Youth Reporter- Christmas

The holidays are coming, so be good. As you know, money is tight this year well that is okay. If you want something it is okay to ask as long as you don’t beg. I want some expensive things but I might not ask for them. If you know what’s going on with our country right now, then you know that you might need to make some sacrifices. Sure you might think Christmas is just about Santa and presents but it is not! It is about love and happiness. The best gift you could give or get is pure LOVE. You can be sad or be happy or you can think about how much your parents and family love and care about you. They are trying to make hard times work out for the better not for the worse. So remember don’t be greedy be grateful. And enjoy your holiday season. Spend time with your family and loved ones while you can.

Happy Holidays!

By: Ashleigh

Your Attitude, Your Choice

By Jerry Ackerman

Your attitude is your choice. Each one of us wakes up with the same 24 hours. Each of us begins every week with the same 7 days. Each of us was born by someone, somewhere. Your attitude each and every day is determined by you regardless of whatever else may be happening, has happened, or will happen. We all have the same time every day and we all have the same choice – what is my attitude going to be? From your work life to your home life, your attitude is reflected to the masses. Based upon how you treat others, how you talk to peers, how you respond to authority, others decide what they think of you. The question that begs an answer from each one of us is, "Will I be a person that has an ‘I can' attitude regardless of my current situation or will I have an attitude that is dictated by that circumstances that surround me?" For many of us, our attitudes are driven by situations rather than having an attitude that rises above the situation.

In your workplace, what do other people think about you? What would others say about your attitude? One experiment that I have always thought would be interesting is to have your closest co-workers gather into a room and share a one word definition for each person. Do you think those you work with could give a one word definition for you? What would it be? Would you be appreciative or offended by the choice of words? Whatever the case, here is the truth; most times what people say is correct and what they say is mostly a result of the attitude they see in you. Attitude is judged quickly. When you meet someone new, you often determined what you think of that person before they even begin speaking. You might think, "I am not that shallow; I measure someone up before I make a determination." Really? Have you ever watched people at the mall as they walk by? Have you ever made a judgment about them from what they were wearing, who they were with, or what they did? The answer for most of us is a definite "yes." If that is indeed the case, how much more do the people you work with have a pulse on your attitude as they work with you day in and day out, week in and week out, month after month? What is your attitude today? Is your attitude showing those around you that you are confident, poised, and in control? Are you allowing your attitude in that situation to control you and, ultimately, bring you further down the path of disappointment and discouragement? Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." How profound. Your mindset going into a situation, a relationship, a project, or your workplace is often determined by mindset you have going into that situation. The choice is yours; the result is from your choice. Live with an attitude of expectancy. Of hope. Of joy. After all, your attitude is your choice.

Source :http://www.isnare.com/

Take Responsibility For Your Life and Achieve Everything You Want!

Take Responsibility for your life and achieve everything you want! Are you ready? How much do you want out of life? ‘Cause and effect' is a way of thinking that a ‘cause' (an action) will lead to an ‘effect' (a consequence) So what side of the equation are you in life? Be really honest with yourself… Are you just an ‘effect' of all that is around you? Do you know someone who says "everything happens to me" or "Bad things always happen to me" or "it's just what life has dealt me"? Well those are just examples of someone just being an effect of life, allowing life to have an effect on them, pushing all options of self change, outside of themselves. By thinking and acting in an ‘effect' mindset, the person simply continues to re-affirms their situation – not having the life they wish. Now imagine if you move on to the ‘cause' side of the equation, where you take responsibility for everything in your reality, your job, your relationship, your life, your issues in such an empowering way that you take control and start causing fabulous effects. Rather pushing your problems outside of your control (like being at ‘effect'), you now begin to own them; you take responsibility to start making important changes in your life. This in turn starts to create new empowering beliefs and thoughts knowing you have the ability to change your life I you desire. What a buzz that would be. It would mean you can begin to own and create life changing effects to have a perfect life, relationship, job, money and health. Only one thing ultimately stops us from changing…… ourselves. Its that plain and simple I'm afraid, it all comes back to us. It's a bold statement but its true. By taking responsibility now for EVERYTHING and I mean everything, your health, your relationships, career and finances it means you own the situation. When you own the situation you can change it. We are our only limitation, but on the other hand we can transform that to pure potential, to reclaim our thoughts, to develop empowering beliefs, to construct exciting new behaviours, to manifest our dreams and act out our destiny. We don't create a wonderful future by focusing on the past. You would never think to drive a car just looking behind you. Instead you focus on the big windscreen in front of you, to know where you are going and only occasionally look at the rear view mirror to be safe. I think life is the same, we can learn from the past, but our time is now – to live in the present and to focus on our outcomes and live them as if we had them now. So why not take this time now, to take responsibility and reclaim your life back. After all we can choose life to effect us, or we can choose to see every thing in life to effect of us. Remember you are not just a product of life; life is just the product of you! Be your Potential.

By Joseph Clough

Source :http://www.isnare.com/

Youth Reporter- The Presidential Election

This year 2008 is a presidential election year. There are two main political groups Republican and Democrat. Our two candidates this year are John McCain who is a Republican and Barack Obama who is a Democrat. When you turn eighteen you can register to vote which is a good thing. Our country is a democracy and some other countries aren’t able to vote. If you do decide to register to vote you should always make sure that you watch the news. That way you can learn about the candidates and make sure that you know that they really want to help our country. You can also read the newspaper or watch or go to one of their speeches. If you think you like one of the candidates make sure you go over the pros and cons to make sure that person is the right person for office. We need people to vote so we can get someone good into office. Even if you are not old enough to vote, it’s not too early to learn about the political process or about the candidates and the issues they support. So remember when you turn eighteen you can consider voting.

Even though I am not old enough to vote this year if I did I would vote for Barack Obama. Some reasons that I want him to win are he wants to bring the troop out of Iraq and he wants all children to get a good education no matter the race, class, or background. There are more reasons that I like him and the list could go on and on. That is why I really like what he wants to do to help our country.

By: Ashleigh Griffin

"When I eat well, I feel well."

Eating healthy is something that we all know is important to our well-being yet, instead of preparing healthy meals, we stop at the drive-thru or we eat packaged foods or fried foods that are high in saturated fat and carbohydrates. If we indulged every once in awhile it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, but too many of us indulge in these foods all the time and we are paying for it in the way of declining health and weight gain. Poor diet has even been linked to depression, so eating healthy really is important. Healthy affirmations can help your eating habit improve and can lead to a healthy lifestyle starting today!

Health Affirmations Pick up Where Will Power Leaves Off. Will power is not something that you can rely on alone when you are trying to make a positive lifestyle change. Everywhere you go there will be temptations to eat foods that aren't all that good for you and it can be hard to resist every time. Instead of relying on will power alone, strive to have the support of loved ones or a personal coach. You can also begin using positive affirmations to stay focused on your goals. Affirmations are statements of your ideal behavior, feeling, response, and actions. You can use these health affirmations as a personal mantra to get you to where you want to be where your diet is concerned. Your health affirmations could be something as simple as, "When I eat well, I feel well." Other people need to establish their power over food so something such as, "I have the power to choose the foods that will nourish my body. I am in control of my choices!" As you can see, these are very straight-forward statements and when you believe in them they give you the power to change your life by making the right dietary choices. You can use your health affirmations as a sort of backup, so if your will power wanes, you'll still be able to make the right food choices between your support network and your positive affirmations! The problem that a lot of people have when it comes to eating healthy is that we say to ourselves, "one piece won't hurt" or "I already messed up today so it doesn't matter" but these are negative thoughts that actually work against your goal to feed your body the food it needs to nourish and energize you. When you use positive affirmations, you can avoid temptation and turn negative thoughts or thoughts of defeat into positive ones. When you use free positive affirmations or affirmations that you create yourself, you give yourself power over the temptation that you likely have never had before. Health affirmations work, so long as you believe in them. When looking for free positive affirmations that you will use, make sure you believe them. If you can say them genuinely, you are more likely to follow through in both thoughts and actions. Remember that even with affirmations you may not always be perfect, and that's what your support network is for. With the help of positive affirmations and your loving support system, you have the power to change your life, one food choice at a time.

