Cartas para Deus - Filme Completo Dublado [Baseado em uma História Real]
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Oposição ou Oportunidade?
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/oposicao-ou-oportunidade/
Uma compilação
Eu lhes disse essas coisas para que em mim vocês tenham paz. Neste mundo vocês terão aflições; contudo, tenham ânimo! Eu venci o mundo.—João 16:33
*
Conforme cumprimos fielmente a nossa missão de levar a mensagem ao mundo, podemos contar com oposição. Oposição e objeções são um fato da nossa vida de serviço ativo para o Senhor.
O cristão precisa saber enfrentar oposição e estar preparado para enfrentar os desafios com fé. Agindo assim seremos capacitados espiritual, mental e emocionalmente para enfrentarmos não só as tempestades, mas também contarmos que o Senhor vai transformar até circunstâncias aparentemente negativas para o nosso bem, e serem oportunidades para fazermos o Seu trabalho avançar. Podemos enfrentar os ventos de oposição com a confiança inabalável de que Jesus tem um plano e desígnio para toda dificuldade na nossa vida.
É importante pedir ao Senhor a Sua perspectiva em cada caso de oposição, bem como Sua orientação para sabermos reagir adequadamente e agirmos de maneira proativa. Assim, saberemos levar a oposição e canalizar nossa energia e esforços para pensarmos em soluções e alcançarmos vitórias.
O fato de sofrermos oposição não significa forçosamente que fizemos algo que não deveríamos ou cometemos um erro. Se não agirmos em oração e conselho com as pessoas que o Senhor coloca na nossa vida para nos servirem de conselheiros divinos, se não ficarmos em sintonia com o Senhor, poderemos tomar decisões inconsequentes e cometer erros que vão se tornar lições para aprendermos. Mas essa nem sempre é a razão por que enfrentamos adversidades. Se entregarmos a nossa vida e trabalho ao Senhor em oração, e enfrentarmos problemas ou divergências, devemos considerar “motivo de grande alegria o fato de passarem por diversas provações, pois vocês sabem que a prova da sua fé produz perseverança. E a perseverança deve ter ação completa, a fim de que vocês sejam maduros e íntegros, sem lhes faltar coisa alguma.”[1]
Independentemente das circunstâncias, deveríamos ter fé e contar com dificuldades, sabendo que a experiência será para o nosso bem, pois vai nos fortalecer ou dar mais sabedoria, ou vai nos ajudar a testemunhar, ou a continuar avançando apesar da crise. Podemos aceitar os desafios e aproveitarmos essas oportunidades de pegarmos a onda dos problemas e vencer, nos tornarmos mais fortes e superarmos as dificuldades.—Maria Fontaine
*
Todo grande homem ou mulher de fé, e até mesmo idealistas que não eram forçosamente religiosos, enfrentaram vários tipos e graus de oposição durante a sua vida. O testemunho de suas vidas é de luta frente a adversidades, recusando-se a se deixarem levar pela oposição, e avançando para cumprirem sua vocação e missão. Eles tinham um propósito, e sabiam que para cumpri-lo iam ter que lutar. A oposição se apresentava de várias formas: política, de pessoas que defendiam interesses financeiros; de poderes religiosos da época; de amigos e familiares, da mídia hostil, ou de instituições educativas.
Qualquer pessoa que já aspirou realizar algo grandioso neste mundo para ocasionar mudanças e melhorias monumentais enfrentaram desafios imensos e muita oposição. Os que lutaram para acabar com o trabalho infantil e pelos direitos das crianças receberem educação escolar enfrentaram uma oposição ferrenha. Os que lutaram por igualdade racial enfrentaram oposição continuamente, e os que lutaram para pôr fim ao tráfico de escravos tiveram que enfrentar os ricos e poderosos da época. Os que lutaram para o povo poder ler a Bíblia enfrentaram oposição e perseguição das autoridades religiosas da época... e assim por diante.
Os que pregam uma mensagem de salvação, fé e confiança vão enfrentar oposição do mundo e do poder estabelecido.—Jesus falando em profecia
*
Diz em Filipenses 2:13: “Pois é Deus quem efetua em vocês tanto o querer quanto o realizar, de acordo com a boa vontade dele.” E em 1 Tessalonicenses 5:24 diz: “Aquele que os chama é fiel, e fará isso.” Essas promessas são de libertação para nós, porque se focarmos o que Deus faz por meio de nós, deixaremos de nos sentir pressionados e transferiremos para Ele a responsabilidade. A nós cabe dar um passo de fé apoiados em Deus e confiando que Ele vai realizar o Seu propósito em toda incumbência que nos der.
Isso não significa que tudo vai transcorrer tranquilamente. Sabemos que, onde quer que o trabalho de Deus seja realizado, haverá oposição, não só no campo de missão, mas dentro dos lares e comunidades. Sempre haverá ciladas e obstáculos a serem transpostos. Mas quando Cristo é a nossa força, as dificuldades tornam o nosso compromisso mais profundo, e não só aprendemos com elas, mas usufruímos dos recursos ilimitados de Deus. Para toda incumbência que nos dá Deus também nos capacita e fortalece. Essa é a nossa confiança. Não se trata do que fazemos, mas do fato de Cristo estar fazendo por meio de nós.—Charles Price
*
Adversidade é um mestre severo enviado por Aquele que nos conhece e ama muito mais do que nós próprios. Nosso adversário fortalece nossos nervos e aprimora nossas habilidades. Ele nos ajuda. A dificuldade que enfrentamos nos faz conhecer o objeto e considerá-lo em todos os âmbitos. Impede-nos de sermos superficiais em relação ao opositor.—Edmund Burke
*
Dificuldades são os ingressos para o jogo da vida. Mas, às vezes, não podemos deixar de suspeitar que a vida seria muito mais agradável sem os empecilhos. É assim que você pensa? Antes de responder, reflita no seguinte.
Em um mundo sem obstáculos não existem vencedores; sem sofrimento não existem santos; sem batalhas não existem vitórias; sem chuva não existe arco-íris. Não acha que um mundo com sofrimento é mais gratificante? Não é necessário o calor para produzir o ouro, pressão e lapidação para produzir diamantes, e dificuldades para formar o caráter?
Henry Ford expressou esse mesmo sentimento da seguinte forma: “A vida é uma série de experiências, cada uma contribuindo para sermos pessoas melhores, mesmo que às vezes seja difícil percebermos isso. Precisamos aprender que os reveses… que suportamos, nos ajudam a avançar.”—Chuck Gallozzi
Publicado no Âncora em abril 2014.
Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira.
[1] Tiago 1:2–4.
Eu lhes disse essas coisas para que em mim vocês tenham paz. Neste mundo vocês terão aflições; contudo, tenham ânimo! Eu venci o mundo.—João 16:33
*
Conforme cumprimos fielmente a nossa missão de levar a mensagem ao mundo, podemos contar com oposição. Oposição e objeções são um fato da nossa vida de serviço ativo para o Senhor.
O cristão precisa saber enfrentar oposição e estar preparado para enfrentar os desafios com fé. Agindo assim seremos capacitados espiritual, mental e emocionalmente para enfrentarmos não só as tempestades, mas também contarmos que o Senhor vai transformar até circunstâncias aparentemente negativas para o nosso bem, e serem oportunidades para fazermos o Seu trabalho avançar. Podemos enfrentar os ventos de oposição com a confiança inabalável de que Jesus tem um plano e desígnio para toda dificuldade na nossa vida.
É importante pedir ao Senhor a Sua perspectiva em cada caso de oposição, bem como Sua orientação para sabermos reagir adequadamente e agirmos de maneira proativa. Assim, saberemos levar a oposição e canalizar nossa energia e esforços para pensarmos em soluções e alcançarmos vitórias.
O fato de sofrermos oposição não significa forçosamente que fizemos algo que não deveríamos ou cometemos um erro. Se não agirmos em oração e conselho com as pessoas que o Senhor coloca na nossa vida para nos servirem de conselheiros divinos, se não ficarmos em sintonia com o Senhor, poderemos tomar decisões inconsequentes e cometer erros que vão se tornar lições para aprendermos. Mas essa nem sempre é a razão por que enfrentamos adversidades. Se entregarmos a nossa vida e trabalho ao Senhor em oração, e enfrentarmos problemas ou divergências, devemos considerar “motivo de grande alegria o fato de passarem por diversas provações, pois vocês sabem que a prova da sua fé produz perseverança. E a perseverança deve ter ação completa, a fim de que vocês sejam maduros e íntegros, sem lhes faltar coisa alguma.”[1]
Independentemente das circunstâncias, deveríamos ter fé e contar com dificuldades, sabendo que a experiência será para o nosso bem, pois vai nos fortalecer ou dar mais sabedoria, ou vai nos ajudar a testemunhar, ou a continuar avançando apesar da crise. Podemos aceitar os desafios e aproveitarmos essas oportunidades de pegarmos a onda dos problemas e vencer, nos tornarmos mais fortes e superarmos as dificuldades.—Maria Fontaine
*
Todo grande homem ou mulher de fé, e até mesmo idealistas que não eram forçosamente religiosos, enfrentaram vários tipos e graus de oposição durante a sua vida. O testemunho de suas vidas é de luta frente a adversidades, recusando-se a se deixarem levar pela oposição, e avançando para cumprirem sua vocação e missão. Eles tinham um propósito, e sabiam que para cumpri-lo iam ter que lutar. A oposição se apresentava de várias formas: política, de pessoas que defendiam interesses financeiros; de poderes religiosos da época; de amigos e familiares, da mídia hostil, ou de instituições educativas.
Qualquer pessoa que já aspirou realizar algo grandioso neste mundo para ocasionar mudanças e melhorias monumentais enfrentaram desafios imensos e muita oposição. Os que lutaram para acabar com o trabalho infantil e pelos direitos das crianças receberem educação escolar enfrentaram uma oposição ferrenha. Os que lutaram por igualdade racial enfrentaram oposição continuamente, e os que lutaram para pôr fim ao tráfico de escravos tiveram que enfrentar os ricos e poderosos da época. Os que lutaram para o povo poder ler a Bíblia enfrentaram oposição e perseguição das autoridades religiosas da época... e assim por diante.
Os que pregam uma mensagem de salvação, fé e confiança vão enfrentar oposição do mundo e do poder estabelecido.—Jesus falando em profecia
*
Diz em Filipenses 2:13: “Pois é Deus quem efetua em vocês tanto o querer quanto o realizar, de acordo com a boa vontade dele.” E em 1 Tessalonicenses 5:24 diz: “Aquele que os chama é fiel, e fará isso.” Essas promessas são de libertação para nós, porque se focarmos o que Deus faz por meio de nós, deixaremos de nos sentir pressionados e transferiremos para Ele a responsabilidade. A nós cabe dar um passo de fé apoiados em Deus e confiando que Ele vai realizar o Seu propósito em toda incumbência que nos der.
Isso não significa que tudo vai transcorrer tranquilamente. Sabemos que, onde quer que o trabalho de Deus seja realizado, haverá oposição, não só no campo de missão, mas dentro dos lares e comunidades. Sempre haverá ciladas e obstáculos a serem transpostos. Mas quando Cristo é a nossa força, as dificuldades tornam o nosso compromisso mais profundo, e não só aprendemos com elas, mas usufruímos dos recursos ilimitados de Deus. Para toda incumbência que nos dá Deus também nos capacita e fortalece. Essa é a nossa confiança. Não se trata do que fazemos, mas do fato de Cristo estar fazendo por meio de nós.—Charles Price
*
Adversidade é um mestre severo enviado por Aquele que nos conhece e ama muito mais do que nós próprios. Nosso adversário fortalece nossos nervos e aprimora nossas habilidades. Ele nos ajuda. A dificuldade que enfrentamos nos faz conhecer o objeto e considerá-lo em todos os âmbitos. Impede-nos de sermos superficiais em relação ao opositor.—Edmund Burke
*
Dificuldades são os ingressos para o jogo da vida. Mas, às vezes, não podemos deixar de suspeitar que a vida seria muito mais agradável sem os empecilhos. É assim que você pensa? Antes de responder, reflita no seguinte.
Em um mundo sem obstáculos não existem vencedores; sem sofrimento não existem santos; sem batalhas não existem vitórias; sem chuva não existe arco-íris. Não acha que um mundo com sofrimento é mais gratificante? Não é necessário o calor para produzir o ouro, pressão e lapidação para produzir diamantes, e dificuldades para formar o caráter?
Henry Ford expressou esse mesmo sentimento da seguinte forma: “A vida é uma série de experiências, cada uma contribuindo para sermos pessoas melhores, mesmo que às vezes seja difícil percebermos isso. Precisamos aprender que os reveses… que suportamos, nos ajudam a avançar.”—Chuck Gallozzi
Publicado no Âncora em abril 2014.
Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira.
[1] Tiago 1:2–4.
Different Gifts
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/different-gifts/
A compilation
Audio length: 9:17
Download Audio (8.5MB)
If you’re someone who looks around and sees others who are brighter than you, more eloquent, more skilled, more energetic, or who just seem “more” or “better” in a variety of ways, you’re not alone.
The problem, though, is that that adds up to a lot of down and discouraged people in the world, because seeing oneself as “less” or “worse” than others is definitely not an uplifting exercise.
It’s not that you want to drag other people down to your level. You’d just like to rise to their level, or at least get closer. But when you look at yourself, it’s easy to lose heart. Instead, the Lord wants you to take heart!
First of all, remember that He’s fair, and when He hands out gifts and talents, skills and abilities, He gives everyone, including you, something special. The Bible says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.”1 “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.”2
If you’ll take a good, honest look at yourself, at your pluses instead of your minuses, you’ll find that you too have gifts and abilities that you can be happy about—those gifts that the Lord has given you for “doing certain things well.” You can be sure that there are others who look at you and your strengths in a certain area and think, “I wish I were more like that!”
How much better it would be if we could each learn to appreciate the varieties of gifts that the Lord has given to others, without overlooking or forgetting the ones that He has given us.
