The wind of God is always blowing...
But you must hoist your sail.

~ Francois Fenelon ~

This weeks Christian Crossword Puzzle: Jesus #1

Christian Books & Music / Christian MP3s / Christian Sheet Music / Crossings

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Light of the World

What I learned about servant leadership in Baghdad, Iraq

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CSS: Tips and Tricks

Hey, just what everybody has been clamoring for, one more toolbar! It's not like there aren't
enough of these floating around out there but this one has some features that I really liked.
I have wanted to create one of these for quite a while but I couldn't find one that had features
that were worth the effort. This one not only has great features but it also has some great
options. Listed below are some of the features that you will find on the Free Chrsitian
Content.org toolbar.

Click here to download your toolbar and let me know what you think.

CBS Breaks Its Promise To The Public
Take Action Today To Demand Preemption Of Early Airing Of Dexter

Tell Your Local CBS Affiliate the 9:00 ET/ 8:00 CT Hour
is No Place for a Series about a Blood-Thirsty Serial Killer

This Sunday, CBS is planning to air two back-to-back episodes of the horrifically violent and blood-soaked serial-killer drama Dexter,
with the first episode airing as early as 9:00 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific Time Zones, and 8:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain
Time Zones! This, despite promises from CBS when the series debuted on the broadcast network that Dexter would be
"scheduled responsibly in the last hour of prime time."

Read Complete Story and Sign Petition

Source: Parents Television Council

Inspirational/Educational/Entertainment Links

Automation At It's Best: I must confess that this is funny.
Submitted by Sherry

Working Replica of Noah's Ark Opens In SCHAGEN, Netherlands:
Submitted by Poly

Bible Quiz: Clouded Visions

Web Building Tips: CSS: Tips and Tricks

Each week I will be giving away some Christian materials.
All you have to do is pay for the postage and I will supply
the packing and materials. These are quality materials. All
are on a first come first served basis.

Hank Hanegraaff's "The Bible Answer Book"

Hank Hanegraaff's book "The Covering" + E4s Bible Study Library Vol 1 & 2 + 6 Bible Tracts + Russell Kelfer's Bible Study of Proverbs CD

Around the World
Gore Used Fictional Video to Illustrate ‘Inconvenient Truth’: On Friday, it was revealed by ABC News that one of the famous shots of supposed Antarctic ice shelves in the film was actually a computer-generated image from the 2004 science fiction blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow."

National
House Speaker Invokes God and Bible in Earth Day Declaration: "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.' On this Earth Day, and every day, let us honor the earth and our future generations with a commitment to fight climate change." (See Story Below)
Madam Speaker? That's Not in the Bible: "You're just not going to find that kind of statement anywhere in Isaiah, let alone anywhere directly in scripture at all -- Old Testament or New Testament," says Bohlin. "So, you know, it's hard to know where something like that gets started. But it's unfortunate that she's referring to it as a scripture quotation because it's not."

TV Execs Argue Against 'a la carte' Cable: "It's absolutely ludicrous for the programmers to assert that consumers benefit from having to pay for products that they don't want, don't watch, and find offensive," Isett contends.
Porn Splits Public Library Board: The public library board of Sacramento is coming under fire for its failure to deal with a policy that allows pornography to be viewed at its Internet terminals.
NBC Family Hour Pledge 'Hypocritical,' Warns PTC: That program featured older women vying for the affections of 8th-grade boys while they danced provocatively around a fire. Other questionable scenes featured bleeped expletives, women removing their bikini tops, and -- on My Name is Earl, another NBC series -- men groping women.

The Law
Judge Deems School Bible Giveaways Unconstitutional: The judge in New Orleans says the giveaways amount to school board promotion of Christianity, in violation of the separation of church and state. There is no separation of church and state in the Constitution. It merely says that the government cannot establish a religion; the way that England established the Anglican Church and then began persecuting every other religion.
NJ Coach Can't Pray: The court used the First Amendment's Establishment Clause which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" as the basis for their decision forbidding Borden to join in his team's student-initiated prayers. Looks to me like they just made a law "prohibiting the free exercise thereof". (See Story Below)
Ban On Bowing For Prayer Challenged: 'This ruling will mean teachers will have no free speech or academic freedom rights'

Law Protects Student Opposition To 'Day Of Silence': And the attorney argues that schools cannot legally threaten or punish students who do not want to participate in the celebration of homosexuality. "Clearly they can stay home from school," he continues. "They don't have to go to school and they can't be punished [for doing that]."

Abortion
Catholic Kansas Gov. Sebelius Vetoes Restrictions on Late-Term Abortion: "Sebelius gave all kinds of false excuses, but the real question Sebelius must answer is why she would veto a law which simply gives women more information when considering abortion, allows them to see their baby on ultrasound if they so request, attempts to avoid coerced abortions of sexually abused minors, and in no way prevents a legal, non-coerced abortion from taking place," said Culp.

Schools
Union Defends 'Anti-Christian' Teacher: "The California Teachers Association has jumped in on the side of this teacher who was preaching atheism to tenth-grade students at a public high school, in a class titled 'European History,' and teaching things that have nothing to do with European history," Tyler contends.
Louisiana FCA Denied Use Of Bus: The Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, public schools allow all student clubs to use school buses for field trips -- all student clubs, that is, except the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).
Faith, Democrats, and Double Standards: The “strict separationists” who usually pitch tantrums at any introduction of religious ideas in government classrooms, somehow winked and shrugged at the use of school time and resources to expose students to the world’s most prominent Buddhist monk.
Controversy Resolved Over Religious Song In School Talent Show: Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have protected the right of an Alabama public school student to perform a Christian song at a talent show.

Source: CrossAction News

Bible Verses
Eternal Life

And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

1 John 2:25 KJV
________________

"Then they (the wicked) will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."

Matthew 25:46 NIV
_________________

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life. I am the living bread that came
down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life
of the world is My flesh.

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:46, 47, 51, 54 NASB

________________________________________________

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE,
Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

King James Version of the Holy Bible
is in the public domain

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief.
As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was
proven innocent. After being released he sued the old man for wrongly
accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: "They were just comments, didn't
harm anyone."

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man: "Write
all the things you said about him in a piece of paper. Cut them up and on
the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to
hear the sentence."

Next day, the judge told the old man: "Before receiving the sentence,
you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw
out yesterday."

The old man said: "I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know
where to find them."

The judge then replied: "The same way, simple comments may destroy the
honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can't
speak well of someone, rather don't say anything. "Let's all be masters of
our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words."

Source: Monday Fodder

   1. Preaches exactly 20 minutes and follows it with an invitation in which everyone is convicted but no one is offended.
   2. Works from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. in every type of work from counseling to custodial service.
   3. 27 years old with 30 years of preaching experience.
   4. Tall and short.
   5. Thin and heavy set.
   6. Handsome but not overpowering.
   7. One brown eye and one blue eye.
   8. Hair is parted in the middle and is straight on one side and wavy on the other side, with a balding spot on top revealing his maturity.
   9. Has a burning
       desire to work with teenagers and spends all his time with the older folks.
10. He smiles constantly with a straight and sober face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously at his work.
11. Invests 25 hours a week in sermon preparation, 20 hours in counseling, 10 hours in meetings, five hours in emergencies, 20 hours in visitation and
      evangelism, 6 hours in weddings and funerals, 30 hours in prayer and meditation, 12 hours in letter writing, and administration, and 10 hours in
      creative thinking.
12. Spends 5 evenings at home with his family, plus a day off, and always stops for interruptions.
13. A seminary graduate, but uses only one- and two-syllable words.
14. Makes 15 calls a day.
15. Spends all his time evangelizing the unchurched.
16. Attends all retreats, goes to all youth retreats.
17. Is always available in his office.
18. His kids are perfect.
19. His mother is rich.
20. His wife plays the piano.
21. His house is large.
22. His bank account is small.
23. His car is in the shop.
24. He is paid too much, too little, and he gives it all away.
25. He is talented, gifted, scholarly, practical, popular, compassionate, understanding, patient, level headed, dependable, loving, caring, neat, organized,
      cheerful, and above all, humble.

Where's Waldo?
DB Reading: Psalm 122; 124; 133; 134; 135; 136; 138

"Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar"
(Ps. 138:6; c.f. 2 Chron. 16:9; Job 28:24; Ps. 33:13-14; 104:32; Pr. 15:3).

