firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

On New Year’s Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. In that game a man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California. Somehow, he became confused and started running 65 yards in the wrong direction. One of his own teammates, Benny Lom, outdistanced him and downed him just before he scored for the opposing team. When California attempted to punt, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety which was the ultimate margin of victory.

That strange play came in the first half, and everyone who was watching the game was asking the same question: “What will Coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?” The men filed off the field and went into the dressing room. They sat down on the benches and on the floor, all but Riegels. He put his blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and cried like a baby.

If you have played football, you know that a coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during half time. That day Coach Price was quiet. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels. Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were three minutes before playing time.

Coach Price looked at the team and said simply, “Men the same team that played the first half will start the second.” The players got up and started out, all but Riegels. He did not budge. The coach looked back and called to him again; still he didn’t move.

Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, “Roy, didn’t you hear me? The same team that played the first half will start the second.” Then Roy Riegels looked up and his cheeks were wet with a strong man’s tears. “Coach,” he said, “I can’t do it to save my life. I’ve ruined you, I’ve ruined the University of California, I’ve ruined myself. I couldn’t face that crowd in the stadium to save my life.”

Then Coach Price reached out and put his hand on Riegel’s shoulder and said to him: “Roy, get up and go on back; the game is only half over.” And Roy Riegels went back, and those Tech men will tell you that they have never seen a man play football as Roy Riegels played that second half.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of a second chance. Jesus offers us the chance to start anew – clean and fresh. No matter how badly we’ve blown it, no matter how many times we’ve failed, we can start over. It’s a brand new year. It’s time for a fresh start. Get back in the game. The second half has just started.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 7.01. Live for God, on purpose, today and every day in this new year!

Someone once said “You can do more than pray after you pray, but you can do no more than pray until you pray.” Prayer is our direct line of communication to our God, the Creator of the entire universe. As a believer in Jesus Christ, prayer is our lifeline. However, it seems that prayer may be the most talked about, but least engaged in activity among many Christians!

2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This verse speaks clearly and concisely about the subject of prayer.

As we begin this new year, we share a three-part preaching series, “If My People...” taken directly from this passage of scripture.

January 7
Part 1 – "The Call to Effective Prayer”

January 14
Part 2 – "The Conditions to Effective Prayer”

January 21
Part 3 – "The Consequences of Effective Prayer”

Be sure to join us this Sunday, and each Sunday for this dynamic series on prayer. Start your new year out right!

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by Alan Smith

Not long ago I heard a story about a young man and an old preacher. The young man had lost his job and didn’t know which way to turn. So he went to see the old preacher.

Pacing about the preacher’s study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally he clenched his fist and shouted, “I’ve begged God to say something to help me. Tell me, Preacher, why doesn’t God answer?”

The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply – something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across the room. “What did you say?” he asked.

The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher’s chair. “Sorry,” he said. “I still didn’t hear you.”

With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. “God sometimes whispers,” he said, “so we will move closer to hear Him.” This time the young man heard and he understood.

The next time you think that God is ignoring you, it may be that He is whispering to you, with the knowledge that it will draw you closer to Him.

In Psalm 73, the psalmist struggles with the fact that the wicked are prospering, and he is tempted to conclude that it doesn’t do any good to do what is right (if you’re struggling with the same thing, this is a great chapter to read and meditate on).

But, in the end, the psalmist concludes that he is being “foolish and ignorant” (73:22). When it seemed that God was nowhere to be found, the psalmist was led by God’s whispering to “draw near":

“But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.” (Psalm 73:28)

May the whispers of God in your life draw you closer to Him.

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

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Here are three great strategies from Philippians 4:6-13 for each of us for this new year.

1. Praying Strategy – Pray about everything.
Philippians 4:6-7 – “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

2. Thinking Strategy – Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8-9 – “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

3. Living Strategy – Learn how to be content.
Philippians 4:10-13 – “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

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Max Jukes lived in New York. He did not believe in Christ or in Christian training. He refused to take his children to church, even when they asked to go. He has had 1,026 descendants; 300 were sent to prison for an average term of thirteen years; 190 were public prostitutes; 680 were admitted alcoholics. His family, thus far, has cost the state in excess of $420,000. They made no contribution to society.

Jonathan Edwards lived in the same state, at the same time as Jukes. He loved the Lord and saw that his children were in church every Sunday, as he served the Lord to the best of his ability. He has had 929 descendants, and of these 430 were ministers; 86 became university professors; 13 became university presidents; 75 authored good books; 7 were elected to the United States Congress. One was vice president of his nation. His family never cost the state one cent but has contributed immeasurably to the life of plenty in this land today.

from James S. Hewett’s “Illustrations Unlimited” (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 195. As seen in “A Dose of Inspiration.” To subscribe to A Dose of Inspiration, send an email to adoseofinspiration-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Ever notice how much energy it takes to keep a tight grip on something? Come on, you know what you’re holding on to, don’t you? You’re in turmoil because you can’t control the people or circumstances in your life. Hey, release your grip. Go ahead: surrender it to God. You’ll be amazed at how much more energy you’ll have, and how much easier life will be. Once you make the choice to surrender it to God, your hardest days become your easiest.

A.W. Tozer wrote: “Father, my cowardly heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from You my terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that You may enter and dwell there without a rival.”

You say, “Surrender what?”

1. Your position!
Place it all before your God. Find your security, your identity and your contentment in Him.

2. Your plans!
Plan wisely, but be ready for God to rearrange things and take you along paths that may be uncomfortable for you. Nothing this side of Heaven is permanent, including relationships. Enjoy the time you have with your loved ones, but avoid the temptation to cling.

