ESV: 1-Year Bible Reading Plan

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NAMB Prayer Lists/News

2011-08-31

Daily Prayer - Changes

Dear Praying Friends,

Over the next few days, we will be transitioning the Operation World 60-Day Prayer Challenge and Daily Prayer lists to a new mail server. If all goes well, the only change you should notice is a more informative daily reminder message with more specific information about the country, region, or focus of each day's prayer.

While the new server has been extensively tested, it is imaginable that we will encounter problems moving the whole list of over 11,000 people receiving these daily prayer reminders. Please don't be alarmed (and take it as an opportunity to pray for those of us working on the transition) if you see duplicate messages, receive messages for the wrong day of the 60-Day prayer challenge, or miss a message or two.

If messages are missing, please check your spam folder to make sure the messages have not gone there, and take whatever action is required on your system to identify the new messages as not being spam. Otherwise, if any problems have not been corrected after two days, please contact me (bill@gmi.org) and let me know the nature of the problem, preferably forwarding a copy of the problem message.

Thank you for your prayers and patience during this transition.

Bill Dickson
Global Mapping International 

Operation World Daily Prayer Day 172

WEC Biblica GMI

Please click here for today’s country or region, and remember to:

    Pray for the specific country or region needs

    Refer to your Operation World book, CD-ROM or DVD for further fuel for prayer

    Share today's prayer day with your friends and family - pray together

As Mark 11:7a says: ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ let’s continue to make the global house of God a house of prayer for all nations.

Operation World


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WEC Biblica GMI

2011-08-30

Zondervan Blog

Zondervan Blog


Sign up for the "Falling to Pieces" Blog Tour

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 12:08 PM PDT

 

Falling to Pieces
Learn More

Want to be one of the first to read Vannetta Chapman's upcoming Amish mystery Falling to Pieces? We're giving away 15 advanced reader copies to bloggers for review. Sign up below, and if your blog is selected we'll ship you a copy!


About Falling to Pieces: A Shipshewana Amish Mystery
Two women, one friendship quilt, and a dead body. Shipshewana will never be the same.


Callie Harper's past haunts her. Deborah Yoder is an Amish woman who loves to quilt and piece things together—even mysteries. When a murder takes place in the small town of Shipshewana, an unlikely friendship blossoms between the two women. Will they solve the murder, and will Callie let go of the past so she can embrace the future God offers her?

 

Sign up for the Falling to Pieces Blog Tour 

  1. Sign up below by Friday, September 2. If your blog is selected we'll ship you a copy of the book.
  2. Post your review on your blog during the week of October 3. Please link to your review in a comment here on Zondervan Blog, because we'd like to hear your thoughts on the story!
  3. Please post your review on your favorite book retailer's website (amazon.com, christianbook.com, etc.).
  4. In your review please mention that Zondervan gave you a free copy for the purpose of an unbiased review.

 

 (DON'T SEE A SIGNUP FORM? Go here.)

 

Also of Interest: Join Vannetta Chapman on the Amish Country Book Tour, November 10-19

Join Vanetta and her friends Amy Clipston (author of Naomi's Gift) and Shelley Shepard Gray (author of Christmas in Sugarcreek) on the Amish Country Book Tour. Learn more about the tour stops and let us know if you plan to attend at www.zondervan.com/AmishCountryTour.

Amish Country Book Tour
Let us know if you're attending at zondervan.com/AmishCountryTour.

 

About Vannetta Chapman
Find Vannetta Chapman on Facebook Vannetta Chapman (Facebook.com/VannettaChapmanBooks) is the author of inspirational Amish fiction novels. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather's birthplace of Albion, Pennsylvania. Her first novel about the Amish, A Simple Amish Christmas, quickly became a bestseller. She has published over one hundred articles in Christian family magazines and has received over two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. Chapman lives in the Texas hill country with her husband. Learn more at her website www.vannettachapman.com.

 

 

Operation World Daily Prayer Day 171

WEC Biblica GMI

Please click here for today’s country or region, and remember to:

    Pray for the specific country or region needs

    Refer to your Operation World book, CD-ROM or DVD for further fuel for prayer

    Share today's prayer day with your friends and family - pray together

As Mark 11:7a says: ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’ let’s continue to make the global house of God a house of prayer for all nations.

Operation World


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  -  E-mail List Manager: Mike.Dworak@Biblica.com

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Biblica · 1820 Jet Stream Drive · Colorado Springs, CO 80921
Phone: 800-524-1588 · Fax: 719-867-2870

WEC Biblica GMI

2011-08-29

eBook link is now working!

Click here to view this email in a web browser.

Comfort and Compassion

** The free eBook link did not work for some of you, so now it has been corrected.

A HUGE thank you for being a part of this global prayer movement.

As you continue to pray, we wanted to give you a free eBook resource to enhance your passion to pray and serve.The Great Ommission

The Great Omission
A Biblical Basis for World Evangelism - Robertson McQuilkin

In The Great Omission, respected missions thinker Robertson McQuilkin answers the question, How is it, with so many unreached peoples, there are so few Christians going?

To begin engaging in this powerful content, just click on the cover now.


tell a friend

 

Tell Your Friends!
Invite your friends to join this global prayer movement with you. Copy the link below OR simply forward this email to start praying today!

http://www.operationworld.org/join-prayer-movement

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Biblica · 1820 Jet Stream Drive · Colorado Springs, CO 80921 Phone: 800-524-1588 · Fax: 719-867-2870

 

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2011-08-26

Zondervan Blog

Zondervan Blog


Can We Trust the New Testament? News on Upcoming Debate + Recommended Reading

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 11:10 AM PDT


I'm excited for a debate happening October 1, called "Can We Trust the Text of the New Testament?"


The debate will feature Dr. Daniel B. Wallace and Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, who present cases 'for' and 'against' whether we can trust our New Testament manuscripts to tell us about Jesus and the early Church.


Since I can't make it to the debate I will probably buy a DVD. Here's why I'm excited: while I'm a professing Christian who trusts the New Testament, I only began to trust the Bible near the time I began to trust Christ. And I know plenty of people who trust neither. Some people I know are convinced by Dr. Ehrman's arguments, or similar ones, so I'll listen to the debate with one ear tuned to its value for apologetics. But I'm intrigued by these scholars' points of view anyway; I expect Dr. Ehrman to give all the best evidence against trusting the New Testament, and I expect Dr. Wallace to have clear, excellent counter-arguments.


Below you'll find event details, debater profiles, and a short list of recommended reading on whether we can trust the New Testament.

 

Attending the SMU Debate

WHEN October 1, 2011, 7pm CDT.
WHERE Dallas, TX, at Southern Methodist University's McFarlin Memorial Auditorium.
WHAT A debate for general audiences, featuring cases 'for' and 'against' trusting the text of the New Testament."

 

Learn more about the DVD Release

Can't make it to Dallas in person? A DVD of the debate will become available for purchase. Details are forthcoming, so to stay up-to-date visit smudebate.com or find SMU Debate on Facebook.

 

Who are the Debaters?

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman (bartdehrman.com), the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is a New York Times bestselling author who has published over 20 books. His book Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the Bible and Why argues that Christian scribes have corrupted the New Testament text irreparably through both uninentional errors and deliberate changes.

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman

 

 

Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM.org) and New Testament Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, has spent his life studying and digitizing ancient copies of the New Testament. He has authored and edited numerous books (including these biblical Greek resources for Zondervan). Wallace asserts we have good reason to believe that the New Testament text is reliable. Most recently Dr. Wallace has edited and contributed to Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence.

 

Dr. Daniel B. Wallace

 

 

 

Recommended Reading on Trusting the New Testament

If you're excited to look into the New Testament's trustworthiness on your own, I hope this list gives you a fun head start.

