Newsletter July 2011

Inside This Issue 1 A Message from the Pastor

2 Are Your Potatoes Heavy?

3 Kidz Korner

4 Inspiring Women

5 The Y Course: Tips and

Update

6 Making Good Use of Your

Summer Holiday

7 What are You Eating?

8 Upcoming Events

Faith is an indispensable property that no one can live without; everybody has faith. We need a kind of faith in order to catch a flight from John Lennon to Amsterdam, to go for a surgical operation and to drive on the motorway. Without faith you will be constantly suspicious and will distrust the essential facilities of our civilised world e.g. online banking, the postal service, the escalator etc. Without this kind of faith your life will grind to a halt and yet this is not Biblical faith. Biblical faith is the faith that empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary things, the faith that births the supernatural, the faith that arrests the encroachment of the gates of hell. The Description of Faith Hebrews 11:1,6; James 2:1; Mark 11:22; 2 Thessalonians 3:2; Acts 28:24; Psalm 27:1-3; Proverbs 3:5,6; Hebrews 10:21,22 Biblical faith is claiming the proof of things that you hope for. It is impossible to please God without this faith, which produces diligent seeking of God and discounts respect of persons. Confidence in God, trust in the Lord and assurance are associates or companions of biblical faith. The Degrees of Faith Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 12:3; 1:17; Matthew 6:30; 8:10; 17:20; 1 John 5:4,5; Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 12:9; 2 Kings 2:19-22; Mark 5:36,41 It is the quality, not the quantity, of faith that is important. We were introduced to the life of faith by saving faith and we can only continue by faith. Weak faith needs to be fed the Word of God and exercised in order to be made strong. There is dead faith and demonic faith but God is challenging us to living faith. The Bible also talks about the gift of faith, which is a supernatural download of awesome faith at a time when it is crucially needed. The Dynamics of Faith

Romans 5:1; James 2:17-22; Galatians 5:6; Romans 4:16-21; Matthew 17:20; Hebrews 11:1,6,4,5,7,8; Mark 11:24; 2 Corinthians 4:13,6 Faith is potent and powerful only because of the object of our faith - the Almighty God. We ought to have the same spirit of faith as God. If we do we will speak the word of God in faith, act on the word by faith and obey the word as evidence of faith.

A Message

from the Pastor Understanding Biblical Faith

Hebrews 11:1 – 3, 6

Preached by Pastor Ayo on 06/03/2011

Bible Study: Tuesday @ 6:30pm Revival Prayer Meeting: Friday @ 6:30pm Evangelism/Visitation: Saturday @ 11:00am Sunday Worship Service: Sunday @ 9:00am House Fellowship: Sunday @ 6:00pm Youth Group: Sunday @ 6:00pm

Please join us for the following every week

This sisters’ prayer night is a time to bring down God’s blessing upon us, our families and His Church! More than ever before, we find ourselves walking on this earth needing to be upheld by a power much greater than our own. PRAYER provides that power!! And it is God’s power!!! Sisters, join us to throng the throne of grace as we intercede for:

*Family breakthroughs *Progress and promotion in life and ministry *Destroying of yokes *Unlocking of potentials *Our City, Nation and Churches, and much more It will be an unforgettable experience! You cannot afford to miss out. Expect a heavenly visitation.

Date : Friday 9th September 2011 Time : 10pm – 5am

Centre of Excellence Deeper Life Bible Church, Liverpool Solway Street East (off Lodge Lane) Toxteth, Liverpool L8 0TY T: 0151 709 4670 or 0151 709 6245 E: church@dclm-liverpool.org.uk W: www.dclm-liverpool.org.uk

Deeper Life Bible Church, Widnes Upton Community Centre, Hough Green Road, Widnes Cheshire, WA8 4PF T: 07939462207 E: widneschurch@dclm-liverpool.org.uk W: www.dclm-liverpool.org.uk/widnes/

Church Locations:

Other Upcoming Events Fasting and Prayer Worship Service 9:00am Sunday 28th August 2011 Big Lunch date yet to be confirmed Turning Point 10:00am Sunday 25th September 2011

The editorial team welcomes your views and your articles (200 words or less). Please

email newsletter@dclm-liverpool.org.uk Thanks for reading.

