God is sovereign.

God does what God wills to do.

My cousin Lyle's wife, Kathy, had cancer. It started in her breast as the most common form of breast cancer. Following treatment it was believed that it was gone, and then it reappeared. It came back in her spine and was partially treated before her white cell count dropped and the treatments were halted. In the course of just a few days, it seems, it ran through her body until she was requiring oxygen and having to have fluids removed from her lungs and heart sack. (due to a tumor on the top of her heart.)

Prayer on prayer with more prayer. Yet, the healing of her body didn't come. God is sovereign.

There is a lie that runs as an undercurrent in the church, it's basic premise is that if you pray right God will be moved to answer your prayers. Let me make this very clear, when we pray it is never to move God to do what we want, it is to move us to where God wants us....... God is sovereign! He will bless whom He wishes and curse whom He wishes.

I have watched Kat move into the place where God wanted her over the last few weeks. From a place of great anger at satan and what he was stealing from her to the most incredible place of peace you could imagine.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain

I have seen this lived in Kathy. There was no malicenor spite, no anger now. The peace that was on Kat is as real as a robe........ the only way I can really say it this, Kath was robed in Christ, and having put on the new, having been renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him

God is truly sovereign. God is truly good.

Would that we could live as Kathy lived, resting in Christ, trusting in Christ, reflecting Christ.

Kathy, we love you.

As I am posting this, Kathy has passed into eternal life. Her son Nolan asked for a picture with all those who were there and with his mom. She smiled as Nolan, Faith, and Sarah were placed around her and we all scrunched in. Two quick photos and she said she was done. Within 10 minutes she gone.

Kathy in the words of John Donne, we are diminished by your death. And yet Kat we are so greatly enhanced by your life.

We will miss you.

How to learn a lot quickly.

By definition Kung Fu require effort to learn, advance and remember. But it doesn't require hours and hours aday. If the average student would simply take the new movement they are learning and repeat it for a few reps, three or four times a day, at the end of a week you will have done more than 80 times, not including your traditional class practices and work-outs.

If you are able to (with out drawing much attention) try doing the movements when you enter the bathroom, if you have your own office, as you enter the office. Between the house and the car, going down your hallway at home, in front of the washing machine.......... any place you have 20 seconds and no observers.
After a few days it will become a habit and your learning will explode..

Or you can keep telling yourself that you'll have time later to do an entire workout and keep right on struggling with your practice...

Coincidentally, this works great when you are learning scriptures as well. I learned 1^st Peter and John 1&2 this way.

May the Lord bless you and your household.

John

Ya' know when you get a new toy.............................

Earlier this month my wife, Sandy, was at a silent acution and won, for a rediculously low price, tae kwan do lessons for a month for our sons. They went to their intro class tonight. They are stoked....... it realy funny how teaching a kid to tie a belt can be such a great lesson. That is when your not dad. :-)

I started fleshing out this weeks sermon titled "Life with a mission" today. It's really sad the number of people who think that their mission in life is to eat pizza and watch football. but more on that later.
Do you have a mission, a purpose, a reason,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what gets you out of bed every day?
is it the need to pay bills, go to school, or do you wake up stoked and ready for the day because you have purpose. You do you know?

I use to get up at 5:40 am every day to go and work out......... I now have a case of leadbutt and cant seem to get up before 7:00........... OK 7:20 am. I meet with a couple of students over the lunch hour to train.... so I quess that even though I know I have a purpose for being I still don't believe it enough to change my way of life in order to fulfill that purpose............ how sad is that?

Christianity and the Martial Arts

WOW,,, I'm a blogger............... now what?

Oh ya' this is where I will flesh out kung fu stuff from Tong Yi Ch'uan-fa and it's practice and training. I will also be throwing out God stuff as it comes to the forefront...... either in relation to the practice of kung fu or with life in general.

May the Lord bless you and your household!
John
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