I was reading The 2009 Slate 60: The Largest American Charitable Contributions of the year and I'm blessed, I mean totally blessed with these great philanthropist of our time! I'm blessed not because they've given so much (i mean literally) but blessed they've chosen to give. A lot of us who are far poorer than these guys can't even give at least a little to those who are in need. How much more when we become as rich as they are. Would it be easy to give by then million dollars?
I remember the passage in the Bible about the woman who gave two coins.
Mark 12:41-45 (New International Version)
The Widow's Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,[a]worth only a fraction of a penny.[b]
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."
I'm not sure though if these philanthropist gave just because they have excess. I hope not. But looking at us, we had a bigger chance of giving more! We can be just like this woman who out of her poverty gave everything!
It's not the amount. It's the attitude of our hearts in giving. We may not be part of the Slate 60 or be famous but when we give everything, Jesus sees us and knows we have given more!
Just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7
READ MORE OR COMMENT
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
A Light at The End!
6 If you are pure and upright,
Surely now He would rouse Himself for you
And restore your righteous estate.
7 "Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will increase greatly.
What a wonderful promise!
We maybe nothing, insignificant, small for now but if we remain upright and pure before GOD, our end will surely be great no matter what!
Just hold on my friend!
READ MORE OR COMMENT
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Christian Jokes: Let's take the time to LAUGH!
Jesus trying to make a point
Jesus saw a crowd chasing down a woman to stone her and approached them. "What's going on here, anyway?" he asked."This woman was found committing adultery, and the law says we should stone her!" one of the crowd responded."Wait," yelled Jesus. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."Suddenly, a stone was thrown from out of the sky, and knocked the woman on the side of her head.
"Aw, c'mon, Dad..." Jesus cried, "I'm trying to make a point here!"
Moses and Bush
One day, two planes land at an airport. President George W. Bush gets out of one. A man wearing a white robe gets out of the other and starts walking away. The Pesident catches up to him, and says, "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses?" the man keeps walking. The president follows him. "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses. The man keeps on walking. The president runs ahead of the man and stops him, repeating himself once more. "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses. finally, the man stopped and replied, "Yes, but the last time i talked to a bush i ended up wandering the desert for 40 years."
Which servant of Jehovah was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
Q. Which servant of Jehovah was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. Because he broke all 10 commandments; at once.
"Sorry. I didn't recognize you."
As Bill was approaching mid-life, physically he was a mess. Not only was he going bald, but years of office work had given him a large pot belly. The last straw came when he asked a woman co-worker out on a date, and she all but laughed at him. That does it, he decided. I'm going to start a whole new regimen. He began attending aerobics classes. He started working out with weights. He changed his diet. And he got an expensive hair transplant.
In six months, he was a different man. Again, he asked his female co-worker out, and this time she accepted. There he was, all
dressed up for the date, looking better than he ever had. He stood
poised to ring the woman's doorbell, when a bolt of lightning
struck him and knocked him off his feet. As he lay there dying,
he turned his eyes toward the heavens and said, "Why, God, why now? After all I've been through, how could you do this to me?"
From up above, there came a voice, "Sorry. I didn't recognize
you."
From Christian-jokes.net
READ MORE OR COMMENT
Jesus saw a crowd chasing down a woman to stone her and approached them. "What's going on here, anyway?" he asked."This woman was found committing adultery, and the law says we should stone her!" one of the crowd responded."Wait," yelled Jesus. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."Suddenly, a stone was thrown from out of the sky, and knocked the woman on the side of her head.
"Aw, c'mon, Dad..." Jesus cried, "I'm trying to make a point here!"
Moses and Bush
One day, two planes land at an airport. President George W. Bush gets out of one. A man wearing a white robe gets out of the other and starts walking away. The Pesident catches up to him, and says, "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses?" the man keeps walking. The president follows him. "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses. The man keeps on walking. The president runs ahead of the man and stops him, repeating himself once more. "Excuse me sir. Are you Moses. finally, the man stopped and replied, "Yes, but the last time i talked to a bush i ended up wandering the desert for 40 years."
Which servant of Jehovah was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
Q. Which servant of Jehovah was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. Because he broke all 10 commandments; at once.
"Sorry. I didn't recognize you."
As Bill was approaching mid-life, physically he was a mess. Not only was he going bald, but years of office work had given him a large pot belly. The last straw came when he asked a woman co-worker out on a date, and she all but laughed at him. That does it, he decided. I'm going to start a whole new regimen. He began attending aerobics classes. He started working out with weights. He changed his diet. And he got an expensive hair transplant.
In six months, he was a different man. Again, he asked his female co-worker out, and this time she accepted. There he was, all
dressed up for the date, looking better than he ever had. He stood
poised to ring the woman's doorbell, when a bolt of lightning
struck him and knocked him off his feet. As he lay there dying,
he turned his eyes toward the heavens and said, "Why, God, why now? After all I've been through, how could you do this to me?"
