Great Photos -- Isn't God Awesome!

Crocodile

A Heart from the Sky

Teddy Bear

Sleeping Cat

                                           

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Beautiful Jesus Pencil Drawings

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Join in Billy Graham’s birthday celebration with hope for America

 

In honor of Billy Graham’s birthday on November 7, My Hope America is set to become the largest event ever presented in North America by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. My Hope America will combine a video program from Billy Graham with the personal evangelism and hospitality of Christians throughout the U.S. and Canada.

For the event, Christians will invite family, friends and co-workers into their homes to view the video program produced by Billy Graham. However, for greatest impact, the outreach must begin much earlier, as Christians intentionally develop relationships with those whom they will invite into their homes in November. - See more at: 

This approach not only involves Christians in evangelism at a very personal level, it also maximizes potential for participation, as Preston Parrish, vice president of BGEA’s My Hope, explains in an interview.

“Rather than Christians gathering together in a central location to hear Billy Graham preach, they will come together in hundreds of thousands of homes,” Parrish says. “And so, the audience can be very large and dispersed across the nation.”

Parrish urges people to get involved now in order to have plenty of time to train and prepare for the event by building relationships in their workplaces and communities.

“What we would ask them to do right now is go to the My Hope website and register as a pastor or church leader or as an individual,” he says. “That will get them in the communication stream and will enable us to get to them all of the materials that will help them make the most of this opportunity.”

On the website, participants can also register for a training event in a city near them or complete an online training session 60 to 90 minutes in length. The training will equip them to share their testimony in two to three minutes and help them understand how to use their homes for evangelism. All training and materials for the entire event are provided free of charge.

“My Hope America is free to participate in – a gift from Billy Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to the churches and Christians of America,” Parrish says.

November’s program “The Cross,” which will feature a new, never-before-heard message from Billy Graham interwoven with true stories of how faith in Christ transformed the lives of a few public figures, will be on television stations across the nation. It will also be made available to download from the website and on DVD.

Two similar videos – “Defining Moments” and “Lose to Gain” – have already been released and can be accessed on the My Hope website for a taste of what to expect from November’s coming program.

SOURCE: onenewsnow.com

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Paralysed girl who couldn't even move her eyelids now learning how to walk again

A young student told of her fight for life today after her entire body – including her eyelids – was paralysed by a freak medical condition.

Emily Thompson, 20, was unable to move after being struck by Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The rare disease, which affects just one in 100,000 people, attacks the lining of the nerves.

It left her facing death and hospitalised in ­intensive care.

And when Emily caught pneumonia, her devastated family was told she might not survive.

She had to be hooked up to a ventilator for five weeks.

But Emily has battled back from the brink and is now taking her first steps as she learns to walk again.

The former dancer, of Newton Hall, Co Durham, was diagnosed when she developed numb hands and feet three months ago.

Within days mum Carolyn, 51, dad David, 49, sister Victoria, 29, and brother Michael, 27, saw her taken into hospital.

They remained by her bedside around the clock.

Emily, who is at Sunderland University studying to be a social worker, said: “There were 10 days when I couldn’t remember anything. I just didn’t know what was real or what was a dream.”

Mum Carolyn added: “She wasn’t showing any signs of improving.

"It became impossible to communicate and for a few days she couldn’t even move her eyes.”

After seven weeks in intensive care, Emily began to regain feeling in her body. She was then transferred to a general medical ward.

And this week she took her first two steps with the help of her physiotherapist at a rehabilitation centre in Newcastle.

Emily says: “I just wanted to cry. It was so overwhelming because I thought it was never going to happen. I thought I was never going to walk again.”

Sister Victoria, a teacher, kept a diary of the trauma for Emily.

Mum Carolyn said: “It was just unbelievable to see her up even though she was supported – but it’s heartbreaking to see her being shown how to walk again.

“There is little known about the disease and I hope Emily’s story will help to raise awareness.”

