Abortion and The Gospel

Over and over we hear of the many millions of babies aborted each year because they are not seen as babies, but rather just groups of cells. They are not seen as precious souls, but rather a mistake, "to be easily fixed."


To the medical industry the abortion of a baby is seen as a money making scheme. Costing from $500-$1000 for the first trimester.

Since I trust that most if not all of you reading this blogpost agree that abortion is murder, I wont go into the biblical truths, the physical truths and the emotional. But will rather insert a video that has been changing the hearts and minds of many people.

This has often left me thinking, "how many babies could of been saved if these people would have been informed." If these men and women would have seen what their baby looked like, would they have still aborted their child? If they knew that it had hands and feet and eyes and a brain...would things of changed?

Abortion and the Gospel

Recently this thought came back to me, but in a different way. In the country of India there is a different form of abortion going on. That of "selective breeding". What this means is that men are the preferred gender and if a lady has a baby and the male finds out that it is female they, either abort it, neglect it, or murder it after it is born. Women are seen as a burden, why? because of the expensive dowery they have to pay when they are married.


How many of these abortions could be stopped if this country would turn to Christ. If they would let the gospel of Jesus and His Salvation impact and change them. If they could see that each person (Man, Woman, Boy and Girl) are precious to God, it would change their view of women. Would it cause them to value life over money?


There is a desperate need in countries like this for missionaries who will go and tell the Gospel of Christ, that lives might be changed and that social norms, like selective breeding, would stop. Who knows you might be the one God uses, are you willing?

Millions of Missing Girls

I invite you to watch a video about the millions of missing girls in India.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/tech-15749651/india-s-deadly-secret-27566497.html




For a free copy of an excellent book on abortion and how God can restore anyone who has had an abortion. Please contact www.JamesWilkins.org/survivor-abortion


Send an e-mail to web@jameswilkins.org and mention that you saw this link and they will mail you a free book while supplies last.

At Any Moment I Can Become Like You...

"At any moment I can become just like you, but you can never be like me again."

Those were the broken hearted words of young Jennifer as she responded to the girl in her high school.

Jennifer was a very beautiful young lady. Her countenance radiated purity. She had made the commitment to keep her emotional and physical purity until the day she was married. This was a commonly know fact among her high school peers.

Often times she had been made fun of because she chose not to date or flirt with the guys like the others girls.

She was known as a prude, and often referred to as a "good little Christian girl".


All of this never bothered her, in fact she thought of it as a good thing, because she knew others had taken notice of her commitment to her Lord and her future husband. She would humbly pray for opportunities to share her testimony of Salvation and her reason for not dating daily.

Until one day...

She was confronted by a girl who was under deep conviction. Jessica was also raised in a Christian home and had made the same commitments of purity as Jennifer. But as soon as Jessica made it to Middle School, the temptations and peer pressure to date were so overwhelming. Jessica desperately wanted to fit in and be thought of as cool that she turned her back on those commitments and started dating Tim. Before long Jessica and Tim were pretty close, they had held hands and kissed and soon they had given in to each other.

It wasn't long after that, that Tim dumped Jessica. Jessica was heartbroken.

After a few weeks Jessica seemed to be a different person, she had seemed to lose her sense of worth and value. Her dress standards became less and less modest. And she began to flirt with more and more guys. She started dating more frequently and with various partners.

She started to give her body to just about anyone who would give her attention. In the next year or so, she seemed to have walked so far away from the Lord and everyone seemed to notice except Jessica.

Until one day in the commons area Jessica heard Jennifer talking to another girl about the Lord and her testimony of Salvation and purity. Jessica was quietly listing to everything Jennifer was saying and it seemed to convict her heart.  In that moment of conviction her heart was hardened. Instead of coming back to the Lord she let her bitterness and pride get in the way.

Jessica raised her voice and said "poor little Jennifer, she has never had a boyfriend, she has never dated. She is destined to be a lonely old lady, they only things she will have to love her are cats.

No man would ever marry on old prude, no man will ever want to marry her, she wouldn't even know how to kiss. Men want a girl that has some experience. You have never had a boyfriend because you are ugly and you just use God as an excuse!"

