This is not a counseling service, so don’t fear the job.

Here are some of the emails we have received…

Where do I look to when I am trying to find my answers? I’ve talked to my select group of people that I truly consider friends, yet they don’t seem to hold the answers to any of my problems/questions. I’m in a rut, merely drifting down the stream of life with no direction. I pray for answers every night, and it seems the only thing God is trying to teach me is patience. I’m fairly intelligent, I have a good job, at least it does look good on a resume, and I guess I’m about average looking, but, I just don’t like myself. I don’t like my body. I don’t like not knowing what to do with my life, and I am truly lost. I don’t have any goals to try to achieve (which is me not know what I want to do with life) or I just can’t get motivated enough to walk down the path (which is more so the case of my body). I don’t know if you can help, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what someone has to say about my problem..

I have anger problems. My anger leads me to have thoughts of killing myself. I dont want to tell my parents, they wouldnt care, I hate them. What should I do?

Again, our responsibility is not to be their counselor, we are simply there to pray with the individual and guide them to a place where they can get help.

Apply to be a mentor.

TruthMedia Internet Group played a major part in the transition as we were involved in the development of the new corporate website which can be found at PowertoChange.org. TruthMedia also manages PowertoChange.com which is used for media campaigns around the world.

There were many technical challenges with this change in branding. For instance, what site should show up first in Google when someone types Power to Change? I’ll answer some of those questions in a future post but for now here are some images of the new site(s).

Note: The name change is applicable for Campus Crusade for Christ, Canada only. It does not apply to the international body. Power to Change Ministries is still a part of Campus Crusade for Christ, International.

When the first Power to Change media campaign took over the Lower Mainland of BC back in 1999, I was excited to be a part of the team that designed its first online presence.

Since then it has had at least seven different looks to the design to take care of campaigns that have run across Canada. Each one had the same underlying purpose, to share the stories of people that had their lives changed.

TruthMedia Internet Group put a new look on the site back in June and with a change to the software that now powers it, a few more features. For example, there is now a blog that can be used to share events that occur in different campaign cities but even more importantly, a place to share life stories submitted by and about everyday people.

One of those people is Terry.

At first I kept my nose clean. Trucking all over Canada and the United States, I was having fun. There was no shortage of fellow drivers to learn from or hang out with. They were more than ready to show me the ropes – they knew where the cheesy, trashy bars with cheap booze in the red light districts in the major cities were.

Read and watch the full story.

For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

As a Christian, I am not surprised that two planes were flown into the World Trade Center with the express purpose of murdering thousands. I’m not surprised at the evil that exists in the world today.

Instead, I look to the good that comes out of the atrocities. People turn to God in the midst of the struggle as they realize that there is no where else to turn for answers.

On this September 11, 2006, I invite you to take a look at one who made a life changing decision five years ago that brought meaning to the day.

Meet Shoshy.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend a few months worth of time over the years at the location which is always a fun time due to the people I get to work with when I head down there.

This past week, my team of programmers flew down to meet with a few guys from Global Media Outreach. We partner with their ministry on working towards best practices when it comes to internet ministry and internet marketing. One of those best practices is in the use of a system that allows us to match people that email us from our sites, with a trained mentor. This trip involved coming up to speed with how the system works and how we can help them through programming availability.

We enjoyed our time with the guys and had a blast with a number of team building times.

This past month I was able to assist Lift Up America with a design for their email newsletter. Lift Up America encourages every corporate leader to become more involved in acts of generosity and kindness to those who need a helping hand.

With sponsors like Tyson Foods and LensCrafters, and sports teams like the San Jose Sharks and the Miami Dolphins involved, it will be exciting to see how the organization can meet the needs of America’s communities.

In a partnership with Dr. Charles Stanley, we syndicate his daily devotional for men and allow our reads to comment. We also have a number of authors that write high quality devotionals for women.

Women especially are finding community amongst other TM Devotional readers and we are seeing people open their hearts and lives to others.

