Yes! My walk with the Lord is better when I read His Word daily. if not...then I start to wander off of His path....and get into trouble.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

The prophet offers a comparison of the blessings received by one who trusts in the Lord to a tree that is fed constantly with water and yields unending fruit. Neither heat nor droughts have power over the tree for it is always refreshed by the water which is close by.



In his book What God Thinks When We Fail, Steven C. Roy tells a fictional story about a young violinist who lived in London many years ago. Although he was a superb musician, he was deathly afraid of large crowds, so he avoided giving concerts. But after enduring criticism for his unwillingness to give concerts, he finally agreed to perform in the largest concert hall in London.

The young violinist came onto the stage and sat alone on a stool. He put his violin under his chin and played for an hour and a half. No music in front of him, no orchestra behind him, no breaks�just an hour and a half of absolutely beautiful violin music. After ten minutes or so, many critics put down their pads and listened, like the rest �. After the performance, the crowd rose to its feet and began applauding wildly�and they wouldn't stop.

But the young violinist didn't acknowledge the applause. He just peered out into the audience as if he were looking for something�or someone. Finally he found what he was looking for. Relief came over his face, and he began to acknowledge the cheers.

After the concert, the critics met the young violinist backstage �. They said, "You were wonderful. But one question: Why did it take you so long to acknowledge the applause of the audience?"

The young violinist took a deep breath and answered, "You know I was really afraid of playing here. Yet this was something I knew I needed to do. Tonight, just before I came on stage, I received word that my master teacher was to be in the audience. Throughout the concert, I tried to look for him, but I could never find him. So after I finished playing, I started to look more intently. I was so eager to find my teacher that I couldn't even hear the applause. I just had to know what he thought of my playing. That was all that mattered. Finally, I found him high in the balcony. He was standing and applauding, with a big smile on his face. After seeing him, I was finally able to relax. I said to myself, 'If the master is pleased with what I have done, then everything else is okay.'"


Who are we trying to please in life? Are we trying to please those around us, trying to please the world, or trying to please God who watches over us and takes care of us? Let us please The Lord, the one who helps us bear good fruit in our lives.

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death is the wages due to a sinner, such as wages are due to the servant who performs them. It doesn�t matter what we consider the size of sin the same wage is death. It is a wage due anyone who has committed at least one sin or the least of sins. However, God offers the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.



[In May 2009, my family was in Azusa, California, because one of our kids was graduating from Azusa Pacific University. My wife, Nancy, was going to speak at the commencement ceremonies, so she and I were invited to a special gathering of about 50 people�people from the graduating class of 50 years ago and a few faculty members. During the gathering, John Wallace, the president of APU, brought out three students who were graduating that year and told us that for the next two years, they were going to serve the poorest of the poor in India.

These three students thought they were there just to be commissioned and sent out with a blessing�which they were. But then something happened that they did not know was coming. John turned to them and said, "I have a piece of news for you. There's somebody you do not know�an anonymous donor�who is so moved by what you're doing that he has given a gift to this university in your name, on your behalf."

John turned to the first student and said, "You are forgiven your debt of $105,000." The kid immediately starts to cry. John turns to the next student: "You're forgiven your debt of $70,000." He then turns to the third student: "You are forgiven your debt of $130,000." All three students had no idea this was coming. They were just ambushed by grace�blown away that somebody they don't even know would pay their debt. The whole room was in tears. [John Ortberg, in the sermon "Patch 'Em," Menlo Park Presbyterian, Menlo Park, California (preached 5-17-09)]]


The refrain from a well-known Christian hymn says, �Grace, grace, God�s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God�s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.� God�s gift of grace through Jesus Christ is greater than all the sin of the world.

THE GOOD SIDE OF ANGER

Proverbs 25:23 (NLT)
23 As surely as a north wind brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

Good can be brought about by anger towards those who gossip. For if someone gossips to us and we reply with angry countenance then maybe we will ward off future attacks by a gossiper. Anger towards someone is itself not a sin. It is the hasty actions that can occur due to anger that can lead to sin.



[On February 27, 2012, 17-year-old T. J. Lane from Chardon, Ohio, burst into his school's cafeteria and started gunning down classmates. Lane shot and killed three students, but if it wasn't for the courage of Coach Frank Hall, many more students could have died that day.

The funny thing is that Hall doesn't consider himself to be a courageous hero. The 6'1", 350-pound football coach admits that he has plenty of fears. He hates confrontations; he's afraid of heights, roller coasters, and scary movies; and he jumps through the ceiling when his kids sneak up on him. On one level, Coach Hall is more of a teddy bear than a fighter. Hall summarizes his coaching code in two sentences: "Every kid is someone's pride and joy, or wants to be someone's pride and joy �. I keep thinking, How would I want my kid to be treated?�and then I treat them that way."

But Frank Hall believes that there's one word that defines his life calling�protector. So as the shots rang out on that February morning in the Chardon High School cafeteria Frank Hall knew what he had to do. Hall, a follower of Christ who felt the hand of God through the ordeal, responded with courage in the face of danger. As students cringed under desks, Hall charged at the gunman, his voice booming, "Stop! Stop!" T.J. Lane, the 17-year-old shooter, was thrown off-guard by Hall's charge. Lane shot and missed as Hall dove behind a soda machine.

When Jen Sprinzl, a 51-year-old secretary, rushed out of the office to follow the bangs, Lane pointed his gun in her face. Hall had four adopted sons at home�two African-American, two bi-racial�that he didn't want to leave fatherless, but once again he rose up and bellowed, "NO!" Then he charged at Lane, who wheeled and started running. Police finally found Lane on a wooded road, shivering and wearing a t-shirt with the word KILLER on it. When they asked him why he'd run away, he said, "Because Coach Hall was chasing me."

In a later interview, Hall said, "I know, it sounds crazy, but in all honesty, I really didn't think about anything � I just reacted �. As a society, we cannot lose our outrage when these kinds of tragedies happen. We can't just get to the point where we accept these kinds of things as just part of our lives, now. We have to make sure we, as a people, don't accept it � we can't!" [Matt Woodley, managing editor, PreachingToday.com; source: Gary Smith, "A Coach's Courage," Sports Illustrated (6-24-13)]]


Coach Hall was a gentle man, but anger and outrage motivated him to take the proper action to save others. He handled anger in a proper way, not causing others to be injured, but others to be saved. God has anger towards sin because He sees how it destroys our lives. It is why God put a plan of salvation in place to save us from sin.

Philippians 1:29 (NLT)
29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake

Here the apostle talks about two things given. One is that there are those who have been given faith in Jesus Christ. The other gift is that we may suffer for the sake of Christ. However in our suffering it is where we find strength and a renewal of self. Our suffering may be long or short, but it is used to challenge us and grow us into something better.



[The movie Lincoln provides a glimpse into some of the challenges that President Lincoln faced while he was in office. But the level of suffering this leader endured throughout his life is simply astonishing. He was a victim of relentless and tragic sorrow. His mother died when he was 9. His first love died when he was a young man. Later, three of his four children died in childhood. His wife may have been affected by mental illness, and he himself is believed to have suffered from what we would now call clinical depression.

His political path was no easier. This man we view as a unifying hero was largely unpopular in his own times. The media portrayed him as a hapless hick from the backwoods. Eastern society rejected him and his wife because they were from Illinois�then considered the rough western frontier. And when he ran for president, leaders in Southern states made clear that if Lincoln were elected, the country would divide. With 82 percent voter turnout in 1860, he won with less than 40 percent of the popular vote.

Rather than shrink from a leadership nightmare in the making, accepted leadership of a country that was already deeply divided below the surface, knowing his election meant division would soon be obvious on the surface as well. Sure enough, after his election Southern states made good on their threats and began seceding from the union before he even took office. Then, roughly a month after he took office, all-out civil war erupted. His popularity grew during his presidency until, four years after he took office and just six days after the Confederate surrender, he was shot and killed in a final tragedy that helped to bring the nation back together in their grief.

