This is a great message by Becky talking about the process it takes to recieve healing from God using both scriptures and real life examples. This was a pretty good message on the Greg scale of 1-10 I'd give it a definite 9… Don't miss it. This is the Sunday, July 23rd service it lasts about 55 minutes.
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Here's a must read story about the western media's propaganda efforts against Israel during the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Either journalists are incredibly stupid or credulous or they are purposely producing propaganda for Hezbollah as it fights with Israel.
The story revolves around a widely reported story about two Lebanese ambulances being attacked and destroyed by Israeli Jets. To the left is one of the photos that accompanied the story in the Boston Globe. Even I, when I first saw this photo thought this can't be an attack from a jet, there's too much of the ambulance left. Where is the fire damage? The worst offenders were from the the British television network ITV who breathlessly reported that the Israeli missiles struck right in the middle of the cross on the top of the ambulance. That this was a propaganda effort is made clear by the juxtaposition of an Israeli officer denying that the Israelis target ambulances, repeated several times while the supposedly irrefutable proof of the Israelis dastardly deed, photos of the ambulances, film of the injured ambulance drivers, is juxtaposed with what they want us to believe is the Israeli officer's obvious lie. Go read the article to learn why you can be sure this is not the result of a missle attack. If it weren't so serious it would be funny.
Well you need to read the whole, fantastic article over at ZombieTime to get the full impact of the western news media's stupidity or is it collusion? Like Pastor Price used to say, it would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.
These are parts 3 & 4 of our series, Becoming A Blackbelt Christian. Part 3 is, You need a Sensei. The point I was trying to make here is that the purpose of the Christian pastor is to grow up the individual Christians to look and act like Jesus.
Ephesians 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Most Christians aren't looking at their Pastors this way. If you want to become a Blackbelt Christian then you're going to have to find someone that you respect, that you want to be like, to train you. If karatecas thought about the karate dojo like Christians do about church, they'd be looking for the dojo which had the best child care facilities or maybe a singles program, or nice workout facilities, or easy parking. The identity of the sensei would be the last thing on their mind. But in Karate the identity of the sensei is everything. You're going to become what your sensei is.
Part 4 is, You have to be willing to pay the price. Everything in life costs something. If you want to lose weight it's going to cost you. If you want to be in shape it's going to cost you. If you want a college degree it's going to cost you. If you want to be a great karate guy it's going to cost you. If you want to be a Blackbelt Christian it's going to cost you. Becky pointed out to me that the amplified Bible puts a different spin on one of the scriptures I quote on this tape:
(Luke 9:59, 60) And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Luke 9:59-60 (Amplified Bible) 59 And He said to another, [a]Become My disciple, side with My party, and accompany Me! But he replied, Lord, permit me first to go and bury ([b]await the death of) my father. 60 But Jesus said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and publish abroad [c]throughout all regions the kingdom of God.
Becky says that what the guy was really saying was, "Once my father dies and I get the inheritance then I'll be able to follow you." Makes sense to me. That's what we all say, "When I retire and my financial future is secure then I'll be able to follow you Jesus." If Jesus can't take care of your
financial needs why would you want to follow him?
The is the Sunday July 9, 2006, service. It lasts about 40 minutes.
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This is pretty funny. Here's a skit from British comedian, Harry Enfield, made to look like one of those public service movies from the 1940s and 50s. Enjoy.
Here's a sad story. A 12 year old boy named Joe, who had asked Jesus into his heart two weeks earlier at Fellowship (Ha ha get it? You will in a second.) Baptist Church in Saltillo, Mississippi, (Why is it always Mississippi?) was then voted out and told not to return. Why? Apparently one of his parents is black and they were afraid he might bring more black people to church. The good news is that after the vote the Pastor, John Stevens, and some members resigned.
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if …
(Hat tip Christianity Today.)
Read this great quote in Roger Kimball's review of Paul Johnson's new book, Creators, in National Review. It's from a famous Japanese painter, Hokusai (1760-1849),
"From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs. but all I have done before the the age of seventy is not worth bothering with. At seventy five I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before."
