By God's Grace.org LIVE

Well, I am celebrating the new web site for non-Christians!

www.bygodsgrace.org

I will be sending out cards with the url to our ministry leaders for them to hand out generously in every outreach location, and I will also send the cards to anyone who gives to LTW. The cards turned out really nicely reading,

www.bygodsgrace.org
Where God's grace is enough for you

A God Who Knows My Every Thought

I got this encouraging verse today by email from my dear friends who are missionaries to the Jews.

2 Corinthians 4:3: "But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are PERISHING," both Jewish and Gentile.

I drove back to Atlanta today, and it is good to be back home. I drove without listening to any music CDs or any teaching, just feeling the need to think about so many things going on and also pray about situations only God can control. It is such a comfort to realize that He knows our every thought. There is nothing too difficult for Him. I made phone calls to schedule music appointments...feeling a little overwhelmed with so many things I want to do. I asked God to help me and to keep everything at a pace pleasing to God, one project at a time.

I sent out four packages today to various locations. I am working this week on our outreach location in Santa Monica, CA, to the homeless. I am trying to keep it from folding. Our leader has been very sick and in the hospital, and he can no longer lead the outreach. I spoke with him by phone today and was reminded that Hector is a true hero of the faith, beginning this outreach long before LTW began as a true servant of Jesus with a sincere heart for others. We are praying for another leader, so I made some phone calls about it today. As of now, it is no longer taking place on Sundays in Santa Monica; we may change the day to Saturdays weekly and change the location from Santa Monica to Venice Beach, since Dan is already leading an outreach to the homeless there every Saturday morning with hot food. I mailed Dan some devotionals for this homeless outreach, sending the package to First Baptist Long Beach. We are thankful for all the help we get in our partnership with First Baptist Long Beach.

I plan to get in touch with Nitoy tomorrow, the leader for the Philippines outreach. I want to offer to send him some tracts in his language and also many cards to hand out with the url to our new web site for non-Christians: http://www.bygodsgrace.org/ .

I plan to be in the music studio this Friday morning singing a song I have written, which will be included on my next Christian music CD called "Livin' For God Alone." I am going to take some time to work on it tomorrow, making sure the lyrics are tight.

I am also working on a new "video" for You Tube of "We Will Understand It Better By And By/I Must Tell Jesus" with photos taken at Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola, Louisiana). I am enjoying putting the photos together, which will scroll as the music plays. I hope to have this done by the end of the week.

I have so much on my mind. I do look forward to my 3 to 5 mile walks in the park here in Atlanta with a God who knows my every thought...

Prison Outreach: "Set Free" (Testimony of Inmate on Death Row)

We have ordered 1,080 books of Karla Faye Tucker's testimony for every woman at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women to have a copy if she wants one. Details on the book are found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Karla-Faye-Tucker-Set-Free/dp/0877887756

We are thankful to be partnering with Psalm 91 Foundation for this book distribution to every female inmate in the state of Louisiana, including the two women on death row.

Mission America

My recent Mission America radio interview with Linda Harvey is posted on my personal FB page if anyone would like to hear it. I hope partners in ministry will connect with me via Facebook, because that is where most of the articles are posted about apologetics to save time.

Work Update

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.... I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit...." John 15:13-16

I drifted off to sleep last night praying about my singing and the plans I have to record new songs in 2011. I know that God gave me a voice to sing His praises, and I realize that He loves it when I sing for Him. I don't want anything else to be my focus, so I am going to take it a song at a time when recording some beautiful songs from the 50s in 2011.

I was going to head back to Atlanta today, but my brother is coming tonight, so I am going to stay one more day to see him. I am working from here in Tennessee today from my lap top.

More books have been ordered for the inmates at the prisons in Louisiana, and I am working on mailouts for "thank you" gifts to anyone who made a contribution to LTW in 2010. These will be sent out in January, 2011.

I am organizing more tracts to be sent to Israel for the table outreach in Jerusalem, and perhaps also to Dov and Olga for their ministry of evangelism and church planting in Tel Aviv and other areas. I am also working on organizing our outreach location in Los Cabos, MX.

Hours of Video Editing

To my relief, I have really enjoyed looking at some DVDs of me sharing my testimony last fall and being interviewed on a television program last month. (I usually don't find it easy looking at myself speak.) I had not seen these tapings until today. The people who taped me have been nice enough to wait for me to approve of the videos before posting them online. Being snowed in here in TN, it was nice to watch the DVDs with my family and have them confirm that they will bring God glory... The videos will be posted on Vimeo and You Tube soon, and these will be the only videos posted to my knowledge about my life and our work in ministry this year. In one of the videos, I am speaking at Angola Prison (Louisiana State Penitentiary) and singing "Honest Life." It brought back great memories of my time there, and I am thankful the video turned out well of me sharing about all God has done and all His love means to me. Also, it will be helpful for people working with me internationally, like the pastor in Pakistan, who will more than likely never meet me in person. Perhaps it will let people know the heart of our ministry a little more after watching the videos. A few will need some editing, so I have made notes.

Tomorrow I plan on returning to Atlanta. The roads are clear. Work awaits me back in Atlanta, as I want to focus on getting some Christian songs recorded in January and getting the booklet/pamphlet written for West Hollywood called "Is There A Gay Gene?" (working with Arthur Goldberg and Neil Whitehead.) I will also be working with a video editor to get these videos online as soon as possible. I would like to add about a 10 minute video about Angola before I speak, so I will be following up about that as well.

(There was a 3 hour wait to ride up the tram in Gatlinburg this afternoon to get to the sledding and tubing. We decided to wait to take my nephews and little niece, too, when they come to visit in January, and I return to this area to get to see them again soon. http://www.obergatlinburg.com/ .)

LTW Update: Pakistan

From Pastor Babar kamran: "Here are snapshots of the new table outreach in a village. In that village we arranged a worship session and distributed free Bibles and Christian books. The table was set up late at night. The majority population of that village is Muslim. Those people have no church building, and they go to church only on Christmas or special occasions too far from their village. They were so happy when they got Bibles. They have passion that they get a piece of land for the Church, so, sister, please pray for them, too. Hallelujah! It was a great experience in cold weather. Blessings, Pastor Babar kamran/ Lighting the Way Ministries/ Pakistan"

Thank you for the donations for Bibles and materials in Urdu to share the Gospel in this Islamic country. It is very exciting to be part of God's work there!

The Snow Keeps Falling

Snowed in, so I bought my mother a dozen roses for her beautiful kitchen table, and we headed back home when the roads were too icy for driving to the tram to sled down the Smoky Mountains this afternoon. It has been a great day, as the snow continues to fall...
(Beautiful church in the snow I photographed on the way to Gatlinburg to catch the tram for sledding)
Playing in the deep snow...

...counting blessings as my grandmother is feeling well this Christmas. (She lives with my mother.) My dad is getting over his cold, as I have yet to get sick! A few days ago my mother told me, "You might get snowed in." I said, "No, I am sure it will not stick." I was wrong!

It was fun taking photos in the snow outside of Gatlinburg, TN. We have to get to the tram in order to make it up the high mountain for sledding, and the mountain road to Gatlinburg was covered in ice with about 2 feet of snow. We plan to attempt the mountain road again tomorrow to go sledding before I head back to Atlanta!

Snowed In

There was too much ice on the road to Gatlinburg for me to get to the tram ride up the mountain, so we had to turn around. Maybe we will try again tomorrow before I head back to Atlanta.

