Feast on God this Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has had a great thanksgiving this year. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner for the first time in Marcie's house since Katrina. I read a great article on fasting that spoke to me during this season. We always give thanks to God for giving us so much by feasting on delicious food. After reading this article I thought a little differently about it. It spoke of how when we fast for God we need Him to nourish us as we refrain from eating. In doing so we should be feasting on God in our life and for the lives of others. It spoke of how when we feast on food we are always satisfied afterwards, but when we feast on God we always want more of Him for His nourishment always satisfies but also sparks an unquenchable desire for more of Him. This spiritual discipline should draw us closer and closer to Him and further form the nessecity on food. Jesus speaks of the importance of spiritual food in Mathew 4:4 as He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3

"Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

We should be giving thanks this season for the food we need to live, but even greater we should be giving thanks to Him for His word and in fasting and prayer we can be fed by His word and His presence that greater things can come to pass in our lives. So my prayer for you all is to show your thanks for God by looking inward, and relying on Him for not just food, but spiritual nourishment as well. Remember, He is enough for us, all of us. John 6:35

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

Give thanks ya'll, worship Him, and never go hungry again! Until next time... James

Saints roll on pass the Bucs

The Saints had an easy win today against the Bucs. In the past we have had trouble against Tampa on the Bucs home turf, but today there was no battle. First half began with a 95 yd presss for a TD by thr Bucs, but that would be it for them. The Saints had 194 yards in the first half, 154 of those from Brees' arm, mostly to colston and Thomas. Meecham had 2 touchdowns, his first multitouchdown game. In the second half the Saints came marching in again. Literally guys, the second half of this was all about Michael Bell and Pierre Thomas marching the ball straight down the field for 3 touchdowns. It hardly looked like they broke a sweat. Bucs gave up 3 interceptions and a fumble forced by Scott Fujita whose back in action from his injury. The Bucs only score was the 1st quarter touchdown, the rest of the games was dominated by the Saints. With the Falcon's loss to the Giants today in overtime, the Saint's commanding lead in the NFC South stays even stronger. Here's a shot of Michael Bell doing what he does best...running!


Final score: NO 38, TB: 7. Next week should be a real battle against the Patriots, not like today which was more like a walk in Audubon Park. Till next time, I hope God blesses yall this week and may the wind be always at your back. James - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saints do it again!!

     Saints had a narrow miss this past Sunday. Saints scored 2 touchdowns in the 2^nd quarter by Reggie Bush, one from a 3 yd rush, the other from a 15 yd short pass. “Yeah, he’s a handful,” Rams linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “He’s a game changer.”  It’s was the first time in a year that Bush done that in 1 game.  Wide receiver Courtney Roby started the 3^rd quarter with a 97 yd punt return for a touchdown.

       Rams took advantage of their running game and Saint’s 3 turnovers for a few touchdowns and did not let the Saints get too far ahead, especially in the 1^st half.  However, they could not manage to put together enough points to end the game.  A key loss for St. Louis was an incomplete pass in the endzone that would have put them in the lead at the end of the game. The final score was 28-23.  Rams are 0-4 at home. It was their 9^thconsecutive home loss, and it broke the Saints 2 game losing streak against the Rams. The Saints have both a

 knack for working well under pressure in the 4^th  quarter, but also a knack for bumbling up against the easy teams.  Luckily, the former came through and the boys continue their 9-0 undefeated season.  QB Drew Brees comments: “We’re not content with where we’re at, and we’re certainly not content with the way we’ve played these last few weeks,”. “We need to close the game out when we’re given the opportunity,” said Brees.  The still have a command lead in the NFC South. Next week is a divisional game against the Bucks.  Who Dat!

New Blog Design!!

Apologies to all my faithful blog readers as I have not blogged in a couple of weeks.  I know thousands of blog readers eagerly await my next blog entry.  I have spent time customizing my blog page a bit.  There's a new layout with a few new features.  Now you can use links above to see more complete profile (still in contruction), my Picasa photos and soon to a page with a mp3 player uploaded with some of my favorite music.  It will also contain links to the artists sites for those who would like to learn more.  I added a calendar style blog archive tool to my sidebar, a label cloud, a scrollable blogroll, a twitter update/link tool for my twitter profile.  I'm stil working on a tabbed tool for my recent post/comments.  If there are any other additions ya'll suggest, let me know.  It's been fun adding these tools, I've learned a bunch about html/xml code.  Thanks to all those programmers who put in the time to create these tools (widgets) for others to use.  Thanks also in order for Google sites for allowing simple folks like me to design and set up free webpages.  Anyway, got more blogs coming down the line for ya'll. Stay posted and God Bless.

James

Tribute To Jody Courtney

The Courtney family has suffered a great loss this week.  Family dog, Jody, has had to be put to sleep.  He lived a long happy life with lots of love and affection.  His last year has been a struggle for him as he has been progressively losing his ability to use his back legs.  This has been a mortifying, but thankfully painless, experience for him.  Going up and down steps these last few months has required the help of a towel (and a good mom).  He will always be remembered for his sweet demeanor and loyalty to the family and home.  His suffering is over and now he's running free again into the arms of his creator.  One day, we will find him again in that great house in the sky.

