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What is Christianity? Some say it is a philosophy, others say it is an ethical stance, while still others claim it is actually an experience. None of these things really gets to the heart of the matter, however. Each is something a Christian has, but not one of them serves as a definition of what a Christian is. Christianity has at its core a transaction between a person and God. A person who becomes a Christian moves from knowing about God distantly to knowing about him directly and intimately. Christianity is knowing God. "Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." --John 17:3

New to teaching core vocabulary in AAC? On board with the concept? Know that it's important but find it a little intimidating to teach? Welcome to the club! Actually, it's quite a big club but you wouldn't know it because lots of members are still closeted. That's okay - no one here is going to 'out' you. But if you want to move forward in your AAC teaching journey, here are some things to try.

"You wonder why it's so hard to find some peace of mind? Well, peace is hard to come by when you live in a warzone. And like it or not you are in a war - a very serious one. This war is cosmic in its proportions. It involves God, humans, angels, demons, principalities, powers, nations, and antichrists. And do you know where the front of the battle is? It's in your head."

Guys, I am inviting you to join a webinar on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). I attended a training last week on this so believe me, I know for a fact that you will learn a lot. The guy who will be conducting the webinar, Chris Bugaj (pronounced as 'byoo-gei') was also the one who conducted the training last week. Let's do this! c",)

Have a few minutes left for your session and you don't know what to do? Why not give yourselves a brain break? c",) GoNoodle is a fun website that gives you fun activities to do with students. All you need to do is sign up for free!

I'm sorry, but I just had to get this off my chest. Thankfully somebody has opened up about this; and this coming from people from the opposite sex, as well. These shows, to my mind, are absolutely horrendous. I see it as demeaning, not just to women, but to men as well. This is no longer about fashion; this is no longer about clothes - intimate apparel or otherwise. This is just plain idolatry. I will even go as far as saying that events like The Naked Truth is the modern day version of heathen worship. We have now gone back to the days when people would flock around a golden calf and romp and carouse in ecstasy to a god that does not exist. This time, however, the golden calf has been replaced by these celebrities and models. To see these people go as far as to torture themselves, just for the sake of being popular, for the sake of being glorified time and again by the so-called masses, for the sake of being worshiped like gods, to earn enough money so they could go and afford to torture themselves again and again in a never-ending cycle of pain and wanton debauchery is just wrong. What message are they giving to everyone who sees them and worships them? I have seen this message come to fruition in the lives of people I love and care about. It is not about fitness anymore. It is not about being healthy. It is not about being fit. It has become a message of HATE - yes, you heard me right, HATE. Hate yourself because you are ugly. Hate yourself because you are fat. Hate yourself because you are not tall enough. Hate yourself because you do not have flawless skin. Hate yourself because of your waistline. Hate yourself because of your BMI. Hate yourself because of the size of clothes that you wear. Hate yourself because you have more chances to get hit by a UFO than to be invited to these events by these people. Hate yourself because you are who you are...and what you are can be summed up in six words: YOU DO NOT LOOK LIKE THEM.

The amazing this about this is that it was only when they woke up to the truth that they started loving themselves, and in so doing, started glowing from the inside. It was only then that they became truly beautiful, absolutely amazing, and irresistibly lovable. So, do you want the naked truth? The naked truth is this, we are all of us special in the eyes of the Lord. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. The truth is that God looks at our heart, not at our skin. He does not look at the way we are built, our height, or our BMI. He looks at our hearts. The truth is that God has commanded us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and so it follows that if these people are willing to torture themselves just to look good, then what does that say about their hearts? Yet we continue allowing our friends and loved ones to look at them as idols. Does this make any sense to you, at this time? Speaking of idols, the truth is that these events are nothing but glorified idolatry, for anything that we place above God in our list of priorities - be it self, popularity, fame, fortune, and yes even family and loved ones - become idols in our hearts and our minds. Why? Because that means that we are willing to turn our backs on God for these idols. In the very secret place of our hearts, we are whispering that it is these idols that we worship above anything else, not God. We can pretend that this is not true. We can even wrap it all up in philosophies and principles and other seemingly plausible reasons and excuses; but in the end, when the day is done and all the pretensions are put aside, we know that it is true. The still, small voice at the back of our minds will still tell us the same thing: they are idols.

Last, the way I see it, the people behind events like this, as well as the celebrities who a lot of people idolize - and yes, I am using this word in a very negative way - did not in the very least earn God's 'well done, good and faithful servant' just because this event turned out to be a huge success. The way I see it, all of them will be held accountable for every single person that had been, and will be, bought and dragged into this false-idol worship and debauchery that they have engaged in. Every single person who will hurt and demean his/herself and who will turn their backs on God's promises because they have been lured by the false-idol worship and nonsensical debauchery that their event promoted will one day be held accountable to them as well. This is why I would rather be burned alive than to see one more person I love and care about fall for their lies again. That's the naked truth.