Happy Birthday Jamey

Happy Birthday Jamey

I love you bunches and bunches
Mommy

Words of Life"Nevertheless..." (II Corinthians 7:6)

Dr. Mark Rutland is the new president of Oral Roberts University and the author of Nevertheless: The Most Powerful Word You Can Use to Defeat the Enemy.

John Wesley said, "I know of no holiness save social holiness." He meant that we do not live out our piety in relationship with God alone but in community with others. The downside of community is that no one can test your sanctification like your brother-in-law, the antichrist. The upside is that just when you are ready to collapse under the unbearable weight of grief and suffering, Titus shows up with love letters from Corinth.

Some believers tend to so over-spiritualize their faith that the relational aspect gets lost in the glow. Jesus painfully peeled away the soft spiritual goo to reveal the hard core realities of relational holiness as no other teacher ever has. Probably, that was a large part of what got Him killed.

The golden thematic thread that runs through the entire tapestry of the Sermon on the Mount is relational holiness. In that great teaching, theology (spiritual theory) was not Jesus' point. It was human application (spiritual practices). He was teaching, not about what we ought to believe, but about how we should act, love, live, and forgive. You want to get folks angry enough to kill you, just leave the theoretical realm and deal with horizontal, relational reality. Preach on love and win medals. Talk to a man about how he treats his mother-in-law and wind up nailed to the wall.

Jesus taught that everything, even, or perhaps especially, offerings to God, must be seen in the light of human relationships. "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matt. 5:23-24)

The Bible never envisioned our being reconciled to God apart from our being reconciled to each other. No amount of spiritual language can change that. Nevertheless beautifully bridges the gap between the spiritual and the pragmatic.

Ciarnan

Endure

by Max Lucado

If you live in a world darkened by sin, you may be its victim.

Jesus is honest about the life we are called to lead. There is no guarantee that just because we belong to him we will go unscathed. No promise is found in Scripture that says when you follow the king you are exempt from battle. No, often just the opposite is the case.

How do we survive the battle? How do we endure the fray?

Jesus says: "Those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13 NCV).

He doesn't say if you succeed you will be saved. Or if you come out on top you will be saved. He says if you endure.

Cait's Field Trip

The Miller Family’s loss

Mickey's little sister has passed away at the age of 51. I remember Molly so well from our teenage years…I always loved spending time at the Miller house. It is hard to lose someone so young. My prayers go out to Molly and her family.

Memories

It takes strength to remember, to hold on to memories even though they prick your heart, make your tough skin bleed.

It takes a certain kind of courage to know that memory's flaws are nothing more than a human tendency to refuse what hurts them.

After all, who wants pain?

But there is something beneath the shallow surface of hurt--acceptance of what has happened before,

and the knowledge that the future has better things in store.

 

May we all find our way home to where we belong….

where there is no pain and every tear shall be dried

 

From the song "Where I Belong" by MercyMe
Everybody hopes
That maybe somewhere down this road
We'd finally find that place where we belong
That place where we're complete
The one that occupies our dreams
That place we're lucky to call our home
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside

So I raise my hands
And shout Your name
To praise You with my song
My dream's at hand
I've found my place
The place where I belong

Everybody tries
To find the purpose for their life
In hopes that one more day is justified
But once you truly see
The very reason why you breathe
It becomes so much more than getting by
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside

 

Kris and the girls

Kami's 1st day of pre-school

The real facts about Health Care Reform

If You Have Health Insurance, the President's Plan: Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age. Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most. Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don't go broke when they get sick. Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money. Protects Medicare for seniors. Eliminates the "donut-hole" gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

If You Don't Have Insurance, the President's Plan: Creates a new insurance marketplace — the Exchange — that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices. Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance. Provides small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees. Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can't find affordable coverage with a real choice. Immediately offers new, low-cost coverage through a national "high risk" pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.

For All Americans, the President's Plan: Won't add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront. Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized. Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality. Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system. Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine. Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform.