I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST...

SUNDAY IN THE SUN


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Ephesians 2:4-6

• 4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
  
• 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
  
• 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus...

LYRICS FOR THIS WEEK'S SONG:

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CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

by Phillips, Craig, and Dean

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VERSE 1:

As I look back on what I thought was living

I'm amazed at the price I choose to pay

And to think I ignored what really mattered

Cause I thought the sacrifice would be too great

But when I finally reached the point of giving in

I found the cross was calling even then

And even though it took dying to survive

I've never felt so much alive.

CHORUS:

For I am crucified with Christ

and yet I live

Not I but Christ that lives within me

His Cross will never ask for more than I can give

For its not my strength but His

There's no greater sacrifice

For I am crucified with Christ

and yet I live

VERSE 2:

As I hear the Savior call for daily dying

I will bow beneath the weight of Calvary

Let my hands surrender to His piercing purpose

That holds be to the cross but sets me free

I will glory in the power of the cross

The things I thought were gain I count as loss

And with His suffering I identify

And by His resurrection power I am alive

(CHORUS)

BRIDGE:

And I will offer all I have

So that His cross is not in vain

For I found to live is Christ

And to die is truly gain

(CHORUS)

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THERE IS A FOUNTAIN...THAT HONORS THE DIFFERENCES...

KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY

Catch Up and Must Do

I have several things on my mind today, including the winter storm that is dumping on us here in the mid-Atlantic states. When I took these pictures a little while ago, out my front door, we were nearing 20 inches in a little over 12 hours. I just heard that it was now at 23 inches. Our church worship services and potluck have been cancelled for tomorrow.

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I am really thankful that there is no ice involved in our storm today. A week ago yesterday we landed at the Nashville, TN airport on a runway packed with ice and snow. The highways to Alabama were ice packed and at times we were the only car moving down the highway as we passed cars and semis off in ditches.

We also passed multiple Cracker Barrels (a sign that we were in the South). Yet, we knew if we pulled off to get a bite to eat, we would likely not be able to get back on the highway. Right about the Alabama / Tennessee state line, the roads cleared. We stopped at a familiar Cracker Barrel in Athens, AL before driving on in to Huntsville.

Steve and I were scheduled to speak in Huntsville on Saturday / Sunday on a very serious topic. It seemed that we were in a battle for that to happen. My luggage had been lost (did not arrive until Sunday late afternoon). The fire alarm in the Holiday Inn went off 7 times that night. Yet, with God's strength we were able to minister to this congregation on the topic THE SILENT KILLER: Pornography. It is a sobering topic that our families and churches must take up our "swords" and fight now! What a blessing to be among a group of people who have chosen to do just that.

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We met new eternal friends and re-connected with old eternal friends. My dear friend Benja is settling in with her new church family in Huntsville and making connections with strong christian women like DeLois.

Steve spoke to a packed house on Sunday a.m. on the topic: RISE UP, OH MEN OF GOD! Dozens of men recommitted their lives to doing just that!

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We spent Sunday afternoon enjoying the fellowship at Benja and Ross' new home. We had made a deep and eternal friendship with them when we first moved to NJ in 2007. Then in 2008 God saw fit to move them elsewhere.

It's a small world! Little did we know that they would end up at the same congregation of some dear friends of ours who we had been in Indiana with... The Binford's. Here are Connie and Benja with Johnna looking on.

A whole lot has happened in the week since we have been with these two families. Yesterday, the Binford's nephew / cousin died. Yesterday, there was a school shooting in the school district where Benja teaches and the kids go to school. The young man died last night.

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Solomon says that there is a time to die and a time to live. It's often hard to understand the dying part and why the young must die, too. I pray for all involved in these very difficult circumstances: family, friends, students, teachers... I only hope that people will be drawn to God and not blame Him. For as we know, No Matter the Circumstances, GIGATTAATTGIG.

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Some of you know that I am a teacher. This is my ninth year to teach future teachers at the college level. My desire is to make the kind of difference that will lead to teachers who not only teach subject matter but meet the needs of their students via love, mercy, grace, and honoring the differences. God has blessed me with the opportunity to teach Differentiated Instruction which is required for all future teachers. This is my third semester to teach it and I have 3 classes of "D.I.". I have a blog that I start at the beginning of each semester for the class and add one post a week. We are on Week 4 for this semester. There is a lot of food for thought on this blog that also has to do with motherhood. If you have some time, I invite you to access it at anytime on the sidebar or click on it here.

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THERE IS A FOUNTAIN... FOR THE FAMILY...

