Give me Hill Country

amazement

2008-06-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

"... almost the whole world is asleep - everybody you know, everybody you see, everybody you talk to. Only a few people are awake...and they live in a state of constant, total amazement."

- Joe vs the Volcano

They look up to us with big eyes

2008-03-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

What kind of example are our lives, to those around us to the ones who are young? Some of the young look up to us with big eyes....

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A cure for restlessness?

2008-01-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

NEEDLES AND PINS
by Shel Silverstein

Needles and pins,
Needles and pins,
Sew me a sail
To catch me the wind.

Sew me a sail
Strong as the gale,
Carpenter, bring out your
Hammers and nails.

Hammers and nails,
Hammers and nails,
Build me a boat
To go chasing the whales.

Chasing the whales,
Sailing the blue,
Find me a captain
And sign me a crew.

Captain and crew,
Captain and crew,
Take me, oh take me
To anywhere new.

2008-01-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ivy: "How is it you are brave, when all the rest of us shake in our boots?"

Lucius: "I do not worry about what will happen,...only what needs to be done."

-The Village

They never taught us that in sunday school

2008-01-10T13:07:00.001-07:00

"The only way to live in this adventure ... with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes ... is in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God." --Anonymous

There are 3 things that God has put, deep down in the heart of every man.
Three things.

A Battle to fight,
an Adventure to live,
and a Beauty to rescue.

...

2007-11-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

by J. J. Olsen

One morning, with sleep in my eyes, I headed toward my favorite little coffee stand. Jake (my dog) and I are regulars, and Jake always gets excited when we pull up because he knows he’s going to get a couple of Milk Bones. As I waited for my coffee, I saw something that made me tear up a bit. I’m doing a lot of that lately; there must be a lot of pollen or dirt in the air … or something.

Just ahead of me an old couple, probably in their 70s or 80s, pulled into a parking stall. I watched as the little old man slowly got out of the car, opened the trunk and pulled out a wheelchair. He folded the chair into the sitting position and wheeled it to the passenger’s side of the car, where he carefully and lovingly helped his beautiful little wife out of the car and into the chair.

It was cold out this morning, and the fog was still lifting, so the old man reached into the back seat and grabbed a knitted blanket and tucked it around her shoulders. As he wheeled her away, I watched as he leaned down and gently kissed her on the cheek. As if it was the first kiss of their life together, she smiled, leaned into him, put her arm around his neck and hugged him tightly. As they walked off together, I was moved to my core.

As I watched I couldn’t help but think of all the stories those two must share. Stories of young love, country roads and an old Chevrolet, a white wedding, the birth of their first child, the day he went off to war and the day he came home. How many moments of laughter have they shared? How many silent glances across a room? How many tears?

People often ask me if I believe is the concept of “soulmates.” They wonder if love exists in the real world like it does in the movies. My answer is yes. Why? Because I see that kind of love extended to me by God. Scripture tells me that real love overcomes, real love gives, real love hopes and that real love is selfless (1 Corinthians 13). Two people who decide to receive the love of their God and then extend it to each other have the capacity to love more passionately and more extravagantly than any movie ever made.

Love exists in moments. Moments like today when that old man kissed his wife, moments when we choose another over ourselves. I’m beginning to believe in love again, and today, in that moment, through the love of two old souls, God showed me that He still loves me.

Prayer

2007-11-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I was visiting a very close friend of mine at his home. After supper, his 4 year old daughter ran towards me and handed me a peice of white paper and smiling, she said,
"Mark look!"
On the peice of paper, she had painted a green triangle, and a brown square. A picture that she had painted herself, in pre-school the week before.

After she handed me the picture, I smiled big and said, "Wow, did you paint this!"

After looking at the painting, content and pleased,
Hannah said proudly, "Yep."

It reminded me of something I read in a book, that said.

"Pray as you can; don't pray as you can't."

Let us suppose you give your three-year-old daughter a coloring book and a box of crayons for her birthday. The following day, with the proud smile only a little one can muster, she presents her first picture for inspection. She has colored the sun black, the grass purple, and the sky green. In the lower right hand corner, she has added woozy wonders of floating slabs and hovering rings; on the left; a panoply of colorful, carefree squiggles. You marvel at her bold strokes and intuit that her psyche is railing against its own cosmic smallness in the face of a big, ugly world. Later at the office, you share with your staff your daughter's first artistic effort and you make veiled references to the early work of van Gogh. A little child cannot do a bad coloring; nor can a child of God do a bad prayer.

Praying is an area that many struggle with because they aren't aware that in the freedom of the Spirit, there are as many ways of praying as there are individual believers.

Reference to the Book:
"the Ragamuffin Gospel"
-Brennan Manning

If God had an office, the door would ALWAYS be open for you to talk to Him.

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The Ninth Tuesday

2007-11-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I came to treasure the way my friend lit up when I entered the the room. Morrie did this for many people, I know, but it was his special talent to make each visitor feel that the smile was unique.

"Ahhhh, its my friend," he would say when he saw me, in that foggy, high-pitched voice. And it didn't stop with the greeting. When Morrie was with you, he was really with you. He looked you straight in the eye, and he listened as if you were the only person in the world. How much better would people get along if their first encounter each day were like this, ....instead of a grumble from a waitress or a bus driver or a boss?

"I believe in being fully present," Morrie said. "That means you should be with the person you're with. When I'm talking to you now, Mitch, I try to keep focused on what is going on between us. I am not thinking about something we said last week. I am not thinking of what's coming up this Friday. I am not thinking about doing another Koppel show, or about what medications I'm taking.

"I am talking to you. I am thinking about you."

I remembered how he used to teach this idea, back in the day. Learning to pay attention? How important could that be?

I now know it is more important than almost everything they taught us in college.

"Part of the problem, Mitch, is that everyone is in such a hurry," Morrie said. "People haven't found meaning in their lives, so they're running all the time looking for it. They think the next car, the next house, the next job. Then they find those things are empty, too, and they keep running."

"Once you start running, I said, it's hard to slow yourself down."

A lot of us are great at small talk.

"How's it going? What have you been up to?"

But really listening to someone,..without trying to sell them something, without trying to recruit them, or get some kind of status in return....how often do we do this?

When was the last time, that we REALLY listened to someone? That you really paid attention to someone that you care about?

Book: "Tuesdays with Morrie"
- Mitch Albom

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The Soul

2007-11-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

The SOUL is the most valuable thing in the world,..but how many of us neglect it. How many of you never even think of it....until its too late.

Jesus said there are 2 roads in life. A broad road and a narrow road. The broad road leads to destruction, and the narrow road leads to eternal life.
And you are on one or the other tonight.

You can change roads. You can choose.

One soul, is worth the whole world. You may gain the whole world, and wake up one morning to find that you’ve missed the most important thing of all,…you’ve missed getting your soul right with God.

God has made a plan to save you. To save your soul. That’s why Jesus Christ came to die on the cross and rise from the dead. You and I are sinners. We deserve death. But that’s allllll been taken care of on the cross.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. To redeem man’s soul. A man’s soul is more important than the body, more important than money, or where we live, or the standard of living we have.

Re-evaluate your life, and turn to Him while there’s still time. Your soul is the most valuable thing you possess, and you have the power of choice.
Jesus Christ died so that you might have life…fully and completely.

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If I Had My Life To Live Over

2007-10-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

"If I had my life to live over again, ...
....I would relax. I would worry less, and put more trust in my Father in Heaven.
I know of very few things I would stress and worry over.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets.
I would do more walking and looking.
I would laugh more.
I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans.
I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.

Oh, I've had my moments; and if I had my life to do over again, I'd have more of them (moments). In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day.
If I had it to do over again, I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would ride on more roller coasters."

quoted from the book "Stories for the Heart

May God Bless You with Discomfort

2007-10-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them

And turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

This poem is a Franciscan Benediction found in Phillip Yancey's book "Prayer".

So I encourage you to re-read the benediction and to make it a prayer. And be warned, it is a wonderfully dangerous prayer to pray.

-Sam Harvey (Quoted by Mark Pouteaux)

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What does a Godly man look like?

2007-09-28T16:39:00.002-07:00

God designed men to be dangerous.

Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy:
To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk. Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires--being told that what we were made to do is this, "be a nice guy".

And the reason that most men "live lives of quiet desperation" (Thoreau) is because men have been told that the reason God put them on earth is to be a good boy. To be nice. It is no wonder that many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death.

Now, in all your boyhood dreams growing up, did you ever dream of becoming a nice guy? Ladies, was the Prince of your dreams dashing... or merely nice? " We've taken away the dreams of a man's heart and told him to play the man."
Reference to the book: "Wild at Heart" -John Eldredge

They never taught us in sunday school, that a Christ-filled man has....courage. That a Christ-filled man looks to God for courage, and receives it. Courage from God's word. Courage from a intimate relationship with Him. The kind of courage that reminds you of fire. The brotherly courage and sacrifice of the men in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers", the courage of Maximus in "Gladiator", the courage William Wallace in "Braveheart."

What good is the armor of God,...if there's no WARRIOR inside? ___________________________________________________- _____________________________________________________

Being a Father

2007-09-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

I received this email several days ago:
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Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit with Evan, a seven year old boy who is being mentored through the Belmont Foundation. Kurt, Evan’s mentor, and I pulled up to the apartment building where Evan lives and took Evan’s bike out of the trunk of the car. Evan’s bike had broken a few weeks prior to our visit and Kurt took it to get it fixed. Evan greeted us, grabbed his bike, gave it a once over and said, “Kurt, it’s fixed; you fixed my bike.” Evan looked at Kurt like he was God.

Then, Evan showed us to his room where a soccer ball and shiny new uniform laid in the corner. “This is my new soccer ball and I’ll try on the uniform if you want to see it”, he said. He came out of his room wearing his uniform and kicking the ball, showing off the new moves he learned at practice. Kurt pulled some strings to get Evan on the soccer team even though registration had closed weeks before. It was a dream come true for Evan.

Later, we shared lunch at a fast-food restaurant. We sat with Evan and his mom and talked about God and church and life, then headed out to the sporting goods store to pick up some cleats for Evan. On the way there, it occured to me that maybe Evan’s excitement about getting his bike back wasn’t so much about it being fixed. It seemed that he was more excited that a man said he would do something and he actually followed through.

A year ago, Evan’s dad died from the effects of long years of drinking. Kurt stepped in, not to be a replacement dad, but to be a signpost that points to God the Father. And along the way, Kurt fixes things that are broken, makes small dreams come true and makes his presence known to this little boy. It sounds a lot like the way God fathers his children.

Peace,

Wade Trimmer

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billy graham - value

2007-09-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

We value our bodies and our minds. We spend a great deal of time and money caring for them, educating them. And God values our bodies, too. But God values our soul the most. The only way we can ever see the true worth of our soul is to see it from His perspective.

Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man, if he...gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” How do you stand before God with your soul?

-billy graham

Give us Hill Country!

2007-09-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Joshua chapter 14..... its a great great scene: Joshua has just led the Israelites (God's chosen people) into the promised land and have defeated the major enemy stronghold, Jericho, by the hand of God.

And now they gone in and have settled and taken out the other major enemy strongholds in the land. And now its come time that they get to divvy up the loot,...they get to carve up the lands and divide it among the Israelites.

So that day arrives, and of course the young guys,...the tired warriors,..they want it easy now. They've been fighting, its been kind of hard, and they want some nice….loamy...calm...complacent......pastureland. Land that hardly requires work to live on. They’re in there, pleading with Joshua, trying to get their piece of the best land.

Then Caleb shows up.

Listen to this....starting at verse 6:

And Caleb says to Joshua,... "You know what the LORD said to Moses, about you and me? Way back, when I was 40 years old, when Moses sent me to explore the Promised Land,...I brought him back a report according to my convictions. But my cowardly brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear,...I, however followed the LORD my God whole-heartedly.
So on that day, Moses swore to me, the land on which your feet walk will be your inheritance, and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. Now then, just as the LORD promised, He has kept me alive for 45 years since the time He said this to Moses.

So here I am today…...85 years old, I’m still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out, I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now, as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourselves heard that the Annakites were there, and their cities are large and fortified….but the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as He said.”

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I come back to you now with this conviction: there are still giants out there. There’s still dangerous territory out there. And lets leave the dull pastureland to those who want pastureland.

But you and I,….I think we’re called to something greater than that. More and more, God is raising up people, people who really want to serve God through their lives, wholeheartedly and extravagantly,.. and God is using those people to accomplish great things.

LORD give the easy pastureland to somebody else,….but give us Hill Country. Give us hill country because there’s still some giants out there, and with your strength, we will drive them out, and live out the courageous life that God put is here to do in the first place!

I’m more vigorous now than the day I started.

....the wonders and miracles that God could use you for......if only you would let Him. If only you would be obedient to Him.

____________________________- Pastor M. Buchanan

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2007-08-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Many people go "fishing" all their lives, without knowing...

that it is not really fish they are after.

- Henry David Thoreau

All men die,....but few men really LIVE.

"Mafia"

2007-08-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

"Mafia," in Arabic, means a place of sanctuary, and the word took its place in the Sicilian language when the Saraceans ruled the country in the tenth century. Throughout history, the people of Sicily were opressed mercilessly by the Romans, the Papacy, the Normans, the French, the Germans, and the Spanish. Their governments enslaved the poor working class, exploiting their labor, raping their women, murdering their leaders. Even the rich did not escape. The Spanish Inquisition of the Holy Catholic Church stripped them of their wealth for being heretics.

And so the "Mafia" sprang up as a secret society of avengers. When the royal courts refused to take action against a Norman noble who raped a farmer's wife, a band of peasants assassinated him. When a police chief tortured some petty thief with the dreaded cassetta, that police chief was killed. Gradually the strongest-willed of the peasants and the poor formed themselves into an organized society which had the support of the people and in effect became a second and more powerful government. When there was a wrong to be redressed, no one ever went to the official police, they went to the leader of the local Mafia, who mediated the problem.

Lupara: a deadly sawed-off shotgun. It is tradition that every Sicilian peasant own a lupara. The hatred of a Sicilian peasant could never be taken lightly.

The greatest crime a Sicilian could commit was to give any information of any kind to the authorities about anything done by the Mafia. They kept silent. And this silence came to be called omerta. Over the centuries the practice enlarged to never giving the police information about a crime committed even against oneself. All communications broke down between the people and the law enforcement agencies of reigning governments so that even a small child was taught not to give a stranger the simplest directions to a village or a person's house.
Throughout the centuries the Mafia governed Sicily, a presence so shadowy and indistinct that the authorities could never quite grasp the extent of its power. Up until World War II, the word "Mafia" was never uttered on the Island of Sicily."

In the Italian culture, the family is a crucial and fundamental element of society. Its importance probably goes beyond other Western cultures today. The family is always a source of protection and support for the individual.
"A man who never spends time with his family, can never be a real man."

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Moments

2007-08-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

In your lifetime, you will have only 1440 beautiful moments. Today, be aware of those moments, and spend them wisely.
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"The most beautiful things in this world are not seen....
...they are felt."
-Anonymous
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"I want to live my life more immersed in the moment. Those who don't live for Christ, life for the moment. Those who do live for Christ should live in it. "
-Pastor Mark Buchanan

"I realized, on reflection, that I tend to approach life as a sequence rather than a series of moments. I schedule my time, set goals, and march onward toward their achievement. Phone calls, or any unscheduled event, I view as a jarring interruption. How different from the style of Jesus, who often let other people-interruptions - determine his daily schedule.

If you can live through a moment, you can live through a day, and how you live a day is eventually how you live your life. I spend so much energy on the correct way to live in general that I miss the specific moments that are actually the only way I can live."

-Philip Yancey (quoted from "Rumours")

"No recipe for life will help us.

Life is something to be entered, not solved."

- (quoted from "Silence of Adam") by L. Crabb

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Something real

2007-04-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

"If you was hit by a truck and you were lying out in that gutter dying…
and you had time to sing one song, huh, one song…
people would remember before you’re dirt…
one song that would let God know what you felt about your time here on earth…
one song that would sum you up…
you telling me that’s the song you’d sing?
That same Jimmie Davis tune we hear on the radio all day?
About your peace within and how it’s real and how you’re gonna shout it?
Or would you sing something different?
Something real, something you felt?
Because I’m telling you right now…
that’s the kind of song people want to hear.
That’s the kind of song that truly saves people."

