How to Discern the Pope’s Agenda for America
Read more at the source: How to Discern the Pope’s Agenda for America
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from New Perceptions Television Audio Podcast.
AdventistEducation.org – A Gold Mine of Resources
Cast: Adventist Education
Read more at the source: AdventistEducation.org – A Gold Mine of Resources
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Vimeo / Adventist Education’s videos.
My Moment of Truth
Ed Keyes (Nevada-Utah Conference President) knew he had met his match when his daughter told him that if he didn’t change his ways, he might not be around to play with his grandkids. Ed works for the Seventh-day Adventist church and knows all about the Adventist heath “advantage” where many Adventists are able to extend their lives approximately seven years beyond the average American, through a healthy, balanced lifestyle. But he wasn’t living it. Weighing in at over 300 pounds, Ed knew that something had to be done.
Read more at the source: My Moment of Truth
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Vimeo / Stories of Faith.
How to Turn Mingle into Mission
How to Turn Mingle into Mission
Read more at the source: How to Turn Mingle into Mission
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from New Perceptions Television Audio Podcast.
Britannica e-Books for K-5 – Yours for the Downloading
Cast: Adventist Education
Read more at the source: Britannica e-Books for K-5 – Yours for the Downloading
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Vimeo / Adventist Education’s videos.
Use Your Personality
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| Photo: iStock |
When you look around at other people you readily notice that everyone has a different personality. One person may love to be the center of attention; that person talks a lot, enjoys other people, and has a bubbly personality. Another person seems to be bossy, makes quick correct judgments, and desires to be in control of everything. Another person likes to keep things organized, wants things done correctly, analyzes things, and is always setting goals. Still another person may go to great lengths to avoid a conflict, keep peace. They lack decisiveness and enthusiasm, but have a pleasing personality, and a dry sense of humor. You may fall into one or more of these categories, as I do.
Researchers and scientists devote their whole lives plus millions of dollars trying to figure out how personalities work, where they come from, and predicting what a person will do in a certain situation. They often ask, why are people different and why do people do the things they do? Many theories have been made from these questions. But does it really mean anything?
Why do we all need to be different anyway? Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say. Paul gives a list of spiritual gifts including wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy and more (1 Corinthians 12:8-11). Paul then goes on to explain that there are different parts of the church body that require members to do different things (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). God made us different in order to perform the whole workings of the church. One person can’t do everything. But when the people are brought together in the body of the church, all things can be done.
You Are Special
Don’t be discouraged when you see one person doing great things for the Lord that you can never see yourself doing. God made you specifically to do something special. Use what you know you are good at instead of dwelling on what you are not good at. Paul thought of himself as a timid man (2 Corinthians 10:1) and not a good public speaker (2 Corinthians 11:6). Yet the Lord still made him great and used his personality strengths to the fullest.
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By David Wolstenholm. Copyright © 2015 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.
Read more at the source: Use Your Personality
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.
Old Dogs Do Learn
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| Photo: Mark Barner |
I wasn’t a very strict Mom. I had my rules, but if my kids played their cards right, they could often find a way around me.
I got so tired of asking my son to make his bed that I got him a sleeping bag. Somehow that didn’t seem as disorderly when it wasn’t made up. He also got out of having to take piano lessons – I couldn’t stand his whining.
I used to threaten my children that if they left their lunch or homework at home one more day that they would have to go without, but I always ended up bailing them out by delivering their books or lunch to school. And if they ran out of allowance, I was always good for a loan.
But on the topic of college, I was a rock. If it took them 10 years, they were going to finish. One of my daughter’s boyfriends described me as an over-achiever and he was probably right. I always felt like I had something to prove and blamed a lot of my insecurity on not finishing college.
At the time I was offered a M.R.S. in place of a B.S., I was thrilled. I hated school and was pretty awful at it. I think when I finished my third year at Columbia Union College, I may have had a whopping 2.0 grade point average. High school hadn’t been much better. Throughout the years since 1968, I had thought about finishing and had even taken a few college classes along the way. I loved the process of finding out more about a subject and actually retaining some of what I learned, but I didn’t finish my degree.
Then about three years ago, I got a bulk e-mail about online degrees and decided to give it a try. I found a college that would offer me something other than business and computers, a caring adviser helped get me a student loan(s), discovered I had enough credits to begin my junior year – and I was off. And I can’t describe how fantastic it felt.
My classwork consisted of a college course begun and completed every six weeks. I was considered a full-time student, all the while holding down a full-time job and taking some freelance writing jobs along the way, plus authoring a devotional with my daughter for 2006. It hasn’t been easy, but in one month, I graduate with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in English and Psychology and a GPA of 3.7. Its been expensive, time consuming and at times exhausting. Would I do it again? You bet. My sense of accomplishment is at an all-time high.
Still Growing
Now that I’ve proved I can learn, have my insecurities vanished? Mostly yes, but that had nothing to do with GPA or degrees or the amount of my student loans, it had to do with coming to terms with what makes me worth anything. It’s God’s love and it’s always been there waiting for me to recognize its power. The following verse, with some added personalization, sums it up for me, and it didn’t take a college degree to understand it. “Nothing can ever separate me from His love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. My fears for today, my worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether I am high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate me from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus my Lord” (Romans 8:38).
So, don’t give up on your dreams. Fulfilling them can give you a lot of pleasure and don’t worry about being too old to start. At 58, I figure I’ll die before I pay off my student loans. So keep achieving, but do it because it pleases you. And if it pleases you, you know that the One who will never let you be separated from His love will also be pleased.
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By Dee Litton Reed. Copyright © 2006 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION©.
Read more at the source: Old Dogs Do Learn
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.
Growing in Faith
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| Photo: iStock |
Before my car accident this past December I loved to stay busy. I had a full time job plus I had a couple side jobs that I made some money on here and there. I depended on myself to make money, pay the bills, put money away in savings, and have a little extra for spending. My whole world changed when I learned I wouldn’t be able to go back to work until the middle of April. That would mean I would be without a job and income for four months!
The first few weeks were stressful and I was full of anxiety. I didn’t know how I would make it through this. I prayed and prayed and I heard God tell me to trust in him. From then on I knew that God would take care of me and my wife so I didn’t worry about my financial situation any more.
I came to realize that my faith in the Lord was not as strong as it should be and that God allowed me to face a situation where my faith could grow stronger. And my faith has grown tremendously in these last few weeks. God is opening up new doors for me.
Unexpected Wake-Up Call
You may think you are doing things right and walking the way Christians are supposed to walk. Then one day you get a wake up call. It might not be pleasant, but God uses these situations to mold us into stronger Christians.
Jesus had the perfect personality. Though we will never be perfect like Him, we can strive to be like Him. Sometimes we will find ourselves in situations that are out of our comfort zone. But what we do in these situations is what will enable us to become more mature in our Christian walk.
Look to God for guidance in everything you do. Paul tells us that “my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Do not despair. You will make it through the hard times and become stronger and more faithful. Keep your trust in Jesus.
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By David Wolstenholm. Copyright © 2015 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines. Scripture taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®.
Read more at the source: Growing in Faith
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.
How to Turn Mission into Possible
How to Turn Mission into Possible
Read more at the source: How to Turn Mission into Possible
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from New Perceptions Television Audio Podcast.
Over the Fence
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| Photo: Jeremy Menking |
I grew up on a farm in north‑central Minnesota in a community where we got along very well with the neighbors. That is, with one exception. Our back pasture bordered the property of a neighbor I’ll call Alfred.
We had pretty good fences, but even the best fences can have some weaknesses if livestock have a notion that the grass is greener on the other side. Alfred had a field of ripening corn that some of our cattle must have felt it was just something too tempting to pass up. At any rate, our cattle got across that fence. To say they made a feast of the neighbor’s corn field would be an understatement.
It took us a while, but with the help of some other neighbors, we got the cows back on our side of the fence.
“This is going to cost you, Joe,” Alfred told my father in no uncertain terms. “Your cows did a lot of damage to my corn.”
“How much do we owe you?” my father asked.
“I haven’t figured it out yet. When I do, I’ll send you a bill.
My father nodded. I was at a loss for words. But I wasn’t when we got the bill. “No way!” I told my father. “He’s charging way too much for his corn!
My father shrugged, “What choice do we have? Take it to court? That’s not a good idea between neighbors.
The following year was very dry. On Alfred’s land there were no ponds; he watered his cattle from a well. We had a well for the cattle, too, but we also had several ponds on our land. The soil surrounding the ponds had moisture so that grass could grow.
One late-summer morning, Alfred’s cows suddenly seemed to think that the grass was lot greener on our side of the fence. Alfred’s cows were in our pasture; on our side of the fence. At first I was upset. But then I thought, Ah, the shoe is on the other foot now.
Sharing Pastures
“What do I owe you?” Alfred asked sheepishly. My father waved him off, “We’ll talk about that later. First, let’s get these cows back across.
When we got back to our house, I anxiously asked my father what he was going to charge Alfred for this little incident.
My father answered, “Why, we’re not going to charge him a penny.”
I gasped, “You must be joking, Dad!”
“Look,” he said, “all they did was eat a little bit of hay.
“But he charged a lot for the damage to his corn last year!” I protested.
“That’s in the past,” my father said. “I know Alfred doesn’t have much money. In fact, I have an idea that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
His reasoning was this: We would share pastures. “It’s always a good idea to rotate pastures if you can,” he said. “Early in the summer, before it gets too dry, we can run the cattle on Alfred’s land. When it gets dry, the cows can come into our pasture with the ponds.” After talking it over with Alfred, we put a gate between our properties.
Soon I recognized the wisdom of my father’s thinking. Fences are necessary on a farm. They separate what needs to be kept apart. But gates connect—both pastures and people.
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By Tom Kovach. Excerpts reprinted with persmission from Signs of the Times, April 2005. Copyright © 2015 by GraceNotes. All rights reserved. Use of this material is subject to usage guidelines.
Read more at the source: Over the Fence
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Family First.
