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For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt. 13:15) "And I would heal them." That's a different offer from: "And I would forgive them." It's a different offer from: "And I will give them a place in heaven." No, Jesus is offering healing to us. Look at what he does to people who are broken. How does he handle them? The blind are able to see like a hawk. The deaf are able to hear a pin drop. The lame do hurdles. The corroding skin of the leper is cleansed and made new. The woman with the issue of blood stops hemorrhaging. The paralyzed servant hops out of bed. They are, every last one of them, healed. Now follow this closely: everything Jesus did was to illustrate what he was trying to say . Here-look at this-this is what I'm offering ...

True strength does not come out of bravado. Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant; our strength will be our own. So long as you think you are really something in and of yourself, what will you need God for? I don't trust a man who hasn't suffered; I don't let a man get close to me who hasn't faced his wound. Think of the posers you know-are they the kind of man you would call at 2:00 A.M., when life is collapsing around you? Not me. I don't want clichés; I want deep, soulful truth, and that only comes when a man has walked the road I've been talking about. As Frederick Buechner says, To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do-to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order to survive the world at its harshest and worst-is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that the same steel ...

August 28th, 2011 was a very dirty day in the lives of The Gym Miss Fits & Mayhem.  Headed up by gym mom, Erica Cobb and Owner/Trainer, Chris Williamson , the team made it out to Colorado Offroad Extreme [C.O.R.E.] early in the morning.  All who attended: Chris Williamson, Erica Cobb, Jasmin Sanchez, Cortney Romero, Ashley Dennis, Jackie Morris, Lana Hofman, Crystal Bragazzi, Crystal McClure, Natalie Little, Kelly Duman, Alyssian Vissat, Karl Biermann, Frank Duru, Matt Horton, Kim Hall, Adrianne Martinez, and of course Brett Seeley.  It was a fun and creative way to support team comradery as well as lighten the pressure of Nationals just a week out.  The camoflauge and black outfits were hardly visible by the end; not a clean body left! Special thank you to C.O.R.E. staff and Colin for the use of his offroad buggy.  He is an extremely talented driver and wish him the best from all The Gym.

Your sin has been dealt with. Your Father has removed it from you "as far as the east is from the west" (Ps. 103:12). Your sins have been washed away (1 Cor. 6:11). When God looks at you he does not see your sin. He has not one condemning thought toward you (Rom. 8:1). But that's not all. You have a new heart. That's the promise of the new covenant: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ezek. 36:26 -27). There's a reason that it's called good news. Too many Christians today are living back in the old covenant. They've had Jeremiah 17:9 drilled into them and they walk around believing my heart is deceitfully wicked. Not anymore it's not. Read the rest of the book. In Jeremiah 31:33, God announces the cure for all that: "I will put my law in their ...

Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. (1 John 3:2 NLT) We have an expression that we use to describe someone who's out of sorts, who's not acting like the person we know her to be: "She's just not herself today." It's a marvelous, gracious phrase, for in a very real way, no one is quite himself today. There is more to us than we have seen. I know my wife is a goddess. I know she is more beautiful than she imagines. I have seen it slip out, seen moments of her glory. Suddenly, her beauty shines through, as though a veil has been lifted. All of us have moments like this, glimpses of our true creation. They come unexpectedly and then fade again. Life for the most part keeps our glory hidden, cloaked by sin, or sorrow, or merely weariness. When I see an old woman, doubled over with a...

Denial is a favorite method of coping for many Christians. But not with Jesus. He wants truth in the inmost being, and to get it there he's got to take us into our inmost being. One way he'll do this is by bringing up an old memory. You'll be driving down the road and suddenly remember something from your childhood. Or maybe you'll have a dream about a long-forgotten person, event, or place. However he brings it up, go with him there. He has something to say to you. The lessons that have been laid down in pain can be accessed only in pain. Christ must open the wound, not just bandage it over. Sometimes he'll take us there by having an event repeat itself years later, only with new characters in the current situation. We find ourselves overlooked for a job, just as we were overlooked by our parents. Or we experience fear again, just as we felt those lonely nights in our room upstairs. These are all invitations to go with him into the deep waters of the heart, unc...

