Jesus Connect Ministries is offline March 5, 2002

Jesus Connect Ministries went offline on March 5, 2002. Without any warning the doors were closed and locked and the network is down. Now, I am having to rebuild our family website and redirect all of my stuff. That stinks.

Our family website is now located at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jcmoffitt1. This site is still under construction.
Our MyFamily.com community is located at http://moffittfamily.myfamily.com

Living in the meantime

Life sometimes consists of walking one moment at a time and then one day at a time. Learning how to be content with the here and now always seems to be at war with our expectations for the future. We set ourselves up for failure when we compare our sucess with what appears to be the sucess of others. We look at the lives of other people and are quick to make assesments of them after a brief glimpse of the outside. First impressions can be dangerous. If folks fit a predefined mold that the world gives us to model then those folks must have it all together. If you wear the right clothes, weigh the right weight , are the right height , drive the right kind of car, live in the right type of house in the right kind of neighborhood then you must be a sucess. The problem with first impressions is that we only see what is on the outside. We dont see the burdens and fears and hopes and dreams and pain that might be right under the surface. All we see is what we can see through the limited perceptions of our own eyes. We look at one another just like we look at God, through darkly shaded glasses. We are familiar with the general shape and color and smells but when it comes to clarity things are just so fuzzy.

Our priorities are driven by what makes us happy and our priorities will utlimately define who and what we become. Pursuit of happiness can last a lifetime and can lead to ruin. The world yells at us that if it feels good do it. The problem with that philosphy is that the world around us is filled with things that will satisfy our flesh until it gets bored. How many boxes of chocolates do you need to eat before you get sick of it? Our flesh desires to have variety. Give me this, give me that. Allow me to experience all that I can so that I can feel good. Our happiness never quite reaches true joy and peace. The happiness that the world offers us will never satisfy our need for peace and contentment and fullfillment. Our purpose to be happy and content will never be complete without God.

Living in the meantime means that we must find the hope. Life is full of disappointment, heart ache, frustrations, trials and tribulations and temptations at every corner. What is at the end of the tunnel ? Through the pain , onward to battle and victory. Do we have a choice? We either stand still and subject ourselves to the pain and anguish that the world will inflict upon us or we choose to acknowledge the pain and choose to enter into the battle of life and figure out how to become victorious. A life without purpose is a life that is destined for unsatisfied helplessness and defeat.
Wandering from one feel good situation to the next will never allow us to experience true peace, contentment or joy. As people we must be purpose driven.

Life is so difficult at times that it is sometimes easier to just ride the waves. Without purpose we lack power, without power we lack direction and without direction we endanger ourselves and our future. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the daily tasks of living that we loose sight of the big picture. Pain and struggling can cause us to forget what our purpose is. Living life on a daily basis sometimes pushes us off the road and causes us to put life on hold for a moment. Rest and healing is needed but we should not stay there forever. We must enter back into the race that we are in and push towards the finish line. Each of us has a race and we will eventually reach the finish line or we will not. Is the race over when we die physically or does it begin? Have we been created to be born, go to school, get a college degree, get married, have kids, enjoy grand children, grow old and then die? Is there more meaning to life than that?

I choose to believe that there is a God that has a bigger purpose for us than just living this life. This life that we live is only a shadow of the life to come as we walk through eternity. I believe that God created us and that He can do anything that He chooses to. I choose to believe that God has a purpose for our lives. God desires a personal relationship with his creation. His purpose for our lives is that we pursue Him relentlessly and allow Him to touch our lives in every area. We need to decide to live our lives according to Gods will and not our own. Gods purpose will give us true peace and joy and contentment. The world that we live in certainly does not offer anything of eternal value. God wants us to experience life and experience it abundantly.








James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Walking in Abundant Life

Walking in Abundant life


Our life is but a vapor. We are passing through this world to enter into eternity. Eternity can be a scary thing especially if what it holds for us is uncertain. Fear is usually fear of the unknown. Fear can paralyze us and keep us from knowing joy, happiness and contentment with who we are and where we are in life. Life is a gift and we believe as Christians that God is the giver of this life. Some of us would further define God in the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible outlines a plan that God has given us so that we can walk in Abundant Life. Lets examine some of the scripture that shows us what the bible says about Life and Death.


John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 4:14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

John 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;
14 but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.

The bible is our guide to life. The bible is our source of originality. The bible is our authority with regards to the beginning and end of life. The bible is our guide to living a life of abundance through Christ Jesus our Lord. Some folks believe that our existence was an accident and that we have evolved from being a cave man to a higher form of life.

I believe that each of us belongs to a global community called humanity. I believe that God created man and that we are to worship Him. I believe that God created us to enjoy those things that He has provided us with. God created us and provided us with everything that we need in order to have abundant life. I believe that God defines what our needs are through the pages of our bible. I also believe that we have gotten our needs and wants messed up and our life has gotten out of balance. I also believe that the evil of this present world has drawn some of us out and separated us from our full potential as Christians.

In an effort to pursue God we have set up different religions and religious denominations with unique definitions of behavior and religious requirements that are necessary in order to find God and have abundant life. What does life consist of on a personal level?

Eating
Sleeping
Emotions
Thought life
Sexual needs
Intellect
Physiology
Religion
Personal hygiene
Entertainment
Education
Sports
Hobbies
Children
Work
Relationships
Perceptions

As Christians we have entered into a personal relationship with God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not speaking of an emotional guilt or reflex that causes us to behave religiously. I am talking about our coming face to face with God of the universe because He revealed His plan for us through the reading of His word or by listening to His word being delivered to you through a sermon, bible study or personal testimony of another believer. When we become Disciples of Christ we move from one relationship into another. The bible says that we either serve the devil or we serve God. We have allegiance to either one or the other. We make a commitment to either one or the other. We cannot serve God and Satan at the same time. We have to make a choice that will have eternal circumstances.

Christianity is not a religious behavior but a way of life. Our behavior does not define what Christianity is but our actions define how Christ has changed our lives from the inside out.

The difference between a religion vs. Christianity is a religion defines how we can become Holy enough to approach God while Christianity empowers us through the Holy Spirit to KNOW God on a personal basis and allows us to learn how to walk according to His will for our lives and our community.

