Obesity, Gluttony & Sloth

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - An obesity pandemic threatens to overwhelm health systems around the globe with illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, experts at an international conference warned Sunday.

"This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world," Paul Zimmet, chairman of the meeting of more than 2,500 experts and health officials, said in a speech opening the weeklong International Congress on Obesity. "It's as big a threat as global warming and bird flu."

The World Health Organization says more than 1 billion adults are overweight and 300 million of them are obese, putting them at much higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer.

Zimmet, a diabetes expert at Australia's Monash University, said there are now more overweight people in the world than the undernourished, who number about 600 million.

People in wealthy countries lead in overeating and not doing enough physical activity, but those in the poorer nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America are quickly learning bad habits, experts said.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry, for instance, announced Sunday that nearly one in three Thais over age 35 is at risk of obesity-related diseases.

Among the most worrying problems are skyrocketing rates of obesity among children, which make them much more prone to chronic diseases as they grow older and could shave years off their lives, experts said.

The children in this generation may be the first in history to die before their parents because of health problems related to weight, Kate Steinbeck, an expert in children's health at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said in a statement.

Experts at the conference said governments should impose bans on junk food advertising aimed directly at children, although they acknowledged such restrictions were unlikely to come about soon because the food industry would lobby hard against them.

Pray for Our Team in Cuba

Tuesday, September 5, 8:00 a.m. Prayer in the Sanctuary
Our team is building a new church. They have been given this surprising opportunity in Cuba, and if I know Lynn, Larry, Gene, Ben, and Jason...they will work all day and night to get this job done. Reports indicate that are laying the foundation now.
Pray for their stamina, ingenuity, and provision and protection. This opportunity is unimaginable! When this story is finally told, these men will have built a building for a new testament church in Cuba.

Perseverance: Worst Robbery Ever

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3f_7ZSQ3or4

Dominican Republic

I Couldn't Resist

http://www.celebraterecovery.com/global.shtml

Every Sunday night at Western Heights Baptist Church.
5:30 P.M. TIL 8 P.M.

because

heat humidity health

the new orleans mission
sweaty dirty nasty filthy
trying testing suffering
creating healing helping

Does Jesus Play Ping Pong?

Christian Nichles, our minister of youth with a heart for ministry, opens the gymn, the pool room, the youth cafe, the worship center, the ping pong tables, to the Boy's and Girl Club. We hang out and relate...not for what we can get or gain, but for what we can give. Thursdays...9 a.m. til 3 p.m.

Why is Marsha washing dishes?

The humidity is 110% in New Orleans today. Marsha could be in an air-conditioned dentists office, where he husband practices his vocation. Or, she could be in Hilton Head, S.C., basking in the sun; or, with her daughter in Birmingham. But she is in sweltering heat cooking for 350 people so they can rebuild homes in New Orleans.
Why is Marsha Firth doing that?

Beyond Theory

The Gospel says "Go". Our buildings say "Stay".
The Gospel says "Seek the Lost"
Our churches say "Let the lost seek the church."Howard Snyder..The Problem of Wineskins

These prophetic words make us examine ourselves.

Ok. So let's be accountable.
We need $14,000 a week to equip the body here at WHBC
God is doing that. And more.

This last five weeks the church has received and spent $197,000. That's $127,000 on missions beyond our walls. Africa, New Orleans, Dominican, etc. That's $127,000 going out and $70,000 kept at home for mission and ministry in LaGrange, Celebrate Recovery, Pregnancy Care Center, Boy's and Girls Club, Camp Viola for Inner City Kids, etc. etc. etc.
God has trusted us with almost twice the resources of our cost of local ministry, because He knows we have tried to make sure it is not all about us.

I thank God for the privelege of walking with people who have a clear vision of Jesus. We are not perfect. But he covers our imperfections with his Love. What He has given us is a sacred trust. "Above all, a steward must be found faithful."

