Connecting man to man to God!

Week of May 28, 2006

CONNECTIONS is the opt-in newsletter for the men & friends 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 your email address stopped, scroll down and follow the instructions at the end of this message.  Also let me know if you change your email address and want to keep subscribing to CONNECTIONS.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  Ephesians 4:32

     CONSIDER

"A comprehended god is no god."  St. John Chrysostom (345?-407)

     MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE

The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause for one minute in an act of national unity.  That time was chosen because it's when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday.  The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it's an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom....

http://www.remember.gov/

> Taps

http://www.remember.gov/MomentofRemembrance/Taps/tabid/73/Default.aspx

> Adopt A Troop In Prayer

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.net/troopsadopt.php

> "Chaplains in the War Zone" by Martin Marty

http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2006/0515.shtml

     GOD IS HERE, TOO

by Lt. Col. Gary Morsch as told to Dean Nelson

"When I joined the Army Reserves as a doctor in 1993, I wanted to ease the suffering that war causes.  As an Army doctor, I have the privilege of caring not only for our soldiers, but also for wounded civilians and for prisoners of war.  I headed for Iraq this year with mixed emotions.  My heart was heavy as I said goodbye to my loved ones, but I also felt excitement and enthusiasm.  I believe everything we do and everything that happens to us is a part of God's story.  My going to Iraq was part of that story".....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2005/006/13.54.html

     PRAYERS IN THE DESERT

When my Army unit came under attack in Iraq, I felt the reality of God's protection.

by Courtney Birdsey as told to Julie Luekenga

"Nowhere I lived before had prepared me for the litter-strewn, ugly, intensely hot landscape of Kuwait.  Dusty, gritty sand blows everywhere -- so different from the majestic mountains of Colorado, where I grew up.  It's hard to believe that only four years ago I graduated from high school.  Like most of my friends, I had no idea what I wanted to do.  I just knew I wasn't ready for college....

"[While in Iraq] I began to have a recurring conversation with God.  As the violence escalated, reports would reach us of other convoys meeting opposition.  As we traveled back and forth between towns, I kept my New Testament tucked in my pocket and prayers for safety constantly on my lips.  On one of these missions, my unit made a return trip to Samarra, north of Baghdad, to gather data.  As we were leaving the town, the Humvee I was riding in approached a tank from behind.  A soldier riding on the tank gave us an urgent "turn around" signal.  We didn't hesitate to follow orders.  We doubled back to Samarra, only to find ourselves surrounded by gunshots"....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2005/003/7.24.html

     BAPTIZED IN BABYLON

by Charles Seelaus

"My name is Specialist Charles Seelaus, and my Army Reserve unit, the 2/228th Aviation Regiment, is currently stationed in Iraq.  I got here last June.  This long journey has felt surreal, because the men and women in my unit, like a lot of the military personnel over here, used to think of themselves as just weekend warriors.  We were citizen/soldiers, who would drill one weekend a month.  We have a completely different life apart from the Army.  Just a few weeks before leaving for Iraq, I was in my classroom, teaching second-graders at Gideon Elementary School in Philadelphia.  My days were spent grading homework, having tea with my beautiful wife Michelle, and tucking our four children into their beds for a bedtime story and prayers"....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2004/002/8.44.html

     LET'S ALL PLEDGE

"Perhaps pledges for chastity need to be made not only by the individual teenager.  Perhaps we also need pledges made by the teenager's whole Christian community:  We pledge to support you in this difficult, counter-cultural choice; we pledge that the church is a place where you can lay bare your brokenness and sin, where you don't have to dissemble; we pledge to cheer you on when chastity seems unbearably difficult; and we pledge to speak God's forgiveness to you if you falter."  Lauren F. Winner, New York Times (May 19)

     NBA FINALS

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/front.htm

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/

     PENTECOST (WHITSUNDAY) IS JUNE 4

A feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10).  Whitsunday is so called from the white garments worn by those who were baptized during the vigil; Pentecost is the Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter).

