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Connecting man to man to God! Week of December 2, 2007 Issue 184
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 2, 14
CONSIDER “God is looking for some disturbed people. He is searching for men and women, students, and young adults who will allow him to disturb them by making them truly see the world in which we live -- so disturbed that they will be compelled to do something about what they see." Kay Warren, Dangerous Surrender
DENZEL WASHINGTON INTERVIEW: DEVOTED TO FAMILY AND FAITH Denzel Washington’s devotion to his family and deep sense of faith make him something of an anomaly in Hollywood. A member of the Church of God in Christ, the actor has been married to wife Pauletta for almost 25 years. And to hear him gush about their four children -- John David, 23, Katia, 20, and twins Malcolm and Olivia, 16 -- you’d think he was a stay-at-home dad.
On the contrary, Washington works all the time. He’s made 37 movies in the last 29 years, including Academy Award winners Philadelphia, Training Day, and Glory. He’s interviewed by Reader’s Digest:
RD: Do you think of yourself as a spiritual person? Washington: Definitely.... Read this interview in full at http://www.rd.com/content/denzel-washington-interview-devoted/
OVERCOMING ANGER AND FEAR by Billy Graham Every destructive emotion bears its own harvest, but anger's fruit is the most bitter of all. Uncontrolled anger is a devastating sin, and no one is exempt from its havoc. It shatters friendships and destroys marriages; it causes abuse in families and discord in business; it breeds violence in the community and war between nations. Its recoil, like that of a high-powered rifle, often hurts the one who wields it as well as its target. Anger makes us lash out at others, destroying relationships and revealing our true nature. The history of the human race is largely the history of its anger…. Read this in full at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/188/story_18810.html
2007 WAS A QUIET HARBINGER OF SIGNIFICANT THINGS TO COME 2007 may be recorded as a pivotal year for religion and politics -- relatively quiet, unremarkable at first glance, but nonetheless significant as a harbinger of things to come. "There are a lot of discrete things, but if you put them all together, you get the sense that change is in the air," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.... Read this in full at http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14524
LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE) “Personal Ethics in the Corporate World” by Elizabeth Doty In today's high-pressure work environment, it's not unusual for conflicts to arise between our values as individuals and the compromises that we must make for our organizations. After interviewing people who had struggled to remain true to their personal values, I explored this dilemma in "Winning the Devil's Bargain," published in the Spring 2007 issue of strategy+business, and then discussed it in an s+b online seminar. The response to the seminar was so enthusiastic that there wasn't enough time to address all of the audience questions. Here, I take on some of the unanswered queries…. http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00052
VERSE TO PONDER “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1 - 2
CONSIDER “If Christianity should happen to be true -- that is to say, if its God is the real God of the universe -- then defending it may mean talking about anything and everything. Things can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false, but nothing can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is true. [All] things not only may have something to do with the Christian God, but must have something to do with Him if He lives and reigns.” G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
THE WORLD IN 2008 The Economist magazine forecasts international trends for the year ahead, such as "The Culture Wars Go Global: God may feature less in America's election -- but more elsewhere".... http://www.economist.com/theworldin/
SPEAKING OF FAITH: THE NEW EVANGELICALS Evangelical Christianity has a new generation of guiding figures who are formulating new priorities for this faith of some 25% of the US population. Radio program Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett offers in-depth conversations with 3 of these influential people. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, has been a progressive political activist for decades. Now he advises presidential candidates and world leaders, and he aims to put poverty at the top of the "moral values" agenda. The Wallis interview was broadcast the weekend of Dec. 2. SOF is also speaking with Rick and Kay Warren the weekend of Dec. 9. He's pastor of one of the nation's largest evangelical communities, Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, and author of one of the bestselling books in the world, The Purpose Driven Life. His wife Kay, author of Dangerous Surrender, has been instrumental in expanding their ministry to global issues including the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa.... Go to the website at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jimwallis/index.shtml
CHRISTIAN PARENTS ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH MEDIA BUT BUY THEM FOR THEIR KIDS ANYWAY Billions of dollars will be spent this Christmas season on gifts for children. A new national study by The Barna Group among Christian parents shows that even though most Christian parents are not always comfortable with the content of the media-related products, they purchase some of those items as presents for their children. The born again Christian population of the U.S. is likely to spend more than $1 billion on media products such as CDs, DVDs, video games, and magazines for children under the age of 18 despite parental misgivings about the moral content or developmental affects of those resources.... Read this in full at http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=284
BE TRANSFORMED “While I applaud the God-given desire to engage our culture, how much better it would be if we were first transformed. Then we could demonstrate to the world true, God-breathed creativity instead of cleverness, and familiarity with the Trinity instead of an obsession with proving how well we can read the latest cultural trend. We cannot compensate for being strangers to God by becoming friends with the culture. On the contrary, we become our culture's truest friend by becoming more aware of the God who not only engages our culture but also inspires, critiques, and transforms it.” Gary Thomas, The Beautiful Fight
GROANING PRAYERS -- WHEN WORDS SIMPLY WON'T DO by Lee Brase "God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them" (Ex. 2:24-25).