Thanks to the Information Age we have more information available to us in real time than ever before. Can you imagine that a world event sometimes took days, weeks or months to be reported to the rest of the global community? Those were the days when we did not have tele-type, telephones, fax machines, computers, e-mail, satellite, pagers, or cellular communications. How many of us know more about the bible and its doctrines than we know how to live our Christianity in a practical way? Do we major in information gathering and minor in living the truth of Gods word? Do we focus more on attending church, doing religious traditions, reading books about God, attend seminars than we do on learning how to live the life of a Christian? If the answer were yes then I would believe that is the root cause for our failing to experience Abundant Life that Christ spoke of.

How many of us have the family bible sitting on our desk, end table or up on the shelf gathering dust? The only time some of us open the bible is when the pastor or bible study teacher tells us to open it up and direct us to a chapter and verse. Some of us treat our bibles just like we do the remote control for our TV sets. We take out the remote from the package, put in fresh batteries and when we want to change the channel we punch the right buttons. Has our Christianity turned into a series of bad commercials that we are frantically trying to flip through? Are we hurriedly flipping through the abundant life that God has outlined in the pages of His word or are we taking time to absorb the information within the pages of His book? We entered into a personal relationship with Christ, asked the Holy Spirit to enter into our hearts so we would have power on high and then we allow the cares of this world and the endless sin in our lives to drain the life right out of us.

If we do not feed our souls the word of God we will be like a ship without a rudder. We will become like a ship without direction and no power. The Holy Spirit within us will be quenched and stifled to the point that HE will be grieved. The key to abundant life is a personal relationship with the God (Jesus Christ) of our universe. A relationship must be nourished and tended to on a daily basis. If you are in a marriage relationship you understand how important it is to work at keeping that relationship healthy. Relationships of all types require nurturing and that takes energy and focus. Relationships take commitment and personal sacrifice. The word of God, the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit and the people in Gods kingdom is what defines us as Christians. Without those critical elements our faith would be powerless and useless.

The benefit of a relationship with Christ is abundant life, fulfillment and challenge. God says in His word that He will write down our names in the Lambs book of Life and will allow us entrance to Heaven to worship Him for eternity. We must choose to keep our commitment strong to which we are in the kingdom of God on a daily basis. The bible says that we are to be in the world but not of the world. Does that mean that we do not associate ourselves with people who do not subscribe to our faith in Christ? Do we totally reject every single thing about our world and move into caves and become outcasts of society? I believe that God wants us to be salt of the earth and the light of the world. Our faith brings flavor and our life of integrity lights the way to the kingdom of God for all who will look.

Relationship evangelism is a key way in which we can get to know someone, show him or her that we care, live our life of faith in front of him or her without compromise and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to draw him or her to the kingdom. We must learn how to love people and despise their sin. We must despise their sin because we know that the consequences of sin is death. We must learn how to show the love of God to people through mercy and compassion. Chuck Swindoll stated in his book on Compassion that “People do not care how much you know until you know how much you care”. Once upon a time I was zealous for God. I was so zealous about telling people about the truth of Gods word that I sacrificed the love of God, compassion for people and mercy. People need to know that God loves them.

People need to know that God is a God of love, mercy and compassion. People need to know that God has given them a choice. We must live our lives in such a way that people can clearly see their choices.

We must know HOW to LIVE out our faith in God in a real way for the world to see. Our lives must be an open book so that our victories and defeats can reflect the power of God. The following list will attempt to reflect some of our daily battles and some of our choices.



I recognize the benefits of growing in the knowledge of Gods word but I struggle in choosing to study Gods word. I would rather watch TV or read a good book than study Gods word.

I want to be more like Christ in my thoughts and feelings but I find it difficult to get away from my old life habits and sin nature. The old nature is too difficult to overcome sometimes.

I see a need to pursue God on a regular basis to grow our relationship but I tend to only seek Him when I am in trouble.

I find it difficult to make personal sacrifices that will benefit me in my Christian growth because it is so much easier to go along with the crowd. My nature is to do what comes easiest to me instead of what is difficult.

I understand more about WHO God is to me but I am finding it difficult to translate His changes to me in a practical way.



I constantly find myself having to focus on my thought life and having to rebuke impure thoughts with regards to my fellow man.

I catch myself listening to others gossip and passing that information on through gossiping myself.

I have a problem with my temper and catch myself speaking sharply to my children or spouse.

I find myself sacrificing my relationships with people for the sake of pursuing personal wealth, status and power.

I find it difficult to reach out to others who are more needy than myself. I catch myself focusing on my problems more often than not.

I find that it is easier to be critical of my pastor and the church I attend instead of taking the time to pray for the people and situations.

My addictions to food, sex, drink or drugs have robbed me of joy, peace and contentment.

As you can see this list could go on forever. Now that we have scratched the surface with regards to some of the things that are affecting our ability to walk in abundant life lets look at some positive things that we can do in order to make wrong things right.

The problem with our lack of balance with regards to living out our faith is very similar to the problems that we have in our educational system of today. Why are our schools releasing young people into society without the necessary skills that will enable them to be productive members of society?


A.Our children do not have a firm grasp on the fundamental basics, which include reading, writing and arithmetic. Without the basic learning blocks how can we expect them to have the necessary skills for higher learning?

B.Our children attend battle zones for schools. When we attended school our issues were talking in class and chewing gum and fist fights in the parking lot. Our children have to endure an environment filled with violence because of drug abuse and kids carrying guns to school.

C.Our children are not receiving discipline at home and the school systems are forced to do what the parents are supposed to be doing to begin with. How can teachers do what they are gifted to do when the children are not focused enough to do the work? Living in an instantaneous society is not conducive to the kids taking the time to learn but would rather goof off and play.

D.Our children are subjected to teachers who are not committed to teaching. It is hard to get an education when school systems are not willing to provide a work environment that rewards teachers for the sacrifices they make. That drives teachers out of the classroom into other occupations that pay more.

Now lets look at how people have gotten out of balance with regards to experiencing Abundant Life that God has for us.


We have not learned the basics of our faith.

Scripture memorization, regular bible study and becoming knowledgeable about basic bible doctrine have left us weak and vulnerable to our enemy who is Satan. The bible says this about our enemy.

Peter I 5:7 Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
8 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.

We have forgotten that Satan is the enemy of God. That means that YOU are the enemy of God. Satan will drag you into the pits of Hell with him IF you allow yourself to be taken. Satan is the great deceiver and has the ability to deceive people IF they are not preparing their minds with the truth of Gods word. The bible says in the book of Hosea.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

This is what the bible says about the IMPORTANCE of reading Gods word.

