MSM CONNECTIONS
For the week of 01/02/05
The Men’s Ministry e-mail newsletter of
Our mission: Our mission is to lead men to
Jesus Christ and provide opportunity for
Christian men to grow in their faith
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MSM CONNECTIONS is the opt-in newsletter for the men
of New Joy Divine Full Gospel Church. It's a periodic service that helps
connect you with God and with other men at NJD. If you'd like its delivery to
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Are you a more mature Christian today than you were a year ago?
Are you a better person today for the choices you made yesterday?
SELECT A VERSE FOR THE YEAR
It's helpful to focus on one particular Bible verse all year long; reminding yourself of it as you progress in your Christian walk. Here are a few from which you may want to select:
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
"Take your everyday, ordinary life -- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life -- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." Romans 12:1 & 2 (The Message)
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:9-13 (NIV)
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21 (NIV)
"We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."
Romans 8:5 (NIV)
"As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12 - 14 (NIV)
"Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3 (NIV)
"Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV)
READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
http://www.zondervanbibles.com/readingplan.htm
http://www.nationalbible.org/nbw/04/w04brcard01.htm
http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/
THE DEVASTATING TSUNAMIS
As the scope of the Dec. 26 disaster in Asia is revealed and relief efforts continue, the links at the following webpage will help you stay informed:
http://www.gospelcom.net/content/disaster/
Descriptions of the dominant religions in the affected countries (These are PDF documents. If you don't already have the free Adobe Acrobat reader on your PC, you can get it at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html):
Hinduism
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W17C2102A
Sikhism
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E1EC6202A
Buddhism
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L58C3202A
Islam
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O39C2502A
World Religions Overview
http://makeashorterlink.com/?E2AC3102A
Links to special news report websites:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/tsunami.disaster/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6754820/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/tsunami-digest.htm
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/quake_dc
http://photos.reuters.com/Pictures/default.aspx
http://www.wvi.org/wvi/news/latest_news.htm
USAID
http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/
CANADIAN AID
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/index.htm
The following aid agencies are accepting contributions for assistance that they or their affiliates will provide:
AmeriCares
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
800-486-4357
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry St.
Philadelphia, PA
215-241-7000
American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013
800-HELP-NOW
The Barnabas Fund
CARE
1-800-521-CARE (2273)
Compassion International
Doctors Without Borders
1-888-392-0392
http://www.doctorswithoutborders-usa.org
Oxfam America Asian Earthquake Fund
PO Box 1211
Albert Lea, MN 56007-1211
800-77-OXFAM
The Salvation Army
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
Samaritan's Purse
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/home.asp
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
REGGIE WHITE DIES SUDDENLY AT 43
He was a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was elected to the Pro Bowl a record 13 straight times, set a Super Bowl record with three sacks, and retired in 2000 as the NFL's all-time leader in sacks. Reggie White's life as a football legend and unashamed proclaimer of the Gospel -- which earned him the nickname "Minister of Defense" -- ended abruptly Dec. 26 at age 43. The cause of White's death was not immediately known, although a preliminary autopsy report found that he had a rare disease called sarcoidosis, which usually affects the lungs but in rare cases can cause a fatal heart arrhythmia. Right now doctors believe that's probably what happened, perhaps combined with some other health problems, including sleep apnea.... Read more at
http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=4776
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04120097.htm
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04120096.htm
PLAN FOR YOUR SUPER BOWL HALFTIME PARTY
The Super Bowl XXXIX is Feb. 6. Plan now to hold a "POWER TO WIN" halftime party where you show a video of Christian testimonies.
http://www.sportsspectrum.com/powertowin/
BARNA'S 2004 FINDINGS
2004 was an amazing year in the U.S. As is George Barna's, at the end of each year he takes the opportunity to highlight some of the most intriguing findings in the research conducted by The Barna Group during the prior 12 months. So, in this final Update of 2004, he's providing four sets of significant findings: those that are encouraging, challenging, surprising, and disappointing. If you're serious about your faith and your ministry, these are important insights for you to ponder. Take a few minutes to read and reflect on the spiritual context in America today.
YEAR IN REVIEW QUIZZES
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6707439/
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/yir/interactive/quiz.news/content.1.html
THE IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE DOCTRINE
A Christian's desire for the Truth should be a driving force in his life. The Bible is the only source of knowledge of how to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers must get to know Christ very well, and this requires the daily intake of knowledge about Christ through the Word of God, which is "the mind of Christ." Daily Bible study leads to occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ, a daily walk with the Savior. Bible doctrine, learned under the faith principle of applied teaching, produces confidence during the believer's lifetime. Bible doctrine is the basis for orientation to God's plan. Bible knowledge produces stability of mind. And Bible doctrine is the basis for divine guidance.
http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics/doctrine_importance.html
This year, we're going to include an outline of basic Bible teachings in this newsletter every week to help us gain a better understanding of God's ways in our lives.
