Most Important Trio of the NT

I believe Romans 6,7,8 are the most important chapters in the New Testament for the believer. They hold the key to moving us from spiritual infancy to maturity. Check out this comparison and see if it enlightens you the way it did me.

Romans 6 = Red Sea (Baptism into Christ)
Romans 7= Wilderness (Experience apart from Christ)
Romans 8= Promise land (Fullness of Christ)

Do you agree or disagree?

Letter and Calander from Paul

Dear Friend,

Sometimes, we must awaken to embrace a deeply pure reality — it’s just all about Jesus. Sometimes, when one sees the fight for position, prosperity, prestige — sometimes...quietly/intensely focused in — it has to be just all, all, all about Him. It must be Christ we confess, Christ we live and Christ we deliver. no pretense, no prattle, just pure smoking raw power.

We just took Global MoMENtum to Houston where we stood with author and futurist Leonard Sweet, theologian Walter Kaiser, Pastor Sunday Adelaja and others, and showcased the results of the primitive power of God in men’s lives. It was one of the most powerful things I’ve been part of. Pastors swamped the table and we sold out of MAJORING IN MEN Leadership Kits in a matter of minutes.

Please come and take part — be part — of these events where we’re taking men’s ministry across the globe — it’s smoking hot — we need your fire!!

Global MoMENtum Tour - key dates

APRIL:

APRIL 1-3 SYNERGIZE!
Eurasia Best to the Rest
Kiev, Ukraine with Sunday Adelaja

Hillsong Church | Kiev, Ukraine
Five weekend services—great pastors Zhenya and Vera

April 11-12 Men’s Event | Washington DC

April 18 PointMan Camp | San Antonio

April 19 Men’s Meeting | Dallas

April 22 SYNERGIZE! | Kansas City

April 24 Men’s Event | Portland, ME

April 25-26 Iron Sharpens Iron | Portsmouth, NH

April 26-27 Men’s Weekend Services | Plymouth, MA

May 1 SYNERGIZE! | Salt Lake City

INTERNATIONAL

May 8-10 Mexico Men’s Event | Juarez, Mexico

June 2-14 SYNERGIZE! | Indonesia

July 1-18 | Latvia, Germany, Uganda, Ghana

Please go with me to any event on the calendar...just call us...

Grace and peace,

Paul L. Cole
President
CMN Worldwide

Part 2

I know a 25 year old girl that was a Vice Lord. She told me that when she was 16 both she and her cousin were shot in a drive by shooting. She was pregnant at the time. Her cousin died. And so did her unborn baby. Now she will never have kids. No one from her gang was able to take her pain and suffering away. Not one of them could give her, her baby back. None of them can make it where she can have a baby now. Their promises of love and sisterhood were useless and as dead as her child. That's the reality of it. I think sometimes people don't tell you guys what reality is. But here it is! I have had to face life and death situations all of my gang life, nearly coming close to losing my life at a very young age. The reality is that no one lives a long life in a gang, and if you survive the life and the streets, there is no retirement plan, no insurance to cover you if you were shot or stabbed, like me. Today, I still suffer from major headaches, and pain in my legs from being shot at 15 – now I am 48 years old, and still because of my choices I suffer.

There is no safe way to stay in the gang and stay alive. The very nature of gang life is not about love or family it is about war. War within yourself and with others on the streets that live in different parts of town and wear different colors or represents a different set or clique. Is the neighborhood you live in worth losing a child over? Is the neighborhood you live in worth being in a wheelchair the rest of your life or being in a bed with all kinds of tubes running into you, someone wiping your butt for you, waiting for you to eventually die? Is it worth dying for?

For more than 17 years I lived according Islam – the deen, believing in ALLAH, the Prophet Mohammad was the seal of the Prophet. I did not have much compassion for others, in the sense that I do now that I have given my life to Jesus Christ. Over a period of five year, a Christian woman God used brought me to a crossroad in my life: do I continue to live as I am or do I walk away and do something different – something better. And so I prayed and my Father told me it was time to accept a better life, and so I gave my life to Christ. In this new life, it was frightening at first. Sometimes change is a frightening move for some people, as it was for me. You guys must remember that I lived that gangster lifestyle for more than 26 years, and that was all I knew. When I decided to give my life to Christ, the Spirit birthed in me a desire to want better, so I decided to return to school. I had enrolled in a college degree program at Lincoln Land Community College, and I earned an associate of liberal arts. The desire for better only increased from that point, so I went on to another college where I earned an Associate in Applied Science (Business Data Processing) (Carl Sandburg College), and I also earned a certificate in Microcomputer Applications. Dude that felt good!

