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paraclete
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Name: Jon
Birthday: 10/7/1952
Gender: Male
Interests: Definition of paraclete: in the Greek, 'para' means 'next to'; and 'kaleo' means 'to call.' 'Parakaleo' literally means 'to call to one's side' and thus means to comfort and to counsel.
A Paraklete is a comforter and a counselor. The Holy Spirit is our personal paraclete. As a spirit filled attorney, I try to act as such as well.
Expertise: Drinking coffee and delighting in the presence of God (not necessarily in that order!)
Occupation: Legal
Industry: Legal
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
MSN: paraclete@surewest.net
Member Since:
11/11/2004
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| Worship from IHOP . . .
Your perfect plan
Of redemption
Before time began.
It was fashioned.
Before the foundations of the world,
The Lamb slain
What does this tell me about your mercy.
It has been your plan from the beginning
The emerald rainbow around your throne
Your covenants of mercy.
Full knowledge that Love
Would be spoken through blood
It was not a shock to you that man fell
It was not a shock to you when man fell.
For it was
Your perfect plan
Of redemption
Before time began.
It was fashioned. | | |
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With Credit to Rev Greg Hethaway, as this was on his blog located at http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=mastahpastah
Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, 0 house of Israel Jer.18:2-6, (The Amplified Bible)
Imagine that you are sitting in church on Sunday and suddenly, the room
is filled with the fragrance of Jesus. As you look down the aisle, you
notice some incredibly beautiful vessels of the Lord entering the
sanctuary.
These vessels are full of the Shekinah glory of the
Lord, and their transparent glaze wonderfully reflects the image of
Jesus. You immediately know that they have been in the high glory fires
of the Lord and that they have paid an incredible price for the
powerful anointing they carry.
In your spirit, you see Jesus
walking up and down the aisles with wedding gowns on His arms. "Do you
want My anointing?" He asks. "Do you want My presence and My miracles?"
"I'm calling you to be My bride," He continues. "I want you to be like
the chosen vessels of honor you see here. Do you love Me enough to come
with Me?"
The Scriptures tell us, "Many are called, but few
chosen" (Matt. 20:16, NKJV). I believe it is the Lord's desire for all
of us to be chosen vessels. But many believers are not pursuing the
high calling and destiny the Lord has purposed for them because they
are not willing to pay the price.
As clay vessels, each of us
must take a journey. The steps in this journey can be painful but are
necessary for us to be transformed from broken bits of clay into
anointed vessels that reflect the glory of the Lord.
When the
Lord, the Master Potter, first finds you in the potter's field, you are
a broken vessel in need of salvation. He gently picks you up and
carries you back to the Potter's house. "Even though you are a
shattered clay vessel and all your hopes and dreams have been
destroyed," He tells you, "I have a vision and a destiny for your life."
He takes a rock and begins pounding your broken pieces of clay into
fine dust. When you cry out in protest, He explains with great
compassion, "I must take out all the rocks, thistles, thorns and
foreign Matter - all the debris you have picked up on the highway of
life."
Next, He carefully places the clay dust in large bins
and pours in the clear living water that proceeds from the throne of
God. He drenches you until you've absorbed this living water into every
pore of your being. You begin to feel His love as never before.
The Lord then scoops up the moistened clay with His mighty hand and
places you on the Potter's wheel. You hear His promise: "I have
measured you; I know your portion; I know what destiny I have for you.
For even though the enemy would want to kill you, I tell you, I have a
mission and a calling for your life."
He begins to center
you on the wheel. Slowly, His gentle hands go down into the very depths
of who you are and begin to pull up the walls of your new vessel. While
you are on the Potter's wheel, being shaped by he hands of the Master
Potter, there is a wonderful mystery taking place within you. You are
growing! It is a time of great favor and blessing.
But as you
go around and around, you begin to notice other vessels sitting on the
shelves around the Potter's house. You want to be like them.
"Lord, I love the closeness and intimacy of Your hands," you cry. "But
I see all these other vessels sitting on the shelf, and I want to be a
part of what they're doing!"