Our God does not need words to communicate. Nor does He need words to understand. He speaks through the soundless heavens, which "declare the glory of God" (Ps. 19:1). Without words, creation tells us of "God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature" (Ro. 1:20), which have been seen and understood through time.
I remember once when my wife, my youngest son, and I were leaving Utah and entering Idaho on the interstate. We were driving under a canopy of extremely dark clouds, and ahead of us was a beautiful sunset. The sun's last rays on the horizon, shining underneath the dark clouds, created an unforgettable effect: Before us was a bright sunset and behind us a perfect rainbow. We, along with many other drivers, could not resist stopping to enjoy this spectacle. Words could not have declared God's glory any better at that moment than the view He gave us…. Read this in full at
EVANGELICALS SHIFT TOWARD ACCEPTANCE ON DIVORCE When Pentecostal power couple Randy and Paula White recently announced they were headed to divorce court, the most remarkable part of the reaction was that there wasn't much reaction at all. For increasing numbers of clergy, a divorce no longer generates the kind of career-killing hue and cry of decades ago, in part because plenty of people in the pews have experienced divorce themselves. The shifting views on divorced clergy reflect a growing concession among rank-and-file conservative Christians that a failed marriage is no longer an unforgivable sin. For many evangelical Christians, the line seems to have shifted from a single acceptable reason for divorce -- adultery -- to a wider range of reasons that some say can be biblically justified. "I am probably one of those evangelicals who would say it would be three A's for me," said Chris Bounds, a theologian at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. "Abuse, abandonment and adultery." Read this in full at http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14500
EVERYMAN MEETS JESUS AT JACK-IN-THE-BOX John Koessler is at once an Everyman and an anomaly. You might expect the former pastor and now chair of the pastoral studies department at Moody Bible Institute to have been "raised in the church," as the saying goes. Rather, he's a virtual nobody from nowhere, raised by parents both agnostic and dysfunctional. Thus his memoir, ‘A Stranger in the House of God’ in which he proves himself a graceful writer, is a coming-of-age and coming-to-faith saga.... Read this in full at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/november/39.81.html
HA! A guy goes into the doctor's office. There's a banana stuck in one of his ears, a carrot stuck in one nostril, and a cucumber in the other ear. The man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?" The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you're not eating right."
ZONDERVAN TO PUBLISH FIRST-TIME BOOK FROM A CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST AND CHINESE DIPLOMAT Influential American evangelist and Christian leader Luis Palau and renowned Chinese diplomat Zhao Qizheng invite others into their conversations on philosophy, history, religion, and politics, as well as Chinese and western culture in their new book being published in February, A Friendly Dialogue between an Atheist and a Christian…. Read this announcement in full at
THIS IS THE SEASON OF ADVENT Advent is the beginning of the Church Year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). If Christmas Eve is a Sunday, it's counted as the 4th Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.... Read this in full at http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html
'THE SECRET SANTA' UNDERSTOOD THE REAL SECRET by Dave Burchett Money is an uncomfortable topic for followers of Jesus. One anonymous writer noted that a lot of people are willing to give God the credit, but not too many are willing to give Him the cash. Twenty-seven years ago a man in Kansas City made a choice to give away the cash. It was a choice that changed his life and the lives of thousands more. The Associated Press reported that for the next 27 years, a man known only as Secret Santa roamed the streets every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills. As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa handed out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots. He anonymously gave out about $1.3 million. It was a long-held holiday mystery: Who is the Secret Santa? Last Christmas, weakened from chemotherapy and armed with a desire to pass on his belief in random kindness, Secret Santa decided it was time to reveal his identity…. Read this in full at http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/11560528/
23RD ANNUAL PNC CHRISTMAS PRICE INDEX UP 3.1 PERCENT; RISING WAGES FOR MILKMAIDS, HIGHER COMMODITY PRICES LEAD INCREASES The significantly higher price of gold and increased compensation for minimum wage workers will make Christmas more expensive this year, according to the PNC Christmas Price Index. The tongue- in-cheek economic analysis by PNC Wealth Management is based on the cost of gifts in the holiday classic, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." According to the 23rd annual survey, the cost of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is $19,507 in 2007, a 3.1 percent increase over last year. The rise in gift prices mirrored the U.S. government's Consumer Price Index -- a widely used measure of inflation calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index is up 3.5% so far this year…. Read this in full at http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEM034A26112007-1.htm
CONSIDER “Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.” Augustine
VERSE TO PONDER “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11-12
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 Music: Rowland H. Pritchard
Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.
>from HymnSite.com at
ON PRAYER “Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” John Bunyan
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.
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SHARE YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITES Tell us what sites you find enjoyable and why.
* Official Free Credit Report Site https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
* 2008 Autos: Fuel Economy Leaders http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/overall-high.htm
* American Art Timeline http://www.phillipscollection.org/american_art/timeline.htm
* Color Photos of Life on Earth
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(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 stitch in time would have confused Einstein. Min. Frank Coleman, Editor
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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.
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