For week of September 4, 2011
Issue 372
The weekly newsletter of Path Of Life Ministries.
Our mission is to lead men to Jesus Christ and provide opportunity for Christian men to grow in their faith and minister to others.
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"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."
Jeremiah 32:17
CONSIDER
“A healthy family is sacred territory.”
Author Unknown
NASA'S FIRST BIBLE ON THE MOON TO BE AUCTIONED OFF
A New Hampshire auction house has revealed that NASA's first "lunar Bible" is among the hundreds of items from a Space and Aviation Artifacts auction that will be open to the public this month.
The tiny object, an intact microfilm of the King James Bible containing all 1,245 pages and measuring 1.5 x 1.5 inches, will be included in the auction by PR Auction on the company's website (www.rrauction.com) beginning Sept. 15.
The starting bid for the rare artifact was set at $5,000.
The Bible, produced by the Apollo Prayer League, was carried to the surface of the moon by astronaut Edgar Mitchell during the Apollo 14 mission in February 1971.
The Apollo Prayer League consisted of NASA engineers, scientists, administrators, and astronauts and was led by Chaplain John Stout.
Hundreds of copies of the lunar Bible were made, but the one being put on sale by PR Auction was reportedly only one of a dozen other intact versions still in existence.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianpost.com/news/nasas-first-bible-on-the-moon-to-be-auctioned-off-54968/
BATTLE FOR THE BIBLE TRANSLATION
Christianity Today Editorial
At their annual summer convention, the Southern Baptists passed a resolution expressing "profound disappointment with Biblica and Zondervan Publishing House" for publishing the 2011 New International Version, concluding that "we cannot commend the 2011 NIV to Southern Baptists or the larger Christian community."
The resolution strikes us as divisive, shortsighted, and something that brings us, and no doubt the majority of the Christian community, profound disappointment.
To be fair, the resolution was not brought to the convention by the resolution committee, which wisely determined that the convention did not need to comment on the new translation. The resolution was the work of a single delegate, and only one other person spoke on its behalf. But no one on the convention floor spoke against it, and eyewitnesses say that up to 90 percent of the delegates raised their ballots to signal their approval.
The issue at stake is what the resolution called the NIV'S "gender-neutral methods of translation," saying the 2011 NIV has "gone beyond acceptable translation standards."
Whose translations standards are they talking about? The translation principle the resolution refers to is properly called "dynamic equivalence" or "functional equivalence." Such translations try to do something on the order of common sense: When arriving at a word or phrase that literally says one thing but functionally means another, they choose the functional meaning.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/september/bible-translation-battles.html
PREPARING CLERGY FOR WAR: ARMY CHAPLAINS TRAIN BY THE HUNDRED FOR THE COMBAT ZONE
The summer sun beats down on camouflaged Kevlar helmets. Weighed down by heavy body armor, men and women of the cloth are crawling through sand, under barbed wire and learning how to run with soldiers. Explosions in woods simulate the battlefield as an instructor barks commands.
"You are not following simple instructions! Cover me while I move! Got you covered! Let's go!"
This is the US Army Chaplain Center and School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where the Army trains clergy of all faiths how to survive in combat.... Read this in full at
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/30/preparing-clergy-for-war-army-chaplains-train-by-the-hundred-for-the-combat-zone/
YOU’RE INVITED TO CLAREDEGRAAF.COM
A new blog about how following Jesus works in real life – not in theory – has just been launched. It’s about how men can experiment with applying biblical truth to everyday life. Mentor Clare De Graaf encourages men to think and act more boldly as a follower of Jesus, so they’ll be inspired to live a life that truly makes God look good. As he says, if we don’t do that, “we might as well go out and hit a bucket of balls on Sunday mornings.” Put http://www.claredegraaf.com on your weekly reading list.
Clare has also just published the book, The 10 Second Rule. Here’s what others are saying about it:
“Rarely does a book jolt me into immediate action. The 10 Second Rule did just that. After laying the book down I kneeled down and recommitted myself to “doing the next thing Jesus asks me to do.” This book will wreak all kinds of good havoc in all who read it.”
Bill Hybels
Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church
“With unblinking transparency, Clare De Graaf says…what most of us secretly know about ourselves, which often keeps us from living the life God blesses. Living The Rule is the way forward! 10 seconds can change your life.”
