The Prayer Link

If you wait for perfect conditions,

you will never get anything done.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)

Update from Frann Clark:

My cataract surgeries were scheduled for Oct. 16 & 30. They did the one on Oct. 16 & all went great. The following Tuesday (21) the clinic called my daughter & asked if we could be there the next afternoon to do the right eye. I went for the day after checkup yesterday & he said that it was fine. Some pressure involving the right eye so he gave me drops & said to come back in a week.

Please pray that the pressure problem will be solved.

Tuesday, I hope to go to Jennings to see Riley at the VA home. Please pray for safe travel. I am still not able to drive but maybe soon.

God Bless You
Frann

 

 

Today’s the day! On Mission in Kentwood will meet at FBC, Kentwood at 8:00 this morning to complete acts of ministry in Kentwood. If you want a real blessing, take part in this ministry.

U.S. Condemns Beating of China Pastor’s Sons
By Staff of Baptist Press
BEIJING (BP)–The United States has voiced grave concern over the brutal beating Oct. 16 of “Pastor Bike” Zhang Mingxuan’s two sons by public security officials in China.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood released a statement Oct. 23 that specifically highlighted the “continuing official harassment of Pastor Zhang, … including his arbitrary detention and the forced relocation of his family.” The State Department called on the Chinese government to release Zhang immediately, permit his family members to return home, condemn the violent acts committed against his sons and bring the individuals responsible for the persecution to justice.

The statement came the day after two congressmen, Frank R. Wolf, R.-Va., and Christopher Smith, R.-N.J., issued a joint letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to call for Zhang’s release and demand that the damages inflicted upon his family be rectified. Both congressmen met with Zhang and his wife in Beijing this past July and heard firsthand about the abuses Christians in China suffer at the hands of Public Security Bureau officials.

Pastor Zhang was traveling when his family was attacked and efforts to contact him had been unsuccessful. On Oct. 22, however, he called his eldest son to say he was being detained by public security officers but was not allowed to tell anyone where or in what conditions he was being held, according to a report from the human rights group China Aid Association (chinaaid.org). Zhang’s wife and sister also reportedly have been detained in a Beijing hotel.

In order to receive medical reimbursement for his injuries, PSB officials coerced Pastor Bike’s eldest son, Zhang Jian, to sign a statement that he received only minor injuries in the beating, China Aid reported. Hospital records, however, indicated he received severe injuries that required complicated surgery.

On Oct. 10, police sealed the door of the house church where Zhang Mingxuan preaches and blocked it with two truckloads of garbage, even though the government just weeks earlier had given the church permission to meet, China Aid reported. Pastor Bike has been arrested 26 times, beaten and evicted from his home numerous times because of his faith.

China Aid, on the web at http://www.chinaaid.org, said it is assisting Zhang Jian and his family with medical expenses, legal help and other needs and urged concerned citizens to contact the Chinese Embassy by writing to 2201 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20007 or by calling 202-338-6688.

Compiled by Baptist Press assistant editor Mark Kelly.

If you are a collector of “stuff” (old stuff, new stuff, cheap stuff, inexpensive stuff), this devotional will make you think. (David and I are guilty of collecting the old, inexpensive “stuff”!)

TREASURE OR TRASH?

Years ago, there was a woman who went browsing through an antique store. While she was there, she found a piano that she fell in love with. It was a magnificent old mahogany upright with beautiful carvings across the front. Inside the top was a beautiful hand detailed painting along the back along with the serial number and name of the original maker. It had been made in 1901. It had a warm full tone and so she thought all it needed was to be tuned.

So she bought the piano, brought it home and called a piano restoration specialist to come out to tune it. But it didn’t take him long to determine that the pinblock had been “doped.” He explained to the woman that old pianos “die” when the pinblock dries out because the pinblock can’t keep the pins tight when they’re tuned. When this happens, if someone wants to sell a piano in this condition, they will sometimes dope it, which means they lay the piano on its back and pour a mixture of anti-freeze and water around the pins to swell the pinblock. Sometimes, it will add some life to an aging piano; in this case, it ruined it.

The woman was so disappointed and so angry that she put the piano outside her home and made a sign for it that said “Free: 500 pounds of firewood”. What she thought was a treasure had turned to trash.

Have you ever had something like that happen to you? You find something that you love, something you think is going your life so much better, but shortly after you get it, it’s destined for the trash pile. How many of you have corners in your garages and basements and attics where you keep all those so-called treasures? Yard sale lawn mowers that can’t cut a lick of grass, one of those slicer-dicers you thought your kitchen just couldn’t do without, maybe even your collection of 8-track tapes – now there’s a treasure!

We pursue many things in life hoping to gain a wonderful treasure. We spend our lives in the pursuit of “things.” But there are moments when we’re forced to stop and ask ourselves, “Is what I have really such a treasure, or is it nothing but trash?” The apostle Paul was a man who once faced this difficult question. Here’s the conclusion he came to:

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8)

Paul says, “At one time, I had it all. But the things that I used to think were important, I have weighed them, I have evaluated them, and I have come to the conclusion that they are absolute garbage compared to what I have in Jesus Christ.”

What were those “things”? In the first few verses of Philippians 3, Paul sets forth his credentials as a Jewish leader. Paul says, “If you were to look at me, you would assume, ‘Here is a man who has it all. He has prestige, he has honor, he has power. He has everything that a man could possibly want.'”

But, again, “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” Everything he had as a Jew that he considered to be important, he re-evaluated and came to the conclusion that it really wasn’t all that important. “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (3:8).

Now I understand that generally the things that are important to us are not the same things that were important to Paul, but they are “things” nonetheless. Maybe we enjoy living in our dream house. Maybe new clothes or jewelry excites us, maybe a new computer, maybe a new car. Maybe making it big in sports is our pride, maybe being popular and well-liked. Maybe those awards we’ve hung on our walls. But when you take all these things and you compare them to our blessings in Jesus Christ, they’re a pile of garbage, and we need to understand that.

Take a look around you. What do you see — treasure or trash?

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Trusting you have “the real treasure” in your live,

Anna Lee

“Bear one another’s burdens,

and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

~Galatians 6:2~

Please keep Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Harrell in your prayers. They both continue to have health issues.

Please continue to pray for the many people who have health issues.

It a fall Friday night, so pray for everyone involved in high school football events in our area. Many people participate in one way or another. Many miles are traveled to and from games. Pray for safety of all tonight. Pray Christians will be a strong witness at football games and other athletic events. You never know when or who you might influence someone.

Plan to participate in On Mission in Kentwood tomorrow morning. You can make a difference right here in Kentwood! Meet at FBC at 8 A.M. If you cannot attend, please pray for those who will be working.

Kidnappers Demand Ransom
for California Pastor
By Mickey Noah

TIJUANA, Mexico (BP)–Kidnappers are demanding $1 million for the safe return of Manuel Jesus Tec, a Southern Baptist pastor in San Diego who was kidnapped in Tijuana, Mexico, around 5 a.m. Oct. 21.

Tec, who lives in Tijuana, was driving across the border with his wife and one of his sons when gunmen stopped his car and forcibly abducted him. His wife and son were unhurt.

The pastor’s older son, Johnny Tec, who also is a pastor, said his father’s kidnappers have called the family three times, demanding a $1 million ransom, according to Richard F. Vera, multi-ethnic evangelism specialist for the California Southern Baptist Convention and a colleague of Manuel Tec.

“Johnny stated the last time the kidnappers called, they were very menacing and threatened to take Manuel’s life unless the family responded right away,” Vera said. “The family is projecting a strength and a trust in Christ that is admirable. They believe they will see Pastor Manuel Tec again.”

Tec is pastor of a new church plant in San Diego, Iglesia Familiar Amor y Vida, according to Hugo Campos, Hispanic ministries director for the San Diego Baptist Association and the Vision San Diego outreach in conjunction with the Strategic Focus Cities initiative of the North American Mission Board, the California convention, the San Diego association and local SBC churches.

Campos, who spoke to the Tec family on Wednesday, said the family now believes the kidnapping is a case of mistaken identity and that the pastor — thought to be around 60 — will be released once the kidnappers realize that.

“There’s a lot of praying going on all over the place,” Campos said.

(Mickey Noah is a writer for the North American Mission Board.)

KOMpray

Kids on Mission Pray

 

“Let the little children come to Me,

and don’t stop them,

because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,”

Luke 18:16b

HANDING OUT TRACTS

A 9-year-old missionary kid (MK) set up a “store” outside the elevators of her apartment building. She wanted to catch neighbors when they came home from work. She wanted them to buy some of her beads and craft projects. She didn’t want to miss any opportunity. So she put gospel tracts on the table too. She confessed later to her parents that she had some help with the tracts.

Some of her Hindu friends grabbed the tracts and handed them out. A couple of the boys even went outside on their bicycles. They gave away the tracts in the apartment parking lot. God wants everyone to know Him. He will use a little girl to tell others about His love at her store. Or He will get non-Christians to give away the story of Jesus in a little book.

