Sunday, November 6, 2022 is the International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians, a call to pray specifically throughout the entire month of November.
Here is this year’s video presentation from the Voice of the Martyrs, as we continue to implore all to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ … around the globe … every day
Category: VIDEOS, POWER POINTS, AND PHOTOS TO SHARE
Here are videos, power point presentations, and photos, which have been shared with us, and we’d like to share with you.
President Reagan Presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award to Kate Smith
Hi Friends:
Recently, here on our blog, we featured a biography of Kate Smith, with a video of her performing “God Bless America.”
Here’s a link to that post:
https://pastorappreciationblog.com/2022/07/22/kate-smith-god-bless-america/
Now, courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library, is President Ronald Reagan presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award to Kate Smith … which the highest honor given to a civilian in the United States …
Ronald Reagan Library:
License
Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
Full Title: President Reagan Presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award
to Kate Smith at the Raleigh Civic Center Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 26, 1982
Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum:
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum sits on a high hill with sweeping views of the surrounding mountains, valleys and the Pacific Ocean. The Library is one of California’s beautiful and unique destinations.
The Library’s 300 acre site, about 45 miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), stands in for the “shining city on a hill” often referenced by President Reagan. The Library grounds serves as the final resting place of the nation’s 40th President, and his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan.
In addition to the Museum , the Reagan Library, as a Presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the authority of the Presidential Records Act, is the repository of presidential records for President Reagan’s administration. Our holdings include over 60 million pages of documents, over 1.6 million photographs, a half million feet of motion picture film and tens of thousands of audio and video tapes. Additionally, the Library houses personal paper collections including documents from Ronald Reagan’s eight years as governor of California.
The Reagan Presidential Library offers research support to scholars and students alike, curates many special exhibits, manages the collections, and provides robust educational programming for students of all ages including the Situation Room Experience with live role-playing simulations.
YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RonaldReaganLibrary
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum Website:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/
Bless and Encourage Others By Sharing This:
God Bless America: West Point’s Concert Band, featuring Sergeant Major MaryKay Messenger
Hi Friends:
The West Point Band is the Army’s oldest musical organization and continues to provide world-class music to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets and to serve as ambassadors of the United States Military Academy and the Army to local, national, and international communities. Its innovative programs and performances are enjoyed across the globe through regular television, radio, and recordings. The West Point Band traces its lineage back to a single drummer and fifer left to maintain the tradition of military music at West Point after the Revolutionary War. Over the next 200 years, the band evolved into one of the most capable and versatile professional performing groups in the world.
West Point Band’s Website:
https://www.westpointband.com/
West Point Band’s YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/BandWestPoint/
Bless and Encourage Others By Sharing This:
2022 Day of the Christian Martyr
In terms of lives lost, families separated, people imprisoned, and churches shut down,
the 21st century has been the worst period of persecution against Christians in recorded history.
The period from June 29th through the weekend is set aside as “Day of the Christian Martyr” to inspire and encourage Christians to remember modern-day martyrs for Christ and to pray for persecuted Christians. Christians around the world pray for persecuted Christians
and especially for the families of those who have paid the ultimate price for Christ and the gospel.
As we honor the legacy of those who have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the gospel, we share this video, utilizing resources
from “The Voice of the Martyrs” (https://www.persecution.com/):
Bless and Encourage Others By Sharing This:
ATV Up Mount Washington Auto Road
Hi Friends:
Any opportunity to go to the top of Mount Washington is an adventure that should not be missed, regardless of your mode of transportation: Hiking, driving, taking the motor coach, or the Cog Railroad.
It used to be for just one day a year, but now, the Mount Washington Auto Road allows a certain number of ATVs (and motorcycles) to go up, daily, during the Summer months. Carol and I, and her brother and sister-in-law, didn’t want to let this opportunity slip by, so we bought tickets well in advance, to “ride into the clouds” on our side-by-sides.
Regardless of how it is “at the bottom” of the Mountain (sunny, 75-80 degrees), you must be prepared for what awaits you at the top: “The World’s Worst Weather.” You will never understand the meaning of why this is the most dangerous mountain in the world until you experience it for yourself.
We’ve been blessed to have gone up the mountain many times, and each time, it is a totally different adventure. This time, for example, we saw “the cave” for the first time, and were able to film 4 of the Cog Railroad trains at the same time. I have never seen 4 trains at the top at one time: 3 of the custom-built biodiesel locomotives, and in an unforgettable experience, we saw the MW2 … Steam Engine # 2, The Ammonoosuc, built in 1875 and manufactured in New Hampshire at the Manchester Locomotive Works … an authentic coal-fired steam locomotive… I have learned since that when multiple trains are dispatched, the steam train is always last in line behind the diesels.
Enjoy the video of our trip “into the clouds!”
Bless and Encourage Others By Sharing This:
2021 “Day of the Christian Martyr”
June 29th is Day of the Christian Martyr.
This year, the witness, testimony, and example of Rocio Pino will be honored.
“Knowing the risks, she and her husband chose to live and share the Gospel in a
dangerous area …”
We share this year’s “Day of the Christian Martyr” video so that we may be inspired by those who came before us. We ask that we pray for all of our Christian Brothers and Sisters serving Christ faithfully in places where they experience a daily threat of public humiliation, opposition, and violence.