John Ortberg
Pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, CA
http://www.claredegraaf.com
BARNA STUDY EXPLORES FAITH IN NEW YORK SINCE 9-11
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, millions of Americans flocked to churches and houses of worship. But, for most, the shift in spiritual behavior was short lived. According to tracking research by the Barna Group, within a few months the spiritual lives of the nation’s population were back to pre-attack levels.
Now at the tenth anniversary of America’s largest terrorist event, a new analysis of Barna Group tracking data examines the long-term spiritual profile at one of the epicenters of the attacks—New York City and the surrounding media market. Based on analysis of research conducted over the last 14 years, the study shows that the faith profile of residents of the New York market has changed significantly over the last decade and a half, but many of these shifts may not be attributable to 9-11.
Residents of the New York City media market are more spiritually active today than they were in the late 1990s – and more so than they were in 2001. Reported weekly church attendance, for instance, was lowest in 1999 and 2000 (31%), but has since grown to represent 46% of the market’s residents. (Note: Although the vast majority of church attendance stems from Protestant churches and Catholic parishes, Barna Group’s religious attendance measure does not exclude those of other faith groups who participate in other weekly religious events.)
In addition to worship attendance, several other measures of faith also showed increases in the New York market, including Bible reading (growing from 29% to 35%) and those who qualify as having an active faith. Active-faith adults, a multiple-activity indicator that represents those who pray, read the Bible and attend church in a typical week, has increased from 17% to 24%.
Also reflecting the overall rise in spiritual participation, the percentage of residents of the New York area who are unchurched – defined as those who have not attended a worship service in the last six months – declined from 42% to 34%.... Read this in full at
http://www.barna.org/faith-spirituality/516-barna-study-explores-faith-in-new-york-since-9-11
BIBLE VERSES FROM THE COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE IN LIGHT OF THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11
Ten years ago this Sept. 11, terrorists flew commercial planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a failed attempt that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. These suicide attacks of horrific carnage stunned the world and caused many to turn for consolation to spiritual faith and sacred scriptures. For this tenth anniversary, the following Bible verses of solace are taken from the Common English Bible (http://CommonEnglishBible.com), the newest modern English translation released last month.
I've commanded you to be brave and strong, haven't I? Don't be alarmed or terrified, because the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (CEB)
My God is my rock -- I take refuge in him! -- he's my shield and my salvation's strength, my place of safety and my shelter. My savior! Save me from violence! 2 Samuel 22:3 (CEB)
But you, LORD, are my shield! You are my glory! You are the one who restores me. Psalm 3:3 (CEB)
I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, LORD, let me live in safety. Psalm 4:8 (CEB)
The LORD is a safe place for the oppressed -- a safe place in difficult times. Psalm 9:9 (CEB)
The LORD is my solid rock, my fortress, my rescuer. My God is my rock -- I take refuge in him! -- he's my shield, my salvation's strength, my place of safety. Psalm 18:2 (CEB)
God! His way is perfect; the LORD's word is tried and true. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30 (CEB)
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger because you are with me. Your rod and your staff -- they protect me. Psalm 23:4 (CEB)
Hope in the LORD! Be strong! Let your heart take courage! Hope in the LORD! Psalm 27:14 (CEB)
All you who wait for the LORD, be strong and let your heart take courage. Psalm 31:24 (CEB)
We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20 (CEB)
Turn away from evil! Do good! Seek peace and go after it! Psalm 34:14 (CEB)
The LORD loves justice. He will never leave his faithful all alone. They are guarded forever, but the children of the wicked are eliminated. Psalm 37:28 (CEB)
Why, I ask myself, are you so depressed? Why are you so upset inside? Hope in God! Because I will again give him thanks, my saving presence and my God. Psalm 43:5 (CEB)
Oh, I must find rest in God only because my hope comes from him! Psalm 62:5 (CEB)
LORD of heavenly forces, those who trust in you are truly happy! Psalm 84:12 (CEB)
I say to the LORD, "You are my refuge, my stronghold! You are my God -- the one I trust!" Psalm 91:2 (CEB)
The person whose hope rests on the LORD their God -- is truly happy! Psalm 146:5 (CEB)
LORD, show us favor; we hope in you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in times of distress. Isaiah 33:2 (CEB)
Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength; they will fly up on wings like eagles; they will run and not be tired; they will walk and not be weary. Isaiah 40:31 (CEB)
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (CEB)
Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you're in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Romans 12:12 (CEB)
Dear friends, let's love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 (CEB)
http://CommonEnglishBible.com
http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/pressreleases/sidebar_bible_verses_from_the_common_english_bible_in_light_of_the_10th_ann/
BURIED, BURNED SURVIVORS OF 9/11 REMEMBER GOD'S GRACE ON 10TH ANNIVERSARY
As Americans everywhere prepare for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, two survivors live to testify not to the brutality but the grace extended to them on that frightful day.
