Ephesians 1:15-23 (NLV)
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all Christians. 16 Since then, I always give thanks for you and pray for you. 17 I pray that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ may give you the wisdom of His Spirit. Then you will be able to understand the secrets about Him as you know Him better. 18 I pray that your hearts will be able to understand. I pray that you will know about the hope given by God's call. I pray that you will see how great the things are that He has promised to those who belong to Him. 19 I pray that you will know how great His power is for those who have put their trust in Him. 20 It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This same power put Christ at God's right side in heaven. 21 This place was given to Christ. It is much greater than any king or leader can have. No one else can have this place of honor and power. No one in this world or in the world to come can have such honor and power. 22 God has put all things under Christ's power and has made Him to be the head leader over all things of the church. 23 The church is the body of Christ. It is filled by Him Who fills all things everywhere with Himself.

Isaiah 51:11 (NLV)
11 So the people, for whom the Lord paid the price to be saved, will return. They will come with songs of joy to Zion. Joy that lasts forever will be on their heads. They will receive joy and happiness, and sorrow and sad voices will hurry away.

Psalm 34:8 NLV)
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him!

Matthew 5:13-16 (NLV)
13 "You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it. 14 You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. 15 Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. 16 Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven.

John 1:1-5 (NLV)
1 The Word (Christ) was in the beginning. The Word was with God. The Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 He made all things. Nothing was made without Him making it. 4 Life began by Him. His Life was the Light for men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness. The darkness has never been able to put out the Light.

John 3:16-17 (NLV)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God's Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty. He sent His Son so the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him.

Isaiah 53:1,3-11 (NLV)
1 Who has believed what we told them? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been shown? 3 He was hated and men would have nothing to do with Him, a man of sorrows and suffering, knowing sadness well. We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was hated, and we did not think well of Him. 4 For sure He took on Himself our troubles and carried our sorrows. Yet we thought of Him as being punished and hurt by God, and made to suffer. 5 But He was hurt for our wrongdoing. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so we would have peace. He was beaten so we would be healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone the wrong way. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has put on Him the sin of us all. 7 Men made it very hard for Him and caused Him to suffer, yet He did not open His mouth. He was taken like a lamb to be put to death. A sheep does not make a sound while its wool is cut and He did not open His mouth. 8 He was taken away as a prisoner and then judged. Who among the people of that day cared that His life was taken away from the earth? He was hurt because of the sin of the people who should have been punished. 9 They gave Him a grave with the sinful, but with the rich at His death, for He had done no wrong, and there was nothing false in His mouth. 10 But it was the will of the Lord to crush Him, causing Him to suffer. Because He gives His life as a gift on the altar for sin, He will see His children. Days will be added to His life, and the will of the Lord will do well in His hand. 11 He will see what the suffering of His soul brings, and will be pleased. By what He knows, the One Who is right and good, My Servant, will carry the punishment of many and He will carry their sins

Romans 10:9-10 (NLV)
9 If you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment of sin. 10 When we believe in our hearts, we are made right with God. We tell with our mouth how we were saved from the punishment of sin.

Psalm 103:1-5, 8-13 (NLV)
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, praise His holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul. And forget none of His acts of kindness. 3 He forgives all my sins. He heals all my diseases. 4 He saves my life from the grave. He crowns me with loving-kindness and pity. 5 He fills my years with good things and I am made young again like the eagle.
8 The Lord is full of loving-pity and kindness. He is slow to anger and has much loving-kindness. 9 He will not always keep after us. And He will not keep His anger back forever. 10 He has not punished us enough for all our sins. He has not paid us back for all our wrong-doings. 11 For His loving-kindness for those who fear Him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. 12 He has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord has loving-pity on those who fear Him, as a father has loving-pity on his children.

