PRESENT DAYS: The Presidential Prayer Team How much do you
Transcription
PRESENT DAYS: The Presidential Prayer Team How much do you
Volume 5 - Jan--March 2008 PRESENT DAYS: The Presidential Prayer Team How much do you know about US Civics? January - March 2008 MISSIONS: The unreached AND MORE... to God through worship and ministry. people through the knowledge of God and his love. each other in meaningful relationships. A Real Life Community Church ep t ng C di RLC cc - E m pow e g Respon g in r in d others to Jesus through word and deed. e ing - L a Assemblies of God CONTENTS in this issue THE VERDICT OF NINEVEH - P. 8, 9. By Emilse Myers THE PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER TEAM WHAT DO YOU DO BEST? By Emilse Myers TESTIMONY By Lisa Murph in every issue Note from the Editor By Jodi Pfadt Missions January - March 2008 4 12 SOURCE FROM THE EDITOR H ere lately I’ve been camped out by Psalm 57 (amp) … I’ve decided to set up my tent, stoke the fire, drink some hot chocolate--and rest by these powerful words for a while. Vs.1 Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed. Vs.2 I will cry to God most High, WHO PERFORMS ON MY BEHALF AND REWARDS ME (who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them). staff: Managing Editor: Jodi Pfadt Article Contributors: Jodi Pfadt, Lisa Murph, Emilse Myers. Resources: Biblezine - Becoming 2. What the Bible is all about - Dr. Henrietta C. Mearss. Evidence that demands a verdict Josh McDowell. Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, March 02, 2008. Proof Reading: Don Myers Design and Layout: Emilse Myers. Do you ever take the time to pray the Psalms? Sometimes I can’t find the right words, or become bound by repetition … Oh, how refreshing it is to pray the Word of God! His Words become my words, and I feel the spirit of God bringing such strength to my inner man. Thank you Lord, that we can take refuge-- finding shelter and confidence in You! Protect us God from the calamities and disappointments in life! We know that troubles come … and heartache is necessary … but remind us that we can run to a safe place … a shelter in the time of storm. “Under Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until the storms are passed!” Our Heavenly Father does indeed hear our cry. He hears YOUR CRY from you kitchen sink, as you do the evening dishes. He hears YOUR CRY as you drive your teenagers to their sporting event. He hears YOUR CRY as you spend another night of overtime at work. He hears YOUR CRY as you lay your weary head on the pillow at night. Stay connected with the Father … it is He WHO PEFORMS ON MY BEHALF AND REWARDS ME! How do I do that? Why not “camp out” beside Him for awhile? Honor Him with words of Thanksgiving and adoration. Cry out to Him with prayers and petitions. Be patient as He works His plan in your life … and be confident that He will reward you. He always, always, honors obedience. Loving Him, Jodi Pfadt Real Life Community Church Assemblies of God PRESENT DAYS HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE US CIVICS? 1. What do the stars on the flag mean? 2. How many stars are there on our flag? 3. How many stripes are there on our flag? 4. What do the stripes on the flag represent? 5. How many states are there in the Union (the United States)? 6. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War? The Presidential Prayer Team P raying for your government leaders isn’t just a good idea, it’s also encouraged in the Bible. That’s one reason that The Presidential Prayer Team (PPT) is such a great organization. It invites everyone-regardless of political party affiliation-to commit to pray for the president, our nation’s leaders, the Armed Forces, and our country every day. With more than a million members, PPT offers different types of programs and prayer focuses depending on your 7. Who was the first president of the United States? particular interests. For example, you can pray for our 8. Who elects the President of the United States? 9. What is the Constitution? 10. How many changes, or amendments, are there to the Constitution? 11. What are the three branches of our government? 12. Who makes the Federal laws in the United States? 13. Who elects Congress? 14. How many Senators are there in Congress? 15. What makes up Congress? which links soldiers with prayer warriors. And children can Answers on the back cover. January - March 2008 country’s soldiers through the Adopt Our Troops program, get involved through PPT Kids, which teaches children about prayer and the godly heritage of America. Membership is free and includes weekly e-mail prayer updates that feature specific requests as well as helpful reminders of who to pray for. Anyone can join, and you can help get the word out to others by sending e-cards to friends and family. If you want to be more involved, you can apply to become a PPT Ambassador at www.presidentialprayerteam.org and assist your church and community in hosting prayer events such as an annual Presidential Prayer Sunday. I like