Thursday, January 31, 2013
A lesson in forgiveness
Wed, 30 Jan 2013 - 1:57 PM CST
Pastor Dennis Noble of Lake City Assembly sat in the airport on Tuesday afternoon, January 15, his temperature rising - he was not happy. Two straight times the computer at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport had inexplicably dropped his name from the passenger standby list. So now, while other standby passengers who had arrived long after he did were already in flight or even home, he was still waiting to board a plane.
Most days, Noble could have shrugged the incident off - perhaps this was one of those God opportunities? But today wasn't most days. Inside, he was wrestling with all kinds of powerful emotions - from pain and heartbreak to anger and maybe even revenge.
Over the weekend, late Saturday or early Sunday morning, their church, his church - God's house - had been violated and desecrated. And frankly, it hurt. Tens of thousands of dollars of damage had been done to the doors, windows, classrooms, the kitchen and sanctuary by some contemptible person or people, with hate-filled messages painted on classroom walls.
It was 6 a.m. Sunday morning when Noble received the call from the janitor at the church's location in Medical Lake, Washington, telling him to come right away - someone had broken in. Directing the janitor to call 9-1-1 and report the crime, Noble quickly got ready and headed to the church. TV crews almost beat the police to the scene as an email alerted them about the break in.
When Noble arrived at the church, the amount of damage was mind numbing. It was clearly evident the break-in was designed to inflict as much damage as possible on the church. Doors were kicked in, windows were smashed, computers were destroyed - but as the tour of the facilities continued, it was discovered very little had actually been taken.
"The insurance claim has not been finalized yet," Noble says, "but the damage is estimated to be somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000."
READ MORE AT ASSEMBLIESOFGODNEWS
Pastor Dennis Noble of Lake City Assembly sat in the airport on Tuesday afternoon, January 15, his temperature rising - he was not happy. Two straight times the computer at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport had inexplicably dropped his name from the passenger standby list. So now, while other standby passengers who had arrived long after he did were already in flight or even home, he was still waiting to board a plane.
Most days, Noble could have shrugged the incident off - perhaps this was one of those God opportunities? But today wasn't most days. Inside, he was wrestling with all kinds of powerful emotions - from pain and heartbreak to anger and maybe even revenge.
Over the weekend, late Saturday or early Sunday morning, their church, his church - God's house - had been violated and desecrated. And frankly, it hurt. Tens of thousands of dollars of damage had been done to the doors, windows, classrooms, the kitchen and sanctuary by some contemptible person or people, with hate-filled messages painted on classroom walls.
It was 6 a.m. Sunday morning when Noble received the call from the janitor at the church's location in Medical Lake, Washington, telling him to come right away - someone had broken in. Directing the janitor to call 9-1-1 and report the crime, Noble quickly got ready and headed to the church. TV crews almost beat the police to the scene as an email alerted them about the break in.
When Noble arrived at the church, the amount of damage was mind numbing. It was clearly evident the break-in was designed to inflict as much damage as possible on the church. Doors were kicked in, windows were smashed, computers were destroyed - but as the tour of the facilities continued, it was discovered very little had actually been taken.
"The insurance claim has not been finalized yet," Noble says, "but the damage is estimated to be somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000."
READ MORE AT ASSEMBLIESOFGODNEWS
Biblica challenges American teenagers to honor God with their choices
USA (MNN) ― Did you know that 7 out of 10 American teenagers are having sex outside of marriage before their 19th birthday?
Brian Carlson with Biblica says that rate is the same for teens attending church.
"We want to challenge American teenagers to take a good, hard look at their own sexual choices," Carlson says. "They care about human trafficking, they care about pandemic diseases like AIDS, they care about orphans.
READ MORE AT MISSIONNETWORKNEWS
Brian Carlson with Biblica says that rate is the same for teens attending church.
"We want to challenge American teenagers to take a good, hard look at their own sexual choices," Carlson says. "They care about human trafficking, they care about pandemic diseases like AIDS, they care about orphans.
READ MORE AT MISSIONNETWORKNEWS
An Open Letter to Christians About Religious Freedom
By Ken Hutcherson , Op-Ed Contributor
January 31, 2013|10:03 am
Talk, talk, talk just lead to opinions, opinions, opinions, and then to talking points. So what? It is time to do something.
If these words don't mean something to you, then we are lost:"…As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15
For me, "House" means my primary family…we will serve the Lord, we will not compromise what God called us to do and be. If anyone in my house does not want to follow God or walk in His truth and live according to His Word, then my choice is God, not them. So, does that house simply mean my four walls? How about the house of God, the Bride of Christ? I am looking for those in this institution who want to take a stand. I am looking for those who will serve the Lord and stand on His Word. I am looking for those who will stand behind the nation as it was originally created and established, with a Constitution that demands that morality grows with power and intelligence.
Chaplains rescue jumpers from suicide
Posted on Jan 30, 2013 | by Ava Thomas
BEACHY HEAD, England (BP) -- For eight years, Ross Hardy has walked the white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head, England, among the thousands who travel there from around the world.
Many come to take pictures. Some come to die.
And by God's grace and a keen eye, Hardy usually can tell the difference.
"We are trained in certain signs, to infer things from people's behavior," Hardy said. "But many times it is nothing but God's prompting that makes us know who to go talk to in a crowd of people standing near the edge."
The "us" is the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team, a ministry begun by Hardy, a former Baptist pastor. The ministry now encompasses 14 trained chaplains who patrol the cliffs and are on call 24/7 for people in need of help.
READ MORE AT BAPTISTPRESS
BEACHY HEAD, England (BP) -- For eight years, Ross Hardy has walked the white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head, England, among the thousands who travel there from around the world.
Many come to take pictures. Some come to die.
And by God's grace and a keen eye, Hardy usually can tell the difference.
"We are trained in certain signs, to infer things from people's behavior," Hardy said. "But many times it is nothing but God's prompting that makes us know who to go talk to in a crowd of people standing near the edge."
The "us" is the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team, a ministry begun by Hardy, a former Baptist pastor. The ministry now encompasses 14 trained chaplains who patrol the cliffs and are on call 24/7 for people in need of help.
READ MORE AT BAPTISTPRESS
Joni Eareckson Tada on faith healing and marriage
Here are a few more comments from Joni Eareckson Tada that we didn’t have room for in the magazine (see “Loving life” from the Jan. 12 issue and “Choosing to sing” from the Jan. 26 issue, as well as another online-only excerpt “Joni Eareckson Tada on words that hurt, actions that help”
posted last Saturday). In the following excerpt she tells how, after
becoming a quadriplegic, she prayed ardently for God’s physical healing.
She also talks about a hard nightly experience.
Were there Christians who said then, who say now, that if
you only had great faith God would heal you? Do you, or did you, get
that occasionally? Yes. I would read those passages off
Scripture which seemed to guarantee that God would heal. When I was
released from the hospital, I remember going to crusades of Kathryn
Kuhlman, a famous faith healer, a Benny Hinn sort. I hoped that somehow
God’s healing spirit would visit the wheelchair section, that those of
us who were the tough cases would suddenly jump up out of our
wheelchairs—but the spotlight was always on the other side of the
stadium.READ MORE AT WORLDMAG.COM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)