RENEW International has renewed individuals belief in parishes and communities all over the world. It has helped more than 25 million American citizens and followers in twenty-two countries experience the spiritual transformation of living in Gods grace. RENEW International shows its ministry how to live according to Scripture and to strengthen their kinship with God.

RENEW International is a international Catholic ministry who has changed the lives of many thousands of individuals spiritually in need all over the world. Based in the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, it stems from the vision and partnership of Msgr. Tom Kleissler and Msgr. Tom Ivory. They strongly believed in a resuscitated Church, where laypersons were integrally involved with parish, civic, and world issues. A cornerstone of RENEW International programs, is the idea of breaking up a parish into small, caring communities where participants read the scriptures and belief-share. These groups furnish an opportunity for learning, praying, and living the Gospel both as individuals and a community.

Through RENEW International, parishioners discover to trust and support one another as they gather to study, reflect, and pray. Participants of RENEW International programs experience a rejuvenated spirit. They become more committed, filled Catholics with a stronger kinship with God.

The Time Period of Writing of The Old Testament

The first book of the Bible, Genesis (which was written by Moses), was penned around 1500 BC. The book of Job was written around this same time, possibly earlier. The last book written of the Old Testament was Malachi, and it was written as late as 400 BC

The Time Span Covered In The Old Testament

The Old Testament begins with the creation of the universe, and all that is in it (around 4000 B.C., according to the calculations from the Old Testament). Then, the next major event is the Flood, which took place in Noah’s day (1600 BC). About 400 years later, Abraham is called by God and told he would become the father of many nations (1900 BC). Moses leads the children of Israel out of Egypt (1450 BC). David is crowned king around 1056 BC; and his son Solomon builds the Temple and completes it (1004 BC). Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, conquers Israel, destroys the Temple (586 BC), and moves the captives of Israel to Babylon. Israel remains in Babylon for 70 years, as was prophesied by Jeremiah, and returns when Cyrus makes a decree permitting them to do so – exactly at the end of the 70 years.

The Theme of The Old Testament

The theme of the entire Bible is “redemption,” from the first page all the way to the last. The Old Testament, however, focuses only on the beginning of God’s redemption of mankind.

While many are very quick to say that the Old Testament reveals God to be harsh, this really is not the case. The truth is not quite so simple, however. What must be taken into consideration is the understanding of what God is, and what it is that He is trying to do. Three things should help here:

1. Who is God? He is holy and separate from sin. There is no sin in Him, and He cannot and will not tolerate it.

2. What is God trying to teach? Repeatedly He seeks to show, not only Israel, but also all men, that He loves, will forgive their sin, and will bless them if they turn from it and walk in fellowship (obedience, with love) with Him.

3. What is God working to accomplish? In all His actions, He will never do more than is necessary to get man’s attention, to listen to His offers of love and fellowship, and to get His people established in a consistent walk with Him.
Can God’s love be seen in the Old Testament? Yes, plainly and consistently. The fact that He shows mercy at all is an indication of His love. God could have ended the whole mankind project, and had reason to do so, more than once: Adam and Eve’s sin, the Flood, the many strayings of Israel – especially in the Wilderness. Had God simply destroyed Israel, then there could have been no Savior – which was promised to come from the lineage of David.

How was Redemption Obtained in the Old Testament?

While this principle is not understood by many, the Bible is plain about redemption always being the same – it has always been by faith in God, and His Word. The whole Bible illustrates this for us, through every sacrifice offered, by the principles given (Leviticus 17:11), and the promises of God. Beginning with Adam and Eve, because of their sin God had killed two animals (shed their blood – the innocent for the guilty), and they took the coats of skins as God’s payment for their sin.

What Are Some Of The Great Passages Of The Old Testament?

