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Die in your religion, or in your devotion?

Ricky — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:18:14 +0000

Today at church, instead of the pastor speaking they showed a sermon that turned out to be one of the most convicting and motivating sermons I have ever heard. I found it on the internet and here it is posted below! If you love the Lord, it will be worth your time!

David Platt: SBC Pastors Conference 2009 from Todd Thomas on Vimeo.

Love

Ricky — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:27:21 +0000

Did the title of this post make you roll your eyes a little bit? Our sermon at church this morning was about love, and particularly God’s love. We have all heard that passage in 1 Corinthians about love over and over again at weddings and we sort of say “yeah yeah, heard that one a thousand times.” I believe some of the best words out there have been watered down and made to seem rusty and useless….probably an effort of Satan himself. Words like love…..and grace….and salvation… and doctrine….. don’t these words bring to mind something less than passionate often?

Anyhow with love, how can you boil it down to brass tacks. The bible says some poignant things about that. Jesus said something to the effect of “greater love has nobody than this: that he give up his life for his friends.”

And in that famous 1 Corinthians passage, we get some of what love is…. patience, kindness, lack of boasting, lack of envy, politeness, lack of arrogance or self centeredness, always protecting hoping and persevering. Then it goes on to say something they dont usually quote in the weddings, something to the effect that “you can be the greatest at whatever you do, even the greatest missionary or pastor or whatever, and if you have not love, you are nothing…..you are like a noisy gong or symbol.” That verse rang loud and clear to me. I can be the hardest working mission pilot in the world. But if I don’t pour myself out for that inter-personal love for Heather and Elise (and any future kids we may be blessed with), and for those people God places in my path, if I lack that interpersonal love, I am nothing.

A Solemn Post

Ricky — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:28:02 +0000

I have the image before me of that camera trick I have seen in movies where the frame is all fuzzy, and all of a sudden it snaps into focus. Perhaps on someone’s face, or on some beautiful scenery, or who knows what. I feel like that helps describe the way I felt today while Heather and I watched our good friends Matt and Sarah say goodbye to their little daughter Hannah Mercy and lower her into the ground. I feel especially sad for them because I have an infant daughter. And Heather and I have struggled to even imagine what it would be like to loose her. As we stood by the graveside with them, we watched them kneel by her graveside, while Sarah caressed the beautiful flowers on her little coffin which as beautiful and delicate as they are, only represented the beauty of their little daughter. Hannah’s daddy read a letter they had wrote for her. And with many tears we watched as they said goodbye and put her in the ground. Life for me seemed to snap into focus in those moments. What is important, and what is not. My semi-guilt for canceling the clients at work today to make the service quickly evaporated. The importance of relationships, of friends, of family, of living life together and being with eachother and there for eachother loomed large over matters of work and daily worries. The importance of being. The minister’s main message today was we do not or can not know why God let this happen. But we do know that little Hannah is giggling in Jesus’ arms today after her short 1 hour life. Our world seems to have its way of taking the truths from these types of lessons and making them fade into the background. But God is gracious to keep bringing them up.

