Walking with the Giant

Friday, December 14, 2007

457 To Go

Number of JOY Boxes collected as of Friday, December 14, 2007	10
Number of JOY Boxes still needed by Monday, December 17, 2007	457

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT!!!

You are invited to help bring Christmas JOY to residents of nursing homes in Baker and Columbia Counties (Florida) by filling a shoebox sized container with a few needed and enjoyable items. We only have three days until the boxes are due in the James Croft Evangelistic Association JOY Box Ministry. A total of 467 boxes are needed to ensure each resident of the five nursing homes in Baker and Columbia Counties each receive a box of JOY. Boxes may be submitted until Monday, December 17, 2007 at Mercantile Bank in Macclenny, Beulah Baptist Association in Lake City or call 386.867.3199.

For more information on box contents, drop-off locations or to participate in this ministry visit JCEA JOY Box. New information, news and ideas concerning the program will be posted on this site as warranted.

Other JOY Box weblinks:

You will experience true Christian JOY when you put Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last! Share this JOY with others this Christmas with JOY Boxes for nursing home residents. The JOY Boxes will be delivered to residents for Christmas. JCEA will place a Gospel tract in each box as we are attempting to share the JOY of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Basket Case

NOTE: If you have a good digital photo of a great church sign, send it to me and I may post it on this site.

Conflicting Diets

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Merry Tossmas

Check out this edition of Stoplight with Stuart Shepard called Merry Tossmas. This is a really good video story.

UNREAL #1

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing ten of these videos from the UNREAL campaign by NeedHim ministry. Post your thoughts about the commercials by clicking "comments" below.

MTV Airs 'Unreal' Gospel Video Spots

An innovative media outreach ministry has launched an edgy television campaign targeting the MTV generation.

Called the "UNREAL" Gospel campaign, TV commercials have begun airing on MTV and other media outlets this month with messages designed to reach out to a culture in despair and in need of hope.

"Some will call the TV spots edgy. Others will be startled at the graphics. And many will relate to the feelings and emotions the spots address," said Drew Dickens, executive director of NeedHim Ministries, which created TV campaign. "For those who know the distortion and despair of our culture today, the message of the UNREAL spots is hope. As the characters remind the viewer ...through Jesus, I am real again."

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.

Exchange Of Gifts

Think About It...

"Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts, the gift of God to man- His unspeakable gift of His Son; and the gift of man to God- when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice." - Vance Havner

White As Snow

The Back Pew

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

New River Baptist Sunday Night

I will be preaching in supply for Interim Pastor Dr. Jerry Gesell, Sr. on Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 6pm at New River Baptist Church. The church is located at 16703 SW 144th Ave. in Brooker, Florida.

U.S. House okays resolution recognizing Christianity, Christmas

Thanks to the efforts of an Iowa congressman, Christmas and the Christian faith are receiving the same congressional recognition afforded other religions.

Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) is pleased that his Christmas resolution, recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith, was able to pass on Tuesday night with bipartisan support. H. Res. 847 passed on a 372-9 vote, all "nay" votes coming from Democrats. Ten House members (nine Democratic) voted "present."

The Iowa lawmaker says the resolution follows two similar bills honoring both the Hindu and the Islamic religions and their respective holidays.

Church Movement Aims to Restore 'Scandal' of Christmas

Churches around the world are joining an emerging international movement to restore the “scandal” of Christmas by observing the holiday more authentically.

The Advent Conspiracy – the name of the movement – calls on churches and their members to give simpler but more thoughtful gifts that foster relationships. Christians are then encouraged to use the money they would have spent on expensive gifts to help the needy around the world.

“It’s called the Advent Conspiracy, because Jesus’ birth - his coming or ‘advent’ – was done in secret, almost hidden,” said Rick McKinley, senior pastor of Imago Dei Community Church in Portland, Ore., and an organizer of the movement. “His coming was scandalous. He didn’t come parading as a king. He didn’t come posturing for power. And he gave himself away to others.

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.

Viewer Discretion Advised

Grief Is Messy

Our Daily Bread

ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download

READ: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. —1 Thessalonians 4:13

About this cover

The film We Are Marshall tells of the November 14, 1970, plane crash that took the lives of most of the Marshall University football team, the coaching staff, and many community leaders of Huntington, West Virginia. Seventy-five lives were lost in the crash, which devastated the university and the community. Through the composite characters of Paul Griffen and Annie Cantrell, the film dramatizes the aftermath of the crash. Their stories intertwine because Griffen’s son, Chris, was Annie’s fiancé. When Chris died, their lives were plunged into a year of pain that seemed unbearable. Why? Because, as Paul told Annie, “Grief is messy.”

