RIDGE
MEN'S READER
March
21, 2008
The
Men's Ministry e-mail newsletter of
North
Ridge Community Church
Our
mission: Turning Ordinary People Into POWER-Filled Followers of
Christ
www.northridge.org
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Ridge
Men's Reader is the opt-in newsletter for the men of North Ridge Community
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“Blessed
is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the
water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its
leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
CONSIDER
“Christian
love is not the victim of our emotions but the servant of our will.” John Stott
AN INVITATION FROM PASTORS
RANDY AND DAN
TO JOIN THEM FOR 2 NEW
STUDIES:
NEW – MIDWEEK
MEN’S GROUP – starts March 27th
Hey guys – do
you work from home or are you retired?
We’d love to have you join our new midweek men’s group on Thursdays from
8-9am in the Prescott Room. Pastor
Randy will be digging deeper into a study of Philippians. We are kicking off the study tomorrow –
so stop by! Contact Linda at (480) 515-4673 if you
need more information.
CITY GATES -Saturday @ 7am in the Ridge
Café
Imagine you had
a month to live. How would you use
that month? At the Saturday morning
men's Bible study called City Gates we will be looking at the lives of
four men as they arrive at the end of their lives. What is important to them? What is their focus? How do they want to be remembered? For the next four sessions we will look
at the lives of Paul, Peter, John, and Jesus to see what was important as they
came to the end of their lives. The
lessons learned from these men can provide perspective on how we can live more
meaningful lives. Join Pastor Dan
and other men who get together the first and third Saturday mornings each month
in the Ridge Café at 7am for coffee, a donut, and a large dose of the Word of
God.
YOU CAN’T DO
IT ALONE—NRCC Men’s Ministry
Retreat!
According
to an ancient proverb, “if you want to walk fast, go alone; if you want to walk
far, take a friend.” We all know
our walk with the Lord is a long and, at times, tough walk. Fortunately, we have Him as our constant
companion, and the Holy Spirit as our helper. But, He designed us to be members of
families, including our Christian families. May 16th-18th,
your Christian brothers from North Ridge will be joining together at the United
Christian Youth Camp in Prescott for fellowship, worship, growth, and fun—yes,
fun—at this year’s NRCC Men’s Retreat.
Please, give yourself the gift of time: time to join other Christian men
discover that they, too, need each other.
Our session minister will be Scott Morgan, the Lead Pastor of Life Quest
Church in Ahwatukee. Scott has a
heart that is on fire for helping Christian men identify and overcome the many
unique challenges they are facing.
Scott will lead us in inspiring, energizing, and thought-provoking
discussions of topics and challenges we each face every day. “You Can’t Do It Alone” was selected as
this year’s theme to emphasize the importance to men of being courageous and
secure enough to acknowledge their need for companionship and help from God,
their families, and other Christian brothers. It’s not just that you need other
Christian men as companions, they need you, also. The cost is only $129, but—to cop a
cliché—the many gains one can look forward to are truly priceless. Please stop by the Men’s Ministry table
for more information, or call Tom Murray (480) 951-3462, or Scott Hile (602)
757-5594.
Winn
JESUS
Jesus
had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no
degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no
medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
Had no
army, yet kings feared Him.
He won
no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He
committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was
buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
THE EMPTY
TOMB
“Early
on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to
the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and
the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out
of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started
for the tomb. Both were running,
but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips
of linen lying there but did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the
tomb. He saw the strips of linen
lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place,
separate from the linen. Finally
the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and
believed. (They still did not
understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:1-9)
HAPPY
CROSSMAS!: WHY EASTER STUBBORNLY RESISTS THE COMMERCIALISM THAT SWALLOWED
CHRISTMAS
by
James Martin
“Unlike
Christmas, whose deeper spiritual meaning has been all but buried under an
annual avalanche of commercialism, Easter has retained a stubborn hold on its
identity as a religious holiday.
This is all the more surprising when you consider what an opportune time
it would be for marketers to convince us to buy more stuff. Typically arriving around the beginning
of spring, Easter would be the perfect time for department stores to euchre
customers into buying carloads of kids' outdoor toys, warm-weather clothes, and
summertime sporting equipment. And
while Christmas is forced to contend with Thanksgiving, New Year's Day,
Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, there is little holiday competition around Easter
time. (Passover and Easter, despite
their proximity in the calendar, don't seem to interfere with each other
much.) All in all, the church's
most important feast day comes at a terrific time of year for Madison
Avenue”.... Read this in full at
HOW DO
AMERICANS DEFINE SIN?
Americans
overwhelmingly believe in the concept of sin whether they're religiously
involved or not, according to a new Ellison Research study. "Sin," as defined by the research
organization, is "something that's almost always considered wrong, particularly
from a religious or moral perspective."
The study questioned more than 1,000 American adult respondents whether
they believe in such a thing as "sin" and then asked them whether 30 different
behaviors were sinful. Out the list
of 30 behaviors, adultery is most often described as a sinful behavior by
American respondents (81%).