SOURCE: mirror.co.uk

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“DO YOU SEE MIRACLES?” OUR RUBY STORY

Stacy Trasancos entitles one of her recent posts “Do you See Miracles?” An excellent read. It prompts my response.

To answer Stacy’s question “Do you see miracles?” I say “Yes!”

Let me briefly describe one that happened right in front of me in a most unexpected way, of course.

When my wife, Lynne, and I were newly married, we had her parents come visit us at Christmas time. On December 26, the four of us took a bus out to Texas Stadium to see the Dallas Cowboys play a game against the Chicago Bears.

Texas Stadium

After the game that ended in the cold and the dark, we returned home where I immediately took our dog out for a walk.

When I returned home I was met at the door by Lynne holding both her hands up to me with her palms facing toward her. She was crying. What I did not see right away was that the ruby from her engagement ring was not in her ring. She told me she had cut open her winter gloves, searched everywhere in her clothing and found nothing.

Her parents wanted us to call our insurance company to see if it could be replaced. I knew that it was not specifically insured and so I quickly turned our conversation to planning how we would go back to the stadium the next morning.

My confidence came from my memory of the parking lot being black asphalt, and thus more easily searchable, and from something Lynne and I knew about the ruby but her  parents did not know.

For Lynne and me, the pear-shaped ruby (not this big by any means, but shaped in similar manner) was chosen specifically by us to represent a drop of the Blood of Christ. It was to be a constant reminder of our mutual commitment to following Jesus in all things. (My wedding ring contains a ruby as well for the same purpose.)

In the morning, as we made our way to the stadium, we told each other how we had slept and whether we had any dreams. Lynne’s father slept but was unaware of any dreams. Her mother dreamt of a friend who lost her ring at a theater performance while clapping. Lynne dreamt of food falling on a kitchen floor. I dreamt of an anesthesiologist friend of mine at the door of a sleeping (depressed?) woman I used to know.

I called my mom, Mary, and told her what we were doing, asking for her advice. She said we should and she would pray to St. Jude for help. I agreed and promised that if we found the ruby, I would go buy the biggest St. Jude statue I could afford to remind me of his help.

The morning was cold and foggy. The stadium parking lot was completely empty. We drove to where the bus had picked us up, thinking that the ruby was dislodged from the ring when Lynne took off her gloves to present her bus ticket. But my memory had failed me. The surface was not black asphalt. Rather is was multicolored, stone aggregate.

 Not to be discouraged, Lynne and her father and I got down on our hands and knees to feel over the ground in the hope we would find it. Meanwhile Lynne’s mother stood talking about whether we should look inside the stadium. That’s when a guard came up asking what we were doing. She told him and asked about going in where we had been sitting the night before. Initially he said we’d have to talk with administrative office people clear on the other side of the stadium. But he reconsidered when he remembered that the cleaning crew was in there right then, working. He suggested we hurry. We did.

When we arrived at our row of seats, a 10-member crew was sweeping and picking up trash about 20 yards away from us on the same level, working like the guys in this image. (The image is of a group cleaning a San Diego stadium, not Texas Stadium. Just wanted you to get a sense of how they move through the rows when they are cleaning.)

Lynne and her mom went into our row followed by her dad. I hung back, almost in a trance. Two workers came over as Lynne and her parents began looking on the floor beneath our seats. “What are you looking for?” asked the crew chief. I said, “A ruby.” Lynne’s mom reacted as if I was giving out too much information to strangers. Then the other crew person asked, “What color is it?” Before I could respond, Lynne suggested I not just stand there but do something. The crew chief suggested looking in the row just below where Lynne and her parents were.

I made my way onto that row and observed the floor, littered with food, packaging, and empty cans and cups. Roasted peanut shells were everywhere. Among the shell droppings were the thin, red skins of the peanuts. I got down on my hands and knees to gentle push aside the game’s debris.

Suddenly what looked like a red skin of a peanut started getting bigger and bigger in front of my gaze. I reached for it, fully expecting it to crumble in my fingers. But it didn’t. It was the ruby, our drop of the Blood of Christ!