1. Reinventing Jesus by J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace
Reinventing Jesus looks at solid evidence for seeing the New Testament as a reliable guide to what went down in the early church. From the official book description: "Reinventing Jesus shows believers that it's okay to think hard about Christianity, and shows hard thinkers that it's okay to believe." Published by Kregel.

image from zondervan.typepad.com

2. The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know About Jesus (DVD & Discussion Guide) by John Dickson
Is "the real Jesus" lost to us living today? This documentary hosted by historian and pastor Dr. John Dickson investigates what we can know for certain about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The DVD is available alone or with a discussion guide. Published by Zondervan.

image from zondervan.typepad.com

3. Forged - Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors are Not Who They Say They Are by Bart D. Ehrman
If you'd like to get a sense of where Dr. Ehrman is coming from before you view the SMU Debate, check out his latest bestseller. Remember, Dr. Ehrman does not take the traditional evangelical Christian view of Scripture, so this book is quite different from the other 4 in this list. Published by HarperOne.

image from zondervan.typepad.com

4. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels
by Craig Blomberg

Craig Blomberg reveals the faulty analysis and presuppositions that have led to mistaken conclusions about the Gospels, providing scholarly criteria for judging these books and biblical answers to our hard questions. Published by IVP Academic.

image from zondervan.typepad.com

5. Jesus Under Fire by Michael J. Wilkins, J.P. Moreland
Can we trust the traditional understanding of Jesus Christ, or did the early church and tradition "Christianize" the historical Jesus? A forum of scholars called The Jesus Seminar (which includes Bart. D. Ehrman) argues the latter. This book evaluates and challenges The Jesus Seminars' methods and conclusions. Published by Zondervan.

image from zondervan.typepad.com

 

Does this list leave out your favorite book on trusting the New Testament? Share your favorite book in a comment.


One more question: To you, what is the most convincing reason we can trust the New Testament? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

(-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Internet Team)


2011-08-23

Zondervan Blog

Zondervan Blog


No Boundaries is No Way to Live (The True Story of a Super-Nice Landlord)

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 12:00 PM PDT

 

A recent story on the radio show "This American Life" grabbed me and wouldn't let go. It's the true story of a compassionate landlord named Dennis, who for 6 years tried everything he could to help two down-on-their-luck tenants make their rent payments. I could relate to Dennis' position and I think his story will make you wonder what you would do in his shoes, so I recommend you listen to Dennis' story called "Please Re-Lease Me."


Dennis' father shared some chilling advice when he first became a landord. His father said dealing with problem tenants "will make a good person bad." Dennis didn't want that; he wanted to live in service to others. That's why he kept pursuing new, more involved ways to help the struggling couple.


I don't want to spoil the end of his story, but I will say the situation snowballed. Dennis believes the ordeal changed him for the worse, and that his father's words may have come true. "Now I don't like to get personally involved with tenants," Dennis says. "It's just too hard."


This saddened me because I think Dennis could have avoided the more soul-scorching aspects of his experience. As I listened to his story I wanted so badly to talk with him and recommend two books, Boundaries and Beyond Boundaries!

 

Learn More about Boundaries Learn More

I would recommended Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend because its biblically-based principles helped me learn when I need to say 'no,' and how this doesn't make me a mean person. Since I'm one of those people who can let good intentions get me committed to more things that I can reasonably or healthily handle, Boundaries has been so helpful in learning to set legitimate, healthy limits on my commitments and relationships. There are times when a Christian can say 'no' because there are times when love says 'no'! Read an excerpt of Boundaries on Scribd.

 

 

Learn More about Beyond Boundaries Learn More

I would also tell Dennis about John Townsend's new book, Beyond Boundaries: Learning to Trust Again in Relationships. Beyond Boundaries is especially helpful for for people who have already been burned by a breach of trust. It covers how you can know when you can trust someone again, how to heal broken trust, and how to build a strong and healthy foundation in new relationships. I've read several chapters of the book and I've liked it a lot. You can read an excerpt of Beyond Boundaries on Scribd, and there's also a Beyond Boundaries video curriculum.

 

In a way this post is an open letter to Dennis. So Dennis, if you're reading this, I encourage you to pick up Boundaries and Beyond Boundaries... and God's blessings on you for all you've done to treat your tenants with justice and compassion!

 

For everyone else, what are your thoughts on Dennis' story? How would you have handled the situation differently? Do you recommend any other books that have helped you discern when a well-meaning commitment has become unhealthy?


PS - To learn more about Beyond Boundaries, tune in to the Beyond Boundaries Live Worldwide Webcast with Dr. John Townsend on October 4, at 8pm EST. Register for the free webcast at www.facebook.com/drtownsendspage.


(-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Internet Team)

 



2011-08-20

Secret Church

Secret Church


SECRET CHURCH – Why Simulcast?

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 04:00 AM PDT

On Monday of this week tickets were made available for the next Secret Church on Friday, November 4, at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. They sold out in a matter of minutes.

During Secret Church, participants gather from 6pm to midnight to study the Word—no emphasis on music, lights or programming—nothing but people and the Word of God. It isn’t promoted heavily, but people are drawn to the simplicity and gravity of the Word and to prayer for the persecuted church around the world.

Why do we simulcast Secret Church?

Our desire in offering a simulcast option is to expose more people to the primacy of God's Word and the importance of prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters.  People are hungry for God's Word, and they desire to identify with and pray for the persecuted church. A Secret Church simulcast offers small groups and churches the opportunity to gather together in a global context with thousands of other participants to study the Word and pray.

This fall Secret Church will once again be simulcast in partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources.  We encourage you to consider hosting a simulcast for your small group or for your church. The topic for the next Secret Church will be “Marriage, Family, Sex, and the Gospel.”

Simulcast registration will be open on Thursday, September 1. For more information visit LifeWay.com/SecretChurch.

 

2011-08-19

Weekly Prayer Updates Update 08/19/2011

vom groups
weekly prayer updates
"Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the ordinary Christian or minister that the life of God in the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness." - Andrew Murray

"praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" - Ephesians 6:18

VOM-USA Prayer Update for August 19, 2011
On Tue. Aug 16 2011 at 09:32 AM Moderator wrote:
Saudi Arabia—House Church Christians Released
BosNewsLife

1 Corinthians 3:9

On July 24, two Indian Christians were unexpectedly released from prison in Saudi Arabia, and the men are now returning to their homes in India. Vasantha Skhar Vara, 28, and Nese Yohan, 31, were detained in January for organizing a Bible study. After Vara and Yohan were arrested and charged with proselytizing, they were held in a police station for 45 days before being transferred to jail without a trial. The jail was reportedly so overcrowded that the men could barely sleep. An elder of the men’s 70-member church told BosNewsLife that the men were forbidden to pray openly or read the Bible. Vara was pressured to convert to Islam, but he refused. “If I have to die for my God, I will die for him here, ” Vara reportedly said. Yohan was allegedly denied medical treatment for tuberculosis. Thank God for the release of Vara and Yohan, and pray for Christians in Saudi Arabia who must worship secretly.

Tanzania—Churches Burned
Compass Direct News

Joshua 1:9

Muslim extremists burned two churches last month on Zanzibar Island, located off the Tanzanian coast in east Africa. On Saturday, July 30, extremists burned the Evangelical Assemblies of God-Tanzania church as they shouted, “Away with the church — we do not want infidels to spoil our community, especially our children.” Three days earlier, on July 27, extremists burned the Free Evangelical Pentecostal Church. The attacks have frightened members of both churches. “We request prayers at this trying moment, ” said a pastor of one of the burned churches. In predominantly Muslim Tanzania, it is becoming extremely difficult for Christians to worship or otherwise publicly exercise their faith. Christians on other islands in the Zanzibar archipelago have also experienced attacks. Pray for the members and leaders of the two churches, and pray that the Christian community in Zanzibar will remain firm in faith.

Sudan—Ongoing Conflict in Border Region
Persecution Project Foundation

Isaiah 4:6

While South Sudan celebrates its independence, people living near the border in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains face regular attacks from Sudanese military forces. The government has cut supply routes into the Nuba Mountains and has begun a daily bombing campaign to terrify the Nuba people into abandoning their crops and homes. “They are not bombing our military, ” said Amar Amoun, a Nuban member of parliament. “They are bombing our civilians; they are terrorizing our people.” Because the Nubans reside on Sudan’s southern border, they are seen as threats to Sudan’s control of valuable resources like arable land and oil. “Please continue to pray for the persecuted people of the Nuba Mountains, ” asked Brad Phillips, VOM project worker and president of the Persecution Project Foundation.

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