I would like to clarify some other things too, if you will bare with me lol... if you don't want to read.... stop here

The Virgin Mary has never cast out saints from Heaven, I would need to see what is being talked about here, because I have never heard of such a thing. 

Necromancy = Conjuring up the dead, especially for prophesying, this is not the same as praying to the Saints.  Conjuring up the dead is things related to divination, foretelling, fortune telling, and soothsaying.  Praying is communion with spirits.... communication, that is all.  Asking the Saints to pray for us or others is not related to prophesying or necromancy.  Again, I refer to Catholic Answers for information here: 

Praying to the Saints

The historic Christian practice of asking our departed brothers and sisters in Christ—the saints—for their intercession has come under attack in the last few hundred years. Though the practice dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—it still comes under heavy attack from many within the Protestant movement that started in the sixteenth century.

Can They Hear Us?

One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." But if the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God, then they must be aware of our prayers. They are aware of our petitions and present them to God by interceding for us.

Some might try to argue that in this passage the prayers being offered were not addressed to the saints in heaven, but directly to God. Yet this argument would only strengthen the fact that those in heaven can hear our prayers, for then the saints would be aware of our prayers even when they are not directed to them!

In any event, it is clear from Revelation 5:8 that the saints in heaven do actively intercede for us. We are explicitly told by John that the incense they offer to God are the prayers of the saints. Prayers are not physical things and cannot be physically offered to God. Thus the saints in heaven are offering our prayers to God mentally. In other words, they are interceding.

One Mediator

Another charge commonly leveled against asking the saints for their intercession is that this violates the sole mediatorship of Christ, which Paul discusses: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5).

But asking one person to pray for you in no way violates Christ's mediatorship, as can be seen from considering the way in which Christ is a mediator. First, Christ is a unique mediator between man and God because he is the only person who is both God and man. He is the only bridge between the two, the only God-man. But that role as mediator is not
compromised in the least by the fact that others intercede for us. Furthermore, Christ is a unique mediator between God and man because he is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15, 12:24), just as Moses was the mediator (Greek mesites) of the Old Covenant (Gal. 3:19–20).

The intercession of fellow Christians—which is what the saints in heaven are—also clearly does not interfere with Christ's unique mediatorship because in the four verses immediately preceding 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that Christians should intercede: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Clearly, then, intercessory prayers offered by Christians on behalf of others something "good and pleasing to God," not something infringing on Christ's role as mediator.

"No Contact with the dead"

Sometimes Fundamentalists object to asking our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us by declaring that God has forbidden contact with the dead in passages such as Deuteronomy 18:10–11. In fact, he has not, because he at times has given it—for example, when he had Moses and Elijah appear with Christ to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). What God has forbidden is necromantic practice of conjuring up spirits. "There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. . . . For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers and to diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you so to do. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed" (Deut. 18:10–15).

God thus indicates that one is not to conjure the dead for purposes of gaining information; one is to look to God's prophets instead. Thus one is not to hold a seance. But anyone with an ounce of common sense can discern the vast qualitative difference between holding a seance to have the dead speak through you and a son humbly saying at his mother's grave, "Mom, please pray to Jesus for me; I'm having a real problem right now." The difference between the two is the difference between night and day. One is an occult practice bent on getting secret information; the other is a humble request for a loved one to pray to God on one's behalf.

Overlooking the Obvious

Some objections to the concept of prayer to the saints betray restricted notions of heaven. One comes from anti-Catholic Loraine Boettner:

"How, then, can a human being such as Mary hear the prayers of millions of Roman Catholics, in many different countries, praying in many different languages, all at the same time?

"Let any priest or layman try to converse with only three people at the same time and see how impossible that is for a human being. . . . The objections against prayers to Mary apply equally against prayers to the saints. For they too are only creatures, infinitely less than God, able to be at only one place at a time and to do only one thing at a time.

"How, then, can they listen to and answer thousands upon thousands of petitions made simultaneously in many different lands and in many different languages? Many such petitions are expressed, not orally, but only mentally, silently. How can Mary and the saints, without being like God, be present everywhere and know the secrets of all hearts?" (Roman Catholicism, 142-143).

If being in heaven were like being in the next room, then of course these objections would be valid. A mortal, unglorified person in the next room would indeed suffer the restrictions imposed by the way space and time work in our universe. But the saints are not in the next room, and they are not subject to the time/space limitations of this life.

Further, the Bible indicates that the glorified human intellect enjoyed by the saints in heaven has a phenomenal ability to process information, dwarfing anything we are capable of in this life. This is shown by the fact that, on Judgment Day, we will review every act of our lives. But since Judgment Day is not going to take eighty years to review the events of an eighty year life (if it takes any time at all), our intellects will be able to process enormous amounts of information and experience once freed from the confines of this mortal life. And not only will we be aware of the events of our own lives, but of the lives of those around us on Judgment Day as well, for Christ stated that all our acts will be publicly revealed (Luke 12:2–3).

This does not imply that the saints in heaven therefore must be omniscient, as God is, for it is only through God's willing it that they can communicate with others in heaven or with us. And Boettner's argument about petitions arriving in different languages is even further off the mark. Does anyone really think that in heaven the saints are restricted to the King's English? After all, it is God himself who gives the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Surely those saints in Revelation understand the prayers they are shown to be offering to God.

The problem here is one of what might be called a primitive or even childish view of heaven. It is certainly not one on which enough intellectual rigor has been exercised. A good introduction to the real implications of the afterlife may be found in Frank Sheed's book Theology and Sanity, which argues that sanity depends on an accurate appreciation of reality, and that includes an accurate appreciation of what heaven is really like. And once that is known, the place of prayer to the saints follows.

"Directly to Jesus"

Some may grant that the previous objections to asking the saints for their intercession do not work and may even grant that the practice is permissible in theory, yet they may question it on other grounds, asking why one would want to ask the saints to pray for one. "Why not pray directly to Jesus?" they ask.

The answer is: "Of course one should pray directly to Jesus!" But that does not mean it is not also
a good thing to ask others to pray for one as
well. Ultimately, the "go-directly-to-Jesus" objection boomerangs back on the one who makes it: Why should we ask any Christian, in heaven or on earth, to pray for us when we can ask Jesus directly? If the mere fact that we can go straight to Jesus proved that we should ask no Christian in heaven to pray for us then it would also prove that we should ask no Christian on earth to pray for us.

Praying for each other is simply part of what Christians do. As we saw, in 1 Timothy 2:1–4, Paul strongly encouraged Christians to intercede for many different things, and that passage is by no means unique in his writings. Elsewhere Paul directly asks others to pray for him (Rom. 15:30–32, Eph. 6:18–20, Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25, 2 Thess. 3:1), and he assured them that he was praying for them as well (2 Thess. 1:11). Most fundamentally, Jesus himself required us to pray for others, and not only for those who asked us to do so (Matt. 5:44).

Since the practice of asking others to pray for us is so highly recommended in Scripture, it cannot be regarded as superfluous on the grounds that one can go directly to Jesus. The New Testament would not recommend it if there were not benefits coming from it. One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion. Jesus regularly supplied for one person based on another person's faith (e.g., Matt. 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18, Mark 9:17–29, Luke 8:49–55). And it goes without saying that those in heaven, being free of the body and the distractions of this life, have even greater confidence and devotion to God than anyone on earth.

Also, God answers in particular the prayers of the righteous. James declares: "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit" (Jas. 5:16–18). Yet those Christians in heaven are more righteous, since they have been made perfect to stand in God's presence (Heb. 12:22-23), than anyone on earth, meaning their prayers would be even more efficacious.

Having others praying for us thus is a good thing, not something to be despised or set aside. Of course, we should pray directly to Christ with every pressing need we have (cf. John 14:13–14). That's something the Catholic Church strongly encourages. In fact, the prayers of the Mass, the central act of Catholic worship, are directed to God and Jesus, not the saints. But this does not mean that we should not also ask our fellow Christians, including those in heaven, to pray with us.

In addition to our prayers directly to God and Jesus (which are absolutely essential to the Christian life), there are abundant reasons to ask our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us. The Bible indicates that they are aware of our prayers, that they intercede for us, and that their prayers are effective (else they would not be offered). It is only narrow-mindedness that suggests we should refrain from asking our fellow Christians in heaven to do what we already know them to be anxious and capable of doing.

In Heaven and On Earth

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalms 103, we pray, "Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!" (Ps. 103:20-21). And in Psalms 148 we pray, "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!" (Ps. 148:1-2).

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: "[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God" (Rev. 8:3-4).

And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren't just angels, but humans as well. John sees that "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8). The simple fact is, as this passage shows: The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

As far as the parts about the ecumenical council with Buddhists in 1986, and the more recent bowing to the Qu'an in 1999, first, this is old news, but I will still address it since it was brought up

Our Holy Father John Paul II models true ecumenism and collaboration with non-Christian religions as envisioned by Vatican II. He dialogues with those of other faiths, collaborates with them in areas of common ground such as the pro-life movement, and prays with them for world peace. But he never sets aside his Catholic distinctives or embraces or promotes belief systems antithetical to historic Christianity. That would be false ecumenism and contrary to the teaching of Vatican II. The Pope has stated that New Age spirituality is "in distinct, if not declared, conflict with all that is essentially Christian." The kiss, if there was one, was obviously not meant in a sense of total agreement.  In other words, his actions have to be interpreted in light of his overall teaching, and that of the Church, as crystallized especially in Vatican II.  Just as kissing the ground or perhaps a dignitary (in some cultures) does not mean total approval of that person or his country either. If it did, then there could be scarcely little diplomacy at all, could there? If every handshake, hug, or kiss meant what you have to imply for your argument to succeed, we would never end any wars (by diplomatic means) or have any treaties. Did the pope shake hands with Castro when he visited Cuba? I assume that he did.  One could make a similar argument of, "why did Jesus do that?" - say, forgiving the adulteress, or turning the tables in the Temple - "It was terrible PR . . . ," etc.  (I am in no way saying that the Pope is Jesus, please understand what I am trying to say ) 

As far as the Buddhist idol, it wasn't on the Vatican alter, it was on the alter at the Church of San Pietro in Assisi.  At the time of the incident, the statue was promptly removed as soon as it was seen.  The Pope was not aware of it until he saw it, and was greatly disturbed by it.

The Pope as a man is not infallible, some of his teachings are not infallible.  There are certain criteria that has to be met for something to be considered infallible.  Pope John Paul II is a man, and just as all men (and women ) do, he sins.  He is Christ's representation here on earth, in other words, he delivers the Word of God to us, he helps us to understand the Word of God.  When I was a Protestant, I looked to people who knew more about the Word of God than I did for teaching.  I listened to my pastor to hear what he was teaching on the Word of God, so that I might understand it better.  This is the same for the Pope, he is the one that Catholics look to for clarification and teachings on the Word of God.  Infallibility does not imply sinlessness, it means that a teaching of the Pope is directly from Christ.  It is definitive and does not ever conflict with scripture.  There have been very sinful men in the position of Pope through the years.  Although I do believe that Pope John Paul II is a very Holy man.

One more thing I would like to clarify.... the word "all" which is used in the passage "All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" it mean the majority, just as in a vote one says "All is in agreement"  that doesn't mean that everyone there is agreeing, it simply means most.  This is true throughout scripture.  Biblical language is not the same as modern English.  And to interpret scripture in the terms of modern English is erroneous.

Again, I welcome comments  

My comments on Anna's recent post:

The most recent post on Anna's site, you can find it here, are ideas and theories that I, unfortunately have heard before.  These theories are so wrong, and it is so sad when others run with false teachings to the point of hurting others, even though Christ taught us to love everyone.  Once again, I say, this does not mean that we are to condone their beliefs.  We are suppose to show Christ's love through us to EVERYONE. 