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National Statistics Online reported that in 2008 just under a quarter of UK adults were obese. The problem is not eating; the problem is what you eat. Your body needs food in order to gain the energy that it needs to function, but it needs the right kind of food. The main food groups are Starches, Fruits and Vegetables, Proteins, Milk and Dairy Products, and Fats and Sugars. None of these food groups are ‘bad’ but they become bad for you when you eat too much of one group rather than balancing your diet. Starches This food group includes bread, rice, potatoes, pasta noodles, cereals, and other carbohydrates. Starches should make up a third of every meal. Fruit and Vegetables This food group is highly nutritious and is central to a healthy lifestyle. The government recommends that we eat at least five portions of fruit and/or veg daily. Ideally, fruit and veg should be a part of every meal and they make great snacks too, so trade in those biscuits and crisps. When cooking vegetables, bear in mind that boiling can destroy their nutrients. Consider steaming, microwaving or poaching. Protein Foods containing protein include meat, poultry and eggs. You should eat two to three servings of protein each day. Research shows that most people in the UK eat more protein than they need. Milk and Dairy Products Three portions of milk and dairy products, like yoghurt, each day should supply your body with the calcium it needs. Low fat options are the most beneficial. Fats and Sugars This food group contains cakes, biscuits, chocolate, and sugar sweetened drinks and crisps. Eating too much of saturated fats, as found in cheese, whole milk, pies, and pastries, is associated with increased blood cholesterol. Unsaturated fats are generally considered to be a healthier option and can be found in sunflower oil, olive oil, soft margarine, and oily fish like mackerel. Some tips for reducing your fat intake include:

- removing the visible fat off meat and poultry - grilling, baking and boiling food instead of frying - swapping whole milk for semi skimmed or skimmed milk

For sugary foods, the natural sugar found in fruit does not need to be cut down but sugars found in desserts and soft drinks, etc, does. Even the sugars in honey and fruit juices can cause tooth decay. Some tips for reducing your sugar intake include:

- drinking water instead of sugary drinks - swapping sugary snacks for fruit - reducing the amount of sugar you add to your hot drinks

In a nutshell the government specifies 8 tips for healthy eating and healthy living:

1. Base your meals on starchy foods 2. Eat lots of fruit and veg 3. Eat more fish – including a portion of oily fish each week 4. Cut down on saturated fat and sugar 5. Try to eat less salt – no more than 6g a day for adults 6. Get active and try to be a healthy weight 7. Drink plenty of water 8. Don’t skip breakfast

For more information check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/health and http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/eatwell.pdf

A teacher once told each of her students to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school. For every person they refuse to forgive in their life's experience, they chose a potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were quite heavy. They were then told to carry this bag with them everywhere for one week, putting it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to their desk at work. The hassle of lugging this around with them made it clear what a weight they were carrying spiritually, and how they had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in embarrassing places. Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty smelly slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity! Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and it clearly is for ourselves! (Author unknown) The happiest people are not those who have never been hurt, rather they are those who choose to forget the bad and focus on the good. They are the people who have learned the art of letting go and moving forward. They are the people who have recognized that life is too short to spend it in anger and malice. Unforgiveness is a heavy load to carry. It takes a lot of time, care, and energy to nurse unforgiveness. To nurse unforgiveness is to literally pour your life into a grudge in order to keep it alive. You feed it, you think about it, you tend it, and it saps your energy and dominates your thoughts until it totally consumes you. The power of an offence is in unforgiveness. If you forgive an offence it loses its power to hurt you, but if you hold on to it you are feeding it with more power. Believe that you can forgive The enemy is happy when you think that you cannot forgive, he is happy for as long as you believe a lie because if you believe it you will stay bound. But once you know the truth (that you can forgive), the truth will make you free. Put it in perspective We are all offenders. There is nobody on the face of this earth that has never hurt or caused pain to another. We have all hurt and have been hurt. No offence, no matter how big, is worth trading your peace for.

Don’t wait for an apology Your ability to forgive is in your own hands; it does not depend on an apology or a sign of remorse from the offender. By learning to forgive without an apology you regain control of your life from the offender.

Learn to love Love is empathetic. Put yourself in the shoes of the person who has offended you. How would you want to be treated if the tables were turned?

Put off the old man Forgiveness is not the natural response to offence because the natural man prefers to get even and get revenge rather than forgive. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). From a human perspective, forgiveness seems foolish, it feels like you’re letting a criminal go scot-free, but God says that it is wisdom. Indeed, unforgiveness “is like a glass of poison that a man drinks; then he sits down and waits for his enemy to die” (Unknown). Forgiveness really is a gift to yourself. Pray about it God turns hearts whithersoever He wills and He gives grace so that you can do what you never thought possible. Many have been able to forgive heinous crimes through prayer and tapping into God’s divine strength.