On Christian Looting

We have gone again to New Orleans. Perhaps its time, in the midst of this devastation, that we loot the devil. We have a clear vision of Jesus looting hell. We dare to steal despair, rip the sense of helplessness out of peoples lives. That is why 22 of us went to New Orleans. Last year I buried the dead; a group of us fed the hungry; another team took air conditioning. On this, our fourth trip, we join 350 others and restore homes.

The Nourisment of Community: Camp Viola

Camp Notes: The rhythm of community life brings nourishment to our souls, inspiration to our intellect.Those who say they need take time away to rest and get themselves together, have not yet discovered the nourishment that community brings. In community, the rhythms of rest and play, sleep and labor, social excursion and spiritual introversion, co-exist and flow together. While one sleeps, another watches. While one sits under a tree and grills food, another drives to town for more plates. Bursts of activity and pauses of contemplation are part of God's rhythm for nature and man.

My daughter was there when she died...

Prayer requests like these last a life time. Her baby sitter had a two month old baby die in her care today. "He went to sleep on his stomach. We turned his head, and blood was coming from his nose. He was gone." So who do we pray for? The mom, the dad, the baby sitter, the sister and brother, the little five year old who saw it, the neighbors, the friends, the relatives, the mortician, the child, the preacher, the EMT's. All of us stand in the need. Psalm 40

In the Belly of the Whale

We were both silent when the helicopter lifted off the ground, rose above the field and twisted car frame, with his son inside. You don't say much at moments like that. You just pray deeply from a dark hole deep down in your soul.

Easter Sunday @ Korean Congregation

On June 5, 2005, Pastor Shadrach H. Jung and his wife, Jai Suk held the 1st Korean Baptist worship service in Montgomery. 4 attended that first service. The Jungs have worked diligently since that time to developing a core group to begin a strong church.

Baptist groups in the area have given liberally to help make this work possible. Groups include: Elmore, Montgomery and Autauga Baptist Associations; Beulah Baptist Church (who furnishes a house for the Jungs); Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions; FBC of Prattville and Montgomery.

The numbers of Koreans in the River Region have increased since Hyundai built the automobile plant in Montgomery. It has been projected that there are up to 3000 Koreans in a 50-75 mile radius of Montgomery.The congregation meets at 52 Adams Ave, Mtgy. Worship service has increased from 4 persons that 1st Sunday to 18 persons. The Jungs are praying, visiting and worshiping and the Lord is blessing!.

The congregation's schedule is: prayer meeting (4:30 AM. Mon-Sat), prayer meeting on Wed and Fri evenings; worship services Sun ( 11:00 AM + 7:00 PM); and Bible study in Prattville and in one factory.

Pray for Pastor and Mrs. Jung that their labor will continue to be effective as they seek to grow the Korean congregation in the River Region.

Southern Baptist Korean Strategy

SEATTLE, Wash. (BP)--Gihwang Shin, a church-starting missionary to the 177 language groups in metropolitan Seattle, has been called by the International Mission Board -- and funded in partnership with Korean Southern Baptist churches – to enlist Korean Southern Baptists to be involved in going, giving and praying for international missions.

Korean churches across the Southern Baptist Convention have become increasingly strategic in their global focus, said David Gill, former second-vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Where Koreans once focused primarily on the needs of Koreans in the United States and abroad, today they’re reaching out globally to many people groups. And increasingly they’re doing it in partnership with the International Mission Board.

“We have 6.5 million Koreans in 172 countries,” said Gill, pastor of the Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif. “It is God’s providential will to spread so many Koreans in so many countries for world mission.”

Gill arranged a meeting last May that brought together 11 pastors of Korean Southern Baptist churches in the United States with IMB leaders and 11 pastors of Baptist churches in South Korea to discuss what they saw as God’s direction.

“We wanted to learn and discuss how Korean churches can work together with the IMB to reach out to other people groups in the world,” Gill said. “We have 213 (Korean) missionaries; we are aiming for 1,000 with God’s help. So Gihwang Shin will be a tremendous asset for this recruiting and mobilizing.”

“This is a kind of giant step – for Korean Baptist churches to work with the IMB with the same goal and same vision,” Shin said. “In the past, Korean churches had a focus on missions, and especially overseas, but they didn’t know how to do it in a cooperative way. They just did it by themselves.

“In the past two years they have seen more power and more fruit with the IMB and Cooperative Program. Many laymen are ready to go out and serve – both in career and long-term (volunteer) missions.”

IMB President Jerry Rankin noted a growing interest on the part of Southern Baptist Korean churches to partner with the mission board.

“(SBC Korean churches) are catching the vision of cross-cultural witness to unreached people groups, and hundreds of their members are surrendering to missionary service,” Rankin said. “Gihwang Shin has been a key influence in helping to nurture our relationship with these churches and will be a great asset in training and equipping them for involvement in our Great Commission task.”

The International Mission Board has led at least 10 missions-awareness programs in Korean churches in recent years. At one of the first such meetings, conducted at Los Angeles’ Berendo Street Baptist Church in May 2003, more than 400 people accepted a call to career or long-term global missions involvement. In all, more than 800 Korean Baptists have made similar responses.

“This is a pretty amazing thing,” Shin said. “Now is the time to follow up.”

Shin, his wife, Hyesun Kim, and their three children children moved in December to Richmond, Va., where the mission board is located.







Related Photos:
KOREAN MOBILIZER
KOREAN MOBILIZER AND FAMILY

What About the Hispanics in our Town?

My own excitement about KIA and the significant welcome we offer the Korean community has given me pause. Has our church neglected the significant number of Hispanics already in our midst? Why haven't we offered English as a second language classes for the swelling number of Hispanics? Has our partnership with the local Hispanic Ministry exemplified Christ's welcome? Hasn't our assistance in local Hispanic ministry been more patchwork than planned? With over eleven mission trips to the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Mexico, have we missed local ministry opportunities right here?

Pssssssst. Have you heard about so-and-so?
Gossip. Like nothing else, it has the power to undermine friendship and poison a community. Unfortunately, churches are often breeding grounds for gossip... God's kids aren't immune from the tempting tidbit that highlights a brother or sister's glaring flaw or embarassing failure.
That's why at Western Heights we agree not to triangle with others in hurt, pain and gossip. If our brother or sister offends us, we go to them, and them alone. We commit to "Safeguard the Unity" of our church in 3 ways:
...by loving one another (1 Peter 3.8)
...by refusing to gossip (Ephesians 4.29)
...by resolving conflict quickly (Matthew 18.15)

The Scoop from Jesus on Givng

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:38

The Marketing of Evil

"The Marketing of Evil is a serious wake-up call for all who cherish traditional values, the innocence of children, and the very existence of our great country." —Dr. Laura Schlessinger, talk-show host and author
"It's often said that marketing is warfare, and in The Marketing of Evil, David Kupelian clearly reveals the stunning strategies and tactics of persuasion employed by those engaged in an all-out war against America's Judeo-Christian culture." —David Limbaugh, syndicated columnist and author

Crown Financial Seminar this Weekend!

Check out the link to Crown Ministries in the top right hand of this page. Great resources are availble for your kids and students.

Man Faces Death for Christianity

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.
Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.

"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press.

"Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.

President Bush said in a speech that a young democracy is growing in Afghanistan, but he's concerned about the case.

"We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom," Bush said. "I'm troubled when I hear, deeply troubled when I hear, the fact that a person who converted away from Islam may be held to account. That's not the universal application of the values that I talked about. I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship."

Positive Influence

The Creator designed the flower to lean toward the light...the positive influence.
A flower that "stares" at the darkness, or faces the negative influence, wounds itself, doesn't it?

What Influences You? Comment Below

in·flu·ence (ĭn'flū-əns)

A power affecting a person, thing, or course of events, especially one that operates without any direct or apparent effort:

Power to sway or affect based on prestige, wealth, ability, or position.

To produce an effect on by imperceptible or intangible means; sway

Gethuman.com

This web page prints the telephone numbers of insurance companies, utilities, government agencies, etc. which let you talk with a human. If you don't have time to sit through electronic voices guiding your through 15 menu items, book mark gethuman.com

God's Plan for the Family?

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese-led research team said it had made a seeing, hearing and smelling robot that can carry human beings and is aimed at helping care for the country's growing number of elderly.


The RI-MAN humanoid can already carry a doll weighing 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and could be capable of bearing 70 kilograms within five years.

"We hope it will care for elderly people or work in rehabilitation," said Toshiharu Mukai, one of the research team leaders.
RI-MAN is equipped with sensors that show it a body's weight and position.

It can also distinguish eight different kinds of smells, can tell which direction a voice is coming from and uses powers of sight to follow a human face.

"In the future, we would like to develop a capacity to detect a human's health condition through his breath," Mukai said.

Japan is bracing for a major increase in needs for elderly care due to a declining birth rate and a population that is among the world's longest living.

The population declined in 2005 for the first time since World War II as more young people put off starting families.

Who are We?

Creative, spirit filled people, free to dance?

KIA Will Be Our Neighbor

Next door to us, KIA arrives. Troup county will measure the impact of KIA on the economy. Individuals will think $$$, the holy trinity of the God's of Madison Avenue. But the local church must think "s a c r e d t r u s t." Families who re-locate need altars of real worship; authentic community; and small groups with Jesus at the center of them. Before the bulldozers come, we need to plan our response to the sacred trust of so many newcomers.

CONVERGE

A signficant weekend. 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship is led by our youth.Thanks to our host families!

Flipping out over the Oscars

In the wake of the notoriety of Brokeback Mountain at the Oscars (and failure at the box office), three options face the Faith Community.
1.Ignore. 2. Snicker. 3. Thoughtfully respond. I, for one, am not willing to concede the territory of cinema to the hawkers of films like Brokeback. As there already exists an intelligent, spiritual community which attempts to read the culture, explore the sentiments of Hollywood, and discern the drift of America, I think we need to join them. Why? As cinema goes, so goes most of our young, and so goes the country.

Sherri and I spent part of "Oscar evening" clicking back and forth between re-runs of Barney ( 1950's nostalgia) and snippets of the Oscars (2006 reality). I expect our experience parallels that of many believers. We yearn for our children to grow up with what we had in 1950, and we mourn leaving them alone with what they have in 2006.

For a truly cynical view of the Oscars, make sure you read Ann Coulter's recent article. Google it. It is enjoyable. But it does little to help us understand how a film such as Brokeback could enjoy such celebrity. Many Christian authors presently explore cinema, critiquing its persuasive power. These believers challenge the faith community to engage Hollywood and enter a conversation with culture that gives Christ a voice. In the first set of comments below I highlight some major resources for Faith and Film.

Chip Monk

Casino chips in the offering plates. Click comments, share thoughts.

The Raccoon Reflex

Pastor's Big Mouth Confession

I came home today from my sermon and felt like a big mouth. I don't always like the fact that my girls have to drive junk cars. The laughter in the sermon today sort of caught me by surprise. I feel kind of sore making the statement..."my daughters will always drive junk cars". Isn't that a grim prophecy? Yet....my first car was a junk car. And I learned a lot from that junk car. And my daughters savings accounts have a purpose...and...well, anyway...being a good steward is not easy; spending wisely sometimes means you don't give your children the absolute best, even when you could. I think we are being good stewards with our plan for our daughters cars....but it sure ain't easy. Don't want to make it seem easy when it's not.

