Connecting
man to man to God!
Week
of March 30, 2008
Issue
201
“As
God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience.” Colossians 3:12
CONSIDER
“He is too busy who is too busy to be kind.” James Alexander
BORN WITHOUT LIMBS, REFUSING LIMITATIONS
25-year-old Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. Through the ministry he calls Life Without Limbs and a motivational program titled "Attitude is Altitude," Vujicic says he’s made 1,600 speaking appearances in 12 nations. "No matter who you are, no matter what you're going through, God knows it," he says. "He is with you. He is going to pull you through." Vujicic was born in Brisbane, Australia, the son of Serbian immigrants. Doctors have never been able to determine why he was born with no limbs and only a small foot with two toes on his left side. His father is pastor of a local church, and because the cause of his condition was unknown, they spent months trying to figure out the reasons why.... Read this in full at
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=4531209&page=1
Also see
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/
CHUCK COLSON: 35 YEARS OF FAITH
Author of The Faith, Charles Colson, the infamous Watergate "hatchet man" and Chief Council to President Richard Nixon, learned many years ago that what appears important is really of no value at all. He learned this lesson in 1974 when he was indicted for conspiring to cover up the Watergate burglary.
Chuck Colson: I was stripped of everything, public enemy number one, and thrown into a prison. And that too was a great experience. I look back and I use to look at life from the top looking down, but from prison you look at life from the underside, and you see people hurting and suffering. It changed my whole perspective.... Read and watch this interview with Charles Colson at
http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/amazing/Chuck_Colson030508.aspx
BE AN ADVANCE READER
Zondervan is inviting you to be an Advance Reader. Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of great books by fabulous authors are offered free by Zondervan from time to time to give you the opportunity to review and comment on them before they're available in bookstores. Available now: An Agenda for Change by Joel Edwards, and other books. To learn more, visit
SEE GOD EVERDAY
“Unless we can touch and feel God in the commonplaces, He is going to be a very infrequent and unfamiliar guest. For life is made up of very ordinary experiences. Now and again a novelty leaps into the way, but the customary tenor is seldom broken. The ordinary stars shine upon us night after night; only occasionally does a comet come our way. Look at some of the daily commonplaces: health, sleep, bread and butter, work, friendship, a few flowers by the wayside, the laughter of children, the ministry of song, the bright day, the cool night. If I do not perceive God in these things, I have a very unhallowed and insignificant world.” John Henry Jowett
UP COMING EVENTS
National Day of Prayer – May 1
Global Day of Prayer – May 11
http://www.globaldayofprayer.com/
STUDY: SPIRITUALITY A BIG PART OF KIDS' HAPPINESS
Spirituality is a major contributor to a child's overall happiness -- even more so than for adults -- according to a new study from the University of British Columbia. The study tested 315 children aged 9 to 12, measuring spirituality and other factors such as temperament and social relations that can affect an individual's sense of happiness. Past studies have shown that in adults, spiritual feelings and higher levels of religious behavior typically account for about 5% of a person's overall happiness, said a UBC statement. The results of the UBC study came as a surprise: 6.5 to 16.5% of children's happiness can be accounted for by spirituality.... Read this in full at
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-03-25-kids-spirituality_N.htm
LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)
TAKE THE RISK
Dr. Carson is a neurosurgeon renown for his intricate and delicate surgeries to separate the brains of conjoined twins. In his new book, Take the Risk, he takes a look at risk. Whenever he faces a hard or risky situation in life, personally or professionally, he asks himself four key questions, and based on those answers, he makes a reasoned decision. Greater risks bring greater success. With risk there is the chance of failure.
Carson says that 35% of stories in U.S. newspapers, and about 47% of front page articles deal with various risks of contemporary life. There are people in this world who are risk adverse and the other group takes the wrong risks. Whether to actively take risks or even stand back and do nothing, there is an element of risk involved in both options. The key is figuring out which risks to take.... Read and watch this interview with Dr. Carson at
http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Ben_Carson032708.aspx
VERSE TO PONDER
“Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8
CONSIDER
“This life is all the heaven the worldling has, and all the hell the saint ever sees.” Unknown
EVANGELICALS CHALLENGED TO PRESENT CHRIST CREDIBLY
"Far from evangelicals being an embarrassment, we should think of ourselves as integral to God's great news for our community, and tell ourselves again with a certain humility and confidence that we have a vital role to play as active Christians and active citizens in the public square." Such were the words of the general director of the Evangelical Alliance, Joel Edwards, at the launch of his new book An Agenda for Change. The book is Edwards' contribution to an ongoing discussion among evangelicals worldwide on how to present Christ credibly and "rehabilitate" the term "evangelical" to mean "good news" again.
Edwards says the heart of the matter is not about advancing evangelicalism as a political or Christian system, but is instead about "how we help people understand that God is ultimately the God of Good News and is interested in people's wellbeing." Edwards has announced that he will step down as general director of the Evangelical Alliance (UK), after 11 years as the organization's head. He plans to continue his involvement with Micah Challenge International and the Churches Media Council, both of which he chairs. He also remains passionate about issues of human rights and freedom of conscience, and will continue to champion these through his role as a commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK.... Read this in full at
TODAY IS THE DAY
“There are many fine things which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is surely yours is the present. Hence this is the time to speak the word of appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice self a little more for others. Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed, and to use your God-given abilities for the enrichment of some less fortunate fellow traveler. Today you can make your life significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do with it as you will.” Grenville Kleiser
HAVING FAITH CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY!