It has taken four years to make the decision to compete in a bikini competition.   Now, this is not just any bikini competition.   You know the ones where you get some girl shaking her stuff, wearing next to nothing, and being less than lady-like.   No, this competition takes class, poise, confidence, and strategic planning. Earlier this year, I decided I would compete.   I wanted to step out of the box as Colorado only offers National Physique Committee (NPC) competitions.   Now, this competition is as good as any other division, but I wanted to see how I would do out of my element.   I researched some other divisions and decided upon Fitness Universe.   What drew me to this particular one was you can also be a little more creative as you take stage twice-once in sportswear that exudes your personality, character, or interests and then your bikini.   I have been a performer since I was little and this was perfect for who I am. Fitness Univer...

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?" (Ps. 4:2). These blows aren't random or incidental. They strike directly at some part of the heart, turn the very thing God created to be a source of celebration into a source of shame. And so you can at least begin to discover your glory by looking more closely at what you were shamed for. Look at what's been assaulted, used, abused. As Bernard of Clairvaux said, "Through the heart's wound, I see its secret." Let me put it this way: What has life taught you about your God-given glory? What have you believed about your heart over the years? "That it's not worth anyone's time," said a woman. Her parents were too busy to really want to know her. "That it's weak," confided a friend. He suffered several emasculating blows as a boy, and his father simply shamed him for it. "That I shouldn't trust it to anyone." "That it's selfish and self-centered." ...

Even Jesus endured assault-not the open accusation that he had a wicked heart, but the more subtle kind, the seemingly "innocent" Arrows that come through "misunderstanding." After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:1-5) I think we can relate to that. Did your family believe in you? Or did they believe in the person they wanted you to be? Did they even notice your heart at all? Have they been thrilled in your choices, or has their disappointment made it clear that you just aren't what you're supposed to b...

A personal walk with God comes to us through wisdom and revelation. You will soon discover that we need both. For a moment the King's grief and anger were so great that he could not speak. Then he said: "Come, friends. We must go up the river and find the villains who have done this, with all the speed we may. I will not leave one of them alive." "Sire, with a good will," said Jewel. But Roonwit said, "Sire, be wary in your just wrath. There are strange doings on foot. If there should be rebels in arms further up the valley, we three are too few to meet them. If it would please you to wait while . . ." "I will not wait the tenth part of a second," said the King. "But while Jewel and I go forward, do you gallop as hard as you may to Cair Paravel . . . we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us." "It is the only thing left for us to do, Sire," said the Unicorn. He did not see at the moment how foolish it was for...

Either we wake to tackle our "to do" list, get things done, guided by our morals and whatever clarity we may at the moment have (both rather lacking to the need, I might add); or we wake in the midst of a dangerous Story, as God's intimate ally, following him into the unknown. If you're not pursuing a dangerous quest with your life, well, then, you don't need a Guide. If you haven't found yourself in the midst of a ferocious war, then you won't need a seasoned Captain. If you've settled in your mind to live as though this is a fairly neutral world and you are simply trying to live your life as best you can, then you can probably get by with the Christianity of tips and techniques. Maybe. I'll give you about a fifty-fifty chance. But if you intend to live in the Story that God is telling, and if you want the life he offers, then you are going to need more than a handful of principles, however noble they may be. There are too many twists and turns...

The deeper reason we fear our own glory is that once we let others see it, they will have seen the truest us, and that is nakedness indeed. We can repent of our sin. We can work on our "issues." But there is nothing to be "done" about our glory. It's so naked. It's just there-the truest us. It is an awkward thing to shimmer when everyone else around you is not, to walk in your glory with an unveiled face when everyone else is veiling his. For a woman to be truly feminine and beautiful is to invite suspicion, jealousy, misunderstanding. A friend confided in me, "When you walk into a room, every woman looks at you to see-are you prettier than they are? Are you a threat?" And that is why living from your glory is the only loving thing to do. You cannot love another person from a false self. You cannot love another while you are still hiding. You cannot love another unless you offer her your heart. It takes courage to live from your heart. Someone on...

If you wanted to learn how to heal the blind and you thought that following Christ around and watching how he did it would make things clear, you'd wind up pretty frustrated. He never does it the same way twice. He spits on one guy; for another, he spits on the ground and makes mud and puts that on his eyes. To a third he simply speaks, a fourth he touches, and for a fifth he kicks out a demon. There are no formulas with God. The way in which God heals our wound is a deeply personal process. He is a person and he insists on working personally. For some, it comes in a moment of divine touch. For others, it takes place over time and through the help of another, maybe several others. As Agnes Sanford says, "There are in many of us wounds so deep that only the mediation of someone else to whom we may 'bare our grief ' can heal us." So much healing took place in my life simply through my friendship with Brent. We were partners, but far more than that, we were friends...

