Learn How to Grow Your Talents with Ada Brownell!

YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL:

LEARN HOW TO GROW YOUR TALENTS

When we were kids, my brother told me he could look into one of my ears and see out the other. Then I had an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my brain so I could do a firsthand story on the latest technology. I started the newspaper article with “My brother was wrong. There is something in there.” New brains have fantastic stored data and instincts governing our neurological systems, and amazing things are happening while we’re still in the womb.

Experts now are saying we might be developing our talents and language before birth. In a famous experiment by Anthony DeCasper and colleagues at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, mothers read the Dr. Seuss story, The Cat in the Hat, at regular intervals while they were pregnant. Newborns selected the reading they liked by sucking on a non-nutritive nipple. After a few trials, babies cleverly sucked at whatever speed was necessary to obtain their mother's voice reading "The Cat in the Hat."

Nevertheless, we needed outside stimuli to use our potential. Children who are given no attention often don’t learn to sit, walk, or talk. We learn all our lives, often imitating other people. No matter how much natural talent and ability we have, we will never achieve much until we grow it into something greater. When you listen to a famous person use their talents, think about how the celebrity achieved fame. Success is always wrapped in what people do every day.

Consider the Jonas Brothers. Nicholas Jonas started memorizing lines and acting at age seven. His brothers joined him in music and performance. Before they toured and sold millions of albums they spent hours and hours developing their talents. Then they studied, practiced, and rehearsed some more.

They had goals in mind, believed God was with them, and developed their talents through trial and error, lessons, practice, study, work, practice, and more practice.

Talent is like a diamond; it isn't beautiful until it's polished.

 Music isn’t the only gift God can use greatly. Hundreds of careers are available, and sometimes God surprises us with how He uses talent.

Will Kellogg, the younger brother of Dr. John Kellogg, in the nineteenth century left a pot of boiled wheat to stand, and the wheat softened. The brothers worked at a charity and didn’t want to waste food, so they rolled the wheat and let it dry, hoping they could make it edible.

When the rolled wheat dried, each grain became a large, tasty flake. The brothers kept experimenting with other grains and discovered corn flakes.

 Ask God to help and direct your life. Then decide what talents to develop and get to work

Then, don't quit. Often it is the less talented and gifted who achieve great things because they won’t stop working toward their goals—no matter how many obstacles they face or how often they face rejection or disappointment. On the other hand, greatly talented people can go to their graves without doing anything of significance.

What makes the difference?

We decide to take what we were born with and grow it into something greater.

Imagine the future you. Let God lead you. Your work will be rewarded.

©Ada Brownell January 2014

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Ada Brownell, a devoted Bible student, has written for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo. After moving to Springfield, MO in her retirement, she continues to free lance for Sunday school papers, Christian magazines, write op-ed pieces for newspapers, and write books with stick-to-your-soul encouragement. She is critique group leader of Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Among her books: Imagine the Future You, a youth Bible study (November 2013). Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, (Jan. 15, 2013); Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, (Dec. 6, 2011); and Confessions of a Pentecostal, out of print but released in 2012 for Kindle; All the books are available in paper or for Kindle.

      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries

     Twitter: @adellerella

     Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com Stick to Your Soul Encouragement

     Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

     BarnesandNoble.com   http://ow.ly/rFSW3

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IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU

By Ada Nicholson Brownell

FREE January 25 AND 26

Will you be the person you dream of being—or someone from your nightmares?

You don’t need a fortune teller to reveal your future. You are the person who determines who you will be, what your life will be like, and how your hopes and dreams will be fulfilled.

This book will show how to make the right connections, how to grow your talents, and how to begin believing in yourself and things greater than yourself—for a wonderful Future You!

A Bible study available in paper or for Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/1489558284

Ada Brownell’s author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

Imagine the Future You! A Talk with Ada Brownell

IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU

By Ada Nicholson Brownell

FREE January 25 AND 26

Will you be the person you dream of being—or someone from your nightmares?

You don’t need a fortune teller to reveal your future. You are the person who determines who you will be, what your life will be like, and how your hopes and dreams will be fulfilled.

This book will show how to make the right connections, how to grow your talents, and how to begin believing in yourself and things greater than yourself—for a wonderful Future You!

A Bible study available in paper or for Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/1489558284

Ada Brownell’s author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

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AN ENEMY IS AFTER OUR YOUTH 

By Ada Brownell

Those who keep track of faith in the United States tell us an enemy scrambled over the crumbling walls surrounding the American church, snatching faith and carrying away hostages.

Nehemiah saw a similar situation in Old Testament Days.  Years before, enemies sacked Jerusalem until the 22-foot-thick stone walls surrounding the city were turned to rubble and the gates burned with fire (Nehemiah 1:3). Many Jews who escaped exile still lived outside the walls in trouble and disgrace.