Scientists suggest that people with religious beliefs are likely to be happier than atheists or agnostics. They say research shows religion can act as an "insurance policy" against the adversities of life and regular churchgoers appear to be better able to cope with events such as divorce or unemployment.
This is not the first research to suggest links between religion and happiness and many psychologists say a belief or its observance, offers benefits. For the study the researchers from the Paris School of Economics examined data from household surveys across Europe to analyze the attitudes of Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, not only to their own happiness, but also to issues such as unemployment. They found higher levels of "life satisfaction" in believers but the degree to which religion provided a stress buffer varied according to the life event and religious denomination. The researchers say the idea of religious belief as a "fortress" is not new, but has in the past received only limited attention.
It was also found that attending church and praying were also associated with greater satisfaction and that religion can even influence the evolution of social and economic institutions. Experts suggest that the benefit might come from the increased "purpose of life" felt by believers and say the findings are consistent with other studies which suggest that religion does have a positive effect. The research was presented at the Royal Economic Society's annual conference.
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=36474
SHROUD OF TURIN'S AUTHENTICITY PROBED ANEW
The Shroud of Turin, the 14- by 4-foot linen believed by some to have been wrapped around Jesus after the crucifixion, might not be a fake after all, according to new research. The director of one of three laboratories that dismissed the shroud as a medieval artifact 20 years ago has called for the science community to reinvestigate the linen's authenticity. "With the radiocarbon measurements and with all of the other evidence which we have about the shroud, there does seem to be a conflict in the interpretation of the different evidence," says Christopher Ramsey, director of England's Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, which carried out radiocarbon dating tests on the cloth in 1988.... Read this in full at
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/21/shroud-turin.html
Also see “Shroud of Turin debate rekindled”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23742885/
BRETT FAVRE, CATHOLIC HERO
by Joseph Kip Kosek
Legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre announced his retirement after 17 years in the NFL. He walked away holding most of the major records at his position, and as much as any athlete of his time he attracted not just admiration but veneration, inspiring even a "Packers Prayer" ("Our Favre . . . Hallowed be thine arm"). Favre has become a football deity, but he has also achieved the status of an exemplary American Catholic. Indeed, the website Catholic Online (www.catholic.org) names him second among the "Top 10 Catholic Heroes of the Super Bowl." For many Americans, "Our Favre" is less a divine figure than a fellow believer. Favre, though, is a peculiar Christian athlete whose career defies familiar evangelical optimism in favor of a darker, distinctly Catholic vision.
Brett Favre would never be mistaken for Kurt Warner, the born-again former St. Louis Rams quarterback who accepted the Super Bowl trophy in 2000 with a "Thank you, Jesus." Unlike his late Baptist teammate Reggie White, Favre did not convene on-field prayers or claim to receive personal communication from God. Green Bay's gunslinger was never that earnest or, frankly, that devout. The product of a small Mississippi town, his career brings to mind the fiction of Flannery O'Connor or Walker Percy, Southern Catholics for whom faith was often occluded and salvation often arduous.
More than any public proclamations of devotion, Brett Favre's well-publicized personal suffering marked him as a model Catholic for those who cared to look. Early in his career, he struggled with addictions to painkillers and alcohol. In December 2003, his father died unexpectedly. Ten months later, his wife Deanna was diagnosed with breast cancer, only a few days after her brother had been killed in an ATV accident. The next year, Brett's mother's home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Most of these travails followed his lone Super Bowl victory, evoking not so much the generous God of prosperity theology as a more inscrutable Almighty, intent on humbling the exalted. In her bestselling 2007 memoir Don't Bet Against Me!, Deanna Favre compared the couple's ordeals to those of the biblical Job. Indeed, Brett increasingly exuded a Job-like equanimity, remarking after his wife's diagnosis that "if I asked why my father died or why Deanna has breast cancer, I would have to ask why I throw touchdown passes.".... Read this in full at
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2008/0327.shtml
CONSIDER
“The only kingdom that will prevail in this world is the kingdom that is not of this world.” Unknown
VERSE TO PONDER
"My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.” Psalm 62:7
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: OUR LORD IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD
Words: Charles Wesley, 1743
Music: John Hatton, 1793
Our Lord is risen from the dead!
Our Jesus is gone up on high!
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky.
There His triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay:
Lift up your heads, you heavenly gates;
You everlasting doors, give way!
Loose all your bars of massy light,
And wide unfold the ethereal scene;
He claims these mansions as His right
Receive the King of glory in!
Who is this King of glory? Who?
The Lord that all our foes overcame;
The world, sin, death, and hell overthrew;
And Jesus is the conqueror’s Name.
Lo! His triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay:
Lift up your heads, you heavenly gates;
You everlasting doors give way!
Who is the King of Glory, who?
The Lord of glorious power possessed,
The King of saints and angels, too;
God over all, forever blessed.
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/u/ourlordi.htm
ON PRAYER
“O
Father, may it never be said of us that having come to an open
door, we closed it; having come to a lighted candle, we quenched
it; having heard the voice of a neighbor begging bread, we made
denial, speaking of our own case.” Jean Mc Kenzie
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
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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.
USA
Racquetball
BBC World Service celebrates 75 years
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1122_75_years/
Radio Hall of Fame
http://www.museum.tv/rhofsection.php
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.)
If
you can't sleep, don't count sheep: talk to the Shepherd.
Min. Frank Coleman, Editor
[email protected]
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