As is the continued tradition, the first E-Mail Ministry message of the month is my chance to talk to all of you about E-Mail Ministry and other related items. So here goes the November edition:
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR TODAY’S MESSAGE (sorry it is soooo long, a lot of good stuff was sent to me by so many people)
[Getting A Handle On God’s Word] [Train Them While They Are Young] [Resentment] [10 Rules To Post On The Fridge] [A Cute Story] [A Round Tuit] [Is The Bible True?] [The Reward When You Forward E-Mail Ministry Messages] [Where You From?] [Returned Mail] [E-Mail Prayer Chain] [E-Mail Ministry Web Site]
(see, told you there was a lot of stuff)
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GETTING A HANDLE ON GOD’S WORD
Over time you will learn that there are a variety of “delivery systems” for God’s Word. At times you will simply HEAR the Word as someone like your pastor speaks on Sunday. At times you might READ through large sections of the Bible as you would an exciting novel. As you begin to grow you will probably find yourself wanting to understand the Bible at a more significant level, so you will begin to STUDY it like a textbook. Your study might become so exciting that you find a verse or passage that you want to MEMORIZE…When God begins to speak to you through the Bible you will find yourself stopping to contemplate and reflect on what you are hearing. This is the practice of biblical MEDITATION. These five delivery systems will help get a handle on God’s Word.
Dr. Bob Beltz
DAILY DISCIPLINES FOR THE CHRISTIAN MAN
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TRAIN THEM WHILE THEY ARE YOUNG
When my son Ben was seven, we went to a water park that featured a wave pool. At one point, I noticed that he was facing the waves and as each one came towards him, he was saying something to it. The wave would then knock him down, but he’d get right back up and speak to the next one. I moved closer so I could hear what he was saying. It turned out that he was saying, “Peace, be still.” – Katherine
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RESENTMENT
“Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” – Thanks Bob
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10 RULES TO POST ON THE FRIDGE
There are some important things that your teachers didn’t teach you in kindergarten, and that you didn’t learn anywhere in school. Following
are 10 essential rules of life:
RULE 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3: You will not make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
RULE 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. She doesn’t have tenure.
RULE 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
RULE 6: If you screw up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
RULE 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’
generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
RULE 8: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
RULE 9: Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
RULE 10: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
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A CUTE STORY
One day, a little girl was sitting in the rain while it thundered and lightening outside of school waiting for her dad to pick her up. Finally, he came, but as she walked to the car, every time the lightening struck, she would stop, smile and look up. Finally, she got to the car, and her father asked her, “What took you so long??? Every time the lightening struck, you would stop walking. How come???” Her reply was this: “but dad, if God takes a picture of me, the least I could do is smile!
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A ROUND TUIT
This is a Tuit. Guard
it with your life as Tuits
are hard to come by, especially
the round ones. This is an indispen-
sable item. It will help you become
a more efficient worker. For years we
have heard people say, “I’ll do it as
soon as I get a Round Tuit.” Now
that you have one, you can ac-
complish all those things
you put aside until
you got a Round
Tuit!
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IS THE BIBLE TRUE?
U.S. News & World Report cover story on archaeology and the Bible – a very interesting article on the internet – Check it out – you won’t be
disappointed: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/991025/bible.htm
BreakPoint Commentary #91027 – 10/27/1999
Written In Stone: Archeology & The Bible
by Charles Colson
Walking past a newsstand this week, your eye may be caught by a dramatic painting of Adam and Eve on the cover of U.S. News and World Report. Alongside the two figures, the title of the cover story asks, “Is the Bible True?” Flip open the magazine and you’ll find that the answer is a confident “yes!” U.S. News has summarized exciting new archeological evidence that confirms the historicity of the Bible.
For example, a few years ago, a group of archeologists found an Assyrian stone tablet in Northern Israel dating from the ninth century B.C. The Aramaic inscription listed Assyria’s foes. Included in the list were the words “king of Israel” and “house of David.”
