Friday, March 29, 2013

What is Easter Sunday?

There is a lot of confusion regarding what Easter Sunday is all about. For some, Easter Sunday is about the Easter Bunny, colorfully decorated Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts. Most people understand that Easter Sunday has something to do with the resurrection of Jesus, but are confused as to how the resurrection is related to the Easter eggs and the Easter bunny.

Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no connection between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the common modern traditions related to Easter Sunday. Please read the article on the “origins of Easter” for background information. Essentially, what occurred is that in order to make Christianity more attractive to non-Christians, the ancient Roman Catholic Church mixed the celebration of Jesus' resurrection with celebrations that involved spring fertility rituals. These spring fertility rituals are the source of the egg and bunny traditions.

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19). Jesus' resurrection is most worthy of being celebrated (see 1 Corinthians 15). While it is appropriate for Jesus' resurrection to be celebrated on a Sunday, the day on which Jesus' resurrection is celebrated should not be referred to as Easter. Easter has nothing to do with Jesus' resurrection on a Sunday.

As a result, many Christians feel strongly that the day on which we celebrate Jesus' resurrection should not be referred to as "Easter Sunday." Rather, something like "Resurrection Sunday" would be far more appropriate and biblical. For the Christian, it is unthinkable that we would allow the silliness of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny to be the focus of the day instead of Jesus' resurrection.

By all means, celebrate Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday. Christ's resurrection is something that should be celebrated every day, not just once a year. At the same time, if we choose to celebrate Easter Sunday, we should not allow the fun and games to distract our attention from what the day should truly be all about—the fact that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and that His resurrection demonstrates that we can indeed be promised an eternal home in Heaven by receiving Jesus as our Savior.


Easter Sunday Calendar:
2013 = March 31
2014 = April 20
2015 = April 5




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What are the origins of Easter?

The origins of Easter are rooted in European traditions. The name Easter comes from a pagan figure called Eastre (or Eostre) that was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Saxons of Northern Europe. A festival called Eastre was held during the spring equinox by these people to honor her. The goddess Eastre’s earthly symbol was the rabbit, which was also known as a symbol of fertility. Originally, there were some very pagan (and sometimes utterly evil) practices that went along with the celebration. Today, Easter is almost a completely commercialized holiday, with all the focus on Easter eggs and the Easter bunny being remnants of the goddess worship.

In the Christian faith, Easter has come to mean the celebration of the resurrection of Christ three days after His crucifixion. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year because of the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the events upon which Christianity is based. Easter Sunday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance culminating in Holy Week and followed by a 50-day Easter season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.

Because of the commercialization and pagan origins of Easter, many churches prefer to refer to it as “Resurrection Sunday.” The rationale is the more we focus on Christ and the less we focus on the pagan holiday, the better. As previously mentioned, the resurrection of Christ is the central theme of Christianity. Paul says that without this, our faith is futile (1Corinthians 15:17). What more wonderful reason could we have to celebrate! What is important is the true reason behind our celebration, which is that Christ was resurrected from the dead, making it possible for us to have eternal life (Romans 6:4)!

Should we celebrate Easter or allow our children to go on Easter eggs hunts? This is a question both parents and church leaders struggle with. There is nothing essentially evil about painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. What is important is our focus. If our focus is on Christ and not the eggs our children will understand that the eggs are just a game.  Children can participate in an Easter egg hunt as long as the true meaning of the day is explained and emphasized, but ultimately this must be left up to the discretion of parents.



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What is Good Friday /Holy Friday?


Good Friday, also known as "Holy Friday," is the Friday immediately preceding Easter Sunday. It is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified. Assuming that Jesus was crucified and died on a Friday, should Christians remember Jesus' death by celebrating Good Friday?
The Bible does not explicitly state on which day of the week Jesus was crucified. The two most widely held views are Friday and Wednesday. Some, however, using a synthesis of both the Friday and Wednesday arguments, argue for Thursday as the day.

