Nativity Story.... Its Christmas season again..

7 WAYS A LIFE PLAN IS LIKE A GPS SYSTEM

No metaphor is perfect, of course. They all break down at some point. But, I actually think a GPS system works pretty well. Here are seven ways it corresponds to a life plan.

1. A GPS requires you to input your destination. Nothing happens until you decide where you want to go. The same is true of a life plan. It forces you to determine the outcomes in each of your major life categories. This is the first section in the life plan.

A NATIONAL PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that’s exactly what we have done. 
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your
will... Amen




(Background :- 
Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. On January 23, 1996, He was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer. )

Beyond Blind Faith

Is Jesus God? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? See proof from the life of Jesus Christ and why it's not blind faith to believe in him.

By Paul E. Little

It is impossible for us to know conclusively whether God exists and what He is like unless He takes the initiative and reveals Himself. We must scan the horizon of history to see if there is any clue to God's revelation. There is one clear clue. In an obscure village in Palestine, 2,000 years ago, a Child was born in a stable. Today the entire world is still celebrating the birth of Jesus.

He lived in obscurity until He was thirty, and then began a public ministry that lasted three years. It was destined to change the course of history. He was a kindly person and we're told that "the common people heard Him gladly." And, "He taught as One who had authority, and not as their teachers of the Law."¹

Is Jesus God? Did Jesus ever claim to be God?

It soon became apparent, however, that He was making shocking and startling statements about Himself. He began to identify Himself as far more than a remarkable teacher or prophet. He began to say clearly that He was God. He made His identity the focal point of His teaching. The all-important question He put to those who followed Him was, "Who do you say I am?" When Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"², Jesus was not shocked, nor did He rebuke Peter. On the contrary, He commended him!

He made the claim explicitly, and His hearers got the full impact of His words. We are told, "The Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."³

On another occasion he said, "I and My Father are One." Immediately the Jews wanted to stone Him. He asked them for which good work they wanted to kill Him. They replied, "We are not stoning You for any of these but for blasphemy, because You, a mere man, claim to be God."⁴

Son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, founder of Hamas says Jesus Christ is the only solution for all problems

 Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, in the West Bank in 1978. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a founding leader of Hamas, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization and responsible for countless suicide bombings and other deadly attacks against Israel. Yousef was an integral part of the movement, for which he was imprisoned several times by the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence service. He withstood torture in prison only to discover Hamas was torturing its own people in a relentless search for collaborators. He began to question who his enemies really were— Israel? Hamas? America? After a chance encounter with a British tourist, Yousef started a six-year quest that jeopardized Hamas, endangered his family and threatened his life.  Throughout his incredible life, he experienced many divine interventions in the form of supernatural protection and guidance.  He has since embraced faith in Jesus Christ.   His autobiography is called “Son of Hamas:  A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices.”

Do you see God in your life every day?

When we can sense and feel and therefore know the presence of God, it is the tangible presence of God in our lives. We touch, feel, perceive, sense, recognize, and notice God around and within us; God’s presence is something that is obvious, evident, and plain. I want a passionate faith where I deeply sense God’s presence in my life. Passionate is a confusing word, especially for people who are introverted. Passionate often implies a proscribed way in which one experiences God: a jumping up and down, raising your hands, and shouting out loud way of experiencing God. That may be unfair to the word passionate; its true meaning describes something that is ardent, fervent, and deeply felt. I want to deeply feel and experience God’s presence. I want my expression of it to be authentic to whatever it is that I perceive, sense, and notice about God’s presence in my life. Today. Any day. Any time.

But why is it that sometimes we feel the presence of God and sometimes we don’t? Why is it that some people seemingly sense God’s presence in their lives more readily than others?

When You Fall

By Steven L. Pogue

The IRS received an anonymous letter:

Gentlemen:

Enclosed you will find a cashier’s check for $150. I cheated on my tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest.¹

Each of us wants to feel forgiven for the wrong things we have done. The question is, where does this forgiveness come from?

As a Christian, all of your sins are forgiven. You probably believe that from the Bible. But how do you respond to it? A friend who counsels many believers commented: “Some Christians don’t really believe they have sinned; others don’t believe they are forgiven.”

I would like to help you appreciate both the reality of your sin and the reality of Christ’s forgiveness.

How to Change Someone's Life

"I'm only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something, and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do that something I can do." –Helen Keller

The plain and simple truth is that each and every one of us only get one shot at this life. We aren't guaranteed a certain number of days, so we must decide today what we will give our lives to. So the question is, will we choose to live a life of love in service to others or will we refuse to do our part because we feel we can't make a big enough difference? One person has the ability to make a profound difference!

So what will you give your life to? It might be easy or feel like the religious thing to do to say we're going to give it to God, but I'm asking that you take it into your everyday lives. What are you going to give your everyday actions to?