Showing posts with label Sorrells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sorrells. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Media Update - AND In a World of "Interconnectivity," what is our Role as Parents?

YESTERDAY, we Blogged about the news that Weigh Down was featured on "The INSIDER" TV show last night. If you missed the show, CLICK HERE to watch the replay. It was wonderful, and the response from around the world is overwhelming! The story of Andy and Maggie Sorrells, with a combined weight loss of 550 pounds, ALREADY is an inspiration to lots of people who are getting started with Weigh Down! GREAT NEWS!

On with the Blog...
ALARMING STATS of the DAY regarding TEEN INTERNET COMMUNICATION - courtesy of netsmartz.org
  • 71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know.
  • 45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know.
  • 30% have considered meeting someone that they’ve only talked to online
  • 14% have actually met a person face-to-face they they’ve only spoken to over the Internet (9% of 13-15s; 22% of 16-17s).
When teens receive messages online from someone they don’t know, 40% reported that they’ll usually reply and chat with that person.
  • Only 18% said they’ll tell an adult...
Is that a "wakeup call" or what? And those stats are from 2006! How much FASTER and EASIER has it gotten to communicate via the internet in the three years since those numbers were first reported? During a recent message given by Gwen in a PARENTING meeting, she asked the parents, "Are you hovering over and around your children?" And of course she was asking whether parents were more involved in their OWN wants and interests and activities...or were they constantly interested in and involved in what their own CHILDREN were involved with? Are we so "Facebooked and Twittered and MySpaced" with our OWN connections and friends that we've turned our faces from their activities and "trusted" the judgments of the PRECIOUS GIFTS from GOD that are our own CHILDREN? They're YOUNG. What were YOU like as a Teen? As we recall our own past wanderings, remember now that these young people have INSTANT ACCESS to ANY kind of "sensual indulgence"...NOW MORESO than at ANY time in history. If we truly LOVE our children, why WOULDN'T we be involved in every aspect of their lives...LOVINGLY guiding them and letting them know how much we're looking out for them and their best interest...letting them know how we ALWAYS want what is best for them! It truly is a LIE from satan to believe that hovering that closely to our children is bad for them. The exact OPPOSITE is true. It IS LOVE to raise your children with the same level of interest and personal attention that GOD has given to each of US. He has been incredibly PERSONAL with us...involved in every aspect of our lives. It's a wakeup call indeed...

Today on WDWB LIVE, we'll visit with REGINA SMITH, a parent herself of children ranging from the youngest grade school ages all the way up through college age. She'll have some great perspective on putting into PRACTICE these life-changing principles of being CLOSE to your children. The good, peaceful, happy relationships that she and her husband KENT have with their kids will inspire you. There is HOPE!

Monday, August 17, 2009

BREAKING NEWS! - Weigh Down is Featured on "The INSIDER" TV Show TONIGHT!

YES - GOD is giving this Weigh Down Ministry yet ANOTHER opportunity to show how it CHANGES LIVES for the BETTER! In our morning Blog, we mentioned ANDY and MAGGIE SORRELLS...along with their story of losing a combined 550 pounds of excess weight. They will be featured on "The INSIDER" TV show TONIGHT! When you visit "The INSIDER" website, look on the LEFT side of the page, enter your ZIP CODE, and see what time their show airs in YOUR area. Keep PRAYING for more great opportunities like this one! And THANK YOU for your daily prayers over this Ministry!

World Records & Leaving A Legacy - What REALLY Matters?

If you've kept up with the happenings in this Weigh Down Ministry, you might have heard that Weigh Down participants and married couple Andy and Maggie Sorrells have lost a combined 550 POUNDS! THAT is an amazing feat! They weren't trying to set any kind record though...They simply listened to and put into practice what Gwen Shamblin teaches in this Weigh Down program. And they CHANGED...PERMANENTLY! Watch their Video (click the link above) and you'll be amazed. They're happy and peaceful and healthy. And look at what has happened as a result. They are being used by GOD to inspire and encourage people all around the world who see and hear about their story! From the TODAY Show to magazines to CNN.com, the word is spreading about their story and about this Ministry. But NOTE that they didn't seek attention. GOD gave it to them. And the same goes for Gwen, whom GOD has used to change COUNTLESS lives for more than 20 years through this Weigh Down Ministry. It's NEVER been about "making a name"...It's been about CURRENT, RELEVANT, REAL LIFE IMPACT for GOD on people EVERYWHERE...

Whether it's sports statistics and records or feats of the most unusual nature, as a society, we are fascinated with "records." If you browse the Guinness World Records website, you'll find records set in anything and everything from bizarre to outright dangerous. Anyone who focuses their minds on setting a "record" in anything is looking to leave some kind of "legacy"...something to be remembered by. But what kind of "legacy" REALLY matters? What "legacy" does GOD want us to leave behind? Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Almighty GOD, is the most important, most talked about, most famous person EVER to walk on the face of the earth. What he lived, taught, and did in a few cities for a few years 2,000 years ago...before phones, the internet, cars, TV...has CHANGED the course of history FOREVER. WHY? HOW? He didn't live each day trying to "set a world record" to become famous for His own sake. He wasn't outlandish in a quest for personal attention. He very simply, but POWERFULLY, lived each and every minute of His life to LOVE, OBEY, and therefore GLORIFY GOD and make HIM known. He turned people from their sin, healed them, and showed the world that His Father and our Father, His God and our God, was GOOD and RIGHTEOUS and that His commands were BEAUTIFUL to obey! His "legacy" of SUBMISSION to GOD and CHANGED LIVES is eternal, and the impact He has on the world to this very day is unmatched by anyone or anything. And GOD GAVE Him the most EXALTED, famous, powerful Name in all of history. Jesus daily humbled and submitted Himself before GOD, and He is the most famous person in all of history for it. GOD then lifted Him UP and sat Him down at His very own Right Hand! Life for Jesus was ALL about GOD. What a pattern for us to follow! What a LEGACY! It's more valuable than ANY world record ever set...to glorify GOD and change lives forever. We'll take time this week on WDWB LIVE to talk about "leaving a legacy" for GOD'S glory...and how REAL people involved in this Ministry have followed in Jesus' footsteps, CHANGING to be obedient to GOD and IMPACTING the world in which they live. We're looking forward to each day's 3:30pm CST LIVE Program and the PODCAST that each episode becomes.