Members of the Religion Newswriters Association -- who cover religion for the mainstream media -- voted on their choices for the top religion stories of 2006. Here are the results:

1. Muslims in a number of countries react violently to publication of Muhammad cartoons in Denmark and other European nations. Scores of both Christians and Muslims are killed in riots in Nigeria.

2. Pope Benedict XVI angers Muslims by including in a speech a centuries-old quote linking Islam and violence. He apologizes and later smooths the waters on a trip to Turkey. Earlier, he begins to downsize the curia and emphasizes God's love in his first encyclical.

3. The Episcopal Church riles conservatives when the General Convention elects a presiding bishop who supported the consecration of a U.S. gay bishop, which conservatives oppose as unbiblical. Seven Episcopal dioceses refuse to recognize the leadership of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who is also the first woman elected to the top post. Later, the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin becomes the first diocese to adopt measures that set the stage for it to secede from the denomination.

4. Charismatic leader Ted Haggard resigns as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and is dismissed as pastor of the huge New Life Church in Colorado Springs after allegations surface of gay sex and methamphetamine use.

5. Candidates backed by the Religious Right suffer a series of defeats in the fall elections, with many voters citing morality as one of the strongest motivators in the way they cast their ballot.

6. Religious voices grow louder for peace in Iraq, but by year's end experts fear the spread of sectarian tensions throughout the Middle East Conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims increase, and the Israeli incursion in Lebanon aimed at curbing attacks by Hezbollah touches off major strife within Lebanon. Christian churches also reconsider efforts to pressure Israel on the Palestinian question.

7. The schoolhouse shooting deaths of five Amish girls in Bart Township, PA, draw international attention on the Amish community's ethic of forgiveness after some Amish attend the killer's funeral.

8. (tie) The release of the film The Da Vinci Code adds to the previous buzz about Dan Brown's novel. Religious critics, who say the book portrays traditional Christianity as a fraud, are divided over whether to boycott the film or hold discussion groups. Controversial plot lines include Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and conceiving a child.

8. (tie) Same sex marriage bans pass in seven of eight states that hold referendums on the issue during mid-term elections; Arizona becomes the first state in which voters defeat a same-sex marriage ban. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples are entitled to the same benefits as married couples.

10. President Bush casts his first veto to defeat a bill calling for expanded stem-cell research, to the delight of religious conservatives and the disappointment of more liberal ones. The issue is later credited with playing a deciding role in the key Missouri Senate race. Meanwhile, progress is reported in efforts to create stem-cell lines without destroying embryos.

As you look at these ten top stories of 2006, the question might be asked: “Where is you in all of this?” As the world focused on the so-called big stories, what about you and your story? Do you have to do something crazy and insane to get the attention you need from heaven itself to look down upon your circumstances? The answer is a definite “NO.”

Here is a very important phrase that I want to pass on to you. It is found in Genesis 8:1 and it reads: “But God remembered Noah.” Four words that says it all.

How long did it take for the water to cover the whole earth? Forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:12, 17-20). After the highest mountain on earth was covered with water, how long did God keep the earth flooded? 150 days (7:24; 8:3). When the waters receded and he ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat, how long did Noah remain in the Ark? Seven months (8:3-4, 13-14).

Okay, let’s add this all up.

It rained for forty days and nights – 1.5 months.
The ark remained afloat for 150 days (five months) while the earth was flooded.
When the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat, Noah remained in the Ark for another seven months.

So the total time that Noah lived in the Ark with members of his family and all those stinky animals was about 13.5 months or a little over one year!

Wait! There’s more!! How long did it take Noah and his family to build the Ark that they would stay in while the flood occurred? At least 100 years.

Remember, Noah was 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth (5:32). The same account is given in 6:10, which seems to be in the context of when God informs Noah about his new assignment to build the Ark. Then in 7:6, we read that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. So it took Noah about 100 years to build the Ark.

Now there’s more so stay with me on this. When God looked down on the world at that time and saw the wickedness of the hearts of the earth dwellers, He said: "I won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever. No one will live for more than one hundred twenty years” (Gen. 6:3 CEV).

In other words, God said that mankind had 120 years to repent before He would send a world-wide flood. So Noah built the ark in about 100 years. But what do we do with the extra 20 years mentioned in 6:3? Probably when God spoke His warning in 6:3, He waited 20 years before He approached Noah with his assignment to build the ark. Therefore, when Noah completed the ark in 100 years, it came to be a total of 120 years since the time God issued His warning in 6:3.

At the end of the 120 years, God told Noah to enter the ark with his family and the rest of the animals (7:1-3). Once in the ark, God waited an additional seven more days before sending the rain (7:4). He did this again to give people time to repent. Finally at the end of the seven additional says, God sealed the door (7:16) on the ark and it began to rain.

Therefore, Noah took 100 years to build the ark. Once he got inside, he remained inside for about 13.5 months. Now let’s read that phrase again in Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah.”

No one else did? No one else paid any attention to Noah and what he was doing. He was ignored for the 100 years he built the ark. Finally after the 120 years that God gave in His mercy for the people to take notice and repent, God put Noah in the ark and kept him there for 13.5 months before releasing him.

BUT GOD REMEMBERED NOAH! When no one else was looking his way, God kept an eye on Him.

Here’s my point: It takes time – lots of time to build character in a person. Noah’s assignment was not just to build an ark for him and his family plus a whole lot of animals to hide in safely during a universal flood. No, Noah and wife also had the assignment of being the new Adam and Eve! Everyone on earth accept him, his wife and his sons and daughters-in-law all died! When he came out of the ark in Genesis 8:15ff, it was only him and seven others (Gen. 7:13).

God knew that starting over would be a big job. Noah and his family would have to start to build homes from scratch. So God gave them the training they needed when He commanded them to build the ark. After 100 years of building the ark, they were all seasoned builders.

They also needed patience with one another. God knew that they would remain in the ark for 13.5 months with themselves and the animals. They had to learn to get along. Why? Because if any of them went the way of Cain, that would reduce the size of the human race! So God had them work together for 100 years and live together in a stinky ship for over one year, so when they got out, they knew how to get along. Why? Because they had learned such essential qualities by virtue of developing godly character.

Folks, God has a big assignment for you. But unless you learn the character you need to handle such an assignment, you will not get the opportunity to fulfill your calling. Character takes time!

You may finish a task here or there and think that now you are ready. You may see some fruit from your ministry and think that you are ready. But completing a task or laying eyes on fruit is not the same as building character. God will put you into a situation for a purpose – “To build in you the necessary character qualities that you must have for the assignment God wants to do through you.” Are you willing to do your time? Are you willing to receive your share of bumps along the way? Are you sure you want to go all the way with God?

Stop trying to look for quick results and instant fixes. God does not use a microwave oven to cook you; instead He uses a crock pot and puts the heat on slow cooking. This is when all the juices and necessary flavor from one’s life begins to smell good and God looks upon you and say, “Now you got the character I want you to have for the assignment I want to do through you.”

Just be thankful that you are not Noah! Imagine spending 13.5 months in a box with smelly animals high above the tallest mountains on the earth floating on water? We have it so much easier today. Let God work with you and you cooperate with God. Time is running out. When God shuts the door of opportunity, what side of the door will you be standing?