1. Creation – Genesis 1,2

2. The Fall of Adam And Eve – Genesis 3

3. The Noahic Flood – Genesis 6-9

4. The Call of Abraham – Genesis 12

5. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – Genesis 18,19

6. The Passover, and Israel Leaves Egypt _Exodus 12-14

7. The Ten Commandments – Exodus 20

8. David Kills Goliath – I Samuel 17

10. The Shepherd’s Psalm – Psalm 23

11. Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication At Completion of The

Temple – II Chronicles 7

Every sacrifice after that, offered Biblically, was a picture of God’s demand that blood be shed, because all sin demanded the death penalty. The ultimate Sacrifice, Christ, would provide a total forgiveness for sin forever, through faith, and there would be no further need for blood sacrifices.

© 2006, Cypress Street Publishing, this article may be used for reprint as long as the authors byline and live link is included.

About the Author

Christine Smith has loved writing since early childhood. Her recent e-book End Time Secrets has taken the internet by storm and can be found at http://endtimesecrets.com.

I tried to place an advertizement in the local paper. Unfortunately, the word ‘Christian’ was used. This word caused offense (I was advertising a baby sitting service), and was politely informed that I could not discriminate by using the word Christian. Allegedly this was in violation of some or other law (Federal law).

My first reaction was – total aghast. I was horrified. As I was doing this as a favor for a congregation member, I decided to leave it as is. Later on, I realized the danger of letting this go unchallenged. I did some research, and discovered that the newspaper had no grounds to reject my ad. When I called the newspaper up and requested further information on which law I was violating, the response was ‘Equal Employment’. I pointed out that I was not trying to fill a vacancy, but rather solicit clients! The ad manager had to call me back to clarify.

Isn’t it amazing, the mere mention of the word ‘Christian’ caused offense that he did not have to read the ad further, but rather be on the safe side, reject the word. What has our society come to that the word Christian is cause for offense? The word ‘Christian’ is not allowed to be placed in ads?

I know you know this, but perhaps you have forgotten? The root word of Christian is Christ. Imagine a society where we are afraid of using HIS name in our media, because it may cause offense! This is the same name that so many “so called” agnostics use when in a fox hole and the artillery is falling everywhere, cry out to . This is the same name that so many violate daily in their cursing, the same name that mothers cry out when their children are on death’s bed, or when loved one’s are dying prematurely. We all call on Christ at some or other stage in our lives…in fact the first thing you do when you are born is speak the name of God. Your first breath, sounds like the Hebrew name :”Yahweh”. The last thing you do before you die is speak out God’s Name – your last breath. Your breath is the name that God spoke to Moses. When Moses asked God :”What is your name, God replied: Y – H – W- H” This is the sound of breath – the sound you make when you breath in or out. How is it then that every time you breath in or out, you are calling upon God, but we cannot use the name of HIS son in schools, in the work place or in ads.

I wonder if the world realizes what would happen if we were not allowed to say the name of God anymore. Well…go on try it. Stop saying God’s name for 5 minutes. All those that tried this, are not with us anymore…you can’t hold your breath for 5 minutes.

God breathed into us when HE formed us. Breath is our life. Without breath we are not able to live in our human form. Every breath you take, you acknowledge God. How silly of man to try and stop us from breathing…

About the Author

Pastor of a rural church in Ky. Has a Deliverence Ministry – has one book published (Demystifying the End Times) and is waiting for the second one to be published.

email pastortim@bellsouth.net

Answer
No. With the exception of Catholics the general interpretation of this chapter is that the woman represents the nation of Israel, the twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel, and the man child is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible offers no queen of heaven only an omnipotent God who is father to the redeemed, one prince to occupy the throne, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and one Spirit by which we are all made one in the believing church of Jesus Christ. I am convinced, that if we could hear Mary the Mother of Jesus speaking to us today about all the divine attachments and attributes that we have laid on her, she would probably reply with a simple, cut it out!

The only other mother that might come in as a close second to Mary for receiving unearned accolades would he Mother Nature. But no mother has ever been sent to be the propitiation for our sins. It behooves us to stay focused in this troubled time. Handing over divine attributes to someone who probably only wants to rest like everyone else is not considered focusing. The last days are not a time for unfounded fodder, fickle phantasms, and far fetched fluff.

Question
Who are the one hundred and forty four thousand people who receive a special mark on them in Revelation 7:3-4?

