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 with God and with other men at NJD. If you'd like its delivery to
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"Therefore, my brothers, I want you
to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you."
Acts
CONSIDER
"Never let mistakes or wrong
directions, of which every man falls into many, discourage you. There is precious instruction to be got by
finding where we were wrong."
Thomas Carlyle
SEVEN BIG MISTAKES MEN MAKE
by Stephen Arterburn
A man on my staff once made a mistake that
cost our company about $35,000. He asked
me if I was going to fire him. "No,
I'm not going to fire you," I said, "Not after we just spent $35,000
in on-the-job training. You just became
our most valuable employee!"
As a man, you make mistakes. You can't avoid them all. But you don't have to make the most costly
type of mistakes -- the type I call mistakes of the heart. These mistakes can be deadly. If you wish to succeed in life, mistakes of
the heart must be avoided at all costs.
Let me share some of them with you:
1.
Blind Ambition
2.
Manipulation of People
3.
Pride
4.
Shame
5.
Fear
6.
Lust
7.
Laziness
Read this article in full at
http://www.newmanmag.com/article.php?sid=574&mode=thread&order=0
LET YOUR MARRIAGE DRAW
YOU CLOSER TO GOD
Your marriage isn't just about happiness,
and it's not just about you and your spouse. It's much more than that. Ultimately, your marriage is a tool God wants
to use to draw you closer to Him.
Whether or not your marriage makes you happy, it can make you holy. And it can bring glory to the source of all
love -- God Himself.
*
Acknowledge hard realities. Realize that you and your spouse don't live
in an idealized romantic world, but in a fallen, broken one. Be honest about the disappointments and
selfishness that exist in your marriage.
Don't be afraid to discover what your marriage reveals about your own
attitudes and behavior. Seek to
understand yourself and the ways you need to grow as you confront this
information in your marriage.
*
Understand that marriage is all about
learning to love. Remember that marriage
isn't eternal; it's merely an earthly relationship in which two people can
learn how to love. Accept your spouse
and practice acting in love toward him or her, no matter what.
*
Let marriage teach you about God's
relationship to His people. Understand
that marriage is a picture of the commitment Christ has for His church. Realize that God wants you to pursue Him with
passion, just as He pursues you.
*
Learn to respect others through your
marriage. Decide that you will honor
your spouse because God wants you to do so -- despite his or her flaws.
*
Use your marriage to build your prayer
life. Let the intimacy you develop in
your marriage relationship enrich the intimacy you share with God through
prayer.
*
Let your marriage help cleanse you. Allow your marriage to hold up a mirror of
your sin to view. Let your marriage show
you the unhealthy attitudes and character flaws that God wants to heal in you.
*
Embrace your marriage's difficulties in
order to build character. Don't run from
your troubles. Instead, face them,
trusting that they will make you a stronger person.
*
Let your marriage teach you how to
forgive. Recognize that conflict is an
opportunity for spiritual growth.
*
Build your spiritual purpose through your
marriage. Look beyond each other toward
God, asking Him to unite you to pursue a common vision in your lives.
Adapted from
Sacred Marriage, copyright 2000 by Gary L. Thomas. Published
by Zondervan,
Gary Thomas (www.garythomas.com) is a writer and the
founder and director of the Center for Evangelical Spirituality, a ministry
that integrates Scripture, church history, and the Christian classics. His books include Authentic Faith, Sacred
Pathways, The Glorious Pursuit, and Seeking the Face of God. He teaches a course on spiritual formation at
FIVE THINGS TO DO 5 YEARS OUT
FROM RETIREMENT
by Don McLeod
1.
Study up on retirement issues.
2.
Develop a written financial inventory.
3.
Check your asset allocation.
4.
Contribute as much as you can to your
retirement accounts.
5.
Talk with your spouse about retirement.
Read this in full at
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=7768
BASIC BIBLE DOCTRINE
Survey Of Bible
Doctrine: Salvation
Introduction
1. The need for individual
salvation is clearly seen in the study of man and sin. The person and nature of
Christ the Savior has already been given separate study (See "SURVEY OF
BIBLE DOCTRINE - CHRIST"). This study focuses on the work of Christ on the
cross and how the benefits of that work are given to man who is in need of
salvation.
2. The History of Salvation
In every age God has
provided salvation. Prior to the cross it was unknown to man that Jesus Christ
would die for their sins. But the requirement for salvation was always to trust
in God's provision for sin - even when that provision was unknown or only
pictured as in the sacrificial system. One thing that was always present,
however, was the idea of sacrifice.
a. God provided Adam and
Eve with a covering of animal skins (Genesis 3).
b. God was pleased with
Abel's sacrifice of an animal (Genesis 4).
c. Abraham sacrificed a
lamb (Genesis 22).
d. At the Exodus from
e. The Levitical system
revealed to Moses centered on animal sacrifice for sin (Leviticus
So when Christ came as the "Lamb of
God" (John
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=2565
A
CRUISE SHIP OR A BATTLESHIP?
"Some time ago, our church
"adopted" the USS Reuben James, a frigate deployed to the
LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS,
FAMILY, LIFE)
Embrace
change, but not for change's sake. Begin to plan your own succession as soon as
you take up your new post, and in this regard, ensure that the only promises
you ever make are those that you can guarantee to deliver.
http://www.alanchapman.com/leadership.htm
"THE IMAGINATION
WAS THERE"
Jamie Gorelick, a 9/11 Commission member
and partner in the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, has been
sharing the lessons of 9/11 with clients and business groups since the book's
release. A former vice chair at Fannie Mae and the deputy attorney general
under Janet Reno, Gorelick spoke to Fast Company about imagination, leadership,
and the persistence of outdated mind-sets.
Fast Company: Which lessons from the
commission's report are most applicable to the business world?
Jamie Gorelick: I'd start with the role of
the leader in tearing down obstacles to the line people doing their job. You see this repeatedly in the 9/11 report:
Law enforcement agents or intelligence analysts had a perception, and they also
had a passion about their job. There
were cultural, bureaucratic, and legal turfs -- although frequently, the legal
obstacles were more perceived than real -- and it should have been the role of
managers to tear them down. In fact,
they more frequently enhanced them.
Number two would be what we call "the failure of imagination." [That is] reflected most poignantly in the
answers that the pilots of the scramble planes [on 9/11] gave us. When we asked them what they thought they
were looking for, they said, "We thought the Russians had snuck one by
us." That reflected a Cold War
mind-set when the Cold War had been over for 10 years....
Read this interview in full at
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/91/gospels-qa.html
FIGHTING THE FLU
The pesky flu season is still with
us. Find out basic facts about the flu,
such as how it infects and how you can try to prevent it or deal with it if you
do manage to catch it.
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/flu/flu.htm
VERSE TO PONDER
"He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his
wounds you have been healed." 1
Peter
CONSIDER
"The moment we make up our minds that
we are going on with this determination to exalt God overall, we step out of
the world's parade... We acquire a new viewpoint; a new and different
psychology will be formed within us; a new power will begin to surprise us by
its upsurgings and its outgoings." A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The
Pursuit of God [1948]
SPIRITUALITY FOR ALL
THE WRONG REASONS
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message,
talks about lies and illusions that destroy the church.
Q: What is the most misunderstood aspect of spirituality?
A: That it's a kind of specialized form of being a Christian, that you have to have some kind of in. It's elitist.
Many people are attracted to it for the wrong reasons. Others are put
off by it: I'm not spiritual. I like to
go to football games or parties or pursue my career. In fact, I try to avoid the word.
Q: Many people assume that spirituality is about becoming
emotionally intimate with God.
