This is in excellent article that will literally move you! May it be so for us, our families, friends, schools, clients, and world. I encourage you to consult New American Standard, The Message, and Strongs Concordance.

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The God Who Speaks – July 7, 2006 I was gearing up for soul-restoration, not issues-exploration. But Cam is usually right, so I kept my eyes open and asked the Lord for a strategy. Sure enough, not long into my “breather”, up came some “stuff” that wants to bully me towards isolation. How do you rest when old insecurities, temptations, or “demons” rise up when you finally still your heart? Or am I the only one who didn’t automatically get all his shortcomings washed away at baptism? If not, read on:

The Lord showed me that during a time of rest, first of all, I don’t need to go digging for my issues. They will surface on their own, thankyou very much.

Second, when they surface, I don’t need to work at fixing things. Rather, I can sit WITH them in HIS PRESENCE, allowing them to RIPEN. That way, instead of running around the tree of my life picking off old “bad” fruit, I can sit at the tree of HIS LIFE /the Cross) and let the fruit simply rot and fall off. I found that this took some patience and a little courage. But to extend the tree analogy, it was a reminder that Christ is the Pruner… not me. And if you give Him a chance, He is faithful to do it. I hardly had to help him; my role was to simply ripen in His presence. SOOO restful… in fact, the biggest breakthrough came just this morning through a one-minute dream. It was Jesus, teaching me “the unforced rhythms of grace” (Matt. 11:28 MSG).

And third, it dawned on me, “Why don’t I ALWAYS take this approach?” Perhaps there is a time to take the initiative and really pursue one’s healing ruthlessly and thoroughly… but I’ll ask Jesus about that later. After my rest. In the mean time, can I challenge you to ask the Lord if there’s anything “in your face” that He’d like to have ripen in His presence.

Brad Jersak

This is an inspiring article!!! I pray we can allow God to reveal His healing love to us, our families, friends, clients, churches, school, and world.

Are you too serious? Take these 12 steps…

1. We admitted that we were powerless over seriousness — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that only by lightening up could we achieve a state of non-seriousness.

3. Made a decision to turn our constant self-criticism over to our sense of humor and learn to “lovingly and wholeheartedly” laugh at ourselves.

4. Decided to give ourselves a break once in a while, instead of constantly doing searching and fearless moral inventories of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being that our wrongs were often in our heads.

6. Were entirely ready to accept that our characters were as good as anybody else’s and possibly better than most.

7. Quit harping on our shortcomings.

8. Made of list of all persons we thought we had harmed and saw that they’d forgotten all the crap we’d blown out of proportion.

9. Quit making amends for breathing air and taking up a few square feet of the planet’s surface.

10. Resigned ourselves to the fact we were going to criticize ourselves at times, but would try to stick to our guns when we knew we were right.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to calm down and realize we’re not responsible for everything.

12. Having experienced immense relief from these steps, we would try to carry this message to other over-serious people and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.

” When things are going the way you want, God is for you. When life seems to be falling apart, God is for you. When the Philistines chased David down in Gath, he wrote, ‘This I know, that God is for me’ (Psalm 56:9). What a time to make a declaration like that! Many of us have found ourselves in a place similar to David’s situation at times. Life is closing in . . . the enemy seems to have us cornered and there appears to be no way out. Pleasant circumstances disappear before our eyes and the world turns dark. At times like that, we may be tempted to cry out, ‘Why is God against me?’ Not David. He assured himself with the truth, ‘God is for me.’ He didn’t say, ‘This I feel, that God is for me.’ There are many times in life that we don’t feel like God is for us. No, he said, ‘This I know, that God is for me.”

This is a great article esp in times of minor challenges or when God seems silent. I find grieving also helpful, like Job to experience THE LORD is NOT AGAINST US. It shows the process of THE FATHER proving His love through His assurance, MAYBE THROUGH SENSING HE IS HOLDING US, until we can go from-affirming, to feeling, to knowing GOD IS FOR ME THIS I KNOW. MAY IT BE SO FOR US, OUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, AND THE WORLD!

“I’ve taught several times about how sailing is a metaphor for the grace walk. On land, we seem to have control of our own forward motion, which I’ve suggested depicts a legaslitic lifestyle of self-sufficiency. Once we abandon ourselves to the wind (the Spirit) and the water (The Word/Jesus), we have no illusions that we are in control anymore. Safe sailing necessitates that you go forward as the wind leads you. To fail to cooperate with the wind can bring dire consequences – not because the wind is punishing you, but because you are experiencing the natural result of independence and pride. Happy sailing involves watching the wind and water and cooperating with what they are doing. That’s what we plan to do today. Will we go? Will we stay? We don’t know yet, but we are willing to do either one, once the wind lets us know. So it is to be in life if we want a successful and enjoyable journey.”

This is a great article regarding resting in that EVERYTHING, HAPPENS FOR A REASON. Any situation can result in experiencing/showing God’s love understanding and grace because Jesus took any the sins of the world. May the Lord give us/our families/teachers/friends that rest.

“‘They can be dehydrated, they cannot work. Poor quality of life. So in a way this study further supports them and empowers them to treat themselves.’ Koren and colleagues wanted to look at whether there were any signs that using diclectin during pregnancy was harmful. The drug has been on the market in Canada for decades, but was pulled from production in the U.S. about 25 years ago over concerns it might be harmful to fetuses. It is being reintroduced in that market. The concerns, which came to light after the thalidomide scandal, led to the drug being extensively studied, said Dr. Tina Chambers, a teratologist at the University of California, San Diego’s School of Medicine. Teratology is the study of abnormal fetal development, congenital malformations and what causes them.”

This is a very reassuring article that the med has been safe for a least 10 yrs. Nausea is actually a sign of a healthy pregnancy. God seems to say so as well. Isn’t it great that technology can even reassure you if it is even possible to become pregnant. Now women can really wait for His best timing for marriage/family!

“First, we really need vacations, just as we really need Sabbath rest each week. There’s a rhythm to life. The heart beats, then it rests. It beats, then rests. We wake each morning, then we sleep every night. We wake, then we sleep. We spend energy, then we take in food to replenish what we spent. Vacation is like that. We’ve got to have periods of rest and joy and beauty in our year. So here is what we’ve learned about vacations: First, ask God! Don’t just assume you know what is best this summer. Ask God what he’d have you do, and when, and with whom. Too many folks squander their vacation because they don’t ask God what he has for them. We went to Kauai because we prayed about it last winter, several times. ‘Where should we go, Lord? For how long?’ Visits are not vacations. Most folks spend their vacation time visiting relatives. That rarely is restful and restoring. Visits are not vacations. Don’t confuse the two. Pray over your vacation beforehand! You know there is a thief. You know he hates joy. The mistake we often make is somehow thinking that vacation time is exempt from the Battle. It’s not. I spent weeks ahead of time praying over our Kauai trip – praying for safety. For the weather. For our travel. For our love as a family to be full. Don’t spend your vacation running. Too many times the temptation is to fill the time with busy-ness, running here and there, touring, trying to ‘fit it all in.’ Most folks get home and need a vacation from their vacation. Don’t squander it running around. We spent most our time within a few miles of the place we stayed. Resting. Being renewed. Don’t drop your guard. The temptation when we get to wherever it is we were going for vacation is to drop our usual prayer life, drop our armor, and think ‘this is time out.’ It’s not. To protect the time, I got up early every morning and prayed hard over the day. Don’t be lulled into a false security. Okay. Now ask God what he has for you this summer.”

May it be so for everyone!!!

“6 Reasons to Drink Green Tea The steady stream of good news about green tea is getting so hard to ignore, that even java junkies are beginning to sip mugs of the deceptively delicate brew. You’d think the daily dose of disease-fighting, inflammation-squelching antioxidants — long linked with heart protection — would be enough incentive. But wait . . . there’s more! Lots more. “

“With my wisdom firmly placed in Him, I can enjoy fellowship with others who are in Him and who may understand some truth differently than I do. I can desire to know the ‘what’s’ and the ‘why’s', but be at rest. I can also live perfectly at peace with my lack of knowing. I no longer expect of myself or others to understand all about ‘truths’. Jesus, who I am ‘in’, understands it all. This is what abiding is about. My life does not independently contain all that it needs to live. The truth is in Someone else- Jesus.”