Following adultery is racism (74%); using "hard" drugs such as cocaine,
heroin, meth, LSD, etc. (65%); not saying anything if a cashier gives you too
much change (63%); abortion (56%); and homosexual activity or sex (52%) round
out the top 5 behaviors most often considered sinful by Americans. Other behaviors with significant moral
objections include reading or watching pornography (50%); gossip (47%); swearing
(46%); sex before marriage (45%); harming the environment as a consumer (41%);
smoking marijuana (41%); getting drunk (41%); and not taking proper care of your
body (35%).... Read this in full
at
PROFOUND
“Forgiveness
has to be the highest level of spiritual development, I think. Because as you read in the Bible, it
says, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son; that whoever
believes in him should not perish or be punished but have eternal life.’ So God had that dilemma with us human
beings. God as judge had to deal
with us harshly because we've broken his laws. But because God also is love and he's a
loving Father he found a way to forgive us judicially. And that's the mystery of
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Because it was God taking upon himself the punishment that the human race
deserved so as to be able to forgive us and make us new people. It's a profound thought. But that's what the cross is
about.” Luis Palau, A Friendly
Dialogue between an Atheist and a Christian
ANGEL IN THE
WATER
Brian
Hart, a father reluctantly spending time on a lake with his family, never
expected that God had a plan for him beyond rowing a canoe. But when a nearby tour boat capsized,
Brian realized he was the only one able to get some of the elderly passengers to
safety. He now believes that "being
in the right place at the right time" wasn't mere coincidence, but a life-saving
mission from God.
Read his story,
"Angel in the Water"....
WHERE ARE
THE NAIL PRINTS?
by
Charles Colson and Harold Fickett
No one
wants to suffer. Instinctively we
do everything we can to avoid it, unless, of course, you’re a stoic, like one of
my former White House colleagues, Gordon Liddy, who once held his hand over an
open fire to prove he feared nothing.
Or some have martyr complexes and go looking for suffering; but you don’t
need to -- it will find you. It’s a
consequence of the fall, an effect of the curse. Sometime in your life you will lose a
loved one or find yourself rejected.
I have met very few who in the course of life have escaped serious
medical problems. Nobody gets
through scot-free.
More
fundamentally, suffering belongs to our calling as Christians. After their first arrest, the apostles
left the Sanhedrin’s court “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of
suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41). It was a privilege to share in His work.
In many places today Christians are called to suffer persecution for the sake of
the Gospel. In India, North Korea, Myanmar (Burma), and scores of other
countries, Christians risk their lives by even professing Christ -- something
most of us in the West know little of.
This
is why easy-believism, the prosperity gospel, is so abominable: it sets a person
up for a terrible fall when the first hardship comes, as it will. Whatever glimmer of faith the person
might have had may well be snuffed out....
SEARCHING
“The
story of the lost son is packed full with vital truth; no wonder Latin tradition
called it "the gospel within the gospel."
Here we see who we are, when we are at our best, and when we are at our
worst. What we see isn't
encouraging. Humans don't do well either as sinners or would-be saints. How easily we are attracted by the
slightest scent of sin; how frequently we tumble headlong into the pit of dead,
heartless religion. And then, in
just a few words, we see what God is like and we sigh with relief. He is like the smitten father who
anxiously scans the horizon, looking for the crazy, mixed-up kid that is me and
you both. Prodigals utterly matter
to God.” Jeff Lucas, Creating a
Prodigal-Friendly Church
LEADERSHIP
TIPS (BUSINESS, FAMILY, LIFE)
“Good
is the enemy of great. That's why
so few things become great.” Jim
Collins
VERSE TO
PONDER
“Like
newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” 1 Peter 2:2-3
CONSIDER
“Honest
men fear neither the light nor the dark.”
Thomas Fuller
NEW
STATISTICS ON RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION IN THE
USA
* 1 of
3 American Protestants are Baptists (17% of all American
adults).
* 2 in
5 Evangelical Protestants are Baptists.
* 1 in
10 Mainline Protestants are Baptists.
* 2 of
3 Black Protestants are Baptists.
* 10%
Protestants in the US are former Catholics.
* 8%
Roman Catholics in the US are former Protestants.
* 28%
American adults have changed their religious affiliation from that in which they
were raised.
* 44%
Americans have changed their denominational or religious affiliation from that
in which they were raised.
Source:
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
http://religions.pewforum.org/
ALLEGIANCE
“Jesus'
kingdom (and Paul's ‘citizenship in heaven’) was about the real world, hear and
now. It was about allegiance. Jesus and Paul were telling the people
that they must live here with their identities as aliens. They must live by the rules of heaven
amid the violent earthly powers.
