From the daily archives: Monday, March 8, 2010
Why does life seem so hard at times? Is it designed to be tough in spite of our best intentions, or is there another explanation for the pain and turmoil we often experience even as Christians? Is life a game to be judged on “wins and losses” or something much deeper?
Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as, “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”, and in the dictionary, the word fiction is defined as “…an imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented, a lie, or a literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.” The essence of our Christian conviction is manifested through the expression of our faith. We profess belief in a god who we cannot see, the occurrence of historical events in which we were not present to authenticate, spiritual truths we do not always understand, and complex aspects of Biblical interpretation whose results sometimes rub us the wrong way. While we can’t see or touch the Lord, we rest in blessed assurance that His saving grace is sufficient to redeem our innately sinful nature. Fiction, on the other hand, is imaginary, fake, or phony. It is based on feel-good emotions rather than the covenants with God.
Some sectors of society would have us believe living a life based on fictional principles and ideals is beneficial (note “The American Dream”), but it would do us well to not be deceived. Being faithful is an act of obedience because “…without faith it is impossible to please Him [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him,” (Hebrews 11:6). In John 17:16, Jesus prayed for His disciples and defined truth this way, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is the truth.”
The dictionary defines game as, “an activity providing entertainment or amusement; evasive, trifling or manipulative behavior.” Therefore, faith stands for truth, while fiction represents a false, misleading sense of reality. Life is not a game to be toyed with or wagered on, rather a journey of faith that should be respected and approached with a sincere focus on pleasing God. With that said, let’s explore what happens when truth recognizes game?
Noah’s experience with God in the building of the ark provides a great starting point. God grew weary of mankind’s continued disobedience, and so decided to flood the Earth, and begin again (Genesis 6:5-8). Noah, however, found grace in the Lord’s eyes. God instructed him to build an ark in which he and his wife, his sons and their wives (Genesis 6:17-20) would ride out the flood until the waters subsided. God honored the faithfulness Noah’s obedience exhibited. Noah’s decision was not easy, though, because every person Noah knew would perish in the flood except for those who God allowed Noah to take onto the ark. What do you think would’ve happened if Noah had disobeyed God’s instructions?
Faith is not about ease nor is it about doing what we want, when we want. Noah could’ve operated from a place of doubt, fear, and immobilizing frustration when God told him of His plan to flood the Earth, yet he chose not to. Noah clung tightly to his faith, cast fear aside, and pushed forward in an effort to glorify God. Consequently, his life was spared and he impacted the world in great ways. Living an obedient life of faith is difficult, but it is also honorable before the Lord. We know God expects us to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The enemy loves it when we make decisions based on a perverted sense of logic and comfort instead of sacrificial faith (1 Timothy 3:6-7). He doesn’t want us to succeed in Christ and in order to achieve his goal, we must move away from his influences and closer to our unwavering belief in the Lord. Therefore, when truth recognizes game, in the context of the aforementioned terms, God is glorified and well pleased with the obedience of our sacrifice.
It is important that we strive to exercise faith, diligence and discipline in all areas of our lives. We must believe the Father will honor our sacrifices according to His will and timing. Don’t let the attraction of society’s bright lights and empty promises of success and wealth trick you into doubting God’s abilities. The same God who has saved us from eternal damnation will also empower us through the Holy Spirit to remain faithful. We can count on Him like no one else because He’s “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
GX Magazine is a multi media publication that is positively impacting lives, emmpowering culture and redeeming technology. Our mission is to help others achieve their dreams through a personal relationship with Christ Jesus.
Writing classified ads are a great way of promoting your website products and services. Not only are you advertising, marketing and promoting your wares online, with some classified ad type of website, you can also benefit by generating more traffic and backlinks to your website.
Writing a classified ad is not rocket science and some of the best ads are written in a person to person tone showing the reader the features and benefits of a product or services.
The following are simple tips you can use to get better results when writing a classified ad.
1. Write two versions of your classified ad
Before you submitting your ad, take some time to write and plan out two versions of your advertisement. The first version should be 250 characters or less, while the second one should be a 3-4 paragraph version. Certain free classified ad websites will only allow brief versions of your classified ad.