Jennifer was so hurt by the ugliness of Jessica's words. She was also so embarrassed that someone would call her out and say such mean things. But the thing that hurt her the most was knowing just how wrong Jessica was. Knowing how much pain she must be in to have said such hurtful things. Knowing that if her heart didn't change she would never experience true love. Love that is pure and holy.

Jennifer responded with tears in her eyes and such brokenness for Jessica, "At any moment I can become just like you, but you can never be like me again, but I know a Saviour who can make all things new."

"Jessica I love you and I know God does too. Please open up your heart."


It wasn't long until Jennifer was able to help Jessica get right with God. Jessica seemed to have her own Psalm 51 experience. She was closer to the Lord than ever. She was growing everyday. As a result Jessica and Jennifer became very close friends and were the maid and matron of honer at each others weddings.

Today Jessica and Jennifer are both Sunday School teachers in their local churches They are both happily married to wonderful men of God. They both have beautiful families.

Jessica loves to share with young ladies her testimony, she shares the scars and pain she has had to carry as a result of her sinful choices, and the power of God to make all things new.

If you are reading this and you think, "well I can mess around and everything will be ok in the end", you are sadly mistaken. Sin has its consequences.

Jessica often says, "As amazing of a testimony as I have, as amazing as God is to have given me a second chance, I wish that I could stand up in front of you all and say I kept my purity, but I can't. I wish I could tell my husband that his hand was the first hand I ever held, his lips the first kiss, but I can't. BUT YOU CAN!"

Jessica came back to the Saviour and He did make all things new. And he can for you too. But know that if you make the decision to go into sin, you can expect some severe consequences.

Cover Up For God

I recently came across this article on yahoo and was pleasantly surprised!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Ladies-Rocco-Grimaldi-requests-you-cover-up-for?urn=nhl-wp13663

In this day where it seems like sports stars are more of a bad influence then just about anyone in the secular media, it seems that this young man is an exception.


Normally you wouldn't expect someone to take such a bold stance for Jesus, especially if they are a sports star. It seems that if someone is a Christian they are "undercover" Christians.

I would encourage you to read the article.

If you haven't heard already we have a new blog...please follow. :-)

New Blog!

After much prayer and consideration, Samantha and I have started a new blog that will continue to share Our Journey together. We will continue to use this blog to share ideas, testimony's and thoughts about Divine Betrothal, dating ,courtship, and marriage and will use the other blog to share a little more of our life.

We would like to take all of you with us and invite you to join us at http://continuingjourney.blogspot.com/

A Case for Christ

Click here to watch the compelling documentary of one man's search for truth.


Is there really evidence that Christ existed? Is there really proof that He was more than just a good man? Is there any truth to the thought that He could raise from the dead?

Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God

Powerful message, and a powerful plea!

Patriot Day

Take a moment today to remember those lost ten years ago today, and to pray for our nation and elected officials.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Psalm 33:12

Labor Day Conference

Each year our church attends the Labor Day Conference at Bella Vista Baptist Church in Albuquerque.

This year Samantha and I ran the book table for Dr. James Wilkins. It was really a lot of fun.

There was lots of great preaching and great fellowship.


The conference starts at 1:30 and ends at 7:30 with a 1 hour break for dinner. For the rest of the time it is packed with preaching!

The last preacher was John Bishop. Click here to hear his wonderful story.

For dinner we had Powdrell's Barbeque. It was pretty good!

All in all this was a blessed night!

Fun at the Museum!

This weekend Samantha took some time to celebrate our 5 month anniversary. 

We spent the weekend in Albuquerque. While we were there we went to several thrift shops and found some pretty good deals. We got a nativity set for 20 dollars and ceramic little village. I got a beautiful wood plaque that is a page out of a songbook with the words to the song "It is well with my soul."

My brother Alex

While we were in Albuquerque we went to the New Mexico Natural History Museum. My brother Alex lives in Albuquerque so we were able to spend the night at his house and bring him along to the museum. Alex has a way about him that makes things seem more fun. He is always cracking jokes, or making funny comments. He kept making Samantha and I laugh. 

 It has been quite a while since we had visited the Natural History Museum. I (Adam) can remember running all over that place on a field trip in school. It seemed so big, and so mysterious when I was little.

One of the best parts of going to the Museum of Natural History was getting to watch an educational Dynamax (IMAX) presentation about the Ocean and the science of waves. It was pretty neat to see it in 3-D.

As a Christian who knows the truth, that God is the creator and that evolution is a lie. It gave us a sense of freedom to walk around and enjoy, some of God's creatures. But I couldn't help but think that someday when Samantha and I take our children here, I will have to explain that some of the things that they will hear and read will not be true. While I was there I could hear the voice in my head of a little girl saying "Daddy God made the dinosaurs, not evolution."

You guessed it! It was Alex's idea to take these picture!

As a youth, one of the most exciting things at this museum was the exhibit where you could walk on lava/magma! When I was little it looked so cool! I would get all excited and a little scared. I really thought I was walking over lava...lol

Next we got to make our own earthquake. The floor has built in seismographs and you get to jump up and down and watch the needle go crazy!

Create your own earthquake!

Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly.He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.His bones [are as] strong pieces of brass; his bones [are] like bars of iron. Job 40:15-18

Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

Job 40:23

Betrothal Documentary....

This past week I received and e-mail from a lady at a company (Kinetic Content) that is doing a Betrothal Documentary. They are looking for people who are currently going through a betrothal. 

Please understand that not everything in this video will be something we necessarily believe. There will be a few different religious backgrounds represented. They will have their own understanding of what betrothal is. We have chosen to post this because we have some readers who might fall into this category. We thought it might be interesting for you guys to see how different families approach the subject of Dating, Courtship and Betrothal.


To see how Samantha and I did it please visit the Betrothal and Wedding tabs above.

They are currently doing a documentary on a young lady in Atlanta, (see video) and have become very impressed/intrigued with Biblical betrothal, that they are seeking 4 more families to follow. 

They are willing to pay them to share their experience on film. The film crew would film some of the events, but they have stated that they will not intrude or be over bearing. 

They are also looking for people who have already gone through betrothal experience to share some of their thoughts and insights.

They have also stated that anyone who participates will have the ability to view the portions of documentary they are in and the footage before it is aired. So they can make sure they are not being portrayed in any way but factual.

This company is not a Christian company, so please take that into consideration.

I have included the entire e-mail and also a sample video that they have already been working on. Please read it all the way through, then if you are interested you can contact her.

This might be a great opportunity to share your testimony. 

Please watch the video and read the following e-mail.

IMPORTANT!

Please pray and seek God before you do anything, also be wise with your information before you give anything out. 

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:16

Hi Adam,

My name is Andrea and I am the one that contacted you via youtube regarding your betrothal story. I came across your youtube link and your blog and would love to speak with you further about your betrothal experience.  Right now I am in the process of researching Biblical Betrothal with the ultimate intent on doing an unbiased, informative documentary series where we follow families (hopefully up to 4 different families) who are going through this unique process.

We are currently filming with a family based outside of Atlanta who have a 20 year old daughter who is going through the process.  It has been such an interesting and beautiful path to marriage, that we would like to expand this documentary to include other families as well.  Please see the links at the bottom of the page to see a sample of what we've filmed with them and to get an idea for our vision with this project.

I work for a production company called Kinetic Content based out of Santa Monica, CA.  We are a  fairly new company (have been around for less than a year) and focus on documentaries and docu-series for film and television.  We are a secular production company but our staff consists of a variety of religious backgrounds.  I myself, grew up in an Anglican household and am a firm believer in God and the power of prayer.  While Kinetic is not a Christian company, we are mature and seasoned documentarians who feel that this topic should be properly documented and shared.  Betrothal is such a fascinating idea and we've seen the proof that when done correctly and centered around God, it really works.

I wanted to reach out to you to see if you know of any other couples who are currently in the process of going through a betrothal who might be interested in working with us on this project.

The series will follow young couples  as they enter this important life transition. This is a wonderful  opportunity to spread the word about this path towards marriage to a large audience.
Ideally, we would like to film each family during the most important betrothal steps...ie- the betrothal ceremony, the preparation of the home, wedding preparations and then the actual wedding ceremony.  We wouldn't be filming every single day, just the important moments that highlight the steps of the Biblical Betrothal process.

I would also like to mention that in return for allowing us to be part of these very important occasions, each couple we film with will receive $1,500 for each part that they are in. We are hoping to break the documentary into an 8 part documentary series.  Ideally we would love to have them featured in each of the 8 parts which could lead to
a total of $12,000 appearance fee. We are also offering a $500 "finders fee," for anyone that can direct us to families who end up participating. Or we will gladly donate that fee to a charity of their choice.
While we know that we have nothing but the  sincerest intentions with this project, we completely understand that letting us film such intimate and important moments of their lives can be scary.    Therefore, we would like to let all potential couples know that we would like to offer them the option of viewing clips of their segments before they air and welcome their feedback.  We want them to be at ease with us and this process and want them to be able to know that they can rest their trust in us and in our intentions with this project.

As of right now, we have three different networks interested in buying this documentary series.  Discovery Channel, History Channel and the Oprah Winfrey Network have all expressed interest and we are currently working with them to find the best home for this project to air on.

  I am still doing preliminary research and any tips or resources he can point me towards would be appreciated. Any ideas  on newsletters, blogs, churches or any other ways to reach out to these families would be greatly appreciated.

If you know of any couples that you think would be interested in participating, I would love to speak with them.  Please feel free to pass this information along to anyone you think would be interested or know someone who would be.  If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.  Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Many blessings,

Andrea McHugh
630.745.0906
www.kineticcontent.com

Five Months

Happy Five Month Anniversary!

Five monts ago today, Samantha and I became husband and wife. It sure has been a busy five months. A lot of ups and few downs! 

Through it all God has been our constant strength, and has richly blessed us with His presence in our life and marriage.

It's truly hard to explain how you can love someone so much, and how that love can grow stronger each day.

Teen Fellowship at Our House

This Saturday we had a teen fellowship at our house.

 Ever since camp, Samantha and I had wanted to have our teens over for food and fellowship. But unfortunately our schedules had been rearranged for us. With losing the baby the day we were to move in our new house, things sort of got rearranged. We suddenly found ourselves very busy with doctors appointments. And had to set aside time for ourselves to heal over the loss.

But now that things are pretty much back to normal, were were able to have some of the teens over.

The plan was to have the kids meet us at the church at 9:30am for Saturday visitation and those who needed a ride, we would pick up on a van as we went out. Well 9:30 rolled around and none of the teens were there, so we set out on a mission to go get them! Sure we had to wait for few to change out of their PJ's but they came!

Samantha and I as well as others had noticed that many of our teens have taken a step away from the Lord this summer. I think that with all the idle time, they got lazy in the areas of Bible reading and prayer. But we hope that with monthly meetings, God will reignite the fire!

We had a total of 10 people go out soul winning. 

After we picked up the last kid, we paired up and went our ways. When we have teens we like to door knock an area where we will all stay close. So we can all keep an eye on each other.

One of the boys that went with me got to personally witness to two men. It was neat to see him giving the plan of salvation out. He told me, "I used to be scared, but now I know that Jesus is with me, I'm not scared anymore." AMEN!

The other boy that was with me, just got saved at camp. He is a little rough around the edges but he is very fervent. He kept saying lets hurry! Lets go talk to them! AMEN! AGAIN!

AFTER VISITATION WE HEADED TO OUR HOME

Some of the kids played volleyball, while others stayed inside and talked with Samantha and the other ladies.

By the end of the day all the kids were having so much fun. They were so bummed out, that it was time to go home. But I think just between you and me, they had just as much fun on the ride home!

Both Samantha and I fell really blessed to be able to open our home up to the youth of our church and we pray that they will always find our home as a place that they can come to. We pray that we will provide a place where they can come and talk and share what is on their hearts.

We want to thank everyone who brought food and who helped out. We couldn't of done it without you! Special thanks to Pastor and Mrs. McMath, Lindy (mom), Jaclyn, Jeff, Mom and Dad Leeder.

Thank you all for coming, you made our new home feel very special. All in all we had a total of 18 people! Next month were going to try for 30!