Skip to main content
#
HeartTouchers.com
Touching Lives Across the Globe -- One E-mail at a Time!
Archives
Hope and Encouragement For Teenagers!
Author Michael T. Powers
Author Kristi Powers
Inspired Audio
Creation News
The Most Touching, Heartfelt Gift You Can Give -- Guaranteed!
Give the Gift of Inspiration to Others... And Yourself!
Christian Nation?
Inspirational books for sale!
Heroes Among Us
Even writers need inspiration!
HeartTouchers.com readers share their hearts on this fateful day
Interviews with some of the best writers on the Internet!
HeartTouchers.com Writer's Guidelines
Ways to Help You Honor your Pastors
State Champions
IwoJima
Life Purpose
Site Map
E-Mail Help

Check out our Creation News Section!
Weekly articles, daily Q & A, and a Creation Comic!

http://www.heart4teens.com/

If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word
to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers
everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you,
you can join Heart4Teens.com readers around the world by visiting:
http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens

Stop by our web site to view past stories or to browse through the tons of
resources we have there for teens!

____________________________________

http://www.hearttouchers.com/filter

Finally there is a great filter to block Internet pornography and other
objectionable content! Kristi and I have used this filter for 6 years now
and want to recommend the Bsafe Online filter to you. We absolutely
love it. To find out more and get your own FREE 10-Day Trial,
just visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com/filter


_____________________________________

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith,
Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95)

Visit the link below to preview the book. Autographed copies are available
at no extra charge and we will pay the shipping for you. An e-book is also
available for $3.25.

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/books

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow
about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card,
PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available
through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

_________________________________


EXTREME FRIENDSHIP


Matthew 5:44
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

START

Ever since third grade you've been feuding with the sorry excuse
for a human being who's just plunked down in the desk in front
of you. Last week your squabble erupted afresh when the guy
pelted your house with three dozen eggs--resulting in two giant
swaths of dimpled siding, three shattered windows, and one
traumatized family dog. If that wasn't bad enough, the police
interrogated you. Your parents blamed you. The only plus
about sitting behind him now is that he can't see your
laser-like eyes smoking holes in his skull.

How do you treat people who inflict pain on you?

READ Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that
you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes
his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on
the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who
love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own
people, what are you doing more than others? Do not
even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect."

THINK

Perfect? Like God? If this command sounds over the top,
breathe deeply. Then answer this: Why does Jesus tell
you to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you"? (Look for what follows "that you may be...")

On whom does God shower his care--his warm sun and life-giving rain?

Even pagans who don't know God care about people who
love them. How can you do better than that?

LIVE

If you love people who cause you pain, are you excusing the
wrongs they do? Explain.

You've learned that God wants his care to spread around the
world and to every person on the planet. No doubt there are
some people you'd rather skip. Yet when you love the unlovable
and care for the incurable, you're like God. Perfect. Holy. Mature.
God never brushes off evil. In fact, he's the only being in the
universe who knows how it feels to have the whole human
race stand against him (Romans 5:10). But his undeserved
kindness busts through our sinfulness and makes us his
friends (Colossians 1:21-22). He wants us to pass on to
others the love he's given to us.

When you scan your world, who looks easy to love? Why?

Who is more challenging to love? Make a list. Next to each
name, jot down one tiny way you can show this person
the same brand of kindness God shows us.

WRAP

You might figure that Jesus received a lot of playground
thrashings as a kid. After all, he tells you not just to love
your enemies but to "turn your other cheek" (Matthew 5:39 NIRV).
One thing shows us for sure that Jesus was no wimp: He
was radically tough in his willingness to suffer for our sake.
Loving an enemy doesn't mean you're pathetically weak.
It proves you're incredibly strong.

MORE THOUGHTS TO MULL

What people in your world act with Christlike kindness?
Ask them how they pull it off.

Think about some of your ugliest thoughts about people.
Then ask yourself how you'd feel if God or other people
felt that way about you.

Some of the people who hurt you in life will be fellow Christians.
How does the fact that you and your archenemy may one day
share a pew in heaven alter how you act now?

MORE SCRIPTURES TO DIG

Your natural instincts tell you to dish back whatever others
dish at you. Jesus sums up that mentality in Matthew 5:38-42.
Then he tells us to go out of our way to be kind to people who
cause us pain. Clearly that's a massive challenge, but it's doing
love the way Jesus does it. You might feel as though you're
letting evil slide if you don't take revenge for the wrongs done
to you. Actually, when you choose not to repay evil with evil,
you stomp on evil by doing good things. "If your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
Look for all of these deep thoughts in Romans 12:17-21.

None of this means you can't ask God to rescue you from
people who aim to crush you. Look at Psalm 25 for some
wise words. King David prays for safety. He asks for his
enemies' downfall. But David also asks God to forgive his
sins, and he invites God to guide him along the right paths
in every part of his life.

You have one enemy who's more evil than any other. And
he's one guy you don't have to love. Read about him in 1 Peter 5:8-11.

**

Taken from "Stick" by Kevin Johnson, copyright 2008, Youth
Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here:
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=571
______________________________________
 

Creation Q & A

Question: What evidence is there for a worldwide flood?

If the Genesis Flood, as described in Genesis 7 and 8, really
occurred, what evidence would we expect to find? After noting
in Genesis 7 that all the high hills and the mountains were
covered by water and that all air-breathing life on the land
was swept away and perished, it should be obvious what
evidence we would expect to find.

Wouldn't we expect to find rock layers all over the earth filled
with billions of dead animals and plants that were buried rapidly
and fossilized in sand, mud, and lime? Of course, and that's
exactly what we find. Furthermore, even though the catastrophic
geologic activity of the Flood would have waned in the immediate
post-Flood period, ongoing mini-catastrophes would still have
produced localized fossil deposits.

Countless billions of plant and animal fossils are found in extensive
"graveyards" where they had to be buried rapidly on a massive
scale. Often the fine details of the creatures are exquisitely preserved.

For example, billions of straight-shelled, chambered nautiloids
are found fossilized with other marine creatures in a 7 foot (2 m)
thick layer within the Redwall Limestone of Grand Canyon.
This fossil graveyard stretches for 180 miles (290 km) across
northern Arizona and into southern Nevada, covering an area
of at least 10,500 square miles (30,000 km2). These squid-like
fossils are all different sizes, from small, young nautiloids to
their bigger, older relatives.

To form such a vast fossil graveyard required 24 cubic miles
(100 km3) of lime sand and silt, flowing in a thick, soup-like
slurry at more than 16 feet (5 m) per second
(more than 11 mph [18 km/h]) to catastrophically overwhelm
and bury this huge, living population of nautiloids.

Read the rest of this sneak peek article from the upcoming
issue of Answers magazine:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/world-graveyard


Source: AnswersinGenesis.org

 


http://www.hearttouchers.com/Creation_News

Creation News

Click on the Bible above or visit the web site listed below!
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Creation_News

This new addition to our web site will give you an article on the leading news
in the Creation/Evolution controversy each day.

This section also includes a rotating Question and Answer feature and a
weekly Creation Comic strip from the people at AnswersInGenesis.org.

Be sure to come back and visit each day for an informative article that will
help you keep up to date on the latest news in this controversial area!


___________________________________________

 
 
Thought For The Day

"Our talks are often in first drafts--lots of corrections necessary!"


Verse for the Day

"For in many things we offend all. If any man
offend not in word, the same is a perfect man,
and able also to bridle the whole body." --James 3:2


Teen's Thought For The Day

"The measure of success is not whether you have tough
problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem
you had last year." -- John Foster Dulles


Parent's Thought For The Day

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you
treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes,
even if it's just in your own eyes." --Walter Schirra Sr.


Coach's Thought For The Day

"I know that I'm never as good or bad as any single
performance. I've never believed my critics or my
worshippers, and I've always been able to leave
the game at the arena." --Charles Barkley


Creation/Evolution Thought For The Day
 
"Imaginations run riot in conjuring up an image of our most
ancient ancestor--the creature that gave rise to both apes and
humans. This ancestor is not apparent in ape or human anatomy
nor in the fossil record." ".anatomy and the fossil record cannot
be relied upon for evolutionary lineages. Yet palaeontologists
persist in doing just this."J. Lowenstein and A. Zihlman, "The
Invisible Ape", New Scientist, Vol. 120 (1641), pp. 56, 57, 1988


Deep Thought For The Day

"No matter where I go, I find that almost everyone I meet is mostly water."



__________________________________________

 http://www.heart4teens.com/

Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage
Soul and 26 other inspirational books.

Over 125,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup
Author Michael T. Powers' free inspirational message entitled:
"Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them
just visit:
http://www.Heart4Teens.com and click on the link
to listen to the free streaming audio message!

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

__________________________________________


http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/Youth

ALL-STAR Youth Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI
 
If you are in 7-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern
Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every
Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community
Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville,
WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of Menard's.)
 
Currently we have students from Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Milton,
Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Franklin, Clinton,
Beloit Memorial, and Beloit Turner. E-mail me back if you have
any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come
to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too
much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that
are relevant to you as a teenager.


This Week:

Continuing in our series entitled: "Demolishing Strongholds"

March 23:  No Youth Group! Stay home and spend Easter with your family!


Next Week:

March 30: Answers to Difficult Issues - Part 1

Visit our youth website to see our topics for 2008!

http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/upcoming_topics


____________________________
______________


http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/Small_Groups

Teen Community Groups

6:30 - 8:00 PM Wednesday nights -- These groups are limited to
no more than ten teens and are split into Jr. High and High
School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig
deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready
to be a part of the Xtreme Teens. These cell groups will also
be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to
build community.

Jr. High age meets at 2109 N. Pontiac and are led by Kent & Rachel Martin
(Call 373-0886 if you have any questions!)

High School age are led by Tedi Knox: 1110 Nantucket Dr.
(Call 774-2592 if you have any questions!)

Xtreme Teens: Xtreme Teens meet on Wednesday nights from
6:30 - 8:00 PM all year round at the Powers' house. This group
is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service
projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an
application, provide references as to why others think they
should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what
is expected of them. Admission into Xtreme Teens is on a case
by case basis. Contact Pastor Michael for more details!

This Week March 19: Jacob's Blessing

For more info on our small groups, visit: http://www.faithcommunitychurch.net/small_groups

___________________________________


Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Life_Purpose
Transfer your photographs or old home videos over to DVD or MP4 files! Give the gift that will touch your family's heart and soul.

You can join the 15,000 followers on his Facebook Nature Photography by clicking on the link above!

Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time!
Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
Site Powered By
    BizStudio Site Manager
    Online web site design