The whore of Babylon that is written in this blog are false teachings and don't work.  They are from a fundamentalist Dave Hunt.  I got this information from Catholic Answers, because it is basically what I would be saying, and it was easier to copy and paste it lol

Hunting the Whore of Babylon

Some anti-Catholics claim the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18. Fundamentalist author Dave Hunt, in his 1994 book, A Woman Rides the Beast, presents nine arguments to try to prove this. His claims are a useful summary of those commonly used by Fundamentalists, and an examination of them shows why they don’t work.

#1: Seven Hills

Hunt argues that the Whore "is a city built on seven hills," which he identifies as the seven hills of ancient Rome. This argument is based on Revelation 17:9, which states that the woman sits on seven mountains.

The Greek word in this passage is horos. Of the sixty-five occurrences of this word in the New Testament, only three are rendered "hill" by the King James Version. The remaining sixty-two are translated as "mountain" or "mount." Modern Bibles have similar ratios. If the passage states that the Whore sits on "seven mountains," it could refer to anything. Mountains are common biblical symbols, often symbolizing whole kingdoms (cf. Ps. 68:15; Dan. 2:35; Amos 4:1, 6:1; Obad. 8–21). The Whore’s seven mountains might be seven kingdoms she reigns over, or seven kingdoms with which she has something in common.

The number seven may be symbolic also, for it often represents completeness in the Bible. If so, the seven mountains might signify that the Whore reigns over all earth’s kingdoms.

Even if we accept that the word horos should be translated literally as "hill" in this passage, it still does not narrow us down to Rome. Other cities are known for having been built on seven hills as well.

Even if we grant that the reference is to Rome, which Rome are we talking about—pagan Rome or Christian Rome? As we will see, ancient, pagan Rome fits all of Hunt’s criteria as well, or better, than Rome during the Christian centuries.

Now bring in the distinction between Rome and Vatican City—the city where the Catholic Church is headquartered—and Hunt’s claim becomes less plausible. Vatican City is not built on seven hills, but only one: Vatican Hill, which is not one of the seven upon which ancient Rome was built. Those hills are on the east side of the Tiber river; Vatican Hill is on the west.

#2: "Babylon"—What’s in a Name?

Hunt notes that the Whore will be a city "known as Babylon." This is based on Revelation 17:5, which says that her name is "Babylon the Great."

The phrase "Babylon the great" (Greek: Babulon a megala) occurs five times in Revelation (14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, and 18:21). Light is shed on its meaning when one notices that Babylon is referred to as "the great city" seven times in the book (16:19, 17:18, 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21). Other than these, there is only one reference to "the great city." That passage is 11:8, which states that the bodies of God’s two witnesses "will lie in the street of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified."

"The great city" is symbolically called Sodom, a reference to Jerusalem, symbolically called "Sodom" in the Old Testament (cf. Is. 1:10; Ezek. 16:1–3, 46–56). We also know Jerusalem is the "the great city" of Revelation 11:8 because the verse says it was "where [the] Lord was crucified."

Revelation consistently speaks as if there were only one "great city" ("the great city"), suggesting that the great city of 11:8 is the same as the great city mentioned in the other seven texts—Babylon. Additional evidence for the identity of the two is the fact that both are symbolically named after great Old Testament enemies of the faith: Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon.

This suggests that Babylon the great may be Jerusalem, not Rome. Many Protestant and Catholic commentators have adopted this interpretation. On the other hand, early Church Fathers often referred to Rome as "Babylon," but every references was to pagan Rome, which martyred Christians.

#3: Commits Fornication

Hunt tells us, "The woman is called a ‘whore’ (verse 1), with whom earthly kings ‘have committed fornication’ (verse 2). Against only two cities could such a charge be made: Jerusalem and Rome."

Here Hunt admits that the prophets often referred to Jerusalem as a spiritual whore, suggesting that the Whore might be apostate Jerusalem. Ancient, pagan Rome also fits the description, since through the cult of emperor worship it also committed spiritual fornication with "the kings of the earth" (those nations it conquered).

To identify the Whore as Vatican City, Hunt interprets the fornication as alleged "unholy alliances" forged between Vatican City and other nations, but he fails to cite any reasons why the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with other nations are "unholy."

He also confuses Vatican City with the city of Rome, and he neglects the fact that pagan Rome had "unholy alliances" with the kingdoms it governed (unholy because they were built on paganism and emperor worship).

#4: Clothed in Purple and Red

Hunt states, "She [the Whore] is clothed in ‘purple and scarlet’ (verse 4), the colors of the Catholic clergy." He then cites the Catholic Encyclopedia to show that bishops wear certain purple vestments and cardinals wear certain red vestments.

Hunt ignores the obvious symbolic meaning of the colors—purple for royalty and red for the blood of Christian martyrs. Instead, he is suddenly literal in his interpretation. He understood well enough that the woman symbolizes a city and that the fornication symbolizes something other than literal sex, but now he wants to assign the colors a literal, earthly fulfillment in a few vestments of certain Catholic clergy.

Purple and red are not the dominant colors of Catholic clerical vestments. White is. All priests wear white (including bishops and cardinals when they are saying Mass)—even the pope does so.

The purple and scarlet of the Whore are contrasted with the white of the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ (Rev. 19:8). This is a problem for Hunt for three reasons: (a) we have already noted that the dominant color of Catholic clerical vestments is white, which would identify them with New Jerusalem if the color is taken literally; (b) the clothing of the Bride is given a symbolic interpretation ("the righteous acts of the saints;" 19:8); implying that the clothing of the Whore should also be given a symbolic meaning; and (c) the identification of the Bride as New Jerusalem (Rev. 3:12, 21:2, 10) suggests that the Whore may be old (apostate) Jerusalem—a contrast used elsewhere in Scripture (Gal. 4:25–26).

Hunt ignores the liturgical meaning of purple and red in Catholic symbolism. Purple symbolizes repentance, and red honors the blood of Christ and the Christian martyrs.

It is appropriate for Catholic clerics to wear purple and scarlet, if for no other reason because they have been liturgical colors of the true religion since ancient Israel.

