Friday Men’s Group 2/24/23

Las Vegas Wins Again
#1 Most Sinful City in America

“A world where everyone is striving for what is not worth having.”
William Makepeace Thackeray – Vanity Fair

Hi Men:

“……….God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”  (1 John 5:11)

Congratulations to Las Vegas as it once again takes the “Top Spot” for THE MOST SINFUL CITY IN AMERICA.  Pat yourself on the back Las Vegas, the competition was tough, but you won the Super Bowl of Sin!  The seven sinful areas are:  1) Anger & Hatred, 2) Jealousy, 3) Excesses & Vices, 4) Greed, 5) Lust, 6) Vanity and 7) Laziness.  A few cities chasing this coveted award finishing in the Top 5 include St Louis, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta.  180 US cities were compared.  To review the main findings, click here

“For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
Romans 6:23

As you can imagine, it’s pretty easy to earn “wages of sin” in Las Vegas.  If you didn’t get a chance to listen to Ray Comfort’s meeting with the young woman in last week’s Friday letter explaining the “wages of sin,” make sure you find 10 minutes.  Here it is again: This Is Why I Didn’t Want To Talk To Her

William Makepeace Thackeray began writing his novel, Vanity Fair, in 1847.  By the way, if you haven’t see the series created by Amazon Prime in 2018, it brings clarity to the word VANITY. 

PILGRIMS PROGRESS

John Bunyan – Pilgrim’s Progress (1st Edition Published February 18, 1678 – 345 years ago this month!).  Bunyan wrote most of the book while in prison.  It was second only to the Bible in popularity.  It is the most famous Christian allegory still in print!  Our Friday Men’s Group did a study with that book over 20 years ago.  It was a fantastic study!  It appears our study book is now available in PDF format

Charles H. Spurgeon said of Bunyan’s work: “Next to the Bible, the book I value most is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. I believe I have read it through at least a hundred times. It is a volume of which I never seem to tire; and the secret of its freshness is that it is so largely compiled from the Scriptures. It is really Biblical teaching put into the form of a simple yet very striking allegory.”

On Christian’s journey to the Celestial City, he enters the town Vanity Fair.  What is the allegorical significance of the town of Vanity Fair in Christian’s spiritual journey?  Like LAS VEGAS, Vanity Fair stands for the spirit of materialism and possessions in this age and how strongly they force us to focus on what is earthly as opposed to heavenly (1 John 2:15)

You can watch a remake of Pilgrim’s Progress (2019)  for free (also made for kids) by registering at this link

I love this quote by CS Lewis in the beginning of the movie:
“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.  Otherwise you’re making their destiny not brighter, but darker.”

————

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.”
 (Proverbs 14:12)
Dan

 


 

“I sought the Lord, and afterwards I knew, He moved my soul to seek Him seeking me.
It was not I that sought Thee Savior true; I was sought of Thee.”

Men:

The stanza from the 1879 hymn above certainly puts things in perspective regarding the Sovereignty of God.  All of us need to “take to heart” the (2) devotionals below.  In my limited experience, the church today sorely neglects Biblical truths such as these………

“Only those dedicated to doing His will can stand in the Day of Judgment”

God’s Unwilling Slaves & God Is Sovereign and Man is Responsible – Red Book Day 54 & 55
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically

Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”


 

Lee & Miltinnie “First-Ever” Joint Testimony
(See Below Letter)

 

Men:  Below is Lee’s February note.  Always contains profound truths……

If you haven’t listened to Lee’s talk at Zion regarding Romans 2:6……. Put it in your calendar:
Unpacking the Most Boring Passage in Romans
E²Vegas.org/Episode/Zion-Boot-Camp-2022

 

Lee & Miltinnie Joint Testimony 2/11/23.  This is GENUINE & HEARTFELT!
Set aside some time to listen to it …. (1hr 8min)

Google Drive:  CLICK HERE
Dropbox:  CLICK HERE

 


 

 

MIM CONFERENCES

 

 

Please pray for the Lost Velley Men’s Conference next weekend.  They are at full capacity

Lost Valley Ranch
March 3-5

 Pray for the speakers and the men attending….. thanks

 

 Photo Above:
Lost Valley 2008.  That was one friendly St. Bernard….
And the fire hydrant in the foreground wasn’t a prop
😊

 


 

Fishless Fisherman’ Fellowship (Revisited)

One of the main reasons the church is in the wreck it’s in…
it’s become a keeper of aquariums

Living Waters: LivingWatersDownunder.com (3 mins)
Or
View it on YouTube (3 mins) 

Forward this to your church buddies

See attached PDF hardcopy – Fishless Fisherman

 


 

🚫 WARNING!   DO NOT WATCH THIS 🚫
YOU MAY BE CONVICTED TO SEND IT TO YOUR JEWISH FRIENDS!

 

 

Jewish scientist (James Tour) makes the greatest Jewish discovery!!

View it on YouTube (7mins)

 Check out his resume:

If you would like to hear an outstanding message by James Tour on God and the Origin of Life, here is an hour long YouTube presentation.

 


 

“Nothing could persuade them until Truth meant more than tradition”

Men:
It wasn’t until I started reading/studying the Bible that Truth trumped tradition……. And trust me, it was NOT comfortable!

Q.80  [From the original Heidelberg Catechism]

What difference is there between the Lord’s supper and the popish mass?

Answer. The Lord’s supper testifies to us, that we have a full pardon of all sin by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself has once accomplished on the cross; and, that we by the Holy Ghost are ingrafted into Christ, who, according to his human nature is now not on earth, but in heaven, at the right hand of God his Father, and will there be worshipped by us: but the mass teaches, that the living and dead have not the pardon of sins though the sufferings of Christ, unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priests; and further, that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine, and therefore is to be worshipped in them; so that the mass, as bottom, is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ, and an accursed idolatry.