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Can Joel Osteen help you pay your bills?

"Have you been to church in America recently?" one aide said. "They put on a funeral. If you put on a funeral every week, eventually people stop coming." "I don't think it is the only form of religion that is going to survive into the future; I think there is also a very strong place for small intimate worship settings, like house churches and small cell churches. But the megachurch is appealing and attracting people for a reason; it parallels the experience that we have with rock concerts and sports arenas and the mall."- Scott Thumma, a sociology of religion professor Can Joel Osteen help you pay your bills? By Christine Romans, CNN December 18, 2009 Updated 1924 GMT (0324 HKT) Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Joel Osteen strides into the former Compaq Center. Some 20,000 people are standing and singing. Purple lights softly pulse across the ceiling, and mist floats around two giant screens flashing words to the songs. It's not a pulpit but

Come Aboard The Party Christmas Bus!

What a way to celebrate Christmas riding on a Christmas Bus! Yes, they are rolling here in Sydney, Australia. There are four of them operated by the Hills Bus. We chance upon the The Party Christmas Bus last Sunday afternoon. The other three buses are themed The Australian Christmas Bus, The Winter Wonderland Bus, and the Santa's Cave Bus. These buses are definitely much better than the atheist buses to be launched in New Zealand! Not a joke. T'was such a fantastic ride. My four-year-old son was so amazed and can't control his mouth to say a big "wow!" Definitely, it did put smiles on our faces. We are quite pleased to see smiling faces of people hopping in on various bus stops. What an atmosphere of smiling people!  I say the Christmas Bus is one of the cleanest public buses we've boarded here in Sydney. It's top of the class and it's fully airconditioned. Good smell and absolutely clean. We really enjoyed the ride from the rolling hills and beauti

Go Tell it on the Mountain (Garth Brooks)

Yes, I am a big fan of country music! Garth Brooks is an amazing country music singer and he dominates my music collections. This Christmas song "Go Tell It on the Mountains" is great for this season of joy, peace and love. It conveys the real meaning of Christmas. Be blessed! Go Tell it on the Mountain Go tell it on the mountain Over the hills and everywhere Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born The shepherds all were watching Over their sheep at night When a guiding star shone from heaven And the followed that holy light Got tell it on the mountain Over the hills and everywhere Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born They found a lovely manger Where the humble Christ was born And God sent out salvation On that blessed Christmas morn Go tell it on the mountain Over the hills and everywhere Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born He brought with Him forgiveness He live to show us the way He came to redee

Draw Me Close To You

Truly, Jesus is The Way. His death on the cross, the shedding of His blood, His sacrifice, made way for us to approach God with boldness. Jesus is our High Priest and we can enter God's "Most Holy Place." What a privilege! We can draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. In Jesus, we can all have our sins entirely forgiven, forever. (cf Hebrews 10:19-22) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.(Hebrews 10:23-25) Join me in fellowship as we worship our ever living God with this song. Draw Me Close To You Michael W. Smith Draw me close to you Never let me go I lay i

Invisible People

On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; “Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?” For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly: “I certainly did something about it. I made you.”               - Invisible People                                                                                   Another day, another discovery. What I found is a blog about "invisible people." Do you know them? Have you seen one? You may say, "How can I see them if they are in fact "invisible"?" What a silly question! "No, sir. No, Madam." The truth is, you have seen one. They are practically everywhere. They are people with stories to tell. They are people who are as precious as we are. They are people who exist. I'm not referring to a Hollow Man, a 2000 film that features Kevin Bacon in the title role as Sebastian Cain

American Idol Winner Kris Allen Sings "God of This City"

“God Of This City,” is a song birthed by Ireland -based modern worship band Bluetree in a brothel in Thailand . An anthem being sung worldwide, “God Of This City” was written by Bluetree during a mission trip and while the band was on stage performing worship songs in the Climax Bar , a club which doubles as a brothel in the Red Light district of Pattaya, Thailand . The song became a message of hope for the people of Pattaya and is now being sung in churches across the world. It was further recorded by C hris Tomlin and became the name and theme for the latest Passion project and world tour. The acclaimed album, God Of This City, has become one the best selling Christian recordings this year. Watch American Idol Winner Kris Allen  sing God of This City. God of This City You're the God of this City You're the King of these people You're the Lord of this nation You are You're the Light in this darkness You're the Hope to the hopeless You're the Peace t