What made Lincoln such an effective leader during this great crisis? Here's one theory: Lincoln's intimate acquaintance with sorrow and hardship had prepared him for the kind of self-sacrifice his presidency would require. [[Amy Simpson, "There's Power in Showing Your Scars," Amy Simpson blog (4-29-13)]


If have seen through life how moments of suffering just for a short term can prepare a person for the bigger tragedies faced in life. The difficulties my wife and I have faced in life we have shared with our children throughout the years so they could see their parents dealing with things like death, life changes, and even tragic events. We wanted them to be prepared for the suffering that would come into their life so they too could learn from it and grow from it as well.

Suffering can be a bad thing where you are facing it and dealing with it day to day. But suffering can lead to something good that redefines you in a positive way and makes you stronger. Jesus suffered for us that we could live an eternal life. I would like to think our suffering will benefit someone along the way.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NLT)
5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity�the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

The apostle comments that God�s message of salvation was given just at the right time to the world; a time when verbal and written communication was at a strongpoint and the words of others were spread far by travelers and merchants. The apostle points out that there is only one God through which salvation comes and there is only one Mediator, our savior Jesus Christ that can reconcile us to God.




[In 1740 the Skitswish, a small Native American tribe in northern Idaho, had a prophet/chief named Circling Raven of whom it was said he could communicate with crows and ravens. On Solstice Day of 1740, Crow and Raven told the chief that in a land far away, the Creator, who also became the Savior of the world, had been born as a man on that night long, long ago. Circling Raven told his people they should celebrate this savior's birthday by giving extra sweets and gifts to the children. He also said that the Skitwish should not fight with each other or even with their enemies during the period before and after this day.

In addition, Raven told him that within 100 years men clothed in black robes would arrive with more news about the Creator's son and the world's savior. For the rest of his life, Circling Raven searched for the Black Robes. He died never having found them. His son, Twisted Earth, became chief and continued waiting for the Black Robes. He "sang the joyous song of the prophecy and continued the solstice celebration as his father had instructed."

In June of 1862, a group of Jesuit brothers arrived in their area, and Twisted Earth greeted them with joy and sorrow, tears streaming down his face. He was happy that the Black Robes had finally arrived to tell the rest of the story about Jesus, but he was saddened that his father had not lived to see the prophecy fulfilled.

[Adapted from Catherine Feher-Elston, Ravensong: A Natural and Fabulous History or Ravens and Crows (Tarcher, 2004), pp. 68-69; source: Margie Haack, "Final Notes," Notes from Toad Hall (Winter 2013)]]


The message that was given to the world at just the right time eventually spread to an Indian tribe waiting on the message to be delivered. The message was about Jesus Christ, a man, but also God who lived and died among. He lived a life free from sin. He was put to death on a Roman cross and His death paid the ransom for all sin for all time. Jesus defeated death rising back to life the 3rd day after His death. His resurrection showed us that we too can have eternal life. It still holds true today that �This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.� If you have not heard this message � maybe it is time to listen to this message that was given at just the right time.

Proverbs 31:28 (NLT)
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:

Proverbs 31 provides an epilogue: the wife of noble character. For through most of the chapter the father speaks to his son about the type of wife he should seek out. The father reminds the son - Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.



[Have you ever wondered when Americans started celebrating Mother's Day? The holiday was born out of one woman's desire to honor her mother's life of sacrifice and grace.

Born in 1864 in Grafton, West Virginia, Anna Jarvis witnessed the aftermath of the Civil War through a child's eyes. Her mother, Anna Maria Reeves-Jarvis, had spent the war organizing women to nurse wounded soldiers from both the North and South, and generally attempting to hold her border-state community together. After the war, Anna Maria started "Mothers' Friendship Days" to reconcile families that had been divided by the conflict.

