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Archive for January, 2009

by Yvette Nietzen

1 Corinthians 3:11-13 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each ones work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each ones work, of what sort it is.

During these difficult economic times that many are facing, it is not uncommon to read stories of wealthy people committing suicide. It is so tragic that these things happen. Suicide affects families, communities and everything else that the person has left behind.

While many of us are going through trying times, it is comforting to me to know that to everything there is a season. Winter does not last forever, and it too shall pass.

Are believers exempt from financial crisis, difficulties and bankruptcy? No, not at all. But what we do have, or at least should have during these times is a sure foundation, and that foundation being Jesus Christ.

There are many verses in the Bible regarding our foundation, and I am sure you may know some of them, One popular verse is 1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.(NKJ)

We are to take heed how we build our foundation. But how do we build the right foundation?’ The answer is simple. We read the word, attend church, fellowship with others of the faith, and our foundation in Christ becomes stronger over time.

There are many foundations out there. Most of them rely on your own ability and willpower to succeed. We rely on Jesus and his ability, not ours. Did you know that when we build our foundation on the rock, that we are blessed?

Read it for yourself in this verse: Haggai 2:18-19 ‘Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid consider it: ‘Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day forward I will bless you.’”(NKJ)

From the day we start to build proper spiritual foundation, God will bless us . What a wonderful promise!

Does that mean we will not go through difficult time? No, not at all. But rest assured, since our foundation is built on Christ, we will stand and not be shaken by the things around us.

When the fire comes and burns everything around us, we shake off the dust and get back on our feet. It is then we will find out what we are made of, and obtain obtain spiritual maturity.

Blessings in Him.

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Yvette Nietzen is an ordained minister and currently lives in Costa Rica.
View her blog at: www.freshwind-ministries.rog

Join us at Cherry Hill Adventist Church for a night of family, fun, and Football. We will be showing Super Bowl XLIII on a “very large” screen for all to enjoy. Bring your family and friends. Food and refreshments will be served.

DOORS OPEN AT 5PM. See you there!

God inspired the prophets to write in their own style and from the perspective of their own culture.

Imagine: A friend of yours approaches you with one of the following statements: “You’ll never guess what the Lord showed me this week” or “The Lord spoke to me this week and told me. . . .”

What would be your immediate reaction to this person?

1. How wonderful! Share it with us!
2. It couldn’t have been the Lord, because He doesn’t speak to us personally anymore.
3. Half believing and half skeptical.

How would you then relate to this person?

How could this expression be misconstrued?

Consider This: We are told that prophets are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

1. How does the Holy Spirit speak to people today?
2. What methods does He use?

Join us this week as Elder Calvin Lester leads our discussion.

By Peter Stone

The years of 2002 to 2005 could have been the worst four years of my life. My health was literally disintegrating before my eyes.

Although I had been gradually going deaf since my late teens, in 2002, my thirty-seventh year, I lost all hearing in my left ear. I had to leave the church band, could not engage in social dialogue, stopped listening to music (one of my greatest pastimes), could not hear the television, and almost drove my family crazy asking them to constantly repeat themselves. Otosclerosis, an inherited disease that causes the calcification of the bones of the middle ear, was the cause of this ailment. Yet of equal concern to me was the accompanying tinnitus that was extremely unsettling.

Just prior to losing my hearing in one ear, after undergoing MRI and EEG scans in 2002, I was also diagnosed as suffering from complex partial epilepsy. Prior to this, I had never heard of this condition, thinking the partial-seizures to be a symptom of depression. At this time I ceased taking anti-depressants and took anti-seizure medication, which had (and still has) quite horrid side effects. I lost interest in almost all of my hobbies, entered a continual state of exhaustion, and both short term and long term memory deteriorated significantly.

It was a Sunday morning in November 2004, when I had come down with the flu for the sixth time in a row, (which may have had something to do with burning the candle at both ends recently) that I reached a crossroads. With the deafness, epilepsy, and apparent inability to return to any semblance of health, I felt the crushing weight of despair threatening to descend upon me. This was the last straw.

I had a choice. My life appeared to be in a state of utter disarray. I could succumb to despair and slip into the miry pit of depression, or I could turn to Jesus and rely upon His strength in my weakness, as He said to Paul in 2 Cor 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

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Health Benefits of Yoga – Reducing Stress and More With Laughter Yoga
By Anne Clarke

There are different kinds of health benefits of yoga. Usually, the benefits received from a type of yoga depend on the kind of yoga a person is practicing. One of the kinds of yoga that is gaining in popularity thanks to its health benefits is laughter yoga.

It is said that children laugh around 400 times each day. Anybody who has been around children know they are typically carefree and full of energy. On the other hand, studies have shown that adults laugh only about 15 times a day on average.

Because adults must deal with more stress, it is understandable that they laugh less. However, one of the key points of laughter yoga is that the more a person laughs, the better they will be able to reduce the stress they feel.

In addition to reducing stress, laughter yoga is also said to be able to boost a person’s immune system, strengthen his or her heart and improve overall circulation. A person who wants to try out this kind of yoga to improve his or her health can try the following:

1. Find a class – Laughter yoga is usually most effective when it is done as part of a group, rather than a person doing it on her own. Because laughter yoga includes more than just laughing, an experienced yogi can help a person get the most health benefits.
2. Get ready – Just like any other form of yoga, a person who hopes to truly be able to receive some health benefits of yoga that focuses on laughing must be able to take the time to warm up. When warming up, a person should clap twice, saying “Ho, Ho.” Then, he or she should clap three times while saying, “Ha, Ha, Ha.”
3. Breathing is important – Breathing is important in any kind of yoga. In laugh yoga, a person can breathe deeply by drawing in a large breath through his or her nose that immerses his or her lungs. Hold the breath for about 10 seconds, and then slowly exhale. Pay attention to the way the air leaves the lungs. This process should be repeated three times.
4. Laugh – This is easier said than done. The fact is that a person who is not comfortable acting “silly” in a group may need some time to get used to this kind of yoga. The best way to get used to doing this yoga is to realize that everybody else looks just as silly. A person should start the laughing by raising his or her arms in the air and laughing heartily as he or she throws his or head back. Use the other people in the group. People can shake hands, nod, wave and laugh at each other.
5. Learn to laugh silently – Laugh yoga does not simply focus on the noises a person makes. Rather, it focuses on the way a body functions as it laughs. Laughing silently can allow a person to get a good abdominal workout, It can also allow a person to work out his or her facial muscles.

If a person has participated in yoga for years, he or she must remember that laughing yoga does not replace all of the health benefits of yoga that has been previously been practiced. A person who is looking to stay flexible will likely want to continue to do other types of yoga.

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Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for Web sites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background also includes teaching, gardening, and fashion. For more of her useful articles on yoga and Pilates, please visit Yoga Supplies, home to many useful articles about health and fitness

Obesity and diabetes have been linked for sometime now. Researchers have found strong and important association among obesity, overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma and arthritis. The link found between obesity and diabetes shows those having unhealthy weight at a higher risk to develop this condition.

If this link between obesity and diabetes continues on, the health of the nation will deteriorate. This will of course devastate the health care system. Something will have to be done before the situation gets worse. In fact, some say that there are over 40 million Americans who are obese.

In this connection, the CDC has some recommendations. The recommendation is for thirty minutes of moderate exercise five to six days a week in order to stay healthy. To lose significant weight, the recommendation is to exercise sixty minutes five to six days a week.

The CDC did not stop at giving these recommendations. They matched them with action by working closely with different communities. They developed programs like the Active Community Environment Program. This program encourages bicycling, walking, and developing recreational facilities.

In addition, CDC also supports diabetes prevention and control programs that are based in 59 different states and territories. The purpose of these programs is to help in the effort to decrease the occurrence of type 2 diabetes. CDC also does a lot in its collaboration with the National Institute of Health in the development of the National Diabetes Education Program to improve treatment, encourage early diagnosis of diabetes and prevent it.

Even the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has a practical guide to help physicians treat their patients who are overweight. This practical guide has a 10-step plan to follow in order for the overweight and the obese lose weight to help them reduce the risk of illnesses like diabetes.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Derek Dill

Lord,

I am having tough times in my life right now. I have come to realize that there are good seasons and bad seasons in the Christian life, and I happen to be traveling through a bad season. I am concerned about my situation, but not overly so. I know that You are with me and will see me through this.

Father, before I became Your child and the troubles would come, I felt a weight that bore on my shoulders like an elephant. Now, that weight is gone. You lifted it off of me by Your saving grace and I thank You for it. Now when the hard times hit, it’s just something in the back of my mind that I know You will see me through. It doesn’t consume me as it once would have, and I also thank You for that.

