Da Word... 136!

Gooood... Afternoon!

What's goin' on peeps? Christmas is right around the corner. Yo this year is flying by FAST! N e who, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Remember to represent Christ, and spit da good newz to peeps through action, words, or acts of appreciation. TRU! Aight, on to, da Word!

checkit:

31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soliders, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.

- Acts 27:31,32

See, Paul was on his way to Rome to come face to face with da Ceasar (if you've been following our story, Paul has been the ball in a game of ping-pong seein' different officials for his alleged crime. You should read these chapters, very good stuff!). So, homeboy is on this ship with a huge crew, soldiers, and other prisoners. They are sailing along, peepin' da weather, and low and behold... they become "lost" at sea and get rocked by MASSIVE hurricane force winds, crashing waves, da whole nine.

One of these nights, Paul gets a message from an angel o' Pops saying, "Yo, no one shall be lost potna, everyone will be saved, but the boat... nada." YEAH! So Paul spits this info to the peeps on the boat. I don't know if they thought he was crazy or not, but.... alas, da sailors are gettin' scared. They try to pull a fast one on everyone else and sneak out via lifeboat. Paul notices this and says to the Centurion and the soldiers, "Yo dawgs, unless these kats continue to rough it with us like homeboys, ya cannot be saved. Peeps will die brutha."

Now this is the interesting part, da soldiers go and cut the ropes to the lifeboat! Why in the heck would they do this? Why are they listening to Paul? I can think of two possible reasons they did. One, maybe they got a deep feeling that Paul was right. Two, they thought Paul was crazy and were thinking instead, "If we are gonna die, we are ALL gonna die. Screw that, ain't NO ONE pullin' a fast one on us!" There are probably other reasons they might have heeded Paul. But REGARDLESS... for whatever reason, selfish or not, these soldiers stopped the sailors from bouncing. The result, EVERYONE was saved. EVERYONE.

Who in the heck on that boat deserved to be saved? Proabably no one. Stuff happens. Get caught in a storm and bam, life can end. Paul of course wasn't worried, cuz he was in tiziiiight with Pops. But by His Grace, GOD stepped in and saved them all. Not through any action of any single individual, but by HIS choice. And most likely Paul, his agent to the Gentiles, being aboard might have had an influence. Imagine the witness this would bring!

K, pullin' to a close cuz this is a long one. Bottom line, Pops is ILL! And even though we don't deserve anything, God, by His Grace, will step in and give us something. And guess what? He gave us a way to have our sins forgiven, and He gave us a way to have Life... both rich here and now and eternal in the after!

G-bless,

- patrick

Da Word... 135!

Goood Morning!!!

What's goin' on PEEPS!! What's the word? Things here are going well. Work is streamlining, haven't had to put in any hours over 40 (very nice very niiiiice). My bamboo is growing quite nicely believe you me ;-D heh heh. And a bunch of Jiu JItsu students just got promoted (sweeeet!). Now they are more... how should i say.... deadly. Which means we get to play even more! Aight, on to... da Word!

checkit:

Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

- Paul (Acts 26:8)

You know, my dawg Paul has a point there... why in the WORLD are we so shocked and amazed... or think it too incredible that Pops above could raise the dead? I mean... homeboy *is* GOD........ That's BAM right there. Paul is like, "Yo, I mean come ooooooon, sumtim like that for God is a piece of CAKE potna! He is GOD.. duh! Raisin' peeps from the dead to Him is probably like what breathing is for you.. or even being able to comprehend all manner of items via sight and sound.. Yeah, it is ILL!!! But it is not so incredible as to render its possibility of occurrence void."

Paul is in disbelief that there are peeps who believe that raising the dead is too incredible for Pops above. Paul is just shocked and is like, "come on yo.... it comes WITH the whole GOD thing, you know... GOD, all powerful, creator of life, the one who is responsible that we even exist..... dude I mean come oooooooon."

So what can we learn from this? Simply, let's not put God into some box of our own creation that "bounds" him simply because we cannot comprehend the limitless reaches of God's ability. Realize that God is beyond awesome, and there are things Homeboy can do that... whoa.... I mean we can't even BEGIN to imagine what such things might be. But one day we'll catch a chance to peep some of this awesomeness. So don't limit God by your own disbelief! Cuz, my friends, God... is freakin' HUGE!

Aight yo, PeACE!

G-bless,

- patrick

Da Word... 134!

Hey hey!

Good afternoon! What's up! I missed last week, my bad my bad. Hope your thanksgiving was the "bomb diggity", heh heh. And now, Christmas is fast approaching, tru! Aight, on to... da Word!

checkit:

And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.

- Paul ( Acts 26:6 )

BAM! That's pretty much all I gotta say... BAM! That right there is straight commitment... tru loyalty to the cause, to Pops above! I mean, yo, my man Paul has been batted around left and right peeps! He's been dragged from prison to prison, official to official, goin' on WELL over 2 years, being tried and tried again cuz peeps were out to kill him... the list is ENDLESS. But did Paul waver? No way!!! Paul stood resolute, confident in the Lord. Why? Cuz Paul knew Pops above is da ILLEST, most AWESOME, and TRUSTWORTHY potna to have backin' you up SON!

If you got Pops, there is no reason to falter or be afraid. Paul had found truth, and he was tellin' it... so that ALL could come to know this saving and freeing truth. Most importantly, he stood by it, even though doing so brought him "hardship". We all know the quote, "Without struggle there is no progress." If we are not willing to take a stand and fight for that which we believe, ESPECIALLY if it is the TRUTH and that which will set ALL peeps FREE... then what point is there in believing it?

Paul is a bonafide example, he talked the talk, and walked the walk. He was not afraid to face the music and bear any apparent "pains". Why? Because of the hope that he will have life with GOD yall! He was in a win-win situation. By living and fighting, he could bring more people into a knowledge of the truth. If he passed away, he had a super fast ticket straight to Pops above. Therefore, remain steadfast potnas! Hold your ground! Do so in LOVE!

Nuthin' to lose, all to gain, trust in Him!

G-bless,

- patrick