More Like Falling In Love - Jason Gray

A new song that was shared with me that I thought I would pass on to you.  Jason Gray singing,  More Like Falling in Love.   Kinda of a new sound with a down-homey feel.  Interesting lyrics for this new progressive world.  All-in-all, I like his sound and his message.

Glenn Beck Again

A few days ago, I posted a blog called By Their Fruits written by David Barton.  When I posted this I thought maybe there was more to the story and today, I received this link from Brannon S. Howse regarding Glenn Beck's Divine Destiny.

Apparently we now have another discussion of Christians drawing lines in the sand and more scriptures are being shared from one side to the other.  The interesting thing about this link from Brannon is that David is listed as one of speakers on the Worldview Training Tour.

I personally know David and I know his faith is solid.  He is a man of God who hears the voice of the Lord and I trust he is doing as the Lord is leading him.  We, as Christians, need to be quicker to wait on the Lord than to jump to conclusions regarding what "we" think.  David is being as by Glenn Beck to share his expertise on the founding of our country and the founding fathers.  People need to not take things overboard and blow things out of proportion.  I can pray regardless of who is around me.  I have listened to Glenn Beck as well and I personally haven't been "alerted" to anything that is suspicious to me.  He is open about his beliefs and this is America so he has that right.  He is a Mormon and he loves his country. 

For the record, here is a link about Mormons and their beliefs.

A Live Donor Transplant in CO.

This is an incredible story of love; the love of one brother for another. Ryan (34) and Chad (38) have an incredible bond with an inspiring story.

Ryan wanted to give the gift of life to his dying brother Chad.  Chad was in desperate need of a liver transplant and had little options to save his life.  Ryan was a perfect match for his brother and was part of a new and rare medical treatment in which a living donor gives 60 percent of his liver to the recipient.  As you may suspect this is quite the technical and dangerous procedure with most the risk lying on the shoulders of the healthy donor.

Rather than re-writing all the stories associated with this incredible journey, I will just give you the links.

Donor of Live Liver Transplant - Denver Co.
Live Organ Donation - Risky and Lifesaving
Ryan Arnold Live Liver Transplant - Huffington Post
Chad Arnold Honor's Brother
Truly an incredible story.  I pray you are blessed as you see the love this brother had for a brother!  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13&14

By Their Fruits - David Barton

As many of you know, David Barton has been appearing on the Glenn Beck show for the past few months doing segments on the founding fathers.  Many believers have had issue regarding Mr. Beck's religious affiliation (he is a Mormon).  To deal with some of the mail that Mr. Barton has been receiving, he wrote this letter and posted it on facebook.  I have permission to re-post it.  It is really good and thought provoking. 

By Their Fruits
on Monday, August 16, 2010 at 5:44pm

For all those who have asked, thanks for your inquiry and for expressing your concerns about Glenn and his faith. Allow me to address those concerns first by offering some general principles that I find helpful, and then by listing some specific facts that also influence my position.

Concerning the first area, human nature frequently causes us to jump to quick (and often wrong) conclusions based on stereotypes; there is an unfortunate propensity to judge based on what is generally perceived about a particular group rather than on what we specifically know about the individuals in that group.

Jesus provided excellent guidance to help overcome this tendency:

• By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit....Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. MATTHEW 7:16-20
• "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you." LUKE 9:49-50
• Whoever is not against us is for us. MARK 9:40 

What simple messages are contained in these three verses?

1. Judge a tree based on the type of fruit it produces, not the label that it bears. For example, if a tree is labeled as an apple tree but keeps producing oranges, which is more important: the label or the fruits? Obviously, the fruits.
2. Don't impede the efforts of others if they are not attacking and trying to injure us, even if those individuals are not part of our particular religious circle.
3. If someone is not actively fighting against us, then consider him an ally, not an enemy. 

Let me now make specific application of these verses. In recent months, I have appeared numerous times on Glenn's program to talk about historical and political issues, particularly as related to faith and Biblical values. On those programs, I have had repeated opportunity to inform Americans about (as our WallBuilders' motto declares) "America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious, and constitutional heritage." I have also participated in several major arena rallies with Glenn.

As a result of these appearances, I have received numerous letters and calls from concerned Christians, some of whom respectfully inquire as to why I would appear with a Mormon, while others directly attack me for doing so. As far as I can tell, most of these concerns stem from judging Glenn based by the label of "Mormon" rather than by the fruits he produces.

