MISSOURI CHRISTIANS .NET

2008-11-06T23:18:00.001-08:00

An Obamanation: Fr. Frank responds

Our President-Elect cannot tell the difference between
serving the public and killing the public

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope

Fr. Frank's press release regarding the election of Obama

Sign up for tonight's post-election conference call!

Pray for Your City/State Jeremiah 29:1-13

2008-03-13T22:48:00.001-07:00

Click on NDP Logo to Activate

ABOUT 7X7 - National Day of Prayer May 1, 2008

Are you willing to commit to pray for our country seven days a week? Are you able to set aside time in your car, during your coffee break, or before bedtime? We want to challenge you make this prayer commitment.

7x7 involves praying for seven centers of power seven days a week: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family. By remembering these specific prayer points, we can cover all Americans with God's power.

Together, we will see positive change!

REMEMNBER Also the Global Day of Prayer - May 17 - 26

GDoP - PRAYER GUIDE

2007-09-07T22:26:00.001-07:00

Bin Laden Video Urges Americans to Convert to Islam

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalm 46:10)

- AP

Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a videotape Friday released ahead of the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end, according to a transcript obtained by FOX News. Bin Laden made no overt threats and did not directly call for attacks, according to the transcript. Instead, he addresses Americans, lecturing them on the failures of their leaders to stop the war in Iraq despite growing public opposition in the U.S.

· This tape is actually a very dangerous signal to all Americans, for before a Moslem attacks, he must invite his intended target to embrace the teachings of Islam. Continue to stand your watch against any and all incursions in the days immediately ahead. Cry out for mercy for our nation -- a mercy which we do not deserve, but which is the nature of our heavenly Father to bestow, even so. Stay alert and be prepared in all ways: spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.

· "Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." (Proverbs 3:25,26)

OUR PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

CCNews ~ "God and Father, You have heard to call of him who would call us to desert You the One True and Living God. Grant to us as a nation a spirit of repentance, where we recognize afresh and anew our historical founding and spiritual significance in modern history. The outward appearance is we have abandon our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant to us, Oh God, a spirit of true humility to come upon us. Help us to want to pray to You the living God, the God of all Creation, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. May we have a growing desire to pray and talk with You as a friend to a Friend. Help us to seek Your Face as looking for one in a crowd in the circumstances of our life. Oh God help us to turn from all our harmful thoughts, words and ways that we treat others and turn on ourselves. Help us to be truly sorry for our wicked ways. We need for You to hear our heart, forgive our sin, and to heal all the land of our broken life. We come to You by way of the Cross of Jesus Christ, His shed blood for our sins and all mankind, and with the hope and promise of new life through Christ's resurrection. Amen." ~ Editor, CCNews

2007-09-04T12:14:00.001-07:00

Please PRAY FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD

Holy Land Foundation Terrorism Trial

2007-08-21T23:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Intercessors....this email is long but worth it ! Consider forwarding to your friends for prayer. This is of National importance and how it effects Israel in the future...Pat Allen of CorpPrayResource

August 17, 2007

SPECIAL ALERT:
HOLY LAND FOUNDATION TERRORISM TRIAL

You are needed right now to pray
and declare the word of the Lord!

Cutting off the head of the snake

(This snake eats in the United States
to fund terrorist organizations against Israel.)

By Donna Diorio

donna@israelprayer.com

Dallas 8-17-07: Last night as our Israel Prayer team gathered for weekly intercession over the prayer requests of ministries in Israel, we began to pray for a critical U.S. government trial going on right now in Dallas.

In spite of the fact that we generally have anywhere from 10 to 20 pages of specific prayer requests from the ministries per week, the team spontaneously began to focus on a trial going on in our own city. Individually these seasoned intercessors for Israel had grasped the link between a federal trial in Dallas and our prayer assignment to close a gaping security breach in the United States. If this trial does not get a conviction it means that will be a continued to allowance of terrorist organizations whose deadly end game is played out on the streets of Israel to operate freely on our shores.

This is a critical trial and the Holy Spirit gave many words during the intercessory time towards cutting off the head of the snake that is using terrorist organizations to operate charity fronts in the United States to fund their murder and mayhem against Israel. READ MORE

Dec.'06: City Reaching notes - Portland, OR

2007-01-30T21:46:00.001-08:00

April 19-21,2007, National City-Impact Roundtable, El Paso, TX

NOTES FROM NORTHWEST CITY REACHING ROUNDTABLE

December 4 and 5, 2006

Portland, OR

Tom White

TRANSFORMATION:

1. EACH COMMUNITY MUST ASK THE LORD SPECIFICALLY FOR A WORD OF CONSENSUS REGARDING STRATEGIES FOR CITY REACHING.

2. HOW DO WE SPELL TRANFORMATION? A city is being transformed if these things are taking place:

o An increase in Holy living

o Spontaneous conversions and growth in churches

o Decrease of crime

o An increase of social justice

o Unity in the Body of Christ and Healing of breaches

o Sustainable

o Increased generosity

o Engaged brothers and sisters serving the Lord together

o Passion

o Redeeming of the arts

3. In Transformation change must be evident, but must extend to the fabric of society’s institutions. It must be measurable and sustainable change in society. There must be growing numbers of converted, functioning mature disciples affecting the social, economic, and political fabric of society.
4. The Marks of an Effective Urban Ministry:
* Power Systems Confrontation with offered potential for change
* The poor and the exploited are being cared for
* There is ministry to the middle class as well as the poor
* There is spiritual transformation among the poor and the powerful and all groups are being changed.

5. The goal of the Church is not to make a new heaven and a new earth, but rather to create “salty spots” for the earth that will stimulate thirst for God.