Nehemiah had an important job as cupbearer for King Artaxerxes in Persia.  When he got the news about the sorry state of his people in Jerusalem, Nehemiah wept. He fasted and prayed. He praised the Lord for his awesome power. Then he repented of his sins and Israel’s sins.

Seeing his grief, King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah a leave of absence, so Nehemiah went to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.

Nehemiah was not a carpenter or a stonemason.  He’d never been a supervisor.  But he saw a need and knew although Israel had sinned and been scattered over the nations, if they would return to the Lord and obey His Words, the Lord would bring them back to the land where God chose for His name to be honored.

            Like Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time, the enemy of our souls has broken down the walls of the U.S. church. Moral decay is everywhere. The family is in trouble.  Sin has invaded the pews and the pulpit. Some churches don’t have enough young people to survive another decade. 

Yet, there is hope.

            Not long before his death, I interviewed the Rev. Thomas Zimmerman, a dynamic 20^th Century Christian leader.  I asked Zimmerman if he expected the American church to pass faith to the next generation.

            “It will,” he said, enthusiastically.  “But the church of tomorrow won’t do things exactly the way our generation did.”

I've found that to be true. We have wonderful new worship songs, churches with multiple satellites and powerful services on Saturday and Sunday that reach thousands of young adults. But still the enemy is at work. More and more Christian parents and grandparents deal with teens in rebellion who live an immoral lifestyle, and some admit they are atheists.

I notice how schools, universities, and government are changing the way we think. I received my degree after age 40 from a state university and shuddered at how different the youth came in, but how similar when they went out. In the classroom belief in God and Christianity were ridiculed, immorality expected, and America criticized. Most students graduated talking alike, thinking alike, believing the same. They resembled a line of toy soldiers where it was difficult to distinguish one from another.

I think they were brainwashed with ungodly propaganda carefully framed to change the individual. They began with a little truth.

“For a long time propagandists have recognized lying must be avoided,” says Jacques Ellul, author of “Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes”. [1]“In propaganda, truth pays off.”        

Where propaganda goes to work to change minds is in the “interpretation” of the truth, or twisting the truth. In today’s terms—spin.

Ellul told how the Communist Party in France made progress between 1921 and 1936 because of election propaganda. The same was true in other countries in the 20^th Century.

Mao Tse-tung said propaganda can “force” people to become Marxist. His first techniques failed, but then he went to public discussion, criticism, persuasion and Marxist education, especially for children, and he turned China to his way of thinking.

This in spite of Mao executing an estimated two to five million people and several million were sent to labor camps.

 To have the greatest effect, propaganda must base its self on existing tendencies, Ellul said.[2] Instead of going against what you believe, it gives you something else to believe--using your own desires and needs as a basis.

Faith in God being stripped away by secular educational systems and the media is why I wrote the motivational Bible study for youth, Imagine the Future You. Reviewers say the study, complete with questions and answers, is a great source for family discussion. It's also good for parents to read, so they'll know how to approach children before their faith is gone.

Now is the time to get the book. The e-book will be free of charge on Amazon on Jan. 25-26. Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

©Ada Brownell January 15, 2014

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[1] Vintage Books, 1973, Random House, New York, Copyright 1965 by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., page 53

[2] Propaganda, page 279

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More About Ada Brownell

Stick to your soul encouragement

Ada Brownell’s prolific writing career began with youth publications when she was youth leader at Fruita Assembly of God Church in Colorado. She taught youth in Arvada. Pueblo, Minturn, Leadville, Thompson, Utah; and she and her husband had five children of their own.

Nearly 300 articles of her articles and stories have appeared in 45 Christian publications. Her books include Imagine the Future You, a motivational Bible study for youth; Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, a suspense novel; Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, a Bible study for the grieving, support groups, religion classes, those with a troubling diagnosis, those who fear death or are curious about it; Confessions of a Pentecostal, published by the Assemblies of God in 1978, recently released as an e-book.

During her years as a reporter at The Pueblo Chieftain, she interviewed young achievers in music, sports, academics, beauty, careers, and other pursuits. Ada wrote about the latest fashions and how to present yourself for success. Interviewed teen moms and those who work with them and reported on teens affected by substance abuse. She reviewed statistics annually and talked to health experts about teen pregnancy, abortion and Sexually Transmitted Diseases; interviewed judges who sentence juvenile offenders; and wrote about the tragedy of mental illness and suicide among teens. She studied, taught and wrote about how youth can discover faith, even when society tries to keep them from believing. She believes faith in God makes a difference in all our tomorrows.

Brownell has a B.S. Degree in mass communications and a certificate of ministry from Berean School of the Bible, now Global University.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries

Twitter: @adellerella

Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com Stick to Your Soul Encouragement

Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

Thanks, Ada, for enlightening my readers today about your writing journey and your latest devotional for teens!