Hunt neglects to remind his readers that God commanded that scarlet yarn and wool be used in liturgical ceremonies (Lev. 14:4, 6, 49–52; Num. 19:6), and that God commanded that the priests’ vestments be made with purple and scarlet yarn (Ex. 28:4–8, 15, 33, 39:1–8, 24, 29).

#5: Possesses Great Wealth

Hunt states, "[The Whore’s] incredible wealth next caught John’s eye. She was ‘decked with gold and precious stones and pearls . . . ’ [Rev. 17:4]." The problem is that, regardless of what it had in the past, the modern Vatican is not fantastically wealthy. In fact, it has run a budget deficit in most recent years and has an annual budget only around the size of that of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Furthermore, wealth was much more in character with pagan Rome or apostate Jerusalem, both key economic centers.

#6: A Golden Cup

Hunt states that the Whore "has ‘a golden cup [chalice] in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.’" This is another reference to Revelation 17:4. Then he states that the "Church is known for its many thousands of gold chalices around the world."

To make the Whore’s gold cup suggestive of the Eucharistic chalice, Hunt inserts the word "chalice" in square brackets, though the Greek word here is the ordinary word for cup (poterion), which appears thirty-three times in the New Testament and is always translated "cup."

He ignores the fact that the Catholic chalice is used in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper—a ritual commanded by Christ (Luke 22:19–20; 1 Cor. 11:24–25); he ignores the fact that the majority of Eucharistic chalices Catholics use are not made out of gold, but other materials, such as brass, silver, glass, and even earthenware; he ignores the fact that gold liturgical vessels and utensils have been part of the true religion ever since ancient Israel—again at the command of God (Ex. 25:38–40, 37:23–24; Num. 31:50–51; 2 Chr. 24:14); and he again uses a literal interpretation, according to which the Whore’s cup is not a single symbol applying to the city of Rome, but a collection of many literal cups used in cities throughout the world. But Revelation tells us that it’s the cup of God’s wrath that is given to the Whore (Rev. 14:10; cf. Rev. 18:6). This has nothing to do with Eucharistic chalices.

#7: The Mother of Harlots

Now for Hunt’s most hilarious argument: "John’s attention is next drawn to the inscription on the woman’s forehead: ‘THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ (verse 5, [Hunt’s emphasis]). Sadly enough, the Roman Catholic Church fits that description as precisely as she fits the others. Much of the cause is due to the unbiblical doctrine of priestly celibacy," which has "made sinners of the clergy and harlots out of those with whom they secretly cohabit."

Priestly celibacy is not a doctrine but a discipline—a discipline in the Latin Rite of the Church—and even this rite has not always been mandatory. This discipline can scarcely be unbiblical, since Hunt himself says, "The great apostle Paul was a celibate and recommended that life to others who wanted to devote themselves fully to serving Christ."

Hunt has again lurched to an absurdly literal interpretation. He should interpret the harlotry of the Whore’s daughters as the same as their mother’s, which is why she is called their mother in the first place. This would make it spiritual or political fornication or the persecution of Christian martyrs (cf. 17:2, 6, 18:6). Instead, Hunt gives the interpretation of the daughters as literal, earthly prostitutes committing literal, earthly fornication.

If Hunt did not have a fixation on the King James Version, he would notice another point that identifies the daughters’ harlotries with that of their mother: The same Greek word (porne) is used for both mother and daughters. The King James Version translates this word as "whore" whenever it refers to the mother, but as "harlot" when it refers to the daughters. Modern translations render it consistently. John sees the "great harlot" (17:1, 15, 16, 19:2) who is "the mother of harlots" (17:5). The harlotries of the daughters must be the same as the mother’s, which Hunt admits is not literal sex!

#8: Sheds the Blood of Saints

Hunt states, "John next notices that the woman is drunk—not with alcohol but with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus . . . [cf. verse 6]." He then advances charges of brutality and killing by the Inquisitions, supposed forced conversions of nations, and even the Nazi holocaust!

This section of the book abounds with historical errors, not the least of which is his implication that the Church endorses the forced conversion of nations. The Church emphatically does not do so. It has condemned forced conversions as early as the third century (before then they were scarcely even possible), and has formally condemned them on repeated occasions, as in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 160, 1738, 1782, 2106–7).

But pagan Rome and apostate Jerusalem do fit the description of a city drunk with the blood of saints and the martyrs of Jesus. And since they were notorious persecutors of Christians, the original audience would have automatically thought of one of these two as the city that persecutes Christians, not an undreamed-of Christian Rome that was centuries in the future.

#9: Reigns over Kings

For his last argument, Hunt states, "Finally, the angel reveals that the woman ‘is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth’ (verse 18). Is there such a city? Yes, and again only one: Vatican City."

This is a joke. Vatican City has no power over other nations; it certainly does not reign over them. In fact, the Vatican’s very existence has been threatened in the past two centuries by Italian nationalism.

Hunt appeals to power the popes once had over Christian political rulers (neglecting the fact that this was always a limited authority, by the popes’ own admission), but at that time there was no Vatican City. The Vatican only became a separate city in 1929, when the Holy See and Italy signed the Lateran Treaty.

Hunt seems to understand this passage to be talking about Vatican City, since the modern city of Rome is only a very minor political force. If the reign is a literal, political one, then pagan Rome fulfills the requirement far better than Christian Rome ever did.

Please do not think that I am in anyway talking bad about anything anyone has said, specifically Anna.  I think she has a good strong belief in Christ, I simply would like to clarify some false teachings.  I know that she will appriciate that because she has said she will do this also

This will be available for comments because I love to teach people about Christ, being a Christain and it breaks my heart when there are false teachings out there, they simply build walls for the new Christians so that they will not come to the Lord.  That is what we are to be about doing, winning souls for Christ?

