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Connecting man to
man to God! Week of Issue 160 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
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"If you
search for God with all your heart and soul, you will find him." Deuteronomy CONSIDER "If you
are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven;
you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world." Vance Havner LAUGH OUT LOUD And nine
other ways to worship all summer long by Chris
Lutes 1)
Help and serve others. Play ball with the neighbor kid. Help out with your church's summer VBS or a
neighborhood Bible club. Mow an elderly
neighbor's lawn for free. And whenever
possible, do your serving in secret so that God gets the glory (1 Peter 2)
Sit down in your yard with your Bible
and pick a blade of grass. Turn to Isaiah
40:7-8, which says: "The grass withers and the flowers fall. ... Surely
the people are grass. The grass
withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever"
(NIV). Read the passage a few times,
then think about what it means to you.
Use the blade of grass to bookmark the passage. Read the passage periodically throughout
the summer, watching as the blade of grass withers. 3)
Take a walk in a park or forest with a
friend. Look around at all of the
things God has created. Take turns
pointing out how God's creation gives you glimpses into his character and
nature. For example: "God is like
this oak tree because he's sturdy and strong." Read the rest in full at http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2007/003/8.34.html GARDENING AS PEACEMAKING by Tom Beutel "Before
the Fall, as part of God's perfect creation, God gave humans the task of
working in the garden, a garden that was both "pleasant to the
sight" and "good for food."
Gardening, on any scale, is a quintessential element of
peacemaking. Peace as described in the
Bible is denoted by the Old Testament Hebrew word shalom which Perry Yoder
defines as material prosperity; healthy, right relationships (between humans
and God, themselves, each other and creation); and moral integrity. Gardening certainly contributes to
shalom".... Read this in full at http://peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?a=387 DRIVEN "Truth
be told, the most inspired, motivated, and driven people I know are the ones
who live their lives from the energy of their holy discontent. They have a constant awareness that what is
wrecking them is wrecking the heart of God.
Refusing to stay fed up, though, they instead
get fueled by their restless longing for the better-day realities God says
are coming soon. They listen to the soulish instinct inside them that says life just doesn't
have to be the way that most people experience it. Most importantly, they suit up and jump
into the game when God says, 'If you'll hook up with me, I'll involve you in
effecting some much-needed change around here!'" Bill Hybels, Holy
Discontent: Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision HOW TO BE SEXY Sexuality is
connectivity, and it all starts with being sexy on the inside. by Rob Bell
(author of Sex God) "Last
year I was swimming in the ocean with one of my boys on my back in the midst
of a pod of dolphins. They were
swimming around us and under us and making their noises, which are incredibly
loud and piercing, when one of them shot up into the air above us and did a
flip. Right over our heads. When we
describe moments like these, the words we use are rarely about distance. The words we use are about nearness and
connection, sometimes even intimacy.
These moments move us because they have a sexual dimension. They help us become reconnected. They go against our fallen nature, which is
to be cut off...The experience moves us so deeply because it taps into how
things were meant to be, and we have so few places where we can experience
what God intended on such a large scale".... Read this in full at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/215/story_21570_1.html FATHER'S DAY IS JUNE 17 "Men,
our children are more important than our work. They are more important than our days on
the golf course or hours in front of the television. The legacy we leave is not how much money
we earned or what level of status we received. The legacy we leave is our children. Take delight in them. Have joy in them. Laugh with them." Thom S. Rainer, Raising Dad A MAN'S GUIDE TO FATHER'S DAY http://www.maninthemirror.org/alm/almclassicfdissue.htm THE DISCIPLINE OF MARRIAGE by Patrick
Morley She was
reading to him from a magazine article -- the whole article. He asked her, "What's the
point?" I have to read you the
whole thing for you to understand."
"Are you sure you can't summarize it for me?" With that she leaped up and ran into the
bedroom. "Oh boy, now you've gone
and done it," he thought to himself.
After thinking it over, he picked up his guitar, went into the
bedroom, and began to serenade her. He
never mentioned his indiscretion.
After a couple of minutes a smile broke out on her face. They had reconnected. We are
killing each other slowly. Instead of
ministering to each other we press each other into our own expectations. There are three things we can do to develop
better communication: Stop, Look, and Listen. 1. Stop. Stop what you
are doing. Put down the stupid
newspaper. Turn off that idiotic
television for ten minutes. We don't
communicate because we don't connect.
To stop means that you make each other a time priority. Choices must be made. Whatever interferes with developing a more
intimate relationship must be identified.
