MSM CONNECTIONS
For the week of
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
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"He has showed you, O
man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of
you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your
God." Micah 6:8 (NIV)
CONSIDER
"You give 100% in the
first half of the game, and if that isn't enough, in the second half you give
what's left." Yogi Berra
GOD ON THE
QUAD:
If the past two decades have
been an era of religious revival in
But sometimes a picture of
the forest may miss a vigorous new species of tree. That, in any
case, was the hunch that put journalist Naomi Schaefer Riley on the trail to
writing her new book, God on the Quad:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050214/education/14college.htm
SEASON OF LENT
Originating in the fourth
century of the church, the season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash
Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday),
Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent
was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized, a time of
concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter Vigil, the
celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord early on Easter
Sunday. But since these new members were to be received into a
living community of Faith, the entire community was called to
preparation. Also, this was the time when those who had been
separated from the Church would prepare to rejoin the
community. Read more at
http://www.cresourcei.org/cylent.html
TIME'S 'MOST INFLUENTIAL EVANGELICALS'
Lists of "most
powerful," "most influential," best, or other superlatives
always have some ostensibly high goal. Time magazine doesn't say why
it published a cover story on "the 25 most influential evangelicals in
The introduction is
delightfully sweet: "American evangelicalism seems to defy unity, let alone
hierarchy. Yet its members share basic
commitments. Time's list focuses on those whose influence is on the
rise or who have carved out a singular role."
But really, the de facto
purpose of lists like this is to get people talking, to develop some kind of
buzz, to spur some kind of debate. And so it has begun....
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/105/11.0.html
COMPUTER SECURITY BULLETINS
Microsoft has issued a record
12 security bulletins. Eight of the bulletins are rated
"critical" (those that allow propagation of an Internet worm without
the user knowing it or doing anything.) It's particularly important
that Windows systems are patched promptly as several exploits are already
circulating around the Internet. For patches, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx
FEBRUARY DATES
February is Black History
Month and American Heart Month
Feb. 20 - Daytona 500
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/
Feb. 20 - NBA All-Star Game
http://www.nba.com/features/allstar_2005.html
SUPER BOWL ADS
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2005-02-06-super-bowl-admeter-winner_x.htm
FOOTBALL & FAITH
The longtime voice of the
NFL, starting with CBS and continuing with Fox for nearly 50 years, has
witnessed many memorable on-field events. But not as well known is
the transformation in Summerall's own life over the last
decade. He's overcome both alcoholism and a liver transplant in
2004. Now living outside of
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20072
>>>>>>>>>
When the NFL's all-time
leading rusher Emmitt Smith announced his retirement during Super Bowl week
before a packed crowd of journalists, the former Dallas Cowboy great had three
full sheets of people to thank for helping in his Hall of Fame-bound career. But
he started the Feb. 3 news conference by stating what was most important to him
as a player and now a professional football retiree. "First of
all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," Smith said boldly
as dozens of camera flashes went off in the media crowd. "I owe
Him everything I have and everything I am and every fiber of my being belongs
to Him," Smith said....
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20073
>>>>>>>>>
Markus Paul works throughout
the year to make the Super Bowl winning New England Patriots a bigger, stronger
and tougher team in his role as a strength and conditioning
coach. But he knows it's more important to be tougher and stronger
spiritually than in any other part of his being. "During the
Super Bowl with all the activities and crazy things going on, it can be harder
to stay strong for God, but if we keep our focus on God and strive to please
Him, He will always honor our efforts," Paul said the Super Bowl media
day.
Paul said his relationship
with Christ has lifted him during the many long and tiring hours helping the
Patriots get to the NFL title game. "Sometimes the players get
upset when they're working out or get upset with each other, but it helps keep
you balanced if you have a Christian mindset in all that you do."...
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20064
>>>>>>>>>
Walt Day has been on a sports
ministry roller coaster this year like few chaplains ever before. He
was in
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20042
ADDICTION IS AN UGLY REALITY
by Kelly Boggs
The drug addict will do
anything to score a fix of his or her substance of choice. Those
hooked on alcohol even will ingest mouthwash in order to get
drunk. Gambling addicts will wager a bet on anything and everything
-- even the exact time of a sunset. Degradation knows no limits for
those addicted to s*x. Even the risk of debilitating and deadly sexually
transmitted diseases is not a deterrent.
Those who observe an
addiction have no trouble seeing its ugliness. But addicts are
immune to the truth of their reality. The focus for the addict is the next fix,
the next drink, the next bet, the next rendezvous....What's most sad about
addicts is that they're in a constant state of denial. No matter who
tries to point out the problem, the addict refuses to acknowledge the seriousness
of the situation.
Those who study addiction
report the addictive experience.
Addiction:
¨
creates
predicable, reliable sensations.
¨
becomes the
primary focus and absorbs attention.
¨
temporarily
eradicates pain and other negative sensations.
¨
provides an
artificial sense of self-worth, power, control, security, intimacy and
accomplishment.
¨
exacerbates
problems and feelings it seeks to remedy.
¨
worsens
functioning and creates a loss of relationship.
Break the habit now!
HOW TO BE A 'COOL DAD'
We've all seen those men at
the mall. A guy will be walking quickly down the aisle next to his
preteen son. He's got an earring -- and a rat tail down his back -- just like
junior. Or there's the guy at the Little League baseball
game. He's more well-built now than I was in high school (for me,
that's not saying much). When his kid hits a homer, he's the first
one off the sidelines to give him a double high-five.
