The Olympics!

[Kit Sober]

Received this from one of my favorites, Max Lucado, and thought you also might want to take note of this historical event of the Olympics.

Also wanted to have a place for posting other Olympic events or heroes you think are noteworthy. Results you think are noteworthy

At five feet, five inches, Vanderlei de Lima is shorter than some fifth graders. Don't let his size fool you. The body may be small, but the heart is bigger than the Olympic Stadium in Athens. That's where he received the 2004 bronze medal for the marathon.

He should've won the gold. He was leading when a deranged protester hurled himself into the runner–forcing him off course. De Lima resumed the race. But in the process he lost his rhythm, precious seconds, and his position. But he entered the stadium punching the air with his fists, both arms extended, weaving for joy!

I'm taking notes on this guy! He reminds me of another runner. Paul, the imprisoned apostle. His chains never come off. The guards never leave. He may appear to be bumped off track, but he's actually right on target. Christ is preached. The mission is being accomplished.

Run the race!

Paul said, "I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. I Corinthians 9:23-24"

From Great Day Every Day

[Twinky]

I watched the opening ceremony last night. Fantastic! A history, a celebration, funny bits, all sorts. Loved the cauldron - never seen anything like that.

I've always loved watching the athletes - absolute dedication to what they want to achieve. Not distracted for a second. No woolly thinking. I always wonder how dedicated Christians are to the race set before them. How many would strive even to get to the qualifying heats? Or into the stadium? Much less strive for gold. Or are too many Christians distracted by the world around them?

Anyway, enough over-spiritualising. Well done to ALL the athletes for getting to the Olympics. Even to those who are there in a token capacity, with practically no expectation of getting a medal. They did well to get there and they still represent their countries with boldness.

:eusa_clap:

..

(edited so that the "Olympic rings" are in the right position)

Edited July 28, 2012 by Twinky

[Human without the bean]

US women soccer team up 1-0 at halftime....versus Columbia...........

US too strong, win 3-0 on goals from Rapinoe, Lloyd, and superstar Abby Wambach!

Edited July 28, 2012 by Human without the bean

[Rejoice]

Here is a phenomenal biography of a former Olympian, who over came so much prejudice and descrimination and moved on to a very rewarding and productive life. not sure if he is part owner of this company or was a spokesman; I just loved his story.

http://super-cool-products.com/thesammysporttowels/biographydrsammylee.html

[Twinky]

What an awesome character Dr Lee is! A lot of drive to overcome a lot of obstacles.

I was appalled at this:

"I would practice at the Los Angeles Swim Stadium and Brookside pool," Sammy said "but non-Whites could use the pool only at Brookside one day a week, on Wednesday. And then the pool was emptied after we used it, and fresh water was brought in the next day."

Dirty "Whites" water was good enough for these second-rate non-white Americans, when it wasn't good enough for "Whites." Good on Dr Lee for pushing through that junk and showing not only was he the equal of, but in this respect better than, the local White population.

Somebody please reassure me that that junk no longer applies.

[Kit Sober]

Another nice Olympic hero:

"A REAL CHAMPION!"

Philippians 3:13-14

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

There are not too many people around who can recall the 1924 Summer Olympic Games that were held in Paris. But if I mention the title of a movie and song I believe you will have images of at least one of the competitors from those games: Chariots of Fire! The name of the competitor is Eric Liddell. He was known as the "Flying Scotsman."

He will always be remembered as the man who refused to compete in the 100 meter race where he was almost certain to win a gold medal. He chose not to run in the race because it was held on Sunday. Knowing this, Eric trained in the 220 and 440 meter races. He won a gold medal in the 440 and a bronze in the 220.

Eric was born to missionaries with the China Inland Mission. Following the Olympics and after receiving his university degree, he returned to China and served as a missionary there, especially working with the poor and disabled. He married and had three children.

As World War II loomed, the Japanese army moved ever closer to the area where Eric and his family ministered. He sent his family back to Canada for their safety, but he remained to serve the people God had laid on his heart. When the Japanese arrived In 1943, he was interned at the Weihsien Internment Camp (in the modern city of Weifang) with the members of the China Inland Mission, Chefoo (now known as Yantai) School, and many others.

Liddell became a leader and organizer at the camp, but food, medicine and other supplies were scarce. There were many cliques in the camp and when some rich businessmen managed to smuggle in some eggs, Liddell shamed them into sharing them. Eric gave freely of himself and busied himself by helping the elderly, teaching at the camp school Bible classes, arranging games and by teaching science to the children, who referred to him as Uncle Eric.

Eric Liddell died from an inoperable brain tumor. His overwork and malnourishment may have hastened his death. He died on February 21, 1945, five months before liberation. He was greatly mourned, not only at the Weihsien Internment Camp, but also in Scotland. Langdon Gilkey was later to write, "The entire camp, especially its youth, was stunned for days, so great was the vacuum that Eric's death had left." According to a fellow missionary, Liddell's last words were, "It's complete surrender," in reference to how he had given his life to his God.

In 2008, Chinese authorities revealed that Liddell had refused an opportunity to leave the camp and instead gave his place to a pregnant woman. Apparently, with Churchill's approval, the Japanese made a deal with the British for prisoner exchange. This information was released near the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by the Chinese government and news of this act of sacrifice came as a surprise even to Eric's family members. Now to me that is the mark of a real champion for Jesus!

Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!

- - - Pastor Cecil

[Kit Sober]

And another story of faith shown at the Olympics by Bill WIlson, a founding member of the Presidential Prayer Team:

The Daily JotDaily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE: In keeping with the original names, The Daily Jot uses YHVH as God and Yeshua Mashiach for Jesus.Friday, August 10, 2012

Faith, Focus, Finish

I don't know how many of you have been watching the Olympics. The US is leading in the overall medal count as of this writing. Between coaching football and planning a mission trip to Africa, I haven't had a lot of time to watch the Olympics. I know that that the opening ceremony smacked of socialist undertones; and that there have been a lot of stories written about the Olympic Village and all the immorality that goes on there, but there is one athlete that I would like to mention, who caughtmy eye as having a tremendous amount of passion, courage and tenacity to overcome great odds and secure at least a personal victory, if not the gold medal.

His name is Manteo Mitchell. He is a 400 man, a quarter-miler, and was the lead

runner in the US men's 4 X 400 relay. I know what it is like to run that race. I was lead off of our high school mile relay team. It is grueling to sprint a quarter of a mile. Our high school team didn't make it to the Olympics, but we were the 7th fastest in Ohio and held the school record until they switched over to the metric system--so in a sense that record still stands. But I digress--suffice it to say that sprinting a quarter mile is probably still the most difficult race to run. You have to gut it out, even when your lungs burn like the flames of hades and your legs feel like rubber.

Mitchell ran a 46.1 split in the 400 (which would have beaten me by about three seconds). By the second 200 meters, he was in incredible pain. He told USA Today, "If you could have seen behind my face, I was in tears every step. It was bad, it was really bad." Mitchell had heard a snap and continued running. After the race, doctors said he had broken his fibula--one of the most painful breaks a person can suffer. But he kept on running the most demanding race in the sport of track. Why? "I could have stopped. I could have laid there. But I owed it to the guys in thegroup. I didn't want to let them down. I just hoped I could finish. I hoped we could still qualify." Qualify they did. But that's only part of the story.The rest of the story comes from an interview Mitchell did on July 21 for the North Carolina Shelby Star newspaper.

Here is a quote from Mitchell: "I always have a saying or quote that I plan to run off of for that season...The meaning behind the phrase is powerful and correlates to my running. I look to God for Faith before I run, through believing in Him I am able to Focus, therefore leading me to Finish what I have started. I am a firm believer in Christ and I know His word is true.

I may not be the "perfect Christian" but I just want to be an example for people younger than me that anything is possible if you have FaithFocusFinish in your mind."

2 Timothy 4:7 says, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my race, I havekept the faith." Manteo Mitchell is a living example

[Rejoice]

Wow Kit...thanks for sharing that about Manteo Mitchell!

[Twinky]

the opening ceremony smacked of socialist undertones

Only if you have blinkers on and your deaf aid turned off.

We in the UK build a more caring society. Caring doesn't mean socialist, it means caring.

Not greedy. Not sold out to materialism and "Can't pay? Tough, no care for you!"

Keep your opinions to yourself, DailyBlot...err, Jot.

But this isn't the politics forum.

Just watched the closing celebrations. Lotsa Brit talent and eccentricity on display. Good fun.

Well done to all the Brit athletes, who did really well comparitively - third after two very much more populous nations.

Well done to all the athletes, whether or not they won anything. They gave their best, they ran their races [or whatever] well. Tremendous to watch. All of them.

[Kit Sober]

Received from a friend today:

News from London:

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:

1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria . I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."

2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."

4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."

5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."

6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew."

8. Soccer commentator: "Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven Dicks on the field."

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh my God, what have I just said?"

[Twinky]

Clearly gold medallists in the foot-in-mouth competition. :eusa_clap:

[Human without the bean]

Memorable Olympics!! The time we crushed all the competition. Congratulations TEAM USA!!

USA 46 Gold metals

Just too bad NBC only covered 1/64 of the games and aired all that they did

cover at 10:00pm pst when I should be in bed but chose to watch it. U-SUCK!!

I did get to watch Usain Bolt win the 110 meters live on line though.

[Twinky]

I always enjoy watching the Paralympics.

Those are people that are less than perfect - "visual, physical or intellectual impairments" - they're people who could easily say - I can't do that, oh look at me, I'm a victim.

But they don't. They say: heck, I'll still play basketball, even from a wheelchair. I'll still run 100m even though I have artificial legs. I'll still swim even though I'm autistic. I'm blind but I'll still throw you over my shoulder (judo).

Did you see the runner Pistorius, whose legs are amputated below the knee? He insists on running with able-bodied runners - doesn't get enough competition from disabled runners. And commentators complained that his blades might give him an unfair advantage!!!!!!! Pistorius at the Olympics

Paralympics