Joel Osteen - Relief Effort for Rita

From Joel and Victoria Osteen:

Joel Osteen Ministries and Lakewood Church are located in the heart of Houston, Texas. Because of our proximity to the areas most affected by Hurricane Rita, we will be taking an active role in relief efforts. Thousands of volunteers have been enlisted, crisis counselors trained, medical teams prepared and supplies collected. But we will need your help if we are to make an ongoing difference in the thousands of lives that have been impacted by this storm. Please give now to help with the hurricane relief

Please note that due to the threat of Hurricane Rita in the Houston area all services, church activities, and related events for the weekend of September 24th are cancelled.

Continue to check our Web site at http://www.joelosteen.com/ for the most up-to-date information.

Please pray for South Texas and Louisiana residents, and all those who may be impacted by this powerful hurricane. God bless you and your family. We are believing for God's restoration power.

Joel and Victoria Osteen

100 Computers for Mississippi School

Charity in Action is continuing its great work in supporting the ministry of Lt. Martie Johnson, a Seabee chaplain in Gulfport, Mississippi by shipping 100 computers and other supplies to help in the school rebuilding project. Check out the local Fox News Coverage of the story.

Microboundaries - Better Communication is Possible

The Rev. Mark Carlson, a licensed marriage and family counselor, recently gave a seminar titled, "Microboundaries: Protection of Love" which can be downloaded for free as an MP3 or listened to live online.

In it he identifies seven aspects of a person's sense of self that he identified as their micro boundaries:

• Beliefs


• Opinions


• Thoughts


• Intentions, Desires, Motives


• Feelings


• Your experience of your body


• Your experience of your family of origin

His lecture proposed answers to questions I had and questions I hadn't thought to ask - expanding my understanding of what makes us individual human beings, what healthy communication is, and even how to effectively parent children.

In a handout given at the talk, Mark Carlson layed it out this way.

In comparison with violations of another's Macroboundaries like:

• Physical violence or cruelty


• Lying


• Humiliation


• Using sarcasm or teasing, belittling, and ridicule


• Disparaging another's friends


• Name calling


• Gossiping


• Triangulation: An unwillingness to talk directly to someone you are having a problem with, and talking to another instead

Violating another person's Microboundaries happens when we communicate by:

• Telling another person how to think, feel, believe, etc.


• Telling another person that you KNOW how THEY think, feel, believe, etc


• Speaking for another


• Commands, coercion, manipulation or statements that start "You must..." or "You need to..."


• Forbidding


• Moralizing, Preaching, Making a judgment on another's spiritual state or destination


• Saying "You always..." or "You never..."


• Pretty much every "You" statement, even "I feel that you..."


• Any statement that could be summarized "You think I feel that you feel..."


• Negating another's thoughts, feelings, perceptions, memory, ...


• Not allowing another person to change


• Predicting to another the future of their inner state


• Expecting others to mind read, or know your unexpressed thoughts, feelings, desires, ...


• Minimizing or denigrating another's physical pain

This talk really opened my eyes to see how I could care for the people I love and communicate in a healthy and productive way with everyone I have contact with. You can find the audio online at http://www.newchurch.org/sermons/index_html?s=701

Charity in Action on (phillyBurbs.com)

Charity in Action is continuing its timely and effective work of bringing hope and relief to the people of the Gulf coast. The Intelligencer has great coverage of the community response in an article titled, Helping Hands.

Charity in Action is also now able to receive donations online through their affiliation with the Bryn Athyn Church. If you want to help with the relief and recovery effort, Charity in Action can now receive your donation at Network for Good or visit their Hurricane Relief Donations page to find out about other ways you can contribute to the effort.

Mississippi Needs Our Attention

OK, so New Orleans has our attention in the news, but the storm unleashed its full power on the gulf coast of Mississippi. Definitely take some time to see what is happening with the relief efforts in Mississippi at:
South Missippi's Home Page
and at
WLOX - ABC 13 out of Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pascagula

If you want to help out in this region there is a new charity forming out of Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania called Charity in Action that is supporting the ministry and relief work of Navy Chaplain Martie Johnson, Jr and his unit of Seabees. Under the Direction of Frank and Laura Vagnone, Charity in Action will have volunteers travelling down to the gulf coast not just for the relief effort, but also for the following recovery. To find out more about how you can help visit them online at http://www.charityinaction.org or send a check to:

Charity in Action
The Bryn Athyn Church
C/O Stewart Asplundh
P.O. Box 277
Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

Other Bloggers on Charity in Action:

Charity in Action at GlennFrazier.com

Joel Osteen Reaches Out

Definitely my favorite television evangelist, and probably my favorite preacher over all - Joel Osteen brings Christ's true gospel of hope, inspiration, and God's full power to change lives to people all over the world.

With Hurricane Katrina uprooting so many people, Joel's ministries are reaching out to provide 3 hot meals a day for the refugees in Houston shelters. If you would like to help his efforts, check out the Lakewood Church site at http://www.lakewood.cc/site/PageServer?pagename=HurricaneKatrina