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Be Men Now and Take Up the Heart of Courage by Bible or Not 2Fwww.bibleornot.org&rpctoken=328828320&_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="100%"> Much is said about courage and perseverance in the Bible. While some consider that to have courage means to have no fear, others like myself believe that courage provides us the ability to act in the face of fear. Which brings me to today’s Bible-sounding quote… “Be men now, dear friends, and take up the heart of courage, and have consideration for each other in the strong encounters, since more come through alive when men consider each other.” – Homer, The Ilead c. 800 BC We see that the notion of courage has been around for a very long time, and that’s because such quality traits have been ingrained in the human spirit from the beginning. Here is a formal definition of courage according to Webster and Dictionary.com. Courage - [kuhr ij] – noun | Definition:1. the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.2. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. The courage written of by Homer was preceded by the courage written of in the Old Testament book of Joshua by approximately 400 years. While the idea of courage may be the same, and the context of having courage through war may be the same, the courage we read about in the Bible has much more power. And why is that? “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 NKJV So we see that courage is a universal trait, and that whether it comes from the Bible or not, it is to be desired and those that display it are admired. The difference lies in where we get the power and strength to be courageous. If our courage comes solely from the spirit of man, then it will have its limitations. But if we walk with God, and stand on His promise that He is with us wherever we go, then our courage will be bolstered by the Spirit and power of God.

Here is a taste of the novel I am writing. "The distinct architecture of the building was profoundly awe stricking. The breahtaking panoramic view of the balcony was enought to tell one, that my collegue was horrible affluent. A slender rivulet trickled in a small circlet before, ever so thunderously, cascading down the jagged mountian peaks and into the foaming waterfall. Along the edges of the balcony rail, sat, slouched over, gargoyles. Evil gleam in their eyes, fangs barred, looking as if they were ready to pounce at a moments notice. All of these creature were floes, thus suggesting my friend lived on the tallest summet throughout the county. In totality, I was his only visitor. I would even have to deliver a parcel of Girl Scout Cookies to him, because the troop would be too frightened to rap on the door of his accommodation (I wonder why?). The bizzar, foreign art style he cherished, refused to irk me." Like it?

Thanks all for signing up for this 6 segment course! Our first lesson is a quick review for some, but first-time material for others, so please, bare with us. Today's lesson will be about basic tactics (forks, pins, and skewers). We will start off with a fork. Fork: when a piece is moved targeting two other pieces (lower and higher value). They move the higher valued piece, then you collect the piece that is left over. - A quick diagram follows: Easy right? Fill free to review the diagram if you had problems. Now, a pin. Pin: A moved piece targets another piece, but if the targeted piece moves, the 1st-ly moved piece can collect the piece, behind the targeted piece. - If you got lost, just refer the the diagram below. There are two types of pin (a real pin, and a regular pin). The diagram above stimulates a regular pin. The diagram below illustrates a real pin. As aforementioned, refer back the the diagram(s) if you had any trouble. This lesson isn't going anywhere. If you understand, skewers follow. Skewer: A moved piece targest a large value piece, thus moving it, and they collect a piece of lower value behind it. - A short diagram follows. This is the end of lesson 1. Please, reread this as much as you want. Write down the key points if you need to. I hope you learned a lot, and following this message, are some key points in how to PREVENT these from happening: 1. Watch what your opponent's move did. Ask yourself "What does it do? Does it set-up a possition that one of these could happen?" 2. If one of these tactics is executed correctly, what could happen to the possition if I you can't stop it? Try to defend as many pieces that your opponents are threatining. 3.If you have the lead in development (lesson 2), what could happen if one of these tactics happen? Could your opponent get the lead in development? 4.If you see a pin in the works, try to interpose with any piece that could prevent the pin. 5. A skewer is an inverted pin, you can stop it in the exact same mannor. 6.If you see a possible fork possition. try to attack the square that is the basis for the fork. If this lesson was in any way: basic, trivial, or flat out a waste of your time, send me a message, and I will try the best I can to fix/ revise these mistakes. Thanks for dropping by!

http://drbobgonzales.com/2011/when-godly-brothers-disagree-the-division-of-paul-and-barnabas/

Hello everyone! I went to my local chess club Saturday, and played some games, and want to share with you how I did. Overall: 5 games won/ 8 games total (so over half) Next, I notated 2 games, that are going to be posted below. Now, onto the 2ed one. Comment below with your thoughts!

The following are a handful of what I consider to be my most interesting games from the past few days. I've attempted to explain my rationale and objectives as best I can. If any of you see something that was better than what I found, please speak up. ====================================================== GAME #1 - Once the center becomes gridlocked, a player has to decide between the kingside and the queenside when looking for where he should play next. Here, I saw more potential on the queenside for activity than I saw on the kingside. ====================================================== GAME #2 - In this game, I decided to try a kingside attack. However, I attacked before I was ready, and in the end, my twelfth move ended up coming back to haunt me. ====================================================== GAME #3 - I got into a very fragile position in this game and probably would have lost had my opponent had enough time on his clock to think. We drew at the end since he was about to flag and I don't relish those kinds of wins. ====================================================== GAME #4 - After winning an exchange and then a rook, I had to employ some quirky tricks to keep from losing my queen. At the end, I missed a line that would have given me double queens, but the line I found still won.

10,000 This is how many children die every day just because they don't have access to clean drinking water. Some call this the biggest physical problem today... 5 Minutes This is how much time it would take each day for you to help save 1,000's of lives. How??? I'm glad you asked! Walmart is running a nationwide contest where consumers vote to determine which of over 4,000 products will be placed on Walmart's shelves. "Humankind Water" is a product in this competition, but unlike the other products "Humankind Water" isn't in this for a profit. All of HkW's net-profits are donated to helping dig wells, providing water filters, and other ways to help end thirst-related deaths. Here's where you come into the picture (and your 5 minutes of time). HkW needs our votes in order to win! You can vote via texting, facebook, and a bunch of other easy ways! Easy, right? Better yet, you can vote 2 times each day! HkW is aiming for 1 million votes so they need all the help they can get. If you vote every day, and even get your friends involved, you can help HkW win and ultimately save 1,000's of lives! Not a bad way to spend those 5 minutes, eh? So, to start voting and saving lives you can: A) Go to http://humankindwater.org/ where you can vote and learn more about Humankind Water and their mission B) Text HKW to #50500. This will not vote, but it will tell you how to vote and will remind you daily to vote. C) Facebook, facebook, facebook... need I say more? ;) Go and like them! D) TELL OTHERS!!! The more the merrier. Walmart's rules allow this :) In fact, they encourage this! So, now that you know about this cause, why wouldn't you put aside 5 minutes each day to make a difference??? It's quick, easy, and for a very good cause! Please, help save lives and put "Humankind Water" on the shelves! "Humankind Water (tm). Refreshing for you. Life saving for them." (P.s. I love posts so please feel free to leave your comments :))

10,000 This is how many children die every day just because they don't have access to clean drinking water. Some call this the biggest physical problem today... 5 Minutes This is how much time it would take each day for you to help save 1,000's of lives. How??? I'm glad you asked! Walmart is running a nationwide contest where consumers vote to determine which of over 4,000 products will be placed on Walmart's shelves. "Humankind Water" is a product in this competition, but unlike the other products "Humankind Water" isn't in this for a profit. All of HkW's net-profits are donated to helping dig wells, providing water filters, and other ways to help end thirst-related deaths. Here's where you come into the picture (and your 5 minutes of time). HkW needs our votes in order to win! You can vote via texting, facebook, and a bunch of other easy ways! Easy, right? Better yet, you can vote 2 times each day! HkW is aiming for 1 million votes so they need all the help they can get. If you vote every day, and even get your friends involved, you can help HkW win and ultimately save 1,000's of lives! Not a bad way to spend those 5 minutes, eh? So, to start voting and saving lives you can: A) Go to http://humankindwater.org/ where you can vote and learn more about Humankind Water and their mission B) Text HKW to #50500. This will not vote, but it will tell you how to vote and will remind you daily to vote. C) Facebook, facebook, facebook... need I say more? ;) Go and like them! D) TELL OTHERS!!! The more the merrier. Walmart's rules allow this :) In fact, they encourage this! So, now that you know about this cause, why wouldn't you put aside 5 minutes each day to make a difference??? It's quick, easy, and for a very good cause! Please, help save lives and put "Humankind Water" on the shelves! "Humankind Water (tm). Refreshing for you. Life saving for them." ~~UPDATE!~~ HumankindWater Voting in the FINALS starts TODAY... Wed, Apr 11th... and goes for 14 days. Everone gets 2 votes per day... one via text... and one via Facebook. that is 28 votes. We need EVERYONE to make sure you get all 28 of your votes in and counted... going 28 for 28... which you can commit to do on our website at http://HumankindWater.org/28for28/ (1) Vote by texting 4829 to 3838383(2) Vote by going to our website and clicking VOTE NOW and then VOTE USING FACEBOOK if you'd like a daily reminder to vote, please text HKW to 50500 and we'll send you a text message each day during the contest period. Thanks... remember... Winning means saving lives, so please tell your friends and ask them to text HKW to 50500 as well!

‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am theLord. Leviticus 19:17-18 Vengeance, I think is a topic that is rarely spoken of or even taught about at church. I'm not sure why that is. There are a lot of topics that are rarely taught on just because of the fact that there are so many important ones to teach on. We all have an innate “feeling” in us that urges us to “get back” and “get revenge” on others because of “all” that they have done to us to “deserve” it. Genesis 4:15a says, And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” What stands out to you in this passage? Is it God's power? Or maybe His promise to protect Cain? To me, the fact that the LORD would take time enough to answer Cain's worries about his own safety and to place a mark on him to show that He was God's is amazing. To be punished sevenfold? That is a lot. None of us could stand having God's vengeance placed on us sevenfold. Also, notice that God is the one who takes care of the vengeance. He is the one who gives it and not Cain. Numbers 31:3So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the LORD on Midian. The interesting thing that I noticed here is that Israel was instructed by God to take vengeance for Himself. So, God was using them to punish Midian while at the same time Israel was not punishing them for their own sake because they wanted to “get back” at them, but because they were commissioned to do it for the Lord and in His name that His power should be known that it was with Israel. Dueteronomy 32:35a Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time... Dueteronomy 32:41b I will render vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me. When God is executing vengeance on someone, you can be sure that they will end up less proud or even may perish by the power of God. Let us be the more earnest to give all glory to God, to remind ourselves through scripture that vengeance IS the Lord's and that He will take care of it better than you could (especially if you were angry when you tried to “punish” them). Deuteronomy 32:43“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.” I think it's a pretty good feeling that we can have when we read that God will provide atonement for His land and His people. That is His elect He is talking about. We are atoned for. God takes vengeance for us against our and His adversaries because anyone who is against us when we are promoting God through our lifestyle is actually against God because they oppose the path of righteousness which God commands us to live on. Judges 16:28Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” I thought that this verse was very interesting. There is an underlying, very important point. Samson prays this when he is chained to the pillars of the temple where the Philistines worshiped their god. Notice how he prays that he may have vengeance on the Philistines because of the loss of his eyes. He doesn't pray that God would have vengeance for him toward them, but he is asking God that he may take vengeance for himself. In the other verses, we noticed that God was the one that was taking revenge for Himself or for His people, Israel. The key thing I see here is that Samson knows his mistake and recognizes his punishment, but he is also showing that he knows that God is in control of vengeance. You know the rest of the story, how God answers Samson's prayer and gives him strength so that he pushes the pillars of the temple down and many ungodly Philistines are killed along with Samson. He used his last breath to do God's will because God allowed new strength to come to him. Give your heart to God. Let Him take control of all of you especially when you want to return evil for evil. God knows all and sees all of what you are going through. So, be patient. Pray that God will help you bear it and give the rest to Him. He is more than capable of taking care of it.

Do Not Pray for Easy Lives. Pray to Be Stronger Men. by Bible or Not 2Fwww.bibleornot.org&rpctoken=238086272&_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="100%"> Life can be hard, and sometimes as Christians we think it shouldn’t be so. I am sure we all have prayed for relief from the struggle and for things to make life easier. But perhaps that’s not what God has in mind. I believe our 35th president understood this principle. “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” – John F. Kennedy Whether we like it or not, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone who really likes it, God uses hardship and struggle to shape us according to His plan, not ours. So the advice of John F. Kennedy is very apropos. Let’s see what the Bible says. According to the Apostle Peter, we should not be surprised when we face trials and troubles. “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;” – 1 Peter 4:12 And what is the purpose of the struggle? That God would make us stronger. “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” – 1Pet.5:10 So, as tough as it might be, it is good advice to not pray for easy lives, but rather, pray to be stronger men and women. And also remember that a faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted. I thought this was an encouraging reminder for us men and women as well. Ponder it.

