Christians suffer much more persecution than Muslims. A report last week by "Aid to the Church in Need" showed that 75% of religious persecution is currently being carried out against Christians. The report states: "For millions of Christians around the world, persecution, violent discrimination and suffering are a way of life as they live out their faith."
67 Christians killed in Bagdad Oct. 2010 and New Years, 2011, 21 Coptic Christians killed in Egypt.
Shackelford Beach
Serene Shackelford
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Devotion from christiandevotions.us
God protects us.
Not a Statistic
by Phoebe Leggett
...He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully... Luke 4: 10 NIV
Many times I could have been a statistic, but I wasn't. I could have been killed over and over again, but I'm still alive. The number of times God has rescued me from impending disaster, only heaven will reveal.
Before I became a Christian I was unaware of angels in my life. But when I learned to trust in God, he began to reveal that truth to me. Looking back over my life I realize angels have saved me many times from serious accidents.
When I was six-years-old, an elderly friend of the family drove my brother and me to see a group of goats living close to his home. They were feeding on tall grasses growing near the spillway of a reservoir. Needless to say, my brother and I were thrilled with this excursion.
But on our return trip home, the dirt road we were traveling wasn't wide enough for two cars to safely pass, and we were hit head-on by another car.
At that moment, visuals of my short life flashed before me as though watching a fast-paced movie. I thought my young life was over, but it wasn't. With only minor bumps and scratches, we all survived to tell about our accident.
How comforting to know angels are among us, protecting us every minute of every day. God is with us every moment of our lives--watching carefully. And yes, that's a promise from God we can depend on.
Not a Statistic
by Phoebe Leggett
...He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully... Luke 4: 10 NIV
Many times I could have been a statistic, but I wasn't. I could have been killed over and over again, but I'm still alive. The number of times God has rescued me from impending disaster, only heaven will reveal.
Before I became a Christian I was unaware of angels in my life. But when I learned to trust in God, he began to reveal that truth to me. Looking back over my life I realize angels have saved me many times from serious accidents.
When I was six-years-old, an elderly friend of the family drove my brother and me to see a group of goats living close to his home. They were feeding on tall grasses growing near the spillway of a reservoir. Needless to say, my brother and I were thrilled with this excursion.
But on our return trip home, the dirt road we were traveling wasn't wide enough for two cars to safely pass, and we were hit head-on by another car.
At that moment, visuals of my short life flashed before me as though watching a fast-paced movie. I thought my young life was over, but it wasn't. With only minor bumps and scratches, we all survived to tell about our accident.
How comforting to know angels are among us, protecting us every minute of every day. God is with us every moment of our lives--watching carefully. And yes, that's a promise from God we can depend on.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Amelia Green
Amelia Green, a Free Woman of New Bern by Jan Parys
Devastated by the Tuscarora War, 1711–1713, New Bern settlers needed help. They were aided by immigrants from England, Switzerland, the German Palatinate, and France. Slaves also arrived from Africa, and African slavery became a source of labor. Many godly people like the Quakers wanted emancipation for everyone so they helped the slaves obtain freedom.
Like most African-Americans Amelia Green wanted freedom from slavery for her family after she bought it for herself. Amelia petitioned the NC legislature successfully to free her family members. Amelia bought her freedom from Robert Schaw, a plantation owner in the Wilmington, NC, area. He was married to Anne Vail of the New Bern Vail family. Amelia’s children were listed as mulatto indicating they had a white father. There was a local Wilmington area planter named Richard Green and Richard is the name of her first son.
In her September, 1796 petition to the Craven County courts, she stated that all but two of her children, two daughters, had been able to acquire their own freedom by “the fruits of their own industry and meritorious behavior.” In 1796 she tried to emancipate her sixteen year-old daughter, Princess Ann Green. Five years later, she petitioned to emancipate her daughter Nancy Handy and talked of her own aging and not expecting to live much longer.
She lived twenty years longer and saw family members become owners of both real estate and human property. Amelia Green was a remarkable woman who lived in New Bern, North Carolina after she was free.
She became a landowner and the in-law of one of the largest African American slaveholders in the American South, John Carruthers Stanly. The house where Green spent the final decades of her life working to reassemble a family that had been separated because of slavery still stands in New Bern. It is located at 310 George Street. Her home, also known as the Green-Hollister House, was purchased in 1800 by John Carruthers Stanly for Amelia, his wife’s grandmother, to save it from the tax collector.
Located at 411 Johnson Street, the John R. Green House stayed in the family until 1842. The Green family owned a family pew in Christ Episcopal Church, the same church as the John Wright Stanly family. John Green earned his living as a tailor. Amelia was a laundry woman. Green’s story is one of struggle and hard work to be free from slavery, first for herself and then her immediate family members. She accomplished much at almost unimaginable levels for a woman, especially a slave woman.
Sources: Bob Arnebeck, A Shameful Heritage, Washington Post Magazine, January 18, 1889; Roger Davis and Wanda Neal- Davis , Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953; Patricia M. Samford, Historic Bath State Historic Site, (draft to be submitted to the North Carolina Historical Review, March 2006 and New Bern’s African American Guide to African American History (a map and explanations).
