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Fresh Hope10/9/2008 My Favorite StoryMy Favorite StoryI honestly believe that time is very short and that the Rapture will be happening very, very soon! Because of that, I feel compelled to tell everyone about Jesus one more time, even the children. With that in mind, I want to share a story I wrote for my grandchildren. Please feel free to share it with the children in your life so that they too can know the amazing love and the amazing story of our Savior, Jesus!
( I wrote this for the 8 to 10 year old age group. I wanted to write something that would help them to really know Jesus better. The only problem is that I can't draw so I can't put in the kind of pictures I'd like to for each portion. Tell me what you think ok?)
My Favorite Story A long, long, time ago, Almighty God sat on His throne and talked to His Son, Jesus. They decided, along with the Holy Spirit, to create a universe; and so they did. When Jesus spoke the earth into being along with all the creatures of the sea, air, and land, the Father declared that it was good. The earth was beautiful and lush. There was no decay, no death, no, not even a food chain, for God Himself provided for all. Then they decided to create a being in their own image, and they called it a man and named him Adam. Adam was given authority over all that the Father and Son had created and daily walked and spoke with them face to face. Then God decided to make Adam someone to be his companion, someone like himself, and so Eve was created. Now Adam and Eve together lived on this lush planet and daily-enjoyed God’s company. Everything on the planet was subject to Adam, and all things were his and Eve’s to do with as they wished, except for one tree. It was called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had told them they were not to eat the fruit of this tree, or they would die, but everything else was theirs. Living on the earth then was so wonderful. There was no decay; people and animals didn’t get “old”. There was no sickness, no aches or pains. Everyone and everything was in perfect physical shape. What a beautiful world! One day when Eve was out in the garden alone, a serpent came up to her and began speaking to her. She didn’t seem at all surprised that the serpent spoke, so very likely all the animals could communicate with Adam and Eve. This was really Satan though, making himself look like a serpent. He told Eve that if she ate fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she really wouldn’t die, but would be like God. Now we think that Eve should have known better, but this was her first experience with a lie. She probably didn’t even know it was possible to lie. So she believed the serpent and ate the fruit. It was good, and she was still alive, so she figured she give some to Adam. Now Adam wasn’t deceived by the lie and knew the consequences, but for whatever reason decided to follow Eve’s lead and he also ate the fruit! Satan was elated! He had just caused Adam to commit the first sin! God came and spoke with Adam and Eve, though for the first time they couldn’t see Him. He explained to them that they would indeed die. They had already died spiritually, which was why they could no longer see God face to face. Their bodies would also now begin to get old and eventually die. They, and everyone born after them, would now experience pain and discomfort. Since they had been created to have a close relationship with God, and now could not due to the sin, there would always be an empty ache inside them caused by their need and desire to be with God. Now remember that the whole world was subject to Adam, he was ruler over it all. When he sinned, he brought punishment not only on himself, but also on the earth and everything in it. It seemed like everything was just all messed up now, and only God could fix it. Many thousands of years passed. Men lived and died. People seemed to be getting further and further away from God. The whole world was caught in a trap of sin, death, and decay. But, God had a plan. The angels were totally amazed. They scratched their heads and wondered that God would even bother with people any more. Why not just leave them to their fate? After all, they certainly deserved it! God, said NO. He loved us and would not let us just live in sin and be separated from Him forever! He and His Son Jesus talked it over. They wanted things to be the way they were supposed to be, with people living without fear, without sin, without death and without that awful ache inside from missing being with God. So they talked about how to make this happen and made their plans. One day, the Father looked at Jesus and said, “It’s time Son.” Much to the amazement of the angels, Jesus stepped down from His Heavenly Throne, and made His way through space and time and became an unborn child in the womb of a young woman named Mary. After His birth, the tiny infant opened His eyes, and the creator of all that is, looked out on His creation through the eyes of a frail human baby. That baby was Jesus, come to earth in the flesh. He lived among the other humans of that time, teaching them about His Heavenly Father, and never sinning himself. You see, since sin had entered into the world through one man, Adam, the only way it could be overcome was through another man living a sinless life. No one could do it except