Did You Know...

I found this information on the internet. It was compiled by Scott McLeod...

Did you know ...Sometimes size does matter? If you’re one in a million in China there are 1,300 people just like you. In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.

Did you know that that 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ’s is greater than the total population of North America? In India, it’s the top 28%.
Translation: They have more honors kids than we have kids.

Did you know . . .China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world?
If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China . . .China would still have a labor surplus.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs . . .By the age of 38?

Again, according to the U.S. Department of Labor 1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by for less than one year? More than 1 out of 2 is working for a company they have worked for for less than five years.

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004?

Did you know that currently, we are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet?

Did you know the U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration.
(Luxembourg just passed us.)

Did you know in 2002 alone Nintendo invested more than $140 million in research and development and that The U.S. Federal Government spent less than half as much on Research and Innovation in Education.

Did you know that in August of 2006 there were over 100 million registered users of MySpace?
If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th-largest in the world (between Japan and Mexico)*

Did you know There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month. To whom were these questions addressed B.G. (Before Google)?

Did you know the number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population of the planet?

Did you know there are about 540,000 words in the English language ...about 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time?

Did you know More than 3,000 new books are published . . .Daily?

It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

Did you know it’s estimated that 40 exabytes (that’s 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will be generated worldwide this year…That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.

Did you know the amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years? It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.

Did you know third generation fiber optics has recently been separately tested by NEC and Alcatel capable of pushing 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber? That’s 1,900 CDs or 150 million simultaneous phone calls every second.

Did you know that 47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year? The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a year to children in underdeveloped countries. Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the Human Brain . . .

Did you know By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the Human Brain? And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do, predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race.

Did you know that the prophet Daniel, in chapter 12 verse 4, was given a vision where an angel said concerning the end of earth “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase"?

So what does all of this information mean? Only one thing: Jesus is returning soon. And now you know

An Open Letter to Worship Leaders and Song Writers

A. W. Tozer - "Without worship, we go about miserable."

I have been involved in worship music for over 25 years. I believe there is no higher calling for God's people than to worship Him. So very often we become so encompassed in our worship FOR the Lord we forget our first responsibility and call is our worship OF the Lord. In Acts chapter 13 it was as Paul and Barnabas were worshiping God that he said to the Antioch church, "Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas"

In recent years, we have seen like at no other time in history virtuosity come to the Christian music world. In an age where most listen to music with their eyes, it is a joy to see such a talented and careful group of young musicians and songwriters on the scene. But here is my challenge to the talented songwriters: Write worship songs that are Christocentric!

Last week I went into my local Christian bookstore and asked for the three top worship albums. One album did a very good job at crafting tunes that were indeed directed to God. But unfortunately, the songs weren't very good. On the other side of the spectrum, I listened to a worship CD where the music was excellent but they centered around seeking more blessing, becoming more of a servant, capturing more of God, etc, etc,etc. In one song the writer used the word "I: no less than 55 times! And this from a person who is touring the country right now as a top worship leader!

While there is a place for admonishing ourselves in music to serve more, and to call each other out of complacency and into more of God, I respectfully submit it is not worship. And our spirits are deprived and starving for true worship.

The person of God and him alone is the desire of every person's heart. It is Him we want not what he can do for us.Jesus said, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest". He didn't say "I know where rest is and if you come to me I'll show you where it is!".

Look at the songs of Revelation. Chapter 4:10 "the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.'"

In Chapter 5:12 hey sang "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

The focus is God and not a single mention of "I".

My fear is my challenge will fall on deaf ears but I'll give it any way: Write songs that bring us into His presence, are about Him and to Him. This will not be an easy task but try we must. Let's learn worship Him for what He has already done for us before we start asking for more.