If you live long enough you can impact the world.
Okay here's another T.V. show recommendation. The Exodus Decoded, an interesting film by a Canadian Journalist, Simcha Jacobovici, who is apparently an Orthodox Jew, (He keeps his head covered though not with a traditional yarmulke.) is airing on the History Channel. I watched it Sunday night but it's airing again Thursday night, Aug. 24, at 8:00p.m. on The History Channel.
Jacobovici, who I think sees himself as a sort of modern day Heinrich Schliemann, (The non archaeologist who discovered the city of Troy when most professional archaeologist considered it a myth.) argues that Archaeologists have missed substantial clues which support the Biblical story of the Exodus because they have misdated the Exodus. He dates it at around 1500 B.C. (He uses the term BCE meaning before Before the Common Era.) He spends most of the two hours explaining how the 10 plagues of Exodus could have been the result of natural phenomena resulting from the huge volcanic eruption on the Mediterranean Island of Thera now called Santorini.
But the most interesting parts of the program, as far as I'm concerned, were the archaeological discoveries which apparently support the Biblical account of the Exodus story. For example Jacobovici argues that the Pharaoh of the Exodus story is actually, "Ahmose" which according to Jacobovici means brother of Moses. He also shows a recreation of the Ahmose Stele, an ancient Egyptian stone monument covered with Egyptian hieroglyphics which apparently contain many of the same details as the Exodus, It makes it a little more compelling that the Stele is warehoused away from view in the Cairo Museum and that Jacobovici was not allowed to film it. He also has difficulty filming in other Egyptian sites which might give the modern Israelis support for their claim to a homeland.
One of the most interesting archaeological discoverys is the Tomb at Beni Hassan dated to around 1700 B.C. i.e. 200 years before the Exodus. The tomb includes a painting of Semitic people migrating to Egypt with all of their herds. Also at the, recently discovered, Egyptian city of Avaris, a royal city, populated by semitic people he finds royal rings with the Hebrew name Jacob on them. Jacob, of course, was the father of Joseph.
Pretty interesting stuff. Don't miss this program if at all possible. Also for further reading there's a very informative email debate between, Hershel Shanks an editor at Biblical Archeology Review, and Jacobovici, here.
Wanted to recommend, 30 Days, a really interesting show on the FX network. Basically, they put people with completely different takes on something together for 30 days and see if anyone changes their mind. An atheist lady goes to live with an evangelical Christian family for 30 days. A member of the anti -illegal alien group, Minutemen, goes to live with an illegal alien family in Los Angeles fro 30 days. A pro choice abortion clinic worker goes to live a Christian crisis pregnancy center for 30 days.
The one about immigration was pretty strong. The Minuteman guy comes to like the illegal alien family he's living with. The illegal alien dad asks him to go down to Mexico to visit his brother and see what it was like where they were at. The Minuteman guy goes and is shocked by the poverty and squalor. When he comes back the dad tells him I can't leave my brother down there and the Minuteman says he understands. Pretty powerful stuff. Highly recommended. Here's the website for the show if you want to see a little more about it.
If you're interested in business or marketing or being more creative here's a website that has some really good material, Change This. The website hosts a bunch of different articles, "Manifestos" they call them by some of the top marketing/ management guys; including Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Malcolm Gladwell author of, The Tipping Point, one of the most interesting books of the past few years; Guy Kawasaki, one of my favorite authors, Hugh MacLeod a guy with some great ideas about being creative and marketing if you can get past his potty mouth, management guru, Tom Peters. Most of the "Manifestos" are quite short less than 30 pages. Here's some of my favorites, Polkas & Pyrotechnics by Seth Godin. 100 Ways To Help You Suceed / Make Money, by Tom Peters. The Talent Myth by Malcolm Gladwell. How To Be Creative, Hugh MacLeod. The Art of The Start, Guy Kawasaki. Enjoy.