Is it a lack of interest?
That's selfish. Is it an
outside activity? That's selfish. Is it phone work for the church? That's selfish. This is a 10-point deposit into your wife's
Emotional Bank Account. 2. Look. When I am
speaking to an audience they look at me.
What do you think I would do if no one looked at me? I'll tell you what -- I'm out of
there! There is no way I would be able
to carry on if I was completely ignored.
It is no different in our relationship with each other. Look directly at your mate when she is
talking to you. Nothing sends a
stronger signal that you care.
Conversely, nothing shouts "I don't care" louder than not
looking. This is a 20-point deposit
into your wife's Emotional Bank Account. 3. Listen. Many people
need to "talk out" their troubles, but does anyone really
care? I process problems best by
talking through them with another person.
Fortunately for me, my wife, Patsy, has the gift of listening. So she is my #1 confidant and friend. What a blessing she is to me. I return the favor when she needs to
talk. This is a 30-point deposit into
your wife's Emotional Bank Account. Stop, Look,
and Listen. Sounds simple, right? That's good, because it's easy to
remember. But it takes discipline to
pull it off. With your
wife or fiancé, discuss these questions.... ·
Do I stop to connect with you when you
have something on your mind? (both answer) ·
Do I look at you when you're talking to
me? (both answer) ·
Do I listen to you when you are trying
to "talk out" a problem? (both answer) ·
Consider asking yourself at the end of
the day for a month, "Today, did I stop, look, and listen to the degree
that my wife knows I really care?" IN-DEPTH BOOK SUMMARY How to Read
Your Bible by David and Renee Sanford is now summarized in detail
online. "It's no surprise that
more than 90% of 21-year-old Christian young adults admit they haven't read
all the way through the Bible even once.
Christian parents, educators, and pastors all agree -- we want to see
people reading through God's Word from cover to cover. Unless they're equipped, however, most
Christians find consistent Scripture reading challenging at best. It takes more than good intentions and
willpower to realize the incredible benefits of regular, systematic Bible
reading." See the full summary at http://www.christianbooksummaries.com Buy this book
here: http://www.christianconnectionbooks.com/content/search/product/view_item.php?dcn=47479&sm= VERSE TO PONDER "Repent,
then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins." Acts CONSIDER "The law
is for the self-righteous, to humble their pride: the gospel is for the lost,
to remove their despair." Charles
H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), "All of Grace" WHY THE CHURCH IS HERE "The
church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them
little Christs.
If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions,
sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other
purpose." C.S. Lewis LIVE FAITH "If a
man does not do the will of God, as God requires it of him, step by step, and
day by day, his belief is only thrown away.
While we are fighting for our creeds, we are wasting the moments that
are flying away. I pray [to] God, he will never allow us to waste another
moment fighting for a creed." C.
Campbell Morgan GROUNDED "In
Scripture and ordinary life, appropriate faith is grounded in knowledge and
it is as good as its object. I am not
suggesting that a person who exercises faith always or even usually
understands everything about what is going on at that moment or in the
future. Abraham placed faith in God
though there was much he did not understand.
But Abraham's faith was still grounded on things he knew about
God. It is a great misunderstanding of
faith to oppose it to reason and knowledge.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In actual fact, faith -- confidence, trust
-- is rooted in knowledge." J. P.
Moreland, Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore
the Spirit's Power GOD AND GOVERNMENT "The
Christian follows two commandments: to live by Christ's teaching in the
Sermon on the Mount, modeling the values of God's Kingdom -- the one yet to
come in its fullness -- and at the same time to support government's role in
preserving order as a witness to God's authority over the present kingdoms of
this world. So while the Christian is
not to return evil for evil (he must instead exercise forgiveness, breaking
the cycle of evil), he may participate in the God-ordained structure that
restrains the evil and chaos of the fallen world by the use of
force." Charles Colson, God and
Government: An Insider's View on the Boundaries between Faith and Politics TOP 10 SIGNS YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
IS UNDER-QUALIFIED 10. He
promises to improve foreign relations with 9. He runs a
series of attack ads against Martin Sheen's character on "The West
Wing." 8. His #1
choice for a position on his cabinet is "That Bob Vila guy." 7. His
outstanding record as Governor of Rhode Island is nullified by the fact that
no one really cares. 6. He got his
degree in Political Economics by bribing Sally Struthers with a chocolate
donut. 5. When
anybody mentions 4. At the
debates, he answers every question with a snarled, "You wanna wrestle?!" 3. He vows to
put an end to the war in Pokemon and free the Pikachu refugees once and for all. 2. He says
the Pledge of Allegiance as quickly as possible, then
shouts, "I win!" 1. On the
very first question of the debate, he attempts to use a lifeline. (from the Humorama newsletter) GEORGE FOREMAN: NOT JUST A BOXER Father. Grill master. Heavyweight boxing champion. Pastor. George
Foreman recounts why he penned "God in My Corner," a new spiritual
memoir detailing Foreman's life before Christ, his transformation into a
Christian and his spiritual journey as a believer and pastor. "I have
written books in the past, but this one is different," Foreman said.
"All of my strength and my success came because God was in my
corner. This book spells out exactly
what I do, how I got here, and my walk with God." In his book,
Foreman sets forth details of his childhood, his boxing career and his
journey to faith. Because people
associate him mostly with boxing, Foreman said he wanted to share the story
of his faith and ministry. "People
would always talk to me about my boxing," Foreman said. "No one
understood that I was a pastor first who was moonlighting as a grill salesman
to support my 10 children. This isn't
a book about boxing. I wanted to be a
preacher, and this book spells out how that happened." Read this in full at http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25799 GIFT "No
matter what causes pain to surface, I believe its presence is actually a gift
from the God who redeems. The pain
acts as a wake-up call that it is time to begin the process of healing,
repentance, and forgiveness. The pain
asks us to make a leap of faith -- that no matter what has happened,
nothing is beyond God's redeeming power.
He can heal the deepest wounds. He can restore the most messed-up
lives. He can reach into the darkest
corners of our past and shine his redeeming light." Margaret Feinberg, The Organic God E-DADS! 8 websites
EVERY dad needs to know about 1.
http://www.Fathers.com - Sponsored
by The National Center for Fathering, this site provides a wide array of
resources for dads, including expert advice on handling the various stages of
a child's development. 2.
http://www.NewDads.com - This
online "boot camp for new dads" is a great resource for first-time
fathers with specific advice on taking care of your baby or toddler. 3.
http://www.KeepKidsHealthy.com - This Web
site supplies you with resources that will assist you from birth to
adolescence, including parenting tips on hot topics such as bed-wetting,
discipline, potty training and sleeping habits. 4.
http://www.OneMillionDads.com - As a
project of the American Family Association, this site encourages fathers to
band together and help "stop the exploitation of our children" by
organizing campaigns against media outlets that produce indecent programming
and the companies that support it with advertising. 5.
http://www.SlowLane.com - If you're
one of the growing number of stay-at-home dads, then this site is chock full
of online references, resources and networking opportunities. 6.
http://www.DadsAndDaughters.org - For the
fathers trying to build a better relationship with the special young ladies
in their lives, this site contains numerous articles on the
subject and give dads a chance to stand up as advocates for daughters
across the country. 7.
http://www.SportsParenting.org - This site
is perfect for dads looking to get involved with their children's youth
sports activities, addressing both athletic development and character
development. 8.
http://www.ItsMyLife.com - This site
allows you to create a legal will online for a nominal fee. http://www.newmanmag.com/family/content/family131.html CONSIDER "In the
midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are
stuttering." Howard Hendricks VERSE TO PONDER "I pray
that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with
all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of
Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians THIS WEEK'S HYMN: REDEEMED, HOW I LOVE
TO PROCLAIM IT Words: Fanny
Crosby, 1882 Music:
William J. Kirkpatrick, 1882 Redeemed, how
I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed
through His infinite mercy, His child and
forever I am. Refrain Redeemed,
redeemed, Redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed,
redeemed, His child and
forever I am. Redeemed, and
so happy in Jesus, No language
my rapture can tell; I know that
the light of His presence With me doth
continually dwell. I think of my
blessèd Redeemer, I think of
Him all the day long: I sing, for I
cannot be silent; His love is
the theme of my song. I know
there's a crown that is waiting, In yonder
bright mansion for me, And soon,
with the spirits made perfect, At home with
the Lord I shall be. >from
CyberHymnal at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/r/e/redeemed.htm
ON PRAYER "How
often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else
to go. And then we learn that the
storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired
haven." George MacDonald
(1824-1905)
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. MapStats http://www.fedstats.gov/mapstats/ 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.) In
just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday. Min. Frank Coleman, Editor 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... · Start Your Domain Name Search Here · Download & Share Your Favorite Music · Visit my blog - comment & share your thoughts email: [email protected] phone:
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