2. Stay organized
Using notepad or a spreadsheet, put together a list of classified ad websites that you plan to submit to. This is important for tracking your ads and also can be used in the future when you need to post a free ad.
3. Create a selling email account
Using a service like GMail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail, create a seller email account to ad inquiries and correspondence. It is a given that you will on occassion receive junk and spam emails. Creating a seperate account frees up your personal and business email accounts.
4. Search out free classified ad websites and evaluate them
Not all free classified ad websites are the same. Some will ask you for lot’s of information, some will give you the ability to upload photos and images, some will provide direct links to your product or service page, some will be easy to navigate, some will charge for posting an advertisment and some may not provide any value to your offering at all.
5. Always post your ad in relevant categories
This is important because you do not want to promote your resume writing services in the automotive section of the ad service. Some administartors may even delete your listing if it is not relevant to the category that you have posted in.
6. Write about the product or service features
Everyone wants information and features tell the buyer what the product or service will do. If you are selling a used car, features would be air conditioning, heated seats, power windows, etc.
7. Write about the product or service benefits
Benefits are things that will help your buyer. A benefit of an eBook is that is will make the reader financially knowledgable about taxes, will help them save money, will assist them with getting a better return during tax season.
8. Track your ads
Try to find out where your inquiries are coming from and what works best. If you are promoting your website, create a seperate landing page and view your statistics to see where people are coming from. You may be surprised what you site stats will show.
Writing classified ads may initially take some time to set up and plan, but once you have your ad copy in place you should see positive results to help your sell, market and promote your products and services on the Internet.
Alex DeSpageto is a contributing writer to AdJingo Free Classified Ads, where you can post an unlimited amount of classified ads.
Appears to be the best financial friend, loans are taking deep ground in the money market. Various loans have been configured out for the assistance of individuals suffering from the sorts of financial crunch they may suffer off and on. Some loans contain collateral placing whereas some of the loans are offered without any sort of pledging placing. The loans which are offered without pledging are known to be as Non Secured Loans which are known by different terms.
Owing to non-lacking in collateral procedure, borrowers find processing of non secured loans very fast. Only some important document checks and completing the essential formalities required to the non secured loans, the amount under the condition is sanctioned to the borrowers. Borrowers invest the sanctioned amount under the provisions of non secured loans as per their requirements.
There are some utilities of the non secured loans:
• Home renovation and improvement
• Children’s higher education
• Business establishment or infrastructural development
• Holiday and festival celebration
• And above all, debt consolidation etc.
Individuals having adverse credit history i.e., CCJs, IVAs, arrears, defaulters, and bankrupts too can avail the benefits of the non secured loans without much hassle. Only the problem they may have to face is of a little more paper work with some checking of financial obligations. Seeing the repayment capability and financial capacity, the amount of money is sanctioned to the borrowers.
There are many lenders available in money market, but with the advent of internet, the processing has taken a good speed. Simply apply by fill in a simple application, and select a lender for the provisioning of non secured loans online. For selection of right lender, research online is a good utility tool which shorten the period of searching and getting.
In nutshell, non secured loans are best financial options for tenant or non-homeowners or homeowners. Characteristic features of non secured loans are as follows:
• Amount ranges in between £5, 000-£25, 000
• repayment period goes up to 10 years at most
• bad credit acceptable
• instant processing
• confidential
Rebecca Adams works as a consultant in Non Secured Loans. She is proficient in the credit market because of a degree in finance from the esteemed University of Oxford. She has also done her masters in insurance management from the Risk Management Research Institute.To find non secured loans, car loans for tenant, non secured home owner loans, non secured business loans, no credit check unsecured loans visit http://www.nonsecuredloans.net/
Please help me! I have so many wild, brilliant stories stuffed in my head like a balloon ready to burst! Everytime I sit down to write them down, I am at a loss at how to start them? Any suggestions? My story genre: romance, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy
Lol! That’s halarious thank you nik
Tips for your writing journey
So, you’d like to be a writer? Congrats! Writing not only is a great way to express yourself, but can provide an income. Keep in mind not all writers make a fortune, some still can’t quit their day job. Below are some tips to start your writing journey.
