Reading For Purpose Campaign 2011

I am asking everyone I come into contact with to read for purpose. Pick a book that will help you to become a better you, or a better Christian, or a better politically aware person in your community. America is in crisis and it will take the individual to make a difference. I have two books that will help in this endeavor, but if you do not read my books, READ SOMEONE'S BOOK (When Will Eve Be Forgiven? and The Politics of Prayer)

For all of those who have been following my blog, I am looking forward to hearing your reviews of my books. Books are not written by authors just to say I have wrote a book. They are to make some kind of dent in the mind and lives of those who enjoy reading for better or worse.

Feedback is the life blood of writers. Whether it is positive or negative; feedback is vital. I have had several positive responses to my work by word of mouth. I would also like feedback written for others to read and mull over.

CARRIE STUBY WROTE about WHEN WILL EVE BE FORGIVEN?

Ok "E" I have to tell u that after I received a copy of your book today Will Eve Ever Be Forgiven? I began to read the book and had a hard time putting it down. I have nearly finished it. I have to say it is pretty awesome. Many things I have been saying for yrs. Great stuff. I would and will highly recommend this book to all...no matter what faith. Great job. I will give you my final opinion when done.

You can go to her facebook page to see more comments about the book.

Start the discussion. Be a VOICE in your family and community and among your friends. It was once said that for evil to flourish it takes good people to do nothing.

Merry Christmas and hopefully you will have a happy purposeful New Year

RED MOON FEVER

Many people will be focused on the heavens this night. It makes you think of those shepherds who were looking up into the sky as the aNgels sang "Peace on earth. Good will towards man" thousands of years ago.

Their hearts were probably filled with fear when their eyes first beheld the wondrous sight, but just as quickly they were comforted with news of the birth of the Saviour.

The book of Revelation tells of a time when the moon will turn red. Many may be thinking - is this what Revelation was foretelling? And if it is - am I right with God?

Along with sky searching and gazing I hope there will be soul searching and gazing. Fear inspires people to rethink choices, but God has never wanted us to live in fear. He has said we were not created in fear but in power, love and a sound mind.

So as RED MOON FEVER rages have the peace of the Lord with you in this season of miracles and enjoy the wondorous sight the Lord has created as signs for His creation.

WHAT ALL THE BUZZ IS ABOUT

For the first time in 372 years, the winter equinox and a total lunar eclipse happen on the same day, and North America is one of the best spots to view the show. NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland predicts the moon will appear bright red or orange. Unlike solar eclipses which require protective glasses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye. According to NASA, this is the first time in 372 years that a lunar eclipse will occur on the winter solstice and the next one on winter solstice won’t occur until 2094.

"LOOK TO GOD FOR SECURITY IN LIFE"
enjoy what astrologers are saying

In astrology, we look to the Winter Solstice as a time of high energy and focus. The trick is to harness these forces and make them work in our lives. Take stock of what you're working on, and find ways to make your projects even more exciting and fabulous. Study your relationships, and resolve to make them better, too. You might even make changes in the way you look or in your personal habits so you can improve your image and become a new and improved person.

In astrology, the Lunar Eclipse is infamous for bringing certain matters to a head. You can expect the results of all the things you've been expending effort on to come in, for better or worse. At work, it could be good news about an end-of-
year bonus, or a call for the interview you've been waiting for. In your private life, it could bring a decision about where you'll live, and with whom. It might even mark the day you finally realize you're done with holiday preparations, or in your love life, it may bring the warm and wonderful feeling you've found "the one", or are more enamored than ever with the one you've been with for years.

There are plenty of reasons to "pop the cork," so to speak, and it is probably true that most of the events related to the eclipse will be happy ones. That's because it takes place in the hard-core celebrating zodiac sign of Sagittarius. The sign of
the Centaur can also bring some less-than-happy truths to light, though. Look for some embarrassing behavior on the part of politicians and other celebrities to be revealed in the news, along with increased possibilities of nations fighting over
their core belief systems, particularly religion and the laws that are derived from it. Also, if you're in a personal legal entanglement, and looking for opportunities to let it come to an end that allows all parties to walk away without regret, the
Lunar Eclipse can help you with that.

SO ON THIS NIGHT OF BEAUTY AND SLIGHT APPREHENSION TAKE TIME TO MARVEL AT CREATION. REMEMBER YOU ARE ALSO A PART OF CREATION AND A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OCCURANCE. RENEW YOUR MIND AND BODY FOR KINGDOM PURPOSE AND PUT ALL TRUST IN GOD

MENTORS FOR GOD

Still working on getting some more interviews for this site from women in the mnistry. My book "When Will Eve Be Forgiven?" is doing well thanks to all who have purchased it.

Interviews are intimate even if the questions seem to be simple. Telling others the answers to questions learned through experience is like mentoring them. You are pouring yourself into others. The good thing about this (the interview)is that there will always be a piece of you continuing to make a difference in the world.

We don't think about our legacy often enough. We are only concerned it seems with the people we can visibly see that we have touched or made a difference in their lives. But, some of the most miraculous changes have occurred in people's lives after the person has passed on.

Art is appreciated after the artist has died and Jesus was appreciated, sad to say, after His death. iI is the way of the world.

The interviews I will post from Women Of God in ministry and even the hair interviews of those going natural and loving it will live on on the pages of time and space for generations to be affected by. Your words, your testimony, will be there for others in their journey through life. I think that is awesome and a powerful legacy.

So take the time to mentor and share with others. You may never know the impact your story, your truth may have on generations to come.

God Bless and Thank You for sharing.

Creation Stories from Africa (Believing Part 3)

In parts 1 and 2 of believing is a choice; I presented the key factor for Christians believing in Christianity. We have a wonderful recorded revelation from God to us, the Bible, that is a legitimate part of human history. We are told the origins of the world and life itself within the Old Testament. We are told who to worship, how to worship and why to worship. Even with several other religions and gods availble for the masses to worship, Christianity grew and thrived and is one of the largest religions of the 21st century.

Christianity, as with other religions, come under fire from time to time from the academic community as being nothing more than unsubstantiated belief in a deity in a desparate attempt to make some sense out of the chaos of living. Undeterred, Christians have continued to stand on the Bible and all of its divinely written words that are more than mere stories but evidence of a divine God who loves and cares for His creation.

In Part 2 I wrote that there were several other religions which had their own creation account from their own god. I urged Christians not to become angered at this fact but to embrace that there are others with different beliefs and a history or written account of what they believe. Christianity is not the only religion with a rich history. This knowledge in its positive state is a testimony moreso to believing in Christianity and living a Christian life. When given a choice you have chosen Christ.

Even though there are several different religions, not all of them have a CREATION story like Christianity. For instance, in Africa, Voodoo is a religion that originated there and later spread to other regions of the world and still exists today. This is a religion but it does not have an account of CREATION attached to it. Some of the tribes who do have a Creation Story (Myth) is th eFon Cration Myth, Kaang Creation Myth, Kintu Myth, Mende Creation Myth, Mbombo, Ngai (Maasai), Unkulunkulu, and Yoruba Creation.

Voodoo is a derivative of the world's oldest known religions (many religions claim to be the oldest) which have been around in Africa since the beginning of human civilization. Some conservative estimates these civilizations and religions to be over 10 000 years old. This then identify Voodoo as probably the best example of African syncretism in the Americas. Although its essential wisdom originated in different parts of Africa long before the Europeans started the slave trade, the structure of Voodoo, as we know it today, was born in Haiti during the European colonization of Hispaniola. Ironically, it was the enforced immigration of enslaved African from different ethnic groups that provided the circumstances for the development of Voodoo. European colonists thought that by desolating the ethnic groups, these could not come together as a community. However, in the misery of slavery, the transplanted Africans found in their faith a common thread.

They began to invoke not only their own gods, but to practice rites other than their own. In this process, they comingled and modified rituals of various ethnic groups. The result of such fusion was that the different religious groups integrated their beliefs, thereby creating a new religion: Voodoo. The word "voodoo" comes from the West African word "vodun," meaning spirit. This Afro-Caribbean religion mixed practices from many African ethnics groups such as the Fon, the Nago, the Ibos, Dahomeans, Congos, Senegalese, Haussars, Caplaous, Mondungues, Mandinge, Angolese, Libyans, Ethiopians, and the Malgaches.

When slavers brought these peoples across the ocean to the Americas, the African's brought their religion with them. However, since slavery included stripping the slaves of their language, culture, and heritage, this religion had to take some different forms. It had to be practiced in secret, since in some places it was punishable by death, and it had to adapt to the loss of their African languages. In order to survive, Voodoo also adopted many elements of Christianity. When the French who were the colonizers of Haiti, realized that the religion of the Africans was a threat to the colonial system, they prohibited all African religion practices and severely punished the practitioners of Voodoo with imprisonment, lashings and hangings. This religious struggle continued for three centuries, but none of the punishments could extinguished the faith of the Africans. This process of acculturation helped Voodoo to grow under harsh cultural conditions in many areas of the Americas. http://istina.rin.ru/eng/para/text/508.html

Below is a sampling of CREATION stories from Africa:

1. Ngai (Enkai, En-kai, Engai, Eng-ai, Mweai, Mwiai) is the supreme God in the religions of the Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai nationalities of Kenya. According to the Kikuyu beliefs, he lives on the holy mountain Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya).

According to the Kamba, he lives somewhere in a hiding place and no one knows where.
The Maasai of Kenya in their creation narrative recount the origin of humanity to be fashioned by the Creator Enkai from a single tree or leg which split into three pieces. To the first father of the Maasai, he gave a stick. To the first father of the Kikuyu, he gave a hoe. To the first father of the Kamba, he gave a bow and arrow. Each son survived in the wild. The first father of the Maasai used his stick to herd animals. The first father of the Kikuyu used his hoe to cultivate the ground. The first father of the Kamba used his bow and arrow to hunt.

Although Maasai people have also converted to Christianity, many still practice their traditional religion. The Maasai believe that he is the god of the sun, love and was the creator of the world; in another one of their traditions, this god married Olapa (the goddess of the moon). Leeming, David A. (2009). Creation Myths of the World (2nd ed.). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598841749.

2. Unkulunkulu is the creator god in the language of the Zulu people. Unkulunkulu is believed to be father of Jesus and the term "Nkulunkulu" simple means "God". Other names include uMdali "Creator", uMvelinqandi "First than everything" also is uMvelinqangi in isiXhosa language. In the isiZulu language, the name means "the very great/high one". According to other myths, it is said that he came down from the sky to fight an Evil Demon and won against the Demon on a No Moon Day. His kingdom is heaven or Xenos "The land of angels and gods of protection". He is said to have created Primus angels Litu and his wife to be guardian angels of Jesus when he was born. He is also said to have created archangel Michael, Uriel, Gabriel... He also created Eden and Eva with Adam. His first angel was Lucifer the "Devil" whom later wanted to take the kingdom but was kicked out of heaven with few other angels.

The creation stories of Unkulunkulu tell that he came from the reeds, and from them he brought forth the people and the cattle. He created everything from land and water to animals. He is considered the first man as well as the parent of all people. He taught the Zulu how to hunt, how to make fire, and how to grow food. Leeming, David Adams; Leeming, Margaret Adams (2009). A Dictionary of Creation Myths (Oxford Reference Online ed.). Oxford University Press.

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_religion#Creation In the Yoruba creation myth, Olódùmarè (also called Olorun) is the creator. In the beginning there is only water. Olódùmarè sends Obatala to bring forth land. Obatala descended from above on a long chain, bringing with him a rooster, some earth, and some iron. He stacked the iron in the water, the earth on the iron, and the chicken atop the earth. The chicken kicked and scattered the earth, creating land. Some of the lesser gods descended upon it to live with Obatala. One of them, Chameleon, came first to judge if the earth was dry. When it was, Olódùmarè called the land Ife for "wide". Obatala then created humans out of earth and called Olódùmarè to blow life into them. Some say Obatala was jealous and wished to be the only giver of life, but Olódùmarè put him to sleep as he worked. But it is also said that it is Obatala who shapes life while it is still in the womb.

4. Mbombo, also called Bumba, is the creator god in the religion and mythology of the Kuba of Central Africa. In the Mbombo creation myth, Mbombo was a giant covered with white skin who had the form of a man.

The story of Mbombo's creation tells that in the beginning, Mbombo was alone, and darkness and water covered the all earth. It would happen that Mbombo came to feel an intense pain in his stomach, and then Mbombo vomited the sun, the moon, and stars. The heat and light from the sun evaporated the water covering the earth, creating clouds, and after time, the dry hills emerged from the water. Then Mbombo vomited once more, bringing forth nine animals: the leopard, called Koy Bumba; the eagle, Ponga Bumba; the crocodile, Ganda Bumba; the fish, Yo Bumba; the tortoise, Kono Bumba; a black leopard-like animal, Tsetse Bumba; a white heron, Nyanyi Bumba; a scarab; and a goat named Budi. Mbombo also vomited many men, one of them all white like himself who is called Loko Yima.

These nine animals went on to create all the world's creatures. The heron created all flying birds but one, the kite, and the crocodile created snakes and the iguana. The goat, Budi, brought forth all the horned animals, the scarab all insects, and Yo Bumba, all fish.

Three of Mbombo's sons then said they would finish creating the world. The first to try, Nyonye Ngana, vomited white ants, but died after. To honor him, the ants went deep in the earth for dark soil to bury him and transformed the barren sands at the earth's surface. The second, Chonganda, created the first plant, which in turn gave rise to all trees, grasses and flowers. And Chedi Bumba, the third son, made the last bird, the kite.

Tsetse Bumba caused trouble on the earth so Mbombo chased him into the sky where he became the thunderbolt. This left people without fire, so Mbombo showed them how to make it from trees. Once the creation was complete and peaceful, Mbombo delivered it to mankind and retreated into the heavens, leaving Loko Yima to serve as "god upon the earth".The woman of the waters, Nchienge, lived in the East, and her son, Woto, became the first king of the Kuba.

What can be gathered from many of the CREATION myths is that man h as always believed there was one greater than himself that had created the world he inhabited. Man knew in some way there was honor due to this Creator. As I have said before, even when man gets some of it wrong or may not have an opportunity to be witnessed to, God has said even nature will testify of my existence.