TD Jakes Writes…
For years I’ve been telling you to Get ready…Get ready… Get ready. Now, it’s time to Be Ready! We’re entering the year 2010 and I am very excited about what God is about to do. The most important thing I want to stress for the New Year is “Strategy.” If you’re planning to use the struggle and adversity from 2009 to propel you forward in 2010, I believe you will be blessed!
The Bible says “write the vision and make it plain” (Hab 2:2). I’m encouraging the church and believers to get a strategy in place for 2010 by participating in the “My 2010 Plan” Campaign.
Consider sowing a special seed and over the next 365 days, let’s work together to set in place systems, order and structure for the entire year. To equip you with a few tools to help get your plan in place, we created a special web site: www.my2010Plan.org.
The year 2010 is not just a date, but looking back at 2009 and the worldwide recession gives us an indication of what is to come. Whenever God pulls back a bow, the arrow is going to go further than it’s ever gone before! I believe the year 2010 is going to be that turning point. God promises to restore the years that the cankerworm, palmer worm, and the locust have eaten.
In 2009, these vermin ate into resources – retirement, homes and finances. But our God has declared that the coming year will be the time of restoration and renewal. But you have to be prepared! I can’t stress that enough.
Start right now preparing your strategy and plan for 2010. Write your goals, work your plan and get ready to sow your seeds in expectation of a double portion harvest! I’m believing God for a double portion, not just financially, but of wisdom, faith, inspiration and the most important thing, a “Strategy.” Remember, what you plan for is what you are going to get!
REPORT TAKEN FROM gothamist.com
The campaign will take over 20 Manhattan buses for about one month, and president of New York City Atheists, Ken Bronstein, says the test run could be reaching other boroughs later this year (the group’s website is taking donations for the next roll out). The ads read: “You don’t have to believe in God to be a moral and ethical person.”
Joseph Zwilling, the director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York, told CityRoom the ads were “not offensive in the Catholic Church’s view, given their wording. They’re not attacking or disparaging the Church as far as I can see.” While the message isn’t a rebuttal to that of another religious group’s, the site reports that the inspiration came from a similar campaign in London last year, which was in response to a Christian group’s whose message told nonbelievers that they would “spend all eternity in torment.”
The goal of the $10,000 NYC ad campaign is to increase membership—Bronstein says there has been an “atheism awakening” lately, and the practice was made more acceptable when President Obama included a reference to “nonbelievers” in his inaugural address. Previously, the MTA explained that the Jews for Jesus ads in the Times Square subway station were protected under the First Amendment.
Survivor: Biadglign Befekadu still bears the scars of the famine to this day.
It is twenty five years since news of the dreadful famine in Ethiopia hit our televisions screens with its distressing pictures of orphaned and abandoned children. In the month when the Ethiopian government is again calling for food aid, St Matthew’s Children’s Fund Ethiopia (SMCF) is launching its Twenty5 campaign, to raise funds for the longer-term investment which is so vital in enabling communities, and their children, to withstand the effects of future famines exacerbated by climate change.
The campaign aims to fund work with a number of poor urban communities throughout Ethiopia so that they can better care for their orphaned and ‘at risk’ children. The work will include promoting urban agriculture and environmental improvement, providing water and sanitation, setting up income generation training, women’s self-help groups and also strengthening the community’s own capacity to care for its members.
Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu
The campaign is endorsed by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu who says: “It is 25 years since Michael Buerk’s groundbreaking reports from Ethiopia which drew the attention of a generation to the devastation caused by the famine of 1984. Since that time the work of organisations like the St Matthew’s Children’s Fund Ethiopia have done much to alleviate the poverty and suffering in this proud country. Please support the Twenty5 appeal for SMCF and its work in giving children a family, an education and the skills to earn their living in Ethiopia.”
Churches from all denominations are being invited for the first time to sponsor a national advertising campaign in the run up to Christmas.
ChurchAds.net plans to place posters in bus shelters across the United Kingdom carrying the message “Christmas Starts with Christ” and depicting the nativity.
Mike Elms, trustee of ChurchAds.Net, says: “For years churches across the U.K. have produced posters to promote Christmas, but no one has attempted to run a fully national campaign, with a long-lasting slogan that runs and builds year on year.”
According to Elms, this is the U.K.’s first ever church-sponsored Christmas advertising campaign and it is planned to run over the next five years.
Churches are being asked to sponsor a bus shelter carrying one of the posters and airtime for an accompanying radio advertisement for the campaign, which will run in the last three weeks of December.
“If churches all over the country buy 2,000 bus shelters and fund 2,500 airplays of the radio commercials, the campaign would be seen or heard by around 60 percent of the U.K. population,” Elms said. “Imagine the impact that will be created by this powerful Gospel proclamation.”
A poll by Theos think tank last year found that more than a third of the British public believed that the virgin birth really happened, while more than half agreed that the birth of Jesus was “significant.” Further research by Theos also found that only 12 percent of adults know the facts of the Christmas story.
