CAN

These two men are an inspiration to me as a runner and human being. This is Team Hoyt. They are a father, Dick, and son, Rick, team who compete together in sporting events including the ultimate test of human endurance: the ironman triathlon. The ironman triathlon consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of cycling, and a 26.2 mile marathon. During each of these events, Dick pulls his Rick in a special boat when swimming, Rick rides in a special seat placed on the extended front portion of the bike as Dick peddles, then Dick pushes his son in his wheelchair when running. Dick is the body of the team, but Rick is the heart.

When Rick was born, his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck cutting of oxygen to his brain. Rick's father recalls, "When he was eight months old the doctors told us we should just put him away — he’d be a vegetable all his life, that sort of thing. Well those doctors are not alive any more, but I would like them to be able to see Rick now." Dick and his wife could tell that Rick could understand them. However, Rick could not communicate with them. A group of Tufts University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills. "They told him a joke," said Dick. "Rick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate!" The engineers went on to build — using $5,000 the family managed to raise in 1972 - an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator." A cursor would move across a screen filled with rows of letters, and when the cursor highlighted a letter that Rick wanted, he would click a switch with the side of his head.

In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. After the race, Rick told his father that he felt alive when they were racing. They have come a long way since this five mile race. Rick’s own accomplishments, quite apart from the duo’s continuing athletic success, have included his moving on from high school to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education.

Dick Hoyt said, “Our message is yes you can. You can do anything you want to do as long as you make up your mind you can do it.”



Philippians 4:13 – "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

The World Cannot Stop The Stand

We want to teach someone but are unsure of the outcome. We may worry about being rejected or messing up. We wonder what the world thinks of us, we Christians. We desire to turn the world upside down just like the apostles and disciples of the first century.
We learn in Acts 5:17-21 that the apostles had been thrown into prison for preaching and doing good works in name of Jesus Christ, but an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors. The angel of the Lord then instructed the apostles to go and preach at the temple. Once again the officers brought the apostles before the Jewish council for teaching in the name of Christ (vss. 22-27). In Acts 5:28, the high priest asked the apostles, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name (name being Christ)?” In vss. 29-32, Peter and the apostles responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men…And we are His witnesses to these things…” The council began plotting how to kill the apostles. Then Gamaliel, a highly respected Pharisee and teacher of the law, sent the apostles outside to discuss with the council the situation. He reminded the council about two other men, Theudas and Judas of Galilee, who led a group of people at different times, but after each was killed their followers scattered and the movements died. Gamaliel understood the difference between a movement from man and a movement from God. The work of man will come to naught, but the work of God would be impossible to stop. Gamaliel said if their work was from men that their fate would be the same as the others, but if they were from God this council could not overthrow it lest they be found to be fighting against God Himself (vss. 33-39).
How often do you and I make the stand in the name of Jesus Christ? Apparently not enough or this world would be much different. If we decide to make the stand for Christ, we should expect difficult times to come as well as good times of course. In difficult times when people question your convictions, Peter gives us an inspired response, “We ought to obey God rather than men…And we are His witnesses to these things…” When Theudas and Judas of Galilee were killed, their movements died with them. When Jesus Christ died not to mention His triumph over death, His movement spread throughout the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped. We carry a message to a lost world that cannot be stopped. However, this movement can be delayed or quietened if we do not take the stand. If and when people attempt to slow you down, remember they will find themselves fighting against the God of Heaven. The stand is too powerful. The stand will overcome. The stand has begun.
-Tyler Alexander

Don't Be a Ship Left in the Harbor

I have often posted things on this blog about going to work for the Lord. We can clearly read in the bible that we are commanded to do this in James 2. James 2:17 "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." One thing that I believe I often forget to mention is that showing these works, in a fleshly world, is much easier said then done. I have often found myself very apt and ready to talk about the word when I am around my Christian brothers and sisters, but that is not who we are necessarily suppose to be reaching out to. Granted, if a brother or sister in Christ has fallen away we must be there to help get them headed back in the right direction, but we need to be willing and ready to spread God's word to everyone. Mark 16:15 says, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We must have the courage to talk about God's word even when it may not be the popular thing to do. We must be bold and brave. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion." Proverbs 28:1. The definition of Courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. If you read about the lives of characters of the bible you can easily tell that the danger, fear, and difficulty that they had to withstand is far greater than ours ever will be. We truly have no excuse for not gladly going out and spreading the gospel. After all "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. We must be bold as a lion and STAND up against the views of the world and spread the good news of the gospel. Zig Ziglar, author of "God's Way Is Still the Best Way," once said, "The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won't work - if you won't." Well I am here to tell you that God's word is exactly that. It is the only perfect thing ever written. However, it must be read and it must be shared with others in order to work. "Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6. I will end this post with a simple but powerful quote by William Shedd, "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for." Don't be a ship left in the harbor. Get out and use your talents to spread God's living word.

-Ben Stevenson