Life in Cuba...More Babies Live 

     In 1963 I was in the Army at Ft. Lee, VA as one of seven guys with journalism or business degrees, working for a "school" for those who provide the Army with everything from uniforms to weapons. 

     One morning I woke up to learn a number of guys in our barracks were gone. There might be war with the Soviet Union which was placing artillery in Cuba. President Kennedy had decisions to make. Americans everywhere were nervous, including a lady at my church back home. 

     I had leave to visit home. I asked if I should stay at Ft. Lee, and he said I was not included in this. So, I drove home, wondering if a Russian missile might find me along the way. On Sunday at church, a woman scowled, "What are you doing here?" 

     That's my Cuba story. Fidel Castro and brother Raul turned communist while in jail reading Karl Marks. They were friendly with Russia, China and North Korea. Iran would join the team. The Castros were freed in 1956 and three years later, with 160 men for starters, overthrew dictator Batista and executed dozens of his officers. 

     This week, the U.S. charged Raul Castro, now 94, with killing four people in 1996. Stay with us. We'll get to the babies later.

          Jimmy    

     

Death Through Adam

Life Through Christ

     "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin...for before the law was given, sin was in the world. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a commandment, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. - Romans 5:12-14. 

     "The gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin. The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 

     "For if the trespass of one man, death reigned, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ. - 5:16-17 

>    "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - 5:20-21 

Friday, we go to Cuba

 Showing God's Love 

     From YouVersion:

     In Matthew 22:37-38, Jesus shared God's greatest commandment - to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. 

Note: Our heart, soul and mind, and emotions, are what lasts forever. 

     Then He says something equally important - You shall love your neighbor as yourself. - Matthew 22:39. 

     Jesus calls us to love others as ourselves, because doing so is how we show we love Him. YouVersion provides three ways to love people:  

* Ask a friend how you can pray for them.

* Encourage someone by sharing a Bible verse and what it meant for you.

* Pray about loving others. 

~ ~ ~

     We have not yet learned that a man is more powerful 

     on his knees than behind the most powerful guns. 

     We have not learned that a nation is more powerful

     when it unites in earnest prayer to God than

     when its resources are channeled into weapons. 

                                the late Billy Graham 

 Midterms

     "The problem for the president is the Republican and independent voters who supported him in 2024, but are not his natural constituency. Polling suggests most of them are happy with his foreign policy, but unhappy with his economic policies. From tariffs to running roughshod over allies, these voters prefer him to the alternative, but they may not show up in the midterms." 

Erick Ericlson

     "They want some accountability for the president, even if it means 
Democrats take control in Congress. That is the historic nature of midterm elections. Trump remains a transcendent politician, but the rules of politics still apply. Midterms tend to benefit the party out of power. The party out of power is more motivated to vote and the president's voters who are not actually his strongest supporters tend to stay home."

"If you're somewhere right now in a world

where you don't think you're loved,

you need to know Jesus loves you."

Billy Graham

Things That Matter 

     Do we organize our life by distractions, or purpose? 

     Do our activities leave us exhausted, not fulfilled? 

     Does our success and happiness crowd out contributions? 

Hmmm. I'm not scoring high.

     Does our attention skip meaningful work?

     Are daily habits aligned with deeply held values?

     Do we focus on meaningful service to others? 

Well, once in a while. 

     This is from Joshua Becker, 51, a former pastor and now state senator. He is also an author, speaker and philanthropist. What else does he ask?

     Do we make room for what deserves lasting attention? 

     Do we ever rethink success itself?

     Does meaningful life depend less on what we accumulate than on what we choose to prioritize? 

              Jimmy

Continuation of Saturday's list concerning salvation

Four additional ways, if...

...we are conscious of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. "This is how we know that he (Jesus) lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. - 1 John 3:24 

...we strive to follow Jesus' example and live as he lived. "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:6. 

...we believe, accept, and remain in the "Word of life." i.e. the living Christ (1 John 1:1, and in the original message of Christ and the NT apostles. 

...we have an earnest longing and an unbending hope for Christ's return to receive us to himself. "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be, has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure." - 1 John 3:2-3; John 14:1-3. 

 

 Assurance of Salvation

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. - 1 John 5:13

We have assurance of eternal life if... 

...we believe in the name of the Son of God. There is no eternal life without an earnest faith in Jesus Christ that confesses him as God's Son, sent to be our Lord and Savior.

...we are honoring Christ as Lord of our lives and are sincerely trying to obey his commands. The man who does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. - 1 John 2:3-5 

...we love the Father and the Son rather than the world, and if we overcome the influence of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. - 1 John 2:15-16

...we habitually and persistently practice righteousness rather than sin. He who does what is sinful is of the devil. - 1 John 3:7-10 

...we love our brothers and sisters (in the Lord). This is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. - 1 John 3:19-20.  

Four more ways, tomorrow.