Connecting man to man to God!

Week of July 1, 2007

"Encourage one another and build each other up."  1 Thessalonians 5:11

     CONSIDER

"Every act leaves upon the world a greater or lesser impress of God."  Alfred North Whitehead

     THE NEW MAN REPORT

Have you lost the majority of your male friends?  If you're like most grown men, the answer is likely, "Yes."  A recent article in Best Life magazine entitled, "Where have all the men gone?" states that in the last two decades, "American men have shed nearly half of their male friendships."  What's behind this trend?  Have we all developed social phobias or suddenly morphed into reclusive misanthropes?  Nope.  We're just busy.  Really busy....  Read this in full at

http://www.newmanmag.com/newmanreport/2007/05/men-without-friends.html

     MEN TO GATHER AT WASHINGTON MONUMENT

Men are being invited to return to the grounds of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC on October 6, 2007 for a sacred gathering called Stand in the Gap 2007.  "We are urging men to return, remember, renew, and rebuild their commitment to God, their families, churches, neighborhoods, communities, and the nation," said the event's principal organizer, Marty Granger, founder and president of Faith in the Family International.  A news release about the event says, "The emphasis of this event is to call generations of men together, with respect for all ages, races, ethnic groups, and denominations.  The purpose of the day's program is to honor God, hear from God, and to embolden each man to leave a legacy of spiritual strength and faithfulness from one generation to the next"....

http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2007/s07050136.htm

     JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

No composer has more universal appeal than Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).  The plethora of concerts, festivals, recordings and publications that came in the wake of the Bach Anniversary Year of 2000 provides ample evidence.  That outpouring is all the more telling since it came just 15 years after another Bach anniversary in 1985, which had called forth a similar quantity of celebratory events.  But Bach's music creates a problem for many who don't want to acknowledge the explicit Christian message proclaimed in so much of it....  Read this in full at

http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=3428

     WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT CHRISTIAN HISTORY?

Knowledge and understanding of Christian history help us in many ways.  We see the precedents of how God has worked in the past.  We gain perspective, which helps us see our current circumstances in a new light.  We develop a sense of continuity and see the unfolding of God's purposes.  Look into our amazingly diverse and perplexing history.  You cannot help but marvel at how God's design transcends any single generation, century, denomination, geography, or ideology.  Further, a knowledge of our history helps us combat our natural tendency to believe that the universe revolves around ourselves....  Read this in full at

http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses2/glimpses185.php

     PLEDGE TO THE CHRISTIAN FLAG

"I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands; one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe."

Read the history of this pledge at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/features/ask/2001/jul13.html

     THE FOURTH OF JULY

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Independence_Day.shtml

     WHO HE IS

"All His glory and beauty come from within, and there He delights to dwell.

His visits there are frequent,

His conversation sweet,

His comforts refreshing,

and His peace passing all understanding."

Thomas Kempis

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

A boss creates fear

 A leader creates trust (1 Thess. 2:10-11)

A boss serves himself

 A leader serves others (1 Cor. 9:19)

A boss aims to make himself successful

 A leader aims to make others successful (1 Tim. 4:6)

A boss says, "I"

 A leader says, "we" (1 Cor. 3:5-9)

A boss fixes blame

 A leader fixes mistakes (Phm. 18-19)

A boss knows how

 A leader shows how (Ex. 18:17)

A boss makes work a grind

 A leader makes work worthwhile (Nehemiah)

A boss drives

 A leader leads (Jn. 10:11-15)

A boss wields authority

 A leader empowers people (2 Tim. 2:2)

A boss relies on the power of authority

 A leader relies on the power of servanthood (Mt. 20:25-28)

(c)2001 Steve Sileo

Read the rest of this article at

http://www.pastors.com/rwmt/default.asp?id=51&artid=1698&expand=1

     WHAT CAN YOU DO?

"I am only one,

but still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Edward Everett Hale

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night."  Psalm 90:2-4

     CONSIDER

"Do not have your concert first and tune your instruments afterwards.  Begin the day with God."  James Hudson Taylor

     RELATIONSHIPS

"We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempts to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union.  There is no way from one person to another.  However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however sound our psychology, however frank and open our behavior, we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul.  Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through Him."  Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship [1964]

     SUMMER RESOLUTIONS

Give up complaining . . . focus on gratitude.

Give up pessimism . . . become an optimist.

Give up harsh judgments . . . think kind thoughts.

Give up worry . . . trust divine providence.

Give up discouragement . . . be full of hope.

Give up bitterness . . . turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred . . . return good for evil.

Give up negativism . . . be positive.

Give up anger . . . practice patience.

Give up pettiness . . . put on maturity.

Give up gloom. . . enjoy the beauty that is all around you.

Give up jealousy . . . pray for trust.

Give up gossiping . . . control your tongue.

Give up sin. . . . turn to virtue.

     'HOGS' WITH HEARTS FOR CHRIST

On a brilliant Sunday, the tranquility of the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery and surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains was filled with the steady hum of 300 motorcycles.  Not your stereotypical rowdy biker rally, there was no straight pipe revving or showing off Harleys, BMWs or Hondas.  These riders had a higher purpose and a lower volume.  Their leather riding gear sported prominent Christian logos and messages.

Christian motorcycle enthusiasts from throughout the Southeast and from as far away as Louisiana, Michigan, and Ohio converged at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center for the second annual "Rally to Ridgecrest" -- a Memorial Day weekend of worship, seminars, fellowship and, of course, rides through the scenic mountains.  The event was organized by LifeWay and F.A.I.T.H. Riders, a motorcycle ministry started 5 years ago at First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland, Fla....  Read this in full at

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=25940

     TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!  Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance.  But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence.  And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God -- who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty -- and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him.  But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God's help or not.  The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next.  That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn." James 1:2-8 (J.B. Phillips)

http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPhillips.htm

     OUR SIGNIFICANCE

"As the inhabitants of a signal speck of dirt hurtling through space at sixty thousand miles per hour around a nameless star that is one among billions of stars in a galaxy that is also one among billions, we humans get it.  We're not in charge."  Oliver Thomas

     CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

Europeans and Americans approach the relationship between church and state differently. European churches, for instance, often receive official sanction and substantial financial support from the government.  In the United States, on the other hand, the government recognizes no church, and whatever aid it provides is usually indirect and substantially more limited.  Even ideas of religious liberty differ, with European notions of religious freedom focused more on the rights of communities than on those of individuals.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life invited a panel of experts from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss the key differences between the U.S. and various European church-state models, including the distinctive virtues and vices of each system.  The panel also explored how well each model accommodates newcomers, particularly Muslims, a community that is growing rapidly in both Europe and the United States....

JOHAN VAN DER VYVER: "The multiple arrangements of church-state relations and constitutions of the world can, in broad outline, be classified into several categories.  The first is the separation of church and state, which is a salient component of First Amendment jurisprudence in the United States but is also proclaimed, as far as European countries are concerned, in the constitutions of Poland, Portugal and Russia. In the same spirit, some countries testify in their constitutions to being secular states, including in the European context Ireland, Russia and Turkey.  And yet another group, including Albania, Ireland, Slovakia and Spain, proclaim their neutrality with respect to religion.

"The second category, confined to Islamic states, proclaim the identity of law and religion. It is in a sense slightly more complicated than that because Islam is not perceived by its followers as a church; it is a way of life. And religion and law are not distinct modalities of reality; religion is law and law is religion."  Read this in full at

http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=142

     REPORTS OF EUROPE'S DEMISE

by Philip Jenkins

"The widely expected Islamization of a secularized and increasingly enfeebled continent has been greatly exaggerated.  The result has been a rediscovery of the continent's Christian roots, even among those who have long disregarded it, and a renewed sense of European cultural Christianity. Jürgen Habermas, a veteran leftist German philosopher stunned his admirers not long ago by proclaiming, 'Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization.  To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity].  We continue to nourish ourselves from this source.  Everything else is postmodern chatter.'  Europe may be confronting the dilemmas of a truly multi-faith society, but with Christianity poised for a comeback, it is hardly on the verge of becoming an Islamic colony"....  Read this in full at

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3881

     A NEW VISION

*          We need a vision that calls all God's people together on the basis of a firm, positive affirmation of the things we have in common rather than a negative listing of our differences.

*          We need a vision that welcomes the rich diversity of the body of Christ while being absolutely clear on the essentials of Christian life and faith.

*          We need a vision that understands the difference between things central and things peripheral and that will not confuse the one for the other.

*          We need a vision that is highly Christocentric -- a vision centered in a living faith in the living Christ.

*          We need a vision that does justice to the complexity of the human person in relationship with the infinite-personal God.

*          We need a vision that brings people into such life-transforming realities that they are indeed taken over by love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and generosity and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control, indeed, all the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

*          We need a vision in which worship and caring and community life become natural and instinctive.

*          We need a vision of justice and shalom that can attack evil in all its multifaceted forms, overcoming it with good.

Richard J. Foster

http://www.renovare.org/

     CONSIDER

"Jesus always speaks of eternity in terms of the little events of time."  Samuel Miller

     VERSE TO PONDER

[Jesus said,] "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."  Matthew 7:13-14

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: JESU, JOY OF MAN'S DESIRING

Words: Martin Janus, 1661

Music: Johann Schop, 1590-1664

Jesu, joy of man's desiring,

Holy wisdom, love most bright;

Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring

Soar to uncreated light.

Word of God, our flesh that fashioned,

With the fire of life impassioned,

Striving still to truth unknown,

Soaring, dying round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,

Hark, what peaceful music rings;

Where the flock, in Thee confiding,

Drink of joy from deathless springs.

Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure;

Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure.

Thou dost ever lead Thine own

In the love of joys unknown.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/e/jesujomd.htm

     ON PRAYER

"Perhaps there cannot be a better way of judging of what manner of spirit we are of, than to see whether the actions of our life are such as we may safely commend them to God in our prayers."  William Law (1686-1761)

     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.

The American Presidency

http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/index.html

U.S. Presidential Libraries

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/contact/libraries.html

U.S. Presidential Museums

http://presidentialmuseums.com/

List of World Leaders

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.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.)

You're not finished when you're defeated, you're only finished when you quit.

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

[email protected]

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