For example, when one reader found it difficult to forgive her neighbour that had committed adultery with her husband, another reader responded,

Some of the best advise that I ever received on this issue was from an associate pastor at my church. He said “fake it till you make it�. Forgiving is a verb, just like run or jump. We make a choice to forgive, the feelings will come later. We may have to “fake it� for awhile. When we “bless� the person who offended or hurt us (ie- say nice things to them, pray for them, treat them with respect) those feelings will eventually follow. I have been doing this for almost 2 years in a situation I am in and I am just now finally seeing a little progress in my own attitude. Read Psalms! David raged a lot and God still loved him. I KNOW that God loves all of us just as much. Don’t give up! Keep on, keeping on!

It always amazes me how people will open up their hearts to each other on the internet. Our mentors see amazing things happen as people feel free to share their life stories with us.

If you are interested in either the men’s or women’s devotional, you can subscribe to receive them in your email or if you are able, we have subscription feeds for men and women.

It is very unusual for people to have an “Open Mind,” on any topic. I’d probably say it is impossible. Sure, minds can be changed but it usually comes down to arguing, not just the initial idea, but the presuppositions that people believe.

The reason we got involved in the controversy surrounding The Davinci Code, was it allowed us to talk about what people believe. In a world whose media bombards us with secular beliefs, claiming that they are facts, it is important for Christians to do what Paul did in Athens, and become apologists for the Gospel.

On our Discuss Davinci Code blog, we talk about facts and what people believe, not only about The Davinci Code book, but about the Bible.

For example:

â€? Test everything. Hold on to the goodâ€? again from The Bible. My point is The Bible has not been proven to be the 100% truth and so the above quote can not be proven to be 100%. In other words it is having faith in a quote that comes from a book that you have faith in. Don’t know if that makes sense but can’t think of another way to put it. – Chris (England)

Emmzee, a TruthMedia intern responded,

Chris, the thing is, most of the things we cannot be proven to be 100% truth, depending on how much “proof� you need. Let’s take a look at this fictional dialogue:

Fred: I have a brother named Jim.
Skeptic: I don’t believe you.
Fred: Ummm … why would I lie?
Skeptic: I don’t know. Maybe you’re crazy. You made the claim. Prove it.
Fred: Well … I have a picture of him in my wallet. Here, look. See it says “Fred & Bob June 2005″ on the back.
Skeptic: That could be anyone. How do I know it’s your brother?
Fred: But here’s one of us when we’re kids too …
Skeptic: Buh. That could be your cousin, not your brother. Or maybe your parents were just good friends. Besides pictures can be edited; I know how to use Photoshop and could make a picture like that in an hour.
Fred: Okay, what if I arranged a meeting, where you could meet him for yourself?
Skeptic: This “Jim� as you call him could just be lying. Or he could be crazy too.
Fred: But we have the same last name! And we look the same!
Skeptic: Could just be coincidence that your last name is the same. Or you could have changed it, it’s easy to change a person’s name. You could have just styled your hair, etc to make yourselves look similar, and/or had plastic surgery.
Fred: Argh!!! Okay what if we had a DNA test done? That would prove it!
Skeptic: Those tests could be faked. What if this “Jim� guy is a scientist? He could fake them himself. Or what if he’s a master forger? Or he could just bribe someone to fake them. There could be a whole conspiracy behind this!
Fred: You’re an idiot.

Of course this is a somewhat frivolous example. But it demonstrates that everyone believes things we can’t prove 100% and that we are quite right to do so The evidence in the article I posted above indicates that the Bible has been reliably transmitted to us (it suggests it is 99% accurate with regards to the original manuscripts). This should at least to consider its claims seriously.

These two comments were #150 and #151 on the article, “Did da Vinci paint Mary Magdalene in The Last Supper?”

It’s amazing how a conversation can get to the underlying issue. Honestly, does it matter what Leonardo painted? Of course not! What matters is whether the Bible is the foundation for what we believe.

I, Sheldon, have taken the wrapping off of another site. This url used to redirect to an area on my personal/family site, but I thought that having a separate site would allow me to give those interested in online evangelism, information specific to your needs.

Welcome to The Harvest is Plentiful.

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