Tonight I am viewing DVDs of my speaking (which is not something I really enjoy) to see if there is some footage we can use of my testimony. I never like seeing myself, because I am hard on myself and realize what I could have said or done better. If we get some good footage, I will take the DVDs to an editor to use for the ministry. These are DVDs of my recent interview on a television program in Indiana where I shared about LTW and my testimony and of my time speaking and singing at Angola prison in Louisiana.

We have close to 2 feet of snow, and there is no sign of it stopping. It looks like a beautiful winter wonderland here in the Smoky Mountains.

Reaping What We Sow

Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength
Whose heart departs from the Lord
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert
And shall not see when good comes
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness
In the salt land which is not inhabited
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose hope is the Lord
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters
Which spread out its roots by the river
And will not fear when heat comes
But its leaf will be green
And will not be anxious in the year of drought
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

Jeremiah 17: 5-8

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can know it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart
I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways
According to the fruit of his doings.”

Jeremiah 17: 9-10

Let It Snow

I AM GOING SLEDDING TODAY WITH 1 FOOT AND 3 INCHES OF SNOW (AND MORE SNOW FALLING)!! I am going to sled down the highest mountain, and it is going to be so much fun!!!

Church was cancelled today due to snow, and I had planned on just staying in, but then I realized I am in the Smoky Mountains with so many fun things to do on a day like today. My mother said, "I hope I don't get killed, but I will do it with you." :-)

As for work, I have contacted the leader of the Kenya outreach and the leader of the Los Cabos outreach for an important online "chat" about some problems. I received some beautiful photos of the latest outreach in Pakistan, and I will post the photos soon on the blog.

I will also send the wardens and chaplains an email at every prison where I spoke in Louisiana as follow-up about sending free paperback books of Karla Faye Tucker's testimony to every prisoner there. Thanks to Psalm 91 Foundation, we can get them all a book of how God saved her and the impact she had on inmates all over America from within prison due to her testimony and changed heart.

"No More Prisoner Of Yesterday"

(Photos taken at Louisiana State Penitentiary)

I wrote this song back in 1998 with an accomplished songwriter, Stan Paul Davis. I listened to this song for the first time in years on this Christmas Day on an old cassette. I got so excited, because I thought of the inmates at Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary) and realized that I needed to record it and add it to my next CD of Christian songs!

NO MORE PRISONER OF YESTERDAY

I sat and watched my dreams dying
Thought I’d never have them back
I used to wander way too often
What I could do to change the past

And like the sun that rises
That shines its light to lead the way
A new beginning’s finally dawning
No more prisoner of yesterday

Bottled up mixed emotions
Secrets I would never tell
Found the key to true forgiveness
When I stopped running from myself

And like the sun that rises
That shines its light to lead the way
A new beginning’s finally dawning
No more prisoner of yesterday

And the more I look around me
The less I can complain
A new beginning’s finally dawning
No more prisoner of yesterday

A new beginning’s finally dawning
No more prisoner of yesterday

"Soon And Very Soon"

“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord.... and He shall reign forever and ever!” Revelation 11:15

Having a Musical Christmas Day

It is a beautiful, white Christmas here with snow still falling. I hope to make it back to Atlanta tomorrow if the weather allows.

I AM SO HAPPY THIS CHRISTMAS! I have been listening to music from years and years ago, thankful that I can record some of these songs in 2011. I plan to record "He Looked Beyond My Fault" with a piano in Atlanta next month and also finish a song I wrote last year called "Livin' For God Alone" for my next Christian music CD. I listened to "Soon And Very Soon" today by Andre Crouch, and, of course, wanted to record it, too. I keep thinking about the inmates at Angola and what songs will mean a lot to them when I return to sing at the prisons. I found an old lyric I co-wrote years ago called "No More Prisoner Of Yesterday." It is perfect! I have to record it and will post the lyrics soon.

All presents have been opened, and a turkey is in the oven. My mother has played the piano much of the day, and I have reminisced listening to old music. I am about to do some stretches in front of the fire. I am excited about all God has planned in 2011, remembering that every single day I can celebrate the birth of Jesus by abiding in the new LIFE He has given me and not taking for granted any freedom He has granted me on the inside (Galatians 5:1) to put my heart at ease within my being, free from sin and any habit or course of living that "enslaves" me.

New Table Outreach in Alabama Hopefully in 2011

Here is the latest newsletter from Soverign Grace Baptist in Anniston, AL. We hope to partner with them to begin a new table outreach on a college campus in 2011. Jon Cardwell, the pastor, writes as the church is praying about beginning this outreach based on apologetics:

"We're getting some groundbreaking apologetics training (at least on creation/evolution) that just fell into our laps this week ..."

www.justificationbygrace.com

www.vayahiypress.com

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
5440 Alabama Highway 202
Anniston, Alabama 36201
(256) 689-1283

www.sovereigngraceanniston.com

www.sermonaudio.com/vayahiy

Making Progress

Updates have been made to my music site at www.DwaynaLitz.com , and we have proofed the entire new web site (of apologetics for non-Christians) at www.bygodsgrace.org , and it will be live soon. We are only waiting on Google.

Tomorrow night I am singing at my dad's Christmas party, so that will really be fun, as we are expecting a white Christmas here in TN!

I am preparing for a meeting at my church, First Baptist Atlanta, about our new outreach locations in Little Five Points and GA Tech (Atlanta) after the New Year.

Tomorrow I will be working on getting books sent to the women's prison in Louisiana for all the women there! The book is called 'Set Free', and it is a biography on the life of Karla Faye Tucker. She became a Christian after going to prison in Texas, and God used her testimony to impact all the women in prisons everywhere in America. Thanks to Pslam 91 Foundation, we hope to get a paperback version of the book to every woman in the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (where I sang and shared my testimony last month). I hope to also get copies to the Elayn Hunt prison and the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

I have my first draft done and off to Dr. Neil Whitehead of "Is There A Gay Gene?" I hope to finish this next week, and I also thank Arthur Goldberg for his help. We will use this in West Hollywood. My prayer is to have this off to the printer by the middle of January.

On top of everything else, LTW is now praying about expanding to Canada. God has to work out a lot of details, but I got an email from a dear Christian woman today from Canada, and I promised her I would pray about us starting a table outreach there. More details will follow.

I am enjoying being with my family so much. Tonight I am with my mother at her house in TN as we are enjoying a warm fire. I am eating healthy this Christmas and so very happy, hoping to get a whole lot of work done next year!

For God's glory,

Dwayna

Closer Look at Islam

(Note, these facts on Islam were posted as a response to THIS article.)

“Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable.” Koran 3:85

"The only true faith in God's sight is Islam." (Surah 3:19)

"Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends." (Surah 5:51)

“The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them.” Koran 9:30

“Terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.” Koran 8:12

Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and Alla's religion shall reign supreme." (Surah 8:36-)

"Fight against such as those to whom the Scriptures were given [Jews and Christians]...until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued." (Surah 9:27-)

Prophet make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home." (Surah 9:73)

Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah..."

Quran (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." There is a good case to be made that the textual context of this particular passage is defensive war, even if the historical context was not. However, there are also two worrisome pieces to this verse. The first is that the killing of others is authorized in the event of "persecution" (a qualification that is ambiguous at best). The second is that fighting may persist until "religion is for Allah." The example set by Muhammad is not reassuring.

Quran (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." "People of the Book" refers to Christians and Jews. This was one of the final "revelations" from Allah and it set in motion the tenacious military expansion, in which Muhammad's companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in just the next 100 years. Islam is intended to dominate all other people and faiths. Notice the words: that infidels are "Allah's enemy". Allah also said that Muslims were to kill all their enemies. This of course means endless war against all non-Muslims.

