From Gary.... And the winner is...

Sometimes, things happen in the most unusual ways.  Today, I just happened to look at the statistics for both blogs and noticed something unusual.  There was one post on the compositebiblereflections.blogspot.com blog that has achieved something I thought impossible -- over 5,000 hits!!!

FYI..

And the winner is....

Click to view!!!!

From Gary... Remember who you are and thank God

This morning I awoke from a dream about chess.  I was thinking about the "Star Trek" chess I used to play and the four dimensional chess board and games that I had copyrighted in 1975-6.  I imagined that unlike current chess games, there was no board and that the two sides, although being in different generic colors, had variations within those colors that also indicated their power in the struggle.  Also, groups were allowed to move simultaneously and when they did, warp signatures followed them.  In front of each player was a circle with grids on it, and as they continuously moved within a stationary location, their focus showed a trajectory towards an intended opponent.  The play was between two computers and each and every piece that was about to move had its intended target's "interstellar" trajectory calculation exhibited above the piece before it moved.  When pieces were "captured", they were exploded and their remains littered the grid that comprised the multidimensional grid where the battle occurred.  The sounds of the battle were "Star Trek" and both sides played "attack themes", which were also displayed at the sides of the game in opposing languages (i.e. English and Klingon [which by the way, is a genuine language]).  The noise, the sights and sounds awoke me from a sound sleep... and so my day began.  As I went through the tasks of producing the daily blog posts, I saw the sign at the top and remembered that old "Star Trek" board and playing chess with my brother-in-law Dick (now deceased a decade).  And I realized how very SPECIAL EACH OF US IS.  There will never be another "ME" or another "YOU".  The lives we live, our hopes, dreams, aspirations and how we fulfill them are the stuff of magnificence.  Each and every single person you know is marvelous; not just because of the things I mentioned, but also because God has made you that way.  Consider, for a moment, these few verses from the book of Genesis...

Genesis, Chapter 1

  26  God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.  28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

We have been given something very special- life!!!  Live it fully and realize its source- God.  Today, you may or may not have dreams, but with every breath you take, realize how special you are and thank God for the privilege of being you.

From Gary Womack...HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES

HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES

ISAAC SENT JACOB BACK TO THEIR HOME LAND TO FIND A WIFE.

JACOB MEETS RACHAEL WHILE SPEAKING TO HER BROTHER, LABAN.

Gen. 29:9-11 "Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up 

                      his voice and wept."

Gen. 29:15-20 "Rachel was beautiful...Jacob 

                        loved Rachel...So Jacob served 

                        seven years for Rachel, and they 

                        seemed but a few days to him  

                        because of the love he had for 

                        her."

REMEMBER WHEN YOU MET THE ONE YOU MARRIED? 

How did you feel?

WESTERN CULTURE MARRIAGES WERE BASED ON DIFFERENT CUSTOMS. WE CHOOSE OUR OWN MATE. THEIR MARRIAGES WERE ARRANGED.

How did arranged marriages succeed? The same way our marriages are to last.

IN A CULTURE OF ARRANGED MARRIAGES - Notice God's laws of marriage.

HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES.....

Eph. 5:25-31 Text

Many young men before marriage have claimed to know how to do this.

They give examples: Send her flowers, Candlelit meal, Box of candy, etc.

.....AS CHRIST ALSO LOVED THE CHURCH

Not a matter of how you FEEL. The essence of this love is the quality of SACRIFICE

.....AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT.

You have given yourself up for her.

Eph. 1:4-6 God chose to love us before He made 

                 us - in spite of our rejection.

Husband to love his wife because he chooses to - without regard to beauty or ability [unconditional] (This is how arranged marriages work out)

Rom. 5:6-8 Christ demonstrated this love.

1 Pet. 2:21-23 Christ is our example

No deceit Marriage is built on trust. Never betray trust.

No reviling No Abusive railing.

No threatening No coercion. Not a means of motivation.

1 Cor. 13:4-8 Love's pattern for a perfect marriage.

This love never fails. If mutual, divorce will never happen.

THIS IS WHAT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE LOOKS LIKE.

It is a "no matter what" kind of love.

THE EXAMPLE OF HOSEA THE PROPHET - HIS ASSIGNMENT FROM GOD:

         Marry a woman who will be unfaithful to you.

        She will abandon you & your children and  

        become a prostitute.

        She will bring you great shame.

       While your marriage bed lies empty, she will be 

       giving herself willingly to any man who will pay  

       her for her services.

       Her harlotry will lead her to slavery.

       She will be sold into slavery to satisfy her debts 

       she has accumulated.

       She will be taken to the slave auction, stripped  

       naked & sold to the highest bidder.

       When this happens, you are to buy her back  

       (redeem) and again make her your wife. (He 

       would humble himself in the middle of the 

       market place to pay good money to buy her 

       back who left him to become a prostitute.)

       HOSEA WAS TO BECOME A LIVING 

       PARABLE.

       HIS EXAMPLE - A DEMONSTRATION OF 

       GOD'S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR

       HIS CHOSEN BRIDE.

WHILE GOD'S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL - FORGIVENESS IS NOT.

Tit. 2:11-12 "For the grace of God that brings 

                    salvation has appeared to all men, [12] 

                    teaching us that, denying ungodliness 

                    and worldly lusts, we should live 

                    soberly, righteously, and godly in the 

                    present age."