Throughout her life, Anna Maria modeled the ideals of Victorian motherhood. She gave up her dreams of college in order to tend to an older husband and four children. She bore the loss of seven other children with grace. She taught Sunday school in the local Methodist church for 20 years and stayed active in benevolent work.

Anna Maria's death in 1905 devastated her daughter. Two years later, Anna got the idea to found a holiday remembering her mother, and all mothers, whom she felt could never be thanked enough.

Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908 in Grafton (where Anna grew up) and Philadelphia (where she lived as an adult). Later, in a resolution passed May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress officially established the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. [Elesha Coffman, "Mom, We Salute You," Christian History Newletter (5-10-2002)]]


Mothers are special people. They usually spend the most time with their children in their early years and they are there as needed in later years. Mothers are very protective of their children. Mothers watch over their children and help guide the direction of their life. Sometimes as the child we might think of our mother as too stern, too ridged, too demanding and too much of a perfectionist. However, mothers do the best they know how to do. There is no specific training given to women over the years to become a mother. So they learn from their own childhood and experiences around them. They learned as they went, occasionally making mistakes, but trying not to make the same mistake twice.

Let us honor our mothers for the work she has done in our lives.

I wish my children had a Godly mother.

She was a good natured woman until her affair, which literally rotted her soul.

But I know God can redeem and heal all, I hope she repents and turns to Christ.

I prayed that prayer with you Brother.

Psalm 14:1 (NLT)
1 Only fools say in their hearts, �There is no God.� They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

The contempt it puts upon the honour of God: for there is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. We are sometimes tempted to think, "Surely there never was so much atheism and profaneness as there is in our days;' but we see the former days were no better; even in David's time there were those who had arrived at such a height of impiety as to deny the very being of a God and the first and self-evident principles of religion. ---- Those are the words of Matthew Henry who died in 1714. We see from his words and the words of The Bible that the former days were no better.



[In the summer of 2010 the popular author and atheist Christopher Hitchens was diagnosed with cancer. With his usual candor and clarity, Hitchens movingly described his battle with the illness in an article he wrote for Vanity Fair.

I am badly oppressed by a gnawing sense of waste. I had real plans for my next decade and felt I'd worked hard enough to earn it. Will I really not live to see my children married? To watch the World Trade Center rise again?. � To the dumb question "Why me?" the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?

I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instead of just being a gravely endangered patient. Allow me to inform you, though, that when you sit in a room with a set of other finalists, and kindly people bring a huge transparent bag of poison to plant into your arm [his chemotherapy treatment] and you either read or don't read a book while the venom sack gradually empties into your system � . You feel swamped with passivity and impotence: dissolving in powerlessness like a sugar lump in water. [Christopher Hitchens, "Topic of Cancer," Vanity Fair (September 2010)]]


Without God there is a sense of hopelessness when faced with a grave situation. There is no one to turn to except self and self already knows what the inevitable truth is. At least they believe they know the truth; yet they have been fooled. They have been outwitted by Satan.

However there is hope in God and the salvation provided through Jesus Christ. When faced with death instead of seeing the end, we can see a new beginning. We have hope of eternal life that is pleasant and joyous. We know because of the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ that believers will one day be reunited with those we have loved. It is that hope in God that keeps us from foolish acts, because we know life continues even after death.

Pray for those who do not know God and Jesus Christ. Pray they will come to know their grace, mercy and love. Pray even for those who may offend you for they know not what they do. Let us love like Jesus to show others the hope in God.

Matthew 20:17-19 (NLT)
17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. 18 �Listen,� he said, �we�re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. 19 Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.�

In these verses Jesus shares privately with His disciples what some would take as bad news, words of His impending death. Yet what sounds like bad news is repeated throughout the New Testament as the Good News of Jesus Christ, since God raised Him to life on the third day. Then God allowed Him to appear, not to the general public, but to those whom God had chosen in advance to be His witnesses. They were those who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He ordered them to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is The One appointed by God to be the judge of all�the living and the dead. He is The One all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.



Especially during the 90s there was a popular Christian youth bracelet that had the letters WWJD imprinted on them. The letters stood for �What would Jesus do?� It was a reminder to the youth on how they should act � they should do as Jesus did.