The significance of these findings is that they toppled years of archeological skepticism. Many archeologists have long questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible, maintaining that there was no such person as King David. They pointed to the lack of any reference outside the Bible to David in the archeological remains from Assyria, Egypt, or Babylon. They argued that David’s name, a Semitic word meaning “beloved,” was evidence that biblical writers created a legendary king to create a glorious past for Israel. But now archeology has given proof that King David was an historical figure after all-exactly as the Bible teaches.
This latest discovery isn’t the first time the evidence has confounded the skeptics. For instance, Kenneth Kitchen, an Egyptologist at the University of London, told U.S. News that documents recently discovered in Syria confirm the amount of money Joseph’s brothers received when they sold him into slavery. According to the book of Genesis, it was twenty silver shekels. In later centuries, the price typically paid for slaves in Israel was ninety to one hundred shekels. If the biblical account was made up later, as skeptics have argued, then the authors would have picked a sum much closer to the going rate at the time.
Archeological discoveries also help document the veracity of Testament texts. For example, scholars have long doubted gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial. They maintained that the Romans simply tossed crucified bodies into a common grave or left them to be scavenged by wild animals. But archeologists recently discovered the remains of a crucified man, a contemporary of Jesus, buried in a family grave. These remains suggest that the Romans did allow for the kind of burial described in the gospels. Why are secular scholars constantly being refuted? The answer is that they approach scripture from a naturalistic perspective that discounts any document that speaks of the SUPERnatural. Since the Bible records miracles as though they really happened, the Bible is simply discounted out of hand. Scripture is reduced to stories that merely illustrate theological points, while containing little that is historically accurate.
But, as the U.S. News article illustrates, this distinction is crumbling under the weight of empirical evidence.
The latest archeological news is an exciting reminder that Christians have nothing to fear from scientific inquiry. In fact, we welcome it. The next time you hear Christianity characterized as an ancient legend, be prepared to describe the exciting evidence unearthed by archaeology. To answer the question on the cover of U.S. News-yes, the Bible is really true.
Copyright (c) 1999 Prison Fellowship Ministries
“BreakPoint with Chuck Colson” (“BreakPoint”) is a daily commentary on news and trends from a Christian perspective. Heard on more than 425 radio stations nationwide, BreakPoint transcripts are also available on the Internet. If you know of others who would enjoy receiving BreakPoint in their E-mail box each day, tell them they can sign up on our Web site at www.breakpoint.org. If they do not have access to the World Wide Web, please call 1-800-457-6125.
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THE REWARD WHEN YOU FORWARD E-MAIL MINISTRY MESSAGES:
As always, I encourage you to forward the E-Mail Ministry messages to family, friends, work associates, etc. Here is a reply from Darlene that shows the purpose of this ministry. “Douglas, just wanted you to know how much I enjoy this site. Some days it just makes my whole day. I work two jobs, one part time and one full time. It’s just like a breath of fresh air to receive my mail from this site. God bless you, and keep up the good work.
ps- I’ve been sharing a lot of the stuff with my co-workers that aren’t exactly what you would call practicing Christians. I really think something is going on….people that have not gone to church in years are asking me questions and even going to church some…..thanks again…Darlene”
You can make a difference in someone’s life. Follow God’s lead on who you should send the messages to!
E-Mail Ministry has 931 subscribers. An increase of 173 from last month!
I would also like to thank everyone who sends me a message for use by E-Mail Ministry. Due to the large volume of messages submitted, I cannot thank you individually. But please know that I deeply appreciate all of you and your support of this ministry.
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E-MAIL MINISTRY WEB SITE:
The E-Mail Ministry web site has also been updated with the September messages in the archive section. All of the Christian humor submissions have been posted to the Church Humor page.
If you have suggestions on how to improve the site please let me know.
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I pray you all have an enjoyable summer and may you continue to see God’s blessings in your lives.
— doug