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PRAYERGEAR.COM / SPIRITUAL RESOURCE SERVICES
NEWSLETTER
February 17, 2000 Issue 32: Adjusting the Focal Point (Part 3)
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<>< CONTENTS <><
1. Mini-Reflection
2. Prayergear.com product and services updates
3. Subscriber Sharings
4. Cruising Christian Cyberspace!
5. Let us know!
6. Weekly Reflection: "Adjusting the Focal Point" (Part
3 of 4)
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Greetings to all of you! I trust your past week has been
productive. Now a word from our sponsor: "Shout praises to
the Lord, everyone on this earth. Be joyful and sing as you come
in to worship the Lord! You know the Lord is God! He created us,
and we belong to Him; we are His people, the sheep in His
pasture. Be thankful and praise the Lord as you enter His temple.
The Lord is good! His love and faithfulness will last
forever." (Psalm 100.)
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1. ~~ ** Mini-Reflection ** ~~
Typically when parents are expecting a child, they go into a
"nesting mode." They don't wait for the baby to be born
to get that special room ready with all its trimmings and decor.
Jesus told His Church to do the same, to get our
"house" in order in anticipation of His Second Coming.
Christ's Second Coming is addressed to the entire world when all
will witness Him, believers and unbelievers alike. This is
different from His "personal coming," which happens on
an individual basis upon the individual's invitation and desire.
Many speak about His gift of eternal life with Him in a way that
suggests we have to wait until we die and leave this world
"to be with Him" to receive this gift. Let me suggest
we don't have to wait until we physically die. Our eternal life
with Him begins when we embrace Christ and ask Him to dwell with
us. It begins now. So does the ambassadorship of His kingdom with
the powers and responsibilities of that office. Awesome reality,
isn't it?
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2. ~~ ** Product and Services Updates ** ~~
Regarding our ministry outreach, a pastor and former missionary
confirmed our reporting that the Internet is a major avenue
through which foreign missionaries and nationals access not only
Bibles in their native languages but commentary, teachings and
even music.
He also mentioned a sad trend, confirmed by two other sources:
While Americans continue to focus on foreign regions as mission
fields, other countries are sending missionaries to the US!
Aren't we taking care of our own? Sadly, evidently not. K. P.
Yohannan administers "Gospel for Asia". (You can visit
them at www.gfa.org.) GFA's philosophy is to discourage American
missionaries in India. Reason? American missionaries typically
(not all of course) expect a standard of living similar to what
they are used to, schooling for their children, transportation of
their property at great expense, etc., which involves enormous
funds, most of which do not directly go to disseminating the
Gospel and starting churches. There are language difficulties and
cultural differences that hinder the opening of the hears and
hearts of the native people to American missionaries. (I suspect
the same would be true for the foreign missionaries who now work
in US inner cities and American Indian Reservations, where
American missionaries would rather not go and take their
families.) Mission organizations like Gospel for Asia have an
excellent structure in which to train and support Christian
nationals already there who can do a better job than Americans at
a fraction of the cost. Hundreds of nationals can be supported
for the same cost to sponsor an American. They do need our funds
and they know what they are doing in their own countries, just as
we know what needs to be done in ours.
On another note, we keep adding more inventory to our online
store. Please keep checking in to "window shop" and
support our ministry and livelihoods with your purchases. We
offer secure order options by check or credit cards and work hard
at servicing our customers.
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3. ~~ ** Subscriber Sharings ** ~~
No sharings this week! There is so much to teach each other.
Please, let everyone hear from you. (All sharings are posted here
anonymously unless you request otherwise.)
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4. ~~ ** Cruising Christian Cyberspace! ** ~~
Last week we explained how we were temporarily deviating from our
usual practice of reviewing and featuring a Christian web site
for the week. Instead we provided 15 links to Christian-based
resources in the areas of mental health, spiritual growth and
personal support. We promised more this week and here they are:
http://www.season.org/ Anxiety/Panic
http://www.mckconsultinginc.com/divorce.htm Separation/Divorce
http://www.crosssearch.com/cgi-bin/bounce/8191 Catastrophic
Illness
http://www.suffering.net/ Suffering
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~smtiger/wings/ Tragic Death
http://www.turningpoint.org/ Financial
http://www.vwam.com/vets/ Vietnam Healing/War
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5. ~~ ** Let us know! ** ~~
Let us know your thoughts on this week's Reflection. Let us know
how you can help us in our ministry outreach and how we can help
you in yours. Let us know how we can improve our web site and
online store and provide better educational and product services.
Let us know of the spiritual challenges you face in your region
of this world, and your triumphs. Let us know your prayer
requests. Please keep in touch and let us know!
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6. This week's Weekly Reflection follows. Please
encourage others to
subscribe! Share this newsletter with many of your friends and
help spread
the word. That's our only means of growing and reaching more
people, your recommendations to others.
So in gratitude to God for all things, let me bid you grace in
the Name of
our Lord and please keep in touch with us! We are blessed to hear
from you!
John
John S. Hilkevich, Ph.D.
Spiritual Resource Services: Prayergear.com!
~ Education, Services and Products
in the Christian Faith ~
www.prayergear.com
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WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
Adjusting the Focal Length
Part 3 of 4
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What's New/Article Index / Home/Welcome Page
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