W3 (Women Who Worship)

Does a person have to have the gift of tongues as evidence that they have received the Holy Spirit and have been saved?

A person pointed out to me that the Bible makes reference to when John baptized the disciples with water and then at Pentecost they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and evidence of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues…  They were not to preach or do their ministry work until they were baptized with the holy spirit.

Mark 16:17, Acts 2:4, Acts 10:46-48 all speak of this but I am confused….  Anyone interested in explaining this.   Provide Bible references please…

Sunshine

Life is full of them.  It seems we have to choose between everything.  What will I wear each day?  Which route to work will I take?  Who will I email first?  When will I take my lunch break?  Will I do my Bible Study lesson tonight or wait til tomorrow?

I don’t know about you but I don’t like making decisions.  I tend to default to my husband as much as possible and let him help me with great decisions, like where will we eat for dinner on our date night?   He usually decides and I agree.  It’s not that I don’t like making the decisions, I just don’t like the consequences of the decisions I make.  I am fearful that I might make the “wrong” decision.  Thus, poor consequences.

As a leader type, I am forced to make decisions on a regular basis that affect others.  It’s not easy and I sometimes get it wrong, but I default most of those to the Lord.  I pray for His guidance and His leading and hope that I hear Him when I follow through with my decisions.

At this moment I am deciding on what to eat for dinner.  For those that read this blog, you know I am following the WW plan and have lost 10 pounds in 7 weeks!  Woo-hoo!!  But, it has not been easy.  What is has done is forced me to make “healthy” decisions most of the time.  Except last night when I went with a friend to Frosty Boy.  And my stomach is paying the consequences for it now…

I think I will choose to eat a small salad for dinner.  Or sweet peas and chicken.  Or  tuna helper… Or….  AGHHHHHHH!  The choices are too much for me.

Anything you have trouble with choosing?

Sunshine

Last night at Bible Study was soooo nice!  I loved it.  Most of the ladies showed up, there was sharing at every table and looked to me like genuine laughter and connections were formed.  All because we were being introduced to God in the wilderness!  This is exactly what Bible Study is to be about.  Community and Friendship while we grow closer to the LORD!  Praise God that He is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who Provides….

I hope you had as great a time as I did.  The video was pretty amazing too.  I really liked when Beth talked about her friend who lost a child and Beth saying to God, there is no way I could endure that.  And God reminding her that His Grace and Mercy is dependent upon our circumstance.  In essence, He was telling her, No, you couldn’t endure that now because I have not supplied that much grace to you, because your circumstance does not need it at this moment.

I think it is wonderful that we don’t have to endure other people’s “stuff”.  For those that know me, I lost my only son two years ago 5 days after birth and God’s grace sustained and sustains me.  I could endure it because God gave me what I need.  But, I have a friend right now who’s husband is out of work and they sold their home and have two weeks to move out and don’t know where God is sending them.  She has been trusting the Lord, but has called me for spiritual support  on occasion.  The other day, she said, I don’t know why I am complaining to you.  You have endured so much more than I have.  And I told her, I wouldn’t trade situations at all.  There is a reason God gives us our “stuff” and he supplies exactly what we need to get through it.  I KNOW I cannot endure what she is going through.  I am way too much a planner and I would be broken.  Isn’t this funny?  And does anyone else know what I am talking about?

What did you like most from Bible Study this week?  What questions do you have from the homework?  Do you have a story to share?

Click on the comments button and share.  Don’t be shy.  This is another “table” discussion if you will…  Let’s work this community!  Others are waiting for you to be the ‘first’ one…

Sunshine

Hi,

Sometime ago I mentioned that I was taking a different route to weight loss that includes, lots of healthy saturated fats and real food! The first two weeks were tough. Taking in two tablespoons of liquid coconut oil before each meal was not exactly easy but I did it. This is the suggestion for someone over 180 pounds in the book,”Eat Fat Lose Fat” by Mary Enig Phd, and Sally Fallon. The first weeks are to condition your body so that it doesn’t think it’s starving. I ate three regular meals, no snacks. Because the coconut oil was giving me the feeling of satiation, I did not eat as much nor feel hungry between meals. Did I lose any weight? No, however… I could feel my body changing.

Last week I dropped down to one tablespoon of coconut oil before my meals and took 1/2 a tsp of high vitamin cod liver oil in the morning along with also taking the suppliments I regularly do with Cantron, the alternative cancer treatment I’m using. I ate normally. Only this week… my appetite was lower than it has been in years so I was able to maintain the lower food volume. My diet is based on the Omnivore’s Manifesto, on the cover of “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, “Eat Food- Not Too Much- Mostly Plants”. This book defines “real food” as foods your grandmother (or great grandmother) would recognise as food, foods like I ate as a little child if you skip Crisco, margarine and white bread. Unprocessed food that looked like the plant or animal it came from were what I remember when I was really young. I eat mostly vegetables, fruit, some meat, fish or poultry, raw or cultured dairy, and a bit of grains.  One thing I am learning about myself in the last few months is that I cannot eat grains that have not been sprouted before grinding into flour, or soaked in some acidic medium such as buttermilk without bloating and other unmentionable discomforts. Rye and artisan sourdough breads have become my staples but even those I monitor my intake.

Today I got on the scale and to my astonishment, I’ve lost 5 pounds since last week. If you think that is alot, I agree… but I cannot deny how I feel physically which is great!  What has really suprised me about the fat I’ve lost is that it is almost all “belly fat”. Who’d have thunk it? Eat saturated fat, lose belly fat.

In His service, Cat 

With the snow/ice storm on Wednesday afternoon, we waited for the church to decide to cancel wednesday night classes, but they didn’t.  So, I weathered the storm and set up the founders hall for a little over half of our ladies who have signed up to do A woman’s heart!  If you attend the Thursday morning group, you know that your group was cancelled this week because of the school delays.

I think it was 33 women who attended Wednesday and although some groups were smaller than others, we learned who would be in our groups and got to know each other a bit.  We talked about what we learned in our homework last week  and it was all about beginnings.  The beginning of the earth, of sin, of a relationship with God, of prophecy of Christ, of new friendships at our tables.

The video was intriguing, but as many of you know, you really don’t have to see the video to do your homework.  But, if you still would like to view the video, you can purchase it off the internet for a one time viewing for $4.95.  You can find it at www.lifeway.com and click on Beth Moore Resources, then audio and video downloads, and follow the prompts from there.

If you have questions/thoughts/ideas you like to share, please comment here and we will try to respond.

See you next week for Session 3 of A Woman’s Heart!!!  Keep up with your homework!

Sunshine

Hi, Bloggers

The following is a story by Walt Larimore (Focus on the Family):        GENERATION XL    Being overweight is the No.1 health problem afficting children in the U.S.

    Sarah was a patient of Dr. Larimore who wanted to be a missionary or Bible translator.  Unfortunately her live was cut short.  She didn’t die from a car accident or a gunshot.  She died form obedity.   Sarah became obese as a toddler.  At 7 years  of age she had diabetes and at 8 she was her 1st hospitalization for it.  At age 10 she had hight blood pressure.  Her family’s lack of attention to these problems led ot asthma, heart problems and many hospitalizations.  At age 14 her body gave out.  Her last hospital stay was for a diabetic coma that led to a massive heart attack.  Dr. Larimore was with Sarah when she took her last breath.

I don’t know what you are thinking but I have a  sick feeling in my stomach as I am writing this.  This is a tragedy that didn’t need to happen.  I can’t help to think about the what if’s in her life.

More than one- third of Michigan’s school kids watch at least 3 hours of T.V. on school nights.  About 9 million children older than 6 are considered obese- and more than 300,000 thousand of them live in Michigan.  “Childhood obesity has become a majior health problem in Michigan, ” says Univ. of Michigan pediatric endocrinologist Joyce Lee, M.D.

O.K. we know there is a real problem with the state of our childrens health.  Now we need to take action to change this here are some practical things we can do for our children.

1.  Set the example: next time you are tempted to eat ice cream as your late night snack grab an apple or mango instead.

2. Don’t eat while you watch T.V.  especially dinner make that a time for catching up on each others lives.  You tend to eat more infront of the TV.

3. Limit TV time, try to cut the time in half.  So if your kids watch 3 hours a day cut it down to 1 1/2 hours. replace the other time with physical activity

4. Offer a wide range of healthy foods and let them choose.  Example for lunch (one from each group) a fruit set out an orange, apple, kiwi and let them choose.  The same with veggies and protein.

5. Don’t reward your kids with candy all the time. Be creative and give them a sticker or have a treasure pot of goodies they can choose from.

6. Make exercise a part of your daily  (at least 5 day) routine for at least 30 minutes.  Go for a family walk, ride a bike  get them a mini trapoline.   Kids sit  and play video games to much, they need to get out and move.        

 It is plain to see we have some serious issues but it is never to late for change.  As parents we can’t sit back and waite for someone else to intervine when it is our job.  I know it isn’t an easy job being a parent but we can find hope and strength in the Lord.   Pray and ask God for wisodm and He will give it to you.

All of the information came from either march 2007 edition of Focus on the Family magizine or Fall 2007 Living Healthy magazine form Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan Magizine.  Please if you have any question feel free to leave them on the comment page, let me know what works for you. 

Christie,

Romans 15:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The W3 Book Club  will meet this Saturday, February 9, at Karen Pender’s home in Adrian from 10am-noon.  We’re going to discuss the book   Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas.  It’s been a very informative read!!  How refreshing to get a man’s view of what a woman can do for a man!  I’ve been married almost 33 years, and I still learned TONS about how to improve my relationship with my husband!  This will be a discussion filled with insight and laughter, I’m sure!!  

RSVP to Shirley Bordine by email:  sbordine@bf.umich.edu   When you RSVP, ask for directions to Karen’s if you need them.    

Below is a list of the books we are reading and discussing over the next several months!  You can find these books at many local book stores, or online at Christian Book Distributors (.com) or Amazon (.com).   Please join us!!

• March 8   Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down   (book 2)  by Neta Jackson
• April12    Dangerous Surrender  by Kay Warren
• May 10    Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Real  (book 3)  by Neta Jackson
• June 14   Same Kind of Different as Me   by Ron Hall and Denver Moore
• July 12    Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough   (book 4)  by Neta Jackson