In the early 1990’s, I was accepted into a 4-year degree program (Roosevelt University in Chicago) where I earned a bachelor in general education. To my great surprise, I was eventually accepted into a graduate degree program at Western Illinois University, where I completed course work towards a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and I was eventually certified to do general counseling. I have been counseling young gang members since 1995.

Today, I am considered a street pastor and I am also the founder of Saving Our Sons Ministries, that is a street outreach ministry. We seek to help young people [like many of you] find a way out of the gang life, and we seek to provide a paradigm of what a “better” is.

In closing, let me say to you that this journey has not been an easy one, but it has been one that I would not trade in for all the money, women, power, influence and material things in the world.

-David Square
Saving Our Sons Ministries

His burial is yours.

In the natural realm death leads to burial. When someone dies the body is released to the ground. We know that the cycle of life finds its destiny in death. But in the spiritual realm it is not that way.

In the realm of Gods economy, burial can precede death. First our life becomes buried in Christ, then we are baptized into His death. The great paradox is that in becoming unified with Christ, death becomes our reality but not our destiny. Burial in Christ becomes life in Christ.

In the case of our Lord the natural and the supernatural intersect in a glorious display of love at the cross. The humanity of Christ was put to death and his body lay buried on the Sabbath. But death could not reign for Easter Sunday will come in the morning and our savior lives.

-PST

Peace and Justice became one on a Friday afternoon

"Perfect peace and perfect justice became united in one death on a Friday afternoon some two thousand years ago. The thief who repented while hanging on the cross next to Jesus understood the paradox. No one else knew so well the physical agony of what Jesus was suffering in crucifixion. And the thief knew that he deserved it. He knew the fear of God. But he received the assurance of pardon from the blameless Man hanging beside him." - Dr. Ravi Zacharias from the forward of Radical Cross, AW Tozer

And that blameless Man who was the embodiment of the Godhead became the embodiment of sin for all humanity. Ironically we call this day Good Friday. It is a fitting phrase for the dichotomy of this Gospel. The day of our saviors horrific death on the most barbaric instrument of elimination which the Romans created for one purpose alone, to dispose of a man, is the day we call good. The day is good because death was not the destiny. Death is the passage to life. A cross draped in darkness would be the beacon from which all light would come. We look to our Lord's death today and become one with Him. For only by becoming one with His death will we become one with His resurrection.

-PST

The best (and most unselfish) birthday party I’ve ever been to.

When my daughter Audrie was about ten years old she came up with an idea and stuck to her word, even after we tempted to change her mind. While some girls have visions of beautiful fifteen’s or fabulous sweet sixteen’s, Audrie had a different thought. She wanted to travel somewhere grand when she turned thirteen. So she approached Mom and Dad a few years ago and presented us with a request; “Can you take me to San Francisco for my thirteenth birthday?” she asked. Well thirteen or not, Mom and I thought that was a pretty cool request. Even though this would be a huge financial stretch for us we thought the fact that she wants to travel was very bright of her. Having done some traveling ourselves we can respect the broadening perspective it gives you. With a few years of planning and preparation we just might be able to pull this off. Time passed and the desired destination changed from San Francisco to New York City. A couple of months ago we were getting ready to make the decision and invest in the airfare and hotel so we approached Audrie with a question. “Do you want all new bedroom furniture and a laptop computer, or do you want to travel to NYC?” She thought, long and hard for a few days and then returned with her final decision.

The past five days have been great. We have been freezing on top of skyscrapers, bouncing underneath the city on subways, eating dumpling soup in Chinatown, sampling as many pizzerias as possible, shopping on Madison Ave, people watching in Union Square, stuffing our face with cheesecake, dazzled by the lights of Times Square, walking our feet sore and nodding off in the back of cabs. We will never forget this time in NYC. Thanks to a thirteen year old who was unselfish with her birthday wishes. Happy Birthday Audrie, I love you and thanks for being a great daughter.

The funny thing is Alyssa who is eight says she wants to travel to Tokyo for her thirteen birthday! If I know Alyssa, that destination will probably change 100 times before that day comes. If not I better start saving now.

Special thanks to friend Jeremy DelRio for (my first ever) texting tour of NYC. Great recommendations man.

The Boyz are on Fire!

WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING

NBA.com's John Schuhmann: Power Rankings - Rockets No. 1

New York Newsday: Why the Rockets are This Good

Baltimore Sun: Houston Rockets in Rarified Air

Toronto Star: Morey's 'Moneyball' Approach Paying Off

Houston Chronicle: Good and Twenty

ESPN.com: Twenty Story: The Worst Win, The Best Of Times

FOX Sports.com: Hey Rockets -- Sorry I Wrote You Off

ESPN.com: Rookie Watch: Another Rockets rookie turning heads

CBS Sportsline.com: Always Overlooked, Houston Coach Adelman Just Continues to Win

A radical definition

Can you explain this definition of the Cross?