1. Start Writing
Okay, so this tip is obvious. For some, it’s a question of what to write about, for others how to write. Write how and what you want. What kind of books do you like to read? Fiction, Mystery, science fiction, how to books? How about articles, reports, maybe you’re interested in journalism. Whatever the case may be, to get your creative juices flowing, start writing! Don’t worry about how it sounds, grammar or other mistakes, you can go back to fix these.
2. Join online and offline groups/message boards and chats
If you already know what you want to write about, consider joining writer groups at your local library, or online groups, along with message boards and chats. It’s a great way to network with other writers and published authors. It’s also a good place to share your work and receive feedback. Many places online are free to join, some require a membership which usually consist of a user name, e-mail address and password for your user name. Some request more information such as a name, address and sometimes phone number.
3. The Library
You’ve probably heard about some books that writers refer to, this could be writer markets, e-book publishing, self publishing and generally how to improve your writing. Bu what do you do when you can’t afford to buy these books from your local bookstore or online? A trip to your library is the key. Many libraries carry writer resource books, which if you have a library card, are free. If you’re living out of the area, the library may require a fee for membership. The book you’re looking for may not always be at your local library; however libraries borrow from other libraries in and out of state. The method of receiving outside books is called Inter-Library Loan. Later on, if you find the book to be a great resource, you may be able to purchase a used copy online.
4. Researching
The Internet is also another good resource for information. Keep in mind that not every resource you find online is going to be an honest good resource. It will take time to sort out which websites are useful. Most information is free, so you can sit back and research in the comfort of your home. If you don’t have a computer with Internet access, check your local library and see if you can use one of theirs.
5. Workshops
Workshops taught by experts is a great way to learn from the professionals, but only if you can afford it! Make sure the topic of the workshop is based around your interest. For instance, if you love fiction..It wouldn’t be a good idea to go to a workshop based only on non-fiction. It’s a good idea to register early to ensure a spot at the event. Bring a new legal pad, plus a few writing tools to take notes.
6. Contents
After writing a while, you may want to enter contents. Some require an entry fee. I suggest staying away from the entry fee contents until you’ve entered some other free ones. That way you can get a feel for how contests work. Spend some time writing and re-writing your entries. If you’ve written your entry in 5 or so minutes, the judges will notice it immediately. You wouldn’t want a reputation for sloppy work.
There are many benefits to having a non-chlorine pool and options available to help you do so. When saying a non-chlorine pool a salt treatment pool is also included in that since salt is sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is the raw ingredient that is used to make chlorine. There are many health hazards that should be a deciding factor in making your pool a non-chlorine pool. In a health study from Belgium it was determined that children that swim regularly in public pools with chlorine systems had a higher level of breathing and asthma problems then those who did not.
There have been similar studies done on adults that swim frequently in chlorine system pools as well. These studies have shown a rise in the risk of coronary heart disease as well as bladder and rectal cancer. Chlorine is absorbed into the skin, swallowed, and the vapors are inhaled from the air that surrounds the pool. Some smaller well know issues with a chlorinated pool are the drying and damages to the hair and skin and burning of the eyes. All of these health issues can be avoided by using a chlorine free pool.
You will read many pros and cons about a non-chlorine pool. Ultimately, the choice is yours in which system you choose to use. There is a salt system that is said to be a non-chlorine system but since salt’s chemical name is sodium chloride and sodium chloride is the raw ingredient to make chlorine this is just a smoke screen. You will experience the same problems with a salt system that you would incur in a chlorine pool: the red and burning eyes along with the dry and damaged skin and hair. You also have the choice of a mineral cartridge system. This system uses cartridges that kill bacteria as the water passes through them. In order for the water to be continuously cleaned by this system your pump must remain running 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Other options for a non-chlorine pool would be the biaguanide chemicals. These chemicals are very expensive but the do provide a higher quality of water that chlorine systems do. This also can be more time consuming since it has to manually added to the pool. Ozone generators are another non-chlorine pool system choice. These generators kill bacteria by using and ultra violet light. These units are very expensive and use a lot of electricity. They are better suited for a spa or small pool because of their operating costs. Ionizers are a good choice for killing the bacteria in your non-chlorine pool, however they do not sanitize and you will have to use other chemicals to do so.