Romans 5:1-11 (American Standard)
1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Romans 8:1-3, 28-40 (NLV)
1 Now, because of this, those who belong to Christ will not suffer the punishment of sin. 2 The power of the Holy Spirit has made me free from the power of sin and death. This power is mine because I belong to Christ Jesus. 3 The Law could not make me free from the power of sin and death. It was weak because it had to work with weak human beings. But God sent His own Son. He came to earth in a body of flesh which could be tempted to sin as we in our bodies can be. He gave Himself to take away sin. By doing that, He took away the power sin had over us. 28 We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan. 29 God knew from the beginning who would put their trust in Him. So He chose them and made them to be like His Son. Christ was first and all those who belong to God are His brothers. 30 He called to Himself also those He chose. Those He called, He made right with Himself. Then He shared His shining-greatness with those He made right with Himself.
31 What can we say about all these things? Since God is for us, who can be against us? 32 God did not keep His own Son for Himself but gave Him for us all. Then with His Son, will He not give us all things? 33 Who can say anything against the people God has chosen? It is God Who says they are right with Himself. 34 Who then can say we are guilty? It was Christ Jesus Who died. He was raised from the dead. He is on the right side of God praying to Him for us. 35 Who can keep us away from the love of Christ? Can trouble or problems? Can suffering wrong from others or no food? Can it be because of no clothes or because of danger or war? 36 The Holy Writings say, "Because of belonging to Jesus, we are in danger of being killed all day long. We are thought of as sheep that are ready to be killed." (Psalm 44:22) 37 But we have power over all these things through Jesus Who loves us so much. 38 For I know that nothing can keep us from the love of God. Death cannot! Life cannot! Angels cannot! Leaders cannot! Any other power cannot! Hard things now or in the future cannot! 39 The world above or the world below cannot! Any other living thing cannot keep us away from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 12 (NLV)
1 Christian brothers, I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him. 2 Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect. 3 God has given me His loving-favor. This helps me write these things to you. I ask each one of you not to think more of himself than he should think. Instead, think in the right way toward yourself by the faith God has given you. 4 Our bodies are made up of many parts. None of these parts have the same use. 5 There are many people who belong to Christ. And yet, we are one body which is Christ's. We are all different but we depend on each other. 6 We all have different gifts that God has given to us by His loving-favor. We are to use them. If someone has the gift of preaching the Good News, he should preach. He should use the faith God has given him. 7 If someone has the gift of helping others, then he should help. If someone has the gift of teaching, he should teach. 8 If someone has the gift of speaking words of comfort and help, he should speak. If someone has the gift of sharing what he has, he should give from a willing heart. If someone has the gift of leading other people, he should lead them. If someone has the gift of showing kindness to others, he should be happy as he does it. 9 Be sure your love is true love. Hate what is sinful. Hold on to whatever is good. 10 Love each other as Christian brothers. Show respect for each other. 11 Do not be lazy but always work hard. Work for the Lord with a heart full of love for Him. 12 Be happy in your hope. Do not give up when trouble comes. Do not let anything stop you from praying. 13 Share what you have with Christian brothers who are in need. Give meals and a place to stay to those who need it. 14 Pray and give thanks for those who make trouble for you. Yes, pray for them instead of talking against them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. 16 Live in peace with each other. Do not act or think with pride. Be happy to be with poor people. Keep yourself from thinking you are so wise. 17 When someone does something bad to you, do not pay him back with something bad. Try to do what all men know is right and good. 18 As much as you can, live in peace with all men. 19 Christian brothers, never pay back someone for the bad he has done to you. Let the anger of God take care of the other person. The Holy Writings say, "I will pay back to them what they should get, says the Lord." (Deuteronomy 32:35) 20 "If the one who hates you is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him water. If you do that, you will be making him more ashamed of himself." (Proverbs 25:21-22) 21 Do not let sin have power over you. Let good have power over sin!

