SATAN'S MEETING: (READ EVEN IF U ARE BUSY)-- source - yahoomail

SATAN'S MEETING:

(Read even if you're busy)

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.

In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep Christians from going to church."

"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their saviour."

"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas."

"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"

"It will work!"

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

Having little time for their God or their families.

Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?

You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?
s............

now da choice is ours...

GOD WILL USE US

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, Romans 5:20

There are many reasons why God would not want you, but don't worry. You're in good company!

- Moses stuttered.
-- David's armor didn't fit.
--- John Mark was rejected by Paul.
---- Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
----- Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
------ Jacob was a liar.
------- David had an affair.
-------- Solomon was too rich.
--------- Abraham was too old.
---------- David was too young.
----------- Timothy had ulcers.
------------ Peter was afraid of death.
------------- Lazarus was dead.
-------------- John was self-righteous.
--------------- Jesus was too poor.
-------------- Naomi was a widow.
------------- Paul was a murderer. So was Moses.
------------ Jonah ran from God.
----------- Miriam was a gossip.
---------- Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
--------- Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
-------- Elijah was burned out.
------- John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
------ Martha was a worrywart.
----- Mary was lazy.
---- Samson had long hair.
--- Noah got drunk.
-- Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
- So did Peter, Paul--well, lots of folks did.
But God doesn't require a job interview. He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's more our Dad than our boss. He doesn't look at financial gain or loss. He's neither prejudiced nor partial, judging, grudging, sassy, nor brassy, not deaf to our cry, nor blind to our need.

Satan says, "You're not worthy."

Jesus says, "So what? I AM."

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes. God looks back and sees the Cross.

Sure--there are lots of reasons why God shouldn't want us. But if we are in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite of who we are, where we've been.

HOW THE APOSTLES DIED? source- unknown

1. Matthew- Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound.

2. Mark- Died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

3. Luke- was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

4: John- Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome . However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was th en sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

5. Peter- was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6. James- Just The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7. James- the Great , son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem . The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

8. Bartholomew- also known as Nathaniel Was a missionary to Asia . He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey . Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip

9. Andrew- was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras , Greece . After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

10. Thomas- Was stabbed with a spear in India during on one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.

11. Jude- Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.


12. Matthias- The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

13. Barnabas- One of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout I taly and Cyprus . Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.

14. Paul- Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire . These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:

But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22

CHALLENGING MISSION FACTS (source- joshua project)

Challenging Mission Facts Top • Of the world's 16,291 ethnic people groups by country, 6,369 (39%) are primarily Christian, totaling over 2,000,000,000, or nearly one third the world's population. • • • Of the world's 6,516 living languages (Ethnologue total), 4,311 have either/all Bible portions, the Jesus film, gospel radio, or gospel recordings. Total speakers of these languages is 6,100,000,000, or over 95% of the world's population. • Of 235 total countries, 169 (72%) are Christian-majority countries. Total population for these countries is 2,320,000,000. Interesting People Group Facts . • The largest least-reached group is the Japanese, with over 120,000,000 individuals. • 3,286 groups are primarily Muslim, totaling nearly 1,300,000,000 individuals. • 2,669 groups are primarily Hindu, totaling about 900,000,000 individuals. • 573 groups are primarily Buddhist, totaling nearly 375,000,000 individuals. • 6,369 groups are primarily Christian, totaling over 2,000,000,000 individuals. "Christian" is defined here as Christian adherents, not restricted to evangelicals. • The Mandarin Chinese is the largest people group, being in 98 countries with a total of about 793,000,000 individuals, and with 783,000,000 of those in China. • Jews are found in 130 countries, Arabs in 84 countries, and Chinese groups in 117 countries. • India has the largest number of ethnic people groups, 2,327 in the Joshua Project database. (The number of people groups in India varies greatly depending on the researcher and how the term "people group" is defined. Strictly linguistically there are about 330 - 350 "people groups" in India. Some suggest the 2,327 groups in the Joshua Project list should be sub-divided into groups by Indian state, producing a total of about 4,700). For further information, see the ethno-linguistic vs. ethnic discussion on the definitions page. • Papua New Guinea is the runner-up in number of people groups, at 872. Interestingly, the largest group of these 872 is only 394,300 in population. The total population of the country is only 5,835,000, yet there are nearly 900 people groups. Indonesia (765) and Nigeria (505) follow Papua New Guinea. • On the other end of the spectrum, South Korea only has seven people groups, with a country population of 47,841,000. • There are 1,050 languages/dialects spoken in Papua New Guinea. There are only 45 languages/dialects spoken in Japan, which has a population over 25 times as large as Papua New Guinea. The diversity of Papua New Guinea and the homogeneity of Japan! • In India, one people group (the Gond) speaks 78 languages. 1,402 groups (out of the total of 2,327) speak more than one language. • One people group in India (Nai), has 70 alternate names. 4,000 of the over 16,000 total peoples-by-country have more than one alternate people name. • Of the 16,291 people groups in the Joshua Project database, 14% speak more than one language ignoring dialects, and 24% if dialects are included. Interesting Country Facts Top • 66 countries have GDP per capita less than $1,000. • There are 51 Muslim majority countries, of which 23 have GDP per capita less than $1,000 (710,000,000 individuals). This includes oil revenues. None of the Muslim countries are identified as Developed by the World Bank. • There are four Hindu majority countries, of which three (India-$459, Nepal-$239, Guyana-$936) have GDP per capita less than $1,000 (1,100,000,000 individuals). None of the Hindu countries are identified as Developed. • There are 169 Christian majority countries, of which 33 have GDP per capita less than $1,000 and 129 exceed $999. 32 Christian majority countries are identified as Developed by the World Bank. Interesting Language Facts Top • There are approximately 6,900 total languages in the world, with about 6,500 considered "living" and the remaining 400 "extinct" or "near-extinct" per the Ethnologue. Approximately 2,400 languages have some or all of the Bible. About 4,100 languages are without Scripture portions available, with some 450,000,000 speakers. Translation projects are in progress in an estimated 1,600 languages that currently are without adequate Scriptures. There are about 2,500 languages needing Bible translation work to begin. • There are 993 languages with the Jesus film available, 324 with Gospel radio available, and 4,100 with Gospel recordings available (plus approximately 2000 language recordings that have not had Ethnologue codes assigned yet). 2,205 languages have none of these resources available, with about 195,000,000 speakers. • 90% of the world's people, if they have an internet cafe and the funds, can hear the gospel in a language they understand. • There is a 90% chance that a foreign Christian meeting a non-believer overseas could find a gospel recording on-line and give it as a gift to any non-believer they meet and it would be understood. • Only 3% of the world's people speak a language that does not yet have a gospel recording. • 97% of the world's people are members of language groups who have had at least one person presented with the plan of salvation. • About 40% of the world's language groups (divided by country) still do not have any gospel recording in their language. (approx 4100 total groups when divided by country.)
Major Languages of the World

