Good News Press To Contact Us: (925) 368-5052 www.goodnewspress.us November/December 2015

Sharing the good news of Gods Love through his Son to our local community and world!

Plan of Salvation: John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting

life.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the

Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt

be saved.

A Message From Good News Press

The Christian message is often re-ferred to as the "Gospel," which means "good news." Specifically, it is the good news about Jesuswho He is, what He has done, and what He offers. Essentially, the message is that Jesus was God in the flesh, that He came into the world to rec-oncile humanity to Himself, and that his salvation is freely offered to each person who will respond in faith. The Gospel message explains that salvation is only possible through the Crucifixion and Resur-rection of Jesus. Through his sacri-fice, Jesus paid the price for our sin-fulness (rebellion against God), thus offering us forgiveness. Then through his Resurrection He con-quered death, removing it as the penalty for our sin and replacing it with the offer of eternal life that is only available from Him to all those that place their faith in Him.

What is the Christian Message With his final words before his as-

cension, Jesus issued to his followers

the task of conveying his message to

the world. Armed with this di-

rective, the total number of Chris-

tians exploded from a mere 120 to

over 3,000 within the span of two

weeks. By the end of the first centu-

ry, an estimated one million people

had responded to the Christian mes-

sage by becoming followers of Jesus.

Today, nearly two thousand years

later, the Christian faith has grown

to become the largest faith in the

world with over two billion adher-

ents. Still, Christians continue to

treat Jesus' mandate seriously and

persist in spreading his message far

and wide.

What is this message, though, and

why is it so important? Why have

countless Christians pledged and

even given their lives in order to

promote it?

The Christian message is often re-

ferred to as the "Gospel," which

means "good news." Specifically, it is

the good news about Jesuswho he is, what he has done, and what he

offers. Essentially, the message is

that Jesus was God in the flesh, that

he came into the world to reconcile

humanity to himself, and that his

salvation is freely offered to each

person who will respond in faith.

Furthermore, the Gospel message

explains that salvation is only possi-

ble through the Crucifixion and Res-

urrection of Jesus. Though thou-

sands of books have been written

about these events, the core idea is

that, through his sacrifice, Jesus paid

the price for our sinfulness (rebellion

against God), thus offering us for-

giveness. Then through his Resur-

rection he conquered death, remov-

ing it as the penalty for our sin and

replacing it with the offer of eternal

life.

Though the Christian Scriptures do

contain a code of conduct as well as

doctrinal and theological state-

ments, the central message is more

about placing faith in the person of

Jesus than it is about conforming to

any code. The primary emphasis of

Christianity, then, is to point people

toward Jesus and the salvation that

is only available from him.

The Christian Church has taken dif-

ferent forms throughout the centu-

ries, but this central message has

remained the same. It binds all of

Christendom together. Despite the

various branches of Christianity in

the world todaymost notably Ro-man Catholicism, Protestantism,

and Eastern Orthodoxythis Gospel message acts as a unifying element.

Though adherents to the faith in-

clude people from every walk of life,

this message binds them all togeth-

er. Throughout the Christian

Church, this message of salvation is

considered to be the hope of the

world.

Good News Press - 2

About Good News Press

Partner With Us in Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to our Community!

Good News Press is a Christian outreach publication in the San Francisco Bay Area. This popular high-quality, newspaper, informs and inspires believers, as well as plant seeds into the hearts of men and women that do not know Jesus Christ. Good News Press covers world, national, and local religious news and events, and features inspir-ing Christian articles and insights. It is available, both digitally online and in full-color printed format. Christian newspapers reach a targeted audience-specifically a family orient-ed, audience, with strong loyalties and convictions. Why Support Good News Press Fulfill the Great Commission! Help us tell our neighbors about the Good News of Jesus Christ and reap eternal rewards. Good News Press believes that this commission begins in our own backyards. There are more than 7 Million people in the Bay Area and a great number need to be reached. We want to reach these men and women,

share the good news, and bring to them the love of Jesus Christ. We do that by bringing glory to God in this newspaper. Urgency We believe that these are the last days and that Jesus Christ is soon to return. Distribution Good News Press is distributed FREE all over the Bay Area. You can find it in area grocery stores and businesses. Good News Press is produced by Baron & Connie Woods and Family. To contact us: info@goodnewspress.us.

Sharing the good news of Gods Love through his Son to our local community and world!

The Source of Our Self Esteem By Jack Kelley

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17) All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the com-ing ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kind-ness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from your-selves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God pre-pared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:3-10). Self-esteem has been defined as the way we see ourselves, our own opinion of us. But is it? No one knows us like we do, but our opinion is influenced and often distorted, by the opinions of others im-portant to us. Parents, teachers, friends, associates and the like. So while its called self-esteem, its more likely a com-posite of others esteem for us. Abraham Maslow was right, gaining the acceptance of others is a pre-requisite for self-acceptance. To earn a higher self-esteem then, re-quires that we earn the approval of those most important to us. Typically our ef-forts in this area fall into one of three are-as: appearance, achievement, or perfor-mance. Appearance Theres no question that the beautiful people among us often get preferential treatment. Some learn from an early age to depend on their appearance for ac-ceptance. They believe that as long as they look good, those whose opinions matter most will accept them, permitting them to accept themselves. Collectively, they spend billions of dol-lars on health spas, cosmetic surgery, clothing, you name it; all an attempt to

maintain or even improve their appear-ance to gain wider acceptance of others, bolstering their self-esteem. But eventual-ly the calendar catches up, the laws of physics prevail and no amount of money can halt the ravages of time. Those whose self-esteem has been based solely on their appearance often become pitiful parodies of their former selves in their futile efforts to stay forever young and beautiful. Achievement All the world loves a winner. Some folks use periodic achievements to foster ac-ceptance. They run marathons, climb mountains, win prizes and awards, all to gain recognition for their achievements. The recognition signals the approval of others, building self-esteem. But again time is the enemy and someone younger, faster, and stronger surpasses their achievements relegating them to living in the past, recalling the glory of yesterdays achievements, glory that can no longer be earned with todays abilities. Performance Heres a group that can only feel good about themselves when theyre perform-ing at or above certain standards. They literally become what they do, and when they can no longer do, theyre diminished in their own eyes and their self esteem suffers. Having spent their entire lives performing to gain acceptance, theyve lost the ability to sustain their self-esteem. They become problems for themselves and others, and many die premature-ly. For example, according to insurance industry statistics, the average length of retirement before death is less than 2 years. To escape this death sentence they go back to work, or start a new career, performing again to regain their self-esteem. All these attempts at maintaining self-esteem are doomed to failure and those who rely upon them are eventually left alone, old and tired; with little or no value to others and consequently to themselves. Theres Got to Be a Better Way But there's a fourth way to achieve and maintain self-esteem that isn't subject to the opinions of others and therefore not continued on Page 6 see Self Esteem

Foreshadows of Gog and Magog By Daymond Duck/Prophecy Plus Ministries

While reading the incredible events of the last few days I began to wonder if God is revealing signs of things to come. More specifically, is God warning the world that the awesome battle of Gog and Magog is on the horizon? The Old and New Testaments contain about a dozen blood moon prophecies. One prophecy says, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come (Joel 2:31). There was a partial solar eclipse (Sept. 13, 2015), a total lunar eclipse (Sept. 28, 2015) and a super blood moon (Sept. 28, 2015) in September. I havent read the Jewish Talmud, but I have read that it says blood moons are a bad omen for Israel and some Jews be-lieve that they are a sign of war. Since the fourth blood moon of the current tet-rad occurred in September, each person must decide for themselves if the blood moons are a sign of war. In late Aug. 2015, just a few days before the partial solar eclipse (partial darkness of the sun and about one month before the super blood moon), it was reported that Russian fighter jets, vehicles and military equipment would be soon be ar-riving in Syria. It was also reported that these weapons and equipment would be followed by thousands of military person-nel who would wage a war with the Is-lamic State and others. God said Russia would get into a war in the latter days and latter years that some call the battle of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38:8, 16). In his commentary on the book of Ezekiel, Dr. J. Vernon McGee wrote, I cant think of a better name for a dictator than Gog (Ezek. 38:1). It is obvious that Russias Pres. Putin is a dictator because he sent weapons and troops to Syria before Russias Parlia-ment met to approve it. When Russias Parliament finally did meet it rubber stamped what Mr. Putin was doing. A Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Russias involvement on Sept. 30, 2015, two days after the super blood moon. Not everyone agrees on the identity of the armies that will join Russia in the bat-tle of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38:6), but there is almost unanimous agreement that one of them is Iran (Persia) and that the religion of most of them is predomi-