Eph. 1:7-10 "In Him we have redemption through 

                   His blood, the forgiveness of sins, 

                   according to the riches of His grace [8] 

                   which He made to abound toward us in 

                   all wisdom and prudence, [9] having 

                   made known to us the mystery of His 

                   will, according to His good pleasure 

                   which He purposed in Himself, [10] that 

                   in the dispensation of the fulness of the

                   times He might gather together in one 

                   all things in Christ, but which are in 

                   heaven and which are on earth - in 

                   Him,"

Gal. 3:27 "For as many of you as were baptized into 

                Christ have put on Christ."

From Jim McGuiggan...God and Dick Hoyt

God and Dick Hoyt

In Sports Illustrated Rick Reilly writes about Dick Hoyt and his son Rick. [I’ve adapted it only a little.] The words tell the story well but the short video sinks them in with the sound of nails being driven home—as if something lasting and lovely was being built. In this relationship we’re getting a vision of God’s heart as he works with a morally/spiritually disabled world. This kind of material is dangerous. It might even motivate some of us to want to be like him (like Dick too). Be sure to watch the video if you’re able.

“ Eighty-five times he's [Dick] pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike.  And what has Rick done for hi s father? Not much—except save his life...

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

``He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. ``Put him in an institution.'' But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate.

``No way,'' Dick says he was told. ``There's nothing going on in his brain.''

"Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want to do that.''

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore for two weeks.'' That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore."

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got in to such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor.

For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then

they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii ...

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? From Jim McGuiggan...God and Dick Hoyt``No way,'' he says. Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together. This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992—only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the Century.''

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day. That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad would sit in the chair and I would push him once.'' ”

Here's the video. It's worth the very few minutes it takes to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCTIigaloQ 

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com

From Mark Copeland... What Then Shall I Do With Jesus?

                        

"THE GOSPEL OF Matthew"

 What Then Shall I Do With Jesus? (27:22)

 

INTRODUCTION

1. In Mt 27:11-22, we read of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the Roman
   governor...
   a. While Jesus admitted to being the King of the Jews, He refused to
      answer the accusations of the chief priests and elders - Mt 27:
      11-12
   b. His silence caused Pilate to marvel greatly - Mt 27:13-14
   c. Pilate sought to release Jesus, but the multitude asked for
      Barabbas instead - Mt 27:15-21
   d. Which prompted Pilate to ask the question:  "When then shall I do
      with Jesus who is called Christ?" - Mt 27:22

2. Pilate's question, "What then shall I do with Jesus?", is one that
   every person must ask...
   a. Many would prefer to ignore it
   b. Many try to let others make the choice (as did Pilate)

3. But it is a question from which we cannot run away...
   a. We shall all one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ
      - 2Co 5:10
   b. His words will be the standard by which we will be judged 
      - Jn 12:48

[And so each one of us should be asking ourselves, "What Then Shall I
Do With Jesus?"  To help answer this question, consider another
question...]

I. WHAT HAS JESUS OFFERED YOU?

   A. JESUS HAS PROVIDED THE CHANCE...
      1. For an abundant life, filled with true peace - Jn 10:10; 16:33
      2. To find salvation - Lk 19:10
      3. To enjoy cleansing from sin through His blood - 1Jn 1:7

   B. JESUS HAS PROCLAIMED THE CONDITIONS...
      1. We must believe in Him  - Jn 8:24
      2. We must repent of our sins - Lk 13:3
      3. We must confess our faith before men - Mt 10:32-33; Ro 10:9-10
      4. We must be baptized for the remission of our sins - Mt 28:19;
         Mk 16:16; Ac 2:38
      5. We must remain faithful even to death - Re 2:10

   C. JESUS HAS PREDETERMINED THE ALTERNATIVES...
      1. Reject Him, and we will die in our sins to face the terrible
         consequences - Jn 8:24; 2Th 1:7-9; Re 21:8
      2. Believe in Him, and we receive everlasting life - Jn 5:24; 
         Mt 19:29

[Having consider what Jesus has offered us, we return to our original
question...]

II. WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS?

   A. WHAT SOME HAVE TRIED TO DO...
      1. Pilate tried to pass the choice on to others - Mt 27:24
         a. Are we guilty of doing something similar today?
         b. Trying to let others decide for us what we will do or
            believe about Jesus?
      2. Some in Athens simply mocked - Ac 17:32
         a. Many take this route in what they do with Jesus
         b. Rather than make the effort to decide what they should do,
            they simply laugh
      3. Felix tried to wait for a more convenient time - Ac 24:25
         a. This is another common reaction
         b. Hoping that through delay, they will not have to make the
            choice
      -- But we cannot escape the fact that we will one day be judged
         by Him - Ac 17:30-31

   B. WHAT WE SHOULD DO...
      1. Accept His gracious offer of salvation by obeying Him - He 5:9
      2. Become His disciples, committed to doing what He commanded 
         - Mt 28:19-20
      3. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ - 2Pe 3:18
      4. Walk in Him, well-established in the faith - Col 2:6-7
      5. Develop the mind of Christ, the attitude of sacrifice and
         service - Php 2:1-8

CONCLUSION

1. We have seen the feeble attempt by Pilate and others to answer the
   question "What Then Shall I Do With Jesus?"

2. Let us not think we can answer the question by...
   a. Simply ignoring Him
   b. Simply not doing anything actively against Him
   -- For as Jesus said on another occasion:  "He who is not with Me is
      against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."
      - Mt 12:30

Jesus has given us every reason to accept and obey Him as our Savior
and Lord.  If you have not yet done so, will you not today respond to
His gracious invitation to receive eternal life?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011