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Connections Connecting man to
man to God! Week of Issue 145 CONNECTIONS is
the opt-in newsletter for the men & friends of Minister Frank
Coleman. It's a periodic service that
helps connect you with God and with other men. 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. "Don't be wishing you were someplace
else or with someone else. Where you
are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe
right there. God, not your marital
status, defines your life. " 1 Cor. 7:17a (Msg)
CONSIDER "The first job God gave humans was
to manage and take care of God's 'stuff' on earth." Rick Warren
'AMAZING GRACE' IS NOW IN THEATERS The film 'Amazing Grace' is the true
story of William Wilberforce, the 18th century Brit who took a stand for his
Christian faith and spent 20 years to abolish the slave trade -- with help
from John Newton, composer of the famous hymn by the same title. The movie has inspired the Amazing Change,
a campaign to stir people to speak out against modern-day slavery.... Read more at http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/special/amazinggrace.html Amazing Grace movie website http://www.amazinggracemovie.com The Amazing Change campaign http://www.theamazingchange.com http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702180617
THE POWER OF PATIENCE by Mark Galli It's hard to imagine that a man with a
gentle grin and a small, crippled body could turn the world upside down. Yet
William Wilberforce, once described as "a shrimp," did -- but not
by might. With a natural wit and
eloquence, he charmed his way through school and into Parliament in the late 18th
century. But he was aimless. "The first years I was in Parliament,"
he later wrote, "I did nothing -- nothing, that is, to any purpose." Read this in full at http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/8r2/8r2015.html
NEW FIGHT, OLD FOE - SLAVERY Next month marks the 200th anniversary of
the British Parliament's abolition of the slave trade. But according to the UN, 27 million men,
women, and children are in forced servitude today -- 200,000 of them in the http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0221/p13s01-lign.html Newsweek: "Slave Trade" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17202138/site/newsweek/ CBN: "15-Year-Old Inspires People to
End Slavery" http://www.cbn.com/blogs/vonbuseck/070123_zach_hunter.aspx Loose Change to Loosen Chains Zach Hunter http://www.youthspecialties.com/zachhunter/ Christianity Today: "How Christians
worldwide are sabotaging the modern slave trade" http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/march/13.30.html American Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights: A
Timeline http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/slavery_timeline.php
HOW AMAZING GRACE CHANGED THE WORLD by Dr. Nigel M. de S. Cameron It's hard for us to imagine the world of
the 18th century in which few had challenged the idea that certain human
beings could be the property of others.
When Wilberforce committed himself to the cause of the slaves, his
decision was not exactly popular. One
of the lessons of his life is that of persistence. He did not pursue
abolition simply for one electoral cycle, or until he got interested in
something else. It proved to be the work of his lifetime.... Another lesson is that of teamwork, as we
would call it....And another is that of strategy. Wilberforce was under no
illusion that he could get everything he wanted in one shot. So he determined
to move incrementally....As we face the vast moral challenges of the 21st
century -- from slavery itself, which continues in many lands and in the
terrible guise of sex-trafficking in our own, to abortion, to the transhumanists who plan to remake human nature by
blending us with computers -- the lessons are there to be learned. William the Great laid them down in the
closing years of the 18th century. Let
us take them up in the 21st.... Read
this in full at http://www.tothesource.org/2_21_2007/2_21_2007.htm
IS BRITNEY SPEARS THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER? by David Kuo "...Now there is this runaway, this
breakdown, the shaved head, the tattoos, the parties and the presumed drugs. And
it all makes me wonder if the lost, little girl who now has two little boys
isn't trying to do whatever she can to get back to who she once was. I wonder
if she's looked at the pictures of her onstage kissing Madonna and writhing
around on the floor and felt much as the prodigal son felt when he found
himself lying in a pig sty. Britney's sty may be different -- more luxe and less slop -- but the self-loathing, hopeless
destination is the same. They both reached the end of the of the glam road
and discovered it looked a lot like hell".... Read this commentary in full at http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070221/25954.htm
LEADERSHIP TIP (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE) "Individual commitment to a group
effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a
civilization work." Vince
Lombardi
VERSE TO PONDER "Now as you excel in everything -- in
faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you --
so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am
testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so
that by his poverty you might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:7-9
CONSIDER "Unless we know the difference
between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden. It is not enough to have truth planted in
our minds. We must learn and labor to
keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which
have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life."
