POPLAR GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH

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1 Sp ecial p o int s o f int erest : POPLAR GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH Volume Issue April 1, 2018 Easter is eternal If Easter means anything to modern man, it means that eternal truth is eternal. You may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes and seal in in a tomb. But truth crushed to earth shall rise again. Truth does not perish. It Why we need easter No one is exempt from tragedy or disappointment even God was not exempt. Jesus offered no immunity, no way out of the unfairness, but rather a way through it to the other side. Just as Good Friday demolished the instinctive belief that this life is supposed to be cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted. It has been silenced temporarily. It has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary s brow... But with an inevitable certainty, after every Black Friday dawns truth s Easter morn. Donald H. Tippet fair, Easter Sunday followed with its startling clue to the riddle of the universe. Out of the darkness, a bright light shone... The cross of Christ may have overcome evil, but it did not overcome unfairness. For that, Easter is required, a bright clue that someday God will restore all physical reality to its proper place. Philip Yancey Inside this issue: Pastor s Page 2 Missions 2 Calendar 3 Kids Page 4 Bible Puzzles 5 Media Menu 5 Carol s Corner 6 Lifelines is published monthly by Poplar Grove Baptist Church 3476 Poplar Tent Rd., NW (704) Editor: Carol Cooper secretary@poplargrovebaptist.com Pastor: Jimmy Barrett pastor@poplargrovebaptist.com Deadline for copy: The fifteenth of the month prior to publication. Editor reserves the right to edit for content and space.

2 P A G E 2 About missions Here are some eye-opening facts regarding missions. These numbers reflect ALL missionaries, not just southern Baptist. (These statistics come from various sources, so there may on occasion be discrepancy.) There are 7.3 billion people in the world. (Joshua Project) 2.3 billion are Christian (748 million are Evangelical Christian). (Joshua Project; Barrett and Johnson 2001, 20) 1.7 billion are Muslim. (Joshua Project) 1.1 billion are Hindu. (Joshua Project) 979 million are Non-Religious. (Joshua Project) 488 million are Buddhist. (Joshua Project) 671 million are of Ethnic Religions including Chinese Religion. (Joshua Project) 103 million other/unknown. (Joshua Project) 91% of all Christian outreach/evangelism does not target non-christians, but targets other Christians. (Baxter 2007, 12) In the last 40 years, over 1 billion people have died who have never heard of Jesus, and around 30 million people this year will perish without hearing the message of salvation. (Baxter 2007, 12) 70,000+ people die every day in the unreached world without Jesus. (Baxter 2007, 12) Christians make up 33% of the world's population but receive 53% of the world's annual income and spend 98% of it on themselves. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656) North American and European Christians spend $12.5 trillion on themselves and their families each year. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656) Only.1% of all Christian giving is directed toward mission efforts in the 38 most unevangelized countries in the world. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656) 22 million internationals visit the US each year. Of these, some 630,000 are university students from 220 countries, 25% of which prohibit Christian missionaries. 80% of those students will return to their countries having never been invited to an American home. (The Traveling Team) Over 160,000 believers will be martyred this year. (The Traveling Team) Christians spend more on the annual audits of their churches and agencies ($810 million) than on all their workers in the non-christian world. (World Evangelization Research Center) The country with the fastest Christian expansion ever is China, now at 10,000 new converts every day. (World Evangelization Research Center) The average American Christian gives only 1 penny a day to global missions. (Yohannan, Revolution in World Missions, 142) 86 countries prohibit or restrict Western missionaries. (Yohannan, Come Let's Reach the World, 31) These numbers are only the tip of the iceberg! Our world is in desperate need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I challenge you to pray earnestly and ask God how you can be part of taking His Light to an increasingly dark world. REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR ANNIE ARMSTRONG OFFERINGS In His Grip,

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4 P A G E 4 Bible quiz In John 10, what metaphor does Jesus use to describe himself? A. I am the gate... B. I am the good shepherd... C. Both A and B D. Neither A nor B Look for the correct answer newsletter. in the May Check your answer to the March Bible Quiz by looking in Matthew 27:51. It was the letter D. Did you know the answer? Media menu For the media this month, I choose not a book, DVD, nor music but a magazine. There are a number of magazines in the church library and they are all special. Not too long, not too short but just right for special times of the year! The magazine is Ideals Easter and I bought it in 2016 after Easter that year. Ninety percent clearance! Yes, the magazine was very low-priced but the contents... poems, stories, quotes from familiar names it even has recipes! There s even an article about a familiar hymn we sing every Easter The Story of a Song (Christ Arose) Easter is a time of contrasts and this little magazine covers them all. The illustrations are amazing making us appreciate even more the beautiful world God has provided for us humans. Heaven and earth and saints and friends and flowers are keeping Easter Day! Author Unknown

5 POPLAR GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH 3476 Poplar Tent Road, NW Phone: Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Permit Paid #124 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED WE RE ON THE WEB!!! poplargrovebaptist.com Carol s corner Are you too busy? Do you constantly finish one thing only to move quickly to another? Do you ever wish for just a few more hours in the day because you just have to complete this project? Some days are just too crammed full. They are packed so full of things to do! Not bad things just stuff you think has to be done! A recent discovery made me stop and think about doing all those things! Recently we drove by a place of business we had frequented for years. It was closed and there was a funeral wreath standing at the shuttered entrance. What a shock. We later learned that there had indeed been a death after just a brief illness. The person we had dealt with for so many years was no longer here. I couldn t help but wonder if perhaps there were undone projects in his life, undone chores that just had to be accomplished but now never would be by him. It inspired me to use the poem entitled: A Single Day If I had a single day, Where would I go? What would I say? How would I choose my time to spend? What would I do before day s end, If I only had one day? Would I relive some yesterday? Would I recall all my regrets, The jobs undone, the useless frets, If I had one day? Would fear of some tomorrow play Upon my mind and steal from me The present opportunity, If I had only one day? Would labor claim my night and day? Would every waking moment be Consumed to grasp prosperity, If I only had one day?