STATUS OF CHRISTIANITY IN UNITED STATES (pray for this country)

Many Roman Catholics and Protestants in America are leaving the churches of their childhood and either embracing other faiths or claiming no
religion at all, according to an extensive national survey released

The findings from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life illustrate the fluid dynamics of American religion. 
More than a quarter of adults,or 28 percent, said they had left the faith in which they were raised.
If changes among types of Protestantism are included, 44 percent have switched affiliation.
Sixteen percent of adults said they are not members of any religious
group, making that "unaffiliated" segment the fourth-largest religious tradition in the U.S., comparable in numbers to the mainline Protestant
churches. The three largest religious groups, the study found, are Protestant evangelicals at 26 percent, Catholics at 24 percent and historic
mainline Protestants at 18 percent.

"One can certainly make the case that America will be a less Protestant and a less Christian nation a century from now. But how much less
Protestant and how much less Christian -- that's a little bit hard to gauge because of the dynamism," said John Green, a report author and a senior fellow at the Pew Forum.

The Catholic Church has lost more members than any other religious group, the survey found, making roughly 10 percent of all Americans former
Catholics.

Those losses, however, have been largely offset by Catholic immigrants entering the country, most of them from Latin America, the report said.
The result is that the total percentage of the population that identifies as Catholic has remained stable.

Researchers also found such a sharp decline in American Protestantism that "the United States is on the verge of becoming a minority
Protestant country."

The number of Americans who said they were members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51 percent. The Protestant population also
is diverse and fragmented, encompassing hundreds of denominations. The largest groups of Protestants are evangelical churches, mainline
churches and historically black churches.

Just 4 percent of Americans called themselves atheist or agnostic. The rest of the unaffiliated -- 12 percent of Americans -- are almost
equally divided between the "secular unaffiliated," who say religion is not important in their lives, and the "religious unaffiliated," who say it
is at least somewhat important.


The findings came from a survey of 35,000 adults conducted last summer.

CURRICULAM VITAE

PRAYER

Dear God, I thank You for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you..

I ask now for Your forgiveness. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make
the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You. Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things. Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.
And It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits.
I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak... Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those that will delete this without sharing it with others. I pray for those that don't believe.

But I
thank you that I believe. I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.
I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees
it.

CROSS -- WAT DOES IT SYMBOLISE?

Love creating life

Fundamentally the cross represents the astonishing reality that God’s power is not controlling. Fundamentally the cross shows God’s power standing silently by while violence does its worst, while rage is unleashed in the world in paroxysms of attempts to control the religious, ethical and social structures of life. Fundamentally the cross shows God not in armed combat with the forces of evil, as so much Christian imagery would have it, but rather it shows God quietly, deeply, almost imperceptibly changing the terms of the conflict. The cross shows us that armed conflict with the forces of evil is precisely not the way to image God’s power, a power that is not simple acquiescence but rather the generative power of life in all situations. God resets the terms of violent conflict, and the terms are loving.

who is jesus?

Who is Jesus?
WHO IS HE?
IN CHEMISTRY, HE TURNED WATER TO WINE.
IN BIOLOGY, HE WAS BORN WITHOUT THE NORMAL CONCEPTION;
IN PHYSICS, HE DISAPPROVED THE LAW OF GRAVITY WHEN HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN;
IN ECONOMICS, HE DISAPPROVED THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURN BY FEEDING 5000 MEN WITH TWO FISHES & 5 LOAVES OF BREAD;
IN MEDICINE, HE CURED THE SICK AND THE BLIND WITHOUT ADMINISTERING A SINGLE DOSE OF DRUGS,
IN HISTORY,HE IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END;
IN GOVERNMENT, HE SAID THAT HE SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, PRINCE OF PEACE;
IN RELIGION, HE SAID NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM;
The Greatest Man in History
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.
He had no army, yet kings feared Him..
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the wo rld.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
I feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us!

Jesus said ..

' If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven '