"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."  Isaiah 58:11

     CONSIDER

"Before you 'break bread,' give thanks.  Allow every meal to be sacramental, where physical matter provokes spiritual reflection."  Dan Schmidt, Taken by Communion

     ONE LAST GOTHAM VISIT FOR BILLY GRAHAM

by Collin Hansen

His body racked by age and infirmities, Billy Graham is depending heavily on the Holy Spirit to endure his speaking schedule for the New York City crusade (http://www.billygraham.org/NYCrusade_Cover.asp) June 24-26.  The 86-year-old evangelist is determined not to let even hearing loss, prostate cancer, and Parkinson's disease stop him from delivering the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Nearly 50 years ago, during his first major Gotham crusade, Graham faced different -- yet similarly daunting -- impediments to his ministry.  Instead of disease, Graham warded off withering attacks from Reinhold Niebuhr, fundamentalists, and segregationists.  The remarkable response to Graham's preaching effectively marginalized the extreme ends of the theological spectrum and helped carve out a prosperous middle ground for the burgeoning civil rights and evangelical movements....

Read this article at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2005/jun17.html

     SHARE YOUR FAITH EASILY

One way to tell the Good News to others is to include one of the following links in your email signature.  Choose one and put it in your signature file today.  You could say something like "Would you like to know how you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Learn more at" or "Consider the meaning of life at" or "Check out life's meaning at" etc.

Billy Graham's Steps to Peace With God

http://www.bgea.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp

Campus Crusade for Christ's "Who Is Jesus?"

http://www.ccci.org/wij/index.html

Four Spiritual Laws

http://www.greatcom.org/laws/english/

Need Him

http://www.needhim.org/

DigiTracts

http://www.digitracts.com/

The Kristo (flash presentation)

http://www.thekristo.com/site/pp.asp?c=9oIDLROyGoF&b=409877

     KEEP YOUR ID SAFE IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Read articles on protecting your ID information at

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/security/

     THE RISE OF THE EVANGELICALS

Mark Noll's The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys recently won a 2005 CT book award.  In it, Noll traces the early influences and the surprising growth of a movement of individuals seeking true religion.  Noll is the McManis professor of Christian thought, and co-founder and director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, at Wheaton College.

Q: What were some of the early influences on evangelicalism?

A: Evangelical Christianity in the 18th century represented something new but not in the sense of a creation out of nothing.  There were very strong tributaries that led into early evangelicalism. Of those tributaries, three were most important.  The Anglican background as a form of Reformation Protestantism was critical, particularly the four movements within Anglicanism that had stressed the value of small groups meeting together to encourage people in ethical living.  These reforming societies were sponsored and defended quite strongly by John Wesley's father. It's that movement out of which the Wesleys themselves emerged.

The second strand is a more distinctly reformed or Calvinistic Protestantism in the Puritan movement and then more generally in the dissenting churches of Britain.  This was a movement that broke with Anglicanism on questions of church order, but kept the shear, broad, reformation Protestant inheritance that stressed more greatly the Calvinist distinctives of the sovereignty of God in salvation, the apprehension of Christian assurance through the work of the Holy Spirit, and other Calvinistic emphases from the Reformation.  This was a strand that was very important with Jonathan Edwards in America and with George Whitefield in England.

A third strand, and in some ways the most important of all, though also the most distant from the Anglo world, was European pietism.  It's been one of the great contributions of the work of Professor W. R. Ward, to show the extensive connections between the pietist movements of Germany and Holland and even France, and what we now know as evangelicalism in the English-speaking world.  So, on any number of particulars, the European pietists pioneered what became distinctives as English and American evangelicals.  These included field preaching, special teaching and preaching aimed at young people, the writing of innovative hymns, the singing of these hymns outside of church, and small groups (which date from the 1670s and were the prototype for the Wesleyan cell groups).  Those Wesleyan classes under girded the evangelical movement in Britain and eventually played a very strong role in America as well....