And to claim that one's citizenship is in heaven is to say that you
pledge allegiance not to any of the kingdoms of the world but to Jesus and the
body of those who take on his suffering, enemy-loving posture toward the
world. This is what Peter meant
when he called the church ‘a holy nation. a people set apart,’ a people who are
supposed to live as ‘aliens and strangers in the land.’" Shane Claiborne, Jesus for President:
Politics for Ordinary Radicals
A PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE
"I
pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ -- my rescuer and leader -- and to his
command, "Love one another, as I have loved you." I pledge to live this day by faith in
God, to love him with all my prayer, passion, intellect, and muscle, and to bear
the Holy Spirit fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
(Copyright
2002, jonathan.petersen@comcast.com)
ALAN
CHAMBERS TALKS ABOUT HIS MINISTRY TO
HOMOSEXUALS
Alan
Chambers is president of Exodus Ministries, a nonprofit ministry “promoting the
message of freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.” Chambers spoke with New Man magazine
about his own struggle with same-sex attraction, homosexuality in the church and
why we need to start reaching out to the gay community.
New
Man: You struggled with same-sex attraction yourself. Did that experience lead you to the
ministry you’re in today?
Alan
Chambers: Definitely. When I was
growing up the only thing you ever heard about from the Bible regarding
homosexuals was that they don’t inherit the kingdom of God. That’s the one thing that rings in my
head from childhood. So when I
found out that there was a local Exodus ministry, that there was help for people
like me, I jumped at it.
New
Man: So years later you have come back to be the president of
Exodus?
Chambers:
Yes, I’m the president of Exodus. Really from the time I was 18 until now -- I’m
36 -- I’ve never left the ministry.
I started out as someone who was participating and someone who needed
help and then I was a volunteer, than on staff at a local ministry and worked
through the ranks and to where I am now….
JESUS
DOESN'T LOOK LIKE JESUS ANYMORE, SAYS
SCHOLAR
Amid a
technology-driven culture where latest means better, it may not surprise many to
find out that historical Jesus has also received a makeover. He used to be known as Messiah, Son of
God, Redeemer and Christ. Now, he's
spiritual guru, philosopher, political pundit, hippie, and rock star. Will the real Jesus please stand
up? Ben Witherington, author of
"What Have They Done to Jesus?," observes that today's image of Jesus has ranged
from historical to hysterical in a society that is becoming increasingly less
Christian. "He is an icon but also
a swear word," says Witherington.
"When your culture is biblically illiterate, anything can pass for
Jesus," adds the New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in
Wilmore, Ky. Even takes on Jesus
that borrow from Buddhist philosophy and Gnosticism are finding an
audience....
SCIENCE,
BIBLE AGREE: GIVING IS BETTER
Money
can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, researchers
report. Spending as little as $5 a
day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the
University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found. Their experiments on more than 630
Americans show they were measurably happier when they spent money on others --
even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them
happier. "We wanted to test our
theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much
money they earn," said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of
British Columbia....
FACEBOOK
NATION
by
John Koessler
"Our
personal tastes affect the people we choose to associate with and those people
in turn impact our values. 'Bad
company corrupts good character' and character shapes the company we choose to
keep"....
FRUITFUL
GOAL
“The
goal of moving from decay to restoration is not simply for the church to grow
numerically, not simply to have more churches with more people sitting in
them. Instead, the goal is to move
the church into more fruitful ministry so that the church can transform culture
with the love and grace of God.
Spiritual transformation gives rise to both personal and societal
change.” David T. Olson, The
American Church in Crisis.
CONSIDER
“We
first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” John Dryden
VERSE TO
PONDER
“The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
ON
PRAYER
“You
can read all the manuals on prayer and listen to other people pray, but until
you begin to pray yourself you will never understand prayer. It's like riding a bicycle or swimming:
You learn by doing.” Luis
Palau
SHARE YOUR
FAVORITE WEBSITES
Tell
us what sites you find enjoyable and why.
Radio Time: Free Talk and Music Radio
Online
All
links to websites are provided as a service, and do not imply endorsement by our
church.
“It's
the job that's never started that takes longest to finish.” (J. K. K.
Tolkien)
Winn
L. Sammons
Editor
Wsammons1@cox.net
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Ridge
Men's Reader is a periodic newsletter of announcements, news, recommendations,
articles, and other information helpful to men in our spiritual growth. Thanks for welcoming Ridge Men's Reader
into your in-box!
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The
mission of North Ridge Community Church is to Turn
Ordinary People Into POWER-filled Followers of Jesus Christ. The Men's Ministry Team offers a variety
of activities for men to interact with other men on our journey of faith in
Christ together. Large group, small
group, and one-to-one events encourage relationship building and spiritual
strengthening that result in maximizing the potential we all have in
Christ. Contact Tom Murray at
2agingrockers@cox.net if you'd like to participate in a men's discipleship
program.
North
Ridge Community Church is
located at 6363 E. Dynamite Blvd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331. Tel: (480)
515-4673. Visit our website at
www.northridge.org
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