Suddenly the Lord comes with His
cutting wire and pulls it under you to cut you off the wheel. Then He
places you on the shelf to dry.
What a change this is from
being on the wheel, where you were joyfully spinning in the hands of
God! At first, you don't mind it too much, but after a month or two,
you say, "Uh...you know, Lord, I've been sitting on the shelf for a
long time, and I'm really dry. When is my ministry going to begin?"
You remind Him over and over again, "Lord, I've been praying to You!"
But you don't feel His presence. In desperation you cry, "God, where
are You? I seem to be in a dry and lonely wilderness!"
"You're
right," He answers. "You've been promoted!" Surprised, you respond,
"But Lord, I thought promotion was getting to start my ministry!"
In His love and wisdom He explains, "Promotion is the wilderness! I've
called you here so you can learn to recognize My voice. I'm testing
your heart. I'm testing your love for Me. Will you continue to seek My
face, or will you turn away?"
LIVE GOD LOUD | | |
| On Jun 17, 2005, at 11:45 AM, michael wrote:
Beyond question, we will be
pressed beyond our ability to endure in this present age. The confusion and
heartache of these short days in this three-dimensional realm are unavoidable.
"Communication" and relational issues have been with us since Cain and the Tower
of Babel, and we will always be one step, one illusion away from another
difficulty. Our own "weak flesh" and personal failures, unrealized dreams, and
self-deceptions are ever before us. Financial strain, physical illness,
loneliness, employment uncertainty, fears related to education or children's or
parents well-being, or shelter or food -- these are a part our existence here on
earth, as they have been in some form or another since the dawn of man, in every
nation and tribe worldwide.
SO, how should we view these
often agonizing and throbbing, blinding difficulties?
Certainly, step back and
understand that GOD IS SOVEREIGN and His Plans are to prosper, and not to harm
us. Certainly, embrace that "ALL things work together for the Good" if we are
focused on loving Him and His Purposes, and not our own. Of course, we need to
rest is the Assurance that we are only here in these "situations" for a few days
("a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day" in Father's
Realm, in which we are "seated with Christ"). As a friend once said, after a
brutal camping trip in icy rain and mud, "I figure I can do anything for two
days." :) Can't we? Can't we lean back and appreciate the complex "weave" of
interesting obstacles and tests and "circuit training" apparatus Jesus has put
in front of us to Teach us a myriad of Lessons that we would never "grasp" from
simply reading someone else's story? Dad is an AMAZING Teacher. His creativity
in object lessons and tests and trials, all designed to Refine and strengthen
and train, even in our failures, is astounding and encouraging beyond belief. He
is SOVEREIGN. Hallelujah!
Yes, it is challenging at times,
as our brother and fellow pilgrim Paul said, "beyond our ability to endure." And
yet, can't we "do anything for a couple of days" if we really set our hearts to
it, "no take-backs"? Even with the "king-sized" blunders and sins that destroy
men and women who have not known our God, we can go forward, knowing He is
REDEEMER and friend. He is Sovereignly advancing His own Cause, training the
scrawny and puny to be men and women of Holy War, humbling the proud, and
sheltering the helpless.
His Plan never WAS that you
could "get" what you "want" out of life. :) His Holy Call is that YOU GIVE YOUR
LIFE AWAY FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE, with no expectations of any kind. That's the
basis and power of Christ (Anointed) Life. There's nothing to "get". There's
nothing to "look at" or "have". There is no temple there, no beauty or majesty.
The Lord God Almighty and the LAMB are our Temple. Our fulfillment and our
satisfaction, our very great reward, are in HIM. Can we do that for "a couple of
days" until it all gets clear for us as we see Him face to face? Can we give
what we don't "want" to give, for His sake alone? Can we focus and "stay the
course" even when the challenges are "large" - from our limited perspective, at
least?
At a place called Pinehurst, in
North Carolina, in the United States, there is currently a golf tournament being
held, known as the US Open, the national championship. At the end of the first
day of the tournament, yesterday, a golfer named Rocco Mediate was tied for the
lead. Rocco is one of those many "stories" of someone "overcoming adversity" to
achieve. He was, just a year ago, almost crippled with back spasms. He was hard
pressed to decide if he wanted to endure the pain and self-discipline of his
sixth rehabilitation in twelve years. But, he decided to train his body and lose
30 pounds. He changed his swing, his conditioning, his equipment, and his
attitude -- and is now achieving world-class results. At a dumb little game
called "golf."
