Connecting man to man to God!

Week of April 8, 2007

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"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:2

     CONSIDER

"Easter is the New Year's Day of the soul."  A.B. Simpson

     EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION

by Josh McDowell

"For centuries many of the world's distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity as being irrational, superstitious and absurd.  Many have chosen simply to ignore the central issue of the resurrection.  Others have tried to explain it away through various theories.  But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.  A student at the University of Uruguay said to me. "Professor McDowell, why can't you refute Christianity?"  "For a very simple reason," I answered. "I am not able to explain away an event in history -- the resurrection of Jesus Christ."   How can we explain the empty tomb?  Can it possibly be accounted for by any natural cause?"....  Read this in full at

http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html

Also see online videos by Lee Strobel about the resurrection

http://www.leestrobel.com/Christ.htm

     WHO WAS JESUS, REALLY?

What did he say about himself?  What evidence is there to support what he said?  How and why did Jesus actually die?  Did he really rise from the dead?...

http://www.christiananswers.net/jesus/home.html

     EVEN NON-BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS BELIEVE JESUS RESURRECTED

According to new research, 75% of Americans who say they're not born-again Christians still believe the biblical account of Jesus literally coming back to life in his physical body. 59% of those who rarely attend church believe in the resurrection of Christ and 39% of those who never attend also believe.  Among non-Protestants, 67% still believe in the resurrection....  Read this in full at

http://tinyurl.com/2e5vp7

Also see

Ben Witherington commentary - "Tomb of the (Still) Unknown Ancients"

http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009735

     THE GOD DEBATE: ATHEIST SAM HARRIS VS. PASTOR RICK WARREN

HARRIS: "It is intellectually dishonest, frankly, to say that you are sure that Jesus was born of a virgin."  WARREN: "I say I accept that by faith.  And I think it's intellectually dishonest for you to say you have proof that it didn't happen.  Here's the difference between you and me.  I am open to the possibility that I am wrong in certain areas, and you are not."  HARRIS: "Oh, I am absolutely open to that."  WARREN: "So you are open to the possibility that you might be wrong about Jesus?"....  Read this conversation at

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17889148/site/newsweek/

Also see

CNN: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Research Institute - "Why this scientist believes in God"

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html

Newsweek: "Is God Real?"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17889147?from=rss/site/newsweek/

CNN: Anderson Cooper's blog - "Faith, science: An 'evolving' relationship"

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/

NPR: Religious Controversy in the Spring

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8904782

     SURGEON PAUL BRAND ON THE HANDS OF CHRIST

"...Nothing in all nature rivals the hand's combination of strength and agility, tolerance and sensitivity.  We use our hands for the most wonderful activities: art, music, writing, healing, touching....Just as painters throughout history have attempted to visualize the face of Jesus Christ, I try to visualize his hands.  I imagine them through the various stages of his life.  When God's Son entered the world in the form of a human body, what were his hands like?...The most important scene in Jesus' life -- the one we memorialize during Passion Week -- also involved his hands.  Then those hands that had done so much good were taken, one at a time, and pierced through with a thick spike.  My mind balks at visualizing it"....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/aprilweb-only/21.0b.html

     WANTED: DISCIPLES

"If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors.  The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back.  Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be changed into exactly the opposite, to hate, jealousy, and revenge.  Christ, however, never asked for admirers, worshippers, or adherents.  He consistently spoke of 'followers' and 'disciples.'"  Soren Kierkegaard

     LET YOUR HEART BE MOVED

by Johann Christoph Arnold

"When our hearts are moved, we will be given the vision to see into the mysteries of God's kingdom, which is so much closer than we realize.  With moved hearts, we will begin to truly understand why Jesus died on the Cross, was buried, and rose again.  With moved hearts, we will find Easter everywhere.  We will be able to weep with a person who is weeping, and rejoice with one who is rejoicing"....  Read this in full at

http://tinyurl.com/2zp8jc

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

The Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego reports that companies whose leadership was rated high in ethics, employee motivation, employee development, and communication enjoy 20% higher profits.

SOURCE: The Foster Network & The Magic of TeamWork: Proven Principles of Building a Winning Team by Pat Williams

     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

     CONSIDER

"Great services reveal our possibilities, but small services reveal our consecration."  George H. Morrison

     PEAKS, VALLEYS, AND RAILS

by Marshall Shelley

Many of us, in marriage, long for mountaintop moments.  Those times of shared success, satisfaction, and celebration.  Times when the nail-biting drive of daily life is behind us for a while and forgotten, and all we can think about is the happiness of the moment.....It's tempting to think of married life as a continual climb, looking for the next mountaintop.  We may tell ourselves that most of life is lived in the valleys, but we hope we're on the road to another mountaintop experience, and that we'll get there before too long.

But what if peaks and valleys aren't the best way to describe your married life?  What if God didn't intend us just to endure down times so we could enjoy an occasional up?  Rick Warren, pastor and author of The Purpose-Driven Life, made an observation a couple years ago that seems to describe the terrain of marriage.  In a single year, his book reached the top of the bestseller lists and his wife was diagnosed with cancer.  A mountaintop?  A deep valley?  Or something else?  "This past year has been the greatest year of my life," wrote Rick, "but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.  I used to think that life was hills and valleys-you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth.  "I don't believe that anymore.  Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life"....  Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/mp/2007/001/17.20.html

     DEFINITION OF BOXING

Where two grown men prance around in satin underwear, fighting over a belt.  The one who wins gets a purse.  And they do it in gloves.

     WHAT ABOUT PROFANITY IN THE MOVIES?

by Phil Boatwright

"Recently several of us who review films from a Christian perspective were the subject of a news article.  The piece was written fairly and found its way into several religious or entertainment sections of papers across the land.  Surprising to me, the warning of objectionable language in my critiques became a source of contention, not for Robert Butler, the author of the story, but by a colleague in criticism who said of his organization, "We like to think we're a little more open-minded than to spend our time counting F-bombs and S-words."

"Some Christians consider the signaling of vulgarity in upcoming films to be helpful when movie-choosing, while evidently others think pointing out such language is silly, or worse, pious.  Normally I wouldn't take up this space or your time defending my approach, but unbridled word abuse in movies is now going unchallenged by nearly every film analyst.

"And since the MPAA rating system began allowing for more invective speech back in the late 1960s, obscenity (indecent language) and profanity (the irreverent use of God's name) have become entertainment colloquialisms, staples in a limited screenwriter's pallet for voicing fear, frustration or most other emotions.  No matter the film genre, offensive verbiage once synonymous with sailors on leave has become conventional movie dialogue"....  Read this in full at

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25331

     HOW'S YOUR PASSION?

"I know when apostolic passion has died in my heart.  It happens when I don't spend my quiet time dreaming of the time when Jesus will be worshiped in languages that aren't yet heard in heaven.  I know it's missing from my life when I sing about heaven, but live as if earth is my home.  Apostolic passion is dead in my heart when I dream more about sports, toys, places to go, and people to see, than I do about the nations worshiping Jesus."  Floyd Mclung, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (William Carey Library, 1999)

     HOW PISTOL PETE FOUND PURPOSE

With his shaggy hair, floppy socks and unparalleled flair for showmanship, "Pistol Pete" Maravich set basketball records that may never be broken and did things on the court that may never be duplicated.  Ironically, though, he spent the last few years of his life pointing people not to sports, but to Christ.  The Pistol was one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but in his final days, he also was probably one of the world's greatest soul-winners.

Maravich died of a heart attack in 1988 at the age of 40, but interest in his life has made a resurgence lately with two new biographies and a DVD.  One book, "Maravich," was written by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill in collaboration with Maravich's widow, Jackie, while the other one, "Pistol," was written by Mark Kriegel.  The 1990 movie "The Pistol" is now out on DVD with two versions (a "rebound" and an "inspiration" edition), with the inspirational version including a powerful, 55-minute video of Maravich giving his Christian testimony months before he died.

"Pete was a bold guy," said Darrell Campbell, who was close to Maravich in his final years, wrote the screenplay for the movie and also helped him write his 1987 autobiography, "Heir to a Dream."  "When I met him, he just cracked open his heart and his life to me about what the Lord meant to him. I thought, 'This is the type of guy that kids need to emulate. This is a guy who wears his Christianity right on the outside where people can see it.'"  Most of the world, though, knows Maravich only as a great scorer who had a knack for entertaining the crowd with a between-the-legs pass, a between-the-opponent's-legs pass or a 40-foot shot....  Read this in full at

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25292

Also see

http://www.pistolmovie.com

http://www.pistolpete23.com

     BE CAREFUL!

"A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:  Inside of me there are two dogs.  One of the dogs is mean and evil.  The other dog is good.  The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.  When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most.'"  George Bernard Shaw

     A PRAYER

Set us free, O God,

 from our many sins and

 failures that we might

 feel as though a burden has been lifted

 and we're breathing free again;

Bless all the ways in which you

 shape our attitudes and lives,

Visit us with goodness and

Give us eyes to see that goodness,

Lead us and help us to follow you.

