Posted on February 26, 2004                                                                              by Greg S

What a life Christ led.  Here is a person, a man, who loved extravagantly, lived selflessly, shared endlessly and suffered willingly.  A man who was obedient to our Heavenly Father at all costs, even death.  He was patient, gentile, humble, faithful, righteous, joyful, holy, peaceful, kind and self-controlled.  A man who held the power in his hand to rule the world, yet chose to spend his time with people the world considered to be rejects and nobodies.  A life lived so drastically different than anything anyone has ever seen!  

It gets crazier...

Somehow...beyond our human comprehension He is alive today.  He may not be here walking next to us in physical form, but his characteristics are more evident and visible than ever!  He is working, he is healing and he is saving as we speak.  When he was here on earth people could say, "I know this amazing person who is patient, gentile, humble, righteous, etc."  But now, we can say "I know this amazing person who is making me holy, humble, gentile, patient etc. just like he is!"

Jesus' life has radically changed my own.  In fact, I hardly consider the time I spent before I knew Christ as living; it was more like dying.  I am just another person that God decided to make something out of nothing.  He has transformed me just like he promises in his word.       

So…I am one of the new writers for this awesome web-community.  I must say that I am really looking forward to this opportunity to share about my experiences from the past and the lessons I learn along the way!  I'll gradually fill you in on who I am and what knowing this person named Christ has done in my life.

^"But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."  1 Peter 2:9-10 (The Message)

4th Inspirations Writer, Cooking Experience

First of all, I have the pleasure of introducing to you the 4th writer for the inspirations section, Greg Smith. He will be updating on the 4th Wednesday of every month, so make sure to look for his 1st piece tomorrow.

I was finally able to work on one of my New Year's resolutions, which is to learn how to cook well. The menu was white rice and grilled chicken. The preparation took me about twice as long as it would normally take someone who has experience cooking, because I am extremely meticulous when it comes to washing chicken. I have this little routine of first rinsing the chicken with water, then scrubbing it with salt, then rinsing it again with water and washing it with lemon juice. It leaves me with dry hands but an incredible satisfaction that the chicken is as clean as possible. So with that out of the way, I focused on the seasoning and the actual grilling process.

Everything went smoothly after I burnt the first piece of chicken I placed on the grill, so I was able to serve it to my family and a guest who came to the house. I took the necessary precautions, of course, and placed a bottle of Pepto-Bismol along with the silverware when I set the table. Surprisingly enough, my mother loved the way the chicken tasted, as did the guest, so I think I'm going to start having more practice in the kitchen. If any of y'all out there know of any simple recipes, I want to start out slow, do let me know, I'd love to try them out.

I hope everyone has an awesome day, take care! See you next time.

A.  12 pictures from Abhilash & Erica's wedding have been posted.  

Thanks for being patient with these all.  I would like to specifically shout out Vinod Varghese as well as Sam George of SGPhotography, for these pictures.  If anyone out there is in the market for a wedding photographer, Sam George is your man.

B.  DesiDestiny.com:  This newly christened matrimonial website founded by Justin Mathews, Mike O'Malley, David Stein, and Ann (Soy) George, is now online.  Signing up is extremely easy.  It is definitely worth a look.

C.  Bro. Phillip Cabillo Jr:  A new anonymous entry has been added to Bro. Phillip Cabillo Jr's section in Remembrance.  Click here to check it out.

D.  Detroit Revivals:  Please note that the very first revivals meetings in Detroit will take place from April 16-18.  Shout out to Abey Kurikesu for the info.

E.  Patrick Ramsey:  In some offseason Redskins news, our young QB, Patrick Ramsey, is raising a stink over the fact that we've just signed Mark Brunell to a big, big contract.  Apparently, Ramsey wants to be traded.

Patrick, Patrick, Patrick.........

If you value your career, you need to stuff that pride and just realize who your playing for.  This isn't Barney Fife running the plays here bro, this is Joe "3 Super Bowls" Gibbs.  You're a young guy that still needs to improve, and a year or two learning from Brunell and Coach Gibbs is going to make you unstoppable come you're own starting time.  

Joe Gibbs has taken 3 different quarterbacks to 3 Super Bowls, and won them all.  No other coach in NFL history has been able to do that.  Pat, you think he can't do that for you too?  Think about it....

