The Power of His Name

"Oh,For Christ's Sake, It's Christmas Eve!"

Mon Dec 25, 5:22 PM ET
A German taxi driver who shouted "Oh, for Christ's sake, it's Christmas Eve!" when a robber put a gun to his head scared the thief away.
The teen-ager opened the parked taxi's door in the western town of Bielefeld and demanded money Sunday evening, police spokesman Michael Mehler said.
The driver refused and jumped out, shouting for help. The two scuffled briefly before the thief fled.
"The taxi driver's resistance and reference to Christ and Christmas evidently unsettled the bandit," Mehler said Monday. An 18-year-old and his 16-year-old accomplice were later arrested.

Ask HIM what you want for Christmas....

JESUS PLAYS SANTA IN CHRISTMAS ADVERTISING
Baby Jesus, lying in a manger, has been dressed up in a red Santa outfit, complete with cap and fur-timmed sleeves, in advertising designed to entice people to church this Christmas.

The advertising, which is appearing on billboards across the UK, carries the slogan: "Go on, ask him for something this Christmas."

The new ad is from the Churches Advertising Network (CAN) who are no stranger to dressing Jesus up in borrowed clothes. This time, the Santa outfit is intended as an attack on the commercialisation of Christmas.
Says CAN: "Our poster is a reminder that the real message is not about letters to Santa posted up the chimney, trips to Lapland and expensive self indulgence. It is found as we join the shepherds who first came in response to the message of the angels to wonder at the birth of God's Son.
"We want to help start a debate about who Jesus really is."
So far, the ad has drawn mixed reviews. The Bishop of Manchester dismissed it as "trite attention grabbing and easy sentimentality."
Church Times columnist Martyn Halsall comments: "It's too clever by half, confusing the direct, even moving, appeal in the caption with a complicated, and perhaps offensive, image of a fancy-dress Jesus. The mixed metaphor is more likely to baffle non-Christians than attract them."
Opinions gathered from shoppers in Manchester were mixed.
"Quite clever, but it takes a little time looking at it to understand it. I didn't see the Santa outfit at first," said one shopper. Another commented: "Makes you think about what you want for Christmas and why."

Choice to Change

How do I change?
If I feel depressed I will sing.
If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I feel ill I will double my labour.
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent I will think of past success.
If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
Today I will be the master of my emotions.

-Og Mandino

The Battle.

So.... I was talking to one of my ex co-workers, whom I hadn't seen in a while, and she told me she was in a serious relationship with a Godly man. I was soooo happy for her, since she had lost her fiance in the beginning of the year.

I was there when she received the news of his death and fell to the ground to catch her as she fell weeping. All I could do was hold her in my arms as she cried out "Why God?! Why?!". I was terrified. This woman who is a pastor at her church and who was always one of MY STRONG mentors in faith, had just crumbled before my eyes.

Needless to say.... thru the Grace of God, she got thru it and began to heal day by day. And now is once again happy and confident with not only her relationship with man but more importantly WITH GOD!

As I was listening to her speak, I was reminded of a sermon I heard yesterday from Bishop Williams talking about Trials. In it he said "God sometimes has you first endure a GREAT BATTLE in order to come out with a GREAT VICTORY" .... this was HER Great Victory! Happiness she never thought she would ever find again with a man of God, Herself, and the King of All Kings!

2006 has been one CRAZY year... and as it is coming to a close, I am gonna reflect. Not only on my blessings (which are many), but also on my "battles" I have, thru the Grace of God, been able to endure.

Because I AM READY FOR MY "GREAT VICTORY"..... are u?

Isn't God Good!!!!!!?!!!?!!! Amen!

Psalm 18:35You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.

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"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

-Bertrand Russell

"Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't."

-Richard Bach