The CTS Economic Recovery Plan

I can see it now. Spring break is over but you have summer on your mind and all the cool things you are going to do this summer with your family. That's awesome because that is exactly what I am doing. You need to save some money now for that big trip across country or that cruise to the Bahamas. Let's face it. You are going to need gas money! 

 

We want to do our part to help you. From now through 30 April 2012, you can take a 10% tuition scholarship toward your next class or two. When you make your order from our Payment Center, just select the box that says " Member of the US Armed Forces?" This offer is not retroactive and does not apply to anyone already receiving the 10% scholarship discount.

Thank you for being diligent in your studies.

In His Grip,

Dr. Gary Tryzbiak

Joni Eareckson Tada Talks about Disability

Joni Eareckson Tada on Wilberforce Award, 'Better Off Dead Than Disabled' Mentality 

By Eryn Sun , Christian Post Reporter March 16, 2012|8:44 am

 http://www.christianpost.com/news/joni-eareckson-tada-on-wilberforce-award-better-off-dead-than-disabled-mentality-71536/

A disturbing belief is spreading within the hearts of many around the world and within America: that a person is better off dead than disabled.

But a leading advocate for people with disabilities is fighting that notion and looking to educate the world and the church about the precious lives and rights of "those who seem to be weaker."
The Christian Post spoke to Joni Eareckson Tada on Thursday, the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, about her countless achievements for the disabled community, unwavering faith in God, battle with breast cancer, and her latest recognition by Breakpoint and The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

The 62-year-old evangelical author, who became a quadriplegic at the age of 17 due to a diving accident, just recently learned that she would be honored with the prestigious Wilberforce Award – named after the British parliamentarian who fought for 26 years to abolish slavery in Great Britain – during the annual Wilberforce Weekend held at the end of March.

CP: First of all, how do you feel to have gotten this award? Were you surprised, shocked? How did your husband react?
Tada: I was completely stunned by the news that I would be receiving this year's Wilberforce Award. I had actually nominated someone else, and when I received the first notification, I thought the committee had accepted my nominee. Imagine my surprise when I read it and discovered I was the recipient. My husband? He was just plain proud!

CP: Why do you think they chose you to receive this award?
Tada: For many years I have worked hard to promote a biblical worldview on disability, whether in churches or in the community. I served on the National Council of Disability and helped spearhead the effort to draft the original Americans with Disabilities Act. Most of all, it's been my heart's desire to see the church carry out the mandate from the Gospel of Luke, the 14th chapter where Jesus says to go out and find the disabled and bring them in. My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church.

CP: What do you believe is the greatest achievement you and your organization have accomplished for the disabled?
Tada: I believe we have brought the plight of the world's special needs families before the church, reminding them that "those who seem to be weaker" are actually indispensable. Whether through the 25 U.S. family retreats we sponsor, or the thousands of wheelchairs and Bibles we've distributed in developing nations, our passion is to make certain these disabled people and their families find a place in the fellowship of the church.

CP: What do you believe is the foremost important problem right now facing the disabled and how is your foundation working to fight and overcome this?
Tada: There is a growing premise in this country and around the world that a person really is "better off dead than disabled." This premise reflects a fundamental fear that people have about disability and, unfortunately, it has influenced social policy, such as the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and the destruction of human embryos for stem cell research. Just this week a couple in Oregon were awarded $2.9 million because doctors did not diagnose their unborn child with Down syndrome. When we disregard the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable among us, then the rights of all of us are in jeopardy.

CP: How is your health right now? I know you were battling breast cancer. Have the treatments finished? Are you now in remission?
Tada: My health is great! It's been nearly 20 months since my battle against Stage 3 breast cancer and I have a little under four more years to go before I can be declared cancer free. As long as I take my daily medication, I feel I'm on the right and best track!

CP: With another obstacle to overcome, how do you continue to look to God for strength and reason that everything that He has planned for your life is for His glory and for your good?
Tada: My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up. As long as I come to God with my need, I am promised more than enough grace to help me smile, not in spite of my disability but because of it. And that's good!