It's obvious that for many
dads, being buds with their kids is as simple as doing all they can to extend
their own adolescence. After all, don't most men feel like they're just big
kids wrapped in a body that refuses to defy gravity? So if they
can't delay the inevitable or admit to the physically obvious, a few will try to
stay young by their behavior. Having a child somehow gives them
permission to act their shoe size, not their age. Is this what their
child wants? More important, is this what their child needs?...
Read this article in full at
http://www.newmanmag.com/article.php?sid=573&mode=thread&order=0
SPIRITUAL MATURITY
If you're looking for basic
material to help you grow in your faith, check out this website, "Ten
Basic Steps to Christian Maturity," a classic course in Christian living
by the late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. The
course is available online in English and Arabic at no cost to
users. (A print version is available at a modest
charge.) The study series begins with "The Uniqueness of
Jesus" and goes on to teach about the adventure of Christian living and
the abundant life found in Jesus Christ. Lessons include the study
of the Holy Spirit, prayer, the Bible, witnessing, giving, and an Old and New Testament
survey. Also included is a video segment from Bill Bright, along
with review questions.
BASIC BIBLE DOCTRINE
III. Illumination - How does
Scripture change lives?
A.
Definition: The ministry of the Holy Spirit helping the believer to understand
and apply the truth of the Bible (Ryrie).
B.
Description:
1.
Illumination is the work of the Spirit (John 16:12-15; 1 Cor.2:10; 1 John
2:27).
2.
Illumination is the Holy Spirit's work in believers (1 Cor.2:12-15; Eph.1:18)
and not in some mystical function of the words of scripture.
3.
In illumination the Holy Spirit will use our study and meditation to not only
help us understand scripture but to apply it to our lives.
4.
The Bible reader's accuracy, honesty and spiritual life can all affect the
Spirit's ministry of illumination (1 Cor.3:1-3).
5.
The Spirit uses those with the gift of teaching/exhortation to aid in
illumination (Eph.4:11-13; Rom.12:7).
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=672
VERSE TO PONDER
"Arise, shine, for your
light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon
you." Isaiah 60:1 (NIV)
CONSIDER
"Christianity can be
condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and
Transmit." Samuel Wilberforce
LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS,
FAMILY, LIFE)
If you seek one single-most
important behavior that will rapidly earn you respect and trust among your
people, this is it: Always give your people the credit for your achievements
and successes. Never take the credit yourself -- even if it's all down to you, which
would be unlikely anyway. You must however take the blame and accept
responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your people
make. Never never never publicly blame another person for a
failing. Their failing is your responsibility – true leadership
offers is no hiding place for a true leader.
http://www.alanchapman.com/leadership.htm
FOR ALL LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF
WORDS)
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead
giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism
it's your count that votes.
6. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it
off.
7. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll
show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network in
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the
key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint
mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a
small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be
exposed in the end.
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a
mall.
25. Those who jump off a
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she
thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.
30.
THE ROSE
You've heard the touching
story. Wartime penpals arrange to meet at Grand Central Station: he
will know her by the rose in her lapel, and she will know him by how he reacts
to it. Now read an insightful commentary on it at
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/rose.htm
"THE CHURCH IS FULL OF
HYPOCRITES!"
"I'm not going to
church--it's just full of hypocrites!" How do you respond when
somebody voices that sentiment (or when you voice it yourself)? Why
do Christians so often fail to live up to the ideals they claim to
follow? Is the presence of hypocrisy in a church a sufficiently good
reason to avoid it? A recent article at Relevant Magazine takes a
look at the problem of hypocrisy in the church, and at the reasons that
hypocrisy stands out so much to outside observers.
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/article.php?sid=5199
And if you're up for a longer
read, Ronald Sider has written this in-depth article on the problem of
Christians who don't live what they preach over at Christianity Today.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2005/001/3.8.html
CONSIDER
"If we don't change, we
don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living." Gail
Sheehy
VERSE TO PONDER
"There is no fear in
love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with
punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in
love." 1 John
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: MY JESUS, I
LOVE THEE
Words: William R.
Featherston, 1864 (Featherston was only 16 years old at the time.)
Music: Adoniram J. Gordon,
1876
My Jesus, I love Thee, I know
Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of
sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my
Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
I love Thee because Thou has
first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on
I love Thee for wearing the
thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
I'll love Thee in life, I
will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as
Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew
lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory and
endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in
heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering
crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my
Jesus, 'tis now.
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/j/mjesusil.htm
GOD FAQ
Question 7: Who is God?
Answer: God is a Spirit, in
and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection;
all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present,
almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful
and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
http://www.shortercatechism.com/
ON PRAYER
"I have been driven many
times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to
go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that
day." Abraham Lincoln
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
*
Minister Larry Powell
*
Minister
Arnold Whitehead
*
Pastor Marvin
Gray, Sr.,
*
Bro. Jack Pratt
*
Bro. Lester
Wilkerson
*
Bro. James Green
*
Minister Timothy Pulliam
*
Bro. Patrick Wilkerson
*
Minister Tony Hampton
*
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.
Internet Evangelism Day
Bulletin of Web Evangelism
http://www.gospelcom.net/guide/webevangelismbulletin.html
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.)
Our worst days are never so
bad that we're beyond the reach of God's grace. And our best days
are never so good that we're beyond the need of God's grace.
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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
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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