A Closer Look

As we come to the end of another year I hope that you take the time to reflect on what has taken place in your life over these past 12 months.  Socrates put it this way “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  Paul in 2 Corinthians 13: 5 shared this instruction to the church, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” The prophet Jeremiah was a little more passionate in Lamentations 3:40 when he said, “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

Each one of these writers inspired or otherwise, identifies the need for all of us to take a look at the life we each lead. The words of Jesus help me to put my life into perspective – “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”- Luke 10:27.  Following that vein here are some questions you might ask yourself as this year draws to a close:

  • Am I closer or farther away from God today than I was December 2011?
  • What have I chosen to remove from on my life because of my relationship with Christ? If nothing what should I have?
  • What have I chosen to add to my life because of my relationship with Christ?  If nothing what should I have?
  • What have I spent the greater part of my time on, and does it have long term, or even better, eternal consequence?
  • Outside of my circle of friends and family how many lives have I touched in a meaningful way?
  • What have I done to better myself this year in each of these categories: physically, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually?

A Call for Order

The world leadership of the Seventh-day Adventists has issued a highly unusual “appeal for unity” to regional administrative units of the church that have either taken or are considering independent action regarding the ordination of women to gospel ministry. The request comes in a statement issued today in response to actions by several union conferences, including two in North America.

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SBC’s Historic Vote

An historic vote by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) this week: The nation’s largest Protestant denomination elected New Orleans pastor Fred Luter Jr. as its first African-American president. The emotional vote was hailed as a significant step for the SBC, which was founded in 1845 in support of slavery. Luter told us he hopes to address the SBC’s declining number of baptisms and members:

Rev. Fred Luter Jr: We need to find out what happened, and we need to fix it, because that’s something this convention has been very proud about, about the fact that we’ve always made evangelism a priority.

In other business, SBC delegates narrowly approved an unofficial alternate name, Great Commission Baptists, which can be used by churches that are uncomfortable with the word “Southern” in the denomination’s title. Delegates also approved a resolution opposing same-sex marriage and saying gay rights are not civil rights.

Click to see original article.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still trying to get back to the Big Apple and their beloved Central Park zoo, but first they need to find the penguins. They travel to Monte Carlo where they attract the attention of Animal Control after gate crashing a party and are joined by the penguins, King Julian and Co., the monkeys and a new arrival: a performing llama. How do a lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe, four penguins, two monkeys, three lemurs and a llama travel through Europe without attracting attention? They join a traveling circus.

Check the movie content before you expose yourself or family to it. Christian Cinema.

Brother White

David A.R. White (Jerusalem Countdown, Me Again), Victoria Jackson (Saturday Night Live), Jackée (Sister, Sister & 227), Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) with Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison and Reginald VelJohnson (Family Matters, Die Hard), star in this heartwarming fish out of water comedy about an associate pastor at a mega church in California who finds himself the pastor of a poor church in the worst neighborhood in Atlanta.

James White (White) is one of dozens of associate pastors at a mega church in Southern California under the tutelage of television evangelist Johnny Kingman (Wise). He always longed to have his own church and jumps at the opportunity to become pastor of the impoverished Divine Faith Apostolic Church in Atlanta. His wife and two children aren’t very enthusiastic about his assignment. Neither is the congregation itself, but they will have to learn to trust each other and pull together to save the church from a corrupt banker anxious to foreclose. It will take a musical miracle, supplied by BeBe Winans himself, to save them all in this heartfelt, family-friendly comedy.

 

Check it out at Christian Cinema.