How do you tell others about Jesus? Please thank God for this young girl’s faith and desire to share the gospel with the lost. Pray that she will get to lead her young friends to receive Jesus as Savior. Ask God to honor her efforts with a harvest in their apartment complex.

MORE PRAYER REQUESTS FROM MISSIONARY KIDS

Please pray for the people in Mozambique to be healthy and help the people to be strong. Pray that they will have Lots of water. Make them like the food that they eat in their Life. The kids have a good time at school. Help my pets be healthy. The End. ABIGAIL, age 6, (Central, Eastern and Southern Africa)

Pray for my neighbors to be become Christians and my piano teacher to become a Christian. EMILY, age 11 (Central Asia)

Dear God, thank you for our friends and our family. Please help us to make more Christians in our country. Thank you for the food and thank you for our teachers. I hope we can get along with friends. Amen. GM, age 8 (East Asia)

We live in a huge city, full of crime. Please pray for our safety as we travel different places around the city for work and school. Pray for my dad’s ministry in the township of Soweto. Many people are in cults and many worship their ancestors. There are 4 million people in Soweto and many areas do not have any evangelical churches! Pray that God will open their hearts to the gospel so that they can know Jesus as Savior, Lord and Friend! JOSHUWA, age 5, (Central, Eastern and Southern Africa)

Some of my national friends’ parents push them too much on good grades. Some ids in my class at my school are on probation (like when your mom and dad put you on restriction or tell you can’t go to a friend’s house). As my brother gets older, I hope he picks good friends and not bad stuff. Please pray for my friends and my brother. BELLE, age 9 (South Asia)

A week ago I was discussing with my friends if Jesus was the father’s son or not. I talked to them for a while and gave them a French copy of the Word to look at, then my dad came in and told them to ask their parents if it was OK if they watched the film. So the next day our friends watched the Jesus film. I would like you to pray for my friends. Well I will talk to you later. Your friend, NOAH, age 12 (West Africa)

6th grade at Faith Academy is a big change. Pray that I will be comforted in problems and that I will make the right choices. JOY, age 11 (Pacific Rim)

Please pray that the boys and girls get more toys. Pray they get more food because they are very poor. Please pray for the people to have better houses. CALEB, age 6 (Central, Eastern and Southern Africa)

I need to improve my memory. I would like you to pray for I need a confidence boost. Pray for my family too. THOMAS, age 12 (South Asia)

THE MIND OF CHRIST

 

I heard once about a man who went to the doctor after weeks of symptoms. The doctor examined him carefully, then called the patient’s wife privately into his office. He said to her, “Your husband is suffering from a rare form of anemia. Without treatment, he’ll be dead in a few weeks. The good news is, it can be treated with proper nutrition.”

“You will need to get up early every morning and fix your husband a hot breakfast-pancakes, bacon and eggs, the works. He’ll need a home-cooked lunch every day, and then an old-fashioned meat-and-potato dinner every evening. It would be especially helpful if you could bake frequently. Cakes, pies, homemade bread-these are the things that will allow your husband to live.

“One more thing. His immune system is weak, so it’s important that your home be kept spotless at all times. I can’t impress upon you just how important this is. If you don’t do these things, your husband is going to die. Do you have any questions?” The wife said, “No.”

The doctor said, “Do you want to break the news to him, or shall I?” The wife said, “I’ll do it.”

She walked back into the examination room. Her husband, sensing the seriousness of his illness, said to her, “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She nodded, tears welled up in her eyes. He asked her, “What’s going to happen to me?”

And, with a sob, his wife blurted out, “The doctor says you’re gonna die!”

While I would like to think that those of us who are husbands and wives would be willing to serve our mates in a situation like that, the truth of the matter is that we don’t really get too excited about the opportunity to serve someone else.

Paul says in Philippians 2:5 to, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. And the “mind” or “attitude that Paul tells the Philippian Christians to take on is the attitude of selflessness, humility, service. “Let nothing be done through selfish ambi¬tion or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4). The attitude a Christian should have is one that focuses on the needs and interests of others.

That’s not something that comes naturally. When Christ came into this world, he brought into being a whole new approach to relationships with people. Listen to what he said to his disciples one day when they were arguing among themselves regarding who was to be greatest in his kingdom:

“You now that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Jesus says that in the Gentile world, in the world around us, there’s very little humility. People operate basically out of selfish motives. They have little or no interest in helping others to reach their goals — except when it might benefit themselves. The name of the game is to get power and authority and then to exercise that power and authority.

But that’s not how Christians are supposed to act. And Christ did more than just teach us that truth. He lived it out as well. He demands nothing of us that he wasn’t willing to demonstrate himself.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Have a fantastic Friday!

Anna Lee