Sujo John and Brian Birdwell, though personally unconnected in their lives, share one similarity – September 11.
While John worked in the North Tower of the Twin Towers, Birdwell was employed at the Pentagon when the multiple suicide attacks occurred ten years ago, leaving one critically injured.
Both men, who are reminded daily of their life-changing experience, share another similarity: their remarkable faith in Christ, which to this day continues to grow.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianpost.com/news/buried-burned-survivors-of-9-11-remember-gods-grace-on-10th-anniversary-54871/
WE MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES
There were two young boys who were raised in the home of an alcoholic father. As young men, they each went their own way. Years later, a psychologist who was analyzing what drunkenness does to children in the home searched out these two men. One had turned out to be like his father, a hopeless alcoholic. The other had turned out to be a teetotaler. The counselor asked the first man, "Why did you become an alcoholic?” And the second, "Why did you become a teetotaler?” And they both gave the same identical answer in these words, "What else could you expect when you had a father like mine?” It's not what happens to you in life but how you react to it that makes the difference. Every human being in the same situation has the possibilities of choosing how he will react, either positively or negatively.
The West Side Baptist
TURNING ICE CREAM INTO DINNER?
“If I stop receiving from God, I start demanding from others. Instead of appreciating and loving and serving others, I become disappointed in them. Instead of cherishing my wife, I become aware of her shortcomings. I take out my frustrations with a less-than-perfect life and somehow blame her for my lack of fulfillment.
“But when my heart gets filled by God's love and acceptance, I am set free to love instead of worrying about being loved. I'm motivated to serve instead of becoming obsessed about whether I'm being served. I'm moved to cherish instead of feeling unappreciated.
“Spiritual intimacy [with your spouse] is a legitimate desire, but whenever we place our happiness in the hands of another human being, we guarantee ourselves some degree of disappointment. This is why worship sets us free. It meets our most basic need - to rest in the fact we are known and loved, that we have a purpose, and that our eternal destiny and delight is secure - so that lesser needs (including spiritual companionship) serve the role of an occasional dessert rather than our main meal.
“There is no one else who can love us like God, with a steady and giving love. When the one thing we seek is to dwell in God's house, gaze on his beauty, and seek him in his temple (Psalm 27:4 ), our soul's sense of desperate need is met in our heavenly Father's arms. Then we leave that temple and find tremendous joy in giving, loving, and serving rather than in keeping close accounts as to whether we are being loved or being served.”
Gary Thomas in Simply Sacred: Daily Readings
RELIGION AND THE BAD NEWS BEARERS
by Rodney Stark and Byron Johnson
The national news media yawned over the Baylor Survey's findings that the number of American atheists has remained steady at 4% since 1944, and that church membership has reached an all-time high. But when a study by the Barna Research Group claimed that young people under 30 are deserting the church in droves, it made headlines and newscasts across the nation—even though it was a false alarm.
Surveys always find that younger people are less likely to attend church, yet this has never resulted in the decline of the churches. It merely reflects the fact that, having left home, many single young adults choose to sleep in on Sunday mornings.
Once they marry, though, and especially once they have children, their attendance rates recover. Unfortunately, because the press tends not to publicize this correction, many church leaders continue unnecessarily fretting about regaining the lost young people.
In similar fashion, major media hailed another Barna report that young evangelicals are increasingly embracing liberal politics. But only religious periodicals carried the news that national surveys offer no support for this claim, and that younger evangelicals actually remain as conservative as their parents.... Read this in full at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903480904576510692691734916.html
TRUE WORSHIP
“The Christian does not go to the temple to worship. The Christian takes the temple with him or her. Jesus lifts us beyond the building and pays the human body the highest compliment by making it His dwelling place, the place where He meets with us.”
Ravi Zacharias
FAITH & WORK
by Vicki Brown
In an uncertain and unstable economy, how do Christians reconcile work as a reflection of the image of God in them with high unemployment and under-employment rates? Should believers reexamine what defines "meaningful" work? How do Christians reconcile faith issues in the face of unemployment?