Hebrews 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Timothy II 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

We carelessly place ourselves in the middle of the minefields of life and wonder why we get our toes blown off.

We forget whom we belong to and we continue to act as if nothing has changed when we enter into a personal relationship with Christ. We look to God as a puppet that we can manipulate when things go wrong but the rest of the time we leave Him on the shelf. We entertain our minds and bodies with the cares of this world, which have no eternal meaning and lose out as we rush past the golden nuggets of a life filled with faithful obedience to Christ. Our walk with Christ should be one of discipline, focus and diligence. There is an old saying that says, “Birds of a feather flock together”. We must learn how to associate ourselves with Kingdom Kids. We need to seek out a good bible teaching church with people who are REAL about their relationship with God so that we can LEARN and GROW in our faith walk. If we expect the power of God to be transferred into our lives and to give us REAL power so we can experience abundant life then we are going to have to place ourselves in the right environment for it to happen.

We run from discipline.

We live in an instant generation where we do not have to wait for anything. We want it and we want it right now. If you want something you do whatever you can to get it NOW. Buy now and pay later is our motto. In 2nd Corinthians we see the bible telling us “therefore if any man be in Christ he is a NEW creation, old things pass away and all things become new”. We seem to think that our sinful nature is going to magically disappear and that we are going to completely and automatically bury our sin nature and that our NEW man (spirit man) is going to naturally spring forth. We forget that there is a constant battle raging within our souls as the flesh competes with the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ places within us. When we do something that we like we find out very quickly that we must discipline ourselves to learn HOW to get better at doing it. If you like to bowl and you want to get better then you have to discipline yourself to learn HOW to approach the line and release that bowling ball in such a way that you can hit the head pin and knock down everything at once. If you do not get it right then you will see that you are off balance and the ball will not hit the mark and then you will have to try it again. We must determine to be disciplined in order to read Gods word and understand How to apply biblical principles to our lives.

We are powerless because we do not pray.

If you love someone you spend time with them and you talk with them and you share your heart with them. You share your deepest secrets with them and you listen to what they have to say. You learn how to become intimately involved in everything that they do and say. Our relationship with God should be the primary relationship where we learn how to be intimate with regards to who we are in the kingdom of God and what God wants to share with us. If you do not have quiet time where you can speak to God and LISTEN to what God says back to you then you will lack power in your life. There is NO WAY that a professing Christian can overcome sin habits or addictions in their life if they are not willing to take the time to have intimate and regular conversations with God. Only God can change you from the inside out. Your pastor cannot do it. Your spouse cannot do it. Your children cannot do it. Only GOD can change you into the image of WHO HE wants you to be. God desires for you to have a CLOSE relationship so that HE can reveal who HE IS in the world around you. You cannot get what God has to offer if you only talk to Him when you are desperate for your problems to be solved.

We are vulnerable because we separate ourselves from the body of Christ on a regular basis.

God designed relationships for a purpose other than for us to have an avenue to populate the planet. Have you ever asked a child who God is? More often than not they will tell you His name is Jesus. If you ask a child where God is they will probably put their hand over their hearts. Children know that the kingdom of God resides in our hearts. God made us to worship Him and he created us with a void in our hearts and souls that only He can fill. The kingdom of God is all around us in the people who love Him and call Him the Lord of their lives. No man is an island and we NEED to be around people who have the same faith beliefs that we do. We need to be around people that think and feel and believe just like we do. We draw strength and assurance from one another and we can help each other to be accountable for the integrity of our walk with Christ. We need close personal relationships with other believers so that we can learn from one another as we share our victories and defeats. This will require that we let down the walls of our hearts and be real with one another. This will require that we commit to being a person that someone will be safe sharing their heart with. So many folks have been burned and hurt because a careless tongue broke confidentiality.

We cannot experience Abundant Life that God intends for us to have when we fail to fully embrace the spiritual gifts that He has given us.

God gives us faith so that we can believe. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We can believe in who God is because HE gives us the spiritual ability to believe through faith. Hebrews 11:6 says "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."


Corinthians I 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.

Did you know that God has given you a spiritual gift? Do you know what that gift is? Have you ever been challenged to find out? Do you think that you can be a part of Gods plan to reach the world for Christ or minister to the body of Christ around you without God equipping you for the task? Spiritual gifts do several things.

Glorify God and His Kingdom
Minister to the needs of the world around you
Convict people of sin in their lives
Causes healing and restoration
Brings forth Gods word
Defeats Satan who is your enemy
Gives Abundant Life to those who use them

We sometimes experience failure and defeat because we need to allow God to develop the fruit of the spirit in our lives

How will people KNOW that we are Christians? They will know us by our Love for one another, God and our spiritual fruit. Have you ever gotten zealous for God and gone off half cocked? Our intentions are good and we mean well. The only problem is we are not prepared for some of the battles and challenges of life because God is not finished with us yet. Growing in grace and maturity takes time. There is no substitute for Gods timing in our lives and the discipline to be obedient to His word. Lets examine the fruit of the spirit according to what Gods word says.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Galatians 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.


Do we have a right to judge whether or not someone is a true Christian? I would say a resounding no. Only God truly knows our hearts. Do we have the ability or right to be fruit inspectors? Yes, we can see how folks live their lives and if they are Disciples of Christ we will see evidence of this through the fruit that God will produce in their lives.

The following statements are “Spiritual Confessions of Gods Abundant Life.” I got these from the back of one of the church handouts at Abundant Life Church in Houston Texas.

Please allow me to encourage you to embrace each one of these confessions. These confessions are biblical in nature and God has provided them for us in His word so that we can be strengthened and encouraged in times of trouble. Life is full of challenges. Life is full of victory and defeat. Life is full of pain and anguish. Bad things can happen to good people as well as bad. Our Joy of the Lord MUST be our strength and we can not allow the circumstances of this world to rob us of this joy or Abundant Life.

I am not under guilt or condemnation
There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus

Satan is a liar; I will not listen to His accusations

No weapon formed against me will prosper

I will confute every tongue rising against me in judgement

My mind is being renewed by the Word of God, I pull down strongholds

I cast down imaginings; I bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ

I am accepted in the beloved

If God be for me, who can be against me?

