MSM CONNECTIONS
For the week of 08/01
The Men’s Ministry e-mail newsletter of
Our mission: Our mission is to lead men to
Jesus Christ and provide opportunity for
Christian men to grow in their faith
and minister to others.
===== /\ =====
MSM CONNECTIONS is the opt-in newsletter for the men of New Joy Divine Full Gospel Church. It's a periodic service that helps connect you with God and with other men at NJD. If you'd like its delivery to your email address stopped, scroll down and follow the instructions at the end of this message. Also let me know if you change your email address and want to keep subscribing to MSM CONNECTIONS.
===== /\ =====
"If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:3-5 (NIV)
CONSIDER
"To become a disciple means a decisive and irrevocable turning to both God and neighbor. What follows from there is a journey which ... never ends in this life, a journey of continually discovering new dimensions of loving God and neighbor." David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission
LET IT RISE
by Leonard Sweet
"...I am more and more convinced that for certain people there is reserved seating in hell just for them. I am developing a list -- my top ten . . . automatic, do not pass go, straight to hell. For example, the person who invented stickers on fruit -- it is 'reserved seating' just for you. Shrink-wrap on CDs. Hardwood pews bolted down -- I call it 'salvation by pain.' My current favorite, since I spend a lot of time at ticket counters, and is the three most widely asked questions in the world that have less meaning: "Have you had that luggage with you at all times?" "Has anyone who is a stranger given you anything to carry?" And increasingly, I'm getting a third one. I don't know if it is because my hair is getting a little long, or whatever: "Are you carrying any hazardous or explosive materials?" Have you all ever gotten that one, or is it just me? And I'm getting it more and more. When I'm getting these questions, I really am tempted -- because I'm so mad at the person who invented those three questions and made us go through that little ritual that wastes time and money -- I really want to say. "Yes. I am. I've got a real explosive device on me! It will turn the world upside down, it will turn your life right-side up, and it is the power of God unto salvation." Romans 1:16 says that this word of God, the gospel, "is the power of God onto salvation." The word power comes from the Greek word dynamos which means dynamite. This is an explosive device, and there's no more powerful force in the universe -- the gospel of Jesus and the power of that sourdough starter...."
Read this interesting sermon in full at
http://www.leonardsweet.com/includes/ShowSweetenedArticles.asp?articleID=87
<a href="http://www.leonardsweet.com/includes/ShowSweetenedArticles.asp?articleID=87"> Or click here</a>
NEW SURVEY EXAMINES THE
IMPACT OF GIBSON'S "PASSION" MOVIE
According to Barna Research, four out of ten adults (41%) said that within the past two years they had seen a movie that had caused them to think more seriously about their religious faith. Not surprisingly, it was the people who were already most inclined to think about faith matters who said this, such as evangelicals (68%) and people with an active personal faith (65% of those who pray, read the Bible and attend a church service in a typical week).
When asked to identify the movies that had led them to ponder their faith, The Passion was the only movie to be listed by more than 5% of this segment. Overall, six out of ten adults who had reflected on their faith in response to a movie (59%) identified The Passion as one of the movies that caused such reconsideration.
Read this report in full at
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y2E532EC8
<a href="http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y2E532EC8"> Or click here</a>
PRAY FOR THE IRAQ
CONFLICT
A former Iraq chaplain says soldiers need U.S. support & faith in God. Read this article in full at
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=18759
<a href="http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=18759"> Or click here</a>
THE MEANING OF MARTHA'S
ORDEAL
Three spiritual thinkers on Martha Stewart's fall from grace and how she might redeem herself in prison.
Martha Stewart has been sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement for lying to the government about her sale of ImClone stock. What could prison time mean for Stewart's spiritual development? How could she grow morally and psychologically from her "dark night of the soul"? Beliefnet's Wendy Schuman interviewed three spiritual leaders – including Charles Colson -- with understanding in these issues.
Colson, the former Nixon chief counsel and "hatchet man" who did time for obstruction of justice in connection with the Watergate affair, became a born-again Christian in prison and subsequently founded the highly influential Prison Fellowship Ministries, as well as the conservative forum BreakPoint. Here's the advice he gives Martha Stewart (and he plans to call her about it too).
"The first thing I would tell her is that she should get with the Christian Fellowship Group inside the prison at Danbury [the Connecticut minimum-security prison where she is likely to be sent]. It just so happens I was up there last fall and spoke to the women and was really impressed. There was a thriving fellowship, we had about 400 women come out. In fact, they packed the hall. We couldn't get anymore in. And they were on fire for the Lord. So she will discover if she goes to them, that they will open their arms to her...."
Read this commentary in full at
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/149/story_14920_1.html
<a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/story/149/story_14920_1.html"> Or click here</a>
OUR OLYMPIC (SPIRITUAL)
RACE
In a recent issue of his Tuesday Mornings newsletter, Tom Barnard points out that this marks the 28th Summer Olympics in the modern era. It all began in Athens in 1896. Eleven thousand athletes from nations large and small around the world are gathering this month again in Athens to compete in 28 sports and 296 sporting events. Hundreds of thousands of spectators, reporters, and heads-of-state will be present for the sixteen-day competition, and millions more will watch via television.
The participants represent the finest athletes in the world. They've trained and competed in world-class events leading up to the Olympics. There has been qualifying competition to eliminate the lesser-gifted athletes. At each level and in each sporting event there are winners and losers. Not everyone will return home with a medal. But those who do will receive honor beyond description. Many will remain national heroes for life.
The Apostle Paul spoke of a race of a different type – a spiritual, not a physical race. In a letter to Timothy, he wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
FINISH STRONG
During the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the last runner to finish in the marathon was an athlete from Tanzania. He'd had a difficult race, to say the least. He'd stumbled at one point and ended up bruised, bloodied -- and with a broken leg!
But he didn't quit. Even though everyone else had already finished the race and gone home, he kept at it. Finally, at 7 in the evening, he straggled into the near-empty stadium. There were still about 7,000 people on hand to witness his finish, and all 7,000 stood, giving this battered athlete a standing ovation as he finished his last lap.
When this dedicated marathoner was asked, "Why didn't you quit?" he simply said, "My country did not send me halfway around the world to start the race; they sent me to finish it." (Source: Rick Warren, "Running the Race," Baptist Press, 6-21-04)
CONSIDER
"It is not our responsibility "to make people 'Christians'" and get them baptized into a particular denomination, but rather to help people decide to follow Jesus and his radical message. Maybe this is why the New Testament writers only use "Christian" three times but "disciple" on 269 occasions!" Tom Getman, World Vision International, personal correspondence
WILDHEART
John Eldredge thinks too many Christians are weak, and churches are often insipid -- and he's not going to take it anymore. "....A crucial element of Eldredge's message in his book Wild at Heart is that men must have a battle to fight, a beauty to rescue, and an adventure to live. A few times Eldredge holds up Mister Rogers -- the soft-spoken TV character created by the now-deceased Fred Rogers -- as an example of what too many Christian men believe their faith requires them to be. Eldredge quotes from Isaiah 63, which describes God wearing blood-stained clothes, spattered as though he had been treading a winepress. Then he writes: "Talk about a Braveheart. This is one fierce, wild, and passionate guy. I have never heard Mister Rogers talk like that. Come to think of it, I have never heard anyone in church talk like that, either. But this is the God of heaven and earth."....
"....He challenges Christians who apply Jeremiah 17:9 ("The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure") to their post-conversion hearts. "Not anymore it's not," he writes in Wild at Heart. "Read the rest of the book. In Jeremiah 31:33, God announces the cure for all that: 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.' I will give you a new heart."
"And what about the seemingly humble assertion that Christians are just sinners saved by grace? It's a Big Lie, Eldredge writes in Wild at Heart, adding: "You are a lot more than that. You are a new creation in Christ. The New Testament calls you a saint, a holy one, a son of God."
"As for the mincing piety that imagines heaven as an eternal church service: Boring! Eldredge again stresses the writings of Lewis and of George MacDonald, who imagine redeemed people communing with God, with each other, and with God's many other creatures. He writes in The Journey of Desire (2000): "Now, you've got to get images of Baptist receptions entirely out of your mind-folks milling around in the church gym, holding Styrofoam cups of punch, wondering what to do with themselves. You've got to picture an Italian wedding or, better, a Jewish wedding. They roll up the rugs and push back the furniture. There is dancing."