Even in something as humanitarian as adoption of helpless children is forbidden in Islam... In the Judeo-Christian religions, and many others, adoption of orphaned and helpless children is a virtuous and compassionate action, pleasing to God and blessed with divine approval. All but Allah (and hence Islam) has a completely different view:

Mohammed had adopted a boy called Zaid, who later married a beautiful girl named Zainab. But the dirty old lecher Mohammed couldn't keep his filthy paws off Zainab, so he forced Zaid to divorce her. But there was one problem: according to Arab custom Zainab was still his daughter-in-law, so he couldn't have his wicked way with her. Then miraculously, Allah revealed a new law to Mohammed, that adoption was illegal and all previous adoptions null and void. So Zainab was not, and never had been Mohammad's daughter-in-law.

Islam prohibits adopting children. Period. Adoption in the technical sense is not allowed in Muslim Shariah law. This is because Allah does not like this gesture of adopting orphan children. Muhammad Rushed Ridha states, "Allah prohibited adoption in Islam and annulled all the judgments' pertaining to adoption

Radio Interview Today with Linda Harvey

I really enjoyed being on the Mission America radio program with Linda Harvey today. We discussed how God sees the heart, mentioning verses such as 2 Corinthians 5:17, Revelation 2:17, Philippians 3:13, 1 Samuel 16:7, Matthew 25:36 and James 2. I will post a link to the interview when it is online. I mentioned how one of the inmates in prison, who has become a Christian, told me last month, "When we get to heaven, God promises to give us a new name." Revelation 2:17. I will never forget that. That visit to Angola prison was quite a reminder to me that God sees the heart...

The interview will be posted soon on this site: http://www.missionamerica.com/

After the interview I worked on my new pamphlet for West Hollywood all afternoon. It is off to Neil Whitehead for him to edit with his wife, Briar. I will add more about how there is no scientific evidence for a gay gene from Arthur Goldberg's book when I return to Atlanta next week. I hope to have this off to the printer in January.

"I Am" New Age Theology Spreading

Article by Ida Greenwood quoting theological feminist Sue Monk Kidd:

Everyone comes to the table with a world view. Our world view makes a difference. It is the lens, the perception of reality that we interpret and live our lives through. It is the basis of our thoughts, our feelings, our words and our actions. We develop our worldview through our family, our own cognitive abilities, our communities and culture, our language and our life experiences. It becomes the platform from which we interact with the world.

My world view was radically changed when I became a Christian in my early 30's. It changed suddenly, upon conversion. What I used to believe, what my world view used to be, was very similar to what Sue Monk Kidd writes about in her book, When the Heart Waits. For many years, from age 18 until I was 32 years old, I read and studied as much as I could about spiritual matters, occult experiences, eastern mysticism, paganism and spiritual psychology. During my 4th year of university, I studied the I Ching and Taoism, under a Chinese professor, and used such things as coins and yarrow stalks to divine the way for the day. We looked for and found synchronistic events pointing here and there and to who knows what. Oh, it was certainly "deep" and it was certainly "mystical". It was all those things, but it certainly wasn't Jesus! I even did what Sue Monk Kidd so studiously does; she holds a Bible in one hand and a favorite, pagan-of-the-day writer in the other. Therefore, when I read Sue Monk Kidd's book and her bibliography, I recognized some of my old friends from my Journey Away from God. I am just going to mention some of Monk Kidd's closest friends and influences, and give you their world view.

Alan Jones:

Monk Kidd references several books by one of her favourite authors, Alan Jones. Among her references are: Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit and Soulmaking.

In Reimagining Christianity, Jones is a proponent of the heresy that there is an evolution in human consciousness, which he views as centuries ahead of the spiritual primitiveness of literal belief in the Bible. (pg. 209-210) He does not necessarily believe that events in the Bible actually happened, but that, even as a child, he has read the Bible as a metaphor or moral story for humankind. The evolution of the human consciousness also implies evolution of the spirit. The goal of Jones' book is to reinvent Christianity because, in his opinion,

“ Religion is broken, and something needs to be done to fix it. It needs to be reinvented . . . Many of us feel that the old story of religion — the way it makes sense of our place in creation — is in need of serious revision.... We need a new way of telling the Great Story.”

Given that premise, he states, “This book is about Christianity and how its practice can be redefined as art. .” Further on in his work, Jones introduces the idea of Jesus as a literary metaphor! Given this mindset, where most of the Bible is simply a metaphor, SMK can pull any Scripture out to mean anything that she wants it to mean. For instance, on page 58, SMK uses Adam naming the animals as her instruction to spend long weeks looking within and naming all the inner patterns of false selves that imprison us, in "order to know them more fully and gain power over these false selves." However, the Bible says, "We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." (Romans 6:6)

All of SMK's use of fairy tales, the Bible as a metaphor and her emphasis on learning about the false selves ; the perfectionist, the people pleaser, the good little girl false self, is a way of avoiding a truthful, honest reading of the Bible. She really needs to know what the Scripture says about such false selves. "But that is not the way you learned Christ! ---assuming (italics mine) that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:20-24

Jesus clearly teaches us that "If you abide in my word... you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."... "Truly, truly, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin....so, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:31-36). "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Cor. 5:17.

Unfortunately, SMK has spent too much time abiding in herself, and not abiding in His word. There are many misuses of Scripture found in SMK's book. In his critique, David has briefly spoken about this problem. "Monk Kidd's use of Scripture is, when she uses it, appalling. Passages are lifted out of context and twisted around to communicate ideas alien to Scripture." Under the influence of Jones and others, Monk Kidd also refers to "spiritual evolving " not only in the first chapter of her book, but all throughout her new worldview:

"I wonder if waiting was the 'missing link' in spiritual evolving, the lost and forgotten experience..." (pg.14) and "The life of the soul evolves and grows as we move through these three cycles...Life is full of cocoons. We die and are reborn again and again....we're brought closer each time to wholeness and the True Self." (pg. 78). "We can't really go back to the old sunshine; instead, we're being drawn to a new Light." (pg.154). "One of the more difficult questions about spiritual transformation is, ...if I grow and evolve..." (pg.178). "The real essence of spiritual transformation is about realizing ...our inner Christ-nature;" (pg. 181).

Please take note that SMK is a talented writer, a wordsmith. When she uses a word, she has chosen it carefully to evoke the sentiment and the meaning that she wishes to convey. When SMK uses the word 'evolve or evolving', she is not tossing it around lightly. She is using it within the context of the East/West spiritual philosophy that was and is so prevalent today. Also keep in mind that her audience is not just Christians, and she is saying that everyone has the inner Christ-nature and therefore can evolve into ....Christ. Read the two following quotes carefully and listen to what she is actually saying,

"...we're being thrust into personal transformation, into the task of birthing an 'I' that is not yet. ...however, we're actually being presented with a spiritual developmental task. We're being asked to unfold a deeper self-- what we might call the life of Christ within us."...(pg.8-10)

"Jesus was walking, talking, compassion. As we're able to live more of our True Self, that's what we become as well. We become Christ..." (pg.202).