CANDOR "The search for faith involves noncognitive parts of us -- emotions, longings,
aspirations, dreams and hopes and fears, drives, desires, intuitions, and
experiences. It often forces us to
face some ugliness in ourselves, some hard facts about life and our world,
requiring courage, honesty, and determination. Faith involves admitting with humility and
boldness that we need to change, to go against the flow, to be different, to
shine the harsh light of scrutiny on our cherished illusions and prejudices
and face them with candor, and to discover new truths that can be liberating
even though they may be difficult for the ego, painful to the pride." Brian McLaren,
Finding Faith: A Search for What Makes Sense
WOUNDED HEALERS by
John G. Stackhouse, Jr. "...Henri Nouwen's
insight is that, clergy or not, we must not wait to become perfect before we
help others. We can help them, that
is, precisely as fellow sufferers, with genuine fellow feeling -- but also
with a strong and clear sense of our limitations. And even if you've never been a fan of Ted
Haggard, nor of the populist celebrity-evangelicalism that he exemplifies,
you can still cultivate sympathy for him, for his family, and for his church. And, thanks to Brother Nouwen,
we can also better recognize that our wounds may not be healed right away, nor even over months or years. According to Nouwen's
theology, God may well allow some of those wounds remain a while -- for as we
endure their pain, their shame, and their debility, we may be given the gift
of remembering just how needy each of us is, and how great the possibilities
of restoring love".... Read this
in full at http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2007/0222.shtml
ANSWER THE MOST COMMON OBJECTIONS TO CHRISTIANITY by Whitney Hopler
(The following is a report on the
practical applications of Alex McFarland's new book, The 10 Most Common
Objections to Christianity) People in today's society have many
questions about faith, and every question deserves an honest answer. If you've taken the time to think through
exactly what you believe and why you believe it, you'll be prepared to give
people the answers they need to genuinely seek -- and find -- Christ. Here's how you can answer the most common
objections to Christianity: * Make your responses theological,
reasonable, and practical. Ask
yourself: "Does what I have to say square up with the Bible?", "Does
what I say make sense?", "Is it credible and factually correct?",
"Am I giving people truth that is relevant to life?" and "Have
I successfully bridged the gap from the 'ivory towers of academia' to the
'real world' where people live their day-to-day lives?". * Understand the questions behind the
questions. Get to know why people are
asking the questions they're asking in the first place. Find out what issues are stirring their
souls and motivating them to seek answers.
* Respond to "I don't believe that
God exists. How can anybody be sure?" Recognize that, logically, neither
atheism nor agnosticism make sense. Atheism
requires complete knowledge of everything (which no human has) in order to
declare for certain that there is no God.
Agnostics claim that they can't know anything for sure, but it's a
contradiction to say, "One thing I know about God: You can't know
anything about Him." Explain the
evidence for God's existence: Every effect has a cause (Both science and the
Bible acknowledge that the universe had a beginning, and that it couldn't have
arrived without a force behind it), Every creation has a Creator (Nature
itself points toward its Creator and reveals what He is like), Every design
has a Designer (The intricate design all around you -- from the patterns the
universe to the uniqueness of a DNA strand -- show that they must have
resulted from an intelligent Designer rather than just mindless happenstance),
Communication requires a Communicator (the cells in people's bodies are
filled with complex instructions that were programmed by Someone intelligent
to communicate that information), and Every law has a Lawgiver (The universal
moral law of what's right and what's wrong transcends cultures, and must have
come from an outside source -- the One who gave all humans a conscience. Not only that, but
people's universal inability to keep the moral code perfectly reveals
that all humans need forgiveness from a Savior). Understand that God must be personal, as
well, because He created people to be personal (with wills, emotions,
personalities, volitions, and ambitions), and He Himself must be at least as
sophisticated as who He has created. Realize
also that God reveals Himself to the world so He can be sought. Know that He wants people to seek Him, and
promises that if they do, they'll find Him.