I have decided to take the time to do some quick analyses of some of my recent games and to offer up said analyses and games for you all to examine yourselves. ====================================================== GAME #1: This is a classic example of a Modern Defense player, myself in this case, forgetting to protect the e6 square before pushing f5. ====================================================== GAME #2: This game is a good example of what can happen during a king-and-pawn endgame when the opponent's king isn't in the right place. My forty-first move, while probably not totally sound, threw him off balance and allowed me to turn the game around. In the end, I did accidentally stalemate him due to a very low clock. ====================================================== GAME #3: Here, I miscalculate an offered pawn and end up paying for it. I knew it was poisoned, I thought the poison was weak, and I was wrong. ====================================================== GAME#4: Here, I barely sneak away with a draw after getting a good position and then tossing it a way with a textbook blunder. ====================================================== GAME #5: This game and the next display a classic theme: "Attacking the f7 Square". Now, when you're attacking f7, you're not always looking for a knockout specifically on that square. Sometimes, the pressure on one side of the board can entice the opponent to castle on the other side where he is still very vulnerable to attack. This happened to my opponent in this game. ====================================================== GAME #6: Another "attack on f7" game. Once again, I wasn't totally banking on a win at f7. I merely wanted to pressure it enough to force other weaknesses.

so i suggested this in the notes section of our group, maybe we could have some games here to keep this group fun and not boring :P before I post anything guys, what games do you reckon we could hold here? i was thinkin "comment/rate the avatar above you" which is a common game in most forums, but let's take a vote here :p

http://www.adamswebsiteconsulting.com/

What is your purpose is in life? What do you work for? Who do you work for? When you wake up in the morning, what motivates you to get up and do your duty? I want to hear.

Scripture References: Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-49; John 20:1-21:25. Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Story Summary: After Jesus was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea had Christ's body placed in his own tomb. A large stone covered the entrance and soldiers guarded the sealed tomb. On the third day, a Sunday, several women (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and Salome are all mentioned in the gospel accounts) went to the tomb at dawn to anoint the body of Jesus. A violent earthquake took place as an angel from heaven rolled back the stone. The guards shook in fear as the angel, dressed in bright white, sat upon the stone. The angel announced to the women that Jesus who was crucified was no longer in the tomb, "He is risen, just as he said." Then he instructed the women to inspect the tomb and see for themselves. Next he told them to go inform the disciples. With a mixture of fear and joy they ran to obey the angel's command, but suddenly Jesus met them on their way. They fell at his feet and worshiped him. Jesus then said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me." When the guards reported what had happened to the chief priests, they bribed the soldiers with a large sum of money, telling them to lie and say that the disciples had stolen the body in the night. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the women near the tomb and later at least twice to the disciples while they were gathered at a house in prayer. He visited two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus and he also appeared at the Sea of Galilee while several of the disciples were fishing. Points of Interest from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Story: • There are at least 12 different appearances of Christ in the resurrection accounts, beginning with Mary and ending with Paul. They were physical, tangible experiences with Christ eating, speaking and allowing himself to be touched. • Jesus' resurrected body was different from his physical body. It was no longer subject to the same laws of nature. He could transcend locked doors, and yet he could still be touched and he could eat. • Before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave the Great Commission, telling his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. • The stone was not rolled away from the tomb so Jesus could get out. He was able to walk through walls (John 20:19) in his resurrected body. The stone was rolled away so that everyone could see that he was risen. Question for Reflection About the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:: When Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn't recognize him (Luke 24:13-33). They even talked in great length about Jesus, but they didn't know they were in his very presence. Has Jesus, the resurrected Savior visited you, but you didn't recognize him?

just to add the fun of this group, i present to you (if you like Mr.Bean) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98V9cEYe6-A

http://www.chess.com/votechess/game.html?id=26403