Forgive through the pain Like love, forgiveness is a decision. Even if you still feel the pain you can choose to forgive. If you wait for your emotions to change first before you forgive you may have to wait a long time. Decide to forgive and trust God to heal the pain.

Some Practical Steps to forgiveness

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Dame Mary Perkins Co-founder Specsavers

As women we need to begin to see ourselves from God’s angle of vision; we are here for a purpose. We have the potential to contribute to the growth and wellbeing of our world. If we take a brief moment to consider the account of creation in the Bible we would observe that the woman was the last creature made. However, having made the woman, God saw no need to make any other thing! God saved the best for the last! Indeed, the woman as a creature of God is a masterpiece. The valid claim of the Psalmist to being fearfully and wonderfully made is not gender-restrictive (Psalm 139:14). Perhaps it is even more wonderful to make a whole woman from one rib!! I suppose as a woman of God, you are more strategically positioned to unlock your potential regardless of your situation or circumstance in life. Get started; stop revelling in self-pity! If you can dream it, you can do it! Many women feel it’s too late to achieve that success they desire so much. That is not quite true, we have women who have smashed through the glass ceiling and sometimes a double-glazed one to realise their dreams. Some women have had to fight in wars and some, against all odds, have set up multimillion pounds internationally successful businesses. What set these women apart from other women are their uncommon resolve, unalloyed motivation and unwavering confidence. With God on your side you can do it. The trick is to get up and get started! Set realistic goals and draw up your action plans. For example, your goal may be to get a particular qualification while on a full time employment; then get register at a night school. You want to lose 2 stones in 3 months? Don’t procrastinate! Join a diet class now and do some regular exercise. Want to set up a business? Don’t just dream it; speak to a business expert in your area of interest. Whatever you choose to do, be determined to make it work. Also make sure you discuss your plan with a reliable and serious-minded person that would hold you accountable. One of the few women professors in Britain spoke about herself that as a teenager her life was going nowhere and, to make bad worse, she also found herself expecting a baby. The baby arrived and life got more difficult. However she made up her mind one day that things have got to change. So she put her baby in the pram and off she went to the job centre. She waited for her turn and spoke to the employment adviser about her dreams and aspirations. Having secured a job as an administrative assistant she never gave up her dream of becoming a University Professor. While working she decided to pursue this long-term dream and so registered in a night school to get some qualifications. Even though the path was very tough and rough as a single parent her dogged determination carried her through. She made the grades and eventually went to University. She worked hard, realised her dream and became one of the women professors in UK Universities and an adviser to the government on social issues.

Dame Mary Perkins the founder of Specsavers is another successful woman. She is now on the brink of becoming Britain’s first female self-made billionaire. The chain of opticians has an almost 40% share of the UK market and also growing rapidly overseas.

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been” – George Elliot

The Y Course doesn’t have talks for people to listen to. Instead the emphasis is on relaxed and friendly discussion in small groups. These discussions are fuelled by 3 things –

1. Chat show style segments on DVD – full of stories and illustrations 2. Discussion group leaders having over 100 suggested questions at their

fingertips 3. The Book of Y – with Course guests encouraged to read 2 chapters each

week in preparation When and where? There are many options for when and where to hold your Y Course. For example - Weekday evenings – with or without a meal being included. Daytimes – in parallel with an evening course. A series of lunchtimes (say two a week) at a college, university or work place each featuring only one DVD segment A Saturday morning – start with breakfast – for working people

A number of people have already registered for the Y Course and we are aiming to start running the course from August. At present, the course will be run at locations across Toxteth, Kensington, Wavertree, Dovecot, and the City Centre.

For further enquiries and registration please contact 0151 709 4670 or email ycourse@dclm-liverpool.org.uk

Dame Mary’s story is an example of astonishing achievement especially considering the lack of opportunities in her early career. “There is so much equality in schools now. It is so much easier to go places than it was,” she says. “I see no reason why because you are female, you can’t do as well as any man, if not better.” She revealed that a passion and desire to succeed played a part in her success. “At the start, I worked six days a week and three nights; and I have three children.” Despite all her successes, Dame Mary continued to be refreshingly down to earth; she shuns cabs for underground or just walks. “My job is not finished yet,” she says, “you can never sit back” (Independent, November, 2010) You too can get started now! With God on your side, it’s never too late to still be who you might have been.