Another important phrase for all of us to remember is �How would Jesus love?� Some men are quick to pick up on The Bible verse, �As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.� But Men often tend to miss the next verse in Ephesians 5:25, �For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her.� Husbands, are you willing to give your life for your wife out of love? I think a woman who truly knew her husband loved her that much would be willing to listen to what her husband has to say and follow with him. For love does no wrong to others.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

This is how Jesus would love, how do you love?

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

The apostle tells us to prepare for a Christian life by stripping away the things that weight down, namely sin. Sin has consequences and out of those consequences burdens are formed. We are to work on the perfection of our Christian life by learning to endure what we face in life. Our source of endurance is Jesus. It is Him we need to keep our eyes on for He is the champion of life and it is He who initiates and perfects our faith.




[Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab, and Kevin Lin know endurance better than most. For 111 days, they ran the equivalent of two marathons a day in order to cross the entire Sahara Desert on foot. They touched the waters at Senegal and then made their way through Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt to touch the waters of the Red Sea. Along the way, the trio faced blazing afternoons of over 100 degrees, jarring, freezing nights, sandstorms, tendonitis, violent sickness, and the usual aches, pains, and blisters. But the biggest challenge they faced can be summed up in one word: water. Finding it in its purest, cleanest form gets to be a bit of a chore while in the middle of nowhere!

Crossing the Saharan Desert on foot is an amazing accomplishment. But just as commendable are these marathon finishers:

� Christians who finish their lives still growing, still serving.
� Husbands and wives who stay faithful to each other "until death do us part."
� Young people who preserve their virginity until marriage, in spite of crushing peer pressure.
� Pastors who stay passionate about ministry until their last breath.
� Church members who weather the rougher patches and remain joyful, loving, and faithful.

[Jon R. Mutchler, Ferndale, Washington; source: Anna Johnson, "3 ultra-athletes run across Sahara," USA Today (2-20-07)]]


Let us consider that life is an ultra-marathon that begins the day we are born and continues until the day we die. As we run the race there are many obstacles we face along the way, but we find it much easier to face those obstacles when we know The Lord is right there with us. Christ is the champion who lived and died and then rose back to life for all eternity. His death was a challenge He had to face, but He willingly gave His life though He had done nothing wrong so we too could receive a wonderful everlasting life with Him. Let us give praises to Christ for the salvation He has provided.

1 Kings 15:11-12 (NKJV)
11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David. 12 And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

Asa�s father was Abijam and The Bible says of him, �And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.� Asa did not follow his father, but instead followed The Father and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.



Normal is something that can be hard to define. Our view of normal is affected by what we see around us, what we know to be facts, and even the way we live. In the United States it is normal to eat from a plate with forks, spoons and knives. However in some countries it is normal to eat with the hand and in other countries it is normal to eat with other utensils, such as chopsticks. So what is normal varies widely.

Some of those who lived under Abijam�s rule obviously found it normal to be perverted in their ways and to worship hand formed idols. They may have thought nothing about their actions, for it was the way they were raised and taught.

Yet we find Asa departed from his father�s ways to do what the Lord considered to be right. Asa had obviously studied the words of the Lord and learned what normal was according to the Lord. Asa made changes to agree with God�s ways and not those of his father. Asa developed a new view of normality and improved the lives of the people.

Just because something seems normal does not make it right. I remember hearing a psychologist talking once about a patient who had been abused. As this patient described things to the psychologist they would talk as if the abuse was something normal and expected. The question came for the patient, �Do you think this is normal in every household?� The patient responded, �I guess so, isn�t it?� You see the patient had a different view of normal because of their life experiences.

When you look at the things in the world, take time to ask God, �Is this normal?� Look for God�s response and choose those things that are right and are to the benefit of others. Seek God�s wisdom and learn what should be normal as opposed to what we think is normal.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Here the apostle describes his own mysterious life of being a believer in Christ. The old self of sin was crucified with Christ. But he lives and is comforted with the grace that came from Christ. While living in the earthly body still subject to sin he does so trusting Christ for guidance for he knows Christ loves him and gave His live for him. This is the Christian life we can all live.




