Crossroad Summer 2016 Issue

CROSSROAD PAISLEY & SPARROW + ERIN WEIDEMANN + SHEEPLIFE + BEN JAH + MERCY MINISTRIES

CROSSROADMAGAZINE.NET

THE STORY OF GOD

WITH MORGAN FREEMAN

FAITH + LIFESTYLE + CULTURE

BEST WAYS TO REDUCE

YOUR RISK OF CANCER

FORTY

THE MESSAGE MOTIVATES THE MUSIC: THE NEW GENERATION

DARING TO DREAM

LAUREN DAIGLE A LITTLE TASTE OF HOPE

ROSE & FITZGERALD

HANDCRAFTED GOODS FROM AFAR

EXPERIENCE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

CROSSROAD FAITH + LIFESTYLE + CULTURE

CROSSROAD MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2016 LAUREN DAIGLE | A Little Taste of Hope

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CONTENTS CROSSROADMAGAZINE.NET • SUMMER 2016

08 Daring to dream 10

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman

12

How to Actually Know God’s Purpose For Your Life

14 Rose & Fitzgerald - by rose and fitzgerald 16

Seven Things Every Healthy Marriage should have

23

meet + greet -Erin Weidemann

24

Best Ways to reduce your risk of cancer

28

Benjah, Rising Above All

18

LAUREN DAIGLE A Little Taste of Hope

DARING TO DREAM

by ANN WHITE | Photographer NEILL KUMAR

When is the last time you dreamed?

Remember when you were a kid?

Dreaming is focusing on the future, seeing beyond our current circumstances into the possibilities of what could be. We develop dreams, visions, and ambitions at all stages of life. They are an integral part of the direction our lives take.

While its great to have friends and loved ones protect us from following misguided or unsafe dreams, we must be careful that their concerns don’t completely discourage us from dreaming.

At times, people discourage us from our dreams and other times, our own internal judge is the discourager. If we ignore or suppress our dreams long enough, they will simply become distant memories stuffed in the recesses of our minds and will never have the opportunity to 8 | CROSSROAD

be realized. No matter our age, background, or circumstances, we should all be encouraged to pursue worthwhile dreams in our life.So what is a worthwhile dream?

One important element in determining if a dream is worthwhile or not is to put it in perspective by asking yourself, “is this dream based on something I believe God would want me to do?” Or “is this dream based on selfish desires?”

God has God sized dreams for us if we are willing to move beyond where we are. If we set aside time with the Lord, He will begin to reveal where He wants to take us. God’s dreams are beyond what we can think or imagine and He is the one who can open the doors to our dreams if we are willing to submit to His plans and allow Him to lead. Bruce Wilkerson, author of the Prayer of Jabez, wrote a great book on following your God-given dreams. Consider reading The Dream Giver and learn steps that can lead you on a journey to your dreams.

“The journey toward your Big Dream changes you. In fact, the journey itself is what prepares you to succeed at what you were born to do. And until you decide to pursue your Dream, you are never going to love life the way you were meant to.” Bruce Wilkerson

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“WE DEVELOP DREAMS, VISIONS, AND AMBITIONS AT ALL STAGES OF LIFE.”

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A

friend and I were meeting for lunch one day when we happened to look over and see a small child with his hands and face pressed up against a glass window. This cute little boy was longing to jump in the sparkling pool of water with the other kids that were just on the other side of the glass.

Without someone holding him back, he likely would have found a way to make it to the water.

Thankfully, his parents were there to protect him from the dangers of his dream.

We all have the same amount of time in each day, but it’s how we steward our time that matters. If we will take the time to dream, consult God regarding our dreams, set goals, and begin to put a plan in place, we will be amazed at what dreams God will lead us to realize in our lives!

So what are you waiting for? Start today!

1. Write your dreams down on a piece of paper and pray over them.

2. Ask yourself if you believe these are dreams are ones that God desires for you.

3. Ask God for wisdom, discernment, and to reveal His dreams for your future.

4. Seek wise counsel, set measureable goals, and begin following your dreams!

In Grace - Ann

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CULTURE

MORGAN FREEMAN SEARCHES FOR GOD AROUND THE WORLD

by JUANA MARIA | Photography NAT GEO

M

organ Freeman searches for God on Nat Geo with The Story of God team, proving questions we have all asked ourselves such as: Where did we come from? Who is God? What happens when we die?

The themes of the show are centered on questions of Creation, Resurrection, Apocalypse and Evil. All of these appear to be Christian themes, but in the course of Freeman’s journey around the world; he is surprised, he says, “[by] how many other people have these same questions.” It was a unifying experience to realize that we are all searching for the same truth. Freeman talks about the experience of filming for the documentary, his conclusions on the big questions of life and what led to the documentary in the first place.

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In the Beginning There Were the Same Stories

It may have begun at Istanbul’s magnificent Hagia Sophia that the seed of the idea that has become the documentary was sown five or six years ago. The iconic Hagia Sophia with its imposing dome and minarets has been standing for 1,400 years in the city that was once Constantinople. Emperor Justinian built it as a church in the record time of six years which led to some construction problems but is believed to have proclaimed “Solomon, I have outdone thee” at the end of it. When the Ottoman Empire came to power in 1453, the church became a mosque and later, in 1934, it was converted into a museum.

Standing in the museum with Revelations Entertainment co-founder and CEO Lori McCreary and looking at the frescoes was a

revelatory experience for Freeman. Many of the museum frescoes are of biblical stories relevant to the Christian and Jewish faiths.

Above eye level on the dome of the apse is painted the Virgin Mary with Child. On either pillar that flanks the apse as well as on the pillars that flank the entrance to the nave are the calligraphed monograms of the four Islamic caliphs. Biblical frescoes and Islamic mosaics are juxtaposed in Hagia Sophia in a remarkable integration of two faiths that have always seen to be in great contention.

When McCleary asked their tour guide if the Christian and Jewish biblical stories had been covered up while the monument was a mosque, he told her that Muslims celebrated the same stories. It surprised Freeman and McClearly that there is so much that the three religions have in common that they didn’t know about.

Along with James Younger (director and executive VP at Revelations Entertainment), McCleary would go on to develop the concept for the documentary about God. It would be a documentary that told stories about faith from different perspectives. When Morgan Freeman was asked to narrate and star in it, he said yes.

Christian Narratives of Faith and Survival

Freeman’s narrating voice is gentle, low and gravelly and he speaks at a measured pace as he rides in a taxi through the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The taxi driver is a survivor, who lost everything he owned. At the time it seemed like the end of it all, he says. A New Orleans couple at a church recount how they got through the nights of the floods by singing all night in the dark. “It was really a dark time...[but] we just knew that God would get us out of here.”

There is another kind of Christian faith that Morgan finds he can relate to in Houston. When asked about his most memorable moments during the journey, Freeman mentions Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen’s church resonated with him more than any of the other locations. Osteen is known as the Smiling Preacher, a nickname which makes other preachers sound grim and joyless. Indeed his tall presence and bright-eyed face creased with deep smile lines sets the tone of his preachings to over forty thousand people at Lakewood Church, Houston and telecast to over a hundred other countries. Unlike other preachers who speak of hell and sin, and instill the fear of the Lord in their audiences, Osteen in his Texan twang and pleasantly modulated voice emphasizes the power of love and the power of a positive attitude. Osteen had once stated in an interview to CBN News that to him, Gospel means ‘good news’ and that God is a God of Mercy.

The charismatic preacher’s message to people is not that they are sinners but that for every mistake there is mercy. In meeting Osteen, Morgan says he thought “this guy’s for real.””

Then he goes on to clarify that he’s though the same about a lot of the people the team met on the journey — and he has many lingering

memories and visuals from the trip. One of these is the memories of his visit to Varanasi, India. Freeman recalls the fascination of boating down the sacred Ganges River. Along the banks the rituals of the Hindu faith were being played out – cremations and the faithful bathing – alongside people going about their everyday business doing commercial laundry.

Walking down the narrow streets of India and watching holy men, merchants and temples as a part of daily life was an experience Morgan recollects vividly.

God Beyond the Big Bang

From the presence of God in daily life in India and in Osteen’s preachings, to speculations of the existence of God – Freeman has experienced it all on his journey. He recounts a thought-provoking explanation given to him by Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo of the Vatican. According to Monsignor Sorondo, the theory of the Big Bang as the creation and evolution of the universe does not rule out the Creationist theory.

Evolution does not explain what came before the Big Bang, so it doesn’t nullify Creationism. Freeman says he’s wondered about what came before the Big Bang too. His conclusion is: there is no answer to that question.

God is a mystery to him, as well as a term to apply to this great mystery.

It is a simple explanation, and one that will sit well with open-minded and inquisitive students of religion, as Freeman identifies himself. Freeman calls himself “a lifelong student of religion” but he hasn’t reached any conclusions. He can, like most of us, relate to the big existential questions that science raises, sometimes manages to answer in part, but never wholly.

Science clearly doesn’t have the answer to everything.

The quest for God is a quest that may not have a conclusive answer and Freeman doesn’t meet any of the people he is meeting, or visit any of the places on the itinerary, with any kind of expectations. It is to be hoped that viewers of the documentary will also approach it without expectations. To Freeman, expectations feel egotistical. But in the end, he hopes that the audience will connect with the documentary and find value in watching it, just as he did in making it.

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FAITH

by MARIE EDWARD | Photography PATRICK FORE

W

hen believers talk about discovering their purpose in God, it is specially related to destination or a goal to reach. For example, your purpose could be to become a doctor, own a business, or to become a teacher. But these examples do not depict your purpose, instead they are like callings and you can get as may callings as possible in your life time. Depending on what you are going through in your life, you serve several roles.

When you get to a situation that you seek for God’s purpose in your life and want to be worship him more than anything in the world, it changes your whole idea to one of “what does God desire of me” instead of “what should I do in with my spiritual life.’You were created to serve God, and this is the only way that you will be fully satisfied in your everyday life. Even though you could be loosing focus in life, when you let God take control, you will be living a life that you can never imagine.

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YOU WERE CREATED TO SERVE GOD, AND THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU WILL BE FULLY SATISFIED IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

“

HOW TO ACTUALLY KNOW GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE

Every time 24/7 God’s love flows through you and to others; you are reflecting God’s love in your life. Anytime you assist a fellow brother or sisters build their relationship with Jesus Christ, you are serving the purpose of God in your life. And the good thing about this, it dos not have a time limit, you can begin at anytime.

Everyday when you wake up, communicate with God and let him know how much you love him and how much you want to know him.

Let him know how you want to serve your purpose and be a blessing to others. You don’t have to reach certain a point in your life and start regretting for not doing things that you should have.

Learn how to actually know God’s purpose for your life, let God take control and you will live a life that will matter forever!

FROM THE FORTHCOMING CAMPAIGN “TAKE A STAND”

Handcrafted goods from afar.

Designed to merge traditional craft & modern design by roseandfitzgerald.com

local businesses from the ground up. We do this by contributing design experience while preserving traditional techniques, demanding a highquality product, providing access to foreign markets, providing business support and production assistance, as well as investing in new machinery. These investments allow our artisans to gain exposure to other high-end markets and reach the quality standard required to compete in the international marketplace.

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WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE THAT GEOGRAPHY IS NO LONGER OUR MASTER, THE CONSCIOUSNESS WITH WHICH SOMETHING IS MADE MATTERS, AND THE ADVENTURE I SO WORTHWHILE.

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W

e are husband-and-wife duo Courtney Rose and Laren Fitzgerald. We lived in Uganda, Africa for three years, seeking out beauty and talent in a part of the world brimming with intrigue, untapped potential, hidden treasures, age-old artistic methods, and natural, raw materials that reflect the beauty of the wild, delightfully-chaotic landscape in which we lived. Now based in California, we continue to design each of our goods from afar, which are handmade from start to finish by artisans in our Uganda-based studio—giving the pieces a heart, soul, and story. We aim to forge the future by looking toward the forgotten places—shedding light on over-looked talent, designing and creating rare goods from far away places—all with the intention of surrounding ourselves with beauty that makes us feel more alive.

Rose & Fitzgerald is a design-and-craft studio based in Kampala, Uganda, founded by a Californian couple who wanted to merge their sense of coastal living and contemporary fashion with the beauty of the indigenous materials and craftspeople they encountered in their adopted home of Africa. Rose & Fitzgerald works with master handcraftsmen to create and curate unexpected, beautiful pieces mixing traditional craft with a modern style sensibility—designed for those who seek something uncommon from far-away places.

We Invest in Small Businesses We believe that investing in small businesses and creating market access through trade is one of the most tangible and sustainable ways to help Ugandans rise up in the development chain. We strive to build

We Employ Local Artisans We strive to enable our artisans and small-business partners to become profitable while also having a positive social impact. To do this, we work closely with the artisans to preserve, but more importantly, enhance artistic traditions with a modern aesthetic, while using local, sustainable materials. By providing them with consistent business, we help increase their ability to meet the capacity demands of the global marketplace. In addition, we purchase the products from the artisans and small businesses we partner with at their asking price. By providing our artisans with marketable and economically beneficial outlets for their skills, Rose & Fitzgerald contributes to reducing poverty and thereby improving the livelihood of these individuals and their communities. Combining unique design perspectives with beautiful materials, we produce high-quality, unique products that challenge these artisans to continue to develop skills, confidence, and product versatility. Our job opportunities empower both men and women, support families, and as a result, sustain communities.

We Value The Handmade There’s a real nostalgia in returning to the time of the handmade, and there’s something truly special about knowing who made your product and also knowing that it was crafted by hand, rather than by machine in a factory setting. In addition to our handmade items being unique, meticulously crafted, and high quality, there are so many other reasons that we believe in producing and selling handmade products from Africa.

When you purchase from Rose & Fitzgerald, you are directly supporting the craftsperson that made that product. In addition, you’re supporting their local businesses and community. The artisans invest a piece of themselves—their talent, their dedication, and their attention to detail— and it doesn’t go unnoticed. They take great pride in their work and do not let it leave their workshop until they are completely satisfied with the final product. We think you’ll be happy knowing that your new item is completely unique—no two products are exactly the same.

We Use Local, Natural Materials We take pride in using beautiful, natural, and local materials for the creation of our products. All of our wood-crafted products are locally sourced from sustainable Ugandan National Forestry Associated vendors.

The cow-horn products are made using recycled Ugandan cattle horn from the Ankole nomadic tribe in western Uganda. Our metal-smith in Uganda sources the recycled, heavy-gauge brass from local metal traders. Each of our baskets are hand-woven by talented Ugandan women using local, dyed raffia, from a type of palm leaf, woven around a coil of banana leaf stems, called Bukedo—both of which are renewable, plentiful resources. The cotton bag that comes with many of our products was handmade and screen-printed in Uganda. Even the hangtags we include with our products are sourced from and printed in Uganda. Our goal at Rose & Fitzgerald is to maximize our social impact on the economy by keeping as much of the supply chain within Africa as possible.

We Believe in Quality Over Quantity Our products take days of patient, detailed work to complete as they pass through the hands of multiple artisans who offer different skills. This labor of love means that a product has been given the time and attention that many mass-produced products lack. We are very proud that our products have an appeal and beauty that comes from the hands of a craftsperson that truly cares about and is invested in the end result. Because our process is delicate and demanding, most of the products we offer are sold in limited batches—making them special, unique, and rare.

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COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY

This is the first important thing which every woman must have or bring into their marriage. In this busy life, when it becomes extremely difficult to keep in touch with your husband, all you need to do, try to keep in touch as much as possible. This doesn’t mean you text or call him all through the day. Just a simple text at anytime of the day can work wonders and make him feel special. You must try to communicate your feelings and needs to the man if your life. It really works.

SPEND QUALITY TIME TOGETHER

Now, this one might sound too obvious. But if you want to keep the spark in your marriage alive, you need to do it. Again, this doesn’t mean to you both go out for dinner every day. Just sitting with each other and sharing a laugh can also work in your favor, ladies. When kids, job take away the time, you can bring it back by spending some quality time.

GIVE EACH OTHER SOME SPACE

Along with spending time together, you also need to stay apart. Yes, this is another golden rule of keeping a marriage strong and going. For instance, you can go out for a short trip with your girls, or you can enjoy a girl’s night out.

LEARN ABOUT THE ART OF ACCEPTANCE

This is another important thing which you must pay attention to. There are things in marriage which you must learn to accept. A healthy marriage is the one where both the partners know when to pick a fight and when to let it go. Above all, you must accept that your husband will never, ever will be like you. If he was who knows if you would have married him, right?

SEVEN THINGS EVERY HEALTHY MARRIAGE SHOULD HAVE

by TOBIAS | Photography VLADIMIR KUDINOV ou need to accept the fact that no two marriages are alike. When you think about your marriage, it should be an ever evolving combination of various aspects, like values, interests, passion as well as personality quirks which both your husband and you bring into the marriage.

But, there are 7 things every healthy marriage should have, here’s a list of these seven essential things which keeps your marriage alive all through the years.

Y

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NEVER HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP

Be outright spoken and ask for any help to your husband.

This will not only make him happy, but will also show him how much he means to you. Apart from this, if you and your partner fight over petty issues, don’t hesitate to go for counseling. Many marriages fail because either of the partners hesitates to ask for help.

WORK IT OUT LIKE A TEAM

Marriage is teamwork and you as well as your partner are in the same team. So, you must work together to achieve the goal. Both respect and mutual reliance are two secrets of a happy marriage.

AVOID UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

Now, if you think your husband to be your energy source, you might be disappointed. Having unrealistic expectations from him is not at all right. Even if your husband makes you laugh, you are only responsible for your own happiness. Remember it. Make it a priority and you will be happy.

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LAUREN

DAIGLE A LITTLE TASTE OF

HOPE

by RICK ELLIS | Photographer CENTRICITY MUSIC

CROSSROAD | 19

E

very successful musician has his or her own story of the struggle they went through to find their voice and their calling. That’s certainly been the case with Lauren Daigle, whose album “How Can It Be” is filled with stories about trust and faith.

Daigle grew up in Louisiana and when she was younger she says she never really considered a career in music, although she was always surrounded by the rich sounds of the South. “My parents weren’t necessarily musical. But in our household they would always take us to festivals and my grandparents and aunts would teach me how to Cajun dance, and different things like that. So we kind of grew up just loving music,” she explains. “You know I started singing, just around the house for fun and things like that when I was a little girl and my brother would always 20 | CROSSROAD

say ‘Mom, make her stop singing’ but my mom would say ‘No, you just never know what’s in her heart – You never know.’”

When she was 15, Daigle was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that meant she had to stay out of school and away from people. But while she was homebound, she found an escape in music and that ultimately led her to begin singing in church. “I would study the Grammys and study the red carpet and study different sounds and watch different videos and try to gain as much as I could in that time,” Daigle said. Her mother approached the worship leader at her church and after a brief audition, she began singing regularly in services.

“I joined the church choir and how did some solos here and there. Then when I was about eighteen I started leading, I became one of the church leaders. And from that stage I went to American Idol.”

She was cut from the show just before the Top 24 in 2010, didn’t make it Hollywood in 2011 and in 2012 was cut in the first Las Vegas round.

After she was eliminated in 2012 she went to school at Louisiana State University but she wasn’t able to get away from her calling as a singer. A friend asked her to sing some vocals on an EP his band The Assemblie was recording and the recording later briefly went to #1 on the iTunes charts.

Then when the band had a big major label showcase, the lead singer ended up getting an emergency appendectomy and the band asked her to fill in on lead vocals.

“What I realized was that it was the Holy Spirit. Telling me ‘OK this is what I have in store for you.” That showcase led her to Nashville and the chance to sing on the Jason Gray single “Nothing Is Wasted. She was signed by the Centricity Music label in 2013. She released the “How Can It Be” EP in 2014 and the title track went to #16 on the Billboard Christian Songs Airplay chart. The following year, she released the full-length album “How Can It Be,” which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart. But even more impressively, it eventually got as high as #16 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The title track went on to win several awards, including Worship Song of the year.

“

“MY JOY, COMES ALIVE WHEN EVER I TALK ABOUT THE LORD AND WHATEVER I GET TO SHARE HIS HEART.”