F.  The Passion Of The Christ:  The # of theaters has been expanded from 2,000 to 2,800.  We're not talking about "Left Behind: The Movie" here.  This is a major, major, Hollywood release.  It's impressive b/c a major film will usually see a release in 2,500 theaters.  So I hope it does well, and rakes in the $$$$.  Although knowing Hollywood, they'll probably want a sequel.

A.  Submitting Content:  Missing your Birthday in the B-Day section?  Want to submit an article, event or comment?  Well we just made it easy for you.  Just fill out the form below, and click submit.  Its as simple as that.

Thursday, February 19, 2004 - Benj

Above All 

This song, by Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche, has been ministering to me lately.  So I thought I'd share it with you readers.  Hopefully most of you know the tune and have been blessed by it yourself.  If you haven't heard it before, I'd recommend getting it on CD - it's a powerful song.    

   Posted on February 18, 2004                                                                           by Llenis M

Hello everyone!  I hope that you are all enjoying this amazing section of inspirations.  I want to ask all the readers to please bear with my grammar, I am not an English major.  So I hope you can all understand and still enjoy what I am writing.  The other night as I was thinking about some topics to write about, I felt the Lord guiding me to write about this, and I hope it blesses your heart.  I want to share with you about something that I know every Christian struggles with at one point or another.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we have experienced his sweet love, once we first open our hearts to him.  We are showered with his love and are filled with the Holy Spirit, whom gives us the assurance of our intimate relationship with Jesus.  There is a passion that takes over our hearts and we fall in love with Jesus in such a way that nothing else matters.  We start living the race Paul talked about in Philipians 3:14, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Like Paul said we press against all barriers and pursue God with all our strength. 

However, along the race we come across temptations, things that challenge our faith, hardships and persecution, all these take our focus off our prize, Jesus.  We are soon confronted with these challenges and the lust of the world whom surrounds us daily.  When we come to realize it our eyes are off the author and finisher of our faith and we are looking around us, which then leads us into a spiritual dilemma.  We are then constantly struggling to pray and read the word, much less spending time with the Lord...And deep down inside you feel this feeling in your heart that is wavering between two thoughts: doing what God wants or doing what your friends, or self  want.  Paul said this in such a great way in Romans 7:15, "For that which I do I allow not, for that I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I". 

 Paul had experienced the same conflict and said that there was this ongoing war within him.   In his heart there existed the longing to seek God, and to remain in his love, but there were also those obstacles he struggled with in his flesh.  What can we do?  Who wins in this war?  Are we doomed without an answer?  Are we always going to stay drifted away from God?  I found that there is hope and Jesus tell us what to do when such things happen in our spiritual walk. In Revelation 2:5 Jesus said, "Remember therfore from where you have fallen (1st. Recognize that you have fallen out of love with the Lord and are distant), and repent (2nd. We must ask him whole heartdley, with sincerity to forgive us); and do the first works(3rd. You must do those things you first did when you gave your heart to him, can you remember what they were?).  Jesus is telling us the answer to our spiritual dilemma and how to get back into the race focusing only in him.  If I was to asked you today how is your relationship with him, what would you say?  Are you still loving him with all your heart, or is he just someone that you have deep respect for?  If we follow these steps I know that you will find him. 

In Song of Solomon 3:4 we find a portrait of what it looks like when we are pursuing him once again," It was a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth, I held him and would not let him go, untill I brought him unto my mothers house"... Now you are probably thinking o.k what does this mean...I am glad you asked! In this verse the beloved (you and I) are desperately seeking to find our lover (Jesus). The beloved has come across trials and loneliness in which caused her to remember about those moments in which she first experienced the love of God.  She realizes that he is not near to her and decides to look for him desperately.  However, the lover (God) allows himself to be found by her because he has seen that she has sought after him with seriousness and left everything (comfort zone) to  go after after him.  

The Lord in his amazing love allows himself to be found by her because he sees that she is not able to go on anymore without him.  She then takes him to her mothers house, which signifies the place when she first experienced his grace and security.  This is the place that he will bring you to.  His deep love for you and me is so great that we cannot come to understand, and even thou we get side-tracked and run a different way, he still is faithful and meets with us wherever we are. Is that good news or what? Lastly I want to encourage you to seek him and press on with the race in which we are called.  In conclusion, James 4:8 says" Come near unto God and he will come near to you"...it is a fact and a guarantee...I pray that you might enjoy this and please let me know if it has.        

