History of A New King

Posted on October 7, 2025 by authorgsfires1st

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” (Exodus 1:8)

This new king was ignorant of the country’s history and did not know the contributions of the gifted Hebrew who rose from slave, to prisoner to prominent leader, second only to Pharaoh. Joseph, who entered Egypt as a slave, had saved the Egyptians from starvation during a famine. But generations later, the new king of Egypt beheld Joseph’s descendants and family members as mere immigrants to be enslaved, mistreated, and destroyed. In fact, they killed the sons of the Hebrews by tossing the boys in the River after the God-fearing midwives refused to kill the male babies at birth. Kill the boys so they cannot reproduce their own kind.

Thousands of years ago, that killer spirit ran wild under the new king over Egypt.

Today, history repeats itself because there is a new king over America who is ignorant of the contributions of slaves who were brought to this country, Native Americans who were already here before settlers came in seeking a place to exercise freedom of religion, and immigrants who help to keep this country afloat. That same killer spirit is running wild today.

As we cry out for deliverance from this evil king, we must trust that God is already working behind the scenes. He hears and sees what goes on in back rooms and behind closed doors. His plan for deliverance is yet to be revealed. At the proper time, God sent Moses, but Pharaoh’s ego prevented him from recognizing that there was somebody greater than he. So God hardened his heart until the right time when He would destroy both the leader and all of his followers at the same time. In Exodus 14:28, we learn that not so much as one of the Egyptians who came against God’s people remained alive.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Remember, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” said Winston Churchill. It’s incumbent upon each of us to get to know our history in a day of banning books and whitewashing history. Ignorance does not need to be perpetuated.

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Prayer of Repentance

Posted on June 16, 2025 by authorgsfires1st

Jesus said: “I have come in My Father’s name; and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” (John 5:43) Jesus says men don’t honor Him but will honor a well known person who comes in his own name. This word is true today.

“Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are, servants in it! And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure; And we are in great distress” (Nehemiah 9:36-37).

Lord, forgive us for pushing You aside and loving money, power, position and themselves more than You. Have mercy on us for we are in great distress all over this country and even this world. Our leaders have spent enormous amounts of time and resources fighting people and issues and have forgotten to pray and seek your guidance. I repent on behalf of our nation and ask you to please restore law and order and human decency. America, once a nation that proudly bullied other nations, is now a shame and disgrace to most residents. Please have mercy on us because many have been brainwashed and don’t even recognize the truth anymore. Deliver us from the wrecking ball of the oligarchs and bring us into right standing with you again. Favor comes from you alone. Thank you Lord for hearing and answering my prayer just as you heard and answered Nehemiah’s prayer. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

What keeps you hoping for better days while living in a world of trouble?

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God’s Amazing Grace!

Posted on May 23, 2025 by authorgsfires1st

Amazing Grace blessed me today. I find it amazing that “All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” ( Eccl 1:8). How delightful to see the beauty we can create if only we continually worked together and each of us did our part like the singers in the video Sweetest Song I Know. Eyes never stop seeing. Ears never stop hearing. So we should never stop doing our part to make this world a better place for our descendants.

Do you appreciate the amazing gifts and talents God has given to humans?

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Advocacy for the Homeless in Los Angeles

Posted on November 15, 2024 by authorgsfires1st

My advocacy for the formation of a task force in response to the appeal by Mayor Karen Bass to address the homeless crisis in Los Angeles paid off. We have formed new partnerships and made new friends and have qualified to work with LAHSA since our first meeting in the mayor’s conference room on July 24, 2024.

It is so refreshing to see what has evolved since Pastor Patricia Strong-Fargas and I called together Faith-based and small community-based organizations respectively, to help solve the problem. At that first meeting I presented a list of 85 possible actions we could take and 1,000 empty beds we could fill. I am so grateful for all of the organizations that responded to the call for collaboration and for Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches ( LAM ) providing technical assistance during the past year.