CP: Is there any words of advice you would like to give those who continue to fight injustice throughout the world?
Tada: The Bible is replete with commands to persevere, especially in the face of injustice. The God of the Bible also heartily commends those who strive for mercy and justice in this world. God is truly on the side of those who work for social justice, especially when we accompany that work with the giving of the Gospel!

Joni Eareckson Tada is the senior associate for Disability Concerns for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and has authored nearly 50 books on disability and Christianity including her best-selling autobiography Joni.

For more than 30 years, she has worked to accelerate Christian ministry in the disability community through her wide array of life-affirming ministries begun by her organization including Wheels for the World, Christian Institute on Disability, the International Disability Center, Family Retreats, and her television and radio programs geared toward encouraging people with biblical insights.

She and her husband Ken Tada are currently traveling around the Bay area, speaking at different venues to energize and inform people about their disability ministry.

Objections to Christianity

Here is a video discussing objections to Christianity:

http://gnli.christianpost.com/video/the-10-most-common-objections-to-christianity-part-2-origins-of-life-alex-mcfarland-3380

Prayer for Prinsoners

Churches in Over 100 Countries to Pray for Prisoners This Week

 

By Brittany Smith , Christian Post Reporter

April 3, 2012|6:46 pm

Churches in 124 countries will be participating in Prison Fellowship International's (PFI) annual Week of Prayer for Justice, which began April 1 and will end on Easter Sunday.

Ron Nikkel, PFI president, said the prayer event grew out of the realization that many churches around the world are not engaging with prisoners. He told CP that PFI wanted to provide a "way of helping to engage churches at the prayer level."

He explained that often prisoners feel a sense of failure, and when churches get involved and meet with those in prison, it gives them back "a sense of worth, and that they can be forgiven."
"The Week of Prayer for Justice is one way we encourage Christians to support the work of transformation in the lives of prisoners," Nikkel said in a statement. "We pray for them and for those who surround them: prison chaplains and officials, ex-prisoners, their families, crime victims and the overall cause of justice."

One of the greatest difficulties for prisoners is isolation and alienation from community. They also fear what might happen to their families while they are in jail.

When churches become involved with prisoners and their families, through prayer and volunteering in prisons, it helps provide stability and a bridge back into the community when inmates get out, Nikkel told CP.

And this is extremely important because inmates often "gravitate back to old haunts and old friends, they re-cycle through the system," Nikkel explained.

According to a Pew Forum report, half of released inmates return to prison within three years of their release.

 "Punishing these offenders may feel like justice, but punishment alone is not just. Unless they are restored and rehabilitated, more than two-thirds will be back in prison within three years," Nikkel said. "This cycle of crime to prison to more crime is a disservice to our communities and to victims of crime."

But when there are places where these prisoners can belong to once they get out, that changes things. The best way to do this, Nikkel explained, is by having someone there to meet them when they are released from prison to "provide a refuge, friendship, and care for them regardless of their record."
"It is a vicious cycle, but it can be changed when Christians around the world understand the need and get involved," Nikkel continued. "The Week of Prayer for Justice is a great way for congregations to become better informed and learn how they can make a difference."

Many Prison Fellowship affiliates plan community events or special outreaches into local prisons during the week, and they encourage churches to conclude the week with a special worship service of celebration and commitment.

Prison Fellowship International's affiliates are active in every region of the world, working to improve the moral, social, physical and spiritual well-being of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families and victims of crime.

Each day of the Week of Prayer for Justice has a specific focus:

• Sunday – Reconciling Relationships
• Monday – Caring for Victims
• Tuesday – Restoring Communities
• Wednesday – Welcoming Ex-Prisoners
• Thursday – Justice and Correctional Services
• Friday – Supporting Families
• Saturday – Visiting Prisoners
• Sunday – Transforming Lives and Communities

 http://www.christianpost.com/news/churches-in-over-100-countries-to-pray-for-prisoners-this-week-72605/