nantly Islamic. Some even call this war the Russian/Islamic invasion of Israel because so many Muslims will be in-volved. In the last week of September, hundreds of Hezbollah and Iranian troops joined Russia in Syria and more are expected to arrive in the near future. The fact that only Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Syria are involved at this time indicates that this war is not quite ready. More nations will have to join in. This writer believes the battle of Gog and Magog will be preceded by a war be-tween Israel and those nations that share a border with Israel (some call it the Psa. 83 war). This is another reason to be-lieve that the battle of Gog and Magog is not quite ready. Israel still has to deal with her neighbors. But this could be looming. There is wide-spread Islamic violence in Israel and es-pecially on the Temple Mount and it has gone on for several weeks. Israel is tired of it. Israel is even threatening to use her military to stop it. And her neighbors are threatening to intervene. God told Russias leader to prepare for himself and all his allies (Ezek. 38:7). Mr. Putin has more weapons on the way; a second base under construction; a radar and missile defense system under con-struction; helicopter pads, air traffic con-trol towers, storage buildings and mobile housing units under construction, and more. God told Russias leader to guard his allies (Ezek. 38:7). On the day before Russia started its first bombing raid, Mr. Putin met Pres. Obama at the UN and said Russia will not tolerate Israeli strikes inside Syria. The next day, a Russian General showed up at the American Em-bassy in Baghdad and said, We launch Syria air strikes in one hour. Stay out of the way. Russia is trying to guard her allies against Israeli and U.S. interfer-ence. When Gog and his armies attack Israel God said some nations will just stand around and ask questions (Ezek. 38:13). Pres. Obama held a press conference and said the U.S. is not going to get into a proxy war with Russia. He appears to be standing around and doing nothing. God said Russia will come up against continued on Page 7 see Gog/Magog

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Social Skills & Etiquettes, Girl Power Event, Educates Oaklands Youth

CEO Juanita Walker Issued Mayoral Proclamation

(Top Left) CEO/Founder of Social Skills & Etiquette, Juanita Walker, pictured with at-tendee of the Girl Power Event held on August 1, 2015 in Oakland, CA.

Social Skills & Etiquette, Girl Power event was held on August 1, 2015 to address real issues that girls are fac-ing today to make them bet-ter leaders tomorrow. Founder Juanita Walker, put together a program to edu-cate, motivate, and teach social and etiquette skills to girls for this event. It includ-ed educational topics such as image, social media, self con-fidence, money matters, hu-man trafficking, health & hygiene, self respect, listen-ing skills, public speaking, self esteem, education, etiquette,

work ethics, dating, introduc-tions, peer pressure, fre-nemies, skincare, goal setting and more. The event held in Oakland, mainly for Oakland youth included teen entertainment, continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and event materials. Juanita Walker is the presi-dent and founder of Social Skills And Etiquette. She obtained her certifica-tion from the Etiquette Insti-tute in St. Louis, Missouri

under the training of Maria Everding, world renowned trainer and author. Juanita coaches children, teens, youth, young adults, adults, business professionals and faith based organizations in areas of; business acumen, effective communication, introductions, dining eti-quette, image, socialization and much more. Social Skills And Etiquette is also an ap-proved vendor with Oakland Unified School District and Peralta Colleges. To contact Juanita Walker : socialskill-sandetiquette@gmail.com

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OreMi Mentoring

Program - Oakland

Looking for Male Mentors! Vol-unteers are supported in working with a foster youth 4 hours/month for one year. Call for Next train-ing dates. Contact the OreMi Mentoring Program at: (510) 834-2443, ext. 3033; oremi@fssba-

oak.org, or www.oremi.info.

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800-990-9572

Good News Press - 6

Self Esteem contd from Page 3

Authority to Declare

by Olive Branch Ministries Faith takes hold of spiritual realities we can not touch with our physical senses and brings them into the nat-ural realm. All physical matter was brought into existence by God. God is a Spirit. All things are held together by His Word. John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Even though we can not see it, it is real. God has given us the authority through the Lord Jesus Christ when we are submitted to His Word, to ex-ercise the power of God and walk in that authority. As Paul said -- Eph:3:20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. This power is in us the Word of God says, yet we must be obedient and submitted to Him if we want that power to flow through us. We have to follows God's directions if we are go-ing to get God's results. Authority is the God given right to use this power.