Easter Morning Mayhem

Ricky — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:27:32 +0000

The inlaws were in town for Easter, Ellen, Dave and Holly. All six of us (Heather, Elise and myself included) were slumbering soundly when the fire alarm whent off in our building nearing five am. Initially Heather thought it was the humidifier grinding for some reason. (the funny things you think when you are mostly asleep) But it was the building fire alarm (not the one in our apartment). I was still slowly coming out of sleep while she was opening the hallway door and a guy out there said “it’s a false alarm!” So naturally I threw on some shoes and went out to investigate. There were people walking around in a confused state. The alarm was so loud on our top floor that you couldn’t really talk with anybody. Immediately I smelled smoke though. So I headed down stairs and out the door where a little huddle of confused, tired and cold people were standing and waiting as if it were a school fire drill. There was no consensus as to whether it was false or not. The smell of smoke was in the hall, and nobody really knew where it was coming from. One guy was very concerned about whether or not every person in the building was awake and getting out. Another guy said “I heard the alarm, I smelled smoke, and I was out!” A mother and her little five year old son stood there looking confused, while the little boy stood shivvering with the heels of his little shoes folded beneath his heals, not having enough time to have put them on properly. Our neighbor Mark, a young history teacher who lives across the hallway from us stood with a halfway amused and halfway annoyed lookon his face in his hooded sweatshirt and hands in his pockets and calmly said “I was sleeping so soundly.” Heather had already called our maintenance guy and he was on his way, and I was pondering “should we act like our building is about to burn down or not? Smoke, alarm, and nobody knows why?” Finally to dispell the confusion a lady popped her door open on the second floor and announced she was cooking her easter dinner (at 5 am…wow!) and she burned it (boy she must have really burned it!). A wave of relief settled over the crowd as everybody filed back into their apartments while Pete, the maintenance man sped into the parking lot around 55 mph. He disappeared inside and in a few moments the obstreporously loud fire alarm ceassed. I explained the proceedings to everyone inside and we got everyone back to bed. Amazingly the only one who didn’t wake up in our apartment was Elise, truly sleeping like a baby. I found humor in the irony of the whole situations and the broad range of reactions from everybody. As I headed back to bed I wondered (since it was Easter morning) whether the stone was rolled away and Jesus already out of the grave or not at the same time on that first easter morning.

A Cardinals Fan Consoles Himself

Ricky — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:01:32 +0000

This is a post for myself and those other Cardinals fans out there. (The likelihood of one of them stumbling upon this blog is pretty bleak, so this post is pretty much for myself.) This is my attempt to move on from that amazing Superbowl game. Twelve months ago, heck two months ago not a soul in Arizona would ever have dreampt the Cardinals would someday be in the Superbowl. I remember before the big game saying, “you know what, I just want it to be a good game. I know they probably aren’t going to win it, but if they just make it a good game, I will be happy with that.” Well, I got my wish. Some are saying that was the most exciting Superbowl ever. And the Cardinals wound up on the loosing end of it. And it’s hard to say Im happy about it. They were so close, sooooooo close to winning that thing! Over the storied Pittsburgh Steelers. When Larry Fitzgerald ran that touchdown in to put the Cardinals ahead with three minutes, what an exhillerating moment! It seemed very likely at that point that the Cardinals could win it! And at the very least force overtime and have a good chance to win that. But the Steelers put together one of the most memorable two-and-a-half minute touchdown drives ever to win the game. Man they were so close. So anyways lets dig up a few things that the Cardinals can be proud of (though they all seem to kind of fade away to the fact that they let the greatest Superbowl comeback victory ever slip through their fingers). Here’s the biggie. The Cardinals managed to gain 407 yards against Pittsburgh’s number 1 rated and much publicized defense. I remember reading an article afterwards that said “if defense wins championships, it will have to go find another sport.” The Cardinals made the league’s number one defense look silly. That’s pretty cool. The Steelers incidently gained only 292 yards. (So that means statistically Arizona’s defense did a little better job holding their offense too. Do you remember that goal line stand with six straight snaps holding them to a field goal. That was clutch). Here’s something you may not have thought of, but not only did Arizona’s offense outgain Pittsburgh but they also outscored them, 21 to 20. The rushing yards were pretty much a wash, with pittsburgh getting about sixty and arizona about thirty. The Cardinals got 23 first downs to Pittsburgh’s 20. Steelers were 4 for 10 on third downs, and Cardinals were 3 for 4. So what the Cardinals did against the Steelers defense really was amazing. But of course, there is one stat that towers over all stats, and that’s the final score. Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23. What was the big difference in this game? I think there were two big negatives for the Cardinals that I am amazed that they almost overcame. They got over one hundred yards in penalties, becoming the most penalized team in Superbowl history. And the biggie, and I believe the whole game definitely swung on this one play, the one play that if it went the other way I believe Arizona would be Superbowl champs: When Harrison intercepted Warner’s touchdown pass in the end zone at the very end of the half and ran it all the way back to score for the Steelers. Can you believe that! A fourteen point play. If that were a Cardinals touchdown it wouldve been 14 to 10 Cardinals at halftime. Instead it was 17 to 7 Steelers, taking that momentun from the Cardinals, and digging a hole that would prove too big to escape. Arizona fans will have two plays running through their minds for years. That interception and touchdown at halftime, and of course the much famed game-winning catch by Santonio Holmes at the end of the game.

