BoldGrace

MSNsportsNET.com
January 28, 2008

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives Monday passed a resolution introduced by Congressman Alan B. Mollohan that honors and commends the West Virginia University Mountaineer Football team for its landmark victory in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Mollohan said the team’s impressive fight against the odds to emerge victorious from the bowl game with a national television audience was worthy of significant recognition. The resolution, H.Res. 938, reads:

Whereas the West Virginia University Mountaineer football team won the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, defeating the University of Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 48 to 28 in Glendale, Arizona, on January 2, 2008;

Whereas the Mountaineer football team has been a source of great pride for West Virginians throughout the years;

Whereas the people of West Virginia take their team’s triumphs and setbacks as their own in times of hardship and in times of prosperity;

Whereas the Mountaineers displayed uncommon intensity and determination in preparing for the challenge of meeting one of the best teams in the country in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl;

Whereas the Mountaineers executed an almost flawless game;

Whereas then-Assistant Coach Bill Stewart demonstrated true leadership and coaching skill by filling an unexpected coaching void, instilling confidence in his team and leading them to victory, thereby earning the admiration and gratitude of his fellow West Virginians;

Whereas the Fiesta Bowl Most Valuable Player on offense, Mountaineer quarterback Pat White, gave a brilliant running and passing performance that inspired his teammates, delighted his fans, and frustrated his opponents;

Whereas the Fiesta Bowl Most Valuable Player on defense, Mountaineer linebacker and native West Virginian Reed Williams, led his teammates in an outstanding defensive performance;

Whereas Mountaineer Senior fullback Owen Schmitt, through his steady play and gracious post-game words of victory, displayed the best qualities of team play and sportsmanship;

Whereas Mountaineer receiver Tito Gonzales demonstrated outstanding play with a 79-yard touchdown pass and showed a national television audience how important Mountaineer success was to his team and his state;

Whereas Mountaineer Freshman tailback Noel Devine gave a spirited and skillful performance worthy of his injured teammate and mentor, record-breaking tailback Steve Slaton;

Whereas the Mountaineers’ offensive line dominated the battle in the trenches, making possible the outstanding performances of White, Devine, Schmitt, receiver Darius Reynaud, kicker Pat McAfee and the other offensive stars of the day;

Whereas the Mountaineers’ attacking defense contained one of the best teams in the nation and forced the Sooner offense to yield the field time and again;

Whereas the Mountaineers finished among the top ten football rankings for three years in a row;

Whereas Mountaineer Athletic Director Ed Pastilong has instilled in the Athletic Department the highest standards of ethics and performance throughout his many years of leadership;

Whereas the Mountaineers and their new Head Coach Bill Stewart have brought great honor to themselves, their University and the State of West Virginia: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) Congratulates the West Virginia University Mountaineer football team for winning the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl; and

(2) Commends the team for demonstrating throughout the season the best qualities of teamwork, dedication, and sportsmanship.

We want to say thankyou to all those who have contibuted to BoldGrace.com this year.  We fully realize that there are so many fellow humans out there who are facing great storms of life.  Let us say to you that WE at boldgrace care and are wishing for you the very best in 2008.  It is our constant desire to see the human race understand the love that holds us all together.  We will continue to celebrate our differences and look for ways to bring us closer. 

PEACE TO ALL IN 2008

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

 The following is an old video but it captures the great human spirit of oneness.

There are many Christmas carols that I love. i particularly love the last verse of this one.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
"Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite."

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
"Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the the sea,
With a voice as big as the the sea."

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
"Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold–
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold."

Said the king to the people everywhere,
"Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere,
Listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light."

He is no longer sleeping in the night. He has brought us into the day of His majesty. The darkness has passed away. It is a new day and the light is glorious. And He has brought us goodness….His goodness imparted freely to us all. May people see it everywhere and be at peace.

In reference to George’s last wonderful post…..

The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples.. Isa 25:6-7

The apocalypse has come and it’s not a fearful time but a time to feast. Come and eat freely

The church continually preaches how bad we need to be revived. No, the truth is the whole world needs to know how fully Christ revived us. God isn’t hid from anyone anymore. He isn’t seperated from us anymore or hiding from us….angry because of sin. But it is the unbelief of the church and their preaching of a gospel that is anything but good news for most of who Christ died for……sinners, people just like you and me….common folk manipulated by misguided decievers and their hundreds of years of false doctrine, that tries to veil the truth from all people.

It was a dark place in the holy of holies…behind the veil where there was only the candles of a law based system, a poor substitute for the Light of the World. But the veil is removed so that the Son can shine brightly on all and He will continue to shine brighter and brighter until all people see as Isaiah promised. The full day is come. May we open our eyes.

It is so sad that the churches, in all of their zeal, don’t see that.

Kevin at Transmillenial had written another excellent article revealing the awesome reach and power of God’s work of redemption. Check it out here. May his influence increase exponentially.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?’
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us.
And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

A Return to Love – Marianne Williamson

I know nothing about Marianne Williamson but I just ran across her words and they resonate within my heart.

Little Halea Belle & Monti the WV bear….ready for the game. Go Mountaineers. Beat Marshall.

This evening, on ESPN, I watched the story of how the Philadelphia Phillies Senior RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) team, comprised of 16 to 18-year-old boys, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the championship game in the 2007 MLB RBI World Series. One of the mothers of the Phillies told how proud she was that the Philadelphia team came together and related with one another so well even though they were from such varying backgrounds.

Baseball did this…..a little round tightly wound ball of string with a cowhide cover sown around it. It brought young men together in a way that resulted in them laying aside all of their cultural, economic, religious, racial and social differences to become a team of young men with relationships so strong that they will never forget them.

It made me think of how hungry people are for something to unite us and to set aside our differences. It also made me consider how much more potential there is for the power of the good news and the love of the Son of God to bring people together in lasting relationships.

Christ is in that baseball league and those ball players and all of the good that came of it and He is in the gospel, the very power of God. May it be heard by all people with no baggage attached. Amen.

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
(Joh 17:22-23 NASB)

It seems to me there there is something very inclusive of others when we see our perfection and that of others. Seeing us all as equally loved brings us together as nothing can and it is a message that the world desperately needs to hear.

We have been made perfect, not by a binding requirement of some religious dogma but by the perfect law of liberty….liberty to be loved and accepted by and through the Son and we have united in His perfect love….a love which casts out all fear and brings lasting peace.

If you haven’t seen the movie Chocolat, may I recommend it to you. It is the story of the struggle that takes place between a free-spirited lady who opens a chocolate shop in a small village in France at the beginning of the season of lent, much to the chagrin of the local religious folk who hold so fast to their tradition.

The heart of love and caring that she shows to others is contrasted to the coldness of those driven by tradition and the need to manipulate for selfish purposes due to their own insecurity.

There is a point though, when the young priest sees through the hypocrisy and delivers a challange to the people on the importance of realizing that it is not in what we deny ourselves that matters in our life and it is not in whom we exclude but it is in whom we include and give love.

Good movie.