O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity.  Grant us the fullness of your grace, that, pursuing what you have promised, we may share your heavenly glory; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

JUSTIFYING GRACE #bringit

(Please read till the end… I added a lot of scriptures and personal testimonies for this Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost… THANK YOU!!!)

The more that I learn about our Lord Jesus Christ, the more His love for us becomes evident to me… I am very drawn to the cross… and it is awesome to remind myself that our sins have been put to death with Jesus’s flesh body on a cross…

REMEMBER THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD???

ANYWAY…

Back to the cross…

This week, I want to begin by sharing with you the Holy Gospel written in the book of Mark in our New Testament of our Holy Bible.

Mark 8:27-35

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

²⁷ Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”

²⁸ So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰ Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

³¹ And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

³⁴ When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

I have to be honest with you…

I LOVE WORKING OUT… I AM GONNA GO TO THE GYM AFTER I READ THESE VERSES WRITTEN BY THE MAJOR PROPHET ISAIAH… (reminds me of PSALMS)

Isaiah 50:4-10

⁴ “The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
⁵ The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
⁶ I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

⁷ “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸ He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
⁹ Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.

¹⁰ “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.

JUSTIFYING GRACE #bringit

LET’s GO WORKOUT!!!

(Please read till the end… I added a lot of scriptures and personal testimonies for this Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost… THANK YOU!!!)

9/26/2017 –

WELL… (wait for it)

BEAUTIFULNESS THIS MORNING…

9/27/2017 –

TODAY WAS AWESOME!!!

I read…

I worked out…

I went to the Historical Society…

I went to the library…

WANT TO READ THE SPEECH I GAVE LAST NIGHT???

SPEECH #4                                    WE ARE!!!

My Fellow Toastmasters and Guests…The sun goes down… the moon reflects the awesome light of tomorrow on the field… I am joined by 106,000 members of my family… I hear a distant chant emerging from the sea of blue and white… I, immediately, join in… WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) THANK YOU!!! (you’re welcome) You guessed it… my speech tonight is on Penn State Football… Specifically, why HAPPY VALLEY IS AN AWESOME FOOTBALL GAME DESTINATION… I will pass you six reasons…

1. White-Outs

My eyes… (put on sunglasses)… 106,000 people all dressed in white will brighten up any game… EVEN DURING A NIGHT GAME! It is truly a sight to see. The white out follows suit of one of the latest trends in college football to have everyone attending the game wear the same color, this past week’s beating… featured yellow and black stripes in the stands… Penn State played IOWA In IOWA CITY. This was cool… but no one can compete with Penn State’s white house.

The white-out occurs inside the football stadium; however, my senses prefer what happens outside the stadium.

2. Tailgating

Sniff… Sniff… I smell Burgers, hotdogs, barbeque chicken… What’s that??? Sniff… Sniff… is that??? No, it can’t be… Sniff… Sniff… IT IS… Well, I be a Penn State Fan (wink)

shrimp, lobster, steak… AWESOME!!! The tailgating routine is common in every college and pro football site in the United States, but at Penn State, the tailgate is a tradition like no other.

AND I like it, because I can practice my public speaking skills by asking for some tailgaters to share some of that good food (wink)…

You know… all this food is going to make me bloated… I’m gonna have to walk it off…

SHOPPING ANYONE???

3. The Shopping is what also makes Happy Valley an awesome college football destination.

When we walk down College Avenue we will find many stores opening their doors for some good deals. WE WILL FIND ANYTHING DAWNING THE Blue & White.

We must…

Unlock the magic of Penn State with a Penn State key. YES… They have Penn State Keys for sale!

When the magic is unlocked we can actually find a

A Nittany Lion suit…

We could dress up like the mascot!

Nittany Lion suit could serve as pajamas or a way to stay warm at those late fall tailgates.

This brings me to my fourth reason why Happy Valley is an awesome college football destination…

We have the best mascot in the big ten-

4. The Nittany Lion

WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) THANK YOU!!! (you’re welcome)

The master of ceremonies on Saturdays, the Nittany Lion takes on the responsibility for getting the crowd ready for the pregame show and entertained during the stoppages in play during the game. He wears a button for Penn State’s moto of the week…

Do you know what the button said for last Saturday??? (vs. Iowa Hawkeyes)

THE NITTANY LION GETS THE CROWD GOING.

The sound of over 100,000 fans cheering on Old State will give any opposing team trying to call plays trouble… THE NOISE…

I need to explain the fifth reason…

5. BEAVER STADIUM…

The steel enclosure is built upwards, unlike Michigan stadium which is built outwards. This makes the noise thick… trying to escape, but, beating down on the ears off the opponents instead. The stadium is also awesome hearing the marching band… which is the sixth reason making Happy Valley an awesome college football destination…

6. The Blue Band

How can you miss hearing… The roar of the bass drums, the saltiness sound of the trumpets, the sweet sound of clarinets…

SOOO…

Let’s go to a Penn State game…

WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) WE ARE!!! (penn state) THANK YOU Toastmasters!

9/28/2017 –

Well… writing that fifth speech…

I THINK, I WILL ENTITLE IT “RUNNING TO LEAD“

I HAD BETTER RUNS… *click/push*

BELOW IS HOW I GOT MY DAY STARTED… will you listen???

THANK YOU!!!

9/29/2017 –

YOU KNOW, I AM LICENSED TO PRODUCE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, RIGHT???

9/30/2017 –

TODAY WAS AWESOME!!! WHAT WILL MAKE IT MORE AWESOME IS IF YOU LET ME SHARE THIS WRITING FROM OUR BROTHER PAUL WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THESSALONIANS… It Reads…

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Q: WHY DO I STRUGGLE WITH THIS???

Q: AM I WEAK IN FAITH FOR HAVING QUESTIONS???

Q: AM I THINKING CARNALLY, WHEN I SHOULD BE THINKING SPIRITUALLY???

*whispers* it’s good to have questions…

LET’s GO2 CHURCH

JUSTIFYING GRACE #bringit