Nothing can separate me from the Love of Christ

I am NOT a slave to SIN

I am a slave of God and a slave of Righteousness

I am delivered out of the Kingdom of darkness

I am now part of the Kingdom of God

I do not have to serve sin anymore

Sin no longer has dominion over me

Satan is defeated

The Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the devil, No longer will he oppress me?

I defeat him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of my testimony, loving not my life unto death.

I submit to God, I resist the devil and he will flee from me.

No temptation will overtake me that is not common to man.

God is faithful, he will not let me be tempted beyond my strength but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape that I may be able to endure it.

I will stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made me free

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty

The law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death.

I will reign as a king in life through Jesus Christ

I am strong, the word of God abides in me, and I have overcome the evil one.

I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me

I am an overcomer

I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me

Thanks be to God who gives me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord

I give no place to fear in my life, the fear of man brings a snare, but perfect love casts out fear.

I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear.

The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid

God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble therefore I will not fear.

If I were still trying to please men, I should not be a servant of Jesus Christ

But I am a servant of the most high God.

I fear not, for he is with me.

I shall not be dismayed, for he is my God.

He will strengthen me, he will help me, he will uphold me

With his victorious right hand.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe

I am a minister of reconciliation

I am an ambassador for Christ

I received power when the Holy Spirit came upon me to be his witness

His word never returns void but always accomplishes the purpose for which he sent it

I am righteous, therefore, I am bold as a lion

He will never fail me nor forsake me, therefore, I can boldly say, The Lord is my Help, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?



James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

General drivel

Well, the jury is out and SPAM Killer is dead. I ripped it out by the roots. Is the application useless? No, as a matter of fact it DOES block a LOT of spam. Sadly enough I get so much of it that I spend more time configuring filters in Spam Killer than I do getting to read the e-mail I am interested in.
Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express both give you the ability to block junk e-mail even if it does not kill it at the server itself. The moral of the story goes like this. NEVER register your e-mail address with a SINGLE website if you do NOT want to be spammed. Internet entrepenuers are shameless in their quest for the almighty dollar and if that means that they fill up your inbox with worthless drivel they will.

On the way back from getting luch today I had a guard ask me where Jesus was. I did not figure this out later but they were talking about the license plate that I have on front of my Lincoln. It says Buckle up with Jesus. I guess the guards were bored and thought they would have fun with me for a moment. I made sure not to tell them that Jesus was in the trunk. That would have cost me an hour at the security office with my car getting searched.

Our pastor lost a dear friend to cancer this last Friday and he headed up to Illinois to do the funeral. Pastor Tom asked me to take his place at the pulpit this last weekend and it looks like I will be doing it again this Sunday after finding out that the engine in Pastor Tom's suburban. When it rains, it pours.
We need to pray for a good deal on a decent engine and a safe return for Pastor Tom as well as the situation with the family that lost their dad and husband.

I was hoping to set up a distribution list for dads who are grieving the loss of a child. Thus far I have not gotten much response, if any.
Well, you are not going to believe this but I think I just ran out of something to drivel about. Over and out !





James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Whazzzzzzupppppp

In 45 minutes I can say "Ding Dong the Witch is dead". That will mean that it is time to pack up and head to the house. I will have burned another 8 hours here in my little techno cave here at work. Isn't that special??

I spent time with the family at the flea market in Ladson this weekend. We sold two Dale Earnhardt cars and NOT another thing. We make just enough money to pay for our booth rental and not much else. We were set up inside and I think that I now see the error of our ways. We need to set up OUTSIDE where the throngs of people are scurrying about. If we are outside we will be able to help seperate people from their money.

Sunday was spent listening to little ole me sing and preach for several hours. Those poor people. I am sure that they will be happy when Pastor Tom gets back in town. I was able to lead the service due to Pastor Tom having a death in the family. This will be tough on Pastor Tom because they were close.

The message on Sunday was "Christianity is not a spectator sport, running the race for God". To God be the glory !!






James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

A word of encouragement to Men who are grieving

I wrote this message to the LOOK list and thought I would add it here to my blog just in case there might be a man who is grieving the loss of a child.

I received an e-mail last night from an old friend who I used to work with in Atlanta Georgia.
She told me that she knew of what I was going through and because she did not know WHAT to say that she decided the best thing for her to do was to say nothing. I told my friend that there is nothing anyone can really say to make things better. What can be said to change the reality of our loss? What can be said to change the intensity of the pain or the void in our hearts that we feel after our child is gone? Our lives are changed in the blinking of an eye and we are left with the task of picking up the pieces and rebuilding our lives. I told my friend that the best thing that she could have done for me as a friend was to just be there. Allow me to babble in her ear for a few minutes on whatever subject that I needed to babble about. Dont expect me to make sense. Expect me to ramble. Expect me to cry. Expect me to get angry. Expect me to be frustrated.
Expect me to be suicidal at times. Expect me to be despondant. Just allow me to be me and realize that the pain is making me be a little bit weirder than normal. For those of you that dont know me I am a little on the weird side anyway so , yes, this makes me a little more weird.

It has come to my knowledge that there are a lot of men just like me who have lost a child and need ways to express the emotions I listed above. The world that we live in is not conducive to men sitting around blubbering like cry babies over the loss of a child. The world we live in demands that we suck it up and be tough. What would John Wayne say if he knew that we were crying about something like the loss of a child. John Wayne would say that people die, get used to it and move on. So what it is your child. Dont you have more children that will take their place anyway? The problem with that thinking is that Hollywood has warped our worldview and our parents raised us men thinking that crying and showing emotion is a sign of weakness. I remember listening to my earthly father telling me to shut up and not cry even after some of his good old fashioned whuppins. I was thinking at the time that it was silly for him to tell me not to cry when my butt hurt and my feelings were trashed.

So, with all of that said let me say this primarily to the men that might be lurking here. You are certainly not superman. It is ok for you to have feelings of emptiness. It is ok for you to be angry about the loss of your child. It is ok for you to admit that you love your child and miss them. It is ok for you to feel angry that God allowed them to go home with HIM earlier than you would have wanted. It is ok for you to question God and ask him WHY. It is ok to be depressed and despondant for days on end. It is ok for you to want to sit back and let the world pass you by in hopes that this will all just turn out to be a big horrible dream. One of the things that I am learning is that everyone handles grief differently. I can see that between myself and my wife.

I am gathering a list of names and e-mail addresses of MEN who are interested in walking down this road together with me. We are all part of a horrible fellowship of parents who are grieving. None of us want to be here but here we are. What we do with this is up to us. I believe that each of us have the ability and the life experiences to help one another out from time to time and I just want to do my part to help those of you that need an opportunity to open up and speak.

I am setting up an e-mail distribution list in Outlook with the names of men that I am aware of so that I can start to dialog with them. I would recommend that each of you do that as well. If you want the list that I have and want to be added to it then email me at jcmoffitt@jcmoffitt.com Be sure to put ADD ME TO THE LIST or SEND ME THE MENS GRIEF LIST in the subject line. I will set up a filter in my SpamKiller application not to delete your email. We can discuss things in e-mail, here on LOOK and we can also set up a virtual community where we have our own private message board and I can host chat times where we can chat in real time. I am also willing to talk with any of you men via the regular ole POTS line. POTS stands for Public Operated Telephone System. Write me a private email telling me you need to talk and when and I will give you a phone number to call. I am also available via MSN Instant Messenger at jcmoffitt@hotmail.com, AOL IM as Friend4836. So, if you are on IM and you want to add me to your contact list and chat do so. If I am at work and too busy to chat I will ask you to hang on for a few moments or to send me an email. I will get back to you.

Ok, nuff said about that. Lets start talking men...... The Superbowl is over anyway.... :)

James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Ding Dong the Witch is DEAD......

Ding Dong the SPAM will DIE!!

If you traipse over to you can download a 30 day shareware version of Spam Killer. I installed the application at home and LOVE IT. Here are the instructions I gave out to our Jesus Connect Help Desk phorum last night.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are as sick of SPAM as I am check this application out. Here is what I have learned thus far.

A. allow the program to import your contact list into the "Friends List"
B. set up all your e-mail accounts with appropriate user name, server names and passwords
C. go into Friends List and cull out the ones that you dont want to come through automatically
D. go into your Email client and TURN OFF automatic checking.

Spam Killer automatically checks your pop3 server for new mail.
Spam Killer applies included "filters" to determine IF this is spam or not
Spam Killer will ALWAYS allow any email address in your friends list
Spam Killer deletes suspected spam off the pop3 server BUT saves the email to the Kill folder so you can restore it if you need to.
Spam Killer allows you to create your own specific filters on the fly

You will have to MANUALLY check your e-mail from your E-mail client to get the e-mail off of the pop3 email server.

Spam Killer is shareware to be used for thirty days. If you like it, register it on their website for 29.95.

Enjoy !!


James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Five months in Glory

Today's devotional from Unto the Hills with Billy Graham is entitled Behind the clouds

This is the paragraph that I highlighted out of this devotional as it applies to my life.

" Many times I have sat on our rustic front porch and watched the clouds below. I have thought of the clouds of discouragement and suffering that temporarily veil the sunlight of Gods love from us. Many people live with a cloud hanging over their lives. Some may be in hospital beds; others are suffering discouragement and bereavement. A heavy cloud hangs over them."

I believe that would accurately describe where we are at. We as in our family. Katy and I are painfully aware of the passing of time with regards to our new angel in heaven. Jessica has been gone now for five months. As much as I might try and forget it I can not. The memories are just too fresh. The emotions are too raw and the memories too poignant to even put them to words.


James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Family reunion in Ohio

My sister lives in Canton Ohio. I have not seen her in over 9 years and therefore I made a trip to Canton Ohio to visit with her. I left last Friday night and came back on Sunday afternoon.

I arrived in Canton Ohio at approximately 10:30 pm where it was snowing and VERY cold. I thought that I would enjoy seeing the snow until I had to endure renting a car from Hertz. I would have never expected the twilight zone experience but it was there awaiting me to arrive. I checked out the car while waiting for my baggage to arrive in baggage claim. I showed the attendant the confirmation number from the print out I got from priceline.com. The attendant then charges 169.00 to my Visa when I only had 164.00 available. Unknown to me Hertz charges 40.00 above and beyond the actual charge anticipating that you will bring the car back a day late or without gasoline. They only charge 4.54 per gallon if you forget to fill it. That is reasonable aye?

I finally snag the car keys and my bag and head out into the snow. I get to the car which is about 45 yards from the terminal and discover the key does not work. No matter how I try the key it wont work. I decided to try the car door and it was unlocked after all. Did I just unlock it and not understand how it worked? I dug out a piece of paper with regards to the car rental and had a question for the attendant so I locked my bag in the back seat and headed back to the terminal. Snow is driving horizontal and it is about 25 degrees here. After talking to the clueless attendant about the confirmation and how it was supposedly already charged to my VISA I soon find out that I will do better talking to the manager on Monday. I head back out to the car to find that I can NOT open the vehicle. Five trips to the terminal building and two hours of helping the Hertz maintenance man to break into the car I am finally on my way to my sisters house.

The visit with my sister was relatively uneventful and I was glad I was able to make the trip. I was able to meet one of my nephews and his wife and children which was neat. It was weird being called Uncle James and watching my sister being called Mom. My sister apparently had a run in with a projection screen in Feb of 2001 and has been suffering from head injury related illnesses every since then. Head aches and gran mal seizures are on the top of the list of ailments to pray about.

James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

My world as a married man

We have a married man message phorum on Jesus Connect which is in the Battle Plan Ministries Message Group. The men have started a conversation about pornography addiction in this Married Men phorum. I told them that we have specific message phorums for that type of conversation already. I outlined ten categories for them to find something else to talk about.

In an effort to give you a better picture (word) of who I am here are my answers to these categories.

A. our children

Jeremy Moffitt, age 15, lives in Houston Texas with his mom
Kristina Lynn Moffitt, 9, lives with me , home schooled for now
Justin Matthew Moffitt 6, lives with us here, home schooled for now
Jessica Ann Moffitt, would have been 11 on September 11, 2001, with the Lord now


B. our career

LAN Manager for the Public Works Department on the Charleston Naval Weapons Station. I have been here in this job since October of 2001. Before that I was the Network Administrator for the local newspaper in Charleston called The Post and Courier. I have been in the IT industry for about 12 years. I love working with technology. Before that I was in law enforcement in Texas and owned a small mom and pop cleaning company with my wife.

C. our education

I have a high school degree, some college, some hands on training.

D. our church activities as married men

Pulpit ministry
Audio/Video
usher
parking lot attendant when needed
punching bag for the pastor when he needs me to be.

