240 en Skits and Dramatic Enactments of Bible Stories Skits and Dramatic Enactments of Bible Stories No Greater Joy Ministries podcast@nogreaterjoy.org TYPO3 - get.content.right http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html Clean Copyright No Greater Joy Ministries No Greater Joy Ministries We tried to have the new NGJ website up by the 17th, but due to overworked staff it hasn't quite... We tried to have the new NGJ website up by the 17th, but due to overworked staff it hasn't quite happened yet. We did launch the new store so check it out. We are still working on the new design for the magazine side of the website which means we are going to postpone the Bird�s Eye View until the 1st of November. We do apologize and hope to catch everyone up on what is new and happening at No Greater Joy. Please come back and visit us. It WILL be worth it! http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/18/update-postponing-dailies/ Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:00:00 -0500 Mel Cohen, General Manager In the news as we go to press is the fate of Yousef Naderkhani, the Iranian Christian Cleric who... In the news as we go to press is the fate of Yousef Naderkhani, the Iranian Christian Cleric who converted to Christianity at the age of 19. He is now in his thirties with a wife and two children. Islamist hardliner Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is the mastermind of Iran�s strategy against Christians and wants greater action by the government. To date he has not been very successful in his actions despite the full backing of the government and massive funding of the various anti-Christian programs. The Christian missionary organization, Open Doors UK, estimate there are 100 million Christians facing persecution. It is in the name of Allah that much of the persecution of Christians occurs. There are many areas of the world that have little to no gospel literature due to the message of Jesus being banned. Because of the danger involved in having a print Good and Evil Book in Arabic, we have not printed them for distribution. We DO have an Arabic translation that is available for free download and print copies are available through NGJ using Print on Demand. Pass it on! Put the link on your Facebook page and ask your friends to do the same: http://www.alkhairwasharr.com/goodandevil.html Our goal for Good and Evil is to reach as many untold millions as possible.  At this time we have the Punjabi language, the Urdu language and the Romanian language translations ready to go to print, but we lack the funds to make it happen. Cebuano has been well received in the Muslims schools in the Philipines. We have a man willing to take the books into schools, preach the gospel and show gospel films. As I type this we do not have the funds to re-print the Cebuano translation of Good and Evil for these Muslim young people. The demand keeps growing, but the funds to handle the new language groups are not available. We need your help! NGJ does not take an administrative fee on any donation, 100% of all Good and Evil donations go into funding the translation, printing and distribution of Good and Evil books. Would you like to stand before God knowing that a people group heard the gospel through your donation? For many people this gospel message will be the only gospel message they will ever know, this book with the message of Christ will be the only missionary to ever enter into their lives. It will be their only hope. Will you stand in the gap? Email Mel our General Manager for more information at mcohen@nogreaterjoy.org or call him at 931-593-2484. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/silent-presses/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:06:00 -0500 Debi Pearl Eons ago, or rather in the late 60s and early 70s, Mike had a running buddy by the name of Shad... Eons ago, or rather in the late 60s and early 70s, Mike had a running buddy by the name of Shad Williams. Before they became friends, Shad had been a rising star in the music world. He and his band, Shad and the King Lears, had recorded a song called �Come Back When You Grow Up Girl� which was number 1 on the charts. Shad was into the typical scene of pop musicians: drugs, booze, nightlife. Then a remarkable thing happened. A sweet, unassuming, compassionate preacher came to visit Shad and gave him the gospel. Shad truly believed God and was born again. Immediately he wanted everyone to have the same forgiveness. Six months later Shad met Mike and they hit it off immediately. They put together a gospel preaching band and set out to reach the young Navy and Marines with the gospel before they shipped out to Vietnam. Shad was a little red-headed dynamo of a guy, a true visionary/prophet. Mike was a large, intense leader, an unmistakable king/command man. Both men were full of energy and zeal for God. Shad tried to raise the skill level of our amateur band while Mike scouted and remodeled an old honky-tonk down on the highway. He organized a clean-up and repair crew, set up stage lights, and brought in 200 chairs. On Friday night three school buses parked close to the Navy base, and the girls, me included, invited the young men to get on the bus for a fun evening of music, stale donuts and coffee, and preaching. But we didn�t mention the preaching. Mike called the band The Scarlet Thread. For several years every Friday evening several hundred young men filled the house. Shad and his band entertained and then Mike preached the gospel. Thousands got saved. One might be your grandpa. Why don�t you ask him if he was stationed at Millington Naval Base in the 60s and 70s? As the war began to wind down, Shad went on to minister in an international street ministry, and Mike wrote the book To Train Up a Child. The two men were busy serving in different corners of the world, but they kept in touch. Last year I asked Sheila, Shad�s wife, to write their fascinating love story for my book Preparing To Be a Help Meet. Everyone loved it. That Was Then, This Is Now For the last 40 years Shad and Sheila, in obedience to the Scriptures, �Go into all the world and preach the gospel�.� and �go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in,� have been going to remote areas of the world to do street preaching. Their motto and email address is simply, �We Go to Them.� They have personally given the gospel and seen over 10 million people respond to the message. Lasting fruit Over time enough men and women have received Christ and continued strong in the faith that churches were formed, schools were established, and outreaches were started. There are now solid Bible believers continuing to minister in six countries. Six times a year Shad and Shelia travel to one of those countries. The believers there have everything in order with all the equipment waiting and volunteers lined up when their plane touches down. So they hit the road running for three or four weeks, giving the gospel several times a day to a new crowd each time. You can visit their website and see their ministry in action. No Pain No Gain This has not been a ministry for sissies. Often the conditions are brutal: burning sun, long hours, poor food, nasty accommodations, lack of funds, broken equipment, and even persecution where they fear for their lives. Some of the men who have received the Lord through their ministry have lost their lives due to their testimony for Christ. Yet over the years many have heard the gospel and responded to the message that Christ died for them, and that by simply putting their faith in his finished work they can know the eternal God and be forgiven. God says, �By their fruit ye shall know them.� Shad and Sheila have much eternal fruit. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/we-go-to-them/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:05:00 -0500 Shalom Brand Did you know that God tells us in his word that if you want wisdom all you have to do is ask? Did you know that God granted a wish to a king named Solomon? Because Solomon obeyed the Lord, one night God came to him in a dream and said, �What shall I give thee?� Solomon could have asked for anything, but he asked God to give him an understanding heart so that he would have wisdom in judging the people. He did not ask God for a long life, riches, or for any other selfish thing. So God told him, �I will give you wisdom and understanding, and I will give you riches and honor; and if you continue to walk in truth I will give you a long life as well.� Did you know that God tells us in his word that if you want wisdom all you have to do is ask? James 1:5: �If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.� http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/have-you-ever-made-a-wish/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:04:00 -0500 wish, dream, king solomon, kids Michael Pearl My new book, Created To NEED A Help Meet will soon be finished. In the first half of the book I... My new book, Created To NEED A Help Meet, will soon be finished. In the first half of the book I have a list of ways we men need a woman to help us be better, wiser and kinder people. Here is a short excerpt from that section of the coming book. I need her counsel and judgment Headstrong, independent men sometimes forget that in the �multitude of counselors there is safety� (Proverbs 24:6). �For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself� (Romans 14:7). Mister, you need counsel. Having done many stupid things, I don�t trust Michael Pearl like I did when I was young and knew everything. I have gotten dumber with the years. I am known to say �I don�t know� more often than I did just after graduating from college. But I will admit that early in our marriage I didn�t want my wife�s advice. At the time I felt that she was minimizing me in her criticism, so it angered Boss Hog when she �got out of her place� and took the lead. At least, that is the way I interpreted her suggestions. I will tell you the truth, I don�t know what happened first; maybe she gained wisdom in the way she offered input or maybe I became less sensitive to suggestions. But the end result is that we grew and matured to the point where I trust her judgments and she trusts mine, and we both know we can be wrong and therefore are open to considering other possibilities. We can challenge one another without feeling put down. It is a fact of human nature that all of us listen with concern and introspection to those whom we respect, and we dismiss with derision those whom we think are unworthy to challenge us. Poor wives. The bottom line is that insecurity and fear make us angry at perceived criticism. The smallest man has the biggest anger. Wives can irritate us more than anyone else because it is so important to a man to look good in his wife�s eyes. We are still like kids trying to impress that one girl, and it is disturbing if she thinks we are less than perfect. We all want to be praised and approved, and we get so little of it from work or friends, so we expect the little wife to provide all the positive affirmation necessary to keep up our self image. (I hope my wife doesn�t read all this. I feel vulnerable being this honest.) Now don�t expect me to hold hands, say I am sorry, and sing kum-bah-ya. A man still has his dignity, you know. I don�t mind making changes, but I am not going to admit that I was wrong until five years have passed. It is much easier to say �I WAS wrong� than to say �I AM wrong.