BASIC BIBLE DOCTRINE
I. How do we know about God?
A. Through General Revelation
1. The natural world reveals God (Acts 14:15-17;
Rom.1:19-23)
2. Human Conscience reveals God (Rom.2:14-16)
B. Through Special Revelation
1. Miracles reveal God.
a. When He extends natural laws (Josh.10:12-14 – sun stood still)
b. When He makes exceptions to natural laws (2 Kings 6 - axehead floated)
2. Fulfilled prophecy reveals God.
a. O.T. (Is.43:28-45; Ezra 1:1-4 - Cyrus predicted)
b. N.T. (Micah 5:2; Matt.2:1 - birthplace of Christ)
3. Jesus Christ Himself reveals God. (Heb.1:1; John 1:18)
4. Scripture as a whole reveals God.
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=176
VERSE TO PONDER
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV)
GOD FAQ
Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Answer: Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
http://www.shortercatechism.com/
LEADERSHIP TIPS
Leadership is first about building strong character that translates into inspirational behavior through a developed skill set. Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them. Leadership is different to management. Management relies more on planning, and organizational and communications skills. Leadership relies on management skills too, but more so on qualities such as integrity, honesty, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, confidence, optimism, wisdom, determination, compassion, sensitivity, and resolve. Those who want to be a leader can develop leadership ability.
Each week this year, we're going to look at a variety of leadership tips to help us think through this topic in our own lives and determine how we can become better leaders in our homes, our church, and our jobs. For example, Jack Welch, former head of GE, is quoted as proposing these fundamental leadership principles:
1. There is only one way -- the straight way. It sets the tone of the organization.
2. Be open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer. Transfer learning across your organization.
3. Get the right people in the right jobs -- it is more important than developing a strategy.
4. An informal atmosphere is a competitive advantage.
5. Make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count.
6. Legitimate self-confidence is a winner -- the true test of self-confidence is the courage to be open.
7. Business has to be fun -- celebrations energize.
8. Never underestimate the other guy.
9. Understand where real value is added and put your best people there.
10. Know when to meddle and when to let go -- this is pure instinct.
http://www.alanchapman.com/leadership.htm
JESUS CAME
Jesus came! -- and came for me.
Simple words! and yet expressing
Depths of holy mystery,
Depths of wondrous love and blessing.
Holy Spirit, make me see
All His coming means for me;
Take the things of Christ, I pray,
Show them to my heart today.
Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)
STAUBLOG: "BELOW AS ABOVE"
by Dick Staub
The bumper sticker glows with promise, its simple message "below as above," a three-word summary of Jesus' prayer, that God's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven."
The headline news jars us into reality, a man murders his two daughters then himself, hunters die in a shoot-off over a hunting stand, an elderly woman dies when medical professionals inject the wrong fluid into her system -- evil intentioned or accidental these stories are representative of our fallen-ness, indicators that things on earth are not as above.
C.S. Lewis argues that Christians who think most of God's spiritual world are those who DO most in this one. "The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven."
Lewis adds, "It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."
Read the rest at
http://dickstaub.com/culturewatch.php?record_id=779
CONSIDER
"Martin Luther described the doctrine of justification by faith as the article of faith that decides whether the church is standing or falling. By this he meant that when this doctrine is understood, believed, and preached, as it was in New Testament times, the church stands in the grace of God and is alive; but where it is neglected, overlaid, or denied, ... the church falls from grace and its life drains away, leaving it in a state of darkness and death." J.I. Packer (1926- )
VERSE TO PONDER
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV)
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: ANOTHER YEAR COMPLETED
Words: Paulinus of Nola (353-431); translated from Latin to English by J. Athelstan Riley (1906). This is Paulinus' 8th Carmen Natalitium (i.e., 8th in the series of poems he wrote annually for the festival of Felix of Nola). It was evidently written for January 14, 401, when the Goths under Alaric were devastating Italy; Paulinus, asking for Felix' prayers, hopes for better times.
Music: Bartholomäus Helder (1585-1635)
Another year completed,
The day comes round once more
Which with our patron's radiance
Is bright as heretofore.
Now, strong in hope, united
His festival we greet;
He will present our troubles
Before the mercy-seat.