When I think of God sitting on his throne in heaven, looking down upon the earth, I am relieved that he is in control; yet, it sometimes
leaves me feeling distant and hidden. The picture that comes to my mind is a super-cosmic "Where's Waldo?" game. What if God loses
sight of me among the billions who need him? How can I be sure he is watching over me? If I can get others to nod their approval and
give their applause, will God notice me too? Is he impressed with the same things that put me in the human spotlight, or is he looking
for something different? "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks
at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

"Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly." Jesus modeled what it means to be lowly. His concern was not on what others
thought of him, but that they would see and know his Father. "Our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face
of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness" (2 Cor. 4:6-7 Msg). If the spotlight is
focused on me, others might miss the brightness of Christ living in me. Am I more concerned with whether they like me, or whether they
know God? When I step out of the way and stop worrying so much about what others think of me, God can shine brighter through me.

"The proud he knows from afar," not because God has pulled away from them, but because they have kept him in the shadows of their
own spotlight. When we focus on our own needs, desires, successes and failures, his image grows dim. When we turn the spotlight on
this Lord of the heavens, however, we discover his light shining right inside of us, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

As we let his light grow within us, he becomes greater while we become less (Jn. 3:30). Our faces shine with his radiance instead of our
shame (Ps. 34:5). Our illusions are exposed and his wondrous truth is revealed. As we lift him up and let him shine, may others see the
work of Christ in us and praise our Father in heaven (Mt. 5:16).

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Diantha has been reading through The Daily Bible (F. LaGard Smith, Harvest House) each year since 2002.
Diantha's goal is to eventually journal through the entire Bible, having an entry for every day of the year,
coinciding with the readings in The Daily Bible. Join her each week for a specially selected reading and
journey through the Bible with her.

Add the Daily Bible Journal Project to your website.

A minister had worked long and hard on his first sermon,
and the delivery of it on Sunday morning had started off
well. But as he was approaching the conclusion, he
became aware that he had lost most of his listeners.

When he finished, he added softly, "I hope it's true."

The congregation was startled by that, and sat up to listen.
"I hope it's true," said the preacher again. "Because if it is
true that you can learn while you sleep, I wil have the
best informed congregation in town."

I read just this week about a man in Huntsville, Texas who was imprisoned as a member of the Mexican Mafia. His name is
Mauricio Cardenas, and he was a general of the Texas chapter of the Mexican Mafia. One day in his prison cell a newspaper
arrived, and on the front page somehow there was a quotation from the Bible, from Mark 5:26, about the story of the woman
whom Jesus healed. Somehow that verse grabbed his heart and mind, and by the end of the day he had prayed to receive
Jesus as His Lord and Savior. But he was afraid of letting his fellow gang members know about his conversion, because there
was a policy that no one ever left the mafia except by death. It was a policy known as "Blood in, Blood out." So he kept his
conversion secret, but finally he couldn't keep quiet anymore. He went to the recreation yard where there were about forty
members of the gang and he told them in plain simple Spanish, "I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I am backing out
of the Eme (Mafia). I've thought it over long and hard and know the consequences of this action. You guys do what you have
to do. It was an honor to have served as your leader. Now, it is an honor to serve Christ."

No one said a thing, but as the months passed no one hurt him. In fact others joined him, sparking a prison revival that so
far has yielded 97 professions of faith and 10 baptisms.
___________________________________________________________

"Former Mexican Mafia General Baptized in Texas Prison," by John Hall in
Texas Baptist Communications, accessed on December 5, 2006. As told by Robert Morgan.

Mauricio Cardenas was in a very dark place, and yet the light of Christ pierced through it with a blinding light, and changed
his darkness into light. Cardenas became a Christian who glows in the dark, and others were brought to Christ because he
found it impossible to hide his light.

Source: The Timothy Report

Courtesy of Timothy Report

Someone advised, "If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to
be vague." But kindness and goodness extend far beyond how we talk
about each other. The person who dares to be good -- and DO good --
may have to find the heart to stand up and be counted.

Not too long into the American Civil War the Union finally won a
victory at Antietam. President Lincoln used the occasion to produce a
proclamation to free American slaves. He called his cabinet together
and laid the document before them. He had been shaking the hands
of well-wishers all morning and his arm and hand were stiff. He rested
his arm and spoke to Secretary of State William Seward.

"If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole
soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who
examine the document hereafter will say, 'He hesitated.'"

Then he picked up a pen and signed "Abraham Lincoln" in bold writing.
That signature, coupled with a later Union victory, changed the course
of history forever. American slaves were finally freed.

It's not always about being nice. It's about doing the right thing.
And it was never put better by anyone than by eighteenth century
church reformer John Wesley:

"Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."

Source: Life Support