Watch testimonies from young women healed of a myriad of addictions through the Mercy Ministries program in Nashville, Tenn. Also watch an interview by Joyce Meyer with the ministry’s founder, Nancy Alcorn.

Watch video footage of Sept. 11 survivors discussing miraculous occurrences that happened on the ill-fated day eight years ago.

Are you worried about a specific relationship or circumstance? This index, derived from Rx for Worry by James P. Gills, M.D., lists some key Bible verses you can use to battle worry and fear. These verses are God’s promises that He is with us and will be our support and strength. Read them. Believe them. Let His Word become the foundation in your struggles!

Are you worried, anxious, afraid, or troubled?
God will give you peace.

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. … He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. —Psalm 18:6, 19

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.—Psalm 46:1-2

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? —Psalm 56:3-4

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. —Isaiah 26:3

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me . . . Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.—John 14:1, 27

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.—John 16:33

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:6-7

Are you worried about the future?
God will guide you.

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.—Psalm 25:9

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. —Psalm 32:8

If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.—Psalm 37:23-24

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.—Proverbs 3:5-6

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. —Proverbs 16:3

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. —Isaiah 41:10

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”—Jeremiah 29:11

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.—James 1:5

Are you afraid of feeling alone?
God will never leave you.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.—Deuteronomy 31:6

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. —saiah 58:9

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.—Zephaniah 3:17

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.—John 14:18

Are you worried no one loves you?
God loves you.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.—John 3:16

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. —1 John 3:16

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. —1 John 4:10

Are you worried that God could never forgive your sins?
God’s salvation overcomes all sins and guilt.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. —Psalm 103:12

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9

Do you feel depressed?
God will comfort you.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. —Psalm 34:18

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. —Psalm 42:11

Are you worried because you face opposition?
God is with you.

If God is for us, who can be against us? —Romans 8:31

Are you worried about physical needs?
God will provide.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.—Matthew 6:25-34

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!—Matthew 7:11

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. —Luke 12:6-7

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? —Romans 8:32

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.—2 Corinthians 9:8

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4:19

Do you worry about your safety?
God will protect you.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. —Psalm 4:8

The Lord will keep you from all harm-he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.—Psalm 121:7-8

Do you worry so much that you can’t sleep?
God will ease your fears.

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. —Psalm 3:5

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. -Psalm 4:8

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. —Proverbs 3:24

Are you worried about your appearance?
God looks at your heart.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” —1 Samuel 16:7

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. —Ecclesiastes 3:11

Are you worried about your health?
God will give you strength.

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. —Psalm 34:19

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.—Isaiah 58:11

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord, “because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”—Jeremiah 30:17

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. —James 5:14-15

Are you worried about getting old?
God will stay with you.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.—Psalm 92:12-14

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. —Isaiah 46:4

Are you worried about dying?
God offers eternal life.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.—Psalm 23:4

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.—John 3:16

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. —John 10:28

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” . . . Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:55, 57

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil-and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. —Hebrews 2:14-15

In the Netherlands, the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage, a cross-section of religious leaders, scholars and lawmakers from 61 countries are convening this week for an international strategy session to develop ways to strengthen families.

The three-day World Congress of Families V began Monday in Amsterdam, and features a variety of pro-family discussions, from implementing community-based parenting and marriage counseling services to lobbying governments to defend against anti-family laws.

Participants include groups such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council, as well as representatives from Baptist, Roman Catholic and Muslim organizations.

“Not everyone here agrees on … a particular doctrine or tradition in the church, but when we focus on these issues of family and life and what God has ordained in marriage, these things are commonality,” said Larry Jacobs, managing director of the event, which ends Wednesday.

Jacobs says Europe already has seen the effects of not protecting the family unit. He said there has been a decline in the number of children born in recent years, which has caused the labor force to shrink and taxes that support current retirees to diminish.

“We’re focusing on materialism and selfishness and not on relationship with family and children,” Jacobs said. “People are discovering that they’re trying to replace the happiness and joy that they had through family life through other forms of entertainment and discovering that it’s not really replacing that lost void in their lives.”

Through seminars, panels discussions and question-and-answer sessions the congress hopes to find solutions for faith, government and community leaders to implement in their home nations. Jacobs says the connections attendees make with other pro-family leaders are often the most productive results of the congress.