This is an excellent brief article on searching for truth, but also being at rest not knowing until it is revealed to us. May it be so for us.

” second reason we do not understand abiding is that our humanness does not want to. The heart of abiding is dependence. Dependence is the mortal enemy of self (our flesh). Our flesh screams out against dependence. We like the idea of improving ourselves ‘for’ God. We are drawn to ways that increase our strength, wisdom and abilities ‘for’ Him. This is why we can not relate to Paul when he says, ‘Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Cor. 12:10) We long for love, acceptance, value and identity; but we want it the old fashioned way- we want to earn it and deserve it. You can not understand the concept of abiding (let alone live in it) until you are willing to recognize that living the Christian life is not about you getting better or working harder. As Christ said, ‘you must deny yourself’. You living the Christian life, in fact, is impossible. You must be convinced that only Jesus within you can live the Christian life.”

This is an excellent article on resting in our completeness because of Jesus rising from the cross. We can be at peace. May it/this, His wisdom be so for us.

“…I shall not want (lack). I used to fall so short in my self-efforts to achieve goodness and happiness (Romans 3:10-12). But now the Lord has given me His righteousness as a gift (Galatians 2:20-21) and His life as my joy (Galatians 5:22, John 17:13). I am now complete in Christ and, therefore, I lack nothing (Colossians 2:9-10)!   He makes me to lie down in green pastures… God makes me lay down my self-efforts (Philippians 3:8).  The pastures where I then rest are lush green, and full of life (John 15:5). God nurtures me there in my true identity and life in His dear Son (Romans 8:16, John 6:51).   …He leads me beside the still waters. God then leads me to a quiet place to assure me of the finished work of His dear Son through the cross for re-creating me (Galatians 6:14-15). He leads me beside still waters to show me my reflection is now a reflection of Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 3:18)!    He restores my soul. This truth restores my soul (mind and emotions).  God turns my focus from temporal things to the indwelling eternal life of Christ (1 John 5:11-13). My mind is being renewed and my emotions are being healed by beholding the glory of His presence (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:20-24).   He leads me in the paths of righteousness…  God delights in ordering each of my steps (Psalm 37:23)… the unique ways Christ expresses His life through me (Colossians 1:29). Christ leads me in His righteous paths, not an external guide, but as my very life (Colossians 3:4).”

This is an incredible personal interpretation of the most common reading of the Bible at funerals for comfort/peace! It reveals we have so all of His LIFE/spirit in us if we just allow it show and not try. I pray we let Him have this control of our lives.

“Even though most Albertans have been vaccinated when they’re young doctors are learning one dose may not be enough.

Most Canadians born after 1990 did receive two doses of the vaccine, one as an infant and another a few years later and they shouldn’t be affected by the outbreak.

In the second phase of the initiative, all Albertans aged 17 to 26 years who may be at risk of the disease will be targeted for a mumps vaccination.
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Mumps is generally a mild viral illness that results in fever, swelling and tenderness of one or more salivary glands, located at the angle of the jaw.

But officials say some people can be infected but show no symptoms and thereby unknowingly infect others.

Complications of mumps can include inflammation of the testes or ovaries, meningitis and more serious infections of the brain.”

Even though I have given the fear/confusion that my girls could get meningitis, He seemed to say it will be allright whatever we decide for boosters. I have peace at this point rather than terror when we vaccinated before. I pray so for all He lives out His faith/protection for us to trust Him in our choices.

“ Victims of sexual assault are apt to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts and attempts – even months after the attack. With this in mind, every attempt should be made to encourage crisis intervention with trained counselors and social workers who are committed Christians.”

“It’s amazing what you hear when you really listen.  It’s not easy because you and I are so used to hearing others from our own perspective — and not from theirs.  Why do you think people pay psychologists so much money to sit back and listen to them answer their own questions?  What if we were to do this with each other, but our questions were driven by the desire ”to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor2:2)“?  ”

This is the key to the Good News. I pray our focus as sin for believers is not the real issue. When we surrender our self-protective feelings there is no need to avoid/defend. Pray our eyes remain seeing Jesus took the offense feared away.

“Other siblings negatively affected because the family is preoccupied or overwhelmed by consequences of drug user’s behavior.”

