1/19/2011

Bless the Lord, O My Soul



Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!


(Book of Psalm, chapter 103)



1/17/2011

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish: A Palestinian Prophet of Peace



"I was almost knee-to-knee with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish as we sat in the lobby of his hotel in downtown Los Angeles, talking about his new book, I Shall Not Hate, and the work he is doing to create a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis. His energy was irrepressible and contagious and the smile that permanently graces his face as he talks belies a life of suffering and heartache. In January 2009, during the three-week long war in the Gaza Strip and a mere four months after losing his wife, Nadia, to cancer, an Israeli tank fired two shells into Dr. Abuelaish's home, killing three of his daughters, Bessan, Aya and Mayar, and his niece, Noor."

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"



Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.


.... please read more by clicking on the following link:


12/23/2010

ACM 2010 REPORT

Dear Friends, supporters, and visitors to our Internet sites,

We praise the All MIGHTY ONE for His guiding hand as we have been following His lead.

“Abraham’s Children Ministries” has been an incorporated 501 (c) 3 charitable, non-profit organization since the 1st of August 2008. This was a miraculous act by OUR GOD who made a years-long dream and desire to serve Him a reality! He used a very prominent, God fearing, Fresno Lawyer and his wife. They did all the work and paid all the fees and expenses which until today we have no idea as to what all that amounted.

Dina and I are blessed by God who provides our daily bread through my Social Security Disability Retirement. Praise God for calling Dina to serve Him. She accepted His call and came to the US even though it meant leaving her family, in Portugal, and loosing all her benefits including the unemployment monthly payments and health coverage.

We had a little over $5000.00 in donations sitting in another organizations bank account, for several years, waiting for us to have our own “identity”. This was how we were able to pay our office monthly rent, $575.00, for over nine months. God had a purpose for us to be there!

In March 2010, while attending a “business mixer” organized by the Clovis City Chamber of Commerce, the vice president and general manager of the Fresno’s KIRV 1510AM radio station, which serves California’s Central Valley from Modesto in the North to Bakersfield in the South, stepped into our office wanting to know more about our logo. After more than an hour, she told us that more people need to hear what God has put in and on our minds and hearts. She offered to interview us live for a whole hour. That led to them offering us two more program times, one and a half hours, free! We then signed a contract for a weekly one hour program.

We had to give up our office and work from home to be able to pay for the air time but, with almost no financial support, we had to give notice and end our live broadcast on Tuesday the 31st of August.

KIRV 1510AM management staff was so kind and gave us the CD recordings of our programs with permission to post them on the WEB. Many of you have heard and or read what God has given us to share with all who are looking to learn more about His limitless LOVE to ALL Humanity. Some results are:

  • More than 1500 visits to the website and blogspot, some are individuals and some are groups from almost 200 cities in over 35 countries all over the world.

  • Unknown numbers of Facebook friends, readers, and listeners to our programs which are in a “dropbox” on the WEB. Some of our large Cyber Space family members have downloaded our programs and are sharing them with their friends and families.

  • Thank God for “SKYPE”! We have spent countless hours sharing (learning together), counseling, and praying with many “brothers and sisters of all ‘religions’” seeking to know God’s will and refusing to follow “man’s doctrine”.

We would like to be back “on the air” but with a different format and for shorter but more frequent programs. Please pray that God would lead us to make the right decisions.

We have also had the privilege of lending financial support, albeit limited because of our depleting funds, to some in desperate need.

In a miraculous way, God made it possible for us to attend a very important, educational, and net working conference in Spain this past November. We had to borrow money and “step into the Jordan River” in faith to pay for that!

God has sent us some very much needed donations but we still need more to finish the year in the black.

Do you feel God tugging at your heart? Would you be willing to be used by Him to support the ministry He has entrusted to us? Can you benefit from yet another “tax deductible” donation which will go 100% to the ministry?

PLEASE, take our request to THE ALMIGHTY in prayer and follow His instruction!

Thank you for reading this message!

Have a wonderful Holiday Season and may THE PRINCE OF PEACE, GOD ALMIGHTY, bless and prosper you during the New Year “2011”.

Your brother and sister in His service,

Zaher & Dina Estassi

10/30/2010

GOD'S FUEL FOR THE HUMAN BODY

As believers in The Creator God of the whole universe, we believe that He is a Loving God and that our bodies are very complex machines which He created to live forever. God is like a manufacturer, let us say, of a car. We buy a new car and, even when we buy a used car we might still, get the owner’s manual! I believe that God did give us an owner’s manual in the Holy Scriptures. He has given us instructions regarding the Human Body’s fuel. Some of the fuel that Man has chosen to use for this wonderful machine, the Human Body, is not what God recommended!

Yes, when we do not use fuel recommended by God, it is like mixing sugar with gas! Or instead of using gasoline, we use diesel, or a different octane, and sometimes it is even like putting sand with the engine oil. So not following the dietary instructions in Holy Scriptures is one of the main reasons why some people think the Bible has been changed!

Let us take a look at what God intended for Man to eat when He created him. For that we turn to Holy Scriptures. All Biblical texts quoted below are from the New International Version “NIV”.

In the Torah/the Old Testament we read in the book of Beginnings/Genesis chapter 1 verses 29 and 30:

“29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.”

So the first diet that God gave Man was not only vegetarian but even vegan. Notice that even the animals were herbivorous.

We are not here to advocate any kind of diet; we are here to discuss what happened after sin entered the World. Our Father Adam and our Mother Eve disobeyed God and then were fruitful and multiplied. We do not know when Man started to eat meat but we know that some of the things Man ate, God had designated as clean and unclean, when it came to meat (animals, fish, and birds). It was not with the Jewish people, as some claim, that it started. We hear from some people sometimes that eating good healthy food, healthy living, and doing the right thing started with certain teachings or certain revelations. But God gave His instructions even before any of these so called religions existed, before the flood. I hope that you believe in the flood! Let us see what is mentioned in the Old Testament, The Torah, about that. In the Book of Beginnings, Genesis chapter 7 verses 1 through 3, here God is speaking to Noah, who built the ark:

1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.

Did you notice that God said the “clean” and “unclean”, even before the flood? Seven of the clean animals, two of the unclean! Why was that? If we go to verse 20 of Genesis chapter 8 we will find the answer:

“20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.”

So it was not only for eating but also for sacrificing that they needed to keep more of the clean animals and birds than the unclean. But they needed some of every species to preserve it through the period of the flood.

... see more ... http://www.abrahamschildrenministries.org/acmstudies.htm