Allah Cannot Compete With the Power of Jesus Christ

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing. For Christians, it is trust that Jesus is Who He said He is and will do what He said He will do. For instance, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, then I will hear from Heaven, and forgive their sins, and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Elijah taunts the prophets of Baal

Christian faith is based on Jesus Christ being the son of God, His death and resurrection, and His word, as written in the Bible.

Jesus and the Apostles spread the Gospel through preaching, but also through displaying the power of the Name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. "my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power". 1 Corinthians 2:4

Christians can point to thousands of examples of Christ forgiving the sins of reprobates, healing them, saving them, renewing them to become righteous and holy such that they can glorify Christ by the manifestation of His character.

Elijah calls down fire from Heaven

Muslims also have faith. Their faith is in Allah as revealed by Mohammed in the Quran and Hadith. Their faith is taught by memorization of scripture which they are required to believe without questioning even if they don't understand any of it.

They are required to believe what Mohammed said about Allah even though they never see any real example of that manifest. There are no examples of the power of Allah except when it comes to massacres and slaughter of innocents. 

This is not faith, it is fantasy; blind trust! It is like Elijah and the prophets of Baal who were unable to convince Baal to light the fire under their sacrifice. Elijah covered his sacrifice with water and called down fire from Heaven which completely consumed the soaking wet sacrifice.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is real! The god of Mohammed is not!

Watch the video below to see an example of the difference between Islam and Christianity.

Contact me if you have any questions - Google+; email - garymsmail@gmail.com; or Twitter - @GaryWmMyers 

Miracle for a Muslim

Nasir Siddiki - Left to Die

By age 34, Nasir Siddiki, a successful businessman, had made his first million, but money meant nothing to him on his deathbed. Diagnosed with the worst case of shingles ever admitted to Toronto General Hospital, his immune system shut down and doctors left him to die.

The next morning I woke in a sterile room on the eighth floor of the hospital, my skin burning as though someone had doused me in gasoline and lit a match. I felt on fire from the inside out.

My doctor arrived and looked at me in wonder. “The blisters are multiplying so fast I can literally watch them grow,” he said. ‘”Your body isn’t fighting back.”

The next morning, in addition to shingles, I had chicken pox from head to toe. I was put in strict isolation. That evening my temperature soared to 107.6 degrees — hot enough to leave my brain permanently scrambled.

For days I continued to deteriorate. My nerve endings became so inflamed that a hair drifting across my skin sent shock waves of fire rippling through my body. By week’s end, I was listed in critical condition.

My Last Hope

In life, I’d been bold, self confident, a risk taker. But facing death, I was terrified. I had no idea what might await me on the other side. I’d been raised as a Moslem in London , England , and I understood Allah was not a god who heals.

My only hope was in medicine.

I eventually slipped so close to death that the doctors didn’t know I could hear them when they examined me. “His immune system has simply shut down,” one of them said.

“He’s dying,” the other confirmed. “His immune system must be compromised by AIDS.”

I don’t have AIDS! I wanted to shout, but I couldn’t form the words. Then it hit me. He said I’m dying!

The doctors spoke quietly to my co-worker, Anita. “In a few hours he’ll be dead,” they said. “If by some miracle he lives, he’ll probably be blind in his right eye, deaf in his right ear, paralyzed on his right side and he may be severely brain damaged from the high fever.”

Then they left.

They left me here to die! I felt like a drowning man going down for the third time. Gathering my strength I whispered a prayer. “God, if you’re real, don’t let me die!”

In His Presence

During the darkest hour of the night, I woke and saw a man at the foot of my bed. Rays of light emanated from him, allowing me to see his outline. I couldn’t see his face, it was too bright. No one had to tell me, I knew it was Jesus.

The Koran mentions Jesus; Moslems believe He existed, not as the son of God, but as a good man and a prophet. I knew this wasn’t Mohammed. I knew it wasn’t Allah. Jesus was in my room. There was no fear, only peace.

“Why would You come to a Moslem when everyone else has left me to die?” I wondered.
Without words, he spoke to me. “I Am the God of the Christians. I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

That’s all He said. He didn’t mention my illness. He didn’t mention my impending death. As suddenly as He appeared, He was gone.

The next morning, the same two doctors arrived to examine me. “The blisters have stopped growing!”

“We don’t know what happened, but the shingles virus has gone into remission!”

The following day, still in pain and covered with blisters, I was discharged from the hospital with a suitcase full of drugs. “Don’t leave home,” the doctor cautioned. “It will be months before the blisters go away, and when they do you’ll be left with white patches of skin and scars. The pain could last for years.”

Stepping outside into the morning sun, I looked like a cross between a leper and the Elephant Man. When people saw me, they crossed to the other side of the street. However, my mind was not on my looks; my thoughts were on Jesus. There was no doubt in my mind that Jesus’ presence in my room had stopped the shingles virus. Whatever else Jesus may be, I realized that in His presence miracles happened.

That fact left me with one consuming question: Is Jesus the Son of God as the Christians claim, or is He just a prophet as I was taught?

At home that evening, in spite of the drugs, the pain and itching was so severe I almost had to tie my hands. Even so, I fell into a restless sleep wondering about Jesus.

Learning to Live

The next morning, I woke early and turned on the television. Flipping through the channels, I froze when I saw the following words across the screen: Is Jesus the Son of God?

I listened intently as two men spent the entire program discussing this topic — answering all of my questions. Before the show went off the air, one of the men led the television audience in a prayer. My body was aflame with pain but I knelt on my living room floor anyway. Tears streaming down my face, I repeated the prayer and invited Jesus into my heart.

Immediately a voracious spiritual hunger sprang up within me. I had to know more about Jesus. In spite of my doctor’s orders to stay inside, the next day I went out and bought a Bible. First I read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Still ravenous, I started in Genesis and read through the Bible during my sleepless nights.

Meanwhile, Anita brought me books and teaching tapes explaining the Gospel. I devoured them while continuing to study the Word of God. As my understanding of faith began to grow, I dug out a picture of how I looked before shingles. I prayed and asked God to make me look that way again.