However, in the grand scheme of things, it is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified. If it were very important, then God's Word would have clearly communicated the day and timeframe. What is important is that He did die and that He physically, bodily rose from the dead. What is equally important is the reason He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. John 3:16 and 3:36 both proclaim that putting your trust in Him results in eternal life! This is equally true whether He was crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

The Bible does not instruct Christians to remember Christ’s death by honoring a certain day. The Bible does give us freedom in these matters, however. Romans 14:5 tells us, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rather than remembering Christ's death on a certain day, once a year, the Bible instructs us to remember Christ’s death by observing the Lord’s Supper. First Corinthians 11:24-26 declares, “...do this in remembrance of me...for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”? What the Jewish authorities and Romans did to Jesus was definitely not good (see Matthew chapters 26-27). However, the results of Christ’s death are very good! Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

Many Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening, in which Christ’s death is remembered with solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on Christ suffering for our sakes, and observance of the Lord's Supper. Whether or not Christians choose to “celebrate” Good Friday, the events of that day should be ever on our minds because the death of Christ on the cross is the paramount event of the Christian faith.


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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Theological Perspective of Leadership


 How does God see leadership?

The term influence is at the very heart of many leadership definitions. One defines leadership as “the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives.”  Others define leadership as “interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and directed through the communication process…
Still others state that leadership is “influencing people to follow in the achievement of a goal.

The point here is that leaders are doers and what they do is influence.  Leadership is all about influence.

Influence involves moving people to change their thinking and ultimately their behavior.   Several ways that leaders accomplish this will help to define influence:

     1.    Persuasion – The primary way to influence is by persuasion. Paul influenced and thus       persuaded unbelieving Jews to accept Christ by reasoning with them from the Scriptures that Jesus was their Messiah Acts 17:1-4).  He also attempted to persuade lost Gentiles (18:4) and believers (2 Cor. 5:11).

     2.    Encouragement – David sought to encourage Joab by sending him directions on how to win a battle, even though it was for a bad cause (2 Sam. 11:25)

     3.    A godly example – The writer of Hebrews tells the readers to consider the outcome of their leaders’ lifestyle and to imitate their faith (Heb. 13:7). 

Leadership was considered necessary in New Testament Churches. 
     1.    Early in the life of the churches, relief funds were sent from Antioch to the elders in the churches in Judea (Acts 11:20).

     2.    Paul appointed elders almost immediately in the churches founded on the first missionary journey (Acts 14:23).

     3.    Elders and Deacons appear as part of the normal picture of the life of various churches (Acts 20:17; Phil. 1:1)

     4.     Paul seemed to consider leaders a necessity for the proper functioning of churches (Titus 1:5).

     5.    Leadership is one of the spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:8) that functions in local churches (Heb. 13:7, 17).

The word spiritual gifts (charisma) related to the word for grace, means something that is due to the grace of God.  The use of the word in the New Testament ranges from the gift of salvation (Rom. 6:23) to the gifts of God’s providential care (2 Cor. 1:11), to the most frequent use in relation to gifts of grace to the believer.  Thus, a spiritual gift is a God given ability for service.    

God sees leadership as a service to humanity by Leaders who are committed Christ – Followers who put themselves under the lordship of Christ.  Paul summarizes this in Romans 6:13 where he writes, “But rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness…” 

In Corinthians 11:1 Paul writes to the church at Corinth, “Be imitators of me, just as I also of Christ.  This is a bold but justified exhortation. Spiritual Leaders must set an example of Christ likeness to follow.

Eph. 5:1, therefore, be imitators of God, The Christian has no grater calling or purpose than that of imitating his Lord. That is the very purpose of sanctification, growing in likeness to the Lord while serving Him on earth.  The Christian life is designed to reproduce godliness as modeled by the Savior and Lord.  Jesus Christ, in whose image believers have been recreated through the new birth. As God’s dear children, believers are to become more and more like their heavenly Father.

I believe that the church is the hope of the world (Matt. 16:18). However, leadership is the hope of the church.  The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Acts 4:11, 12; 1Cor. 3:11) and the head (Eph. 5:23) of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter.  There is a sense in which the Apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph. 2:20), but the primary role is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter.

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

My Network Marketing Experience

I have been involved in MLM or Networking marketing, mostly on a part-time basis, since about 1978. I have joined some great companies with great products such as Amway, Matol, Shaklee, ACN Telecommunications, Tahitian Noni, to name a few. Then in March 2006, I retired from Corporate America and became a full-time Network Marketer.

