PRAYERGEAR.COM / SPIRITUAL RESOURCE SERVICES NEWSLETTER
July 27, 2000; Issue 55: The Call of Christ, Special Edition

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<>< CONTENTS <><

1. Mini-Reflection
2. Cruising Christian Cyberspace!
3. Prayergear.com product and services updates
4. Let us know!
5. Weekly Reflection: "The Call of Christ", Special Edition

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Greetings in the Name of our Lord to all of you and welcome to our new subscribers! Your forwarding these Newsletters to interested others helps this ministry grow. Thank you.

Although we concluded our four part Weekly Reflection series on The Call of Christ, we added one more as a "special edition" addressed to the general population. This will be listed under the What's New/Article Index page rather than the Weekly Reflection page of our web site. We pray to our Lord for continued guidance for this ministry and our gratitude.

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1. ~~ ** Mini-Reflection ** ~~

"For three weeks I was in sorrow. I ate no fancy food or meat, I drank no wine, and I put no olive oil on my face or hair. Then, on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was standing on the banks of the great Tigris River, when I looked up and saw someone dressed in linen and wearing solid gold belt. His body was like a precious stone, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming fires, his arms and legs like polished bronze, and his voice like the roar of a crowd...[He] said, 'Daniel, your God thinks highly of you, and He has sent me. So stand up and pay close attention.' I stood trembling, while the angel said: 'Daniel, don't be afraid! God has listened to your prayers since the first day you humbly asked for understanding, and He has sent me here. But the guardian angel [demonic prince] of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, who is one of the strongest guardian angels, came to rescue me from the kings of Persia.'...While this angel was speaking to me, I stared at the ground, speechless. Then he appeared in human form and touched my lips. I said, 'Sir, this vision has brought me great pain and has drained my strength. I am merely your servant. How can I possibly speak with someone so powerful, when I am almost too weak to get my breath?' The angel touched me a second time and said, 'Don't be frightened! God thinks highly of you, and He intends this for your good, so be brave and strong.' At this, I regained my strength and replied, 'Please speak! You have already made me feel much better.'" (Daniel 10:2-19.)

Spiritual warfare is waged on many levels, involving great forces and entities unseen to physical eyes. While Daniel was waiting three weeks for his answer, he must have felt forsaken. He could not perceive that the prince of evil was detaining God's angelic messenger. In the Book of Hebrews, Paul writes about many who lived in faith. "What else can I say? There isn't enough time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms, and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed the jaws of lions and put raging fires and escaped from the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away." (Hebrews 11:32-34.) These were "people just like us." And, someday, we will meet them personally. These are awesome realities, and their stories are told for our encouragement. Let us join their faith, and put it into practice today.

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2. ~~ ** Cruising Christian Cyberspace! ** ~~

Our web site feature of the week is

Christian Pirate Radio
(http://www.mycpr.com)

No, despite the word "pirate", this is not the Christian equivalent of Napster! Its music is for sale to support Christian artists but the reason we suggest to check it out is because there are so many places in our nation and through out the world where Christian music isn't available on radio. The Good News of South Florida reports that CPR is the second most listened to Internet radio in this country. The site features live webcasts for your viewing pleasure as well as the top 40 Christian labels and an extensive archive of selections that you can play while surfing or working on the Internet.

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3. ~~ ** Prayergear.com Product and Service Updates ** ~~

Regarding our CCC feature above, we have also added new (and popular old) releases on CD and cassette. Click on the music section on our online store welcome page.

Almost daily we receive inquiries about desired products that are not posted on our online inventory. Happily, almost always, we are able to locate them on our distributors' data bases. Let us know if there is something you cannot find in your local stores and we are confident in helping you successfully. Please patronize our store (and encourage others to take a look) and thus help support our ministries.

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4. ~~ ** Let us know! ** ~~

Earlier we wrote about Daniel's weakness and feeling of forsakenness, not knowing God's message was being delayed by intense spiritual warfare. I am reminded of Jesus' mournful cry on the cross, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" Since my childhood I have repeatedly heard from many preachers the same explanation: At that moment Jesus became sin for us. God could not look upon sin and so had to turn His gaze away from His Son until the sacrifice was completed. However, let's think this over in the context of the entire Bible. All through the Scriptures God looked upon sin...that of Satan and one-third of His fallen angels, of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the world during Noah's time, of the Israelites in the desert, etc. He looks upon the sin of this world which is why God sent His Son to us in the first place. So is that prevalent explanation Biblical? Was there something else going on in Jesus just before He cried, "It is finished"? Have you felt forsaken but knew in your soul it wasn't reality? And what did you do about it? Let us know and we'll share your thoughts, with permission, with the other subscribers.

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5. ~~ This week's Weekly Reflection follows below ~~

Thank you again for letting us connect with you in word and spirit. As written in the Scriptures, let us continue to encourage one another!

God bless!

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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For a more attractively formatted Weekly Reflection or links to previous
Reflections, point your browser to

http://www.prayergear.com/CallofChrist.html

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WEEKLY REFLECTIONS

The Call of Christ

(Special Edition)