to do all kind of arts and crafts, such as hand carving, stained glass, painting, knitting, crochet, and enjoy doing them all very much. But what I enjoy the most is painting. Witnesses (Inspired in Psalm 19:1,2) Here are some pictures of what I have made. I’d like to say that I did not go to an art school, I just learned some basis in high school, so I give all the credit to the Lord. Emi Myers The Incomparable Christ En-Gedi 1Sa. 23: 28,29; 24:1-3 Real Life Community Church Lake Tahoe Assemblies of God T DO A H W YOU DO BEST? Tiffany Stained Glass Mirror Hand carved Mirror Frame Tiffany Stained Glass Napkins Holders Stained Glass Window January - March 2008 Hand carved Clock Frame Contiue on page10 D id you know that the great city Nineveh of the past is still lying in ruins just as God pronounced about her through the prophet Nahum? Nineveh is the city that Jonah warned 150 years before Nahum was written. At that time, the Ninevites were sincere and a revival took place, but it did not last. Nineveh, the glory of the Assyrians, had come to a complete and deliberate defiance of the living God. The people were not just backsliders, they deliberately rejected the God they had accepted (2 Kings 18:25,30,35; 19:10-13) God sent Nahum to predict the final doom and complete overthrow of Nineveh and her empire. This empire had been built up by violence. Read of her beastlike violence and cruelty (Nahum 2:11-12) Nineveh had fortified herself so that nothing could harm her. With walls 100 feet high and wide enough for four chariots to go abreast, a circumference of 80 miles, and adorned by hundreds of towers, she sat complacently. A moat 140 feet wide and 60 feet deep surrounded the vast walls. But Nineveh reckoned without Je Real Life Community Church hovah. Nahum prophecies about her: 1. Captured while defenders were drunk, 1:10 2. Destroyed by a flood, 2:6 3. Burnt up, 3:13 4. Condemned to utter destruction and not rebuilt, 1:8, 9; 3:19 5. God would dig her grave, 1:14 1. Nineveh was completely destroyed in 612 B.C. after being surrounded during two months by the Medes, Babylonians and Scythians. Part of this success was possible because the Ninevites were so optimistic thinking that the enemy was completely defeated that they gave Assemblies of God themselves to the drink and parties. 2. According to Nahum’s prophecy, it came true -a sudden rise of the Tigris, carrying away a great part of the wall that had seemed an impregnable bulwark, assisted the attacking army of the Medes and Babylonians in its overthrow. Scholars comment that this fact is addressed in the secular history. 3. At that time there was this pagan prophecy: “There is no enemy that will ever take Nineveh unless the river becomes the enemy of the city”. When the Tigris suddenly raised up, destroyed a portion of the wall and over flooded part of the city, the king thought that it was the fulfillment of that prophecy. Terrified, he ordered to put his royal possessions and concubines in one section of the palace and sealing it he burnt everything that was in it... and the Word of God was fulfilled. 4. So complete was the destruction that many scholars used to think that the references to 1 Nineveh in the Bible were only mythical, it seemed that no such city ever existed. Nineveh never was rebuilt. 5. So deep and effectively did God dig Nineveh’s grave that every trace of its existence disappeared for ages and its site was not known. When Alexander the Great fought the battle of Arbela nearby in 331 B.C. he did not even know there had ever been a city there. When Napoleon, emperor of the French, encamped near its site, he, too, was not aware of it. Edward Chiera said: “Travelers with scientific purposes that knew of the existence of Nineveh from the Bible and tried to find her, walked by on her ruins not knowing it” We cannot read this without being struck by the solemnity of it all. Nahum told of this as prophecy. We look at it as history. Yes, the Judge has brought everything to pass. We can learn so many things from the verdict of Nineveh: • We learn that the Bible is truth. Archaeological discoveries tell us exactly the same words the Bibles says about Nineveh. • We learn that God fulfills His word. This is an example of punishment wich gives us much more hope about the fulfillment of His blessings because, • We know God is good! and His goodness is that wich disposes Him to be kind, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. By His nature, He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes total pleasure in the happiness of His people! 