Jesus said in -- Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, say-ing, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'' Amen. All authority was been given to Jesus who immediately turned around and gave it to the church in order to bring God's will into fruition in the Earth. Declaration I will rise up in Jesus name and walk in the authority that Jesus has trans-ferred to me. I will rise up and faint not in the day of adversity. I will rise up and walk worthy of a child of God. I will rise up to my place of authority and leadership. I will rise up and boldly declare Gods Word to be true. I will Rise up, I will Rise up! The day is at hand, I will not turn to the right or left, but face straight ahead, and see Gods glory poured forth over the Earth. Glory to God. Amen

governed by their acceptance. It wont end in failure and won't leave us alone and tired at the end of our lives. I call it Creator based self-esteem and it comes from my study of what the Bible says about the way He views us. He is, after all, the only One Whose opinion ulti-mately counts. He created the first human in His own image (Gen. 5:1). After the fall of Man the Bible says the rest of us were created in Adam's image (Gen. 5:3), meaning two things: procreation had been delegated to Man and all of Adams progeny would inherit his propensity for sin. But even so there are some remarkable passages about His view of us. The Ephesians passage above is a good example. Were His workmanship, an example of His creative capability. When He gave Adam dominion over the earth He placed Man at the top of the created order, the highest example of His capabil-ity, His best work. (By the way, before using the Ephesians passage to justify a performance based relationship with God, better read John 6:28-29.) As far as being made in His image (read 2 Cor. 5:17-21). If were in Christ were a new creation. Through His completed work on the cross the effects of our inher-ited sin nature have been reversed. Weve become as righteous as He is in His sight, as if we've never sinned at all. Perfect as He is perfect (Matt. 5:48) Psalm 3:3 says, Hes the lifter of our heads; the reason we can hold our heads up high. It was forbidden for Jews to bow before any man, because bowing pays homage and places the one bowing in a position of inferiority. We are not to con-sider ourselves inferior to anyone but Him. What Did I Do to Deserve This? And what did we do to earn this favor with Him? Did He choose us because we looked good, had achieved much or per-formed well? Not according to His stand-ards. Read the first part of the Ephesians passage again. All of us also lived among them (unbelievers) at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and fol-lowing its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you

have been saved. (Eph. 2:3-5) His ac-ceptance of us derives solely from His unconditional love, and preceded any action of ours. How are we to approach this new life? Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every-thing, by prayer and petition, with thanks-giving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, what-ever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4:4-9) And what about the ravages of time? In contrast to the other doomed-to-failure approaches to self-esteem, at the end of the age were promised that well be made new in body as we have been made new in spirit. All the debilitating effects of our lives in this sin-infested place, whether spiritual, mental or physical will be reversed. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy (Isaiah 35:5-6). The Lord will bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1) and our perishable bodies will become imperishable (1 Cor. 15:42). He has promised never to leave us (Matt. 28:20) and to see to our every need (Matt. 6:25-34). He has become our Savior and Redeemer, and has given us a share of His inheritance (Rom. 8:17). He has promised to reverse and nullify the devas-tation wrought by sin and time, restoring us to better-than-new condition forever. No longer will a less than perfect appear-ance or limitations on achievement or performance diminish us or narrow our horizons. If that doesnt make you feel great about yourself, I dont know what will. And what work did He require of us to earn this? The work of God is this: To believe in the One He has sent (John 6:29). Selah.

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Gog/Magog from Page 3

Israel like a cloud to cover the land (Ezek. 38:16). I believe Russia will at-tack Israel with lots of aircraft. Russia is building runways and helicopter pads in Syria for more aircraft. God said five-sixths of the troops from Russia and her allies will die upon the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 38:21-22; 39:1-6). An Israeli official said Israel doesnt want Russian troops on the Go-lan Heights (mountains of Israel) and Israel definitely doesnt want Iranian forces near Israel. Russia and her Irani-an allies now have troops just a short distance from where they will die on the mountains of Israel. God said it will take Israel seven months to bury her enemies dead (Ezek. 39:12). Russia will need a little more time to get that many troops to Syria (and others need to come from other nations), but Mr. Putin has just ordered the Russian military to draft 150,000 more men. God said Israel will survive this attack.

And three days after the super blood moon, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stood before the United Nations and said, Here is my message to the rulers of Iran: Your plan to destroy Israel will fail. God said, I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord (Ezek. 38:23). This writer is not planning on watching the destruc-tion of the armies of Russia and her al-lies on the mountains of Israel on TV tonight, but the events that are taking place herald a soon coming destruction that multitudes of those who are alive today may see. God is so clearly fulfilling every jot and title of this prophecy that many will know that Israels God is God. And many will know that Russia and her Islamic allies have fallen under His mighty hand of judgment. Prophecy Plus Ministries Daymond & Rachel Duck daymond.duck@yahoo.com

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