Bible Study Continues: Colossians 1:24-29, 2:1-5

I was ill last week, so I missed the bible study last week.
Colossians 1:24-29, 2:1-5
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:24-29 NIV)

Colossians 2
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. (Colossians 2:1-5 NIV)

Why is Paul concerned? Because comfort, wealth, and ease start taking over life. these things will make us (Our Hearts) proud. This can cause us to forget our Lord. It might even cause us to ask “Who is The Lord” What happens to our faith when we have it all? Can you see why Paul is concerned? Paul was willing to suffer for the church, to keep it on track. He looked at this as a privilege. Question to ask your self: What is suffering to you, and to what point are you willing to suffer? For every one, the answers will be different.

Think also, the purity of God, the wholeness, the Holiness of God. And he wants to infuse that of him in us. Wow. To think of God all pure, perfect, without imperfection, and he wants to take his perfectness and infuse that into us.

Do you feel your walk is staggered? Where is your focus? Is it right in front of you? Maybe it’s that we need to look to Christ, and walk with Him, in fact lean on Him.

Feeling like you can’t do this alone? Paul says in chapter 2 that we need each other, that its together our walk will be stronger. It’s together we can encourage one another. I can look back in my own walk and see when I walked alone, I would fail, but when I walk with the fellowship of others, my walk may not be easier, but it will be stronger.

We have to push away the pull of God to do wrong
Paul tells us this so we are not deceived.

A nice refit!

How many of you have two or three mag lights in your tool box, and two or three cheep LED flash lights in that same tool box? They take up a lot of space don’t they? TerraLux has a inexpensive solution for all your heavy duty Mag Lights. For your two-three cell light, try the MiniStar EXB I put this in a Maglight and there was huge notable difference in the light power it produces. Think of what you have spent on the cheep LED lights. Probably pretty close to the $23.99 retail price.

TLE-6EX2

Mini Star 5 6EXB

 

So, you think that the two cell mag is to big.. but you still have a few mini mags laying around.. TerraLUX has you covered with MinStar 2 Extream. Why we should refit and reuse? The mag light was not made as a throw away light. LED has come along and changed the way we light our flashlights, LED has less power usage. In the long run, it will save on batteries, light bulbs, and last the throw away LED Lights that work a few times then die. You brought the MAG light for a reason…

NewMiniStar2EX_Kit2-350x230

$23.99 The MiniStar2 Extreme for your mini Mag

Of course, if you must buy a new light, TerraLux has a full line of Tactical, Professional and General Purpose high powered LED lights that can light up the night or that tight area on the bike where light normally does not shine…

Early Morning Dew

One morning in Northern NY, I was waiting for weather to clear to do some aerial photography in the 1000 Islands Region. The fog was quit heavy this particular morning. Personally I love these kind of mornings. Living in the desert, I don’t get mornings like this. The images below is just a few of several I shot on this foggy morning.

Images From the 1000 Islands, Northern NY

Images From the 1000 Islands, Northern NY Images From the 1000 Islands, Northern NY Images From the 1000 Islands, Northern NY

 

Saying thanks to Jars of Clay.

My wife and I had the opportunity to travel down to Phoenix, AZ to “Canyon Fest” A music festival put on by Extreme Faith Productions. Although there was some great bands like Audio Adrenaline and Crutch Foot, we went down because the Band Jars of Clay was there.
Music means different things to different people. For me, this band was used to show the power of the Holy Spirit very early in my Christian walk. I was given their first CD before I was a believer. I thought the beat was good, but the lyrics did not make any sense to me. Even after reading the lyrics, I still had no clue what they meant. Soon after I gave my life to Christ, I listened to the CD again. I need to say I listened to this CD again before I did any bible studies, or church attendance, or Sunday School. And when i heard the lyrics, I understood. It was amazing to me, and a moment I will never forget. The members of Jars of Clay said “Oh Wow” as I pulled out their first CD for them to autograph, and thanked me for sharing my story. I felt good, I was able to tell them how God had used them to affect my life.

FitBug Air, I miss you!

Beginning of CES, I had a fitbug air device that measured my steps per day. The first day, I had over 20,000 steps, which was about 9 miles. Sadly, The next day my fitbug jumped person and was lost. I will not know just how many steps I took during CES. Though, I might be able to tell you just how many steps I take when I shoot a NASCAR Weekend. Fitbug mentioned they might be able to send me another one. But here is the cool thing about the fitbug, was the iPad/iPhone app that kept you updated on how many steps you have taken, and even converted the steps to distance. This tool is great for anyone that really wants to loose weight, and knows that exercise is key. And when you have a life style like mine, hours at the keyboard, then all of a sudden hours walking, it really makes you wonder just how many steps do you take, and how many you should take. Fitbug helps you with all that! Be sure to visit the folks at fitbug at https://usa.fitbug.com/

First Bible Study of 2013, Colossians 1:1-14

I am going to attempt to Blog about our “Celebration Service” that we have on Wed. Nights at our church. I am not sure how it will go but here goes nothing.

Tonight, we are starting our first “Celebration Service” of 2013. We are starting in Colossians 1;1-14.