...During the 1970's and 80's, there was a resurgence of interest in "spiritual evolution". People were using the writings of Catholic theologian, Teilhard de Chardin, to (perhaps errantly) develop a philosophy of spiritual evolution. In 1972 my husband and I studied under the "mentorship" of an active Catholic priest who believed in and taught this spiritual evolutionary idea. Under this false doctrine, we believed that all people have a 'divine light' in them that can eventually, with the correct spiritual practices and guidance, become as Christ, even cosmically conscious. Wow! That was heady stuff! Much like SMK, we were elated (I quote from her book) that, "Spiritual growth has no boundaries." (pg. 204) So, from there, we studied every spiritual (east and west) ideology that presented itself to us, every Jungian psychology aberration that appeared on our horizon, and all the mystical, esoteric mumbo-jumbo that comes along with it. We didn't need a Savior, because we didn't need saving! We just needed a spiritual Chiropractor, someone who could just re-align our thinking a bit, so that we could continue to realize our "potential of the divine fire within." Finally, after many years of being entrapped in this nonsense, God delivered us from the cosmic soup and compost heaps of man-made religion. We met the living Jesus Christ, who lived and died and was resurrected by the power of God. He died as atonement for my sins and my sin- nature, He shed his blood, so that I could become free of the power of sin and destruction. He died so that I may have life and have it abundantly. And that life is the indwelling life of the Holy Spirit, who knows the thoughts and the heart of the Father, and will give that to me as He pleases. There is nothing dull or boring about this kind of Christian life. No need for a mid-life crisis because whenever dark nights, doubts and demons assail me, I have Jesus, the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, my faithful husband and friend, my church and her faithful teachings, and faith-filled friends to pray for me.

Bernice Bruteau

Early in her book, SMK discovers and identifies her personal spiritual mentor, Dr. Bernice Bruteau.(pg. 35) one of the foremost proponents of "Spiritual Evolution". Dr. Bruteau was a powerful influence in Sue Monk Kidd's life and writings. To give you an idea of who she is and what she believes, I have quoted an interview with Dr. Bruteau that was done by EnlightenNext magazine. (Sept.-Dec. 2006 issue)

An interview with Dr. Beatrice Bruteau
by Amy Edelstein and Ellen Daly

WIE: In this issue we are exploring spiritual evolution and the relationship between enlightenment and evolution. You are one of the pioneering thinkers in evolutionary spirituality and your work has been devoted to bringing an evolutionary view to Christian contemplative life. In your book, God's Ecstasy, you have said, "Evolution is a part of religious life.

You also say in your books that Self-realization, or enlightenment, is “the foundation for evolution”. Do you mean that for the next step of evolution to occur, we must transcend our ego motivations, those impulses that fundamentally keep us separate from each other?

Bruteau: Yes. Self-realization is the condition for forming the next creative union because we must bring the characteristic human energy to the place where we can intentionally share it. To form a truly New Being, to make another Great Step in evolution, we have to unite the deepest, most central energies of consciousness. This depth is currently buried and hidden in most of us. Yet, we also sense that it is there, waiting to be brought into full presence, and so we do various spiritual practices in the hope of becoming fully aware of our deep reality. It’s important that we make a big effort to realize the True Self —otherwise we’re running entirely on the motives to exploit and dominate —the motives that are endangering the world.

WIE: What do you mean by “deep reality”?

Bruteau: Deep reality is that place in the center of our being where we experience our existence in an unlimited way. The deep self is not defined, not described by any of the qualities of our bodies or personalities, by our histories or social positions, our jobs, or our religions. This is fairly hard to realize. We tend to think of ourselves, introduce ourselves to others, believe others are seeing us in terms of these qualities. In meditation and its associated practices, we try to center ourselves in our sense of existing without identifying with these descriptors. To the extent that we become accustomed to this, we may spontaneously behave in a new way.

You can see from this how our energy is affected. When we define ourselves in terms of our qualities, we have to devote energy to protecting them and trying to gain more valuable ones —more beauty, personality, wealth, power, social status. But if we liberate ourselves from such identity, then all that energy becomes available for the radiation of goodwill to others. We have realized ourselves as the Self that says only I AM, with no predicate following, not “I am a this” or “I have that quality.” Only unlimited, absolute I AM.

And the interesting thing is that as soon as you experience yourself this way, you at once find that you also are saying toward the whole world, “Let it be!” It seems to be the nature of that which is I AM to say, “Let it be.” This is the love that is called “agape.” Agape is the love that seeks the being, well-being, full being, ever-fuller being, of the beloved. It is a love that is not a reaction to the beloved but rather a first action, an action beginning in you, coming out from the center of your being because of the nature of your being. This energy of love is inexhaustible. It doesn’t have to be reserved or apportioned or used economically. It is plentiful, bountiful, enormous. It is a dynamic out-flowing activity, energy. It’s constantly in motion and radiant, like a star is radiant. It streams out from us in every way. The True Self in us is constantly radiating this willed goodness. " (end of quote)

SMK's mentor, Dr. Bruteau, who has been developing this apostate philosophy for many years before this interview, has been instrumental in moving SMK towards "self-realization" and "enlightenment". The use of words and phrases such as, 'the True Self that is buried and hidden', and 'this love that seeks the being' and "center ourselves in our sense of existing without identifying with these descriptors' are echoed and reverberate over and over and over again in SMK's book. An early example of Bruteau/Monk Kidd's 'existing without descriptors' is found on page 10 of When the Heart Waits. "This transition is difficult because it involves a real breakdown of our old spiritual and psychic structures--the old masks and personas that have served us well in the past but that no longer fit..... Perfectionist, Performer, Pleaser, Good Little Girl, submissive church goer, passive and traditional wife---(pg. 10) When, on the fourth page of her book, SMK says that she was summoned over to a "crossing over from one identity to another", I honestly think that she had moved right out from under the wing and protection of God, no longer abiding in Christ, if she ever did, and was easy target and prey for spiritual forces of darkness. It seems that people like Sue Monk Kidd "did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own...they do not submit to God's righteousness."(Romans 10:3) 

Maggie Ross: Another favourite mystic and theologian that has shaped SMK's new theology is Maggie Ross and her work, The Fire of Your Life. In The Fire of Your Life, Maggie Ross states, "The fire of God, the life of the blessed Trinity, dwells in the heart of all beings, of every person, of you and of me. It is the source of the inframutability of energy, matter, Spirit, the convergence of all the goodness of the universe in one eternal moment. It burns away the veil between life and death and enables us to share God's own life with one another and with those who have gone before. Often our lives seem disconnected fragments, [but ] this fiery love, this burning life, enfolds us within itself, and all ...that is within each of us."

Monk Kidd refers to a "burning bush" experience on pg. 79 which she says is a "moment the divine fire inside is struck and the summons to separation or exodus comes." On page 156 Kidd says that after she attended an Easter service, she carried a tiny piece of the Easter fire inside herself. "This fire, which belongs to us all, is nothing less than the pulse of new life within the soul." This is a replica of Maggie Ross's view of reality. On page 48 we find Kidd saying that the soul is the seat of the inner Divine, the God-image, the truest part of us and that entering it, greening it and developing the divine seed that awaits realization is the soulmaker's task. (pg. 47-51) "We can think of the Self as already within us, ...a potentiality striving to become realized in us...as a bulb buried in the dark ground of my unconscious, seeking to push into the conscious light...winding and growing toward realization." (pg.51).

I then must ask, "Who needs an outside God to come into this world as an infant, to suffer and die on the cross as the legal substitution for my sin and then to be raised to life?" Again I ask, "Who needs all of that if I already have a built-in God that I just need to tend to like a seed or bulb in the garden?"

On page 61, SMK says that, "..'light' emanates not from our achievements, but from the divine fire within our soul." When SMK talks about this divine fire in our soul, she is not talking about the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit is a gift given, as separate from unregenerate mankind. People may call themselves Christian, but do not necessarily have the Holy Spirit living in them and through their lives. The Holy Spirit is not automatically in every soul because the Spirit is promised by Jesus, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth." and "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things..."(John 14:15-26). So, it is plain to see that Maggie Ross's assertion that "the fire of God, the blessed Trinity,...the source of energy, matter and Spirit, dwells in the heart of every living person," is not true according to Scripture. It is false. And all of SMK's poetic gyrations around such nonsense is false as well.

Monk Kidd...begins chapter five with a quote from their book Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings. (pg. 101) "I am caterpillar. The leaves I eat taste bitter. But dimly I sense a great change coming. What I offer you humans is my willingness to dissolve and transform. I do that without knowing what the end result will be."

Other excerpts from Thinking Like a Mountain show us the further development of the pantheistic worldview... "Every atom in this body existed before organic life emerged 4000 million years ago. Remember our childhood as minerals, as lava, as rocks? Rocks have the potentiality to weave themselves into such stuff as this. We are the rocks dancing" and "we are part of the rainforest recently emerged into thinking" (p. 36). "Relax and breathe in, breathe in Mountain, I feel my rock-roots go deep, deep down to where the Earth herself is very hot" (p. 80)

We can readily see this influence on SMK's thinking as she states, "One of the more unexpected gifts that I began to discover was the wedding of my soul with creation....a deepening sense of oneness with it....[it can be] expressed like this: (as SMK quotes another author,) "...that feeling of being part of everything, not separate at all. I knew that if I cut a tree, my arm would bleed." (pg. 189-90). "As the True Self is born within us, ...the illusion of separateness is shattered. We discover that God so loved the world that God gave us each other. We enter a vibrant knowing that we're one with every creature." pg. 200.

The Scripture admonishes such pagan thinking in Galations 4: 8-9 "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now,...how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more."

As you can see, SMK's book is chalk full of false doctrine that is encased in the slippery use of poetic language. It is a personal spiritual journal that has become a dangerous and counterfeit rendition of the work and word of God. It is a dark light on a dark path.

Lynnette Woods says in Unveiling, "Religion is certainly a confusion of many voices, it is a mixture of what is true and false that God must divide in order to reveal what is of Him and what is not.....From the Garden of Eden to the end of this world, the mixing of truth with error remains a very successful means of deceiving and seducing us. In the book of Revelation in reference to Babylon is written, 'by your magic spells and poisonous charm all nations were led astray, seduced and deluded. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints...' (Rev. 18:23,24), and the cry to us all is: 'Come out from her, My people, so that you may not share in her sins, neither participate in her plagues...'" There are some things which God must divide and separate and which we must reject and turn away from. "

The changes that my world view is undergoing is all about believing what Jesus says, it's about believing the Bible and living that out on a daily basis. It is a process, sometimes a long and arduous one, as the Holy Spirit reveals to me what I believe and how I act, and how to become more like Jesus Christ. I pray that I would never change my worldview for the likes of SMK's.

Sincerely,

Ida Greenwood

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8

New Tract for West Hollywood

I am working tonight on creating a tract/brochure for our outreach in West Hollywood. I am getting the information from Neil Whitehead at www.mygenes.co.nz . I believe I am going to start with Dr. Whithead's "Common Misconceptions About Homosexuality" and end with Arthur Goldberg's research on how there is no scientific evidence for a gay gene.

Witnessing Last Sunday in NYC

Update from Suzi:

Hi Dwayna,

...Christine and I went to the subway for a couple hours. She ordered a wonderful assortment of Christmas tracts. We ended up singing carols while passing out all 250 of them along with gospels of John and Bibles. (Unfortunately, the Harold Camping date setters were out in full, but we just prayed that the love and joy of Jesus would flow through us, and people were very receptive.) Christian showed up after we were finished and had some opportunity to talk to many.

Blessings always,

Suzi

From Christine:

We really didn't speak with anyone except those from Harold Camping's "church".... but we handed out the Good News in the form of Christmas tracts telling of Christ's birth, death and resurrection; and I also handed out free Bibles to anyone who wanted to take one. But with Suzi singing songs honoring the birth of Christ and praising our Saviour (I sang when I could! ;), it really created a joyful and blessed atmosphere that I think counteracted the crew who are proclaiming the day of Christ's judge to be May 21, 2011. Its interesting tho as other Christians walk by and proclaim, "No one knows the day or the hour." Some loudly proclaim them to be false prophets. They are firm in their belief however that Harold Camping is a prophet, and that "God tells His secrets to His prophets." The fact that Jesus even said that "No one know the day or the hour" doesn't seem to mean a thing.

May God bless this ministry and Lighting the Way in the New Year, and may we seek to honor and glorify His name above all.

Merry Christmas!

Christine

A Christian Making the Most of His Time Last Sunday in NYC

I read this and think of how much time we, as Christians, waste when we could REALLY BE MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the lives of people for God's glory. All our friend, Christian, did was make himself available. I respect him so much for how he choose to spend his time last Sunday. He normally works with our team on Sundays in NYC, but there had been a misunderstanding about when and where they would meet, so he gave some of his time away to share with others about Jesus, and look what a testimony God gave him back in return!!

(From Christian):

Hi Ladies ["Good News Girls"]

I showed up where we usually are and decided to stick around in case any regulars come by and need something. Well, no regulars came by, but something else pretty cool happened. I realized how easy ministry is in the subways... I just parked myself on a high-traffic corner (near the top of the stairs right across from where our table usually is) with my bag of tracts and just organized a stack of miscellaneous pamphlets in my hand. Every now and then someone would come up to me and ask for directions to a train, and I would accommodate them and hand them a tract or walk with them a bit and talk.

The first guy was a 30-something African-American from Georgia who had come up 5 months ago for a relationship which had since ended. He worked some rapper's bling and had mentioned I would see his name in lights soon. After walking him to the train map to decipher the instructions he had been told for going to 88th St in Queens, we agreed it had to be the A train. He took the tract, and was very grateful and I reassured him that, though the relationship didn't pan out, God surely had brought him here to teach him something through the spontaneity of life.

The second person was a 50-something Russian lady with whom I walked to the train map and then stalled for time by walking in the direction of the Q in the hopes of finding a Russian-language tract. I managed to find one before we parted ways. She had a grin on her face when she saw the language and confirmed she could understand it.

The third was a slightly heavy-set, black-haired, 40ish guy from Germany who thanked me for the tract I gave him, along with directions. I wanted to give him a study booklet on a book of the Bible, but he said he has a Bible and reads it. He added that he's a Jehovah's Witness. I tried to stall but had to let him go because I wasn't finding the little cards written for a JW audience. Then, two minutes later, I found a photocopy of the JW entry in Bob Larsen's Book of Cults and walked briskly in the direction of the R, where I had sent the man. He was standing around the corner in the next hall looking at something---and I was glad to have a chance to give him the three-page expose about the Watchtower Organization.

The fourth was a Hispanic woman who looked to be late 30s going by with her young daughter and another woman. When she saw me rifling though tracts, she asked me to give her whatever I had in Spanish. I gave her two different Spanish tracts. Then, after about a minute, I caught up with her a couple of hundred feet away and added a Spanish-language CD with music or a testimony on it.

The fifth was a police officer, who received an English gospel tract and an invite to Times Square Church's "Christmas Around The World" choral concert going on this week. He gave a genuine "Thanks."