So if Cardinals fans need one more piece of solace, it’s that it took what some are calling the greatest catch in Superbowl history to beat the Cardinals. Feel comforted Cardinals fans? Me neither. Oh well, it was a great game.

A Christmas Message

Ricky — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:11:06 +0000

This may not be the Christmas message you would expect, but it is something I have to remind myself of every year. In Luke Chapter 12, Jesus says

“Watch out, and be on guard against all kinds of greed (or covetousness) because a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Later in the chapter He says

“…..your Father delights to give you the kingdom. “

It’s embarrasing to admit, but every year I need to remind myself of this. It is very true on many levels that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I feel the battle in my heart of greed versus giving each year.

Jesus encourages us to be giving and not greedy by saying “your Father delights to give you the kingdom”

This is the first year I made this connection. And it makes alot of sense. I realized that it is very true (though something in me resists admitting it) that every possession that I own will not matter at all when it is time to go be with the Lord. We have this future with the Lord that is amazing beyond comprehension, and makes even the most wonderful possessions be forgotten (similar to the way I felt when I held my daughter in my arms for the first time a couple weeks ago). So it is silly to get so worked up about stuff. So Jesus mentions in that chapter “Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and make moneybags that will not grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven where thieves won’t come and steal and time and rust destroy. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I was hesitant to mention the “sell your possessions” part because I don’t think we are supposed to go sell everything we have. Or that we are not supposed to have anything beyond the bare essentials. But I take it as a lifestyle or an attitude that Jesus puts forward that I feel like I fall far short of, and I pray he will gently help me conform to. And that attitude is to not pile up possessions. Don’t spend your waking hours thinking about them and what else you want to get, rather, focus your heart on things that really matter (and your pocketbook should reflect that priority). Like He says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jaw-Dropping

Ricky — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:39:52 +0000

Do you ever read the bible and run across stories that don’t seem to make a whole lot of sense (a rhetorical question I know). Or do you have stories that just puzzle you for years? Yesterday I spent time in a passage that I have never really understood the significance of until yesterday. And as I understood it, it was such a touching story to me that I wanted to write about it. So I don’t want to preach at anybody, but for anyone who wants to listen I want to share this passage and why it was special to me. Do you remember any time when Jesus was awestruck by somebody’s faith? When his jaw dropped, and he looked around, and he said “this person has amazing faith!”

In Luke chapter 7, Jesus walks into Capernaum and gets a visit from some “elders of the Jews” and they have news for him. Here is the whole story, in its NIV version.

Luke chapter 7: When Jesus had finished saying all this, in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one “Go”, and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant “Do this,” and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Wow! Could you imagine Jesus saying that about you? (I definitely can’t)…can you imagine Jesus’ jaw dropping and saying “what amazing faith!” Let’s try to unravel this a little bit and take a closer look.