Although we are still waiting for funding to assist in our operations, we did receive graduation certificates on October 24, 2024 for our perseverance, hard work and financial sacrifices in housing our neighbors.

+10

All reactions:

1Cathryn Baker

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It’s Okay to Question God

Posted on November 15, 2024 by authorgsfires1st

Why would God allow a prideful evil person to rule over a nation, you might ask? The prophet Habakkuk asked that same question on behalf of his sinful nation: “Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?” (Habakkuk 1:13). God answered him and explained that He would use the Babylonians as pawns in His hand to conquer His people and punish their sins. The Babylonians wouldn’t even realize they were being used by God, and their pride and power would eventually bring about their downfall. God told the prophet to be patient, watch, wait and keep the faith. Let’s do the same. For God will make everything all right at His appointed time.

You mental wellbeing depends on you understanding that after you’ve done your best, you must trust God to do the rest. He’s will never leave us alone. Be encouraged.

Your mental wellbeing depends on you understanding that when you’ve done your part, you must trust God to do the rest.

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Prayer About Healthcare Vote

Posted on May 5, 2017 by authorgsfires1st

On this National Day of Prayer, may we pray without ceasing, demand no more fleecing, and all inept leaders start releasing. On behalf of those of us who stand to be affected by the GOP repeal of healthcare, here’s an imprecatory prayer from Psalm 35:22-27: “O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from [us], O LORD. Awake, and rise to [our] defense!
Contend for [us], my God and LORD. Vindicate [us] in your righteousness, O LORD our God; do not let them gloat over [us]. Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!” or say, “We have swallowed [them] up.” May all who gloat over [our] distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over [us] be clothed with shame and disgrace. May those who delight in [our] vindication shout for joy and gladness, may they always say, “The LORD be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servants.”
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
Plainly stated, “Doing right brings honor to a nation, but sin brings disgrace.”

Please God, bless America, especially our seniors  who are receiving social security and paying higher Medicare expenses with zero increase in income.

Here’s What You Need to Know About the Health Care Bill

 

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What’s Good About Good Friday?

Posted on April 14, 2017 by authorgsfires1st

Every day is good because it is a precious gift from God. But Good Friday is good because Jesus the Christ, the Son of the only true and living God, willingly gave his life for everybody’s past, present and future sins. He died like a slaughtered lamb knowing that 3 days later he would rise again.

 

Since the Jewish day begins at sundown, any part of a day is counted as one day. So when he died at 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon, wasn’t seen at all from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and then arose from the tomb early Sunday morning before the women found the empty tomb, that means he arose on the third day just like he said he would. Jesus loves everybody in the world.

 

Since ALL have sinned, God sent us a Savior who is Jesus Christ. Easter/Resurrection Sunday is a great day to celebrate Jesus who lives forever and will come back again just as he promised. Whosoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life beginning in this world and on to the next when we pass from earth to our eternal reward. There is life after death. Why settle for the Easter egg symbol for new life when you can have the real deal everyday of the year forever?

 

Jesus says in John 12:44-46: “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. And whoever sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.” Believe in Jesus and experience the new life he gives. Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Have a blessed Good Friday!

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Educating Young Minds

Posted on April 10, 2017 by authorgsfires1st

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has historically used the slogan: “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” The words are quite profound since every mind in the world has the potential to propel an individual to do good or evil.

Kudos to leaders, volunteers, teachers, and donors who ensure that the minds of children in Mombasa’s Timbwani School for the poor and orphans from Likoni AIDS Orphanage are not wasted. The lack of school fees does not hinder the education of these inquiring minds. Their hunger and thirst for knowledge coincides with that for physical food and water.  The children have learned how to be content in whatever state they find themselves.

Orphans at Timbwani Baptist Church School

Visit to Likoni AIDS Orphanage

Three hundred poor children sit quietly on the floor in a school assembly.