Work is a reflection of God's image in the human race, some Christian ethicists believe. The concept of working didn't grow out of man's disobedience but came from God.
"God worked and then rested in the Genesis account," noted Bill Tillman, who occupies the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University's Logsdon Seminary in Abilene, Texas. "Work went on in the Garden of Eden before the fall."
David Gushee , distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, agreed. "Part of being made in the image of God is that we were made for meaningful work," he said.... Read this in full at
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6682/53/
ASK OF GOD BETTER THINGS
“Picture God as saying to you, ‘My son, why is it that day by day you rise, and pray, and genuflect, and even strike the ground with your forehead, nay, sometimes even shed tears, while you say to Me: 'My Father, give me wealth!' If I were to give it to you, you would think yourself of some importance, you would fancy that you had gained something very great. Yet because you asked for it, you have it. But take care to make good use of it. Before you had it, you were humble; now that you have begun to be rich you despise the poor. What kind of a good is that which only makes you worse? For worse you are, since you were bad already. And that it would make you worse you knew not; hence you asked it of Me. I gave it to you, and I proved you; you have found--and you have found out!... Ask of Me better things than these, greater things than these. Ask of Me spiritual things. Ask of Me Myself!’”
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Sermons, cccxi, 14-15
DEVON FRANKLIN KEEPS THE FAITH IN HOLLYWOOD
DeVon Franklin was on track to become a mover and shaker in Hollywood when he hit what he calls "development hell." For a time, his upwardly mobile career path was stalling, if not dying altogether. His employer, MGM, was about to be sold, and Franklin, then a junior exec, thought he'd lose his job.
When Sony Pictures bought MGM in 2004, Franklin survived the sale and continued his climb. He's now vice president of production for Columbia Pictures (a division of Sony), where he has overseen such projects as The Pursuit of Happyness, The Karate Kid, and this summer's Jumping the Broom. Franklin, 33 and single, chronicles his story in Produced by Faith: Enjoy Real Success Without Losing Your True Self (Howard Books, 2011). His book encourages fellow Christians to use "faith as a professional asset," with chapters on "Writing the Script," "God's Green Light," and, yes, "Development Hell." .... Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/september/whos-next-devon-franklin.html
AT 39, GORDON PRESIDENT LEADS EVANGELICAL UP-AND-COMERS
For the past decade, sociologist D. Michael Lindsay has been living the very phenomenon he's studied in depth: evangelicals climbing the ranks of secular institutions and becoming American elites.
Yet in a surprise move, this 39-year-old rising star has traded a tenure-track position at Rice University to become president of Gordon College, a respected outpost of evangelicalism 25 miles north of Boston.
Some of Lindsay's former students have wondered why he would leave a highly ranked university with a growing, well-funded sociology department. For Lindsay, it's a matter of calling.
"I know that I'm the right person for Gordon," Lindsay said, "because what I bring to the table today is what Gordon happens to need right now." .... Read this in full at
http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-08/39-gordon-president-leads-evangelical-and-comers
TAKE YOUR TROUBLES TO GOD
“We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love. For love does not measure by a merchant's scales, nor with a surveyor's chain. It hath a delicacy... unknown in any handling of material substance.”
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), Summer in the Soul, Edinburgh: A. Strahan & Co., 1859, p. 28
APOLOGETICS MAKES A COMEBACK AMONG YOUTH
by Chris Norton
Relational evangelism may have the key to successful youth ministries in the 1990s, but today apologetics is gaining new traction.
Kids struggle to explain their beliefs today more than they did two decades ago, said Christian Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Youth and Religion at the University of Notre Dame. One of the center's 2005 reports indicates that 12 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds say they are "unsure" of their religious beliefs, and 41 percent of Protestant teens agree that morals are relative.
"[Their] faith is more about meeting emotional needs than an ideology," said Smith. This is the product of "an overwhelmingly relativistic and privatized cultural climate," he said, as well as "youth leaders who have not challenged that climate.".... Read this in full at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/september/apologetics-return-youth.html
VERSE TO PONDER
“Therefore God exalted [Jesus] to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11
CONSIDER
“God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume…it is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”
Vance Havner
FAITH IN THE PHILIPPINES
by Tony Blair
The Philippines is in many ways the perfect place to explore the complexities surrounding the relationship between faith and globalization, both past and present.