So who is this fellow? This centurion? What is a centurion anyways? A centurion is an appointed Roman military official. As he says himself, he is under authority, and he has men under his authority. To appreciate the significance of this it is important to know that Rome exercised political rule over this land at the time of Jesus. The Israelites were not happy about Rome’s presence, and longed for the days when they ruled themselves. So they were very prone to thinking that the Roman representatives were “lowly folks” to put it nicely. I imagine their attitude towards the Romans being similar to the attitude of the American colonies towards Great Britain right before the revolutionary war. There was definitely tension and resentment. I picture a tar-and-feathered British tax collector. Well the passage makes it clear that this Roman centurion was thought of very highly in Capernaum. In fact, “elders of the Jews” came on his behalf to plead for Jesus to come to heal his servant. The reasoning they give is interesting….”This man deserves to have you do this. He loves our nation, and has built our synagogue!” I imagine this centurion to be about as much of a “good guy” as you could find. We might call him today a “decent human being” or the kind of person that we wish there were more of in the world. He showed great concern for his sick servant. According to those elders of the Jews who came to Jesus in his behalf, he was kind to the Israelites in the area, and had definitely won their approval. I could imagine those elders thinking, “Come on Jesus, if anyone deserves to have you do something for them, it’s this guy. Look at all the good things he has done for us! So come on, follow us to his house and do what he asks of you.”

So Jesus agrees, and begins to follow them to his house.

Something interesting happens as Jesus approaches the house. Some of the centurion’s friends scramble out of the house and stop him. They have a message from the centurion.

“Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you…..”

Wait a minute….didn’t the elders of the Jews say if anyone deserves to have you come heal his servant, it’s this centurion? Why does the centurion act this way then? Why does he react so drastically? He won’t even let him into the house?! I used to think, “man what’s this guys deal. It’s not that big deal for Jesus to come into the house. Why didn’t he just have him in? There were lots of Pharisees and tax-collectors who casually invited Jesus into their homes. What is this guys deal?” But it is as if the centurion says “Man, look at me. Look at my life, look at how lowly I am. I feel so dirty. Man Jesus go away from me, I’m a sinner!” He doesn’t point to a single good thing that he has done, but he knows deep down that he is dirty. Does that sound like anybody else’s response to Jesus?

Peter had been traveling around with Jesus for quite some time, when Jesus performed a miracle that blew Peter away. Jesus told him to cast his nets back in the water, even though they had fished all night and came up with nothing. Being a professional fisher, Peter knew there was zero chance of now catching some fish. When those nets filled up, Peter instantly realized who Jesus was and it says he fell down at his knees and said “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

What is the difference between Peter and the centurion? Peter was an Israelite. Peter spent lots of time with Jesus, even watching him perform miracles. But it took the miraculous catch of fish to finally bring Peter to his knees. The story here says that the centurion only heard of Jesus. It is probable that he had never seen him. And he wasn’t even an Israelite, who was supposed to be waiting for the coming messiah. He was a Roman. And yet his response to Jesus was the same as Peters, after only hearing about him. He did not demand Jesus to come over and perform some miracles to see if he was for real. Do you remember Herod wanted Jesus to do that, almost as if it was for entertainment purposes. This centurion was already on his knees, ashamed of his own sin, and in awe of who Jesus is without ever having seen him!! And he’s not even a Jew!

The centurion’s message to Jesus goes on to say “But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me….” This centurion, who we don’t doubt esteems his sick servant very highly, has enough faith to know that Jesus doesn’t even have to come over to his house. That he can just say the word and his servant will be healed. Doesn’t that seem kind of risky? I mean, wouldn’t it be better to err on the side of caution and go ahead and have Jesus come over to his house to make sure that the servant is healed, just in case Jesus can’t heal from a distance? This is how much faith the centurion had in Jesus. And he says “For I myself am under authority, and I have people under my authority…” It’s as if he is saying “I understand authority when I see it. I know all about authority, and I know what kind of authority has been given to you Jesus.”

The centurion has no doubt about Jesus’ authority. He asks him to heal his servant from afar. He views himself as unworthy to even be in his presence. And Jesus’ response? “Wow! What amazing faith! I haven’t even found a Jew with faith like that!”