6. Compelling Reasons for building the City-Wide Body of Christ:

o It’s Biblical. The Bible describes it as unity amidst diversity. (Many parts—One Body)

o There is an inherent value of a collegial relationship-knowing and caring for one another.

o The witness of our oneness has apostolic power. (John 17:23)

o United prayer brings an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders. (Acts 4:23-35)

o United prayer for city and government leaders enables us to live godly, quiet and peaceful lives and to reach leaders with the Gospel message.

o The Church is better able to coordinate and strengthen serving ministries (good stewardship) to enable them to help the Church.

o We are able to share corporate responsibility to win and disciple converts.

o It minimizes the impact of training and equipping the saints for the local church-we share this responsibility.

o There is a release of the synergy of combined gifts and callings empowered by the Holy Spirit in each locale.

7. Obstacles to Transformation of communities in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon:

o An independent pioneer spirit. Our forefathers were reacting and rebelling against East coast establishment

o A humanistic mindset.

o Idolatry (nature worship). There is a mixture in this region of worship of the creation and a history of animism and pantheism.

8. We overcome these obstacles by “turning on the light” through our obedience, walking in love and living for the Kingdom and not for ourselves.

9. We need to take a global approach to our cities. We need to ask, “How do we serve in such a way as to impact our city?” “What is the one thing Jesus will give us to move us forward i.e. a “fire starter”? For Vancouver, Washington a fire starter has been Thriving Families of Clark County, a community marriage and family relationship ministry.

10. Community transformation plans will involve:

o Corporate unified prayer

o Asset Building-finding those churches, businesses, individuals and serving ministries who are invested in the plan and will work with one another.

o Mapping. Mapping tells us what gifts and resources God has given each church, group, or serving ministry to bring to the table. It also shows us our common ground.

o A unified event may be the beginning, but must be followed up with small groups. Relationships make the difference.

11. Concrete Steps to City Transformation:

o A seminar or event annually with a number of churches sponsoring.

o Establishment of a resource hub

o Mapping of the churches-find the common ground

o Mapping of the city-find the societal needs, redemptive gifts, and actions of the enemy

o Establish the role of the Church as meeting the needs in society and become a resource for governments who seek faith-based ministries to do those things governments cannot do. The Church must be the delivery system for the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10) to change our communities. Ask: How does God want us to serve our community?

George Otis Jr. Session #1

* Revival is the only answer for our world. There is a prophetic urgency now—the world has been changed forever by the spirit of death coming from Islamic fundamentalism.
* We cannot continue business as usual. There must be radical changes in the way we are doing things as the Church.
* God can intervene in the darkest of circumstances. We must remain expectant and intentional as we prepare the way of the Lord.
* HISTORY OF TRANSFORMATION: Outside the western hemisphere, transformations are happening fast in cities, small towns, and villages. “Because transformation was not taking place worldwide, I asked the Lord in the 1990’s, “Why does spiritual darkness linger where it does?” For seven years I tried to find explanations. By 1997 I began to see an escalation of the moving of God’s Spirit in some places indicating we were approaching end times when God promised He would pour our His Spirit. In June 1999 the first Transformation video was released as an encouragement to intercessors. Within six months over 1000 cities has corresponded with me to ask for help in transformation. I told them, ‘Go ask the Lord what He wants you to do.’ There were increasing reports of transformation in cities after 2000. I began to see patterns leading to transformation and also began to realize there is a quantum leap difference between church growth and city transformation. Church growth is possible without God. City transformation involves “heavy-lifting” we must have a divine partner.”
* DEFINITION OF TRANSFORMATION: The definition of transformation is hard to pin down because we can’t even imagine what God has planned in transformation. If it is a plan based only on an inventory of our assets it can’t be a God thing.
* GOD’S PATTERNS IN TRANSFORMATION: God’s patterns in transformation do not change. Things unique to each community change, but principles can be applied everywhere.
1. Pattern #1: Time with God. Transformation takes place in communities that are following God, not leading Him. In order to follow God there must be time alone with God to hear Him. God is left out of the equation when we are so busy we don’t have time with Him. This problem is systemic in our society. We have no waiting time for God.
2. Pattern #2: Hunger for God. We don’t have an ignorance problem, we have an appetite problem. We all have our life hungers list: food, sleep, security, control, reputation. On this list where is our hunger for the presence of God? When our hunger for God moves to the top of the list, transformation will occur.
3. Pattern #3: Unity in the Body of Christ. In 2004, the International Fellowship of Transformation Partners asked the question. “What gives us an identity together?’ They decided to just watch God at work instead of trying to figure out the answer. They saw these things as helps to building unity:
o A common definition of what transformation looks like in my community
o A set of commonly held principles
o A set of core values to govern the movement
o Prayer
o Accountability
o Trust

4. Pattern #4: Humility and Hiddenness of the Catalysts. Humility is directly related to the degree of divine outpouring. Empire building and personal agendas must be laid aside for the goal of seeing God transform the city. The story of Gideon is an example of God using the smallest, most broken, most contrite, most hidden, and most humble to bring about a great breakthrough. In transformation God often chooses no names that have nothing to lead the greatest breakthroughs.

5. Pattern #5: Holiness: When we get rid of all the sin in the camp, God will come. Our hearts must be right, purified of sin and our own agendas. We must be abandoned to God with expectation of His coming in transforming revival. We need to make sure our hearts are right so that our desire is to see the Kingdom of God manifest on the earth.

George Otis, Jr- Session #2:

* In city transformation there must also be ecological transformation- redemption for more than just people. Unhealthy things cannot stay when Jesus is there.
* In transformation, there is a return to “normal”. Believers get back in touch with their faith and begin to live “normal” Christianity. God has not called us to accept normalcy, but to move on to extraordinary Christianity.
* In true transformation, it takes thirty days to achieve normalcy. Often our experience is that it takes 30 years because people are content with the status quo. We need to know the difference between the habit of losing and rebuilding.
* We need a supernatural invasive intervention for transformation to take place. We need to help people prepare for that kind of intervention. The example of Joseph shows us how we need to prepare the people so they come to us when things get rough. The Church needs to take over the social welfare system. God wants to move us to another level. This is preparation. We need to keep pressing in. We also need to change our mindset to win.
* The core of success in city transformation is a formula of abandonment with expectation. This is contagious and the end result is God comes. To test transformation walk though the business district and see if you sense the presence of the Lord. Call a holiday and call all the pastors to come together to cry out to God for the city. Transformation comes to desperate people with expectation of the greatness of God (Psalms 145).
* The greatest problem in City Transformation is a Church whose God is its Belly. “This is illustrated by many who walk into the sanctuary with a cappuccino.” That church is fixated on itself. The church needs to break these self-centered patterns, not encourage them. We need to hold out for the supernatural—we need it and our communities need it.
* In order to counter radical Islam we have to bring the supernatural to the table. In Acts 2 all the church leaders were there together waiting for the supernatural to come. They were filled with the supernatural Holy Spirit and became the “proof” of Christ to a dying world. We also must be filled with something “otherness”. If Jesus is lifted up He will draw all men, but it must be the Church that lifts Him up.
* There is a remnant remaining in the U.S. and a stirring is happening which needs to roll out in fullness. The American Church needs to have a re- identification of community –Immanuel—the Lord is With Us.

Lisa Otis: Interceding for a City Movement:

* City-wide prayer must have a redirection to pray in desperation for the American Church to become a Church that will act like Jesus and love like Jesus across ethnic, cultural, and denominational lines.
* Sin and convenience are the two big issues in the Church and they prevent us gathering together to pray. Jesus would say to us, “If I could just get you to pray, you cannot imagine what I can do”.
* Jesus is our model as the Great Intercessor. He is interceding for us right now and He has been interceding from the beginning. He is called the Word, the voice of intercession. He said, “I only say what I hear the Father say and I only do what I see the Father doing”. This is the place in intercession where everything happens.
* You cannot be sinful presumptuous intercessors and do the things the Father does. Jesus came to be a sinless obedient intercessor (Hebrews 1:3, John 12:4, John 17:8, Isaiah 11:4, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 19:13.
* Speaking the Word of God releases the power of God as a weapon of warfare against the devil. (Ephesians 6:17). We spend a lot of time in prayer saying things the Father hasn’t said. If we don’t hear from the Father what He wants to say, we shouldn’t say anything. God has many ideas we would never think of and we need to hear from Him and pray His Word.
* Isaiah 55:8 God’s thoughts are higher than ours. We should approach praying for our cities acknowledging we are at the beginning. We cannot presume to know how God will move in our city unless He tells us. Jesus said all His ways were the Father’s ways. He was completely obedient. He tells us to follow Him as the Great Intercessor and be completely obedient to what God says.
* The Kingdom of God exists wherever God is because He is King. If you are just, justice increases in your city. As intercessors we must deny ourselves disobedience, presumption, convenience, and comfort if we are going to follow Jesus’ example in intercession.
* Intercession is God’s brilliant strategy for us to rule with Him in power. He asks us, “Will you join me in the place of intercession?”

Lisa Otis: The Best Practices of City Intercession:

* The key to a breakthrough in our cities is the Church. The Church needs to be moving in all the fullness of Christ or the world suffers. When the Church is right, the world will know and be changed.
* The process begins with the individual. We must be transformed or we can’t pray effectively for the Church to be changed.
* The Church must learn to pray on the offensive and practice how to love each other. Jesus gave us two commands: Love God, Love each other. Our objective as the Church must be to first become lovers of Jesus and then lovers of each other. We will be unable to love those who come in because of transformation in our cities, if we don’t love each other.
* We face difficulties in growing:
1. Humility: we must learn to be honest about where the Church is and about the harvest we are inviting into the Church. If we are honest we will admit we are not ready, but the good news is we will be. The city’s destiny is tied to the Church coming into her destiny. We need to ask the Lord to show us how to love Him and each other and how to come to a place of humility rather than judgment. (2Chronicles 7:14) Our true state is we have nothing and we are nothing except in Christ. We want to become humble like Jesus. Nothing happens until the Church is humble. The humble Church brings lif.
2. Praying the problems. We often pray about the problems more than we pray about the destiny the Church or our city.
3. The Loveless Church: (Revelation 2) If we have become like this church we need to repent. Our love for God leads us to repentance of everything else.

* Guidelines for City Intercession:
1. Love God and Each Other
2. Come in Humility
3. Speak the Word in prayer
4. Do the actions of intercession: Ask the Lord to give you something to do. When He does it will be costly, and inconvenient, but will be an act of love which is an act of intercession sown into your city.
5. Learn about prayer form non-western nations. They have a different way of life. They always find the time to pray.
6. Become offensive in prayer as people of faith.
7. Become separated from lifestyles of division and hatred.

George Otis Jr. Session #3:

* According to George Barna, at least 20,000 Evangelicals won’t attend an organized church, but are meeting in homes. “This is a dangerous trend as these groups can become isolationist and cult-like.” This trend shows the organized Church that we must become more than creeds, dogmas, and programs. We must also have the presence of God and intimacy with Him as part of the package.
* The American Church must have abandonment with expectation. For the past 15 years there has been incremental fruit—good but not enough. The question is, “How do we get to fullness-full success?”
* A problem has been that we have lowered the bar of our expectations. We hail small steps as great breakthroughs.
* Abandonment is the big issues. Before we can get to abandonment we must get to commitment. Many in the American Church are hiding from commitment. Abandonment is described in Jesus’ Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. The treasure is in a field and is discovered by a man who sells everything and buys the field. We know God wants us to be faithful and persevere, but we get nervous about the kind of behavior described in this parable. The Kingdom of God is the Pearl of Great Price and the treasure. This is a picture of abandonment for the sake of the Kingdom. God desires a higher degree of intimacy with His people. (Hosea 6:6) The Church needs to come to the place where everything familiar is gone and only God is left. Moses went into thick darkness where God was—that was the true sanctuary hidden from all life’s essentials.
* We pray, “God come” and He asks, “Why? Do you need a handyman or a lover?” God wants us to want Him as a lover. He is interested in our communities but not as a handyman, but because we cannot exist another day without His presence.
* In the Old Testament, God’s presence was often seen as a mist or smoke which shielded from non-essentials. What we need is relationship-God with us and this is what people want today.
* Hard questions for the Church:

1. Is God here?

2. Do we want to see our community fully transformed?

3. Do we believe God can do this?

4. Are we prepared to do what is required to go there?

5. Will we abandon our compartments and boundaries we have placed on God and let Him be God? God has the right to tread upon any part of your Real Estate.