Read the rest of this interview at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/123/42.0.html

     TAKE THE EVANGELICAL QUIZ

How Much Do You Know About Evangelical Christianity?  Do the majority of Christians identify themselves as evangelicals?  Are all evangelicals Republican?  What kind of evangelism is Billy Graham known for?  Take this quiz to see how much you know about evangelical Christianity.

http://www.beliefnet.com/section/quiz/index.asp?sectionID=10002&surveyID=241

     THE FUNDAMENTALIST-EVANGELICAL SPLIT

Both believe in the Bible, but one group wanted to separate from modern culture while the other wanted to engage it. 

by Wendy Murray Zoba 

(Excerpted from Beliefnet's new book, "The Beliefnet Guide to Evangelical Christianity")

In the early 1940s, a distinct split grew between evangelicals and fundamentalists over how to apply the "fundamentals" of faith to the modern world.  In 1941 Rev. Carl McIntire founded the American Council of Christian Churches, an extreme group that favored separatism from hostile cultural forces.  Some went so far as to refuse contact with anyone who did interact with the culture.  Not all "fundamentalists" (that is, those who believed in the fundamentals) felt this way, however.  One branch of Bible believers-evangelicals-wanted to engage the culture, while the other branch-fundamentalists-moved away from it, sometimes belligerently.  Kenneth Kantzer, a keen observer of the changing picture, said that for many evangelicals who had considered themselves "fundamentalists," the term became "an embarrassment instead of a badge of honor."  At the time evangelicals did not see themselves as rebelling against fundamentalism. Rather, they saw themselves as sincere believers who longed for a "Bible-believing" pastor with an education -- one who could approach contemporary issues with intellect and eloquence.  Scholars like Kantzer, Harold Ockenga, Carl F. H. Henry did not, of necessity, reject every idea set forth by modernists simply because they were "modern."  They did not fear cultural involvement or conflicting viewpoints; they were deeply committed to social action and justice.

A number of institutions and organizations became rallying points under the flag of evangelicalism.  In 1942, Harold Ockenga spearheaded the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) as a platform for conservative Christians who wanted to be culturally engaged.  Carl F. H. Henry wrote The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism (1947), which offered a strong critique of fundamentalist separatism, charging a betrayal of their own heritage.  The same year saw the formation of one of evangelicalism's hallmark seminaries, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.  Two years later Billy Graham gained national headlines at his Los Angeles tent meetings when newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst told his editors to "puff Graham," catapulting him onto the national stage.  This made "crusade evangelism" front-page news.  In 1950 Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga both spoke in the Rose Bowl, addressing the largest audience ever at any religious gathering in the Pacific Southwest.  By 1956 Graham had launched Christianity Today, a new magazine "of evangelical conviction."  All of this signaled a new day....

Read this excerpt in full at

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/167/story_16774_1.html?rnd=93&rnd=95

     EVANGELICAL HOT TOPICS

The author of 'The Beliefnet Guide to Evangelical Christianity' answers questions on hell, evolution, prayer in schools, & more.

Q: How many evangelical Christians are there in America?

A: Some estimates put the number around 50 million.  Recent statistics indicate that white evangelicals comprise 24% of the U.S. population; black evangelicals, 10%; mainline Protestants, 16%; Catholics, 22%.

Read this in full at

http://beliefnet.com/story/168/story_16838_1.html

     THE SURPRISING SPECTRUM OF EVANGELICALS

"Frequently portrayed as uniformly reactionary or fundamentalist, evangelicals -- drawing increased attention because of their pivotal role in the 2004 election -- are actually an amalgam of unpredictable, sometimes contradictory, strains of Christianity across a broad spectrum of the nation...."

Read this article in full at

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11929261.htm

     A QUIRKY AND VIBRANT MOSAIC

by Philip Yancey

"...The British historian David Bebbington suggests this overall summary of evangelical distinctives:

*        Conversionism: the belief that lives need to be transformed through a "born again" experience.

*        Activism: the expression of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts.

*        Biblicism: a particular regard for the Bible as the ultimate authority.

*        Crucicentrism: a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross as making possible the redemption of humanity.

"Under this overarching description, Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Orthodox can be evangelicals even while remaining within denominational structures that might shirk the term.  The National Association of Evangelicals bars denominations that are members of the National Council of Churches, and yet many of those denominations have constituents who gladly call themselves evangelicals.

"As a writer, I have found that by sticking to Bebbington's four distinctives, especially his emphasis on the Bible, I have a wide range of freedom.  When readers complain, I reply that I am not the radical; Jesus is.  He sought out prostitutes and sinners, in the process attracting violent opposition from the religious establishment of his day.  As he departed, he prayed that his followers would not be removed from the world, charging them instead to live in its midst as salt and light.

