Want to read more about some "good news" (e.g. positive news you don't hear/read on mainstream media)? You sometimes don't have to look too far. We all may have it hard in life, but sometimes we just got to look at our lives in a different perspective. Just take a look at your life and just count your blessings (e.g. abilities, not your dis-abilities)!
This website it to open the eyes of readers on how much we be so thankful for-how blessed we are! When I say we, I mean all of us. We are blessed by God someway no matter if you don�t believe or do believe in Him! Before I ram on the blessings, I want to mention that we are blessed by Jesus Christ, my personal Lord and Savior!
My personal philosophy, which is rooted from my knowledge of Scriptures and experience so far in life is-�that we should focus on what we have and not what we don�t have during times of lost�
�Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.�-Hebrews 13:5
Since this website is college focussed, I would like to share with current and future students of UMM what they should be thankful as a former student (95�-99�):
-phones in your residential hall rooms (phone lines were not place in each room until the 2nd or 3rd quarter (Winter & Spring of 95�-96�; no semesters back then. During the first quarter, each of the 30+ residents in the floor I live in-Gay II-II-had to share one phone only. The good thing that came out of this was the �force� to socialize with one another, which really built the bondness in our floor-like family!)
-internet/cable t.v. hook-ups in each residential hall room (we had to watch t.v. in the t.v. lounge as we didn�t have cable t.v. hook-ups in our rooms, which also �force� all of us in the floor to bond together more-like family!)
-variety of meal plans (we had only 1 meal plan, which we only ate at Food Service-a.k.a. �PFM�-professional food management, so we would pay a full-academic year of food that we didn�t eat everyday)
-regional fitness center (we didn�t have the RFC, so we would workout or play at the Physical Education Center or the P.E. Annex-destroyed in 1998-where the New Science Building exists). I remember playing volleyball or basketball at the P.E. Annex Friday nights as this was the place to have physical activities late at night.
-small college community: I went to a high school that had over 1,600 students (1 of 360+ students in the class of 95�) and having been going to a college with less than 2,000 student felt like home-family compared to a Big 10 University-of Minnesota-Twin Cities� 20,000 + students. I really got to know a very diverse of people, which I probably would be clinged to a clich� or homogenous group of people.
Remember, don't forget to count your blessings before you go to bed!
HEALINGS:
-E-mailed:
From: "Harvest Community Church"
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 11:38 AM
Subject: Good News!
HI!
EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS BECAUSE I'M SO EXCITED TO TELL THE WORLD THAT THE DOCTOR JUST LOWERED NOAH'S INSULIN DOSAGE!
That's good news. His blood sugar levels are going down so much that his current dosage of 1 unit is too much for his body. So he's been dropped to 1/2 a unit! I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I haven't come across one person, saved or not that doesn't believe that God is going to heal Noah. I'm seeing it happen and it's amazing. Please keep praying
and please pass the word. Thank you!
-Shared: 4/6/03 "Bethany Eastvold's (UMM 02' grad-now with Harvest Community Church in Fargo, ND) thyroid in her throat has been starting to go away. Thanks for your prayers" (words mixed-part of the letter from Bethany to Mona Lee Hostetter).
-Shared: 3/?/03 "Chris Tiernan's arm"...is now completely healed...according to doctors (letter from doctors read by Mom-Tanya Tiernan
Before 
After 
*click here for {Photos}
Before: Chris Tiernan smiles showing his cysts as Becky Odegaard supporting him
After: Chris Tiernan still smiling as he claps with one of his buddy's at a Sunday Children Church service
-Sent:2/28/03 2:43 PM Tracy received an awesome report last night. About 2 weeks ago she had an MRI that showed that she had spots on her nerve endings of her brain which led the doctors to diagnose her with MS. While she was in the hospital they did a spinal tap and sent it to Rochester. One of the things they were looking for was a confirmation of the MS. She got the report back last night and there was no MS. She doesn't have to have another MRI for 6 months - just to make sure. Tracy believes she was healed sometime between the MRI and the spinal tap. Praise God. She should be home anytime.
(Tracey goes to New Life Community Church in Argyle, MN and is part of a church plant team called "Outfitters" www.angelfire.com/mn/mcc/outfitters.html that got started in Morris Community Church-Morris, MN)
Do you got a praise report to share? What are you thankful to God for? Please feel free to e-mail us what God is doing in your life to encourage folks that come to this website. You are welcome to remain anoymous.
Before I mention the obvious of what we are blessed, I�ll try to start from the least to the most:
We are breathing, we are alive�.
�the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became living being�-Genesis 2:7
-I try to remember this when I get up every morning before I do my morning prayer/devotional time. Many of us remember this after a close death experience. I went to one of Chi-Alpha�s Friday night fellowship, and the speaker shared about her close death experience twice and encouraged us to revalue our life to see if what we do matters in 50 years from now (eg. upgrading my car�s interior look). As I�m watching the news on �Hurricane Isabel�, I remember the July 4th Summer Storm in Morris, MN. The people in this town should be thankful that no one died from this storm�s destructible winds as you see pictures of the damage in this website.
Some of us are able to walk
-I work at a group home for developmentally disabled adults, which I�ve learned to appreciate by abilities and not disabilities mentally and physically. Also, in the summer of 2002, I had a knee accident from softball where I had to use crutches for 3 weeks before starting to get healed (ask me this story)�.
�He (Jesus) said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home�-Mark 2:10-11
It was my second time to experience this (skiing accident in the winter of 1996), which was another wake-up call to seek God! It was a reminder of how I should not take for granted my ability to walk and also be careful next time in any streneous physical activity.
Some of us are able to do practical daily living activities: write, brush are teeth, able to go to the bathroom, etc�
I witness this everytime I work at the group home for 8 developmentally disabled adults. I�ve been working here for 4+ years and going. Each of these adults have various disabilities, but each one also is blessed with many unique abilities (singing, dancing, laughing, etc�).
Some of us have something to eat (food) When I look at my pictures when I was younger, I was very skinny and thin. I remember my classmates would tease me by calling me �skinny bones� or �chicken legs�. What they didn�t know was that my family really didn�t have much when I was growing-up. I had first generation parents that immigrated from the Philippines, a developing country-not third-world!
Some of us have shoes (clothes)
Some of us have a roof over our heads (shelter) Residents of the U.S.A. don�t have to look to far to see this blessing. Just go drive along the streets of many of our big cities and we see homeless people walking around. Just this past week in the news, one of the headline news was this poor man getting kicked out of cave located in a national park, which was his home.
�Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?..But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own�-Matthew 6:25-34
Some of us have electricity
I quickly remember our nation�s most recent (1 million are currently out of electricity after �Hurricane Isabel�-9.20.03) big-scale �black-out�, which was last months (August 20th of 2003) East Coast power outage. I was in St. Paul visiting family when I was watching CNN live of people walking out of downtown New York as the subways stopped due to the power outage. Thank God that this unexpected scenario didn�t get worse than it could�ve been (eg. terrorist attacking like �shooting sitting ducks� as many New Yorkers reflected 9/11 when they were interviewed on camera). �Good things can come of out of bad things�-I remember watching one report of a lady trapped in an elevator in Detroit, MI. There was nothing she could do, except �pray to the Lord�, which this African-American woman mentioned when she was interviewed after family was worrying for 24 hours.
Personally, I�ve had many experiences with black outs right at home, both in Morris and St. Paul. It seem it was the best times to stop what we were doing and just bond with the people we were with at the time. This goes the same with any storms or �mother nature� events.
Some of us have clean drinkable water and a water treatment system
I had a chance or opportunity to experience a place with no clean drinkable water (Morris is an exception-j/k-water here is filled with lead) and be thankful or contented to live in the �good o� U.S.A.�. It was in Mexico 2001 for a short-term mission trip with folks from UMM�s IVCF and my local church. We had to buy bottle water in Wal Mart in Nogales, AZ before going across the border during the hot 100 F degree arid-dry season in the non-water treatment system of this town we were in-Mascarenas, Sonora-Mexico (more stories on website). In the Philippines, I visited my relatives in the rural-province area of Isabella, where I had to pump water into a bucket in order to take a shower (more on website�.).