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15614b.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost

     MEET MARY M

by Liz Curtis Higgs

"Was she the wife of Jesus, the mother of his children, or the Holy Grail, as The Da Vinci Code claims?  Or the repentant prostitute of Jesus Christ Superstar, throwing herself at the Master's feet and singing, "I Don't Know How to Love Him"?   According to Scripture, Mary Magdalene was none of the above.  And more than the above.  We find her story in all four gospels, where she's mentioned by name 14 times -- significant, since many women of the Bible are nameless.  Here's her eye-opening, one-line biography: "When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons" (Mark 16:9).  Possessed by Satan, she was repossessed by Christ, then privileged to witness his resurrection.  Oh!  She has a story, all right -- but not a scandalous one"....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2006/003/6.28.html

     10 QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT 'THE DA VINCI CODE'

by Don Whitney

1.        If, as "The Da Vinci Code says," Jesus is not God -- despite all the wonderful things which "The Da Vinci Code" agrees were said and done by Jesus -- then what did Mary Magdalene do to qualify as goddess and become worthy of the worship commended by "The Da Vinci Code?"

2.        If, as "The Da Vinci Code" asserts, the biblical claims about the deity of Christ are unreliable, why does "The Da Vinci Code" maintain that the good things recorded in the Bible about Mary Magdalene are reliable?

3.        If, as the book acknowledges, the alleged sexual activity between Jesus and Mary Magdalene disqualifies Jesus' claims to divinity, why doesn't it disqualify Mary Magdalene from being goddess?

4.        Why should we worship the dead (for even those who worship Mary Magdalene acknowledge that she is dead)?

5.        If, as "The Da Vinci Code" assures, Jesus was married ("It's a matter of historical record") and His apostles knew it, why didn't the Apostle Paul ever appeal to Jesus' example when he wrote about marriage, especially when he defended (in 1 Corinthians 9:5) a minister's right to marry based upon the example of "the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas [that is, Peter]," when Jesus would have been the greatest example of all?

6.        When "The Da Vinci Code" claims that "the early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex.... in the temple," why didn't the author mention how inconsistent this was with God's Seventh Commandment ("You shall not commit adultery," Exodus 20:14), which was given before the Jews even had a tabernacle or temple for worship?

7.        Is the kind of ritual sex associated with worship (as advocated in "The Da Vinci Code") really an exaltation of women, or is it a pandering to the lusts of men condoned by their religion?

8.        Since both secular and Christian historians agree that "The Da Vinci Code" is wrong about things such as the practice of ritualistic sexual activity in the temple, the Holy of Holies in the Jewish temple housing God's "powerful female equal," the events at the Council of Nicea related to the divinity of Jesus, the process by which the 27 books of the New Testament came to be accepted as Scripture, the activity of Constantine in church history, etc., do you think author Dan Brown is simply ignorant of the biblical and historical facts, or that he is intentionally misleading his readers?

9.        For any who think there might be some degree of truth on both sides, do you realize that biblical Christianity -- including the New Testament declaration that Jesus is God (John 1:1, etc.) -- and the goddess worship of "The Da Vinci Code" are mutually exclusive, and that there is no possible middle ground between them?

10.    Upon which will you base your hope for eternity?

http://www.BiblicalSpirituality.org

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

5 Questions for Better Team Decisions

by Stephen Lim

In recent years I've discovered that the process of making a major decision can actually be unifying and energizing.  I've found several principles helpful in building that kind of unity....

http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2006/cln60320.html

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:6-7

     CONSIDER

"No indulgence of passion destroys the spiritual nature so much as respectable selfishness."  George MacDonald (1824-1905)

     USING THE GREAT OUTDOORS TO TURN MEN TOWARD GOD

by Russ Rankin

Jason Cruise's eyes light up when he starts relating stories about hooking trout in a cold mountain stream.  His voice quickens describing the patience involved in outwitting and luring a tom turkey.  But it's ministry that really gets Cruise excited -- ministry that connects disconnected men with their Creator God through the call of the great outdoors.

Cruise, former pastor of Belmont Heights Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., founded Outdoor Ministry Network three years ago to train other churches how to develop successful outdoor ministries.

Taking his sense of adventure a step further, Cruise now has started a weblog (blog) to foster a sense of community among Christian outdoorsman -- http://www.outfittingyourfaith.com.  It's designed as a "year in the life" format and will include Cruise's personal adventure as he transitions from the pastorate to concentrate fulltime on Outdoor Ministry Network.