1 Emilse Myers Bibliography: • What the Bible is all about - Dr. Henrietta C. Mearss • Evidence that demands a verdict, volume Josh McDowell. The Goodness of God-Quick definition, p.58: God: as He longs for you to see Him - Chip Ingram January - March 2008 G od has given us talents and capabilities so that we can use them to meet our needs, to be a blessing to others-- most of all to glorify Him through them. At RLCC we’d like to get to know each other better. That’s why we give you a space in this magazine where you can share with others the skill God gave you. Stephanie’s bedroom So if you are a crafty person, a writer, work with wood, enjoy painting--we’d like to share your skill with others. If we can feature you, please contact Don or Emi Myers. Stephanie’s room (Joanna’s ex-bedroom Joanna’s bedroom 10 Real Life Community Church Assemblies of God TESTIMONY LISA MURPH RLCC’s member “The power of God was so strong under that tent that when the music starting playing I began to clap my hands and I could not stop” st MAY 31 came to know the lord back when I was in my late teens. When I was a little girl my grandmother would occasionally take me to her Baptist church but I never really heard about salvation until my sisters fiance’s cousin started attending a bible believing church and gave his life to Christ. He was so on fire for God he would tell any and everybody about Jesus. I begin to attend some of the bible studies he would hold at my sisters house but I still had my reservations. Then one day C C L R ut o n a ! e l d c e o h t s e & It’s tim ent, closets, m e s a b e th he took us to the Bronx NY for one of R.W. Schambach’s tent revivals. It was such a powerfully anointed meeting. I heard testimony of healing and salvation. The power of God was so strong under that tent that when the music starting playing I began to clap my hands and I could not stop. Then Brother Schambach made the alter call I went down to the alter and repeated the sinners prayer with him. Then he laid hands on me and prayed for me which changed my life forever; PRAISE GOD! Yard ! e l a S , e r o f e b d e ! d r e e e t f n a p l d e n Lots of h dur ing a January - March 2008 11 MISSI NS Most people in the world still don’t have acces to the message of Christ N o one communicated the truth about eternal issues as clearly as Jesus: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance”. The proportionate ratio of 99 to 1 was a striking way of giving perspective to the tragic spiritual plight of the lost. When compared to the more than 50 million church members in Assemblies of God fraternal fellowships throughout the world, the estimated 4.4 billion people in the world who still “NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO HEAR THE GOSPEL TWICE, WHILE THERE REMAINS SOMEONE WHO HAS NOT HEARD IT ONCE” When the Holy Spirit led our founder to form the Assemblies of God during the Pentecostal revival in the early 1900s, its missionary character and priority were clearly defined. During the second General Council held in 1914 in Chicago, our early leaders made an amazing declaration: “We commit ourselves and the Movement to Him for the Oswald J. Smith greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen”. World evangelization have not had and adequate witwas “the chief concern of the ness of the gospel is an ironic church”. reversal of the 99 to 1 ratio in Since 1990, AG World Missions the Parable of the Los Sheep in has begun working in 81 new Luke 15. Those within Assemcountries and territories. But blies of God churches throughthe billions of unreached still out the world equal just over 1% overwhelm the number of those of the world’s unreached. Any joy over those safely in the fold is who have been reached. far overshadowed by the sober12 Real Life Community Church ing reality of those still lost and without access to an adequate witness of the saving message of Jesus Christ. As with the apostle Paul, we must seek to proclaim the good news where Christ has not been named. It is both tragic and unacceptable that the message of Christ has not been given to more than two-thirds of the world’s population. How appalling that some people can hear the message again and again when others have never heard it once. When we buy a house, the neighbor comes with the house. Our neighbor is simply whoever is there. Followers of Christ have a responsibility to those within their reach. But what about those who are not within reach? When lost people have no Christian neighbor to share the love and message of Christ with them, we still have a responsibility. Someone must get there. Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, March 02, 08 - Pages 5-12 Assemblies of God Are you interested? For more information, contact Janice Richardson Don’t know what to do yet? Find your space serv ing the Lor operating t d teaching he projecto , greeting, r, serving i Get involv helping wi n the nurse ed and enjo th room se r y , or any oth tup, y... er activity. REAL LIFE How much do you know about the US civics? (answers) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. One for each state 50 13 The first 13 states 50 Great Britain George Washington The Electoral College 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. The supreme law of the land 27 Executive, Judicial, and Legislative Congress The citizens of the United States There are 100 Senators in Congress, two from each state. 15. The Senate and the House of Representatives