Most of all, remember that the Lord doesn’t compare you to anyone. He loves you with an everlasting love, and it’s a love that sees all the good and possibilities that you have. If you love Him and want to please Him, that’s what matters to Him! You are special to Him, and He loves you with a special love!—Maria Fontaine
*
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. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.—1 Corinthians 12:4–12 NKJV
*
When you are tempted to compare with others because you think they are more beautiful, more talented, have better personalities, are more mature spiritually, or other people seem to like them more or love them more, do not feel bad. Accept the gifts I have given others and be thankful for them, not envious, knowing that I have given you many gifts as well. As you thank Me and praise Me for the way I’ve made you and accept that I do all things well, then you will have victory.
What is it to you what I give to others, what I entrust them with, what I ask of them, or how I bless them and how I operate in their lives? It’s not for you to compare or judge or come to conclusions in your own mind as to how My dealings with you should be, or how My dealings with others should be. You simply need to trust Me, because as I’ve told you over and over, I have a plan and a purpose, and I’m working in your life to make you stronger, better, and more useful.
Contentment comes from trusting and believing in Me—believing that I will make your way perfect; that I will do all things well for you; that I will reward you for all that you’ve sacrificed, given up, or gone without.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
People are different and have different ministries, different gifts, different responsibilities, and fill different roles. There is a great diversity of gifts, talents, personalities and opinions in the body of My church, and all are necessary to make it well rounded. Each part of the body has its role and there should be no comparing.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
The Devil often tries to get us to compare ourselves unfavorably to others. The Lord tells us that we shouldn’t think about those negative things at all: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”3
Whether abounding or abasing, we should be thankful for whatever we’ve got.4 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”6 We could all praise the Lord more and be more positive. Thank God for the health you do have. Thank God that you’re not completely incapacitated. All kinds of things could be wrong with you, so thank the Lord for the blessings you do have. Stay positive, thankful, and full of praise to Jesus!—David Brandt Berg
*
“It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.”—Ecclesiastes 6:9b GN
In order to overcome envy, you and I need to rejoice in what we have. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, you should be grateful for what you do have. Your “wants” will pale in comparison when you realize that what you already have is more than enough.
Too often we think, “I have this, but if I get more, I’ll be even happier.” That’s just not true. We are taught to be discontent, but we don’t have to be if we focus on what good things we already have.
Does that mean we’ll never have a hard time handling the success of other people? Of course not! We all do from time to time. In fact, human instinct will always cause us to ask, “Why did that person get a promotion when I didn’t?” or “How come they’re having a wedding and I’m still single?” or “Why do they get to go to Europe and we have to pay for braces?”
Let me clarify this: Envy is not having desires, dreams, or ambitions. You can have desires, dreams, or ambitions without being envious of others. Envy is when you resent others who already have the things you hope to have or who have achieved the things you hope to achieve. Envy is believing you can’t be happy until you get those things.
Envy is based on a myth: I must have more than you to be happy!
Be grateful for who you are and what you have. Instead of complaining, remember that everything is a gift! How will the following scripture change your life? “Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need!”—1 Corinthians 4:7–8 MSG—Rick Warren7
Published on Anchor February 2015. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.
1 1 Corinthians 12:4 NAU.
2 Romans 12:6 NLT.
3 Philippians 4:8.
4 Philippians 4:11–12.
5 Psalm 150:6.
6 Psalm 103:2.
7 http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/be-grateful-not-regretful.
A compilation
Audio length: 9:17
Download Audio (8.5MB)
If you’re someone who looks around and sees others who are brighter than you, more eloquent, more skilled, more energetic, or who just seem “more” or “better” in a variety of ways, you’re not alone.
The problem, though, is that that adds up to a lot of down and discouraged people in the world, because seeing oneself as “less” or “worse” than others is definitely not an uplifting exercise.
It’s not that you want to drag other people down to your level. You’d just like to rise to their level, or at least get closer. But when you look at yourself, it’s easy to lose heart. Instead, the Lord wants you to take heart!
First of all, remember that He’s fair, and when He hands out gifts and talents, skills and abilities, He gives everyone, including you, something special. The Bible says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.”1 “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.”2
If you’ll take a good, honest look at yourself, at your pluses instead of your minuses, you’ll find that you too have gifts and abilities that you can be happy about—those gifts that the Lord has given you for “doing certain things well.” You can be sure that there are others who look at you and your strengths in a certain area and think, “I wish I were more like that!”
How much better it would be if we could each learn to appreciate the varieties of gifts that the Lord has given to others, without overlooking or forgetting the ones that He has given us.
Most of all, remember that the Lord doesn’t compare you to anyone. He loves you with an everlasting love, and it’s a love that sees all the good and possibilities that you have. If you love Him and want to please Him, that’s what matters to Him! You are special to Him, and He loves you with a special love!—Maria Fontaine
*
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. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.—1 Corinthians 12:4–12 NKJV
*
When you are tempted to compare with others because you think they are more beautiful, more talented, have better personalities, are more mature spiritually, or other people seem to like them more or love them more, do not feel bad. Accept the gifts I have given others and be thankful for them, not envious, knowing that I have given you many gifts as well. As you thank Me and praise Me for the way I’ve made you and accept that I do all things well, then you will have victory.
What is it to you what I give to others, what I entrust them with, what I ask of them, or how I bless them and how I operate in their lives? It’s not for you to compare or judge or come to conclusions in your own mind as to how My dealings with you should be, or how My dealings with others should be. You simply need to trust Me, because as I’ve told you over and over, I have a plan and a purpose, and I’m working in your life to make you stronger, better, and more useful.
Contentment comes from trusting and believing in Me—believing that I will make your way perfect; that I will do all things well for you; that I will reward you for all that you’ve sacrificed, given up, or gone without.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
People are different and have different ministries, different gifts, different responsibilities, and fill different roles. There is a great diversity of gifts, talents, personalities and opinions in the body of My church, and all are necessary to make it well rounded. Each part of the body has its role and there should be no comparing.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
The Devil often tries to get us to compare ourselves unfavorably to others. The Lord tells us that we shouldn’t think about those negative things at all: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”3
Whether abounding or abasing, we should be thankful for whatever we’ve got.4 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”6 We could all praise the Lord more and be more positive. Thank God for the health you do have. Thank God that you’re not completely incapacitated. All kinds of things could be wrong with you, so thank the Lord for the blessings you do have. Stay positive, thankful, and full of praise to Jesus!—David Brandt Berg
*
“It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.”—Ecclesiastes 6:9b GN
In order to overcome envy, you and I need to rejoice in what we have. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, you should be grateful for what you do have. Your “wants” will pale in comparison when you realize that what you already have is more than enough.
Too often we think, “I have this, but if I get more, I’ll be even happier.” That’s just not true. We are taught to be discontent, but we don’t have to be if we focus on what good things we already have.
Does that mean we’ll never have a hard time handling the success of other people? Of course not! We all do from time to time. In fact, human instinct will always cause us to ask, “Why did that person get a promotion when I didn’t?” or “How come they’re having a wedding and I’m still single?” or “Why do they get to go to Europe and we have to pay for braces?”
Let me clarify this: Envy is not having desires, dreams, or ambitions. You can have desires, dreams, or ambitions without being envious of others. Envy is when you resent others who already have the things you hope to have or who have achieved the things you hope to achieve. Envy is believing you can’t be happy until you get those things.
Envy is based on a myth: I must have more than you to be happy!
Be grateful for who you are and what you have. Instead of complaining, remember that everything is a gift! How will the following scripture change your life? “Isn’t everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what’s the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need!”—1 Corinthians 4:7–8 MSG—Rick Warren7
Published on Anchor February 2015. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.
1 1 Corinthians 12:4 NAU.
2 Romans 12:6 NLT.
3 Philippians 4:8.
4 Philippians 4:11–12.
5 Psalm 150:6.
6 Psalm 103:2.
7 http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/be-grateful-not-regretful.
A Question That Can Change Your Life
By Peter Bregman, ETR, Feb. 26, 2015
For years I’ve exercised every day—doing weights, cardio, yoga—but despite my continuous effort, I haven’t seen much change.
Until a few months ago.
Recently, my body has changed. My muscles are stronger, more defined, and I’ve lost five pounds along with a visible layer of fat. So what did I do differently?
Let’s start with what I didn’t do…
Spend more time exercising. In fact, I’ve spent less. What I did change is how I use the time I spend working out.
Instead of doing the same old workout, day after day, I’m mixing it up with new routines. I’m focusing my effort more wisely—hitting my muscles with different exercises, adding balance challenges, power moves, and intervals.
The rapid results I achieved by changing my exercise routine made something very clear to me: We habitually squander time and effort on behaviors that do little to move us toward the outcomes we’re seeking. Spending an hour on a treadmill watching TV had no visible impact on my fitness. But when I used that hour differently, I saw improvement.
It’s not that we’re lazy. We put effort into what we do. I ran on the treadmill every day. But, like my daily run, our efforts often don’t translate into optimum results.
The basic principle is simple: We’re already spending a certain amount of time doing things—in meetings, managing businesses, writing emails, making decisions. If we could just make a higher impact during that time, it’s all upside with no cost.
So here’s the question I’d like to propose you ask yourself throughout your day: What can I do, right now, that would be the most powerful use of this moment?
What can I say? What action can I take? What question can I ask? What issue can I bring up? What decision can I make that would have the greatest impact?
Asking these questions—and answering them honestly—is the path to choosing new actions that could bring better outcomes. The hard part is following through on the answers and taking the risks to reap the full benefits of each moment. That takes courage. But it’s also what brings the payoff.
Rejection, failure, even ridicule—those are the risks of making the most powerful use of a moment. But in my experience, boldness, combined with skilled communication, almost always pays off because it moves the energy of a situation and creates new possibilities in otherwise old ruts.
Having the courage to take the kind of bold action that creates new opportunities is, possibly, the most critical skill a leader can have. It’s why leadership development should involve experiences that hone emotional courage, and the communication abilities necessary to use it productively.
I recently saw a short video that perfectly illustrates the risk-reward payoff of courageously using a moment well. Billy Joel was speaking at Vanderbilt University when a young student, Michael Pollack, raised his hand. When Joel called on him, Michael asked if he could play the piano to accompany the musician for a song. A silence followed. Michael had taken a big risk just by asking and you could feel the tension and suspense in the room. After a pause, Joel said “yes” and the video of their astounding spontaneous collaboration has now been viewed over 2.5 million times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bceuh8c-4kg
How often have you been in a similar situation, at one time or another, wanting to say something or do something, yet letting the moment pass? Next time you’re in that situation, pay attention to it. Notice the feelings that come along with it. Observe the physical sensations in your body. Can you feel your heart beating? Can you connect with the conflicting urges to act and not to? Getting in touch with those feelings is the first step to acting in the face of them.
Woody Allen famously said that 80% of success is showing up. Maybe that’s true. But, if it is, then I’d say the other 20% is the most important. Simply showing up and watching TV on a treadmill—that’s not enough. Your greatest opportunity is to use your time in a way that will garner the most productive return. To take risks that will shake things up.
What can you do, right now, that would be the most powerful use of this moment?
For years I’ve exercised every day—doing weights, cardio, yoga—but despite my continuous effort, I haven’t seen much change.
Until a few months ago.
Recently, my body has changed. My muscles are stronger, more defined, and I’ve lost five pounds along with a visible layer of fat. So what did I do differently?
Let’s start with what I didn’t do…
Spend more time exercising. In fact, I’ve spent less. What I did change is how I use the time I spend working out.
Instead of doing the same old workout, day after day, I’m mixing it up with new routines. I’m focusing my effort more wisely—hitting my muscles with different exercises, adding balance challenges, power moves, and intervals.
The rapid results I achieved by changing my exercise routine made something very clear to me: We habitually squander time and effort on behaviors that do little to move us toward the outcomes we’re seeking. Spending an hour on a treadmill watching TV had no visible impact on my fitness. But when I used that hour differently, I saw improvement.
It’s not that we’re lazy. We put effort into what we do. I ran on the treadmill every day. But, like my daily run, our efforts often don’t translate into optimum results.
The basic principle is simple: We’re already spending a certain amount of time doing things—in meetings, managing businesses, writing emails, making decisions. If we could just make a higher impact during that time, it’s all upside with no cost.
So here’s the question I’d like to propose you ask yourself throughout your day: What can I do, right now, that would be the most powerful use of this moment?
What can I say? What action can I take? What question can I ask? What issue can I bring up? What decision can I make that would have the greatest impact?
Asking these questions—and answering them honestly—is the path to choosing new actions that could bring better outcomes. The hard part is following through on the answers and taking the risks to reap the full benefits of each moment. That takes courage. But it’s also what brings the payoff.
Rejection, failure, even ridicule—those are the risks of making the most powerful use of a moment. But in my experience, boldness, combined with skilled communication, almost always pays off because it moves the energy of a situation and creates new possibilities in otherwise old ruts.
Having the courage to take the kind of bold action that creates new opportunities is, possibly, the most critical skill a leader can have. It’s why leadership development should involve experiences that hone emotional courage, and the communication abilities necessary to use it productively.
I recently saw a short video that perfectly illustrates the risk-reward payoff of courageously using a moment well. Billy Joel was speaking at Vanderbilt University when a young student, Michael Pollack, raised his hand. When Joel called on him, Michael asked if he could play the piano to accompany the musician for a song. A silence followed. Michael had taken a big risk just by asking and you could feel the tension and suspense in the room. After a pause, Joel said “yes” and the video of their astounding spontaneous collaboration has now been viewed over 2.5 million times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bceuh8c-4kg
How often have you been in a similar situation, at one time or another, wanting to say something or do something, yet letting the moment pass? Next time you’re in that situation, pay attention to it. Notice the feelings that come along with it. Observe the physical sensations in your body. Can you feel your heart beating? Can you connect with the conflicting urges to act and not to? Getting in touch with those feelings is the first step to acting in the face of them.
Woody Allen famously said that 80% of success is showing up. Maybe that’s true. But, if it is, then I’d say the other 20% is the most important. Simply showing up and watching TV on a treadmill—that’s not enough. Your greatest opportunity is to use your time in a way that will garner the most productive return. To take risks that will shake things up.
