"'Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.'  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.  Who knows?  He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing-grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God."  Joel 2:12-14 (NIV)

     CONSIDER

"I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity."  John Wesley

     FATHER'S GREATEST GIFT

by Ken Canfield

"Do you want to be a great father?  The first thing to do is love your wife.  Here's how to strengthen your marital bond, and provide security for your children: "Express faith" to your wife and children; involve your children in acts of kindness to your wife; plan for time away from the kids.  Before I walk in the door after work, I brace myself for a wave of affection that lets me know I'm in the right house.  My wife, Dee, greets me with a big hug and kiss.  Then our 7-year-old heat-seeking missile named Micah comes running, and before I know it he has burrowed his way in between us.  Micah's behavior vividly reminds me that my son actually thrives on the affection that Dee and I show to one another.  Our studies at the National Center for Fathering have shown that the most effective dads have discovered this simple secret: A healthy father-child relationship depends on the quality of the father's relationship with the mother...."  Read more at

http://www.newmanmag.com/article.php?sid=614

     GRACEFUL POWER

By God's Grace

I am not what I ought to be.

I am not what I want to be.

I am not what I hope to be.

But still, I am not what I used to be.

And by the grace of God, I am what I am.

- John Newton

     CHEAP GRACE

"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate."  Dietrich Bonhoffer

     GRACE MEANS

"Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more -- no amount of spiritual calisthenics and renunciations, no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries, no amount of crusading on behalf of righteous causes.  And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less -- no amount of racism or pride or pornography or adultery or even murder.  Grace means that God already loves us as much an infinite God can possibly love."  Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?

     CATHOLIC BISHOPS MET LAST WEEK

America's Roman Catholic bishops and their flock of 65 million are in new accord on a hot button social issue: opposition to the death penalty.  The U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops rolled out a banner statement for the national "Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty" at the semi-annual gathering of nearly 300 bishops last week in Washington, D.C....

http://www.usccb.org/index.shtml

     HOW TO HELP MEN GROW SPIRITUALLY

http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8863

     A BLESSING FOR YOU AS WE APPROACH 2006

Contentment: May you take pleasure in all the good things you have and discover the secret of being content in any and every situation. (Ecclesiastes 5:19; 1 Timothy 6:7-8; Philippians 4:12)

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

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

     OLYMPIC FLAME FOR 2006 WINTER OLYMPICS...

...will be lit in ancient Olympia, Greece Nov. 27, 2005.

A handheld torch is lit by the sun shining through a parabolic mirror at the original site of the Olympic Games, marking the start of the official run-up to the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, from Feb. 10-26, 2006.  The lighting ceremony starts a torch relay through every region and province in Italy.  The relay ends at the Games. Some 10,000 torchbearers from Italy and around the world will take turns carrying the flame.

The host country has the task of designing the Olympic torch.  The torch for Torino was designed by Italian design company Pininfarina.  It reflects the symbolic and historical features of the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, such as Italy's heritage in the arts, design, fashion and winter sports.

http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Flame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia%2C_Greece

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/olympic-torch6.htm

     LEADERSHIP TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)

GET BACK IN THE GAME

by Clark Cothern

"Encouragement is my thing. Admonishment isn't.  I'd rather be with the team, bolstering confidence and rooting them to victory, than in the locker room at halftime, screaming at them to get their act together, pointing out what I'm quite sure they already know that they're doing wrong.  That's why I usually go in for practical pats on the back, and why I shy away from spiritual coaching that turns out sounding like a rebuke or a reprimand.  I try to imitate one of my favorite coaches of all time, Paul".... Read this in full at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2005/cln51114.html

     MANAGEMENT EXPERT PETER DRUCKER: 1909-2005

(ABC News) Peter F. Drucker, revered as the father of modern management for his numerous books and articles stressing innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategies for dealing with a changing world, died Nov. 11....

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1305125

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/business/12drucker.html

     TRIBUTE TO PETER DRUCKER

(Leadership Network) When it came to Peter Drucker, a Christian, the world suffered from Great Man Syndrome, but he did not.  He was justly lauded and adored as the greatest management thinker and writer of all time, but he wasn't interested in any of that....

http://www.pursuantgroup.com/leadnet/advance/nov05o.htm

http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1999/november15/9td042.html

     RICK WARREN:

"Peter Drucker said, 'The most significant sociological phenomenon of the first half of the 20th century was the rise of the corporation. The most significant sociological phenomenon of the second half of the 20th century has been the development of the large pastoral church - of the mega-church. It is the only organization that is actually working in our society.' Now Drucker has said that at least six times. I happen to know because he's my mentor. I've spent 20 years under his tutelage learning about leadership from him." (Quoted by the The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life)

http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=80

     GET ">TO THE POINT"

http://ifc.gospelcom.net/spiritual_growth/1637/

     CONSIDER

A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae away from a kick in the pants, but its miles ahead in terms of results.

