ARE YOU PERPLEXED?

(Luke 21:25) “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;

At men's prayer this morning we were discussing how the experts are perplexed on how to stop the oil leak in the Gulf. They are trying and theorizing so many solutions. All the while the oil leaks and the environment is affected.

Isn't it great that we can go to the Lord when we are perplexed and we don't know what do do? Like Paul we can say:

...we are perplexed, but not in despair.

( 2 Cor4:8)

And like Jehosophat we can pray:

...For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

(2 Chr 20:12)

Are you perplexed? Give it over to the Lord and let Him bring the revolution of the solution you need!

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BAPTISM AT CCNORCO

We had such a good time last Sunday (March 2) at the clubhouse pool of the Kosobucki home in Riverside. Our theme scriptue was:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

(2 Cor 5:17)

We had a lot of changed lives represented! Jesus can change you too!

For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
(Rom 10:13)
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JUSTUS

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JIM JARVIS (Justus' dad)

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ENO CONTRERAS

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LYLA CLAIRE KOSOBUCKI

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KAT

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KAT'S FRIEND JOYCE

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JOYCE'S SON CODY
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JASON BAPTIZING ALESSA CONTRERAS FROM THE YOUTH GROUP
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SARAH IS KAT'S DAUGHTER GETTING BAPTIZED BY JASON AND LOUIE

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GREAT FELLOWSHIP TIME AFTERWARD IN THE LORD!

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... that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
(1 John 1:3)

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COURT REJECTS SUIT BY ATHEIST

MICHAEL NEWDOW

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Atheist fails in bid to remove God' from presidential oath

By MICHAEL DOYLE
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Friday rejected an effort to strip the word "God" from presidential oaths.

Citing largely technical reasons, a three-member appellate panel ruled that California attorney Michael Newdow and his allies weren't in a position to legally challenge the oaths. Newdow, an atheist, had hoped to avoid formal invocation of the deity's name in the 2013 and 2017 inaugurations.

"The only apparent avenue of redress for plaintiffs' claimed injuries would be injunctive or declaratory relief against all possible president-elects and the president himself," noted Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. "But such relief is unavailable."

The appellate court further determined that Newdow's related challenge to the oath taken by President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20, 2009, was moot, since there was nothing that could be done after the fact. (The president took the oath twice, once on the Capitol steps and again at the White House, because Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Obama flubbed their lines the first time.)

"Whether the 2009 ceremony's incorporation of the religious oath and prayers was constitutional may be an important question to plaintiffs, but it is not a live controversy that can avail itself of the judicial powers of the federal courts," Brown stated.

Newdow, who is also an emergency-room physician in Sacramento, Calif., has been challenging religion in the public realm for many years but with little lasting success. Most famously, in 2004, the Supreme Court rejected his claim against the suburban Sacramento Elk Grove Unified School District's use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The court's 2004 decision, much like the new appellate panel decision, centered on technical rather than substantive constitutional grounds. By a 5-3 margin, the high court determined that Newdow lacked the standing to sue because he didn't have sole legal custody over his daughter, on whose behalf the suit was brought.

Newdow subsequently sought to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency. A federal judge rejected the effort, reasoning that the phrase simply amounted to a national slogan.

In March, in yet another case brought by Newdow, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Sacramento-area Rio Linda Union School District's use of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

"The pledge is one of allegiance to our republic, not of allegiance to the God or to any religion," Judge Carlos T. Bea wrote in the March 11 decision. "Furthermore, Congress' ostensible and predominant purpose when it enacted and amended the pledge over time was patriotic, not religious."

As have judges in other cases, Bea also questioned Newdow's standing to bring the lawsuit.

Newdow consistently argues that he is personally harmed by the religious references. His presidential oath lawsuit specifically targeted use of the phrase "so help me God" by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, who delivers the oath to the president-elect.

"For those ... watching the inaugural ceremony with their children, this action - by the nation's highest judicial official - is especially intrusive and harmful," Newdow argued in his original complaint.

Newdow further noted that the phrase "so help me God" is not included in the version of the presidential oath spelled out in the Constitution. He asserts that the phrase has only been used regularly since the 1930s.

Groups such as the Freedom from Religion Foundation and Atheists United joined Newdow in his Washington lawsuit.

One member of the appellate panel Friday, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, said he would have gone all the way and ruled that the God reference in the inauguration doesn't violate the First Amendment.

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Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”

(2 Chronicles 13:12 )

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NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER 2010 - Norco City Hall

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AMAZING JESUS RAP

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

COMPREHENSION OF THE ASCENSION

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

COMPREHENSION OF THE ASCENSION

(Mark 16:19) So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus ascended to the Father forty days after His resurrection and His ten post-resurrection appearances. It concluded the earthly ministry of Jesus and allowed eyewitnesses to see both the risen Christ on earth and the victorious, eternal Savior returning to heaven to minister at the right hand of the Father. But what happened after that and does it have any meaning for us today? Is there any worth in the comprehension of the ascension?

There was a prediction of the ascension way back in Psalm 68:18: You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive... Enoch and Elijah experienced an ascension and these would foreshadow Christ's (Gen 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). Jesus predicted His ascension: (John 20:17) Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father... The event of the ascension is recorded in three places in the New Testament (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11). It is also recorded in the Nicene Creed and Apostle's Creed of the early church.

Ponder the significance of the ascension for believers today:

- It shows the work of Christ is finished. When your work is done you usually sit down!

- Christ now becomes our heavenly advocate: (1 John 2: 1) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

- Jesus had to ascend to send the Holy Spirit: (John 16:7-8) Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

- Jesus now prepares a heavenly place for His own: (John 14:2-3) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

- We are now drawn to place our affection on heavenly things instead of earthly things: (Col 3:1-2) If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

- It gives us hope that we will join Him in glory: (Col 3:4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

- The ascension guarantees His "descension" (what goes up...must come down!): (Acts 1:11) ...“Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

It's nice to mention the ascension. I hope it will give you the lift you need!

Louie