September 1, 2010

Dear Friend,

In the first issue of the 2008 US News, a list of new year’s resolutions wasn’t offered. Instead they gave 50 ways to improve your life. Some of these suggestions were actually useful.

Waltzing your way to better fitness, for example. What a nice way to get yourself off the couch. Adopt a dog. I like that one. Dogs are good people. They help lower your blood pressure. People with dogs live longer. Dogs make you feel good because they are always glad to see you.

Avoid recalls. Make your own toys. Young kids love a cardboard box. You can make sock puppets out of your old socks. This is a winner for teaching small children. Puppets make excellent props to teach children the Bible. Check out YEA! Let’s R.E.A.C.H. for FREE daily activities you or your child can download and print out. Puppets are used in many of our YEA lessons for small children as well. Call 1.888.BIBLE.44 or go to our website, www.borntowin.net, and ask for a FREE Born to Win catalog to see our very attractive lesson books for teaching children from age three to 20.

Learn American sign language. Think of the service you can provide. One lady decided to do this. She practiced in front of the mirror. One day she was doing it in the ladies room and two teenage girls came in. "What is she doing?" one of them asked. "Silly," the other replied, "that’s sign language. She must be deaf. She’s talking to herself."

Some of the ideas US News came up with might raise your eyebrows: Have yourself tested for a sexually transmitted disease. Have we come to this? If you have been sleeping around, it may be a good idea. And then, you might consider the biblical prescription: one man, one woman, for life. It’s the best solution.

There were a few really good improvements to your life: Read a book; go to the library; engage in random acts of kindness.

I want to add some of my own ideas to the list. Taking off from the article’s suggestion to read a book, I would say, read THE BOOK—the Bible. There are any number of aids for getting this done. There is even a "One Year Bible" which breaks the book up into daily readings. It is the NLT Bible, and the publisher says you can read the whole thing in one year at 15 minutes a day. I can think of nothing better to improve your life in this year than reading the whole Bible, cover to cover.

My next suggestion is to take 15 minutes after you read the Bible and meditate. No, I don’t mean sitting cross legged on the floor, reciting some mantra. I mean simply thinking about something. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14 KJV). Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up (Psalm 5:1-3). Time spent in thought is never wasted.

Prayer is one of the truly important ways to improve your life. Actually, I found years ago that prayer and meditation seemed to go hand in hand. There are more benefits to prayer than you might think. For one thing, it is good to just be quiet for a while. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10).

There has never been a time in the history of the world when men, women, and children have needed the lesson of being still more than we do today. Everything around us is designed to keep us keyed up. If you want to demonstrate this, just turn the television off for one evening.

Prayer and Bible reading combine nicely. You speak to God and God speaks to you. Read the Bible, and talk to God about it. Put a mark where you stop, and come back to that place to continue. The practice will surely change you. This most important Born to Win program will show you so many concrete ways to improve your life and make it more exciting—more in tune with God. It is titled Improve Your Life and is completely FREE (when requested by October 15, 2010). Just call our office toll free at 1-888-BIBLE44 to order. 

Working together for a better life,

Allie Dart

Speakers Choice #64

Terror Without End - Will we defeat the scourge of terror in our lifetime? Will we simply adapt to a world that includes terrorism in the same way we have adapted to murders, accidental plane crashes, or the possibility that lightning may strike? The century just past was probably the worst in history in terms of lives lost to terror, war, and genocide. You would think that, by the 20th century, mankind would have progressed far beyond the barbarity of previous generations. What is this spirit of insanity that is abroad in the world? How can we explain the persistent and pervasive presence of evil in the world? Are "evil" and "wicked" the same thing? What is the duty of the Christian in the face of either?

War Against Freedom - What’s really going on in the world? And what is this "War on Terror" really about? Do you realize that what people call terrorism is actually a war against the spread of freedom. It is being waged by the enemies of freedom. The enemies of freedom think that we of the United States are the problem. They want us to stop the invasion of what they call "western values" into their world. But we can’t stop it. We are not the cause of freedom; God is. How does the hatred for Christ by the Jewish establishment of his time relate to the hatred of freedoms we enjoy today? Learn how this timeless battle is being played out in the events that shape today’s headlines by those who deal death and destruction in the name of Allah.

Same Sex Marriage - According to Maggie Gallagher, "Same sex marriage amounts to a vast social experiment on children." How can the people who say they believe in evolution fall for this social experiment? You would think that evolution itself should warn against experimenting with an institution that is the result of thousands of years of social evolution. Why are such people willing to move heaven and earth to save an endangered species, but won’t even cross the street to save the institution of marriage or the idea of family? On what basis does society employ the weapon of law to enforce moral behavior? Do you understand the forces at work in our societies that leave so many unable to perceive the value of defined and enforced morality?

Covenant Marriage - For the first time in our history, married couples are in the minority in this country, comprising only 48% of households according to Newsweek. In 1950, 78% of households were comprised of married couples. Lifetime, permanent marriage is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Even marriage isn’t what it used to be. Since the advent of no-fault divorce in the 1970s, the divorce rate has increased fourfold. What could be the dangers we will see in our evolving society in another 25 years? What will the world we are creating be like?