"There has never been a place for Christians to go to connect with other likeminded guys on things they are passionate about -- from turkey calls to high-end ministry tools," Cruise said. "The blog is a place where men can have community and share ideas as well as find outlets for adventure and ministry."

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23317

     HUNTING & FISHING STORIES ENLIVEN DEVOTIONAL BOOKS

by Shawn Hendricks

Jimmy Sites has hunted alongside Amazon warriors and faced off with bears in Alaska, but one of his toughest challenges didn't happen in the wild.  It happened in a room full of first- through fourth-graders.

Sites hosts a national TV and radio show, "Spiritual Outdoor Adventures," and travels the world sharing God's Word to people who hunger for adventure.  He's teamed up with fellow hunter Jason Cruise to write the devotional book, "Into the High Country."  Read this in full at

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23318

     MAXIMS FOR THE INTERNET AGE

*          Home is where you hang your @.

*          The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail.

*          A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.

*          You can't teach a new mouse old clicks.

*          Great groups from little icons grow.

*          Speak softly and carry a cell phone.

*          C:\ is the root of all directories.

*          Don't put all your hypes in one homepage.

*          Pentium wise; pen and paper foolish.

*          The modem is the message.

*          Too many clicks spoil the site.

*          The geek shall inherit the earth.

*          A chat has nine lives.

*          Don't byte off more than you can view.

*          Fax is stranger than fiction.

*          What boots up must come down.

*          Virtual reality is its own reward.

*          Modulation in all things.

*          A user and his leisure time are soon parted.

*          There's no place like http://www.home.com.

*          Know what to expect before you connect.

*          Oh, what a tangled Web we weave when first we practice.

*          Speed thrills.

*          Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.

http://www.mikeysFunnies.com

     CONSIDER

"Life is at its noblest and its best when our effort cooperates with God's grace to produce the necessary loveliness."  William Barclay (1907-1978), The Letters of James and Peter [1976]

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: AM I A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS?

Words: Isaac Watts, 1721

Music: Thomas Arne, 1762

Am I a soldier of the cross,

A follower of the Lamb,

And shall I fear to own His cause,

Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;

Increase my courage, Lord.

I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war

Shall conquer, though they die;

They see the triumph from afar,

By faith's discerning eye

When that illustrious day shall rise,

And all Thy armies shine

In robes of victory through skies,

The glory shall be Thine.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/m/amiasold.htm

     GOD FAQ

Question 74: What is adoption?

Answer: Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow heirs with Christ in glory.

http://www.shortercatechism.com/

     'DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING' JUNE 4 TO FOCUS ON EGYPT'S PEOPLES

by Erich Bridges

Next time you think of Egypt, don't think about King Tut and the pyramids.  Instead, imagine you are:

-- A university student, one of more than 2 million in Cairo alone.  You're intelligent and ambitious, but what's the point of studying hard with so many graduates competing for so few career opportunities?  So you hang out late in coffee shops with your friends.  Last year you saw "The Passion of The Christ" when it played in local theaters.  You've also heard about Jesus on satellite TV and the Internet.  You want to know more, but whom do you ask?

-- A Bedouin shepherd from the Sinai.  Proud of your identity as a true Arab and "defender of Islam," you've been pushed out of your tribe's traditional desert home by development and tourism.  Now you scrabble for a living in a grimy suburb on the edge of Alexandria.  At night you look out into the silent desert, wondering if your children will ever return there....  Read this article in full at

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23134

     PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS TODAY
http://christiansin crisis.net/

     PRAY FOR A COUNTRY TODAY
http://ww w.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
Business Growth

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).

[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.

Burn Lounge

Buy and sell digital music downloads

http://www.burnlounge.com/goglobalmusic

Reader's Digest

http://www.rd.com

A Fun Test

http://www.risingstarkaraoke.com/monday_test.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.)

If the singular of GEESE is GOOSE, shouldn't a Portuguese person be called a Portugoose?

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

CONNECTIONS is a periodic newsletter of announcements, news, recommendations, articles, and other information helpful to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming 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

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 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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