A week ago Wednesday night, at the end of our church family's weekly Bible study, our elders asked Kristy to come up to the front of the auditorium. Kristy (a new R.N.) was leaving the next morning with a mission team to Haiti. We would pray over her, bless her, donate to her travel funds and know that she would represent Jesus to anyone she would serve.

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The interesting thing about Kristy is A WHOLE LOT OF INTERESTING THINGS... including the Peace Corps and past missions... Ecuador... France... ! She's young, vibrant, full of mercy, grace, love, and life! She's one of those people who you aren't around very long without knowing she has a Jesus connection. If you asked Kristy about her spiritual journey... her story... she wouldn't go too far without talking about the lady here in the picture standing to her right. That lady is Mary Lea. Mary Lea is the wife of one of our elders, Dwight. Mary Lea was one of Kristy's elementary school teachers.

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As a young girl, Kristy saw a woman who quite obviously had the "heart of Jesus". Kristy's mother saw it, too. They were attracted to Mary Lea and asked questions about her life, her journey, her faith... Mary Lea demonstrated to Kristy and her mom the mercy, grace, love, and life that Christ had extended to her. Kristy and her mom, Kathy, became christians.

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In fact, there are many people in our congregation who have been drawn to Jesus by how Mary Lea lives her life. It's like I was saying yesterday. When Jesus lived on this earth, He chose to live a different way than those around Him... He stood out... He was so different that they loved Him... worshipped Him... adored Him... and then they crucified Him!
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He was surrounded by...

• selfishness, yet He modeled selflessness.


• immorality, yet He pursued purity of thought.


• slanderers, yet He encouraged.


• anger, yet He chose to forgive.


• hate, yet He chose redeeming love.
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Kristy has some choices to make while she is in Haiti and, of course, when she returns to the states. Kathy makes important life choices everyday as a universtiy professor of nursing. Mary Lea has lived a life of modeling Jesus choices. How do more people come to the family of God? Kristy, Kathy, and Mary Lea know!

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I personally see the love and mercy of our LORD when I look at these three sisters-in-Christ...

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"But because of His great love for us,

God,

who is rich in mercy..."

THERE IS A FOUNTAIN...OUR LIFE-BLOOD FOR TRANSFORMATION...

TRANSFORMING THURSDAY

So, how appealing does a "fountain filled with blood" sound to you? Not!?!? .

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says,

• "A fountain is the source from which something proceeds or is supplied."
• "Blood is the fluid that circulates in the heart, arteries, capillaries, and veins of a vertebrate animal carrying nourishment and oxygen to and bringing away waste products from all parts of the body."

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The Bible says,

• "On that day a fountain will be opened to the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." Zechariah 13:1
• "The life of a creature is in the blood... it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." Leviticus 17:11

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Did you know that hundreds of years after that was written in Leviticus that people still believed that to heal an infection, the blood should be drained from a person. That's how George Washington died! Even our current definitions of blood don't just say "life is in the blood". Medical science will talk about nutrients and oxygen but not LIFE!

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There was a man who was a contemporary of George Washington who may or may not have understood the physical meaning of Leviticus 17:11, but he certainly understood the spiritual: the blood of Christ is essential for ETERNAL LIFE!
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Our theme song this week and videos on Sunday and Monday contain part of the words written by William Cowper in 1772. I have them here and request that you focus on "verse 4".

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THERE IS A FOUNTAIN

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There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

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The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in His day;

And there have I, though vile as he,

Washed all my sins away.

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Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its pow’r,

Till all the ransomed church of God

Are safe, to sin no more.

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E’er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die.

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When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.

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I'm going somewhere with "verse 4" by connecting it with our scripture "verses 4-5" for the week. Compare the two... look for connections... Do you see a heart transplant or at least a blood transfusion here?

• SONG LYRICS: "E'er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be til I die."

• SCRIPTURE: "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved."
  

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This past weekend, Steve and I spoke at a seminar in Huntsville, Alabama. It was to encourage Holiness and Purity while addressing "The Silent Killer: Pornography". There is something very dirty and nasty when talking about all the junk that comes out of this sin! It's devastating to marriages, children, friends, and of course, the person who buys into the deception of pornography. Yet, more than anything, people steeped in these kinds of sin need mercy... grace... connection... and redeeming love...

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As Jesus hung on the cross, He was surrounded by...

• selfishness, yet He modeled selflessness.
• immorality, yet He pursued purity of thought.
• slanderers, yet He encouraged.
• anger, yet He chose to forgive.
• hate, yet He chose redeeming love.

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E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

THERE IS A FOUNTAIN... GREAT IN LOVE... RICH IN MERCY... FULL OF GRACE AND LIFE...

