Walking around a piece of property as advertised as a “Prayer Walk” might not mean much to you, or you might think just walking will not result in anything except a good exercise workout if you are not inclined to daily cardiac activities. Yeah, I am there too – the skeptic to this unusual manner of behavior. But, walking around a “wall” actually has Biblical reference. Ever hear about the walls at Jericho?

Joshua 1-6

After many years, Moses died. And God said to Joshua, “Lead My people across the Jordan River. Each place you set your foot will be yours. Just be strong and do not fear. For I am with you wherever you go.”

So Joshua sent two men ahead to spy on a town called Jericho. When they got there, they stayed with a woman named Rahab. But when the king of Jericho heard they were spies, Rahab hid them on her roof. And when it grew dark, she helped them to escape.

“I have heard great things about your God,” explained Rahab.

“Please promise me that you will not hurt my family when your people take Jericho.”

God told Joshua exactly what to do in order to take the city of Jericho. First, Joshua gathered men into an army to march around the city. Then came seven priests, each one carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. Behind the priests came the ark of the covenant, and following the ark came more armed guards.

They paraded around the city of Jericho one time each day for six days. During this time, the priests blew on the trumpets, but everyone else marched quietly.

On the seventh day, the Israelites paraded around Jericho six times. All the while, the priests blew their trumpets, but everyone else remained quiet.

At the sound of that noise, the walls of Jericho began to crumble and then they fell, tumbling to the ground. And all who were inside the city ran in fear. All except for the woman Rahab – the one who had helped the two spies. She knew she would be safe. And she was.Then on the seventh time around the city, Joshua called out a signal. Everyone yelled and screamed and shouted – with all their might!

The Walls Came Tumbling Down!

I have witnessed one wall in the life of my family (wife & kids) having already been knocked down. The sale of our home this past November. We were literally walking around our home and on making our 7th trip around the house we got a call from our real estate agent notifying us our counter-offer was accepted and the house was S-O-L-D! We did not make the profit that we had hoped for, nor did we even break even. We actually lost some money with the sale, but praise be to God we have moved on and can look optimistic on the future God has in store for our family.

(You could probably say that the earlier mention of our house being sold was the second instance of a wall falling down. Before our house was sold, and that was not revealed to me until later, my wife was lead one morning to place her hands on the front door of our home as she was leaving for work and asked God that we get an offer on our house. Guess what? Within a relatively short period of time, 1 day or 2, we got a phone call with an offer to purchase.)

This brings us to our family activities for this evening. We are going to walk around our property and earnestly seek God’s favor on the appraisal of our land. We really need the value to be more than what we paid for it back in 2009. We need the additional equity value to offset our closing costs since we are building the house ourselves. We have been moving forward seeking God’s ultimate direction for our family and the next steps in our ministry that he is calling us to.

He is indeed stretching us and teaching us to walk more intimately with Him. It is not easy and we still do not fully understand all that He is calling us to. We are simply being obedient. Often we think that God’s instructions don’t make sense, but let’s follow the Israelites’ example and take one day at a time as we follow God. Often, we will not see the logic of God’s plan until we have completely obeyed His Word. The Israelites may have felt foolish marching around the city of Jericho for a week instead of going into battle, but the LORD instructions were clear and the Israelites chose to obey.

Could I ask that you join with us in prayer?

I would personally love to hear from you and return the favor if I can be in prayer in God meeting for you a need.

Blessings!

Today, as you browse the internet, you may see a handful of websites shut down or install new pop-up banners in protest of something called SOPA.

SOPA, some of you may recall from 9th grade language class, is Spanish for soup. But as you might guess, the internet is up in arms about something more than a bowl of Tortilla Soup. SOPA, in this case, stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill also goes by it’s more official name from the House of Representatives, H.R. 3261.

While many of us may skip over legislation in the news, since it rarely has a direct connection to our lives, this piece could be unintentionally damaging to the way churches conduct their ministries. As a result, while Clark doesn’t officially support or oppose legislation, we are strongly suggesting you familiarize yourself with this bill. [Click here for a link to H.R. 3261].

Granted, this is unfamiliar territory to many. The church in America is better known for it’s opposition of Gay Marriage and Pro Choice laws than an interest in technology legislation. This is understandable, perhaps, because assaults on the family are easier for the church to identify, while the specialized terminology surrounding tech law doesn’t necessarily trigger our red flags. But, in actuality, this law would have wide ranging effect on the church, possibly allowing for a new level of censorship that could restrict the way Christian values and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are currently transmitted in our culture.

As Clark travels around the Untied States serving the local church and leading them in technology shaping decisions, we notice that many leaders struggle to understand or are completely unaware of how Net Neutrality or SOPA could impact their congregation and church ministry at large. As shapers and influencers of how the church uses technology, we feel compelled to help fill in these gaps and educate leaders by offering a quick overview of this legislation.

The following explanation, then, isn’t legal jargon. I’m not a lawyer. It’s just a practical summary offered by a well-informed friend who notices a car driving in your blind spot that could potentially cause some damage down the road.

SOME BACKGROUND

To understand SOPA, it is first helpful to understand Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality holds that there should be NO restrictions on internet access, meaning that neither the government or internet service providers should be able to restrict how or what consumers access online. This is the principle that guides internet usage in America today.

However, in recent years, legislation keeps popping up that would put restrictions on broadband services. The way service providers commonly limit a person’s access, for example, is by charging consumers for the type of content they access and charging content providers for the type of content they want to provide. This allows the cable companies to charge consumers more for using the internet to watch videos as well as to charge the web host more for streaming video.

To those not versed in the amount of bandwidth these services use, this legislation may sound fair on the surface. Until I tell you that you could be slapped with the same fee even if you are using the exact same amount of bandwidth accessing 10mbs of video as you would accessing 10mbs of word documents.

So, we’d watch a few less videos, right? Unfortunately, the impact is much wider than that. The bill could potentially allow cable companies to price churches out of being able to stream online video, which means it would kill the technology necessary to support online viewing of church services.

Imagine waking up one day and realizing the online campus you and your staff labored over for the past year will now cost each family $30 more a month to access. Or even worse, imagine the hosting fees that originally cost your church $50 a month now spike to $1,500.

You can start to see how tech law could change the game for churches, right?

WHAT IS SOPA AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE CHURCH?

SOPA is designed to fight piracy of copyrighted material online. [Click here to access bill.] It seeks to prevent people from illegally distributing movies, music videos and other content that they haven’t purchased.

Take a look at this section, for example:

“…the U.S.-directed site is primarily designed or operated for the purpose of, has only limited purpose or use other than, or is marketed by its operator or another acting in concert with that operator for use in, offering goods or services in a manner that engages in,  enables, or facilitates infringement…”

Doesn’t sound bad, right? Who would want to create or run a site that would enable users to violate copyrights? We at Clark, of course, agree with this intention, as we do not condone the stealing or redistribution of copyrighted work.

However, this law doesn’t just target illegal distribution networks. It restricts everyone—churches, individuals, small businesses—who runs a website.
Any site that allows a user to upload content (think Facebook, You Tube, and any interactive portions of your church website) would fall under the restrictions issued by SOPA. That means comment pages, forums, photo-sharing and other platforms for interacting could become immediate violations of this law.

When a law unnecessarily restricts consumers who are operating within their legal rights, then, it gives us cause for reflection.

Many of us probably hear this and think to ourselves, in the worst case scenario, we’d have to disable commenting and eliminate sharing features. But it actually goes far beyond that. The wording of the law allows web hosts and users to be issued violations any time they engage in or enable the infringement of copyrighted work. And when left undefined, this means organizations like churches—who regularly provide content—could come under close scrutiny.

Using a song that you fail to get permission for? Showing a video clip as an illustration? A streamed video where the pastor is wearing a third-party company logo (like Nike or Hurley)?  All of these could be technically slapped with “3rd Party” copyright infringement, which allows a company to hold you legally responsible for something used indirectly in your video.

But, you may be saying, even these laws can be understood, right? If we use a song, you may be thinking, we should have permission. Same with a video clip. (Though I doubt any of us are ready to start editing our wardrobe to eliminate possible copyright violations.) If a court of law establishes that an organization is using film or music without permission, it’s reasonable that they would expect some sort of restitution, right?

The key word here is reasonable. Unfortunately, SOPA does NOT require due process. That means copyright holders (a music label, a publisher, a company acting on behalf of a brand) only needs to issue a claim to cut off services to you or your church. They would be able to report violations to PayPal, Visa, Google, Godaddy and a variety of other companies, who would then be authorized to take your site offline and freeze your ability to receive funds.

The ramifications of this law become much bigger suddenly, right? Potentially, your church website could stop appearing in Google results, the URL of your church site would take internet browsers to a blank filler page, and your ability to receive electronic donations via PayPal could be cut off.

This post, of course, is not meant to be a comprehensive overview of the SOPA bill, but a summary of the potential dangers churches might want to protect against. SOPA is a lengthy bill, with many more details, including the right to charge an individual or organization with a felony for sharing (or in some way enabling the sharing) of copyrighted work valued at $2,500 or more.

While Clark doesn’t lobby for political action, as it is outside the mission of our company, we do encourage our community to educate themselves on legislation like this so they can determine whether it is appropriate to act in defense of their rights. With the internet quickly becoming the number one way people access information about faith, legislation like this could set back the established channels some use to discover and grow in their relationship with Jesus.

In the larger picture, we of course suggest that it’s wise to be thoughtful not just about this piece of legislation, but about any issue that impacts the huge role technology is playing in shaping the future Church in America.

** Permission granted for full article repost from Clark (http://clarkblog.net/2012/01/18/internet-sensorship-and-the-church/). Attributing article author: Mark Miller / Mark is the Brand Manager and Director of Marketing for Clark. Before working at Clark, Mark spent most of the last decade leading the media efforts of various mega churches. **

Through the voice of a young child, this video presents powerful scripture which reveals God’s heart on the sanctity of human life. This video makes a great sermon illustration for Sanctity of Life Sunday or anytime you are preaching on the topics of abortion, the sanctity of life, or the right to life.

Since 1983, Americans have observed Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (SOHLS) as a day to celebrate the intrinsic value of all human life. This important day also provides an opportunity for pregnancy centers to share about the work they do to bring life-affirming resources to their communities and to empower women and men to choose life for their unborn children.

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is held on the Sunday in January that falls closest to the day on which the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions were handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973. The next SOHLS will take place on January 22, 2012.  How can you be involved?

1. Promote LIFE throughout the year!

2. Spread the word on Facebook!  Share ideas of what you plan to do in your community…

3. View the Sanctity of Human Life video on YouTube.

4. Contact your local pregnancy center to see how you can help.

History

In a January 13, 1984 proclamation, President Ronald Reagan designated January 22, 1984 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The date was chosen to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that first recognized the constitutionally-protected status of abortion in the United States.^[1]

Reagan issued the proclamation annually thereafter, designating Sanctity of Human Life Day to be the third Sunday in January, which represents the closest Sunday to the original January 22 date. His successor, George H. W. Bush, continued the annual proclamation throughout his presidency. Bush’s successor, Bill Clinton, discontinued the practice throughout his eight years in office, but Bush’s son and Clinton’s successor, George W. Bush, resumed the proclamation, and did so every year of his presidency.

¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven … (Matthew 5:12)

Do you give in expectations of receiving something equal to or greater than the value you gave, or do you give out of the abundance of your heart?

Don’t allow someone to choke out your motivations, desires, or dreams.

Ever had someone that mattered to you to tell you are not good enough; that you don’t matter to them?

Don’t allow any negative or discouraging words choke out the potential that God has instilled in you. You have a God given potential that only God has authoritated for you to possess and for you to act upon. God has not given any other the same purpose or empowerment in the same manner that He has placed within you. You are unique and there is none other like you.

What better verse to illustrate this than …

Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

We have only been into the year 2012 for 6 days now and I am most confident there are many employees who have returned to work this week after the Christmas and New Year holidays that have had a similar thought in mind: “Is there anything left to accomplish here?” It’s an ever occurring concern that comes with each new year and can hit even those who truly enjoy their jobs.

At the beginning and end of each year, I think people get that feeling of  ‘am I signing up for this again?” This is especially true when you’ve been in a job for a long time. There’s a kind of thinking where you get into your normal work flow but you have to renew your interest in your position and your function within the organization each year.

Might this word from Jeremiah 29:11 be encouraging to you today:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Find something of value within your organization. Maybe evaluate your effectiveness; are you giving your best to your organization? Little known truth; “you get what you give.” I am not talking about karma here, but try giving your best to whatever situation you are in. After all, we were created by God to worship Him and even your job is an act of worship.

B4- Before

b/c, bc- Because

BRB - Be Right Back

BTW - By The Way

DM- Direct message, a private message or “direct message” to a person you follow.

EM or EML- Email

Fab- Fabulous

FB- Facebook

FF- Follow Friday(#followfriday) A Twitter “endorsement” Tweeted show the user’s favorite people on twitter.

Followers- Twitter Members that follow user updates

F2F (and while we’re at it, B2B, B2C): face to face, Business to business, Business to Client (Business to Community)

FYI- For Your Information

Gr8- Great GTG, G2G- Got To Go

Hashtag #: A way of organizing your updates for Twitter search engine & to enable others to discover relevant posts. For example, here are some of the worlds favorite hashtags from 2011:

• #egypt
• #tigerblood
• #threewordstoliveby
• #idontunderstandwhy
• #japan
• #improudtosay
• #superbowl
• #jan25
• #thingslongerthankimsmarriage
• #thankyousteve
• #prayforjapan
• #winning
• #inthe90s
• #rw2011
• #theawkwardmoment
• #11/11/11

IC - I See

IDC- I don’t care

IDK- I don’t know

IM- Instant Message

JK or J/K- Just Kidding (or for UK people, Joking)

L8- Late

LI- LinkedIn

LMAO- Laughing My A** Off

LMK- Let Me Know

LOL- Laughing Out Loud– not “lots of love” like my mother thinks it is.

NSFW- Not Safe For Work

OH- Overheard

OMG- Oh My God

OMW - On My Way

ORLY- Oh Really?!!

ROFL- Rolling On The Floor Laughing

@reply: a Twitter update (a tweet) that is directed to another user within their tweet.

RT- ReTweet

SMH- Shaking My Head

Thx or Tx- Thanks

TMI- Too Much Information

Trend- A topic “Trending” or “popular” right now on Twitter

TTYL- Talk To You Later

TTYS- Talk To You Soon

TY- Thank You

YT- YouTube

Twitter is an amazing thing. I mean, it is a platform for social change, advertising, communications, brand identity, and etc. Join the stream– and of course, follow me @bradhuss!

A powerful new mini-movie for New Year’s based on 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Integrate WordPress with Twitter and Facebook, so you can collect everything people are saying about your blog in one place.

• Post to Facebook pages
• Import Facebook likes
• Add multiple Twitter and
  Facebook accounts
• New display for retweets and likes
• Intelligent retweet detection
• Improved search for Facebook responses
• Refined threading of replies from social networks

“The easy way to remove email subscriptions! - We support Gmail, AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail.”

Straight forward and simple service.

 Login with your email / Login using your email and password. Don’t worry, we don’t store your login information.

 We find your subscriptions / Our unique technology crawls through your inbox and generates a list of what you’re subscribed to.

 Manage your subscriptions / Select the subscriptions you no longer want to receive and press unsubscribe.