“Worship is first and foremost for His benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.”--Graham Kendrick

The Message

Several years ago a group of religious leaders representing Hindu, Islam, Bahia and other religions got together at Oxford University to discuss their commonality. C. S. Lewis was invited. The discussion started with the question "what do all world religions agree upon". Each agreed they believed in morality, worship of God, integrity, and honesty. Then question then was asked, "with so much we agree upon, what separates us?" Most in the group could not answer. C.S. Lewis had been delayed in traffic and walked into the meeting late and didn't hear the first part of the discussion. "Mr. Lewis, What makes Christianity unique?" And with out pausing to even hesitate a moment he said "The gospel"

What makes Christianity unique? From cover to cover the answer jumps out from nearly every page of the bible; man is a sinner and God has spent most all of human history, redeeming fallen man. Dr. Art Azurdia, profesor at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon and director of the Spurgeon Fellowship, a group of pastors who meet quarterly to discuss preaching and theology said, the the bible is a "HIM-book" From Genesis to Revelation--Old Testament to New, the bible is nothing more than "the revelation of Christ and the Cross; the record of the redemption of his people thru the death of hi Son."

In John Chapter 1 Philip told his friend Nathaniel ""We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

In Acts 3 Peter said to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost "God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.' And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days."

Jesus himself said in John 5, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,"

And who can forget how the resurrected Lord said to two men on the road to Emmaus, ""O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself"

The gospel message is we are sinners through and through. Sin isn't our real problem; it's that we are sinners! And all are hopelessly incapable of changing the state of man. It's only occurs when we are "born again" of the Spirit. And that only happens when a person receives the atoning work of Christ in his place.

I share that because many messages we hear from the pulpit and on Christian radio deal with principles. Those of us who are committed to expositional teaching--chapter by chapter; verse by verse, can sometimes forget that the meta-narrative of the bible from cover to cover is to reveal Christ, the redeemer of a fallen society. Sermons are preached on David and Bathsheba and and the message is "Don't lust". Or on Abraham pawning his wife Sarah off as his sister and the exhortation "Don't lie". These are all good but folks-- pastors, any message that is not about Christ is not really the gospel message. A good message maybe, probably but not different than the message of Oprah, Dr. Phil. What makes a message Christian is the declaration of Jesus. And any message given from a pulpit, on a Christian Radio program, TV show or book, without Christ is not the gospel message. And pastors, leaders, in these times when there is pressure to become politically, and socially involved, as good as that is, we can not detach from our preaching and teaching, the message of the bible: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God... and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

God, not principle, must be the focus of every message given from the pulpit. AS Dr. Azurdia says, "He must be the hero that come forth in every message we give".

God give us who handle the scripture the courage to not waver from the gospel message

The Guardian

There is a phenomenon called the "A,B'C's" of pastor's conferences; Most ask or at least want to ask questions about Attendance, Building programs, and Cash flow. If the questions aren't asked outright, we usually fish for information. Being the pastor of the best church in the Western hemisphere accounts for nothing if attendance isn't up there. It seems to be a factor in determining the success of a pastor's church. But I saw a clip from a move that was of great benefit to me in answering these questions. It's from the movie "The Guardian" with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kucher. In the movie, Costner plays a Coast Guard rescue diver who becomes an instructor at at the elite"A" school. But he is a kind of legend. Stories about how many "saves " he has are as ubiquitous as stories of Big Foot! Some say he has 200, others 300, but no one knows for sure.

Kutcher plays a self motivated swimmer who has no concept of team. Well, through it all, Costner and Kutcher becomes friends. But Costner, who had a traumatic expereince early in the movie that haunts him where a helicopter he was flying in went down and killed his best friend. Kutcher and Costner team up after "A" school but Costner freezes during a critical rescue and he decides to give up rescue swimming. And as He leaves the locker room with a few of his belongings, Kutcher (Fish) askes him, "I've got to know; How many saves did you have?" After a long pause, he says "27". "27! Fish says, "Not bad...it's not 200." "27 losses" Costner says. It's the only number I kept track of"

So when people ask "So Steve, how big is your church?" my response is "119,000". "119,000! impossible!" they say. No church is that big. 119,000 is the population of the city I live in. It's the number of people that are still lost. It's the only number I as a pastor really need to keep tack of In other words, my ministry will not be shaped by the number of people in my church--the number of saves-- but by those who are still lost.

May God give my fellow ministers a passion to count the lost and not just the saved. May we base our worth first off by Jesus and then our desire to serve him in simplicity and gladness of heart...counting ourselves privileged just to be called to serve Him as ministers