Get in the Game
By David Hanson

When I was young, I was one of those LLBW’s (Little League Bench Warmers). Sure, I was on the team, but I played so rarely that even my baseball glove would atrophy. It was the same in church; I was in the building, but as a spectator rather than an active participant. Now I am honored and humbled to know that God loves us and wants us to be active players on His team.

God’s game plan for Christians begins with our spiritual resume:

Ephesians 2:1
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

Now there’s something to write home about; we were dead. Not even on the roster, let alone in the game. Thankfully, the plan didn’t end there.

Ephesians 2:4 and 5
(4) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
(5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

God loved us and saved us by grace, but not to sit on the bench.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are His workmanship, created with a grand purpose: to do good works. Now admittedly, when I first heard this, I thought, “We are saved so we can WORK? Send me back to the bench!” Thankfully, I’ve matured since then.
For many years of my Christian walk, I had this sense that these good works were somewhat optional. They would be nice, but only when my own desires were met. But the verse says that God “prepared for us to do” them. There are many other verses in the Bible that tell each of us to do various good works to and for “one another.” [1] It is not just the job of full-time ministers.

Ephesians 4:11 and 12
(11) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
(12) to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

These ministers are not to do all of the work themselves. Rather, they are to prepare, or equip, all of us “for works of service,” so we can each help build the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ needs all of us in the game.

Ephesians 4:16
From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Jesus Christ is the Head of the Body, of which we are all vital members. We all get to be directly involved with him to build up the Body. What a privilege to work with the greatest coach of all time! And, as if the myriad of commands in the Bible were not enough evidence that God wants us to do good works, look at how He has equipped us to do them:

Hebrews 13:20a and 21a
(20a) May the God of peace…
(21a) equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ…

God equips us to do His will. If He didn’t, we would be out in left field without a glove.

God also equips us through each other.

Hebrews 10:24 and 25a (KJV)
(24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
(25a) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another…

Again, it’s not just the minister’s job to encourage us to love and good works, but we are to help each other to do the same. God wants us to work together as a team.

To further equip us, God inspired His Word, which is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16 and 17). We should learn and study God’s Word so that we can be equipped to do what God wants us to do: good works.

God has also “clothed us with power from on high” (Luke 24:49) through His gift of holy spirit. He equipped us with spiritual power to love people like our Lord Jesus did.

God has gone to great lengths to call us and to equip us for good works. Notice that God says “good works,” not vexing labor What are they? Let’s start with the foundation of all that we do for God.

Matthew 22:36-39
(36) “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
(37) Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
(38) This is the first and greatest commandment.
(39) And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

What is important and pleasing to God is not always going to be the “works” themselves, but rather the heart of love behind the works. The Bible addresses doing works without love:

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
(1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
(2) If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
(3) If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

The works mentioned in the passage above are good, but they are only pleasing to God if they’re done in love. And love, in this context, is pretty simple: love is thinking and doing what the other needs. God needs His people loved; that’s where we get to play. Matthew 22:37 says to love “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And really, doesn’t God deserve this response of love, after the love He has bestowed on us?

1 John 4:9-11
(9) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
(10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
(11) Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

God deserves our whole allegiance and response of love toward Him and others. God so loved the world that He gave His Son (John 3:16); if He loves people that much, so should we.

Ephesians 5:1 and 2a
(1) Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
(2a) and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…

We are to imitate God and love our neighbors, which is exactly what Jesus did when he gave himself for us. Love is the hallmark of all that Jesus did toward both God (John 8:28 and 29) and people. Jesus’ good works were varied (teaching, preaching, reproving, healing, etc.), but his love for God and for people was his motivation.

Similarly, our good works will vary, but love should be behind all that we say and do. The Apostle Paul’s love for the Thessalonian believers was displayed through many different works.

1 Thessalonians 2:8a and 9, 11 and 12a
(8a) We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well…
(9) Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
(11) For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,
(12a) encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God…

Paul’s love is clear; it is shown by:

• sharing not only the good news, but also his life
• working “night and day” not to be a burden to them financially
• working with “each” of them as a father, with specific, personal attention to each believer
• “encouraging, comforting, or urging” them to be their best for God.

Paul’s good works varied according to the person and situation, but his love was the motivation throughout. In Acts 16, Paul heals a woman with a demon, and he gets beaten and thrown in jail for his efforts. I’m guessing that Paul scratched Philippi off his “Coolest Vacation Spots” list.

God delivers him through an earthquake, and the jailer is going to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners have escaped. Had Paul simply shut his mouth and left, the jailer would have died that night. But Paul loved even the jailer who had put him in stocks; he loved him enough to stay at the prison and shout to him not to kill himself. The jailer and his whole family got saved and have eternal life because Paul was in the game, and not just keeping the bench warm.

Now it’s our turn to play. God has called us and fully equipped us unto love and good works. The Bible commands us to do many good works, but our motivation for them all should be our love for God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has saved us by giving us eternal life with Him and Jesus Christ. And if that isn’t great enough, He will also reward us for all the good works we do for Him.

Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

God has called us to be intimately involved with Him, but He doesn’t need bench warmers. He has lovingly equipped us to love and help others, and then He’ll reward us for all we do for Him. So let’s get in the game!

WHEY LADY SAW A DO WID SO MUCH DOG ? HIRE SECURITY

Lady Saw to pay helper $1.5m after dog attack
BY PAUL HENRY [email protected]
Monday, October 15, 2012

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Popular dancehall deejay Lady Saw will have to fork out close to $1.5 million to pay damages after her dogs attacked her domestic helper.
Sixty-two-year-old Dorothy Wilson was hospitalised for a month after being mauled by a dozen dogs at Lady Saw’s upper St Andrew home.

1/1
Justice Leighton Pusey made the award with interest during an assessment of damages hearing in the Supreme Court last Wednesday.
Attorney Carla Brydson told the Jamaica Observer last week that her client was attacked on September 29, 2009 after completing a day’s work at the Chancery Hall, St Andrew, residence of her employer.
Brydson said Wilson was leaving the premises when the dogs pounced, ripping off a chunck of flesh from a leg and eating it before coming back for more.
Wilson was left with over 20 bites when the dogs relented their savage attack.
The woman was rushed to the University Hospital of the West Indies where she spent five weeks.
The attorney said Wilson, who had worked with Hall for about 15 years, described some of the dogs as being of the Pitbull breed.
As a result of the attack, Wilson is unable to stand for an extended period and is left with damage to a nerve in her finger, Brydson told the Observer.
Wilson subsequently filed a lawsuit, but Lady Saw, whose real name s Marion Hall, did not contest the case.
At the assessment of damages hearing, Wilson was awarded general damages in the sum of a million dollar, with three per cent interest from March 29, 2011 to October 10, 2012.
Special damages was assessed in the sum of $482,601 with three per cent interest from the date of the attack, September 29, 2009, to October 10, 2012.
Hall will also have to pay Wilson’s legal fees.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Lady-Saw-to-pay-helper–1-5m-after-dog-attack#ixzz29PIgSxf3

Ex-soldier sentenced for sham marriage to Jamaican
Monday, October 15, 2012

WICHITA, Kansas (AP) — A former US soldier will spend 10 months in federal prison for entering into a sham marriage so he could get additional military benefits and his Jamaican bride could become a legal immigrant, a federal judge ruled Monday.
In a rare move, US District Judge Monti Belot rejected the prosecution’s request for leniency for Joshua Priest, saying it was not justified in this case. The former Fort Riley private pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and wire fraud, and testified against his wife, Shannakay Hunter.

“The fact you came in and cooperated is fine, but it doesn’t excuse what you did,” Belot told the crestfallen defendant during the sentencing hearing.
Belot also ordered Priest to pay nearly US$30,000 in restitution for the fraudulently obtained housing and subsistence benefits given married soldiers.
“The worst part of it, Mr Priest, is that you were a member of our armed forces,” Belot said.
The judge said Priest had a “higher responsibility” than others since he had taken an oath to serve the country. He said the former soldier violated that oath.
Testimony at Hunter’s trial pointed out that Priest, who earned about US$33,000 a year as a soldier, didn’t feel he was making enough money and decided to cheat the government. Hunter was convicted in August of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and lying to the government. She will be sentenced November 26.
Priest testified at his wife’s trial that the couple had not personally met until she came to Kansas to get married, telling jurors that they never had sex or lived together.
Assistant US Attorney Brent Anderson said Priest and his attorney had been helpful from day one and urged the judge to accept the government’s sentence recommendation, which was filed under seal before the hearing. Anderson called the suggested punishment the “best course for this defendant who has a bright future otherwise.”
The sealed motion that prosecutors filed is the kind that typically asks a judge to grant a shorter sentence than the federal sentencing guidelines in cases where defendants provide substantial assistance to the government in prosecuting others. Prosecutors did not specify at the hearing what sentence they were seeking.
Defense attorney David Freund told the judge that Priest had financial problems and made “a poor decision” but has since enrolled in college in Virginia and understands his obligation to make restitution. Freund asked for Priest to be sentenced to probation.
Priest offered a brief apology before his sentencing.
“I learned my lesson,” he told the judge. “I don’t plan to do anything like that again.”
But Belot disregarded the pleas for leniency, telling Priest the “only benefit” he would get from the government’s motion was the chance to voluntarily surrender at the prison and not be taken into immediate custody.

The Prostitute of Hartford

This gyal gwane like she a somebody pon facebook and she a sell har body fi a living! you know how much time she get busted ?! mi a tell u! har neighbor dem a manchester knows her well,well! woman u have 2 nice kids fi be responsible for why u haffi be a wukless mumma? u nuh tied fo man call u $65 quickie Shyann,Nicky and all di names u have? Cityvibe and all di websites that they busted ur ass on tiad fi see u!
I am a jamaican myself and i work with cases like yours and mi feel bad as a fellow Jamaican cant you look a real job and make your families and friends proud? obviously u have a addiction as you have been doing this for a while i will mail you some info to get help!

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