If you want to know what love is - CFN newsletter Week 92

CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK NEWSLETTER 92

> A fresh interpretation of the New Testament's great chapter on love
> News:
> YFC to open exhibit at Alton Towers
> Soul in the City set for London
> More to education than exams, says Bishop
> Cornwall youngsters head for Jamaica
> Sites:
> Peace not war sites
> Family daily devotionals
> Gospel comics in multiple languages
> Marriage MOT:
> You've got to laugh: A word of wisdom for the artist
> Members' Zone latest

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Sometimes the words of I Corinthians 13 are so familiar to us, we've stopped trying to tease out their implications for daily life. We hope you find David Sanford's interpretation helpful.

In this update you can also check out God's heart for children, read about exciting developments in community marriage policymaking, enjoy some great humour, visit some great Christian sites, catch up on the news and much more.

Keep us posted with your news and views!

God bless

Russ Bravo
Christian Family Network
info@cfnetwork.co.uk
http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk

PS Christian Family Network is here to direct you to the best in parenting, marriage and family resources; to link you up with other Christian families up and down the UK; and to help you make the most of life as a follower of Christ - at home, at work, at school and college, at play and online.

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LOVE: A PARAPHRASE OF 1 CORINTHIANS 13

If I talk a lot about God and the Bible and Church, but I fail to ask about your needs and then help you, I'm simply making a lot of empty religious noise.
If I graduate from Bible college and know all the answers to questions you'll never even think of asking, and if I have all the degrees to prove it and if I say I believe in God with all my heart, and soul and strength, and claim to have incredible answers to my prayers to show it, but I fail to take the time to find out where you're at and what makes you laugh and why you cry, I'm nothing.

If I sell an extra car and some of my books to raise money for some poor starving kids somewhere, and if I give my life for God's service and burn out after pouring everything I have into the work, but do it all without ever once thinking about the people, the real hurting people - the mums and dads and sons and daughters and orphans and widows and the lonely and hurting - if I pour my life into the Kingdom but forget to make it relevant to those here on earth, my energy is wasted, and so is my life.

Here is what love is like - genuine love. God's kind of love. It's patient. It can wait. It helps others, even if they never find out who did it. Love doesn't look for greener pastures or dream of how things could be better if I just got rid of all my current commitments. Love doesn't boast. It doesn't try to build itself up to be something it isn't. Love doesn't act in a loose, immoral way. It doesn't seek to take, but it willingly gives. Love doesn't lose its cool. It doesn't turn on and off. Love doesn't think about how bad the other person is, and certainly doesn't think of how it could get back at someone. Love is grieved deeply (as God is) over the evil in this world, but it rejoices
over truth.

Go to the rest of this article in our Resources section at http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp

> THIS WEEK'S NEWS

> Christian multimedia exhibition to open in top theme park

Youth For Christ has been given the go-ahead to open a revolutionary Christian "experience" at Alton Towers – Britain’s most popular leisure attraction.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Huge excitement at London Soul In the City launch

The launch of SOULINTHECITY mission to London at St Paul’s Cathedral was so well attended that the Crypt overflow was full within minutes of the Cathedral doors opening.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/resources.asp for the full story

> Exams aren't all education is about, says Bishop

True education has to be more than information, examinations and league tables – the Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Alan Chesters, told an Education Sunday congregation in Blackburn Cathedral.

Go to http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/news.asp for the full story

> Teenagers visit 'real' Jamaica in church exchange

Ten teenagers, all members of Grace Community Church at Morval, near Looe, set off this week on the trip of a lifetime to Jamaica.

> MARRIAGE MOT

> Check out our archived marriage tips in the Members' Zone, plus stacks more marriage resources at http://www.2-in-2-1.co.uk

Having fun together

My husband and I recently sat down to talk about what we enjoyed doing together most, apart from the obvious answers (?!), we discovered that we liked going for walks together, working together on some common project and having a meal alone together.

We also discovered that is was the freedom to be open with each other and know that the other would understand and accept us, that made these times special. Being best friends as well as lovers was so important.

What do you enjoy doing together? What’s special about those times? How do you feel as you think about it? Why not talk to your loved one today and enjoy the things that make your love for each other special and unique!

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> EVENTS

> YOU'VE GOT TO LAUGH ...

Observations from the art gallery

A man goes to his first show at an art gallery and is looking at the paintings. One is a huge canvas that has black with yellow blobs of paint splattered all over it. The next painting is a murky grey colour that has drips of purple paint streaked across it.

He walks over to the artist and says: "I don't understand your paintings."

"I paint what I feel inside me," explains the artist.

"Have you ever tried Alka-Seltzer?"

> CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK THIS WEEK
(MEMBERS' ZONE) - http://www.cfnetwork.co.uk/members/default.asp

> Advice

> God's heart for children

> Resources

> Fictionary - words revised for a new meaning
> Car stickers with a quick wit
> My fitness diary - Bruce Cameron's New Year exploits
> Community marriage policies - encouraging news from the West Country

> News

> YFC to open exhibit at Alton Towers
> Soul in the City set for London
> More to education than exams, says Bishop
> Cornwall youngsters head for Jamaica

> Top sites this week

> Peace not war sites
> Family daily devotionals
> Gospel comics in multiple languages
> Rowan Williams' enthronement - live
> Latest on Midlands prayer movement The Net

> Reviews: Rob James on Boys Becoming Men by Lowell Shepherd

> Events: More of what's on near you

> Webwatch Index: more than 500 sites at your fingertips

> Site Search Engine: the easy way to trawl our 500-page plus archives

Christian Family Network, Christian Media Centre, Garcia Estate, Canterbury Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 1EH, UK (01903 821082; subscriptions 01903 602136)

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