TIPS AND UPDATE

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Stuck on what to do with your summer holiday? May I introduce you to the three ‘Rs’ of summer: Retreat, Relax and Refocus. RETREAT Summer means long break from school, college, university . This in turn means no teachers or lecturers after you for essays and assignments. This sounds like the perfect time to find a hideaway place for ‘me, myself and God’. You don’t have to pack your bags and go to a secluded place in a mountain somewhere and totally drop off the radar (though that would be good if you had the money and courage!). Your getaway spot could be right in your own room. You can simply lie on your bed and do some serious soul searching. Retreating means to shut out the noise of the outside world and spend time on the thing(s) that matter. You could use this time to think about how your relationships with God, family members, friends are faring. Remember, the Bible says to examine oneself and see whether one is still standing right in the faith. You can apply this to not only examining your relationship with God but with people around you. Take an x-ray of yourself and see whether there are any joints out of place or any parts of you (your attitudes, personality, habits, etc) that need work. Even Jesus had to find quiet spots away from the multitudes and disciples so as to rest and be refreshed! As young people one of the things that gets us into major trouble is lack of thought. You need to start thinking about important things like your Christian life, your relationships, academics, etc. RELAX However, summer is not all about thinking and mulling over things in your head! There is a season for everything and summer is the perfect season for fun! No winter coats, boots or gloves! Perfect! Relaxing can involve many things but the rule of the thumb for a Christian youth is that any activity engaged in should not be a time waster and must bring glory to God. On the up-side, you can go to the gym, go for runs or walks, read a book, go shopping, catch up with friends (not to gossip!), and so on. The list is endless! Summer is great for tuning up physically; it is much harder to run in freezing temperatures! Shed some pounds and look great for the next academic year. Your idea of relaxing might involve doing chores like cooking, cleaning and tidying up your room, go for it! Whatever floats your boat, as long as it is useful and God- honouring. REFOCUS This ‘R’ of summer basically sums up the purpose of the previous two ‘Rs’. The purpose of retreating and resting is to refocus. It is like sending your car in for an MOT and a general check up so that it can be thoroughly checked for any faults and those faults can be rectified. If you don’t send your car in for these periodic checks, you’ll find that one day the car will suddenly give up the ghost (and God help you if it happens in winter!). It is basically the same with us as humans and even Christian youths. If you don’t take time to retreat, rest and relax, you’ll end up burning out. Get yourself in shape (spiritually, physically, emotionally, and academically) so that come September, you are raring to go!!! REMEMBER: There are only two things you can do with time: waste it or spend it! Choose wisely this summer!

Continually walk in forgiveness You may decide to forgive today but then wake up tomorrow and the offence hits you again like a ton of bricks. That’s why you need to learn to walk in forgiveness. Each time the devil reminds you about the offence you can choose to forgive it. Each time you see the offender you can choose to forgive again. Every time your decision to forgive is challenged, you can choose again to forgive. Some days will be easier than others but you can do it. Forgiveness is essential to living a happy and fulfilled life. Ultimately, it is essential to pleasing God, because God is the greatest Forgiver of all. “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you” (Lewis B. Smedes).

Hey Kids. Answer the following Questions and submit your answers to newsletter@dclm-liverpool.org.uk by Friday 12 August for the chance to win a prize and name(s) will be published in the next edition. There are only three simple rules:

No asking anyone for answers No copying from someone else For questions you don’t know the answer to you can use your Bible or do some research on the Internet

1. Where was the Eunuch in Acts 8:27 from? 2. Who killed Goliath? 3. Who is the only man apart from Jesus to have ever walked on water? 4. What does Jacob mean? 5. Mention two times in the Bible that fire fell from heaven? 6. How is the bush from which God spoke to Moses in the wilderness described? 7. There are nine gifts of the Spirit. Name three. 8. Mention three of the fruit of the Spirit. 9. Mention two components of the whole armour of God. 10. Where did Pharaoh live? 11. Mention two people in the Bible that never died. 12. What was Moses’ Sister’s name? 13. What was Abraham’s wife’s name?

Who Said: 14. ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’ 15. ‘Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among

women.’ 16. ‘Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou

goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:’

17. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ 18. ‘Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave,

and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ 19. ‘Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ 20. ‘I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.’

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