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EXPRESSIONS

       

 

BEST OF 2001-2002 

BEST OF 2002-2003

BEST OF 2003- 2004

BEST OF AUG 04 - JULY 05

NEWS

Special three year   anniversary 9-11 edition

Blasi on Board Brings Brightness!

President Bush's inaugural address focuses on freedom, friendship, and faith!

Pop singer Michael Jackson acquitted of all 10 counts!

SGB ELECTIONS:

'Driven', 'Proven' and 'Results Matter' slates sweep SGB election!

Endorsing the fabulous five for Student Government Board (SGB) elections on Nov 17!

ELECTION 2004:

MORAL PUSH 4 BUSH WORKED!

Kerry for a weaker America: Running for president, they call him Kerry!

PSelect-cision 2004 asks: "What are issues that are most important to you that you are basing your vote on and why?"

PSelect-cision 2004 asks 40 students, "Which presidential candidate will best lead this country and why?"

Kerry for DRAFT which Bush is against!

Trial advocate Edwards could not defend Kerry against charges!

Who cares for the the 2nd victim!

Republicans are the political party for African-Americans and people of different ethnicities!

Answering, "Voting for neither candidate of a major political party is going to bring us closer to God."

IMPRESSIONS

Carnegie Library corrupts the morals of a minor!

SGB and Rainbow Alliance’s view of homosexuality is not held by all!

Juveniles escape of death penalty could influence abortion decisions.

FDA should continue to ban gay sperm and ignore editorials opposing them!

EXPRESSIONS

Archives of Daily Devotionals Delivers Dosage!

Christian groups seek to provide haven for incoming students!

Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling knows all about spiritual strikeouts!

Vote for the perfect candidate 24-7!

HOTPRESSIONS:

The Pitt News editorial, 'Troop casualties undercounted by 17,000'  makes it sound like......

Rebuttal to Daniel Masny's Feb 03,05 Pitt News column

SPORTS    

Pitt  2004 Cheerleading and Dance Team surrounded Schenley Quad with their Squad!

Pitt Cheerleaders and Dance team try to cheer up Panther fans!

"Golf’s New 'Sultan of Swat' Victorious Again"

There’s a New 'Berg' in the ‘Burgh.'

Three Panther fans weather the floods at 6:30 a.m.

Steelers Open Season with Home Victory

Pitt's Track and Field could go the distance!

Pittsburgh Steelers come back with rookie and backup players!

Deja Vu for the Steelers

ENTERTAINMENT:

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

FEATURE

"Top 25 reasons given for why students think the original candy cane was made with red and white stripes and was in the shape of a candy cane?"

Top 14 answers to "Love is....."

My Kiss of a Lifetime hopes to be special!

Top 14 responses to 'A Loving friend is........'
 

In celebration of Valentine's Day, the top 50-26 responses to 'Love is....'

In celebration of Valentine's Day, the top 25-1 responses to 'Love is....'

Top 5 responses given by students to, "What is the most important lesson your mom taught you?"

Acrostic Poem for Mother's Day!

GREEK LIFE:

Greek communities can communicate charity and care!

Kappa Kappa Gamma sister Jessica shows her Pitt spirit with her friends!

Newest sisters of Delta Zeta sorority enjoy a meal at Schenley Cafe after their initiation!

Student Government Board member Liz Blasi enjoys a meal at Schenley Cafe with her Chi Omega sisters!

FOOD

PGSIS 2005 Taste with Haste Cereal Poem

PGSIS Class of 2005 Favorite Cereal Survey Results

EDUCATION

Human Resource Management Final Exam Sample Questions II

Human Resource Management Final Exam 45 Sample Questions

MONTHLY
ARCHIVES

 

   

"Point Out Immanuel's Nurturing Truth!" (P.O.I.N.T)

Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher

Editors note: The devotionals that appear from this month on will be taken from the summer archives because I want to go over the Gospel of Mark from the beginning. It is possible they will have updates and will be highlighted in pink.

Quiet Times: (Psalm 92, Proverbs 2, and Mark 1:4-8)

"Oh Lord, what miracles you do! And how deep are your thoughts!" (Psalm 92:5, NIV)

"For the Lord grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. He grants good sense to the godly---his saints. He is their shield, protecting them and guarding their pathway. He shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to find the right decision every time. For wisdom and truth will enter the very center of your being, filling your life with joy." (Proverbs 2:6-10, TLB)

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way" ---"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'” (Mark 1:1-3, NIV)

 "And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:4-8, NIV)

Observations:

I looked for all the CHARACTERS involved in verses 4-8:

  1. John

  2. Whole Judean countryside

  3. All the people of Jerusalem

  4. One more powerful than I

  5. Holy Spirit

Observations/Interpretations:

I asked myself what I can learn about John from verses 4-8:

1.  John came baptizing in the desert region.

2.  John came preaching a baptism of repentance.

3. John was able to draw a huge crowd towards him.

4.
 John baptized those who first confessed their sins in the Jordan River.

5.
  John wore clothing made of camel’s hair.

6.
  John wore a leather belt around his waist.

7.
  John ate locusts and wild honey.

8.
  John knew he was a messenger.

9.
  John shows his humbleness.

10.
  John was prepared to draw crowds to the One more powerful than he was.

Interpretations/Applications:

I asked myself what was the significance of each point?