What can you do, right now, that would be the most powerful use of this moment?
This filmmaker set out to win Sundance and got ‘saved’ instead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EShApFSrXqw
Jonathan Merritt, Religion News Service, Feb 20, 2015
Brian Ivie, 24, grew up dreaming about making a film that would compete at Sundance Film Festival. When he stumbled on a 2011 Los Angeles Times article, “South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock,” Ivie thought he found his way in.
The article recounted the story of Pastor Lee Jong-rak of Seoul who decided to build a “baby box” for mothers to leave their unwanted children. Hundreds of infants are abandoned in South Korea each year due to social stigmas associated with domestic adoption, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and physical and mental disabilities. Lee feels a supernatural call to personally care for the children that others refuse to keep. He and his wife, Chun-Ja, now care for dozens of children. Many of them have a disability, such as deafness, blindness, Down syndrome, or cerebral palsy.
“Here was the story of a pastor who had built a mailbox for babies at his church, and it haunted me,” Ivie said of learning about Lee’s story. “I thought, ‘This could be my golden ticket to Sundance.’”
While still a film student at the University of Southern California, Ivie tracked down Lee to ask if he could visit Korea and make a documentary about his work. Lee responded that he wasn’t sure what making a documentary meant, but he invited Ivie to come live in his home. After raising money via Kickstarter and convincing Red Digital Cinema to donate state-of-the-art equipment, Ivie flew to South Korea to capture the story he hoped would make him famous. But what he found in Seoul was faith, rather than fame.
“I didn’t smoke cigarettes and watched Fox News with my mom, so I assumed I was probably a Christian,” Ivie, who was raised Roman Catholic, said. “But when I witnessed the love and courage of Pastor Lee, I saw the real deal. He was giving his life for something that wasn’t cultural.”
Through the process, Ivie says he was “saved” or converted to Christianity. The experience, he says, brought him a sense of purpose and freedom from struggles such as anger issues and pornography addiction.
“When I started, I was using these people in Korea to fulfill my aspirations to go to Sundance, but I found something much greater,” Ivie says.
This spiritual awakening propelled Ivie to visit Lee two more times and complete the film, “The Drop Box,” which can be seen in theaters nationwide from March 3 to 5. A book written by Ivie that shares his personal journey also releases in March.
The film is being distributed by “Focus on the Family,” and considering its emphasis on the sanctity of infant life, will likely be a powerful tool for pro-life advocates. Ivie recognizes this and says he hopes the film will expand the pro-life movement beyond just opposing abortion to also focusing the humanity of women who struggle with difficult decisions.
“Pastor Lee is a man who doesn’t yell at women to stop having abortions,” Ivie says. “Instead, he says, ‘I will take your children and raise them with love.’ Telling people that they matter and that their child matters is the only way forward.”
“The Drop Box” was not admitted to Sundance Film Festival, which Ivie says is because “it is not as good as a lot of those films.” But such an assessment may be Ivie’s attempt at humility. His film has earned a spate of critical accolades including being named an official selection at both the Portland Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival, as well as winning the prestigious “Best of Festival” award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Despite my own aversion to documentaries and “faith-based” art, I decided to screen the final cut of the film this week and found myself both weeping and laughing all the way through. The film is not overtly evangelistic or heavy-handed in conveying spiritual themes. It is imaginative in its storytelling and allows critics of Lee’s work to be heard so that audiences can judge for themselves.
All in all, “The Drop Box” is one of the most stunning and moving documentaries I’ve ever seen, and it will set up Ivie as a major player in a burgeoning faith film industry. Ivie has already begun developing his next film, tentatively titled “The Jesus Revolution,” which tells the story of the America’s last spiritual awakening.
“A lot of people get saved and then go to the Amazon jungle and preach to unreached people groups,” Ivie says, “but I want to reach people in and through Hollywood by making good films that aren’t corny or obvious or self-righteous or cliche.”
If his first attempt at filmmaking is any indication, Ivie is already well on his way.
Jonathan Merritt, Religion News Service, Feb 20, 2015
Brian Ivie, 24, grew up dreaming about making a film that would compete at Sundance Film Festival. When he stumbled on a 2011 Los Angeles Times article, “South Korean pastor tends an unwanted flock,” Ivie thought he found his way in.
The article recounted the story of Pastor Lee Jong-rak of Seoul who decided to build a “baby box” for mothers to leave their unwanted children. Hundreds of infants are abandoned in South Korea each year due to social stigmas associated with domestic adoption, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and physical and mental disabilities. Lee feels a supernatural call to personally care for the children that others refuse to keep. He and his wife, Chun-Ja, now care for dozens of children. Many of them have a disability, such as deafness, blindness, Down syndrome, or cerebral palsy.
“Here was the story of a pastor who had built a mailbox for babies at his church, and it haunted me,” Ivie said of learning about Lee’s story. “I thought, ‘This could be my golden ticket to Sundance.’”
While still a film student at the University of Southern California, Ivie tracked down Lee to ask if he could visit Korea and make a documentary about his work. Lee responded that he wasn’t sure what making a documentary meant, but he invited Ivie to come live in his home. After raising money via Kickstarter and convincing Red Digital Cinema to donate state-of-the-art equipment, Ivie flew to South Korea to capture the story he hoped would make him famous. But what he found in Seoul was faith, rather than fame.
“I didn’t smoke cigarettes and watched Fox News with my mom, so I assumed I was probably a Christian,” Ivie, who was raised Roman Catholic, said. “But when I witnessed the love and courage of Pastor Lee, I saw the real deal. He was giving his life for something that wasn’t cultural.”
Through the process, Ivie says he was “saved” or converted to Christianity. The experience, he says, brought him a sense of purpose and freedom from struggles such as anger issues and pornography addiction.
“When I started, I was using these people in Korea to fulfill my aspirations to go to Sundance, but I found something much greater,” Ivie says.
This spiritual awakening propelled Ivie to visit Lee two more times and complete the film, “The Drop Box,” which can be seen in theaters nationwide from March 3 to 5. A book written by Ivie that shares his personal journey also releases in March.
The film is being distributed by “Focus on the Family,” and considering its emphasis on the sanctity of infant life, will likely be a powerful tool for pro-life advocates. Ivie recognizes this and says he hopes the film will expand the pro-life movement beyond just opposing abortion to also focusing the humanity of women who struggle with difficult decisions.
“Pastor Lee is a man who doesn’t yell at women to stop having abortions,” Ivie says. “Instead, he says, ‘I will take your children and raise them with love.’ Telling people that they matter and that their child matters is the only way forward.”
“The Drop Box” was not admitted to Sundance Film Festival, which Ivie says is because “it is not as good as a lot of those films.” But such an assessment may be Ivie’s attempt at humility. His film has earned a spate of critical accolades including being named an official selection at both the Portland Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival, as well as winning the prestigious “Best of Festival” award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Despite my own aversion to documentaries and “faith-based” art, I decided to screen the final cut of the film this week and found myself both weeping and laughing all the way through. The film is not overtly evangelistic or heavy-handed in conveying spiritual themes. It is imaginative in its storytelling and allows critics of Lee’s work to be heard so that audiences can judge for themselves.
All in all, “The Drop Box” is one of the most stunning and moving documentaries I’ve ever seen, and it will set up Ivie as a major player in a burgeoning faith film industry. Ivie has already begun developing his next film, tentatively titled “The Jesus Revolution,” which tells the story of the America’s last spiritual awakening.
“A lot of people get saved and then go to the Amazon jungle and preach to unreached people groups,” Ivie says, “but I want to reach people in and through Hollywood by making good films that aren’t corny or obvious or self-righteous or cliche.”
If his first attempt at filmmaking is any indication, Ivie is already well on his way.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Foram Fazer um Ultrasso—Não esperavam esses resultados
De SFG Family
Este casal estava esperando um filho, e foram fazer um ultrassom. Depois de receberem más notícias, prepararam-se para o pior. Mas e quando o seu filho nasceu? Eles não estava preparados para isso!
Duração de 7:44 minutos.
Duração de 7:44 minutos.
Gang Members Shot Him Eight Times—An Angel Helped Save His Life
http://blog.godreports.com/2014/12/gang-members-shot-him-eight-times-an-angel-helped-save-his-life/
By Michael Ashcraft and Mark Ellis
When gang initiates shot musician Marcus Stanley eight times one night in 2004 on a Baltimore street, he feared that IF he lived, his music career was over.
He played piano with R&B singer Chris Brown. He traveled with gospel musicians like Donnie McClurkin, but he didn’t really pay attention to the gospel. He was drawn by the money and extravagant lifestyle.
“I was not focused on the message. I was not focused on Christ,” Stanley told CBN. “I was really focused on just making it—being a musician, being a popular musician, and playing for a great artist. The money, too, that would probably be No. 1 ’cause it was fast money.”
The heady days of fame and fortune crashed to an end with the late-night shooting. Police suspect the attempted murder was a random case of initiates earning their entrance into a gang.
“We got in late every night,” Stanley told CBN. “I was actually walking to the store. I realized I didn’t have my wallet and hadn’t reached the store yet, but I turned around and started walking back to go get my wallet and I saw these guys standing on the corner that night and they were watching.”
One of the six, the leader of the gang, walked up to him and said, “What’s you doing out here, homie?”
“I’m just chillin, bro,” Stanley replied, and kept walking. The gang followed and circled around him.
“Well, you gotta roll out, homie,” the leader retorted. That’s when he pulled out a .45 caliber gun from his leather jacket, pointed it at Stanley, and shot him point-blank.
A bright light from the gun blinded him and Stanley fell to the ground. A burst of seven more rounds rained down on him from close range.
“When I first saw the gun-flash, I remember hitting the ground, and then I saw an angel get in front of me,” said Stanley.
Apparently the angel saved Stanley’s life by deflecting the path of some of the bullets.
“I’m 6 foot 7, so the angel was probably like 7-foot something,” Stanley told CBN. “It was just a transparent figure. I didn’t see wings or anything like that. I saw it was clear, transparent, and it was in front of me.”
Stanley heard God tell him not to move. He held his breath and waited for the killers to leave. When they drove away at fast speed, Stanley took his first breath. “Oh God … Oh God,” he cried softly. He saw a pool of blood forming around him and tried to stand, but couldn’t.
For the first time in his life, he cried out to the Lord of Life—the same God the gospel singers invoked.
“I was like, ‘God help me. Help me make it,’” Stanley said. “I just remember trying to stay awake. I thought that would be the key.
“It was like a movie. You see that stuff in a movie. You see the light up there. People see their life flashing before their eyes. It was like that for me, except that I started thinking what would happen if I did die. And I was like, nobody’s going to know what happened to me.”
He crawled from the street to the sidewalk. Stanley tried to flag down passing cars, but no one would stop.
Suddenly Stanley remembered he still had his cell phone. He pulled it out and dialed 911.
When police arrived they drew a chalk line around him and put up crime scene tape. Even though everything around him communicated death, Stanley began to pray for life.
After paramedics rushed him to the hospital, doctors cut off his clothes and Stanley could see all the gunshot wounds. My body looks dead, like I shouldn’t be alive, but I am, he thought.
Stanley heard the EMT say, “I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
When they wheeled him in for surgery, the doctors seemed stunned he was still breathing and conscious.
Before the surgery, Stanley saw an amazing sight. “I remember looking and seeing the same angel that was on the street and the angel had his arms crossed… He didn’t do anything or say anything. He was kind of like nodding his head as if to say, ‘Everything is going to be all right.’” Immediately, Stanley felt God’s peace.
Doctors performed an eight-hour surgery to save his life. They reattached his colon, removed half his stomach, removed half his pancreas and removed all his spleen, he said.
After the surgery, he sustained nerve damage in his arm, and his right hand was left with no feeling. He thought his musical career was over.
Remarkably, after three months of rehab he was able to walk again and even play the piano.
Despite God’s amazing intervention to save and preserve his life, Stanley was not ready to surrender his life to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He went back to pursuing his dreams in the music world.
But the need for painkillers after the surgery led him into drug addiction. Five years later, he was so disgusted with the course of his life, he finally decided to go all-out for Jesus.
Stanley hit rock bottom—and this time he was ready to surrender. He cried out to God and turned his life completely over to Jesus Christ.
“I got to a point where in desperation I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ And that’s when everything changed for me as far as me pursuing, saying, ‘I need Jesus.’ Took me a long time to get there,” Stanley told CBN.
Later, he learned that his surgeon found God as a result of Stanley’s surgery. “He acknowledged it was not possible that he did the surgery by himself.”
Today, Stanley uses his talent for God’s kingdom. He plays and speaks before youth groups and high schools.
“It’s not really about the music,” Stanley said. “It’s more about what God’s done in my life, and I aim to make him famous at everything I do and to show his glory.”
From http://blog.godreports.com/2014/12/gang-members-shot-him-eight-times-an-angel-helped-save-his-life. You can hear Marcus Stanley tell the story in the YouTube clip at the end of this page.
By Michael Ashcraft and Mark Ellis
When gang initiates shot musician Marcus Stanley eight times one night in 2004 on a Baltimore street, he feared that IF he lived, his music career was over.
He played piano with R&B singer Chris Brown. He traveled with gospel musicians like Donnie McClurkin, but he didn’t really pay attention to the gospel. He was drawn by the money and extravagant lifestyle.
“I was not focused on the message. I was not focused on Christ,” Stanley told CBN. “I was really focused on just making it—being a musician, being a popular musician, and playing for a great artist. The money, too, that would probably be No. 1 ’cause it was fast money.”
The heady days of fame and fortune crashed to an end with the late-night shooting. Police suspect the attempted murder was a random case of initiates earning their entrance into a gang.
“We got in late every night,” Stanley told CBN. “I was actually walking to the store. I realized I didn’t have my wallet and hadn’t reached the store yet, but I turned around and started walking back to go get my wallet and I saw these guys standing on the corner that night and they were watching.”
One of the six, the leader of the gang, walked up to him and said, “What’s you doing out here, homie?”
“I’m just chillin, bro,” Stanley replied, and kept walking. The gang followed and circled around him.
“Well, you gotta roll out, homie,” the leader retorted. That’s when he pulled out a .45 caliber gun from his leather jacket, pointed it at Stanley, and shot him point-blank.
A bright light from the gun blinded him and Stanley fell to the ground. A burst of seven more rounds rained down on him from close range.
“When I first saw the gun-flash, I remember hitting the ground, and then I saw an angel get in front of me,” said Stanley.
Apparently the angel saved Stanley’s life by deflecting the path of some of the bullets.
“I’m 6 foot 7, so the angel was probably like 7-foot something,” Stanley told CBN. “It was just a transparent figure. I didn’t see wings or anything like that. I saw it was clear, transparent, and it was in front of me.”
Stanley heard God tell him not to move. He held his breath and waited for the killers to leave. When they drove away at fast speed, Stanley took his first breath. “Oh God … Oh God,” he cried softly. He saw a pool of blood forming around him and tried to stand, but couldn’t.
For the first time in his life, he cried out to the Lord of Life—the same God the gospel singers invoked.
“I was like, ‘God help me. Help me make it,’” Stanley said. “I just remember trying to stay awake. I thought that would be the key.
“It was like a movie. You see that stuff in a movie. You see the light up there. People see their life flashing before their eyes. It was like that for me, except that I started thinking what would happen if I did die. And I was like, nobody’s going to know what happened to me.”
He crawled from the street to the sidewalk. Stanley tried to flag down passing cars, but no one would stop.
Suddenly Stanley remembered he still had his cell phone. He pulled it out and dialed 911.
When police arrived they drew a chalk line around him and put up crime scene tape. Even though everything around him communicated death, Stanley began to pray for life.
After paramedics rushed him to the hospital, doctors cut off his clothes and Stanley could see all the gunshot wounds. My body looks dead, like I shouldn’t be alive, but I am, he thought.
Stanley heard the EMT say, “I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
When they wheeled him in for surgery, the doctors seemed stunned he was still breathing and conscious.
Before the surgery, Stanley saw an amazing sight. “I remember looking and seeing the same angel that was on the street and the angel had his arms crossed… He didn’t do anything or say anything. He was kind of like nodding his head as if to say, ‘Everything is going to be all right.’” Immediately, Stanley felt God’s peace.
Doctors performed an eight-hour surgery to save his life. They reattached his colon, removed half his stomach, removed half his pancreas and removed all his spleen, he said.
After the surgery, he sustained nerve damage in his arm, and his right hand was left with no feeling. He thought his musical career was over.
Remarkably, after three months of rehab he was able to walk again and even play the piano.
Despite God’s amazing intervention to save and preserve his life, Stanley was not ready to surrender his life to Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He went back to pursuing his dreams in the music world.
But the need for painkillers after the surgery led him into drug addiction. Five years later, he was so disgusted with the course of his life, he finally decided to go all-out for Jesus.
Stanley hit rock bottom—and this time he was ready to surrender. He cried out to God and turned his life completely over to Jesus Christ.
“I got to a point where in desperation I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ And that’s when everything changed for me as far as me pursuing, saying, ‘I need Jesus.’ Took me a long time to get there,” Stanley told CBN.
Later, he learned that his surgeon found God as a result of Stanley’s surgery. “He acknowledged it was not possible that he did the surgery by himself.”
Today, Stanley uses his talent for God’s kingdom. He plays and speaks before youth groups and high schools.
“It’s not really about the music,” Stanley said. “It’s more about what God’s done in my life, and I aim to make him famous at everything I do and to show his glory.”
From http://blog.godreports.com/2014/12/gang-members-shot-him-eight-times-an-angel-helped-save-his-life. You can hear Marcus Stanley tell the story in the YouTube clip at the end of this page.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
House Churches Swap Steeples For Sofas, And Say They’ve Never Been Closer
Eleanor Klibanoff, NPR, Feb. 22, 2015
At most churches, it’s embarrassing to show up late. But if you arrive early at Greg Stultz’s church, you might interrupt the hosts’ last-minute preparations as they put away homework or toss shoes up the stairs.
Stultz and his family are part of a house church. They typically meet on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, though the week that I visited they were meeting in Dover, Del. Each week, their small group crowds into a private living room for dinner and fellowship—and their church is no rarity.
With new church construction at its lowest point since 1967, and with more religiously unaffiliated Americans than ever before, many congregations say they’ve become more committed communities by losing the pews and stained-glass windows of a central building.
Stultz himself explains that he’d long felt a dissatisfaction with the church hierarchy.
“The Bible says, ‘What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, a word of instruction, or an interpretation’—all of this done for the strength of the church,” Stultz says. “Where is that being done?”
Nowhere—at least as far as Joleen Zimmerman could find. Three years ago, she had been praying for a close-knit church community when she met Stultz. He had quoted that same verse to her.
“That was the verse that God had given me,” she says, “that when we come together, not to come to pew sit—but to actually come to give.”
During their new church’s meetings, anyone can call out a song suggestion or read a Bible verse. Instead of a sermon, everyone just talks about what’s been weighing on them that week. This group says that the only guidance they need to run a church can be found in the New Testament.
And there were no church buildings in the time of the New Testament, says L. Michael White, a professor of Christian origins at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Where do they meet?” White asks. “We do have references in … the letters of Paul to meeting in someone’s home—or, basically, the church in your house.”
Over the next centuries, the church became a state institution. With that came buildings, denominational divides, fundraising campaigns. Some house churches are trying to get back to a simpler time. But there are as many varieties and motivations for house churches as there are house churches themselves.
At Redemption Church, a network of house churches in Bristol, Pa., the meetings are a lot like those at Stultz’s church—crowded and casual. But Gary Alloway, the pastor at Redemption, says he’d originally intended to build a brick-and-mortar church. It was only after years of struggling to gather a congregation that he tried a new approach.
Alloway recalls what he told his congregation at the time: “I’m not writing a sermon for 12 people. How about you guys come over to my living room? We’ll open a Bible, we’ll talk about it, we’ll eat together.”
Three years later, Redemption now has three house churches that meet around Bristol. Once a month, they have a group service. The church has a professional pastor and a budget, most of which goes to community outreach.
This setup is pretty different from the Stultzes’—but both congregations speak of the tightknit community that comes from a small group. Zimmerman says those relationships are the value of house church.
“When I think over my life, basically, it was the relationships that actually helped me,” she says. “God didn’t call us to walk alone.”
It’s hard to feel alone when you’re squeezed onto a couch with four other people. Larger churches try to offer a similar experience with activities like small group Bible studies. Alloway says that’s proof that people are looking for these smaller communities.
“I don’t know that everyone needs to do house churches,” Alloway says, “but every church should be doing the things that house churches are doing—that ability for people to come into something right away and be known.”
Both the Stultzes and the Alloways have seen their congregations grow since they moved into a home. Once they outgrow the living room, though, they won’t be moving back into a church building. They’ll split up into more homes, and keep the tradition going.
At most churches, it’s embarrassing to show up late. But if you arrive early at Greg Stultz’s church, you might interrupt the hosts’ last-minute preparations as they put away homework or toss shoes up the stairs.
Stultz and his family are part of a house church. They typically meet on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, though the week that I visited they were meeting in Dover, Del. Each week, their small group crowds into a private living room for dinner and fellowship—and their church is no rarity.
With new church construction at its lowest point since 1967, and with more religiously unaffiliated Americans than ever before, many congregations say they’ve become more committed communities by losing the pews and stained-glass windows of a central building.
Stultz himself explains that he’d long felt a dissatisfaction with the church hierarchy.
“The Bible says, ‘What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, a word of instruction, or an interpretation’—all of this done for the strength of the church,” Stultz says. “Where is that being done?”
Nowhere—at least as far as Joleen Zimmerman could find. Three years ago, she had been praying for a close-knit church community when she met Stultz. He had quoted that same verse to her.
“That was the verse that God had given me,” she says, “that when we come together, not to come to pew sit—but to actually come to give.”
During their new church’s meetings, anyone can call out a song suggestion or read a Bible verse. Instead of a sermon, everyone just talks about what’s been weighing on them that week. This group says that the only guidance they need to run a church can be found in the New Testament.
And there were no church buildings in the time of the New Testament, says L. Michael White, a professor of Christian origins at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Where do they meet?” White asks. “We do have references in … the letters of Paul to meeting in someone’s home—or, basically, the church in your house.”
Over the next centuries, the church became a state institution. With that came buildings, denominational divides, fundraising campaigns. Some house churches are trying to get back to a simpler time. But there are as many varieties and motivations for house churches as there are house churches themselves.
At Redemption Church, a network of house churches in Bristol, Pa., the meetings are a lot like those at Stultz’s church—crowded and casual. But Gary Alloway, the pastor at Redemption, says he’d originally intended to build a brick-and-mortar church. It was only after years of struggling to gather a congregation that he tried a new approach.
Alloway recalls what he told his congregation at the time: “I’m not writing a sermon for 12 people. How about you guys come over to my living room? We’ll open a Bible, we’ll talk about it, we’ll eat together.”
Three years later, Redemption now has three house churches that meet around Bristol. Once a month, they have a group service. The church has a professional pastor and a budget, most of which goes to community outreach.
This setup is pretty different from the Stultzes’—but both congregations speak of the tightknit community that comes from a small group. Zimmerman says those relationships are the value of house church.
“When I think over my life, basically, it was the relationships that actually helped me,” she says. “God didn’t call us to walk alone.”
It’s hard to feel alone when you’re squeezed onto a couch with four other people. Larger churches try to offer a similar experience with activities like small group Bible studies. Alloway says that’s proof that people are looking for these smaller communities.
“I don’t know that everyone needs to do house churches,” Alloway says, “but every church should be doing the things that house churches are doing—that ability for people to come into something right away and be known.”
Both the Stultzes and the Alloways have seen their congregations grow since they moved into a home. Once they outgrow the living room, though, they won’t be moving back into a church building. They’ll split up into more homes, and keep the tradition going.
7 Habits of the Wealthy
By Jayson Demers, INC., Feb. 22, 2015
Are there habits wealthy people consistently practice that impact their success? Are there traits or strategies we can incorporate into our own day-to-day lives that can give us a better chance of financial success?
In his book, Rich Habits—The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, Tom Corley suggests there are. For five years he observed habits—which he defines as daily, unconscious practices—of 233 rich people and 128 people living in poverty. What he found were significant differences in the daily activities and attitudes of the two groups. Here are seven habits commonly practiced by the wealthy individuals he observed.
1. They’re persistent. While we generally think of persistence as more of a personality trait, it’s certainly a habit that can be learned and practiced over time. When faced with adversity, wealthy individuals keep pushing through, knowing that success could be right around the corner.
They’re persistent in all areas of their lives, not just when it comes to money-generating activities. According to Corley, persistence is evident in everything that wealthy individuals do:
67 percent were cognizant of and careful about how they spent their time; for instance, TV watching was limited to less than one hour per day.
81 percent made a consistent effort to control their thoughts, feelings, and words.
80 percent had pursued a single goal for at least one year.
88% read at least 30 minutes every day in order to increase their knowledge.
2. They set attainable goals. Whether we realize it or not, we’re constantly setting goals for ourselves. Anytime we look to the future and think about what we’d like to have or do, we’re essentially setting a goal for ourselves:
“I want to become a recognized leader in my field.”
“I need to bring in more money in order to meet my financial obligations.”
“I want to take an expensive vacation with my family every year.”
The problem with these goals, of course, is that they aren’t specific, and they aren’t necessarily realistic. For instance, if I’m working for minimum wage, going on an expensive holiday probably isn’t in the cards for me this year.
Corley found that wealthy individuals consistently set specific, attainable goals. These goals were realistic and had a specific set of actions that would need to be carried out in order to be met.
For instance, instead of saying, “I would like to earn $1 million this year,” a more realistic and specific goal might be: “I will bring in an additional $25,000 this year by increasing my production capacity.” Assuming it’s actually possible to increase production, this is a goal that can realistically be attained through careful planning and hard work.
Corley writes, “If you want your wish or dream to come true, you need to create goals around them, pursue those goals and achieve those goals. You need to break your wish or dream down into manageable tasks that you are able to perform. The accumulation, over time, of the completed goals will move you forward toward realizing your dream. You will still need outside help and outside influences, but luck has a way of finding the prepared and the persistent.” In other words, having a dream is great, but you need to set up smaller, more manageable goals to reach along the way. As you reach these smaller goals, you check them off your list and move ever closer to achieving your dream.
3. They find a career mentor. This is a big one; in fact, 93 percent of wealthy individuals had a mentor who assisted them on their path to success. Finding a great mentor can be challenging, but the payoff can be huge. Condoleeza Rice stresses the importance of finding a mentor, but also gives a warning: “Search for role models you can look up to and people who take an interest in your career. But here’s an important warning: you don’t have to have mentors who look like you. Had I been waiting for a black, female Soviet specialist mentor, I would still be waiting. Most of my mentors have been old white men, because they were the ones who dominated my field.”
There are many reasons mentors are such an important support, but here are a few of the key ones:
They help you avoid mistakes they themselves have already made.
They inspire and motivate you to stay on task and keep working toward your goals.
They connect you with people who can help you along the way (“It’s all in who you know”).
4. They are positive. According to Corley’s observations, the wealthy individuals he observed generally had a positive outlook on life, were upbeat and happy, and were grateful for what they had. Some more specific findings were as follows:
94 percent avoided gossiping
98 percent believed in limitless possibilities and opportunities
94 percent enjoyed their chosen career
87 percent were happily married
92 percent were happy with their level of health
[Some may wonder here—myself included—if they were happy with their lives because they were wealthy, or they were wealthy because they were happy and positive. Chicken and the egg.]
He also found consistently negative attitudes and beliefs cropping up among the poor:
85 percent were unhappy in their jobs or careers
53 percent were unhappy in their marriage
78 percent believed optimism wasn’t necessary in order to be successful
77 percent believed lying was necessary to achieve success
Attitude matters, to be sure. While it seems a far stretch to say that simply being happy leads to wealth, maintaining a positive outlook and attitude certainly can’t hurt.
5. They educate themselves. As mentioned above, 88 percent of wealthy individuals spent at least 30 minutes each day reading in order to expand their knowledge. In addition, 85 percent read two or more books per month on an ongoing basis.
Nonfiction books like biographies, self-help books, or materials related to their business or career were all popular choices. Wealthy individuals were able to translate what they learned into actionable information they could apply to their daily decisions. They made a habit of prioritizing self-education, and used what they learned to reach their goals and improve their lives.
6. They track their progress. When you live off the cuff, without much thought as to what you’re doing, it’s nearly impossible to know what you need to change or do differently in order to succeed. For instance, if you don’t keep a monthly budget, it’s impossible to know how or where you can save money.
Corley found that wealthy individuals were almost obsessive about tracking and measuring in all areas of their lives:
67 percent kept up-to-date to-do lists
94 percent balanced their bank account each month
57 percent counted the calories they consumed
62 percent set goals and tracked whether or not they were on track to achieving them
Setting and attaining goals becomes far more difficult when you have no yardstick by which to measure your progress. To give yourself the best chance of success, keep yourself organized and track the progress you’re making toward your goals.
7. They surround themselves with success-oriented people. Wealthy individuals seem to intuitively understand the importance of being around other goal- and success-oriented people. They are intentional about nurturing these positive relationships, and they invest the time and energy necessary to help these relationships grow.
Corley writes, “Wealthy, successful people are very particular about who they associate with. Their goal is to develop relationships with other success-minded individuals. When they stumble onto someone who fits the bill, they then devote an enormous amount of their time and energy into building a strong relationship. They grow the relationship from a sapling into a redwood. Relationships are the currency of the wealthy and successful.”
His suggestion is to dedicate 30 minutes each day to nurturing such a relationship. This could mean being a sounding board, giving advice, or just generally being a helpful companion. As you build and nurture this relationship, that person is likely to reciprocate and become a trusted and valuable supporter.
Are there habits wealthy people consistently practice that impact their success? Are there traits or strategies we can incorporate into our own day-to-day lives that can give us a better chance of financial success?
In his book, Rich Habits—The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, Tom Corley suggests there are. For five years he observed habits—which he defines as daily, unconscious practices—of 233 rich people and 128 people living in poverty. What he found were significant differences in the daily activities and attitudes of the two groups. Here are seven habits commonly practiced by the wealthy individuals he observed.
1. They’re persistent. While we generally think of persistence as more of a personality trait, it’s certainly a habit that can be learned and practiced over time. When faced with adversity, wealthy individuals keep pushing through, knowing that success could be right around the corner.
They’re persistent in all areas of their lives, not just when it comes to money-generating activities. According to Corley, persistence is evident in everything that wealthy individuals do:
67 percent were cognizant of and careful about how they spent their time; for instance, TV watching was limited to less than one hour per day.
81 percent made a consistent effort to control their thoughts, feelings, and words.
80 percent had pursued a single goal for at least one year.
88% read at least 30 minutes every day in order to increase their knowledge.
2. They set attainable goals. Whether we realize it or not, we’re constantly setting goals for ourselves. Anytime we look to the future and think about what we’d like to have or do, we’re essentially setting a goal for ourselves:
“I want to become a recognized leader in my field.”
“I need to bring in more money in order to meet my financial obligations.”
“I want to take an expensive vacation with my family every year.”
The problem with these goals, of course, is that they aren’t specific, and they aren’t necessarily realistic. For instance, if I’m working for minimum wage, going on an expensive holiday probably isn’t in the cards for me this year.
Corley found that wealthy individuals consistently set specific, attainable goals. These goals were realistic and had a specific set of actions that would need to be carried out in order to be met.
For instance, instead of saying, “I would like to earn $1 million this year,” a more realistic and specific goal might be: “I will bring in an additional $25,000 this year by increasing my production capacity.” Assuming it’s actually possible to increase production, this is a goal that can realistically be attained through careful planning and hard work.
Corley writes, “If you want your wish or dream to come true, you need to create goals around them, pursue those goals and achieve those goals. You need to break your wish or dream down into manageable tasks that you are able to perform. The accumulation, over time, of the completed goals will move you forward toward realizing your dream. You will still need outside help and outside influences, but luck has a way of finding the prepared and the persistent.” In other words, having a dream is great, but you need to set up smaller, more manageable goals to reach along the way. As you reach these smaller goals, you check them off your list and move ever closer to achieving your dream.
3. They find a career mentor. This is a big one; in fact, 93 percent of wealthy individuals had a mentor who assisted them on their path to success. Finding a great mentor can be challenging, but the payoff can be huge. Condoleeza Rice stresses the importance of finding a mentor, but also gives a warning: “Search for role models you can look up to and people who take an interest in your career. But here’s an important warning: you don’t have to have mentors who look like you. Had I been waiting for a black, female Soviet specialist mentor, I would still be waiting. Most of my mentors have been old white men, because they were the ones who dominated my field.”
There are many reasons mentors are such an important support, but here are a few of the key ones:
They help you avoid mistakes they themselves have already made.
They inspire and motivate you to stay on task and keep working toward your goals.
They connect you with people who can help you along the way (“It’s all in who you know”).
4. They are positive. According to Corley’s observations, the wealthy individuals he observed generally had a positive outlook on life, were upbeat and happy, and were grateful for what they had. Some more specific findings were as follows:
94 percent avoided gossiping
98 percent believed in limitless possibilities and opportunities
94 percent enjoyed their chosen career
87 percent were happily married
92 percent were happy with their level of health
[Some may wonder here—myself included—if they were happy with their lives because they were wealthy, or they were wealthy because they were happy and positive. Chicken and the egg.]
He also found consistently negative attitudes and beliefs cropping up among the poor:
85 percent were unhappy in their jobs or careers
53 percent were unhappy in their marriage
78 percent believed optimism wasn’t necessary in order to be successful
77 percent believed lying was necessary to achieve success
Attitude matters, to be sure. While it seems a far stretch to say that simply being happy leads to wealth, maintaining a positive outlook and attitude certainly can’t hurt.
5. They educate themselves. As mentioned above, 88 percent of wealthy individuals spent at least 30 minutes each day reading in order to expand their knowledge. In addition, 85 percent read two or more books per month on an ongoing basis.
Nonfiction books like biographies, self-help books, or materials related to their business or career were all popular choices. Wealthy individuals were able to translate what they learned into actionable information they could apply to their daily decisions. They made a habit of prioritizing self-education, and used what they learned to reach their goals and improve their lives.
6. They track their progress. When you live off the cuff, without much thought as to what you’re doing, it’s nearly impossible to know what you need to change or do differently in order to succeed. For instance, if you don’t keep a monthly budget, it’s impossible to know how or where you can save money.
Corley found that wealthy individuals were almost obsessive about tracking and measuring in all areas of their lives:
67 percent kept up-to-date to-do lists
94 percent balanced their bank account each month
57 percent counted the calories they consumed
62 percent set goals and tracked whether or not they were on track to achieving them
Setting and attaining goals becomes far more difficult when you have no yardstick by which to measure your progress. To give yourself the best chance of success, keep yourself organized and track the progress you’re making toward your goals.
7. They surround themselves with success-oriented people. Wealthy individuals seem to intuitively understand the importance of being around other goal- and success-oriented people. They are intentional about nurturing these positive relationships, and they invest the time and energy necessary to help these relationships grow.
Corley writes, “Wealthy, successful people are very particular about who they associate with. Their goal is to develop relationships with other success-minded individuals. When they stumble onto someone who fits the bill, they then devote an enormous amount of their time and energy into building a strong relationship. They grow the relationship from a sapling into a redwood. Relationships are the currency of the wealthy and successful.”
His suggestion is to dedicate 30 minutes each day to nurturing such a relationship. This could mean being a sounding board, giving advice, or just generally being a helpful companion. As you build and nurture this relationship, that person is likely to reciprocate and become a trusted and valuable supporter.
O Que os Grandes Homens Disseram da Bíblia!
"Este grande Livro contém
O mistério dos mistérios,
E feliz é quem
De Deus a graça tem
De ler, temer, esperar e orar,
Abrir a porta e por ela entrar,
Mas melhor seria nunca ter nascido
O que duvida e zomba após ter lido.
Declarações Positivas para Combater a Negatividade
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/declaracoes-positivas-para-combater-negatividade/
Maria Fontaine
Eu gostaria de compartilhar algumas declarações edificadoras da fé, inspiradas pelo Senhor, que oro ajude a turbinar sua fé quando estiver combatendo a negatividade. A variedade é grande, mas se não tiver nenhuma que se encaixe perfeitamente na sua situação, espero que sirvam de exemplos e o ajude a encontrar expressões de fé que expressem o que você sente e as batalhas que trava.
* Não importa se me sinto capaz ou talentoso ou não, estou determinado a fazer o melhor que posso. O Senhor me criou, então Ele vai ter que fazer a obra através de mim. Acredito que ter fé é agir, não sentir, portanto vou fazer o meu trabalho por fé, não importa como eu me sinta.
* Cometi um erro hoje, mas estou decidido a crescer e aprender com ele. Não vou permitir que o desencorajamento e o sentimento de culpa por causa deste erro me derrubem. Em vez disso escolho louvar Você, Jesus, por esse erro, porque com ele posso aprender maiores lições sobre humildade. E agora vou me levantar e tentar outra vez.
* Estou progredindo porque estou decidido a lutar, e hoje me recuso a desistir.
* E daí se eu não sou perfeito? Estou lutando para mudar e crescer. Enquanto eu continuar seguindo Jesus e o que Ele me mostra na Sua Palavra, posso ter certeza que vou avançar e me tornar quem Deus quer que eu seja.
* Eu vou louvar Jesus hoje não importa como me sinta. Não quero saber se estou cansado, preocupado, ansioso ou desanimado com todas essas coisinhas. Hoje eu quero me sentir feliz, satisfeito, alegre e positivo. Portanto vou encher a minha cabeça com coisas boas, pensamentos positivos e palavras de louvor. Jesus, eu Lhe agradeço por este dia dedicado ao louvor!
* Eu talvez me sinta uma porcaria, e até seja, mas Jesus prometeu que sempre nos será dispensada a força necessária. Clamo essa força para hoje.
* Eu me recuso a pensar negativamente sobre mim mesmo. Vou olhar para fora, para os outros, para as necessidades das pessoas ou situações carentes, para as almas perdidas que precisam desesperadamente de Jesus. Hoje eu vou fazer algo positivo por alguém que cruzar o meu caminho. Vou fazer algo para tornar o dia das pessoas melhor e para elas serem mais felizes.
* Jesus me escolheu. Jesus pagou por mim. Jesus pagou o preço mais alto por mim. Eu valho isso. Fui comprado por bom preço, pelo sangue de Jesus, de tão precioso que sou para Ele. Sou precioso para Jesus e vou viver o dia de hoje para fazê-lO Se orgulhar de ter investido em mim.
* Não vou comparar a minha vida negativamente com a de outros. Jesus não reteria nenhum bem de mim,[1] então, se existe algo que eu gostaria mas não me é possível ter, posso presumir com segurança que não seria bom eu ter.
* Mesmo que eu não me saia muito bem no que faço, posso fazer o melhor possível em seja o que for, e vou fazer o melhor que posso não importa o que eu pense de mim mesmo ou dos meus talentos. Mesmo que eu não tenha nenhum talento em um certo aspecto, se o Senhor me pedir algo, vai me ajudar a realizar.
* Não importa o que penso, eu sou lindo. Sou criação de Deus e ele nunca diz “foi mal.” Sou exatamente como Ele quer que eu seja. Sou lindo, porque Ele me criou. Vou ficar satisfeito em qualquer situação que me encontre. Vou ficar agradecido pela maneira como Ele me criou. Vou ficar feliz pela maneira como Ele me formou. Quero que Ele saiba que não importa o que aconteça, eu O amo e continuarei louvando.
* Eu estou progredindo na minha vida espiritual, e cada dia Jesus me leva mais longe. O Senhor não me compara com os outros, então eu não deveria fazer isso também. Vou me contentar com a maneira como o Senhor me criou, com as experiências que Ele me confiou e a profundidade e a maturidade que Ele me deu. Vou continuar amando e servindo a Ele o melhor possível, não importa o que eu pense do progresso da minha vida espiritual.
* O Senhor me fez ímpar, com habilidades únicas, uma mente e personalidade só minhas, um sabor só meu para acrescentar a este mundo. Vou mostrar a Jesus que estou feliz com a maneira como me criou e em ser criação Sua, vivendo de todo o coração a vida que Ele me deu, satisfeito, feliz e animado.
*
O coração em paz dá vida ao corpo.—Provérbios 14:30[2]
*
De fato, a piedade com contentamento é grande fonte de lucro, pois nada trouxemos para este mundo e dele nada podemos levar.—1 Timóteo 6:6–7[3]
*
Bendiga ao Senhor a minha alma! Bendiga ao Senhor todo o meu ser! Bendiga ao Senhor a minha alma! Não esqueça de nenhuma de suas bênçãos!—Salmo 103:1–2[4]
*
Tu conservarás em paz aquele cuja mente está firme em ti; porque ele confia em ti.—Isaias 26:3[5]
*
Deleite-se no Senhor, e ele atenderá aos desejos do seu coração.
Entregue o seu caminho ao Senhor; confie nele, e ele agirá.—Salmo 37:4–5[6]
Publicado originalmente em abril de 2006. Adaptado e republicado em março de 2014. Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.R.Flandoli.
[1] Salmo 34:10.
[2] NVI.
[3] NVI.
[4] KJV.
[5] ACRF.
[6] ACRF.
Maria Fontaine
Eu gostaria de compartilhar algumas declarações edificadoras da fé, inspiradas pelo Senhor, que oro ajude a turbinar sua fé quando estiver combatendo a negatividade. A variedade é grande, mas se não tiver nenhuma que se encaixe perfeitamente na sua situação, espero que sirvam de exemplos e o ajude a encontrar expressões de fé que expressem o que você sente e as batalhas que trava.