As you can see, there are many choices available when choosing to switch to a non-chlorine pool. However, they all use chemicals or large amounts of electricity that is harmful to the environment. Natural systems such as the one from Ecosmarte Pools are available on the internet for a healthier and more user-friendly choice in a non-chlorine pool environment.
For more information on how to have a non chlorine pool please visit us at Ecosmarte
A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without any fear. They allow a man’s mind to get both provocation and privacy. There is also a great difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read. One should have the natural penchant for reading books as this healthy habit would enhance his vocabulary power and expressions skills also to a great extent.
Books are generally categorised into several genres among which the science fiction forms a distinct and most appreciable position. If you have inclination towards unearthly objects and adventurous mysteries then these genre of books would comfortably satiate all your fantastic thoughts.
Science Fiction Books have inspired many well known directors to make films such as Terminator, Matrix etc. These books deal with a wide variety of fantastic imagination which readily incite the curiosity of the readers to know more.
These books are specially written to appease the desire and the curiosity of the readers. Moreover, the depiction of aliens, fast forward time zone etc excite the reader to explore the unlimited boundaries of the creativity. You get to known a great many things of the galaxies, meteors and also twisted concepts of time and fortune etc.
These books comfortably transfer the reader to certain imaginative islands where both the evil and the go characters are extraordinary beings with whom you can also relate yourself. However, with these extraordinary characters one can easily depict the type of society or people that will be in future.
The science fiction books are rapidly gaining momentum due to their varied typical characteristics. Almost every year, you can find a new collection of these genres of books. As they mesmerise the readers with amazing storyline and plots, they comfortably enhance their imagination power and extravagant skills.
You would never get tired of reading such books because every page has something new and astounding to reveal. Some of the famous books of this genre are ” The Time Machine” and “Gravity”, which are still popular among the masses. These books amazingly suck the reader into the story. One would find it difficult to leave the book without turning the pages and discovering the mysteries.
Know more about thriller books and cheap books at online book stores.
Government resume writing needs to be clear, concise and to the point. More than that though, your government resume has to be relevant to the Federal job you are applying for. With the upcoming phasing out of the KSAs it is now more important than ever to make sure that your government resumes is a custom fit for the position you seek.
Here are some government resume writing tips to remember when preparing yours:
?Mold your government resume: Adapt your government resume to fit the position you are applying for. Nothing is a quicker death when seeking a Federal job than a resume that has no relevance to the position. This will increase in importance once the KSAs are totally phased out.
?Keep it clear: You definitely want your government resume to stand out, but don’t get carried away. Use words and phrases that are clear cut, concise, and to the point. Don’t get caught up using phrases that are too complex as this can vex a potential Federal employer.
?Condense: Instead of long drawn out paragraphs, fill your government resume with indented bullet points and focused statements. The idea is to get the potential Federal employer to read your entire resume and not to bore them.
?Highlight your strengths: Mention your relevant strengths in any way you can. This may be done by more than job experience, like with volunteer work you have done or your specific education background. If you have a chance to mention a relevant strength, do so.
?Eliminate irrelevant information: Even if the information is favorable to you, if it has absolutely no relevance to the Federal job you are applying for, don’t bother with it.
?Avoid clutter: If you are reading something you want it to be easy to read and not cluttered up right? The same goes for the individuals reviewing your government resume. Be sure to use spaces between sections and use headings to organize all of the different details on your government resume. An easy to read resume will get reviewed long before one that is cluttered.
?Don’t lie: This is a good rule of thumb for anything in life, but especially when writing your government resume. There is nothing wrong with making yourself sound good, but be careful that you don’t exaggerate the truth or flat out lie. The last thing you want is to get flagged for lying as this will no doubt lead to you looking elsewhere for employment.
?Use keywords and phrases: Use keywords and phrases that Federal employers like to see. A government resume chalk full of these keywords and phrases will get more looks and thus more of a consideration for the position.
Remember, your government resume is your story and if not told properly you will find yourself on the outside looking in. With the soon to come phasing out of the KSAs, individuals will now have to be sure that their government resumes are up to speed. Ensuring that you have a well written and good looking government resume will ensure that you get more interviews, which will lead to the Federal job that you have always longed for.
Learn more about government resume writing at GovernmentResume.org.
This is for my term paper. Please be nice about it.
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