Some of us have a brother, sister, mother, father, family, relatives, friends, etc..
-cleft palette
-medical technology availability
-Terris fight, gets fed with a tube due to her "vegetable state"
I�m here (10/19/03)to write a continuation of being �bless�, which I can go on forever. I just had to write after previewing this movie I watched this afternoon-�China Cry�.
[Bible verse(s) on grumble/complain: Moses leading the Israelites out of the wilderness]
Yes, we can complain or grumble on about living in America, but we would be more contented and great-full if we get a glance from an outsider�s perspective if we step out of this country. I�ve had this chance several times in my life so far after going to the Philippines a couple of times and Mexico one time. I�m no expert compare to others, so I�ll just share some other infamous people�s experiences from some recent movies:
[Sung Neng Lee, Chinese woman survivor during start of "Cultural Revolution", in "China Cry"]
Yes, there is no perfect government, nation, etc� We have to remember, that we don�t live in a perfect world. We do have problems in the United States, but it�s a lot smaller compared to other nations (e.g. communists, dictatorships, famines, etc�). �God Bless America��which He has! The only perfect place will be eternity-Kingdom of God. Where Jesus is King
As I watch several of the cable network news, I get irritated with the political (Democrat, Republican, Green Party-Socialist, Independence, etc�) disputes that occur all the time. When people ask me what political party I'm with, I just tell them neither. Yes, there are some issues of particular parties I side with that I have strong feelings for. I can�t just choose one party over another because each party has one or more issue that I support. There is no perfect political party, so instead of using much of my energy to fight for one issue or the other. Instead I use prayer to have God�s will and choice be done amongst the authoritative figure to be put in office over a city, state, nation, etc.. I put all my energy in God�s party, which is building His Kingdom through the mission He gave all believers-Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Yes, we should pray for our nation (e.g. 2 Chronicles 7:14) into repentance of our sins-especially after 9/11, but we need to also pray for �all nations� too-especially the 10/40 Window nations!�
�Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,��-Matthew 6:9-13
We may be citizens of this nation through our drivers license, social security number, visas, or some form of material identity; however, we already have citizenship in Heaven with our heart identity�.
I'm thankful for my Salvation in Christ!
"For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.�-Philippians 3:17-20
"as our name is written in the Book of Life (Revelations 21:27) through our salvation in Jesus Christ through our personal relationship.
Till that day, we can bring a taste of His Kingdom to earth through our lifestyle: words and actions. We can get tempted to try to �be like the world� by trying to copy one another�.
"So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [1] us, such as all the other nations have." 6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD . 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."-1 Sammuel 8
*Note: Jesus came to earth as our King and Savior, but too was rejected by his people
For example, these religions that we are opening our door of our hearts to can be somewhat dangerous. Some are turning their back to our one God and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, there are many stories about the Israelites falling from their faith and worshipping other gods or idols of other nations. The biggest similar story I could think of is the time when the Hebrews started building that the �Golden Calf� (Exodus). Many people today still do the same in different levels (e.g. Satanism, cults, false gods, or even idols in the form of �man� through figures in t.v. land, sports, hollywood, etc..).
Now, look at this quote from a scene that got my attention while previewing another movie while writing this whole topic on �blessed nation�.
Movie: �Chariots of Fire� (reviews
Scene: �Eric Liddel (main character) and his brother Sandy Walking With an Older Wise Man�
Older Wise Man: �Sandy, Kingdom of God is not a democracy, the Lord never seeks re-election, there is no discussion, no deliberation, no referendum on what road to take, there is one right one wrong, one absolute ruler�
Sandy: �a dictator�
Older Wise Man:�But a loving dictator�
Sandy: �So much the matter of freedom of choice�
Eric Liddel: �You got choice Sandy, no one forces you to follow�
Yes, we do have a choice to follow Christ, Allah, Bhudda, or whatever idol, cult, religion, or even �man� out there. However, who is the source of �love� that you go to when you are distraught, tired, weak, or need forgiveness for whatever �bad thing� you did.
Fire It�s October 28, 2003-I just watched the horrific fires going on in Southern California, where 13 people have been killed and 10,000 + homes destroyed as of 3pm this afternoon CDT. It�s windy, snowy with a mixture of rain in Morris, Minnesota as I�m writing this comfortable in my warm house and alive! I feel bless after witnessing the destruction going on in that part of the U.S. Not just today, but everyday because no matter what circumstance any of us are in; we gotta be thankful of what we have instead of what we don�t have.
Links:
Wind
Summer Storm 03�, on July 4th in Morris, Minnesota
Rain
Today (Monday, August 14th 2006) I'm writing to share a "praise report" about recent weather we've had these past 2 days in Stevens County. Ironically, we had the Stevens County Fair this past weekend and rain fell the last 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) after a long drought! There has been rain to the north, south, east, and west of our area throughout this summer-we finally got ours! Praise God-Halleluah! It's an answer to many prayers and the message last Sunday at my local church is to persevere in prayer! I've been collecting rain water (e.g toilet and watering plants) from my roof ducts/gutters to conserve and collect for future dry weather.
Count Your Blessings before going to Bed!
I have this daily ritual where I have a book (pocket calender) where I record at least one "thing" I'm thankful to God for before going to bed. Try it...it actually helps to take your focus on your daily problems/issues/challenges you faced.
I remember growing up as a little kid, I would count as far as I can to tire myself in order to fall asleep whenever I have trouble sleeping. I had a harder time to sleep back then because I just didn't know how to handle the daily problems/issues/challenges. This changed after coming to a personal relationship with God through his Heavenly Son-Jesus Christ!
I decided to write this section of this site this evening (Monday, November 27th of 2006) after hearing a cool song from the movie, "White Christmas"...
Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) Lyrics
-from Bing Crosby (biography from Wikipedia)
*actually grew-up with listening to his songs and watching his movies through my dad
"When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings
I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings
The Beatitudes
(Matthew 5)
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Ministry-Biblical Teachings
Beatitudes-Jesus Sermon on the mountain
"The truth of which Jesus spoke on the Mountain where many followed him. This is the Beatitudes along with the Sermon that we all must live by. bible readings in a movie format Matthew 5:1 - 8:1 "
" 1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you...
Related Sites:
The Beatitudes - Today's Christian Videos
The Beatitudes - Music: Lost, by RED - Music Videos
The Beatitudes (At the Cross-piano version) - Today's Christian Videos
I can keep going on many other blessings, which I�ll try to add more in the future whatever God puts in my heart to add as I: watch the negative/positive news, read the paper, hear on radio, or just talk to people around me. I pray and hope that this touches you-the reader-that you�ll be thankful everyday in prayer to our Provider-Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Please feel free to contact me with any prayer requests, needs, praise reports/testimonies, or anything that you would like me to add to this website.
BE GRATEFUL - Life is Short...
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
"I just finished compiling this video entitled "Blessed be the Name of the Lord" for my Church, Southern Bay Church in Queensland Australia and thought I would love to share it with you guys too. I trust you will be Blessed by it, please feel free to leave a comment from 'down under Doug.' "
Music
Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)
"In this scene from "White Christmas," Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney sing the famous song, "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep."" "
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Holidays: Christmas, Giving, "more-like" Christ, etc...
Others:
Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep -- The Demensions, from youtube.com
"1960 Release "
Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep, from youtube.com
"Jayson solo performance for musical jukebox entitled Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep accompanied by his choir teacher, Ms Susanna Saw. "
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Christian Life: Belief, Faith, Hope, Trust, etc....
To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: THE BOSS
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE
I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box.
All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.
If you find yourself stuck in traffic; Don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.
Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who has been out of work for years.
Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.
Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; Think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.
Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.
Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; Think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.
Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful.. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.
Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; Remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!
Should you decide to send this to a friend; Thank you, you may have touched their life in ways you will never know!
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. "-Deuteronomy 28