God's AMBER ALERT: Finding and Caring For His "Missing" Children

God has issued an "AMBER Alert" in the spiritual realm. Many of His children have gone "missing" due to pressures in their life that have discouraged them from actively seeking God, being a Christian witness and testifying of God's goodness to them.

AMBER Alerts are issued by police and broadcasted on radio and television when a child goes missing. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response." AMBER Alerts have the name, description and photo of the child, where the child was last seen and, if available, a description of the last person seen with the child. In some instances, communities organize a "search" party to help police find the missing child.

In the same way, when we find out that someone is struggling emotionally, financially, physically or spiritually, we must rally to help, as the Lord leads. We may not be able to pay that person's bills or take care of their physical needs, but we can provide emotional support by listening to them, offering an encouraging word and reassuring them in the fact that God cares for them and knows what they are going through.  

"To Live You Must Forgive"

By Pastor Patricia Reeves

Today is International Forgiveness Day, the first Sunday of August. 

Global Forgiveness Day began in 1994 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The holiday was created and sponsored by Christian Embassy of Christ's Ambassadors.

Unforgiveness has been a leading cause of illness and death, more than attacks from a gun or knife. Unforgiveness can cause illness in your body without warning or an explanation.  In the medical world, tumors are said to be a cause of stress and worry and in the spiritual realm, we call it unforgiveness.

When you don't forgive you develop a stressful life and you create a lifestyle of worries about someone or something that offended you and it occupies your time and mind 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can’t pray and you can’t get into good praise and worship because you are thinking about how someone offended you and it overtakes you in thought and deed. This is not a healthy lifestyle for anyone, especially Christians and God does not honor it.  His Word says to forgive “70 x 70” and then He asks the question: “If you don’t forgive your brethren, how can your Father which is in heaven forgive you?” Still people don’t get it, complete healing comes with forgiveness.