Africa E News 7-07-2007

K-House eNews
For The Week Of July 10, 2007

**TABLE OF CONTENTS**

This Week's 66/40 Radio Broadcast

Articles and Commentary

The Spiritual Gifts

The New Empire of Europe

A Call for National Healing

Important News Headlines

Memory Verse of the Week

**THIS WEEK'S 66/40 RADIO BROADCAST**

Philippians 2 :9 -2:30 Radio Link
The Sin Bearer

But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:26. Jesus died to remove sin; to satisfy divine justice; and to reveal God's love.

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The Spiritual Gifts by Chuck Missler

Are the gifts for today?
What does the Bible say about the gift of tongues?
How do you validate the reality of God the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life?

The Holy Spirit is given to unite, not divide, the Body. There are two common errors: One is to ignore the Spiritual Gifts, the other is to over-emphasize one gift above another. There are many controversial topics associated with the mysterious Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This study focuses in on the Apostle Paul, who addresses the controversial topics associated with the mysterious "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" in his I Corinthians 12,13,&14.

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**ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY**

THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS

What are spiritual gifts? Are the gifts for today? What does the Bible say about the gift of tongues? The Apostle Paul addresses the controversial topics associated with the mysterious "Gifts of the Holy Spirit" in his first epistle to the Corinthians.

Chapter 12 of Paul's letter teaches that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to each of us, spiritual gifts, supernatural gifts, but nobody gets the same gifts. That's very important. If we have a spiritual gift and do not exercise it, we defraud the body, for the gift was not given for us, but for the body of Christ. One of the greatest adventures is to discover our spiritual gift because that’s a clue to what our ministry will be. Diversity of service but one church; diversity of gifts, but one Spirit; diversity of members but one body - this is the essential message of chapter 12.

Chapter 14 deals with the abuse of gifts. The greatest of the gifts is prophecy. It most edifies the church, it most convinces outsiders, but its use should be orderly. The discussion of prophecy is a counterbalance to the over-emphasis on tongues. Is the gift of tongues for today? Yes, but there is a lot of nonsense going around. The answer to the questions of spiritual gifts is right between 12 and 14: All these gifts, whatever they are, are valueless without love.

Chapter 13 speaks of the utter necessity of love, the moral excellency of love, and the abiding supremacy of love. The Holy Spirit is looking for fruit - we should be inspecting fruit, not gifts. Paul said:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing."

What counts is good done in response to the Spirit. The first three verses give us the characteristics of love.

• Love suffereth long, and is kind;
• Love envieth not;
• Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
• Doth not behave itself unseemly,
• Seeketh not her own,
• Is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
• Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth
• Beareth all things, Believeth all things,
• Hopeth all things, Endureth all things

We can learn the character of Christ by substituting His name for "love" in this passage - Christ suffers long and is kind, Christ envies not, etc. What happens when we put our name in place of love? The disparity is embarrassing, but as we grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that disparity narrows, because His goal is for us to fit that description. We grow by walking moment by moment with the Holy Spirit. So follow after love.

For a more detailed discussion on what the Bible has to say about this topic, listen to our briefing titled The Spiritual Gifts.

THE NEW EMPIRE OF EUROPE - (Print)

It has been two years since European voters rejected the EU Constitutional Treaty, a veritable coup which left politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels scratching their heads. Efforts were made to revive the failed proposal, but to no avail. The people had spoken – or so it seemed. Today, the EU constitution is once again set to become the law of the land. However it is now being called the EU "reform treaty" and this time around its fate may not rest in the hands of the people.

The new EU reform treaty is essentially a repackaging of the EU constitutional treaty – not unlike putting lipstick on a pig – critics say the bulk of the document remains unchanged. According to Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, the reform treaty is "90 percent the same" as the former constitutional treaty. However because it is not technically a constitution, government leaders may be able to ratify the treaty without submitting it to national referendums (giving it a better chance of survival). Like the constitutional treaty, the reform treaty establishes a new permanent EU president and a new foreign policy chief. It also abolishes national vetoes in more than 50 areas, strengthens the powers of the European Parliament and European Commission, and gives the EU formal legal "personality" for the first time, enabling it to sign international treaties.

