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Sermon on the Beatitudes Sierra Leone October 27 2019

This team stand here today among friends We may have been born in different countries, but we are the same Today we are going to talk a little bit about Jesus defining sermon It’s found in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 It explains how a Christian should conduct themselves It sets a very high standard for all of us to follow This conduct is for every man, woman and child that professes to be a Christian No more important words have ever been spoken on earth before an audience At the start of this sermon Jesus mentions 9 specific Beatitudes A beatitude is a way to be blessed by God Do you want to be blessed by God, I do These blessing may not happen on this earth, but they will happen in heaven The sermon begins by Jesus sitting on a quiet mountain side with just his disciples So lets read the story: Read Matthew 5 1-12 Verse 3: blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven: which means you feel broken and can go no further Verse 4: blesse

Sierra Leone October 21-30 2019

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October 22, 2019 Pele Wala Village Sierra Leone Took the long way into the village and passed where we turned in before. Road we took last year was impassable. The greeting we received was just like last year, but even bigger. This time they did a native dance and drums. Overwhelming for sure. I quickly saw Fatmala that is sponsored by Ken Baker. So glad to see a friendly face among a few I knew. The local construction crew had the church walls up, and were working on the school as well which is right next door. Both just passed the well that was put in last year. We had introductions again under the big tree, couple of speech’s then walked down to where the school was under construction. Santos is the foreman leading the construction and the walls for the school was about half done. After that they had lunch for us and played with the kids. Watching the kids eat lunch was crazy. They went for the food like they haven’t eaten in a week. No knives, forks or spoons, they eat wi

The Art of Living Well

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I'm a fan of wisdom literature, and the idea of how to live well.  Recently, via a friend I heard about The Bible Project and their use of visuals to tell a unified story.  Just this past week I watched the series they produced on Wisdom, and Living Well.  Came away very impressed with not only the product, but the method of production.  I would humbly call this a revolution on how to present timeless truths of the Bible in the modern world. The idea of this particular series is to present Wisdom in three separate forms from the unique books, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job.  Taken as a whole the insight from three perspectives is a brilliant take on a vastly important idea, How to Live Well. Here is a link to the series:  https://thebibleproject.com/explore/wisdom-series/ Here is a details background information on how it was produced:  https://d1bsmz3sdihplr.cloudfront.net/media/Quarterlies_Other%20Downloads/TBPq_003_digital.pdf   Highly recommend this for any and all w

Tower of Babel

Ever read the story of the Tower of Babel and not believe it to exist?  Facts show otherwise.  You can download my presentation of this  Tower of Babel Presentation

Sierra Leone November 12 - 18

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Sierra Leone, November 12 – 18 2018 Tuesday:   The flight arrived at airport after dark, and we walked out of the airport to get tickets to the ferry. $40 per person to ride about 10 miles across to Freetown.   We loaded in a bus who took us the short drive to the boat.   Smooth ride on a somewhat small boat at night so it was pleasant. Meet by two drivers who took us to dinner where I had Chicken Shawarma and a coke.   Then took a short drive to Barmoi hotel. Nick and I stayed in one room, all the others split into groups of 2. Wednesday: Woke up early so we could run on the beach.   Walked down a little unsure where to find it, but was no problem.   The beach itself could be beautiful, but was covered with trash. Mostly just awful. Ran 2.5 miles Nick who was running better than me. Felt super-hot at the end. Walked back up the hill to the hotel and into the big gate with a guard. Got in a quick swim in the small pool there that felt great.   A shower then held to breakfas

Living the Christian Life like Eliud Kipchoge runs the Marathon

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Discussion in Sunday School class was dominated by the results of the Berlin Marathon. What if we determined to live the Christian Life with the effort that Eliud Kipchoge runs the marathon? What would we need to be successful? Here is the goal of Christian Living: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:30-31 Here is the results of our discussion: Be in constant prayer for direction and purpose so that you can be in as close of contact with God as possible. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Surround yourself with others with the same goal. May include distancing yourself with those who lead you the opposite direction. Be forgiving – The art of wisdom is knowing what to overlook. Take our thoughts and actions captive. Keep a steady focus on the prize. Do not let your circumstances define success. (Running on a dirt trac

On Pascal's Wager

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You may or may not be familiar with Blaise Pascal, or his famous wager, but if not it is well worth a quick look.   Just a bit on Pascal himself, he was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian.   A child prodigy who developed one of the first mechanical calculators, did extensive work in many other areas of mathematics and science before dying at an early age of 39. Here is Pascal’s Wager in no uncertain terms: A rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell) The logic behind it: 1.    God is, or God is not. Reason cannot decide between the two alternatives. 2.    A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up. 3.    You must wager (it is not optional). 4.