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Return to Sender, and make Him known!: Maranatha, my beloved!

Psalm 119:49-56:

⁴⁹Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.
⁵⁰This is my comfort in my affliction, for Thy word hath quickened me.
⁵¹The proud have held me greatly in derision, yet have I not departed from Thy law.
⁵²I remembered Thy judgments of old, O LORD, and have comforted myself.
⁵³Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake Thy law.
⁵⁴Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
⁵⁵I have remembered Thy name, O LORD, in the night and have kept Thy law.
⁵⁶This I had, because I kept Thy precepts.

Praise the Lord, my friends. God has been good this day.

I must say, having Tuesday and Sunday as my day off is going to take some getting used to but I am thankful for the reasons.

Life is not about showing up so much as realizing that you are sent. That is the life our Lord Jesus is talking about. Fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of God, manifested in showing love for those you encounter.

Sunday the 14th, I was all dressed up with nowhere to go. I had gone to the family house; no one there. It seems, no one was home everywhere I called. I had a day off and it just wasn't a day I wanted to sit down. The street seemed larger than normal, emptier and void. But I wound up visiting a friend and his daughter. She's so beautiful; looking perfectly balanced in appearance between both her folks. I have known her since she was born and now she is 22.

We chatted over dinner and watched football and I left shortly after the game; dropped in on a band rehearsal of some friends and went home. It is interesting how people notice a small bible in your possession and are not always prepared for what may happen. But my life is a witness for Christ. It is not what I say, it is what I do, publicly and privately.

John 17:3-5:

³"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
⁴"I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
⁵"Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

1 John 1 Introduction, The Incarnate Word

¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life-- ²and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
³what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
⁴These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
God Is Light

⁵This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

The guitarist, though, suggested I meet with a neighborhood committee that may be a good investment in a city where even a shack is going for 100 G's. That, my friends, is the favor of God.

The Lord Jesus says in John 12 and throughout His testimony according to the Gospel of John, that He was sent. In fact the Gospel is based on this fact: He was sent, was born, dwelt amongst us, gave His life, took it back up again (the Gospel is not The Gospel without the resurrection), was exalted back to glory AND He is coming back. 7 points. But He was sent is the beginning of beginnings.

John 12:44-55:

⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.
⁴⁵"He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.
⁴⁶"I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.
⁴⁷"If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
⁴⁸"He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
⁴⁹"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
⁵⁰"I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."

The word apostle means sent one. Angel translates to messenger. Priest in Hebrew means one who stands for the cause of another and in Latin means bridgebuilder. All require a form of intercession and or mediation. This is the life of Christ, His apostles and all the body of believers today. But lest we not get caught up in the office and forget the purpose.

Whenever I see plans change, I am not ever concerned. I know the Lord is sending me wherever the change is going. And I seek His counsel in all things, so it really sin't much of a change for me so much as it is a continued path, corrected away from my plans not prayed on. Even to the writing of this blog. But I am certain He wants whoever is reading it, to read it, if they can only see Him in it.

If I have happened upon your page recently, it is no accident and I am not on a personal crusade, either. But something in what you have witnessed caused me to take notice, in one way or another. It is a pointless existence to preach the word only to the saved. We all need love and some more than others. Love, not romance, necessarily. But love uncompromised.

I have been and always will be a messenger, and as you see, my message is in black, but THE message is in purple and in RED.

May the comfort of the Lord always bless you in His fulness, that you may understand that before the foundation of the earth you were called, justified and glorified in Him to be sent into the world and testify of your fellowship in His Light. And every now and then, use words.

Blessings.

Tuesday October 23, 2007 - 09:58am (CDT) Permanent Link | 3 Comments
God made the expanse, and separated the waters...: Maranatha, my beloved.

(KJ21) Isaiah 40:10-15: ¹⁰Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.
¹¹He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
¹²Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
¹³Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being His counselor hath taught Him?
¹⁴With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?
¹⁵Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

We have to constantly remember who is in charge. The Lord Jesus is. It is never a day that goes by that something that will make your jaw drop happens, due to the ignorance and arrogance of man. I have posted 2 articles in my blog that you can read or not read, I will brief you on them as we go along.

