Fire Baptized Holiness Church Of God
Of
The Americas

HEALTH ADVICE ACNE	ACNE IS A DISORDER OF THE SKIN Some teenagers find this condition so distressing that they can develop emotional problems. Three out of four teenagers have acne and about 80 percent of all teenagers will develop it. If you have acne you have a lot of company. NON-INFLAMMATORY ACNE Most teens who develop acne have the milder form, called non- inflammatory acne. They just get a few blackheads or whiteheads and a pimple now and then. Pimples usually do not scar unless squeezed or picked which may lead to infection. It can injure skin and underlying tissue. So it's advisable not to pick or squeeze. INFLAMMATORY ACNE Some people suffer from inflammatory acne. With inflammatory acne, the whiteheads become inflamed. Pimples and pustules develop and there will be a constant outbreak covering the face, and sometimes the neck, back, chest and groin. These pus filled pimples can cause disfiguring cysts, deep pitting and scarring. Prescription drugs and sometimes surgery may be needed to treat severe inflammatory acne if all other treatments have failed. ADULT ACNE More adults today find themselves dealing with acne, something they thought they had long outgrown. According to information from New England Journal of Medicine's publication Health News, one in five adults between the ages of 25 and 44 experiences acne. It's estimated that nearly half of all adult women experience mild to moderate acne. Adult acne can often be more persistent than teenage acne. It can be especially depressing for those who were not effected as adolescents. But, what ever your age, acne doesn't have to control you. You can control it with the right treatment and a little persistence. WHAT CAUSES ACNE ? No one knows for sure, exactly what causes acne. There are many factors that interact to produce acne vulgaris ( is the medical term ). We do know heredity plays an important roll. If one of your parents had acne, there is a very good possibility you will also. The overproduction of oil is a contributing factor, the irregular shedding of dead skin cells and the buildup of bacteria that lives in the sebaceous glands, which breeds in the hair follicles. HOW DOES ACNE DEVELOP Acne usually starts when the body begins to mature around age 11 for girls and age 13 for boys. Acne develops when the sebaceous glands and the lining of the skin duct, become plugged because of an over production of sebum due to hormonal changes that are at their peak in the teen years. This sebum is produced by the sebaceous glands. Each hair follicle contains sebaceous glands that secrete sebum, to lubricate your hair and skin. One of the jobs of the sebum is to carry cells shed by the glands to the surface of the skin. But because the excess sebum is blocking the openings of the glands, called ducts, both cells and sebum accumulate, forming a plug called a comedo. WHITEHEADS - BLACKHEADS This plug ( comedo ) can block the pore, causing the follicle wall to bulge, this creates a whitehead. If the pore stays open, the top surface of the plug may darken, causing a blackhead. The black color of a blackhead comes from a normal skin pigment that darkens when exposed to air. A whitehead develops if a pore is so clogged that no air can enter. PIMPLES Pimples, are small pus filled bumps. They are infections that develop when whiteheads rupture the hair follicle's wall. After the rupture, solidified sebum, dead cells, and bacteria invade your skin. CYSTS OR NODULES Ruptures deep within the skin can form boil like infections these are called cysts. A very deep inflammation causes tender red lumps, they are painful and pus filled. They can be as large as half an inch. Cysts heal with scars due to the depth of the infection. This condition is called cystic acne. ANDROGENS Androgen plays a role in acne. Androgens are male sex hormones. Among other things, androgens stimulate the sebum-producing glands. After puberty, boys produce 10 times as much androgens as girls, and so it's not surprising that more boys than girls develop severe cases of acne. Studies have found that many teenage girls and women with acne have higher than normal androgen levels. BACTERIA Bacteria called Corynebacterium acnes, which cause skin fats to break down into irritating chemicals, can also directly contribute to an outbreak. HORMONAL CHANGES Since hormonal changes stimulate sebaceous glands and increase sebum production and the chance of acne in later life, as well as in adolescence, anything that raises hormone levels, such as stress, menstrual periods, pregnancy, the use of birth control pills or certain medications, such as corticosteroids, may aggravate acne. Progesterone also plays a role in women. OTHER THINGS THAT CAN CAUSE ACNE Certain drugs, such as those used to treat epilepsy or tuberculosis; exposure to industrial oils, grease, chemicals stress and strong emotions. Some oily cosmetics and shampoos can, on rare occasions, trigger acne in people who are prone to get it. CERTAIN FOODS You may have heard that certain foods, such as chocolate, nuts, cola drinks, potato chips, french fries, and other junk foods cause acne or make it worse. There's no scientific evidence to back up these claims but if you notice that outbreaks increase after you have eaten certain foods, it only makes sense to eat as little of them as possible. CONCLUSION Today with proper treatment, acne can usually be treated successfully and controlled before it becomes totally unsightly. If pimples pop out for that big affair, don't let it distress you, I'll bet your date has some too.
KEEP ON SINGING	Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy. The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. Then the labor pains come. Every five minutes ... every minute. But complications arise during delivery. Hours of labor. Would a C-section be required? Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inch by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby - now they plan a funeral. Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. Week two in intensive care. It looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. But Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive. She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! No children are allowed." The mother rises up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen takes Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray". Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady. Keep on singing, Michael. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, Please don't take my sunshine away-" The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr. Keep on singing, Michael. "The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms..." Michael's little sister relaxes as rest, healing rest, seems to sweep over her. Keep on singing, Michael. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glows. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't, take my sunshine away." Funeral plans are scrapped. The next day-the very next day-the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song." The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love! NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE (Submitted by Pastor Doreen Donnell)
PUSH AGAINST THE ROCK	There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room was filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. The man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man's mind such as; "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it? etc." Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough." And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all of my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all of this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinews and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock." (Submitted by Pastor Doreen Donnell)
THE DEVIL’S CONVENTION	Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. "Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work." "Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ." "Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogs, every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services and false hopes. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And then when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Let them be involved in soul- winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes that they have no time to seek power from Christ. That way, working in their own strength, they'll be ineffective and soon they'll be sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause." It was quite a convention in the end. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments-causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there. Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge. P.S. I once heard it said that BUSY is: B - being U - under S - Satan's Y - yoke (Submitted by Sis. Janet T. Wood)
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