From up above, there came a voice, "Sorry. I didn't recognize
you."
From Christian-jokes.net
READ MORE OR COMMENT
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Using Martial Arts to Reach Men for Christ?
I have encountered one unusual church, one I haven't seen ever.
This church has an academy with a motto “Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide.” Yes, the Pastor, John Renken is even a coach in this academy and he does this to reach men to Christ
Brando Beals,the lead Pastor at Canyon Creek Church, one of the Pastors supporting this academy is quote saying; “Compassion and love — we agree with all that stuff, too,But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter.”
The reason why they've started advertising Mixed Martial Arts was because these pastors have feared that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility. And that inserting this sport in the church teaches the latter quoting verses like “fight the good fight of faith” from Timothy 6:12.
And this has been approved as a legitimate outreach tool by the National Association of Evangelicals.
To know more about it, check their website here: http://www.cmmaa.com/
As usual of course there are critics, here are some:
"What you attract people to Christ with is also what you need to get people to stay,” said Eugene Cho, 39, a pastor at Quest Church, an evangelical congregation in Seattle. “I don’t live for the Jesus who eats red meat, drinks beer and beats on other men.”
Robert Brady, 49, the executive vice president of a conservative evangelical group, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, agreed, saying that the mixed martial arts motif of evangelism “so easily takes away from the real focus of the church, which is the Gospel.” Many black churches have chosen not to participate.
Here's my personal opinion:
I admit Churches nowadays must learn to ride with the "flow" of the technology and lifesytle. That's why Churches now need to have it's website, some even have online churches, some have Facebook Accounts, rock music, clothing style and other "NEW" things for the sole reason of reaching out people to Christ.
And yes the main reason is to reach out people to Christ! But here's the question, will the end justify the means? or a better question would be will the "end" be achieved or people will linger in the "means" and forget the "end".
In this case, no offense meant to people who like Mixed Martial Arts but for a church to advertise it and promote it is a different story.
I agree Jesus was a fighter and a conqueror! Our God even was a warrior leading Israel battles and winning them everytime!
But...
I'm good with using it for reaching people and using it as bait but what are we doing in making them stay? Being Compassionate and Loving are not "feminine" because Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw Israel like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus left us two commandments to Love God and Love our neighbors.
How are we then able to disciple these "fighters" to becoming Christ-like when what we teach them is to fight and fight hard?
What do you think?
Article Source
READ MORE OR COMMENT
This church has an academy with a motto “Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide.” Yes, the Pastor, John Renken is even a coach in this academy and he does this to reach men to Christ
Brando Beals,the lead Pastor at Canyon Creek Church, one of the Pastors supporting this academy is quote saying; “Compassion and love — we agree with all that stuff, too,But what led me to find Christ was that Jesus was a fighter.”
The reason why they've started advertising Mixed Martial Arts was because these pastors have feared that their churches have become too feminized, promoting kindness and compassion at the expense of strength and responsibility. And that inserting this sport in the church teaches the latter quoting verses like “fight the good fight of faith” from Timothy 6:12.
And this has been approved as a legitimate outreach tool by the National Association of Evangelicals.
To know more about it, check their website here: http://www.cmmaa.com/
As usual of course there are critics, here are some:
"What you attract people to Christ with is also what you need to get people to stay,” said Eugene Cho, 39, a pastor at Quest Church, an evangelical congregation in Seattle. “I don’t live for the Jesus who eats red meat, drinks beer and beats on other men.”
Robert Brady, 49, the executive vice president of a conservative evangelical group, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, agreed, saying that the mixed martial arts motif of evangelism “so easily takes away from the real focus of the church, which is the Gospel.” Many black churches have chosen not to participate.
Here's my personal opinion:
I admit Churches nowadays must learn to ride with the "flow" of the technology and lifesytle. That's why Churches now need to have it's website, some even have online churches, some have Facebook Accounts, rock music, clothing style and other "NEW" things for the sole reason of reaching out people to Christ.
And yes the main reason is to reach out people to Christ! But here's the question, will the end justify the means? or a better question would be will the "end" be achieved or people will linger in the "means" and forget the "end".
In this case, no offense meant to people who like Mixed Martial Arts but for a church to advertise it and promote it is a different story.
I agree Jesus was a fighter and a conqueror! Our God even was a warrior leading Israel battles and winning them everytime!
But...
I'm good with using it for reaching people and using it as bait but what are we doing in making them stay? Being Compassionate and Loving are not "feminine" because Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw Israel like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus left us two commandments to Love God and Love our neighbors.
How are we then able to disciple these "fighters" to becoming Christ-like when what we teach them is to fight and fight hard?
What do you think?
Article Source
READ MORE OR COMMENT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
