When an era passes, it is not marked by nines turning to zeros, it is marked by the passing of a hero.

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt was a true pioneer whose character was reflected in his instincts for justice, integrity, and honor. Many remember him as the Commander of the Naval forces in Vietnam where the tragedy of the war touched him personally in the death of his son.

But what I remember most about him was his commitment to those he cherished. I love the story of how he met Mousa, his wife of over 54 years, in Shanghai. She was Russian and he was a young American Lieutenant. The only language they shared was love. He said it was her smile that captivated him and three weeks later they were married.

They remained steadfastly devoted to each other for over half a century and their love story surpasses time, distance, language and nationality.

I will miss Bud and his incredible sense of humor, but the look of adoration and love, that he always gave his bride, is what I will miss most. Because it symbolized for me, the purest model of Christ’s unconditional love for His bride.

So Bud, thank you for giving us a glimpse of eternity.

As we come to the end of the millennium it is hard not to contrast the beginning of the last one with the ending of this one.

Two thousand years ago we saw the birth of hope for the world in the person of Jesus Christ. And as the religious leaders of that time wisely said, “let the Christians alone. If it is just a cult it will die out, and if Jesus truly was the son of God, then there is nothing we can do to stop the spread of this new religion.”

That was very prophetic and history has shown that indeed, Christianity is as alive today as it was when the stone was rolled from the tomb to reveal a promise kept . . . a risen savior for the world. But where are we now, as a world?

Some scholars believe that we are at the end of the sixth day and the new millennium will usher in the return of Christ to rule the world.

But the lines are clearly being drawn spiritually and the day of deciding to be, hot for Him, or cold against Him, are upon us.

May this year be the year you decide which side of eternity you will be on.

This is Nina May and the Renaissance Women wishing you a thoughtful New Year.

Jocelyn Elders wants us to legalize prostitution because she says we have trained our young girls to be virgins and our young men to be studs.

She must be living in a time warp. The training today is to show young girls how to put contraceptives on their partners, and show young men how to embrace homosexuality as a preferred lifestyle. In fact, she was opposed to the idea of teaching abstinence in school. She insisted that AIDS training, contraceptive distribution and alternative lifestyles be taught to young kids when she was Surgeon General.

You can’t teach AIDs training, which is really a manual on sexual experimentation, without making a huge assumption that young kids are going to be sexually active.

So who are these virgins she is talking about? They are the modern-day revolutionaries who are challenging this status quo. They are the radicals wanting real love, not free love.  They want commitment and purity, not an endless search for intimacy.

They are the ones who hopefully will train the next generation that the lies of the adults today should be ignored and challenged tomorrow.

The Bible says, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God.”

Even when we don’t understand why something is happening . . . a thankful heart releases a divine knowledge within us that God knows why. When the young Indian brave, Squanto, was captured and brought to Europe, it changed his life . . . and served to save the lives of many others.

Because he was taught English, he was able to help the Pilgrims survive during the their first harsh years.

Because of the hardship that he endured . . . not understanding why he would be taken from his family and brought to a strange land . . . he came to know Christ as his personal savior and, in turn, became an answer to prayer for hundreds of others.

And his obedience, his patience, kindness and love preserved his legacy for all times.

Here we are, almost 400 years later, remembering and thanking God, for the kindness and sacrifice of a man who learned to give thanks to God . . . in spite of circumstances around him.

This is Nina May and the Renaissance Women reminding you to give thanks in everything . . . for this is the will of God for you. We wish you a blessed Thanksgiving.

Christians seem so upset by the refusal of schools to post the Ten Commandments on their walls.

This is understandable to a certain extent. The rules God gave His chosen people to live by could and should apply to everyone.

But the truth is, when Christ came, he said he came to fulfill the law and the prophets and there were really only two commandments to keep . . . Love God and love each other.

He said if you do these things you will automatically keep the other eight commandments.

If you love God you won’t worship idols, or bow down to anything or anyone, you won’t take His name in vain. You will remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy as a time to be with Him because He loves our company.

If you love each other, you will honor your father and mother, you won’t kill, steal, lie about someone, or covet their belonging or their spouse.

So the place for the ten commandments, is not on some wall somewhere, but in our hearts as an act of love for God and each other.

If Christians could understand that they are commanded just to love . . . then maybe they would begin to show mercy to people who need love first . . . before the laws will mean anything to them.