Nasir and Anita Siddiki - Jesus, My Healer

One week after my discharge from the hospital, I woke and found my pillow covered in blisters. I must have clawed them in my sleep, I thought. I crawled out of bed and stepped into the shower. What had started on my pillow was finished in the shower: Every blister fell off my body!

Instead of being covered with patches of white and scar tissue, my skin was simply red and raw. It slowly healed, returning to its pre-shingles condition. When it did, I not only looked human, I looked like I did before I got sick, except for the scars that I still carry on my chest.

None of the doctor’s dire predictions came true. My eyesight was 20/20. My hearing was normal. My speech was unimpaired. I suffered no brain damage.

My healing was miraculous, swift and complete. I never suffered from lingering pain or any other complication. Not only did I have the worst case of shingles ever admitted to Toronto General Hospital, I also had the most miraculous recovery.

Jesus, the God of the Christians, showed up in the hospital room of a dying Moslem and healed me. But that wasn’t the greatest miracle He performed. The transformation that occurred in my heart was even more dramatic than the one that occurred in my body.

An international teacher and evangelist, Dr. Nasir Siddiki is the founder of Wisdom Ministries (WisdomMinistries.org). He lives in Tulsa, OK with his wife Anita and their two sons.
http://www.onlinechristiansongs.com/

Catharyn's Story - A Double Blessing

I just want to share this wonderful blessing, 

in double portion, with you.

It's a story of great faith and perseverance by a couple of beautiful people whom I got to know at an Alpha course at Northpointe Community Church, in Edmonton, Alberta, in about 2010. 

God hears our prayers; He feels the crying in our hearts. He is compassionate and loving and patient, sometimes infuriatingly patient, as He builds our faith and character and our relationship with Himself. 

And for the faithful - He is with us always.

Catharyn and Oscar

Pulmonary Hypertension - The Monster Claims Another

Another Facebook PHriend gone! And 2 little girls fighting for their lives. They need your prayers and they need a cure.

Patricia McFarland-Myers

I don't mean to go all PH on you today. But we've just lost another beautiful phriend to this monster. RIP Lori Rodriguez. Lord we need a cure!

Lori Sobrowski Rodriguez - beautiful, happy, young woman passed away yesterday from PH-related heart failure. This photo is stunning in that it was taken Christmas Day, 2014.



Right - the last photo that she posted. How poignant an you get?


Breathe For Riley
Yesterday at 13:57 ·

Had to call Dr Hanna today. Always glad when he is the one that answers the pulmonary hypertension emergency cell phone for CHOP families.

Riley looked funny (extremely pale, dark nails) this morning so I put her monitor on and her oxygen level was only 65% on 4 liters. He told me to give her extra lasix and keep him posted.

I ran out and bought a scale and she put on over a pound since coming home (all fluid). She then got her dose of steroids and came up to about 80% on 5 liters.

She hasn't really left the couch since coming home. Most of her toys haven't even been taken out of boxes because she hasn't had much interest in anything but laying down.

We have tickets tomorrow for Disney on Ice, and I'm hoping we can have her stable enough to go because she is really looking forward to it.

Riley Buchanan is 6 years old and awaiting a lung transplant at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

http://www.gofundme.com/rileysnewlungs


Hope PHor Aubrie Starr

Sunday morning Prayers for Aubrey please.
Aubrie still has a fever, no word on her test. She still will not eat and sleeping a lot :-(


Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
Yesterday at 04:47 ·

Aubrie is back in the hospital again. Fever was up to 103.5 last night so we brought her to the ER. Aubrie has an infection in her lungs, they are testing to find out why. It could possibly be the Flu, if that comes back negative then it's on to the next test. We are also waiting on blood cultures taken last night. Fever was down last night but back up this morning.

Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
18 December at 20:10 · Edited ·

Today I received a call, Aubrie's case was denied by the specialty center at Chapel Hill. Now I will begin working with her team to find her a good out of state lung transplant specialty center.

Then we will have to send them her case and pray we find someone experienced enough to agree to guide us in her care.

We will begin trying to setup fund raisers to help pay for traveling and extended stay expenses soon. Once we are with a specialty center and she is listed for transplant it is possible we may have to completely relocate until she has her transplant and completes all recovery. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!


Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
2 December at 20:01 ·
Update: Aubrie's breathing has been so much better!!! She is playing again and happy as ever. So glad that tomorrow on my day off I will be able to spend some time with her having fun and not at any appts or with her feeling bad, tomorrow's mommy and me time is going to be great!!

Hope and Pray PHor Aubrie Starr

It's that time of the year, Aubrie has needed her first breathing treatment of the year tonight. She fell asleep so I had to hold her head as far upright as I could. Thankfully the machine didn't wake her up. 

Hopefully putting her back on allergy meds and breathing treatment will help. 

Looks like I am going to start next week limiting Aubries activities again. No visitors and avoiding public places. Some people don't understand how deadly a simple cold could be for a child with pulmonary hypertension. It's my job to protect her every way possible. 

Let my nightly bleaching and sanitizing frenzy begin!

And let us remember to keep this precious little girl in our prayers, and her mother too. Find out more about Aubrie here.

Little Aubrey Starr's Condition Worsens as Doctors Undecided as to What to Do

Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
17 July
Have to leave here in the morning at 6:30am to take Aubrie to the specialty children's hospital to see her cardiologist and PH team. She had some episodes of passing out over the weekend, a couple nights of low stats and has been exhausted more than normal. Hopefully we can finally find out if anything has changed with her Pulmonary Hypertension. I will keep everyone posted!!

Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
18 July
Aubries drs feel that with her condition being so difficult to truly know what is going on all the time it is in our best interest to get a second opinion from a lung transplant specialty team. They will begin sharing notes and information with a team in Chapel Hill. It may be that she is fine where she is right now or it could mean she needs a central IV line or a sub q line. It may be that a transplant is best. Nothing has been decided they are just seeking a more experienced decision. It does appear her condition may progressing. As I am made aware of thing with her care I will let all of know as well. Thank you all for being such wonderful prayer warriors for our family! God's got this, he has a plan laid out etched in stone. The Lord is our strength!

