"Love justice, do mercy!" Zech. 7:9

     CONSIDER

"Never look for righteousness in the other person, but never cease to be righteous yourself.  We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is -- Never look for justice, but never cease to give it."  Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

     SITE OF ANCIENT CHURCH UNVEILED

Israeli prisoner Ramil Razilo was removing rubble from the planned site of a new prison ward when his shovel uncovered the edge of an elaborate mosaic, unveiling what Israeli archaeologists say may be the Holy Land's oldest church.  The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, is hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region.  Archaeologists say the church dates from the 3rd century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire.  One of the most dramatic finds suggests that, instead of an altar, a simple table stood in the center of the church, at which a sacred meal was held to commemorate the Last Supper

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/11/06/israel.ancient.church.ap/index.html

http://makeashorterlink.com/?I6B95342C

Photos: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I6B95342C

Photos: http://makeashorterlink.com/?R3A91542C

     PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

The International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians was Nov. 13.  Continue to pray for their strength and rescue!

http://www.opendoorsusa.org/Display.asp?Page=home

http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/countriesconcerns/index.html

http://www.zondervanchurchsource.com/clip/persecuted.htm

     DOES PRAYER CHANGE GOD?

by Philip Yancey

- "I the Lord do not change." (Malachi 3:6)

- "My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused." (Hosea 11:8)

"Those two statements, both recorded in the Bible as the words of God, frame a major theological dispute.  I could marshal other verses that clearly present a changeless God, and balance that list with an even longer list of passages that show God changing his mind.  Truth to tell, we want some of both: a trustworthy, dependable God we can count on and yet a God who allows himself to be affected by us.  What we conclude about this issue may well determine how we view the utility -- or futility -- of prayer....

"...As C. S. Lewis reminds us, confessing sins before God tells God something God already knows better than we do.  Yet somehow the act of confession, and forgiveness, binds the relationship and allows a communion that could not otherwise exist.  The same intimacy happens when (all too rarely) I apologize to my wife for something we both know about; I do not bring her information, I bring her my heart, my humbled self.  By using prayer rather than other, more direct means, God once again chooses the most freedom-enhancing style of acting in the world. God waits to be asked, in some mysterious way making God's activity on earth contingent on us. Does the kingdom advance slower because of that choice?"...

Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2005/005/18.08.html

+++++AND NOW, A PAID ADVERTISEMENT…+++++

     NEW JOURNEYS ON WELL-WORN PATHS

..."We evangelicals tend to act like nothing existed in church history prior to the Reformation.  While this isn't our tradition and we don't agree in all areas of theology and doctrine, there are many things of great value that we can draw from these wells."...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2005/003/21.44.html

     A BLESSING FOR YOU AS WE APPROACH 2006

Sufficient resources: May you have exactly what you need for each day.  May you become rich in every way so that you can share generously with others. (Proverbs 30:8-9; Luke 11:3; 2 Corinthians 9:11)

http://www.navpress.com/Assets/PDF/Product/Sample/1576839494.pdf

Blessings for Your New Year cards (ISBN #1576839494, in packs of 50) are available by calling 1-800-366-7788 or online at www.praymag.com

     THE PRICE OF CHILDREN

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family.  Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.  But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day!  Just over a dollar an hour.  Still, you might think the best financial advice is, don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.  What do you get for your $160,140?

*         Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

*         Glimpses of God every day.

*         Giggles.... under the covers every night.

*         More love than your heart can hold

*         Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

*         Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

*         A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

*         A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

*         Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.  You have an excuse to keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies, and wishing on stars. You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.  You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first date, and first time behind the wheel. You get to be immortal.  You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.  You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so . . . one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

(Source: http://www.allprodad.com/9priceofchildren.asp)

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

"OFFICE IS NEW MISSION FIELD"

The workplace may well be the mission field of the 21st century.  Dr. Peter Wagner of Global Harvest Ministries said, "The workplace movement has the potential to be as significant as the Protestant Reformation."  The Rev. Billy Graham also expects to see a great move of God "through believers in the workplace."

To fulfill this mission, many feel it is necessary to mobilize every believing worker and dismantle the wall between sacred and secular work.  Doug Spada, president and founder of His Church at Work, encourages churches to equip their members to fulfill their "God-given calling of work as ministry."  His vision is for churches to anoint their members and then send them out to minister in the workplace just as they send foreign missionaries to other countries....

Read this in full at

http://www.mcchronicle.com/archive/100605/local.html#local01

     VERSE TO PONDER

"These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts." Zechariah 8:16 (NIV)

     CONSIDER

"Our lives improve only when we take chances -- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves." Walter Anderson

     MEN IN PAIN

Why don't we listen when the guy who lives inside us says, 'Excuse me, but in case you didn't notice, I'm in pain'?

by David Hazard

"My father didn't raise any whiners," Carl says.  That's what Carl told himself for half a year, while ignoring the painful lumps that mysteriously rose and fell in his left armpit. Now, he sits propped in a hospital bed, emaciated by the chemotherapy, bearing no resemblance to the athlete he once was.

Carl could have upped his odds of beating the lymphatic cancer that's now beating him -- if only he'd responded to his body's early-warning system. If only he'd respected his wife's pleas to see a doctor.

Given Carl's physical symptoms, many of us would have run -- not walked -- to a medical specialist. But do we pay attention when the man inside -- think of him as a mostly healthy guy just like you, and with a spiritual nervous system -- sends out distress signals? ....

Read this in full at

http://www.newmanmag.com/article.php?sid=611

     MEN: IT'S TIME TO SUIT UP AND SHOW UP

by Kenny Luck

Like our military's special forces, God's man is often asked to do jobs no one else can do because of his special experience and training.  God is calling men to step up and be God's man.  Will you suit up and show up?

http://www.pastors.com/rwmt/default.asp?id=232&artid=8852&expand=1

     A MONTH OF PRAYERS FOR YOUR WIFE FROM PSALM 119

Pray:

1.    That she will learn the Word (119:7).

2.    That she will hide the Word in her heart and not sin against God (119:11).

3.    That she will declare the Word before others (119:13).

4.    That she will meditate on the Word and learn the ways of God (119:15).

5.    That she will delight in the Word and not neglect it (119:16).

Read more at

http://www.navpress.com/Assets/PDF/Product/Sample/1576839281.pdf

http://www.navpress.com/Store/Product/1576839281.html

     COMMITMENT TO CHRISTIANITY DEPENDS ON HOW IT IS MEASURED

Most adults in the United States consider themselves to be Christian, but their commitment to their faith is minimal -- or robust, depending on how you measure it.  In this Barna report is the results of 8 different ways of measuring faith commitment.  Read it to discover the population subgroups that are most committed -- and those that are much less interested.  This information has important implications for the future of Christianity in America.

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=203

     A FORMER PRESIDENT WARNS OF 'ENDANGERED VALUES'

Blurring the line between church and state threatens civil liberties and privacy, says former President Jimmy Carter.  In this radio interview he makes the case of 'endangered values' as he draws on his experiences as a president and a Christian....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4984885

     DESPERATE MEASURES

Intelligent design theorists are the ones who are trying to free science to pursue truth wherever it leads, shaking it loose of philosophical restraints, according to Chuck Colson in this Breakpoint commentary.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?K26A5542C

+++++AND NOW, A PAID ADVERTISEMENT…+++++

     LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS

Are you or your wife living with chronic illness or pain, facing daily discouragement and despair?  Rest Ministries, Inc., provides a free daily devotional each morning to encourage Christians living with chronic conditions.  Find help and encouragement from someone who knows.

http://www.restministries.org/pro-justmen.htm

     CONSIDER

"It is, of course, impossible to exaggerate the importance of the historicity of the Resurrection.  If, after all His claims and promises, Christ had died and merely lived on as a fragrant memory, He would only be revered as an extremely good but profoundly mistaken man.  His claims to be God, His claims to be Himself the very principle of life, would be mere self-delusion.  His authoritative pronouncements on the nature of God and Man and Life would be at once suspect.  Why should He be right about the lesser things, if He was proved to be completely wrong in the greater?"  J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Your God is Too Small [1953]

     VERSE TO PONDER

"When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."  Titus 3:4-7

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: PRAISE THE SAVIOR, YE WHO KNOW HIM

Words: Thomas Kelly, 1806

Music: traditional German melody

Praise the Savior, ye who know Him!

Who can tell how much we owe Him?

Gladly let us render to Him

All we are and have.

Jesus is the Name that charms us,

He for conflict fits and arms us;

Nothing moves and nothing harms us

While we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever,

He is faithful, changing never;

Neither force nor guile can sever

Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving

To Thyself, and still believing,

Till the hour of receiving

Promised joys with Thee.

Then we shall be where we would be,

Then we shall be what we should be,

Things that are not now, nor could be,

Soon shall be our own.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/r/praisets.htm

     GOD FAQ

Question 46: What was the estate of Christ's humiliation?

Answer: The estate of Christ's humiliation was that low condition, wherein he for our sakes, emptying himself of his glory, took upon him the form of a servant, in his conception and birth, life, death, and after his death, until his resurrection.

http://www.shortercatechism.com/

     FOR YOUR PROTECTION GET A HOME INSPECTION

When it comes to home inspection, "Don't go looking for trouble" is a bad motto. Spending a few hundred dollars for an inspection could keep you from buying a house that would cost you far more in hidden or impending repairs.  Learn all about the benefits of a home inspection with "For Your Protection Get A Home Inspection" (PDF), free from HUD.

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/housing/inspection/home.pdf

     ON PRAYER

"Avail yourself of the greatest privilege [prayer] this side of heaven.  Jesus Christ died to make this communion and communication with the Father possible."  Billy Graham

     PRAY FOR A COUNTRY TODAY

http://www.gmi.org/ow/index.html

     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

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.

Just Stop and Think

http://www.juststopandthink.com/

Optical illusion

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.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.)

God judges what we give by what we keep.

Min. Frank Coleman, Editor

[email protected]

===== /\ =====

MSM CONNECTIONS is a periodic newsletter of announcements, news, recommendations, articles, and other information helpful to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming MSM CONNECTIONS into your in-box!

Who to contact:

Minister Frank Coleman, Men Servants Ministry Chairman, 773-410-1483,

Minister Arnold Whitehead, Men Servants Ministry Vice-Chairman, 773-846-6090

===== /\ =====

The mission of New Joy Divine Full Gospel Church is to be a Christ-centered, Bible based, Spirit guided church meeting the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of its members and the community it serves.

The Men Servants Ministry (MSM) Team offers 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.

New Joy Divine Full Gospel Church is located at 7625 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60620.

Tel: 773-224-5683. Founded & Pastored by Apostle Aaron L. Royster & Prophetess Mable L. Royster.

Visit our website at: http://www.newjoydivine.org/

===== /\ =====

To subscribe to MSM CONNECTIONS, send a message to [email protected] with "subscribe MSM" in the subject line.

To unsubscribe, send a message to [email protected] with "unsubscribe MSM" in the subject line.

THANK YOU FOR READING

MAKE IT A GREAT WEEK!

It is my prayer that, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” Ephesians 1:18

© 2004, 2005 Frank Coleman