C - cosmic
R - reoccurring
O - ongoing
S - sin
S - solution

Are you a Buffalo or Cow?

When it comes to your hamburgers which do you prefer, buffalo or beef? You probably answered beef, like me and most every other person who maintains their tasting integrity. While the cow reigns supreme in our drive thru’s and dinners it doesn’t fare so well out on the range. I recently learned something about buffalos and cows that I believe every Christian needs to know. When a severe storm rushes in from out of nowhere, many cows will not survive. A cow will see a storm coming and will try and out run it or run around it. While they unsuccessfully try and flank the weather, they will expel their energy and be overtaken by the storm. The buffalo is different. When they see a storm coming, they will lower their head and barrel right into the torrent. As it turns out the best way to beat a storm is to face it directly. Don’t try and out run your storms. God allows storms in our life to strip us of self. If we try and avoid the storm, we may lose more than we thought. Jesus said, whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Are you a buffalo or a cow?

-PST

Husbands who clean SMILE more.

American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be. The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.

"If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her  he's not treating her like a servant," said Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families. "And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy's sitting on the couch while she's vacuuming, that's not going to put her in the mood."

read full article

FIVE THINGS THE ISRAELITES WERE NOT TOLD TO DO!

1. They were not told to make a serum to cure them of the snake's poison.
Church membership, keeping the commandments, baptism, etc. are good but you cannot use methods and programs as a serum of good works to cure man.

2. They were not told to help others who were bitten in order to get relief for themselves. Flesh wants to engage in works with the hope that helping others will counteract the deadly venom of sin.

3. They were not told to fight the serpents. Many Christians try and exterminate the Serpents. This becomes human effort and many times provides the energy to the flesh.

4. They were not told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. Grace ceases to be grace if any price is paid for what it brings.

5. They were not told to pray to the serpent. You cannot substitute prayer to Christ for faith in Christ.

Religion is man’s attempt to deal with self through his own ability and effort. This is why religion can never save. Only Jesus can save!

To look on the serpent on the pole is the same as trusting Christ's death on the cross.

7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
Numbers 21:7-9

Your faith in the workplace

A judge rejected a harrassment claim by an employee bothered by a recently converted co-worker who posted religious sayings in her cubicle and expounded at length on her new faith.

An employer "has no legal obligation to suppress any and all religious expression merely because it annoys a single employee," he ruled.

But more often, says Starr, employers have been able to shut down "people who are actively proselytizing or expressing their religious viewpoint in a way others find disturbing."

"The touchstone," he says, "is whether the behavior is disruptive."

Read the full article here

Texas prison reforms praised

Long known for its tough-on-crime image, Texas on Thursday was hailed nationally for a package of reforms designed to curb its wildly growing prison population. But even as lawmakers were lauded for innovative programs for drug and alcohol abusers, Texas pushed past California to become the nation's leader in putting people behind bars.

click here to read entire article
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

good stuff

Sunday Night Reflections- A Packed House

Every chair was taken during our second service. If anyone else would have showed up, they would have been standing. Preaching Jesus out of the Old Testament is a great joy of mine. Seeing Christ in the OT is an amazing display of the divine authorship of the Bible. Number 21 teaches, the dangers of looking away from the Cross. I used this analogy.

What do these things have in common: Crucifix, Backslide, Backward Victory, Eye Gouge, ½ Nelson , Airplane Spin, Boston Crab, Corkscrew and the Cross-Face Chicken Wing? These are all official WWE wrestling moves. There is another move that doesn’t have an official name but it should. If you have ever wasted an evening watching a wrestling match, have probably seen this move. It is the climatic momentum shifter; THE LOOK AWAY. A wrestler has just pulled off the perfect body slam. His opponent is squirming on the mat. Since it is impossible to resist the temptation for self-glory, the wrestler looks away, throwing his hands in the air while breathing in the intoxicating cheers of his adoring fans. The cheers of the fans have suddenly changed though. In a moment they become frantic calls of concern and attention. Unable to pull himself from the moment of glory the wrestler is unaware that his opponent has recovered and is fast approaching with an aluminum chair! WHACK! The look away gets them every time.

There is a similar sin that gets US every time, LOOKING AWAY FROM THE CROSS.

Looking away from the Cross is taking our eyes off of the saving and dilivering power of God. Instead we look to ourself, our jobs, our circumstances etc. When we look away from the truth, we get snake bitten. The remedy? Look at the serpent on the pole, (a picture of the finished work of Christ on the Cross) and live.

What a victory it was to see the alter filled with men and women who responded to the question, "Who needs to look back to the Cross, and Who needs to look to Cross for the first time?" It's times like that that I feel the grace of God abounding greatly as He allows me to participate in this great message called The Gospel.