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WisconsinChristianNews.com
Volume 27, Issue 3
Healthy Homes & Families Natural, Biblical, Healthy Living A Heart Full Of Faith and Eyes To See By Chris McMahan Summer 2026
It struck me, as I picked up the dainty shells and put them in my pocket, that after I had asked God to help me in my hunt, I continued to look. I didn’t ask and then lift my eyes to the ho- rizon. No, I asked God to do some- thing on the beach and then I kept my eyes firmly planted in my search. God answered affirma- tively and I was prepared to see and receive that blessing. How many times do we have a heart full of faith to ask God to move, but then we don’t keep our eyes open to see how He is an- swering our prayers. We must have hearts full of faith and eyes to see. God will surely respond to our prayers. Will we have our eyes open to see what and when He an- swers? Elisha was a prophet in the Bible who understood this. He had a heart full of faith and eyes to see. Seemingly surrounded by the enemy, he was not worried because he had faith and vision. So much so that he was able to share it with his young ser- vant.
2 Kings 6:15-17, “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morn- ing and went out, behold, an army with
Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and be- hold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” O Lord, give us hearts of faith and eyes to see! We will keep those eyes open because we be- lieve that You care about all the details of our lives — the big bat- tles and the small victories, our needs and our desires. Brothers and Sisters, talk to God about the details of your life, believe that He loves you and loves to hear from you, and keep your eyes open to see how He responds to those conversations. What would have happened today if I had prayed, but then had failed to keep looking? I suppose that God’s answer to my prayer would have just been left behind, laying on the beach for someone else to find. I’m so glad that I had faith to pray and kept my eyes open to see His an- swer.
God is always faithful to answer the prayer lifted up in faith. But often, after we ask Him to move, we move on and forget to look for His response. We ask Him to act on our behalf and then we either don’t look at all to see His re- sponse, or we longingly gaze at where we think the answer should be, hoping to manifest our own will through our prayers. Having a heart of faith, we believe that God hears and answers. Having eyes to see, we look intently for the move of God. O Lord, gives us an increased faith to come to you with every aspect of our life; and open our eyes to see Your re- sponse! Colossians 4:2 (ESV), “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Ephesians 6:18 (AMP), “With all prayer and petition pray (with specific requests) at all times (on every occasion and in every season) in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition (interceding in prayer) for all God’s people.” Chris McMahan Email: Happy1970@icloud.com
People who know me might say that I have some defining characteristics. Ris- ing to the top (hopefully) is my faith, followed
closely by my love of people – some say I’ve never met a stranger, and then in third place it’s likely a tie between my love of good coffee and my fascination with sea shells. I’m spending the week at Myrtle Beach, SC with some friends. It’s not particularly known for its shelling, but if you look closely enough, there are some beauties just waiting to be discovered. One of my favorite kinds of shells on this portion of the coast is called a baby’s ear. As I walked the beach today, the shells were elusive. Being of the mindset that God cares about all the details of my life and likes it when I check in with Him, I decided to ask Him to help me find a few baby’s ear shells. It wasn’t more than a minute later that I found two of them gently perched at the high-tide shell rack line. Thank you, Jesus!
horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’
A Great Awakening! Awake, O Sleeper! Celebrating our 250th anniversary as a sovereign nation By Ray LeBlanc Summer 2026 sands of listeners.
He strongly advocated that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father, but through Him, and that you must be ‘born again’ to enter into the Kingdom, not by works, lest any man should boast, it is the complete works of Jesus Christ.”
George Whitefield was very instrumen- tal in shaping the direction of our nation. His interaction with Benjamin Franklin is scarcely mentioned in any historical ac- counts, yet his influence and spiritual
After receiving his degree, he became an ordained min- ister, his fame started to spread throughout England and beyond, reaching the shores of New England, America. The thirteen colonies were established at that time. So upon his travels to America, Pennsylvania, in particular, he encountered Benjamin Franklin and other founding fathers of our Constitution.
The movie starts out with George Whitfield as a young
guidance were instrumental. The recently released movie "A Great Awakening,” sheds light on their inter- actions. So let’s dive into why this movie is so impor- tant and relevant in understanding how our na- tion was founded, shaped, and God-ordained; as a powerful influencer, George Whitefield, whose preaching abilities would awaken once more the “Sleeping Church.” Late 1700’s Preacher George Whitefield left England for New England, or rather was booted out by the Church of Eng- land, for His radical preaching and challenging the hierarchy of the establishment. His strong rebuke, “RE-
George had a profound impact on Benjamin Franklin, trying to teach and persuade him that He, Benjamin, had a misconception in his the- ology, believing that his good works were enough to gain him entrance into heaven, as George tried in vain to persuade Benjamin that it was only through Jesus Christ and Him alone that he must be born again. This was an important interaction in the movie that shed truth and light on the beliefs of some of the theists who were our founding fathers. It was because of George Whitefield’s influence on Benjamin Franklin, that in 1787,
PENT” was not well received by the established church leaders, as he exclaimed, “You must be born again!”
man working alongside his mother, cleaning tables and serving the rich as they are being entertained by a Shake- spearean-style actor. This particular actor/performer took a liking to young George Whitfield. He started teaching him the art of acting and using his voice as a powerful means of perform- ing on stage. This actor eventually was able to get George into the prestigious University of Oxford by being a servant to the richer upper-class students and to clean up after them. Thus, he was able to receive free tuition. His goal was to enhance his vocal skills and become a stage actor with his booming voice training. It was at this time that he met both John and Charles Wesley, who wit- nessed his humiliation by the rich, snobby students in the way they treated him. The Wesleys began to wash his feet in a humble act, teaching him the ways of Jesus. It was through this encounter that George gave his life over to Jesus Christ and pursued a career in preaching instead of acting! His powerful booming voice could be heard by thou-
he spoke at the convention to reinstate prayer before each opening session of Congress, as they struggled to keep the 13 colonies together.
He went on to rebuke them by saying: “We actors on stage speak of things as if they are real, and you, in the pulpit, speak of things real as if they are imaginary.” He called out the clergy for their bland and pompous ways, which made the Word of God ineffective. George White- field’s boldness and powerful, booming voice could be heard by over twenty thousand people. A highlight in the movie is when George Whitefield had a conversation with Benjamin Franklin. Ben believed that good works were all he needed to get him into heaven. George said to him, “Works? A man gets to heaven by works? I would as soon think of climbing to the moon on a rope made of sand.” He also said, “Other men can preach the gospel better than I, but no one can preach a better gospel.”
A Great Awakening, I highly recommend that you watch this movie. You can find the “trailer” to this movie online.
So, as we get ready to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding nation, I encourage you to watch this movie, “A Great Awakening,” which depicts a part of our history that has mainly gone unnoticed and underreported until this movie came out. The gospel of Jesus Christ is powerfully proclaimed throughout this movie and not watered down. Whenever a Christ-centered movie of this magnitude becomes avail- able, we, as believers, should and must support it by pur- chasing the DVD or renting it online through venues that offer this movie. May God bless our nation once more. Amen.
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