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RUNNING THE RACE

Considering the seemingly super-human effort of the athletes at the upcoming 2026 Summer Olympics, I have to think about the preparation and training that these men and women go through for such accomplishments to be possible.  They all start their training at an early age, and all commit their lives to becoming the best at his/her sport.  The hours and years that they each spend perfecting their technique and strengthening their body, as well as the personal sacrifices that each has made, have paid off in making them the best athletes in the world.    Thinking about the dedication and sacrifice of all the great athletes that compete this year, I’m reminded of Saint Paul’s words in his letter to the Philippians where he writes, “ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Philippians 3:8).  Fu...
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AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES

Just before Jesus ascended to His Father, He told His disciples to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were filled with power by the Holy Ghost.  The purpose of this outpouring of the Spirit, among other things, was that they might have power to become His witnesses.    On the day of Pentecost, the Jewish feast that marked the completion of the wheat harvest, as the Apostles and other disciples were gathered together in one place, there was suddenly the sound of a rushing, mighty wind.   It filled the place where they were assembled.  What appeared like tongues of fire settled on each of them and they all spoke in languages that they did not previously know as the Spirit filled and inspired them.  Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem that day, and every one heard the Gospel preached in their own language as the Spirit gave the disciples utterance.  So the words of Jesus that they would take His Message to the world began to be fulfil...
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IN THE ARENA

On April 23, 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech entitled “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.   The speech became popularly known as “The Man In the Arena” because of the following section of the speech which struck a note in the hearts and minds of those who heard his words and were inspired by them.   He said:   “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at...
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