� My suggestion is that you hurry and make some changes before you have to admit that you ARE an immature, selfish, and insecure jerk. It worked for me. Then when you get old, you can be humble too. I will set you on the road to recovery with one good suggestion. Ask your wife for advice and counsel. Welcome her judgments even if you feel she is attacking you. Pretend to be humble and thoughtful. Be patient and ask her to expound further on her concerns. Pause and look enlightened. Nod in appreciation for her wisdom and then modify your actions in some measure based on her suggestion. If unfolding events prove her wrong, be kind and gentle, not gloating or mentioning what is obvious. On the other hand, if her counsel and judgment prove to be right, praise her for it and thank her for saving you from error. You will make a new woman out of her. She will get ten years younger and smile like a kid opening birthday presents. But I warn you, she will get addicted to being happy. She will want to have sex more often and will initiate contact. If you are not up to it, you might want to continue with your �know it all� attitude so she can maintain her coldness as she continues to be your unhappy critic. When I write an article or book I submit it to my wife for editing. If she thinks something is not appropriate or could be said a different way, or that a point needs a little different slant, I... http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/i-need-her-counsel-and-judgement/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:03:00 -0500 Debi Pearl, as told by Nathan Pearl As the huge double-doors opened we could hear the clanging of the winner�s bell. My friend Aaron told me that when he was about four years old his old grandpa offered him a taste of beer. His very conservative parents would have been horrified if they had known about it. Aaron said that one sip of beer made a permanent impression upon him. From that point on he knew that �Beer is yucky.� I had another friend who said that when he was about six years old his teenage cousin offered him a drag off his cigarette. The poor little boy spent the rest of the afternoon puking while his mean cousin laughed. The misery of a sick stomach and the mockery forever destroyed any mysterious appeal of smoking. It is interesting that it takes a lot of practice to learn to appreciate something as repulsive as smoking or the taste of beer, but when it finally takes root it quickly becomes a very compelling habit. In a natural sense, the young child doesn�t like either. It takes effort to dull and kill the natural sense of taste and smell in order to want to indulge. I saw a classic example of this while on vacation. It was sin at the end of life�s road.  While we were on vacation down at the coast we kept seeing an advertisement that read, �Best seafood bar ever for only $21.95.� Now that is a lot of money just to eat, but we only go on vacation occasionally and never get fresh seafood. We decided to try it out. Since we have four children we figured, or at least hoped, that like all good restaurants, this one would offer �free eats� for very young children and maybe half-price meals for the others. Even with a price break for the children it would still be an expensive meal, but a real treat. I guess I was thinking about all this when I read the advertisement because I didn�t notice that the restaurant was in a casino. Since we had already driven across the city to find this place, we decided to go ahead with our plans. Even though it was early in the day, which I thought would be before the normal hours of casino activities, I knew I needed to do a thorough job of explaining the evils of a casino to my children. So before entering I explained in great detail how people go to casinos thinking they are going to win free money but in the end they always lose money. It was really just paying to play some stupid games. I told them the casino business set up the machines so that everyone wins occasionally, which is just to keep them playing, but at the end of the day the machine has most of their money. I explained that wise people never indulge in such foolishness. All these things I had heard, although I had never actually been in a gambling establishment myself. This was going to be a learning event for all of us. What a surprise we had coming! We walked up the steps and entered the magnificent building. As the huge double-doors opened we could hear the clanging of the winner�s bell.  The interior was dim, and at first all we could detect was a smoky atmosphere. And then there was the odor. As a rule children have very acute senses, so I knew my four children must be reeling. The odor was of old, nasty, and certainly not conducive to paying $21.95 to eat. �But maybe the restaurant is isolated from all this,� I thought. As our eyes adjusted, we were able to see two long lines of slot machines on either side of the long walk we must take to reach the steps leading up to where the sign indicated we would find the restaurant. The sight before us was both horrifying and fascinating.  We all stared at the decrepit people sitting hunched over each slot machine. It looked like some kind of a freak show. My first thought was of a Mad Magazine I saw as a kid. Every player had the appearance of having died and fossilized while sitting in front of the machine. Most were old, hard, whorish looking women dressed in what they must have thought was sexy clothes, their thin orange hair making a fuzzy halo around their heads. I noticed a cigarette hanging from each of their thin, red, painted lips. Yikes! Was I in a... http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/be-careful-little-feet-where-you-go/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:02:00 -0500 Shalom Pearl Brand When I was a little girl, my sister and I played house all day, every day. We would build our play... When I was a little girl, my sister and I played house all day, every day. We would build our play pretend houses everywhere we went. I remember days when Dad would come from work and stop in shock at the mess Shoshanna and I had made in the sunroom. We would take every book, chair, cushion, cardboard, or blanket that mom would let us use and build ourselves a fancy home. One time we found a pile of old flowers the graveyard keeper had tossed over the fence onto our farm. In great excitement, we took them to our yard and stuck them into the ground to create flower walls for our house. We thought it was so wonderful. We ran to find Dad and Mom so they could come and see our wonderful new house. With great pleasure and pride we showed it off. Like the fine parents they are, they smiled and sat at a makeshift table in our magnificent flower kitchen room and pretended to eat with us. I look back to my childhood and realize that when my parents saw the plastic flowers all over the front lawn they must have been thinking, �Oh No! What a mess!