One we have sponsored since she was eight.Her parents were too poor to look after her and gave her to the Salvation Army to bring up. We grew very fond of her as we had a lot of contact.She is bright and so we were asked to sponsor her through university.She graduated this year with a B.Economics.
The other little girls is 14 years old and was suffering from malnutrtion when she was taken into the Tuition programme last year.
The Salvation Army builings have suffered substantial damage and this will make it very difficult for them as they continue to run the programs, look after ,school and shelter the children . Please pray for them .
Any word about the children is very slow in coming through as this is a closed country under a brutal military regime.


The article below is from the internet.
Burma death toll at 10,000
Published: Monday, 5 May 2008, 8:34AM
The death toll following a cyclone in Burma has risen to 10,000, according to the military regime.

Foreign Minister Nyan Win said the Burmese government also estimates 3,000 people are missing.

The UN says Burma has agreed to accept offers of international aid offers and shipments are being prepared at once.

Hundreds of thousands of people are without shelter and drinking water after Cyclone Nargis ripped through the Irrawaddy delta and the country's commercial capital Rangoon on Saturday.

Neighbouring Thailand announced it would fly in on Tuesday a first planeload of emergency assistance requested by the government in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

A Thai government spokesman said the ruling junta had asked for food, medical supplies and construction equipment.

Military authorities and foreign aid workers are struggling to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the Category 3 storm, which packed winds of 190 km (120 miles) per hour.

"The government is having as much trouble as anyone else in getting a full overview. Roads are not accessible and many small villages were hit and will take time to reach," said Terje Skavdal, regional head of the UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

A human rights group based in Thailand said Burmese soldiers and police killed 36 prisoners after a riot at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison in the chaotic aftermath of the cyclone.

The military junta, who renamed the country Myanmar, have promised to hold a referendum on a new constitution on May 10.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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Mormonism.

What Do Mormons Believe: The Primary Differences Between Mormonism & Christianity


What Do Mormons Believe: Divine Authority
The Mormon church uses two sources as its primary authorities: the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price are also viewed as divinely authoritative. The Christian church uses the Holy Bible alone as its authority from God. Joseph Smith is not recognized as a prophet.

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of God
The Mormon church sees God as the Supreme Being of the universe. However, He gradually acquired that position over a long period of time by living a perfect and righteous life. God the Father has a body (flesh and bones). The Christian church proclaims God as eternally and infinitely supreme. He is the same today as always. He is a spirit Being.

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of Man
The Mormon church teaches that humans exist as spirit beings before their birth. At physical birth, bodies are given to these spirits. They are also given an opportunity for free-will choice. The physical world represents a period of probation. The status of a person in the afterlife is determined by the way that person lived his/her life on Earth. If the person lived by a satisfactory standard, (including the fulfillment of Mormon temple obligations) that person has the potential to become a god in the after-life. The person can also produce "spirit children" to populate a world of his own (like God did with the earth). The Christian church holds that humans do not exist as spirits prior to being born into the world. Humans cannot attain godhood or populate other worlds with "spirit children."

What Do Mormons Believe: The Nature of Jesus Christ
The Mormon church views Jesus and Satan as spirit brothers and sons of God. God put forth His plan of salvation for the world, and Satan proposed his own plan. Jesus accepted the Father's plan and offered to implement it as the Savior. The Father chose Jesus, and the spirit of Jesus was given a body through the virgin Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross, and rose from the dead three days later to establish His deity. The character and life of Jesus is attainable by anyone who performs at such a righteous level. The Christian church teaches that Jesus Christ has existed eternally as the Son of God, the second "person" of the Trinity. Jesus took on human flesh about 2000 years ago and was born into the world through the virgin Mary. He was crucified on a Roman cross for our sins, and rose from the dead three days later to establish His deity.

What Do Mormons Believe: How do we Achieve Salvation
The Mormon church holds that Jesus Christ overcame physical death and guaranteed physical resurrection to all mankind. However, spiritual death can only be avoided through personal obedience of God's commandments. Forgiveness of sins requires faith, repentance and baptism by an approved Mormon priest. The practice of baptism for the dead is an extension of this belief, in which Mormons are baptized in proxy for those who have died without proper baptism. The Christian church teaches that we are unable to live a life righteous enough to meet God's perfectly holy standard. Therefore, we establish a relationship with God by faith in the work of Christ on the cross, not by our own works. Baptism and good deeds are acts of obedience to God, but not the means for gaining eternal salvation.

What Do Mormons Believe: Life After Death
The Mormon church maintains that although there is temporary punishment for those that are most wicked, Jesus Christ will establish a new kingdom that will consist of three levels: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom. The Christian church holds that there are only two possible fates after death, heaven or hell. These locations are final, both physically and spiritually.


Source http://www.allaboutcults.org/what-do-mormons-believe.htm


WHAT DO YOU THINK? - We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, "Jesus is Lord," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven.

What is your response?
Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus

Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus

I still have questions

The Bible.

The Bible - 66 Books written by 40 authors over 1500 years inspired by the Spirit of God - Read it, Believe it, Live it !!!

