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If you enjoy this email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration to the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join the thousands of world-wide readers by visiting:
http://www.HeartTouchers.com
Besure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers!
http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Heart4Teens
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Finally there is a great filter to block Internet pornography and other objectionable content! Kristi and I have used this filter for 5 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.HeartTouchers.com/filter
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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! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25!
http://www.hearttouchers.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
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The Golden Fish
By Wayne Rice
Children in Bosnia-Herzegovina all know the ancient story of the poor woman who caught a golden fish, released it, and in return gained wealth and happiness. According to a 1998 Associated Press story, this Balkan fairy tale turned into reality for one poor family.
Before the start of the Bosnian war, the Malkoc family lived next to a small lake in the northwestern village of Jezero. One day in 1990, Smajo Malkoc returned from a trip to Austria with an unusual gift for his teenage sons, Dzevad and Catib: an aquarium with two goldfish.
Two years passed before Bosnian Serb forces advanced on Jezero. The women and children fled, and the men stayed back to resist the attacking soldiers. Smajo Malkoc was killed. When his wife, Fehima, sneaked back into the destroyed village to bury her husband and rescue what remained of their belongings, she took pity on the fish in the aquarium. She let them out into the nearby lake, saying to herself, "This way, they might be more fortunate than us."
Fast-forward to 1995. Fehima Malkoc returned with her sons to Jezero. Nothing but ruins remained of their home and their village. Through misty eyes she looked toward the lake. Glimpsing something strange, she walked over to the shore.
"The whole lake was shining from the thousands of golden fish in it," she said. "It made me immediately think of my husband. This was something he left me that I never hoped for."
During the years of killing all around the lake, life underwater had flourished. After their return, Fehima Malkoc and her sons started caring for and selling the goldfish.
By 1998, homes, stores, and coffee shops all over the region feature aquariums containing fish from Jezero. The Malkoc house, rebuilt on its original site, is one of the biggest in the village. Two new cars are parked in front, and the family says it has enough money to quit worrying about the future.
"It was a special kind of gift from our father," Dzevad Malkoc said. One can never underestimate what a gift of love or an act of kindness might produce. Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you" (Luke 6:38). Whenever you give, no matter how small and insignificant your gift might be, God blesses it and uses it to accomplish great things. Jesus took a young boy's lunch and fed a multitude. Have no doubt that he can take whatever we offer to him and turn it into something magnificent.
The Malkoc's story is also a parable of God's relentless grace at work even in the midst of chaos and trouble. While the war in Bosnia was raging, life below the surface of a small lake flourished. We can rest assured that God's will is being done--that his kingdom is flourishing--even when life on the surface is full of trouble and strife. That is the message of the gospel--the ultimate fairy tale that comes true.
Wayne Rice
You can reach Wayne through his web site at UYT.com
Edited from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice.
Copyright 1999 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
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Creation Q & A
Q: What logical answer can Christians give to that difficult question of How do we know there's a God?'
A: When one asks that question in the typical church, the usual answer is that we should just accept by faith that God has always existed. Even though that's true, God's Word commands us to give reasons for what we believe. Otherwise, non-Christians may think Christianity is blind faith--but it's not.
When asked this question, you could use examples like the Presidents' sculpted heads on Mount Rushmore--explain that they didn't get there by millions of years of wind and water erosion--it's obvious someone using intelligence carved them. Now consider our brain--it's far more complicated than the most advanced computer. Just as someone designed and constructed the computer, obviously a greater intelligence designed and constructed our brain.
Actually, no where in the world do we ever see information systems like machines coming from disorder by chance. It always takes intelligence--which means information. This means you need to have information to start withthus the only logical way to think is that you must start with infinite information--an infinite intelligence! The answer's in Genesis--'In the beginning, God..."
Source: AnswersinGenesis.org
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!
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Thought For The Day
"The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage disposal probably eats better than 30 percent of the people in the world."
Verse for the Day
"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have..." Hebrews 13:5
Kid's Thought For The Day
An elderly woman noticed that her granddaughter felt
embarrassed by her freckles. "I love your freckles," she said,
kneeling beside the girl and admiring her face.
"Not me," the child replied.
"Well, when I was a little girl I always wanted freckles," the
grandmother said, tracing her finger across the child's cheek.
"Freckles are beautiful.
The girl looked up. "Really?"
"Of course," said her grandmother. "Why just name me one thing
that's prettier than freckles."
The little girl peered into the old woman's smiling face.
"Wrinkles," she answered softly.
She knew about beauty.
Parent's Thought For The Day
"I looked on child-rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring it." -- Rose Kennedy
Coach's Thought For The Day
"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired -- you quit when the gorilla is tired." --Robert Strauss
Writer's Thought For The Day
"Writing can be a rewarding career and a wonderful lifestyle. I love looking for story ideas, gathering details to use in my pages, daydreaming silly twists and turns to use in my plots. But the way I have achieved success is basically by keeping my behind in a chair and writing. Nobody can write for you. It's work you must do yourself." --Nancy Martin
Deep Thought For The Day
Perforation is such a rip-off!
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Inspired Audio -- Inspirational Audio Message of the Week!
Inspired Audio is a brand new offshoot of HeartTouchers.com. Every week we will offer a different audio message that you can listen to right on your comput as you are surfing the net or just getting things done around the house. Be sure to come back and visit each week!
This Week: "The Bold and the Beautiful" by Jeff Williams
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Inspired_Audio
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Over 120,000 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.HeartTouchers.com and click on the link to listen to the free streaming audio message.
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Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business
http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery
Dear Michael,
"I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever!"
Love,
Trisha
Silverhill, AL
Let me make you a video from your photos!
Check out my video production business by visiting:
http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery
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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Life_Purpose
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