A.  For anyone that wasn't able to attend, Bro. Daniel's Funeral Program has been added to the Remembrance section.

All Star Weekend & Co-Habitation

Its NBA All-Star weekend! I'm looking forward to the Rookie game this year with Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James playing together. It Should be a great game. AS for the all-star game on Sunday, I have a strange feeling that the East is going to win it this year. They're long overdue for a victory and although the East doesn't have the offensive firepower that the West has stolen, they have some solid defensive players in the likes of Jermaine O'neal and ....Ehh who am I kidding, I cant even name 3-4 good players in the East. East. The West has ALL the better players and the better coaches. Its not fair! 

Speaking of basketball, What's happening with Tourney 2004?  Does anyone have any dates yet? The Stunnaz haven't officially started practicing but last week we all went to foot locker and got us some G-Unit sneakers. If we do go down this year, We're going to go down in style.

Happy 25th B-day to Vincent V -- A fellow Stunna and good friend.  I was talking to him yesterday and the conversation into spiritual matters. All of the sudden he blew me away with this mind-boggling question. He asked, "Is it possible to lust after your own wife?" (Or husband). 

I thought that was an hilarious question. I still get a chuckle when I think about it. I don't believe its possible, but I may be wrong. I'm not married so I wouldn't know. What I do know is that a more rampant problem is lust BEFORE marriage. If more husbands lusted after their OWN wives then divorce court wouldn't be such a popular daytime T.V. show.  Listen, If lusting after your own wife is the biggest problem you face, then you are a lucky guy ;) And I'm sure your wife is pretty happy too.

This brings me to an interesting topic. Last week I was reading an article on msn.com about the proliferation of co-habiting couples.

 http://women.msn.com/48212.armx

Do you know that there are 11 million cohabiting couples in the U.S. and the number is growing strong. When I say co-habiting I mean, a man and a woman who are living with each other, sharing finances, and maybe even raising children but they ARE NOT MARRIED. Some of these couples have been living  together in excess of 10 - 15 years. What a disturbing social practice! I guess the rational behind it is: 

"Why buy the milk when you can have the cow for free."

Think of the Irony, Homosexuals are fighting for the right to get married and have the state recognize their union while Heterosexuals are making a mockery out of the scared institution of marriage. All I can say is, this county is going to hell in a hand-basket and God help us all when we raise our children and they come to us and say, "Mommy, Daddy, I'm gay and I live with my gay lover" At that point I will turn to my wife, point to my temple and ask her to please insert bullet here.

Haha. J/K  Hopefully none of us will have to face that ordeal, and to make sure you don't, be sure to use plenty of the "belt". ( ok ok I don't want to advocate domestic violence or child abuse) How about I just say "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it"

P.S "SPARE NOT THE ROD"

See yall next week.

Thursday, February 12, 2004 - Benj

Fat Atkins?

Well, was he fat or not?  Should people stop counting carbohydrates?  Tuesday's revelation from the Wall Street Journal was that Dr. Robert Atkins weighed over 250 pounds at the time of his death.  (250 pounds for a six-footer is pretty hefty).  Could it be any coincidence that a pro-vegetarian group pushed for the illegal release and subsequent publication of this private medical information?

Was the weight gain really just from his medical conditions as his physicians claim, or was the good doctor pigging out on carbohydrates and ballooning like a whale?  Check out the article below from CNN.  I remember seeing him on Larry King Live just a couple months before his demise, and he didn't look fat.  Less than 200, if I had to guess.    

Lose the poundage:  Millions and millions of people around the world have subscribed to the low-carb dieting that Atkins pioneered.  Especially in America and England, lands of the free, fat, and brave.  He wasn't the first medical professional to ever write about the successes of this type of eating, but he certainly did more than anyone else in the last fifty years to popularize the low carb lifestyle.  Don't worry about your fat intake!  Eat meat, cheese, & butter!  And get thin at the same time!  And watch your cholesterol and blood pressure levels DROP !  Sounds pretty unbelievable but there are loads of devotees out there for whom it has worked.    

