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HYPHENATED CHRISTIANS, EAGLE RISING OVER PHILADELPHIA
AND
WHY EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS DON'T WORK
"WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT…THINK ON THESE THINGS" PHIL. 4:8
What a pleasure it is to be in touch with you again. Send us your
feedback or testimonies and follow the link in the RESOURCE section from
"WHY EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS DON'T WORK". Enjoy the report #
EDITORIAL - THE HYPHENATED CHRISTIAN
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism… Americanism
is a matter of the spirit, and of the soul... The one absolutely certain
way of bringing this nation to ruin… would be to permit it to become a
tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of
German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans...
each preserving its separate nationality..." - Theodore Roosevelt
INTRODUCTION
Between 1892 and 1924, 22 million immigrants poured into America from the
'old world' through Ellis Island and the Port of New York. Most quickly
adopted the grass roots patriotism of their new country, assimilating its
ways, learning the language, and becoming proudly 'American.' They
sentimentally retained certain cultural icons but even threw them into
the 'New World' mix. But President Roosevelt foresaw a dangerous day
ahead when the 'hyphenated American' would move from the context of
assimilation to multiculturalism; where immigrants would be allowed, in
the name of 'tolerance,' to keep their own language and customs, being
many separate cultures in one nation. Somewhere along the way we allowed
political correctness to dilute 'One Nation Under God, ironically making
us increasingly more secular and tolerant, so that now we cannot tolerate
any views that challenge our tolerance.
A BIG GRAY MELTING POT
Australia, a land with a different perspective and priority on patriotism
than America, readily adopted multiculturalism many years ago, but
learned the hard way that it cannot necessarily produce a big gray
melting pot of utopian racial harmony. Instead, it has resulted in racial
ghettos with tension between them. In the natural, it will take four or
five generations before there may be any harmony, and even then there are
no guarantees. However, in stark contrast to the natural, our former
church in Sydney was comprised of over 80 nationalities giving testimony
that in Christ… "There [should be] neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28). Let me suggest that nowhere else
on Earth is it possible to see such unity except in the Body of Christ,
once we realize that the culture of heaven is greater than any earthly
culture.
LAND OF PARADOXES!
America is a land of paradoxes! On one hand, its people ardently seek
humanitarian fulfillment as this recent observation from Canadian
television commentator, Gordon Sinclair, declares; "This Canadian thinks
it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and
possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan
and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris
of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave
other billions in debts… The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped
billions of dollars into discouraged countries…." On the other hand,
America's dollar driven popular culture has to take a lot of
responsibility for the downward slide of western morality. Tolerance has
made homosexuality acceptable to many by calling it an 'alternative
lifestyle' leaving the closet door wide open. When syndicated talk show
host, Daniel Lapin, recently said; "…Christians are the only people in
America who haven't come out of the closet…" he was being more profound
than he could have imagined!
LIFESTYLE COMPARTMENTALIZATION
If Roosevelt had lived closer to our era, perhaps he would have amended
his comments to note an even greater danger to America - the "Hyphenated
Christian"! We have become experts at compartmentalizing our lives. Our
family life is separate from our social life; our personal and business
lives have nothing to do with our spiritual life! Many have become
'Sunday-Christians.' Church is something we do on Sunday, or as Bishop
Roderick Caesar puts it; "Spiritual bulimics, taking in the word on
Sunday and then going home and regurgitating it, not acting on it, and
going back next Sunday to get filled up again".
PART-TIME CHRISTIANS
Religion and morals are not necessarily the same thing. Many morally
upright people have no religious faith whatever, and many religious
people behave badly. Somehow the lines have gotten crossed! A national
study by Barna Research Group found; "We rarely find substantial
differences when comparing the moral behavior of Christians and
non-Christians in 70 categories."
The only 'Hyphenated Christians' that are not a danger to America are
"FULL-TIME CHRISTIAN". They are those who put God first and who
understand that He must fill every area of their lives otherwise He just
becomes another option. The greatness of America is not in its fighting
forces or in its economy, but in the goodness of its people. That
goodness is anchored in the Church. America will stay great as long as
the Church stays strong. #
FEEDBACK -
" Jeff, I truly thank you for such a sound lesson in the Word (FMI Report
March '02 "EDITORIAL - OFFENDED OR UNOFFENDABLE?"). I have learned that
by God's grace we have a loving obligation to submit our minds to be
molded into that kind of thinking, that my loving response to His
sacrifice is to accept and obey every command out of the mouth of Christ
so that I may be used according to His will. Thanks for your perseverance
and hard work. It is a love for Christ that keeps you so consistently
ministering in a way of such high value to us. ERNEST HAGINS, STATE
HOUSE, TRENTON NJ
" Dear Pastor Jeff: I enjoy getting your e-mail/updates. Your 'mini'
sermons are always insightful and thought-provoking. God is doing some
wonderful things in 'your neck of the woods.' I was just wondering if you
heard about the revival that was prophesied in Philadelphia. I'm a member
of Pastor George Cunards church (The Worship Center) and recently Prophet
Dale Mast visited our church. While here, God gave him a vision of the
Liberty Bell, and showed him that just as Philadelphia was once the
'capitol' of this nation, that God was going to make it the Apostolic
capitol of this nation again. He saw an eagle rising up from Philadelphia
with molten flames of fire dropping over the cities. The flames were
fires of revival dropping all along the east coast. The eagle was heading
towards Detroit, but God showed him that Philadelphia/cities surrounding
were going to propel the revival that would travel across the nation…
Anyway, thanks for your updates. Please pray for us over here. Outwardly,
the church/city looks as dry as burnt toast-but if those molten flames
hit us as Dale has prophesied, how quickly this fire will burn! God
bless. CYNTHIA SINGER, PENNSYLVANIA
" Dear Jeff Beacham, I want to take this time to say thank you for all
your prayers… they really encouraged my walk with the Lord and to put my
trust only in Him. The word the Holy Spirit spoke in my spirit concerning
this year is prosperity. God is going to increase my income, my spiritual
growth has increased. Also, God has me (through my local church) going to
the prison and reaching out to those who need Him. I love to see lives
changed and people set free. I'm so excited about God, like never before.
