1924 Olympic Games

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Not many people have heard of Bill Havens, but Bill became an unlikely hero - at least among those who knew him best. In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoeing was added to the list of international competitions. The United States team was the favourite to win the event, and Bill Havens was a member of that team. 

As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the U.S. team would be competing in the Paris games. In 1924, there was no jet aircraft from Paris to the United States, only slow ocean-going ships. Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife’s side when their baby was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain with his family?  

Nobody's Perfect!! is that true? - STT Bible Media Podcasts

I’ve been thinking recently about characters in the news, public figures. It’s sad to notice that so often people we once held in high respect end up having some part of their character exposed as being defective. Think of Lance Armstrong. A man who was outstanding and respected. He had overcome many struggles, difficulties and problems in life and yet there’s a whole area of suspicion over him in terms of being drug-fuelled in his ability to win sport.

Jimmy Saville, a man that who was given great respect in many ways and many opportunities to affect people’s lives and then you think about what he really was like.

There are others. I resist from mentioning names but it’s disappointing at the regularity of the downfall of those who were once respected.

My simple point today on this is. When we look at men and women we see people who are flawed and who will inevitably let us down.

BUT when you come to the life of Jesus Christ He is exemplary. The Bible says He is holy, He is harmless, He’s undefiled, He is different. The Bible says that He is the Lamb without blemish and without spot. The Bible says about Jesus that “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2.22 – the Bible). The Bible says in Him was no sin. In fact the Lord Jesus actually refuted the accusations of men and said to them directly, point blank in their face, which of you convinces me of sin?

And that brings me to the point, of why is this true? It is true because He is God become man, born of a virgin, so He wouldn’t carry human guilt and sin. Miraculously conceived but naturally born. The Son of God (Jesus) came into the world (God was manifested in flesh) and the reason He came was so that He might deal with sin by his sacrificial death on the cross. He paid the price by suffering and taking the just judgment of God for sin. The purpose was that unjust people, like us, could be forgiven. The Bible says “He suffered the just for the unjust, so He might bring us to God”.

Jesus is just, we’re unjust, He’s right, we’re wrong, He’s pure, we’re dirty. He took our judgment, He paid the price, so that we could have forgiveness.

You might look at the great characters of society, politics and sport, scratch your head and say well they don’t seem to come up to the mark. But I want to tell you today about one who does. He will never fail nor be discouraged the Bible says. If you trust Him, if you confess your sin to Him (not to a priest nor a church or an organization), if you come to Him confessing in prayer your sin and asking for cleansing He will forgive. “He saves to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him”.

Look at  ‘Seek the Truth’ or Stephen Baker on YouTube, and look at some of the videos there and make use of them. We trust that they will be helpful. Thanks again for reading this.

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

“Rio 2016 – the biggest sporting event on the planet”

“Rio 2016 – the biggest sporting event on the planet”. That’s the strap line if you have a look at the Olympic Games website. It’s quite a claim, however the set up is impressive.

Over a 17-day period 306 medal events will take place in 32 different venues spread across the 4 regions of the city of Rio De Janeiro.

10,500 athletes from 206 different countries will participate in 42 different sports with 136 women’s events, 161 men’s events and 9 mixed.

 Every four years the Olympic Games takes place. The host nation has a platform from which to show to the world their organisational skills, their high levels of efficiency and their hospitality. It’s a matter of national pride to get it right! In Rio it will take 45,000 volunteers, 85,000 outsourced staff and 6,500 employees and a lot of money and management to get the desired result.

The Rio Olympics have to be right – the stakes are too high. Much will be done to ensure that everything goes smoothly.  

 Can I remind you of another event which was planned and organised for a long time before it took place. I am talking about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have read this far and are about to bin this leaflet or file it please bear with me. Read a little more before you decide what you think!

The death of Jesus was to rid the universe of evil in every form. Jesus’ death was a full and final payment for evil to demonstrate that God is still holy and that we humans can be forgiven and be right before God. Are you still with me?

Evil is in the world in a general sense but evil is also in the heart of the individual. You might agree with the former comment and disagree with the latter! The Bible says ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it,’ Jeremiah 17:8. Please keep reading! You may be thinking – is it actually possible or realistic to rid the world of evil? This world has grappled with the problem of evil since the earliest days of planet earth.

Evil did not evolve! The question is where did it come from and why is it so normal? The bible explains! The reason why evil exists and has such a devastating effect on the world is given in Romans chapter five verse twelve -  ‘by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin so death has passed upon all men’. The first human being, Adam, was well warned! God had told him the rules and consequences of disobedience. ‘For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,’ Genesis 2:17. And so that's what happened.

Evil is so normal we use a variety of words to describe it. Sin, imperfection, failure or shortcomings. Evil exists in every department of life. It affects the environment, the financial world, relationships, health, education, politics indeed everything.

Preparation has been made to avoid the effect of evil at the Olympics. Athletes will take drug tests, volunteers will undertake security checks, police will be on standby to control the crowds, and paramedics will be ready to cope with illness, tragedy or any intentional campaign to infect the local population. In fact much will be going on behind the scenes to prevent disaster and tragedy because it's the only way to cope with the evil that is so normal in society. It has ever been so; this is not a modern phenomenon!

                           

God’s plan of salvation was triggered when Christ died for our sins. The effect of what Christ has done can only be felt personally at the moment. Individuals can benefit from the blessing of forgiveness and be saved when they repent (turn from) their sin and ‘believe the gospel’, Mark 1:15.

In the future (after the Lord Jesus returns to Earth as promised) God will deal with evil on a wider scale. God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, Acts 17:31 but for now he is holding back his judgment and offering salvation to anyone who calls upon his name, Romans 10:13.

In the Rio Olympics there will be a lot going on behind the scenes to ensure people’s safety and the success of the event. So God is working behind the scenes to bring eternal blessing into your life.

Will you entrust the salvation of your soul to Him?

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.