Pray for Elections in Sudan today!

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Please be in prayer for the elections that are occurring today in Sudan.? They are the first free elections that they will have had in 24 years.? The presidency is at stake with the current president Omar al-Bashir; having allegations of ties to Osama Ben Laden as well as being charged by the International Crimes Court for crimes against humanity .? The elections are being monitored by international oversight, including former President Jimmy Carter.? There is substantial fear that these elections are not fair, free elections because several of the other opposition party candidates have dropped out of the race.

Rob Wegner, Pastor of Life Mission at Granger Community Church says it better than I can on his post this morning…

Would you take a minute and pray for an upset right now? Elections are occuring as you read this.

This election does concern us. We serve a Global God and that makes us a Global People.? First and foremost, we are citizens of the international Kingdom of God. We do have skin in the game in Sudan. Right now, without leaving your computer, you can exercise a global influence through prayer. From the light of eternity, we will be shocked to discover that some of our most influential moments were the moments spent in secret prayer, unnoticed by the masses, but duly noted by our Maker.. . .

EnterMission has been fueling a grassroots church planting movement in Sudan for the last two years.? Currently,

?we have 125 church planters in training,

?who have personally shared the Good News with more than 34,000 people.

?.Out of that number over 7,500 have joined on-going Bible Studies, which will be transitioned into new churches.

?Over 2,950 men and women have been baptized into the faith and

? already 32 churches are up and running!

This is where the hope for Sudan ultimately lies, not in a government, but a Kingdom, a peaceable Kingdom.

As everything else has fallen apart in Sudan, the Church has not only remained, but thrived. In many communities, our church planters are the ones providing food, shelter, clean water, and even, education.

Let us pray today for our brothers and sisters in Sudan.? That as the words of this young man in the video says, “that we might have peace.”

Amen.? So let it be.

Salam Sudan from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.

Mosaic hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest

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The Super Bowl is not only the biggest stage for American football, but almost as importantly, it is the biggest stage in the advertising and marketing industry. ?Groups spend millions and millions of dollars to get people’s attention. ?Check out this creative ad, “Casket,” for the Super Bowl made by Mosaic Church in LA. ?Erwin McManus is the pastor of this very innovative church that has a ton of members that are a part of the TV and film industry in LA.

?Casket? was inspired by one of our team member?s funeral experience where his deceased grandfather requested to be buried with a beer and cigarettes. ?Casket? is a commercial where a guy stages his own funeral just to munch Doritos and watch football undisturbed ? in a casket. But of course, things don?t go as planned. (from vote for casket.com)

There is a good AP article explaining the reasoning behind their lighthearted spoof.

“We’re not trying to use Doritos to propagate a message, but I think we want people to know that we have a sense of humor, that it’s OK to laugh,” McManus said. “So much of what comes out of the faith community seems so dour and somber and we want to say, ‘Hey, we’re real people. You can be a person of faith and really enjoy life and laugh.”

Phil Cooke, a Christian producer, filmmaker and author says this about the commercial.

“Nobody’s going to fall on their knees and accept Jesus as a result of this spot. But advertisers on Madison Avenue spend millions on a Super Bowl spot because they know it influences people,” said Cooke, the producer. “It might not get someone converted, but I think it will get someone to say, ‘Maybe there is something I ought to investigate.'”

What do you think? ?How do you like the “soft” sell approach to faith?

LA megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest – Yahoo! News.

Monday is for Missions…and mudpies

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Wow, what an awesome day at Forest Park Carthage yesterday! ?We had a ton of new faces at both of our services. ?We also got a ton of people signed up for LifeGroups! Exciting things are happening here in Carthage!

Monday is for Missions…

  • Keep praying for Haiti. ?FP has had over 60 people interested in going on relief trips to Haiti. ?We have raised well over $1000 to go to Haiti.
  • FP has a group in Kenya this week. ?Pray for them as they minister in His name at the Mattaw Children’s Village
  • We just had a group get back from Fort Worth, TX yesterday that were working in the inner city with a church downtown.

Too good of a post to pass up on this Monday afternoon…Enjoy! ?This is from Matt Wilkie’s blog this week. ?Powerful!!

A few months?ago, I got my own?Haitian mudpie. It sits on my desk. This gift from our Haiti director,Kevin Rose, has reminded me to pray for the poorest people in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

mudpie

On Tuesday, like every other ?normal? day in Haiti, people in the poorest areas of?the country?were eating these for lunch. Some ate them for breakfast that morning and dinner the night before as well. They?re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt.

I?m going to type that again?they?re made of dried yellow dirt, vegetable oil and salt. They?re real mudpies. People eat them.

Then an earthquake hit.

I?m still processing things?but I for now, I wanted to mention the mudpies.

around the world with Jesus ? Blog Archive ? Mudpies for lunch Tuesday, and then?.

Operation Christmas Box–Alaska Style!

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Monday is for Missions

lindyalaska1

I have a good friend from high school that is married to a Trooper in Alaska…the great white north of Alaska! ?You think it is cold here in the Ozarks last week! ?They have to scrape ice off their storm door…on the inside…to get in and out of their front door!

I thought this was really cool what their church did for Christmas to serve people who are less fortunate! ?Awesome stuff! ?Check out her blog as well. ?She doesn’t post too much because the internet is really slow up there, but each post is pretty interesting!

lindyalaska2

Icey & Spicey Tales from the Great North: Operation Christmas Box.

People existing on the margins of survival

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I have a friend of mine, Matt Wilkie, that I went to Kickapoo HS with that has an awesome job.? He works with Convoy of Hope now as the director of the internship program.? He has such a huge heart for missions and the gospel extending around the world. Formerly, he worked for Book of Hope and traveled “around the world with Jesus”–hence the name of his blog.

You have to click on this link and read his post about the people of Peru “on the margins of survival.”? May we all pray for the solutions for getting the Gospel to “people existing on the margins of survival.”

around the world with Jesus ? Blog Archive ? People existing on the margins of survival.