THE 5 SECRETS TO EATING WELL by For all the hype about wonder foods such
as blueberries, broccoli, and almonds, the comforting truth is that all foods
have nutrients (except sugars, which have only calories), and depending on
which nutrients they contain and how much, all foods have some health
benefits. But that doesn't mean you
can eat whatever you want and be healthy.
Eating too much of certain types of foods and not enough of others may
lead to such diet-related illnesses as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and
cancer. So what is the ideal, health-promoting
diet, particularly for someone who's over 50?
Fortunately, healthy eating comes down to just a few basic principles. Follow them and you don't need to count
calories or carbohydrates or substitute protein shakes for meals or swallow
ten different vitamin-and-mineral pills each day. Here's what you need to know: As you get older, you simply cannot eat
as much as you once did without gaining weight. The reason: as you age, your basal
metabolism -- the energy cost of heartbeats, breathing, and other bodily
functions at rest -- declines, as does the number of calories expended during
physical activity.... Read this in
full at http://www.aarpmagazine.org/food/good_food.html
CONSIDER "However important it may be to have
a creed that is sound, or an emotion that is warm, the Christian life
according to the Gospels is primarily determined by the direction of the
will, the fixing of the desire, the habit of obedience, the
faculty of decision. If you are
determined in your purpose, if you have the will to do the Will, then with
half a creed and less than half a pious ecstasy, you are at least in the line
of the purpose of Jesus Christ; and as you will to do His will, may come some
day to know the teaching." R. G. Peabody
VERSE TO PONDER "You have heard that it was said to
those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and "whoever
murders shall be liable to judgment."
But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will
be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool," you will be
liable to the hell of fire." Matthew
5:21-22
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: Words: John Newton, 1779 (the last stanza
is by an unknown author; it appeared as early as 1829) Music: James P. Carrell
and David S. Clayton, 1831 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace
that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed! Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath
brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my Shield and Portion be, As long as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall
fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, Who called me here below, Will be forever mine. When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun. >from CyberHymnal at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/m/a/amazing_grace.htm
GOD FAQ Question 113: What are the sins forbidden
in the third commandment? Answer: The sins forbidden in the third
commandment are, the not using of God's name as is required; and the abuse of
it in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked
mentioning, or otherwise using his titles, attributes, ordinances, or works,
by blasphemy, perjury; all sinful cursings, oaths,
vows, and lots; violating of our oaths and vows, if lawful; and fulfilling
them, if of things unlawful; murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying
into, and misapplying of God's decrees and providences; misinterpreting,
misapplying, or any way perverting the Word, or any part of it, to profane
jests, curious or unprofitable questions, vain janglings,
or the maintaining of false doctrines; abusing it, the creatures, or anything
contained under the name of God, to charms, or sinful lusts and practices;
the maligning, scorning, reviling, or anywise opposing of God's truth, grace,
and ways; making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends;
being ashamed of it, or a shame to it, by unconformable, unwise, unfruitful,
and offensive walking, or backsliding from it. http://www.shortercatechism.com/
ON PRAYER "Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the
people of His pasture, the flock under His care." Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV) PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS TODAY PRAY FOR A COUNTRY TODAY DAILY BLESSING PACT I
am agreeing in prayer with you for God’s blessings to overtake you! PERSONAL FINANCIAL
Settlements
"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. Refdesk.com Find a Christian song http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/songsearch.html?p=1003970 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 word
to the wise ain't necessary. It's the stupid ones who need the advice."
(Bill Cosby) Thanks for welcoming CONNECTIONS
into your in-box! We offer 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. Quick Links... · Download & Share Your Favorite Music · Visit my blog - comment & share your thoughts email: [email protected] phone:
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