As a society deeply influenced historically by Spanish, Indonesian, Malaysian and indigenous cultures, the Philippines finds itself in the 21st century occupying a delicate and profoundly important role in both Asian and Western trade and foreign affairs. I am therefore pleased to announce that the Tony Blair Faith Foundation has just established (http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/blog/entry/the-phillipines-government-and-tony-blair-announce-plan-for-peace-building/) a deep and extensive partnership in the Philippines: a schools initiative to make inter-faith dialogue a part of social education, a program presently in 17 other nations; and a consortium of universities that will join the global Faith and Globalization course that was begun at Yale in the USA and is now in 8 countries round the world.... Read this in full at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/faith-in-the-philippines/2011/08/30/gIQAFtZpqJ_blog.html
DON'T SEXUALIZE TRUE FRIENDSHIP
by Chuck Colson |
Sesame Workshop, the company that produces the kid’s show, “Sesame Street” announced that Bert and Ernie will not be getting married.
Bert and Ernie, two of the show’s Muppets, are best buddies. They live in the same house and sleep in the same room - in separate twin beds. They bicker, they share, they enjoy a bedtime cookie together every night.
They’re such good friends that some assume they must be gay. And one group used an on-line petition to ask “Sesame Street” to let the truth be known. Bert and Ernie, they say, should come out of the closet and get married. This would, presumably teach tolerance and respect for differences - something, the petitioners note, “Sesame Street” has tried to do for years.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianpost.com/news/bert-and-ernie-incapable-of-nonsexual-friendship-54675/
GLOBAL VOICES OF NONVIOLENCE
EGM Films invites you to participate in Global Voices of Nonviolence, a 12-day global conversation that kicks off on the UN International Day of Peace (9/21) with a live event in Washington DC, the online premiere of Little Town of Bethlehem, a live panel discussion streamed online, and you.
It's 12 days of screenings without borders, and it begins with the award-winning documentary Little Town of Bethlehem.
For more information on how you can participate, go to http://littletownofbethlehem.org/globalvoices/.
To date, this film has been screened in nine countries at hundreds of colleges and universities. This year we hope to increase that number to 14 countries and 500 institutions. Be one of the 500 schools or organizations to host a screening and keep the dialogue going.
"This new educational documentary is an excellent catalyst for more discussion regarding peace and the nonviolence peace movement." ~ Eve Spangler, Associate Professor of Sociology, Boston College
http://littletownofbethlehem.org/globalvoices/
JOEL OSTEEN SAYS LAKEWOOD IS EVANGELICAL, NOT POLITICAL
“If it means you believe in the Bible and Jesus and the Trinity and living out your faith, we are evangelical,” said Osteen. “But we’re not big on labels” because they can have political ties too.... Read this in full at
http://blog.chron.com/believeitornot/2011/08/joel-osteen-says-lakewood-is-evangelical-not-political/
TEXAS PASTOR OPENS DRIVE-IN CHURCH
A pastor outside Dallas has launched a drive-in church that operates along the same lines as a drive-in movie theater: Congregants stay in their vehicles and tune in to the sermon on their car radios.
Sanctuary Under the Sky, which meets in a high school parking lot in Lucas, Texas, is the third outdoor church launched by Pastor David Ray, according to CNN Dallas/Fort Worth affiliate WFAA.
Ray, a Presbyterian, told WFAA that he's trying to reach the unchurched and that he believes Jesus would approve of his approach.
"I think he would like it. His stuff was outdoors," Ray said. "A lot of trouble he had was indoors."
One congregant who attended the service on Sunday told WFAA that she's not a fan of mega-churches, preferring to worship alone.... Read this in full at
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/texas-pastor-opens-drive-in-church/
BODYBUILDING CHAMPION LEE HANEY USES CHURCHES TO BATTLE OBESITY
Lee Haney is a former eight-time consecutive winner of the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition, and a Christian whose faith has played an important role in his career. Now he's using his expertise in physical fitness to help beat America's obesity problem, and he's starting with the churches.
Haney's mission to fight obesity began when he served as the chairman to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under the Clinton administration. While speaking to Dr. David Satcher, the former US Surgeon General, at Morehouse School of Medicine one day, the two began to discuss the obesity epidemic and how they could help to get it under control.