Answer
It has always puzzled me over the years that so many people have asked this question. The passage clearly says who these people are. They are twelve thousand Jews from each of the twelve tribes of Israel who are marked, preserved and protected and probably mightily used during the last three and one half years of the antichrist’s reign of terror. Perhaps what people are really unsure about is why these people are sealed rather than who they are. They are Jewish people who some people think may be supernaturally converted to Christ at the resurrection of the two prophets in Revelation chapter eleven. Since some Christians have never been taught why they are converted they have appointed some special function to them for the last days. That function although not clearly outlined is thought to he the preaching of the gospel during the last few years of the antichrist’s rule.

The Bible does not actually outline a specific purpose for them as it is commonly taught but it does, however, give a specific reason for their lives being preserved. That reason is the keeping of a promise that God gave to them repeatedly over the centuries. The promise is that he would save a remnant of them (the Jews) for himself.

After centuries of chastisement for missing the time of their visitation God will look with favor on the Jews and pull out a remnant for his own name. Luke 19:44. Isa. 10:21f. I am glad that God keeps his promises and I am also glad that these people who have suffered so severely will finally see their Savior and enjoy the rewards of serving him in one of the highest places in the entire scheme of things.

Rev Bresciani has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote “Hook Line and Sinker or what has Your Church Been Teaching You,” publisher, PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book published by Xulon Press entitled “An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ.” His book is now being heralded as the clearest book on the subject of the second coming of Christ since Hal Lindsey’s “Late Great Planet Earth” Rev Bresciani’s website is,

http://americanprophet.org

Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013 Terry Dashner, pastor

Albert P. Stauderman writes in his book, Let Me Illustrate (Augsburg Publishing House, 1983), an interesting story. Stauderman writes, “During World War II, the ‘cargo cult’ developed among the primitive and superstitious natives of New Guinea. As they watched the American soldiers, they observed that whenever something was needed, a merchant ship or plane brought it in. They decided that there was some magic about this, and connected it with the army uniforms. Eagerly they made off with discarded uniforms and even stole uniforms, expecting that this would give them the power to obtain valuable materials, presumably from the white men’s gods. Maybe they are still waiting.”

This brings me to a topic of discussion–hope. Hope can be true or false. May I ask you a question? Are you planning for a bright future? You should. There is nothing wrong in planning, working, and longing for a prosperous future. With God all things are possible. God is preparing a grand future for us (John 14). This is a Biblical fact. Unfortunately the problem for some is that they are pinning their future on false hopes. This is dangerous. If your hope is based on some kind of magic in the sky, you’re magic might disappoint you.

I remember reading this story by the same author who is cited above. At the World’s Fair in 1939 at San Francisco, one of the attractions was a pile of money said to total $1,000,000. For 25 cents, visitors were allowed to touch the money. Were they any richer for it, or were they just 25 cents poorer? Again, false ideas and false hopes can rob people even of the little they have.

My prayer for you today is this. I pray that God may bless you with all spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Christ is our true hope. He is our only hope against deception. Jesus is our only hope for a bright and glorious future.

Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon. This is our blessed Hope.

Pastor T.

This lesson focuses on the promises of God and his unfailing, immutable steadfastness as He administers His promises. Before we can stand on His promises (or the promises of anyone), we must first trust the reputation of the promiser (the one doing the promising). You see, promises are useless if the promiser is not able to maintain his word. When one changes his promises from time to time, the promises are also less powerful (actually useless) than if we know that the terms of a promise are the same from time to time.

With God, we know that we have an unchangable, all-powerful God Who has all the power in the universe to back up his every promise. Our most accurate source for information about God is the Bible, which repeatedly indicates that He has always existed, and that He created the heavens, the earth, and the entire universe. (Gen. 1:1-2:3, Job 38-39, John 1:1-5, Rev. 1:8).

Wise King Solomon wrote about God, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it” (Ecc. 3:14a). One of David’s Psalms tells us: “But the Lord shall endure forever” (Ps. 9:7a). Another tells us: “But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.” (Ps. 102:12). Later in the same psalm, we read: “Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.” (PS. 102: 25-27).

Recorded in the book of Numbers, Balaam, speaking on behalf of God, says to Balak: “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: for He hath said, and shall he not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19). O, what a wonderful thing to know, that the God which speaks promises is a God that does not lie, does take back what He says He is going to do, and does not speak and not make it good! How many times have we been promised by someone something and they do not “make it good”? And here we have it, God will make it good. His Word is always good; He always does what He says He is going to do.

Later in history, when the Israelites were again testing God by turning away from Him and His goodness and prosperity, Malachi the prophet records the Word of God: “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6a). In the New Testament, after the death and resurrection of our personal Saviour, the Son of God Himself, the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). And these are but a few of the references in the Bible to God’s immutability and His constancy.

When He promises something, he means to keep His promise! He never casually makes a promises or offers a blessing (or, beware, a curse) if He is not going to back up His Word with action. Once He initiates a promise or a covenant, His part of it will always hold true, regardless of what we do.

Questions for discussion:

What do we know about the promises of God?

What does it really mean that His promises are backed up by His unchanging nature?

What does it mean to you personally, that His word is always sure and steadfast?

Does this change the way you see the God of the Universe, recognizing that He doesn’t simply create some promises for one time and circumstance, and others for other times and circumstances, but that His nature requires that His promises are consistent throughout all time?

Note: Scripture references are from the KJV.

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. © Sean Mize 2006

That seems simple enough, but for some reason we don’t get it. We think we have to run our own lives and make things happen. If something isn’t going right we think we have to fix it. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to make something happen that is never meant to happen.

I’ve heard it said that if you try to teach a pig to sing, it will frustrate you and irritate the pig. If that pig is meant to sing God will lead him to sing without your help.

Sometimes, we are to just take our hands off of things and let God take care of it. Let Him do what only He can do and not worry about the outcome. Believe that He has your best interest in mind for He has a wonderful plan for each believer. (Jeremiah 29:11)
God wants to govern our lives. When we become saved, the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts and wants full control. We must die to the flesh and give Him that control or else we will be fighting against Him. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

I encourage you to read Mathew 6:19-34 where Jesus is saying, “Take no thought for your life.” Ask God to make it alive to you so that you may fully grasp this portion of scripture. You are meant to be free of stress, reasoning, worry and everything else that weighs you down.

You don’t have to struggle, worry, try to figure everything out, and try to make things happen. God wants us to dwell in His secret place and abide under His shadow (Psalm 91:1) and cast all of our care upon Him, for He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7) He is our Heavenly Father who wants to take care of His children.

“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

About the Author

Daniel N. Brown is the publisher of the “Living the Abundant and Prosperous Christian Life” Newsletter. A free weekly publication that teaches people how to live the abundant and prosperous Christian life. Receieve a free copy of Dan’s 14 page report entitled, “5 Biblical Keys to Outrageous Prosperity,” when you sign up. www.secretplaceonline.com

(ISBN 0-7852-7155-4 http://www.thomasnelson.com and http://www.nelsonword.com)

Shirley Caesar understood growing up in poverty,losing a parent(major bread winner) at an early age, having a semi-invalid mother, living in a world of predjuice but she knew how to hold on to the Lord Jesus Christ. This book is very inspiring and I would recommend it to families who are struggling, those who have lost a parent, women, mothers and choir attendants. Your local church could consider starting/or adding books to their library for those to check out and this would be one that I would recommend. Quoted from “Shirley Caesar Autobiography” In 1984, Shirley traveled to the Middle East and on a tour the cab driver warned I wouldn’t talk about Jesus in Jerusalem, because He Was a troublemaker. “Miracle Worker” Shirley Caesar tried to sing power and holy instead of singing “Jesus” but the Holy Spirit told her, “If you’re ashamed to own Me before these people in Israel, then I’ll be ashamed to own you before my Father in heaven.” Shirley, threw her head back and began to s-h-o-u-t the name of Jesus and she’ll never forget the thrill of hearing thousands of Jews call the name of Jesus. Their are scriptures to brighten your days and heavy loads.

The Gospel of Luke according to The Holy Bible included much emphasis on women. The w-o-m-a-n and w-o-m-e-n occur thirty times in Luke and in Matthew and Mark occure twenty-five times.