He was right, grief is messy. All of us grieve at one time or another—including those of us who are Christ-followers. For the believer, however, there is something beyond the tears, pain, and loss. There is hope.

Writing to a church family who had seen loved ones taken in death, Paul acknowledged the reality of grief. But he challenged them not to “sorrow as others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Loss and death are part of life, but believers can face them, knowing that Christians never say goodbye for the last time. We can comfort one another (v.18) with the hope of the resurrection and a future reunion.
—Bill Crowder

The Lord has promised to prepare
A place in heaven above—
A home where we will always be
With Him and those we love. —Sper

Because Christ lives, death is not tragedy but triumph.

For similar resources, search these topics:

Christian Life > Personal Crisis > Sorrow/Grief

One of Asia's tallest Jesus statues graces Indonesian city

A Protestant property developer had built what may be Asia's tallest statue of Jesus Christ in a Christian region of predominantly Muslim Indonesia.

Officials and Christian leaders inaugurated the 30-metre (98.4-foot) high statue last week in Manado city, in the mainly Christian province of North Sulawesi.

The white-robed Jesus with upraised hands stands on a 32-metre high hill in a residential estate built by Ciputra, a property company named after its founder.

Read more of this story on Christian Today.

Cloned Pastor

NOTE: This joke is so bad....

A pastor who was badly overworked went to the local medical center and was able to have a clone made. The clone was like the pastor in every respect--except that the clone used extraordinarily foul language. The cloned pastor was exceptionally gifted in many other areas of pastoral work, but finally the complaints about the dirty language were too much.The pastor was not too sure how to get rid of the clone so that it wouldn't look like murder. The best thing, he decided, was to make the clone's death look like an accident. So the pastor lured the clone onto a bridge in the middle of the night and pushed the clone off the bridge.

Unfortunately there was a police officer who happened by at that very moment and arrested the pastor for making an obscene clone fall.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Only 7 Days Left For JOY Boxes

You are invited to help bring Christmas JOY to residents of nursing homes in Baker and Columbia Counties (Florida) by filling a shoebox sized container with a few needed and enjoyable items. We only have seven days until the boxes are due in the James Croft Evangelistic Association JOY Box Ministry. A total of 467 boxes are needed to ensure each resident of the five nursing homes in Baker and Columbia Counties each receive a box of JOY. Boxes may be submitted until Monday, December 17, 2007 at Mercantile Bank in Macclenny or Beulah Baptist Association in Lake City.

For more information on box contents, drop-off locations or to participate in this ministry visit JCEA JOY Box. New information, news and ideas concerning the program will be posted on this site as warranted.

Other JOY Box weblinks:

F-Leas On My Dog

The Back Pew

Christians Protest Removal of 'Christmas' in Holiday Advertising

It used to be that retailers would call the famous holiday plant for what it was – a “Christmas tree.”

But current trends in Christmas advertising reveal that many stores are replacing references to “Christmas” with what they feel is a less offensive description of their products.

K-Mart, owned by Sears Holding Corporation, is the target of an e-mail alert issued by one Christian legal group for its renaming of “Christmas trees” to “holiday trees” or simply “trees” in its advertising.

According to the Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, when one of its supporters asked K-Mart for an explanation of the company’s disregard for Christmas, a Sears Holding Corporation representative said the company replaced the phrase in order not to draw complaints from non-Christians.

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.

Irish state radio objects to word 'crib' in Christmas ad

The Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland has had to remove the word “crib” from a Christmas advert on Irish state radio station Radio Telefís Éireann (RTE), on the grounds that it could be seen as promoting Christianity.

It was claimed that the word “crib” broke broadcasting regulations that prohibit advertisements promoting religion.

Read more of this story on Christian Today.

Heisman winner has priorities in order

NEW YORK (BP)--Football rates a mere fourth on his list of priorities behind God, family and academics. Even so, in New York City Dec. 8 Tim Tebow became the first college sophomore to win the famed Heisman Trophy in the 70-plus years of the award.

The University of Florida quarterback was a finalist along with Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel. The trophy is one of the most prestigious individual awards in all of sports.

"I'd just like to first start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave me the ability to play football and gave me a great family and a support group and great coaches and everything around me," a breathless Tebow said at the ceremony, moments after the award was announced. Going on to thank teammates, high school coaches, his parents and siblings, Tebow repeated thanks to Jesus Christ and drew laughter when pledging his love for his chosen school for the third time.

Read more of this story on Baptist Press.