Attendance

1. Have you ever attended a concert? If so, who; and how old were you when you attended your first concert?

I have attended many many concerts.  All of them being Christian.  When I wasn in High School we had our church youth gatherings nation and world wide.  At these there were Christian artists.  But... prior to that, I saw a brand new band for free one summer when I was in middle school.  Now you have to realize that this was a town of 3000 people and they were performing in the highschool gym.  I had no idea who they were and I don't think anyone really knew them.  But hey... it was a free concert!  Well.... it was Petra   Some of the other first concerts I saw were Amy Grant, Glad, and Sandy Patti.  Then once I was out of college, I saw several  concerts at the Wichita River Festival, which is a really big deal here.  I saw Rich Mullins for the first time and several others.  Then after I was married we did volunteer work for the Christian radio station in Wichita and we would work the concerts.  We would sell merchandise, help set up and tear down, and do security and usher.  This way we got to see the concert free, probably got some free merchandise for helping and got to meet and talk with the artist.  Therefore I got to meet many artists   I don't think I could name them all lol.  Through this relationship with the radio station we got to know one of the DJ's who was best friends with Rich Mullins and in the process I actually got to *know* Rich.  He is a wonderful person, and is really a true Christian.  Nothing he did was an act.  It was all very real.  When he died, I cried, not for him, no... he was where he wanted to be.  He was doing as one of his favorite songs, flying up to heaven. <pause in rememberance>  I cried for all of us left here on earth without him to lead us in his wonderful music and praise.  Another free concert I got to go to was Leslie Phillips and Randy Stonehill, that was in college... I have been to so many concerts it really is amazing, but I hardly ever paid for them.  I did pay to go see Crystal Lewis.  The secular concerts that I went to, and paid for was Kenny Rogers, and John Taylor.  I think that is about it on secular concerts.

2. What is the biggest ride or rollercoaster that you've ever been on? Were you frightened to go on it?

The biggest rollercoaster was at World's of Fun in Kansas City.  It was the very first one in the US (or so they said) that you stood up in and went in a circle upside down.  Man did that thing go fast!  You know though, a couple months after I went there with my family, they changed it and you had to sit down in it because they had too many accidents with people falling out of it when it was going upside down when they were standing... oh lovely!  I thought it was fun, it was better than the ones that creep up the hill and my anxiety slowly climbs as the ride does and then my stomach goes up into my throat when we finally go flying down.  There is a much smaller rollercoaster at Joyland in Wichita, and it scares me half to death.  It is all wood, and it was built in the 40's I think, my mom rode it when she was a girl, and I highly doubt it has been painted since it was built lol... it creaks and growns, oh man, just the thought of that things scares me... I can't imagine that it is safe.  But then my analytical brain kicks in and says, of course it is, they have those things inspected at least yearly, right???

3. Is there an annual 'festival' that you make sure you never miss? If so, please tell about it; if not, is there any annual event that you like to attend?

Growing up Mennonite, we had an annual Mennonite Relief Sale, there was good German Mennonite food and fun things to look at.  There was the quilt auction, that I just simply loved.  I didn't go to buy any thing like a quilt, I just liked to go and look at all the beautiful quilts.  Then every year there was a man who did glass blowing and my parents would just leave me there to watch him.  I just loved it, and it was always in the same area as the quilts.  Then as I got older and was in college I would go there and we would see all of our old friends.  It was like a great big reunion for Mennonites, everyone went   It grew over the years and they would sell plants, equipment and other things.  When my boys were younger we would collect pennies all year long and then for 1 month before the sale, we would give them to the ushers at church so that they could be donated at the Sale.  There would be cow troughs full of pennies and there would be electric counters going all 2 days of the sale there were so many pennies.  I would always get Verenike, Borsht, Sausage, and Zwieback while I was there, because I could only get it about 1 time per year.  I haven't gone in a couple years, and I am no longer Mennonite in my denomination, although it is still a major part of me.  I need to go again.  It is kind of like you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.....

The Friday Five

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?

My first best friend was Nelly A, she lived across the street from me.  I grew up with her.  She was the same age as me and she was a missionary's kid, so she had some rebellion in her as she became a teen and we drifted a part somewhat.  When we were little, like 2 and 3 years old, we would get into all kinds of trouble together.  There was one time, we ran away and hid under a outside stair case on the college campus close to where we lived.  I still can't believe we did this when I was that young.  I look at my 4 year old and even my 8 year old and if they ever did anything like I did when I was younger and their age, I would litterally KILL them!  shhhhh, don't tell them that though   There was another time that we locked ourselves in her family bathroom.  It was on the main floor and there was a laundry shoot down to a cage like thing in the basement.  We could see her older sister sitting near by and sewing.  Nelly said she had jumped down this shoot many times before.  She tossed her dolly down there to show me that it was harmless and I wouldn't get hurt because I would land on clothes.  I wanted to do this, but I was really scared to.  We must have spent a really long time in there because our parents couldn't find us.  It was close to lunch time and I could hear my mom hollering for me to come to her and of course I didn't (and again, don't tell my children this!)  We simply sat in that bathroom and thought it was funny they couldn't find us. hmmmmm.  We never did jump down that shoot, and Nelly was so upset because now her dolly was downstairs and we couldn't get to it.  Our plan was to scare her older sister once we were down there.  Alas, our plan was foiled!  Someone had to use the bathroom and wondered why the door was locked.... they found us, and I don't remember much after that, but my mom likes to remind me that I got punished! lol  As a parent I say.... I should hope so!!!!  But of course when I was that age, I thought it was totally unfair!

2. Are you still in touch with this person?

No, not much.  I see her once in awhile when she comes to town.  I still live in the same town, but she doesn't.  I see her at reunions, as we went to the same school and the same college.  I know the highlights of her life as I see her mom sometimes and she lets me know, and I tell her what is new in mine so that she can tell Nelly.  See... Nelly started really acting out on her wild side when in college and really didn't want to be around me, and I really didn't think what she was doing was a good plan.  Yes, I "sewed my wild oats" at college too, they just weren't as wild as Nelly's were I guess.  I still think of her often   When we were in 1st grade, she went away to Bolivia with her parents and I missed her terrible so!  We wrote back and forth a lot.  I was so happy when she came back in 4th grade!