Love your neighbor as your self (Ch. 3)
Our theology must be anchored in reality. (Ch 6-8)
Understanding God’s ways (Ch9)
Knowing God’s Ways, Living God’s ways. (Ch10)
God’s Rescue (Ch 13 & 14)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you
to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:1-14 ESV))

Paul’s main concern is that the Colossians got the theology right. It’s my concern too. There are so many out there with really ungodly theology. We must always make sure that God is the orienting factor in our life.

If you wish to talk about this chapter, please feel free to leave a comment. I am always interested in better understanding of God’s word. .

Luvvitt’s Ipad Keyboard, I love it!

I have had the privilege of working with three keyboards for the iPad this week. I like each one for different reasons but if I had to choose just one, I think it would be the Luvvitt’s Ultra Slim Keyboard. First off, it feels very natural typing on this keyboard. That is the biggest draw for me. When Igo for the delete button, it’s where my fingers remember it to be. Believe me, I do a lot of deletes. Its also easy to pair with your iPad, or iPhone. And, its also a smart  cover when your iPad is not in use. The entire frame of the keyboard is a stand for the iPad. The magnet keeps the iPad secure when the iPad is in landscape. in fact, I am sitting in a comfortable recliner, listening to the news as I type this review on the Luvvitt Slim Keyboard. I have the iPad vertical on the keyboard, on my lap.
While this keyboard is also a smart cover, (held on with magnets, much like a smart cover) your not able to keep the keyboard connected as your fold the keyboard back to back.  This would be an awesome keyboard if it had a hard-shell case. and were able to fold the case.  If that were the case, it would be installed on my iPad permanently. Please realize the last statement is my personal preference in a keyboard. For many people, the style of keyboard would be perfect for their needs. This keyboard retails for $69.95 on the Luvvitt Website

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The Luvvits Ultra Slim Keyboard Cover, also available in black!

 

How strong is your integrity?

Yesterday, a lead reporter for Cnet.com left his position. And it’s because of a dispute between Dish Network, and Cnet.com’s parent company, CBS. Apparently, Cnet.com voted Dish Network’s Dish Hopper the best of CES. CBS said they can’t be because of litigation with Dish Network. I applaud Gregg Sadoval for standing up for what he believes in, even at the cost of his Job.  You can read the whole story at the Washington Post Website. This brings me to the question, How deep is your integrity? Would you risk everything you know as security to stand up to your belief? It’s easy for us to say “I would, no question”. But until we are faced with a situation, we don’t know how we would act. Peter denied Jesus three times, After he told Jesus he wouldn’t. Mark 14:29-31.I think we are like Peter. We want to do what we know is right. We want to so bad that we even proclaim that we will.  But, in Mark 14:66-72  Peter Disowns Jesus. It’ was easy for Peter to tell Jesus that he would not disown Him. Then he was faced with the situation.

Often as a believer in Christ, we say we will never do this or that, or that we would do this if that happened. It’s so easy for us to speak the life style of a Christian. But our testimony is when we live our faith. Sometimes our strongest words are not spoken. Is Gregg Sandoval a Believer? I don’t know. But I see he is a person of integrity.

And now, coverage of CES really begins…

Now that the worlds largest electronic convention, The Consumer Electronic Show (or CES) is over, The real coverage can begin. I have four boxes of things to go through, each box with lots of things for me to blog about. Some I can blog about right away, others, I need a chance to play with them, test them out, and give you my two cent tour and opinion. I have right now, 7 blue tooth devices, three keyboards, two sets of speakers, The  I’m Watch,  cleaning solutions, cradles, and a lens set for the iPhone to tell you about. (That’s just off the top of my head, I have 4 boxes full of stuff to tell you about) I got some really neat photo gadgets for the iPhone, that It just may inspire a new category on my blog. How about a iPhotography category? just how car can we push our camera in our phone?

I will not be one to get over tech-ish in my review process. I rather give my opinion on how functional the products are, how easy to set up and use. I hope to give enough information to the tech savvy but also give confidence to the technology challenged that they too can feel confidant if they brought it. I will add, your feedback is greatly appreciated and important. Feel free to ask questions about anything I blog about.

Now, It’s the weekend. I am going to take some time and relax this weekend, spend time with my awesome wife, friends, and enjoy some time with God.

Down the road, ya’ll

 

 

This blog brought to you by Hatch&Co.

I am typing on what could be one of the slimmest keyboards known to the iWorld. It comes with a hard shell case and its made by Hatch&Co. Ok, its just really cool. The keys are flat, and only takes a slight touch to type. Unlike most silicon covered boards which you have to hit fairly hard, this cool keyboard you don’t have to pound the keys. Like any new keyboard, it will take a little while to get used to. How ever, I do like the arrow keys on this keyboard, as well as easy function keys. After CES, I will do a more in depth review on this keyboard from Hatch&Co. in fact I will have a few more keyboards to try in the coming weeks.
Tomorrow is the last and final day of CES 2013. Its been a great and fun show. I hope to spend a few hours at the PMA Show and cover any last things in the central hall. Down the road, ya’ll