But man has a lot of nerve to charge for water to begin with, let alone tax what is free, because people choose to put it in bottles and claim that is purified. We run economies based on greed with the things that God has given to all freely. Gross mismanagement of resources is not godly stewardship. And any good steward knows that what is his is not his but, His. But we are in a war that many have never heard of, nor are aware its outcome is already written.

John 1:1-4 ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was in the beginning with God.

³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

⁴In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Knowing God as Lord provides many things. Mostly, though, is the peace necessary to cope. Many come and try to deceive and many come to steal. Many have died “prematurely” from worry. But there is much thrown out to confound and confuse, many will worry when they should pray.

Though we have people in authoritative places, which may not be doing what we perceive is a good job, we must understand the authority of God to be the example of all authority, since He has placed all authority which is in heaven and on earth. So always respect authority, but appeal to higher authority for righteous judgment, favor and intercession on behalf of those who are not aware of the power of God, nor His commands and mandates.

Mark 13:1-13 (inclusively): Things to Come

¹As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"

²And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."

No one expected the World Trade Center, or the Temple of Jerusalem to never be standing in their places, but they are not. Magnificent buildings destroyed by men and blood running down the streets. Yet many still refuse to see the power of God.

³As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴"Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"

⁵And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶"Many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and will mislead many.

⁷"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

As He warns, see that no one misleads you. We have to know the word of God to know the will of God. Many will give you the itchy ear preaching and the method preaching, and some will even outright lie to you. But the elect of God will not be deceived. You are the elect, if you know Him.

⁸"For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹"But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

¹⁰"The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.

You only have the honor of being before a governor or king if you have done something very, very good; or something very, very bad. You will be ostracized in church if you stand for the Gospel and all it stands for, but stand fast. Be on you guard. These things are to prove why you were sent to the place you are, that is to be a beacon of light for those who know not God and to edify those who do. So the news of the world is not of great consequence, only a watermark.

¹¹"When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

¹²"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³"You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

The name Job means “hated one, who is counted as an enemy”. Yet through his repentance, he came to know the Lord and became the Prophet, Pastor and priest to his friends and an even great Provider and Protector to those around Him, because he was not deceived, and was on his guard. Not only was he blessed but those around him. Only the Spirit of God can discern the word of God to you, as given by the Father.

So in your quest for prosperity, remember, that all of Job had, was for the many and not for the few and they lived with freedom because he gave freely as he was given. This is good stewardship and peace in the land.

Revelation 22:11-21(inclusively):

¹¹"Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy."

¹²"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. ¹³"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

This is why you must be on your guard and not be deceived; the promises of a risen Christ that were made while He walked amongst us. All He has said thus far has come to past. And those who know Him know His word is true and eternal.

¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

You can put anything you want on your page, but heed the words. If you are still practicing sin, do you really know Him? Many will say “Lord, Lord”, trust and believe that He will say “I do not know you.” And this does not have to be. We should all be trying to be the channels of the rivers of living water, not the ravine of calamity, immorality and controlling deception. Yes, all have sinned and the runner does stumble, but he doesn’t practice stumbling, he practices running.

¹⁶"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

¹⁷The Spirit and the bride say "Come” And let the one who hears say, "Come” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

You know the futility of man when you know the grace of God. His promise for the water of life is real. Charging people for water and taxing it arbitrarily is unreal. Allowing services for your constituency to get to perilous levels are a gross mismanagement. The same players are always playing the same game. You just need a representative to come to the people with a face they can trust. And with the city and county in the state they are in you wonder what our Senators will do about it.

No time for that. Know who was sent to you and where you are sent and be there. The Spirit and the bride know Him and do not worry about the things of the world, only are prepared for whatever is of sovereign judgments, so that they are blessed in a time of curses.

Knowing God and fellowshipping in Spirit and in Truth are the safest waters. You can swim in them, drink them and even walk on them, if only you would believe.

¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; ¹⁹and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly” Amen Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Stories below

Squeezing a dime out of every bottle

Daley's big tax bite

By Ryan Haggerty and Mickey Ciokajlo, Tribune staff reporters Tribune staff reporter Kristen Kridel contributed to this report October 11, 2007

Mayor Richard Daley reached for bottled water to slake his thirst for new tax revenue Wednesday, proposing a 10-cent tariff on every bottle sold in the city. That $1.25 water from a vending machine could soon cost $1.35. And a 24-pack of Aquafina, advertised for $4.50 at a local grocery chain, would cost $6.90 with the proposed tax, an increase of more than 50 percent.

With millions of water bottles drained each year across the city, the dime-per-bottle tax would add up to a projected $21 million, part of a $293 million package of new taxes, fees and fines proposed by Daley on Wednesday. The tax would place Chicago squarely in the center of a national debate over the environmental and economic impact of bottled water. The tide appears to be turning on bottled water, a national trend that has spawned a backlash from those who complain that landfills are awash in clear plastic empties. Suddenly, bottled water seems to have fallen to the level of cigarettes and soda pop -- an easy tax target.

"Money-wise, it's a good idea, and environmentally, it's a good idea," said Ald. George Cardenas (12th), who proposed the bottled-water tax in August. "People get upset when they hear the word tax," Cardenas said. "There's no tax on water. There's a tax on the plastic. [Tap] water is practically free." Representatives of the bottled water industry and of major retailers criticized the tax, saying it could force people to turn to less healthy beverages, such as soda.

"It's the wrong tax, because here we are doing everything possible to [prevent] illnesses and obesity, and discouraging people from drinking water through a tax is not the best thing to do for their health and lifestyle," said David Vite, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Vendors will pass the cost of the tax to consumers by raising the price of bottled water purchased at vending machines, said Daniel Stein, co-owner of Mark Vend Co., a Northbrook-based vending service. A bottle of water that costs $1.25 at a machine would cost $1.35 if the tax is approved, Stein said. The city's tax on soft drinks -- 3 percent of a distributor's gross sales receipts, or 3 cents for a $1 bottle of soda pop -- is already factored into vending machine prices, Stein said. Supporters of the tax said it could push people away from bottled water and back to tap water, reducing the amount of resources used to package, ship and dispose of bottled water and its containers.

"I think [drinking bottled water] is a waste to the environment," said Kristina Paschall, 33, of Downers Grove, who compared the potential effects of the tax on bottled water to the effects of taxes on cigarettes.

At the same time that Daley announced his proposal, organizers of a national pledge drive were at the Jardine Water Purification Plant near Navy Pier, holding a news conference to urge Chicagoans to drink water from the tap. About 700 Chicago-area residents have pledged to drink tap water instead of bottled water, said Elizabeth Martin-Craig, a representative of Corporate Accountability International, which officially launched the local branch of the pledge drive against bottled water Wednesday. Organizers at the activist group hope to gather more than 2,000 signatures in the next few weeks, Martin-Craig said.

Still, the proposed tax has caught some environmentally conscious bottled-water drinkers in the middle. "As a bottled-water drinker, I'm not amazingly thrilled with it," said Jay Strother, 40, of Arlington Heights. "But as an environmentalist, I kind of like it."

rhaggerty@tribune.com

CTA, Pace forecasts bleak

'Devastating' cuts ahead without state action, officials say

By Jon Hilkevitch and Richard Wronski | Tribune staff reporters October 11, 2007

<img border="0" width="88" height="31" src="#DOCUME~1MARGOLOCALS~1Tempmsohtml1

Thursday October 11, 2007 - 11:29am (CDT) Permanent Link | 4 Comments
When we win for God, He awards the gold and it shall never perish.: Maranatha, my beloved!

There was a time when the athletes who made headlines, did it because they were winners in all ways. Now they are doing it because they are crying out. Do you hear them?? Or did we know they were not right all along and just were waiting for their confession?

Psalm 139:23-24

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

I loved to watch Marion Jones. I liked that she, Gail Devers, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Flo-Jo, and others kept the American woman athlete viable on a world class stage. Not to mention the Williams sisters and our World Cup Soccer team. They really dazzled us with brilliance. Now we are being baffled by the naked truth that used to be our suspicion of Eastern bloc athletes.

· The BEARS won last night in an amazing comeback victory that proved you have to play 60 minutes of football in the NFL.

· The Cubs will not be discussed by their fans for at least another 6 months.

· The BULLS will have a great season.

Only the ladies, Da BEARS and Da BULLS count. I am biased in this blog, but it’s my blog. I loved the 85 Bears. They set the stage for Super Bowls for a long time coming. I was mesmerized with Flo-Jo. Venus Williams is making a comeback and the Bulls set a standard for sports dynasties.

What do they all have in common? They finished with style. Their opponents on many occasion, knew they were outmatched and just showed up so the game could be played. But you knew the outcome before the Star Spangled Banner. The Ladies Soocer team was just plain exciting, not to mention a new celebration with the tear-away jersey.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

¹⁹Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

We are in a society where winning is everything. We start making our children into icons and what-not at 3, teaching them cross-over dribbles, berating poor performance in Little League, parents getting into fights at high school football games, 7^th graders being recruited and scouted by NBA teams because a kid is 6’10 and really has no interest in basketball. Not to mention other things to force a child to perform so that he can have quality of life, according to the world standard.

But what about their heart, morals and ethics; where do they fit in? If winning is everything, why are “winners” being found out? Why is murder and suicide becoming so prevalent in the sports world, world-wide? Check out the recent deaths section of Wikipedia and you will see what I mean. I noticed a large jump in athlete deaths since 2004.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

So why cheat? I can not imagine the disgrace Marion Jones and others who have admitted their guilt are feeling. She loved her sport. I would imagine a person who did not realize that blessings were from God must have the same impulses when they cheat on their finances, examinations and of course, their spouses.

Where are our morals and ethics? They are trapped in a depraved heart and mind that doesn’t know that it is depraved, that’s where. Otherwise, we would train harder, study to show ourselves approved unto God in all our ways, but mainly to nbe a watchman unashamed of rightly dividing the word of truth. But we don’t know the truth, so we can’t handle the truth.

Remember when Ali was training? We all knew he chopped down trees and ran and sparred; a true champion. I do not share the same faith, but he did train. He did win with skills. In that era, though, he wasn’t by himself and the heroes of that time were heroes to all, not role models for children. They stood for something that all ages could relate to.

It didn’t last though. It was all about the trophy, then. The eternal things, they left to those who were called and worshipped too. There was no problem identifying with God as your true champion as an athlete. But as you see, prayer and God being taken out of the schools, has dipped the moral standards and also the attitude towards true hard work to compete on scholastic levels on relevant subjects. WE even had penmanship classes, so that your writing was even a positive reflection of your character.

But the grip of Satan over many is taking its toll. But what saddens me is the righteousness of God, in Christ (believers) do not see this as an opportunity to reach out to these fallen heroes. Not bloggers, but all of these gospel singers and mega-church preachers who truly can reach these people with minimal effort. We are really cheating them more if in spite of all of this, they still have no testimony of eternal life.

Hebrews 12 God Disciplines His Sons

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, ⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Medals and fame are fleeting. But the lord Jesus offers the free gift f eternal life. It molds, shapes and changes the heart into one for God. A heart that proclaims that with Christ, I can do all things and without faith it is impossible to please God. Sin is an inside job, just like the doping and cheating by players and coaches and others involved in sport.

We can not forsake the discipline of a generous and gracious Father. We can not avoid repentance and confession as our means to forgiveness. This change in the relationship with God will bring about the same change in our relationship with others which will increase our capacity to love with a pure heart. Then, everyone wins and the prize is eternal. Written with much love for sport and people who study and train to give their utmost for His highest.