* Não importa se me sinto capaz ou talentoso ou não, estou determinado a fazer o melhor que posso. O Senhor me criou, então Ele vai ter que fazer a obra através de mim. Acredito que ter fé é agir, não sentir, portanto vou fazer o meu trabalho por fé, não importa como eu me sinta.
* Cometi um erro hoje, mas estou decidido a crescer e aprender com ele. Não vou permitir que o desencorajamento e o sentimento de culpa por causa deste erro me derrubem. Em vez disso escolho louvar Você, Jesus, por esse erro, porque com ele posso aprender maiores lições sobre humildade. E agora vou me levantar e tentar outra vez.
* Estou progredindo porque estou decidido a lutar, e hoje me recuso a desistir.
* E daí se eu não sou perfeito? Estou lutando para mudar e crescer. Enquanto eu continuar seguindo Jesus e o que Ele me mostra na Sua Palavra, posso ter certeza que vou avançar e me tornar quem Deus quer que eu seja.
* Eu vou louvar Jesus hoje não importa como me sinta. Não quero saber se estou cansado, preocupado, ansioso ou desanimado com todas essas coisinhas. Hoje eu quero me sentir feliz, satisfeito, alegre e positivo. Portanto vou encher a minha cabeça com coisas boas, pensamentos positivos e palavras de louvor. Jesus, eu Lhe agradeço por este dia dedicado ao louvor!
* Eu talvez me sinta uma porcaria, e até seja, mas Jesus prometeu que sempre nos será dispensada a força necessária. Clamo essa força para hoje.
* Eu me recuso a pensar negativamente sobre mim mesmo. Vou olhar para fora, para os outros, para as necessidades das pessoas ou situações carentes, para as almas perdidas que precisam desesperadamente de Jesus. Hoje eu vou fazer algo positivo por alguém que cruzar o meu caminho. Vou fazer algo para tornar o dia das pessoas melhor e para elas serem mais felizes.
* Jesus me escolheu. Jesus pagou por mim. Jesus pagou o preço mais alto por mim. Eu valho isso. Fui comprado por bom preço, pelo sangue de Jesus, de tão precioso que sou para Ele. Sou precioso para Jesus e vou viver o dia de hoje para fazê-lO Se orgulhar de ter investido em mim.
* Não vou comparar a minha vida negativamente com a de outros. Jesus não reteria nenhum bem de mim,[1] então, se existe algo que eu gostaria mas não me é possível ter, posso presumir com segurança que não seria bom eu ter.
* Mesmo que eu não me saia muito bem no que faço, posso fazer o melhor possível em seja o que for, e vou fazer o melhor que posso não importa o que eu pense de mim mesmo ou dos meus talentos. Mesmo que eu não tenha nenhum talento em um certo aspecto, se o Senhor me pedir algo, vai me ajudar a realizar.
* Não importa o que penso, eu sou lindo. Sou criação de Deus e ele nunca diz “foi mal.” Sou exatamente como Ele quer que eu seja. Sou lindo, porque Ele me criou. Vou ficar satisfeito em qualquer situação que me encontre. Vou ficar agradecido pela maneira como Ele me criou. Vou ficar feliz pela maneira como Ele me formou. Quero que Ele saiba que não importa o que aconteça, eu O amo e continuarei louvando.
* Eu estou progredindo na minha vida espiritual, e cada dia Jesus me leva mais longe. O Senhor não me compara com os outros, então eu não deveria fazer isso também. Vou me contentar com a maneira como o Senhor me criou, com as experiências que Ele me confiou e a profundidade e a maturidade que Ele me deu. Vou continuar amando e servindo a Ele o melhor possível, não importa o que eu pense do progresso da minha vida espiritual.
* O Senhor me fez ímpar, com habilidades únicas, uma mente e personalidade só minhas, um sabor só meu para acrescentar a este mundo. Vou mostrar a Jesus que estou feliz com a maneira como me criou e em ser criação Sua, vivendo de todo o coração a vida que Ele me deu, satisfeito, feliz e animado.
*
O coração em paz dá vida ao corpo.—Provérbios 14:30[2]
*
De fato, a piedade com contentamento é grande fonte de lucro, pois nada trouxemos para este mundo e dele nada podemos levar.—1 Timóteo 6:6–7[3]
*
Bendiga ao Senhor a minha alma! Bendiga ao Senhor todo o meu ser! Bendiga ao Senhor a minha alma! Não esqueça de nenhuma de suas bênçãos!—Salmo 103:1–2[4]
*
Tu conservarás em paz aquele cuja mente está firme em ti; porque ele confia em ti.—Isaias 26:3[5]
*
Deleite-se no Senhor, e ele atenderá aos desejos do seu coração.
Entregue o seu caminho ao Senhor; confie nele, e ele agirá.—Salmo 37:4–5[6]
Publicado originalmente em abril de 2006. Adaptado e republicado em março de 2014. Tradução Denise Oliveira. Revisão H.R.Flandoli.
[1] Salmo 34:10.
[2] NVI.
[3] NVI.
[4] KJV.
[5] ACRF.
[6] ACRF.
Praise for Victory
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/praise-victory/
Words from Jesus
Audio length: 9:45
Download Audio (8.9MB)
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.—1 Thessalonians 5:181
*
In everything give praise, for this is My will concerning you. As you give thanks in everything, as you rejoice even in the midst of pain or problems, that joy becomes your strength, your help, your comfort, and your solution through the power of praise. When you praise, you are receiving the sap of My Spirit into the roots of your being. Your spiritual strength is protected through praise. Praise is like the oxygen in the oxygen tank that gives you the capacity to climb the highest peaks. You’ll never run out of fresh, pure, strengthening oxygen if you tank up with praise, no matter how difficult or how high the climb.
When you are faced with problems and challenges and you praise Me in spite of it all, you are releasing the beautiful gifts of My Spirit for all to see. By doing so, you turn these into opportunities for others to see My beauty within you and to draw more people to Me.
When you wear praise as your outer garments, it makes you attractive to those who see you. And when you also wear praise as your undergarments, this makes sure that your outer garments suit you well and fit you perfectly. Praise is comely. The beauty that I’ve put within you is released through praise. If you wish for others to see My beautiful gift of salvation and love that I’ve put within your heart, manifest it through praise.
Praise is like varnish
Praise is like the toughest varnish a carpenter puts on the wood. It protects the wood from scratches, water, and termites. Using praise is the way to glaze your spirit so that no matter what the Enemy throws at you, you can’t be marred.
When you find yourself in an extremely difficult circumstance, that’s the perfect time to use the weapon of praise to deliver you. When you hear your own voice lifted in praise, thanking Me in the midst of some less-than-ideal event that is taking place in your life, it gives you more faith. That atmosphere of praise creates more faith and uplifts you and those around you.
When others see and hear your positive reactions in the midst of some situation which seems negative, it can lift them up too, and create a domino effect of influencing others to trust in Me regardless of the circumstances.
On wings of praise
I see, and I know how your heart hurts and breaks. I hold you ever so close during this time of loss and heartbreak. I know how hard it is to let go of your grief and pain and to praise Me. Your very being tells you to hold on to the pain and to hide it away and nurse it. But if you will open your hands wide to release this grief, it will fly away on the wings of praise, and I will complete your healing. Open your heart and hands, and let praise fill your heart—praise for how I will heal every heartbreak and grief. I will make all things beautiful once again.
If you find yourself in a difficult position, between a rock and a hard place, one of the most effective weapons you can use to help you blast through the obstacle or rise above it is praise.—Praise that flows from the innermost part of your spirit; praise that trusts Me and knows by faith that everything will be okay because you’re in My hands. Activating this weapon will set you on the road to victory.
Praise is…
Praise is your lifesaver in a perilous ocean.
Praise is your parachute that gives you a safe landing.
Praise is your set of wings that lifts you above the raging storm.
Praise is your life support.
Praise is your armor that deflects all the fiery darts and blows of the Enemy.
Praise is the key that empowers you to rise above the trials and tribulations of this life and draws My presence.
Praise in rain or shine
When you can meet success and failure with the same dignity, then you are spiritually mature. When you can praise Me through happiness and sadness, in plenty and in want, in safety and in danger, in health and in sickness, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death, then you are a person of great faith, a man or woman highly honored in My courts, because of your great love for Me and trust in Me.
Lift your heart to heaven through your praises, and the glory will flood in, washing away the pain, fear, despair, hurt, sadness, discouragement, or anything the Enemy is trying to hold you down with. This flood is cleansing for you and destructive to the Enemy. It will leave you clean, refreshed, renewed, and revitalized.
Praise emits a positive spiritual energy that effects change in the circumstances surrounding you. You don’t always see this change in the physical, or at least not instantly, but in the spiritual realm, change for the better is immediately obvious. You can ask Me to open your spiritual eyes so that you too can see the difference and partake of the positive force of energy that has enveloped you.
Growing faith
The trials and difficulties of life that seem so big now will seem so small when you look back over your life on earth and see how clearly My hand was upon every aspect of your life. If you will ride on the wings of praise, you will learn what it truly means to rest in Me and to let Me carry your burdens.
Do you want your faith to grow? Learn to praise Me even in the tough times. Praise cannot exist without faith, because if you didn’t believe that I could bring good from it, then there would be nothing to praise Me for in trying times. So the fact that you praise means that you have faith, or that you are working toward having that faith.
Even when disaster strikes your life and you feel completely devastated emotionally, you can always praise Me for how I will make everything right in heaven. I will wipe away your every tear and repay your every sacrifice. In heaven, life will be perfect; so if all you can do is look ahead to that time and say, “Thank You, Jesus, for how some day You will make this all right again,” you manifest your faith and trust in Me through your praise.
To meet any situation without praise is to overlook My presence in it. Whatever the situation, problem, or challenge, I’m going through it with you. This situation that is troubling you so and making you so unhappy will someday, somehow, work together for your good.
If you’ve prayed for bread, but it seems that I keep giving you stones, maybe it’s because I’m trying to help you to build an oven, so that you’ll soon be able to bake all the bread you need. This is a life of faith, not sight. That’s why you’re able to praise Me for things you haven’t seen yet. With faith, time is irrelevant. You have the assurance that sooner or later I’m going to do everything that I’ve said I would, and that’s worth praising for.
The Bible tells of whole cities and regions that I was not able to help or do many miracles for because of their unbelief in My power. Don’t make that the story of your life. According to your faith, it will be done unto you. If you believe that I can turn every situation to your good somehow, whether in this life or the next, and you praise Me for this, then I can. But if you believe that a situation is beyond My help to fix, you will limit yourself through your unbelief, and that sad attitude may become reality for you.
When you offer gratitude, you invoke My full power to prosper and bless your life.
Originally published November 2008. Adapted and republished February 2015.
Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NLT.
Words from Jesus
Audio length: 9:45
Download Audio (8.9MB)
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.—1 Thessalonians 5:181
*
In everything give praise, for this is My will concerning you. As you give thanks in everything, as you rejoice even in the midst of pain or problems, that joy becomes your strength, your help, your comfort, and your solution through the power of praise. When you praise, you are receiving the sap of My Spirit into the roots of your being. Your spiritual strength is protected through praise. Praise is like the oxygen in the oxygen tank that gives you the capacity to climb the highest peaks. You’ll never run out of fresh, pure, strengthening oxygen if you tank up with praise, no matter how difficult or how high the climb.
When you are faced with problems and challenges and you praise Me in spite of it all, you are releasing the beautiful gifts of My Spirit for all to see. By doing so, you turn these into opportunities for others to see My beauty within you and to draw more people to Me.
When you wear praise as your outer garments, it makes you attractive to those who see you. And when you also wear praise as your undergarments, this makes sure that your outer garments suit you well and fit you perfectly. Praise is comely. The beauty that I’ve put within you is released through praise. If you wish for others to see My beautiful gift of salvation and love that I’ve put within your heart, manifest it through praise.
Praise is like varnish
Praise is like the toughest varnish a carpenter puts on the wood. It protects the wood from scratches, water, and termites. Using praise is the way to glaze your spirit so that no matter what the Enemy throws at you, you can’t be marred.
When you find yourself in an extremely difficult circumstance, that’s the perfect time to use the weapon of praise to deliver you. When you hear your own voice lifted in praise, thanking Me in the midst of some less-than-ideal event that is taking place in your life, it gives you more faith. That atmosphere of praise creates more faith and uplifts you and those around you.
When others see and hear your positive reactions in the midst of some situation which seems negative, it can lift them up too, and create a domino effect of influencing others to trust in Me regardless of the circumstances.
On wings of praise
I see, and I know how your heart hurts and breaks. I hold you ever so close during this time of loss and heartbreak. I know how hard it is to let go of your grief and pain and to praise Me. Your very being tells you to hold on to the pain and to hide it away and nurse it. But if you will open your hands wide to release this grief, it will fly away on the wings of praise, and I will complete your healing. Open your heart and hands, and let praise fill your heart—praise for how I will heal every heartbreak and grief. I will make all things beautiful once again.
If you find yourself in a difficult position, between a rock and a hard place, one of the most effective weapons you can use to help you blast through the obstacle or rise above it is praise.—Praise that flows from the innermost part of your spirit; praise that trusts Me and knows by faith that everything will be okay because you’re in My hands. Activating this weapon will set you on the road to victory.
Praise is…
Praise is your lifesaver in a perilous ocean.
Praise is your parachute that gives you a safe landing.
Praise is your set of wings that lifts you above the raging storm.
Praise is your life support.
Praise is your armor that deflects all the fiery darts and blows of the Enemy.
Praise is the key that empowers you to rise above the trials and tribulations of this life and draws My presence.
Praise in rain or shine
When you can meet success and failure with the same dignity, then you are spiritually mature. When you can praise Me through happiness and sadness, in plenty and in want, in safety and in danger, in health and in sickness, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death, then you are a person of great faith, a man or woman highly honored in My courts, because of your great love for Me and trust in Me.
