Connections

Connecting man to man to God!

Week of December 30, 2007

Issue 188

"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."  Psalm 103:1-2


     CONSIDER
"The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions." Alfred Adler


     DEATH OF KOREAN MISSIONARIES TOPS CHRISTIANITY TODAY'S TOP 10 RELIGION STORIES OF 2007
The Taliban's capture and killing of Korean missionaries in Afghanistan tops Christianity Today (CT) magazine's annual list of top 10 religion news stories.  The listing also notes the success of atheism as a topic on the bestseller charts as well as faith-related surprises in early months of the presidential campaigns.

"Our top stories don't just reflect what made the headlines this year, but what events most shaped evangelical life, thought, and mission," says Ted Olsen, CT Managing Editor.  "The Korean hostage situation, with its implications for a core outreach of the evangelical movement and its interplay of religion and politics in one of the world's crisis areas, made it the number one story for us."

CT's Top 10 Religion News Stories:

1. Taliban takes Korean mission team hostage, killing two.
2. Atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens top the bestseller charts.
3. Presidential campaigns start early, with some faith-related surprises.
4. Wife of famed evangelist Billy Graham dies at 87.
5. Anglican Communion fractures over Scripture, homosexuality.
6. Three Christians tortured and killed in eastern Turkey.
7. Leaders of the Religious Right Jerry Falwell, 73, and D. James Kennedy, 76, die.
8. President of the Evangelical Theological Society returns to Catholicism.
9. Campaign to oust National Association of Evangelicals' Richard Cizik fails.
10. Supreme Court upholds 2003 federal partial-birth abortion ban.

The Religion Newswriters Association compiled its own list and ranks the presidential election and the fight for votes among GOP candidates as the top religion story of 2007.  Close behind as the #2 story were efforts by Democrats to win over voters by showcasing their faith....  Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/january/2.16.html
and
http://www.rna.org/2007top10.php

More Year in Review:
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: "A Look Back at the Year 2007"
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1116/perspectives.html

TIME: "The 10 Biggest Religion Stories"
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1694445,00.html

EP News: "2007 Year In Review"
http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/ZCS/CLB/EP+News+-+2007+Year+In+Review.htm

Christianity Today: "Persecution - What Happened in 2007"
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/novemberweb-only/145-53.0.html

Barna: "2007 Analyzed - 4 Mega-Themes"
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=285

Infoplease: "2007 in Review"
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/07yearinreview.html

NewsBank: "The Year in Review - 2007
http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Static?p_product=Tops2007&f_location=tops2007&p_theme=current&p_action=list&p_nbid=B59Y5ELRMTE5NzA0MTAzMy4zNjUxNjA6MToxMzo2OC4xNTIuNzUuMTI0

VOA: "2007 Spotlight on the Year in News"
http://www.voanews.com/english/Spotlight2007.cfm

TIME: "50 Top 10 Lists of 2007"
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/0,30576,1686204,00.html

CBS News: "Year in Review 2007"
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/2007/main502483.shtml

CNN: "2007 in Review"
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/year.in.review/

Yahoo! News: 2007 in Review
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/year_in_review_2007

MSNBC: 2007 in Review
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22218869

The World: "The Year Ahead" slideshow
http://news.yahoo.com/page/year_ahead


     MOST POPULAR CHURCH STORIES OF 2007
Topping 2007's most popular story related to church is "The God Questions" campaign which was launched early in the year after a couple of pastors discovered that Christians were seeking answers to many of the same questions about God that non-believers were.  The Christian Post's most popular list of Church-related stories is based on the number of views each article received from the Post's readers.

1. 'God Questions' Campaign Boosts Christian Confidence Dr. Hal Seed and Dr. Dan Grider launched a 40-day campaign that equips churches with answers to the most commonly asked questions about God.

2. Outreach Magazine's Top 100 Largest, Fastest-Growing Churches Lakewood Church in Houston with an attendance of 47,0000 topped this year's largest churches in the country.  Gigachurches are on the rise as churchres draw 10,000-plus people each week....  Read this in full at
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20071227/30659_Most_Popular_Church_Stories_of_2007.htm


     THE STATE OF THE CANADIAN CHURCH
Two-thirds of Canadians still identify themselves as Christians.  Ipsos studies reveal that 64% of Canadians believe the Bible is the Word of God, 62% believe in forgiveness through Christ, 45% pray daily, and 41% say they've committed their lives to Christ.  But what is the actual state of Canadian Christianity?....
http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/071206state.html


     `GOSPEL OF WEALTH' FACING SCRUTINY
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo and Taffi Dollar, Pastor Benny Hinn, Bishop Eddie L. Long, David and Joyce Meyer, and Randy and Paula White six major Christian television ministries under scrutiny by a senator who is asking questions about the evangelists' lavish spending and possible abuses of their tax-exempt status.  The probe by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has brought new scrutiny to the underlying belief that brings in millions of dollars and fills churches from Atlanta to Los Angeles -- the "Gospel of Prosperity," or the notion that God wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches.  All six ministries under investigation preach the prosperity gospel to varying degrees.  Proponents call it a biblically sound message of hope. Others say it is a distortion that makes evangelists rich and preys on the vulnerable. They say it has evolved from "it's all right to make money" to it's all right for the pastor to drive a Bentley, live in an oceanside home and travel by private jet....  Read this in full at
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hKP3-tVm-viy8t0ccGbs6IP_zfUAD8TQ080O0

Also see
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16860611


     ONLINE BOOK SUMMARY
The 1666 classic Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan is now summarized in detail online.  The book's message: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, a spiritual autobiography, was written by John Bunyan during a 12-year imprisonment.  It chronicles his spiritual journey from his boyhood in his father's house, through his conversion and call to ministry, to his imprisonment for not conforming to the official Church of England. This journey spans a life that was characterized by cursing, blasphemy, and desecration before it was transformed by the power of Christ Jesus. Beginning with guilt and despair and ending with a comforted heart, thankful for the abounding grace of God, Bunyan wrote so that others might be encouraged in their struggles by reading about God's work upon his soul.
Read this in full at
http://www.christianbooksummaries.com/archive.php?v=3&i=45

Buy this book here:

http://www.christianconnectionbooks.com/content/search/product/view_item.php?dcn=59422&sm=


     VERSE TO PONDER
[Jesus said,] "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.'"  John 15:5, 8


     CONSIDER
"Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless."  Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life


     PERSONAL MANIFESTOS FOR 2008
As the new year dawns, you may find one of the following declarations personally useful guidance:

   THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN COVENANT
"Today I am stepping across the line.  I'm tired of waffling, and I'm finished with wavering.  I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable.  I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now! I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory.  I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word"....  Read this in full at
http://www.purposedriven.com/en-US/AboutUs/PDintheNews/Archives/Angel_Declar
ation.htm

   A MAGNA CHARTA OF TRUST BY AN OUT-OF-CONTROL DISCIPLE
"I once was a control junkie, but now am an Out-of-Control Disciple.  I've given up my control to God.  I trust and obey the Spirit.  I've jumped off the fence, I've stepped over the line, I've pulled out all the stops. There's no turning back, looking around, slowing down, backing away, letting up, or shutting up.  It's life Against the Odds, Outside the Box, Over the Wall, the game of life played Without Goal Lines other than 'Thy Will Be Done....'  I am not here to please the dominant culture.  I live to please my Lord and Savior"....  Read this in full at
http://www.leonardsweet.com/includes/ShowSweetenedArticles.asp?articleID=94

   JOHN WESLEY'S COVENANT PRAYER
"I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing; put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you"....
Read this in full at
http://www.eppingforestchurch.i12.com/prjwesley.html

   THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE UNASHAMED
"I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast.  I have stepped over the line.  The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His.  I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.  My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals"....  Read this in full at
http://www.gospeltruth.net/unashamed.htm

   A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
"I pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ -- my rescuer and leader -- and to his command, 'Love one another, as I have loved you.'  I pledge to live this day by faith in God, to love him with all my prayer, passion, intellect, and muscle, and to bear the Holy Spirit fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."  (copyright 2002, [email protected]


     REDEMPTIVE PAIN
"Having faced the personal misery and relational pain of doing things my way, having experienced the futility of living life to be noticed, and having carried the heavy burden of making pleasure my idol, I'm far more willing to pay the price for transformation.  There's pain in either direction.  I may as well embrace the pain that leads me to God instead of suffer the pain of being drawn away from him.  So I hope you'll take these words as an encouragement. Pain in this world is a foregone conclusion.  The only question is whether we choose to live a life of redemptive pain or of self-destructive pain.  I pray you'll choose redemptive pain."  Gary Thomas, The Beautiful Fight: Surrendering to the Transforming Presence of God Every Day of Your Life


     THE POPULATION
According to the US Census Bureau, the population of America at the start of 2008 is projected to be 303,146,284 -- up 2,842,103 or 0.9% from New Year's Day 2007.  In January, the US is expected to register 1 birth every 8 seconds and 1 death every 11 seconds.  Net international migration is expected to add 1 person every 30 seconds.  The result is an increase in the total US population of 1 person every 13 seconds.  The world population is more than 6.6 billion....
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html


     ZACH HUNTER: THE TEENAGE ABOLITIONIST
Zach Hunter is the 16-year-old abolitionist and author who was the official teen spokesperson for the Social Justice Campaign in conjunction with the Amazing Grace movie.  It all began when he was 12 years old.  In school, he was studying slavery in America.  He was learning about Harriet Tubman, a former slave who helped other slaves on the Underground Railway before our Civil War....  Read this in full at
http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Zach_Hunter_122107.aspx


     CONSIDER
"Too many people come into community to find something, to belong to a dynamic group, to find a life which approaches the ideal.  If we come into community without knowing that the reason we come is to discover the mystery of forgiveness, we will soon be disappointed."  Jean Vanier, Community and Growth


     VERSE TO PONDER
"[Zechariah said,] "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.  He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he said through his holy prophets of long ago." Luke 1:68-70


     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: ANOTHER YEAR IS DAWNING
Words: Frances R. Havergal, 1874
Music: Samuel S. Wesley, 1864

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/n/anothery.htm

ON PRAYER

"Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God."  Andrew Murray

     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.]

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The best things in life aren't things.

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

[email protected]

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