| JOEL-NEWS-INTERNATIONAL-474 * 27 APRIL 2004 * WWW.JOELNEWS.ORG IN THIS EDITION: JN474-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Passion inspires wave of crime confessions JN474-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Healing of Bolivia JN474-3. NEWS: Thousands prayerwalk New York on 5 June JN474-4. TREND: What a trend we have in Jesus JN474-5. RESOURCE: Evangelizing the 21st century culture JN474-6. WEBLOG: The Network Church paradigm --- JN474-1. TYPICALLY GOD: Passion inspires wave of crime confessions Critics of Mel Gibson's controversial blockbuster 'The Passion of the Christ' have expressed fear that the film would spark an outbreak of violence, but instead it continues to prompt criminals, from burglars to murderers, to confess to crimes committed recently or long ago. In Norway, a neo-Nazi confessed to two decade-old bombings after watching Gibson's depiction of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. In Florida, a fugitive from a bank robbery two years ago said he turned himself in to police after watching Gibson's film. LINK: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37818 --- JN474-2. PRAYER FOCUS: Healing of Bolivia Today and tomorrow 500 local church leaders from throughout Bolivia will gather in La Paz to seek God for the healing of their nation. After this meeting the participants will return to their own cities to orchestrate what is called 'clamor', an international day of fasting and prayer for Bolivia to be held on Friday, April 30. It will involve two central acts: first, at noon, clamor for Bolivia in the whole country, in thousands of prayer places in cities, neighborhoods and village communities, and at a central place in La Paz city where the government authorities will be taking part. And, secondly, that night there will be celebration acts in big concentrations in all the cities of the country. Please pray for a breakthrough for this nation that is suffering from difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest and drug production. Recent violent demonstrations resulted in many deaths and forced the resignation of the last president. Pray for God's anointing and empowering, for discernment and wisdom for the leaders and all who will be participating. LINK: http://www.joelnews.org/prayer.htm (specifics) --- JN474-3. NEWS: Thousands prayerwalk New York on 5 June As many as 10,000 Christians plan to hit the streets as they prayerwalk all five of New York City's boroughs on Saturday, June 5, 2004. Up to 250 churches, representing a variety of denominations and ethnicities, will participate in 'Pray New York!' to intercede for the 8 million people living in New York City. President of Concerts of Prayer Greater New York (COPGNY), Rev. Mac Pier, said he believes New York City is in a strategic time. "My vision for the 'Pray New York!' prayerwalk is to see the spiritual temperature of the city raised. I believe we are living in an unprecedented time to see our city filled with faith, to a level we have not seen in 100 years. We want to pray that reality into our city as a united army of intercessors from every tribe and tongue." LINK: http://www.copgny.org --- JN474-4. TREND: What a trend we have in Jesus Is the pop culture looking for religion or entertainment? "Jesus Christ Superstar, indeed. Pop culture's reigning 'It' guy is not some prefab pop star or some scruffy-haired actor with a million-dollar smile. Rather, it's none other than Jesus Christ." An article by Adam Graham of The Detroit News. LINK: http://www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0403/08/e01-84446.htm --- JN474-5. RESOURCE: Evangelizing the 21st century culture "We've moved past the MTV generation into the Internet generation, and yet many of us are just now responding to the TV generation!" says Rick Warren in this article. "Our message must never change, but the way we deliver that message must be constantly updated to reach each new generation. In other words, our message of transformation must never change while the transformation of our presentation should be continual, adapting to the new languages of our culture." LINK: http://makeashorterlink.com/?I27E11328 --- JN474-6. WEBLOG: The Network Church paradigm Joel News publisher Marc van der Woude keeps a weblog in which he reflects on God, the Church and daily life. This week he refers to an article by Steve Collins on Network Church. Collins explains the difference between localised models of church and the network church paradigm. LINK: http://marcsmessages.typepad.com/mm/2004/04/network_church_.html --- COLOPHON Joel News International is a leading special interest bulletin on prayer, church growth and revival. We offer a keen selection of the most encouraging news reports, the most challenging developments and the best resources from over 100 reliable sources in six continents. Joel News International is a great help and time-saver for thousands of Christian leaders and intercessors in over 120 nations. Editor: Marc van der Woude. You can contact the editorial office at joel-news@xs4all.nl. Joel News International is distributed weekly by e-mail on the basis of an annual donation. For more information see http://www.joelnews.org/donation-jni.htm#options. Has this bulletin been forwarded to you? Then subscribe directly by sending an empty e-mail to: subscribe-joel-news-international@xc.org. |
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