Written by Ronnie Nijmeh

Ronnie Nijmeh is an accomplished author, speaker and coach. He has been a featured expert on national television, radio, and print. Ronnie is the president and founder of ACQYR.com, an inspirational resource where you can download free wallpapers, read powerful affirmations, inspirational articles and much more.

Having A Vision Can Speed Up Your Success

Success can be understood in so many different ways.The term is used widely by book authors in the field of personal development and a lot in education when passing exams or simply filling out an online application for a merchant account: "Success" informs us about a process which has been positively confirmed. In personal life success is only measurable if we have goals to compare it to. You cannot determine any success without first having set up any goals. Goal setting is one of the basic tasks when operating a homebased business for example. Short term goals or long term goals, idealistic or economic, every goal once it is achieved, is a success. What does a successful person look like? Do you imagine someone with an expensive, fast car with a Rolex watch? Do you think about a sportsperson winning a gold medal? A great contributor to humanity, such as Ghandi? Or do you imagine a person who is merely happy? See the importance of your definition of success? Once somebody has achieved his goals and still has no feeling of fulfillment whatsoever, probably has not defined HIS success in a proper way. Looking at the environment and the multiple possibilities we are influenced by, (parents, teachers, peers, church,advertisements,television, movies)it may be clear that it is no easy job to find out what exactly success means to YOU or in other words: What is it that makes YOU happy? It´s good and helpful to have a vision. Let´s say your vision is that you´re fed up with your 9 to 5 job and you want to start a homebased business of your own. Of course, you want it to be successful. But what does this success look like for you? Is it extra income so that you can go on an extra holiday every year? Do you want it to bring you a full time income so you can leave your current job? Or do you want to be another Matt Morris of Success University and make millions? Which of these definitions means the most to you? A vision describes the result, the big picture and keeps us moving towards our goals. The vision is the motivation and the goals help us to get things done every single day. While we are aiming for the stars, we also need to look around us and see where we are successful every day.To find your own success definitions, ask yourself the following: What is important to you? Write a list of your important values such as integrity, humour, family or freedom and make sure your goals fit in with these. When did you last feel happy and proud of yourself? What were you doing, or what had you achieved? If you want success in life there are many resources, such as life coaching, or online websites such as Success University. But first you need to define success on your own terms. Once you have done that, you take action to achieve it, and achieve it daily.

By Ingrid Grzeskowiak

Source:http://www.isnare.com/

Make Today What You Think It Should Be

You already make every day exactly what you think it should be. The only difference is that your level of expectation may be a tad bit lower than it ought to be. If you wake up, get out of bed and stub your toe on the bedpost you might already be predisposed to thinking the day's not going to be that great. If you don't do something to change that outlook you probably won't be disappointed. On a day in and day out basis you get exactly what you expect out of life. Not what you wish for, but exactly what you believe is going to happen.I've said this before, but it bears repeating; whatever you focus on is exactly what you get. The problem is that most of us don't spend enough time focusing on the results we want and as such we end up getting the things we don't want because that's what we're focused on. So how do you make the important distinction in your focus and make the change? Start with something simple; Write down those things that you want from life. This does not have to be your giant elaborate list of goals, just the things you'd like to have happen on a daily basis. Things like; being happy, having a great day, being a good friend, being healthy. Write these things down on a card and keep it with you all the time. Review it in the morning and several times throughout the day. Every time you feel yourself having negative focus, take out the card and read it. Life is meant to be lived, not survived! If you spend all of your time focused on the way you don't want things to turn out, you will miss the fact that they are actually going the way you want them to. I know this sounds overly simple and quite frankly it is. Get up tomorrow and decide that you are going to have a great day.Guess what? If that's what you focus on... that's what you will get. Why? Because the little bad things that happen to all of us over the course of a day don't really add up to much of anything in the middle of a really great day. Just think about it. Remember a day when something really good happened to you and it seemed like everything was going your way? There were probably some negative things going on at the same time, but you just didn't even notice because you were focused on the great stuff!So, my challenge to you...Decide what you want today to be like and make today what you think it should be!Talk to you soon!
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The Turning Point in Your Circumstances....