Lift your heart to heaven through your praises, and the glory will flood in, washing away the pain, fear, despair, hurt, sadness, discouragement, or anything the Enemy is trying to hold you down with. This flood is cleansing for you and destructive to the Enemy. It will leave you clean, refreshed, renewed, and revitalized.
Praise emits a positive spiritual energy that effects change in the circumstances surrounding you. You don’t always see this change in the physical, or at least not instantly, but in the spiritual realm, change for the better is immediately obvious. You can ask Me to open your spiritual eyes so that you too can see the difference and partake of the positive force of energy that has enveloped you.
Growing faith
The trials and difficulties of life that seem so big now will seem so small when you look back over your life on earth and see how clearly My hand was upon every aspect of your life. If you will ride on the wings of praise, you will learn what it truly means to rest in Me and to let Me carry your burdens.
Do you want your faith to grow? Learn to praise Me even in the tough times. Praise cannot exist without faith, because if you didn’t believe that I could bring good from it, then there would be nothing to praise Me for in trying times. So the fact that you praise means that you have faith, or that you are working toward having that faith.
Even when disaster strikes your life and you feel completely devastated emotionally, you can always praise Me for how I will make everything right in heaven. I will wipe away your every tear and repay your every sacrifice. In heaven, life will be perfect; so if all you can do is look ahead to that time and say, “Thank You, Jesus, for how some day You will make this all right again,” you manifest your faith and trust in Me through your praise.
To meet any situation without praise is to overlook My presence in it. Whatever the situation, problem, or challenge, I’m going through it with you. This situation that is troubling you so and making you so unhappy will someday, somehow, work together for your good.
If you’ve prayed for bread, but it seems that I keep giving you stones, maybe it’s because I’m trying to help you to build an oven, so that you’ll soon be able to bake all the bread you need. This is a life of faith, not sight. That’s why you’re able to praise Me for things you haven’t seen yet. With faith, time is irrelevant. You have the assurance that sooner or later I’m going to do everything that I’ve said I would, and that’s worth praising for.
The Bible tells of whole cities and regions that I was not able to help or do many miracles for because of their unbelief in My power. Don’t make that the story of your life. According to your faith, it will be done unto you. If you believe that I can turn every situation to your good somehow, whether in this life or the next, and you praise Me for this, then I can. But if you believe that a situation is beyond My help to fix, you will limit yourself through your unbelief, and that sad attitude may become reality for you.
When you offer gratitude, you invoke My full power to prosper and bless your life.
Originally published November 2008. Adapted and republished February 2015.
Read by Jon Marc. Music by Michael Dooley.
1 NLT.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Thoughts on Love to Meditate On
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/thoughts-love-meditate/
By Maria Fontaine
Download Audio (11.8MB)
Here are a few beautiful thoughts from Jesus that you can take a bit of time to stop and think about and meditate on. I know that as you do, He’ll give you ideas about how to put His love into practice. Even with everything going on, and little time, He’ll show you how you can make a difference in the lives of others by loving them with His love.
*
I am a God of love, and I can only be accurately represented by loving servants. If you want to fulfill your mission of connecting people to Me, if you want to show them what I am like, it all comes down to love. Love has to be the foundation of your witness—true love and concern for people’s individual souls.
*
The more loving you can be, the more love you share and fill your life with, the more chance you have of being the best representation of Me that you possibly can be.
*
In all your plans, and in everything you put your hand to, only what’s done for love will last.
*
If your goal is to love, each day that you love to the best of your ability is a day that you were one with Me. Each day that you love is a day that you accomplish My best. You take on My nature, and thus you’re doing what I would do if I were there. That’s the best you can possibly do.
*
Take time to reconnect with the love that is in your heart. Drill down past every other motivation, every other aspiration, and find your passionate, beating heart of love for Me. That love may not be manifested in feelings, yet it is there. It’s why you’re serving Me, or sacrificing for Me, or working hard for Me. It’s all about love. Love is the engine that powers it all.
*
Love is life itself. Love is the universe. Love is everything. I am love, and it all starts and ends with Me and My power. How can you ever hope to find stronger power than that?
*
Take time to think about the simple truths: Love never fails. Only what’s done in love will last. Love is the power and light of God. God is love. The greatest of these is love!
*
You can’t ask for more power or motivation or beauty than is found in love.
Did you like those? They’re beautiful, aren’t they? Thank You Jesus! Praise God for love!
Originally published October 2008. Adapted and republished November 2010.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
Posted in: audio, love, maria fontaine, meditation, music, reflection
By Maria Fontaine
Download Audio (11.8MB)
Here are a few beautiful thoughts from Jesus that you can take a bit of time to stop and think about and meditate on. I know that as you do, He’ll give you ideas about how to put His love into practice. Even with everything going on, and little time, He’ll show you how you can make a difference in the lives of others by loving them with His love.
*
I am a God of love, and I can only be accurately represented by loving servants. If you want to fulfill your mission of connecting people to Me, if you want to show them what I am like, it all comes down to love. Love has to be the foundation of your witness—true love and concern for people’s individual souls.
*
The more loving you can be, the more love you share and fill your life with, the more chance you have of being the best representation of Me that you possibly can be.
*
In all your plans, and in everything you put your hand to, only what’s done for love will last.
*
If your goal is to love, each day that you love to the best of your ability is a day that you were one with Me. Each day that you love is a day that you accomplish My best. You take on My nature, and thus you’re doing what I would do if I were there. That’s the best you can possibly do.
*
Take time to reconnect with the love that is in your heart. Drill down past every other motivation, every other aspiration, and find your passionate, beating heart of love for Me. That love may not be manifested in feelings, yet it is there. It’s why you’re serving Me, or sacrificing for Me, or working hard for Me. It’s all about love. Love is the engine that powers it all.
*
Love is life itself. Love is the universe. Love is everything. I am love, and it all starts and ends with Me and My power. How can you ever hope to find stronger power than that?
*
Take time to think about the simple truths: Love never fails. Only what’s done in love will last. Love is the power and light of God. God is love. The greatest of these is love!
*
You can’t ask for more power or motivation or beauty than is found in love.
Did you like those? They’re beautiful, aren’t they? Thank You Jesus! Praise God for love!
Originally published October 2008. Adapted and republished November 2010.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.
Posted in: audio, love, maria fontaine, meditation, music, reflection
Pensamentos Sobre Amor Para Meditação
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/pensamentos-sobre-amor-para-meditacao/
Maria Fontaine
Seguem-se alguns lindos pensamentos de Jesus nos quais pode pensar e refletir um pouco. Sei que se fizer isso, Ele lhe dará ideias de como colocar o Seu amor em prática. Mesmo com tudo que está acontecendo e do pouco tempo de que dispõe, Ele lhe mostrará como pode fazer a diferença na vida dos outros amando-os com o Seu amor.
*
Eu sou um Deus de amor, e só posso ser representado adequadamente por servos amorosos. Se quiser cumprir a sua missão de conectar as pessoas a Mim e lhes mostrar como sou, é tudo uma questão de amor. O amor precisa ser a base da sua testificação; amor e interesse verdadeiro pela alma de cada pessoa.
*
Quanto mais amoroso conseguir ser, quanto mais amor der e colocar na sua vida, mais chance terá de ser um ótimo representante Meu.
*
Em todos os planos e em tudo o que for fazer, só vai durar o que for feito por amor.
*
Se a sua meta for amar, cada dia que se dedicar a amar o máximo possível será um dia em que passou unido a Mim. Cada dia que amar será um dia em que realizará o que Euconsidero melhor. Estará assumindo a Minha natureza, portanto, fazendo o que Eu faria se estivesse aí. Isso é o melhor que poderia fazer.
*
Tome um tempinho para se reconectar ao amor que está em seu coração. Faça uma perfuração além de qualquer outra motivação ou aspiração, para chegar ao seu coração apaixonado por Mim. Esse amor talvez não se manifeste em sentimentos, no entanto está presente. É por isso que você Me serve, ou sacrifica e trabalha duro por Mim. É tudo uma questão de amor. O amor é a grande força motriz
*
O amor é a vida, o universo, tudo! Eu sou Amor, e tudo começa e termina Comigo e com o Meu poder. Então, como você poderia pensar em encontrar um poder maior?
*
Tome tempo para pensar nessa simples verdade: amor nunca falha. Só o que for feito em amor perdurará. Amor é o poder e a luz de Deus. Deus é amor. O maior destes é o amor!
*
Não dá para desejar mais poder, motivação ou algo mais belo do que o amor pode oferecer.
Gostaram destes pensamentos? São lindos, não acham? Graças a Jesus! Louvemos ao Senhor pelo amor!
Publicado originalmente em outubro de 2008. Adaptado e publicado em novembro de 2010.
Música de Daniel Sozzi.
Maria Fontaine
Seguem-se alguns lindos pensamentos de Jesus nos quais pode pensar e refletir um pouco. Sei que se fizer isso, Ele lhe dará ideias de como colocar o Seu amor em prática. Mesmo com tudo que está acontecendo e do pouco tempo de que dispõe, Ele lhe mostrará como pode fazer a diferença na vida dos outros amando-os com o Seu amor.
*
Eu sou um Deus de amor, e só posso ser representado adequadamente por servos amorosos. Se quiser cumprir a sua missão de conectar as pessoas a Mim e lhes mostrar como sou, é tudo uma questão de amor. O amor precisa ser a base da sua testificação; amor e interesse verdadeiro pela alma de cada pessoa.
*
Quanto mais amoroso conseguir ser, quanto mais amor der e colocar na sua vida, mais chance terá de ser um ótimo representante Meu.
*
Em todos os planos e em tudo o que for fazer, só vai durar o que for feito por amor.
*
Se a sua meta for amar, cada dia que se dedicar a amar o máximo possível será um dia em que passou unido a Mim. Cada dia que amar será um dia em que realizará o que Euconsidero melhor. Estará assumindo a Minha natureza, portanto, fazendo o que Eu faria se estivesse aí. Isso é o melhor que poderia fazer.
*
Tome um tempinho para se reconectar ao amor que está em seu coração. Faça uma perfuração além de qualquer outra motivação ou aspiração, para chegar ao seu coração apaixonado por Mim. Esse amor talvez não se manifeste em sentimentos, no entanto está presente. É por isso que você Me serve, ou sacrifica e trabalha duro por Mim. É tudo uma questão de amor. O amor é a grande força motriz
*
O amor é a vida, o universo, tudo! Eu sou Amor, e tudo começa e termina Comigo e com o Meu poder. Então, como você poderia pensar em encontrar um poder maior?
*
Tome tempo para pensar nessa simples verdade: amor nunca falha. Só o que for feito em amor perdurará. Amor é o poder e a luz de Deus. Deus é amor. O maior destes é o amor!
*
Não dá para desejar mais poder, motivação ou algo mais belo do que o amor pode oferecer.
Gostaram destes pensamentos? São lindos, não acham? Graças a Jesus! Louvemos ao Senhor pelo amor!
Publicado originalmente em outubro de 2008. Adaptado e publicado em novembro de 2010.
Música de Daniel Sozzi.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Walk Hard. Walk Easy. Repeat.
By Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times, February 19, 2015
Intense, interval-style workouts—brief bouts of very hard exercise broken up by periods of recovery—have been shown to improve the health and fitness of people who exert themselves for only a few minutes a week. Such efficiency is alluring, and has helped this kind of conditioning attract widespread media attention in recent years (including in this column). But high-intensity interval training programs aren’t for everyone. As researchers from Australia and England point out in the December issue of Frontiers in Psychology, “a largely sedentary population” is unlikely to “feel physically capable and sufficiently motivated to take up and maintain a regime of highly intense exercise.” That doubt is what makes some news out of Japan about a much-less-punishing form of interval training so welcome.
A decade ago, scientists led by Dr. Hiroshi Nose at the Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Matsumoto, Japan, started developing walking programs. They knew that walking was physically the easiest (and also the most practical) exercise for those in middle age and older, but the researchers suspected that people might need to push themselves to achieve the greatest health benefits. So they created a regimen consisting of three minutes of fast walking at a pace that Nose says approximates a 6 or 7 on a scale of exertion from 1 to 10. Each “somewhat-hard” three-minute spell was followed by three minutes of gentle strolling.
In their original experiment, the results of which were published in 2007, walkers between the ages of 44 and 78 completed five sets of intervals, for a total of 30 minutes of walking at least three times a week. A separate group of older volunteers walked at a continuous, moderate pace, equivalent to about a 4 on the same exertion scale. After five months, the fitness and health of the older, moderate group had barely improved. The interval walkers, however, significantly improved aerobic fitness, leg strength and blood-pressure readings.
In their latest study, which came out in December in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nose and his colleagues report that most of the participants stayed with the walking program long after their original five-month commitment ended. Two years later, almost 70 percent of the walkers with whom the researchers remained in contact were still following their regimen at least three times a week and had retained or improved their health gains. Those who quit often cited “family, health and job issues,” says Dr. Shizue Masuki, the new study’s lead author, but they rarely complained about the complexity or difficulty of the training.
So those who have considered high-intensity interval training but have been apprehensive about its demands should go for a walk. “Perform the training for 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes in the evening,” Masuki suggests. Three days of exercise per week is best, but if that’s too challenging, she says, “do it on the weekend” and cram the workouts into two days. Doing so, Masuki adds, “can have a profound effect on physiological regulation.”
Intense, interval-style workouts—brief bouts of very hard exercise broken up by periods of recovery—have been shown to improve the health and fitness of people who exert themselves for only a few minutes a week. Such efficiency is alluring, and has helped this kind of conditioning attract widespread media attention in recent years (including in this column). But high-intensity interval training programs aren’t for everyone. As researchers from Australia and England point out in the December issue of Frontiers in Psychology, “a largely sedentary population” is unlikely to “feel physically capable and sufficiently motivated to take up and maintain a regime of highly intense exercise.” That doubt is what makes some news out of Japan about a much-less-punishing form of interval training so welcome.