“God brings people together of like mind, and pretty soon there is action and a new organization that’s formed that we couldn’t have dreamed up,” he told Charisma. “[You] come through with some incredible ideas that His people can implement.”

The conference is being broadcast live on the World Congress of Families Web site.

A medical missionary who was shot and kidnapped in Nigeria Sunday night was released this week after ransom was delivered.

Dr. Bob Whittaker on Tuesday was returned to the compound of Nigerian Christian Hospital (NCH), where he has worked as a missionary for 24 years, according to the Arkansas-based International Health Care Foundation (IHCF), which oversees several hospitals across Africa, including NCH. The sum of the ransom was not released.

Whittaker is currently in stable condition, recovering from a gunshot wound in his left arm that shattered his humerus.

The IHCF said an armed gang took Whittaker from his home on the campus of NCH Sunday night, shooting a security guard several times during the attack.

Whittaker’s wife and son were not taken, but the security guard lost both an arm and a leg as a result of the shooting.

NCH is located in the southeastern Nigerian state of Abia, where more than 100 people have been kidnapped so far this year. Last month Yakubu Lame, minister of police affairs, said the number of abductions in Nigeria had risen nearly 70 percent to more than 500 so far this year, according to Reuters news service. In 2008, there were 353 reported kidnappings.

Lame said all the kidnapped in Abia state had been released, and 70 suspects had been arrested.

According to Reuters, nearly all the abductions this year occurred in the Niger Delta and in the southeast, where Abia state is located. Both regions are home to Africa’s largest oil and gas industry.

For the last three years, militant groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta have used kidnapping to gain a share of the region’s wealth. But Lame said religious leaders and children recently have replaced oil expatriates as the most popular targets.

Since the military clamped down on crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, ransom payments reportedly have become the main source of income for many armed gangs.

In order to gain God’s greatest blessings, we must embrace His highest purpose. My sincere conviction is that if this happens in our cities, God’s blessing will spread to entire regions, and healing to our land will occur. Without the abiding fullness of Christ in the church, we will have no more impact in the world than a political party, whose strength rests in numbers and finances and not in God.

Consequently, every serious Christian must recognize two priorities. We need to return to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, and we desperately need divine intervention—or our nation will perish.

In Psalm 90 Moses utters a prayer that everyone who has had enough of his own feeble efforts should pray. In somber and earnest supplication he implores, “Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your majesty to their children. And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and do confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands” (vv. 16-17, NASB).

This is a heartfelt prayer, one that is full of deep thought and candid reflection. Moses was not willing to “try something” and ask the Lord to bless it. He prayed, “Let Your work appear.” He appealed to God to confirm the works of His hands. What is divine confirmation? It is when the Lord works with you and fulfills your words with His power (see Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:4). God identifies Himself so completely with what you are doing that He backs you up with power. It is endorsement of the Almighty upon an individual’s life.

I want to underscore that we have peace with God through Christ’s sacrifice. We are not looking for divine acceptance but divine endorsement. The question is not one of salvation but of power in this life to change our world. How, then, can we truly know that we have found God’s highest purpose for us? How can we, like Moses, obtain the endorsement of Almighty God?

If we want our works to have permanence, then they must be the eternal works of God and not more of man’s ideas. Jesus said, “‘For the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me'” (John 5:36). Ultimately, we only glorify God when we, like Jesus, accomplish the work that He has given us to do (John 17:4).

You may ask, “Does God have eternal, enduring assignments for me?” Yes, but the first “work of God” that is accomplished in us is not our work but His, that we “‘believe in Him whom He has sent'” (John 6:29). We must abandon all hope of finding true spiritual success apart from dependent, steadfast faith in the person and power of Christ.

This forsaking of our ideas to embrace simple obedience to Christ is the “work of God.” We must see that we cannot attain to the works of God unless we first become the workmanship of God, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). At this very moment there are eternal, powerful works prepared for each of us. Yet, until we see that the Father’s highest purpose is to reveal in us the nature of Christ, we will not qualify for the power of Christ, which is God’s full endorsement on our lives.

If we will find the eternal works of God, we must know His eternal plan. He desires to bring the living Christ into each of us as individuals; then as Christ-filled individuals, we can transform our congregations. Finally, from the launching pad of a Christ-filled congregation, we will see things impacted and cleansed with the Spirit of His Son.

Satan has sought continually to hinder and delay this “summing up of all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:9-10). Yet such is our mission, and, in knowing the plan of God, such is our victory. Therefore, in battling for the soul of our cities and our nation, our victory is not in knowing how to command demons but in knowing the commander Himself. We triumph in being rightly aligned with the supreme plan of God, which is to fill all things with Christ.

Therefore, if we want to obtain the endorsement of God upon our lives, Jesus must become as real to us as the world was when we were sinners. He must become our mind, and we must become His obedient body. My prayer is that the vision of attaining the likeness of Christ will be branded upon all our hearts and that, as sincere followers of God’s Son, the Father Himself will back our lives with power for His purpose.

Adapted from When the Many are One by Francis Frangipane, copyright 2009, published by Charisma House. This book demonstrates how Christians of every color, culture and denomination can work together to transform our communities. It calls us back to oneness with Christ, so that the power and character of Christ will flow through us to bring transformation. To order a copy click on this link:

In front of Michael Jackson’s star on Hollywood Boulevard, evangelist Ray Comfort, host of Way of the Master, asks passers-by what happened to Jackson after his death. Their discourse may surprise you. Watch the video below.

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How can you demonstrate God’s love in your community? Here are just a few things Jesus might do:

• Pray fervently. If your church has an intercessory prayer group, participate in it. If not, start one, and encourage others to join you in interceding regularly for the lost in your city.
• Be an active school parent. Prayer may not be allowed in the classroom, but the government can’t stop your light from shining in a school environment. Become friends with the principal, teachers and other parents.
• Celebrate holidays in style. Gather neighbors, co-workers or relatives for Christmas or Easter. Then tell the old, old story of Jesus’ birth or resurrection in a brand-new way.
• Join a club. Writers’ groups, music clubs and other common-interest organizations can open doors for you to share the gospel. Don’t avoid non-Christian gatherings.
• Coach a Little League team. Coaching or playing sports can initiate friendships and help you reach the younger generation.
• Build a cross-cultural bridge. Become friends with someone who looks different and has a different history.
• Adopt a child. We Christians admit that unwanted children need a home, but are we willing to play the role of parent to them?
• Become a pen pal. Prisoners have time to read mail. Who’s going to write them?
• Get a workout partner. Your lost neighbor needs exercise, too. Ask him or her to join you for regular visits to the fitness center.
• Who says you can’t visit a bar? Jesus didn’t let religious people dictate where He could or couldn’t go; neither should you.
• Bless your food server. Restaurant workers often complain that church people are more rude and tip less generously than others. Let’s change our image! Be friendly, listen and don’t just leave a gospel tract; leave a big tip.
• Feed the homeless. Local ministries in your area are touching these lonely people. Get involved.
• Share a meal and a movie. Invite an adult neighbor over for a home-cooked dinner or a backyard barbecue, then watch a wholesome video.
• Send a card. Surprise unbelievers in your office with an expression of kindness on birthdays, holidays or the anniversary of a painful memory.
• Help someone in crisis. Volunteer at a local hospital or with a meals-on-wheels program.
• Start an office Bible study. Get permission first, then have an informal time of sharing over a brown-bag lunch.
• Comfort someone dying of AIDS. Many cities need hospice volunteers to minister to the terminally ill.
• Become a Big Brother or Sister. Scores of young children are raised in single-parent homes and need the influence of another adult to help them grow to maturity. Make one part of your life.
• Reach out to children in your neighborhood. Invite neighborhood children into your home (with their parents’ permission, of course) for cookies, a story or a swim in your pool, and share the love of Jesus with them.
• Be a friend. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to shun contact with unbelievers.
  We are called to love and serve the people we meet in school, at work and in our communities. Listen, offer encouragement and wait for opportunities to share Christ.

Below is a list of the top five ways people are using twitter to ‘Twitangelize’ (evangelize on Twitter). Each post is written with less then 140 characters.

 

and encourage. Twunkies (Twitter junkies) post personal life struggles on their accounts. Reply with godly advice and wisdom.

2. Inspire. Send out links to inspirational stories highlighting the amazing things God is doing.

3. Share Your Testimony. As you post your daily activities be sure to include your, hopefully, godly reactions to life’s struggles.

4. Pray. Offer to pray for a need.

5. Look for opportunities. Use tools such as PeopleBrowsr or TweetDeck to search words such as “atheist” and then jump into the dialogue.