"Eldredge's recurring message is simple: When you give yourself to Christ, God makes your heart good. Your heart matters to God. Liberate your heart and its deepest desires, and your love for God will explode....."
Read this article in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/008/14.30.html
<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/008/14.30.html"> Or click here</a>
TOO WILD AT HEART?
Just as Eldredge offers tough words for his fellow evangelicals, some evangelicals push back -- sometimes even questioning whether he's an orthodox Christian. Read this article at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/008/15.34.html
<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/008/15.34.html"> Or click here</a>
VERSE TO PONDER
"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Romans 10:9-10 (TNIV)
CONSIDER
"It has become popular to preach a painless Christianity and automatic saintliness. It has become part of our 'instant' culture. 'Just pour a little water on it, stir mildly, pick up a gospel tract, and you are on your Christian way.'" A. W. Tozer, Jesus, Author of Our Faith
HOLLYWOOD AUCTION
Among the items of a recent Hollywood prop and costume auction were the "original 10 Commandments tablets" from Cecil B. DeMille's movie The Ten Commandments. Starting bid was $40,000.
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52933&item=2256297912#
<a href="http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=52933&item=2256297912"> Or click here</a>
Other items for sale were at
<a href="http://cgi6.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=profiles-in-history&include=0&since=-1&sort=10&rows=50&showpics=1&stab=0"> Or click here</a>
Mark your calendars for the weekend of August 27-29, 2004 at the Hickory Ridge Marriott Conference Hotel in Lisle Illinois where we will have our annual Men’s Conference. Theme: “The Fruit Of The Spirit.” Come and be blessed during this time of fellowship and ministry. Contact Minister Maurice Collier or Minister Frank Coleman. Visit the church’s web site: www.newjoydivine.org, go to the Men’s ministry page [>>Ministries>>Men Servants Ministry (MSM)] for details or download a registration form <here>.
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: THAT
MAN A GODLY LIFE MIGHT LIVE
Words: Martin Luther, 1524.
Music: German melody, circa 1200.
That man a godly life might live,
God did these Ten Commandments give
By His true servant Moses, high
Upon the Mount Sinai.
Have mercy, Lord!
I am thy God and Lord alone,
No other God before Me own;
Put thy whole confidence in Me
And love Me e'er cordially.
Have mercy, Lord!
By idle word and speech profane
Take not My holy Name in vain
And praise but that as good and true
Which I Myself say and do.
Have mercy, Lord!
Hallow the day which God hath blest
That thou and all thy house may rest;
Keep hand and heart from labor free
That God may so work in thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
Give to thy parents honor due,
Be dutiful, and loving, too,
And help them when their strength decays,
So shalt thou have length of days.
Have mercy, Lord!
Kill thou not out of evil will,
Nor hate, nor render ill for ill;
Be patient and of gentle mood,
And to thy foe do thou good.
Have mercy, Lord.
Be faithful to thy marriage vows,
Thy heart give only to thy spouse;
Thy life keep pure, and lest thou sin,
Use temperance and discipline.
Have mercy, Lord!
Steal not; oppressive acts abhor;
Nor wring their life blood from the poor;
But open wide thy loving hand
To all the poor in the land.
Have mercy, Lord.
Bear not false witness nor belie
Thy neighbor by foul calumny.
Defend his innocence from blame;
With charity hide his shame.
Have mercy, Lord!
Thy neighbor's house desire thou not,
His wife, nor aught that he hath got,
But wish that his such good may be
As thy heart doth wish for thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
God these commandments gave therein
To show thee, child of man, thy sin
And make thee also well perceive
How man unto God should live.
Have mercy, Lord!
Help us, Lord Jesus Christ, for we
A Mediator have in Thee.
Our works cannot salvation gain;
They merit but endless pain.
Have mercy, Lord!