Amen.

(From PRAYERS FOR THE JOURNEY by Robert D. Young, 1998)

     THE FAITH OF A CHILD

"The gospel says it will dumbfound the wise and be simple to a child.  I think children get it because they haven't had time to get busy or to learn to be selfish.  Life is a joy.  Life is about exploration.  The wise man tries to figure it out, but the child just enjoys it."  Will McGinnis, Audio Adrenaline, Hands & Feet

     LIFT WEIGHTS: GET STRONGER, LIVE LONGER

Strength training has lots of benefits beyond a better appearance, such as lower blood pressure and improved memory.  So what are you waiting for?  The AARP photo-illustrated guide shows you how to work out, using either free weights or strength-training machines....

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/free-weight_workout.html

     SAY WHAT?

A lady walks into an auto parts store and asks for a seven ten cap.  The clerks behind the counter look at each other and one says, "What's a seven ten cap?"  She says, "You know, it's right on the engine.  Mine got lost somehow and I need a new one."  "What kind of a car is it on," the clerk asks, thinking maybe an old Datsun Seven Ten, but no, she says it's a Buick.  "OK," says the clerk, "how big is it?"  She makes a circle with her hands about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  "What does it do?," she's asked.  "I don't know," she says, "but it's always been there."  One of the clerks gives her a notepad and asks her to draw a picture of it.  So she makes a circle about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and in the center she writes 710.

The clerks behind the counter are looking at it upside down as she writes it, and they fall down laughing.  One says, " I think you want an oil cap."  She says, "Seven Ten cap, oil cap, I don't care what you call it, I just need one, and I don't see what's so funny about it."

     MODEL CAPTURES NEVER-BUILT U.K. CHURCH

A monumental wooden model of a domed cathedral, now on display at the Walker Art Gallery, is the only visible realization of Edwin Lutyens' vision of an enormous church building for the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Liverpool.  Lutyens' original vision for the cathedral was so ambitious that even the finely detailed model was never fully completed.  Once the design itself had been abandoned the model was neglected for many years, until it came into National Museums Liverpool's collections....  Read this in full at

http://www.happynews.com/news/3182007/model-captures-built-church.htm

See the model at

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/cathedral/index.asp

     CONSIDER

"Be bold and courageous.  When you look back on your life, you may regret the things you didn't do as much as the ones you did."

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."  2 Corinthians 5:14-15

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: CHRIST IS RISEN! HALLELUJAH!

Words: John S. B. Monsell, 1863

Music: Frederick Maker, before 1890

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!

Risen our victorious Head!

Sing His praises! Hallelujah!

Christ is risen from the dead!

Gratefully our hearts adore Him,

As His light once more appears,

Bowing down in joy before Him,

Rising up from grief and tears,

Christ is risen! Hallelujah!

Risen our victorious Head!

Sing His praises! Hallelujah!

Christ is risen from the dead!

Christ is risen! all the sadness

Of His earthly life is o'er,

Through the open gates of gladness

He returns to life once more;

Death and hell before Him bending,

He doth rise, the Victor now,

Angels on His steps attending,

Glory round His wounded brow.

Christ is risen! all the sadness

Of His earthly life is o'er,

Through the open gates of gladness

He returns to life once more.

Christ is risen! henceforth never

Death or hell shall us enthrall;

We are Christ's, in Him forever

We have triumphed over all;

All the doubting and dejection

Of our trembling hearts have ceased,

'Tis His day of resurrection!

Let us rise and keep the feast.

Christ is risen! henceforth never

Death or hell shall us enthrall;

We are Christ's, in Him forever

We have triumphed over all.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/i/cirhallj.htm

     GOD FAQ

Question 119: What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?

Answer: The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful; and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.

http://www.shortercatechism.com/

     ON PRAYER

"In our praying, we should speak to God about Himself -- that is praise; or about His gifts -- that is thanksgiving; or about other people -- that is intercession; or about our sins -- that is confession and penitence; or about our needs -- that is petition.  Prayer has five fingers, like a hand, and each in turn must be pointed to God, that our prayer may be full and complete."  F. W. Kates (b.1920)

     PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS TODAY

http://christiansincrisis.net/

     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.

International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/

USA TODAY Religion Section

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/default.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.)

A day without sunshine is like, night.

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

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