Are you wishing for your circumstances to change? Have you been praying and believing, but do not see any change whatsoever, and are wondering what gives?You may be wondering how when some people pray, everything they ask for seems to turn around for them. So, then how come it’s not working for you? I asked myself that question one day. God’s answer was simple: “Turn to Me.” That got me thinking, and I meditated on what exactly it was that He wanted me to do. I set aside more time than usual to meditate on the Word, praise Him, and express gratitude for all the things He had already pulled me through. I soon realized that I needed to turn away from my circumstances. What I had been doing was praying fervently, all the while looking to see if the condition was changing before my very eyes. My whole focus had been on the gift; not the Giver.I discovered that God wants you to put your full attention on Him. In fact, despite the turmoil that may be around you, he wants you to praise and thank Him. Your decision to completely turn your back on the circumstances and put your focus completely on Him then becomes the turning point where God can make His presence known to you.He is the God of turning points. He left the glory of heaven so that you can have eternal life with Him. He took on a human body in order to identify with you, and glorified it through His resurrection. Jesus regularly turned away from the crowds into a quiet place to commune with the Father. The first thing He required of you when you accepted Him as your Savior was to repent, or make a complete u-turn from your former lifestyle. You alone had to make that decision. When you are in a crisis, likewise it is good to turn fully to Him and reaffirm that He is Lord of your life.God knew your circumstances long before you asked Him for help. He is waiting for you to draw closer to Him, tell Him how much you love Him, and relinquish all your fears, pain and confusion to Him. As you do that, His Peace will engulf you. Gradually your faith will soar to the point that you know that He will come through in His time and in whatever way He deems best for His purpose to be fulfilled in you. “All things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)No matter what circumstances you are facing right now, there will be a time in the future where you will look back and see the hand of God in them. Although you cannot see it right now, the experience you’re going through will become a testimony to God’s goodness and a basis for ministry to others. Trials will help mature, humble, strengthen the faith, and eventually equip you to support others going through similar circumstances.Jesus came to turn things around for those who mourn. He came to give them: “Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” (Isa. 61: 3)He himself was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Yet it was He who bore your grief and carried your sorrow. (Isa. 54: 3-5)I encourage you not to look on your circumstances and be concerned when nothing seems to be happening. Turn your back to them and enjoy the presence of the Lord. That is your turning point. Your circumstances will soon seem less crucial as you sense the presence of His grace alleviate every difficult step along the way.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/

Choosing A New Church - Five Things To Remember

By Jeff McRitchie

You have probably heard it before, but just in case, I will tell you again. There is no such thing as the perfect church. In fact, if you ever think that you have found the perfect church just remind yourself and it won't be perfect anymore after you join. I know this sounds harsh but the truth is, we are all sinners in need of grace. No person apart from Jesus Christ is perfect, and this means that every church is filled with imperfect people. However, this doesn't mean that we shouldn't look for a quality community of believers to worship with each week. If you are looking for a new church, here are five things to remember...

1. Find a place that teaches God's word. Many churches today will provide great sermons that are nice to listen to and even a little bit uplifting. However, if you want to grow in your faith, find a church that opens up the bible and actually digs in. Look for a body that consistently teaches from God's word and challenges you to take the principles from the bible and put them in action.

2. Find a place where you feel comfortable and welcome. There are some churches where you can walk through the door and you are greeted by a dozen different people who are eager to get to know you. In other places you wonder if you have the plague and everyone is afraid to get too close. You are going to want to find a body where you feel welcome and where you can develop relationships with other believers. This will help you grow roots so that worship doesn't just happen on Sunday's.

3. Find a body that knows where it is going and how it is going to get there. If you find a church that has a clear mission and vision you will know it right away. Everything that they do has a purpose and you will feel that you are part of something bigger than yourself. Churches that have clear purpose are unified, active and have an energy that makes them appealing to almost anyone including non believers.

4. Look for a place where you can serve and be involved. Whether you love to teach bible studies, mow the lawn or cook meals, it is important that you find a place where you can use your gifts. Look for a place where there is stuff going on that you can get involved in. If you are gifted in a certain area then find out what type of opportunities that are offered for service. Find a place to plug in and make the body your home.

