It's official -- I'm MOVING.

Haven't been getting many hits or replies, responses or anything that shows that this blog is making a difference. So, I've moved my focus, engeries and writing to a new blog. You're more than welcome to come visit and post there. Please bookmark the following address:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hubby



Hope to see you over there and to read replies and comments from you all!

Selah and Peace of Christ be with you.

Get yer red, hot hell... get it while it's hot!!

The UpWords Weekly Email Devotional
MaxLucado.com/newsletter
11/9/05
_________________________________
YOUR CHOICE WILL BE HONORED
by Max Lucado

We don’t like to talk about hell, do we? In intellectual circles the
topic of hell is regarded as primitive and foolish. It’s not logical.
“A loving God wouldn’t send people to hell.” So we dismiss it.

But to dismiss it is to dismiss a core teaching of Jesus. The
doctrine of hell is not one developed by Paul, Peter, or John. It is
taught by Jesus himself.

We are free either to love God or not. He invites us to love him. He
urges us to love him. He came that we might love him. But, in the
end, the choice is yours and mine. To take that choice from each of
us, for him to force us to love him, would be less than love.

God explains the benefits, outlines the promises, and articulates
very clearly the consequences. And then, in the end, he leaves the
choice to us.

Hell was not prepared for people. Hell “was prepared for the devil
and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41) For a person to go to hell, then, is
for a person to go against God’s intended destiny. Hell is man’s
choice, not God’s choice.

Consider, then, this explanation of hell: Hell is the chosen place of
the person who loves self more than God, who loves sin more than his
Savior, who loves this world more than God’s world. Judgment is that
moment when God looks at the rebellious and says, “Your choice will
be honored.”

To say there is no hell is to say God condones the rebellious,
unrepentant heart. To say there is no hell is to portray God with
eyes blind to the hunger and evil in the world. To say there is no
hell is to say that God doesn’t care that people are beaten and
massacred, that he doesn’t care that women are raped or families
wrecked. To say there is no hell is to say God has no justice, no
sense of right and wrong, and eventually to say God has no love. For
true love hates what is evil.

Hell is the ultimate expression of a just Creator.
_________________________________
From And the Angels Were Silent
Copyright 1992, Max Lucado
http://wwwmaxlucado.com/shop/detail2.php?pid=B108H

*** Thanks, DL.

Practicing what I preach...

So on Wednesdays in Seminary, I've been taking this class on Developing Leaders who Develop Leaders. It's been quite the show, I must say! This has been by far one of the most educational classes I've ever taken. One of the topics we're going over is about taking risks with people and opening up the opportunity to get hurt as we speak Truth in love to them. After all, that is totally what Jesus has done for us all. Anyway, in light of the recent marital tragedies I've experienced and the ever mounting pressure from the devil to fail at any given moment has caused me to be very sensitive to people and there actions toward the opposite sex.

I'm reading a new book called "Hedges" by Jerry Jenkins on building and growing hedges of protection in your marriage and quite frankly, it is an awesome book so far. It talks about how as men, the devil will sneak up on us and tempt up before we ever know what is happening and if we don't put up these hedges, then it may be too late. I totally am plugging this book! Go buy it and read it. Married or not, it'll help you out tremendously.

So this one particular guy in class (wonderfully awesome, humble and graciously spirited man of God) has shown compassion to an otherwise vulnerable person of the opposite sex. This was not sexual in nature, neither even sensual. It was purely motivated by a heart to serve the person and show them the love of Christ. What he however failed to understand was how dangerously close he could have been to getting this vulnerable female emotionally tied to himself, a more than happily married guy, well on his way to pastorship.

The Holy Spirit totally jabbed my ribs on this one. I felt the conviction laid upon my heart to share the dangerous position he had put himself in and was totally chicken to do it. I began to feel the spiritual warfare rise up within me. But in light of the gruesome tragedies I've witnessed recently, as outlined before, I could not nor would not allow this uncomfortable feeling deep within my stomach to sway me and conquer in the name of sin. No, Christ would win this time. At break, I tried and tried, but felt sick when thinking of approaching him. I said to myself, "self, you better at least make the contact, or you won't follow through, you yella’ bellied chicken!" So, I asked him if he'd chat with me after class. He obliged.

Class ended and I walked toward the door and waited. Not long as he was eager to meet with me to see what problems I may desire to share with him and seek his counsel after. As we neared the parking structure, we small talked and then finally he said that it was great that I'd ask him to talk with me and was curious as to how he could help me. The guy is great! I'm not insinuating pride here, he was just totally ready to serve as best as Christ would allow him. I began to unwrap this delicately fragile topic by first explaining that I was a dirt clod and hoped that he'd understand and that I hoped that these implications were TOTALLY wrong. I explained how utterly unworthy I was to even bring such charges against anyone, but that I had noticed something and wanted to warn him of it's implications.

His reaction was so Christ-like and very humble. I couldn't believe it. He looked at me in awe and was like; I'd never have seen that coming. I explained that what I've learned from my wife is that most of the time, we are dumb, blind men and don't see the warning signs until its too late. I saw this one through the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore wanted to protect him. I told him that I NEVER thought that his heart was in any place other than to compassionately comfort a hurt individual, a bloodline of our fellow Christ.

What’s so interesting about this is that there is this speech or mini-sermon I'm preparing for in November on the discussion of mutual accountability in our lives. What's so awesome is that I'm getting ready to preach on the very thing that I was exercising tonight. What is so great about this is that even if my sermon is a flop, I'll know that the preparation I undertook prepared me for tonight; to face the spiritual battle and help carry a brother another step toward victory.

I praise God, our Father and give all thanks and glory to the Son, Christ Jesus our Lord for blessings to each of His kids. Through me because of Him, He is changing lives.

Hail to the King, kiddies!

Microfox?

Microsoft gave the press an MSN Search screenshot – using Firefox, but denies that it had done so

Oddly enough, Microsoft is promoting Mozilla Firefox. The company recently provided the press with a screenshot of MSN Search displayed on the open source browser. Microsoft's PR firm denied using Firefox for any of MSN Search's screenshots
Alert reader Dror Levin read a review of the new MSN Search on the Seattle Post Intelligencer. He noticed something strange about the screenshot in the article, found a larger version of it and was surprised to find out that while the OS was Windows XP, the browser used was Firefox.

The photo credit says "(AP Photo/HO/Microsoft)", which means it was distributed to AP by Microsoft.

Brian Peterson, of Microsoft's PR firm Waggener Edstrom, said: "None of our approved/distributed screen shots of MSN Search were made using a Mozilla Firefox browser. Moving forward, we will not be commenting on this issue".

Recently, MSN.com's Tech and Gadgets section's "Today in Downloads" recommended software was Firefox. But that may not have been done by design, as the software recommendations originate in CNET's Download.com. Microsoft declined to comment on this.

(source: http://www.nrg.co.il/online/10/ART/825/507.html)