Wednesday, December 27, 2006

WHY DID JESUS COME?

PASTOR GREG LAURIE'S Devotion:
Monday, December 25, 2006 Why Did Jesus Come?

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
John 10:10
This has been a busy time of year for almost everyone. For us as Christians, it's been a joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus. We marvel at the fact that God humbled Himself and was born in a cave. But why did He come? First, Jesus Christ came to proclaim good news to the spiritually hurting, to preach the good news to us. He came to heal the broken-hearted. Medical science has found ways to reduce and even remove pain. But there is no cure for a broken heart. Jesus came to set people free who are bound by sin. Jesus came to open our spiritual eyes to our spiritual need.He came to lift up those who are crushed by life. He came to give us abundant life. Jesus came to lift us from the physical realm of the senses to the spiritual realm to show us that there is more to life.He came to give His life for us. Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came to die. Jesus Christ came to this earth to seek and save those of us who are lost, just as a shepherd seeks a lost sheep. So in all of this hustle and bustle, wrapping paper, mistletoe, and brightly colored lights, let's get down to the bottom line. Christmas is about God sending His Son to die on a cross. He was born to die, to give us abundant life, to give us a life that is worth living. http://www.harvest.org/

Monday, December 25, 2006

simeon who?

Luke 2:15-33 (Contemporary English Version)

After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." 16They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay. 17When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. 18Everyone listened and was surprised. 19But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant. 20As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said. 21Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands. And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby. 22The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born. They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord, 23 just as the Law of the Lord says, "Each first-born baby boy belongs to the Lord." 24The Law of the Lord also says that parents have to offer a sacrifice, giving at least a pair of doves or two young pigeons. So that is what Mary and Joseph did. 25 At this time A MAN NAMED SIMEON was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for God to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him 26and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord. 27When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. 28Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God, 29"Lord, I am your servant, and now I can die in peace, because you have kept your promise to me. 30 With my own eyes I have seen what you have done to save your people, 31and foreign nations will also see this. 32Your mighty power is a light or all nations, and it will bring honor to your people Israel." 33Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said.

Friday, December 22, 2006

what is CHRISTMAS NOT to you?

What is the true meaning of Christmas?
Why is the standard phrase: "Is all your shopping done?"
I'm tired of being asked that!
I'm tired of all the commercialism and materialism and manipulation by companies and advertisers.
I'm tired of being told one has to say "Happy Holidays" to not offend some. Why did this man at church say that to me?????
I was bold today and wore to work, under my open lab coat, a tee with baby jesus and mary and peace above it. (My friend Cyndy made that years ago. THANK YOU CYNDY. I miss you. Did you find a job? )
And an angel pin on my lab coat, and my jesus ring and my cross ring.

No one said a thing.

Tuesday was Awesome. 24 (children and adults) from my church Christmas caroled around the church neighborhood. We blessed the neighbors and were blessed right back. Thanks to Pastor Elie who prayed for us on our way.
REMEMBER TO HELP THE NEEDY. Don't just give to those who already have too much.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

HEY BRAD, WANNA DANCE ???????? !

I awoke to a great radio show on ballroom dancing and the HEART!
It improves posture, decreases stress, improves breathing and is aerobic!
Can burn 1000 calories in an evening!

Sounds much more fun(tolerable) than treadmill or jogging.

"Heart Failure Patients Can Waltz Their Way to Stronger Hearts
Dancing sometimes offers better results than exercise, researchers report"

"Waltz dancing improves functional capacity and quality of life for chronic heart failure patients without important side effects. It may be considered in combination or as an alternative to exercise training in these patients," added Belardinelli, the director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, ITALY

http://www.emaxhealth.com/80/8245.html
Dancing Can Improve Heart Failure Patients and Lead To Healthier Hearts

Heart Failure Treatment Through Dancing Waltz

Dancing improves ability to function and quality of life among chronic heart failure patients and may be a good alternative to other aerobic exercises, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2006.
"Our research suggests that dancing is a new choice of exercise training for patients with heart failure," said Romualdo Belardinelli, M.D., lead author of the study. "This is good news, because if we want patients to take part in lifelong aerobic exercise at least three times a week, it should be something that's fun and makes them want to continue."


Belardinelli is a professor of cardiology at Università Politecnica delle Marche School of Medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy.
In a previous study, he and colleagues found that dance - specifically, slow and fast waltz - was safe and improved functional capacity and quality of life for people who suffered from heart disease and previous heart attacks.
"We repeated the study in patients with chronic heart failure, and the results were identical," he said. "The amount of work during a session of dance is very similar to that of a session of traditional aerobic exercise."
Researchers studied 110 patients (89 men, average age 59) with stable chronic heart failure, meaning their left ventricular ejection fraction, which is the heart's pumping ability, was less than 40 percent. A group of 44 patients were randomized to participate in supervised exercise training (cycling, treadmill) three times a week for eight weeks. Another group of 44 patients danced, alternating between slow (5 minutes) and fast (3 minutes) waltzes, lasting 21 minutes, three times a week for eight weeks. A third group (22 patients) had no exercise.
Researchers monitored patients' heart rates during exercise and dancing sessions. At the start of the study and at eight weeks into it, all patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing – an exercise stress test that analyzed ventilation and gas exchange to determine the effect of training and gauge functional ability. Participants also underwent imaging tests on their arteries.
Patients then completed the Minnesota Heart Failure Living Questionnaire to rate their quality of life. Participants rated how heart failure affected their sleeping ability, participation in hobbies, housework, sexual activity, level of worry, depression and other aspects of daily life.
"The results indicate that dancing improves functional capacity and quality of life – particularly when it came to questions about emotions – among patients who underwent the dance protocol, while there was no improvement in these areas at eight weeks in the patients who did not exercise," Belardinelli said.
Cardiopulmonary fitness increased at similar rates in those who did routine exercise training and in those who danced, with dancers experiencing slightly greater benefits. Oxygen consumption (peak V02) increased 16 percent among the exercisers and 18 percent among the dancers. Anaerobic threshold, the point above which muscles fatigue, increased 20 percent among exercisers and 21 percent among dancers.
Ventilatory response (VE/VCO2) increased 14 percent among exercisers and 15 percent among dancers, while an index of cardiocirculatory fitness (VO2/W) increased 18 percent in exercisers and 19 percent among dancers.
The dancing group's arteries also had greater capacity than those of non-exercisizers to dilate (become more elastic) due to the effect of dancing on the inner part of the arterial wall (the endothelium). The endothelium is stimulated by exercise to produce favorable substances, including nitric oxide, a gas that dilates and protects the arteries from atherosclerosis. Another improvement was that the cardiac fibers became more elastic.
Quality of life was "surprisingly more significantly" improved in the dancing group versus the exercise group. Lower scores meant fewer problems interfering with a good quality of life and, among the dancers, scores dropped from an average of 56 to 41. For the exercisers, scores dropped from an average of 58 to 48. Ejection fraction didn't significantly change in either the exercising or dancing group.
No one had to withdraw from the study because of adverse events, indicating that dancing is safe, researchers said.
"All these improvements have been demonstrated by standard exercise training based on stationary cycling or treadmill exercise," Belardinelli said. "Thus, dancing is able to induce the same physiological benefits as standard aerobic exercise in patients with chronic heart failure."
Belardinelli said studies should look at the heart-health effects of dancing on larger populations of people.