BLESSINGS.

Jones returns five medals from 2000 Sydney Olympics

Associated Press

Updated: October 8, 2007, 7:03 PM ET

Marion Jones has given up the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics, days after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs.

It wasn't immediately clear where the medals are now. Jones' lawyer, Henry DePippo, said Monday that she had relinquished them, but declined to say who had possession of them. The normal protocol would be for Jones to give them to the U.S. Olympic Committee, which then would return them to the International Olympic Committee, spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.

"The IOC wants to move forward as quickly as possible in getting the facts and sorting out all the issues from the BALCO case," Davies said.

A call to the USOC was not immediately returned, but the group has scheduled a 7 p.m. ET news conference. No one answered the door at Jones' house in Austin , Texas .

She pleaded guilty Friday to lying to federal investigators about using steroids, saying she'd taken "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" is the designer steroid that's been linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.

It wasn't immediately clear what will happen next. The IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight years to strip medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600 relay and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.

The standings normally would be readjusted, with the second-place finisher moving up to gold, third to silver and fourth to bronze.

Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas was the silver medalist in the 200 meters, and Tatiana Kotova of Russia was fourth in the long jump. The silver medalist in the 100 meters in Sydney was Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou -- at the center of a major doping scandal at the Athens Olympics.

She and fellow Greek runner Kostas Kenteris failed to show up for drug tests on the eve of the games, claimed they were injured in a motorcycle accident and eventually pulled out. Both later were suspended for two years.

The relays could be a trickier issue, because there are more people involved. Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, Tasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson all won golds as part of the 1,600-meter relay. Jamaica finished second.

Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson were on the 400-meter relay, which finished third ahead of France .

Jones stands to lose more than her Olympic medals, too. The International Association of Athletics Federations can strip athletes of results and medals after notification of a doping violation, and it said last week it was waiting to hear from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Jones won a gold (100 meters) and bronze (long jump) at the 1999 worlds in Seville , Spain , and two gold (200 and 400 relay) and a silver (100) at the 2001 championships in Edmonton .

IAAF rules also allow for athletes busted for doping to be asked to pay back prize money and appearance fees. British sprinter Dwain Chambers, who admitted using the clear, had to pay back a reported $230,615 before he was allowed to return to competition after a two-year ban.

It's unclear whether this would be applied to Jones, who would have earned millions in prizes, bonuses and fees from meets all over the world, including a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot in 2001 and 2002.

Jones had been dogged by suspicions and doping allegations for years, angrily denying all of them. On Friday, though, she told a federal judge that then-coach Trevor Graham gave her a substance that he said was flaxseed oil but was actually "the clear."

"By November 2003, I realized he was giving me performance-enhancing drugs," Jones said Friday.

Monday October 8, 2007 - 07:36pm (CDT) Permanent Link | 4 Comments
...at the signpost, up ahead: Maranatha, my beloved!!

I love you Lord

I love you Lord and I lift my voice

To worship You O my soul rejoice

Take joy my King in what you hear

Let me be a sweet, sweet sound In your ear

I love you Lord and I give my life

To worship You under pain and strife

Take joy my King in what you see

May I be a sweet sacrifice Unto Thee

Leviticus 19:31-34: 'Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God. ³²'You shall rise up before the grayheaded and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.

³³'When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴'The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. (NASB)
Leviticus 19:31-34: Turn not to those [mediums] who have familiar spirits or to wizards; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. ³²You shall rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man and [reverently] fear your God. I am the Lord. ³³And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.

³⁴But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. (AMP)

I find this passage prophetic., especially when you look at the word mediums. In another sense the plural for mediums, of course, would be media. Read it now to say “Turn not to those media or who have familiar spirits or wizards, do not seek them out to be defiled by them.” This of course would be a major blow to television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the like. And the first thing we would respond with is “How will I be informed, then?” Are you truly informed now, honestly?

I read many pages on 360 and there seems to be a lot of questions that are ever unanswered, mostly because my brothers and sisters feel a sense of being lost and really do not want to let their pride go and admit it.

Two men were traveling on mountainous terrain. One exclaimed he knew of a shortcut. As they travailed, they came across a fork in the road and a sign which read : “Do not go beyond this point!”

The one man convinced the other that the sign was not true and they traveled onward, only to get to a bridge in ruins about 8 miles down the road with no other path but the one they had taken. So, they traveled back.

When they arrived at their original point, there was a sign on the back of their original sign which read “WELCOME BACK STUPID!”

We travel and travail and tarry much in this life. We ignore many signs and do not heed many warnings; only to wind up back at square one. Jesus Himself gave us a map when He said “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes unto the Father, but by Me.” Still many wish to find their own way to God and forget the road they’re traveling on just to get to a sign, He built. He built this road to lead to Himand to Him alone, just so we don’t get it twisted and think we are on a journey seeking God and not that we are being called back to Him and the only way there is to hear His call.

Mark 3:31-35: Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. ³²A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You."

³³Answering them, He said, "Who are My mother and My brothers?"

³⁴Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, "Behold My mother and My brothers!

³⁵"For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother."

I read a lot of racial commentary and gender biased remarks a lot. Some are reasonable and most are not. A man is not explained by a woman, but complimented by her. He is not on this earth, nor is she to realize any form or sort of superiority as heirs. But God has made His men head of woman and family, regardless if she was taken out of side or not.

What we do consider is the original translation of “rib”. According to some scholars it means core or heart. Perhaps man had 2 hearts and is in a desperate search for the woman who has his heart. Makes sense to me. Bt without God, you have no clue. As far as head, the visions are to the young men and the dreams are to the old men. But the prophesying is to all sons and daughters and servants and handmaidens.

Malachi 4:4-6: 4 Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel. ⁵Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

⁶And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. (AMP)

Therefore, even in the season of the Church, the help-meet is clearly God’s plan for family. But her access is not like that of Eve’s, but direct, in the name of Jesus. So grant her the understanding that is commanded and our prayers will not be hindered.

Governments make people second-class citizens and treat then with disrespect for their being and inheritance. Compare the daughters of Job (Job 42:13-15) with the daughters of Zelophehad (Num 27:1-11) with the daughters of today.

1 Timothy 5:1-5: Honor Widows: Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, ²the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

³Honor widows who are widows indeed; ⁴but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. ⁵Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.

Where things fell apart in our current world society is stated in the preceding verses. Recently, I referred to as “Sir”, by several young people in a period of time. It almost floored me, but I was cool. I never lost touch with the fact that they are our children. Nevertheless, I also will not lose fact that so was I. While it takes a village to raise a child, we have to remember that the “idiot” was shaped and molded there also. Yet no one loved them.

We are responsible for the next generation and should stop wondering what is wrong with them. We are what is wrong with them. We looked up to our elders because they acted in such a manner. We allow the foolishness of the media into our homes. We back-bite our friends in our children’s presence. We do not love God in their presence. We fornicate in front of them and use whatever language and drug we are dependent on and discredit others for not being role models. We curse our parents, we drive negligently and we are not courteous customers, demanding customer service. We make choices because of race, creed and color (now I’m talking white for sure), but feel discriminated against. If the pot could call the kettle at all nowadays, it would get voice mail; and the call would probably not be returned. (caller ID).

We have an election coming up in 2008. I am happy that everyone loves my Senator from Illinois. I just wish he would do his job here before bucking for a promotion. We love politicians and not public servants. We love electrifying servants and not convicting Gospel based exhortations and biblical teaching. We love being pleased sexually but eschew intimacy as a foundation and not a result or bi-product.

This is all because the Father is absent from the home. Not just a man, this time. But the Father, God.