Devastated by the Tuscarora War, 1711–1713, New Bern settlers needed help. They were aided by immigrants from England, Switzerland, the German Palatinate, and France. Slaves also arrived from Africa, and African slavery became a source of labor. Many godly people like the Quakers wanted emancipation for everyone so they helped the slaves obtain freedom.
Like most African-Americans Amelia Green wanted freedom from slavery for her family after she bought it for herself. Amelia petitioned the NC legislature successfully to free her family members. Amelia bought her freedom from Robert Schaw, a plantation owner in the Wilmington, NC, area. He was married to Anne Vail of the New Bern Vail family. Amelia’s children were listed as mulatto indicating they had a white father. There was a local Wilmington area planter named Richard Green and Richard is the name of her first son.
In her September, 1796 petition to the Craven County courts, she stated that all but two of her children, two daughters, had been able to acquire their own freedom by “the fruits of their own industry and meritorious behavior.” In 1796 she tried to emancipate her sixteen year-old daughter, Princess Ann Green. Five years later, she petitioned to emancipate her daughter Nancy Handy and talked of her own aging and not expecting to live much longer.
She lived twenty years longer and saw family members become owners of both real estate and human property. Amelia Green was a remarkable woman who lived in New Bern, North Carolina after she was free.
She became a landowner and the in-law of one of the largest African American slaveholders in the American South, John Carruthers Stanly. The house where Green spent the final decades of her life working to reassemble a family that had been separated because of slavery still stands in New Bern. It is located at 310 George Street. Her home, also known as the Green-Hollister House, was purchased in 1800 by John Carruthers Stanly for Amelia, his wife’s grandmother, to save it from the tax collector.
Located at 411 Johnson Street, the John R. Green House stayed in the family until 1842. The Green family owned a family pew in Christ Episcopal Church, the same church as the John Wright Stanly family. John Green earned his living as a tailor. Amelia was a laundry woman. Green’s story is one of struggle and hard work to be free from slavery, first for herself and then her immediate family members. She accomplished much at almost unimaginable levels for a woman, especially a slave woman.
Sources: Bob Arnebeck, A Shameful Heritage, Washington Post Magazine, January 18, 1889; Roger Davis and Wanda Neal- Davis , Chronology: A Historical Review, Major Events in Black History 1492 thru 1953; Patricia M. Samford, Historic Bath State Historic Site, (draft to be submitted to the North Carolina Historical Review, March 2006 and New Bern’s African American Guide to African American History (a map and explanations).
Friday, March 4, 2011
Easter and Cedar Grove Cemetery
Easter and Cedar Grove Cemetery
What does Cedar Grove Cemetery have to do with Easter? They both are involved with tombs. The difference is one, the Cemetery, has bodies, mainly decayed bodies in the tombs. However, Easter celebrates the empty tomb for Jesus Christ rose from the tomb and His tomb is still empty. Some Christians prefer to call Easter, Resurrection Day.
At a presentation on February 24, 2011, information regarding the symbols was shared with a packed library auditorium. The Cemetery has a symbol for resurrection according to the Earl of Craven Questers and it is a sunrise. Ivy carved on a stone meant everlasting life. An open book meant the departed soul was wise. A sleeping lamb signified children. Roses meant beauty. Anchors were for hope in the 18th and 19th century. The dove meant promise and the harp, harmony. Other symbols appear on stones and plagues.
The Questers are preserving the tombs, mausoleums and other graves. Out of about four thousand graves only approximately one thousand are identified. The others are in need of cleaning and even the tombstones are decaying. To get money for the preservation the Questers are giving tours every Saturday from April to November weather permitting. Volunteers are needed to help clean tombstones and some students from Brinson Elementary worked on cleaning a couple of dozen stones. Tickets for tours may be bought at the cemetery or at the New Bern Historical Society office on Pollock Street. Names and family searches will help those looking for ancestors in New Bern with cleaner stones.
What does Cedar Grove Cemetery have to do with Easter? They both are involved with tombs. The difference is one, the Cemetery, has bodies, mainly decayed bodies in the tombs. However, Easter celebrates the empty tomb for Jesus Christ rose from the tomb and His tomb is still empty. Some Christians prefer to call Easter, Resurrection Day.
At a presentation on February 24, 2011, information regarding the symbols was shared with a packed library auditorium. The Cemetery has a symbol for resurrection according to the Earl of Craven Questers and it is a sunrise. Ivy carved on a stone meant everlasting life. An open book meant the departed soul was wise. A sleeping lamb signified children. Roses meant beauty. Anchors were for hope in the 18th and 19th century. The dove meant promise and the harp, harmony. Other symbols appear on stones and plagues.
The Questers are preserving the tombs, mausoleums and other graves. Out of about four thousand graves only approximately one thousand are identified. The others are in need of cleaning and even the tombstones are decaying. To get money for the preservation the Questers are giving tours every Saturday from April to November weather permitting. Volunteers are needed to help clean tombstones and some students from Brinson Elementary worked on cleaning a couple of dozen stones. Tickets for tours may be bought at the cemetery or at the New Bern Historical Society office on Pollock Street. Names and family searches will help those looking for ancestors in New Bern with cleaner stones.
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