Why the Devil Takes Mastercard

We all have it. The Flu. Each one of us in this congregation. But before you put your hand over your mouth, let me explain. It's a spiritual kind of flu. A form of affluency. I call it Affluenza. It's a spiritual disease. These next three weeks I will be preaching this series.(Found these cool graphics while surfing!) Pray for me as I prepare. And prayer for a spriritual and scriptural preparation for the work of Crown Ministries which is coming our way soon!

Who Touched Me?

February 19 Kickoff

CELEBRATE RECOVERY IS A SAFE ENVIRONMENT.
NOTHING IS EVER SHARED ABOUT WHO WAS THERE OR WHAT WAS SAID.WHAT IS SAID AT CELEBRATE RECOVERY, STAYS AT CELEBRATE RECOVERY.

1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load. (Galatians 6)

The Blog Begins Here

Welcome to my sermon blog. In your own soul room, God is at work. Open the door and let others in (or at least the blinds and let your light out)! Click on "Comments" below each entry as prompted by God's spirit and join the conversation. As you reflect on the scripture, consider these guides:

Is there a promise to believe?
A truth to hold on to?
A challenge to accept?
A danger to be avoided?
A fruit of the spirit to admire?
An experience to share?

Celebrate Recovery

This painting is entitled "The Good Samaritan". Gaze at it. What do you see? Notice the face of the helper becomes the face of the wounded man....or is it the other way around?
When I am "my brother's keeper" (Gen. 4:9) and I identify with his suffering, I take on myself the darkness that has hovered over him, and his gift to me is his own light filled face. As we reveal and seek recovery from hurts, habits and hangups in our lives...perhaps we will experience the dynamic painted here.

"Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal.6:2

Now Jesus Loved Lazarus

Celebrate the Recovery of Lazarus
God, Man and Community
John 11

Five Commands and a Miracle

I. The First Command
Let’s go to Judea again. (v.7)

The Response: Committing Together
Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” (v.16)

II. The Second Command
“Tell me where he is.”
And He said, “Where have you laid him?” (v.34)

The Response: Answering Together
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” (v.34)

III. The Third Command
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” (v.39)

The Response: Working Together
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. (v.41)

IV. The Fourth Command
Lazarus, come forth! (v.43)

The Response: Watching Together
“The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” (v.44)

The Fifth Command
“Loose him and let him go.” (v.44)

The Response: Experiencing Together
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. (John 12:9-11)

The Benefits that Flow to Community

ONE command was given to Lazarus
FOUR commands were given to the community.

# 1 The believer’s faith is elevated.
Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. (John 12:9)

# 2 The skeptics’ doubt is answered.
But Lord, said Martha…he has been dead four days.” (v.39)

#3 The slowness of the flesh is revealed.
The Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? (v.40)

#4 The believing community is inspired.
“Take away the stone….loose him and let him go….fill the pots with water…cast your nets on the other side….bring him to me…” (Various texts)

#5 Evangelism is made strong.
“…on account of him (Lazarus) many of the Jews were going over to Jesus.” (John 12:11)

Loose Him and Let Him Go

God has set natural laws and automatic processes to guide nature. By instinct and by default the antelope and the ant participate in their purpose. Man is the only creature God designed to be nurtured by other humans. Man's progress is not an automatic process. God has given us a need for each other. In seeing this cocoon wrapped butterfly, we wait and watch as nature unfolds God's will. In seeing Lazarus wrapped up in a cocoon of grave clothes, Jesus said to others standing about him: "Loose him and let him go."

Is there a person in your life you have wrapped up as dead and shoved aside into a grave?

Does God bring to mind a child, friend, acquaintaince who like Lazarus, is bound?

His mind was numb in death and he could not think.
His heart was cold in death and he could not feel.
His lips were closed in death and he could not speak.
His eyes were dark in death and he could not see.

But Jesus gave him life.
Share a story of deliverance, or a prayer for release, protecting the identity of others.

Lazarus, Come Out!