This is a good article outlining the progression which can happen if grief and our ways are not given to the Lord. An adult child may feel overwhelmed, shutdown, and not reach out for support if he/she has been neglected or worried about the parent’s emotions.

The guesses of significantly larger warming are dependent on “feedback” (supplementary) mechanisms programmed into climate models. The existence of these “feedback” mechanisms is uncertain and the cumulative sign of which is unknown (they may add to warming from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide or, equally likely, might suppress it).

The total warming since measurements have been attempted is thought to be about 0.6 degrees Centigrade. At least half of the estimated temperature increment occurred before 1950, prior to significant change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Assuming the unlikely case that all the natural drivers of planetary temperature change ceased to operate at the time of measured atmospheric change then a 30% increment in atmospheric carbon dioxide caused about one-third of one degree temperature increment since and thus provides empirical support for less than one degree increment due to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

There is no linear relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide change and global mean temperature or global mean temperature trend — global mean temperature has both risen and fallen during the period atmospheric carbon dioxide has been rising.

Ok, I just finally sat down and watched it. Strangely, I also feel sick — though not for the standard reasons. It’s a sick feeling that comes from realizing we are dealing with the death of rational thought and the ability to understand information by the scientists of North America (in favor of pure hype and federal science grant chasing.) Al Gore can divorce his own voice and receive it back as thunder a thousand times by referring to, “Scientists,” but the facts simply do not always march in unison with his shrill rhetoric.

I wish I could have just ignored it (like I also do with everything Michael Moore presents…) However, after dealing with a number of clients (And their raw anxiety) who have watched Al Gore’s pathetic little piece of propaganda, I figured it was time to watch it. It’s now clear it’s also time to post some real science from real scientists who can actually do math and who manage to comprehend some basic concepts of statistical analysis (Like: correlation does not prove causation for example…).

BTW: No one is questioning that global warming is happening. What is in question is the degree of such (Remember, most readings from any more then 45yrs ago came from fishermen with buckets/thermometers), whether we have much of anything to do with it and whether it’s effects will actually be any sort of disaster. Geological reality states that for Greenland to do what Gore is predicting we would have to experience a seismic event capable of destroying at least one entire mountain range — so disastrous we’d mostly be dead anyway. (Also, remember, Greenland used to host vineyards in the time of the Vikings and the rest of the world somehow managed to keep on functioning.) Somehow global cooling managed to happen without our help — perhaps we have had as much of an impact on the opposite effect…

The Acton Institute also has a brilliant philosophical commentary on the subject.

Update: Someone also sent me thisand this. They are a much more comprehensive (And less mathematical) debunking of Gore’s static.

41. Be flexible. Some things are not worth perfection.


43. Change pace on weekends. If your week was slow, be active. If you felt nothing was accomplished during the week, do a weekend project.

Worth the read.

“A home equity loan, curiously known in the industry as HEL, is typically a second mortgage that positions itself in such a way to allow the homeowner access to the equity (that margin between what is owed and what the property is worth). Equity is the borrower’s asset—and a precious asset at that. A HEL opens a large line of credit for you, pledging your equity as the collateral. You can borrow against it whenever you want. Technically it is a secured debt because of the collateral feature. And the borrower’s safety valve remains because the home can be sold to satisfy both of the debts. But it can be very risky—and that is when it can cross over into stupid territory. There are five ways the stupid factor can sneak into an otherwise intelligent mortgage situation: 1. If you borrow against your equity to clean up your credit card debt and then run up your credit cards all over again, that leaves you with twice the debt—the equity line and the credit cards. Not smart.”

This article makes good suggestions about eliminating and preventing debt. However the judgement should have been given to the Lord. The bottom line is a second job is needed to eliminate dr.

“Schedule a monthly (perhaps more often) ”business“ meeting to discuss co-parenting matters. You can address schedules, academic reports, behavioral training and spiritual development. Do not discuss your personal life (or your ex’s); that part of your relationship is no longer appropriate. If the conversation turns away from the children, simply redirect the topic or politely end the meeting. If you cannot talk with your ex face to face due to conflict, use e-mail or speak to the answering machine. Do what you can to make your meetings productive for the children.”