E. our relationship with our wife

Happily married for 12 + years. Very much in love with my wife Katy. She is my best friend and an awesome person to have put up with me all this time. We are like peas and carrots. Not sure who is what though. We have been through some things that would have blown most relationships wide open. Having God in our relationship and a serious committement to the marriage has made us stronger.


F. our hobbies

I love to fish. I go off shore from time to time on the East Coast. I love photography. I love to read, my favorite fiction author is Tom Clancy. I love to read and study God's word. I love to preach and teach God's word. I spend a lot of time online in ministry when I am not doing something at the church. I am learning how to bowl. I just recently got serious and bought a new ball that hooks. My average is 117 on a good day. :( I love astronomy. We got a telescope for Christmas. I love to play spades and a domino game called 42 and chess.

G. our OTHER addictions

FOOD. FOOD. FOOD..... I have an ongoing battle with learning how to change my life habits with regards to eating. We are going to sponsor Weigh Down Workshop at our church so that we can loose weight. I did this before and lost 40 lbs.

H. our FEARS

Going through another divorce
Loosing another child to cancer
Not seeing Jessica again should Christianity turn out to be not true
loosing Katy to illness

I. our DREAMS

To be content in every day living. To become debt free. To loose weight so I can have more energy and feel better. To see more and more people come to the Lord. To be a good dad to my children.

J. our EXPECTATIONS

I hope that my faith in God is for real.
I expect my wife to be faithful to me and to always be by my side
I expect my children to be relatively obedient
I expect my children to be attentive to the lessons that I can teach them about life
I expect to be real with people so that they can see Jesus in me
I expect my friends to be totally honest with me and never lie to me
I expect my relationship with Christ to grow on a daily basis
I expect my relationships to be good ones







James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Reality

Real TV seems to be a new found fad on network television. Is LIFE not real enough for us as it is? Yes, I like to watch SOME television shows.
Television is a way of escape and relaxation for me. You can find me eating my dinner in front of the idiot box more times than not. I call the TV an idiot box in a funloving way because I feel that if we allow ourselves to be trapped into a couch potato mentality where we turn our minds off and let the garbage pour in unfiltered that it eventually will turn us into mindless idiots.

As a Christian I find myself compromising my faith with some of the things that I watch on television. Network television has changed dramatically over the years and they are showing things to us on TV that would have NEVER been aired 20 years ago. Nudity, homosexuality,
spouse abuse, child abuse, wanton violence and a host of other things have taken over the television set. No, this is not a rant about how evil the television set is and how I feel that you should exorcise it out of your house because you are in damage of hell fire. Television is a tool.
Most of us use television as a means of escape and to receive information and entertainment in our homes. The television is not what is bad but the content is what causes the damage. If we use this tool correctly it can ADD quality to our lives and if we use it mindlessly and allow everything that is there to overtake us it can change our worldview and it can damage us. More on that in another babble session. Lets get back to Real TV for a moment.

Hollywood has found that shock value sells. How much shock value can you cram into a 60 minute program with 25 minutes of commercials.
I was talking to a co worker the other day about my trying to figure out the purpose and reasoning behind Real TV. Real TV is attempting to bring MORE shock value to the homes of America through our viewing of people subjecting themselves to things that would normally terrify them if they were to experience it. Actors and actresses are getting in front of the camera and showing us their inner most phobias and fears and doing things that most of us would never dream of. Is it the money that they are getting paid or is this all just another act?

I heard someone say that Satan is going to use our technology to deceive us in a big way. I am not talking about polluting our minds and keeping us off balance and away from the things that we should be doing. I watched a movie once about how the earth was destroyed by computer technology (robots and war machines we created) and how the battle raged on and the machines were victorious and humanity lost.
The machines created a false world that humanity was thrust into and no one knew about it because of how it was done. I am wondering if the same thing is happening very subtly to us as a race. I wonder if Real TV is just another step in the chain of events that is being used to lull us further and further away from our own personal realities where we have to make life changing choices about real life issues.

Wars and rumors of war, disease and pestilence are signs of the time when Christ could come back for His church. Every generation has claimed that they were experiencing those things and that Jesus was certainly going to come back during their generation. We have been saying that for 2000 years. The bible says that we will not know the time and day when Jesus will come back for His church but we do know that we are to be watchful and waiting and ready upon His return. Technology seems to be drawing us further and further from the reality of who God is in our lives. Instant success, instant relationships, instant gratification seems to be our desire. We are cloning sheep and someone has probably tried to clone a human being and we have just not heard about it yet. We are trying to become like God. The creation is trying to be like the creator. Why is REAL TV so attractive to us? What need do we have that draws us to it?

Am I paranoid or are we being deceived into thinking that what the network television giants are pumping into our houses really is reality?
Where does our worldview come from? Where do we receive information? What sources of information do we use in order to formulate our worldview? We live in a world of information overload. Thanks to the worldwide web everything that you can imagine is being categorized and turned into a web page. Indexes upon indexes upon indexes have been created where you can research almost anything you want on the world wide web. Our worldview will determine what our choices are and our choices will determine what happens to us and what consequences we will have to live through. Bad choices can cause us to live through a life time of consequences. Instead of us focusing on another reality on our television sets maybe we should be tending to our own realities. Escape is nice but it only lasts so long folks.

I would love to hear your feedback on this and any other article that I post on my web log. Feel free to write to me at jcmoffitt@jcmoffitt.com with any comments or questions that you may have. Blogger Pro is supposed to have the built in ability to allow live feedback and interaction but I do not see that functionality just yet. In the future we might have some surveys to see what everyone else thinks about a particular subject.

James Moffitt
Jesus Connect Ministries
http://www.jesus-connect.net
jcmoffitt@jesus-connect.net

Disjointed Drivel

Today is Thursday and tomorrow will be the day that I fly to Canton Ohio to see my sister. Tanya and I have lost that sibling connection over the years so it will be like visiting with a stranger that I will have to get to know all over again. I doubt that I will have the time to really know who Tanya is but I will just have to make the best of the short weekend that I will spend in Ohio. The forecast for Canton is snow.
Yeeeeeha... I wonder if I can stuff some in my pockets and make it back here to Charleston BEFORE it melts. It has been approximately 9 years since I have seen my sister. So many things have transpired in our lives and we have a lot of catching up to do. I guess that you could say that we had a pretty rough childhood emotionally speaking. Our parents did the best they could with what they had but they went overboard with the discipline. There are times that I look back at how hard they were and I can see how it has helped me during rough times in my life.
There are also times where I can look back and see the damage that they did to me as well.