For example, no one has yet been to point to any instance where Glenn has attacked or undermined Christ or Christianity on any of his programs. To the contrary, on repeated occasions it has been quite the opposite. (Recall his specific programs on individual salvation, atonement, and redemption through Christ.) Nevertheless, some of his critics refuse to take Glenn at his self-evident words but instead attempt to read into them some secret and hidden meaning, thereby judging him not by his fruits or words but rather by some conspiratorial and unseen meaning they seek to impute to him.

For Christians concerned about Glenn's faith, I would ask the following questions:What fruit do you see produced by Glenn? Good or bad? If you judged Glenn only by the fruits he has produced, would you still hold concerns over his faith?

• If you did not know Glenn was a Mormon, how would you describe his religious beliefs?
• Is God using Glenn to help recover our national strength and health, both politically and spiritually? If so, why would God be using him?
• Does Glenn stir and provoke us to good works? (Hebrews 10:24)
• Does he bring to light the hidden things of darkness? (1 Corinthians 4:5)
• Does he talk openly about atonement, redemption, and individual salvation through Christ? (I can definitely answer this in the affirmative, for I have seen him do so on numerous occasions not only on his program but also in the rallies where I have personally participated with him.)

Christians concerned about Glenn's faith should judge the tree by its fruits, not its labels. After all, Nancy Pelosi and Bill Clinton openly call themselves Christians, as do Evangelical Christian ministers such as Jim Wallis and Joel Hunter. Although these individuals have the right labels, they have the wrong fruits; yet many Christians have a more visceral reaction to Glenn than to Pelosi, Clinton, or Wallis. This is wrong; it is not Biblical.

(Incidentally, a recent poll on American religious affiliations and beliefs [1] shows that Mormons are more pro-life and pro-traditional sexuality than Evangelicals: 70% of Mormons oppose abortion but only 61% of Bible-believing Evangelicals do so; and 68% of Mormons believe that homosexuality should be discouraged in society but only 64% of Bible-believing Evangelicals believe this. Furthermore, in the 2008 vote on the California Marriage Amendment, it was Mormons and not the Evangelicals who gave most of the money and workers needed to protect marriage in that state. In fact, polling affirms that if the marriage issue had been left only to Evangelicals, the marriage amendment would have failed. We Evangelicals definitely need to get our own house in order.)

Recall the incident in Acts 10 where God shattered the thinking and paradigm of the Apostles by manifesting himself to and through Cornelius. In the Apostles' thinking, this was definitely not supposed to happen, for Cornelius was part of the wrong group. Nonetheless, God moved through Cornelius, making clear that His blessing was upon him.

Significantly, that Cornelius passage from the book of Acts became the basis for one of the most famous sermons in the remarkable American revival called the First Great Awakening (1730-1770). That sermon, known as the "Father Abraham" sermon, was delivered repeatedly by the Rev. George Whitefield over all parts of America.

The text of that sermon was recorded by John Adams (who was among the eighty percent of Americans who physically heard Whitefield preach a sermon during the Great Awakening [2] ). About that sermon, Adams recounted to Thomas Jefferson:

He [Whitefield] began: "Father Abraham," with his hands and eyes gracefully directed to the heavens (as I have more than once seen him): "Father Abraham, whom have you there with you? Have you Catholics?" "No." "Have you Protestants?" "No." "Have you Churchmen?" "No." "Have you Dissenters?" "No." "Have you Presbyterians?" "No." "Quakers?" "No." "Anabaptists?" "No." "Whom have you there? Are you alone?" "No." "My brethren, you have the answer to all these questions in the words of my next text: 'He who feareth God and worketh righteousness, shall be accepted of Him'" [Acts 10:35]. [3] God help us all to forget having names and to become Christians in deed and in truth. [4]

Whitefield's "Father Abraham" sermon based on the Cornelius incident had a profound effect on Americans. In fact, the message of that sermon was directly put into practice on September 6, 1774, when a seemingly innocuous motion was proffered to open America's first Congress with prayer. [5] Surprisingly, that apparently harmless request met unexpectedly stiff resistance – resistance by some of the most devout Christians among the delegates. As explained by John Adams:

It was opposed by Mr. [John] Jay of New York and Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina because we were so divided in religious sentiments – some Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Anabaptists, some Presbyterians, and some Congregationalists – that we could not join in the same act of worship. [6]

It was devout Christian Samuel Adams who broke through the religious objections when he "arose and said he was no bigot, and could hear a prayer from a gentleman of piety and virtue." [7] Significantly, Samuel Adams (an ardent Congregationalist – a Puritan) supported having a clergyman from the Church of England (a denomination literally hated by Adams' Congregationalists) deliver the original opening prayer in Congress. What Adams required was that the prayer be from a "gentleman of piety and virtue," thus recognizing Jesus' teachings in Luke 9:49-50, Mark 9:40, and Matthew 7:16-20.

Glenn fits well into both of those historic parameters, and hopefully, so, too, will those American Christians who might disagree with his label but find nothing to fault among his fruits.

In conclusion, I have been with Glenn in numerous settings; I have watched him up close and can heartily endorse both his public and his private life. I have witnessed his tender heart, his love for God, and his passion to keep God in America. Glenn and I have prayed together on numerous occasions; he has sought God for specific guidance on numerous situations and I have personally not only seen God answer him but have also seen Glenn completely change his plans after feeling the Lord was leading him to move in a different direction or address a different subject. I judge Glenn by his fruits, not by his labels, and I am honored to call Glenn not only an ally and a fellow warrior (and a General) in the culture war, but especially to call him a good friend.

God bless!

David Barton

  

[1]http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#.

[2]Allen Walker, The New Evangelism(Nahville;Abingdon Press, 1975) p. 39- 40

[3]John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, TheAdams Jefferson Letters, Lester J. Cappon, editor (Chapel Hill: TheUniversity of North Carolina Press, 1959) Vol 2, 1812- 1826 pp. 403- 4070

[4]Stephen Mansfield, Forgotten FoundingFather: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield (Cumberland House, 2001), p. 86.

[5]Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Lettersof John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution (Boston:Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1875), pp. 37-38, John Adams to Abigail onSeptember 16, 1774.

[6]Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Lettersof John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution (Boston:Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1875), pp. 37-38, John Adams to Abigail on September16, 1774.

[7]Charles Francis Adams, Familiar Lettersof John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution (Boston:Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1875), pp. 37-38), pp. 37-38, John Adams toAbigail on September 16, 1774.

Setting Goals by Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn [(September 17, 1930 - December 5, 2009) was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. His rags to riches story played a large part in his work, which influenced others in the personal development industry] said, "To have more than you've got, you've got to become more than you are." He learned this at 25 years of age when he met Earl Shoaff [(March 21, 1916 - September 6, 1965) was an American entrepreneur who was widely known as "The Millionaire Maker."] who became his mentor.

Too many people in our culture today don't know the value of hard work and why it is necessary for all Americans to work hard. The biggest thing people need to learn is how to make and set goals. Jim has mentored over 10's of millions of men in this skill. This seems to be a dying art today, working toward success. There are two videos below that I would like to recommend to you to watch:

Jim Rohn: Setting Goals Part 1
Jim Rohn: Setting Goals Part 2

Jim says that one of the first books he read as an adult was, How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler [((December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001). Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author]. In this book, Mortimer outlines a "must read" or Ultimate Goals of Reading list (see link above for list). One goal every person should have according to both of these highly successful men is to make your own list of books YOU want to read in your lifetime. Include in the list the classics and also add some that are of interest to you. Jim says that if you read just two books a week in 10 years you will have read a 1,000 books. According to Jim you can't read that many books and not be changed. It has to change you. I encourage you to pick your list of books to begin reading. Carefully choose this list and then do it and watch how success will follow you! Jim goes on to outline some of his success. Below is the outline.

I. Attract People: Another philosophy that Jim picked up from Shoaff was that, "Success is something that you attract by becoming an attractive person. It is not something that you pursue. What you pursue, more often than not eludes you but become an attractive person." Jim's whole life became a series of things that he learned or began to think about. Another quote by Jim, "Work harder ON yourself than you do FOR yourself."

II. Find and Seek: He then moved into how to find good people. He said the Bible encouraged him with this concept, "if you search you will find. Finding is reserved for the searching." He made this another philosophy that he lived by. Jim saw that the Bible talked about knocking on doors. So he said, go knocking on doors! He picked up this principal and started in sales which helped him develop more skills.

III. Agreement: The next skill he learned was how to get people to work together. This too he found from the Bible. If two or three agree on a common purpose, nothing is impossible. He said if you can get someone to join you, you will find success. "Let's do it!" is a very powerful phrase. He learned the value of the "Let's...let US!"