A: That's a naïve view of spirituality. What we're talking about
is the Christian life. It's following
Jesus. Spirituality is no different from
what we've been doing for two thousand years just by going to church and
receiving the sacraments, being baptized, learning to pray, and reading
Scriptures rightly. It's just ordinary
stuff. This promise of intimacy is both
right and wrong. There is an intimacy
with God, but it's like any other intimacy; it's part of the fabric of your
life. In marriage you don't feel
intimate most of the time. Nor with a friend.
Intimacy isn't primarily a mystical emotion. It's a way of life, a life of openness,
honesty, a certain transparency....
Read this interview in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/003/26.42.html
THE SILENT SERMON
A member of a certain church, who
previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the minister decided to
visit him -- it was a chilly day. That
evening, the minister found the man at home all alone sitting by a blazing
fire. Guessing the reason for his
minister's visit, the man welcomed him, and led him to a comfortable chair near
the fireplace and waited. The minister
made himself at home but said nothing.
In the grave silence, he contemplated the
dance of the flames around the burning logs.
After some minutes, he took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a
brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still
silent. The host watched all this in
quiet contemplation. As the one lone
ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its
fire was no more. Soon it was cold and
dead.
Not a word had been spoken since the
initial greeting. The minister glanced
at his watch and chose this time to leave.
He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in
the middle of the fire. Immediately it
began to glow once more, with the light and warmth of the burning coals around
it. With that, the minister smiled at
his host, shook his hand, and let himself out.
CONSIDER
"As long as I see any thing to be
done for God, life is worth having; but O how vain and unworthy it is to live
for any lower end!" David
Brainerd's (1718-1747) Journal
VERSE TO PONDER
"In [Christ] we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of
God's grace." Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
THIS WEEK'S HYMN:
HALLELUJAH! JESUS LIVES!
Words: Carl B. Garve, 1825
Music: Ludvig M. Lindeman, 1871
Hallelujah! Jesus lives!
He is now the Living One;
From the gloomy halls of death
Christ, the conqueror, has gone,
Bright forerunner to the skies
Of His
people, yet to rise.
Jesus lives! Why do you weep?
Why that sad and mournful sigh?
He who died our Brother here
Lives our
Brother still on high.
Lives forever to bestow
Blessings on
His church below.
Jesus lives! And thus, my soul,
Life eternal waits for you;
Joined to Him, your living head,
Where He is, you shall be, too;
With the Lord, at His right hand,
As a victor you shall stand.
Jesus lives! Let all rejoice.
Praise Him, ransomed of the earth.
Praise Him in a nobler song,
Cherubim of
heavenly birth.
Praise the victor King, Whose sway
Sin and death and hell obey.
Jesus lives! To Him my heart
Draws with
ever new delight.
Earthly vanities, depart,
Hinder not my heavenward flight.
Let this spirit ever rise
To its
Magnet in the skies.
Hallelujah! Angels, sing!
Join with us in hymns of praise.
Let your chorus swell the strain
Which our feebler voices raise;
Glory to our God above
And on earth His peace and love!
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/j/hjelives.htm
GOD FAQ
Question 15: What is the work of creation?
Answer: The work of creation is that
wherein God did in the beginning, by the word of his power, make of nothing the
world, and all things therein, for himself, within the space of six days, and
all very good.
http://www.shortercatechism.com/
ON PRAYER
"The essence of prayer does not
consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in
speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion. Prayer is
continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of
things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of
Life. Prayer is not asking, but union with God. Prayer is not a painful effort
to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire
to possess God Himself, the Source of all life. The true spirit of prayer does
not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of
all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him." Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), Hindu Sikh
who converted to Christ.
PRAY FOR A COUNTRY
TODAY
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
*
Pastor Alan Roundtree
*
Elder Dalter Yarbrough
*
Bro. Robert Allen
*
Bro. Anton Johnson
*
Apostle Aaron Royster
*
Bro. Warren Baudy
*
Bro. Raymond Jones
*
Minister Aaron Royster, Jr.
*
Bro. Paul
[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.
ExecuNet Membership Network
Helicopter Flying
(time waster)
http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf
Very cool!
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.)
A hearse is poor transportation for your
first church visit.
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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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