[Theologian Alister McGrath outlines the following three stages of receiving what Christ did for us on the cross:

[First], I may believe that God is promising me forgiveness of sins; [second], I may trust that promise; but [third] unless I respond to that promise, I shall not obtain forgiveness. The first two stages of faith prepare the way for the third, without it they are incomplete.
Then he illustrates these three stages with the following true story:

Consider a bottle of penicillin, the famous antibiotic identified by Alexander Fleming, and first produced for clinical use in [Great Britain]. The drug was responsible for saving the lives of countless individuals who would otherwise have died from various forms of blood poisoning. Think of the three stages of faith like this. I may accept that the bottle exists. I may trust in its ability to cure blood poisoning. But nothing will change unless I receive the drug which it contains. I must allow it to destroy the bacteria which are slowly killing me. Otherwise, I have not benefited from my faith in it.

It is the third element of faith which is of vital importance in making sense of the cross. Just as faith links a bottle of penicillin to the cure of blood poisoning, so faith forges a link between the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ and ourselves. Faith unites us with the risen Christ, and makes available to us everything he gained through his obedience and resurrection. [Alister E. McGrath, What Was God Doing on the Cross (Zondervan, 1992), pp. 99-100]]


The story above tells us that we can believe, but until we surrender to our own beliefs we have not followed through in faith. It is one thing to know a plane flies, but it another thing to trust sitting on the plane and hand control over to someone else to fly you up into the sky.

Romans 5:10 (NKJV)
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The apostle points out that the sin within us has made us enemies of God. It seems a mystery that as we an enemy to God that God would allow His son to die on our behalf, but that is what God did. God offered His Son as a sacrifice for our sin to reconcile us to Him. Then Christ rose to eternal life, how much more so if we were reconciled by His death shall we be made to live through His life.




[Noble Doss dropped the ball. One ball. One pass. One mistake. In 1941, he let one fall. And it's haunted him ever since. "I cost us a national championship," he says.

The University of Texas football team was ranked number one in the nation. Hoping for an undefeated season and a berth in the Rose Bowl, they played conference rival Baylor University. With a 7-0 lead in the third quarter, the Longhorn quarterback launched a deep pass to a wide-open Doss.

"The only thing I had between me and the goal," he recalls, "was twenty yards of grass."

The throw was on target. Longhorn fans rose to their feet. The sure-handed Doss spotted the ball and reached out, but it slipped through.

Baylor rallied and tied the score with seconds to play. Texas lost their top ranking and, consequently, their chance at the Rose Bowl.

"I think about that play every day," Doss admits.

Not that he lacks other memories. Happily married for more than six decades. A father. Grandfather. He served in the navy during World War II. He appeared on the cover of Life magazine with his Texas teammates. He intercepted seventeen passes during his collegiate career, a university record. He won two NFL titles with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Texas High School Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor include his name.

Most fans remember the plays Doss made and the passes he caught. Doss remembers the one he missed. Once, upon meeting a new Longhorn head coach, Doss told him about the bobbled ball. It had been fifty years since the game, but he wept as he spoke. [Max Lucado, Fearless (Thomas Nelson, 2009), pp. 31-32]]


God gave us a way to reconcile our sin by believing in His Son Jesus Christ. For the person that turns down Christ it might be a the one mistake remembered for a long time.

Psalm 110:1-3 (NKJV)
1 The Lord said to my Lord, �Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.� 2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! 3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.

