Here is a note I received from a friend 7 Reasons You Shouldn't Pay Attention to the Gloom and Doom

"Gloom and Doom is everywhere! In the papers, on the news, all over the internet, even in daily conversations. Many members of the general public and the investment community are getting depressed and caught up in this propaganda at a rapid pace. The attitude is even beginning to spill into personal and professional lives as people begin to buy into it. So what’s the answer? STOP immediately!

When you focus on the negative, you always multiply your problems. Instead, see your business being so busy you have to expand…the human mind has an incredible ability to accomplish whatever you focus on.

The 7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Pay Attention to Gloom and Doom are:

1. It’s simply not true.
It is possible to have the life you want. You work hard, and the media right now is making you sheepish. It’s herding you into a corner. It’s driving a stake right into the heart of the economy. You cannot create prosperity when you are fearful. In the 70’s we were told the world’s oil was running out; clearly that didn’t happen. The media predicted a mini ice age within the last 40 years; that didn’t happen either. Global warming? Chicago has had the heaviest snowfall since 1979. The media is powerful – do your own research.

2. This is a great year for commercial real estate.
If you are planning on investing in commercial real estate this year, you are in luck. There will be a fabulous inventory of product from which to choose. Interest rates are at an all-time low. Cap rates are becoming more reasonable again. Lots of OPPORTUNITY is in store for you this year.

3. Businesses that are closing should close.
You read the same newspapers I do, and you’ve seen articles about Starbucks and other retail chains closing units. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? You need to realize these units were underperforming all along and would have been closed anyway. What the paper doesn’t tell you is that there are many units being opened as well.

4. There is more money available to exchange hands than ever before.
There is more affluence in the U.S. economy than ever before. Businesses catering to the affluent are selling goods and services at record numbers. After all, people still want to spend money.

5. Plenty of businesses and people are experiencing financial growth at the moment.
The mall parking lots are full; people are walking around with shopping bags containing multiple purchases. Restaurants are still busy; you still need a reservation. Many Fortune 500’s are having banner years.

6. More money was paid into the IRS in 2007 than ever before.
This is self-explanatory. The only way this was possible is if Americans earned record amounts of income!

7. Abundance is a mindset. There are no limits to what you can create, and there are endless opportunities.
If you focus on recession, that energy follows your thought. The more you focus on abundance and prosperity, the more you get.

Remember, history has recorded that more millionaires were created during the Great Depression than in any other time because of the infamous “poor economy”. These people prospered because they believed in themselves and were willing to take calculated risks. They made tremendous amounts of money because they did not let the media control their destiny – they took charge! Take charge and get going…"
 

Most of us feel that our nation just made a grave error in the national election and that storm clouds are on the horizon. This may be true, but what should we do? Let me suggest that all of life must be seen in the light of the indestructibility of the church. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). This is why we have a message of hope that says, “Don’t despair, rise up and build holy families and holy churches. That will make a difference.”

Here is what I believe: the most important things we do in this life happen in church and home. It is here that we "watch and pray," "let the Word of Christ dwell richly" and "be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments," (Mark 13:33; Col 3:16; Deuteronomy 11:32). If you fill your home with the sweet waters of life and use your energies and gifts to strengthen the body of Christ you will be involved in the most powerful work done on the planet - more powerful and far reaching than DC the UN or the EU - and even Hollywood. Our work in church and home reaches across many generations and into heaven for all eternity. No administration can touch this in terms of significance, reach and blessedness. No nation can stamp out the healing balm that comes from the genuine worship of God in churches and homes.
 

David Brainerd was enormously sensitive to the condition of his relationship with God. When I read his biography I was astonished at how “up” and “down” he was in his spirit. He had a moment by moment awareness of sin and his need for repentance. Here are some statements that communicate just how passionate he was,

“I know I long for God and conformity to His will, in inward purity and holiness, ten-thousand times more than for anything else here below.” Pg. 79

He prays, “Oh, that I may be always humble and resigned to God, that He would cause my soul to be more fixed on Himself, that I may be more fitted both for doing and suffering.” Pg. 76

“Oh that my soul may never offer any dead, cold services to my God.” Pg.83

Brainerd died young, but his death touched off a revival among men and platoons of them entered into missionary service for over two hundred years after he was buried. These missionaries, were affected deeply by his disposition of sensitivity to sin and the need for God’s help to conquer it.

All of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards children are buried together,except for Jerusha who is buried next to David Brainerd. Their graves are about 100 yards away from the rest. David Brainerd spent the last months of his life in the Edwards home and Jerusha nursed him there. She died of the same disease soon after.

In this message Scott identifies fourteen characteristics of family integrated churches. Scott proposes the principle that age integration is only one architectural element of biblical church life, but if you lose that one element, you lose much.

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The Kairos Journal reminds us of "The Lion of Münster" who took to the streets to preach sermons in protest the Third Reich's fascist government. He cried out against the government which was striving for "national efficiency," the seizure of church property and the enforcement of euthanasia. The journal reports,

"Rarely does a series of sermons so enliven a congregation as to prompt demonstrations in the streets. But this very thing happened when, in the summer of 1941, Bishop Graf von Galen of Münster preached three famous sermons against the abuses by his government. His people publicly cried out—against no less an oppressor than the Nazi regime. The bishop’s messages condemned the mounting abuses and atrocities of the Third Reich, covering issues as diverse as the illegal seizure of ecclesiastical property and the implementation of a euthanasia program to destroy the physically handicapped and the mentally ill

Following Whitefield’s example would keep us from missed opportunities in evangelism

“God forbid that I should travel with anybody a quarter
of an hour without speaking of Christ to him.”

This is one thing we learn from Whitefield that would help us bring more blessing.
 

Here is an insightful article from Tim Challies on the mind and the affections and their relationship to listening to sermons and reading books. It is true that we cannot remember everything we hear or read, but our affections are formed by them and that works for the glory of God and for our sanctification.

We are now engaged in a significant expansion of the ministry of the National Center for Family Integrated Churches. The NCFIC was founded on September 11, 2001 and after seven years of ministry and laying a foundation, we believe that now is the time to give the NCFIC a distinct internet presence. This will allow us to clarify and amplify the message, increase the services, multiply the theological resources and extend the reach of the ministry.
 

This expansion includes the following:

1. Spinning the NCFIC web site out as a stand-alone resource.
2. Locating the offices of the NCFIC in Wake Forest, NC.
3. Getting to work on a big build-out of the web site content in audio, print and video.
4. Adding new functions and capabilities to the web site.
5. Adding employees.
6. Conducting a national conference in Dec 3-5, 2009 with Voddie Baucham and Doug Phillips
7. Discipling interns.

We believe that the church and the family are both holy institutions deserving our most excellent attentions. Please join us in prayer for the beautification and the proper functioning of church and family in our generation
Please prayerfully consider a donation to the NCFIC. Funds donated to Vision Forum Ministries must specify that the gift is for the NCFIC.