If you visit Matthew 1:3, 5 you will see an inclusion of women; my understanding is that Jesus is the all wise Saviour and He is available for men, women and all.

When C. H. Spurgeon said, “The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the Great God.”

Pray for all women, children worldwide…pray for ALL

Taking Care of The Father’s Business First…Luke 15:1-7, Mark 2:1-3:6

Ivan was so busy doing battle that some of his comrades became concerned because he hadn’t taken time to get married and have a family. They came to him and said “You’ve got to get married because you’ve got to have an heir to the throne.” But Ivan said “I want to do battle and to conquer more territory, you go find a wife for me.” So they did.

Ivan’s men found a wife for him from the daughter of the king of Greece, a beautiful girl. They said to Ivan, “We found a wife for you, but there’s one problem.” “What’s that?” he asked. “If you’re going to marry her, you have to be Greek Orthodox,” they said. Ivan the Great said, “Well, if you think she’d make a good wife for me, that’s no problem, I could be Greek Orthodox.”

The king of Greece was thrilled with this because it meant that Ivan wasn’t going to invade his territory. So the Greeks sent tutors to Russia to tutor Ivan and 500 of his elite soldiers, everyone a great warrior. The soldiers required tutoring because Ivan said, “If I’m going to be Greek Orthodox, they’re going to be Greek Orthodox.”

They tutored all these men in the Greek Orthodox faith and finally Ivan and the soldiers went down to Greece for the wedding. But before the marriage they had to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox church. It was an incredible sight as thousands of people came to watch Ivan the Great and his 500 soldiers all wade into the water at one time to be baptized by immersion into their new church.

Five hundred soldiers with full armor and five hundred Greek Orthodox priests were standing in the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea for the baptism, when all of a sudden the king of Greece said, “We’ve got a problem.” The problem was that in the Greek Orthodox church you could not be a warrior and a member of the church at the same time.

So they held a hastily-called diplomatic meeting in the water to ask, “How are we going to work this out?” They came up with a simple answer. Just before the priests immersed the soldiers, each man took out his sword, held it high above the water, and allowed the priest to baptize everything but his sword arm. This came to be known as “the unbaptized arm.”

There are many Christians today who have unbaptized checkbooks. They have dedicated every part of their life to God except their money. As someone has said, “The last thing to be converted is our pocketbook.”

Copyright 2006 Rod Rogers

Rod Rogers, D.Min., is a stewardship consultant, speaker, and author. His ten-step Dynamic Giving System has helped over 900 churches worldwide biblically increase their giving 10% – 300% in five weeks. Get a FREE twelve-page eSermon when you sign up for his FREE monthly e-zine. http://www.profitautomation.com/app/contact.asp?id=64228

It appears that all most all World Religions are similar in many regards and all used to control the society, culture and maintain the civilization. They often do this thru fear, but why? Well, probably because it works and works extremely well for those who fear of their life experience and cannot come to grips with questions they might have such as;

1.) How all this got here,

2.) Why we are here,

3.) How to live their lives while they are here,

4.) What happens when humans perish

5.) How the system or universe will end

Indeed it seems all of these religions seem to attempt to answer all these questions and when they cannot, they say that it is too complex for you to understand? Interesting why not humor me then? Let me be the decider of my ability to understand this so-called complex thing. Then when they cannot produce the answer they tell you to have faith? Faith, faith in what; a book, a story, a dream, a vision or a psychotic group of chanting self-induced hallucinations, is that the faith you ask me to believe in?

These fanatic religious clerics say that Allah created all this you see? In some of these Christianity off shoot cults with all sorts of modified stories they say it was this God like thing; But why? So he could rule over mankind and make us love him and devout our lives to him and if we are really good then he, like Santa Clause will bring us a reward, but of course not until we have perished? Nice guy indeed. But if someone creates you to command you to live your life or even die for this, well it kind of sounds like Hitler with an Army of clones to do his bidding and well you know that’s fine and dandy, but you know, I am just not into being anyone’s clone this time around. It almost sounds like being born into the family from hell. So be thinking on this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/