Session Notes

Q&A: Lording it over your faith:

“Does he want you to know that you can hear from God for yourself, and that no one else can hear from Him better than you … or does he tell you that God speaks to him on your behalf?  Does he create a tension between dependence upon God vs. dependence upon himself?
 
You know what I think?  I think you ask me because you already know, but are afraid you might be hearing it wrong.  That’s what I think.  :)  Connie, you have the life of Christ within you.  I wrote what I did as a witness to what you already know, but may not have been able to put words to.  You hear from God very well and I hope to encourage you to trust what He speaks to your heart!!
 
Please feel free to write back soon, for I hope to hear from you, and to know that your confidence in HIS working within you is strengthened.”

This is a very encouraging brief article on the definition of spiritual abuse/hurt and it’s root origin. When people grow up feeling unimportant through lack of attention, affection, validation they may set themselves up as those who preach themselves. This is in contrast to Christ/His Finished Work. When others demand, it often can be because they are hiding the fact they should not be trusted. I pray all we touch know that their confidence in God’s working in them is strengthened.

psu.edu

“NHB-Funded Study Finds Honey an Effective Cough Treatment for Children Honey has been used as a home remedy for centuries to help alleviate some of the symptoms associated with a common cold. Now researchers have found through a recent study that honey proves a better option for childhood cough than over the counter medicines.

Researchers from Penn State College of Medicine recently published a study, funded by NHB, comparing honey to over-the-counter medicines for relief of upper respiratory infection symptoms, such as cough. Providing a safe alternative for children more than 12 months old, honey out-performed the cough medicine in offering a better night’s sleep and reducing cough severity.

In the study, the researchers enrolled 105 children between the ages of 2 and 18 at a single university-affiliated physician practice site. On the first night of the study, children received no treatment. Parents answered five questions about their child’s cough and sleep quality as well as about their own sleep quality. On the second night, children received either honey, artificial honey-flavored dextromethorphan (DM) or no treatment about a half hour prior to going to bed. Parents answered the same five questions the following morning.

Across the board, parents rated honey as significantly better than DM or no treatment for symptomatic relief of their child’s nighttime cough and sleep difficulty. In a few cases, parents did report mild side effects with the honey treatment, such as hyperactivity.

Ian Paul, M.D., M.Sc., a pediatrician, researcher and associate professor of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Children’s Hospital said “Additional studies should certainly be considered, but we hope that medical professionals will consider the positive potential of honey as a treatment given the lack of proven efficacy, expense, and potential for adverse effects associated with the use of DM.”

The study results will be presented at the January 8th Honey & Health Symposium in Sacramento, Calif. For more information, visit www.honey.com.

Review: Windows XP - Coding Sanity

I have finally decided to take the plunge. Last night I upgraded my Vista desktop machine to Windows XP, and this afternoon I will be doing the same to my laptop.

Someone had to say it — FINALLY!!!

fakerepublic.typepad.com

1,500 pastors leave the ministry permanently each month in america.
4,000 new churches start each year in america.
7,000 churches close each year in america.
50% of pastors’ marriages end in divorce.
70% of pastors continually battle depression.
80% of pastors and 85% of their spouses feel discouraged in their roles.
95% of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses.
70% of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.
50% of pastors are so discouraged they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way to make a living. 80% of pastors spend under 15 minutes a day in prayer.
70% of pastors only study god’s word when preparing a message.
40% of pastors have had an extra-marital sexual affair since entering ministry.
80% of seminary graduates who enter ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
80% of pastors’ wives feel their husbands are overworked.
80% of the adult children of pastors sought professional help for depression.
90% of pastors said their training was inadequate for ministry.
85% of pastors report that their biggest problem is dealing with abstinent elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors.
90% of pastors said the hardest thing about ministry is uncooperative people.
70% of pastors are grossly underpaid.
80% of pastors’ wives feel unappreciated by the congregation.
90% of pastors said ministry was completely different from what they thought it would be.
70% of pastors felt called of god into ministry when they began.
50% of pastors felt called of god into ministry three years later.
80% of pastors’ wives feel pressured to be someone they are not and do things they are not called to do in the church.
50% of pastors’ wives feel that their husbands entering ministry was the most destructive thing to ever happen to their families.

Stats like these are probably only the tip of the iceberg and likely to grow incredibly. Why is no mystery either. The institutional church is not losing the bench warmers or the Sr. Citizens — she is losing the people who are actually seeking the face of God and longing for intimacy with Him. Those are the ones with passion — the ones who back pastors who are trying to make a difference and who defend pastors (who are actually trying to preach grace and freedom) from their inevitable employment terminations.

Christianity is filled with groups of people futilely praying for revival. Is it any wonder that the institutional church can not be the forum for it? There’s already nothing left…

Besides, the prayer is already answered and the revival is already happening — and that +50% of the institutional church that has already left the building has left to join it in house churches…

Q&A: Legalism has caused me to lose my closeness with God.:

“When you read Paul’s letters, for example, make sure you notice how he always establishes the reality of who the believers really are. In Ephesians 5, Paul is addressing the believers as ”beloved children“ (v1), ”saints“ (v3), NOT ”sons of disobedience“ (v6&7), ”formerly darkness, but NOW you are light in the Lord“ (v8). His admonition was for the believers to live like the believers they were.”

This is an excellent article encouraging others not to feel legalism has forever stripped them of their feeling of the closeness of God. It reminds us to not put it on our children as it may lessen their natural love for the Lord.

calgary.ctv.ca - Calgary news from CTV:

“Even though they focus on children under six, the doctors also say there’s no evidence to show over the counter cold medicines work for any child under twelve.

Doctors suggest parents give their kids acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever and aches.

For more information visit the New England Journal of Medicine’s web site.”

globeandmail.com

U.S. researchers, in a study believed to be the first to link marriage breakdown with its environmental impact, have concluded divorce definitely isn’t green.

They say it leads to “resource-inefficient lifestyles” that dramatically increase the consumption of water and electricity, and demands for housing.

Although it isn’t surprising that the study found separated couples and their children consume more than they would had their families remained intact, the amount of damage they cause to the environment hasn’t been quantified in such detail before.

For once, absurdest environmentalism and common sense line up — even the Greens want you to stay married now. Apparently if the good of the children, the high likelihood that round two will just repeat round one anyway, increased rates of depression and suicide and a host of stress related illnesses arn’t good enough, you can always just do it for the planet…