God Himself, because He was the only one without sin. So that’s why He chose to give up Heaven and come to earth for us. Since the punishment for Adams sin was death, Jesus knew He would even have to die for us and then come back to life again, so that death would not hold us captive any more. It was the only way to save us. So Jesus grew up and lived a sinless life, always doing the will of His Heavenly Father. Then when He was 33 years old, a friend betrayed Him and soldiers arrested Him and had Him tortured. All His friends deserted Him and the government finally crucified Him to kill Him. That type of death was so extremely painful, that the Romans even invented a new word to describe the pain—they called it excruciating. But Jesus wasn’t done yet. The men crucifying Him offered Him some drugs to lessen the pain as they normally did, but Jesus in His love for us refused it! He knew that we would experience pain throughout our lives and wanted us to know without a doubt that He really did understand what it was like. His job on earth was almost done now, but not quite. Before He died, He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive us and then declared that it was finished. Then He died. His mother and a few of His friends took His body to bury it and put it in a tomb. They couldn’t have the funeral for a couple more days though. Three days later, they went back to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body for the funeral. It was gone! They were crushed and crying as they went out of the tomb. The sunlight on their faces probably made them squint and not see to well for a second. Then as their vision cleared, they saw Jesus! He was alive!!!! Can you even begin to imagine their joy???? There He was, standing in front of them, every bit as alive as they were!!!!! Jesus then spent the next 40 days explaining to all His friends and family (for that’s what He called His disciples) why He had died and what His death and resurrection really meant for them and for all of us. He explained that He had given His life freely—He could have called for hundreds and thousands of angels at any time to come and rescue Him, but He didn’t. He could have stopped it at any time by Himself, since He Himself was God, but He didn’t. He didn’t stop it from happening because He loves us. He wanted us to be with Him for all eternity. He wanted us to have what we were created to have—a personal relationship with Him and to rule over the earth and even the angels with Him. All this He said was now ours again, free for the asking! All we had to do was ask and then accept His free and wonderful gift, and make Him Lord and Master of our lives. Those who did would no longer be slaves to sin; they would no longer be under the rule of Satan. They would have abundant life now and forever with Him. He told them that now, nothing and no one could separate us from Him. He explained that although there would be problems, crisis, and troubles during our lives, He would walk with us through them. He said that if it got too tough, He would carry us till we could walk beside Him again. He said He loved us and wanted us to be with Him always. He said too, that one day He would come back and get us. Then He would make a new earth, all perfect once again for us to live and rule on forever, and He would never leave us. He explained that He would send His Holy Spirit to live in each of us that have accepted His gift and that the Holy Spirit would guide us, help us, teach us, and comfort us. After explaining all this and more to His friends for 40 days, the Father called Jesus to come home to Heaven, and so Jesus rose up in the sky, right in front of everyone, till no one could see Him anymore! Don’t you think it must have been amazing for His friends to watch him disappear into the sky? Now Jesus is sitting on His Throne again in Heaven, waiting until once again the Father says, “Son, it’s time.” Then a trumpet will sound long and loud, and Jesus will shout to all of us—“come on up here!” Those people who have already died will come back to life and rise up into the air to meet Jesus. Then those of us who are still alive will begin to rise up and meet Jesus in the air. He will give us all new bodies then, like the ones we were meant to have. These new bodies will never get old, or sick or die! Then there’s going to be a HUGE party! Jesus called it a wedding feast! Everyone in the world since the beginning of time that has accepted Jesus and His gift of Life, will be there! Wow, can you even imagine it??? Jesus told us too, that Heaven would be so awesome that no one can even begin to imagine how great it will be! Isn’t our God wonderful? I’m so glad that He loves us and wants to be part of our lives. Have you asked Him to be Lord of your life? If you have, then He lives inside you, and all His promises are yours! 8/20/2008 Living With PainI'm so excited because Fresh Hope made our local newspaper yesterday! It was a huge feature article taking up one whole page! At the top was a large picture showing Fresh Hope on the computer screen! Unfortunately they didn't put it up on the web, so I have to type it all out for you. I have also taken photo's of the article so you can see the pictures in it and will post links to those as well. The editor did make a few mistakes, but we'll have to live with them lol So without further ado, here it is!