When Tanya left home she had a rebellious spirit and chose to enjoy her new found freedoms. All of that is a long story and a bit too personal to share perhaps. I will say that Tanya has gotten trapped into a downward spiraling madness called life. I am praying that Tanya will come out of that tailspin before it is too late. Tanya has made some personal life choices that I will respect but can not embrace. I know that we had a rough upbringing and I can see how that has caused Tanya some problems in adult life but it is time to move past that. It has been 22 years since childhood and now it is time to be an adult and make some solid choices that will have a positive impact instead of a negative one.
I am hoping to lovingly encourage Tanya to take a look at some of the choices that she has ahead of her from here on out. I will pray that God will give me the wisdom as to what to say and when and how. I will pray that God would touch her heart in such a way that she will be free from some of the garbage in her life and find a new found purpose that only God can give.

We have all made some bad choices in our lives and as we walk through the consequences of those decisions we hopefully become better and stronger people. Sometimes the consequences damage us and we are never the same because of the choices we make. We all know of folks in our families and our inner circle of people that we come into contact with that are suffering from bad choices. We would all like to just make those things right again and take away the consequences. We would like to think that while we are unable to fix everything in other people's lives that perhaps God would magically take away all the pain and suffering and we could just start over again.

The reality of living is that we are changing and being molded into the people we are becoming. Life, learning and the pursuit of happiness never stops. Going from this life into the life beyond will be affected by the choices we make in the here and now. When we have left this world and our family is left behind here for a time what kind of legacy we leave behind is up to us. My hope is that I leave behind a legacy that reflects of a person who is real and who desires to get the lessons of life learned and took the time to share those lessons with other people. That is one of the reasons that I am doing this web log. I want to share my life experiences in the hopes that it will benefit someone else. In the grand scheme of things I am but one person. In the opinion of a lot of people I may be insignificant but I know that the creator of this universe has a purpose for my life and He gives me that desire to be the best that I can be and to share it with others. What good is a legacy if you do not share it along the way while you are still here?

Introducing my wife

Hi honey, I am home...... Errrrr , ok, maybe it IS still ONLY 6:46 am and I am in my cage here at the office. Nevertheless I do feel at home in cyberspace so I guess that statement was not too far fetched. I invited Katy to our blog as a team member because WE are ONE. Katy and I are like peas and carrots. One of our favorite movies in the whole wide world was where Tom Hanks stated that " Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. " We can relate to that statement aye ? Katy is not as blabbery as I can be BUT when she does have something to say you ought to read every word and hang on every sylabble. :)

I am GLAD that Blogger FINALLY got the Team Invite function fixed again. How long have I been inviting you here?? Katy has a degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Psychology and Child development. Katy has extensive experience in teaching children of all ages and putting up with me. :) Katy loves her new found hobby called scrapping, genealogy and being an all around house mom. Whatcha going to write about hon??

ok, nuff said....

hey i finally got in~

Setting up my message archive for YOU

Ok, I am setting up my Message Archive so if the web page template gets all mangled looking on the left hand side of the page where it is SUPPOSED to say Archive, I am working on it. :)

Windows XP Professional and Office XP update

Alrighty then. Can we say HAVING FUN at the OK Coral ? I thought that I would update my travels down XP udate lane for those of you that might be interested.

I took the time to submit my blog to MANY MANY search engines to widen my drivel horizons in cyberspace. Right now I believe I have approximately 3 people that read this. We MUST increase our readership. I think......

The Office XP install went just fine EXCEPT for file location and load errors in Outlook 2002 (aka version 10). When Outlook came up it had about 4 different .dll files it was thinking it was supposed to load and never found them. Therefore it regurgitated while I hit the enter key 5 times.
After much fuss I finally figured out that the only way I was going to get rid of the software configuration nightmare was to log in as administrator on the local box and flush my user profile. I did that AFTER uninstalling the application suite and cleaning out the registry for each file that was mentioned during the error process. That did no good. I even tried to wipe the application suite from my C drive and reinstall in D drive. Office XP would NOT install to D drive no matter what I did.

Problem solved. The only ugly part to this is that I lost all of my favorites and my Outlook Express e-mail. Since I have all of it on my home network it is NO BIG DEAL. The important thing is that everything is working correctly without errors. :)

I took the plunge

Can you say Windows XP Professional? Ok, how about Office XP Professional? I took the plunge and upgraded my Gateway PIII 866 mhz from Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP professional. What the heck. It is Friday night and Katy is out doing her weekly cropping. Cropping, scrapping, scrap booking, whatever it is you call it. It leaves me at home with the kids, the animals and the computer network. It has been quite some time since I destroyed my computer and I figured with worse case scenario I had all weekend to rebuild the PC if I blew it up.

If you are like me you have heard nothing but horror stories about how pathetic XP device drivers are. Between that and the automatic registration process which requires a LIVE Internet connection. Before I got started this is what I did. I believe that it must have helped me just a little bit.

I uninstalled Norton System Utilities , Norton Pcanywhere and a Symantec utility driver of some sort. I also uinstalled about 15 software applications that I was not using anyway. The first sign of trouble that I had was when the computer rebooted for the first time duing the installation phase. I lost video for about 15 minutes while the rest of the installation took place. I got nervous but I figured as long as I could hear the hard drive grinding and see the cd rom lighting up I was NOT about to interrupt the process. I figured that I could call Gateway Tech support if necessary. Luckily for me after the last reboot video came back looking good.

I installed Office XP and upgraded MS Office 2000 Professional using disk 1. That upgraded everything and added Front Page. I then ran the 2nd Office XP cd to add the media content off that cd and it managed to hose up my MS Office XP install. Outlook 2002 went away. Back to CD 1 and the reinstall which recovered everything automagically. Go figure ??? The only thing that I did not like about the Office XP install is that Outlook 2002 or version 10. whatever made me re configure my message rules. I had approximately 65 rules so I wound up deleting most of them and consolidating my folders in my personal .pst file into the Outlook pst file instead.

I then ran the Windows Upate and downloaded all the critical updates as well as several of the non critical device drivers. NIC, Video and Logitech Video drivers were the winners. Every device driver I downloaded and installed worked and gave me increased performance. Thus far this experience has been a huge sucess !! I must say that Microsoft (am I really going to say this...) did a BANG up job on how the interface looks.

