Good vs. Evil

I've been so busy with triathlons and bike races, so I haven't had time to type this up. Here is my sermon from May 15th, 2011:

So this week let's talk news & media. Do you guys & gals know what's going on or do they shelter you in this house? Well let me share with you anyway. We, the United State Military, killed "Osama Bin Laden." Good finally won over evil. We were attacked many times by that man and his disciples. Our most devastating tragedy was 9-11 in New York City. That day has impacted my life as I was living in New York that day and would have been in the buildings. I escaped because of God's Will; others did not. We will remember their lives forever.

So on May 6th 2011, we were given the news of "Bin Laden's" death; A victory for those lost; Again, a win of good versus evil.

Where does that fit into the readings of the Bible?

Luke 6:45 states:

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

The media right now are acting like false teachers, filling our ears with false translations of the Bible, with prejudice, hate, greed and desire for information of "Bin Laden's" death.

The Apostle Paul gave warnings to the people and church's of false gospel.

Roman's 16:17-18 states:

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

So the media is sucking us in to continue to celebrate the death of an evil person, feeding us with ever detail; putting him, "Osama Bin Laden," on the foregrounds of leadership of evil. We must continue to ignore it because it will lead us into sin.

The Prophet Isiah and Jesus both warned against misleading others into sin.

It says in Isiah 5:20-21:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight!

Matthew 18:6-7 states:

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

Reading and learning the wisdom of the Bible helps us discern good from evil, good teachings from evil teachings, even when evil is disguised as good. A victory over evil is good, but celebrating it is evil.

Once we distinguish that good from evil, we can practice good in our own lives.

My final reading is Proverbs 2:6-13:

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, To deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness.

Wisdom is always the buffer against conflicting ideas. When good wins over evil, brief celebration is acceptable, but one must let it go.

I, as a former New Yorker, am happy for the death of "Osama Bin Laden;" the victory of good versus evil, but I will let it go. I will not fall into the pit of sin and continue celebrating. We must move on and continue our prayers for those who lost their lives in the fight of good versus evil. It is constant and never ending, but we will live with our own peace.

Let us pray.

Thank you Lord for out victory. Continue to protect those who protect us. We will always remember those who left us; They will not be forgotten.

Peace be with you.

and everyone says

Amen.

Auburn International Triathlon 2011

Mothers day :-)

May all the moms have a beautiful blessed day !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5EIUIXbhc

EASTER

Here I am again giving a Sunday sermon to the seniors on the Easter holiday. We all know what the meaning of Easter is if you have read the bible, But is the word "Easter" as we know it ??? The name or word is never mentioned in the original scriptures. In a later English translation the word is used,,, King James 12:4 it says
"And when he [Herod the king] had apprehended him [Peter] He put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him intending after Easter to bring forth to the people"

In my studies I found that the book of acts was originally written in the Greek language, So the translation "Easter" is actually the word "pasha" which is Hebrew for passover. Jesus was killed during the celebration in Jerusalem. Passover is the Jewish religious celebration, It was instituted by GOD (Leviticus 23:5) It comes from when GOD delivered the Israelites from bondage and spared there first born.

"Easter" is more than the bunny's and egg coloring thing, But where did that stuff come from ???

First the rabbit, a symbol of fertility, a creature bringing new life. Fitting for "Christ has risen" Right, Easter is also on or around a full moon, which is the mother of goodness or Semiramis. In other words the Easter bunny symbolizes the mother.

The eggs now also means life. It was also a symbol of the Babylonians. They believed an egg of immense size fell from heaven into the Euphrates river and the goddess Astarte was hatched. The eggs now brought life and goddess Easter.

Easter is the day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. When you have the time you can read the whole written story in Genesis. There you can learn about Christ's journey, why he came and who he was. His last days was told by Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. He was and is our Messiah. The colored eggs, chocolate bunny are all symbolic of forgotten meanings but they are what they are. We as society sometimes forget the true past meanings. Now that I have shared my learning may you see things in a new light

Hide the eggs

Eat all the chocolate bunnies

Or my favorite yellow peeps,,,

Just don't forget the Messiah Jesus Rose and Returned,,,

Until next time "JDP" OUT

St. Patricks day

So I misplaced my notes from my sermon for the seniors which took place on march 20Th 2011, Today (4-10-2011) I intended to run in the Sacramento zoo zoom 5k But a member of my church asked me to swap my scheduled sermon day to this morning, No run but I found my notes from last month, If you don't mind I feel I must share since knowledge is power even if it's not on time !!!
SERMON
So as I have for the last 5 months come to you for my monthly sermon it once again fell on or around an American celebrated Holiday. This week was St Patrick's day, this is one of my favorites, I'm Irish and my son was born this day 17 years ago.
As usual I found my self searching for meaning of this holiday, where does it fit in with religious beliefs ??? Why the green, shamrocks, beer, leprechauns, rainbows with pots of gold or even kiss me I'm Irish buttons, Or even where does the snake story fit in ??? I began my search with Who was St Patrick,,,
There is not much about him in the history books because such records were not really kept back then, Here's what I found, First off he was not Irish, At around the age of 16 Patrick was captured from Britain by Irish raiders. Taken to Ireland to be slaved. He remained one for more than 6 years. Once he escaped he returned back to his family, He the entered the Roman Catholic church, There he became a ordained Bishop, Once he was chosen to leave and serve his own district, He chose North West Ireland where he was a slave, Little was written what he done there but he was a missionary spreading GOD and giving hope to those who had very little. By the 7Th century He had become the revered saint of Ireland. No snake story found or written.
Was it a MYTH or a fact that was hidden from the books. I was shocked when I found the truth, Something I grew up to believe as truth was not the real story, In fact No snakes exist on the island of Ireland today or ever in the history of history, Since it is an island surrounded by icy cold ocean waters, No snake could ever migrate onto it's soil.
So where did the "snake" story come from,,,well its a metaphor, You see when they said "St Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland" What they meant was he drove the pagan ways out of Ireland bringing a new age of faith and becoming an Irish saint.
So I covered whom the holiday was named for so where do all the other stuff come from ???
The Shamrock, It grew plentiful in Ireland during that time and was used as a symbol of the Holy trinity (the father, the son, and the holy spirit) Much later in time after his death the Monks used them on this day to celebrate St Patrick bringing faith to the Irish
Corned beef and cabbage, This tradition was given a free pass so to speak on this day to celebrate heritage since St. Patrick's day fall on a day during lent.
It wasn't till the 1970's when eastern America, especially N.Y. and Boston did this Holiday take the form as we know it today. The priests would speak of it during this time and the people began to celebrate using True Irish tradition, They added the beer and whiskey Since "GOD created those drinks so the Irish don't rule the world" (My child hood priest gave me that one at an AA meeting) Every thing else as we know came to fruition due to our society commercializing another tradition, Whether you celebrate the modern way or the Christian way Just be safe and have fun !!!
I find it great to gain knowledge from facts, Something you have always believed to be one way can easily become another once you gain some more knowledge from true Historic facts not family myths, This leads back to my favorite life long saying "The more you learn the more you earn and I don't mean monetarily" Until next time "JDP" OUT

Life song

Do you ever feel blah ??? I'm feeling that way. I guess probably because I took today as a rest day. Just chilling in the pj's doing nothing, watching nothing of substance, or even reading for that matter. Life's constant swirling around is draining. I realize it's hard to be and stay positive and upbeat each and every second of every day. I think my life is AWESOME, I tell myself that I am every day, It is my self affirmation. Every one should do it every day. So I thought I would share the song playing in my heart and head today, Hope your having a great day and don't forget your AWESOME too !!! until next time "Jeff Da Plumber" OUT

"CHANGE"

Let's talk change, It has been on my mind a ton in this new year. First off what does "change" even mean. I'm sure everyone has a different point of view. For me it has several. First one is actual change, the nice shiny and dull coins you carry around in your pocket or purse. My family and I are putting it in mason jars to raise some extra cash for my Africa trip I'm going on this year. I will be making some "change" for others and myself. Then you have personal "change", Spiritual "change", physical "change", Emotional "change",,, All of which I have been putting myself through.
Some you can "change" on your own, others "change" without your input at all. Let me start there, The people in your life change. You may edit them out or vice versa. Or they go through changes that affect you. Some you may like or not. In fact my close friends had a major change recently and to be honest I don't like it. It makes me sad and makes my heart heavy speaking to them. It changes my life too. I love them and wish them the best. I will go with the flow, not pick sides and let them decide how or where I fit in to there change. It's change you have no control over. Like the weather, you look outside, listen, and go with the flow
Physical "change", Boy have I been working this on many levels. As I sit here typing my left knee is throbbing. See yesterday I ran in the shamrock half marathon and my knee gave out, it was not ready for the change I was trying to make. See when I started this run "change" I was at like 16 minute miles, I'm trying to get consistent 6 minute miles. My body may not be ready, I finished anyway because I will not make the "change" of quitter.
I also just completed a 40 day transformation class. 40 days of change. Originally I went into it looking for sick abs "change". That "change" didn't happen. But my body did "change". The v shape physique is returning Thanks to my Zuda peeps and my own fortitude. As we went trough the book I had allot of "aha" moments. Been there doing that, so I have been changing whether I was aware or not.
Most who know me, know I can talk and tell stories. Be boisterous and expressive. But in my new phase of "change" I'm settling down, feeling more at peace alone. In my past alone time was drinking and drugging because I was alone and thought no one wanted me. So I filled that void. Once I "changed" that habit I came to the conclusion I was doing that stuff because I was afraid of "change". People wanted me and loved me, silly boy "change" can be good. Now When I'm alone I meditate, pray, or just listen to the sounds around me. feeling the love that surrounds me. In fact when I run I used to find someone to talk with. I have been just running quietly, having my own personal mind conversation. I even realized when music is on I'm really listening to what they are singing about and deciphering what they are meaning. This all comes from me being quiet. A "change" for the better,,, I don't know is it ???
In fact as I am writing this I'm confused again, what does "change" mean. I thought I knew 20 minutes ago but then it "CHANGED",,, AHA,,, That's my point it happens when your not aware. Whether your in control or not "change" happens. Once we learn to just go with it life is easier. One must be able to accept the world goes round and round with or without your input. You can change or not. Things will change or not. You will be happy or not. But "CHANGE" will happen. I say love it or hate it, But you can not always "change" it. I hope I brought something up within you just now, But my new life awareness or mantra, Just "Go with the flow" ""CHANGE"" Until next time, Jeff da Plumber OUT