2 Timothy 3:16,17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Church of Oprah.

Question: "What is the "church of Oprah"? Is Eckhart Tolle's "New Earth" compatible with Christianity?"

Answer: Oprah Winfrey is arguably one of the most influential women in the world. With a daily viewership that has peaked at around 10 million, the Oprah Winfrey Show definitely has the potential to impact the lives of many people. The Oprah Winfrey Show definitely promotes much that is good. However, there is another side of Oprah that has only recently become an integral part of her show—and that is her rejection of biblical Christianity. Oprah has made statements on her show in the past that have given a small glimpse into her personal spiritual beliefs, speaking mostly about her belief that there are many ways, millions even, for a person to "get to what some call God."

This more recent exposure of her beliefs revolves around the book "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, which she helped to make a best-seller by promoting it on Oprah's Book Club and on her website. Beyond simply promoting the book, Oprah has partnered with Tolle in presenting weekly online webcast classes in order to explore the ideas and principles expressed in "A New Earth."

Some have gone as far as labeling Oprah a cult leader—and with good reason. She is a figurehead for the promotion and propagation of anti-biblical beliefs which deny every foundational truth of historical Christianity. Her webcasts have attracted hundreds of thousands of participants with the promise of gaining new perspectives on how to live a life of enrichment, peace, newfound self-worth, and spiritual freedom.

Eckhart Tolle, a well-known New Age author and speaker, promotes nothing short of personal divinity in his teachings. In an attempt to deceive people into thinking that his religion is compatible with Christianity, Tolle occasionally quotes from the Bible and refers to biblical principles. The problem is that Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth," is in complete opposition to biblical Christianity from cover to cover. Nearly every reference to, or quote of, Scripture, is twisted by Tolle's consistent misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Consider what can be found in just the pages of the first chapter: evolution of life over millions of years is accepted, assumed, and understood to be fact; Jesus is misquoted; flowers, crystals, precious stones, and birds are believed to be temporary manifestations of the Universal Consciousness and are themselves considered enlightened life-forms; the definition of sin is misinterpreted; Jesus Christ is thought of as just one of those rare people who, like the Buddha, achieved divine consciousness; other religions, such as Buddhism, are considered just as valid and true as Christianity; an early Christian cult, Gnosticism, is portrayed as one of the few groups who actually understood the teachings of Jesus; original sin was simply a forgetting of the connectedness and oneness with the Source, along with everything else connected with the Source—a delusion of separateness; heaven is portrayed as merely an "inner realm of consciousness."

These beliefs, these teachings, are found in just the first chapter. Obviously, and without a doubt, Eckhart Tolle is promoting a new religion, one which combines the most mystical aspects of every major religion. The first chapter, of course, sets up the tone and direction for the rest of the book. This direction happens to be as far from biblical truth as is possible. If you are concerned at all with whether or not this book is compatible with the Christian faith, you need not read any further than the first chapter to understand what Tolle believes and what Oprah is encouraging others to believe.

Tolle ends the book writing about the new Heaven and new Earth spoken of in Revelation 21. He states near the end of chapter ten:

"The only existence the future actually has is as a thought form in your mind, so when you look to the future for salvation, you are unconsciously looking to your own mind for salvation. You are trapped in form, and that is ego. 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,' writes the biblical prophet. [T]he foundation for a new earth is a new heaven - the awakened consciousness. The earth - external reality - is only its outer reflection. The arising of a new heaven and by implication a new earth are not future events that are going to make us free. Nothing is going to make us free because only the present moment can make us free. That realization is the awakening. Awakening as a future event has no meaning because awakening is the realization of Presence. So the new heaven, the awakened consciousness, is not a future state to be achieved. A new heaven and a new earth are arising within you at this moment, and if they are not arising at this moment, they are no more than a thought in your head and therefore not arising at all. What did Jesus tell his disciples? 'Heaven is right here in the midst of you.'"

In line and in continued progression with chapter one, chapter ten places the final stamp of approval on a belief system completely void of biblical truth. Salvation is presented as a state of being achieved through one's own power; heaven is referred to as simply a state of consciousness; and Jesus Christ is relegated to a spiritual master who taught that one only need look within oneself to find spiritual release. Scripture is used only out of context and presented as obscurely as possible.

There is no room for Jesus Christ the Messiah, the God-Man, nor His teachings in Oprah's and Tolle's belief system. In fact, they propose that all people free their minds from such beliefs. Truly, deception is the only true thing that Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey offer. They, and those that follow their teachings, have fallen for Satan’s original lie, “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).


Source ; GotQuestions.org

Recommended Resource: Jesus Among Other gods by Ravi Zacharias.

On Eagle's Wings.

Written by Michael Joncas

Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."




You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,
My Rock in Whom I trust."

Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear;
Under His Wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.


Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.


Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.


Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

A Little Break.

I am just not up to blogging at the moment girls. I hope to catch up with all of you when I feel brighter. Mum's death has taken its toll on me.
God bless you all,
Gail