This psalm proclaims the coming of The Messiah, and these verses assert His kingly office. Matthew Henry said of this psalm, �In singing this psalm we must act faith upon Christ, submit ourselves entirely to him, to his grace and government, and triumph in him as our prophet, priest, and king, by whom we hope to be ruled, and taught, and saved, forever, and as the prophet, priest, and king, of the whole church, who shall reign till he has put down all opposing rule, principality, and power, and delivered up the kingdom to God the Father.�



Carolyn Arends, wrote "Satan's a Goner: A lesson from a Headless Snake," in Christianity Today dated (February, 2011): [As a kid, I loved Mission Sundays, when missionaries on furlough brought special reports in place of a sermon �. There is one visit I've never forgotten. The missionaries were a married couple stationed in what appeared to be a particularly steamy jungle. I'm sure they gave a full report on churches planted or commitments made or translations begun. I don't remember much of that. What has always stayed with me is the story they shared about a snake.

One day, they told us, an enormous snake�much longer than a man�slithered its way right through their front door and into the kitchen of their simple home. Terrified, they ran outside and searched frantically for a local who might know what to do. A machete-wielding neighbor came to the rescue, calmly marching into their house and decapitating the snake with one clean chop.

The neighbor reemerged triumphant and assured the missionaries that the reptile had been defeated. But there was a catch, he warned: It was going to take a while for the snake to realize it was dead.

A snake's neurology and blood flow are such that it can take considerable time for it to stop moving even after decapitation. For the next several hours, the missionaries were forced to wait outside while the snake thrashed about, smashing furniture and flailing against walls and windows, wreaking havoc until its body finally understood that it no longer had a head.

Sweating in the heat, they had felt frustrated and a little sickened but also grateful that the snake's rampage wouldn't last forever. And at some point in their waiting, they told us, they had a mutual epiphany.

I leaned in with the rest of the congregation, queasy and fascinated. "Do you see it?" asked the husband. "Satan is a lot like that big old snake. He's already been defeated. He just doesn't know it yet. In the meantime, he's going to do some damage. But never forget that he's a goner."

The story [still] haunts me because I have come to believe it is an accurate picture of the universe. We are in the thrashing time, a season characterized by our pervasive capacity to do violence to each other and ourselves. The temptation is to despair. We have to remember, though, that it won't last forever. Jesus has already crushed the serpent's head.]

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The world was in a sad condition, lost and in need of salvation. And while helpless to do anything, Christ died for us -- the lowly sinner. The apostle makes the point it is rare for a righteous person to die for a good, decent person and yet Christ died for us while we were still sinners.



[After a day of disparate explanations from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the man who owns Barry Bonds�s record-setting 756th home run ball, the controversial ball was driven to Cooperstown, N.Y., on Tuesday. It arrived around 7:45 p.m.

Baker said Ecko�s personal driver delivered the ball to Horn in Cooperstown. She said an asterisk was laser-cut into the ball above the Major League logo by a master engraver and that the ball was delivered in a specially designed glass case. The case includes the details of how Ecko decided to plant an asterisk on the ball.

After Ecko bought the ball, he held an online contest to determine its future. Voters had three choices: put an asterisk on the ball; leave it alone; or shoot it to the moon. The first two choices included the addendum that the ball would be donated to the Hall. Since Bonds has been suspected of using steroids to inflate his home run total, the notion of adding an asterisk was often mentioned. [Jack Curry, The New York Times, Deal Struck as Hall Receives Home Run Ball Hit by Bonds]


The story above was about a moment of fame and a moment of disgrace represented by the asterisk. Many of us have tried to live a good life, but we probably feel there is an asterisk beside our name indicating the sins we have committed. However Christ lived and died and rose again to eternal life that we can have the mark of sin removed from us. For those that believe, Christ has justified us so that we are perfect and pure in the sight of God. Let us always remember Christ for what He did for us.

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)
24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

Here the apostle refers to Jesus who innocently was put to death on a cross. Even Pontius Pilate, the leader who ordered the death of Jesus said of Jesus, �I find no fault in this Man.� Yet Jesus died as foretold by the prophets. Before his final breath the sins of the world were placed upon Him and The Father turned from Him because He could not bear to look at the sin His Son bore. With His last words Jesus said, �It is finished.� No longer was mankind held captive to sin, but instead was free to live in Jesus. By his wounds we were healed.