Some insight into "how" Rocco
found the inner strength to take on rehabilitation and face his "insurmountable"
problems -- rather than walk away and quit?
"I don't want to do anything
else," he said. "I have no backup plan; never had a backup plan."
I think it is a breakthrough
moment or season for any of us, as followers of Jesus, when we dump the
"movement" mentality, the "what can I get out of this?" mindset, the "what will
others think if I am totally devoted to Jesus and Truth?" cowardice -- and
decide to LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OTHERS, FOR THE LAMB, AND FOR HIS UNDILUTED
TRUTH -- for these "couple of days" we are here. With "no
take-backs."
I WILL SERVE MY GOD
SACRIFICIALLY, WITH NOTHING FOR MYSELF, AND I HAVE NO BACKUP PLAN! Through
failures, or attacks, through illness or broken carnal dreams, "though none go
with me, still I will follow." I HAVE NO BACKUP PLAN!
As they were walking along the
road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes
and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his
head."
He said to another man, "Follow
me."
But the man replied, "Lord,
first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead
bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will
follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my
family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of
God."
Large crowds were traveling with
Jesus, and turning to them he said:
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his
father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his
own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to
build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has
enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to
finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to
build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to
go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether
he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with
twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is
still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of
you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
"Salt is good, but if it loses
its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil
nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him
hear."
Let's embrace His Training, our
"Boot Camp" of Learning to walk in His Ways and Character and Hear His Voice,
without complaint...
WE HAVE NO BACKUP
PLAN...
and no need of
one!
:) | | |
| For once I agree with this actor.
The Plan!
Robin Williams, wearing a shirt that says "I love New York" in Arabic.
You gotta love Robin Williams...... Even if he's
nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan. What
we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
Robin Williams' plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!)
"I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a
plan for peace. So, here's one plan."
1) "The US will apologize to
the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past &present. You know,
Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of
those "good ole boys", we will never "interfere" again.
2) We will
withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea,
the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station
troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs
together and leave.We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the
remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of
whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will
be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!!
No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there,
change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to
anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No
foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't
attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6) The US will
make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will
include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary
drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a
barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go
somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up
the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other
natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to
Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most
of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need
it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to
an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends
here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for
illegal aliens.
10)
All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can
call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is
ENGLISH...learn it...or LEAVE...Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?
"The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?' "
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| Subject: Fall Classes for
Men
FALL
CLASSES FOR MEN AT THE LEARNING CENTER FOR ADULTS
REGISTRATION
MUST BE COMPLETED BY October
31, 2005
NOTE:
DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF
THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.
Class
1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays. Step by
Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday
and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.
Class
2
The Toilet Paper Roll: Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday
12:00 for 2 hours.
Class
3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting
The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby
Bathtub? Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday
10:00 PM for 2 hours.
Class
4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The
Floor. Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00
PM for 3 weeks.
Class
5
After-Dinner Dishes: Can They Levitate and Fly
Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday
and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
at 7:00 PM
Class
6
Loss Of Identity: Losing The Remote To Your Significant
Other.
Help Line Support and
Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday
and Sunday 7:00 PM
Class
7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The
Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum.
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2
hours.
Class
8
Health Watch: Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To
Your Health.
Graphics and Audio
Tapes.
Three nights; Monday,
Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.
Class
9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost. Real
Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Location to be determined.
Class
10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While
She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's
noon, 2 hours.
Class
11
Learning to Live: Basic Differences Between Mother and
Wife.
Online Classes and
role-playing.
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined
Class
12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion: Relaxation
Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday
and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.
Class
13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy: Remembering
Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates, and Calling When You're
Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy
Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday,
Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.
Class 14
The Stove/Oven: What It
Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM,
location to be determined.
Upon
completion of any of the above courses,
diplomas
will be issued to the survivors
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