But despite the commercial success of the song, it almost didn’t make it onto her debut EP. “We had just finished writing for the album and we just finished having the song meeting about which ones we’re going to go on the album and I was little indecisive about some of them,” she said. Her producer had a song about adultery he thought might work, although he had always thought a man would be best suited to sing it. “I started to listen to the lyrics and started crying and he told me this story about a woman caught in adultery. All of these people came up against her to try to kill her because in that era, they would have stoned a woman who is caught in adultery. And Jesus stood in the gap for this woman and said ‘No, I’m gonna show her what Grace looks like, I’m going to show to all of these people what Grace looks like.’”

The power of that song has really connected listeners and some cases hearing the song’s message has changed someone’s life. “I heard another girl say that she was flipping through the radio and she was contemplating suicide,” explained Daigle. “She just didn’t really feel any worth or value and said that song saved her that her life - she didn’t know that God could love her like that. So, It’s meant a lot to me to see how He’s used that song in ways way greater than I’m capable of, it’s unbelievable.”

The other issue Daigle has been interested in since her teen years is the topic of human trafficking. She says that until she heard a fellow student discussing it, she had no idea that slavery such as that still existed.

“When I went to college I joined an anti-trafficking organization called Tigers Against Trafficking and they would support the A-21 campaign in Australia. I would write papers on it, any project I had to do, I would do about human trafficking. So it became something that really stuck to my heart.” That led her to working with a Texas organization called “Restore Her,” which which rescues girls from either abusive situations, trafficking and prostitution. “They bring these kids into a school that is amazing and put them into family environment so they have a house mom, a house dad.

A lot of times it’s a married couple that also has kids so they grow up in a normal family structure.”

Daigle says that the common thread in all of these interests is the idea of female empowerment, and that’s a topic that is dear to her heart. “It’s really just about the empowerment as a whole. A lot of times I feel like people get caught up they let little road bumps become roadblocks,” she explained “The things that halt us from moving forward – things like guilt, shame, things that we kind of take on, that God never intends for us to take on and it throws us for the entire course of our lives. Because we get caught up on these thing and so the message that I just want to bring is that we can be restored and we can be redeemed and not all is lost to the grandeur we can sometimes make it.”

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“

MEET +

GREET

The series is known as “The Adventure of Rooney Cruz”. The adventure involves a five-part journey to discovering more about superheroes. The main character, Rooney Cruz, creates a bridge between the modern world and the biblical one. The 9 year old girl experiences similar challenges as the modern girls. Rooney gets a chance in each book to take a personal and up-close look at the lives of the various Bible Belles. She identifies the powers of each Belle through the Bible story. This helps her to realize that she has similar abilities. The girl then makes the connection to the stories to the real world, and this helps shape her personality as well as honesty.

This series is ideal for those moms who are intimidated to teach Bible Stories to their children. The series contains entertaining and fun stories of biblical female heroines. These stories encourage and guide young girls as they try to resolve conflicts. They are also able to fight back the feelings of worthlessness, self-doubt and insecurity.

Rooney Cruz’s journey is similar to most young girls today, who also need to realize that they should not listen what the world tells her about true beauty.

The modern girl is impressionable and is made to believe that her ultimate goal is their physical beauty. Those girls in the spotlight bring the impression that they should be sexy, sassy, loud and obsessed with their looks. To change this perspective, the next generation of girls should be shown that the measure of the heart is the real beauty. Bible Belles was initiated to help make an impact on the lives of the modern young girls as well as their parents. It helps them connect to the various women in the Bible who were used by God in mighty ways.

MEET ERIN WEIDEMANN WIFE, AUTHOR, TEACHER Erin Weidemann is a 5-time cancer survivor who has since become an author. During her college years, she was an independent young woman who actively participated in athletics. She was employed in a job which she believed that it didn’t fit her. She worked hard but to no avail. That is when God revealed Himself to her when she was first diagnosed with cancer. Though she had ignored calling up to God for years, the initial diagnosis broke her, and she finally called out to God for help. Since then, June 2007, she had developed a strong relationship with God who protected and kept her even when she had other four separate recurrences. At this time, she realized that God had given her a talent in writing and language. That’s when she began working on the prelude for Bible Belles. One day, when going home from church, she decided to launch and pivot a company. Coincidentally, that was when she was 8 months pregnant with her baby girl.

Most young girls today love to play and pretend to be princesses.

This is a great opportunity to show them the truth by creating a connection between them and biblical female heroes. With the help of biblical education, a strong foundation is created as the girls relate to the women. They are required to apply the biblical lessons in their own lives. This will help them approach the modern-day problems, relating to similar situations as those faced by Belles.

One of the main reasons why these women are considered to be superheroes is due to the special virtues or qualities they possess.

Young girls can tap into these God-given superhuman qualities and discover the abilities they possess and how they can be useful in their lives. Through the stories, girls can discover the love of God as well as understand the purpose of the special abilities given to them by God. Erin Weidemann is also the host to the Heroes for Her podcast.

The main aim of starting the Heroes for Her podcast was to build a society of encouragement and support for mothers as well as other people who support girls. A woman is interviewed in every episode, showing about her life and professional passion in relation to her personal values. These women are today’s positive role models mainly because of who they are within, rather than on the outside.

The second book in the Rooney Cruz’s series is schedule for launch later this year. The book is known as “Esther: The Belle of Patience”. Other books in the series will be launched in the near future.

So far, it has been a great adventure, and she is grateful for how far it has come to.

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CULTURE

BEST WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR RISK OF CANCER

by DR. PETE SULACK

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ou can’t possibly avoid every single cancer causing substance, and you can’t avoid stress—it is a fact of life. What you can do however is to counterbalance stress with daily choices that at least give you a fighting chance.

You can adopt practices that make your body more resilient in the face of cancer. It doesn’t really matter whether you are genetically predisposed to contracting a certain kind of cancer. What matters is the genetic expression that comes from your daily choices, behaviors, and habits. It has been said that genetics loads the gun, but daily choices pull the trigger.

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Photography Eli DeFaria, Gregory Bourolias, Anda Ambrosini, Ben Duchac, Tomohiko Nogi, Dominik Martin, Kyle Ryan

Put on the right set of glasses.

• Understand that stress is the true culprit in cancer and all chronic disease.

• Understand that modern medicine sees cancer as a pathology instead of the normal and natural physiological adaptation of the body to stress.

• Understand that modern medicine only offers the options of a shot, a pill, or surgery to combat “pathology” in the body.

Connect with a supportive community.

• Surround yourself with positive people • As much as is possible, avoid those who live in constant drama.

• Seek out other likeminded folks who will challenge you and hold you accountable for your self-care.

Be careful what you put into your body.

• As much as possible, eat a diet that is organic, raw, and highly nutritious.

• Avoid SCAT—sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco.

• Filter your water, and drink ½ your body weight in ounces each day.

• Avoid grains and sugars, replacing them with healthy fats and vegetables.

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It doesn’t really matter whether you are genetically predisposed to contracting a certain kind of cancer. What matters is the genetic expression that comes from your daily choices, behaviors, and habits.

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Increase your spinal mobility.

• Regular chiropractic adjustments release tension in the spinal dura and allow the brain to communicate with every cell in the body.

• Regular functional movement and exercise breaks the stress response.

• Exercise releases endorphins (happy hormones) in the brain.

Rest

• Sleep resets brain function, restores strength, and repairs cellular damage.

• Mental stress causes sleeplessness; but sleeplessness in turn causes stress on the body.

• Adequate, restorative sleep boosts immune function.

Practice Detoxification Daily

• Drink plenty of filtered, pure water.

• Eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables (preferably raw).

• Eat fermented foods and drink fermented beverages like kefir and kombucha.

• Soak in baths with Epsom salts and coconut oil.

• Fast on a regular basis; or practice intermittent fasting daily.

• Work up a good sweat each and every day.

Keep your body alkalinized.

• Cancer thrives in an acidic environment; it cannot grow in an alkaline environment.

• Meat, grains, alcohol, and sugar are acidic. While fruits and vegetables are alkaline.

• If your blood is too acidic, the cells will not release toxins into the blood. The toxins build up in the cell causing them to also be too acidic.

Help others.

• A recent study found that subjects who focused on finding happiness in their own comfort and pleasure had remarkably unhealthy cellular health profiles as well as high levels of inflammation in their systems as well as lover levels of antibodies.

• In contrast, those who sought happiness through helping others had lower readings for inflammatory factors in their blood, and produced more antibodies.

Control your thoughts.

• What we allow ourselves to think about directly affects the limbic system; the region of our brains that controls emotions, memories, heart rate, blood pressure, and attention span.

• How we think about life affects how positive and happy we are, regardless of our circumstances, and that in turn facilitates or hinders limbic function.

• We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can control our attitudes and responses to them.

Be grateful.

• When we choose joy and gratitude, it increases our vibrational energy, which makes us both healthier and happier.

• Cancer cells vibrate at a low level of energy, so they can’t compete with healthy cells that are vibrating at a higher level.

• Gratitude practiced regularly rewires our brains, breaking the stress response.

• Research shows that looking for and expressing thanks for the positive aspects of any situation reduces pain, increases energy, promotes restful sleep, and lowers anxiety and depression. These are all good things; whether one has cancer or not.

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FORTY THE MESSAGE MOTIVATES THE MUSIC

THE NEW GENERATION

BENJAH RISING ABOVE ALL

by IVAN POTOCKI

he track “We Will Rise” from Benjah’s latest album, “Motives”, clearly shows that his sound has experienced a certain development compared to his last project. The artist explains this was the result of him focusing on creating songs that he really wanted to perform. It is all too easy to make the songs that sound great, but that you don’t see yourself performing. This, combined with his newly found inspiration, resulted in happier songs that make a break away from melancholy.

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Benjah attributes the development of his vocal skills to Andy Mineo. Mineo’s advice to “sound more like you look” really got him thinking. It was a tough challenge to meet, but in the end, it led to these significant and beneficial changes. He is therefore very grateful to Andy, who really pushed him to test his limits.

Inspiration and artistic influences “We Will Rise” was inspired by a simple, yet an epic feeling: love. When he first heard the track, Benjah was really enthusiastic. The sound was so awesome, and this convinced him that the accompanying song had to be about something great as well. And, what is greater than love? The song wants to encourage everyone to love God and their neighbors even more.

Although some say that his sound is similar in many elements to that of T-Pain or Future, Benjah explains his music was mostly inspired by the dope melodies of Drake, Ty Dolla Sign, and Fetty Wap. Of course, the lyrics were not as inspiring, but their music left a deep impression on him. During his career, he has had an opportunity to collaborate with

Benjah’s thoughts on current situation in America numerous stars, including Lecrae, ShoBarka, and Dillavou. In fact, as he explains, with this latest album he has had a chance to work with all of his favorite artists. At this point in time, Benjah sees himself as a high school senior looking to become a college freshman. It is a dream that he hopes will come true.

Challenges that Christian music faces The front man of “Lovd Ones” explains that ordinary people are much more open to his music than so-called Christians and the Church. The mainstream audience seems much more susceptible to their lyrics inspired by the Scripture. Those who should be able to understand their music better, however, are the most vocal critics.

Benjah is convinced that those who don’t like certain songs, or a particular music genre should simply not listen to it. Dispersing hate through comments and other means achieves nothing. His message is that no artist needs fans who don’t like him, so it would be better for everyone if the believers who are bothered by his music just stayed away.

Apart from these outside challenges, there are those more internal in nature. Benjah says that he is in a constant struggle not to allow his success to become his identity. As he works, he constantly has to question his motives to make sure he is happy with what God has given him and not always strive for more.

Although he stays away from politics as much as he can, the artist understands that current times are painful ones for America. Growing problems of increased police brutality and general violence, as well as the upcoming Presidential election, are all causes for concern. In addition to all this, the recent recognition of the same-sex marriages by the Supreme Court divided the nation.

When it comes to the election in particular, however, Benjah is not that concerned. In accordance with his general beliefs, he is convinced that whoever wins will be subject to a higher power that controls all things.

Everything that has happened throughout the history and everything that happens now has been prophesied in the Bible. Christ’s Second Coming is near, believes Benjah, and it can’t come fast enough.

Creativity and future plans When making his music, Benjah believes that a good vibe and clear directions are far more important than equipment. An adequate working environment is crucial for creativity.

Currently, he is preparing for the tour around the USA and Brazil. His latest album, “Motives,” will be at the heart of the tour. Apart from this, Benjah announces some new music videos are coming soon. To stay connected, his handle on all social media sites is @benjahmusic. On his website, benjahmusic.com, you can also keep track of the tour stops and get notified when there is a stop nearby.

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