This is Nina May at ninamay.com

We have seen, in the course of history, many movements that have liberated a group of people from bondage.

Whether it was racial, religious, or gender based. When there is an acknowledgment of discrimination or unjust treatment . . . our country has responded accordingly.

But there is a liberation movement that has been percolating just beneath the surface of society, and that is a liberation of the spirit. And the opposition is intense.

As God is trying to liberate His children from the bondage of sin, they are wrapping the chains tighter and tighter around themselves and telling Him to leave them alone.

As they seek spiritual truth, they delete God from the database of possible choices.

As they speak of world peace, they condone persecution against people of faith.

The one element that truly could, bring the world into order is ignored or rejected . . .that is the love of Jesus.

But the message that never seems to get past the doors of the church is that it is not about a religion, it is about a relationship . . . a relationship with the living God that is the greatest liberating power on earth.

It just takes courage to believe . . . and be free.

Let us know what you think at ninamay.com.

It seems a little ironic that the President and First Lady who are strong opponents of violence, want to grant clemency to 16 Puerto Ricans jailed for 130 violent terrorist acts.

And while they continue to point to Columbine High School as a reason to disarm Americans, Americans are pointing to Waco and arguing why we shouldn’t.

But up above the rhetoric, in the mountains of Guatemala, in a little village of Almolongo, lies the solution to these problems.

This town of fifty thousand people has one policeman and instead of carrying a gun, he has a fountain pen in his shirt pocket … for writing the occasional ticket.

The reason is not because guns have been banned, or citizens have been intimidated by the government, or all the terrorists have been locked up . . . or released.

The reason is that a huge revival hit his city, and what was released was the Spirit of God, and hearts were changed miraculously.

So if America would give God the same chance that Almolonga did, maybe we would see the same kinds of changes here in our own country.

And then we wouldn’t have to listen to political doublespeak anymore. Now that would be a miracle.

This is Nina May at ninamay.com.

While United States is keeping God out of the public arena, a country in Central America is welcoming Him with open arms.

When her husband became President of Guatemala, three years ago, Patricia Arzu was asked what her “project” would be as the new First Lady.

She said, “I want to make sure ever single child in school has a Bible of their own.”

She also understood the importance of teaching moral values in the schools and relied on text books and materials that had been used in the United States . . . before God was banned.

She also works to bring the parents into the training and has a project that teaches the mothers about parenting skills based on Biblical principals.

This project is totally funded by the private sector and she has her detractors, to be sure, but Patricia Arzu is not deterred.

The lasting legacy that one women is leaving the children of Guatemala is far greater, more profound, constructive and positive, than the legacy left to the American children by another woman.

This is Nina May reminding you that one person can make a difference. . . just what kind of difference will it be?

Leon Wieseltier, of the New Republic says, “Wherever there’s religion, there’s hypocrisy.”

I submit, that even without the presence of religion you will find that characteristic at work. But the real message is that people who claim to be religious are held to a higher standard.

There seems to be an unspoken, unwritten hope that this person, who claims to have a personal relationship with the God of Universe will someone manifest His glory, peace, joy, love, compassion.

He goes onto say “Most people in politics don’t believe in God, they believe in religion.”

Jesus was despised by the religious people of his day and they set about to try and destroy him. If Christians remember that the focus is on relationship . . . with God first and then with our fellow man, then religion will become even more irrelevant than it now is . . . and more will be drawn to the true, loving nature of Jesus Christ.

And then it won’t matter if religion is equated with hypocrisy, because people will realize it is about a relationship with Christ. . . not about a religion made by man.

We get many responses to the commentaries, but one in particular that struck me was dealing with the homosexual issue.

The respondent wrote, “Do you support having death camps for unrepentant homosexuals?”

I couldn’t help but think that someone like that is already in a death camp of their own choice . . regardless of what I believe or don’t believe.

But what hit me next was the verse in the Bible where Jesus says, “I came to give life, and give it more abundantly.”

He didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world . . . he doesn’t want someone languishing their entire lives in a death camp of lies, of bondage, of oppression.

He wants all of us . . .no matter what death camp we are trapped in . . . to be liberated to know the true destiny that we have been created for.

So it doesn’t matter to the Lord what we are, what we are doing, what lifestyle we are involved in . . . He loves us unconditionally and wants so much for us to have a personal relationship with Him . . . so He personally can liberate us from all death camps that keep us separated from His love and mercy.

This is Nina May reminding my friend, that Jesus came to set the captives free.