Lighting The DarkLighting The Dark | http://lightingthedark.org Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:18:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 we CAN face tomorrow http://lightingthedark.org/2011/we-can-face-tomorrow/ http://lightingthedark.org/2011/we-can-face-tomorrow/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:57:02 +0000 light http://lightingthedark.org/?p=1520  we CAN face tomorrow!

Well It was been awhile since our last post; I have been unable to type do to an injury to the hand. For those of you who are wondering…yes, PART 2 of THE BEGINNING will be coming very soon! 

Today, we have an awesome encouraging post from one of our writers, her name is Amanda Merten. Enjoy!! 

 Philippians 4:11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get discouraged and frustrated by the world today and how hard it is to live these days. They seem to get more complex as time passes. When we go through many problems and temptations and hard times in life we just have to look up. I myself feel challenged when I go through such times as these.
What about you? Have you ever found it difficult to bear wonderful, sweet, juicy fruit of the Spirit while enduring hardships and trials? Do you ever become worried, fearful, or doubtful in times like these?
What can we do to make things more bearable? Have you considered just looking up instead of just looking around? I believe God would want us to get a thankful and grateful heart. Along with that I believe God would be pleased if it was our desire to have a righteous heart before him and a positive thought life. This is certainly true no matter what happens in our lives.
When I think about these attitudes that bring faith, and godly character, I think of what Paul wrote in Philippians. In the fourth chapter of Philippians, Paul writes in verses 11-13 that he had learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Paul then goes on to reveal his secret to us. It’s the secret of contentment. God gives us the strength we need to have to be able to conquer all situations we experience and endure.
Paul also shares with us what our mindset should be like in verses 8-9 of chapter four…
Verse 8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.
Verse 9: Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Jesus went through many problems and temptations and trials while he was on earth. With his father’s help, he was able to overcome. He was tempted by Satan who tried to give him all the kingdoms of the world. There were many people who tried to identify him as someone he wasn’t. Jesus also endured soldiers spitting on him, mocking him, and putting a crown of thorns on his head. Those same soldiers struck him again and again with a staff. They even hung him on a cross to crucify him.
Jesus also overcame all of these difficulties. By doing this, he forgave his enemies with all he had by dying on a cross. He rose from the grave on the third day. It was only three days. All he endured had passed. Jesus is truly the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
If we have him as our Lord and he rose again, we can face tomorrow. So just like Jesus overcame his problems we can too. Just look up to him. Praise God!

Amanda Merten.
Writer-“Total Alliance” for L.T.D.

]]> http://lightingthedark.org/2011/we-can-face-tomorrow/feed/ 1 The Beginning (part 1) http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-beginning-part-1/ http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-beginning-part-1/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:24:02 +0000 light http://lightingthedark.org/?p=1461 Water Tips that can help YOU ‘save’!!

  •     Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.
  •     If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the shower-head with a water-efficient model.
  •     Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.

 Let us know your results from these three tips.

It was black, dark, no light in sight…then, out of the darkness came a bright sliver of light; a sunbeam! Wow, it was unbelievably bright. Then out of nowhere, a loud thud, and then shooting pain. At that moment my eyes opened fully as my dog ran over the top of the bed – now I was wide awake……Today was the beginning of the day that Lighting The Dark was truly born…

It was September 2008 and I was sleeping in, missing work, do to a health problem with my heart. The day started off as any normal day, except I had a Heart monitor attached to my body, which was just weird at the age of 24. As I went through my day, sitting around, watching TV, eating breakfast, and snacking in-between meals, playing the drums (which really set my heart monitoring off track)…the normal stuff.

It was lunch time, and I had just finished eating lunch and decided to Google random facts about our world, in doing so I came across the facts about water and the major water crisis that is going on in our world. At this point and time in my life, I was a selfish person that only cared about what would benefit myself. But when I started to do more research I began to become compelled to learn more, to see what I can do to help. As the day went on I thought more and more about it. It was weird to me! At times I even felt as though I could begin to cry…I started asking myself, “what is wrong with you…” and saying “This heart problem is really making me emotional…” Nevertheless, I decided I needed to start a charity to help. As the week progressed, I researched and looked into what I would need to do to start a charity.

The want, and need, to do more with my life actually started before this day in September, 2008. It all started on June 23rd, 2007. It was a great day, I had just bought and moved into my first home. I was so excited! My life was beginning to take shape. A couple weeks before that I had proposed to my girlfriend, got my first dog and now I was moving into my first home. Life was starting to look good for me. We planned on moving everything in and then start building a new fence for the back yard. Well, one thing led to another, and after moving everything in, we decided to go to the lake and do some wakeboarding. Little did I know, this day would change my life…

TO BE CONTINUED….

Allen Barker (CEO/Found)
Lighting The Dark & IFwater
email: Info@LightingTheDark.org

]]> http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-beginning-part-1/feed/ 3 The Facts http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-facts/ http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-facts/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:17:50 +0000 light http://lightingthedark.org/?p=1403 THE FACTS

 

Laffy Taffy joke of the day!

What has 10 letters that starts with gas?
Where does a general put his armies?

E-mail your guess to Info@LightingTheDark.org. and in the subject put Laffy Taffy. Make sure you give us your name and where you are from. We will post the answers on our Facebook and Twitter pages, along with who got the answer first. So make sure to check in and have fun! Remember…no cheating :)

Because of water, we have a great life…an easy life! We are lucky to have such easy access to water – we walk to the faucet, then a simple turn of the knob. Yet, the majority of us think to ourselves that that isn’t good enough. We need spring water or filtered water, and we go buy our water at the store, in bottles. I fall into this category as well, I need to use my water pitcher that filters my water so I have even cleaner water. The fact is this, there is 1.1 billion people in our world that do not have access to any type of clean water. Women and children travel for miles to get water, water that is often contaminated with disease and bacteria.

People take water for granted. Did you know that when you water your lawn for an hour that A sprinkler uses enough water to support a family of four?! Fact: water is responsible for 80% of disease and death in our world. Fact: Each american uses enough water in one day to fill 1600 drinking glasses!
Water is an abundance for us. I, personally, overlooked the blessing of such easy access to water and when I read some of these facts for the first time..I was shocked!  To think I use so much water, yet people in our world fight, struggle and walk for miles just to attain a little amount for there families (water that could cause sickness and possibly even death).

These are some facts about water that helped me realized how blessed I was to have the life that I do and to appreciate the fact that I live in a country that a simple thing, like water, is so easily accessible.

A CHALLENGE FOR TODAY: Can you do all of your daily water needs (drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, etc.) using only 5 gallons of water? Give it a shot and send us your story/results – title it “5 GALLON” send it to Info@LightingTheDark.org. HAVE FUN!

Allen Barker
Lighting The Dark – IFwater – LightingTheDark.org
Drilling water wells. Providing fresh, sustainable, drinking water
to people in developing countries – Haiti
]]> http://lightingthedark.org/2011/the-facts/feed/ 1 To Thirst No More http://lightingthedark.org/2011/to-thirst-no-more/ http://lightingthedark.org/2011/to-thirst-no-more/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:09:12 +0000 light http://s130803.gridserver.com/?p=1114 Laffy Taffy jokes of the day!

What happens when you cross a singer and a rocking chair?

What goes tick-tock, woof-woof?

E-mail your guess to LightingTheDark@live.com. In the subject put Laffy Taffy. Make sure you give us your name and where you are from. We will post the answers on our Facebook page tomorrow, along with who got the answer first, so make sure to check in! Have fun! And no cheating :)

TO THIRST NO MORE…could you image a life where we would thirst no more? Water, coke, juice, coffee…we wouldn’t thirst for any of it? To me, it sounds kind of boring, as well as impossible! However, when we talk about in spirit, to thirst no more, sounds refreshing.

This blog page is titled Water=Life, this is true in more than one circumstance. When providing a fresh water well in a remote area in the country of Haiti, peoples lives are changed. Sickness, disease, and death, that is caused by to water, is almost eliminated. In John 4:13-14 it says this, “..Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst…” Jesus said this to the Samaritan women at the well. There is so much truth to this, not because Jesus said it, but because without the living water God provides, we will continue to thirst. Jesus goes on to say, “…Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Through the story of the Samaritan women at the well, you can learn the Jesus’ well is ready to refresh the soul that is parched due to suffering and sin. It tells us that Jesus came to save people who are sick and to serve those who are in need of physical and spiritual healing.

We can provide all the water to people that they need, but without putting God in the mix, people will continue to thirst for that spiritual fullness. I challenge you, provide that water to someone today, allow Jesus to use you to be a freshing spring that can well up in them, that will lead them to eternal life! To thirst no more…

Lighting The Dark – IFwater

]]> http://lightingthedark.org/2011/to-thirst-no-more/feed/ 1 Water=Death http://lightingthedark.org/2011/waterdeath/ http://lightingthedark.org/2011/waterdeath/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:05:40 +0000 light http://s130803.gridserver.com/?p=1110 This is kind of an odd statement to read when water is the number once source for sustaining life. However, water is the number one cause of disease and death in our world today.

Living in America, we often find ourselves complaining about the water we have coming out of our faucets, so what do we do? We buy bottled water or have the Culligan man drop off a 5-gallon jug of spring water. The true fact is this; we are spoiled. We live in a World where more than 1.1 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water. Everyday people are forced to settle for infectious water, usually collected from a stream, river or watering holes. This water can cause Cholera, Diarrhea, Typhoid, E Coli, and many other sicknesses.

Did you know that the average person in America uses five gallons of water just while brushing their teeth? In Africa the average household uses five gallons of water for all of their daily needs, such as, drinking, cooking and bathing in one day.

Every 15 seconds a child dies do to unclean water…the question to you is this… do you think it is our obligation? Do you think that us as other human beings should feel obligated to fight this crisis?
Water=Death in a majority of our World, but it doesn’t have to. Water can begin to equal life for these 1.1 billion people; will YOU help fight the fight?

Allen Barker – www.LightingTheDark.org – Ifwater

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