A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day......Feb. 4th & 5th -08....Military Tribute

Billie, The Mayor

[jaycee]

GOD BLESS OUR MILITARY!

[mrstank]

yay! Someone else stopped in. Nice to meet you jaycee.

[Kitty Mittens]

Hello to the Finest on this Beautiful Day! I Found a Sweet Pic of a Little Child Hugging her Rescuer, Staff Sgt. Mike Maroney, after the Katrina Disaster.

~God Bless our Troops and our USA~

[jaycee]

Hi, Mrs.tank, I am please as punch to say hello to you this morning and very glad to meet you also!

I have had so much to do today ...there are days like that~~~know what I mean?

[jaycee]

Oh, I really do love your picture, Kitty! Thanks!!!

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you, (((((jaycee)))))!

: )

[MEG33]

FIRST HUG
U.S Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Eber Varraz, a culinary specialist, hugs his newborn baby girl for the first time after walking off the guided-missile Cruiser USS Vicksburg in Mayport, Fla., Jan. 25, 2008.

*Happy Monday To The Finest*
Thank you, Mayor for our Military Tribute Thread

[Lady Jag]

[mrstank]

I do know what you mean. My afternoon ended up getting busy. I work in a doctor’s office and some days I need my running shoes and other days I have a hard time not falling asleep!

[mrstank]

awww! What a cute picture. It always tugs at my heart strings to think of those who have little ones they have never seen. Thanks for sharing Meg.

[MEG33]

;0) It’s so good to “see” you..
I love homecomings!..My son was 2 and 1/2 months old when my husband left on a 6 months cruise many, many moons ago....

[Billie]

Neat pledge! Thank you to our Finest Military. Thank you to the proud families of America's Finest. Our prayers are with you all.

[The Mayor]

Thanks Jaycee for all your comments and chuckles... : )

[The Mayor]

I don’t feel bad at all. The Giants deserved this win. The Patriots already have 3 rings. Glad you found yours..: )

[The Mayor]

That pic is so sweet Kitty, Thank you. What a wonderful smile on both faces.

[The Mayor]

Lots of first hugs we have been seeing. What a wonderful sight and feeling. Thanks Meg!

[The Mayor]

Excellent graphic lady Jag. Thanks!

[The Mayor]

Hi Billie, couldn’t resist the new Pledge I found.
PRAY..... Absolutely!

[MEG33]

*Good morning To The Finest*

Air Force HC-130 Hercules Loadmasters Senior Airmen Daniel Sullivan and Renea Zachary communicate with U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 helicopters during inflight refueling over Africa on Jan.19, 2008. Sullivan and Zachary are attached to the 71st Expeditionary Search and Rescue Squadron, Moody Air Force base, Ga., and are deployed to the Combined Joint Task Force- Horn of Africa located at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. The helicopters are from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 of Marine Corps Air Station, Jacksonville, N.C.


Thank You To All Who Serve Our Country

[The Mayor]

February 5, 2008

The Atrocious Mathematics Of The Gospel

ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download

READ: Matthew 18:23-35

The master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. —Matthew 18:27

From childhood we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. “You get what you pay for.” “The early bird gets the worm.” “No pain, no gain.” I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want people to get what they deserve.

But Jesus’ parables about grace teach a radically different concept. In Matthew 18, no one could accumulate a debt as huge as the servant did (vv.23-24). This underscores the point: The debt is unforgivable. Nevertheless, the master let the servant off scot-free.

The more I reflect on Jesus’ parables proclaiming grace, the more tempted I am to apply the word atrocious to describe the mathematics of the gospel. I believe Jesus gave us these stories to call us to step completely outside our tit-for-tat world of ungrace and enter into God’s realm of infinite grace.

If I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor’s prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance. Instead, I got a banquet spread for me.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.  —Flint

Our sin is great—God’s grace is greater.

Bible in One Year:  Exodus 25–27; Proverbs 13:1-12