WOMEN IN THE WORD WEDNESDAY

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God, the Creator of the world is LOVE. He so desires for those whom He has created to live in harmony and peace. In order for that to happen, we must follow the laws that He has set out for His creation so that we will thrive as He has planned. When those whom He has created fail to follow His will and break His laws, He calls that sin. Since He is the God of Love, He cannot stand sin. Sin seperates us from God. Because He is the God of Love, He gives us another chance. In His book, He tells us in multiple places how this works. Last month we began, each Wednesday, looking at some verses that introduced us to some of these concepts. This month, on Wednesdays we are looking to build on those verses as we learn and memorize these wonderful principles for our lives.

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Ephesians 2:4-5

"But because of His great love for us,

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God, who is rich in mercy,


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5 made us alive with Christ

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even when we were dead in transgressions-

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it is by grace you have been saved.

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THERE IS A FOUNTAIN... A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE...

I am so thankful for strong families who share their belief in Jesus Christ! It is so encouraging to me when I see young people stand up for their faith. The last several years in college football have been extraordinary as we have watched and listened to the likes of Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow tell us why they believe. These young men seem to understand the purpose of life and that it is only by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ that anyone has eternal life. Above, Tim has the scripture reference written under his eyes that was also part of our memory verses for the month of January - Hebrews 12:1-3.

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You may not be into football, but I think you will be interested in knowing that this coming Super Bowl will have a Pro-Life commercial paid for by Focus on the Family and featuring Tim Tebow and his mom, Pam.

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The Tebow's were missionaries in the Phillipines when Pam was pregnant with Tim. She was very ill and the doctors recommended that she abort the baby. She chose not to. Instead their son Tim would grow up to be one of the most record breaking college quarterbacks, winning the Heisman trophy as a college sophomore.
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What a blessing that Tim and other young people have a sense of mission about making a difference now - whether on or off campus. Many spend their spring breaks or summer vacations on mission trips.

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Tim represents a population of young people who love the LORD and know that it is only by His grace that we can have eternal life...

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I am grateful for the stand Tim has taken by putting scripture on his face for each game. Part of our scripture on this blog, for this month, is what Tim had under his eyes during the Sugar Bowl:

Ephesians 2:4-10

"But because of His great love for us,

God, who is rich in mercy,

5 made us alive with Christ

even when we were

dead in transgressions-

it is by grace you have been saved.

6 And God raised us up with Christ

and seated us with Him

in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

7 in order that in the coming ages He might show

the incomparable riches of His grace,

expressed in His kindness to us

in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved,

through faith-and this not from yourselves,

it is the gift of God-

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do."

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Here is Tim with the scriptures he shared as thousands, maybe millions, watched on national television this past football season.

• Charleston Southern: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”



• Troy: Mark 8:36 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul.”




• Tennessee: Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
NOTE: After this game, Romans 8:28 was in the top 5 of GOOGLE SEARCHES:





• Kentucky: Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they.”
  
  
  


• LSU: Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. "
  
  
• Arkansas: Psalms 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”




• Mississippi State: Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”




• Georgia: Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”




• Vanderbilt: Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”



• South Carolina: Joshua 1:8-9 “8- This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9- Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”





• Florida International: Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

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Florida State: Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, 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. Let 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.” .

SECCG: John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

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Sugar Bowl: Ephesians 2:8-10 – “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

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NOTE 1: For those of you who missed my posts of the past few days, you can go back and read them now. Thanks for your patience. We landed on ice/snow in Nashville, TN on Friday... drove on treacherous roads to Alabama... had the fire alarm go off 7 times that night at the Holiday Inn in Huntsville... my suitcase was lost by the airlines until Sunday evening... we presented a weekend seminar on a very difficult subject: The Silent Killer: Pornography.... we were blessed beyond measure by meeting and making new friends, re-connecting with old friends, and being close enough to see my mother, brother, and family... we got home last night...
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NOTE 2: Tim Pyles, a preacher friend in Oklahoma, has written much more eloquently about this than me: http://timpyles.com/2010/01/29/tebow-in-30-seconds-choose-life/
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THERE IS A FOUNTAIN...OF LOVE...MERCY...GRACE...

MEDITATION MONDAY

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Please join me in meditating on a second video featuring our song this week. Pause the playlist above before beginning and then ponder the connection with our new memory verses for the month written above and below.

Ephesians 2:4-104

"But because of his great love for us,

God, who is rich in mercy,

5 made us alive with Christ

even when we were dead in transgressions-

it is by grace you have been saved.

6 And God raised us up with Christ

and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms

in Christ Jesus,

7 in order that in the coming ages He might

show the incomparable riches of His grace,

expressed in

His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved,

through faith-and this not from yourselves,

it is the gift of God-

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do."