This story inspires me. The centurion had many opportunities to think he deserved something in life. That God owed him one. I mean, he even did good things for God’s people . He built their place of worship for them. He realized that God didn’t owe him a single thing! That he was, contrary to public appearance, unworthy to even enter the presence of His son. I believe that is the condition of every person on this earth, from the most passionate lover of God to the most wayward soul. We are all persistent in our disobedience to God, and none of us are worthy to enter His presence. That is why we so detest the idea of “piousness.” We all instinctively know that there is nobody who is really righteous. I think that is why people so dislike those who give off a “self-righteous” or “holier-than-thou” appearance. I have definitely realized that I am “holier-than-nobody.” My wife, or my closest friends could sure tell you a thing or two about that! I have heard it aptly put that a church is really a hospital for sinners, not a place for righteous people. I have also heard an analogy of sharing Jesus’ forgiveness as being like a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. I definitely side with Peter, with the centurion, and with the tax-collector who beat his breast and went away downcast saying “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I am persistent in my waywardness from God every day. And he gives me his promise found in Isaiah 61 “by His wounds you will be healed.”

Just for the heck of it.

Ricky — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:45:30 +0000

This is a little different. I come to this post today with nothing particular to say. Just a desire to make a post. Let’s see what comes out. For some reason “blog.com” where this site is parked seemed to be down for some time. Seemed like a couple of months. I thought this blog was toast. Then I discovered it was back.

So…..content. Let’s see. Heather’s over on the couch watching tube. We’re gearing up for a big run tomorrow. Heather is supposed to run fourteen miles. Wowee. I still don’t know how far I am going to go. We’re training for the “Fifth Third Bank Riverbank Run” a popular event in Grand Rapids every spring. And yes….I did say Fifth Third Bank. Did that catch anyone’s attention? Whose idea was it to name a bank “Fifth Third Bank”? Which one is it? The fifth? The third? Is it five thirds? We’re still wondering. So it is a 25 K. That’s 15.5 miles. A pretty good hoof. Last year I was under the impression that it was 15. I can’t describe the disappointment I felt when i got to the 15 mile sign only to learn i “only had a half mile to go”! (I can still picture the very vocal onlookers trying to encourage me with that.)

That brings me back to some memories from running the Chicago Marathon a couple years (and pounds) back. I was astonished at the number of people with cowbells cheering on us runners. It was kind of fun for the first eight or nine miles. Then it started getting really old. Amazingly the crowd never really did thin out for the whole marathon. There was always a yelling, screaming crowd (louder at certain points, and more tame at others)…but around just about every corner were people with cowbells. Then somewhere around the halfway point, a guy passed me who had something printed on the back of his shirt “I need some more cowbell”. I thought that was funny. (and yes I have seen the saturday night live skit). It was around the same time some guy pulled up next to me without shoes on. I was flabergasted! No shoes! He had a shirt on that said “Shoeless Rick” or something with a website. And it seemed like he had a fan base as we snaked through the streets of Chicago. And amazingly he had a smile on his face. Also that very day in the same race was my good friend Brad. He finished at 3:22. Which is pretty amazing. Almost qualifying for Boston. Since then he has gone on to break three hours, and last November at Chicago he ran a 2:46. Woah! He is one motivated dude. So he runs in the Boston Marathon…I think next weekend. And gets married in several weeks. How exciting.

Boy, I really am at a loss as for what else to say. I apologize to anyone who doesn’t care about running who read this. Or maybe I should just say I apologize to anyone who read this! I hope you are enjoying spring. Michigan has given me a deep appreciation of spring! We rejoice in 50 degree days around here. Im going to hang it up for the night. Thanks for stopping bye!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~AN UPDATE TO THIS ENTRY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is an edit to this post, added in November 08….I read this entry and realized this was the day before we found out Heather is pregnant. Heather never ran that fourteen miles….we did a pregnancy test “just to make sure” that she wasn’t pregnant…..because we thought fourteen miles would be kind of rough on a fetus, in the minute chance that there was one in there. Well, the rest is history!

