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FR VOL. CLV III.... No. 53,543
Ask Max Column
TUESDAY, SEP TEMBER 8, 2009
Printed in Nashv il le, T N
Max Lucado’s New Book ‘Fearless’ Arrives
About Your Fears
Millions looking for encouragement in these fearful times
PAGE 2 Did You Know?... About Max Lucado
PAGE 2
By JOE SMITH
P
astor and bestselling author Max Lucado
has delivered a message that brings hope to our fears. In September 2009, Thomas Nelson will release several Fearless products with the major trade book as the anchor. Max shares this message: “Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear. They’re talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror. Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear herds us into a prison and slams the doors. Wouldn’t it be great to walk out? Imagine your life, wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats? If you could hover a fear magnet over your heart and extract every last shaving of dread, insecurity, and doubt, what would remain? Envision the day when you can trust more and fear less. Can you imagine your life without fear?”
Max Lucado’s New Release “FEARLESS” Excerpt
PAGE 3
Top 10 Fears of 2009
More on Fearless inside.
PAGE 3
RECENT Poll shows public concern growing As the economy continues to struggle, the public is growing increasingly concerned about losing jobs, not having enough money to pay the bills and seeing their retirement accounts shrink, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. The Associ ated Press
100
75
71%
say they know someone — a friend or a relative — who has lost a job in the past six months because of the Fear of being economy. thrown out of work is so widespread that equal percentages of higher- and worry at least lower-income somewhat workers, about losing 47%, worry a job, up from about losing 28% in 2008. their jobs.
47%
47% 50
New jobless claims fall more than expected
69% 65%
are at least somewhat worried about paying their bills, up from 46% last year.
worry that the value of their stocks and retirement investments will drop, up from 59% a year ago.
53%
aren’t confident they’ll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, up from 34% in 2005.
25
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer
The AP-GfK poll was conducted Feb. 12-17 2009 and involved phone interviews with 1,001 randomly chosen adults.
Attack on police raises terrorism fears By Elena Becatoros The Associ ated Press
ATHENS, GREECE: Greek antiterror police are investigating an attack today against riot police in Athens that severely wounded a policeman and raised fears of a resurgence of domestic terrorism. At least two gunmen sprayed riot police with automatic weapons fire outside the Culture Ministry before dawn today. Authorities said the attack may be linked to an extreme left-wing group that fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens two years ago. The shooting was a severe
escalation in violence even after Greece was hit in December by its worst riots in decades, sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager on Dec. 6. For two weeks after the 15-year-old boy’s death in Athens’ often volatile Exarchia district, masked protesters frequently attacked police with gasoline bombs and rocks in near daily riots but caused no serious injuries. But police officials and politicians say the perpetrators of today’s attack, which also took place in Exarchia, were shooting to kill. ‘’They wanted to kill someone in uniform. They sprayed our colleagues with gunfire,’’ said Stratos Mavroidakos, the head of a police officers’ association. ‘’People were instigated into taking this action by the prevailing climate,’’ Mavroidakos added, referring to the violent
New jobless claims fell more than expected last week but are stuck at elevated levels, while the number of people continuing to receive unemployment insurance approached 6 million, setting a record for the 10th straight week.
The government data released Thursday bolster recent projections from the Federal Reserve and private economists that the nation’s job market will remain weak into next year as companies purge thousands more workers. The Labor Department said
Greek special police forces prepare to retaliate (above).
Continued on Page 8
‘The Fearless Times’ Going Online Only TheFearlessTimes.com Many newspapers are recognizing that their subscribers are preferring to read their news online. Readers of The Fearless Times will be pleased to learn that they can now enjoy their news in its new and improved glass half full web-based format,
www.TheFearlessTimes.com.
This site will feature uplifting content from Max Lucado’s new book Fearless. It will also provide vehicles through which readers can dialog directly with Max Lucado about their Fearless stories or ask Max for advice in how to combat their own fears and anxieties. The site will also feature the Fearless DVD and other online resources as consumers navigate these troubled times. The Fearless Times is pleased to present what the consumer is looking for — good news in an accessible format. TheFearlessTimes.com will go live in June 2009.
World Stock Markets Drop By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ The Associ ated Press
World stock markets fell Thursday amid pessimism about the Obama administration’s plans to fix the U.S. banking system and restore the overall health of the world’s largest economy. European stocks were also undermined by a raft of disappointing earnings. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 58.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,175.44, while Germany’s DAX declined 96.81 points, or 2.1 percent, to 4,433.28. The CAC-40 in France was 45.08 points, or 1.5 percent, lower at 2,982.64. Sentiment in Europe, already depressed by further losses in Asia earlier, was hit by the news that a number of companies across the continent reported worse than expected earnings and predicted further difficulties for the months ahead. In Britain, drinks maker Diageo warned that its profits for the 2008-9 fiscal year would be lower than previously anticipated because of the global economic slowdown, while BT PLC, the telecommunications company, issued its fourth profit warning in the space of just six months as a result of further one-off charges. Meanwhile in France, EDF, the world’s biggest nuclear reactor operator, reported a 40 percent drop in net profit last year, due mainly to a provision related to changes in the regulation of power rates. And carmaker Renault SA swung into the red in the second half of the year and said it expected the outlook to darken further this year as the economic crisis continues to ravage car sales. “There are no green shoots of recovery; with profit warnings, continuing bad news on the global economy, there is a risk that equity markets will continue to lose ground,” said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at ECU Group. The raft of grim corporate news in Europe comes as the markets have largely given the thumbsContinued on Page 6 demonstrations in December when youths chanting ‘’Cops, pigs, murderers!’’ clashed with riot police, set up burning street barricades and torched banks and stores. ‘’This is what happens when you have 12-year-old children at demonstrations calling police ‘murderers,’’’ he said. ‘’These events have set us back 20 years.’’ Authorities say more than 30 shots were fired — at least 27 from a Kalashnikov-type automatic rifle, and another four from a 9 mm caliber weapon. The attackers also threw a hand grenade. Policeman Diamandis Matzounis, 21, suffered two gunshot wounds and was listed in critical but stable condition. Ballistics tests showed both firearms had been used in attacks before, police said. The 9 mm weapon was used in Continued on Page 12
Fearless Message Spreads As messages of Fear are spreading the globe, it is being counteracted by a movement to combat it. Max Lucado is leading the charge with his new book . where he encourages people to trust in Jesus and to fear not in times of trouble. Cities like Beijing, São Paolo, Mexico City, Sydney, Los Angeles, London, Johannesburg, and many small communities are being changed by this fresh message for our tough times. See page 3 for the full story.
Several of the page 1 stories and images are original copyright material purchased from the Associated Press and other media sources by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All other images and stories in pages 2-4 are copyrighted by Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2009.