[Hawa Ahmed was a Muslim student in North Africa. One day, she read a Christian tract in her dormitory and decided to become a Christian. Her father was an Emir (Islamic ruler), so she expected to lose her inheritance because of her conversion. She was completely unprepared for what happened. When she told her family she had become a Christian and changed her name to Faith, her father exploded in rage. Her father and brothers stripped her naked and bound her to a chair fixed to a metal plate with which they wanted to electrocute her. Faith asked them to at least lay a Bible in her lap. Her father responded, "If you want to die together with your false religion, so be it." One of her brothers added, "That will show that your religion is powerless." Although they had bound her, she was able to touch a corner of the Bible. She felt a strange peace, as though someone were standing beside her. Her father and brothers pushed the plug into the socket�and nothing happened. They tried four times with various cables, but it was as though the electricity refused to flow. Finally her father, angry and frustrated, hit her and screamed, "You are no longer my daughter."

Then he threw her into the street, naked. She ran through the streets, humiliated and in pain. People looked at her, curious rather than shocked. Shaking and tearful, she ran to a friend. Her friend let her in, clothed her, and gave her shelter. The next day, her friend asked neighbors what they had thought when they had seen Faith running naked through the streets. "What are you talking about?" they asked. "The girl had a wonderful white dress on. We asked ourselves why someone so beautifully clothed had to run through the streets." God had hidden her nakedness from their eyes, clothing her in a beautiful white dress. Today, Faith is a full-time evangelist with Every Home for Christ. [Guido Kuwas , Global Revival News (12-17-01); submitted by Owen Bourgaize, Guernsey, United Kingdom]]

Oh we of little faith. God wants to work wonders in our life. Hawa Ahmed became Faith both in name and in her soul. It was by faith that God protected her. Let us have such a faith that God protects us in the same way.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 (NLT)
3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.

Here the apostle is writing to his beloved friend Timothy. He explains there are people who promote then own agendas against the godly teachings the believers in Christ have been promoting. These people tend to stir up arguments by different means and disregard what is true and right. To them their action is just a show.




Sadly the United States has become a place where people lack sensible understanding. One reason is the corruption and problems taking place in America. We watch daily on the news as people rob stores. Also in the news there are stories of those who go into schools and shot or stab or those. It doesn�t only happen in the schools, but on the streets during a marathon or inside a mall while people are calmly shopping.

America had the value of wholesome teachings that Christ himself promoted among the people. But now, even our laws reflect our feelings of being corrupt and out of control. There used to be a time when a teacher, or a police office could size up a problem and apply their own reasoning to what a correct response would be. But now there is so much corruption it seems one law fits everything.

For example a 4th grader accidentally takes a knife from home to spread the jelly on their PB&J sandwich. The kid realizes their parent put the knife there and turns it in to the teacher. Instead of reasoning the problem out, a wide rule is applied; anyone with a knife is arrested and sent to jail. I know of a story like this. The child was innocent in their actions, but they were handcuffed, put in a sheriff�s car and driven to jail all because of a butter knife. The problem is minds have become corrupt and people can�t think for themselves. They apply a broad rule, just to be safe, just to be sure their own salaries are protected.

In a classroom a student claims another boy pointed his finger at him and made a motion as if he were firing a gun. There were no witnesses and the other boy insisted he had not made such a motion. The teacher sent the boy to the office for suspension; after all guns and threats are not allowed at school. The kid was suspended without real reason for something that wasn�t even a real threat.

Our nation has lost its way when it comes to reasoning. We need to find the good old days when people could think and apply reason and hand out proper justice. We need to return back to the principles of Christian values this country was founded upon.


Father, restore our nation. Help us to once again reason like sane people. Let us see the truth in actions by people and know what is right and wrote. Let us promote godly living among the people instead of fearful lives.

Yes, God created mans minds and ability to reason.

My son accidentally brought a pocket knife to school, but he remembered and turned it into the office; the principal gave it to me at the end of day.

Thankfully, my children attend a school where some still have common sense.