The sixth person was a tall, slender, 30-something black guy also from Georgia whom I exhorted in the faith for a few minutes. He said he will try to go to the TSC Christmas concert and was looking for something to do to celebrate the season. As I probed a bit to see if he knew the Lord, he said, "Sort-of." I told him that knowing Him is simpler than people make it out to be and quoted Romans 12:1-2 about believing and confessing unto justification and salvation. I said the good works are out of gratitude to God but that the faith in Christ's work on the cross is what saves. He testified that God had helped him become clean and sober for some years now and said I was reminding him that he needs to go get his Bible out of storage. With one last word of encouragement to read his Bible, I had to pick up a pair of boots at a store before hustling uptown...

Okay, just to wrap up, I wanted to add that I gave two of the shoe store employees invites to the TSC Christmas concert. The one large black guy was grateful, and the Filipino-looking 20ish girl at the register was very appreciative, saying she also was looking for something to bring "more of God" into her life, because she believes "it is important for producing morals in society." It gave me the opportunity to tell her that is just scratching the surface---and that knowing Christ personally changes your heart and your whole outlook and being...

So, it was not the expected Sunday, but it, again, showed God's willingness to use us whenever we make ourselves available. I'm glad to have redeemed valuable time this Sunday. All four of you are amazing in your dedication and sacrifice to do it almost every week. We know Christ is worthy of far more than any of us do, but I always speak highly of you in view of your heart for, and action on behalf of, the lost sheep and the family of God.

Have a good Christmas week,

Christian C.

My Testimony

HERE is a link to my testimony audio from Valley Grove Baptist Church last September posted on YouTube as photos scroll.

LTW Update: Rio Grande Valley

From Curt and Janie:

Our December table on Jackson St. here in Harlingen, TX, was fun!!! The “Legend of the Candy Cane” tracts, describing Christ and His stripes, were given out. Wherever possible, a candy cane and tract accompanied the coloring pages depicting the birth of Jesus Christ (Luke 2). For some reason, we just did not feel as though we were competing with Santa Claus; it was a great time sharing about Jesus Christ!!!

A Lady saw Deceived On Purpose and just couldn’t bring herself to take the book, as her Pastor is teaching from the Purpose Driven Church/Life. She was surprised to hear that these two books are steeped in New Age concepts.

Dante returned with his mom. He loves checking out the materials on the table. Young Leo and his mom weren’t here today. We missed them!!!

A couple of ladies (sisters) approached the table and said, “We remember you. We were here last year, and you gave us some wonderful materials. One of them questioned the picture of the lamb. We described Jesus as the perfect sacrificial Lamb and described that in the Old Testament God required the sacrifice of a lamb. She took The Way of the Shepherd, which her sister raved about. One of the sisters said she was reading a book on Eastern practices. I encouraged her to read A Time of Departing, Yungen’s 2nd edition. She also took The Light That Was Dark, by Warren Smith.

It’s always fun to talk to teachers, especially those teaching in Christian schools. They often will take a copy of Brave New Schools. I can’t help but sense they’re already pretty well on top of what’s going on in the school system.

Two New King James Bibles left the table along with one Spanish Bible and one of the kids’ Bibles.

It’s always a joy to see materials go out on Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism. One mom specifically asked for something refuting evolution. We were delighted to have several pieces of literature to give her on that subject.

We’ve found much mutual encouragement as God nudges believers to stop by and chat, and we get their reaction to the materials on the table.

Quite a few copies of the 3-month devotional of “Our Daily Bread,” from RBC Ministries, went out. I’m so grateful for this booklet; it opened up a marvelous conversation about Jesus, repentance, and forgiveness with a neighboring family. It also opened up a discussion of Jesus being the ONLY one who can forgive sin and how He opened the door directly to God through His death on the cross.

As we close out the year, let us remember that Christ came as a baby, but He returned to His heavenly Father as a Man after accomplishing a glorious task!!!!! “No one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6). AND HE WILL COME AGAIN!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone, and to all A BLESSED NEW YEAR!!!

Relying on Him as “He directs our paths” (Prov. 16:9),
Curt and Janie

Rio Grande Valley

Outreach to Inmates on Death Row

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." --John 1:1-14

All music CDs for the prisoners on death row at Angola are being mailed out today. I will mail out music CDs to the other prisons in Louisiana after Christmas.

Work This Week

*Shipping all copies of my music CDs out to the prisons in Louisiana for the inmates on death row and other inmates at Hunt, LCIW and Angola.

*Compiling information for a tract we will be printing called "Is There A Gay Gene?" for West Hollywood; I am going to work on this asap, compiling from Neil Whitehead's web site and book, as well as Arthur Goldberg's. If people realize they CAN change and there is no proof for a "gay gene" scientifically, they are left without excuse before a holy God in their need to repent. We have been hoping to get some pamphlets printed now for about a year, and I feel the time has come now to get this done.

*I am two songs away from having my next Christian music CD done. I need to work on those songs and schedule a time to record them when I return to Atlanta next week.

*I have to prepare to be on the radio with Linda Harvey on Tuesday. I want God to be glorified as I speak about how He is at work to CHANGE THE HEART of even inmates at a prison which used to be known as the bloodiest prison of the south. I want God to touch hearts, like He touches mine, as I share about His mercy and grace to change even the hardest criminal to someone new in Christ.

*I am singing at my dad's Christmas party and want God to be glorified as I sing the hymns.

*We are working hard to have www.bygodsgrace.org LIVE by the end of the week.

Work This Weekend

We are still proofing the ByGod'sGrace site, but we are much closer to getting it LIVE.

I could have never imagined the impact the movie, "White Christmas," was going to have on me this year. I decided to record "Counting Your Blessings" by Bing Crosby, and then I decided to do a whole CD of songs of that genre, only to have a major Jazz producer come along (through a friend of mine who told him about my singing) who is going to consider producing the songs for this new project. Well, I sure have been happy today singing "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter." These songs are not hard at all for me to sing. Though it will take a lot of work, once it is done, I can honestly sing them in my sleep, and the project could help fund LTW as we are continuing to grow to new locations. Other than singing the hymns, I have never felt more naturally singing songs than these beautiful songs like "Chattanooga Choo Choo"...I am also including "The Lord's Prayer" and "He Looked Beyond My Fault" on the project.

I am working from Knoxville, TN, as I have my computer and mail outs to send on Monday prepared. On Monday I am shipping all the copies of the music CDs I had made to send to the inmates at Angola and Hunt and LCIW prisons in Louisiana. Tuesday I have a radio interview with Linda Harvey, and I will be sharing about how God is at work in these prisons in Louisiana. I will be telling about our outreach scheduled to begin at Louisiana State Penitentiary in 2011.

We are working on a video for You Tube for the audio of me sharing my testimony at Valley Grove Baptist last September.

My dad's Christmas party for his company is coming up next week, and I am singing some Christmas carols and hymns, I look forward to it.

The bookkeeper is working while I am away, and my next project will be a "thank you" gift project to everyone who made a donation to LTW in 2010. I will be sending out some materials for witnessing to Mormons, since Mormonism is growing so rapidly in this country, and I will also send out copies of my testimony on CD from Valley Grove Bapt. (posted previously on this blog) to THANK everyone for giving to this ministry.

Money has been wired to Pakistan for two cases of Bibles, and 600 tracts from http://www.chick.com/ in Urdu have been sent to that table outreach location.

We are working on posting "Kenya" on the LTW web site.

More Bad News for NY Presbytery

http://www.timefortruth.com/ForYourSpirit/StateOfChurch.aspx

My Testimony on YouTube

We are working today on posting another video on YouTube and Vimeo of photos scrolling as I share my testimony at Valley Grove Baptist Church last Sept. I will let everyone know when it is completed. Here is the audio.

ByGod'sGrace.org

Today I am reading through all the pages of the site, http://www.bygodsgrace.org/ . We hope to make it live soon. As soon as it is up and running I will be sending the leaders of every location the little cards LTW had printed to invite everyone to the BGG site as follow-up all over the world for people who speak English.

Working on My Book Today

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength.
Proverbs 17:22

Today I began writing my book, 'Happiness: No Man Required.' It will be one of the hardest things I have ever done, because I am writing it from my heart, and it brings up a lot of feelings to write from my heart. I feel good as I write about seasons of God's faithfulness where I have ironically been both happy and sad for all God has taught me about true life in Him. The key to happiness comes through service to others. I am most happy when I am thinking the least about my own happiness. It requires a lot of dying, getting to such a place of true happiness.

It is going to be a blessing to write, as I have already enjoyed the first day of writing it.

Africa and Pakistan

I have ordered materials in Urdu for Pakistan and Swahili for Kenya with Chick Publications for these locations, and it is a pleasure to be working with Chick tracts for our international locations. Also, I plan to order some books in Urdu by Mark Cahill for Pakistan this month.

Update

On this very cold night in Atlanta, I am working on getting materials shipped to Africa in Swahili, trying to organize the shipment by email.

I have been busy doing bookkeeping today and spent over an hour waiting in line at the post office to ship out about 25 packages.

Tomorrow I am off to pick up my order of CD copies of my music for the inmates in the prisons in Louisiana, plus edited CD copies of me sharing my testimony and singing at Valley Grove Baptist Church. I will put some photos to the audio and have them scroll for YouTube, so people can find out more about our ministry of evangelism.

The biggest news is that I have decided to make a music CD called "Counting Your Blessings," the old Bing Crosby tune he sang in the movie, "White Christmas." I am compiling 10 standards from the 50s like "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and "Anything Goes." Since I will only be doing piano vocals, it should not be expensive. I will also include "The Lord's Prayer" and "He Looked Beyond My Fault And Saw My Need" ( to the melody of Londonderry Aire). This is quite an undertaking, but I began looking for the right pianist for it today.

Mission America Radio Next Tuesday

I will be on the radio with Linda Harvey next Tuesday at 2:00 EST. We will be discussing how much God is at work to save people in prisons. I will be talking about my very touching time at Angola prison and the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women and the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center last month as I sang and shared my testimony. I will discuss the reaction of the inmates when I sang a hymn in the "insane" ward of the prison, and I will also relate how moving it was to sing hymns and meet all of the people on death row. I also sang in the hospice at Angola and shared my testimony and sang in about 3 chapel services per day when I was there. I stayed in a beautiful lake house where I was so safe I did not have to lock the doors at Angola prison. I will explain how Louisiana State Penitentiary went from being known as the "bloodiest prison of the south" to now the model prison for all prisons in America with churches on the land and even a Bible college. Billy Graham's wife is buried in a casket made by the inmates at Angola, and I saw the casket they have made for Billy Graham. They have an annual rodeo where people come from all over the state, and the warden has approved for us to have a table outreach there. I raised money through LTW for everyone on death row in Louisiana to have books about what happens to the soul after death; Mark Cahill donated 90 booklets on life after death to every prisoner on death row also, and music CD copies are also being made... I will never forget the testimony of the inmates, especially how they would sing. "You are awesome in this place, Mighty God..." When we get to heaven, as one of the inmates reminded me in a note he wrote me, God is going to give us a new name. We won't be known until we are home....There is a merciful God in heaven who will pardon the worst of sinners and the hardest of criminals and make them new. I have an advantage, because such people are praying for me. I will explain to Linda Harvey just why I can't wait to return next year to Angola and EHCC and LCIW.

10,000 Cards for ByGod'sGrace.org

I approved the proof for the 10,000 business cards to refer people to our www.bygodsgrace.org site. They are really beautiful. I am working with a talented designer and printing company and got all 10,000 cards for only 300.00. I will send at least 500 cards to the leaders of every location, so everyone approaching the tables will be invited to visit the site. We hope to have the site up and running soon.

Photos from Last Month at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in Louisiana

Here are photos of my time at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in Louisiana last month where I spoke and sang. (I had to crop many of the photos not to show faces of the inmates.) I will be sending them copies of my music CDs to share next week. The inmates really liked the song, "Honest Life," so I am making them copies. I look forward to returning to share more about all God has done in my life whenever I am back in Louisiana speaking at Angola next year.

Whenever I share my testimony, I tell of how I used to have a long list of things I needed God to give me in order for me to be happy, when He surprised me one night in prayer by speaking to my heart, "Let Me be everything to you." Well, He has certainly made me happy today, and I realize that I am very unworthy of Him wanting to be everything to me. He sure does want me to need Him intensely and lean on Him with all of my being. He never tells me to back off when I come to Him with my fears and problems. He only wants me to love Him more.

So, when I sing about Him, it is all about His love for me. That love is amazing. I am so indebted to Him for loving me like that, and it seems like too small a thing to give Him all of me in return, but that is "all" He wants.

He has never once disappointed me when I have trusted Him in obedience. He has been a faithful Shepherd every step of the way.

And when I have disobeyed, He has never come to me in condemnation. Rather, He has convicted me in His love, reminding me that I belong to Him and my life is not my own.

So my relationship with God is with a God who is near to me and not far away. He lives in me. My enemies cannot win, because "no weapon formed against me will prosper" as I walk in His truth. He fights my battles for me.

And everything He has promised me in His Word He will do. The Bible protects my path and keeps me from danger, so my heart can stay in a safe place where I am happy and at rest. Even in times of trouble or loneliness, I am never alone. My relationship with God is the greatest gift I will ever know, and everything good and worth having is a reflection of His love.

Counterfeit "gifts" come along, but they are really not gifts at all. Everything pure and true and honest...is where the real LIFE is for me. I can only have this wonderful life because of Jesus. If it were not for Him, we would not have a God of morals Who promises to possess us and live inside us through the Holy Spirit. Honestly, the only good in me is Him, because without Him I could be the worse sinner on earth.

It is quite miraculous. As supernatural as the resurrection of Jesus is God's love for me. When I speak, it would be so boring if it were not for the testimony Jesus has given me. He is the One who has done it all. He gets all of the credit for my love for Him, because He is the One who put it there in my heart, and He promises to keep me right where He wants me to be no matter the cost. He promises to keep me close.

This is why the 23rd Psalm brings tears to my eyes, especially when I think of how many specific times He has rescued me from danger when I, like a dumb sheep, was heading off into a dangerous direction. He lovingly comes to stop me every time, because He loves me.

This is why His grace is so "amazing." Why would He love me like that? Why would He want me--all of me?

When I get down on my knees, I always say, "Thank You for loving me. Thank You for wanting to be everything to me."

The Bible says, "We love Him, because He first loved us." Well, I love Him, because He first loved me. He loves me so much, and I will never be worthy. Giving Him my life is nothing compared to the LIFE He gives to me.

As I was sharing my testimony (which is defined as sharing about why I am a Christian and all God has done for me), I was totally comfortable and at ease. As I sang my song, "Honest Life," it could not have been more perfect. Yet, my "honest life" is plain from the world's perspective. It is not about money or fame or anything the world says we need to be happy. My favorite verse is Galatians 6:14--"But may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Being crucified hurts. It hurts deeply, but God's love always meets me there in any moment of pain I experience as a result of not living for myself, and His love--His AMAZING LOVE-- which lives inside my heart makes it worth it. Therefore, I can "boast in the cross"--the same cross the world mocks--because it is only through the deep pain of the cross that the deepest joy my soul could ever know abides. It is not something I could fake, and no "religion" on earth can offer it. If Jesus never rose from the grave, I would be the most foolish of all and delusional. But I am not delusional. He truly lives in me, and I thank Him. As much as I enjoy the outreaches I organize and do in evangelism, and as much as I enjoy singing and writing a song, my relationship with Jesus is what my life is all about. This is why I have a testimony, and I can boldy say, "My life is hidden with Christ in God." When Christ is revealed in glory, then I will be revealed. People will have to look twice when they see me, because my life is "hidden" :-) with Christ in God.

News This Week

Here I am with Wayne Guidry, who is going to lead our table outreach of evangelism at Angola Prison at the next rodeo. I got his legal consent just today to post the photo. (Due to the sensitive nature of the inmates, I have cropped out the others pictured.)

I got an email this week from a pastor in India about wanting to begin a table outreach. At first I was really excited, and then I realized soberly I don't know this person! It made me feel good to write him an email tonight and basically tell him to begin the table outreach without me and stay in touch, and over time as we get to know each other better, we can determine whether or not God would have us work together in a partnership. Sometimes people want attention or money, though I hope that is not the case with this pastor, and time needs to pass in order to see someone's true motives. I feel it is a prudent decision, because he does not know me well either. We need more time to pass before committing to work together.

Plus, I am really, really busy organizing the outreach locations we already have. Thanks to a donor who gives 25.00 a month specifically for Pakistan, we now have enough to wire money to Pakistan for two cases of Bibles. I plan to do that tomorrow at Western Union or Monday.

I am working on getting tracts and evangelistic materials in Swahili sent to our location of outreach in Africa.

I have not stopped this week. I am happy to report that we have now completed our evangelistic outreach at Angola prison for the death row inmates, as well as the outreach to women on death row at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.

Today I went to a duplication company here in Atlanta to order unique copies of my music CD for the inmates I met at Angola, Hunt and LCIW prisons in Louisiana, including the songs "Honest Life" and "Place Of Surrender". I am also having the audio of my testimony and singing edited from last September at Valley Grove Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN. I will put photos with it and have Dianne design another touching video for YouTube and Vimeo to show all God has done for His glory through this ministry.

Though I wrote in the latest newsletter that I will not be able to send Christmas cards, I could not resist sending some cards out to people who have given donations for years and sizable, sacrificial funds, without which we could not do this ministry. I appreciate them and have been busy this week sending token gifts and Christmas cards, because without those donations and partnerships we could not be doing this work. I thank God for every single person who gives any amount, and everyone who has made a donation of any amount in 2010 will be receiving a "thank you" gift from me in January, 2011.

Tomorrow I plan to do domestic work, as I have been so very busy this week running errands and preparing mailouts. The lines are so long at the post office that I have been there for a minimun of 30 minutes per day this week!

It is too cold here in Atlanta to do the table outreach, so that has been postponed until the spring. We also hope to begin a new outreach to Georgia Tech at that time.

I prepared the first care package to Wayne Guidry, the inmate at Angola prison who is going to lead the table outreach there when our mission work begins. With his permission and legal consent, I am posting the photo above.

Last but not least, I have been working on finishing touches and proofs for the http://www.bygodsgrace.org/ site. I have contacted a printer here for thousands of business cards to be made of the logo for the site, so people from all over the world will be invited to visit the site from our table outreach locations. This week we created a Facebook page for people to visit from this new web site as follow up.

"In America"

Here is a song I co-wrote years ago with Tom Paden. Sammy Sadler has recorded it and is promoting it with our troops:

http://www.archive.org/details/InAmerica

"Honest Life"

Expanding to India

Just found out we are expanding to begin a table outreach in India. I will begin organizing this now, and I am very thankful.

"Honest Life"

Here is a video for my new song, "Honest Life":

http://www.youtube.com/user/dwayna1969?feature=mhum

Busy Day

I have written our monthly ministry newsletter today, which is being sent out now to everyone on our email list. Plus, I have worked a lot in the storage unit, and I have five boxes to send tomorrow to our NYC table outreach location of resources for evolutionists, atheists, Jews, Catholics, and people who believe they are gods. I am really thankful for the donation of boxes from the post office, because we sure needed them.

Now I am off to work at The Bridge, a home for troubled teens here in Atlanta. God is really at work! One of the girls is convinced she is a lesbian at age 15; however, God is really putting her under conviction. She kept asking last time, "Can you be gay and go to heaven?" The teacher kept telling her what the Bible says. Tonight I am bringing booklets from Mary, a former lesbian, who has written a booklet called 'What the Bible Says About Homosexuality.' Another girl asked the teacher to pray with her to accept Jesus as Savior a few weeks ago! I have been traveling, and this will be my first night back with the Christian team holding the Bible study there in weeks. I am looking forward to it.

If anyone reading the blog would like to receive monthly ministry e-updates, please give me your email address, and I will add you to the list.

Dwayna@ltwinternational.org

This Christmas we are raising money for the inmates at Angola, especially the inmates on death row. Any sales of my music CDs will go to fund this project. They can be purchased as Christmas gifts here: www.DwaynaLitz.com . We are making them copies of my music CD (with no photos and only the web site urls for their families as follow up, as we are praying for them) and giving them books on 'Heaven' by Randy Alcorn and booklets warning of what the Bible teaches also about hell from Mark Cahill.

By God's Grace.org to be finished this week!

I am working on the finishing touches for the new web site for non-Christians, and then it will be live.

We will be printing thousands of cards with the logo to give to people who visit the table outreach locations all over the world. I am going to begin a Facebook page for follow up, too, tonight.

I am so thankful that we will see this site up and running soon!

LTW Update: Pakistan

[From Pastor Babar kamran]: "Here are snaps of new table outreach in the hospital area near the Women's Hostel. My wife helped me in organizing this table outreach between nurses. It was good experience to give the message of God to responsible women. I got blessings. Your brother in Christ, Pastor Babar kamran; Lighting the Way Ministries Pakistan"

Pastor Babar kamran with his wife and kids

Thanks to the donations of someone who gives 25.00 a month to this ministry, plus a few more dollars we recently received for this location, we will wire Pastor Babar kamran $200.00 next week for 2 cases of Bibles in Urdu for this table outreach!

Update/Goals

The taping today went great. Thank you for the prayers. I knew it would be for a regional public broadcasting/access special when I agreed to do it, but I was told I could have the DVD to edit for me to use for our ministry, so I agreed. Now, I am sure we can use clips from this taping of me sharing some about this ministry to concisely tell more about what we do in this outreach and what makes our ministry of evangelism different from other ministries.

I JUST FOUND OUT TODAY THAT WE MAY GET TO EXPAND TO BEGIN A TABLE OUTREACH IN CAMBODIA! Dan, the leader of our West Hollywood outreach, is in touch with pastors in Cambodia, and they are interested in beginning a table outreach. We will see what God has planned.

I will be in touch with World Missionary Press for materials in Kiswahili for the Kenya table, and, thanks to contributions, I will be sending enough money for 2 cases of Bibles in Urdu to Pakistan this month via Western Union.

When I return to Atlanta tomorrow, I plan to work on writing one last paragraph for the http://www.bygodsgrace.org/ site and begin a Facebook page for this web site. I will also be ordering cards with the logo for ByGod'sGrace.org, so our outreach leaders can give out these cards to people in every location.

I plan to get an update compiled and sent out by email as soon as possible. As Warden Cain told me during my recent visit to Angola prison, we are in a war. We can't fight a war without money.

Thanks for the financial donations and prayer support. We will expand to begin new outreach locations as far as funds allow.

In God's hands,

Dwayna