Steve Sabol JR NFL Films-Dream Seller Tribute

A man died this week who had a big influence on my life who I have never met.

I never considered him a big influence on my life until I thought about his life's work.

Steve Sabol Jr died this week at the age of 69 from brain cancer.  Steve Jr, with his father, started what became NFL (National Football League) Films in the early 1960's.  You have probably seen his work.
They started as a small company and by the 1970's they filmed every snap of the football of every play of every NFL game.  You have the work of Steve Sabol Sr and Jr if you have seen NFL clips on the networks, ESPN or on the NFL Network.

Father and son sold NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle on the need for NFL films after they paid for the rights to make a film of the Green bay Packers and New York Giants NFL Championship Game in 1962.

This pre-dated the Super Bowl.

Soon the men and their company became a part of the NFL.

These men were not getting money for filming obscure football games.

They made their living selling dreams.

A whole lot of little boys bought those dreams.

You saw these giant men in awesome uniforms colliding in the sun, mud or rain.

Dramatic music echoed as the eloquent voice of John Vasinda, nicknamed the voice of God,

told of the challenge, the conflict and the dire hopelessness of a football team and somehow, someway through heart and talent, though the world was not fair, this team, these mean slayed their dragon and played like champions.

It was a dream and I bought it.

As a boy I went to high school and college games because they were fun events.

My concentration was more on Cokes, popcorn souvenirs and running around than the game being played.

In 5th grade I went out to play football for my elementary school team the Candler Street Greenies.

I started to really pay attention to football then.

I also noticed this show that randomly showed up on Saturdays or Sundays called NFL Films Presents.

NFL Films told me about the glory of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboy Doomsday defense, and the swagger of the Oakland Raiders.

Great men did great feats.  Victories were won for the ages.

Later I saw that they also had team highlight films.

Every team had a highlight film no matter if they had a winning record or not.

Even the hapless Falcons of the late 1960's through the 1970's seemed to have a chance in their films.

NFL Films could find the one good play in a blow-out loss by the worst team in the league, perhaps a 14 yard run by a free agent rookie, and show it from five angles, full speed and then slow motion with that hero music, and added that voice that set the story of challenge and hope.
The winner conquered and the losing team was lost valiantly.

Everybody always had a chance for hope.

In fifth grade I went from playing Army and drawing Air Force bombers to getting an Atlanta Falcon uniform

and a tackling dummy (yes I really did) for Christmas.  My father had the tackling dummy chained up between two trees.  I could whack it like Tommy Nobis and Claude Humphrey and be in my own backyard world.   On many Sundays, at all times of year, father and son would throw the football in our front year.  I would run down the slope of our front yard and get my father to throw passes out in front of me so I could make the heroic diving catch - just like I saw Fred Biletnikoff of the Raiders do.  One Sunday he had to give me a talking to.  I saw in TV Guide that NFL Films was supposed to be on channel 9 at 4PM one Sunday.  Another show came on the TV channel instead of NFL Films.  I had a bad reaction and an attitude adjustment to follow.

Steve Sabol Sr and Jr sold dreams.

They were good dreams.

They were heroic dreams.

They were fun and happy father and son dreams.

Thank you men for a good life’s work.

    

Question: Should A Preacher Have Authority? C'mon Man

QUESTION RECEIVED:

How important the authority of the Pastor or Preacher that God

has given to them to lead the church?

Is there any consequences if we don't submit to their

leadership or authority?

MY ANSWER:

How important is the pastor/preacher?

I ask you how important is leadership?

I ask you how important is a president?

If God gave the pastor/preacher authority then authority is greatly important.

But, not so fast my friend.

Our leadership as Christians and the definition of what a great leader is should not to be viewed as leadership as the world says leadership and authority is.

Here is Jesus Christ speaking to the original church “leadership team”.

Matthew 20:25-27 New King James Version (NKJV)

“25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—“

At the Last Supper Jesus gave the Apostles a final group lesson in “Leadership Training”.

In John 13 It says Jesus  “4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

The Apostles would soon know after they saw our savior march to the cross, die on the cross, be buried and then resurrected as he triumphed over sin, death, hell and the grave.

Jesus Christ not only talked about servant-leadership, He modeled it.