3. Do you have a current close friend?

Yes, I have several.  One being my dh, he is one of my dearest friends.  We don't have the perfect marriage, but I can say that we are more than in love, we are very close friends too.  That is what our relationship started out as, very close friends and it simply progressed to something more

I also have other close friends, none of which live near me, they are either close friends I have had that have moved away, although we still keep in contact, or they are online friends that I have never met.  There are some that I have had the wonderful oppurtunity of meeting and it has only strengthend our friendship   They know who they are!  My friends are such a blessing to me.  They are truly a gift from God.  And something that I really do not deserve.

4. How did you become friends with this person?

I partially answered this already.  My dh, I met online, and my lifelong friendship, Barb, I met on youth fellowhip conference when I was in middle school, we have remained friends still.... I do miss our closeness we had at one time and pray that we will once again be close.  We have been friends for 24 years!  The other friends that I am currently closer to are online friends and we met at yahoogroups.  I also met my dh on a yahoogroup for abuse survivors.  All of these people in my life are Christians and they are such wonderful support, but I think I have said that

5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?

Yes and no, there are friends that are in my past, that at sometimes I wish we were close, but then I think, you know, we don't really have that much in common any more.  There are friends of mine from HS that still live here in town, but I really don't have a lot to do with people here in town because when I work I work outside of my little town, and the people that I grew up with are all going our different ways.  Not to say that they are not nice people, because they really are.  There are 2 here in town, Lori and Sha that have been good friends, and are good friends, but we don't run around together.  We all have children the same age, but I am homeschooling and theirs go to public school, although because of some issues I think one of them may be considering private school.  Sha married a lawyer and they are so happy and Casey is such a good man, but they don't run in my circle so to speak.  They lead a life that is much more in "high society" than I ever care to be.  Sha is still really nice and sweet and I love her to death, but we just don't have a lot of common ground any more.  We still see each other and pray for each other, that is the biggy, we pray for each other.  Lori is a teacher and we see each other too, and once again it is simply that they are busy with their children and they have really close friends that they do things with.  They are really good friends with the pastor of the church I used to go to.  There aren't any hard feelings or anything there, it just isn't what was meant to happen.  We keep up with what is going on with each other, but that is about it.  I do wish I could talk more with Barb, but.... she is very busy with church, work, and travel.  I write her emails and it can be weeks before she answers, which, I being the email junky that I am, I really don't understand that lol.... Anyway, I know we will always be friends, she has been there for me through thick and thin.  I think they weren't quite sure what to think when I got out my abusive situation, because that is kind of when the corrispondence deteriorated drastically.  I think I am going to send Barb an email here after I am done with this   There is also Jo, she is so sweet, and I have completely lost track of her   I would like to find her again.... She is from OH, living in IN last I knew and she also was in an abusive relationship and she helped me so much know what to do to get out of mine.  I am eternally grateful for her friendship and support.  But, unfortunately we have lost contact.

This or That Tuesday

Summer Potpourri

1. Strawberries or blueberries?

Blueberries, I am allergic to Strawberries.  I used to pick blueberries when I lived in IN, and I was told they needed to weigh me before and after I went in as I liked to eat them right off of the bushes... I simply love blueberries

2. "Legally Blonde 2" or "Terminator 3"?

Neither one of them interest me.

3. Hamburgers or hot dogs?

Hamburgers normally.  I used to refuse to eat hotdogs after I visited a meat packing company when I was in grade school, but I have not been so "difficult" as of late.  Just today, I had hotdogs, but you know.... it really has to be something like all beef, or all turkey, you know... none of that "scary" stuff they put in SOME hotdogs lol

4. Boating or hiking?

I have always loved boating, which doesn't make a bit of sense, I live in a land-locked state lol

5. Suntan lotion or sunblock?

Sunblock, got that red hair and fair skin to end up with sunburn and/or skin cancer, therefore it is avoid the sun or get a block

6. "Big Brother" or "The Amazing Race"?

once again, neither of them interest me

7. Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett?

How about Rich Mullins?

8. Grow your own produce or buy from supermarket/greengrocer/farm stand?

I prefer to by from a farm stand, but many times that isn't a viable option, so I go to the supermarket.  I used to garden, but haven't had the time, or the energy to do it for awhile now.  I hope to eventually do it again.

9. Drive with car windows/top down, or with air-conditioning on?

definately a/c!  Here in KS when the wind blows it might as well be like trying to cool yourself off with the hair dryer on high heat (oh my!)

10. Go away for vacation, or stay at home?

Well, since my husband is basically homebound, and when he does get out, it is very hard on him and he gets sick for days, the answer is stay at home.  He recently had to go back down to AR, where he if from, and he has been crashed since then

Food and Emotional Journal

Today Eli is having a really bad day and my health is horrible.  I went to go to church this am with the boys, although they were not acting the best and I had a blow up AGAIN with my mother.  She was once again commenting negatively on my parenting .  I then set my boundries and of course she got mad and hung up, oh well, it is no longer going to effect me.  Anyway.... I went to put gas in the car so we could make it to church and I got really dizzy pumping the gas.  I held on to the car.  When I went into pay I fell down, oh lovely day, good thing I have nearly no pride left lol.  So... we came back home.  You know... I really don't like the idea of distracting people during worship .  Well since that time, Eli's behaviour has deteriorated greatly.  He went from hyper, climbing on the furnature and not listening to destroying my things.  I promptly grounded him and told him he could destroy things in his room that are his, not my stuff.  I have talked to him and talked to him until I was blue in the face about this and due to my ill health today (still dizzy)  I really couldn't deal with it very well.  Someone recently said they were the evil mom... oh, it was Anna I think, because she was raising a wild child or something like that.  Anyway... I would beg to differ, I am the one that is such a bad mom, I can't control my children, and they just get worse during the day.  I DO know this isn't true, it has to do with my ds past abuse and his emotional issues.  It simply gets wearry sometimes.  After that, I was shaking, not sure if it is the usteadiness, the prednisone, or anxiety at this point, but as I was putting my younger ds to nap, I was thinking about chocolate.  I have a brownie mix and I wasn't going to even mix it up and bake it, I was simply considering melting some butter and mixing it in there and then eating the dough.  I know, I know, I am very bad, and I really can't believe I admited that.   But... after thinking on that, I heard a little voice in my head say I really didn't want to do that... it would be bad for me and it was definately emotional eating.  So... I am eating a brunch of grapes (not a big amount, just one of those bunches ) and drinking my Diet Pepsi.... trying to be a good girl.  So... with all that said, here is my food so far today:

 2 chili cheese dogs - now, before everyone falls down from shock of how unhealthy that was, let me tell you, the hot dogs were totally fat free, and the chili was very low in fat and made from turkey, not beef.  The buns were low fat and the cheese was low fat also.  I would have had no fat cheese, but it doesn't melt well. 