Hope PHor Aubrie Starr
3 hours ago
Aubrie has been so tired today and she hasn't done much except ride in her car that I push and get carried around every where.  She was so exhausted she went to sleep for her nap around 1:00pm and didn't get up until 4:30pm. She was already back to sleep at 9:00pm. Pray for her body to get the rest it needs. With God all things are possible!

The official page for Aubrie Starr a patient diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and branch pulmonary artery hypoplasia. Please pray for Aubrie Starr!

https://www.facebook.com/hopephoraubriestarr?fref=nf

Antidepressant Drugs May Not Be Best Treatment - SSRIs Reduce Brain’s Capacity To Produce Serotonin

For the past 25 years, people suffering from depression have been treated with antidepressant drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil — three of the world’s best-selling selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. But people are questioning whether these drugs are the appropriate treatment for depression, and if they could even be causing harm.

The drugs are designed to address a chemical imbalance in the brain and thereby relieve the symptoms of depression. In this case, it’s a shortage of serotonin that antidepressants work to correct.

In fact, there are pharmaceutical treatments targeting chemical imbalances for just about every form of mental illness, from schizophrenia to ADHD, and a raft of anxiety disorders. Hundreds of millions of prescriptions are written for antipsychotic, antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications every year in the United States alone, producing billions of dollars in revenue for pharmaceutical companies. Who, of course, are quite willing to sacrifice your mental health for the sake of a few dollars.

Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker has won numerous awards as a journalist covering medicine and science, including the George Polk Award for Medical Writing and a National Association for Science Writers’ Award for best magazine article. (Courtesy Robert Whitaker)

But what if the very premise behind these drugs is flawed? What if mental illnesses like depression aren’t really caused by chemical imbalances, and that millions of the people who are prescribed those drugs derive no benefit from them? And what if those drugs could actually make their mental illness worse and more intractable over the long term?

Investigative journalist Robert Whitaker argued that psychiatric drugs are a largely ineffective way of treating mental illness in his 2010 book called Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.

Whitaker maintains that the foundation of modern psychiatry, the chemical imbalance model, is scientifically unproven.

“If you dig into the science behind it,” Whitaker told Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition on CBC Radio, “you’ll find out that it’s not true, and that this was a hypothesis that arose in the 1960s, that depression was due to low serotonin, and that it was investigated and found not to be true by the early 1980s. And there was subsequent research to see if this was so, and it never panned out.

“And as early as 1998, the American Psychiatric Association in its textbook says we’re not finding that people with depression have any abnormality in their serotonin, (thanks for telling us APA) but because it’s such an effective metaphor for getting people to take the drugs and sell the drugs, it’s continued to be promoted.”

Whitaker’s book was unsurprisingly controversial upon its release, but it went on to win the 2010 Investigative Reporters and Editors Book Award. And since its publication, an increasing number of influential psychiatric researchers have publicly come around to Whitaker's point of view.

​In fact, Ronald Pies, a psychiatrist and the former editor of The Psychiatric Times, refers to the chemical imbalance hypothesis as an “urban legend” that well-informed psychiatrists never bought into.

Whitaker says that when Anatomy of an Epidemic came out, the controversy wasn’t so much over his debunking of the chemical imbalance hypothesis. It was over his finding that people who took psychiatric drugs were more likely to exhibit symptoms five years after being diagnosed than those who did not take the drugs.

Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health in the U.S., has weighed in on antipsychotic drugs and reached a conclusion that echoes Whitaker’s: That antipsychotic drugs impede long-term recovery rates.

According to Whitaker, research suggests that while people suffering from depression may not have low serotonin levels to begin with, the use of SSRIs reduces the brain’s capacity to produce serotonin on its own, leading to a worsening of symptoms when patients stop taking the drugs.

“One of the worries,” said Whitaker, “is that if you’re on these medications long enough, when you come off, will your brain re-normalize? And that’s an open question now.

“What is quite clear is that the drug alone rarely leads to long-term recovery.”

One has to wonder if this was the plan all along by the pharmaceutical companies - convince people they need the drug, then, after they have been on it for awhile, they really do need it, and can't get off it. It's a win-win for moral-less pharmaceutical companies devoid of any conscience. 

Questions About John Paul Jackson's Fight with Cancer - Update 2/21/15

Update: 21 February 2015

This from JPJs website:

"Over this past weekend we've started to see signs that his weakened breathing is causing vital organs to become oxygen deprived," reads a post on his website.

Jackson has been battling cancer since May 2014 after doctors found a large, aggressive growth in his leg that needed immediate treatment. Through this experience, he wrote how cancer taught him much about how seriously God takes our fears and vowed to use prayer to fight it.

"I am pursuing the kingdom of God and equipping people to do the same as vigorously as I am able. I refuse to allow the enemy a stronghold in my thoughts. God is great and all-powerful," Jackson said in 2014. "I believe He will take me through this battle. In the process, God will gain a great victory and His name will be glorified."

John Paul Jackson passed into the presence of the Lord on February 18th, 2015. 

My questions at the bottom of this post are still valid, but perhaps his passing and his attitude before passing will help us to answer them. I will be back in a few days with more thoughts on this.


The following article appeared in a Christian news web-site. I reproduce it, in part, for 2 reasons: 1. To encourage you to pray for him
2. To ask some genuine questions about his approach to the disease.

In no way do I wish to impune or criticize Jackson, He is a man of God and a Christian in very good standing as far as I can tell. But God has me asking questions about how we pray and how we glorify Him and this is a great opportunity to verbalize those questions. I will save them until you have read the excerpt.

John Paul Jackson Vows to Fight Aggressive Cancer With Prayer

John Paul Jackson, perhaps best known for his prophetic dream interpretations, has been diagnosed with cancer. Doctors found a large, aggressive cancerous growth in his leg that needs immediate treatment.

John Paul Jackson

“I have said on many occasions that I do not always understand God’s ways, especially in the heat of a test, but I do always trust Him, in good times and in difficult times,” Jackson writes. He called the cancer his “greatest personal test.”

In the face of the cancer diagnoses, Jackson has canceled his upcoming speaking engagements to prepare for what he calls a “rigorous treatment protocol.”

“I have not ruled out any and all forms of treatment paths, but at the top of that list is prayer. I know that God can heal me in one instant or through the hands of doctors over time,” Jackson says. “We are focusing our faith for a miracle, while following doctor’s advice until my healing is complete.”

During his treatment, Jackson vows to do what God has called him to do as best he can. But he will not include travel in the mix.

“I am pursuing the kingdom of God and equipping people to do the same as vigorously as I am able. I refuse to allow the enemy a stronghold in my thoughts. God is great and all-powerful,” Jackson says. “I believe He will take me through this battle. In the process, God will gain a great victory and His name will be glorified.”

Jackson has asked believers everywhere to join in the battle with him by offering two minutes a day to ask God to heal him and destroy the works of the evil one.

So here are my questions:

Is sickness always the fault of the devil?
Does God make people sick?
Is being healed either miraculously or through doctors, the best way to glorify God?
If not, how can we best glorify God in our sickness?
Should we pray for God's will to be done when we pray for healing?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, and if you can back them up with scripture, that would be really great. God bless.

Gary

Alexah, Fighting for Her Life and Getting Very Tired

Toughest Days, 20 days
By Heather Hebert — 6 hours ago

Work woes. Friendship issues. Financial difficulties. None of these experiences hold a candle to yesterday, today, or the next 3 days to follow. I can handle stress. I'm built for it. Heartbreak is a different ballgame. It's a game with no rules, it's always unfair, and no one wins.

If you have been praying for Alexah, keep praying. Pray harder. Pray for her mental strength. Pray she fights physically and mentally.

Today was another trial of clamping the ECMO. Again, it went well. She is still battling her PH. It is still very severe. The remodulin was actually reduced today because she was struggling directly after increases. I believe the rapid increase was also contributing to her sad feelings and overall bad feeling. I am hoping the reduction in the remodulin dose will improve her progress until she is off ECMO. For now, the plan is to TRY and come off ECMO after the weekend, depending on her progress over the weekend.

After the discussion regarding the medical plan, the doctor asked if we could intervene with Alexah and provide a mental outlet for her. During this tear-filled meeting, he expressed that it was important for Alexah to be able to acknowledge and express her feelings about being sick. Knowing that coming off ECMO could go well or poorly, he wanted Alexah to be heard. Alexah will start with her specialist tonight. I pray this offers her some relief.

A clot was located in the ECMO today. A very scary moment for us, but the team, cool as usual, handled the situation before it could become a threat. Part of the line was removed and replaced with new line. These are the dangers of staying on ECMO too long.

As the room cleared out from the replacement, I returned to sit with Alexah. I held her hand. I whispered in her ear that she was going to get better, I was going to take her home soon, and we were going to play dolls and watch movies. She squinted her eyes shut and tears rolled out of the corners of her eyes. She shook her head side to side.....no. Heartbreak.

She can't give up. She can't stop fighting. She can't leave me. Not now. Not because of this unfair game.

Pray. Remember, God answers prayer.

A PH'r Shares Her Struggles and Triumphs

Inspiring words from Trudy Seidel, a PHriend. Trudy is an amazing woman who raises thousands of dollars for PH research, so little is known about the disease except that it is almost always fatal. I wanted to say that Trudy works tirelessly for the cause, but there is no such thing as tireless when you have PH - tired is a way of life. God bless you, Trudy.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and I have been enemies for 2 years today. 

Realistically, IPAH had entered my life 18 months prior to this 2 year anniversary. Even more accurate is April 20th, the day I was given the diagnosis of the incurable disease PH (Pulmonary Hypertension). That day means little to nothing to me.

My wife, Pat, and I in shirts
designed and marketed by Trudy

April 15, 2012, was the day I left Vinton, Iowa, by ambulance headed to the University Hospital. 2 years ago today, I left my 4 children, 2 of which were only 1 1/2 years old and 13 years old. I was taken away from them not knowing if I would ever see them or hold them in my arms again. I was so scared and I couldn't get my prayers to God, I felt blocked.

I've been through a lot of unpleasant and scary things, but this was beyond words and I couldn't grasp logic in the fear. I then spent a week not knowing what was wrong or if I was going to live. Then, 5 days later at 11pm, I was told that indeed I was dying, but with treatment I could buy time. My doctor later told me had I waited even 2 more weeks not seeking medical attention, my chances wouldn't have been good and most likely nothing would have worked.

I was released after 2 weeks with a tube coming out of my chest with an IV pump hanging from it. My mom, Bonnie Deutsch, who had sat tireless for 2 weeks at my bedside, witnessed things no mom should see or hear, called constantly on my sister and family to pray and heal me. Without her in my life today, it wouldn't be as livable as it is.

The night I was released my sister and 2 girls came to TAKE ME HOME, well, to my sister's home so she could help me and just be with me, because I needed her. Only about 18 months earlier she also picked me up again from a hospital, when she and my brother in law, my nieces, and daughter Jacey came to take me and newborn Jolie home with them. My sister again knew I needed her. Life is crazy, that was a lot more fun than this more recent hospital discharge.

I was so happy to be alive as my pump of life made noises, I cried off and on as we drove to her house, she's my logic, my person to shoot life straight for me and keep me going, she's my sister, Shawna Kurth. She married an amazing man, Tim Kurth, who had to deal with me the first morning of waking up being out the hospital and starting my new normal. He walked in his daughter's room where I had been sleeping, I was in tears with my medicine bottles in front of me, my pump next to me and I said, "I don't want to do this, I don't know how". He just held me and let me sob for a long, he's my 'strong tower'.

Trudy (right), sister Shawna (left), and brother Josh

Later, I went home with my girls and new normal and tried to figure out this new life I had been given. I'm still not sure of my new normal as it changes a lot or what all this new life holds for me, I don't think it's for me to figure out anymore.

I'm at a place today that I'm okay with really, I'm not always happy and I still feel sick a lot, but it's livable. I've thanked God many times for my life, for letting me stay with my family longer, I've even thanked him for PH in a way, it's shined a new light on me.

I am only able to feel this way about PH, because of a man who fought so hard against PH. I read and seen a write up about Annie Whitaker's son Tim. This man, this angel was whom I wanted to become. I wanted to see the world through his eyes. Tim had already passed away, when I had read about him, but i see him in my mind so clearly.

