Thought Quotient

I heard a pastor once say:

“Growth is a ladder, not an escalator! Are we reaching up for the next rung - or waiting for a ride?”

Ephesians 4:11-16

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

• Video interview with an ex porn star - talking about how her life was changed forever!

Related Links:

• Shelley Lubben
• Ex Porn Stars Speak Out - featuring Sierra Sinn, Aria, Crissy Moran, Elizabeth Rollings, Jersey Jaxin and more!

Tuesday brought about the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes this country has seen in almost 25 years. One of the hardest hit areas was Union University in Jackson, TN. A tornado went right through the middle of campus - destroying most of the mens and womens dorms and bringing major damage to classroom buildings as well. Realizing that thousands of students were in the dorms at the time of the tornado - and then seeing the pictures of the aftermath - you can only conclude that it is an absolute miracle that no one lost their life!

So, now we wonder what we can do. How can we help?

1. PRAY

Tim Ellsworth is the Director of News & Media Relations at Union. He has posted a blog entitled:

• Ways to pray for Union University

Go check it out.

2. GIVE

The early estimates of damage to Union University are near 40 million dollars. Dorms need to be rebuilt and classrooms need to be repaired as soon as possible so students can continue their education.

Here’s an update from David Dockery, President of Union University:

Union University friends who wish to help our students during this time of crisis are encouraged to support the university through the designated disaster relief fund or by providing gift cards to Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe’s or Home Depot for our students. Please send all monetary and gift card donations to:

Union University Disaster Relief Fund
1050 Union University Drive
Jackson, TN 38305

The students and staff at Union, the citizens of Jackson (and countless other communities in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky for that matter!) are hurting and in need. Let those of us that have - give to those that have not. Not only can God meet the needs of those in need right now, but God can also meet our needs as we give sacrificially.

Related Links:

• Union University homepage
• uuemergency.blogspot.com
• uurecovery.blogspot.com

Check out the new website for Eowyn:

• www.eowynmusic.com

You can now pre-order the new CD ‘Silent Screams’. You can also hear the new songs as they are currently playing in the music player.

“I hope my audience will be pulled into a deeper more honest relationship with God. Sometimes I think we try to hide what we are truly feeling, but the truth is, He already knows. The beauty is, He already cares!” - Eowyn

- not from any other relationship or thing or feeling.

Check out this MySpace blog:

I came upon this article online and it confirmed a lot of my own thoughts lately, I hope you will read it and be blessed. As a woman, I have learned the very hard way that ONLY God can fill the voids of my innermost soul and never to rely on anyone in this world to do so. I did that same questioning, I left a 14 year relationship and others, I even sought it out with other women. We go to all lengths to fill the voids when we don’t realize the void is supposed to be there and can Only be filled with Christ! I believe this message could save a lot of marriages and relationships! God didn’t give us our partner to fill EVERY need, there are some needs within us that ONLY He can fill ! It has only been in being single that God has pressed this upon my heart and shown me that He is the true lover of my soul and that He sees me in a light noone else ever will ! And that’s all that matters! He created Eve to be a helper for Adam, He did not create them not to need Him anymore. Only in both partners seeking God and relying on Him to fully meet all their innermost desires will a relationship truly thrive.
I hope this article blesses you as it reaffirmed my own thoughts and blessed my soul as well:)

Humbly in His Service,

Wendy

(more…)

“After I did it once, it was almost just like, `Now I’ve screwed up. I might as well just do a couple more,”‘ she recalled. “And then after that, it just kept going and progressing and progressing. That’s how it works with sin. You feel like you have already made the mistake. You can’t take it back so you just might as well keep on sinning.” - Keri, formerly known as porn star Aria

This quote was taken from an LA Daily News article last year. You can read the full article here:

• The Valley Exposed: The Road Back

Keri’s reaction was like yours and mine when we mess up. But here’s the great danger of sin: it’s deadly. Let’s think of it as poison. If we were to ingest poison, we wouldn’t be content to continue taking more of it in lesser amounts. We wouldn’t even be safe to stop - we’d want to get some medical help to counter and treat the poison that we already have in us! The same goes for sin. We can’t get better from the effects of sin without taking some ‘medicine’ so to speak. We need something that is stronger - something that will heal us.

We can’t get better on our own. We need the power of God to heal us. Sin is above all deadly to our spirit. It numbs us to the effects it has on us. It blinds our eyes - we don’t even see it happening. And then before you know it, we feel trapped and can’t fight or find our way out of its grip.

God’s word is like a medicine to your soul. The liberating and awesome truths that are revealed in it will heal you if you believe what God says. Keri realized that porn was killing her from the inside out. She needed healing. She found it. Now she’s telling her story so that others may know that God is real and He’s stronger than any sin. Where sin abounds, GRACE abounds even more! That’s your victory in Christ over sin and death!

Luke 4:4

But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

Related Links:

• Ex Porn Stars Speak Out