The first request these courageous men and women ask is for us to pray that they will love their enemies and remain faithful to God’s call to be a witness for Christ to those who hate them.
And, let’s pray for our own commitment to Christ, that we may be a bold and faithful witness no matter the opposition we face.
Maybe it’s because I was in South America a couple of years ago, and saw just a glimpse of what it is like “over there;” maybe it’s because Rocio was murdered on my birthday; maybe it was knowing that this happened in front of her husband and children. Maybe it’s a combination of all this, but I just can’t get Rocio’s story out of my mind.
Maybe … I never should.
I hope I never do.
“Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).
I think about how I take so much for granted … think about what I had to worry about today … And, then, I think of Rocio’s family. And, so many other families that aren’t blessed to live in the United States.
Let us always … as we survey what is happening “over here” … not forget what has been happening for so long, and continues to happen to our Brothers and Sisters, “over there” …
We combined resources supplied by The Voice of the Martyrs (https://www.persecution.com/) to present this video:
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Times Change-His Promises Don’t
Hi Friends:
It has become somewhat of a tradition that I take the calendars I receive as a gift each year, and put the calendar photos into a slideshow/movie.
This always allows me the opportunity to emphasize how important it is to have God’s Word “posted” around your house … where you “can’t help” but to see it every day … every day of the year. And … not just you … but, everyone who visits your home will see the Scriptures, too.
For many, this past year has been the toughest, the hardest, and the most difficult year they have ever experienced. We look ahead, to a time when things are “back to normal.”
I think of every year. Many “tougher” than others.
I think about the weather. Yes, the weather. As I write this, we’re in the middle of our latest snow storm. Can’t help but think about Summer. About Spring. I would file that under “hope.” Real hope. Hope I have. Hope you have.
Spring will come. Summer will come. And, so will Fall. And Winter.
My hope comes from God’s Word.
Period.
Same as last year.
And, the year before that.
The same hope I have for this year.
And, the year after that.
As “different” as this past year has been, has it really been all that different?
We’ve suffered great loss. And, achieved great victories.
We’ve experience a lot of bad.
We’ve experienced a lot of good.
Our Hope remains the same:
Hope in God’s promises.
Because they are true.
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I Remember: When “The Lord’s Prayer” Was a Hit Record
Hi Friends:
Recently, I was listening to an old broadcast of “American Top 40” with Casey Kasem (remember that?), and he was counting down the top hits of 1974. Yes, 1974. When I found the station, Casey was the mid-80’s section of the countdown … and there it was …
Coming in at number 86 on the year-long countdown was … “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Yes … “that” Lord’s Prayer, put to music and recorded by Sister Janet Mead.
Hold on … That’s not all:
The song reached # 3 on the Australian Charts, and … The song became an international hit record …
Yes …an international hit record.
Hold on … That’s not all:
It sold three million copies worldwide, reaching at the top of the “pop charts” in nations like Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and the United States.
Yes … “that” United States.
The song entered Billboard’s Top 100 charts on February 24, 1974, was on the charts for 13 weeks, and reached # 4 on the charts in April, 1974, during “Holy Week,” the week before Easter Sunday. The record also reached # 2 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. “The Lord’s Prayer” was a certified “Gold Record” in the United States, meaning sales of over One Million copies. The single earned her a Grammy Award nomination.
The single was the very first Australian recording to sell over one million copies in the United States.
Plus … this:
It also became the only song to hit the Top 10 in which the entire lyrical content originated from the words of the Bible. More specifically, it is the only Top 10 hit whose lyrics were attributed to Jesus Christ.
Janet Meade was (and is) an Australian Catholic nun. She taught music at Saint Aloysius College where the original music video for “The Lord’s Prayer” was filmed. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia. When she was 17, she formed a rock band to provide music for the weekly Mass at her local church. She studied piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium before joining the Sisters of Mercy order and became a music teacher at local Catholic schools.
Mead began making professional recordings of her music for schools and churches in 1973. Later in 1973, she traveled to Sydney for a recording session with Festival Records, produced by Martin Erdman. Originally wanted as a “B” side, “The Lord’s Prayer” became an international hit record. Mead donated her share of the royalties to charity.
In 2004, Mead received the Yamaha Golden Gospel Award in recognition of her services to Australian Christian music.
I just checked “Billboard’s Top 100” for the week of April 13, 1974, and “The Lord’s Prayer” is listed as # 4.
I know you are curious, so here goes:
At # 3 on the charts, “TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)” by MFSB Featuring The Three Degrees
# 2: “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede
# 1: “Bennie And The Jets” by Elton John
As I look at the charts for that week, I see … “moving up 7 notches this week, up to # 20 on the charts is … ‘Tubular Bells’ by Mike Oldfield … the theme for the movie “The Exorcist.”
It would be so easy to do a “then vs. now” commentary, but, I don’t think I need to.
We decided to share this particular video of the song, as it has a lot of photos of Janet Meade, and some of the record labels which released the singles.
Usually, we add the words to the song we are featuring.
Don’t think we have to, on this one.
Please enjoy Sister Janet Meade and her hit recording of
“The Lord’s Prayer.”
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2 Days to Never Worry About: Yesterday and Tomorrow
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