The afternoon I read of his story, I honestly thought I can't ever get to that point. Granted, I was only a few weeks into the diagnosis and at home alone with a 2 yr old. I'm sure at that moment I walked by my computer, I had just come from getting sick in the bathroom for my 100th time that day.

His story just came, I had gotten lost in a site and he was just there so I read all about him, his hospitalizations, medicines and meds he couldn't get in Australia or that cost so much. I read of Annie's grief in trying to help, more trying to save him as a mom would. He was so close to his family and there was so much love going between all of them.

Tim wasn't a complainer, he was a fighter, a survivor for a long time against PH. He lost his battle to this horrendous disease, but it wasn't just his fight, his mom is still hot on the fight against Pulmonary Hypertension.

Annie is not alone in this fight, it's our fight, it's everyone's fight who has PH, its every person's fight who loves or cares for someone with PH. It's a fight that we won't lose, we are rare, but we are strong and United in the battle for our lives. 

Happy Anniversary PH, I'm still here fighting and I am so much better than I was at our last Anniversary, but not as good as I will be on our next Anniversary.

Please visit here amazing testimonies of Heaven and Healing, and more info on PH.

The picture on the left is Aubrie Starr, the one on the right is Alexah. Both are far too young to have a fatal disease like PH, but they do. There is no cure for PH short of a heart/lung transplant and by the time you qualify for that, it is often too late.

Please pray for a cure for PH, pray for Trudy, and pray for these two precious little girls.        #PH

Hope and Pray PHor Aubrie Starr and a Cure Phor Pulmonary Hypertension

Aubrie Starr is about one year old and suffers from a terrible disease called Pulmonary Hypertension. PH is a significant increase in blood pressure only between the lungs and the heart. Untreated, PH will destroy the right ventricle of the heart within 2 or 3 years resulting in death. Careful treatment can allow some patients to live for ten to twenty years.


The only 'cure' right now is a complete lung transplant, and often that has to coincide with a complete heart transplant. Most doctors and most hospitals know little about PH, consequently, it is frequently mis-diagnosed and poorly or wrongly treated.

There is one other cure not listed in the annals of medicine, and that is prayer. My wife was diagnosed with PH two years ago. Last year, I was pressed by God to take her to an event involving some dear old Christian friends and ask them to pray for her. I did, they did, and my wife was instantly healed - confirmed by two specialists one month and 6 months later.

On her Facebook page my wife has a friend who went into septic shock, died and went to Heaven, but returned to life with no renal damage whatsoever. Read her amazing story here.

So, God is still in the healing business, which is why I am putting these updates from Aubrie's mom on my blog. I'm asking you to take a minute or two and pray for this delightful little girl, and also to pray PHor a cure for PH.

Note: Aubrie suffers from chronic pneumonia as well as PH. She had been in to see a specialist just two days earlier. He, I believe, ran numerous tests on her.

Aubrie's mom:
Well I took Aubrie to get her synagis shot. While in there she began to breathe super fast working hard to breathe. The nurse pulled someone in there to look at her. We transferred to a physicians room. She had chest X-rays and he called her pulmonologist. 

Some of Aubrie's results just came in, literally at that moment. 

Her bronchoscope has already shown she has a bacteria infection in her lungs and she is aspirating into her lungs. We are waiting for the culture to be complete but for now we are treating these with antibiotics for a month and she is going back on antacids. 

God put all this into place at the right moment with the right people! 

My baby's going to be getting better, I know it, I have faith, God's got this!!!

Amazing Testimonies of Heaven and God's Miraculous Healing

Below is an exchange on Facebook where my wife, Patricia, has a lot of PH friends. My wife was instantly healed of PH when a group of friends and I prayed for her. The story is on the link just below. 

I post it to give glory to God Who still heals today, and to give hope to those who are dealing with chronic problems. Don't give up hope. Whether your healing comes in this world or the next, it will come if you believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

Meanwhile, please pray phor a cure for PH. There are way too many people suffering and dying from this horrible disease.

Patricia McFarland-Myers -Yesterday as I stood in line at the Post Office I was overwhelmed by God's Grace. 2 yrs ago I could not stand in line. I was in a Wheelchair. 1 yr. ago I had the incurable disease PH (Pulmonary Hypertension).

We moved back to B.C. to be closer to more family...after Gary & friends prayed Drs. are saying they can't find it. See full story.

2 days ago either our son Bob or Hubby & I had no place to live after Christmas. (We are using his small cute apt.) I stood in line at the Post office to send a very modest rent to a young man in England. We will be house sitting his beautiful furnished high-rise apt. for possibly the next 6 yrs. Humbled by Gods Grace. I feel like Tye Pennington had just yelled "Move that Bus!"

For those of you who don't know, my PHriend who posted above Alice Jaehne has a great experience too. She was all but dead 3 months ago. She was on life support...She saw Heaven. 4/5days later she was back at home. God is listening. If you don't think so. .just ask Him.
about an hour ago via mobile · Edited · Like


Alice Marie Jaehne - Hello, I am the ph friend Patricia is referring to.

On Sept 30 my husband called 911 and my last memory was him running down the hall for the phone, next memory I was in a place so bright it was absolutely stunning! I knew I was in heaven, my brother died in 2012, he was with me, he had become a quadriplegic 10 yrs ago when he rolled his big rig to avoid what he thought was a card load of kids! His voice was barely a whisper with all the tubes, but in heaven when he talked to me it was his voice before the accident, I was just stunned, then I heard another voice telling me it was not my time!

Then I woke up and it was 4 days later, I was still on the life support and failed the first breathing test, 24 hours later I passed on day 5 and got off the breathing machine and went home on day 6. I had gone into renal failure and had full blown sepsis shock and the dr. told my husband if they could bring me back I would be on dialysis the remainder of my life. 

We know the Lord was working with those dr's because they were in shock that when I woke they tested my kidneys and today I do not have even 1 percent of kidney damage. PRAISE GOD! I looked up full blown sepsis shock and its not pretty but for me to have full working kidneys and come off life supports also is truly a miracle, not to mention getting to see a glimpse if heaven. 