"After spending several decades working within evangelicalism, I would summarize its essential tenets in three statements:

*        This is our Father's world.  Evangelicals believe that God created the world and lavished it with care.  Any residue of goodness on the planet reflects God's "common grace": the sun shines and rain falls both on those who believe and on those who don't.  All pleasure, including beauty, sexuality, art, and work, are God's gifts to us, and we look to God's revelation for the pattern in best ordering our desires so that in them we may find fulfillment and not bondage.

*        As an expression of love for the world, God entered its history (the Incarnation) and gave the Son's life as a sacrifice for its redemption (the Atonement).  Its emphasis on Jesus and the Cross separates Christianity from all other religions, and evangelicals hold fast to that distinctive.

"In the mystery of the Trinity, God was "in Christ reconciling the world unto himself" (the apostle Paul's words).  Evangelicals recognize that the world has been invaded by evil and believe that Christ began a process of reclamation.  In that thrust the church plays a crucial role that will culminate in a final victory.

"On one of Karl Barth's visits to Union Seminary in New York, someone asked him what he would say if he met Adolf Hitler.  He replied, "Jesus Christ died for your sins."

"Our emphasis on conversion stems from a profound belief that, as Paul put it, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."  Almost every message delivered by evangelist Billy Graham centered on that theme.  And yet Graham himself insisted that a stress on getting right with God does not imply a faith "so heavenly minded that it does no earthly good." Quite the contrary.

*        Through the power of the Spirit, followers of Jesus advance God's kingdom in the world.  Karl Barth also said, "To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world."  Yes, and in recent years evangelicals have increasingly recognized the corresponding need sometimes to unclasp those hands and lead the uprising against that disorder...."

Read this commentary in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/006/24.37.html

     EVANGELICALS EMBRACE NEW GLOBAL PRIORITIES

Usually when the words "evangelical" and "poverty" appear in the same sentence, the minister at the helm is Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, or Tony Campolo.  And when Rick Warren is written and talked about, it's almost never in the context of any political issue.

But Warren, who is the pastor of Saddleback Church, a megachurch in Lake Forest, California and the author of the blockbuster book "The Purpose-Driven Life," is diving into the issue of Christian responsibility to combat global poverty.

The move took the form of an open letter campaign to President Bush, launched June 3 by Warren together with heavyweights Billy Graham and British evangelical John Stott and sent to over 150,000 evangelicals nationwide.

"I deeply believe that if we as evangelicals remain silent and do not speak up in defense of the poor, we lose our credibility and our right to witness about God's love for the world," Warren wrote in his appeal for participants in the campaign.

Warren stressed that his action did not signal a new, political phase of his career, but rather was an urgent call to practice his Christian faith.  "I've never been involved in partisan politics -- and don't intend to do so now -- but global poverty is an issue that rises far above mere politics," he wrote.  "It is a moral issue ... a compassion issue ... and because Jesus commanded us to help the poor, it is an obedience issue!"

The boundaries between groups may be becoming somewhat more permeable, as evidenced by Pat Robertson's appearance alongside Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, and P. Diddy in a recent public service announcement for The ONE Campaign to end poverty (http://www.one.org)....

Read this article in full at

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/168/story_16822_1.html

     BASIC BIBLE DOCTRINE

The Doctrine of Satan

I.    The Existence of Satan

A.  Seven Old Testament books and every New Testament writer refer to Satan.

B.  Jesus referred to Satan (Matt.13:39; Luke 10:18; 11:18).

II.   The Personality and Names of Satan

A.  Personality - He has intellect (2 Cor.11:3), emotions (Rev.12:17) and will (2 Tim.2:26.

B.  Names - He is called Satan, the Devil (slanderer), Lucifer (son of the morning), Beelzebub (Lord of the flies - Matt.12:24), and Belial (lawless - 2 Cor.6:15), the evil one (1 John 5:19), the tempter (1 Thess.3:5), the prince of this world (John 12:31), the god of this age (2 Cor.4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph.2:2), the accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10), and angel of light (false light - 2 Cor.11:14), a serpent (Rev.12:9), and a dragon (Rev.12:3).

III.  The Nature of Satan

A.  He is a created angelic being.  He was created as part of the angelic realm (Eph.6:11, 12; Ezek.24:18) and was the highest in rank of them all (Ezek.28:12-14).

B.  He is an enemy of righteousness.  He is a murderer (John 8:44), a liar (John 8:44), and accuser (Rev.12:10) and our adversary (1 Pet.5:8).