WHO ARE WE?
Model4Jesus is a fashion show ministry for women and teenage girls that uses fashion shows as a tool to reach today’s generation, demonstrating that a woman does not need to conform to the world’s concept of beauty. Our fashion shows let women show off their feminine side without compromising themselves. In this way, their truly best assets can be seen by the world , the image and character of Jesus Christ and His calling on their lives.
Model4Jesus shows that a woman can be a positive role model in today’s world without having to excuse her beliefs (a belief in Christ). Our motto isBe a model, don’t just look like one. It is about learning to be modest and using our beauty to glorify God instead of pleasing the world and being exploited.
How did Model 4 Jesus Start?
Mayra Gomez is the founder of Model4Jesus. God inspired her to start this ministry through her experiences as a professional model and host of Salsa Mania, a secular latin music video program. This former Army soldier is a wife, mother of four, and working model in Tampa, Florida. God touched her heart in 1999, after years in the modeling industry. Wanting to combine her new found faith with her passion for women and modeling, in 2005 Model4Jesus was born.
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Fashion photographer Michael Belk has created some startling, moving and provocative images. His work has appeared in Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair but now he is taking his craft in a very different direction. It has a lot of people talking. There is no question about it, he has a unique take on the Gospels and especially, the parables of Jesus. And he is forcing people to see them in a new light. Matt McClure had a chance to speak with Belk, by phone, and hear him describe what led him to take these pictures and what they mean.
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Get involved!
Premier.org.uk have launched a NEW CAMPAIGN
I AM A CHRISTIAN
Everyday Christians are finding it increasingly difficult to openly express their faith.
The National Secular Society has encouraged 100,000 people to sign a certificate to “debaptise” themselves as part of their campaign to allow people to revoke their baptisms.
We are asking….are there 100,000 people who are prepared to publicly stand up and declare that they are Christians?
Premier’s “I am a Christian” campaign is asking you to take this opportunity to publicly affirm your faith and declare that Jesus is relevant to your everyday life.
Make your declaration today and join together with thousands of other Christians around the world.
DECLARE YOUR FAITH NOW
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Testimonies from actors, business leader, musicians and athletes on how Jesus changed their lives.
iamsecond.com
Brian Phillip Welch (born June 19, 1970), better known as Head, is an American musician best known as the former lead guitarist/co-founder of the band Korn. Welch left the band in 2005 due to personal beliefs and to focus on life as a father.
Urban Christian News featured a great article on Michael Belk, a veteran fashion photographer who is used to having his works featured in Vogue, GQ and Elle.
Now he has released his most “rewarding” collection – “Journeys with the Messiah” - on Friday, the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“I was in New York prepping for a photo shoot a week after 9/11 and saw many people searching for something,” recalled Michael Belk, who created the Jesus photo collection out of his Christian faith. “Similar to 9/11, I think many Americans don’t know where to turn in the midst of the current worldwide financial crisis.”
Belk says he hopes his “Journeys With the Messiah” collection will help people who are anxious and looking for answers to find peace by knowing there is someone to turn to.
The photos are a retelling of the stories of 1st-century Jesus to a 21st-century audience. Included in the collection are photos of Jesus with Nazis, prostitutes, Ferraris and motorcycles, as well as Wall Street executives and high rollers that creatively address modern-day social problems such as genocide, materialism, addiction, poverty, and hypocrisy.
One of the aims of the photo collection, the 61-year-old photographer said, was to strip away the “religion” part of Christianity that has turned so many people away, and share the core message of who Jesus was and what He taught.
Belk believes the photos carry messages that God wants to say to people in the world struggling with countless problems right now.
REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY?
A Michigan church is enlisting Satan in advertising campaign to increase attendance at services and spread the word. Metro South Church in the Detroit suburb of Trenton is posting signs saying the non-denominational Christian congregation “sucks” and “makes me sick.”
In turn, it has grabbed the attention of the local community and media outlets through the marketing campaign.
The ads are signed by Satan. Church leaders even created a website to explain why Satan hates the church.
“MetroSouthChurch.com Makes Me Sick” says one sign. “MetroSouthChurch.com Sucks,” says another.
The signs are plastered throughout the Detroit metropolitan area and lead viewers and passers-by to the website SatanHatesMetro.com.
In an interview with a local TV station youth Pastor Adam Dorband said the church is trying to reach out to people and cut through the “noise.” Dorband said Jesus “wants us to be creative and he wants us to … use whatever it takes to reach people,” according to the Associated Press.
Lead Pastor Jeremy Schossau said the campaign isn’t meant to offend anyone. He felt the Satan signs were clever and the campaign is not meant to be whimsical.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to draw attention to violations of human rights around the world, Link TV partnered with a number of musicians, cameramen, and producers to create the song and music video. The net revenue made from sales of the song are designated to go to fund Amnesty International. The music of “The Price of Silence” is based on Aterciopelados’ song “Cancion Protesta” from their album Oye.
