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Pursuing God in the Dark (Andrew Brunson – 1/8/21 – NCS New Canaan)

January 8, 2021 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

With remarkable vulnerability, Andrew Brunson shares the extraordinary story of his wrongful imprisonment in a Turkish prison for two years and the faith journey that occurred in that dark place.

Brunson describes the loneliness, anxiety, doubts, desperation and despair that characterized his first year, pushing him to deteriorating health, inability to sleep, brushes with insanity and thoughts of suicide. It is the story of a missionary serving in Turkey for 23 years sharing the Gospel of Jesus and pursuing God’s presence who suddenly found himself being pushed toward Islam and unable to sense the presence of God.

Brunson explains that his first year was a process of being broken, and his second year was a process of rebuilding. He shares how he made the transition by deciding to keep pursuing God even in God’s apparent absence. Through daily surrender to God’s mysterious plan and through perseverance, Brunson began to understand the nature of his ordeal, the nature of God’s love, the preparation he was undergoing. Brunson describes how, through it, he discovered a profound new love for Jesus.

Brunson observed that the valley of faith testing is “full of skeletons”–every test of faith we encounter is enough to grow our faith or to knock us out of friendship with God, depending on how we respond. He was determined not to be another “skeleton”.

Brunson also explains why he believes that he was “on assignment” in that prison–being trained to encourage others. He relates his persecution to the changing climate in the United States toward Christianity. Brunson offers advice on how, as followers of Jesus, we can prepare themselves for increasing hostility, shaming, canceling and marginalization so that we are ready to stand firmly in faith against the threat–always turning to God in trust rather than turning away in fear

The talk is just over 30 minutes followed by an extensive Q&A.

Andrew Brunson and his wife Norine have started a new ministry called WaveStarters. More information can be found at https://www.wavestarters.org. Below is a video about their journey and WaveStarters.

Filed Under: Audio & Video, Video Tagged With: Audio & Video, Calling and Purpose, Career and Financial Disappointments and Transitions, Chapter Friday, Christianity-Theology, Crisis and Adversity, Cultural Change and Engagement, Dealing with Emotions, Evangelism, Faith, Fear and Worry, Friendship, Great Commandments - Love God - Love Neighbor, Healing, Health Challenges and Losses, Isolation-Loneliness-Depression, Marriage, Nature of God, NCS New Canaan, Prayer, Speak Truth, Spiritual Warfare, Transparency and Authenticity, Worship the King

Practicing Science While Believing and Acting Upon the Scriptures (Dr. James Tour – 12/18/20 – Joint Meeting NCS New Canaan – Austin – Houston – Sugar Land)

December 20, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

In a joint meeting of NCS New Canaan, NCS Austin, NCS Houston and NCS Sugar Land, Dr. James Tour shares a powerful and convicting message about the importance of meditating daily on God’s word and then actually believing and acting upon Scripture. Pointing to various Biblical passages, including Psalm 1:1-3, he emphasizes the words DAILY (not just three days) and MEDITATING (not just reading).

But this is far from just a theological or theoretical lesson. Through numerous stories, Dr Tour shares vulnerably about the practical and miraculous ways in which his life, his behavior and his career as a world-renowned scientist and teacher have been guided, changed and blessed by meditating on Scripture, believing what God says and then acting in faith upon that belief.

Dr. Tour is also far from just a theoretical or academic scientist. His work has led to numerous breakthroughs, patents and products, and Dr. Tour starts his talk by describing (and showing) some of the extraordinary developments he has led in the field of nanotechnology.

In a rich and extended Q&A, Dr. Tour addresses a wide array of questions dealing with topics such as: how, as a Messianic Jew, he came to a faith in Jesus; the COVID vaccine; artificial intelligence; nanotechnology; the challenges of being a scientist who speaks openly about his faith in Jesus; his weekly Bible study attended by people around the world; and the ethics of “Human 2.0”.

To learn more about Dr. Tour, you can visit his website at www.DrJamesTour.com or his YouTube channel at YouTube/DrJamesTour.

You can download a PDF copy of Dr. Tour’s slides at this link.

James Tour-Scientist Believing Scripture-No VideosDownload

Filed Under: Audio & Video, Uncategorized, Video Tagged With: Audio & Video, Chapter Friday, Christianity-Theology, Covid-19, Evangelism, Faith, Integrating Work into Faith, Nature of God, NCS New Canaan, Prayer, Salvation, Transparency and Authenticity

The Incomparable Value of Joy (Dr. Jorge Valdes – 12/4/20 – NCS New Canaan)

December 4, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

With great transparency, Dr. Jorge Valdes shares the incredible journey that took him: (1) from being the son of a wealthy family in Cuba, (2) to experiencing poverty in the United States and concluding God was not real, (3) to pursuing an education to become a lawyer, (4) to shifting his career path and becoming the #1 cocaine trafficker in the United States, (5) to being tortured for 29 days by General Noriega’s soldiers in Panama, (6) to surrendering his life to Jesus because of a karate instructor who concluded Valdes was the devil incarnate, (7) because of his new-found faith, to choosing to admit his past crimes, which led to being sentenced to seven life sentences and losing all his wealth, (8) to having his mind transformed in prison through reading the Bible, (9) to seeing in prison the tragic division among “Christians” and coming to understand the importance of behavior over words in sharing our faith, (10) to being released and telling his story in the book “Coming Clean”, (11) to regaining wealth through a legitimate business and then walking away from it to invest into the hearts of his children. In telling his story, Valdes stresses that the life of drugs, money and sex is not “his story”–it is just part of his story.

One of the most poignant chapters in Jorge’s remarkable story is the impact of the karate instructor who knew Jesus. Valdes explains that over the course of three years with the instructor, he came to desire to know more about Jesus. Jorge described that it was not because of anything the instructor said–it was because of something he exhibited that Valdes didn’t have with all his money, mansions, planes, bodyguards and women–a joy he thought couldn’t be real.

With tremendous passion, Valdes urges listeners to be authenticate in their Christian walk by investing in people through loving them, regardless of their backgrounds, political views, beliefs. He shares his belief that the world needs more safe places, like NCS, where people can be transparent about their struggles and failings without fear of judgment–places where they can “come clean”, be liberated through the saving grace of Jesus and go on to make a difference in the world by sharing His love.

It is clear that the current chapter of Jorge’s story is one of trying authentically to live his life as a follower of Jesus–sharing God’s story in his life and being a witness through his actions more than his words by loving people, investing in their lives and living without fear in the knowledge that Jesus has already won.

While the allure of joy may be one of the most impactful aspects of Jorge’s talk, one of his comments may be the most thought-provoking–that perhaps Christians should spend less time worrying about “putting Christ back in Christmas” and more time worrying about “putting Christ back in Christians”.

Filed Under: Audio & Video, Uncategorized, Video Tagged With: Audio & Video, Career and Financial Disappointments and Transitions, Chapter Friday, Christianity-Theology, Crisis and Adversity, Cultural Change and Engagement, Evangelism, Faith, Father-Son, Fear and Worry, Great Commandments - Love God - Love Neighbor, Nature of God, NCS New Canaan, Raising Children, Salvation, Speak Truth, Transparency and Authenticity, Worship the King

Forgiveness (Richard Warren – 11/13/20 – NCS New Canaan)

November 13, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

Richard Warren (the “other Rick Warren”) shares with incredible transparency and vulnerability the journey that led him from being a successful businessman who largely ignored God and was unfaithful to his wife to becoming a devout follower of Jesus and re-marrying his wife after they had been divorced for four years.

Not only is Rick’s story one of amazing forgiveness by his wife, but it is also a story of extraordinary obedience on his part. In response to God’s nudges, he very reluctantly returned to his ex-wife to ask her forgiveness (and to ask her to re-marry him) and very reluctantly sought out an old business acquaintance to offer forgiveness. His acts of obedience and those offers of forgiveness opened the doors to miracles.

Through obedience and forgiveness (with a good dose of humility), Rick’s story of brokenness became a story of miraculous hope and healing.

The “other” Rick Warren has written a number of devotionals on the topic of forgiveness. Here are a few links for those interested in exploring this topic further.

Five Things Forgiveness Is Not

Requirements of Restored Relationship

You Don’t Have To Forget

At the 2017 NCS National Retreat, Bruce Wilkinson gave a powerful talk on the topic of forgiveness. Here it is.

Filed Under: Audio & Video, Video Tagged With: Audio & Video, Chapter Friday, Christianity-Theology, Divorce, Faith, Forgiveness, Healing, Marriage, Nature of God, NCS New Canaan, Prayer, Relationships, Right Wrong, Salvation, Sexual Habits and Addictions, Transparency and Authenticity

Restoring Daughters of the King (Michael Distefano – 10/30/20 – NCS New Canaan)

November 3, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

Michael Distefano shares how God broke his heart for victims of human trafficking and then took him from sitting outside massage parlors in Texas to starting the first anti-slavery after-care facility in Connecticut as the Regional Director of Amirah Inc.

Distefano explains the dark world of human trafficking in the United States and why Connecticut is one of the darkest spots, with human trafficking occurring in every county in the State (in fact, a book about human trafficking in America used Connecticut as its example: The Berlin Turnpike: A True Story of Human Trafficking in America). He also shares how Amirah extracts women from this gut-wrenching reality, provides care in a long-term residential safe home and restores them as “Daughters of the King”–giving hope to survivors of sexual exploitation.

While we may think of human trafficking as something that happens “over there” in some foreign country, Distefano shines a light on the truth, explaining that an estimated 500,000 women are currently victims of trafficking in the United States.

This recording includes extensive Q&A following Michael’s talk.

For more information about Amirah and how to get involved, visit www.amirahinc.org

Filed Under: Audio & Video, Uncategorized, Video Tagged With: Audio & Video, Calling and Purpose, Chapter Friday, Faithful Presence, Great Commandments - Love God - Love Neighbor, Healing, NCS New Canaan, Right Wrong, Serving Others, Sexual Habits and Addictions, Spiritual Warfare

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Recent Posts

  • Pursuing God in the Dark (Andrew Brunson – 1/8/21 – NCS New Canaan)
  • Practicing Science While Believing and Acting Upon the Scriptures (Dr. James Tour – 12/18/20 – Joint Meeting NCS New Canaan – Austin – Houston – Sugar Land)
  • Confronting the 10 Giants (Phil Zaldatte – 12/9/20 – NCS New Canaan)
  • The Incomparable Value of Joy (Dr. Jorge Valdes – 12/4/20 – NCS New Canaan)

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