Without the Cross you only have a life reformed by teaching.
With the cross you have a life transformed by grace.
Without the Cross you have a life bound by religion.
With the Cross you have a life filled with Hope.
Without the Cross every day you live, you perish.
With the Cross every day you live, you prosper.
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Expectations place demands on others.
Creativity places demands on ourself.
When we shift from a mindset of expectation to a mindset of creativity, we shift from habitual living to purposeful living.
You establish a mind for success.
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I started doing my aerobatics ticket last week.
It is a skill I want to get before I get my commercial pilots license.
This is the bird I am learning in…its a blast, we did some dogfighting last week…I nearly lost my lunch!
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Try this little game…it is as close as your will get to real time!
http://www.nytimes.com//interactive/2009/07/19/technology/20090719-driving-game.html
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When I stand before God I will not give account for how faithful I have been to my dreams, but how faithful I have been to His purpose.
William Ross was a Scotsman who worked extensively in Wales in the late 1800’s and was a forerunner and a contributor to the change in the spiritual climate in that country that laid the groundwork for the revival of 1904.
We was a a passionate believer in the local church and a passionate believer in local evangelism. He had four central principals that were foundational to his work:
….nothing has changed.
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Romans 3:23
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
A remarkable statement…a remarkable thought…but what does it mean?
Paul uses the same word that Jesus used when He was talking about the prodigal son and He said that he began to be “in want”. He began to be short of money, to be short of food, he was in want, he lacked.
Sin has a variety of definitions.
It means to miss the mark, it means lawless, it means failing to be straight, it means trespass or transgression. But the idea of what sin means is held in this first concept…to be in want.
You see we are all “in want”.
Our righteousness, our activity, our own actions can not save us.
You can not say that your faith saves you, because then it becomes a work, something you can boast of.
If you say….”I believed and this other man did not” then you are saying that you were able to get your self back on track, you were able to hit the mark yourself. It is erroneous and arrogant.
Similar to the man who says “I am chosen, I am special”, they pervert the doctrine of grace and make it a doctrine of exclusivity, again it is something they have because they are special, they make it a work, a boast.
We have all fallen short, we are all in need of a Saviour.
So what is this salvation?
It means to be justified….just as if I had not sinned.
The law was never done away with. The Old Testament was never superseded. Not at all.The obligation of the law was met through Christ. The New Covenant does not eradicate the Old, it fulfills it.
We are all judged by the standard of the Old Covenant, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, it is just that through Christ we have been made righteous.
What Jesus did for us was pay the price for our problem. He didn’t eradicate it, He didn’t eliminate it, He paid for it.
To me this is the glory of the gospel.
It is a free gift to all.
It is not based upon what you have or haven’t done.
It is not based upon what you can or can not do.
You can’t earn it or work towards it.
It is not based upon YOU at all, YOU are not that special, YOU are not that able….all have fallen short.
But it is based upon the atoning, the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24)
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The Average Man:
height = 5′8 - 5′10
weight = 160 - 180 lbs.
bench press (max) = 135 - 185 lbs.
deadlift (max) = 185 - 235 lbs.
squat (max) = 185 - 235 lbs.
bicep curl (max double) = 60 - 100 lbs.
bicep curl (max single) = 30 - 50 lbs.
Age when the average guy is in the best shape of his life: 23
Percentage of men who consider themselves “physically fit”: 69
Percentage who actually are: 13
Time it takes the average guy to run a mile: 8 minutes, 34 seconds
Amount he can bench-press: 135 pounds
Number of situps he can do: 36
Pushups: 27
Pullups: 1
…I don’t want to be an average guy…
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