5. Find a church that makes evangelism and community service a priority. Too many churches are constantly caught looking inward while completely ignoring their communities and the lost people all around them. Ask how many people have come to know Christ in the past year. You might be surprised how little this number is in most churches. Also ask what the body is doing or planning on doing to reach out to their community. Churches with a passion for evangelism and outreach are easy to spot when you ask the right questions.

Armed with these five criteria, you should be able to find a body of believers where you fit and where you can grow. Just remember, there is no such thing as the perfect church. There will always be something that you don't like or someone that rubs you the wrong way. Still, there is nothing better than being involved in a good church.

Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for http://www.mybinding.com/. Before joining the staff at MyBinding he worked for three years as an associate pastor in the Hillsboro area. He writes extensively on topics related to Binding Machines, Binding Supplies,Report Covers,Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators,Laminating Supplies,and more.

Source:http://www.isnare.com/

If you live in Richmond, Virginia,we invite you to visit New Jerusalem International Christian Ministries at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday! Click here for directions and more information!

How To Quickly and Easily Go From Good To Great

By Keith Matthew

This article revolves around a single yet very powerful question I have to ask you: Do you want your life to be ‘good'…or do you want it to be ‘great'? Simple enough question. And yet, how you answer will dictate the kind of experiences you have in the very near future. Let me explain. For the past week, I've been listening to Jim Collins' book, "Good To Great" on 6 CDs. I've already listened to the first half of the book twice and I'll probably play it another 4 times before I'm done with it (when you want to learn something new, use the power of repetition to saturate your consciousness with that new information). There's too much ‘good' and not enough ‘great' in our lives today. But that's ok, because I'm about to reveal to you one of the main reasons why many of our lives tend to play out as mediocre and what you can do to change this fairly quickly. Now, ‘Good To Great' focuses on identifying the differences between good companies and great ones. The question Jim Collins continuously asked himself was, "How do you take a ‘good' company and make it ‘Great'?" With all the time you've put into reading personal development books and listening to CDs, I'm sure you know by now that success principles recognized in one area of our life (ie, business development) can be easily applied to another. I want you to ask yourself right now: How do I take the ‘good' or ‘ok' parts of my life and make them ‘Great'? How can I make my relationships with my wife, husband, children, family, friends and coworkers stronger….make them ‘Great'? How can I turn my ‘good' salary and financial situation into something ‘Great'? Asking these questions can set the forces of life into motion and new circumstances, situations, opportunities will begin to almost miraculously appear for you. One of the secrets to turning your life from ‘ok or good' to ‘Great', is through recognizing and demonstrating (living) the following very important success principle: "If you see the separateness of life…then life will be separate. If you see the interconnectedness of life…then life will be connected."

How To Quickly and Easily Go From Good To Great.... We sometimes get these ‘aha!' moments where something clicks inside us and our understanding of life and of ourselves deepens. I remember one time this happened during a small debate I was having with several coworkers. I was in the marketing dept. of a company at the time and these guys were from the sales dept. The debate was over which was more important: marketing or sales? Now, ask someone from marketing and usually they'll say ‘marketing.' Ask someone from the sales dept.? Chances are they'll say 'sales.' What's more important? Marketing or Sales? How can you tell? What's the real answer? Marketing SUPPORTS sales! Just as a husband and wife SUPPORT each other. And a supervisor and employee SUPPORT each other. Until you understand this in both your heart and your mind, you'll continue dividing life into separate parts and that's just what you'll continue to experience in your life: separateness from your own greatness. That's all for now. Practice asking yourself, "how can I go from "good' to "Great' in ______________.

Remember: the key to rapid success is learning to embrace life. Practicing this can bring you richer, more powerful, and more fulfilling experiences in your relationships, in your career, and even in your health! Have a powerful day. I appreciate you! Keith Matthew

Keith Matthew has been teaching personal development and wealth building techniques for 17 years. Visit http://www.selfmasterysecrets.com/ns-freeworkshop.html to sign up for a Free 7-Day Success Workshop.

Source:http://www.isnare.com/