I rose to show everyone. Lynne let out a yell. Lynne’s parents were smiling. The crew went back to work without comment.

On the way back home, I stopped at the Catholic bookstore and bought our St. Jude statue, like the one shown below. It stands today on the window sill of my dining room where I write.

St. Jude

It took me a while to understand how what had happened was a miracle. Over the rest of the visit, we all talked about the improbable odds were of finding this ruby in space and time of the stadium floor and the cleaning crew.

Since I understand dreams as God’s forgotten language, I eventually realized how our separate dreams were each privately revealing pieces of a solution to finding the ruby. Like the dream of Lynne’s mom, the ruby had fallen out in the theater of play, not on the parking lot as I had projected. Like Lynne’s dream, the ruby was to be found on the stadium’s “kitchen floor” where all us fans had been stuffed together. And like my dream, I had to wake up, not be depressed about the potential loss, but step outside the room of the first row. Moreover, it took all of us, working together, just like putting the dreams together to puzzle out the ruby’s location. Even the guard and the cleaning crew encountered us like angels, not simply like uncaring or covetous strangers.

While I appreciated how much the ruby meant to Lynne and me and how much our prayers and my mom’s helped us, I could not stop there in my wondering about why this miracle had happened. Surely, it was but one more confirmation of the faith Lynne and I shared, of my mom’s faith as well.

But it was only later, after a while of repeated thanksgivings,  that I realized the miracle was also meant for Lynne’s parents who do not express any understanding of faith. They come from secular backgrounds, especially in science.

My prayer, as I’m sure Lynne’s and my mom’s is as well, is that someday, Lynne’s parents will remember this miracle and see it as a sign meant for them to consider favorably.

A sign of God’s love for them as well as us.

Thanks, Stacy, for asking the question.

Source: http://catholicstand.com

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Jim Anderson: Heaven Can Wait

"I felt like I was fading away ... The next thing I knew, off in the distance, I saw a white light."

Jim Anderson was dying from a massive heart attack. The only signs of trouble came a year earlier, but his doctor called his symptoms “stress related.” Jim was working 12 hour days as a supervisor at a waste water treatment plant. But this time, Jim knew it was much more than stress.

"I was resting in my bedroom and all of a sudden, I had a crushing pain in my chest; and the pain radiated down my arm and up the side of my neck," Jim said. "I couldn’t catch my breath. And I called to my daughter and said, 'You’re going to have to get me to the hospital. I’m not going to make it.' ”

A balloon catheter was inserted into his artery. He was stabilized and placed on a heart transplant list. But two days later, Jim flat lined.

Jim remembers, "I could see everyone rushing into the room, but I couldn’t hear the alarms going off. It’s like I had gone under water. The hearing had just faded away. That’s when I began to pray. I knew I was dying. It wasn’t a scared praying. It was earnest."

"As I prayed it got darker ‘til the point it went black," Jim said. "The next thing I knew, off in the distance, I saw a white light. It was beautiful. It just wasn’t blinding, but pure and perfect. As I started to go towards the light, I could see the out; the outer edge of it begins to spiral. And I couldn’t figure out what that was. But as I got closer, I could see it was the words of prayers revolving. The words broke off, going into the light. And I followed into the light."

"The next thing I felt was being embraced ... safe and secure. It felt wonderful. It felt like total love," Jim said. "Next thing I knew, I was looking down at the room where my body was. I could see everyone working on me. I could hear what they were saying. There were two nurses outside of the room looking in. One said to the other, 'Why are they working so hard? He’s gone. If they do bring him back, he’ll be a vegetable.'  I later on told her what she said. She about passed out."

Then Jim thought to himself, "Where’s Debbie?"

Then, instantly he was in the room where she was. 

Jim's wife, Debbie recalled, "I had just gotten finished with that prayer. You know, 'He’s yours, Lord,' because I knew that was the only way he was coming back to us...if God wanted him to."

Jim remembered, "When she did that, I zoomed right in on her face. And when I saw her face, I saw every aspect of our life together; from the first day we met, our marriage, the birth of our children, all the emotions we’ve shared ... I couldn’t leave her. I just couldn’t leave her."

"I cried out to the Lord and said, 'Lord, I love you so much, but please let me go back.'  I said, 'My wife needs me, my children need me so much, so much. Please let me go back.' ”

The doctors and nurses didn’t give up. They shocked Jim so many times that the flesh on his chest was burned. 

Then the doctors heard a heart beat.

"I came back to a world of pain," Jim said. "They shocked me so many times. It’s like coming back out of the water. My hearing came back. I could hear them telling me, 'I can’t believe he’s back ... he’s back!'  They said, 'Can you hear me?' And I took that first breath on my own. Have you ever tasted honeysuckle? That’s exactly what that first breath tasted like. It was so sweet, so wonderful. And I just thanked the Lord."

Jim was alive... but his heart still wasn’t functioning properly.

"They put him into a coma, a medical coma, to allow his body to heal. So, I wasn’t able to talk to him for days," Debbie said. 

Jim spent the next 17 days in intensive care. He flat lined several more times. And each time, Jesus asked him a question…

"The subsequent times that I arrested and would go towards the light, He would ask, 'Are you sure this is what you want?'  And each time I would ask to come back," Jim said.

Jim woke up from his medical-induced coma. His heart increased in function -- from five percent to 30 percent. He no longer needed a heart transplant.

"It was a long process, but basically it was good to hear his voice again," Debbie said.

His doctor implanted a pace maker in his chest. Just a couple days later, Jim was able to make it home in time for his daughter’s graduation. One doctor told Jim he only had a year to live. That was over seven years ago. 

"It’s brought us closer together ... so much closer together. We talk about things now, and it’s whatever needs to be done for the day, it’s done. You know, we don’t focus on things that are trivial," Debbie said.

Jim knows that every day he has with his family is a blessing from Jesus Christ.

"I try to witness to at least one person a day ... to let them know this isn’t about me ... it’s about their life! And to know that He is there for them, and He loves them," Jim said.

Can God change your life?

God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life. Discover how you can find peace with God.

Source: CBN.com

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Morgan Lake's story dramatic reminder that God is real, miracles happen

"Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you." -- Jon Bon Jovi

If rock stars can believe in miracles, so can you.

Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks on the inside -- the heart of the matter.

We should change our perception so we acknowledge miracles.

It's a common problem in the media. Some news organizations distance themselves from any reference to God, Jesus, or miracles, even when it’s germane to the story.

Such is the case with Morgan Lake whose car plunged 40 feet off Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge into the water below. Incredibly, Morgan managed to survive the horrifying ordeal. Many news outlets have reported her dramatic escape from death after her car but her mother explained to me, when I met both of them Tuesday, that some of those stations and networks deleted Morgan's words of gratitude to God.

During my interview with Morgan, she emphasized that she wanted the whole story told. She wanted me to let you know how God's supernatural power gave her superhuman strength to break free from a watery grave. So, here's the rest of the story.

In this age of cynicism and abandonment of faith, Morgan's story is a dramatic reminder that God is real.

Morgan Lake of Dunkirk, Maryland is a vibrant and enthusiastic young woman. The 22-year-old college student is majoring in communications. She dreams of becoming a Sports anchor or host of a television show. Morgan also teaches gymnastics and cheerleading to young girls.

Morgan is the kind of young woman that makes people feel good about life. She always seeks to provide people with encouragement and inspiration.

That’s how Morgan lives, loving God and loving people. 

On Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m., Morgan was enjoying one of her best days ever. Everything was just going her way. 

It is a day that she will never forget. 

Early evening along the Chesapeake Bay can be a wonderful time of day, especially when the sun is just beginning to set; it’s simply beautiful. 

As Morgan was driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, she was feeling the euphoria of having one of those spectacular moments in time. Then suddenly...calamity struck.

It all happened in an instant, in a blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity. 

Morgan had slowed her car to a stop on the bridge for a toll. In her rear view mirror, as she blinked her eyes, she could see a large tractor trailer truck approaching. 

As she blinked her eyes again as the truck showed no sign of slowing down. After the third blink of her eyes…Bam!

Morgan heard the thunderous crashing as the truck rammed into the rear of her car. The momentum of the truck began pushing Morgan’s car forward. She could see the jersey wall and the water below. 

Her mind was frantically racing with thoughts and prayers for her car to stop on the bridge. Please, don’t go over this bridge into the water, she thought. Morgan felt helpless and she reasoned in her mind, “this is it! I’m going to die!”

There was no way of escape. Morgan’s car was jerked like a rollercoaster. Her greatest fear soon became a reality. 

After being pushed along, on the top of the barrier between the bridge and the water, Morgan’s car was now plunging into the treacherous waters below. As the car quickly submerged beneath the water’s surface, fear and panic gripped Morgan. 

Her seatbelt was locked and would not open, her arms were now flailing about, and her mouth and body were filling up with water. 

Morgan says; “I started to feel the drowning sensation. I didn’t like how it felt.” With that, she felt a rush of hope as she told herself; “I’m not going out this way -- I’m not dying.”

Then suddenly... fortune struck.

Morgan says in that moment of defying death she reached out to God. And she claims God turned her situation around; “I just felt as if God touched my shoulder and pushed me back against my car into my seat to relax me.” 

Morgan says that divine intervention allowed her to unlock her seat belt and then pull herself out of the driver side window, swim to the surface, then swimming to shore where help arrived.

Morgan’s story is being told all around the world. It is being described as a modern day miracle. 

Morgan explained to me that she knows some people don’t believe in God. But now, she says; “They can look at me. They can look at the video of the bridge and my car being pulled from the water.”

Morgan adds; “As long as you have God with you, he will be there to support you through everything; even going over a bridge.”

In this age of cynicism and abandonment of faith, Morgan’s story is a dramatic reminder that God is real. Miracles happen every day; they’re just not reported. 

If you doubt it, just take a look in the mirror. You’re a miracle, a work of art, and a masterpiece of God-your creator.

Morgan's family is strong on faith, hope and love. One of the family's favorite scriptures that applies to Morgan's near death experience is taken from the book of Numbers, chapter 14-verse 17; “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared." 

Morgan, keep declaring it!

Some people find it easy to give up or quit when they face difficult situations. Morgan’s story is an example about overcoming tremendous adversity through faith in God. 

Your frightening ordeal may not be a bridge over troubled waters. But suddenly, you could be going through something that causes you to fear or to doubt. It could be unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, sickness, or more. 

Just know that while we all experience setbacks, God suddenly shows up to turn our setbacks into setups for a comeback. 

So, follow Morgan’s example; starve your fear and feed your faith. Your soul will be greatly satisfied in knowing that something good is going to happen to you. Live your life expecting miracles. Change your perception; they’re all around you.

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Roof-top Miracle

It is decided that I'd work that night; therefore I went home early, to get some rest.

Earlier the same day, my brother decided to make a few changes to his Christmas lights on his roof. His daughter came home earlier than usual from school, and she and her mother (my sister-in-law ) were in the house, working with an application on her phone. Her mother decided that she'd better go outside to watch my brother on the roof while she pulled some weeds.

I just recently moved into a house across the street from them, and had just arrived home, gone into the house, and began to get ready to rest, when I remembered that I forgot to run by the dry cleaners. I started out the door, and then decided to wait until the next day to pick up my clothes.

I walked back into the house and to my bedroom, when I began hearing screaming at my front door. I opened the door to see my niece frantic and pointing to their roof. I looked over to see my brother lying doubled over and face down on the roof.

I ran and somehow climbed the ladder that was really too short to use for roof access, with my sister-in-law immediately in front of me, while directing my niece to call 911. 

My brother had one leg hanging off the roof. I rolled him over, and started searching for a pulse and/or breath, and found neither.

By now my niece had 911 operators on the phone but was having difficulty talking with them. I told her to throw the phone up to us. I asked if I should start CPR. She kept telling me to check for pulse, breath and God knows what else. I told her that I was CPR certified, and asked again if I should start my compression's  You see, I would have already started them except that he has a pacemaker, and Ididn't know if that changed procedures for some reason.

I had already checked for anything in his mouth that may have caused choking and found nothing. I handed the phone to my sister-in-law and began compression's  This and breaths went on for what we believe to have been about 7 or 8 minutes, until the Fire Department arrived and took over. My brother was rushed to the hospital.

The reason for all the detail is to help everyone understand how God’s divine choreography worked to make this miracle happen. Without any one of the circumstances below, we would have likely had tragic results:

• 1st, if my sister-in-law hadn’t decided to put off working on the app for her phone until later, she wouldn’t have been out there watching my brother.• Next, realize that if my niece hadn’t been home, my sister-in-law wouldn’t have had her there to come get me. Would she have left her husband on the roof, with the potential to roll off, if she had come to get me, or worse yet, gone up on her own to help my brother and to have waited 8 to 9 minutes for the Fire Department to get there, if she had had a phone with her. He’d have been brain dead by then.• 3rd, what if I hadn’t been scheduled to work that night. I’d not have been home. What if I had gone to the dry cleaners? I, in any case, would not have been home. 

Moreover,  in a neighborhood that almost always has someone outside, nobody came out when the Fire Department arrived with sirens blaring!

My brother went home yesterday from the hospital with no visible signs that his accident even occurred, except for the stitches where they replaced his pacemaker, and a very sore chest from the compressions that I gave him.

Thank God for providing my brother with this miracle.

Michael P.Arlington, TX

Source:www.touchedbythehandofgod.com

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Angel in sky photos: South Florida sees a message from above

A message from above?

That’s what several South Florida residents thought after looking toward the sky on the day a new pope was named.

Most saw an angel in the clouds and grabbed their cameras to document the vision.

For some, it was a clear sign from heaven, maybe a message from God himself, showing his pleasure at the election of the first Latin American as the 267th successor of St. Peter.

Thom George wondered  “if Pope Francis ordered that.”

“The Pope asked to pray for Him. .. God answered,” was Cat Sunn’s reaction.

Although most felt the cloud resembled an angel, and was a beautiful sign from above, others saw in the cloud something less angelic.

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'Dead' Man Brought Back to Life—After 45 Minutes

It's apparently the week of astoundingbrought-back-to-life stories. The latest person to return from the dead is Anthony Yahle, whose case is being hailed a miracle by doctors. The Ohio man was rushed to the hospital on Aug. 5 after his wife realized he was breathing oddly in his sleep and found herself unable to wake him. Since his arteries were clear, doctors were optimistic—until his heart stopped beating. They spent 45 minutes trying to revive the 37-year-old before declaring him dead. But his 17-year-old son wasn't about to give up. "I pointed at him and said, 'Dad, you're not going to die today,'" reports WFAA.

"Suddenly that trickle of a thing came back," says cardiologist Raja Nazir. He tells ABC News that what he observed wasn't a normal heartbeat, but a small electrical blip not much more often than twice a minute. "I though we'd better make another effort to revive him," he says—and a regular heartbeat was eventually restored. Yahle fully awoke five days later, and though doctors thought he'd need a heart transplant, he appears in fine health. "He doesn't have one broken rib," his wife says. "He's not sore. These are things that just clinically don't happen." Though doctors now point to a possible viral infection, Yahle (who has no memory of the event nor of any sort of "afterlife" moment) tells the Dayton Daily News, "Nobody really has an explanation for it." He adds: "A miracle happened. If it strengthened everyone's faith, I'll take the lumps for it." (Click for the story of an Australian woman who was also brought back from the dead earlier this month.)

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Modern Miracles: 5 Stories For Bible Skeptics From 'It's a God Thing'

A new anthology of modern miracles aims to show Bible skeptics that God does wonders and invites them to see the miracles in their own lives.

"I hope that the collective witness of these authors would make someone say, maybe this could be real," Don Jacobson, a miracle survivor and publisher, told the Christian Post in an interview this week. Jacobson's forthcoming project and book It's A God Thing: When Miracles Happen to Everyday People, chronicles 45 modern miracles.

Below are 5 of the miracle stories featured in the book.

1. The Dog, The Chicken, and The Bomb

When David Newkirk, now a youth pastor at Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California, woke up in the middle of the night, he was still exhausted from a college basketball victory the day before.

"Twenty minutes after my head hit the pillow, I was catapulted out of the deepest sleep," he writes in the book. Along with his mother and sister, he was jerked awake to pray for his brother Dan.

Dan was in Israel. Running out of money, he had chosen to sleep on a park bench for the night. In the wee hours of the morning, a snarling dog woke him up, battling with a chicken under the bench.

Unable to break up the animals, Dan found another bench and resumed his rest. The next morning, a bomb exploded right next to the first bench, hurtling it through the air, leaving "a mess of tangled metal and concrete."

2. 9/11: Escaping the World Trade Center

Lolita Jackson wrote the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 "brought old colleagues together and served as folklore to share with new employees in the years that followed." But it was 9/11 that saved her life.

When the planes hit the twin towers on that fateful day in 2001, she and her colleagues hastened to leave. One of her colleagues, Tom, stayed on another floor to make a quick call to his wife, but a voice told Jackson to keep going – Tom died only a few seconds behind her.

Jackson testified that God led her to the stairwell closest to where her building was hit, enabling her to leave the World Trade Center at 9:26 am.

As she left, one of her friends told her to board the subway immediately, which saved her the "profound physical and emotional trauma as a result of being on the street as the buildings collapsed."

3. Didn't You See Him?

Denise Meyer almost lost her mother and her children on a lake in Wisconsin.

When the boat capsized, Meyer lost sight of her two children. God gave her uncommon strength to lift her 2-year-old son Tim out from under the boat. Miraculously, he had found a pocket of air, so the ninety seconds underwater did not drown him.

After Meyer's mother found her 4-year-old daughter Emily and everyone was back safely ashore, the grandmother started having a heart attack. "Had the heart attack started when we were in the water, she would surely have drowned," the witness wrote.

Even then, God still had another miracle to reveal. When Emily was underwater, she had seen a man no one else had noticed. "Grandma," she exclaimed, "the man under the water! He grabbed my foot and put it in your hand!"

Jacobson said this story reminded him of Hebrews 13:2, where Paul urges Christians to be hospitable because some have entertained angels without knowing it. "If God's going to let anybody see them, it's going to be those who still have the faith of children," Jacobson said.

4. Does God Watch Baseball?

Donald L. Jacobson, Sr. took his son out for a baseball game, and prayed on a whim, "Lord, it would sure be nice if I could get a baseball for my boy."

After this prayer, Ray Fosse, a famous catcher for the Portland Beavers, hit a home run, and the ball whizzed straight to the senior Jacobson's feet.

"Miracles are not always big," the father wrote. "Sometimes it is the small ones that shout the loudest of God's love and care for each of us."

"I've still got the ball," Jacobson Jr., the project's creator, told CP.

5. Redeemed

The last story in the book, obtained for CP by special request, recounts God's grace toward Paul Holway, a man whose pain – and a possible demonic possession – led him to murder his own 8-year-old sister when he was twelve.

After 5 years in prison, Holway got addicted to drugs, alcohol, and women. Finally, in a point of desperation, he went to church, shared his life with a pastor, and prayed for God's forgiveness.

"Forgiveness changes everything, but it is not a miracle drug," Holway wrote. Putting his life back together proved difficult, but Jesus' hope restored him. "He loves us unconditionally, regardless of our messed-up lives."

"That's the greatest miracle of all these miracles – that we're redeemed," Jacobson said.

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A 'Miracle' No One Died in Chicago Assault-Rifle Shooting

It's a "miracle" no one died in a gang-related shooting that injured 13, including a 3-year-old boy, at a South Side Chicago park Thursday night, Chicago police said today.

The weapon used in the shooting was an assault rifle with a high-capacity magazine, according to police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

"A military-grade weapon on the streets of Chicago is simply unacceptable," he said at a news conference this morning.

The shooting occurred around 10:15 p.m. local time at a basketball court in Cornell Square Park in the city's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Among the shooting victims was 3-year-old Deonta Howard, who is expected to survive, according to McCarthy and a family representative.

"We're not clear on the intended target at this point, but there were a number of gang members on the scene," McCarthy said, adding, "quite obviously, a 3-year-old is not a gang member."

Deonta is at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the ear that exited through his mouth, police spokesman Ron Gaines told ABC News.

Four others are in serious condition and the rest are in stable or good condition.

Ages of the victims range from 3 to 41 and include two teenagers, Gaines said. Three of the victims are women.

"It happened so fast," a witness only identified as Jack said. "I was over at the side of the park and I heard the shots. I came over here and there was a lot of people down."

Police superintendent McCarthy said there might have been as many as three shooters involved and authorities were "interviewing a number of people," but no one was in custody.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel canceled events in New Jersey and Washington to travel back to Chicago in the wake of the incident.

The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outburst of violence Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured. The city's Police Department has responded to shootings that have grabbed national headlines by stepping up its crime-fighting efforts, paying overtime to add patrols to some hard-hit neighborhoods, including the Back of the Yards, where Thursday's shooting took place.

McCarthy today noted that authorities have already seized 5,000 guns this year, emphasizing the need to change the gun laws that he said would avoid more deadly shootings.

"It's not just a police problem; there's a structural problem with our laws that facilitates the flow of illegal guns to our streets," he said.

In a February visit to his hometown, President Obama addressed the rising violence. Obama said absent fathers and broken marriages are among the contributing factors in cases of youth poverty, violence and crime. He said one of the solutions is strengthening parental role models.

"There's no more important ingredient for success, nothing that would be more important for us reducing violence than strong, stable families, which means we should do more to promote marriage and encourage fatherhood," Obama said.

South Side teenager Hadiya Pendleton has become a symbol for the tragic loss resulting from gun violence in the city. Pendleton, 15, was gunned down days after performing at Obama's inauguration earlier this year.

First lady Michelle Obama attended Pendleton's funeral.

Police say Pendleton was killed in a shooting blocks from her school on the city's South Side, and about a mile from the Obamas' own neighborhood.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source:  abcnews.go.com

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America's Cup 2013: Oracle Team USA pulls off miracle win

America's Cup 2013 goes to Oracle Team USA over Emirates Team New Zealand. Team USA pulled off a miracle comeback from a 1-8 deficit today in San Francisco, Calif. According to CNN on Sept. 25, the Cup will go to the home team. A tweet from the CNN account said it all.

TEAM ORACLE USA WINS!!! THE COMEBACK IS COMPLETE!!!

The America's Cup 2013 race field was narrowed from four teams to the final two over a series of races. Oracle's team and New Zealand have been facing off since Sept. 7. Oracle actually needed to win 11 races as they were assessed a two race penalty early on. The first three races went to New Zealand, but the teams split the next two. They also split the next four races. Since then Oracle went on a tear winning the last eight to take the Cup.

America's Cup 2013 was the first time the America's Cup races were held in San Francisco. A new class of boat was used as well. The 72-foot-long AC72 class was introduced at this event.

In its 34th running the America's Cup 2013 defending club was the local Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC). The Cup has been in their possession since 2010 when the BMW Oracle racing team was victorious over the Swiss Alinghi team. The GGYC now extends its streak to 2-0.

The last time Team USA won was in 1992. Congratulations to Larry Ellison and Oracle Team USA.

Source: Examiner.com

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