     VERSE TO PONDER

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

     WAL-MART SEEKS TO USE CLERGY IN TACKLING CRITICS

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, and its enemies have followed politicians and Hollywood in seeking to win Americans' hearts and minds through appeals to their faith. The retail chain and its opponents went across the US to help spread their respective pro and anti-Wal-Mart messages to their congregations.  Wal-Mart is inviting religious leaders to visit its headquarters and to serve on a national steering committee....

http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y1C623C2C

     NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK...

...is November 20-27

http://www.nationalbible.org/

http://www.zondervanbiblesearch.com

http://www.zondervanbibles.com/readingplan.htm

     THANKSGIVING RESOURCES

Looking for resources to help you celebrate Thanksgiving?  Maybe you're not sure you've got anything to be thankful for, or perhaps you're looking for a way to explain what Thanksgiving is all about.  You'll find plenty of devotions, meditations, and resources at Gospelcom.net to answer your questions and to put you in a thankful spirit this holiday season.

http://www.gospelcom.net/content/thanksgiving/

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/thanksgiving/

http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps071.shtml

     SIGNS YOU ATE TOO MUCH AT THANKSGIVING

Ø      Doctor tells you your weight would be perfect for a man 17 feet tall.

Ø      You are responsible for a slight but measurable shift in the earth's axis.

Ø      Paramedics bring in the Jaws of Life to pry you out of the EZ-Boy.

Ø      The potatoes you used set off another famine in Ireland.

Ø      You receive a Sumo Wrestler application in your e-mail.

Ø      You set off 3 earthquake seismographs on your morning jog Friday.

Ø      Pricking your finger for cholesterol screening only yielded gravy.

Ø      That rash on your stomach turns out to be steering wheel burn.

Ø      Your wife wears a life jacket at night in your waterbed.

Ø      Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame called twice.

Ø      Your arms are too short to reach the keyboard and delete this.

http://www.sermonfodder.com

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

     OUTREACH BOOKS FOR A DOLLAR

According to George Barna, the number of adults not attending church has nearly doubled since 1991.  How can you reach people in your community this Christmas who feel left out, let down, or disillusioned with church?  Man in the Mirror Ministries offers three great Christian books for about $1 each.

http://booksfor1dollar.maninthemirror.org/SearchResults.asp?Cat=5

     A RECOMMENDATION FOR ADVENT

Nowadays, we think of Advent as a time for Christmas shopping and Christmas parties, but that's not how it's always been.  In the past, Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) was a time of fasting to prepare for the Feast of Christmas (that's December 25 and the Twelve Days of Christmas).  This year, why not make Advent special?  Use the darkness of those days to follow the lectionary readings (you can find them at www.textweek.com) and invite your family into a different spiritual discipline each week of Advent.  Then really celebrate Christmas, AFTER Christmas!  Don't have your annual Christmas party during Advent, but hold it during the Feast of Christmas, or even on Epiphany, the day of celebration of Jesus bring light to the world.  For other such ideas, read THE SACRED WAY by Tony Jones

http://www.zondervan.com/Books/Detail.asp?ISBN=0310258103

     RESCUE SALVATION

"There is a constant tendency in the church to trivialize the nature of salvation.  As if it is no more than a self-reformation, or the forgiveness of our sins, or a personal passport to paradise, or a private mystical experience without social or moral consequences. It is urgent that we rescue salvation from these caricatures and recover the doctrine in its biblical fullness."  John Stott, Being a Responsible Christian in a Non-Christian Society

     CONSIDER

"God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination, and the divine sovereignty.  The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, "O Lord, Thou knowest."  Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience.  Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints."  A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948]

     VERSE TO PONDER

"God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin.  Having faith in him sets us in the clear.  God decided on this course of action in full view of the public-to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured."  Romans 3:25 (Msg)

     THIS WEEK'S HYMN: GIVE THANKS

Words & Music: From the Shaker Hymnal, 1906

O give thanks, give thanks unto the Lord,

For He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.

To Him which led His people through the wilderness,

For He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.

He turned the wilderness into a standing water,

And dry ground into water springs.

Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees,

Say to them that are of a fearful heart,

Be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with a recompense.

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened

And the ears of the deaf, of the deaf unstopped.

And a highway shall be there,

And it shall be called the way, the way of holiness,

The unclean shall not pass over it,

The unclean shall not pass over it,

But the redeemed of the Lord shall walk therein;

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion,

To Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads,

They shall obtain joy and gladness,

And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

>from CyberHymnal at

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/i/givthank.htm

     GOD FAQ

Question 47: How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?

Answer: Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth, in that, being from all eternity the Son of God, in the bosom of the Father, he was pleased in the fullness of time to become the son of man, made of a woman of low estate, and to be born of her; with divers circumstances of more than ordinary abasement.

http://www.shortercatechism.com/

     ON PRAYER

"We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties."  Oswald Chambers

     PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS TODAY

http://christiansincrisis.net/

     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.

Remember the Milk (web-based to-do list)

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

Soul Searching

http://www.soulsearching.ie/

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.)

Children and dogs are good judges of character.

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