I have so much joy in me. My life has really changed. Many blessings to
you and your family. CHARLENE DAYE
" Dear Rev. Beacham: I thank you for all you recently imparted into our
lives during your visit to New Harvest Christian Church (Pastor Ralph
Diaz). You might remember me and my little grandsons. I gave a brief
testimony on my appreciation for the 'Father's blessing' which you
bestowed upon my (grand)children. Some main points stick out in my mind,
which I wanted to thank you for and encourage you in. You explained the
difference between the gift of prophecy and the office of the prophet. It
was very important for me to understand that and until you taught us, I
didn't even realize that it is something I really NEEDED to know! I am
also extremely thankful that you are speaking on behalf of a generation
growing up in large numbers without fathers, some of whom will never even
know who their earthly father is. I heard someone on television a few
nights ago say that single parents and their children are the modern day
'widows and orphans.'… Many blessings to YOU. And your family, JOAN
BENEDICT, NEW YORK
MARCH MINISTRY AND TESTIMONIES
** Sunday, April 14th, Jeff Beacham ministered two powerful messages at
Grace Outreach Fellowship where lives were eternally touched and changed
for God's glory. In the morning service, Jeff ministered on the
importance of mentors, stating, "Success depends upon succession." He
continued by saying how important it is for each of us to have a mentor
in our life and to be a mentor in someone else's life. All took the heart
of the message to heart.
In the evening service, Jeff preached a message titled, "People of
Excellence." He taught us that people of excellence make excellent
choices in their lives and that we are a result of the choices made in
the past. Jeff's encouraging words were expressed in his 'Seven Choices'
that people of excellence make.
As always, Jeff gave an altar call and three people were saved. He also
ministered to the sick and many lives were touched by the power of God.
Thank you Brother Jeff for your faithfulness to the call of God on your
life. PASTOR MIKE KURTZMAN, GRACE OUTREACH FELLOWSHIP, NORWALK
CONNECTICUT
*** COMING SOON: MASTER STRATEGIES CONVERGENCE CONFERENCE REPORT ***
RESOURCES
COMMUNICATING - CAN WE DO IT BETTER? - Set yourself a spare half hour and
read through the riches of material at newWway.org. Here are
thought-provoking pages about all sorts of Christian communication
issues. There's even the full text of Engel's original, WHAT'S GONE WRONG
WITH THE HARVEST. NewWway.org is part of the Southern Baptist's very
significant contribution to online evangelism. As a group they are highly
committed to this medium.
http://www.newwway.org
GOD ALLOWS U-TURNS - A non-fiction, Christian inspirational book series
featuring motivational stories that demonstrate how faith in God can
inspire, encourage and heal. They encourage freelance writers to submit
stories for consideration.
http://www.botcw.com/cgi-bin/se/jump.cgi?ID=14387
TEN COMMANDMENTS OF PRESS RELEASES - "The words PRESS RELEASE sat
prominently at the top of the sheet of paper sitting on my desk. Glancing
at the release, I saw it came from a church announcing a new ministry.
The more I read, the more I realized there was no way I could write a
story based on the information provided…" Read more at:
www.newwway.org/ten_commandments_of_press_releases.htm
WHY EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS DON'T WORK - Recently our ministry partnered
with Kingdom Inc (the largest Christian tape ministry in America
http://www.kingdominc.com ) to
produce a tape series and book on how to have more successful
evangelistic meetings. KINGDOM is making this available FREE to all
traveling evangelists in America.
www.kingdomevangelists.com/specail_offer.asp
We hope you will seriously consider joining with us in this great
adventure with God. Heather and I bless you in Jesus' wonderful name and
look forward to being in touch with you again next month.
Much love,
JEFF BEACHAM
Pastor / Evangelist
Firepower Ministries International
2 Rt. 37 WEST, Toms River, NJ 08753
Ph.(732) 349-1550, ext. 205 Fax (732) 286-6311
Email:
info@firepowerint.com Website:
http://www.firepowerint.com
**** CHECK JEFF BEACHAM'S MINISTRY ITINERARY AT:
www.firepowerint.com ****
GOD THOUGHTS: "A man is not old
until regrets take the place of dreams." - John Barrymore
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