Points 1 & 2:  John came baptizing in the desert region, preaching a baptism of repentance.

It is interesting that he did not go right into the cities to preach a baptism of repentance but isolated himself in the desert region. This fulfilled prophecy regarding ‘a voice of one calling in the desert!' Yet, he was able to accomplish something significant which is evident by point 3.

Point 3: John was able to draw huge crowds to him.

He must have been a powerful speaker or a speaker that drew interest that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Now as I think about it, a desert region has lots of space that can be used for all those who wanted to listen to him. Also when the people found out that there was someone in the desert region preaching a baptism of repentance, they could have been reminded of the Book of Isaiah and wanted to check it out. Human tendency is that if a lot of people are flocking to an area other people will usually follow even if they do not know anything about the prophecy. This could have happened too. Now they are in the desert region and put themselves in a place to receive. This is evident by point 4.

Point 4: John baptized those who first confessed their sins.

I found it very interesting that John did not take baptism lightly but only baptized in the Jordan River those who confessed their sins. In essence, he was symbolically washing them clean. This happened only after he first preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This showed me the connection there is between repentance and confession. These two became prerequisites to baptism. Only after people decided to repent (turn from) their evil ways and then confess their evil ways did he agree to baptize them in the Jordan River.

I also found it so interesting that desert region was mentioned first before the Jordan River. This made me realize that many times our lifestyle can be likened to a desert region. It is dry and like a parched land. We may want to get out of it but we are figuratively surrounded by the desert and hope for water to quench our thirst and give us hope. Yet, there seems to be a condition to receive that water into our lives. It starts with admitting when our lifestyle is wrong and deciding to confess and turn from it. When that happens we do figuratively receive that water into our lives. Now we have moved from the desert region of thirst into alleviating our thirst. Even then, it is interesting that John does not stop with just baptizing them in the water which is evident later.

Points 5-8: John, who wore clothing made of camels hair, wore a leather belt, and ate locusts & wild honey knew he was just a messenger.

I believe whatever the Bible mentions, there is a reason for it. So I thought to myself, why mention John’s clothing attire and his food?

In olden days, emissaries used to come first to prepare the way for someone important who was going to come. They would lay out the groundwork and preparations for that person to come. They themselves would have some important title that would draw people to them.

For me clothing made of camel’s hair reminds me of fur and the expensiveness of it. The leather belt also reminds me of expensiveness. Leather can sure be expensive. Now the food he eats is significant too. He eats locusts and wild honey in the desert region. I believe God provided them for him. Honey to me is expensive and not cheap even in the supermarkets now.

For me all this pointed to John being someone important with a message. He knew he was a messenger and not just a messenger but a ‘powerful messenger’ and crowds were flocking to him. Yet, he does something that is evident by point 9.

Point 9&10: John shows his humbleness by wanting to lead the crowd to someone else.

John does not take the opportunity to boost his own resume, getting excited about all the people that were coming to him. Instead, “this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

John made three very significant points to prepare the way for the One who was to come:

  1. After me will come one more powerful than I.

  2. The thongs of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down and tie.

  3. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Statement 1:  After me will come one more powerful than I.

This shows me that John was powerful but did not let that power go to him. Instead he is humble and tells the crowd that he is not the one to be followed because there is One who is more powerful than he who will come.

Statement 2: The thongs of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down and tie.

He tells the crowd that even though he is seen as powerful, he does not feel worthy to even stoop down and tie the thongs of the sandals of One who is to come and that’s how powerful the One who is to come is.

Statement 3: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

John lets them know that there is a baptism more important than water baptism and it is being baptized with the Holy Spirit which he cannot do but the One who is to come will.

John has prepared the way for the One who is to come!

(To be continued)

 Implications:

I saw important implications for my own life. What stuck out to me was ‘pointing’. Whatever John did, his mission became to point others to Jesus. Even when the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem came to him, he was telling them not to focus on him but the One who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

When I was volunteering in full-time ministry for many years, I had the desire of wanting the fellowship to grow and all the people to come there. Even through that hope, my desire was to point people to Jesus Christ and Him glorified. Yes, it would have been exciting to see the fellowship grow in leaps and bounds but the purpose of the fellowship existed because of Jesus Christ.

Even now Jesus reminds me of the impact the fellowship made in pointing people to Him. We were a small fellowship but it was exciting to see people grow strong in the Lord and be impacted by the Lord. Every year while I was there, the fellowship existed even when we were losing students to graduation amidst being small. We wanted Jesus to be the central focus of the fellowship and majority of the time, I believe He was in whatever we did. We did not have the numbers but we had the love and heart to see others grow in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Why am I sharing this with you, you may wonder?