3. Your anxiety!
If your emotions are wrapped around some issue involving a possession, a job, a particular expectation or a relationship, you aren’t fully relying on God. No, you’re still clinging to lesser things. Stop. Let it go! You’re delaying the surprise God has waiting for you.

as seen in “Word for Today.” Email: admin@christianconnect.org.uk

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Barna Research has released their most significant findings of the past year. The following dozen were selected:

1. Only 15 percent of those who regularly attend a Christian church ranked their relationship with God as the top priority in their life. On average, pastors believe that 70 percent of the adults in their congregation consider their relationship with God to be their highest priority in life.

2. Three out of every four teenagers have engaged in at least one type of psychic/witchcraft-related activity with fewer than three out of every ten churched teenagers receiving any teaching from their church about elements of the supernatural.

3. Just 21 percent of adults consider themselves to be holy; by their own admission, large numbers have no idea what “holiness” means and only one out of every three (35%) believe that God expects people to become holy.

4. The growing movement of Christian Revolutionaries in the U.S. distinguished themselves from an already-select group of people – born-again Christians – through their deeds, beliefs and self-views. Revolutionaries demonstrated higher levels of community service, financial contributions, daily Bible study, personal quiet times each day, family Bible studies, daily worship experiences, engagement in spiritual mentoring and evangelistic efforts.

5. Involvement in a house church is rapidly growing and four out of every five house church participants maintain some connection to a conventional church.

6. The only measure of spiritual health used by at least half of all pastors was the extent of volunteer activity or ministry involvement.

7. Tracking of young people showed that most of them had disengaged from organized religion during their twenties.

8. A comparison of people’s faith before and after the September 11 terrorist attack showed that after five years, none of the 19 faith measure studies had undergone statistically significant change.

9. Seven out of ten parents claim they are effective at developing the spiritual maturity of their children, but the survey among 8-to-12-year-olds discovered that only one-third of them say a church has made “a positive difference” in their life; one-third contend that prayer is very important in their life; most of them would rather be popular than to do what is morally right.

10. Just one out of every six people believe that spiritual maturity is meant to be developed within the context of a local church or within the context of a community of faith.

11. Five of the highest-profile Christian leaders – Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, James Dobson, Tim LaHaye and T.D. Jakes – were unknown to a majority of the population.

12. The proportion of adults who are born-again has risen dramatically in the past quarter century, from 31 percent to 45 percent.

For more information on this year-end report, visit Barna.org.

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As the New Year begins, several news organizations have published lists of what they see as the top religion stories of 2006. While realizing that many religion stories had an impact on the U.S. as well as other countries last year, Crosswalk chose these 10 stories from their Religion Today features in 2006.

1. Amish response to Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting. Just hours after shooting several schoolgirls and himself, Amish families reached out to the wife and family of the gunman with comfort and forgiveness.

2. Ted Haggard steps down from pastorate and NAE. After accusations of drug use and sexual immorality Haggard resigns from New Life Church and the National Association of Evangelicals.

3. Rick Warren in the middle of divisive issues. His involvement with global warming, AIDS, Syria and Senator Obama have led some Christians to question their support of Warren’s actions.

4. Episcopal Bishop Jefferts-Schori fallout. The Bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, who was named as the denomination’s national leader, has said that she does not believe that homosexuality is a sin.

5. Muslims offended by Danish cartoons, Pope’s speech. Caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and a speech wherein the Pope linked Islam with violence led to protests and apologies.

6. Gnosticism returns. The Gospel of Judas and The Da Vinci Code were two examples of Gnosticism being repackaged for a postmodern culture.

7. American Christians on the forefront of aid during and after Israeli/Lebanese conflict. Evangelical Christians donated nearly 20 million dollars to provide humanitarian relief to Israel during the war in Lebanon.

8. Christian movies keep coming. Movies such as End of the Spear, The Nativity and Facing the Giants were well received by critics and movie goers.

9. Darfur conflict ongoing; some Christian ministries leaving. The worsening situation has forced many individuals and relief groups to flee.

10. Navy chaplain’s fight to pray in Jesus’ name. Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt received a reprimand and a suspended fine after appearing in uniform and praying at a non-military-sanctioned rally.

For complete information on the list of religious stories, visit www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday.

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Just a few random thoughts...

...When crazy glue was invented lots of people became attached to it.

...Undertakers are nice – they’re the last to let people down.

...If cats could read they would paws after each claws.

...A man played the organ in his garden to get organically grown food.

...Some people are on seefood diets: they see food ... they eat it.

...Those who make sponges get very absorbed in their work.

...I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.

...A sleeping cow is also a bulldozer.

...I wear my heart on my sleeve. I wear my liver on my pant leg.

...I still have my Christmas tree. I looked at it today. Sure enough, I couldn’t see any forests.

...If you can wave a fan, and you can wave a club, can you wave a fan club?

...When I was in boy scouts, I slipped on the ice and hurt my ankle. A little old lady had to help me across the street.

...If you write the word “monkey” a million times, do you start to think you’re Shakespeare?

...Smoking cures weight problems... Eventually...

...I took a course in speed waiting. Now I can wait an hour in only ten minutes.

How is your New Year going so far? Make it the best year of your life! Take time to seek the Lord every day in prayer. Worship Him in Spirit and truth. Be sure to regularly fellowship together with other believers. Read and study His Word! Share your faith with those around you. It’s 2007 – live for Jesus – on purpose!

Yours for HIM,
Timothy Satryan
Senior Pastor
WILMINGTON first assembly of God

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