IV. Recognize and Reward: He learned the power of recognition and reward. Reward small steps of accomplishment in those who work for you. Be so busy rewarding and acknowledging and giving other people recognition that you really don't need it for yourself. He heard Zig Zigler quote it this way, "if you help enough people get what they want, you can have everything you want." Jim heard Zig say this over 50 years ago.

V. Communication: Then he learned communication:
1) Training: First - Training...showing someone here is how the job works.
2) Teaching: Second - Teaching...this is how life works (set goals). One day, early in his walk, Jim's mentor said to him let me see your list of goals. Jim was a bit surprised as he didn't have a list of goals. Mr. Shoaff said, really? I can tell you right now that if you don't have list of goals, I can guess your bank account balance within a few hundred dollars and he did. Jim said you mean my bank balance would change if I had a list of goals? Earl said, drastically. That changed everything for Jim and he began to set goals! Jim began to make goals and create lists:

Decide what you want. Write it all down.
Who do you want to meet? Make that list!
The books you want to read. Make that list!
The places you want to go. Make that list!
The experiences you want to have. Make that list!
Education for your family. Make that list!

Jim stated that he started with the lists having every little thing on it so he could have lots to check off . Checking off was what was fun. Then his mentor said, if you check off something significant, celebrate. This motivated him to make longer and bigger lists and dreams.

3) Inspire: Finally the third thing on communications list was to inspire other people.

  

Jim shares some of the first things that he had to correct in his thinking was:
1) Learning: He had to learn to have an appetite for learning. He would just get by before this. Earl told him to pursue learning. Become a searcher for learning and understanding.

2) Developing His Library: Mr. Shoaff said that what you think about is like a sail on a sailboat. You don't arrive on a boat in a storm by cursing your sail, you adjust it. This, Mr. Shoaff told him, was what his thinking was like to his life. He had to change the way he thought to change his course. This too is Biblical as the word says, as a man thinks, he is!

3) Financial Plan: Mr. Shoaff wanted to know Jim's financial plan and Jim had none. He had to develop a plan because he was financially spent when they met. At 25 Jim had nothing and by 31 was a millionaire.

4) Attract Other People: He made dramatic changes to his personality to draw people to him. Jim stopped making excuses. Like Jim thought he wasn't paid enough and he blamed the company. Jim said showing Mr. Shoaff his paycheck, "This is all that they pay." Mr. Shoaff said, "No, that is not all they pay. That is all they pay you! Aren't there other's working for the company who are making more?" See, Jim had to change his thinking and stop blaming! "If you will change, Mr. Rohn, everything will change for you." - Earl Shoaff. You have to change YOU!

Jim would say that "it" cost too much or that taxes were too high or whatever and Mr. Shoaff would say, no it's not "it", it's not circumstances, it's you. Change you!


Daily Habits that Jim Began to Change:
1) Time Management: Jim would say, "Don't start the day until you have finished it." In other words, know what you are going to do tomorrow before you go to bed today. He likened it unto when do you start building the house? When the house is finished! In other words, you have to have a plan finished before you start to lay the bricks.

Be inspired! I was!

A great book to have: The Treasure of Quotes by Jim Rohn.  Here are some more quotes by Jim Rohn:

• A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.
• A novel is never anything, but a philosophy put into images.
• Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion.
• Asking is the beginning of receiving. Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you.
• Better understated than overstated. Let people be surprised that it was more than you promised and easier than you said.
• Character isn't something you were born with and can't change, like your fingerprints. It's something you weren't born with and must take responsibility for forming.
• Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
• Don't bring your need to the marketplace, bring your skill. If you don't feel well, tell your doctor, but not the marketplace. If you need money, go to the bank, but not the marketplace.
• Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it.
• Don't start the day until you have it finished.
• Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better.
• Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.
• Either you run the day or the day runs you.
• Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.
• Failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.
• For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.
• Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
• Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.
• Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.
• Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
• Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.
• If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.
• If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.
• If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
• If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.
• If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.
• It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.
• It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.
• Labor gives birth to ideas.
• Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.
• Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.
• Make measurable progress in reasonable time.
• Maturity is the ability to reap without apology and not complain when things don't go well.
• Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book.
• Money is usually attracted, not pursued.
• Part of your heritage in this society is the opportunity to become financially independent.
• Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you're signed up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.
• Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
• Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.
• Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.
• Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.
• If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.
• If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.
• If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
• If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.
• If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.
• It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.
• It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.
• Labor gives birth to ideas.
• Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.
• Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you.
• Make measurable progress in reasonable time.
• Maturity is the ability to reap without apology and not complain when things don't go well.
• Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book.
• Money is usually attracted, not pursued.
• Part of your heritage in this society is the opportunity to become financially independent.
• Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you're signed up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.
• Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.
• Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.
• Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.
• Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.
• To have more than you've got, you've got to become more than you are
• When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.
• Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.
• Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.
• Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.
• Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
• You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.
• You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.
• You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.
• Your philosophy determines whether you will go for the disciplines or continue the errors.

Christianity and Being Hip?

I have been running across many interesting articles about Christianity and reaching the "youth".  Many of these articles are full of statistics, information, propaganda...depends on the author of the article.  With that, I found this article entitled, The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity interesting in the least and thought provoking as well.

The author, 27 year-old Brett McCracken published his article on The Wall Street Journal and he considers himself to be a Christian but he understands the concern that many of his peers are leaving and/or loosing interest in the Christian establishment.  Studies from 2007 from Lifeway Research determined that 70% of young Protestant adults between 18-22 stop attending church regularly when they leave home and are on their own.

The article goes into how the "church" is reacting to this and some of the ideas they have to "win" the twenty-somethings back.  To sum it up, I agree with Brett McCracken when he wrote, "that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real."  Jesus is a relationship.  Not a religion or gimmick!  Be real and others will come to know how wonderful it is to be called a follower of Christ.

Resurrection of Christ by Ron DiCianni

You may not recognize the name Ron DiCianni but I bet you will recognize his artwork entitled, "Spiritual Warfare".  It is has sold tens of millions of prints globally.

 He has painted artwork for Frank Peretti and Max Lucado and done many other projects you  may or may not know of. A few years back he was asked to paint the largest mural ever of the Resurrection of Christ.  The finished mural is 12 feet high by 40 feet wide and it took him two years to complete.  It will soon be hanging on display at the Museum of Biblical Art in Dallas, Texas.

"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single act in history that separates Christianity from every other religion, every other philosophy and every other belief system."  Ron DiCianni.  He shares his inspiration for the new painting and the reasonings to the imagy shown in it.  He not only depicts Jesus but he also addresses the "great cloud of witnesses" including Moses, Elijah and King David to name a few.  In this link, he will personally walk you through all the details in the new painting.  Simply incredible and I for one can't wait to see it in person but until then, here is a sneak preview!

Big - Planetshakers

Great worship song from Planetshakers called BIG!  Just in case you may have forgotten how BIG our God is...this song should inspire you to hang on and press in.  He is BIG, strong and mighty!  Enjoy!

Notes Left Behind by Elena Desserich

Elena Desserich has such an inspiration story from a 5 year old girl.  Such an incredible story.  Wanted to share it with you.  She had such a heart to reach out to her family after she was gone.  Take a minute, grab a box of kleenex and see how special this little girl was.  She left a secret for her family to have a piece of her after she was gone.  Incredible!

Notes Left Behind - Good Morning America

Notes Left Behind - Promotional Video

1992 Barcelona Olympics

Received a clip of this on facebook and wanted to share it here with you all.  Sometimes life can be so discouraging but do you remember Derek Redmond of Great Britain from the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games?  He was running the men's 400m semi final race and was one of the favored participants and was in the best shape of his life after breaking the British record.  A medal was just a few races and steps from his hands.  But then, just about 250 meters from the finish line, well you watch it:

1992 Derek Redmond
Derek Redmond and his race.
Perseverance - Derek Redmond

Derek finished the race to a standing ovation!  Just like Derek was met by his father, so God is the Father that raises us up when we are hurting and fighting so we can finish.  He comes and helps us too!  Be encouraged today, you are NOT alone!

Incredible Witness

This happened in the Metroplex in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area just this year. back in June.  I saw the story on the local news and then I received this clip.

AMAZING faith and courage this woman had as she witnessed to a would be robber.  We, like she was, need to be prepared for whatever the Lord brings into our lives.  We have to have the word of truth and hope on our lips.  Our God is so Big and Strong and Mighty.  She had the courage to witness to a robber.  Imagine if you were in  her place; staring at a man with a gun.  What would you do?