My first four years as a full time Network Marketer were an extreme struggle not very successful. I followed my team leader’s training, made my warm market list, cold market list, cold called prospects, did 3 way calls with prospect and team leader, religiously went to meetings, attended training seminars both in and out of state, set appointments to show the plan and hosted countless home meetings. These expenses plus product auto-ship costs caused a serious drain on my cash flow; my ROI was virtually non-existent. For all of my hard-work, I had nothing to show for it but mounting debt, two maxed out credit cards, an abundance of product, and growing list of friends who avoided talking with me. I often thought to myself: There has to be a better way to do this. Something is missing – it can’t be this hard!

 Maybe you can relate.

 Now here is what was absolutely mind boggling and enlightening at the same time. Not only was I struggling in my network marketing business, but I was also bombarded with nagging doubts about my Christian life. So I took three years away from any business pursuits and enrolled in the Seminary in February 2010. I graduated with a Masters of Arts in Ministry in February 2013.

Since my childhood, I have valued the gifts of leadership, ethical character, personal integrity and an abiding faith in God and the principles of Christianity. Graduate studies in Ministry helped me to remove all my nagging doubts, helped me to know why I believe what I believe about Christianity, equipped me to teach, pastor and lead a church family. I believe that the church is the hope of the world and that leadership is the hope of the church. I am committed to helping fill the leadership vacuum in the church. I am committed to a Great Commission Vision, quality ministries, and sustained servant-leadership excellence. Since graduation in February 2013, I have begun the church start process.

 In addition, I have rekindled my entrepreneurial spirit. I found an opportunity that meets my criteria for integrity, leadership, excellent marketing plan, and great a product that is in demand. And it is through this home-based business opportunity that I found the Empower Network.

I have been in Empower Network for only five days; and while listening to the fast start training, I could relate with much of what Dave Sharpe and Dave Woods were saying. The first thing that impressed me was the apparent authenticity of their experiences. Secondly, like my enrollment in graduate school was partially driven by a desire to be associated with people from whom I could learn and respect, I got the same sense that Dave and Dave were the kind of leaders in Internet Marketing from whom I could learn and respect. The third point that got my attention was when Dave said that the Empower Network training could be applied to your other business. I got a real sense that with Empower Network, I can strengthen my marketing skills and know how to apply them. Additionally, the potential to earn significant income in relatively short time period is staggering.

As I continued to listen to the eight core commitments in the fast start training, the lights started to come on. I need a source of funding through personal employment that will not be a disadvantage to my church planting and ministry. Empower Network combined with Get Weekly Paychecks affords me the personal employment possibility of a “tentmaker.” In this situation, as a church planter, I am able to turn to a particular profession only when there are not enough funds available for their support. This is consistent with my desire and responsibility to provide for my family and not be dependent on church funds for support.

I found a common theme of relationship building that is essential in both the secular and religious worlds. I sensed a sincere desire from Empower Network co-founders Dave and Dave to help people achieve their dreams because they used the term “Edify” constantly throughout the Fast Start Training. Look at this definition of the term “Edify” – educational: providing morally useful knowledge or information. Is this not what we as professing believers do in obedience to Jesus Christ, use our spiritual gifts to edify each other. I was also reminded of these quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King:

 “If I can just help somebody along the way, then my living will not have been in vain”.

 "Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Finally, during the Fast Start Videos, I kept wondering what these products were that Dave and Dave kept referring to. Remember, earlier I said that one of my criteria for joining a company was great a product that is in demand. Then on the Coaching.Empowernetwork.com webinar, I realized that these products were educational marketing and business building materials. If the quality is there, and I have no reason to doubt the integrity of the co-founders’ claims, then I have found the Marketing leaders that I have been in search of. And like my church planting, I will not do a temperature check; I will commit totally to learning from the experts.

I believe that if you’re willing to be open-minded and not afraid of change that you can believe in, you will discover how successful marketing can be achieved. After listening to the Empower Network Fast Start Videos, I now know that Internet Marketing does not have to be so hard. Using the wrong techniques – like trying to force a square peg into a round hole – makes it hard.