A decade ago, scientists led by Dr. Hiroshi Nose at the Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Matsumoto, Japan, started developing walking programs. They knew that walking was physically the easiest (and also the most practical) exercise for those in middle age and older, but the researchers suspected that people might need to push themselves to achieve the greatest health benefits. So they created a regimen consisting of three minutes of fast walking at a pace that Nose says approximates a 6 or 7 on a scale of exertion from 1 to 10. Each “somewhat-hard” three-minute spell was followed by three minutes of gentle strolling.
In their original experiment, the results of which were published in 2007, walkers between the ages of 44 and 78 completed five sets of intervals, for a total of 30 minutes of walking at least three times a week. A separate group of older volunteers walked at a continuous, moderate pace, equivalent to about a 4 on the same exertion scale. After five months, the fitness and health of the older, moderate group had barely improved. The interval walkers, however, significantly improved aerobic fitness, leg strength and blood-pressure readings.
In their latest study, which came out in December in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nose and his colleagues report that most of the participants stayed with the walking program long after their original five-month commitment ended. Two years later, almost 70 percent of the walkers with whom the researchers remained in contact were still following their regimen at least three times a week and had retained or improved their health gains. Those who quit often cited “family, health and job issues,” says Dr. Shizue Masuki, the new study’s lead author, but they rarely complained about the complexity or difficulty of the training.
So those who have considered high-intensity interval training but have been apprehensive about its demands should go for a walk. “Perform the training for 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes in the evening,” Masuki suggests. Three days of exercise per week is best, but if that’s too challenging, she says, “do it on the weekend” and cram the workouts into two days. Doing so, Masuki adds, “can have a profound effect on physiological regulation.”
O Segredo da Videira
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/o-segredo-da-videira/
Uma compilação
“Permaneçam em mim e eu permanecerei em vocês. Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim. Eu sou a videira; vocês são os ramos. Se alguém permanecer em mim e eu nele, esse dá muito fruto; pois sem mim vocês não podem fazer coisa alguma.”[1]
Como produzir muito fruto? O que o Senhor está querendo dizer?
No mundo moderno, a ética de trabalho manda conquistar e produzir trabalhando mais e mais arduamente! — O foco é gerar resultados pelo esforço humano. …Mas a maneira de Deus trabalhar contraria essa abordagem, pois é muito mais orientada a processos e relacionamentos que a desempenho e produção. Ele está interessado nos resultados, que Ele chama de “frutos”, mas não nos força nem nos incentiva a trabalhar mais intensamente ou por mais tempo.
O Senhor trabalha conosco e por nosso intermédio, para que todo resultado ou produto venha como consequência de permanecermos nEle, já que, sem Ele, não podemos fazer coisa alguma.
É o contrário da cultura predominante e da natureza humana no geral. …O caminho de Deus para o sucesso produz resultados de valor para Ele; resultados advindos [não apenas] do esforço próprio, mas que brotam de uma relação íntima com Ele, na qual buscamos permanecer todo o tempo.
A única maneira de darmos fruto em abundância é entendendo o processo de frutificação do Senhor. Devemos deixar de lado o esforço próprio e a atitude independente inerente ao ser humano, para buscarmos a comunhão com Ele, permanecermos na Videira. Assim, Seu poder, vontade e desejos se realizarão em nossas vidas, e produziremos fruto que permanecerá por toda a eternidade! — George Whitten[2]
*
Cristo disse: “Eu sou a videira, vocês são os ramos. Permaneçam em mim e eu em vocês. Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim.”
“Permaneçam em mim” é um lindo e inteligível conceito. A elegante versão King Jamesda Bíblia em inglês utiliza o vocábulo “abide”, uma palavra pouco usada hoje em dia. Eu passei a apreciar muito mais essa admoestação do Senhor quando conheci a li em espanhol, que usa o verbo “permanecer”. Em outras palavras, ficar, continuar. Até um gringo como eu consegue reconhecer a raiz na palavra em inglês “permanence”. O sentido é “ficar, mas para sempre”. Essa é a mensagem do Evangelho… Venha, mas venha para ficar. Venha com convicção e capacidade de suportar. Venha de forma permanente, para o seu bem e para o bem de todas as gerações posteriores. E nós nos ajudaremos mutuamente até ao final. — Jeffrey R. Holland[3]
*
“Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim.” O ramo só pode dar fruto se estiver constantemente ligado à videira. Não é um fruto do ramo, mas é a videira que produz frutos. ...
Jesus deseja que nos afastemos de nós mesmos e da nossa própria força e recorramos a Ele e à Sua força. ...Permanecer na Videira é, afinal, uma tranquila entrega da alma para Jesus tomar posse e assumir controle total, como acontece na natureza, em que o ramo fica firmemente preso à videira e nada mais. — Andrew Murray[4]
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Aquele que diz estar nele, também deve andar como Ele andou. — 1 João 2:6[5]
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O ramo não frutifica separado da Videira. Precisa dos recursos vindos da videira para brotar folhas, florir e dar fruto. O ramo não cria a própria seiva. A força que o sustenta e dá vida só pode ser obtida da associação.
[Da mesma forma] o ser humano só pode se completar por meio de uma conexão íntima com Jesus. … Para as capacidades [humanas] se tornarem habilidades, alcançarem maturação e se realizarem, para o “ramo” humano poder brotar, florir e dar fruto, para ele ter vida e atingir sua capacidade máxima, faz-se necessário um profundo e forte relacionamento com Jesus. — J. H. Jowett[6]
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Se vós estiverdes em mim e minhas palavras estiverem em vós, pedireis tudo o que quiserdes e vos será feito. — João 15:7[7]
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Jesus falou sobre darmos fruto. Ele disse que devemos permanecer nEle e Ele em nós, e então produziremos muito fruto. Eu sou o ramo, vós as varas. Aquele que permanece em mim e Eu nele, esse dá muito fruto.”[8]
E disse também: “Eu rogarei ao Pai, e Ele vos dará outro Consolador, para que esteja convosco para sempre, o Espírito da verdade... Naquele dia conhecereis que estou em Meu Pai, e vós em Mim, e Eu em vós.”[9]
Se Jesus e o Espírito Santo habitarem em nós, daremos fruto. Se estivermos abertos ao direcionamento do Espírito Santo e seguimos Suas orientações, daremos fruto. Ele nos conduzirá segundo a vontade de Deus — se deixarmos — mostrando-nos aonde ir, o que fazer e como fazer. Se seguirmos suas instruções daremos fruto.
Como Jesus disse, o fruto depende de termos o Espírito de Deus habitando em nós. Podemos então interpretar que também está ligado a seguirmos as orientações do Espírito. Cada um pessoalmente dará fruto se seguir a orientação do Espírito para a sua vida pessoal. Você deve seguir na direção em que Deus guiá-lo, e então dará fruto.
Pelo que Jesus disse, o fruto depende de termos o Espírito de Deus habitando em nós. Podemos então interpretar que também está ligado a seguirmos as orientações do Espírito. Cada um pessoalmente dará fruto se seguir a orientação do Espírito para a sua vida pessoal. Você deve seguir na direção em que Deus guiá-lo, e então dará fruto.
Alguns fatores-chave para fazer o que Deus lhe mostra são: fé, confiança e paciência. Fé para seguir aonde Ele guiar; confiança de que, ao fazê-lo Ele cuidará; e paciência para esperar pelo fruto.
Permaneça nEle e dará fruto. — Peter Amsterdam
Publicado no site Âncora em setembro de 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.
[1] João 15:4–5 NVI.
[2] http://www.worthydevotions.com/christian-devotional/abide.
[3] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/abide-in-me?lang=eng.
[4] Adaptado de http://www.ccel.org/ccel/murray/true_vine.xi.html.
[5] RC.
[6] Adaptado de Brooks by the Traveler’s Way (Londres: H. R. Allenson, 1902).
[7] RC.
[8] João 15:5.
[9] João 14:16–17, 20 NVI.
Uma compilação
“Permaneçam em mim e eu permanecerei em vocês. Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim. Eu sou a videira; vocês são os ramos. Se alguém permanecer em mim e eu nele, esse dá muito fruto; pois sem mim vocês não podem fazer coisa alguma.”[1]
Como produzir muito fruto? O que o Senhor está querendo dizer?
No mundo moderno, a ética de trabalho manda conquistar e produzir trabalhando mais e mais arduamente! — O foco é gerar resultados pelo esforço humano. …Mas a maneira de Deus trabalhar contraria essa abordagem, pois é muito mais orientada a processos e relacionamentos que a desempenho e produção. Ele está interessado nos resultados, que Ele chama de “frutos”, mas não nos força nem nos incentiva a trabalhar mais intensamente ou por mais tempo.
O Senhor trabalha conosco e por nosso intermédio, para que todo resultado ou produto venha como consequência de permanecermos nEle, já que, sem Ele, não podemos fazer coisa alguma.
É o contrário da cultura predominante e da natureza humana no geral. …O caminho de Deus para o sucesso produz resultados de valor para Ele; resultados advindos [não apenas] do esforço próprio, mas que brotam de uma relação íntima com Ele, na qual buscamos permanecer todo o tempo.
A única maneira de darmos fruto em abundância é entendendo o processo de frutificação do Senhor. Devemos deixar de lado o esforço próprio e a atitude independente inerente ao ser humano, para buscarmos a comunhão com Ele, permanecermos na Videira. Assim, Seu poder, vontade e desejos se realizarão em nossas vidas, e produziremos fruto que permanecerá por toda a eternidade! — George Whitten[2]
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Cristo disse: “Eu sou a videira, vocês são os ramos. Permaneçam em mim e eu em vocês. Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim.”
“Permaneçam em mim” é um lindo e inteligível conceito. A elegante versão King Jamesda Bíblia em inglês utiliza o vocábulo “abide”, uma palavra pouco usada hoje em dia. Eu passei a apreciar muito mais essa admoestação do Senhor quando conheci a li em espanhol, que usa o verbo “permanecer”. Em outras palavras, ficar, continuar. Até um gringo como eu consegue reconhecer a raiz na palavra em inglês “permanence”. O sentido é “ficar, mas para sempre”. Essa é a mensagem do Evangelho… Venha, mas venha para ficar. Venha com convicção e capacidade de suportar. Venha de forma permanente, para o seu bem e para o bem de todas as gerações posteriores. E nós nos ajudaremos mutuamente até ao final. — Jeffrey R. Holland[3]
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“Nenhum ramo pode dar fruto por si mesmo, se não permanecer na videira. Vocês também não podem dar fruto, se não permanecerem em mim.” O ramo só pode dar fruto se estiver constantemente ligado à videira. Não é um fruto do ramo, mas é a videira que produz frutos. ...
Jesus deseja que nos afastemos de nós mesmos e da nossa própria força e recorramos a Ele e à Sua força. ...Permanecer na Videira é, afinal, uma tranquila entrega da alma para Jesus tomar posse e assumir controle total, como acontece na natureza, em que o ramo fica firmemente preso à videira e nada mais. — Andrew Murray[4]
*
Aquele que diz estar nele, também deve andar como Ele andou. — 1 João 2:6[5]
*
O ramo não frutifica separado da Videira. Precisa dos recursos vindos da videira para brotar folhas, florir e dar fruto. O ramo não cria a própria seiva. A força que o sustenta e dá vida só pode ser obtida da associação.
[Da mesma forma] o ser humano só pode se completar por meio de uma conexão íntima com Jesus. … Para as capacidades [humanas] se tornarem habilidades, alcançarem maturação e se realizarem, para o “ramo” humano poder brotar, florir e dar fruto, para ele ter vida e atingir sua capacidade máxima, faz-se necessário um profundo e forte relacionamento com Jesus. — J. H. Jowett[6]
*
Se vós estiverdes em mim e minhas palavras estiverem em vós, pedireis tudo o que quiserdes e vos será feito. — João 15:7[7]
*
Jesus falou sobre darmos fruto. Ele disse que devemos permanecer nEle e Ele em nós, e então produziremos muito fruto. Eu sou o ramo, vós as varas. Aquele que permanece em mim e Eu nele, esse dá muito fruto.”[8]
E disse também: “Eu rogarei ao Pai, e Ele vos dará outro Consolador, para que esteja convosco para sempre, o Espírito da verdade... Naquele dia conhecereis que estou em Meu Pai, e vós em Mim, e Eu em vós.”[9]
Se Jesus e o Espírito Santo habitarem em nós, daremos fruto. Se estivermos abertos ao direcionamento do Espírito Santo e seguimos Suas orientações, daremos fruto. Ele nos conduzirá segundo a vontade de Deus — se deixarmos — mostrando-nos aonde ir, o que fazer e como fazer. Se seguirmos suas instruções daremos fruto.
Como Jesus disse, o fruto depende de termos o Espírito de Deus habitando em nós. Podemos então interpretar que também está ligado a seguirmos as orientações do Espírito. Cada um pessoalmente dará fruto se seguir a orientação do Espírito para a sua vida pessoal. Você deve seguir na direção em que Deus guiá-lo, e então dará fruto.
Pelo que Jesus disse, o fruto depende de termos o Espírito de Deus habitando em nós. Podemos então interpretar que também está ligado a seguirmos as orientações do Espírito. Cada um pessoalmente dará fruto se seguir a orientação do Espírito para a sua vida pessoal. Você deve seguir na direção em que Deus guiá-lo, e então dará fruto.
Alguns fatores-chave para fazer o que Deus lhe mostra são: fé, confiança e paciência. Fé para seguir aonde Ele guiar; confiança de que, ao fazê-lo Ele cuidará; e paciência para esperar pelo fruto.
Permaneça nEle e dará fruto. — Peter Amsterdam
Publicado no site Âncora em setembro de 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.
[1] João 15:4–5 NVI.
[2] http://www.worthydevotions.com/christian-devotional/abide.
[3] https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/abide-in-me?lang=eng.
[4] Adaptado de http://www.ccel.org/ccel/murray/true_vine.xi.html.
[5] RC.
[6] Adaptado de Brooks by the Traveler’s Way (Londres: H. R. Allenson, 1902).
[7] RC.
[8] João 15:5.
[9] João 14:16–17, 20 NVI.