John 10:11 New King James Version (NKJV)

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

Jesus Christ lived a perfect life.

He was blameless as he was fully God and fully man.

He took on the sins of the world as the sacrifice to God.

The wrath of God intended for sinners poured on the Savior.

When the without sin Jesus died a criminal’s death on the cross He paid the price of sinners like us.

When sinners, like us, repent and believe, we receive pardon for all of our sins, peace with God, citizenship in Heaven.

Who would not want to follow leader who loves and leads like that?

Are there any consequences if we don't submit to the pastor/preacher’s leadership or authority?

Yes follow this man if he is a God called servant-leader.

Human leaders have flaws.

The key point you made is if they are God called.

Does the pastor/preacher love and lead in the Spirit of Christ?

If so follow his leadership as the under-sheperd as Christ is the Sheperd.

If you do not believe you should support a God called man then please leave the church now so you will not destroy the work of God.

Desperate Prayers and Faith - Bible Study from The 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible by Dave Early

"LORD, HELP ME!!!"

GJBS Bible Study -Lord, Help Me-Chapter 18 -The 21 Most Effective Prayers of the Bible by Dave Early  

Matthew 15 NKJV

“21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

23 But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.”

 Q# 1-Demon possession?  Is this a real demon or a psychological problem?

         You think your kid has problems. Wow! (Verse 22)

Q#2- Where was this woman from?  Was she also a Jew? (Verse 22)
Q#3- How were non-Jews received by Jews, especially Canaanites?(Verse 23)

Q#4- The woman worshipped pagan Gods who could not respond.

         Why did she think Jesus could help her? (Verse 22)

Q#5- How did the disciples receive this foreign woman?  (Verse 23)

Q#6- How warmly did Jesus receive this Canaanite woman? (Verse 24)

Q#7- Did Jesus owe it to the woman to hear and help her?

Q#8- What did the woman do to Jesus? (Verse 25)

Q#9- What did Jesus refer to the woman as?(Verse 26)

Q#10- How did the woman take rejection? (Verse 27)

Q#11- What pleased Jesus to help the woman

             with her demon possessed daughter?   (Verse 28)

Q#12- How do you get faith?  

           Why do some have faith and others do not? 

           What about the mustard seed and ?

Romans 10:16 

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. 

For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed 

“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,

And their words to the ends of the world 

19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says 

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, 

I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

20 But Isaiah is very bold and says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me; 

I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

21 But to Israel he says:

“All day long I have stretched out My hands

To a disobedient and contrary people.” 

Romans 11   

1   I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew…”

 

What Is The Church and It's Purpose ? Look In The Bible And See!

What is the church and what is it supposed to be and do?
In our Sunday night worship group called Redeeming Grace we have been studying what the church is - as described by what else? The Bible!
Here are some consistent terns usedin the New Testaments description of the church.
The Bible refers to the church in many ways like being a ........

- Body (The parts all contribute.)

- Family (The Word uses marriage language and gives roles like bride, daughter,son etc.)

- City (Heaven is a city. Paul writes we the church are citizens of Heaven-with benefits and duties.)

- Building (We are not a real building but a holy temple.  We are also described as a field?)

- Kingdom (Guess who the King is?)


But what are we to do in this Body, Family, City,Building, Kingdom?
In Revelation 1:5b-6 Jesus Christ tells us what we do.
"...To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood - 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."


Join us on Sunday nights at 6 and find out how to join and serve as part of the this Body, Family, City, Building, Kingdom.

Here is the description for the New Testament church compiled by the Apologetics website C.A.R.M http://carm.org/questions/about-church/what-are-some-other-names-church 


What are some other names for the church?

by Matt Slick

God's church takes on a different character as we see by what manner it is referred in scripture. So, we see that we are in the church, Ephesians 3:21, "to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

• Bride of Christ, Rev. 19:7, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
• Bride of the Lamb, Revelation 19:7, "“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
• Body of Christ, Ephesians 5:22-23, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body."
• Church of the firstborn, Hebrews 12:23, " to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect."
• Church of God, 1 Corinthians 1:2, "to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."
• Church of the Gentiles, Romans 16:4, "who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles."
• City of the Living God, Hebrews 12:22, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels."
• Daughter of Zion, John 12:15, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
• Flock of God, 1 Peter 5:2, "Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness."
• God's building, 1 Corinthians 3:9, "For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."
• God's field, 1 Cor. 3:9, "For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."
• Household of God, in Ephesians 2:19, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,"
• Letter of Christ, 2 Cor. 3:3, "being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
• People of God, 1 Peter 2:10, "for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
• Temple of God, 1 Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
• Mount Zion, Hebrews 12:22, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels."