I believe that joining the Empower Network Team through my affiliation with Get Weekly Paychecks will be one of the greatest decisions in my Internet Marketing experience.

                                                                    Perseverance
Cherish Your Dreams and Aspirations
They are the Blueprint of Your Achievements

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Art of Making (and Keeping) a Resolution

It’s a new year and a new decade, and if you’re like many of us, you made some resolutions to start things off. Unfortunately, almost half of those resolutions will be kicked to the curb before January ends. With such a grim statistic, how do you make a resolution and actually keep it long enough for it to matter?

It is important, first of all, to recognize the difference between a resolution and a wish. A wish is passive and hopes that whatever you desire will somehow miraculously happen.

• You want to lose 10 pounds, but you don’t want to change anything that you are
doing.

• You want to be financially free but you don’t want to change your work habits.

• The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing that you have always
done and expect different results.

A resolution is an active plan for change.

You can increase your chance of success by aiming for something specific in your resolution. The more specific you are, the greater your likelihood for success. You also want to be realistic. Extreme makeovers are fun to watch on TV, but they are not very realistic in real life. Identify the behavior that you plan to change.

• I resolve to lose 10 pounds by switching from whole milk to skim.
• I resolve to earn $1,000 per month by committing 2 hours daily to my business.

By identifying a specific behavior, you can keep track of what you’re doing. It takes about a month to convert a behavior into a habit, and during this time, it’s important to carefully monitor and track your progress.

Think of change as a creative process. Utilize technology to send yourself reminders and positive encouragement. Enlist the help of friends and family members to gently nudge you toward success. Visualize the end result of the changes you are making. Remember that making any change takes time, and that you may slip up from time to time. If this happens, simply get back on track and don’t be mean to yourself. Eventually, your resolution will become a part of your life and you can begin making plans for next year’s resolutions.

Like many of us, I made some resolutions to start things off in 2010. But the devastating Earth Quake in Haiti caused me to add another resolution.

• I resolve to stand with our neighbors to the south and contribute to the relief
efforts in Haiti. I will donate 2 sales out of each 10 sales (20%) to the
American Red Cross’ relief efforts in Haiti.

Author: Dennis Sewart, Jr. is an experienced Internet Marketer and Entrepreneur.
This opportunity is a Win-Win for all. It is simple, straightforward, and will put you in total control. You are limited only by your dreams and effort.

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Monday, March 30, 2009

Lucky Few are Buying $1 Million Homes for Just 2%

There's a new "secret" that a lucky few have already found that's enabling them to literally buy houses that ordinarily sell for around $1 Million or more - but now for just $1,997 or LESS!

There are 3,141 counties in the United States, and each one possesses this exciting new opportunity whereby anyone with as little as $100 to seldom more than $5,000 can buy homes ordinarily valued from $30,000 to in quite a number of cases above $5 million! - and for just 1% to rarely above 5% their selling costs!

And the BEST part about this is that you can be located anywhere and still buy any home you want - even if you're 3,000 miles away or more!

But, you don't have to visit the county you buy the homes in - instead, you can do it all from the comfort and privacy of your home using just your tiny 'ole mouse!

This is what makes this such a wonderful opportunity, in that you can go online to some select websites, then pick and choose the properties you want, and then get them for between 1%-5% at most.

No matter what happens you make money!

You basically buy a homeowner's tax lien certificate because he or she wasn't able to pay their property taxes.

They by law must pay you anywhere from 16% to as much as 50% in interest - and in many cases they must pay you back within as little as 6 months.

But, if they can't pay you back, YOU own their home free and clear (and for what usually amounts to just 1% of the house's actually selling value!)

Now, at this point you can either keep the house for yourself, or you can swiftly turn around and resell it (in any economy, good or bad!) to banks, lenders or individual buyers answering your little classified ad! - and where you make a killing!

The site that has all the facts as to how you can do this from your laptop or PC is here:

Tax Liens Made Easy

But I wish to strongly encourage you to take action and go there as it's rumored that they are going to withdraw this exciting opportunity as soon as they reach the maximum number of "members" they can handle.

I  strongly recommend that you also take a look at these Amazing Business Opportunities:
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