Look, ANYTHING beats a low-fat regimen.  Low-fat diets leave you perpetually hungry.  As if yogurts for breakfast and side salads for lunch are sustainable.  YOU MIGHT AS WELL STARVE YOURSELF.  But low-carb, on the other hand, pretty much allows you to NOT feel hungry most of the time.  And if you mix your fat & protein (meat, cheese) with some veggies and fruit, it's really not too bad.

Plug for carbs:  McDonald's breakfast biscuits are a pleasure to eat (and loaded with carbs, sad to say).  Try one with sausage, egg, and cheese sometime and then go hit the treadmill for 30.    

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.

Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.

At 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator.

Diet is one potential factor in heart disease, but infections also can contribute to it.

Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, told the Journal that Atkins' heart disease stemmed from cardiomyopathy, a condition thought to result from a viral infection.

Trager said the weight was added between his accident and his death, and in fact Atkins weighed less than 200 pounds at the time he was injured.

"During his coma, as he deteriorated and his major organs failed, fluid retention and bloating dramatically distorted his body and left him at 258 pounds at the time of his death, a documented weight gain of over 60 pounds," the doctor said in a written statement. "How and why the Journal reported that he was obese, remains the only unanswered question in this pathetic situation."

Atkins widow outraged

The medical examiner's report was given to the Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism. The medical examiner's office told the Journal that the report had been sent to the group in error.

Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the New York City office of the chief medical examiner, said the records would not be released to anyone else, but they clearly indicate that Atkins died from the head injury.

The diet guru's widow, Veronica Atkins, was outraged that the report had been made public and called those who gave the medical examiner's report to the newspaper "extremists."

"I have been assured by my husband's physicians that my husband's health problems late in life were completely unrelated to his diet or any diet," she told the Journal.

Last month, Veronica Atkins demanded an apology from Mayor Michael Bloomberg after Bloomberg called her late husband "fat."

In April 2002, Atkins issued a statement saying he was recovering from cardiac arrest related to a heart infection he had suffered from "for a few years." He said it was "in no way related to diet.

The Power of Prayer

A.  At 12:30 pm today, Bro. Daniel Ariaratnam (Baltimore, MD) went to be with the Lord.  I remember Bro. Daniel as being heavily involved in the Sunday School and he played a major role in many young lives as the superintendent of this ministry in Baltimore.  He is survived by his wife, Sister Anna, and two children, Deryl and Fiona.

Susy Iype writes:  Uncle was truly a faithful believer and I'm sure many of the young people in the Baltimore assembly will agree with me, that his devotion to the Sunday School was unsurpassable. His life had an impact on many. I will miss his thoughtfulness, the long talks we had, his enthusiasm and strength. Uncle will be sorely missed.

Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to the family.

A.  Bro. Phillip Cabillo Jr.'s section in Remembrance is now up.  Click here to check it out.  I would like to specifically thank Bro. Phillip Sr and Sister Denia Cabillo, Josh Cabillo, Bro. Joe, Bro. Armando, Pat Cabrera, Benson Thomas, and Benson Samuel for their help and contributions to this section.

Thursday, February 5, 2004 - Benj

Politics Watch

President Bush's approval ratings have dropped, for the first time ever, to just below the 50% mark.  The pundits are blaming a "disastrous" state of the Union speech, consistent and withering attacks from the Democratic presidential candidates, the lack of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, etc.  

Personally, I thought the speech was fine - perhaps not his best, but certainly not "disastrous".  And the political season is heating up; Bush is bound to suffer at least somewhat at the hands of his rivals' attacking him non-stop, 24/7.  Just wait and see what happens when the Democrats finally pick their candidate, and Team Bush unleashes their mad dogs on the poor fool.     

Guess who dominated on Tuesday, winning five out of seven state primaries across the country?  Senator John Kerry continues to be on a roll.  Time magazine has a decent set of articles on Kerry this week, and also a good article about his multi-millionaire wife Teresa Heinz, of ketchup fame.  

General Clark won in Oklahoma, and John Edwards won by a large margin in South Carolina.  Joe Lieberman didn't win anywhere, and made the decision to quit the race.  Probably the right thing for him to do.  It's amazing that he didn't do better, having run in the VP slot in 2000 and being a centrist candidate and all that.  Oh well.  But I was glad to see Edwards post such a big win in SC.  He is a formidable candidate and this means that the fight for the nomination will go on.  (Edwards was set to drop out of the race if he lost South Carolina.)  

Howard Dean pretty much bypassed Tuesday's primaries to focus on the upcoming primaries in Michigan and Wisconsin, where he believes he has a chance of regaining some momentum.  We'll see.  

Remember those times when you were little…and the weatherman said something to the effect of...”A significant winter storm may affect your area, but its occurrence, location and timing are still uncertain.”  And you were pretty certain it would snow…but in the back of your mind you were desperately hoping and praying that it would.  And finally morning would come.  Before anyone woke you up…you jumped out of bed, and anxiously ran to the window in anticipation of seeing a white blanket covering everything as far as the eye could see?  Well, this was one of those mornings.  (Yes, I am in my fourth year of college and I still do it…I’m pretty sure you do too).  But alas, no snow or sleet on the roads.  Those were the worst times.  When I dejectedly had to get up, get ready and go to school.  BLAST!  Anyway…I have you all to thank for getting me up this morn.  It is my pride and duty to bring you the very best at IPF.  Regardless of no snow, no sleet or no rain:) 

Hmmm…so I pray you all had an awesome weekend…because I sure enough did! 

Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship is a student group at the University of Maryland committed to following Jesus and his teachings on the campus.  When asked what the two greatest commandments were, Jesus responded, "Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."  This is what we seek to do on the University of Maryland campus. 

There are many more applications, if you’d like a copy…email me at sak2345@aol.com.  I’d be happy to send it to you.  And to learn more about Veronica Karaman and her ministry, visit  http://www.vkm.org/

Interesting Word of the Day:  skookum  [skoo kem]  (adjective):  first rate; the best (Chinook jargon)

A.  Ok, before I get into the details, check out these pics:

Haha.  I want everyone to know that these pictures have been posted with the full approval of Paul AND more importantly, Blossom Moses.  These pics were actually taken after YAR 2004, and are meant to showcase Paul's.......err.....talents.  (I wish you could of seen the looks on the faces of people walking by us).  

NOW, let us know what you think of this little adventure, as we are willing to come up with a sequel.  That is of course, pending approval from one Blossom Moses.

B.  Super Bowl 38:  A Game for the Ages:  This game was akin to 2 heavy weight boxers, cagy and skilled, knocking the daylights out of each other, until finally, the more experienced man, (The Patriots), delivered the knock out blow via one Adam Vinatierri, 32-29.  It was one of the best Bowl's, I've ever seen. 

(Cough.  Who predicted a high scoring game?  Cough.)

Tom Brady has now won 2 Super Bowls, has 2 Super Bowl MVP titles, and is only 26.  All he does is win games.  You can't ask for anything else.

I have to tip my hat to the Panthers.  Every time I thought the Patriots were about to put the game away, the Panthers fought back.  They just came up a little short in the end.  Stephen Davis is at the top of the "good running backs" list, but he isn't great, and I think the Patriots showcased that.  Speaking of running backs, I was in complete agreement with IPF Columnist Jon Flores before the Super Bowl, about Antwoin Smith being overrated.  Well, when it was money time, Smith delivered, and now he has the hardware to back it up.

Dynasty?  I really thought that word was dead in the NFL.  But I have to say that the Patriots have done what only John Elway was able to do, and that is win multiple Super Bowls in the era of free agency and the salary cap.  Bill Bellichek eats offensive coordinators for lunch, and is the best coach in the NFL right now.........That is until September of course.

C.  Best Super Bowl Commercial:  I would have to say the one at the very beginning of the game, with the groom and groomsmen watching the game in the closet, having a good time when the bride to be busts in.  You think she's going to let them all have it, but she walks in and asks about the game.  One of the groomsmen almost cried at the sight.  I thought that was classic.

D.  A Closing Super Bowl Snippet:  A CBS official has been quoted as saying that MTV will be hard pressed to produce another Super Bowl half time show, after the incident with Janet Jackson. Ya think? Oh, and Mr. Timberlake? Stop fronting like you didn't do it man...don't be so quick to, walk away..