Heart Touchers

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{HeartTouchers.com} *Where's the Remote?*

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If you enjoy this email service, I encourage
you to spread the word to family and friends that we
may bring inspiration the lives of many! If you
are not on the list and this has been passed along
to you, join us by visiting:

http://www.HeartTouchers.com

Be sure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers!

http://www.Heart4Teens.com

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Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95)

Visit the link below to preview the book! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25!

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

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'Where's the Remote?'

by Chuck Colson

LeRoy Sullivan is the pastor of the Bread of Life Church, a small African-American congregation in Kansas City, Kansas. Sullivan learned about Mike McManus's Marriage Savers programs and thought they made a lot of sense.

Many couples think that living together is a good way to find out if they're really compatible. But the truth is that living together is more likely to destroy a couple's chances of a good marriage. Almost half of all couples who cohabit break up before the wedding. And even if they do marry, couples who cohabit beforehand are fifty percent more likely to divorce.

They're also more likely to become victims of violence. The U.S. Justice Department found that women are three times more likely to be assaulted by a live-in boyfriend than by a husband. And a child living with a mother and her boyfriend is thirty-three times more likely to be abused than the child of married parents.

Finally, studies have shown that one of the best ways to eliminate childhood poverty is for parents to marry before having children.

Pastor Sullivan took a hard look at all of this evidence and then stared at his congregation. Seven couples were living together. He hesitated to confront them at first, because as he put it, "My biggest sinners were my biggest givers." The seven couples were tithers. Nevertheless, Sullivan took a deep breath and, from the pulpit, made a strong, biblical case for marriage. Living together, he told his flock, "is not part of God's plan. You need to marry or separate."

Most of the couples listened and tied the knot. But one cohabiting couple resisted. At least, the man did. His girlfriend told Sullivan, "Sam won't marry me, and he won't move out."

One night Sullivan showed up on the couple's doorstep. "Hi, pastor, what are you doing here?" Sam greeted him.

"Lucinda tells me you won't marry her and won't move out either," Sullivan responded. "Now, that's not right." Glancing around the living room, Sullivan commented, "That looks like the most comfortable chair. I'm going to sit here until you move out. Now, where's the remote?"

Dumbfounded, Sam asked, "Pastor, you're not really going to sit there all night, are you?"

"Of course not," Sullivan cheerfully replied. "At midnight, Elder Jones is relieving me!" Sam moved out that night.

Sadly, taking such a strong stand on marriage is controversial within urban communities. According to Mike McManus, to many non-whites, promoting marriage sounds like a white man's message. But Pastor Sullivan knows that marriage is a big part of the answer to the social ills that plague America's inner cities; he believes the Church ought to be a force in building godly families. And that's why he's willing to go to such extremes to encourage it. His uncompromising stand has transformed his own church from one mostly made up of women and children, to one made up of married couples and children.

You and I need to make sure that our friends and especially our children have the facts about living together. Read Mike McManus's book, Marriage Savers. You'll learn why cohabitation--so common in our culture--sets up families for poverty, violence, and divorce.

Chuck Colson, Copyright © 2005

Chuck Colson is a syndicated columnist, international speaker, radio commentator, and the founder of Prison Fellowship and Breakpoint. He has visited prisons throughout the U.S. and the world and has built a movement working with more than 40,000 prison ministry volunteers, with ministries in 100 countries. He has written 22 books, which have collectively sold more than five million copies. His autobiographical book Born Again was one of the nation's best-selling books of all genres in 1976 and was made into a feature-length film. In 1991 Colson launched a daily radio feature called "BreakPoint," a unique and well-received attempt to provide a distinct Christian worldview on everyday issues and conflicts. The program is aired daily on over 1,000 radio outlets nationwide. Visit his website at: www.BreakPoint.org

You may send correspondence to Mr. Colson at: c/o Prison Fellowship, 1856 Old Reston Avenue, Reston, VA 20190-3321.

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Thought For The Day:

"Self-reform is the answer to world-reform" --Sebastian Miklas

Verse for the Day:

"Each of us will give an account of himself to God." --Romans 14:12

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"Getting lost teaches you how to read a map."

Parent's Thought For The Day:

"First you have to teach a child to talk, then you have to teach it to be quiet."
-- Prochnow

Coach's Thought For The Day:

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." John Wooden

Writer's Thought For The Day:

"Forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice." --Octavia Butler

Deep Thought For The Day:

"Why did you leave your last job?"
"Well, after they fired me, the tension in the office was unbearable."

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Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business

Dear Michael,

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever!
Love,
Trisha
Silverhill, AL

Let me make you a video from your photos!
Check out my video production business
by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery

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Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm