A fist fight and a biblical reminder

As usual, posts by Greg Lucas are always riveting:

I got into a fistfight last week.

Well, I suppose you could call it a fistfight. I got hit about 10-12 times without landing a single punch myself. It’s been a while since I have been in a fight. As a police officer, I probably get into more fights than the average middle-aged man. But at 46, my reflexes are not what they used to be—so I got a little beat up.

It all started when I attempted to make a man do something I thought he should do. I grabbed his shirtsleeve and directed him in the direction I wanted him to go. I’m usually pretty good at directing people. Apparently he was not having the best day and this was not the direction he wanted to go, so he responded by taking a swing at me.

I managed to duck the first blow and easily redirect his momentum; moving him through the open door of my pickup truck where he landed square on his back in the front seat. With his back to the seat, he reached for anything he could throw in my direction to keep me away from him, which happened to be a set of car keys, a water bottle and an ESV Bible.

The keys missed my head by a couple of inches and I managed to dodge the water bottle, but the bible hit me right in the chest—resulting in an out of context (yet unforgettable) illustration of Hebrews 4:12.

Who was this fist fight with?  How did it end? What reminder from Scripture came into Greg’s mind after the struggle was over?  Read it all here.

Read Full Post »

Giving thanks after being robbed

The story goes that after a famous preacher was robbed he came home and expressed thankfulness that a) his life was spared, b) the robber didn’t get much and c) “I’m thankful to God that I was not the robber.”

Well, a fellow pilgrim named Ryan is doing just that as he relates what happened a few days ago. It is really a story that shows the grace, mercy, and love of God. You will want to read the whole story but here is how Ryan begins:

Last Wednesday, the third day of this year, I was working at my desk at school when Christie called me on my cell. She said a jumble of things [in my mind] but also something close to, “some men just came into our house…they put a gun to Karsten’s head….and put him in the closet.” She was also able to confirm that at least one item was missing and they had attempted to take the TV. I was her first call, so I ran to the car, raced home and talked to 911 the whole way there. I beat the police, and as I entered home, Karsten obviously had a jumbled dread of emotions on his face.

Keep reading “What Thieves Cannot Break Through and Steal”

Read Full Post »

An Olympic champion: from last to first

Last Saturday “David Boudia jumped off the 10-meter platform at the Aquatics Center in London and twisted and flipped his way to an Olympic gold medal, the first U.S. gold in men’s diving since 1992.

Friends and family crowded around Boudia as Olympic officials announced his final winning score. The 23-year-old from Noblesville, Ind., and Purdue University had barely made it into the finals—finishing 18th in preliminaries—but he somehow rose to the occasion in the end, beating out expected winner Qui Bo of China and crowd favorite Tom Daley of Great Britain. Once the scores were tallied, the camera panned to a disappointed Qui leaning against the wall behind the diving board.

In contrast, Boudia had expressed before the finals that he would be content regardless of the outcome. In an interview with NBC following his disappointing preliminary dives, Boudia said, “The coolest thing about this is that I know God is perfect and sovereign. And if I made it, great, if I didn’t, great. So I was totally content if I was on the bubble or out.”

Read the rest of this great story by Angela Lu at WORLD–not just about swimming but about finding new focus and redemption.

Read Full Post »

Keep your eyes on the prize

Joshua Harris lets us know about a new song that was recently released and then links to how God specifically used this song to bless a family he knows well.  Pretty neat to see how God works.  Keep your eyes on the prize!  Hold on!

Read Full Post »

Do you feel stuck?

“Know this for your own personal life. Right now there’s not a person who is not stuck in something. You are stuck financially, or stuck in your health, or stuck in your marriage, or stuck in your vocation, or stuck in your spiritual growth. There’s not a person in this room who doesn’t feel in some sense: this is a moment when I’m not making any progress and everything seems futile that I try. That is never the case with the Christian! God is always doing more than you know — a thousand times more than you know. One of the great blessings of getting old is that you start to see the patterns and you can recognize them and not get so panicky as you were in your earlier years. [11/20/11 sermon video, 25:40­–26:40]“

–John Piper as shared by Tony R

 

Read Full Post »

A good way to begin the day!

“We can begin each day with the deeply encouraging realization, I’m accepted by God, not on the basis of my personal performance, but on the basis of the infinitely perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.”

Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (Kindle Locations 25-26). Kindle Edition.

Read Full Post »

Changing lives through a simple piece of paper

Read the story of a Grace Bateman Greene who is changing lives and sharing the gospel through something as simple as a piece of paper.

Inspiring!  An example of a young person who is doing the hard things and making a difference!

It all happens in Trujillo, Peru!

Grace Bateman Green made here first trip to Peru as a 17-year-old high school student on a mission trip offered through First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi. “I was heartbroken by the poverty I saw, but I also saw the Lord working and building His church, and the difference that was making,” Greene recalls.

That short trip changed the course of Greene’s life. She enrolled in Mississippi College, where she pursued a double major in social work and Spanish with dreams of someday returning to Peru as a missionary. Greene made short-term trips there during her college years, finding herself drawn to the people of Peru and becoming even more convinced she was being called to serve there. Following her 2004 graduation from MC, Greene accepted a one-year position teaching English through Peru Mission, an organization working to plant churches and build Christian communities in the Trujillo area.

Keep reading!

Read Full Post »

One life. . . don’t waste it.

You probably won’t be going to Australia for this but you can still heed the message:

Read Full Post »