Sep/Oct 2011

CEO/Publisher Tess Rutherford

Editor Tina Mason - http://www.masonandmasonservices.com/

Photographer Ben Geyer - http://www.flickr.com/photos/geyerba/

Graphic Artist Assistant Imari Rutherford

Writers bfullah77@gmail.com

laura-cates@hotmail.com

Post-Divorce Parenting, page 12

Grace through the Storm, page 15

Bruce Fullah

Laura Cates

Laughter for the Soul: Christians live forever, page 8

Della Evans

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Sep/Oct 2011 | http://empoweredmagonline.com

VOL1, NO 4 | SEP/OCT 2011

Content COVER STORY 9 Almost Homeless

A story of a couple who experienced grave financial difficulty upon moving to America; however God showed them grace through the helping hands of others.

Interview By: Tess Rutherford

FEATURES 12 Post-Divorce Parenting

Gain an understanding on how to parent in unity post a divorce.

By: Bruce Fullah

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Grace through the Storm A testiment of what it really takes to trust God regardless of the expert’s report.

By: Laura Cates

IN EVERY ISSUE: 6 8 7 17 5

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Tess: Letter from CEO/Publisher Laughter for the Soul: Della Evans Delicious Recipe Featured Book Review: Hill Harper Readers’ Voice

Sep/Oct 2011 | http://empoweredmagonline.com

Readers’ VOICE

We Love To Hear From You!

Letter from CEO/Publisher Tess Rutherford

Toddlers are notorious for throwing temper tantrums. When things do not go their way, they cry and yell hysterically. They punch and hit things. They throw themselves on the floor and refuse to go any farther until their demand is met. I know many of you would not tolerate such behavior from your child. But the truth is temper tantrums are not found in one specific age group. Many adults have been known to throw tantrums, especially when it comes to God.

Let us say that you purchase a beautiful home. It is the house of your dreams. It has everything you could ever want plus some. But four years down the road, life happens. You lose your job. And although your spouse is working, the remaining income is not enough to cover all of the expenses. You have gone four months without paying your mortgage and the bank decides to take action.

You are weeping profusely over the impending foreclosure. You are begging and pleading with God to intervene somehow. But sooner rather than later the inevitable happens and you lose the house of your dreams. You are officially angry with God. Your prayers didn’t seem to make it to God’s heavenly throne. And it didn’t matter how much you cried, it felt like God completely ignored you. You are enraged. You are punching walls – mad at the world because the God that you have been serving for years did not intervene. As a result of your misery, you refuse to take another step in this journey of life with God.

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Don’t get bogged down when things don’t go your way. Accept the fact that everything happens for a reason. And even though everything is not “God sent”, it is “God used.” Sometimes the Lord allows the devil to afflict us for a season. But the Lord is always faithful to take what the enemy means for bad and turn it around for His good and perfect will. Being a Christian is not about living a life full of permanent bliss. Our struggles are opportunities to mature and grow into the person that God has created us to be.

We can never truly understand the mind of God. It is difficult to comprehend what He is doing at times. But nevertheless continue to trust in His infinite wisdom and learn to be okay with whatever comes your way. Because this, my friend, will keep you peaceful.

But Luke 12:15 tells us, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”(ESV) In other words, life extends beyond the material world. So what if you lose a house, a car, or a job. Do you not know that all of these things can be replaced easily? Life is not about making more money, or becoming well known, or having more power.

Life is about fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. God created you for a reason. Discovering your purpose unlocks the true meaning of life.

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Tess

Almost Homeless Interview By:Tess Rutherford

In a small town, there lived two brothers who took care of each other. The age of the youngest was 90 and the oldest was 92. The youngest brother caught the flu and two days later he died.

During the funeral, the oldest had his arms crossed looking angrily the entire time. He kept murmuring and grunting every time someone would mention the name Jesus or God. After service was over, the 92yr old made his way toward the altar to meet with the pastor, who gave the eulogy. The elderly man told the pastor that he no longer wanted to be a Christian. The pastor responded with empathy and said he understood losing a loved one was a difficult thing but the good news was he would see his brother again some day. The man responded,

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“What do you mean I will see him again?! I have always been told that Christians live forever. My brother was a Christian and he died! Therefore, I don’t want to be a Christian any longer!” The pastor looked with amazement and asked the man where he thought the other Christians, who died, went. The man said, “Well…me and my brother assumed they weren’t really Christians.” The pastor responded, “They were really Christians and Christians do live forever but we must die here on earth first. Your brother is with Jesus right now in heaven.” The man paused then he humbly said, “Really? Well I’ll say! Pastor, I wanna take back what I said then… I want to be a Christian again.”

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Photos By: My Vision Photography

Many of you have heard of Tanzania. This country is located in the eastern part of Africa.

It has famous attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro which sits as the highest peak on the continent, Lake Tanganyika which is the world’s deepest lake, and breathtaking national parks and beaches. Who would ever want to leave such a gorgeous country with so much to offer? Lulu and Dennis were living in Tanzania living what many would call the “good life.” Dennis worked at a television station making pretty good money but, on the inside of his heart he wanted more. He kept sensing that God was calling him to a special service and he simply wanted to heed to the call (whatever it took) and fulfill God’s will. A part of the process involved Dennis relocating his family to America – Columbus, OH. The plan was to study Broadcasting for two years, then launch a production business afterward.

After the transition was made, things began to shake.

Lulu started battling health issues. It seemed like all the little money they did have were going to doctors and medical specialists who could not determine the root of Lulu’s health issue. The educational sponsorship pulled out; therefore, Dennis and Lulu could not continue pursuing their education. All of these issues contributed to the couple’s insurmountable debt.

Although things were turning upside down in their lives financially, their spiritual lives remained intact. They did not allow their circumstances to impact negatively their devotion

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to the Lord. Dennis was leading the worship team at church and the couple found themselves getting more involved in counseling marital couples.

After five years had passed, it was time for Dennis and Lulu to move again. This time God wanted to move the couple farther west – to California. One major roadblock stood in the couple’s way, and that was they lacked the needed funds to transition them from Columbus, Oh to San Diego, CA. So Dennis and Lulu put a fleece (a way of testing to see if the words you are hearing are from God or not) out before the throne of God and said Lord if this decision to move is of you then I pray thee to make a way where there seems to be none. Shortly after the fleece was given, Dennis met with a

local pastor who handed him a check which was enough to cover the relocation cost. This was confirmation to the couple that God was in the midst of their decision to move. Upon touching the grounds in California,

God blessed them with a house, Dennis with a job, and Lulu with her own cleaning business. And after a year and a half, Dennis lost his job and before long Lulu began to lose one client after another until she had no more clients to work with. The couple was stretched way beyond limit. Dennis took up side jobs such as working as an independent productions contractor. He also went on tour to finish up his Christian album. Even though their situation seemed very bleak and discouraging, Dennis was singing songs of encouragement both to God and to man.

Just when the couple thought things could not get any worse, they received an eviction notice. Lulu was in the process of calling homeless shelters in the local area when suddenly she received a call from a friend.

Lulu asked her friend if she knew of any shelters in the area and the friend invited the couple to stay with her while her husband was away in Afghanistan.

When asked how the kids coped with the many changes, Lulu responded that she made it her duty to keep the kids well informed of their financial situation. Lulu said that she and her husband did not seek to hide anything from their children. Through the ups and downs, their kids who are 12, 8 and 6 years old came to establish their own personal relationship with the Lord. For their parents taught them how to pray to the God who supplies all of their needs.

After three months, Dennis and Lulu were generating enough income to move in a house of their own. The Lord

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began to expand the couple’s ministering territory. The couple regularly shares their story with employees at a printing company to show them how they, too, can lead an empowering life through Christ. In addition to preaching, Dennis and Lulu are actively involved in missionary work supporting orphanages in Africa. They donate school supplies and meals to support them.

The goal is to build an orphanage for the children. Today, the kids are scattered in different homes and Dennis and Lulu would like to bring them all together in one central location. Dennis and Lulu are doing all they can to empower the kids, minister the gospel of Christ, and train and equip the children for the future. Please contact them if you wish to help in this effort.

Through the many obstacles and challenges, Dennis and Lulu are now able to see God through a new set of lenses.

They have learned to be more attentive to what God is saying.

There were plenty of other occa

“There have been many people who have failed in life but many of those people always managed to rise to the occasion.” sions where God provided food for them and blessed them with financial resources supernaturally. But Lulu says that we as Christians expect God to move supernaturally without us first doing something. The reality is

there are natural laws in place for a reason and God simply adds his super to our natural.

Dennis says if you are called of God there will always be a price to pay. For him and Lulu, they literally had to walk out their faith by virtue of a trial. This has enabled them to be more effective in their personal ministry.

Dennis also advises to associate with people who are supportive of your dream – people who are not looking for what you have or don’t have – people who are willing to pray with you – people who are bold enough to challenge you – and people who will build a forest around you.

There have been many people who have failed in life but many of those people always managed to rise to the occasion.

the imagination and the things that contaminate it. Most children will not do this naturally, and so need spiritually aware and proactive parents to create an environment and experience conducive for it to happen.

In order for divorced parents to create an environment and experience that can arrest contaminated emotions and imaginations in the mind of a child subjected to the aftermath of divorce, they must first assess themselves. Divorced par-

Most people would agree that the most difficult part of a divorce is the potential risk of damaging your marriage’s most valuable assets: your children.

Granted, not every divorced couple has had the privilege of having children, but for those who have, there is a completely different dynamic to consider. Divorce oftentimes is not an amicable process, or else it wouldn’t be necessary; so the issues that prevented reconciliation also usually distort and damage communication.

The unfortunate part of this is that the children suffer the negative effects of damaged and irresponsible interactions. The hard truth is that post-divorce parenting requires people to do exactly what they couldn’t do during marriage; work together in agreement.

The challenge of being in agreement on certain matters can become the battle ground that traumatizes and characterizes the children’s lives. Divorced parents have to be especially careful to understand and acknowledge that their interaction with one another is still un-

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der the microscope from the children’s perspective, and unfortunately, if their interaction is negative, that may influence the children negatively. Both children and people in general naturally latch on to and internalize their most vivid experiences.

The most vivid experiences in divorce are often very contentious, disagreeable, and in some cases violent. Children who have been

them to the truth of “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Parents, although divorced, need to take special care to build new and better experiences for their children. They need to create new and positive emotional highs that can cancel and override vivid and traumatic past experiences. Does this mean that children will forget all the negative things from the past? Certainly not; The hard truth is that postbut it can remove divorce parenting requires the sting of the past people to do exactly what they and the captivating couldn’t do during marriage; power of negative work together in agreement. and traumatic experiences, thus breaking future behavsubjected to this, and would asioral and family cycles. II Cor pire toward a positive and productive future, still often repeat 10:4-5 says, “For the weapons of their parent mistakes. This is our warfare are not carnal, but because they so easily and so of- mighty through God to the pullten envision the toxic behaviors ing down of strong holds; Castthey’ve been exposed to. Even ing down imaginations, and evchildren who understand that ery high thing that exalts itself they want to take a better path against the knowledge of God, than their parents often recite and bringing into captivity evthe things they detest, and con- ery thought to the obedience of sequently repeat the things they Christ”. Here Paul expresses the detest. Mere repetition subjects concept of taking authority over

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ents must first detoxify themselves in order to handle their children with clean hands. Parents must embrace the challenge of owning their pain and its influence in their lives, forgiving their former spouse, and allowing God to free them form the power of their past. Only then can they successfully approach their future, have healthy communication with their ex-spouse, and care for their children with the kind of nurture that umbrellas them from the residue of a painful past.

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Hannah was born on August of 2000. I had a very healthy pregnancy - no complications. However, three days after my due date I had not felt her move at all so I quickly rushed to the hospital feeling as though something was wrong.

When I arrived, the doctor performed some tests and admitted me. After six hours of induced labor nothing was progressing.

The doctor told my husband and me that the baby was starting to get stressed and either she would have to break my water or give me an emergency cesarean.

Immediately after receiving the doctor’s report, my husband and I began to pray.

Within ten minutes, I was being prepped for surgery. Everything was happening so quickly.

Within fifteen minutes Hannah was out of my womb. Though I was a bit incoherent, I was completely aware of a cry-less baby and I wondered what was wrong. What I didn’t know was at the table across from me, my daughter’s skin was blue and she was completely lifeless. It took twenty-one chest compressions

before she took her first breath.

She was taken to another room while my husband continued to assure me that everything was going to be okay, I believed him.

After all God had given me this baby. I knew in my heart that God had a plan for my little Hannah.

Thirty minutes later, I was brought a photo of my baby.

Knowing that I couldn’t hold her just about killed me. That night they did what is called exploratory surgery on Hannah to see what was wrong. They found a mass in her stomach the size of a small adult fist. This mass was prohibiting Hannah from taking her first breath. From this procedure, Hannah was diagnosed with ileal atresia. Her small intestines were undeveloped which resulted in incomplete digestive system. The doctors came and gave us the bad news.

She was going to be in the hospital for months, and it was likely she would need a colostomy bag.

If they are able to save enough small intestines, the doctors could put them back together.

My husband and I prayed almost the entire night. All glory

to God, we received great news the following day. The surgeons were able to save some of Hannah’s small intestine and there was no need for a colostomy bag. The next 10 days Hannah surprised all of the nurses and doctors. During our stay we overheard Hannah’s surgeon on the phone talking about another child coming in on a helicopter.

This little girl who had flown in lay next to Hannah. Not only did the premature baby have intestinal problems but she had liver problems as well. Two little girls lie next to each other with a rare deficiency (ileal atresia) seen in one in sixty thousand. The other little girl’s parents were so worried about their baby. God had strategically arranged this divine moment for me and my husband to spend time with this couple, encourage them, and pray them through. Seeing little Hannah gave them hope that their little girl would soon be okay too. God had us there for a reason and my husband was blessed to lead the little girl’s father to Christ.

After being told that Hannah would not be released to go

P ro d u c t R e v i e w

come home until two months, she actually came home 12 days after having three major surgeries.

After her first check-up, her doctor was so surprised at how well she was doing that he brought in another medical specialist just to observe the miracle.

Our response to the doctor was this was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. They told us that she was still going to have trouble growing and she would always be small for her age and have trouble digesting vitamins. We believed God for a complete healing. Today, Hannah is a very healthy eleven year old, who is in the 90th percentile for her height and weight. She has dreams of being a Christian artist and wants to use her talents for the Lord.

ing through is not an accident. God didn’t promise us that we could somehow bypass the storms of life, but He did promise us peace in the midst of the storm. Our only responsibility is to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5, 6 tells us; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Even though I didn’t understand why my Hannah had to go through what she did, God had a plan, even though I didn’t see it at the time. I learned not to lean on my own understanding. Hannah’s name means “Grace of God”.

Grace means the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God, the influence or spirit of God operating

As I look back on all that has transpired, I in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. God realize that I would not change it for anything in gives us His grace when we need it. It was there for the world. The lessons that God has taught me me then and it is here for you now. Learn to lean on were life changing. He stretched my faith. I learned Him and trust Him. He will carry you through. to trust in Him knowing that He has a purpose for everything that happens. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that everything has a purpose. What you are go-

About Author Hill Harper’s bestsellers include The Conversation, which was an Essence Book Club pick; Letters to a Young Sister; and the award-winning Letters to a Young Brother. He stars in CSI: NY and holds degrees from Brown, Harvard, and the Kennedy School of Government. Harper lives in Los Angeles.

Visit AMAZON.COM to purchase your copy today!

Book Description: The perennial New York Times bestselling author helps readers discover how to put money in its place and use wealth-building as a tool for joy and fulfillment.

Hill Harper is uniquely poised to guide readers through tough times and offers bestselling advice for reaping the rewards of a truly happy life.

With The Wealth Cure, he does more than that: He presents a revolutionary new definition of wealth, motivating readers to not only build financial security but to also achieve wealth in every aspect of their lives.

Using his own journey as a parable, Harper inspires the reader to evaluate their values while explaining the importance of laying a sound financial foundation and how to recognize the worth of your relationships and increase the value of your

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interactions with the people in your life. Drawing on his personal recollections and true stories from family and friends, Harper helps readers begin to see money not as a goal but as a tool that provides freedom for following their passions. The keys include investing in yourself, tapping the resources you need, and taking responsibility for how those resources are used. Far from a get-rich-quick primer, The Wealth Cure brims with inspired wisdom for building a lasting bounty from the experiences, loved ones, and achievements that really matter. what the devil took from you.

Handle your Emotions God’s Way! explores 52 negative human emotions and provides real life examples and biblical principles to controlling one’s emotions God’s way.

The book is available at Berean’s bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, tessrutherford.com and many other internet sites!

Empowered Magazine is published bi-monthly: Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug, Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec online and in print. Tess Rutherford, President/ CEO. Online subscriptions: Free. Printed subscriptions: $5. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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