I learned that numbers can just be numbers sometimes and it can give us a sense of false satisfaction even in fellowships and churches. Numbers necessarily does not always mean people are being drawn to Christ and growing in Christ.

Now as the Pittsburgh Standard is being published, there is the temptation to want to work on the paper only when I know a lot of people are coming to it and reading it.

The paper is not here to build my ego but the paper is there to glorify Christ and to try to help people grow in the Lord and at the same time give coverage of events that are happening on campus and in the world as time permits. This means even if only one person is pointed to Christ and is growing in their faith, it is worth it. Even if only one person looks at any article, it is worth it!

The awesome thing is that one of the students shared with me the impact the devotionals in the Pittsburgh Standard had to draw her to Jesus Christ! For that one person being pointed to Christ this paper's existence is worth it!

I ask you now dear friend, who do you point to?

Dear friend, if all you do is pointing to yourself, then this passage should lead you in another direction. It is awesome there are so many fellowships on campus and hopefully all continue to exist to point people to Christ and not just be happy with numbers that come. The same thing goes for churches.

I want to encourage you from experience that amazing things can happen with just few people too who are passionate and have a heart to glorify the Lord and bring people closer to Him carrying the vision of pointing people to Jesus. In my time in ministry with my brothers and sisters in the Lord, I have seen that happen! We were small but every leadership team we worked with at one time or other had a glowing and fiery passion to reach students with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and those who were already believers to help them grow in their faith. The fellowship was also honored at one time by the Student Government Board.

You may have a passion and vision to help people grow strong in the Lord and point people to Christ, but may feel inadequate because of size. Don’t! For the Lord can use you where you are and help you as you seek Him diligently and become humble. If you have a desire to point people to Christ, He will open the doors and make a way.

I am part of Oakland International Fellowship every Sunday morning where their passion is to know Jesus and make Jesus known throughout the International community. You do not have to be an international student to be part of the church.

The church meets at North Dithridge Street opposite to Webster Hall. Prayer meetings start at 9:00 a.m, Worship starts at 10:00 a.m, Sunday School at 11:30 a.m, and Free Lunch at 12:30 p.m.

In the evenings I am part of Asian Indian Christian Church of Pittsburgh for Sunday worship when I can make it and Bible Miners Bible study at the Pastor's house every other Tuesday/Wednesday right now.

If you want information on any of these please email me or call me at 412-720-4579.

When we let Jesus be the focus, He will take care of the rest! Amen!

"Point Out Immanuel’s Nurturing Truth!"  (P.O.I.N.T)/”Who do you point to?”

Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I want to thank you for this devotional time you have let me have and learn from. Thank you for helping me to share it with others. Oh Lord, thank you for John the Baptist's example in showing humility. Help us to be humble and not be carried away with numbers but be thankful to what we have and have a desire to point others to you and to help them grow strong in you Lord. Help us please to live for you and serve you. Thank you Jesus for being there for us and that you baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit come reign in our lives. We confess our sins to you and repent of them. Help us and lead us by your Spirit that we may lead others into your radiant presence in their lives. Thank you Jesus so much for hearing us and answering us. Thank you Jesus for being our Lord and Personal Savior! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, I am a sinner Lord. I am so sorry for my sins. I confess my sins to you. I confess the wrong things I have done and messed up my own life. I need you Lord right now and in the years to come. I have gone my own way and have not found what only you can give me. You alone have the words of Eternal Life. You alone love me unconditionally for who I am. Thank you Jesus! I turn myself to you Oh Lord in this Fall of September 2005. Please forgive me of all my sins and come into my heart.  I accept you Jesus into my heart. Thanks Jesus for coming into my heart. Thanks for forgiving me of all my sins. Thanks for giving me a new identity in you. I acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior as I believe in my heart that you died and came back to life to save me now and forever. I give myself to you and ask you to be in control of my life. Thank you Jesus for the coming days we can do things together. Thanks for being my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and answered me. Thanks Jesus for changing me and helping me through life's storms and winds. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Friend, you may feel something or you may not but this you can be assured that the Lord Jesus has come into your life and will give you a new beginning! Amen!

Get yourself involved in a campus Bible study, fellowship, and most of all find a Bible believing church and be involved to grow in your Christian walk with the Lord. They all need to be supplements for your own precious time with the Lord in prayer and meditating on His Word. If you need a Bible, please let me know!

If you need anyone to talk to, pray with, or study the Bible with this Fall of September 2005, you can email me at reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com or call me at 412-720-4579.

Love in Christ,
Ramesh

Next Devotional:
"Will you take a S.T.A.N.D?"

 

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SEPTEMBER 2005

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 SEPTEMBER 2005

CHAPTER 1

How seriously do you T.E.S.T.I.F.Y to prophecy? (Sept 01, 05)