For many Europeans the EU constitution represents a loss of sovereignty and national identity. The document itself is enormous, over 160,000 words in the English version (almost 500 pages), that is supposed to streamline the government. Critics complain that the document is too long and too complex. It is written in highly technical legal jargon that has proved difficult even for experts to understand, much less the general public.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, recently described the European Union by saying: "We are not the United States of Europe - we are unique in the history of mankind! Sometimes I like to compare the EU as a creation to the organization of empires. We have the dimension of empire but there is a difference. Empires were made with force with a centre imposing diktat. Now what we have is the first non-imperial empire." Barroso, it seems, has missed the obvious: by ignoring the clear outcome of the national referendums, and pushing ahead with the treaty, the EU leaders are in fact creating this new "empire" by force. Voters rejected the constitution, but it seems it is going to be implemented anyway.

In recent years the European Union has steadily moved forward in its attempt to unite Europe politically and economically. It has succeeded in unifying and strengthening its economic market, creating a common currency, and establishing both a European legislative and judicial system. It has been suggested by some that the European Union may be the revived Roman Empire. Thus it is interesting to note that the introduction of the Euro is the first time since the days of Caesar and the Roman Empire that Europe has had a common currency, others have tried, most notably Napoleon Bonaparte, but none were successful. We will continue to observe with anticipation the historic developments taking place in Europe. There are still many obstacles the European Union must face on the road to solidarity, but in the eyes of some they have already accomplished the impossible. The once impenetrable wall between east and west, communist and free, is now gone, and in its place is a growing economic and political force.

A CALL FOR NATIONAL HEALING - (Print)

...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Tens of thousands of Christians converged on Nashville, Tennessee this weekend to spend a day united in prayer for the United States. Many had prepared in advance by fasting for 21 or 40 days, believing that seeking God together is necessary to turn back America's spiritual and moral decay.

While promoted by charismatic Christians, the gathering was designed to be nondenominational - a call for all Christians of varying denominations to come together in unity in Jesus Christ to repent and worship and pray for the Church and for national healing. This week's gathering - purposefully set on 07-07-07 - is not the first "call to prayer" in recent years. In September, 2000, 400,000 young people met at the Mall in Washington D.C., and in subsequent years prayer warriors have gathered in New York, Boston, San Francisco and other cities. The prayer teams intend to gather once again in Washington D.C. in August of 2008 (08 of '08) in preparation for the US elections.

The heart cries of attendees varied as they worshiped and knelt at Nashville's LP Field on Saturday. They prayed for their families and broken homes. They prayed for forgiveness for sexual impurity and for abortion. They prayed for unity within the Church - that congregations could see past racial and cultural and denominational differences to love each other as fellow members of the body of Christ.

Some church leaders in the Nashville area were not as excited about the gathering as other church leaders. According to the Tennessean:

"They're calling for renewal, or revolution, if you will, if I understand correctly. But I'm just not persuaded that sexual perversion is the nation's greatest sin," said the Rev. Judi Hoffman, pastor of Edgehill United Methodist Church, who named caring for the poor and promoting living wages as other important faith issues. "I think they're overly concerned with purity."

The Bible does focus a great deal on caring for widows and orphans, and for justice for the poor, the Bible emphasizes the great love of God for humanity. God's passion for holiness and purity, however, should never been underestimated. Christ died so that his blood would cover our sins, and the Holy Spirit was sent to sanctify believers. A public gathering of repentance and prayer is biblical:

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly." - Joel 2:15

May we all constantly seek God for ourselves and our families, for our churches, and our land.

**IMPORTANT NEWS HEADLINES**

China Trade Surplus Hits Record - July 10, 2007
China's trade surplus rose to a record $26.9 billion in June, almost double the level it was at last year. The surplus increase is still likely to fuel tensions with the US, which has accused Beijing of having an overly weak currency to boost exports. BBC

Cyprus and Malta to Adopt Euros - July 10, 2007
Cyprus and Malta will adopt the euro on 1 January 2008 after EU finance ministers gave them the final go-ahead. Slovakia is next in line, hoping to switch to the single currency in 2009. BBC

Dollar Falls to Record Euro Low - July 10, 2007
The dollar has fallen to a record low against the euro and yet another 26-year slump against the pound. BBC

Virginia Birds Test Positive for Bird Flu - July 10, 2007
Virginia banned all live poultry sales and shows for the rest of July following the discovery of avian flu antibodies in a flock of 54,000 turkeys on a Shenandoah County farm. MSNBC

**MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK**

We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
Jeremiah 3:25 KJV

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