6. Will we lay down our watches and calendars and our comfort-oriented way of life? This will bring about a collision with our culture. No appointment or time period is more important that a full welcoming presence of God. A lot of our “have tos” involve our kids and their schedules. We have given in to the ways of the world remaining in control of our time, doing what we want first rather than letting God run our lives.

o Commitment or abandonment is different because it will be inconvenient. Anything keeping us from God must go. We are to seek first His Kingdom and He will provide everything else.

o We often come to the point of abandonment and aren’t willing. We have to break stride and prioritize your responsibilities –first to God and His Kingdom

7. Will we pray? It only takes a dozen or fewer intercessors to start the process of transformation. Prayer in faith, humility, unity, and compassion with worship draws the presence of God. We need to pray “God stimulate in me an increased appetite for those things that attract your presence—abandonment with expectation. Fast until God answers. Go on a digital fast-no digital equipment, cell phones, and email.

o The Three Stages of Revival:

1. Invitation: A hungry group of believers summons the presence of God. There is repentance, reconciliation, humbling, prayer and fasting with expectation.

2. Visitation: The Holy Spirit comes in a remarkable way to change people. There is widespread church growth and truth becomes “sticky”. This is not about us but about God. The value system shifts and healing power is released.

3. Transformation: The new values born in the visitation phase are rubbed into the skin of society. The marketplace and the political arena changed. Education is reformed. Society is transformed. There becomes a line of reformation in which the Church must steward what God has done. He says, “I have fixed it, you keep it.” Christianity is restored to normalcy in the Church and the Community.

The Church needs to move forward to ask God to restore us as Salt and Light. We need to pray for the miraculous presence of God. We need the supernatural. God can fix something out of nothing.

(notes taken by Kathy Pipal, prayer coordinator of Treasure Valley, Idaho, intercessors.)

Amazing Grace Sunday, February 18, 2007

2007-01-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

Movie: Amazing Grace to be released - February 18, 2007

On Sunday, February 18, I invite you to join churches around the globe in singing the treasured hymn, Amazing Grace. The significance of this occasion is to commemorate the work of William Wilberforce, a courageous evangelical who two-hundred years ago faced down the powerful men of his day to facilitate the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. His mentor was John Newton, the slave-trader-turned-song-writer, whose words influenced Wilberforce, and continue to resonate today in the lyrics of Amazing Grace.

Today the fight to end slavery continues. It's estimated that 27 million people are currently in slavery around the world. From forced child labor to bonded labor and sexual servitude, millions are suffering and need evangelicals to speak out on their behalf. On February 18, Amazing Grace Sunday is a wonderful opportunity for the church to make our voice heard.

We ask that you set aside a few moments of your worship service on February 18 to sing Amazing Grace and to commit yourselves once again to speak for the oppressed. The Amazing Grace Sunday website (www.amazinggracesunday.com) offers several valuable resources including an opportunity to register your participation, lyrics to a new arrangement of the hymn by Christian artist Chris Tomlin and bulletin inserts about the hymn, which you are free to download and print for your congregation.

In addition, a major motion picture, with the same title as the hymn Amazing Grace, (www.amazinggracemovie.com) about the work of William Wilberforce will open in theaters across the country on February 23. You can also learn more about the fight to end modern day slavery at the partner campaign, Amazing Change (www.theamazingchange.com). The World Evangelical Alliance has also provided resources for churches. We encourage you to make use of these wonderful resources.

We look forward to your participation and show of solidarity on February 18 and in the days of work ahead. The NAE has been recognized by the “abolition movement” of today as one organization, through our Office of Governmental Affairs, that has been a premier leader in passing anti-trafficking legislation. We believe your involvement in this effort is a signal of NAE’s continuing commitment to the fight to end modern-day slavery

Sincerely,

Leith

Leith Anderson
President
National Association of Evangelicals
202-789-1011

A Very MERRY CHRISTMAS !

2006-12-22T23:39:00.000-08:00

May God's richest blessing be yours in 2007. May the joys of Christmas fill your heart with the reality of Jesus Christ in your life and that of your family throughout the New Year of 2007!

Dr. John Perkins special conference-call guest, Dec. 21

2006-12-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Dr. John Perkins, founder of CCCA and honorary co-chairman of Mission America Coalition, will be the special conference-call guest on Dec. 21, 2007... at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern).

Pastors, leaders and other collaborative city-reachers are warmly invited to participate. RSVP to info@cityreaching.com to obtain the necessary phone number and code.

[continued at Blews.Network]

Btw, don't forget, CCDA's national convention will be coming to St. Louis, Oct. 10-14, 2007. So enjoy getting to know this beloved leader during the upcoming conference call. And then get involved with the host-city team here.

Wake-Up! Everyone! Look What's Happening!!!

2006-11-30T01:04:00.000-08:00

Chicago Bans Nativity Movie From Christmas Festival
November 30, 2006 – The city of Chicago has banned advertisements for “The Nativity Story” from a local Christmas festival for fear it might offend non-Christians.

Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon was outraged when he learned of this latest attack on Christmas: “Just when I think political correctness can’t possibly become more ridiculous, along comes Chicago’s leaders to show me there’s no limit to how insane this kind of thinking has become. Will they insist during Ramadan that there be no public discussions of Muhammad? Will they insist that Jewish Menorah’s be removed from public displays to avoid offending Muslims? Are Santa Claus and his tiny reindeer next on the list of banned characters from Christmas? This anti-religious lunacy must stop.”

