Chinese Food??

Yes, weird title, but hopefully a good message...

So me and my Aunt had Chinese take-out last night. I love Chinese food. The only problem is, although my tastebuds do, my stomach area doesn't really enjoy all the deep-fried nastyness that I am sure is hidden deep within my orange chicken. My motto that I made up last night is: "Chinese food is yummy, but it makes my tummy feel crummy!" (Weird I know)
I started thinking, isn't this the same with sin? I mean, I love Chinese but my body doesn't. Yet I still eat it anyways. Don't we do this with sin? We love to do something, even though our conscience is telling us not to, and after it's all done, we suffer the consequences.
Do you have something like Chinese food in your life? Something that has tempted you and you have fallen prey? It might look soo yummy on the outside, but once you start eating and digging in, you realize that might not have been your best choice ever. Everybody has different Chinese foods in their lives. For you, it might be lying, but for the girl who sits across from you it might be smoking in the girls' bathroom. Though lying might seem smaller on the sin scale than smoking secretly, it's really not. No sin is greater or smaller than the other.
I ate the leftovers for lunch, but I didn't get sick. I think that this happens with our spiritual lives too. We do something wrong, and we feel bad, but then we do it again and it just doesn't effect us the same way it did the first time, or the 88th time. We become so used to the feeling of guilt or depression, that we just don't realize what's happening inside us. The more we do something and just ignore our conscience (which is the Holy Spirit), the more it just eats us from the inside out. When we start ignoring what our conscience is telling us, we start denying what is going on (DENIAL!) and alot of the time we become bitter, rude, and angry. When we ignore, other people usually get the brunt of our spiritual battle that is going on inside us. So besides just hurting ourselves we are hurting our friends and families and even people we don't know.
So just think about the "Chinese take-out" and it's consequences before you dig in.

Heroes in our Lives, a testimony

My name is Daniel and this is my story.
What do you think when you hear the word hero? Do think Superman or Batman? What makes a person a hero? Is it super powers, cool gadgets, or is it the costume? Well to explain what I think makes a person a hero let me tell you a little bit of my life. Before I was born the doctor told my mom that she should have an abortion; in other words kill me. The doctors said I would be born abnormal and have all types of problems, but my mom told the doctor no and I was born completely normal. My mom is a hero because she basically saved my life.

Later on in life, around the time I was about five or six years old, I asked Christ to come into my life and He did. God is actually more then a hero because He created me and He saved me from my sins. As I got older I started being a better Christian and started serving others. But as time went on I started feeling depressed because I felt like I was a slave; it seemed as if I was always stuck doing everything for everyone else. Then one-day between the ages ten and thirteen I tried to kill myself. I took a knife out and was going to plunge it into my heart but my dad walked into the kitchen and told me suicide was not the answer. We talked for a while and after the talk I realized my dad was right -my life is not my own. I am bought with a price and that price is the cost of Christ dying on the cross. I am made in God’s image and I am also one of his adopted sons. My dad is a hero because he saved my life and helped me through my depression.

After a little while I met people who cut themselves, do drugs and tons other things that are just so horrible to hear about and I realized I wanted to help these people; I wanted to be a hero. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was already a hero having fought with depression and having defeated it day after day. So I helped these people and some changed and others didn’t but I know that God is taking care of them. One day a friend of mine asked me for a clean slate. How many of you want a clean slate? I do and guess what! I got it and so can you! Just ask God to forgive you and He will. Ask Him for strength and He will give it to you so that you can forgive yourself. My challenge for you is to stop doing what you’re doing that is wrong; stop cutting yourself, stop doing drugs, and stop doing whatever else I forgot to mention. Ask for forgiveness and then forgive yourself. I know it’s hard. I have struggled with it many times but it’s the greatest thing to be free from sin and to really know that in your heart that you are forgiven. If you’re still struggling write down your sins on a piece of paper and burn it. If you ever need some one to talk to you can always talk to me. I’m here to help you not to hurt you but remember God has always been there for you and He is there for you now and always will be there for you so turn to Him first because He never fails. While others sadly can fail you God won’t ever fail you for He is God almighty the One True God. Last thing I have to say is I believe each of you are a hero in one way or another and if you don’t think that you are then go out there be a hero and help your friends or other people you know who are hurting inside.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

This was written by Daniel N. but it also goes for me, Katy. I am here to help you in any way, whether it be someone for you to talk to or to just pray for you. You can email me at teensagainstdrugs@gmail.com
I really do want to help!! Please do not be afraid to email me.
Thank you Daniel for letting me post this! :)

Strawberry Quick (Death)

Hey all. This is a really important one. Please pass this around to your friends and your parents and your family. Any one you come in contact with.

New drug in Schools... Please pass this on even if you do not have kids in school. Parents should know about this killer drug. This is a new drug known as 'strawberry quick '. There is a very scary thing going on in the schools right now that we all need to be aware of. There is a type of crystal meth going around that looks like strawberry pop rocks (the candy that sizzles and 'pops' in your mouth). It also smells like strawberry and it is being handed out to kids in school yards. They are calling it strawberry meth or strawberry quick. Kids are ingesting this thinking that it is candy and being rushed off to the hospital in dire condition. It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange. Please instruct your children not to accept candy from strangers and even not to accept candy that looks like this from a friend (who may have been given it and believed it is candy) and to take any that they may have to a teacher, principal, etc. immediately.Pass this on to as many people as you can (even if they don't have kids) so that we can raise awareness and hopefully prevent any tragedies from occurring. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271215,00.html

Ok, this is really serious. Do what it says: Don't except candy from anybody. It could be fatal.
Thanks for reading... Pass this on. It's not fake.

He's the only reason I'm alive. A testimony to God's grace.

All my life my parents have taken me and my sisters to church. I am the middle child of three girls (my older sister is 17, I’m 15, and my little sister is 3). I am a Christian, and so are my parents and older sister (my little sister is not yet at the age of understanding how to accept Christ). When people look at me, they see a normal girl. I look like, dress, act just the way my friends do. My life has been a fairly normal life. I was in public school from first through seventh grade, and I have been homeschooled since. I had some friend issues in middle school. Some of my friends were great, but most of the people I hung out with did drugs. I didn’t know this at the time (although it should have been obvious). I never considered doing drugs, and I knew that I never wanted to. I had always promised my parents never to even consider getting into any of the drugs, cutting, alcohol, smoking, and all of the other dangerous addictions out there. I never thought that I would consider suicide.
Earlier this year (2008), my older sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had her first surgery to remove the tumor just two days after her birthday. When I first found out that she had cancer, there was one constant question running through my mind “what if she dies?”. I soon started wondering how I could live without my best friend. This is when I broke my promises to my parents. I seriously considered suicide. I knew that downing a handful of random pills could do finish me off. I knew that other people in my family took medications. It wouldn’t be hard for me to get a bunch. I remember the day that I came dangerously close to doing it. I was all alone (it was hard for me to be around people a whole lot; in case they brought up my sister’s cancer), and I was thinking. I kept thinking that her life was over, and there is no way mine can go on any more. I don’t know how God convinced me not to go through with it. I am so glad He did. My sister no longer has cancer. I am still struggling today knowing that there is a possibility of her finding another tumor. There is that chance for everyone, but I am no longer suicidal. I have great friends and family to talk to, and most importantly, I have a great relationship with God. He is my rock. He is the reason for why I am alive. He has given me life twice now, and I am so grateful that he has! Even though there have been people here for me to talk to, I know that God is truly the only reason for my being alive today. I owe him my life more than I could ever express.

A real testimony written by anonymous.