1/2 pear slice in it's own juice - not sweetened.

20 Saltine crackers

1 small bunch of green seedless grapes

32 oz of Diet Pepsi

64 oz of water so far

Booster Rocket

questions posed by quiltnmomi

How open are you to the influence of a Booster Rocket?  Try thinking through the following questions:

1.  Are you open enough to accept help?  Take pen in hand and note five offers of help in the past month.  Did you accept or decline them?

Most of the time yes, I haven't always been this way.  I have grown in this area tremendously and only because of God's grace.  I have had to rely more on others to help me because as my health deteriorates I have to ask others for help.  I have learned now that if someone offers help, do NOT by any means ever turn it down.  I say this for several reasons. 

1.  If someone wants to help me, I am not going to stop them, they can help and it will free me up to do something else that needs to be done.  There is always something that needs done in my life lol

2.  If someone offers and is turned down, they may never offer again, and then that is equivalent to burning bridges in my book

3.  If someone offers help, then how am I to know that it isn't God working through them and if I say no, then am I a stumbling block for that person?

I get offers of help so much from my parents and from my dh and friends online that it is way too numerous to count and I am way too blessed to keep track of it.  So the answer to writing 5 things down is "I can't"  I know that I have had many more than 5, but unable to actually write them down.  I know that prayer is always there from my online friends, which is actually the biggest help there is.  I never turn down an offer to pray for me or my family.

2.  Which Booster Rockets have you combined with successfully? How did you combine?  Letters, the Internet, phone calls, coffee dates?  List any and all people and methods that work.

I have some really good friends, most of them have blogs, but some don't.  The one that have blogs are listed to the left   I am so blessed by so many of my friends it is mind boggling, they are always here for me and they never turn down help or support.  Right now, support and prayers are the best help anyone can give me and this I find on a regular basis.  Many times I feel like I don't deserve this sort of help.  And... I am not deserving of it, but it is freely given.  This is the part that simply boggles my mind.  Why anyone would want to help another.  But then I think, this is what God wants us to do.  God loves each and everyone of us so much that He wants to take care of us.  Part of being a Christian is listening to God and doing what He wants for us.  Part of that is being in communion with each other, you know, they cord of 3 strands.  God wants His love to shine through each of us.  This is the love and support that I am getting, the love of Christ through others.  I hope and I pray that I can and will do this for others as God calls me to do.  So... internet, blogs, email, cards, and phone calls, that is what works for me.  I am so busy most of the time here at home with the children, and want to be with my husband who is homebound basically, I don't have a lot of time for going out with friends. 

3.  Who among your friends boosts your energy and their own?  Such relationships are mutually nutritious.  Pick up the phone and plan contact.

I have regular contact with these people

4.  Is your significant other a Booster Rocket?  This question may be painful.  Spend a gentle fifteen minutes writing on it.

Yes, most of the time he is.  He has bouts of depression and difficulty with his health so there are times that the answer is no, but most of the time the answer is yes.  I am very blessed to have him as my dh.

Questions from Julia Cameron's Supplies, A Troubleshooting Guide for Creative Difficulties.

Poverty

What is poor? Is there a difference between poor and just living paycheck to paycheck? Do you think that most people that are poor are that way because of something they are doing, because of the nature of our society or some other reason? How do think our "poor" in the USA compare to the "poor" in other nations?

I do believe that we have poor in the US and other "wealthy" countries, but there is so much more extreme poverty in the third world countries the USA does NOT compair.  I know that we have homeless etc, and I am a very strong advocate for the poor and homeless here in the US, but I have lived in Dominican Republic and have seen the extreme poor.  It is beyond imagination, it is beyond what pictures can say.  Unfortunately I could not get my scanner to work today, but I found some photos on the net and they pretty much look like the pictures I would have scanned and put up here.  I will share them now, then after you take a look, I will share some more about my views on poverty.

Yes, there is a difference to being poor and living pay check to pay check.  The poor have no pay check, they live on scraps of what is given to them, or what they dig for, or simply nothing.  Sometimes they go without food.  They do what they have to do to survive.  I am not one for advocating stealing, of course not, that is a sin, but I do understand why it is done by people who have nothing.  Most of the time, they have been left on the street to fend for themselves and are not taught right from wrong, and they are in despirate need for food or other things.  Here in the USA there are places and orginizations that help the poor.  It is available in almost every city in the US.  In third world countries they do not have this.  I have been there, I have seen people living in boxes along the banks of the river because they had no where to go.  In Santo Domingo, every day I would cross a bridge and I could look down and it was like there were people living on top of other people in cardboard and tin shacks.  They were so poor, they really didn't have a place to live.  It is so crowded there.  Many times people that lived in these places did not have electricity.  And they would have families of like 6-10 people all living in this small shack with a dirt floor.  I have one friend who has 6 brothers and he is from Costa Rica, they only had one ball to play with, no other toys.  They didn't have shoes because there was no reason to have them.  When they had a reason, then the one pair of shoes that was in the family would be given to that one person for the time that the shoes were needed.  They lived in a house with a dirt floor.  This was a better house than what they had lived in before.  I am also reading a book called "The Rabbit Proof Fence" and it is describing the Abariginal people and they are poor, they lived off the land, day to day.  Back to the people in Dominican Republic that lived off of that bridge, they recently had a hurricaine and I highly doubt that many of those people are still alive.  There was several towns in the country that are now gone, all the inhabitants and the buildings etc are all washed away from the flooding that came with the hurricaine. 