So for any that are not sure if there is a God or heaven Patricia McFarland and I can tell you there is and the Lord was with us both, Patricia's miracle just touches my heart so deeply, it shows how powerful prayer is and that God listens to us all no matter how big or small! I know that people on here were praying for me, and my husband by my side praying, I want to thank you all because your prayers worked and I am very grateful!


Velma Jean Ettlin God is so great and I do love when we get yes but some times he says no with the same love.
I experienced a miracle healing of a blown disk in my lower back in 1975 and a no when the disk in my neck blew. Later God did heal me thru a dr and surgery. He taught me to praise with a yes and to praise louder with a no. We dont always get a yes but God is in control.
about a minute ago via mobile · Like

Velma Jean Ettlin I write this for those that have prayed and didn't get a yes. Just know God always hears and answers for your best.

Restorative Justice - The Power of Forgiveness

On the morning Joanne Nodding met the man who raped her, she was struck by something she never expected. “He looked terrified. He was like a scared little boy. He was afraid of what I was going to say,’ she says. “But I felt calm. If I had been there just to scream at him, the meeting would never have happened.”

They sat face to face, separated by a low table, in an anonymous room. She thanked him for meeting her and told him how she had felt during the assault, how he had affected the lives of her immediate family and how she thought she was going to be killed during the attack.

“I needed to tell him in my own words how I felt, and I wanted him to understand the enormity of his crime. When I told him I had thought he was going to murder me, he burst into tears. Literally. I didn’t expect him to do that,” she says. “I wasn’t expecting him to say ‘sorry’, but he did. It seemed a genuine ‘sorry’. I also wanted him to move on from the rape, as I had begun to do.”

The meeting between the two took place five years after the rape had occurred. Her attacker had been sentenced to life after a high-profile court case, following a brutal assault in a public building.

But for Joanne, who is now 41 and is a primary school teacher based in Lincolnshire, northeast England, the court process had offered little respite from being a victim.

Joanne Nodding forgave her rapist

She still felt robbed of self-confidence and her life was paralysed by fear. The judge’s comments at the end of case only reinforced how helpless she felt.

He said the attacker had “ruined her life” and that she would be a victim forever. Eventually, she realised the only way to stop her life being defined by the rape was to confront her rapist.

The meeting was organised as part of a “restorative justice” programme, aimed at allowing victims to speak with the person responsible for a crime. “Anger had eaten me up for so long. I could have stayed a victim forever, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to be a survivor. It was like, either let the anger eat you up or try to make a difference to your life – and his. I didn’t want his life to be destroyed either,” she says “I walked into that room a victim and I left a survivor. It gave me my life back.”

Most modern justice systems focus on a crime, a lawbreaker and a punishment. But restorative justice is a different way of resolving conflict: it considers harm done and strives for agreement from all concerned – the victims, the offender and the community – about making amends.

“This is the way forward,” says Fr Peter McVerry, a social-justice campaigner and an advocate for this approach. “It’s a different way of resolving conflict. What is important is that it seeks to bring together those involved in a conflict to try to resolve a problem in a way that’s acceptable to all, and to restore broken relationships.”

At a time when our prisons are struggling to cope with problems such as violence, overcrowding and recidivism, restorative justice is proving to be a quiet success story of the justice system.

Research into projects which have been operating in the Dublin area and in Tipperary show highly encouraging signs of how it has the potential to reduce the level of reoffending, and to save the State significant sums in the process.

A restorative justice programme costs between €1,500 and €3,500; detaining a prisoner costs about €97,000 a year.

It is also highly effective in reducing recidivism. Research into restorative justice projects here indicates that as many as 80 per cent of participants had not reoffended within a two-year period.

Nodding feels so strongly about the power of restorative justice that she visited Ireland last week to share her experiences. She is also helping victims of serious crimes here who are considering using it as a way of coming to terms with what happened to them.

Looking back, she is still surprised by how life-changing the process was, and how it offers both victims and offenders a way out.

“During the meeting, I looked at him and said, ‘What I’m about to say to you, a lot of people will find difficult to understand. I forgive you for what you've done to me. And if you haven’t forgiven yourself, I want you to because I want you to go on and have a successful life.’ ”

Nodding thought the meeting had taken 10 minutes. In fact, she was later told by facilitators, it had lasted an hour and a half. “It was as if a door had been left open, and now it was closed. My hurt and anger were gone.”

"For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matt 6:14

There is more on this story at: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/i-was-a-rape-victim-now-i-m-a-survivor-1.1612128?page=1

Daughter of Ravi Shankar Reveals Childhood Sexual Abuse

Musician Anoushka Shankar says she was prompted to reveal her experience of sexual abuse after learning of the gang rape and murder of a woman in Delhi. (See Rape and Murder on a Delhi Bus at:
http://northwoodsministries.blogspot.com/2012/12/rape-and-murder-on-bus.html).

Shankar, daughter of legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, said in February she had been abused by "a man my parents trusted" in her childhood.

Her revelation followed the fatal attack on an Indian student, for which four men have been sentenced to death.

"Her story is the apex of millions of stories," Shankar told BBC Radio 4.

Speaking on the Front Row programme, she said: "No-one I knew could help being affected by the gravity and intensity of that attack - and if it resonates with something in our experience then obviously it doubles the impact of hearing a story like that.

"I felt quite conscious as an Indian woman that there was a very unique moment happening where the entire world's attention was on sexual violence and on the role and position of women in India.

"I felt almost an obligation [to talk about my experience]. It didn't feel dragged out of me. If I was ever going to talk about my story, that felt like the right moment."

Anoushka Shankar

The musician has used her new album to express her concerns over the attack.

Shankar, 32, took the decision to talk about her experiences in a video, recorded in her London home, in which she appealed for people to support a campaign in memory of the gang rape victim.

"As a child I suffered sexual and emotional abuse for several years at the hands of a man my parents trusted implicitly," she said.

She added the attacks had included "groping, touching and verbal abuse".

Reflecting on the statement, the musician told Front Row's John Wilson: "It was something I never spoke to the media about.

"It had never felt like something relevant in a public context until this moment where I thought 'hang on, it's important for people to realize that this kind of thing can happen to anyone, anywhere'.

"I think there's a class issue in India where there can be an assumption that things like this don't happen to people from upper classes or who are privileged. I think part of what shocked people within India was that [the victim] was a middle-class girl. It's so ridiculous."

The musician has responded to the attack, and tried to address its causes, with a track on her new album, Traces Of You.

She said the song, which references the 23-year-old victim's name in its title, tries to capture a sense of the horror of the attack.

The album, recorded with producer Nitin Sawhney and her sister Norah Jones, also addresses the death of her father last year.

Shankar said her experiences had informed the spirit of the record, and brought a sense of "resilience" to the music.

"It's not necessarily about the passing of my father, it's about me passing through the passing of my father.

"There's a way that we all go through horrible and painful things and I'm not nullifying it in any way when I say we do go on.

"My childhood experiences were one of the big experiences for me [but] I know as a woman I've come through that.

"At some cost, but I've come through it."

Assisted Suicide for a Depressed Transsexual in Belgium

A transsexual has been helped to die by doctors in Belgium, after a series of failed sex-change operations.

Nathan Verhelst, born a woman, asked for help to end his life on grounds of psychological suffering. He died in a Brussels hospital on Monday.

Cases of recorded deaths from euthanasia on psychological grounds have risen in Belgium

Two doctors concluded he did not have temporary depression. His case received scant media coverage.

Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2002. There were 52 cases of euthanasia on psychological grounds last year.

"He died in all serenity," doctor Wim Distlemans told the Belgian newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws.

Nathan Verhelst, 44, was born Nancy into a family of three boys. The newspaper, which said it had spoken to him on the eve of his death, reported that he had been rejected by his parents who had wanted another son.

He had three operations to change sex between 2009 and 2012.

"The first time I saw myself in the mirror I felt an aversion for my new body," he was quoted as saying.

First of all, if all 3 sex change operations failed, then 'he' must still be a 'she'. It makes no sense that a person can simply call himself the opposite sex to what he actually is physically.

Second, the parents would appear to be to blame for Nancy's screwed-up view of herself. Surely, some psychological counselling could have corrected that attitude - but that's not politically correct any more is it?

Third, there is no room for God in this story, anywhere. God made Nancy, not Nathan. God can completely change one's attitude of self worth by allowing that person to see how much God loves them. And, there is no opportunity for that person to turn to God and fulfill the purpose of his being here - which is to prepare for eternity. He/she is lost forever thanks to a Godless government!

The hospital said there was an "extremely rigorous procedure" in place before any patient was put to death. "When we have a case which is... complicated, we ask ourselves more questions in order to be certain about the diagnosis," Dr Jean-Michel Thomas said.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels says the number of people opting for euthanasia in Belgium has risen steadily since legalization. Most candidates are over 60 years old and have cancer.

Voluntary euthanasia for those over 18 is relatively uncontroversial in Belgium. Parliament is now considering expanding the law to under 18s as well.

Patients must be capable of deciding for themselves. They must be conscious and have to give a "voluntary, considered and repeated" request to die.

There were 1,432 recorded cases of euthanasia in Belgium in 2012; a 25% increase on the previous year's figure. They represented 2% of all deaths, the AFP news agency reported.

Teenage Girl Exorcists

Brynne Larson and Tess and Savannah Scherkenback are all-American girls from Arizona, who enjoy martial arts and horse riding. But something sets them apart from most teenagers - they perform public exorcisms and often appear on TV chat shows.

Eighteen-year-old Brynne met sisters Tess and Savannah about eight years ago at a karate class.

"We just really hit it off," says Savannah, aged 21. "I don't know what happens but somehow you bond when you're punching one another and throwing knees. We were working out together, learning how to fight and how to defend ourselves and defend others."

The girls are now karate black belts, but because of their particular Christian beliefs, they have also decided to do battle, they say, against evil spirits or demons. They believe that these demons can possess a human being and cause suffering, depression or addiction.

"A demon can't just come into anybody whenever it chooses too, God doesn't allow that," says Brynne.

"What happens is when someone sins or does something, or something's done to them that allows the demon to come into them, that's called the legal right or the reason that it's there."

The girls have been trained by Brynne's father, the Rev Bob Larson, who says he has performed over 15,000 exorcisms. They have appeared alongside him in America and overseas, including the UK.

"Every single country has a specific kind of demon," says Tess, 18, who loves music and reading.

The girls believe that the UK in particular is a hotbed for "witchcraft" because of the popularity of J K Rowling's Harry Potter books.

"The spells and things that you're reading in the Harry Potter books, those aren't just something that are made up, those are actual spells. Those are things that came from witchcraft books," says Tess.

The teenage exorcists are skilled in martial arts and black belts in karate.

The girls see themselves as "freedom fighters". During an exorcism they brandish silver crosses and Bibles while confronting the so-called demon to make it return to hell.

"I'd have to say my special skills [are] probably the enforcer or the lead exorcist. I can take on those demons," says Brynne.

The teenage exorcists are greeted on stage as if they were celebrities. There is applause and they announce to the audience that they look forward to "kicking some demon butt".

But Brynne denies that it's a theatrical performance.

"Honestly, I've never tried to do any showmanship at all, I'm just demonstrating the power of God," says Brynne. "We're not doing it to play up to the cameras. I've seen some amazing things in private with nobody there."

The girls' mentor, Brynne's father, disagrees with critics who say it's dangerous to teach teenagers to perform exorcisms.

"We think it's OK to train teenagers to get drunk and have sex, but to do moral things for God, oh let's not train them to do that," says Larson.

He asks for a voluntary donation of a couple of hundred dollars or pounds when he and the girls perform a one-to-one exorcism, and rejects the idea that spiritual services have to be free of charge.

"Money and motives, anytime someone is in God's work it always comes up," he says.

"People will pay thousands of dollars to go to drug rehab or to pay psychiatrists but there's this idea that spirituality needs to be for free.

"The average megachurch pastor in America, it's not uncommon for them to make up to $1m a year. Well I can assure you we are nowhere near that."

Brynne, Tess and Savannah perform an exorcism in Ukraine.