In a related anti-Christmas story, a Crate and Barrel executive says the company will definitely not have its employees say “Merry Christmas” to customers. According to the company, it has atheist, Jewish, and Muslim customers. Crate and Barrel spokeswoman Betty Kahn: "We would definitely not say Merry Christmas," she said. "It's all about holiday shopping, getting together with friends and family."

“TVC supporters may want to contact Crate and Barrel and tell them why they will not be shopping at their store this Christmas season,” said Rev. Sheldon.

Road Rage

2006-11-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

I've heard it said that character is who you are in private, not what you are in public. This sounds fairly reasonable to me, but, unfortunately I think I may have found a loophope. You see, the other day I did something privately that I would never do publicly. So, in order to redeem myself, I have decided to make my private failure a public one. As twisted as this logic may sound, I think there may be some truth to what I just said-but I digress.

Yesterday, after driving through a toll booth in Chicago, I did something that Christians should not do. I lost my temper. I pulled over to the side of the road and I slammed my fist against the steering wheel as hard as I could. After apologizing to my wife, I began to think about what made me so upset.

The incident that prompted my road rage was passing through a toll booth thinking that I could use a credit card (I have done that many times because usually the toll is around $3.00 in most places I go). First of all. I didn't know there was going to be a toll booth. Secondly, I figured that I could use my card if there was a toll booth. Thirdly, I didn't have any change and, unfortunately, in this case, the toll was only 80 cents.

The jerk behind the counter gave me no mercy. To him, I was a pennyless low-lifer mooching my way through life at other people's expense-at least that was the impression I got during our 20 second encounter.

So why did I lose my temper? It wasn't because of the huffy toll booth operator. It was myself that I was mad at. I was humiliated that I couldn't scrape enough change for something so simple.

I ask that you, my readers, think about this incident for a moment. If I, a Christian, could lose my temper out of humiliation for not scraping together 80 cents to pay a toll booth operator, just imagine how millions of men and women around the world feel living in slums and barely surviving? Do you think they feel humiliated? Heck yes, they do. Even nature itself teaches that fathers have an instinct to want to provide for their families. I wonder how men who live in cardboard boxes feel when they are unable to provide a decent living for their wives and children?

Furthermore, how do you think the masses of people around the world feel when they watch films about life in America while they are barely able to put food on the table? Do you think that they might feel angry, humilitated, robbed, or dare I say...cheated? My point here is not to say that Americans are to blame for the world's poverty. I am absolutely unqualified to make such judgments. My point is to take you into the minds and hearts of the world's poor. I wonder if, in their minds, we are the toll booth operators of the world.

The problem with poverty is not its physical effects, but its emotional and spiritual effects. Poverty is the ultimate dehumanizer because it cuts to the heart of human self-worth. This is why it is all the more remarkable that Jesus uttered these four words that have changed human history "Blessed are the poor." For Jesus, value comes not from one's net worth or even the ability of one to provide for himself. For Jesus, value comes from being loved by God-something that all can claim-whether rich or poor.

There are some who are poor because of laziness, but there are multiplied others who are poor because of oppression. Still others are poor because of just plain bad luck. Yes. I said the word "luck". Even the Bible says, "Time and chance happen to all." If we Christians can learn to see the poor of this world through the eyes of Jesus, then the world would be a much better place.

Response Ad to Michael J. Fox

2006-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

reason, theocracy, pluralism, and government

2006-10-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Since I am leaving for a meeting in a half hour, I am going to see if I can tackle the monumentous question that my friend Toby asked regarding the duty of government (or government leaders) to impose their morality on a people living in a pluralistic society. In layman's terms, "What right does congress, or the president have to impose their views on the rest of society that either agrees or disagrees with them?" Wow! Now that's a whopper!

First of all, I would say that in a Republic, it is the people that give the government leaders the right to make moral judgments that reflect the values of the people who vote them into office. We are not a democracy in the sense that every person votes on every issue. And thank God we are not! I don't know about you, but I don't want people who know nothing about economics or international relations deciding whether to cut taxes or invade a nation. In a Republic, the people elect leaders who, although they reflect their values, are judged as more capable than the average Joe in making decisions that affect the rest of society.

This brings us to a good question. Should decisions be made based on religious conviction? The ACLU would say No Way Jose and scream the words Theocracy!!!!!! at such a suggestion. But wait a second here. If by theocracy, it is meant that the laws of the land should be word for word the same as the Law of Moses given to the children of Israel in the Old Testament (or the Koran or any other religious document), then, yes, that would be a theocracy. And there are a few people who want that. They are called Reconstructionists. The problem with this view is that it fails to appreciate the uniqueness of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. The fact is that no other nation or political entity since the days of Moses can claim a direct covenant with God in the same sense that the children of Israel could claim in the Old Testament (and..yes..I do include the United States of America in that...unlike many who believe that America is God's equivalent to Old Testament Israel....what an arrogant claim!!!)

The question is, is this what most evangelical Christians want? The answer is no!!! Even Pat Robertson has said in interviews that he does not want a theocracy. To say that religious beliefs can "inform" the conscience of government is a far cry from saying that it should "impose" its views on society. If we live in a Republic where people elect men and women into office to reflect their values, why should religious values be a priori excluded? Let me put this another way, if President George W. Bush, or any other president, attempts to fight against human sex trafficking because it goes against his or her religious conviction, why should that be invalidated simply because it stems from religious conviction? The fact is: the government does have the right to impose morality on its citizens. That is the government's job.

If we look at the issue from a New Testament perspective, Jesus did in fact do away with theocracy. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." Jesus had no interest in creating a political kingdom to take over the world. He was interested in creating an institution called the Church that would be transformed from within and, through their moral influence would have an impact on society. Concepts such as "inalieable rights" just happen to be a byproduct of the values that Jesus introduced to the world.

As far as political government, the only definitive chapter on the subject in the New Testament is Romans chapter 13 where Paul clearly sees the role of government as "punishing evildoers". In other words, according to the Apostle Paul, the role of government is to provide protection for its citizens. This protection can take on many forms, but ultimately, government can not create a utopia, it can only curb evil. Such a view is realistic in light of fallen human nature.

Bottom line: Government must protect human beings. The Bible gives guidelines on how to make this happen, but does not tell us everything we need to know. Intrinsic to Christianity is the belief in reason and progress (even among unbelievers since they too are created in the image of God) The Bible is progressive revelation so we can not look at the Law of Moses and apply it tit for tat for today. Everything must be judged by the standard of Jesus Christ. In my view, the Church is to "inform" the conscience on society, not "impose" its values on society. Society will conform to the extent that the gospel has penetrated the hearts of the people. It may come as a surprise to many to hear me say this, but I believe that seperation of church and state is a profoundly Christian idea. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to branding adulteresses with scarlet A's.

Mission America Coalition annual meeting in St. Louis

2006-10-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

Hey we're here LIVE in St. Louis, at the Mission America annual meeting. It's awesome. [I was able to have lunch with Dr. Paul Cedar, Chairman, Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism, and president of MAC. Yet all the others at our table were equally impressive in their own rite, as active cityreachers for Christ.]

[You can keep up with the live-blogging... at Blews.Network.]

PRAY the VOTE

2006-09-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

Mission America Annual Meeting... Oct. 10-12

2006-09-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

[BlewsWire.com]

Can restoring a healthy church culture transform our communities?

Come to the Table in St. Louis and Engage in These Critical Issues with Your Colleagues.

Interact With:

Directors of National & Regional Ministries
Denominational Leaders
City Movement Practitioners
Kingdom-Minded Pastors
Church Evangelism Leaders
Marketplace Leaders
Evangelism Strategists
Resourcers & Researchers

[continue for detail]

Human Cloning Issue?

2006-09-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

[cut/pasted from a good friend's email today]

Want more "light" on the human cloning issue? Here are some outstanding and remarkably helpful websites.

For Missourians, the human cloning issue is Amendment 2 on Missouri's Nov 7th ballot. The nation is watching.

Please forward these website addresses to others...especially to those living in Missouri.

Publishing these website addresses (church bulletins, newsletters, periodicals, wherever) would be additionally helpful and enlightening to others.

(1) www.stemcellresearchfacts.com -- a clear and simple presentation of the human cloning facts.

(2) www.nocloning.org

(3) www.votenocloning.com-- On the exploitation of women through the medically invasive and high risk procedures into their bodies ... so as to multiply their eggs for "harvesting," essential in the human cloning process. The big money offered to each of them temps low income women to submit to these "Russian Roulette" type risks on themselves moreso than it temps affluent women. Thus more low income women are exploited in the risky human cloning efforts than affluent women.

(4) www.missouriansfortruth.org

(5) www.stemcellresearch.org

(6) www.moroundtable.org --- which is introduced as follows:
"Missouri Roundtable For Life Presents A Word-By-Word Critique Of The So-Called 'Missouri Stem Cell Research And Cures Initiative'; An exposure of its true consequences. The initiative is long and convoluted. If it were clear, the citizens of Missouri would overwhelmingly reject it."

(7) www.visionamerica.org

(8) www.missourilife.org

Again, please forward these website addresses to others...

Respectfully and in Appreciation,
Harold Hendrick
314 355-1052
314 974-7212

St. Louis: Journalism Project for Urbana 2006

2006-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

[excerpted from World Journalism Institute]

At Urbana '06 (to be held in St. Louis in December) over 25,000 people will gather to worship God and hear how he is using people to accomplish his purposes throughout the world. For sixty years, God has been using Urbana conventions to change the lives of students and to advance His Kingdom in our world. If you are wondering how you might use your education, skills, and resources to share the love of Christ with people around the world, we warmly invite you to come to Urbana 2006!

The World Journalism Institute is partnering with InterVarsity this year to publish the Urbana 06 convention newspaper, Urbana Today. WJI, a leading college-level training program for aspiring Christian journalists, will be looking for a cadre of 25 outstanding college journalists to write, edit and produce five daily newspapers for the convention participants. This opportunity will be a once-in-four-years experience in daily journalism under the pressure of daily deadlines before a readership of intererested and intelligent attendees.Working under the editorial leadership of WJI professional journalists, the selected college journalists will also hear from visiting professionals who will give newsroom lectures during the week.

[continued at World Journalism Institute]

ROLE REVERSAL - Christian Slavic Community Persecuted !

2006-08-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sacramento’s Slavic Christians fled persecution back home, but some are befuddled by their new country’s tolerance of gays

By Rachel Gregg

Over the last few months, the loudest voice against gay rights in Sacramento has been that of Sacramento’s Slavic Christian community. Outside of area high schools and on the steps of the Capitol, hundreds of Slavic families, many recent immigrants, have been gathering to protest what is considered a shameful secret in their home countries.

The irony is that they fled those countries after being persecuted for their own religious beliefs.

Eighteen-year-old Nadia Chorney is a Ukrainian native and evangelical Christian. She’s already a veteran activist, fighting against “promoting homosexuality in our schools.”

As a youth leader in her Marysville church, she participated in a number of political actions this spring. She stood in front of the Capitol to protest the passage of Senate Bill 1437, the bill that would have required California textbooks to acknowledge the historical contributions of gay people.

But most of her political activity has been centered around protesting the “Day of Silence” instituted by the Sacramento City Unified School District Board to combat harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students in public schools.