Now I need to install Snorton Antivirus software and pray that I dont blow this otherwise good evening into plasma dust. Snorton Anti Virus software can be a weeee bit termpermental. More on that later.

To read the entire article cut and paste the url below into your web browser

http://www.jesus-connect.net/jcmoffitt/Devotion/wial.html

Walking in Abundant life

Our life is but a vapor. We are passing through this world to enter into eternity. Eternity can be a scary thing especially if what it holds for us is uncertain. Fear is usually fear of the unknown. Fear can paralyze us and keep us from knowing joy, happiness and contentment with who we are and where we are in life. Life is a gift and we believe as Christians that God is the giver of this life. Some of us would further define God in the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible outlines a plan that God has given us so that we can walk in Abundant Life. Lets examine some of the scripture that shows us what the bible says about Life and Death.


John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 4:14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

John 5:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

John 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one;
14 but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.



The bible is our guide to life. The bible is our source of originality. The bible is our authority with regards to the beginning and end of life. The bible is our guide to living a life of abundance through Christ Jesus our Lord. Some folks believe that our existence was an accident and that we have evolved from being a cave man to a higher form of life.

I believe that each of us belongs to a global community called humanity. I believe that God created man and that we are to worship Him. I believe that God created us to enjoy those things that He has provided us with. God created us and provided us with everything that we need in order to have abundant life. I believe that God defines what our needs are through the pages of our bible. I also believe that we have gotten our needs and wants messed up and our life has gotten out of balance. I also believe that the evil of this present world has drawn some of us out and separated us from our full potential as Christians.

In an effort to pursue God we have set up different religions and religious denominations with unique definitions of behavior and religious requirements that are necessary in order to find God and have abundant life. What does life consist of on a personal level?

Eating
Sleeping
Emotions
Thought life
Sexual needs
Intellect
Physiology
Religion
Personal hygiene
Entertainment
Education
Sports
Hobbies
Children
Work
Relationships
Perceptions


As Christians we have entered into a personal relationship with God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not speaking of an emotional guilt or reflex that causes us to behave religiously. I am talking about our coming face to face with God of the universe because He revealed His plan for us through the reading of His word or by listening to His word being delivered to you through a sermon, bible study or personal testimony of another believer. When we become Disciples of Christ we move from one relationship into another. The bible says that we either serve the devil or we serve God. We have allegiance to either one or the other. We make a commitment to either one or the other. We cannot serve God and Satan at the same time. We have to make a choice that will have eternal circumstances.

Prisoner abuse (cough....)

Rant mode on....

I wonder if you can do different colors and fonts in our blogs? I would love to highlight utter nonsense in RED, especially when RANT MODE IS ON.....

Cough.... Apparently some dear folks are WORRIED that we are aBuSiNg prisoners of war. Cough.....

SAY DO WHAT ??

Imagine this scenario. You hired terrorists to fly large airplanes into a large building in a third world country. Something goes horribly wrong and the country you reside in is besieged by that countries armed forces and you are captured. What do YOU suppose is going to happen to your SORRY HIDE now?? Lets see about taking a trip down memory lane to Viet Nam. Yikes. Remember the horror stories about the POW camps there? I believe that most animal shelters treated cujo BETTER.

(Imagine me jumping up and down now) I can not do this for long since I am no longer light as a feather BUT this sort of thing makes me hopping mad. (The jumping has to stop folks, sorry) (Deep Breath) Does the Geneva Convention ONLY apply to Americans? Give me a break...... Are we treating the prisoners in a humane fashion? How dare we put shackles and hoods on people who put on tennis shoes laced with explosives. I thank God this idiot was too STUPID to get the thing lit. Did they FORGET how to put a fuse in it so HE could light it? Oh DUH........ So, this guy is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier huh?

I VOTE that instead of us spending our TAX dollars to build more prisons for POW's (not to mention the cost of taking care of them) that we fly the whole lot of them out to the Pacific ocean somewhere and dump them off on an uninhabited island. Provide them with a shovel, hoe and a bag of seed of some type. Give each of them a parachute and send them on their way. Heck, just to satisfy the flesh here why dont we drop the folks about 1 mile off shore and make them atleast swim the last mile since we did pay for the fuel to get them there and the gardening tools and seed. If they cant swim maybe one of their terrorist friends will help them out.

RANT MODE OFF

Remember that this is MY personal opinion. If you would like to share your opinion with me in personal e-mail FIRE away. Just dont flame me for my opinion. OK ??
:)

Happily driveling on the web

I need to look up the definition for drivel since I like to use the word so much.....

According to the American Heritage ONLINE dictionary that Yahoo provides to us cybercitizens this is the official definition

VERB:Inflected forms: driv·eled or driv·elled, driv·el·ing or driv·el·ling, driv·els or driv·els
INTRANSITIVE VERB:1. To slobber; drool.
2. To flow like spittle or saliva.
3. To talk stupidly or childishly. TRANSITIVE VERB:1. To allow to flow from the mouth.
2. To say (something) stupidly. NOUN:1. Saliva flowing from the mouth.
2. Stupid or senseless talk. ETYMOLOGY:Middle English drevelen, from Old English dreflian.OTHER FORMS:driv el·er —NOUN

Yikes, I am not sure that I like to think of my literary prattling as drivel. I wonder what blathering means. Hang on...... (sounds of mouse clicks)

INTRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: blath·ered, blath·er·ing, blath·ers
To talk nonsensically.
NOUN: Nonsensical talk.
ETYMOLOGY: Old Norse bladhra. See bhl - in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS: blath er·er —NOUN


Ok, I am batting a thousand here folks......

I will have to leave it up to the silent majority (you) as to whether or not I drivel or blather. Perhaps I do, perhaps I do not. I guess that it all boils down to your personal perceptions and opinions of me and/or my errrrrrr writing. :) No matter what you think of me or my online blog please do me a flavor. If you see me posting the same STUFF twice in the same day click on the "e-mail me" link to the left and let me know to let up on the cybergas and I can go in and edit it and remove the stereophonic drivel that is not necessary.

If you see me making multiple typos or ridiculous spellin mestakez then please let me know that too. Tell me spazcificly what wordz are mizpelled and I will correctum.

Mini Tanks