The Scriptures tell how Moses
Did for the people pray,
Appeased the Judge eternal,
And turned His wrath away;
Elijah's prayer had power,
To close and open Heav'n;
Such saints as were aforetime,
Such saints to us are giv'n.
O saint of God, belovèd,
And placed on His right hand,
Thy prayers be like a rampart
As 'gainst the foe we stand;
For Abraham's God is thy God,
And Isaac's God is thine,
Thine is the God of Jacob,
The Lord of power benign.
For forty years His Israel
He fed with angels' food;
The flinty rock He opened
The streams of water flowed.
Entreat that Christ His people
May lead to victory:
The God of Joshua's triumph
The Lord thy God is He.
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/y/aycomplt.htm
ON PRAYER
"This is our Lord's will ... that our prayer and our trust be, alike, large. For if we do not trust as much as we pray, we fail in full worship to our Lord in our prayer; and also we hinder and hurt ourselves. The reason is that we do not know truly that our Lord is the ground from which our prayer springeth; nor do we know that it is given us by his grace and his love. If we knew this, it would make us trust to have of our Lord's gifts all that we desire. For I am sure that no man asketh mercy and grace with sincerity, without mercy and grace being given to him first." Juliana of Norwich, 14th century writer
PRAY FOR A COUNTRY
http://www.gmi.org/ow/index.html
DAILY BLESSING PACT
Use the following
list as your daily prayer guide. Think of a brother or situation that applies
and lift them up in prayer.
I am agreeing in
prayer with you for God’s blessings to overtake you!
PERSONAL
Marital harmony
Family unity
Children saved
Faithful pastor
Spirit-filled church
Real friendships
Relatives redeemed
Educational benefits
Recreational time
Fulfilling career
Favor with God and
man
Be in God’s will
FINANCIAL
Better Jobs
Raises or bonuses
Benefits
Sales &
commissions
Settlements
Estates &
inheritances
Investment increase
Rebates &
returns
Checks in the mail
Gifts &
surprises
Money to be found
Bills decrease while
blessings increase
"And all
these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God" (Deut. 28:2).
PRAY FOR THESE BROTHERS
* Elder Tim Howard
* Bro. Carl Modica
* Elder William Moore
* William Moore, Jr.
* Minister Aaron O’Tey
* Bro. Edward Corey Phillips
* Bro. Larry Powell
* Bro. Jack Pratt
* Minister Timothy Pulliam
* Pastor Arnold Pulliam
[As you travel on business or vacation, let me know if you'd like the church guys to pray for your safety and spiritual effectiveness. I'll add your name to the list for the time you'll be away.]
CLASSIFIEDS
Are you looking for something or do you have something to sell? Let me know and I'll put it in this newsletter.
SHARE YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITES
Tell us what sites you find enjoyable and why.
Tsunami Resource Center
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/intro.html
National Geographic Earthquake Site
http://makeashorterlink.com/?D22B4102A
Free Printable Calendars
http://www.printablecalendar.ca/
All links to Websites are provided as a service, and do not imply endorsement by our church.
(BTW: whenever the URLs in this newsletter are too long to turn into links on your e-mail program, just copy the entire URL (two lines or more) and paste it into a temporary email message. Then delete the return in the middle of it and copy it again. Then paste it into your web browser and hit enter.)
One who lacks courage to start has already finished.
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MSM CONNECTIONS is a periodic newsletter of
announcements, news, recommendations, articles, and other information helpful
to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming MSM CONNECTIONS
into your in-box!
Who to contact:
Minister Frank Coleman, Men Servants Ministry Chairman,
773-410-1483,
Minister Arnold Whitehead, Men Servants Ministry
Vice-Chairman, 773-846-6090
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The mission of New Joy Divine
Full Gospel Church is to be a
Christ-centered, Bible based, Spirit guided church meeting the spiritual,
physical, and emotional needs of its members and the community it serves.
The Men Servants Ministry (MSM)
Team offers a variety of activities for men to interact with other men on our
journey of faith in Christ together. Large group, small group, and one-to-one
events encourage relationship building and spiritual strengthening that result
in maximizing the potential we all have in Christ. Contact Min. Frank Coleman,
773-410-1483, [email protected]
if you'd like to participate in a men's discipleship program.
New Joy Divine Full Gospel Church is located at 7625 S.
Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60620.
Tel: 773-224-5683. Founded & Pastored by Apostle
Aaron L. Royster & Prophetess Mable L. Royster.
Visit our website at: http://www.newjoydivine.org/
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