Chorney, who believes that “homosexuality is a sin,” was among the many area high-school students who wore anti-gay T-shirts to school on April 26, the Day of Silence. According to Chorney, school administrators demanded that she and other students turn their “homosexuality is a sin, Jesus will set you free” T-shirts inside out. School officials also confiscated anti-gay leaflets from Chorney and other students.

Frustrated by what she felt was an infringement of her First Amendment rights, Chorney gathered with other students and parents for three days in front of Mira Loma High School to protest. READ FULL STORY - warning - link is for mature readers only!

ALSO read Pacific Justice Institutes defense: CLICK HERE ***
"Slavic Christians Demeaned for Free Speech Activities, Urged to Leave U.S."

~ CCNews ... please pray for the Slavic community - protection, diection and favor. Pray the whole Church of the Sacramento community will stand with them and encourage them. This is not a time run and hide, but to stand and having done all to stand in the LORD and His strength.

Episcopalians refuse affirmation of Christ

2006-06-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/20/06)-The House of Deputies of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church today overwhelmingly refused to even consider a resolution that affirmed Jesus Christ as the "only name by which any person may be saved."

"This type of language was used in 1920s and 1930s to alienate the type of people who were executed. It was called the Holocaust. I understand the intent, but I ask you to allow the discharge to stay," said the Rev. Eugene C. McDowell, a graduate of Yale Divinity School and Canon Theologian for the Diocese of North Carolina. READ MORE and weep! "Pray the news!"

Global Day of Prayer... June 4th

2006-05-31T16:24:00.000-07:00

On June 4, 2006, Pentecost Sunday, nearly 500 million Christians in nearly 200 countries will gather to pray to God in the name of His Son Jesus Christ for personal repentance and for healing. Thousands of gatherings are expected in stadiums, churches, auditoriums and homes located in cities around the world.

St. Louis Christians will meet in the new Busch Stadium from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday evening, June 4th. Everyone is invited who holds to the essential beliefs of Christianity as summarized in The Apostle's Creed. In other words, participation is encouraged by Christian churches of all types i.e. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Protestant (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc), Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Nondenominational.

Our theme is from II Chronicles 7:14: I will hear from heaven.. ..and heal their land.

Our purpose is to please God by joining all of His Metro St. Louis family together for one day to pray for repentance and to work together for the blessing, healing and transformation of our city. Please come and pray.

Be sure and watch the online video at... PrayStL.org

Governors Prayer Team for Missouri

2006-05-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

"May the Governors' Prayer Team be a blessing to you as together we lift up our states' leaders in prayerful support in Jesus name.

Sincerely,
Thomas Otley
State Prayer Leader
Governors' Prayer Team"

CCDA Philly 2006

2006-04-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

[Don't forget -- St. Louis will be host to CCDA 2007 convention. Pray!]

************************************************

Mark your calendars for Sept. 27... the start of CCDA Philly 2006. And here's the latest inside information from Philly....

Topics:

Dr. Perkins
Conference Volunteers
Funds
Website & Prayer Blog
Forms

[continue .pdf newsletter]

[And see the rest of the Prayer Room pics from last year in Indy.]

Let's join our Philly friends in praying that God will specially bless CCDA Philly 2006, as well. [Sept.27+]

Here's their prayer team already in motion... [continue]

And here's the new CCDA Philly Video !

[Lots of Indy clips contained in it. It gives me goosebumps all over again!]

The Scene is set for Confrontation!

2006-01-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- As he faced the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, Judge Samuel Alito began his Supreme Court confirmation hearings with a bit of a deficit.

He's not as naturally charming as Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who was confirmed in September. And he didn't quite wow senators during his round of private meetings the way Roberts did. Roberts, of course, picked up 22 Democratic votes for his confirmation, a fact that infuriated liberal interest groups and could work to Alito's disadvantage.

Now the message from those activists to Democrats, said Rutgers political scientist Ross Baker, is: "You owe us.'' Read Much More!

Presidential Prayer Sunday, February 19, 2006

2006-01-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

Your church can get involved with hundreds of concerned churches across America as together we stand on the front lines of the spiritual battle for America. Click HERE to learn more.

The St. Louis Story

2005-12-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

When Mission America Coalition's annual City Impact Roundtable (CIR) rotated to St. Louis in April 2005, a number of cities were asking to give a bit of a Christian history that would bring the gathered leaders up to date, to help understand how things stand in their city-reaching efforts today.

Here are the MAC notes from the various spokemen from St. Louis.

Here are the overall agenda/notes from this great conference, including 'stories' from other cities.

[Also visit the City Reaching Blog for April '05, which blogged live the conference.]

[Next year's City Impact Roundtable (CIR) will be held April 3-5, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It's an outstanding opportunity to hook up with other city-reachers from across the country.]

Mark Your Calendars for April 2-5, 2006 - Annual City Impact Roundtable - in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2005-12-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

[continued at City Reaching]

Urbana 2006.... St. Louis

2005-12-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

[continued at Urbana.org]

News re 'Urbana' moving to St. Louis 2006.

Intervarsity News re 'Urbana' coming.

Listen to the vision kickoff breakfast podcast.

Intervarsity Audio/Podcasts.

'Urbana Projects' in St. Louis.

Hollywood Declares War on Family Values... Again

2005-12-16T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hollywood declares war on family values…again
A movie glorifying homosexual “sex” and overtly denigrating Christian values seems to be on its way to Best Picture in Hollywood’s eyes. Brokeback Mountain , a vulgar and violent movie about two homosexual cowboys, which is running on limited screens in liberal cities, won the most Golden Globe nominations Tuesday – seven, including best drama. Last year’s Million Dollar Baby – which glorified a man “helping” a paralyzed woman to commit suicide – won big at the Academy Awards after first winning big at the Golden Globe Awards. It seems that if something is morally wrong, Hollywood usually says that it's right! Read the review by Movieguide.org .

URGENT Prayer Needed for Great Britain

2005-12-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

URGENT: Please Pray for England

For the first time since at least 890 A.D. (yes EIGHT 90)..over 1000 years, Christians will be the TAIL and not The Head under British law. Local town councils which spent billions promoting Diwali (Hindu), Ramadam (Islam) and every foreign god, plus Halloween have banned CHRISTmas and public Christian worship. Please, READ MORE

CCDA heads to St. Louis in 2007

2005-12-03T04:18:00.000-08:00

We've recently learned that the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) will be hosting their 2007 annual conference in St. Louis. As part of the CCDA Indy 2005 conference recently concluded, I commend it to you highly, and wish all of you well as you pray and plan toward it in the future.

Blessings from Indy,
Neil Cox
IndyChristian.com
"Connecting Driven Christians in the Racing Capital of the World"

IS YOUR CITY READY ?

2005-09-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

Christians should be at forefront of preparedness and response

(CEN, Sept. 28) PHOENIX, Ariz. – As residents slowly return to the communities hardest hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and towns hundreds of miles away and all points in between adjust to the influx of evacuees created by the storms, Christian Emergency Network (CEN) Founder and CEO Mary Marr said these circumstances point to the importance of each community being responsibly prepared for calamities, and for Christians to have individual, church, denominational, and congregational preparedness plans, as well as being primed in all ways to demonstrate calm and effective leadership in times of crisis.

Marr explained, “As churches in large cities in the U.S. responded to recent devastation, many for the first time without prior preparation, it causes each church and each Christian within our own cities to ask some strategic questions made necessary by the realization in the past month that civil authorities may not be fully able to meet the immediate needs of citizens.”

Marr added, “CEN prayerfully collaborated yesterday with Christian, municipal, state, denominational, congregational, church and media leaders to provide resources that are vital to a church and family’s survival. When each church and each individual Christian family is prepared to lead the way by first preparing for their own needs will they be positioned to help assist their community with a caring response that earns them the right to share the Gospel.”

Marr noted basic questions to consider now should a disaster strike your city include:

Do you have personal physical supplies to go to a shelter for 72 hours? To learn more, click here.
Do you know which churches are trained to operate as shelters? To learn more, click here.
Do you know how to prayerfully care for families in your church and city? To learn more, click here.
Do you know how to reach out with the Gospel in your city with spiritual aid? To learn more, click here.
If some city churches and ministries like Christian radio are wiped out in your city, do you know the back up plan? To learn of additional resources, click here

Marr explained, “As CEN partners move forward during the next weeks and months, we will be exploring these key and added questions of preparedness for various agencies, organizations and entities responsible for emergency rescue and response. For comprehensive reviews of these questions, check the website regularly for resources to help you deal with these critical issues.”

Marr reminded Christian city and denominational leaders, including media, that as they themselves respond and choose how to prepare others to respond, they should so do according to the biblical precepts of prayer-care-share, the message and response adopted by CEN. Many national leaders thanked CEN for such timely assistance being provided them in their hour of need. Collaborative conference calls to prepare the greater Christian church city by city, church by church will continue.

Prayer
Said Marr, “With the overwhelming presenting needs, we must constantly humble ourselves before God to ask for discernment in how to respond in prayer include:

Pray for the president and other national and local government officials as they seek to learn how to be better prepared in the future.
Pray for New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Eddie Compass resigned from his position on Tuesday. Pray for a replacement of God’s choosing.
Pray for businesses to be able to open despite damage from the storms and looting.
Pray for utility workers as they seek to restore power to cities all across the Gulf Coast, and inland areas affected by the storms.
Pray for protection from accident and disease for those who are returning to homes and businesses in affected areas.
Pray that as cities are rebuilt, that the church would be there to provide a spiritual foundation for the “new cities” as they rise from the devastation.
Pray for continued need for clothes, housing, jobs and other material needs by those trying to resettle in other cities across the country
Pray for a cooperative plan for disaster preparedness between churches in your city and civil officials.
Pray that your church would take seriously the need to have preparation plans in place.
Pray that Christians will take personal responsibility for their own and others preparedness needs for Kingdom expansion.

CEN Prayer tip for city’s without emergency plans in place; let CEN know how we may pray for you, your church, and your city. Email us: prayerplea@cen911.com

To learn how you can pray for those in need and demonstrate the love of Christ, click here

Care
The work of the Salvation Army in Houston is a sterling example of how to provide care, said Marr. The Salvation Army has opened two shelters in the north Houston area that are currently housing more than 450 Houstonians who were unable to evacuate the city. At the shelters, the temporary residents are provided with cots to sleep on, hot meals and water as well as a sense of security.

CEN Care tip for those sheltering evacuees: consider adopting a “pet evacuee” for those you are sheltering to transition from the loss of their own pet.

To learn of additional ways to demonstrate the love of Christ by showing care, click here

Share
Meanwhile, Marr points to the outlook of Convoy of Hope worker Dave Auterson as an example of the long-term view a Christian must have to prepare to properly share the Gospel. Auterson said, “People are starting to ask ‘Where do we begin?’ and ‘How will we ever come back from this?’ I have to admit that I too have thought those things – until tonight when driving back to Baton Rouge; it struck me that the church has ALWAYS faced huge need and daunting tasks. And, because of that, we already know where and how we will do our work.”

CEN Share tip for those serving the needs in the affected areas: consider providing ample Higher Ground booklets. click here

To learn of additional ways to demonstrate the love of Christ by sharing your time, talents and treasure for the long run, click here

Pray-Care-Share Inspiration
Scripture: “Trials have come so tat you faith may be proved genuine” (I Peter 1:6-7).
Outlook: Thought trials will come our way, we will trust in God through them all.
Song: “Through It Al,” by Andraé Crouch
Make a donation to CEN

For interviews with CEN Founder/Chairman Mary Marr, contact Judy Hannestad at 701-484-5028 judy.hannestad@cen911.com

Christian Emergency Network leads Christians to intelligently pray for,
sensitively care for, and strategically share the gospel with victims
involved in a national emergency.