-Walk the Line (spoken to Johnny Cash)

With some much talent available musically in most churches, can’t we sing more of what’s on our hearts, sing about what we don’t understand, about our hurts, our pains, our lives? Let’s give glory to God, but let’s do it in a way that is real and connected to our lives,....not totally unrelated.

-Anonymous

A Thousand Words

2007-03-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

I sit down to write a thousand words. It has been a long time. Things happen; life happens, and gets in the way of doing what I love. I have missed it. The writing comes slowly but it comes, and I remember how. I won’t tell you why I stopped. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I am writing now.

There are lots of reasons to stop doing what you love: most of them bad. I won’t list them, I couldn’t write them all in a thousand words, but they all have one thing in common; they make you forget. They make you forget who you are because you are what you love.

So, I write. Not because it will win me fame, or praise or even understanding. I write for writing sake: a reason known only to a writer. I sit, and I type my thousand words, so little; no amount of words would be enough. I could write until I fell into exhaustion, sleep and then write again. I write. It’s not what I am: it’s who I am.

quoted from relevantmagazine.com

Bored

2007-03-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

I go back to school tomorrow, for my last semester after what has turned into an almost 10-year college career. The better
part of my college-level education took place outside of the classroom, during the years where I traveled and lived away from home. I had lots of questions about life and God, and hitting the road was how I worked those questions out—not to say that I’ve found any answers. The last two years, though, have been spent back in the classroom, trying to finish up my undergrad work so that I can have it behind me permanently. The problem with the last two years is that I don’t do so well in the classroom anymore. I get bored.

I don’t think it’s OK to allow boredom to be a norm. That’s what I decided today when I finally went outside and crossed the apartment parking lot to the gym. I ran on the treadmill and listened to the stream of iPod Shuffle goodness that emerged (mostly U2, some Bob Dylan and other random stuff). And while I ran, I thought about these last couple of years and this last semester. I don’t want to be bored. But I braced myself for it.
I did not muster any enthusiasm for my impending school reality. I did, however, decided that I am not going to succumb to boredom this semester. It may be fine for a couple of days of cold weather, but it is an unacceptable lifestyle. I don’t see any pattern in the life of Jesus or anyone else who I respect and try to learn from that leaves a lot of space for boredom. Silence, yes. Alone, sure. Bored, definitely not.

I don’t know what will happen in June. I still miss traveling and want to be a part of doing justice and loving mercy in Africa and other parts of world that seem overwhelmingly broken. I don’t know what that will look like. I still want to learn how to live in one place and commit to the people who are my neighbors—my family and friends and the people who we cross paths with on a daily basis. I still want to find ways to creatively be whom God envisions me as but who I often fail to be.

quoted from relevantmagazine.com

Courage one

2007-03-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

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From the inside out

2007-02-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

From the Inside Out

by: Mark Pouteaux

A question that I try to challenge myself, as often as I remember: Do I love God, from the inside out?

-> Am I continually surrendering to God, that He may daily transform me? 'Cuz I don't follow a religion or a set of rules or a formula. I follow HIM. But change doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, and it happens on the inside!

So what effect does my relationship with God have on my day to day life?

Phillipians chapter 1 says: "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."

That word "pure" means .........set apart

Set apart, for one, for only God, and nothing else. We are called to be pure of heart and mind.

Only when you let your heart be searched by God, can you fully see what your heart is like!
So,..pray constantly. Pour out your prayer.
Have confidence in God, God is the one doing wonders, its your choice of whether or not you want to be a part of what He is doing in this broken and dying world.
Don't guilt others, love them, want the very best for them. God saved us out of a burning love for us. Show that to others.

Don't compromise your morality, or your faith. Stand up and step up to what God says is excellent. God is going to finish what He began in you. Do not obstruct with what God wants to do, in you, and in this world.

"Lord make me like you, give me a heart like yours, to love what you love, and to hate what you hate."

Life

2007-02-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

It takes a whole lifetime,..to live a life

-Lawrence Jensen

Suffering and Hardship

2007-02-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Suffering and Hardship

by John Fischer

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the problem of pain. One says: “Sometimes the going will get tough, and in those times you need to remember that your faith will get you through and something good will come out of hardship. Hang in there, this will soon be over.” The other would be: “Get use to it. Pain, suffering, and hardship are necessary for growth. They will be constant companions to those who desire to know and love God deeply. Get ready for the long haul. If you’re feeling good and life is relatively painless, that’s the abnormal experience, not the norm. Enjoy it, but don’t expect it.”

Now I don't know about you, but most will admit they don't like suffering very much. In fact, most people will try to completely ignore suffering or deny it.

But reality is like fine wine, children won't like it."

-Donald Miller

The other perspective is much more in keeping with reality and the belief that our real purposes go way beyond this life and this present darkness. It is a perspective that expects hardship and pain to be a part of the day-to-day program. If we are waiting for anything, we are waiting for eternity with Christ, not for everything to get better here on earth. We have learned that trials are such an integral part of our growing life in Christ that we even welcome trouble when it comes our way, because we know that by it, our faith is found worthy of being tested and our endurance will have a chance to grow (James 1:2-3).

“Grace must wound you, before it can heal you.” — Flannery O’Conner

Do I give generously, or spend greedily?

2007-02-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

It kinda makes me feel guilty to think of how we don't even hesitate when it comes to buying something for ourselves.

Stuff like a new shirt, new watch, new sunglasses, a new cd, or the latest gadget.

But when it comes to giving time or money to a good cause, or to charity, or to church, we don't want to, we think our money is too precious to be given away to those things. To think that we've worked too hard for it, and we can do with it what we want, besides, its our money right,......No. Not at all.

Everything that we have, we should give God all the praise and the glory.

Think about this..... How many times do we thank God, just for our health???

Are you thankful for what God has blessed you with? Before you go on complaining about your coat zipper breaking, or gas prices, or complaining about doing chores and homework,
We need to get down on our knees and thank God for all of our many blessings, like family, our health, a home to live in, food to eat, freedom,... and give God all the glory and all the praise.

"....Rejoice in every good thing which thy Lord thy God hath given unto thee."

-Deuterouomy 26:11

Have you thought to thank Him recently? Do you feel that the good things which you enjoy are accidental and through some effort of your own:

Who gives you the power and wisdom and strength to get gain? Acknowledge the hand of God in your life now that it may be well with you in the future.

"Let every thing that has breath, praise the Lord."

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A true joy in life

2007-02-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

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“This is a true joy in life, being used for a purpose, a purpose that you recognize as being a Mighty one, becoming a force of the kingdom; instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

-George Bernard Shaw

Amazing Grace (history behind the song)

2007-02-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

In 1748-49, John Newton was first-mate on the slave trade ship named Brownlow. After survivng a horrific storm and suffering from the effects of a violent fever, he threw himself totally on the mercy of God.

Later in life he became an Anglican minister and wrote the song "Amazing Grace."

The lyrics are based on 1 Chronicles 17:16,

John Newton was also a strong mentor to a man named "William Wilberforce" who spent five decades successfully working for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton

http://www.anointedlinks.com/amazing_grace.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace

Martin Luther King Jr.

2007-02-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

Martin Luther King Jr. organized a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he gave a speech, a speech which forced the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Click the link to read the speech entitled "I Have A Dream"

http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

Everybody has choices

2007-01-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

There’s always something waiting at the end of the road. And if your not willing to see what it is... ...you probably shouldn’t be out there in the first place.

Danger...?

2007-01-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

A sailboat is safe in the harbour. But...is that what a sailboat was made for...intended for?

Death smiles at us all, and all a man can do is smile back.
-Gladiator

With what kind of eyes, do you see this world?

2006-12-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

2006-08-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

This world needs more people with adventurous hearts

http://www.youtube.com/v/SAMAr8y-Vtw

Best Story Ever - Les Stroud

2006-01-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

volunteer

2006-01-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

In any difficult situation, the first one to volunteer would be Nelson.

He was always the first volunteer.

-friend of Nelson Mandela

This is the most exciting, most fast-paced, most action packed sport in the world.

2005-12-18T15:47:00.000-07:00