I trust in You and You alone to work things out for my good. I know that You, Lord, want no harm to come to me. You will protect me as I stumble through this life. I thank You and praise Your name for caring for someone so insignificant to this world, as I.

Father, I pray that You will help me to learn to cooperate with You in the work You are doing in my life. Teach me to not mess things up, but instead enhance Your work. I know You have great plans for me. Thank You for all You have done and will do in my life. In Jesus name. Amen.

Join us, January 24th as Elder Dave Waddington leads our discussion and study.

It was suicide, not war. And the 300 Spartan soldiers knew they were going to their deaths. But a glorious death was what a Spartan was bred for from the age of seven. And so the elite hoplite warriors calmly followed their king to the narrow pass of Thermopylae to die.

Herodotus tells us that the Persians sent a spy to observe the Spartans on the eve before battle. The hoplite warriors combed out their long hair andrubbed oil into their skin, anointing themselves for death. King Xerxes laughed when he heard this, ridiculing them for being feminine and for their vastly inferior numbers. He expected a quick and easy victory.

But three days later Xerxes was no longer laughing. Ten thousand Immortals, the elite corps of the Persian army, were cut into pieces against the Spartan phalanx, with only two or three Spartan deaths in the first day of battle. The next day met with similar results. A wall of Persian corpses began to pile so high that the morale of his army began to suffer, despite his superior numbers.

After three days of battle, Xerxes learned of a goat path that led around the Greek lines. Herodotus says that when Leonidas, the Spartan leader, heard Xerxes was coming around to attack him from behind, he ordered the bulk of the force to retreat to Athens, allowing them valuable time to prepare for a naval battle against Persia. With only a remnant of the original force, the small army shrank even smaller, comprised of the Spartans, seven hundred Thespians, and the Spartan slaves.

The Persian army came at the remnant from both sides, raining arrows down on them until all died. But the sacrifice made by the 300 and their allies kept the deadly Persian calvary from sweeping down on the retreating Greek force. Though the Greeks lost the battle, it signified the beginning of the end of the Persian Empire. – - www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki Battle_of_Thermopylae

Consider This:

A remnant is defined as a small group that remains or is left over. In the last days, God will have a remnant of believers. Based on the account above:

1. How would you define the characteristics of a remnant?
2. What qualities did the Spartans show in battle that the remnant must have in spiritual warfare?

Join us, January 24th as Elder Dave Waddington leads our discussion and study.

By: Cindie York

Come quickly, Lord and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn from me or I will surely die. Show me where to walk that I may not stumble. May Your gracious Spirit lead me forward on firm footing. In Your righteousness, bring me out of this distress and shower me with Your compassion and tender mercy. Lord, pour out Your cup of blessing and grant me the joy of Your presence. Lord, You know the hopes of the helpless, surely You will listen to my cries and comfort me. You will bring justice to those oppressed. You are glorious dear Lord. You are the one who lifts our heads in time of utter despair.

In our very hour of desperation, send joy for sadness, and laughter for tears. Send abundance of harvest when drought and famine abound on every side. Let the smile of Your face shine upon me.

Help me not to live a life of distress, but replace heartache with hope. Allow me to feel Your embrace in times of loneliness and do not allow misery to prevail.

Give me guidance to light the path ahead. Encourage me with Your word, revive me, and show me Your love and kindness. In Your unfailing love, spare life, and teach me to trust in You.

Open my eyes to Your wonderful promises that have been fogged by doubt. Lift the heavy burdens that have me bent beneath the load, and frustrate the plans of the enemy.

Heal my broken heart and bind my wounds. Set this prisoner free who has been shackled by worry and fear. Refresh Your weary servant. Send Your Spirit to hover and penetrate those areas of depression and oppression, that I may be saturated with comfort that only You can provide.

Give me victory over the enemy with Your strong right arm. Break and bind any stronghold the enemy has unleashed and send them straight back to the pits of hell from where they came. Rebuke the fury and devices of the enemy, remove fear and anxiety dear Lord and help me to lie down in peace and security. Replace evil with good. Remove me from the mire of despair and discontentment and allow me not to sink deeper into this pit.

Oh God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!

I cry unto You for help because my heart is overwhelmed and I trust that only You can provide relief. Rescue Your beloved child dear Lord, have pity on me, satisfy me, and give me gladness in proportion to my former misery. Let everyone see Your miracles and Your glory at work. Show me Your approval and make my efforts successful. Set the bountiful table before me that I may feast on Your blessings of grace and love.

Lord, I give you thanks for hearing my prayer in times of trouble and turmoil. You are an awesome, all powerful God and with You all things are possible. Lord, I love you and give You praise for I know that in my hour of distress that You are present and will not leave me comfortless. Thank You heavenly Father, for You are worthy of all praise and may You forever be glorified!

In Jesus precious name, amen.

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I have been a Christian for 18 years. I am one of the Sunday School teachers at our local church. I enjoy Bible study and growing in the knowledge of God’s word. My Christian friends and I enjoy writing Bible studies for one another and I would like to share them with others.

…Embracing Your Current Circumstances with Joy

By: Patrick Roberts

If I continue to resist my current situation rather than deal with it, I am like a child who gets a piece of candy only to throw it away because it wasn’t exactly the kind of candy I wanted. Keep in mind that I’m not advocating complacency; no, I should improve myself and the world around me wherever possible. But now that I am in Christ, I have run out of excuses to be anything less than joyful and content, regardless of my circumstances. If I embrace the unconditional joy of Christ, I can desire better things and yet exist joyfully in the mean time.

As a rule, it is foolish to dwell on how much I hate my present circumstances. My relational health, for example, will suffer if I brood. However I will encourage and empower others around me if I rejoice in my current situation in life, not by way of denial, but by choosing joy over bitterness and discontent. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Teresa Lee Rainey

And (Jesus) said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – - Matthew 18:3-4

While lying in bed one early morning with my three-year-old son, Andrew, he suddenly tossed toward me and scratched my leg with his overgrown toenail. I must have cried “ouch” because he sat up worriedly and asked what was wrong.

“Your toenail needs clipping.”, I said, “See where it scratched me.”

His spoke so innocently, “It’s okay Mommy. I’ll pray for you.”

The simple prayer he said, “Jesus, please take the scratch away.”, brought instant tears to my eyes. His eyes were closed as he prayed and when he was done he sat up and asked to see where I had been hurt.

Disappointment clouded his little face when he realized the scratch had not instantly gone away. I reassured him that Jesus did hear his prayer, the scratch didn’t hurt anymore and tomorrow when he looked the scratch would be gone.

Oh, no!

The moment those words passed my lips Andrew was satisfied that his prayer was answered, but my first thought was, “What if the scratch is still there tomorrow? How will I explain that?”

How often do we, as adults, neglect trusting the Lord completely to take care of little problems that come our way? It seems that I rarely even ask for His help with small situations and if I do ask, many times I don’t wait and trust in Him for His answer. I simply accept what is or find my own solutions.

I didn’t even think about the scratch until the next morning when Andrew woke me by pulling my covers down and saying, “Mommy see, the scratch is gone.”

Dear Lord, please help me to become as a little child so that I might be able to trust you completely without the doubts we adults so often contemplate with our prayers.

Teresa Lee Rainey is a wife and mom who enjoys writing in her spare time. It is her desire to write for the honor of Jesus Christ and she humbly prays that those who read her writings will be able to see God’s hand at work in them.

By: Shannon Heiden

Beautiful One, What Are You Holding On To?

I will never forget a moment the Lord and I shared some years back. I was driving in my car and I had just resurrendered my life to Him, perhaps that was the first real time I had fully surrendered. I had been a Christian for many years but because of pain and poor choices on my part, I was suffering terribly in the Kingdom Of God.

The Lord had a Come to Jesus Meeting scheduled on the calendar, a memo I had gotten a long time ago but had forgotten about. Needless to say, when He met with me I can tell you I was radically and drastically changed, I have never been the same since nor will I ever be. I remember as I was driving, He spoke this to me; “Shannon, you used to come to me with one arm outstretched to me and the other arm behind your back, witholding all of your pain and troubles, But NOW you come with both hands stretched to me, and I am going to fill them like never before!”

What He spoke to me was such an accurate depiction of how I served the Lord and fellowshipped with him. I have loved the Lord the moment I became aware of Him, the moment He entered my heart. BUT, when He found me, He also found a whole island, not a mountain but an island, a small country if you will, of numerous problems. Drug addiction, abuse, and a woman who absolutly knew nothing of worth were just to name a few.

But what I didnt know then that I have come to know now through the process of maturing in my walk is that none of it mattered to Him. He knew me before I knew me and He knew that I was a package deal, to get me was to get my failed marriage, my abusive past, my mistrust, my misperceptions, and all of my shortcomings, He knew all of it, AND He still chose me, He looked at me as if to say; “AH there is one who will be forgiven much BUT because of it, she will love much.”

Beautiful One, there were times that I didn’t think I would ever make it through, I had alot of pain thrust on me by others, I had been rejected and abused at the deepest levels and out of all that pain by others I created new pain, it is safe to say I birthed alot of my troubles myself. Read the rest of this entry »

by Shannon Heiden

You’ve seen them, they are in the alleys, they are on the street corners and at most freeway frontage roads. Most of the time you don’t pay them much attention but when you do, it’s usually because they have made contact with you in some way, either by waving you down, outright speaking to you or just being the silent communicator that makes you uncomfortable with their sign that reads ” will work for food”.

They are the homeless, they are the forgotten and displaced, they are the poor, they are the men, women and yes even children that can incite fury and compassion all at the same time and they are among us always.

Whether we see them or not, they are there. They are the lost wanderers on this earth, somewhere along the way, they didn’t find their value, somewhere along the way they weren’t shown any worth and somewhere along the way, they have settled and succumbed to being less than what they were created for.

Somewhere along the way they were somebody’s child, someone’s husband or wife, someone’s mom or dad, maybe a brother or a sister, they could even be someone’s friend, maybe they still are. But somewhere along the way they ate the bread of adversity and never recovered. Read the rest of this entry »

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all” (1 Corinthians 12:4–6, NKJV).

South Korean soprano Sumi Jo was born with a heart full of music. No surprise when you consider that her mother listened to soprano arias during her pregnancy, for she dreamed of having a daughter who would one day grow up to be a great singer.

In 1988 that dream came true. The great conductor Herbert von Karajan heard Sumi Jo debut, calling her, “a voice from heaven.”

The last time heaven gave a concert on earth, it took place at night before an audience of shepherds more than two thousand years ago. Unfortunately no one today, not even a music expert like the late Mr. von Karajan, has heard heaven sing since then. But one need only listen to Sumi Jo’s Prayers to get an idea of just what it must have been like to be in that field of shepherds.

Listening to the vocal purity and the ease with which she hits those high notes, you may find it surprising to know that Sumi Jo started singing as a mezzo soprano, with a much smaller range of notes. She most likely would have remained one if not for the intervention of a very special teacher, who told Sumi that she was a coloratura soprano, capable of singing impossibly high notes and complicated trills. Sumi could sing only a high C at the time. But after three years of hard study, Sumi Jo taught herself to sing 12 more notes beyond that, increasing her range by an octave and a half.

Gifted people take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Sumi Jo’s voice is one in a million. But in a church of fifteen million members, each one of us is like the only one to God. Each is special and gifted in His eyes. It is up to us to use for Him what He has given us.

Consider This:

Just as God has given the gift of prophecy to the church, He gives us talents and spiritual gifts to consecrate to Him for use to spread His truth.

1. What are your spiritual gifts?
2. How are you being called to use those gifts for Him?
3. Like Sumi Jo, we may not be aware of the true range of our gifts. How has God used teachers or mentors to help you reach your true potential in Him?

Join us this week as we explore this study futher.

by: Tom Gilbert, © January, 2009

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4)

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (John 12:46)

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Christmas Light

We’ve just finished another season of Christmas. It is a season to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is also a season of light. We use bright, shining and colorful electric lights to decorate our houses and businesses. We put lights on our Christmas trees. The Star of Bethlehem, whether an actual celestial event or not, was a sign — a great light — that led the Magi to the Christ child.

Clearly there is a spiritual significance regarding light. We read in the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:3, that God created light (“let there be light”) and He saw that it was good. He also separated it from the darkness. This is significant; it indicates that if we are to be in the light we must be separated from the darkness. I don’t mean to imply that we can’t be out in the night or go where there is no light. Consider this in spiritual terms.

Light shines on objects (and on us) and exposes its/our true nature. In this “light” we see things as they really are. The term enlightened means full comprehension (freed from ignorance and misinformation).

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