There is little need for many things if believers would assemble regularly about the things that promote the kingdom. If church was not a systematized function as opposed to a meeting place to get God’s will done. Traditions are fine and deserve their proper respect, but the traditions doomed the Pharisees. Moreover, I am sorry brothers and sisters, read Genesis 10-11. Traditions began along time ago and all races have taken turns screwing this world up. God is in control and we need to rally behind Him.

Lest we all in frustration and or judgment, return to read the back of the same sign: “Do not go beyond this point” over and over and over again.

Blessings

Wednesday October 3, 2007 - 10:45am (CDT) Permanent Link | 6 Comments
Peace, be still my beating heart!: Maranatha, my beloved.

Ezekiel 36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first-person narrative of a genderless narrator who is taking care of an old man with a clouded, vulture-like eye. The narrator's paranoid symptoms lead to an irrational fear of the weird clouded eye. The narrator becomes so distressed by the eye, he plots to murder the old man. For eight nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man's room, a process which takes him a full hour, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. However, the old man's eyes are shut, hiding the clouded eye, and the narrator loses the urge to kill.

One night, though, the old man awakens as the narrator watches, revealing the eye. The narrator strikes, smothering the old man with his own mattress. The narrator proceeds to chop the body up, and hide the pieces under the floorboards. The narrator then cleans the place up to hide all signs of the crime. When the narrator reports that the police (whether a delusion or real is unclear) respond to a call placed by a neighbor who heard a distressful scream, the narrator invites them to look around, confident that they will not find any evidence of the murder. They sit around the old man's room, right on top of the very hiding place of the dead body, yet suspect nothing.

The narrator, however, begins to hear a faint noise. As the noise grows louder, the narrator hallucinates that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. This paranoia increases as the officers seem to pay no attention to the sound, which is loud enough for the narrator to admit to having heard. Shocked by the constant beating of the heart and a feeling that the officers must be aware of the heartbeats, the narrator loses control and confesses to killing the old man and tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the body.

Throughout the story the narrator insists on being sane, yet at the same time, giving the impression of serious hallucinations or paranoia, possibly caused by guilt from having murdered an elderly man. taken from Wikipedia.

Col 2:8-12

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
⁹For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; ¹¹and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; ¹²having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

I am not certain if you are familiar with Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart", but it is certainly worth reading.

The value of the story, as given away in the above outline, is that guilt ultimately is an inside job.

Oh, and I am switching my text from green to black and all newsprint and copy-written text will be in blue, with scripture remaining in purple and red.

Anyway, confession and repentance are good for the soul and good for the salvation, respectively. And the more you are brought up in the relationship with God, the more you will feel a conviction long before you commit any act, and in some cases you omit any act that God has commanded in your spirit, that you should do.

A lot of times, we have those sneaky suspicions, we wish were only as profound as a guilt complex. But that's the difference between what God knows and sends forth and what we know, which of course He already knew.

This brings me to the subject of predestination? What is God saying to us that we we called and predestinated? How did I get so fat in the faith, or so I think, without understanding this, or even concerning myself with it? Was that predestinated, too?

The answer is simple. God is omniscient, in that He knows all things, eternally, even before He spoke things into existence. He is omnipresent, in that He is and will always be everywhere, even before there was a where and when. And last, He is omnipotent, all powerful, God Almighty. Infinite in His power and authority, even before there was, are.

1 Corinthians 2:9: but just as it is written,
"THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

And He will be forever all of these things. Therefore He knows your choices and has made His. You have free will. You can believe Him or you can believe you. But don't cast your fate to another individual when you can hear it from the Father Himself.

A heart for God is a powerful weapon against any of the disobedience that puts us behind and out of the will of God. It is only and always our choices that cause us to get un-tracked and it is His grace and mercy that bring us back.

8:26-27: Our Victory in Christ ²⁶In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Or do you know Him to come back? What's that sound? The heart of a risen Lord or the exceedingly wicked one in your chest? One commands eternal life, the other is already judged.

Blessings

Monday October 1, 2007 - 01:47pm (CDT) Permanent Link | 4 Comments