Saturday, January 23, 2010

The WeekEnder: The Great Divide -Chuck Smtih (video)

WeekEnd Edition

This material was brought to you by The WeekEnder and Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. The WeekEnd Edition Digest, is a ministry of  Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity and Michael James Stone. It is an aggragate of  materials selected from the Internet and materials provided by Authors and Readers. Though often Christian in nature, the materials are subjective and do not necessarily reflect the views of  Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity or anone associated with.

 

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.

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The WeekEnder: Driscoll on Haiti Quake: Sex Trade Occurring in Port-au-Prince

Driscoll on Haiti Quake: Sex Trade Occurring in Port-au-Prince

By Michelle A. Vu|Christian Post Reporter

Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle landed in “hell” this week where he witnessed a teenage boy shot in the head and a girl sold to an older man. He was in the collapsed city of Port-au-Prince where rubble from former buildings and streets piled with corpses give the impression of an aftermath of a war zone.

Related

·        U.S. Churches Search for Workers, Missionaries in Haiti

·        Christian Groups Prepare 1M Meals and Scriptures for Haiti Quake Survivors

·        Haitian Christians Gather to Pray Amid Post-Quake Efforts

·        Atheists Set Up 'Religion-Free' Fund for Haiti Relief

·        Relief Team Details Devastation, Life Saving in Haiti

Driscoll, along with Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicago-area, landed in the capital ofHaiti on Monday to assess the situation and needs of Haitian churches and to deliver 1,000 pounds of reliefsupplies.

On his first day on the ground, Driscoll said he heard a gunshot behind him and when he turn to look he saw a teenage boy immediately killed by a shot to the head. The teenage boy was just a few feet away from a seminary property and next to a makeshift clinic where thousands of people slept outside, Driscoll reported on his Facebook page.

In an interview with USA Today on Tuesday when he returned to America, Driscoll said the boy was murdered “for no apparent reason. He was just shot in the head and left in the street.”

Fears of violence, looting, and chaos in the aftermath of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince last Tuesday grew when relief supplies, including food and clean water, could not meet the immediate needs of quake victims.

But the fears somewhat eased Wednesday when U.S. troops provided security for water and food aid deliveries.

In addition to concerns of unrest due to shortage in relief supplies, aid agencies are also concerned about the some 4,000 criminals that escaped from prisons after the earthquake struck.

“It gets too dangerous,” said Remi Rollin, a private security guard hired by a shopkeeper to prevent looting, to CBS News. “After sunset, police shoot on sight.”

There are about 12,000 U.S. military personnel on the ground in Haiti, and the U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed this week to temporarily add 2,000 U.N. troops and 1,500 police to the 9,000-member peacekeeping force in Haiti.

Besides being troubled by the security situation, Driscoll also confronted an incident he believed to be part of the sex trade in Haiti’s capital amid the wreckage.

“If u want a phone, cigarettes or a teenage girl you can get them here in Port au Prince,” Driscoll tweeted. “Like the American who said he’s on a relief mission and bought a hungry girl despite our confrontation.”

The pastor elaborated in the USA Today interview that a man pushing a cart while selling cell phones, cigarettes “and a few young girls” asked Driscoll, “You want to buy loving?”

Another man, who claimed to be a translator for a relief agency, negotiated with the seller on a price for a young girl.

“I (Driscoll) asked him what he was trying to do,” the American pastor recalled. “He said, ‘Oh, she’s a friend of mine. We’re just trying to connect.’

“That’s ridiculous. A young girl. A man 20 or 30 years older. I told him this was unacceptable. MacDonald confronted him, too. But there were no police and you could argue all you wanted but the girl took his money and they walked away.”

Driscoll plans to report the American man, and submit his photo, to the relief agency he supposedly works for, according to USA Today.

MacDonald and Driscoll are part of a new effort called Churches Helping Churches, which led them to travel to Haiti this week. The initiative seeks to address the immediate and long-term needs of churches affected by disasters. Many times churches provide social services – such as health care, humanitarian aid and education – to the local communities, so rebuilding local churches would help address the communities’ practical as well as spiritual needs.

WeekEnd Edition

This material was brought to you by The WeekEnder and Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity. The WeekEnd Edition Digest, is a ministry of  Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity and Michael James Stone. It is an aggragate of  materials selected from the Internet and materials provided by Authors and Readers. Though often Christian in nature, the materials are subjective and do not necessarily reflect the views of  Broadcast(B.C.)Christianity or anone associated with.

 

The WeekEnder

The WeekEnder supplies News and Views by the Readers and Authors from posts reviewed the previous week.  WeekEndEdition@michaeljamesstone.com

Fair Use Notice

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work herein is archived under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in reviewing the included information for personal use, non-profit research and educational purposes only.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
The material is being made available in an effort to understand scripture, news, technology and society especially as it relates to God and Jesus. It is specifically for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. This is a completely non-commercial site for private personal use. No fee is charged, and no money is made off of the operation of this site. Nor is any implied reciprocal gratuities implied or construed.

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The WeekEnder: I Love the Church -Greg Laurie

I Love the Church

Everyone has their likes and dislikes. I happen to like good design and a good latte. On the other hand, I don't like cell phones and bad drivers.

But here is something I really like. In fact, it's something I love.

The Church.

Oh, I know that it's considered quite cool today to knock the church. Some Christians don't even want to go anymore, deciding instead to go their local espresso joint and talk about all the things that are wrong with the Evangelical Church. They can drink coffee and discuss the latest films, tunes, or the spiritual journey of Bono, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash, and drink a little more coffee.

As much as I like the music of all of the above, I would rather go to church, worship God, and hear the Word of God taught, thank you very much, on Sunday.

When Jesus walked this Earth, he only started one organization, and it's called the church. Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it" (Matthew 16:18 NLT).

Some might protest, "But there are hypocrites in the church!" Yes, there are, and there were hypocrites in the first-century church too. They had rivalries, heresies, and some pretty radical immorality. There was even a hypocrite among Jesus' handpicked disciples (Judas Iscariot), so this is not unique to our time.

Jesus told a parable about tares and wheat that grow side by side (Matthew 13:1-9). A farmer planted his crop of wheat, but his enemy came at night and planted weeds among the wheat. These weeds, or tares (what is known as the "darnel seed"), look exactly like wheat for most of the growing process until the end, when they literally uproot the wheat.

Jesus said this to point out that Satan has his "tares," or fakes, out there, so just be aware of it. It is not for us to go out and uproot the tares; that is for God to do. We just want to make sure we are the "wheat," or the genuine article.

I believe there will be three surprises when we get to heaven.

•          A lot of the people we thought would be there, won't be.

•          A lot of the people we never thought would be there, will be.

•          We will be there!

Now, I am joking, because if you are a believer in Jesus, you can be confident you will be in heaven one day.

But know this: wherever there is the genuine, there will be the counterfeit. Satan would love you to see a few of those counterfeits and say, "That's it, I'm not going to church anymore. There are just too many hypocrites!" My response is this: "Hey, don't let that keep you away. There's always room for one more!"

Listen, all of us have been hypocrites at times. What is the definition of the word "hypocrite," as used in Scripture? It is an actor, someone who pretends to be something they really are not.

We have all pretended to be more spiritual at times than we really are. I know I have. This is not an excuse for hypocrisy, just an explanation. We all want to pray that God helps us to be the "real thing" as we follow Christ.

It really comes down to this: Jesus was committed to the Church, and we should be too! There is just nothing this world offers that is like the Church. The Church may have many critics, but no rivals!

And I'm proud to be a Christian and a member of the body of Christ, the Church.

How 'bout you?

________________________________________

Have Pastor Greg's devotions blessed you? Write to let him know!

Greg@harvest.org

Want to read more from Greg Laurie? Be sure to check out his weekly columns at World Net Daily. Click here to read his latest article.

Copyright ©2010 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

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