Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson back together for exclusive preview of their UK tour

By Dan Wooding

CHERTSEY, UK (ANS) -- Two of the legends of progressive rock, Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson, are coming together for an exclusive preview show in England of what they call The Anderson Wakeman Project 360. Following this they will be doing further concerts together across in the UK.

The preview of Wakeman and Anderson will take place on Friday, October 8, 2010, in the intimate Turks Hall near Chertsey, Surrey. Tickets are priced at £30.00 and are available at http://www.classic-media-group.com/classic-direct/merchandise/merchandise-details.php?product=96

This show is not on general release so this is the only way to get tickets.

A spokesperson for Classic Media said, "Supporters of these two legends can witness close up, their unique bond which spans almost 40 years; and why these two are being billed as the 'Heart and Soul' of Prog giants YES.

William J. Federer

ST. LOUIS, MO (American Minute) -- He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London eight months for being a Quaker, but later King Charles II gave him land in America as repayment of a large debt owed to his father. He invited persecuted Christians of Europe to join his colony of religious toleration. Soon Quakers, Mennonites, Pietists, Amish, Anabaptists, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, Dunkers (German Baptist), Brethren, Schwenckfelders, and French Huguenots joined his "holy experiment."

His name was William Penn, and he died JULY 30, 1718. William Penn named his capital city Philadelphia, meaning "Brotherly Love." In 1733, Philadelphia allowed the only English-speaking Catholic Church in the world at that time. Philadelphia's first synagogue was built in 1782.

Pennsylvania's Charter, granted March 4, 1681, stated: "Whereas our trusty and well beloved subject, William Penn, Esquire, son and heir of Sir William Penn, deceased, out of a commendable desire to enlarge our English Empire...and also to reduce the savage natives by gentle and just manners to the Love of Civil Societe and Christian religion, hath humbly besought leave of us to transport an ample colony unto...parts of America not yet cultivated and planted."

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After a traumatic start to his life, Greg Laurie now pastors one of the largest churches in America and is about to conduct his 21st Annual Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, California

By Dan Wooding

RIVERSIDE, CA (ANS) -- Gregory (Greg) Mitchell Laurie, born in 1952 in Long Beach, California, couldn't have got off to a worse start in life.

He was born out of wedlock to an alcoholic mother who was married and divorced numerous times.

Speaking of his childhood, Laurie says, "I quickly tired of the alcoholic haze that seemed to hover over my home life. I saw alcohol as symptomatic of the times and at an early age I determined that there must be more to life than what I had seen so far. I had a hard time growing up; in fact, I grew up too soon even in the age of innocence known as the fifties."

But his life today is miles away from those disturbing early days as a "Lost Boy" - which is the title of his autobiography and a movie about his life- and it is amazing to witness the change in his life.

William J. Federer

ST. LOUIS, MO (American Minute) -- Alexis de Tocqueville was born JULY 29, 1805. A French social scientist who traveled the United States in 1831, de Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America: "Religion in America...must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it...This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation."

De Tocqueville stated: "The sects that exist in the United States are innumerable. They all differ in respect to the worship which is due to the Creator; but they all agree in respect to the duties which are due from man to man. Each sect adores the Deity in its own peculiar manner, but all sects preach the same moral law in the name of God...Moreover, all the sects of the United States are comprised within the great unity of Christianity, and Christian morality is everywhere the same."

De Tocqueville added: "There is no country in the whole world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence than in America...and nothing better demonstrates how useful it is to man, since the country where it now has the widest sway is both the most enlightened and the freest."

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By Dan Wooding

SAN CLEMENTE, CA (ANS) -- Dick Innes, Founder/Director of ACTS International, recounts the following story, taken from the Rev. Steve Jackson's Sermon: "Come and See."

"A Mercedes TV commercial a few years ago showed a Mercedes crashing into a concrete wall during a safety test? An engineer in a white lab coat walks over after the crash and kneels down to examine the damage, which is minimal. A reporter then asks the engineer about Mercedes' energy absorbing car body. After the engineer tells all about the unique design, the reporter asks him why Mercedes doesn't enforce their patent on the design, a design evidently copied by several other companies because of its success.

"The engineer then replied matter-of-factly, 'Because some things in life are too important not to share.'"

Innes said, "How true this is. There are many things in life that fall into this too important not to share category, such as advances in science, medicine, and technology. But all of these pale in importance to that of sharing the gospel."

Tom Myers

DILLSBURG, PA (Mt. Pleasant Church of God) – I think that Christians feel they suffer alone at these times of pain and heartache because they feel that God is somehow removed from their pain. There are sometimes Christians get the idea that God really does not understanding how much anguish we feel. He is not as far removed as we might think though. Last night this kind of hit home for me as I comforted my own adult child who was hurt. No matter how old your children get, they are still your little son/daughter. When they hurt you hurt. I am very proud of all my children as they grow into adulthood and learned to live on their own. There are times, however, when people in this world hurt our children through lies and deceit.

My daughter stood in my office last night emotionally crushed and crying because of the betrayal of someone she was trying to help. My heart went out to her holding her in my arms and comforting her. I was not alone in giving her comfort. God was there in the office as well holding onto her even before the tears started flowing. He worked through me so that she would have that physical presence that we humans need and desire so much. Then this morning, as I was reading this portion of Scripture in Psalms, it hit home with me as the happenings of last evening replayed in my mind.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3, NIV)

Craig Sager

Psalm 89:30-32

If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging...

Thought:

Growing up I thought it was a horrible experience to be punished by my parents, especially when I pushed it too far, and the punishment was accompanied by a spanking. It definitely allowed me to think about all the wrongs that I did. It's no different in this scripture to me for today, except this time when I commit the wrong it involves my eternal life. I can not afford to make too many of those mistakes anymore. Growing up it was a discipline thing with my parents so that I would learn respect and rules that needed to be followed. Again, it's no different with God in these instances. God has set before us rules to follow and guidelines to make life easier. When we choose not to follow them we need to expect a discipline, a discipline that will not be any fun for us at all when we choose not to follow the rules.


Prayer:

Dear Gracious God, You give us these rules to follow, and our earthly flesh tells us it is not necessary to abide by those rules. But we are to set our standards higher than those of this earth. We are to set them on You. Give us the strength to reach that level, and the courage to follow through with them. By Your loving hands we can reach eternity by Your side as long as we follow Your statutes that You have placed before us.

Tom Myers

DILLSBURG, PA (Mt. Pleasant Church of God) – Are you frustrated today? Chances will be that you are annoyed about something or you will be at some point today. Whether it has to do with something that did not go the way you had planned it to or other people doing things that agitate you, you are going to be upset about something that is happening now or has been occurring in the past. Frustrate, as defined by Webster’s dictionary, is to make (plans, efforts, etc.) worthless or of no avail; defeat; nullify.

In other words, we get frustrated about things that we feel have defeated us or have gotten in the way of what we want to do or to have happen. The reason why we get frustrated so quickly is out of our own selfishness more so than other people’s failure to accomplish what we think they ought to do. This word is used a lot in Christian circles because it does not seem as harsh as words like angry, furious, or mad; yet, that is exact what we are even though God’s people use the word frustrated. For me personally and probably for many others, we get this way because we forget who the victory belongs to.

We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.

With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers; you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish.

It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. (Psalm 44:1-3, NIV)

By Michael Ireland

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (ANS) -- In August, Daniel Vance's family and will spend five days at a Joni and Friends Family Retreat in the northern part of Minnesota.

Vance, who writes a regular column on disabilities, which has been published in more than 260 newspapers since 2002, says: "This particular organization has family retreats all over the nation in order to give disability-affected families encouragement and a respite."

Joni and Friends was founded 30 years ago by Joni (pronounced Johnny) Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic in the '60s following a Chesapeake Bay diving accident.

Her autobiography "Joni" and other books she authored have sold millions of copies. She has been known worldwide for her mouth art, writing, public speaking, radio show, advocacy, and television show appearances, such as Larry King Live.

William J. Federer

ST. LOUIS, MO (American Minute) -- The 14th Amendment was adopted JULY 28, 1868, because southern States, though forced to end slavery by the 13th Amendment, did not grant citizenship to freed slaves. Southern Democrat Legislatures passed Black Codes requiring freed slaves to be "apprenticed" to "employers" and punished any who left.

Illinois Republican Congressman John Farnsworth said March 31, 1871: "The reason for the adoption [of the 14th Amendment]...was because of...discriminating...legislation of those States...by which they were punishing one class of men under different laws from another class."

Republican John Bingham of Ohio, who introduced the 14th Amendment, said: "I repel the suggestion... that the Amendment will...take away from any State any right that belongs to it."

Yet after the Amendment was ratified, activist Federal Judges did just that, as Thomas Jefferson had forewarned Charles Hammond in 1821: "The germ of dissolution of our... government is in...the federal judiciary...working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow...until all shall be usurped from the States."

The 14th Amendment soon became a door by which Federal Courts took responsibility for other rights, eventually religion, away from States' jurisdiction.

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