On a trip to Mombasa, Kenya in East Africa I had the privilege of hearing the children rap about HIV/AIDS and other STDs. Why? Their lives have been gravely impacted by these diseases. While living in an orphanage and attending a school that exists by the mercies of God, the sacrificial love of volunteers and gifts from people who care, these young people exude gratitude and appreciation for education. What a joy to see workers giving of themselves for the sake of future generations who now live in abject poverty.

Investing in the progeny of victims of AIDS and poor parents meets the approval of Jesus Christ who came that ALL may have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27 NIV). God has given each person a mind that must be developed. Our visit was to instill hope and positivity so their minds will not be wasted. Given that “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece” (Prov. 16:27 TLB), those who are better off should  not neglect to help the less fortunate. Surely we don’t want to allow these children to be idle and entertain evil thoughts and deeds.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3 KJV) is an appropriate word of encouragement for those who might feel abandoned or discouraged right now. It is my prayer that these children and school workers will keep their minds focused on the God of all flesh who is in control of all things, and trust him to  deliver them out of all their troubles.

Thank you for caring enough to read and pray for the school. May you share as the Lord leads you to help children who desperately need to be loved, supported and educated.

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A Birdie Showed Me

Posted on April 4, 2017 by authorgsfires1st

I saw an unfamiliar bird while on safari at Masai Mara in Kenya, East Africa. The tour guide called it a secretary bird (https://goo.gl/images/bJun9G). My close up view of birds and other animals roaming in the wild showed me how members of the animal kingdom can live together and share the same space, even though at times one might like to be alone.

Sometimes we humans need time alone with our thoughts and with our God. Oh, it’s good to know that others are around when we want or need company, but how nice it is to be free to wander here and there as we explore this great big planet on which we live.

I wish you the joy of being able to fly the coop if you desire but also being able to plant your feet firmly on the ground without fear of attack when you walk alone.

The brave secretary birdie reminded me of this promise: “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 NLT). Walk on by faith, knowing that you are not alone. 

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Bliss and Blisters in Love & Marriage

Posted on February 18, 2017 by authorgsfires1st

Prologue

I am delighted to share my story of love and loss during the Vietnam War era. Perhaps our marital relationship would have been quite different had the military draft not been a reality in our young adult experience. We’ll never know. Yet, on behalf of the 58,220 young men and women who lost their lives in combat and for other causes on foreign soil (per the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC), I felt compelled to share my personal war for peace at home in South Carolina.

As a pregnant spouse waiting for my husband to return from Vietnam, my desperate cries to God on his behalf and the other troops who had been deployed to a war zone intensified my prayer life. Out of the many young brides who lost their husbands and children who lost their fathers, God allowed me to see my husband return from Saigon, and our daughter to get to know her father. I did not say that he returned safely. But my gratitude for answered prayers outweighed the pain experienced in the tumultuous relationship that followed agonizing months of watching, waiting, praying and hoping for God’s favorable response.

Much has been said about Amerasians (children born to Vietnamese women and United States servicemen), so I share my story about how the war impacted American wives and children, including the unborn child, of troops deployed to Vietnam. With so many of our young men killed, maimed, or missing in action, I realized how population control is achieved through war by killing the males, separating spouses, and creating conflict between men and women. Spouses of returning war veterans have a story that is quite different from that of war widows and war babies. America has a class of overlooked war brides who are not Asian.

While writing Bliss and Blisters in Love & Marriage, I thought of the many young women who married during the Vietnam era (1965-1975) and later experienced trauma in their marriage to war veterans. They either divorced or remained in a marriage often described as “a living hell.” In my story, Vincent Henderson returned from Vietnam with PTSD and I had no idea what had happened to the man I married. Due to the shortage of eligible men in a desired age group, some war brides never remarried. Consequently, children born during the same period often grew up without their biological father or a male role model in the home.

I pray that my story will inspire you to show compassion for our military families at home and abroad during times of peace and war. The surviving family members of the estimated 22 veterans who commit suicide each day need our condolences and prayers. May God bless them, you and your family, and may God bless America.

Gloria Shell Mitchell

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