"The Bridge" to a Holy New Year

Holy New Year to you and to your loved ones.

If you can spare abut half-an-hour today, you will be moved by the film link pasted below. It is a love story, yes, a moving, modern-day parable about the Love of Father God and the Sacrifice He made to save our lives.

MOST (Czech for "The Bridge") is a beautiful Oscar nominated movie and winner of many prestigious film festivals. It tells the story of the close relationship between a bridge operator (Vladimir Javorsky) and his young son (Lada Ondrej) and the fateful day when both try to head off an impending rail disaster. A steam train full of hundreds of passengers are unaware of the danger as they head towards an open drawbridge. When a desperate young woman (Linda Rybova) witnesses an act of virtue beyond her imagination, her life is changed forever.

Here's the link:
Click here: Most - The Bridge [Subs] - YouTube

John 3:16-17 to you and to me.
Grateful

All Your Plans

Author Henri Nouwen's mentor, Jean Vanier—who founded the L'Arch Communities for those with mental and physically handicaps and disabilities—gave this benediction blessing over Nouwen at his ordination service:

May all your expectations be frustrated.
May all your plans be thwarted.
May all your desires be withered into nothingness,
That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child
and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Amen and Amen.

Lord, in our dreams may Your dreams come true.
Grateful

"The Love of God" Is Really Real!

Today, I shared some precious moments with my dear mom, Melba. We talked about the joy of knowing that God is really real. She quoted this song to me:

UNTIL YOU'VE KNOWN THE LOVE OF GOD

If you could own all the world and it's money,
Build castles tall enough to reach the sky above;
If you could know everything there was to know about life's game,
Yet you've known nothing until you've known God and His love.

Chorus
Until you've known the loving hand that reaches down to a fallen man
And lifts him up from out of sin where he has trod;
Until you've known just how it feels to know that God is really real;
Then you've known nothing until you've known the love of God.

If in your lifetime you could meet everybody
And you could call every name from here to yon;
But if you've not come face to face with Jesus and His saving grace,
Then you've known nothing until you've known God and His love.

Chorus X 2

Also, in 1917 Frederick Lehman penned the words of another beloved hymn of The Church. The lyrics are still beloved and wondrously relevant in 2011:

THE LOVE OF GOD

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Repeat Refrain

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Repeat Refrain

God's Love Never Fails And His Hope Always Prevails!
Grateful

Most Quoted Words in the Old Testament

I've been told that the these words from Exodus 34:6-7 are the most quoted words in the Old Testament by The Old Testament. No wonder! These words are indeed God's own expression of His indescribable love towards His people. Reminding God over and over of "Who He said He is" and "how great He has defined His own love for us to be" surely gives us hope:

"I am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. -- Exodus 34:6-7 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

We Were Restored to Friendship With God By the Death of His Son!

My friend, Brian, leads our Mens' 20/20 Dawn Patrol Bible Saturation every second and fourth Tuesday morning of the week. Presently, we are saturating in the New Testament Book of Romans. This morning our concentration was on Romans 5. The opening paragraphs are so inspiring that I sensed I should share them with all the world, especially with you :-).

(I invite you to read these wonderful words aloud and to discover how long it takes for your own soul to be moved):

(1) Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (2) Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. (3) We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure. (4) And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. (5) And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. (6) When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. (7) Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. (8) But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (9) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s judgment. (10) For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by His life. (11) So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. -- Romans 5:1-11 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful