“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ”

There is nothing we can do or not do to enhance our position with God. His love for us is constant! Thank you God for your gracious gift! Thank you God for Your Holy Spirit that enables us to, daily, become more like Jesus!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself…….So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Tell the Good News! As a direct result of God’s gracious gift, we can have a relationship with Him! Come as you are! He loves you now!!

There’s nothing like a bunch of guys getting together to just eat dinner together, worship together and watch a movie. We can burp, spit and flatulate to our hearts content! Our men’s retreat is simple….yet it meets the goal of men getting to know other men.

Our goal is for every man to have 2 wingmen. A wingman is someone who prays for you daily and holds you accountable. He is also someone who is actively getting to know you better so he can challenge you as well.

A wingman is someone you can count on when in need. A man who understands you, knows all about you, and is committed to the relationship.

Life is a battle. At times we are all in a foxhole of discouragement, despair or some type of distress or attack. Thank you God for my wingmen….who I know, will always be there for me! Thanks guys!

My new phone comes in tomorrow. This will enable me to do most of my office duties wherever I am! I’ll get you my new number as soon as I get it. Call me anytime!

I Plan on seeing this movie when it releases on December 9th

Check out the web site for great outreach opportunities: http://www.narniaweb.com/

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitude!

There was a Pastor, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.”A father, His son, and a friend of his were sailing off of the Pacific Coast,” He began, “When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not.

The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. “As the father yelled out, ‘I love you son!’ He threw out the lifeline to his son’s friend.By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered.” By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. “The father,” he continued knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus.

Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend… With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon…

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.”That was a nice story,” Politely stated the boys, “But I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied glancing down at the worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, he once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t realistic, is it? But I’m standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only son for me. You see… I was the father and your Pastor was my son’s friend.”…

That question has been debated throughout the ages. I’m sure this writer will not clear up the issue. But, I would like to explore and idea. I’d like to suggest this definition of a miracle: “Any action which is naturally impossible.” For instance it is not natural that dead people come back to life, hence it would be a miracle. It is not natural for people to walk on water (unless it is 20 below zero!) in its liquid state, so that would be a miracle. It’s not natural for water to turn into wine….o.k. I’m sure you have the idea.

Now, I’d like to suggest a broader view of miracles. If God is supernatural….that is, He is above and beyond nature and natural events….then would it not follow that any action of God in our natural world would be a miracle? You may be saying, “yeah, so what?” Here’s the so what factor; if God is working in our world, and I believe He is, then maybe we are experiencing miracles all the time! And maybe, because we don’t realize it is in fact God working behind the scene, we get frustrated with our life not going according to our plans. For example, maybe there is a reason we can’t find our keys where we left them. Could there be a divine reason our car broke down? Could God have an eternal reason for us losing a particular job? Is there some heavenly plan for why this irritating person is in my life?

Are all the things that happen to us just happenstance? Mere chance and luck? Or is there a living, all knowing, all powerful Creator God, moving certain chess pieces to orchestrate a certain outcome? My friends, I believe there are miracles happening all around us all the time! Next time something happens that gets your attention, whether you perceive it as good or bad, don’t ask, why God? Rather ask, what God? What do you want me to do? What is your will? What do you want me to learn.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it’s safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.

Finding the right excuse is not always an easy thing to do. Trying to explain why we are not able to attend a certain party or a way to absent ourselves from an obligation takes fore thought and clear thinking. Clearthinking is something that a number of parents in Albuquerque, New Mexico lacked when they wrote excuse notes for their kids.

“Dear School: Please excuse John from being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31,32, and also 33.”"

Please excuse Brian for being. It was his father’s fault.”

“Please excuse Sara for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.”

“Sally won’t be in school a week from Friday. We have to attend her funeral.”

“Please excuse Jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the Sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it Monday, we thought it was Sunday.”