American Education

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said: 'Let me see if I've got this right.

'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits,
shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal ride.

'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard,a bulletin board, few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

'You want me to do all this and then you tell me......

I CAN'T PRAY?

"Food" for thought

It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... all before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners...God left us great clues as to what foods help what part of our body! God's Pharmacy! Amazing!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the
body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances
hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic
chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Pumpkin...

A woman was asked by a co worker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin." God picks you from
the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He
cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new
smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to
see."

This was passed on to me by another pumpkin.

45 Rules for Life Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old.

1. Life isn't fair,but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone....

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret,you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful,beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19.. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26.. Frame every so-called disaster with these words'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything..

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Faith Challeged

Faith Challenged

I have been debating whether to share this or not and as I prayed about it, God showed me that He does miracles in our lives so that we may share them with others and He can receive all the glory, not so that we can keep it to ourselves.

Early this year a friend of mine shared a book with me titled God's Smugglers and told me that I had to read it. Little did I know the impact that it would have on my life and my faith when I agreed to read it. This book is a true story about a Polish missionary who lived during the cold war, he lived an incredible and dangerous life transporting Bibles across closed borders-and tells about the miraculous ways in which God provided for him every step of the way.

The part of the book that made the biggest impression on me was the training that brother Andrew received while in training to become a missionary. He was taught to rely only on God to provide for him financially for all of his needs and never to ask anyone to fund his missions. Time after time he told of these incredible miracles of how God provided for him. Time after time I read how God would help him "smuggle" bibles into communist countries and the guards at the entry point would be "blinded" and not notice the stack of bibles in his little car.

The more I thought about how this man trusted God to meet all his needs the more I craved to have this kind of faith. The more I craved it the more I was challenged to live this way myself. God's timing on this is so perfect. I was reading this book right around the time that Andre came home to tell us that He was receiving a ten percent pay cut on his salary. His employer was cutting back on a lot of things in hopes to keep the company viable. At this point we were already struggling to pay our bills with more bills than money every month, and now he comes home telling us we will have even less and we were pretty sure the company was on it last leg.

And now to what God was getting ready to teach me and reveal to me. I have had a credit cards to my name since I was sixteen. I have used them and depended on them all of my adult life. And through college and my marriage we have accumulated debt that we have not been able to pay off for a long time. In the last couple of years I have justified using them in thinking that I knew that God would understand when I used them because they were necessary things like gas, food and especially my insulin and testing supplies. But the more I read the more I was convicted of my dependence on these plastic cards. God allowed me to see that my faith and trust was not really on Him to meet all my needs but on the credit cards. I always relied on them to get me out of a jam if I ever needed them. And I was needing them a lot lately.

No one can serve two masters, either he will hate the one or love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Mathew 6:24

So once I realized what He was revealing to me I decided that I wanted to live completely and totally dependent on Him and stop using my credit cards completely. I have always wanted to before but never had the courage or the conviction to do it. I told Andre what I had been reading about and I prayed and made a promise that I would not use the credit cards anymore no matter what. It felt really good and then....
God decided to put me to the test.

One week later I came home and thought, that we had a power outage in the neighborhood. Then I realized that it was only my house that did not have electricity. It was a Thursday afternoon and we had no money in the bank until Friday (pay day) and when I called the power company with my cell phone to find out what happened they told me that my check had bounced. The lady on the phone was really nice and told me I could use a credit card to get my power turned on again if I wanted to... but I had promised God... but it is an emergency... but I promised God no matter what... but we had no other choice... I went back and forth like this and decided to call Andre.

He told me to use the credit card and then we hung up. I couldn't do it. I did not want to go against my husband but I could not do it. I couldn't go against my promise to God. So I decided that I would call the lady back and I would give her my debit card number knowing that we did not have the balance in the account and there would not be enough money in it until Friday afternoon. But I took my chance and decided to trust God with the result.

I gave the lady my information and we hung up. I waited and I prayed, I went into the closet and got on my knees with my bible and began reading the psalms and praising God. I did not know what else to do. I waited and waited and pleaded with God to do a miracle. I told God that I wasn't going back on my promise and that we would use candles that night and cook some chicken on the grill but that I was not going to use the credit cards. About 15 minutes passed by and then... the electricity came back on!!! It was a miracle! I know deep down in my heart that it was. God heard my prayers and he saw the sincerity in my heart and blessed me for it. It was amazing. I was amazed!!!

It has been four months now and I have not used my credit cards once. God has provided free lance work for Andre to supplement our paycheck and we have not stopped paying our bills or tithing to our church. I am amazed. I was going to the credit cards on a very frequent basis and since I made my promise and was tested on it I have not had to use them at all!

I struggled to share this story because I was worried what other people would think of us and frankly I was embarrassed about where we were financially. And now even though we are not out of debt we are working to pay it off, not adding to our debt but most importantly living completely and totally dependent on God for our finances. Andre's job is still on very shaky ground but I can say with certainty that we know that God is in control. I think the biggest gift I have gained from all of this besides learning to trust in God has been the peace that has come with it. I have complete peace about our financial future and trust God completely Hallelujah!

I hope this blesses someone today.

Lazarus Waits, Rachel Weeps

Lazarus Waits, Rachel Weeps

Jesus tells the story of a rich man who is content to live comfortably with a great chasm between his success and a poor man’s predicament. At his own gate each day, the man passes a beggar named Lazarus, who is covered in sores and waits with the hope that he might be satisfied with something that falls from the rich man’s table. But Jesus describes the rich man as seeing neither Lazarus nor his plight. Ironically, when the rich man dies and is suffering in Hades with his own agony and aspirations, he still chooses to view Lazarus as inferior, worthy only of being a servant. “Father Abraham, have mercy on me,” he pleads, “and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony” (Luke 16:24). Twice he makes it clear in his requests that he sees the man who sat at his gate as subordinate at best. Having refused all his days to see the waiting Lazarus as a fellow soul, a suffering neighbor, the chasms the rich man allowed in life had now grown fixed in death.

Another story that emerges from the life of Jesus came before he was old enough to tell stories of his own. The prophet Isaiah told of a child who would be born for the people, a son given to the world with authority resting on his shoulders. Hundreds of years later, in Mary and Joseph of Nazareth, this prophecy was being fulfilled. The angel had appeared. A child was born. The magi had come. The ancient story was taking shape in a field in Bethlehem. But when Herod learned from the magi that a king would be born, he gave orders to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under. At this murderous edict, another prophecy, this one spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, was sadly fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping; Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:16-18). While the escape of Mary and Joseph to Egypt allowed Jesus to tell the story of Lazarus years later, the cost, as Rachel and all the mothers’ who didn’t escape knew well, was wrenchingly great.

Of the many objections to Christianity, one that stands out in my mind as troubling is the argument that to be Christian is to withdraw from the world around us, to follow fairy tales with wishful hearts and myths that insist we stop thinking and believe that all will be right in the end because God says so. In such a vein, Karl Marx depicts Christianity as a kind of drug that anesthetizes people to the suffering in the world and the wretchedness of life. Likewise, in Sigmund Freud’s estimation, belief in God functions as an infantile dream that helps us evade the pain and helplessness we both feel and see around us. I don’t find these critiques and others like them troubling because I find them accurate of the kingdom Jesus described. I find them troubling because so many Christians live as if Freud and Marx are quite right in their analyses.

In our impervious boxes and minimalist depictions of the Christian story, we comfortably live as if in our own world, blind and unconcerned with the world of suffering around us, intent to tell our feel-good stories while withdrawing from the harder scenes of life. In fact, to pretend as if Christianity does not at times function as a wishful escape from the world is perhaps another kind of wishful thinking. There are some critiques of Christianity we ignore at our own peril.

In reality, the stories Jesus left us with are so much more than wishful thinking and his proclamations of the kingdom among us are far from declarations of escapism. The story of Rachel weeping for her slaughtered children and Lazarus waiting in agony at the gate of someone who could make a difference are two stories among many that refuse to let us sweep the suffering of the world under the rug of unimportance. The fact that they are included in the gospel that brings us the hope of Christ is not only what makes that hope endurable, but what proves Freud and Marx entirely wrong. For Christ brings the kind of hope that can reach even the most hopeless among us. And Jesus hasn’t overlooked the suffering of the world anymore than he has invited his followers to do so; it is a part of the very story we tell.

Thus, precisely because the faith we proclaim is not a drug that anesthetizes or a dream that deludes, we must tell the whole story and not merely the parts that lessen our own pain. We must also live as people watchful and ready to be near those who weep and wait--the poor, the demoralized, and the suffering. There are far too many Rachels who are still weeping and Lazaruses who are still waiting, waiting for men and women of faith to be the good news they proclaim.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Kingdom of Godhttp://http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/JustThinking.aspx?archive=1&pid=897