Special

Ricky — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:53:34 +0000

My birthday was two days ago. I am not one to tell people it’s my birthday or try to subtly hint to them that it is. I even feel sort of embarrassed when Heather throws a surprise group of people together to celebrate (that happened a couple years ago.) I remember last year on my birthday, I had some friends pop into our apartment. They were at a friends’ place who lived in an apartment upstairs from us. They said, “when you get a minute, come upstairs because we have a surprise for you.” I was certain it was a surprise party for my birthday. My reaction was not excitement and expectation but sort of dread and anxiety. For some reason I do not like surprise parties so much. When we got upstairs, it wasn’t a surprise party. They had no idea it was my birthday. A wave of relief settled over me. Instead they had caught some huge salmon and wanted to show us their catch.

Two days ago, however, on my birthday I was reminded of how great it feels when people treat you extra special on your birthday. I woke up in the morning to get ready to go out to the school. Heather sprung out of bed and began making me brekfast. I discovered that she had decorated the table the night before for my birthday. She had little balloons and fall decorations on it and a cake that she made for me. I kissed her goodbye and headed out to school to discover she had done a little decorating in my car as well. Some balloons and a note. When I got out to school, I didn’t tell anyone it was my birthday, and I didn’t expect anyone to know. But when I got into the lunch room with the interns they broke into a chorus of “happy birthday”…there was a cake and little card sitting on the table. Our school’s secretary, Karen, keeps track of everybody’s birthday. And she made the cake for me the night before and brought it to school along with a card she had all the staff and interns sign. Karen really is like a mother around here. She does a great job of bringing love, warmth and caring to this place. The cake was delicious, and the maintenance interns and myself took care of it in a matter of a few minutes. Later, as I was driving home after an afternoon in the maintenance shop, I checked the messages on my phone to find happy birthday messages from a lot of my family. Heather and I got all dowelled up to go out to dinner. She took me out to a nice restaraunt that we had talked about going to for a long time. During the drive there and during the dinner I received a steady stream of phone calls from other loved ones. I called back those that left me messages too. Including Kelly, my wonderful twin sis, who I’ve shared a birthday with all of my life. As Heather and I sat and chatted, we received one more phone call, the last of the night, from Heather’s step mom Jean. She called to say happy birthday too. As I talked with her I had a wave of emotion come over me when I realized how many family members had called to wish me a special day. I just felt so special. That is the best way I can describe it. I felt tears begin to well up. And my birthday could not have gone better. No gift or event that Heather took me to or anything could have taken the place of those phone calls. And of the little thoughtful things that Heather did for me. It was a wonderful feeling. I felt tears begin to well up for a moment. And that is a big thing for me because I rarely ever cry. There is something so great about people letting you know you are special to them. I know this is a wonderful feeling and I remember having similar feelings on my birthday in years past. And I kind of tend to quickly forget these feelings until my next birthday. It seems like each year I am astounded by how good it feels, and then resolve to do a better job of remembering other people’s birthdays and then I quickly loose that resolve. Anyways my birthday got me thinking about how wonderful it is to be special to somebody, to be loved like that. I am really aware of it on my birthday. I am so glad now that God uses that kind of language to describe how he loves me. That he calls me one of his family. John 1:12 says “..to those who receive Him (Jesus), to those who believe in His name, he gave the right to become children of God.” God tells me that I am loved, considered precious and dear. I have been adopted into his family. When Jesus was spending his last night with his disciples, having his last supper with them before he was going to go and be crucified, he told them “In my Father’s house there are many rooms…..I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me where I am going.” (John 14:2-3) Ephesians 2:13 says “But now, you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:19 says “Consequently you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” “You have received the Spirit of sonship, and by him we cry “abba, father” (Romans 8:15) Abba is a term of endearment that literally means something like “daddy, daddy.” I don’t think I can really scratch the surface of all the places in the Bible that God describes how special his relationship is with his people and how dear we are to Him. I read the other day how he will sing and rejoice over us. All I know is I am very glad for this and I was reminded of its importance in my life on my birthday. I want to finish this post with this passage, Ephesians 1:13-14 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ricky — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 10:11:27 +0000

My friend les tried to bolster his lunchtime experience by incorporating some of what we’re learning. See below.