The interesting fact that I find about these extremely poor people is that they are much more rich in spirit than the more wealthy people are.  When I have visited my friends in Dominican Republic, they will give you anything and everything you need while you are there.  They are much more hospitable with the little they have than people who have much.  I think this is very sad.  I would hope that people who have more would be more giving and share more of their wealth than they do.  I know that I am guilty of this also.  I am not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, I am pointing it at myself also.  I get so busy with my day to day things, that I get focused on the here and now, and only on my problems and things I have to do, and I don't stop to think about all the poverty in the world.  I know many people wouldn't be able to handle going to a third world country and seeing what is there.  It is difficult.  This is not to say that the country isn't a wonderful country.  It is.  It is beautiful, and just wonderful to visit.  I wish I could go more often than I do.  I enjoy reading about what Mother Theresa did in Calcutta and admire her for all her work with the extreme poor.  Many of the extreme poor in India are looked down upon to the point that it is actually abuse and the poor have such a negative self image, that they can't understand why any of the nuns at the mission where Mother Theresa was would want to look at them, let alone touch them and want to help them and care for them and show them the love of Christ.  I believe that is what all Christians are called to do.  Share the love of Christ with everyone. 

I do not believe that all are poor because of something they have done or something they have not done.  They are that way out of circumstance mainly.  Many are born into it and once you are in it, if you do not have assistance to get out of it, you won't.  There has to be something that will break they cycle.  Many of the students that I have had stay at my house through the CASS program (one of our very good goverment programs that has been cut )  were from this type of extremely poor circumstances.  They are now out of it and helping their families to get out of it too.  They recieved the oppurtunity because they had excelled in school.  Our government and their goverment jointly sent them to school here in the states and then once they earned their degree, they went back home to help and serve and teach their own people how to get out of the extreme poverty and gave them the skills to do this.  This isn't something where they come here and then simply stay.  One of the requirements is to go back to their countries. 

I do believe that people can get out of poverty to an extent, but as we all have to realize that there will always be the poor amoung us, it says so in the Bible.  I do not believe that means we are to sit idely by and watch because it will always be.  I believe that God commands us to love each other not simply with emotions, but with actions too.  The comments made by Anna in regards to a devotional she read, are right on.  We can not get salvation simply through works.  Works are a manifestation of our Faith and Salvation.  They go hand in hand and you can't have one without the other.

My worth

You are so much more than you can see!
You are so much more than you think you are!
You are so much more than you have heard about yourself!
 
Complete the following sentences with the first thing that comes to you.  Remember to be honest and make sure you think good thoughts.  If you can't think of anything to complete the sentence, make it up!
 
Use your imagination!  If your thought is 50% believable to you, life will make up the other 50% to support you!
 
Recognize-YOUR BEAUTY
I am beautiful because: 

I have a good loving heart.  I am caring and I see people with loving in my heart and that makes me beautiful, or so I am told.  I still have a hard time seeing this, I am working on it though
 
Recognize-YOUR SPIRIT
I am spiritual because:

I love being in communion with God.  I communicate with Him almost continually.  I think on God and what He would want me to do and how to act.  I pray informal and formal prayers and stive to trust Him in every aspect of my life.  I have smelled and felt the presence of God.  This is not because I am special or anything at all, it is probably because I was slipping in my Faith.  I can only guess.  But God chose to bless me on those times, and I was so undeserving.  I mention it because I am more spiritual because of this.
 
Recognize-YOUR POWER
I am powerful because:

I have the strength of God on my side.  I am working to change my life for the better with God's help.  I am powerful because I have the support of my friends and thier prayers.
 
Recognize-YOUR GREATNESS
I am great because:

I hope that any greatness that I might have is there becuase of Jesus' light shining through me.  I don't think of myself as being great.  I am simply the way I am.  I have a very difficult time with this because I want so badly to put others before myself, yet I do it to the point of being unhealthy about it.  I strive to be a good person, the one that God wants me to be and God does not want us to think of ourselves as better than anyone.  I am thinking that this isn't what this is saying, it is simply saying pick out something of infinite worth about ourselves.... so here goes.... I feel other's pain.
 
Recognize-YOUR STRENGTH:
I am beautiful because

I have really pretty hair.  It is auborn, shoulder length, thick and has some wave in it, but not a lot of curls.  It has spiral curls at the base of my neck and near my ears... just the perfect places.  My dh says that since I have lost so much weight he is starting to see my cheekbones and he thinks I am beautiful   I am also strong because I am tenacious, and persistant to a fault sometimes.  I am also stubborn, so when I set my mind on doing something, I usually go about doing it.
 
Recognize-YOUR TALENTS:
I am beautiful because

I am talented in that I can be creative.  I have lost some of it, or I should say I have lost the space and time to be creative like I used to be.  I used to sew and do handcrafts, but I have so many little hands that want to help me, it isn't feasable at this time.  My creativity is now on computers.  I do graphics, html, webpages, stationary, writing and anything else I can get my hands on lol
 
Recognize-YOUR ABILITIES:
I am beautiful because

My abilities to care for others, and my empathy.  It is difficult at times for me that I can feel other's pain, it hurts.... but then I also know more of what to do to help... sometimes.  Most times people just need someone to listen to them, and give supportive feed back.  Sometimes God gives me the words to say to help and other times I need to be quiet.  I have an ability to love others and be kind to others.  I have an ability to learn.  I love to read and study the Bible and studies about the Bible.  I love to learn!
 
I SEE THE GOOD IN ME
What do you see in me?

What do I see in me?  I see someone who is loving and kind and striving to be the person that God wants me to be in all areas of my life.  I am striving to change the things I have been convicted about and areas that are not healthy in my life.  I hope and pray others can see this too, to know that Jesus is in my life.  I don't want any glory for it, to the contrary, I simply want others to see Christ's love through me.  If God wants me to be the one that plants the seed, then I hope and pray that I can be the preson that God wants of me so that I may do His will.