This Sunday, November 4

During the 11:15 a.m. worship

Three Ways to Confuse a Christian

Great article by Brooks Hanes (and not too long either). Just click on the link below.

http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1890

Worship

You have all heard the phrase, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." In other words, if you don’t risk anything, you won’t gain anything.

To truly live life, you have to take risks. The first step, however, in the process is to define your passion.

Join us, Sunday, as we begin our new series, Life=Risk.

Poll: Atheists Less Likely to "Do Good"

www.crosswalk.com

Is it necessary to believe in God in order to have solid personal values? A new survey seems to answer that question with a "yes."

According to Baptist Press, the survey by a pollster at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, found that adults who profess a belief in God are significantly more likely than atheists to say that forgiveness, patience, generosity and a concern for others are "very important." In fact, the poll found that on 11 of 12 values, there was a double-digit gap between theists and atheists, with theists more likely to label each value "very important."

The survey by sociologist and pollster Reginald Bibby examined the beliefs of 1,600 Canadians, 82 percent who said they believed in "God or a higher power" and 18 percent who said they did not.

Worship

The heavens are telling the glory of God, and their expanse declares the work of His hands. Night after night they remind us of just how small we are, and how huge God is.

Looking out into the far reaches of the universe, we find a seemingly infinite expanse of mystery and wonder, intricately fashioned by a God of unfathomable size and power. Just a glimpse of one of the billions of visible galaxies He has formed resizes us, shrinking us, and the world we call home, to seeming insignificance in an instant.

However, as tiny as we may seem, the God who knows every star by name also knows yours, and mine. And in the most stunning rescue imaginable, God sent His Son to this spinning planet we call home--the Creator reconnecting us to Himself with life that never ends.

Join us, Sunday, on an image-rich journey through the cosmos...allowing us to peer into God's universe to discover the amazing magnitude of His greatness and grace.

Thorn vs. Cross

"Some well-meaning Christians confuse the thorn and the cross. The thorn, to me, is something God puts in our lives that keeps us conscious of our dependence on him. Paul had the thorn; Jacob had the limp. The thorn is a constant reminder, but each day I must make the conscious decision to shoulder the cross and go forward."

~Fred Smith, consulting editor, Leadership magazine

Staying Fresh Against the Weariness of Life

Pat Morley

Weekly Briefing - Man In the Mirror
Volume 236
June 25, 2007

Recently a friend expressed feeling the early stages of being burned out. I can feel his pain, can’t you? I feel like I am always pushing a large boulder up a hill. Budging the boulder forward a few inches consumes enormous effort, but then it easily rolls back a few feet. Why is that?

You believe God called you to your task. You strain and strive with every mental muscle and bodily sinew to answer the call and be faithful. It’s working, but not smoothly. It’s coming, but not quickly. You can’t help but wonder, “Did I misunderstand God’s call? Was it really God speaking to me?” Or, like Solomon, we cry out, “Meaningless, meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” That’s not true just because he said it, of course, but it is hard to stay positive when we have to manage our lives against the Fall. After a while it just wears you down.

How can we stay fresh against the weariness of life?

Read on at: http://www.maninthemirror.org/weeklybriefing/wb0236.htm

West Virginia Baptist Convention

Annual Meeting

October 16-17

South Parkersburg Baptist Church

Worship

We've come to the last week in the Jesus: Different series. During the past few weeks, we've looked at how Jesus thought, saw, spoke, and acted differently...and the challenges for us who claim to follow him.

So...what now? Simply put, it's time to put on the Chuck Taylors.

Come worship with us, Sunday, and find out what that's all about.

U.S. Religious...but Religiously Illiterate

from http://www.crosswalk.com/

An article in the Indianapolis Star reports that the United States, one of the most religious countries in the world, is also a nation of appalling religious illiteracy. The article discusses Stephen Prothero's "revealing" book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't.

According to Prothero, in the U.S., "faith without understanding is the standard" and "religious ignorance is bliss." He also regards religious illiteracy as dangerous "because religion is one of the most volatile components of culture and has been, in addition to one of the greatest forces for good in the world, (also) one of the greatest forces for evil."

Some examples the article cites of our country's religious illiteracy include: "nearly two-thirds of Americans endorse the teaching of creationism in our public schools, [but] fewer than half can identify the Book of Genesis... [Just under half] of Americans attribute the words "Let there be light" to Thomas Edison... Two-thirds believe that the Bible is God's word, only half of American adults can name even one of the Four Gospels... Ten percent of Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife."

Energy

"If we Christians would take all that energy we put into proving we're right and everyone else is wrong and invested that energy in pursuing and doing good, somehow I think more people would believe we are right. "

from A New Kind of Christian, by Brian McLaren
p. 61

Worship

If there had been such a thing as a telephone directory in Jesus' day, do you think he would have had an ad in the Yellow Pages?

Something like...

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Performing miracles since AD 26

• Leprosy


• Blindness


• Demon Possession (our specialty)

Call for an appointment

I don't think so. He did things differently.

Worship with us, Sunday, and find out how.

Growing Up

Leader's Insight: So Many Christian Infants

Why are we so good at leading people to faith and so bad at prodding them to maturity?

by Gordon MacDonald, Leadership editor at largeI

I have been musing on the words of Martin Thornton: "A walloping great congregation," he wrote, "is fine and fun, but what most communities really need is a couple of saints. The tragedy is that they may well be there in embryo, waiting to be discovered, waiting for sound training, waiting to be emancipated from the cult of the mediocre."

"Saints," he says. Mature Christians: people who are "grown-up" in their faith, to whom one assigns descriptors such as holy, Christ-like, Godly, or men or women of God.

Finish the article

Survey Says...

Survey: Top Issues of Concern for American Evangelicals

www.crosswalk.com

The Christian Post reports that leaders of the country's largest evangelical organization say dealing with changes in American culture is of utmost concern.

The National Association of Evangelicals recently surveyed its leadership and found little concern centered on national politics or the war in Iraq. Culture concerns including consumerism, materialism, family finances and the preservation of traditional families were listed as top issues of concern to the evangelical leaders representing about 30 million members.

Highest in culture concerns was reduction of abortions and defense of the sanctity of human life, according to NAE president Leith Anderson, The next likely issue of concern identified by evangelical leaders was helping the hurting, which included HIV/AIDS, poverty reduction and immigration reform.

Lord, Prop Us Up

A church member sent this to me...

Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old deacon who always prayed, "Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side."

After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

He answered, 'Well sir, you see, it's like this....I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time, it's withstood a lot of weather, it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood for many years. It's still standing, but one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit. So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall.

Then I got to thinking 'bout that and how much I was like that old barn. I been around a long time, I've withstood a lot of life's storms, I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I've withstood a lot of hard times, And I'm still standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, 'cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times.'

Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that we shouldn't, so we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up on our leaning side,' so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorifythe Lord.