Prayer

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.

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 Videos Download

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.

The Road from Babylon (David Nammo – 10/2/20 – NCS New Canaan)

October 2, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

With tremendous vulnerability and humility, David Nammo shares his life journey–the high points, the low points and the miraculous ways God and friends have shown up at just the right time.

From his unique position leading an organization committed to protecting religious liberty, Nammo reflects on the the current spiritual environment in the United States, draws parallels to the Israelite exiles in Babylon, and offers some Biblical insights on how Christians can respond to the times.

Nammo then sets the stage for his journey by sharing his family background. Nammo is of Chaldean descent (it is present day northern Iraq). For those who do not know, the dynasty of the Babylonian kings is called the Chaldean Dynasty, the Biblical language we now call Aramaic was once called Chaldean, and Abraham was Chaldean (his birthplace was Ur of the Chaldees).

David then very transparently tells some of the stories and experiences that have shaped his life and beliefs, from seeing a best friend killed as a small boy to watching God miraculously and instantaneously heal his own child, to visiting a food pantry to feed his family, to receiving calls “out of the blue” to work at the Christian Legal Society at moments when he was praying for God’s next step.

Nammo also explains the critical role that being in a small group with other Christian men has played in his life and in the lives of the other men he has walked alongside. David’s story is a raw story filled with the bumps and valleys and detours of life, but it is also a story of the hope and healing that comes through faith in Jesus and fellowship with others Christians.

Faith in the Midst of False Accusation and Hatred (Dr. Carter Page – 9/18/20 – Joint Meeting of the Three Oldest NCS Chapters)

September 18, 2020 by NCS New Canaan Leave a Comment

The New Canaan Society is a faith-centered organization focused on Jesus, but it is not a political or religious organization. Because NCS is a place for all men to feel welcome, regardless of religious denomination, political leaning or anything else that tends to divide rather than unite, politics must be left at the door. Whatever your views may be about the politics that drove the various dynamics and circumstances that impacted the life of Carter Page, try to suspend those to hear a story about a brother—a fellow human being–who was put through an almost incomprehensible trial, and about a God who has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Page respectfully left politics at the door during this talk to a joint meeting of the three oldest NCS chapters–NCS New Canaan (the founding Chapter), NCS Orlando (started in 2003) and NCS Winston-Salem (started in 2005).

With tremendous humility, Carter Page shares how is faith was central to his “survival” while under investigation for several years by the FBI, the Department of Justice and other government arms (based upon what have now been shown to be false accusations pursued through a corrupted legal process). During those years, he was the subject of death threats and often lived in isolation, moving frequently. He notes that recent declassifications of information reveal one of his hotel rooms was even broken into by FBI agents. As horrible as that sounds, Page does not dwell on the difficulties (in fact, he barely mentions them) or bad-mouth his accusers.

Carter describes his Catholic education and his Naval Academy education and how it helped prepare him for the trials he would eventually face. He also shares some of the life principles and Biblical passages that he leaned upon during his ordeal. Page talks about the Biblical focus on “truth”, the importance of keeping things in perspective, and the power of remembering what truly matters and being able to maintain a sense of humor in the face of adversaries, whether investigators or news personalities. He also explains how he grew from the ordeal.

Carter Page is the author of the recently published book Abuse and Power: How an Innocent American Was Framed in an Attempted Coup Against the President (click link to find on Amazon)

In Chapter Two of his book, Page writes “What happened to me . . . can happen to anyone.” The book’s dedication reads “To the honest members of the U.S. Intelligence Community, law enforcement, and the media–may their brave professionalism continue to shine as a beacon of hope amidst the destruction“

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