Connecting man to man to God
Issue 206 May 4, 2008
- God's Model For Manhood
- Some Atheists Go To Church Too...
- The Irony Of Iron Man
- Holiness
- As We Decide, So We Are
- God's Fairness
- Much,
Much more!
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CONSIDER
“Read whatever chapter of Scripture you will, and be ever so delighted with it -- yet it will leave you as poor, as empty and unchanged as it found you unless it has turned you wholly and solely to the Spirit of God, and brought you into full union with and dependence upon Him.” William Law (1686-1761)
GOD'S MODEL FOR MANHOOD
by Rick Warren
There's a lot of confusion out there about what it means to be a man. The Bible's view of manhood can be summarized by 5 characteristics: compassion, consistency, cooperation, commitment, and courage....
http://www.pastors.com/rwmt/default.asp?id=350&artid=11174&expand=1
ON MANHOOD
"No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself." Woodrow Wilson
"Not to be needed is slow death for a man." John Gray
SOME ATHEISTS GO TO CHURCH TOO, BUT NOT TO WORSHIP
There exists growing group of American atheists who have left traditional religions, but still feel a desire to be part of a religious group. Many had a positive experience with religion before losing their faith and they miss the community, the tradition and the chance to talk about values with likeminded people. So they join religious organizations that are accepting of atheists, form churches just for atheists, or even attend traditional theistic churches.... Read this in full at
http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2008-04-15/horowitz-atheistchurches
ON SIN
"The concept of sin is a stark acknowledgment that we can never be omnipotent, that we are bound and limited by human flaws and self-interest. The concept of sin is a check on the utopian dreams of a perfect world. It prevents us from believing in our own perfectibility or the illusion that the material advances of science and technology equal an intrinsic moral improvement in our species." Chris Hedges, I Don't Believe in Atheists (Free Press, 2008)
SELECT YOUR EQUIPMENT
Basketball players dress simply: shoes, shirts, shorts, and sweatbands. But life is not so simple for football players -- and what about ice hockey players? Besides clothes, the athletes in these two sports have to cover themselves with pads and helmets for protection. Regardless of the sport, no athlete can expect to win without the proper equipment. Paul wrote to Timothy that Scripture was given by God to man that we might be "thoroughly equipped for every good work." How, exactly, does Scripture equip the believer? It teaches us doctrine, it reproves (disciplines) us, it corrects our path, and it instructs us in righteous living. Plus, it gives us our uniform for "offense" (putting on Christ; Romans 13:14) and "defense" (spiritual armor; Ephesians 6:11-18). In addition, we’re given our daily practice gear: service, Bible study, fruit of the Spirit, prayer, and obedience. If that sounds like a lot of equipment, consider the stakes: The spiritual life is a winner-take-all contest.
Source: Turning Point Daily Devotional, 4-20-08
http://www.turningpointonline.org/
PAINTER'S 8-YEAR EFFORT AT DALLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH NEARLY DONE
In April 2000, iconographer Vladimir Grigorenko arrived in Texas from Ukrraine with sketchy English and a fervent Christian faith to undertake what became a yearlong project. He was hired to paint religious images for a wooden screen that stands in front of the altar inside Dallas' St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral. But once the screen was done -- depicting Jesus, Mary, saints, and disciples -- the cathedral's white walls and ceiling stood obviously bare. Mr. Grigorenko was asked to continue his work and take on a canvas of plastered drywall. He figured the challenge would take two years or so.... Read this in full at
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/042708dnmetpainter.313338e.html
Also see
http://www.stseraphim.org/
THE IRONY OF IRON MAN
The new movie Iron Man is based on the Marvel comic book of the same name and features Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a millionaire industrialist who dons technologically advanced iron "armor" to fight evil.
Beyond its obvious entertainment value, does Iron Man have more in store for us than battle suits and repulsor rays? You bet. Superhero movies offer plenty of food for thought and our souls, right down to their premises and the philosophy behind them. Plus, a number of recent superhero films have focused as much on the men behind the masks-and on the critical events that shaped and guided them-as they have on special effects and fight scenes. And Tony Stark, the man beneath the armor in Iron Man, is one of the most complex and compelling characters in comic book history.
What can we learn from an armor-encased superhero who can protect others, but can't save himself? And what does his story say about finding strength in weakness?.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/ironyofironman.html
CASPIAN BUZZ STORMS THE WEB
Prince Caspian, the 2nd film in The Chronicles of Narnia franchise, doesn't hit theaters until May 16, but the buzz and hype machines are in full swing. A behind-the-scenes featurette, which includes some of the first footage of the mouse character Reepicheep in action, can be watched on YouTube, while a brand new trailer has been posted on MySpace.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/news/blog-080428.html
YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATH
- Pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat (more than once but less than 10)
- Multiply this number by 2
- Add 5
- Multiply it by 50
- If you have already had your birthday this year, add 1758. If you haven't, add 1757.
- Now subtract the four digit year that you were born
- You should have a three
digit number
The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week). The next two numbers are your age!
LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)
"Multi-tasking is dead. It never worked and it never will. Intelligent people love to sing its praises because it gives them permission to avoid the much more challenging alternative: focusing on one thing." Timothy Ferriss
VERSES TO PONDER
“...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” Romans 3:23 | “...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...” Isaiah 64:6
CONSIDER
“Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. The whole work is His, not ours, from first to last.” Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), The Everlasting Righteousness
HOLINESS
“We want to be holy because we know that to be holy is to be like God and to be near him. But sometimes we drift. Pleasure entices us. Troubles mount. Sin calls. The world beckons. We wonder why our hearts seem empty and cold. What happened to the zeal we had? What happened to our desire to live an extraordinary life? Why are we sliding back into old habits? These may be questions the Holy Spirit is urging us to consider. Perhaps he is right now shaking us awake from our spiritual torpor, reminding us that without holiness no one will see the Lord. Today let us ask God to help us live out our faith with passionate commitment fueled by a hunger for holiness that reflects our love of God and his greater love for us.” Ann Spangler, Praying the Names of God
Meditation
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16
TRUE LOVE
“Thomas a Kempis speaks for all the ages when he represents Jesus as saying to him, ‘A wise lover regards not so much the gift of him who loves, as the love of him who gives. He esteems affection rather than valuables, and sets all gifts below the Beloved. A noble-minded lover rests not in the gift, but in Me above every gift.’ The sustaining power of the Beloved Presence has through the ages made the sickbed sweet and the graveside triumphant; transformed broken hearts and relations; brought glory to drudgery, poverty and old age; and turned the martyr's stake or noose into a place of coronation.” Dallas Willard, Hearing God
Meditation:
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19-21 (NIV)
AS WE DECIDE, SO WE ARE
“Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And, taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a Heaven creature or into a hellish creature -- either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is Heaven: that is, it is joy, and peace, and knowledge, and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.” C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity [1952]
Meditation:
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” Hebrews 2:1-3 (NIV)
WHERE DOES YOUR CONFIDENCE REST?
“Ultimate confidence in the goodness of life cannot rest upon confidence in the goodness of man. If that is where it rests, it is an optimism which will suffer ultimate disillusionment. Romanticism will be transmuted into cynicism, as it has always been in the world's history. The faith of a Christian is something quite different from this optimism. It is trust in God, in a good God who created a good world, though the world is not now good; in a good God, powerful and good enough finally to destroy the evil that men do and redeem them of their sins. This kind of faith is not optimism. It does not, in fact, arise until optimism breaks down and men cease to trust in themselves that they are righteous.” Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), Beyond Tragedy [1938]
Meditation:
“For [the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Colossians 1:13-15 (NIV)
GOD’S FAIRNESS
For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is -- limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death -- He had the honesty and courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it was well worthwhile.” Dorothy L. Sayers, Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World [1969]
Meditation:
“For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV)
DEATH BE NOT PROUD
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more, must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms, can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die.
John Donne (1573-1631), Divine Poems: Holy Sonnets, no. 17
Meditation:
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV)
FAITH & TRUST
“Faith is not so much belief about God as it is total, personal trust in God, rising to a personal fellowship with God that is stronger than anxiety and guilt, loneliness and all manner of disaster. The Christian's faith in Christ is trust in a Living Person, once crucified, dead, and buried, and now living forevermore. Call it, if you will, an assumption that ends as an assurance, or an experiment that ends as an experience, Christian faith is in fact a commitment that ends as a communion.” Frederick Ward Kates (b.1920)
Meditation
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope fora and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN STOTT
World renown author and speaker John R. W. Stott turned 87 on April 27. Stott retired from all active public ministry just one year ago and moved into a retirement facility for Anglican clergy. John Stott Ministries president Ken Perez reports that Stott is happy and doing well in his new surroundings.... Read this in full at
http://www.johnstottministries.org/impact-news/a-recent-visit-with-uncle-john/
CONSIDER
“We have the means to evangelize our country; but they are slumbering in the pews of our churches.” John R. W. Stott
VERSE TO PONDER
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: HEAR ME, O FATHER
Words: Joel Blomqvist (1840-1930)
Music: Friedrich F. Flemming, 1811
O heav’nly Father, hear my supplication,
I bow before Thee in Thy congregation;
Humble and needy, seeking Thy salvation,
Hear Thou my prayer, O God!
Draw me, Redeemer, I would seek Thee solely,
Help me to cherish, love, obey Thee wholly,
Fully surrendered, live a life that’s holy,
Hear Thou my prayer, O God!
Dwell Thou, O Savior, in my heart forever,
Thou who hast promised nothing shall us sever,
Comfort and lead me, I would leave Thee never,
Hear Thou my prayer, O God.
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/m/o/hearmofa.htm
A PRAYER
“Living Word, I thank You for Your written word.”
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.
Financial calculators
http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/
Every Man Ministries
http://www.everymanministries.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=4575
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 grow up the day you have your first real
laugh -- at yourself." (Ethel Barrymore)
Min. Frank Coleman, Editor
[email protected]
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© 2004 - 2008 Franklin D. Coleman