Porn and Pre-Marital Sex and Christian's Hopelessness

QUESTION RECEIVED:

 With all the temptation in this world like pre-martial sex and porn etc. how can we Christians resist? 

Will God help us to resist our temptations?

MY ANSWER:

Our problem as “born again” and “saved” Christians is that we are still sinners.

In Heaven we will be free from sin.

As Dad’s say to kids driving to vacation “We’re not there yet.”

We know we are declared righteous in the sight of God when we repent of our sins and turn to Christ for salvation. 

We still must battle our sin nature now.

 Yes, God commands us to restrain from sin.

1 Peter 1:15-16

"15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

16  because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

We desperately want to know how to be free of sin in our lives.

In leading a youth group once I had a speaker talk about sexual sins, lusting and masturbation problems to a group of male teenagers.

The speaker gave practical 1,2,3 steps to stay away from thinking and acting on lustful thoughts.

Listening to the talk I did not feel the answer was found.

My speaker was a fine Christian.

It struck me steps are not the answer.

We must understand the destruction sin causes, even to Christians.

Yes we still sin.

We must admit we are hopeless.

Where is there hope?

Our only hope to overcome sin is to die to sin and live in Christ.

Draw closer to Christ Christians.

You then will be further from sin.

                      Romans 6:11-14

 “11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Question Concerning Assurance in Following Jesus

QUESTION RECEIVED:

I was raised Muslim (Islam) but converted to Christianity a couple of years ago. How can I be assured that I made the right decision?  I want to do what's right and I want to go to Heaven but sometimes I have doubts.

MY ANSWER: 

Cheer up.  

You made the right choice if you are saved because Christ made the right choice in you.

We are Christians when we are “Born Again.”

You cannot birth yourself.

Salvation is the work of Christ not you.

We sin.

Sin kills.

Christ was the perfect “lamb of God.”

He was sacrificed to pay our sin price.

He became our sin and he received the punishment for law-breakers who sin and turn from their sin, or repent, and trust that Jesus Christ paid for their sin.

Jesus was and is god in the flesh.

Only Jesus can pay our sin debt.

We are saved from God by God.

Your sin caused the need for salvation.

Did you make the right decision?

You only if you were saved if you trust Christ for salvation.

How can you be assured?

If you are saved your sins are paid for.

Romans 5:9 (ESV)

“9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (ESV)

“9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

If you are saved God in His word promises you will go to Heaven. 

Philippians 3:20

English Standard Version (ESV)

“20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

Islam depends on your works.

We are imperfect and sinners.

The only true salvation is found in Jesus Christ.

He did all the work.

Trust Jesus.

Question Answered- Why Do I Need To Go To Your Church?

One of our female coworkers in the gospel has received a consistently asked couple of questions when inviting people to our worship group as we seek God's will in establishing a church for hurting people-
#1 "Why do I need to go to church?"  and "What will we do there?"

MY ANSWER:
God's people will be there and ministering to each other through the actual uttered Word of our Living Lord.
We will sing, say, hear, pray, read, preach the Word of God.
We will see the Word through the Lord's Supper and baptism.

What will not be there - mimes, hand puppets, a rock show, laser lights, smoke machines, interpretive dance,
self esteem building or life coaching.

We will call on His for help, salvation and healing while believing He will hear and answer us.

As we meet this Sunday 9-9-12 night for a time of worship at 6:00 PM meeting  at Jack Waldrip Real Estate
we are inviting the unchurched to minister to them with the life giving and sustaining gospel.

(Check with us as we switch locations after Sunday 9-9.)
Pleas pray for the Lord Jesus to be lifted up and join us if you are led to.

To quote   Dreamland Barbecues's slogan-
To be ministered to by the family of God - "Ain't Nothing Like it Nowhere."






James 5

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him,anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.