>from CyberHymnal at
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/h/thatmana.htm
<a href="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/h/thatmana.htm"> Or click here</a>
WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE AN
ID THEFT VICTIM
According to the U.S. Attorney General's office, the Secret Service oversees identity theft, and this office advises you to:
* Report the crime to the police immediately. Get a copy of your police report or case number. Credit card companies, your bank, and the insurance company may ask you to reference the report to verify the crime.
* Immediately contact your credit card issuers. Get replacement cards with new account numbers and ask that the old account be processed as "account closed at consumer's request" for credit record purposes. You should also follow up this telephone conversation with a letter to the credit card company that summarizes your request in writing.
* Call the fraud units of the three credit reporting bureaus and ask that your accounts be flagged. Also, add a victim's statement to your report that requests that they contact you to verify future credit applications:
* Equifax Credit Information Services - Consumer Fraud Div.
P.O. Box 105496
Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5496
Tel: (800) 997-2493
<a href="http://www.equifax.com/"> Or click here</a>
* Experian
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, Texas 75013-2104
Tel: (888) EXPERIAN (397-3742)
<a href="www.experian.com"> Or click here</a>
* TransUnion Fraud Victim Assistance Dept.
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064-0390
Tel: (800) 680-7289
<a href="www.transunion.com"> Or click here</a>
* Keep a log of all conversations with authorities and financial entities. And follow-up! Make sure that all creditors or credit bureaus have received what they need from you.
* The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the federal clearinghouse for complaints by victims of identity theft. Although the FTC does not have the authority to bring criminal cases, the Commission assists victims of identity theft by providing them with information to help them resolve the financial and other problems that can result from identity theft. The FTC also may refer victim complaints to other appropriate government agencies and private organizations for further action. If you have been a victim of identity theft, you can file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the FTC's Consumer Response Center.
By Phone:
Toll-free 877-FTC-HELP (382-4357)
TDD 202-326-2502
By Mail:
Consumer Response Center
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20580
On the Web:
<a href="www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm"> Or click here</a>
For Consumer Information:
<a href="www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm"> Or click here</a>
* Review your reports regularly and make sure all changes you requested have been effected.
http://www.identitytrack.com/gs/english/Faq.asp#No9
<a href="http://www.identitytrack.com/gs/english/Faq.asp#No9"> Or click here</a>
ON PRAYER
"May God open our eyes to see what the holy ministry of intercession is to which, as His royal priesthood, we have been set apart. May He give us a large and strong heart to believe what mighty influence our prayers can exert. And may all fear as to our being able to fulfill our vocation vanish as we see Jesus, living ever to pray, living in us to pray, and standing surety for our prayer-life." Andrew Murray, 19th century minister and author
CRITICAL PRAYER
REQUESTS FOR STRATEGIC NATIONS
We're praying for our fellow believers in a different nation each week.
Please pray for...LESOTHO
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/lt.html
<a href="http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/lt.html"> Or click here</a>
Lesotho has been largely Christian for generations but traditionalism and nominalism are widespread in both the Catholic Church and the Lesotho Evangelical Church. The latter is the fruit of the great pioneering work of French missionaries of the Paris Missionary Society. The rapid increase in the number of newer churches with evangelistic zeal has challenged the mainline Churches to become more spiritually vital and relevant. Pray for a humble harmony between the different denominations in place of considerable antagonism. Pray also for this land to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
http://www.gmi.org/ow/index.html
<a href="http://www.gmi.org/ow/index.html"> Or click here</a>
PRAY
* Bro. James Green
* Bro. Carl Modica
* Bro. Jack Pratt
* Minister Aaron Royster, Jr.
* Pastor Leonard Royster
* Bro. Robert Turner
[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.
Red or Blue: Which are you?
Take the Slate political quiz for fun
http://www.slate.com/id/2103764
<a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2103764"> Or click here</a>
I Vote Values
<a href="http://www.iVoteValues.org"> Or click here</a>
The Museum of Modern Art: Tall Buildings
http://moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbuildings/index_f.html
<a href="http://moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbuildings/index_f.html"> Or click here</a>
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 of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy!
Min. Frank Coleman, Editor
===== /\ =====
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 www.newjoydivine.org
<a href="http://www.newjoydivine.org"> AOL users click here</a>
===== /\ =====
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.