How Did We Know Jesus Was Coming?

Just wanted to share a video from Mark Driscoll.  For those who don't know he's a passionate preacher from Mars Hill Church out of Seattle.  He's on a mission to change the meaning and purpose behind what people perceive about church, God, and Christ.  Here's a sample of what he has to say about the many prophecies said about Christ some hundreds of years before his birth.  It's one of my favorites from his Vintage Jesus series, all available for view and download on the Mars Hill Church website. The book is also phenomenal, check it out.






I pray God speaks to each and every one of you in your lives today and opens your eyes to His truth.

Blessings,
       James

Album Review Braille & S1: Cloud Nineteen

 

For those of you who may be new to Braille, he is in my opinion, the best kept secret in underground hip-hop and also the gospel Hip-Hop genre.  He doesn't really fit either exactly and likes it that way.  Which is great 'cause I find he can share his talent across both platforms.  He hails from the Pacific Northwest and is down with Syntax records.

His newest release, Cloud 19 is a collaboration with S1, producer from Strange Fruit Project from Texas.  In it he reveals more about his faith and walk with Christ.  The beats laid down by S1 were phenomenal and sounded so smooth to Braille's flawless lyricism.  Practically the whole album is noteworthy, but a few tracks always stand out to me.  If you don't want to cop the whole thing, at least download: For Life, Broken Heart, Heart of God, Found Her, From the Pulpit, and Hard Rock.  There were many other artists laying verses with Braille, and all were good additions to this album.  I hope we see more of these two in the future.   I also loved how he has been giving away thousands of copies of this work in his shows on this tour.  He has a humble demeanor about him that never forgets to look out for his fans despite his growing fame.  For more about this album including videos: click here.

Other albums by Braille include: Shades of Grey, and The IV Edition

Collossians 4:2-6

Today Pastor Rob took us through some more on Paul's letter to the Collossians.  We are continuing to dive into Collossians and understand more about the ways Jesus is enough for us.  Today we talk about how He's enough for our mobility as a church.  Paul talks about how we need God to help us to better our speech in mobilizing the Church and the Gospel to others.  In doing so, we must rely on Him to seek opportunities to talk to  others.  When we find those opportunities we have to use the right speech to communicate with Love and effectiveness.  Man has done a good job in distorting the message of Christ to the world with anger, fear, and unenthusiastic messages.  It should be an amazing message that communicates Love and forgiveness and a hope for their lives.  Paul also touches on praying for others in the faith that suffer persecution because of the Gospel message.  Without God's leading we cannot effectively proclaim this to others.  Only God truly save others.  We are the hands and feet of Christ, but only through His leading can we really know what to say and how to share His message.  I pray that all of you out there in cyberspace can learn more about Jesus and what He has to offer in your life.  For more on this message, read the Vintage blog on the right sidebar of my blog.  It has updates from all Rob's sermons.  'Till next time. Blessings.

James. 

Will the Saints beat their franchise undefeated record?

Saints now 7-0.  If they beat Carolina this Sunday they will be 8-0, first time in franchise history.  One of my favorite highlights from this season was Reggie Bush's 6 yard leap to the end zone against the Dolphins.  You've gotta see this to believe it.

We all know he's a Saint, but this is truly a leap of faith.  Here's the youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br9IwWQPew8

The Saints have made the front cover of Sports Illustrated twice this season so far and if they do well against Carolina they'll be holding a formidable lead in the NFC south.  I'm really impressed with how well both coach Paton and defensive cordinator Williams have brought this team into such a well balanced squad ready to face any opponent in their path. WHO DAT!

Wedding Planning

April and I have been on a roller coaster with our wedding plans. First it was May, with groomsmen, brides maids, and the works. Then we changed it to November, but that wasn't going to work for time, December was out 'cause mom was in school during the only feasible weekend of the month. So now, we've nailed it down for Jan. 2nd... new year's wedding. Then we go on a trip which I cannot disclose over the internet because it's a surprise for April. But, it's going to rock. I'll be posting pictures later on. We've gotten an amazing rehersal dinner planned at Atchafalaya Cafe, catered mediterranean food for the reception, a killer bed and breakfast for our first night together (oolala!). I'm just glad this is going to be a small ceremony, nothing complicated. Just us, some family, and father Jerry. We're throwing a party for friends in May, probably a cook out. Once again, simple. Anyway, hope all is well out there with everyone. If you have any simple wedding ideas let me know. Blessings, James

Welcome To My Blog

I am new to this whole blog thing. I first got into social networking through Facebook, then Twitter, and now blogging. I enjoy connecting with like minded people out there on the web. Hope you like my blog. I plan to post all sorts of stuff from Christianity to photography, hip hop to nursing, and back again. Hope you like it. More to come later.