This article offers good suggestions on not capitalizing on the hurt of others/your children to berate the other parent. It is important not to disappoint by being unreliable.

“Schedule a monthly (perhaps more often) ”business“ meeting to discuss co-parenting matters. You can address schedules, academic reports, behavioral training and spiritual development. Do not discuss your personal life (or your ex’s); that part of your relationship is no longer appropriate. If the conversation turns away from the children, simply redirect the topic or politely end the meeting. If you cannot talk with your ex face to face due to conflict, use e-mail or speak to the answering machine. Do what you can to make your meetings productive for the children.”

This article offers good suggestion on effective co-parenting.

“Unfortunately, this put her in constant turmoil, as she was forced to choose which parent she would invite to certain events. If the other wanted to come but couldn’t, Julie heard that parent’s disappointment and felt guilty. ”Why can’t they just put aside their differences and tolerate a couple of hours in the same room?“ Good question.Because Terrance’s parents always ended up fighting on the phone, he became the middleman to their visitation arrangements. His mother stopped speaking to his father and asked Terrance, at age 9, to communicate her preferences for drop-off and pickup. Terrance had no choice but to oblige, since he enjoyed spending time with his father on weekends.In both these examples, children carried undue emotional anxiety and burden because their parents could not set aside their differences and act like adults.An effective co-parent arrangement for Julie’s parents would mean she could invite both parents to her recitals and not worry whether they were fighting or anxious. An effective arrangement for Terrance’s parents would include their finding a way to talk rationally about their schedules instead of triangulating Terrance.The bottom line is a system that allows children to be children and adults to be their parents.”

This is a good article regarding the confusing feelings of children from separation/divorce. It is best to only do email contact with a difficult ex in regards to children.

“Hypervigilance Anxiety and fearDysfunctional relationshipsSpiritual void or disillusionmentDifficulty concentrating Performance-based self-valueIntimacy problemsTrust issues”

This is a good list where one needs to come to the end of the way they are coping to deal with it, surrender to the Lord so His loving responses/hope emerges.

“So … how much Jesus is too much? What do you think? Now, it’s often said that too much grace will lead to sin, but what in the heck does that mean? Oh, we have adopted this cute little word called, licentiousness, which reminds us that too much of a good thing is bad for you … but do we really know what we’re talking about? Don’t we know that we have demanded that too much Jesus is bad? I don’t know about you, but that don’t sound right!! Yeah, yeah, we can play the word games, but the too much grace we refer to is the same that comes through Jesus.”

This is a good point. We need to understand that even though some have a fear that too much grace will lead to sin. Fear is not of God.

“What’s the first covenant?  It was a contract based upon the performance of those who were part of it.  Guess what?  It didn’t work!  It never worked.  That was the point.  And guess what else?  We are very familiar with the nature of the FIRST covenant and didn’t even know it!  It was based upon the same principles we learned as children:  do good and be rewarded, do bad and get punished!  It convinced us that the only way around our hopeless situation is to LOOK like you were doing good and not doing bad.  It works because everybody else needs the same excuse!
BOTTOM LINE:  So, here’s how the new covenant replaced the first.  After the people failed miserably in their attempts to be good, God brought about His promised miracle:  people who would from the heart operate from love.  He did this by putting an end to the lifeless, dead heart (life-source) and created a new one. ”

These are the central points that are often missed. In parenting making kids obey doesn’t work. It is important to discipline based on the law of love so kids do not just try to look good.

“One in four people is what scientists call a supertaster, born with extra taste buds. ‘They live in a neon taste world,’ as Bartoshuk puts it. They find some vegetables horribly bitter, and hate the texture. They get more burn from chili peppers, and perceive more sweetness than other people. Nor do they care for fat. They tend to be skinny because they’re such picky eaters. Scientists came up with the name because these people give an extreme ‘Yuck!’ when given a certain bitter chemical widely used in taste research — a chemical that certain other people, dubbed nontasters, can’t even detect. Those nontasters make up another quarter of the population. They like veggies, but unfortunately prefer heart-clogging fat, too, along with sweets and alcohol.”

This is a fascinating article tasting. It is not just genetics. emotional connections play a role. Eating at the moment you sit done is the best time.