Matthew 6:5-14 (NLV)
5 "When you pray, do not be as those who pretend to be someone they are not. They love to stand and pray in the places of worship or in the streets so people can see them. For sure, I tell you, they have all the reward they are going to get. 6 When you pray, go into a room by yourself. After you have shut the door, pray to your Father Who is in secret. Then your Father Who sees in secret will reward you. 7 When you pray, do not say the same thing over and over again making long prayers like the people who do not know God. They think they are heard because their prayers are long. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9 "Pray like this: 'Our Father in heaven, Your name is holy. 10 May Your holy nation come. What You want done, may it be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us the bread we need today. 12 Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 13 'Do not let us be tempted, but keep us from sin. *Your nation is holy. You have power and shining-greatness forever. Let it be so.' 14 "If you forgive people their sins, your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also.

Job 23:14 (NLV)
14 For He does what He has planned for me, and many such things are in His mind.

Philippians 1:6 (NLV)
6 I am sure that God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again.

Philippians 2:13(NLV)
13 He is working in you. God is helping you obey Him. God is doing what He wants done in you.

Zechariah 4:6 (NLV)
6 Then he said to me, "This is the Word of the Lord saying, 'Not by strength nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of All.

John 6:63 (NLV)
63 It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh is of no help. The words I speak to you are spirit and life.

Proverbs 3:8 (NLV)
8 It will be healing to your body and medicine to your bones.

Proverbs 4:22 (NLV)
22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

Psalm 107:20 (KJV)
20He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

AMEN

{church is not a building- it's in you}

I love to serve others. The Sunny Side & South Park communities of Houston, TX. need a lot of loving attention. Evangelism has been tested, tried and true, thus I lean toward that strategy via modeling, acting and motivational speaking.

There was a very uplifting and informing women's conference at the church where I teach. As one of the speakers, I was blessed with the privilege to both share encouraging words and to be enlightened by others on the program.

All in all, it was a great turn out and break-through was in the atmosphere!

Last night was quite a festive prelude to grand finale. After the workshops, prayer, dinner and door-prizes, the vast majority slept over. My mother and I decided to return home.

When we arrived at the retreat this morning to wrap things up, everything was in utter disarray. Many of the women in positions of leadership had been robbed in the middle of the night. Their vehicles were vandalized. Teaching manuals and shattered glass covered the church grounds. A startling hush came over the women and children, so that the silence was so heavy, one lady actually collapsed.

Who knew there would be a break-in?

Only one female officer came to the rescue during our 4-hour  gathering this morning. Normally, there is a security guard on patrol. However, he was missed too late, when his presence would have obviously been significant.

I was scheduled for morning prayer and worship with the praise team. We decided to bring it outside into the parking lot amid the calamity. After song and the reading from Jeremiah chapter 33, frowns and silent tears were replaced with a rainbow of hope.

Knowledge is power. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Everything within me believes that it was a hate crime, an attempt to take away "our" freedom of speech.

It is the end of the day, yet peace remains.

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give peace to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." -JOHN 14:27

{I am aware that my mother and I were also targets. We avoided tragedy only by the grace of God. -Psalm 91}

WE ALL GO THERE NOW AND THEN, BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS: ARE THERE ANY COINCIDENCES? After all, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1

~My Tribute~

Posted by A Taste of Mary on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 3:10 PM

Booking Talent: *Mary Richard*

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832-687-4756~ Ally (agent)
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A Taste Of Mary: "The Look Book"

HE IS THE HEART OF BASKETBALL. HIS DRIBBLE IS THE HEARTBEAT. WHEN THE TWO OF THEM COME TOGETHER. IT IS FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME. THE MULTITUDES KNOW HIS NAME. HE STANDS 6 FEET, 6 INCHES TALL: BASKETBALL (=) "MICHAEL JORDAN" MICHAEL JORDAN (=) BASKETBALL. THE GREATEST ROMANCE- IN TIMES PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. THIS IS DESTINY; NOT BY CHANCE!

 "The Greatest Romance- The Love Between Man And His Sport" written by, Mary Richard (1999)

I LOVE SPORTS TOO MUCH!

Posted by A Taste of Mary on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at 12:41 PM