Here's the first mistake: next to the photo above it says:
"Cindy LaFreniere sits at her computer, reading posts in http://www.fresh-hope.com, the private pain forum she started online. The forum allows people with chronic pain to speak with others about what they are all going through." Obviously FH is not just for people who live with pain, only one of the forums is for that. The Challenge Of Living With Chronic Pain New Ipswich woman says internet has become a lifeline for those who are suffering By Sam Bonacci Monadnock Ledger-Transcript Staff Cindy LaFreniere has been living with chronic back pain for 8 years. The 52 year old New Ipswich resident found herself with the never ending pain after an on the job injury damaged disks in her back. LaFreniere has gone through more medicines than she can recall, numerous surgeries, and much physical therapy. But nothing has taken away the pain. "It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be fixed", she says. LaFreniere has fought for years to find a way to get rid of the pain, until it was made clear by a doctor that this was her new life. "I'll never forget him saying, "your're done, you'll never work again the rest of your life" The words literally rang in my head and I didn't hear anything else he said." LaFreniere has learned to live with the pain that has changed her life. Unable to work, a good day has become one with less pain, not none. The act of getting up in the morning and getting dressed takes determination. "A good day is one where I only have to use my morphine a few times," says LaFreniere. Chronic pain can be very difficult to understand. It differs greatly from the acute pain of an injury such as a broken bone, and can linger for years, even for the rest of a person's life. I'ts called chronic pain for a reason," says Dr PK Suchdev, the president of Pain Solutions, a practice that deals specifically with treating pain and has an office at the Monadnock Community Hospital. We look at it in many ways like you would look at diabetes and blood pressure...we can control it, but sometimes eliminating it may be an unrealistic expectation." Chronic pain is defined as any pain lasting more than 3 months. Chronic pain will be experienced by 50% of Americans in the lifetime, he said. People that suffer from chronic pain should not feel they are alone", says Suchdev. LaFreniere's pain starts even before she wakes up in the morning. Getting out of bed can be a trying experience that takes her hours. She cannot work and is limited in the amount of time she can spend away from her home. Everything she does in a day is a matter of gauging how much pain it will cause, and how that will affect the rest of her day and the next. Being at home with chronic pain is nothing like when a healthy person stays home when they are sick. "My life revolves around pain," says LaFreniere, adding that just getting dressed is a chore. "The rest of my day is planned around my pain". It is not just her daily life that the pain affects. LaFreniere has never been healthy enough to play with any of her grandchildren. They have always had to grow up being told to be careful around her. (note by me: another mistake: that's not true. I DO play with them, but it's quiet play not running or jumping, somersaults, or rough housing or anything active at all.) Chronic pain can be caused by a number of things, says Suchdev. It varies from instances where the body is giving misinformation such as phantom limbs in amputees, or where a physical injury such as multiple back injuries, scars, or surgeries, continues to cause pain. Chronic pain can also be related to injuries severe enough that they are not treatable", says Suchdev. LaFreniere has gone through a number of treatments, but none of them fully relieved the pain. Even the narcotics she is on now merely dull the pain. "They relieve the pain to the point where you can deal with it", she says. There are numerous ways that chronic pain can be treated, says Suchdev. Painkillers can be injected. Surgery can be done to burn the lesion specific nerves that provide the pain. Doctors can also implant various devices that can be used to inject relief into the source of the pain. The simplest example would be to place a steroid medication into areas of the spine to reduce swelling," says Suchdev. "Pain is very complex and that is why it has to be treated in a very complex and multidisciplinary manner." Pain does not only affect the body, but also the mind, he says. There can be problems with family and friends, and there are instances of depression in chronic pain patients. caption under second photo reads:
Cindy LaFreniere sits in her kitchen in the house in which she spends most of her days. Although she has put on a smile, she says people living with pain must make a conscious decision to continue smiling and not be gloomy all the time. LaFreniere said that although it can be difficult to be happy, it is necessary. "People expect us to be gloomy", she says. "you can afford to be gloomy and down in the dumps for a week , and let people know you don't feel good. But when you are like this for years, that's a choice you have to make. You have to choose what kind of face you are going to put on it. Those of us who learn to live with it, successfully anyway, choose to smile and it actually helps us too, because you feel better when you smile". The pain and the new lifestyle can create a rift between people with chronic pain and those they used to spend time with. Eventually, people start to come around less often and friends lose touch, says LaFreniere. "I don't blame them because they're busy just like I used to be," she says. There's also a stigma that comes along with chronic pain, she says. Some people think that people with pain are drug addicts or may be faking it. People with chronic pain often do not look sick, LaFreniere says. Someone she knows has even been accosted for using a handicapped parking permits, while others have heard comments while they walk by holding their cane. They may not need it when they walk into a store, said LaFreniere, but after walking around they will be hurting and relying heavily upon the cane as they come out. "We want understanding, not pity," says LaFreniere. "We try not to let it show. We don't want to be different". LaFreniere has found solace in an online forum she started at http://www.fresh-hope.com. Through this private forum, she and other people suffering through pain can speak openly about their lives. LaFreniere says many forum members reveal sides of their life that they may not show even their closest loved ones. "The internet has become a lifeline for lots of us because we are stuck at home, " she says. "The people on fresh-hope are like family to me". Chronic pain is not just a concern of the patients and their families and friends. The cost of treating chronic pain, says Suchdev is more then the cost of treating AIDS, cancer and heart disease combined. "It's an incredibly expensive and large epidemic in the country, so there's a lot of research being devoted to the treatment of chronic pain,"he says. "Ten or 15 years ago I could have only imagined some of the treatments we have now." The latest research is exploring the connection with phantom limb syndrome. But LaFreniere has topped looking for the next new treatment, although she continues trying different medications and will be returning to physical therapy. She will continue dealing with her pain as she has for the last 8 years, through the support of her family and friends both online and in person. She will carry on with her routine, taking the bad and continuing to live for the good. "Finally your body will give you a break, only if it's just for an hour. You learn to kind of live for that hour's relief" says LaFreniere. It's strange. It's a very different way of life." iIt also made the front page of the newspaper! Check it out, right at the very top! please feel free to copy this and send this to anyone you want to! Or send them a link to it as even lurkers can read this. The more that see it, the better as far as I'm concerned!
7/31/2008 Tech Assistant Needed for Fresh-Hope.comI'm am looking for a Tech Assistant for Fresh-Hope.com. I need someone that would be willing to volunteer their time and talent and who feels a calling from the Lord to do this. They would have to be someone that agrees with our statement of faith, which is posted here: http://www.fresh-hope.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=171 They would also need to agree with our stated goals, which are: Fresh Hope is committed to being a place where God comes first in all things. We are a community of people who have come together to build each other up, encourage one another. learn and grow together, and to enjoy each others company. Fresh Hope is also committed to always speaking the Truth with love and doing our best to provide our members with the Truth from God's Word. We believe in using the discernment and wisdom the Lord has given us, to determine if and when a person or a church is preaching a false gospel. When someone is suspected of being a false teacher or false prophet, we will let our members know about it so that they too will be able to see the heresy for what it is. They would need to be able to understand and work with Phpbb bulletin boards and know HTML and be able to help us make Fresh-Hope the best Christian site on the web, in honor of our Lord. If anyone is interested, please contact me here and let me know. Thank you! Cindy 12/28/2007 Fresh-HopeWe are a Christian Message Board dedicated to encouraging, edifying,& building up each other and studying the End Times. We offer fellowship, Bible studies & lots of love. We are very focused on the End Times and the Rapture. It's a great place to learn, share, & grow together.
********** Some of our Special Forums: Private Members Only Living With Pain forum: Many of us live with pain everyday from injuries like my back injury which disabled me, to diseases and accidents, that I thought I'd start a forum on my board for us to talk about it some with each other. We can discuss what helps when we just can't stand the pain any more; what meds we take, side effects, addictions, allergic reactions; surgeries and procedures; how our families are affected; our fears, our hopes, and how God is using it to help us grow etc. This is a members only forum so you have to pm me to get access to it. (My user name is Cindy) I hope we'll see you there!  Private Members Only Fresh Hope for the Bereaved Forum. This is for people to discuss their feelings etc about the loss of their parent, sibling, child, spouse, other relative or friend, or even a pet. If you've lost a child to miscarriage, still birth, abortion, sudden death, illness, murder, accident or anything else and you want someone to talk to, here is the place for sharing, love and support!  We also have a members only private Life's Trials and Struggles forum  Sins That Beset Us
This is a Private Member Only forum to talk about the sins that so easily surround, attack, and try to make a home in your Christian walk (beset us). This is a forum to speak about and get answers to these sins that so that these sins do not so easily beset us. Some examples of these sins might be sexual sins, addictions, anger issues, pride, jealously or vanity issues, cult involvment etc. Pastor Richard and Cindy will be ministering to the members here. (in private through pm's and email when necessary) Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Fresh Hope for the Divorced
3/29/2006 What does it mean to be "Saved"What does it mean to be "Saved"? To me it means that you have given up being your own little god and have realized that you are forever going to be separated from the One True God unless somehow your sins are forgiven. It means realizing that no one except God can forgive your sins and that the way He made to do that is through Jesus. It means accepting Jesus as your Savior and handing your life over to Him. Letting Him be Lord of your whole life...not just the "religious" part of it. It means getting to know Him through His Word...both the Old and New Testaments. It means always putting Him first...even when it would be more convenient not to. It means letting the Holy Spirit and the Bible be your guide rather than men.
When you TRULY have Jesus living within you, you don't need anything else. He makes you a brand new person from the inside out. For someone to say they are a Christian and yet they haven't had any big changes in themselves make me really doubt if they have any idea of what they're talking about. Without Jesus living within you, you can never ever even hope to conquer sin in your life, or to lead a truly Godly life. It simply can't be done. It's impossible That's why Jesus came, so He could do it for us. When He lives in you, then He is the one that is conquering the sin in your life, not you. That's what it means when it says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". That's not just a nice sentiment, it's the Truth. Someone that really has Jesus living inside them is totally repelled by sin, and disgusted by it, and they become more so practically every day. Someone who has Jesus living within them is mortified when they sin, and immediately repents and confesses their sin to God. It's not a game, it's not anything you do on your own. It's what Jesus does IN YOU and through you. Without Him you're simply not saved and going to church 2 times a day, 7 days a week won't get you to heaven. 11/30/2005 Just for Catholics!Are you Catholic? Please come and read in our Just for Catholics forum!
11/13/2005 Please come and visit us!We have some awesome forums to discuss everything under the sun in!
5/21/2005 Come and join us!come and join us on my web site, Fresh-Hope.com! We'd love to get to know you! http://www.fresh-hope.com/forums/index.php We are a Message board dedicated to encouraging, edifying, building each other up & studying the end times. We have 2 special forums for members only: Living With Pain and Men's Victory Over Porn. Please come and check us out! |
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