Exorcism is an ancient practice and one that appears in many different religions, but even some believers doubt the existence of demons.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, saw spirit possession as a neurotic delusion, and demons as repressed "instinctual impulses".

Before undertaking a one-to-one exorcism, Larson says he asks clients to complete a psychiatric questionnaire to identify if they have any mental health problems. He says it is important for anyone with mental health problems to receive medical care and psychological support.

Brynne's mother Laura Larson, says the girls are sincerely trying to help people.

"This is a family who lives by what they believe," says Laura, "and I think the teenage exorcists are making a difference, whether you believe in what they do or not, they are committed and they stand by what they believe."

She did not actively encourage her daughter Brynne to become an exorcist she says.

"Given the environment you would think that we would have been grooming them at the table, 'OK now how do you define this? What kind of demon is this?' But that really wasn't the approach.

"In fact I was the opposite, I didn't really keep her from doing deliverances but I didn't encourage her.

"Then her friends Tess and Savannah just started getting this training and she said, 'Mum can I please go along, I really want to learn,' and of course I mean I couldn't say no".

Tess, Savannah and Brynne have all been home-schooled. In Brynne's case it was because her father's profession led the family to travel widely.

"With going [to] over 20 countries and stuff, I don't really have time to go to school, but I'll just sit at my desk and work on calculus or read all my books," she says. "This is so much better than going to a stinky old school room."

Brynne and Tess have been awarded places at college this year, while Savannah is already a college student. But as well as continuing their education they are determined to continue their spiritual battle against what they see as the forces of evil.

Teen Exorcists will be broadcast on Thursday 12 September at 21:00 BST on BBC Three. Or catch up later on BBC iPlayer.

More of What God Did

See "God Answers Prayer" in the July archive for the rest of the story.

This is what the Lord spared my wife from when He healed her in March. Many of Pat's PH friends spend as much time in the hospital as they do at home. Many hospitals in the US don't know how to treat PH and some will flat-out refuse to admit them. Despite her sickness, Trudy works relentlessly to raise money for PH research while raising her young children. God bless her and her family.

Trudy Seidel 
As most of you know I was diagnosed April of 2012, with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, which means the professionals have NO idea why I was "lucky" enough to get it.
It sounds fairly simple, like High blood pressure which is able to be controlled. The problem is it isn't that simple and it cant be cured, not even controlled very easily; however, it can be treated. "Pulmonary hypertension is a simplified name for a complex health problem—continuous high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery in the lungs, resulting in an enlarged heart which can lose its ability to pump.

My current treatment involves the following: I have a Hickman catheter (which I've already had to get replaced due to a defect), which is a intravenous line in my chest going to my heart that provides me with life saving medicine; I have to make my medicine every 24 hours). Besides my IV meds (Remodulin, which bears many miserable and reoccurring side effects so I take more meds to lessen them), I take Adcirca (another lung med again causing side effects, so more and different meds for those), Digoxin, (a drug used to treat congestive heart failure that I now have due to PH), plus a long list of other medicines that I have to take to fight off all the side effects of the PH drugs.

Loving Yourself

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Jer 17:9

I spent much of yesterday conversing with followers a certain evangelist on Facebook. I was drawn into it by a friend who re-posted the evangelist's post where he fairly gushed about loving himself. I was more than slightly nauseated.

My heart goes out to those people whose ears are being tickled by anti-Biblical doctrine that is nothing but new age psychobabble. They are in for a very rude awakening, and I doubt that most will have the ‘deep-soil’ foundation to ride out the storm.

Loving one’s self is a quick trip up Feelgood Mountain for romantic Christians. You are like Peter, James and John, who were chosen by Jesus to go up the Mount of Transfiguration with Him. There they saw wonderful things such that Peter wanted to remain there and build temples. But what did Jesus do? He immediately led them down into the demon-filled valley of death.

What waited for them there was the torture and death of everything they believed in. To make matters worse, Peter denied Jesus 3 times, cursed Him and retreated to his fishing boat abandoning Christ and all he believed.

The walled City of Hong Kong - easily the worst slum in the world
before it was torn down

Some people believe that they can live on the mountain all the rest of their lives, but they cannot. Their faith will be tried and tested and stretched beyond belief. It will be painful and if you persevere, you will know God better than you do now.

Jesus retrieved Peter from his boat and commissioned him to go forth and preach the Gospel. Peter finally understood Who Jesus really was and what He expected of him. Until we are made broken bread and poured out wine, we will never be ready to be sent out. We may have the Holy Spirit and we may go out, but we will not be ready.

We will be like Jackie Pullinger, who, with great enthusiasm, went to the old walled city of Hong Kong – the worst slum in the world, and preached the gospel. For years she had not one convert. It was only after she realized that she had to stop preaching Jesus and start being Jesus that she began to change lives.

She had very little to her name but she sacrificed all of it, even her own bed at times. Very soon she began leading people to Christ and delivering them from drug dependencies. Before long she began the enormously successful St Stephen Society which set thousands of drug addicts free through prayer in southeast Asia and turned them to Christ.

She accomplished more than she could have imagined but only after she gave up everything she had including her self-image. There was no room for self-love there, if there had been, she would have wasted her entire life in that hell-hole.

What God Did

The message on our shirts is to pray for a cure for PH - Pulmonary hypertension. My wife, Patricia, was diagnosed with PH last fall. Read what God did when we prayed: God Answers Prayer (below), then come back and read this update from her Facebook page:

Patricia McFarland-Myers

There are no words to express how grateful I am to God for being tired. Just plain tired from doing so much. We say Pray Phor a Cure, I was blessed enough to get one. With PH ( Pulmonary Hypertension) I was exhausted to the core. Could do very little. Asked my hubby for help with laundry, shopping, dinner, tea, to drive me places, to go with me because I was afraid I would pass out if left alone. Today I am tired, because I did dishes, spent 2 hrs at McDonalds play place again yesterday with the grandkids. Shopped for a sprinkler in 90 degree heat, watched the kiddlets play in it and grilled dinner for the family. (1st time in years) I stop all day long and thank my Lord and ask Why Me? The only answer I get is that He is no respecter of persons and what he did for me he can do for others. We need a cure people, We need you to Join us and Pray for a Cure Please!