He told Satcher, “I don't know any institution in this country that...carries more influence than the church.” Haney recognizes that many people who don't have the financial resources to afford a gym membership have access to a local faith community.... Read this in full at
http://www.christianpost.com/news/bodybuilding-champion-lee-haney-uses-churches-to-battle-obesity-54841/
REMBRANDT AND THE JEWISH JESUS
An exhibition to open in Philadelphia takes on one of Rembrandt's boldest and most controversial innovations: the invention of a more human, humble and accurate face of Jesus.
One of Rembrandt's greatest paintings normally resides on the north side of the Louvre, the 1648 Supper at Emmaus. While small in scale (60 x 60 cm), it is the crowning achievement of Rembrandt's great obsession with his favorite story of the gospels. It shows the moment after the resurrection, when an unrecognized Jesus casually joins two dejected disciples leaving Jerusalem after his crucifixion. They've heard rumors about his resurrection, but are confused and he explains the meaning and necessity of his death to them, and they pull him aside in nearby Emmaus for dinner. As he breaks challah bread, they recognize him in great shock, but just then he disappears.
Rembrandt loved the story's potential for showing ignorance, revelation, miraculous appearance, and the problem of showing a resurrected Jesus realistically. This painting has been cleaned, and is now a revelation of light, texture and subtle color. In this painting, Rembrandt debuted his new, humble Jesus, but it was only one of many ways he tried to make the scene more primitive and historically accurate. Below the table, the dog (probably a reference to the gentiles) has a solid red eye, a psychotic touch in this mystical yet earthy work.... Read this in full at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/rembrandt-jewish-jesus_n_907325.html#s313244&title=Christ_and_the
CONSIDER
“Man is born broken; he lives by mending. The Grace of God is the glue.”
Eugene O’Neill
VERSE TO PONDER
"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6
THIS WEEK'S HYMN: LET THERE BE LIGHT, LORD GOD OF HOSTS
Words: William M. Vories, 1908
Music: William Boyd, 1864
Let there be light, Lord God of hosts,
Let there be wisdom on the earth;
Let broad humanity have birth,
Let there be deeds, instead of boasts.
Within our passioned hearts instill
The calm that endeth strain and strife;
Make us thy ministers of life;
Purge us from lusts that curse and kill.
Give us the peace of vision clear
To see our brothers’ good our own,
To joy and suffer not alone,
The love that casteth out all fear.
Let woe and waste of warfare cease,
That useful labor yet may build
Its homes with love and laughter filled;
God give thy wayward children peace.
>from NetHymnal at
http://nethymnal.org/htm/l/t/ltbtlgoh.htm
ON PRAYER
“Read and read again, and do not despair of help to understand the will and mind of God therein, though you think they are fast locked up from you. Neither trouble your heads though you have not commentaries and expositions; pray and read, and read and pray; for a little from God is better than a great deal from men. Also, what is from men is uncertain, and is often lost and tumbled over and over by men; but what is from God is fixed as a nail in a sure place... There is nothing that so abides with us as what we receive from God; and the reason why Christians at this day are at such a loss as to some things is, that they are contented with what comes from men's mouths, without searching and kneeling before God to know of Him the truth of things. Things we receive at God's hands come to us as truths from the minting house, though old in themselves, yet new to us. Old truths are always new to us if they come with the smell of Heaven upon them.”
John Bunyan (1628-1688), Christ a Complete Saviour [1692], p. 238
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 us to add you to our prayer chain 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.
Book your next vacation with us!
http://www.ChristianConnectionTravel.com
Books, Music & More!
http://www.ChristianConnectionBooks.com
Get your domain name here!
http://www.GoGlobalDomains.com
Let me show you how to earn money as you travel!
http://www.earnGlobalVacations.com/
It's as easy as 1-2-3!
SHARE YOUR FAVORITE WEBSITES
Tell us what sites you find enjoyable and why.
Are you a trader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqQueZwIuzk
Colorful tree image
http://img.earthshots.org/2011/full/160.jpg
All links to websites are provided as a service, and do not imply endorsement by this ministry.
(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.)
What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
Min. Frank Coleman, Editor
Rev.frank@gmail.com
Thanks for welcoming CONNECTIONS into your in-box!
CONNECTIONS is a periodic newsletter of announcements, news, recommendations, articles, and other information helpful to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming CONNECTIONS into your in-box!
The CONNECTIONS 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, frank@frankcoleman.com if you'd like to participate in a men's discipleship program.
Path Of Life Ministries is located in Chicago, IL.
Visit our website at: http://www.pathoflifeministries.org/
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