� But as a child I never had a clue that our flower playhouse was anything but beautiful. Their smart little girls only filled their hearts with gladness. The first year of my marriage I lived in a magical world of making a real house become a special home. A pleasure and pride very akin to what I knew as a child daily filled my heart. When Dad and Mom came over to visit, I fed them real food at a real table, and it was so much fun. Last night my good husband brought home some short pieces of wood from his job. My two little girls found it, and right now, as I am writing this, both are outside gleefully making a new playhouse with the small pieces of wood and some fake flowers left over from a party. When they are finished making their playhouse, like my mother before me, I will go out and sit with them in their kitchen and pretend to eat dirt cake. And someday, when my daughters are married, with the same pride that they once fed me dirt cake they will feed me fine foods at their real table. They will, as I have done, reflect back to the glorious days of their childhood, remembering that Mama took time to play pretend with them. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/the-flower-house/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:01:00 -0500 Michael Pearl �She�s a handful, but kids will be kids! Just love them, and in time they will turn out all right.�... Eleven-month-old Suzie was hurrying across the store toward the big, swinging, automatic doors. Her Daddy saw the danger and called, �Suzie, come back here.� But the sound of his command lacked finality and expectancy which was confirmed by his immediate jumping up and racing to intercept the child before the doors swung open again. When Suzie heard his voice, she looked over her shoulder and picked up speed, running away in an almost stumbling, controlled fall, as if there were a wonderful prize at some finish line. I could see that she was thrilled with the chase. Daddy, too, was running and he caught her just before a customer on the outside stepped past the infra-red beam that would cause the 150-pound door to swing open like a giant child-swatter. Suzie just laughed and squirmed to get free. Mother looked a little distressed, and Daddy looked as if he were wishing he was back at work, bossing his employees who not only paid attention to his commands but even to his suggestions�at least the ones he keeps on the payroll. I have observed and engaged a sufficient number of parents, both in action and in conversation, to have made a very good guess about what this frustrated father was thinking. I�m certain he was proud of his patience and tenderness, knowing that he was not being overbearing or insensitive toward this child. His philosophy clearly is, �She�s a handful, but kids will be kids! Just love them, and in time they will turn out all right.� No doubt, he was solaced by the fact that in the best of times she responds to his commands. He has �faith� that such a sweet child will survive and eventually �grow into� obedience. I cautiously mentioned to him that he could actually train her to stop upon command, pointing out how much safer it would be if she obeyed instantly. He brushed it off with, �Oh, she is not being disobedient; we play games like that.� And then he made some comment about how he didn�t like to spank his children except in extreme situations. He didn�t really consider it to be disobedience in a child so young. He was a foolish young father, not yet having seen the final end of the seeds of self-will and rebellion he was sowing. I chose this example because there is nothing extreme about it; it is the kind of thing that happens often, and no one considers it much of a problem. I could speak of children constantly whining, occasionally screaming, kicking, demanding, and eventually striking their parents. Just go to Wal-Mart and you will see plenty of examples of untrained children and countless frustrated parents. There is no doubting that this young father was limited in his thinking. He saw only two options: either let her run and act at her discretion (up to the point of hurting herself or someone else), or do the unpleasant thing and spank her for disobeying. He didn�t understand  the need for, or even the concept of and the simplicity of training. He reasoned that if he spanked her for every act of disobedience he would be spanking her excessively. He enjoyed fellowship with his little girl and felt that even if he rebuked her for not responding to voice commands he would be losing the congenial, fun spirit they shared. Like many parents, he has the best of motives, but experience has repeatedly demonstrated that good motives are no more productive in child training than in operating a computer. Many things can go wrong. Trusting that a child will somehow find the right way and do it without being constrained to do so must have been the source of this biblical passage ��a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame� (Proverbs 29:15). Many parents bathe their children in a pool of indulgence and permissiveness, thinking it to be an expression of their deep love, assuming that children should be allowed a time of irresponsibility and unimpeded pleasure. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/15/organize-and-manage-1/ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:00:00 -0500 No Greater Joy Ministries The web team is working on launching the new and improved NGJ website and is temporarily postponing... The web team is working on launching the new and improved NGJ website and is temporarily postponing the Bird�s Eye View until Oct. 17th. Please feel free to view our archives. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/02/postponing-dailys/ Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:00:00 -0500 Debi  Late summer our greenhouse is full of dying seeds, wilted weeds and pitiful spinach. Soon we...  Late summer our greenhouse is full of dying seeds, wilted weeds and pitiful spinach. Soon we will take all our dried seed out and store for Spring; then water our permanent plants and start winter salads. Watch for the greenhouse face lift! http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/view-podcast/archive/2011/october/01/greenhouse-woes/ Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:00:00 -0500