C.  He is a limited creature.  He is limited by God (Job.1:12).  He is not God's equal (1 John 4:4).  He is not omniscient, omnipotent or infinite in any way.  Believers with God's help can resist him (James 4:7).

http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=388

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

Sneak Peek: A leadership secret from Billy Graham...

2. The spirit of teambuilding empowers and energizes.

We can't always choose our leaders or teammates, but we can raise effective followership to a high level, often despite difficult circumstances.  Billy Graham's extraordinary success with his core team raised the bar about what can be achieved.  His decisions were based on mutual agreement rather than on a dictatorial basis.  "God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with." Billy Graham.

This is just one of 21 secrets you'll find in THE LEADERSHIP SECRETS OF BILLY GRAHAM.  Look for it in bookstores this August.

http://www.zondervan.com/Books/Detail.asp?ISBN=0310255783

Also see

Thoughts and Reflections on Billy Graham's Life Principles

http://www.inspiriogifts.com/detail.asp?isbn=0310810604

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy."  Ephesians 5:25 and 26

     CONSIDER

"Don't ever forget that the "high tea" that most of us do once a month or so with a little tiny piece of bread and a little tiny cup is supposed to be a foretaste of the heavenly feast of the Lamb that we will celebrate for eternity.  It is the most ordinary and extraordinary experience all at once."  Tod E. Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: BREAD OF HEAVEN, ON THEE WE FEED

Words: Josiah Conder, 1824

Music: Paul Heinlein, 1676

Bread of Heav'n on Thee we feed,

For Thy flesh is meat indeed:

Ever may our souls be fed

With this true and living Bread;

Day by day with strength supplied,

Through the life of Him Who died.

Vine of Heav'n, Thy blood supplies

This blest cup of sacrifice,

Lord, Thy wounds our healing give,

To Thy cross we look and live:

Jesus, may we ever be

Grafted, rooted, built in Thee.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/h/bhonthee.htm

     GOD FAQ

Question 26: How is original sin conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity?

Answer: Original sin is conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity by natural generation, so as all that proceed from them in that way are conceived and born in sin.

http://www.shortercatechism.com/

     OVERSEAS TRAVEL TIPS

Nilou Motamed, senior editor of Travel + Leisure magazine, offers these tips for anyone planning to travel or going on vacation overseas this summer.

*        Research your destination.

*        Check for any travel warnings issued by government authorities such as the U.S. State Department (http://www.travel.state.gov/) and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel).

*        Check out Web sites of local publications for warning of public transportation strikes and other regional news.

*        Photocopy important documents such as passports, visas, airline tickets and credit cards.  Keep copies at home and take ones with you.  As a precaution, don't keep everything in the same place when traveling.

*        Register at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate when you arrive, especially if the State Department has issued a warning for the country.  You can do this in person or online.

*        Be aware of and respect local customs and taboos.  For example, dress modestly if the religion of a country requires native women to do so.

*        Know where you're going -- find out if it's safe to take cabs or buses and always carry your hotel address with you (preferably with directions in the local language.)

*        Ask the hotel check-in to write your room number down rather than saying it out loud.  Women travelers especially should take such a precaution.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/

     ON PRAYER

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."  Romans 8:26 (NIV)

     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

*        Bro. Robert Allen

*        Bro. Anton Johnson

*        Apostle Aaron Royster

*        Bro. Warren Baudy

*        Bro. Raymond Jones

*        Minister Aaron Royster, Jr.

*        Bro. Paul Burton

*        Bro. Darnell Kennedy

*        Pastor Leonard Royster

*        Bro. Arthur Carr

[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.

Sign up for relevant Christian email newsletters and a daily Bible verse

http://www.zondervan.com/desk/emas.asp

SHORT-TERM MISSION TRIPS

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/125/12.0.html

http://www.oscar.org.uk/stmguide.htm

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 a man speaks in a forest and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

[email protected]

===== /\ =====

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

===== /\ =====

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/

===== /\ =====

To subscribe to MSM CONNECTIONS, send a message to [email protected] with "subscribe MSM" in the subject line.

To unsubscribe, send a message to [email protected] with "unsubscribe MSM" in the subject line.

THANK YOU FOR READING

MAKE IT A GREAT WEEK!

It is my prayer that, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” Ephesians 1:18

© 2005 Frank Coleman