The Miss Fits and Mayhem, ten strong, are three weeks out from another national show.  This time they head to Cleveland, OH for the NPC North American with their trainer, Chris Williamson .  This is probably one of the largest teams to actually travel together to an event as well as compete.  The bikini, figure, and physique divisions are about to be bombarded by some of Colorado's most upbeat and trained athletes.  The bikini division will take top two overalls in open class to receive their pro card, physique division will take class winners, and figure division open class will also take top two in overalls.  This determined group of Miss Fits is about to cause a whole bunch of Mayhem.   Ashley Dennis Bikini Division   Cortney Dennis-Romero Bikini Division  Lana Hofman Figure Division  Jasmin Sanchez Bikini Division   Jackie Morris Bikini Division   Jesse Lehman Physique Division Karl Biermann Physique Divis...

Guys are unanimously embarrassed by their emptiness and woundedness; it is for most of us a tremendous source of shame, as I've said. But it need not be. From the very beginning, back before the Fall and the assault, ours was meant to be a desperately dependent existence. It's like a tree and its branches, explains Christ. You are the branches, I am the trunk. From me you draw your life; that's how it was meant to be. In fact, he goes on to say, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). He's not berating us or mocking us or even saying it with a sigh, all the while thinking, I wish they'd pull it together and stop needing me so much. Not at all. We are made to depend on God; we are made for union with him, and nothing about us works right without it. As C. S. Lewis wrote, "A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits we...

From the place of our woundedness we construct a false self. We find a few gifts that work for us, and we try to live off them. Stuart found he was good at math and science. He shut down his heart and spent all his energies perfecting his "Spock" persona. There, in the academy, he was safe; he was also recognized and rewarded. "When I was eight," confesses Brennan Manning, "the impostor, or false self, was born as a defense against pain. The impostor within whispered, 'Brennan, don't ever be your real self anymore because nobody likes you as you are. Invent a new self that everybody will admire and nobody will know.'" Notice the key phrase: "as a defense against pain," as a way of saving himself. The impostor is our plan for salvation. So God must take it all away. He thwarts our plan for salvation; he shatters the false self. Our plan for redemption is hard to let go of; it clings to our hearts like an octopus. Why would God do s...

In a 12-14 week competition preparation one can start to feel like they have been hit by a truck in the last few weeks of training and dieting.   By now, it is you against you and staying motivated and resisting temptations can be at its most difficult.   Here are some helpful tips to keep you going, help you relax, and continue to stay motivated. Strive for progress not perfection Most import thing is to surround your self with a group of people who understand what you are going through and may also be on the same competition timeline.   Joining a fitness team is the easiest and most fun way to do this.   This will reinforce that you are not in this journey alone, and we all have our days.   We are only human and no do not have to have it together each and every day. Energy & persistence conquer all things Find new ways to energize yourself whether it is a particular person, smell, book, song, or magazine.   Make a motivational vision board or me...

The principles behind the nutrition approach of Forged Fuel are not only sports related but also geared towards overall health and proper eating.  Whether you are an elite level athlete, a sports enthusiast or simply someone wanting to be healthier, ForgedFuel can help you. With the experience and constant research of the man behind the Fuel, Josh Ford, they feel that they can help achieve your goals, from preparing for an MMA fight to losing weight and feeling better about yourself and your health. Their nutritional beliefs are more about eating quality foods that provide the body with what it needs, while timing the intake of the food properly to have the body feeling at its best. Not only do they want to help people with short term goals, but they want to help educate people for life long healthy eating habits. While learning and researching nutritional ideas and approaches that have helped Josh Ford feel better than he has in his entire life, the mo...

I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. (Isa. 45:2-3) God's imagery of going before us lets us know that he desires us to go on a journey. This is not so frightening. Most of us are aware that the Christian life requires a pilgrimage of some sort. We know we are sojourners. What we have sometimes not given much thought to is what kind of a journey we are to be taking. Not realizing it is a journey of the heart that is called for, we make a crucial mistake. We come to a place in our spiritual life where we hear God calling us. We know he is calling us to give up the less-wild lovers that have become so much a part of our identity, embrace our nakedness, and trust in his goodness. As we stand at this intersection of God's calling, we look ...

This is the power of addiction. Whatever the object of our addiction is, it attaches itself to our intense desire for eternal and intimate communion with God and each other in the midst of Paradise-the desire that Jesus himself placed in us before the beginning of the world. Nothing less than this kind of unfallen communion will ever satisfy our desire or allow it to drink freely without imprisoning it and us. Once we allow our heart to drink water from these less-than-eternal wells with the goal of finding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes, as Jonathan Edwards said, "like a viper, hissing and spitting at God" and us if we try to restrain it. "Nothing is less in power than the heart and far from commanding, we are forced to obey it," said Jean Rousseau. Our heart will carry us either to God or to addiction. "Addiction is the most powerful psychic enemy of humanity's desire for God," says Gerald May in Addiction and Grac...

What you will need: 1 lb. ground turkey or chicken 1 1/2 cup brown rice bread crumbs 1 1/2 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb 2 large egg whites PAM spray Mix first 4 ingredients together by kneeding the ground meat & other ingredients thoroughly.  Spray a large glass casserole dish evenly with PAM Spray.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll meat mix into small to medium size balls [about the size of a lime].  Place them in the casserole dish evenly making sure they are not touching each other.  Place on lower to middle rack and cook for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through the center.  Cut a meatball open to make sure. **You can eat these with some sauted asparagus and brown rice or with brown rice pasta and non-fat alfredo sauce [use water, not milk and add about a tablespoon of the brown rice bread crumbs to thicken]

Self-confidence is an interesting concept.  You see, we all have ways of feeling good, bad, low, light, and peaceful. We all have triggers that tell us when to experience these states.  The really interesting part is that you can challenge how you respond to those triggers and change the strategies you use.  There have been countless times in my life where I haven’t felt absolutely confident.  For example, I used to be very shy around people. I just didn’t believe I had anything to say, so I used to freeze. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong people.  It felt safer to be quiet, but after awhile it got really boring—and when someone is really bored, they’re often in fear because they’ve put so many restrictions on themselves. What helped me work through the fear and start being me was tapping into a feeling of confidence, or sometimes just another positive feeling.  It could be as simple as thinking of something that made ...

Having abandoned desire, we have lost hope. C. S. Lewis summed it up: "We can only hope for what we desire." No desire, no hope. Now, desire doesn't always translate into hope. There are many things I desire that I have little hope for. I desire to have lots more money than I do, but I see little reason to think it will come. But there isn't one thing I hope for that I don't also desire. This is Lewis's point. Bland assurances of the sweet by-and-by don't inflame the soul. Our hopes are deeply tied to our real desires, and so killing desire has meant a hopeless life for too many. It's as if we've already entered Dante's Inferno , where the sign over hell reads, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." The effect has been disastrous, not only for individual Christians, but also for the message of the gospel as a whole. People aren't exactly ripping the roofs off churches to get inside. We see the Enemy's ploy: drain all the lif...

Please take a moment to vote for me in the 2011 Flex Online Bikini Model Search.  I am in the 6th row down, 2nd column.  You can vote as many times as you want in a day.  Vote daily and often !  I appreciate all your support.

[by Lori Deschene] 1. Get to the root. If you’ve ever snapped at someone who didn’t say or do anything to offend you, you’re familiar with this common dilemma: you feel something but you’re not entirely sure why. So you start looking for explanations. The kids are too loud. Or the TV’s too small. Or the car’s too dirty. Maybe you’re afraid of acknowledging someone hurt you because you prefer to avoid confrontation. Or maybe you’re disappointed in yourself but admitting it is too painful. Whatever the case, it’s time to get honest. Lashing out won’t address the problems that are creating your feelings. 2. Be real. There’s no point in pretending you’re full of sunshine when internally you feel like crying or screaming. You’re entitled to feel the full range of emotions and express what’s on your mind when you need to. Don’t worry about bringing other people down; you’ll only do that if you dwell in negativity. If someone asks what’s wrong, be honest: “I’ve had a rough day, I don’t fe...

Here are 5 key questions to experience relaxation, stillness, and peace while resting in the uncertainty of the unknown: [ This is a contribution by Lynn Zavaro]-   1. What if I didn’t have to search and know what I want right now? Searching causes us to look for something “out there” in order to fill a perceived sense of lack, when what may serve us more right now is to simply be in the emptiness.  When something is ripe and ready, it will come to us as an insight, a direct “knowing,” as if from a higher place beyond the mind.  As if from nowhere, we feel in our hearts an unquestioning “Yes!” In the effort of “trying to find,” we jut out into the future. Yet, it’s really in the present moment where we actually discover it.  Looking back, we realize there were many important things we learned.  It was all divinely perfect how it happened and came to be. 2. What if I didn’t have to force change to happen? I used to love puzzles, but those 1,000+ piec...