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Students unite with one voice of hope

Photogallery of flags and candles remembering September 11,2001 victims

Jewish students walk for Israel

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A patriotic war is just to protect people (1)

Americans face their toughest challenge

Proud beyond words to be an American

War is necessary for justice

Not all Middle Easterner's are suspect

Failure ought to be the stepping stone to success

Students vote matters

A lot of good Lott's apology did!

It is a matter of principle and ethics

EXPRESSIONS

Red, White, & Blue

Constitution supports God and patriotism

One Numb-er

He sees you all the time

Vote for the perfect candidate 24-7!

What if Jesus talked football?

Gospel revealed through semantics and word play

Only the right antidote can protect your life

God's love is alphabetically revealed in random languages

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Homosexuality examined in light of Scripture and Science

No choice is not an excuse to do wrong!

Consequences do not imply hate!

Casual sex cheapens a person

PHOTOGALLERY

Photogallery of students enjoying Thanksgiving feast at the Marketplace

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Photo gallery of Pitt v.s. Notre Dame game highlights during the Big East opener.

Photo gallery of Pitt students being fired up for Pitt v.s Notre Dame game

Get to know your Pitt Panther being carried by Oakland Zoo fans during Pitt v.s. Notre Dame

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What Kappa Delta means to me!

Pitt dance team dances into the hearts of Pitt fans

Freshman cheerleaders love their cheerleading experience

Pitt student experiences love of the Cross Seekers

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The top 44 answers to "Camping out for basketball tickets is like...."

Top 25 reasons of 2002 given by students eating at the C-side Marketplace for the origins of the candy cane!

Top 14 reasons to ‘Why being in love is beneficial for your health…..”

Top 14 responses to "Love is...." including #1 answer in many common languages

SPORTS    

Lottery fever for basketball tickets reaches O'Hara St

Panther's blowout win over Orangemen begins tough road ahead

Newspapers across Pennsylvania cover Pittsburgh Panthers Insight Bowl victory                       

Pitt athletes and friends come together

Reddy's crazy NFL rankings after the regular season

 CONTEST

PS NCAA Tournament

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Christ’s Offer Now Deals Us Contending Truth! (C.O.N.D.U.C.T)


By Ramesh C. Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

Editors note: What follows is based on my devotional times with the Lord from the Book of Philippians. It has been made into a book from which I am sharing with you. I hope you enjoy it and may the Lord blesses you through the messages this month of July!

 SCRIPTURE:

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God.” (Philippians 1:27-28)

EXPOSITION: 

Observations/Interpretation:

I asked myself what could ‘whatever happens’ refer to?

It came to my mind that it may refer to what is happening with Paul in prison or it may refer to whatever happens to the 'saints in Christ' in their life. Whatever the reason is, there is a command to follow:

“Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

I learned from this verse that the saints in Christ Jesus are to behave in a good manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Their behavior mannerisms should reveal to those around them that this Gospel they are following is something worthy to be followed and the Gospel’s focus is on Christ.

What is 'the gospel of Jesus Christ?' 

What came to my mind was understanding the role of man-God which can only truly be represented with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Man and God were together.

Man sinned and rebelled from God.

When that happened, a huge chasm was created separating man from God because God in His Holiness cannot allow sin to enter into His presence.

Through the ages, man has tried to do everything he could to reach God mostly through his good works but everything he did was as filthy rags to God and did not create a bridge to reach God.

Finally, God in His love knowing the state of mankind from the beginning took the role of reconciliation upon Himself. He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ into the world so man can be reconciled to God if man would be willing to walk on the bridge to God. 

Jesus Christ became that bridge that connected the huge chasm separating man from God. Now man could walk over the bridge and reach God. To be able to get access to the bridge, man had to acknowledge that he cannot ever reach God by his own good works and his ways. No matter what he does, he will always fall until He looks to the cross of Jesus Christ.

It is at the cross that man realizes while he was yet a sinner Christ Jesus died on the cross to save him. At that moment, God began the work to redeem humanity because the price was already paid for each human being.

Man had to accept the free price that was paid for him as God's gift of grace. Those who looked to the cross were covered in Christ's blood which became the only way that man could have entrance to the bridge and reach God. Looking to the cross meant confessing their sins and repenting of their sins asking Christ's forgiveness and Christ's cleansing blood to cover them and wash them whiter than snow.

Now with Jesus in man's life, the good works that come out of man are a result of the Holy Spirit working in man's life. Now man in gratitude to God cannot help but serve the Lord in love and devotion.

Even when man messes up, the Lord's forgiveness and blood is there to cover him when he looks to Jesus. Now man is free and can be with God as His Salvation.

For me that is the Gospel in a nutshell which can be summarized by John 3:16.

I asked myself why does Paul tell them to 'conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?'

The answer is reflected in the ‘if-then’ or ‘cause-effect’ relationship:

If (you conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ) then,

          Whether (I come and see you) or (I only hear about you in my absence),

          I will know that you stand firm in one spirit,

contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel

   without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

Paul makes the saints in Christ know regardless of the senses he uses such as seeing or hearing, if they are conducting themselves in the right way, he will know about three things occurring in their lives as a starting point:

Standing firm in one spirit.

Contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.

Not being frightened in any way by those who oppose them.

These things in effect would show them ‘being saved by God’ while those who oppose them ‘being destroyed’.

Interpretations/Application:

I asked myself what does it mean ‘to stand firm in one spirit’?

I realized it means being united in the faith following the same Gospel of Christ. This meant for me, even when claiming to be a particular denomination, the denomination should not be the focal point of the Gospel. Rather Jesus Christ should be the focal point for the Gospel to be seen and heard in our lives. For the Good News is Jesus Christ. Once that is realized there should be no compromise or budging but standing firm in one spirit.

It was interesting to realize that ‘you’ was used 7 times, once as 'yourself'. I saw the ‘you’ representing the community of believers receiving the command and it’s outcome if followed. Paul was addressing the community of believers with his letter rather than an individual person. This meant as a community they were to stand firm in one spirit. But it could also be taken for each believer who follows the command.

I asked myself what does it mean ‘contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel?’

What came to my mind was boxing. When you are a boxer contending for a championship, there is preparation involved before the match. When match time comes you still contend for that championship which involves putting yourself on the frontlines against your opponent. There are times that the contender will fall but gets up again. There are punches exchanged back and forth too. At times, there is a knockout during the contending part.

What does it have to do with contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel?

The analogy is not complete but the boxer can be seen as the Christian who contends for the faith of the Gospel. The opponent can be Satan using the forms of  pantheism, relativism, pluralism, nilhism, existentialism, determinism, and other kinds of 'isms' and oppositions to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When you fight those opponents whether they are your professors non-biblical views, your friends views, views of evolution, atheism, etc, there will be times you will take punches that will hurt and also bring you down. They could be mostly figurative punches but not always.

But with Jesus Christ on your side, if you keep focused on Him and the community of believers He has given you to be at your ring side, you will get up to contend. You cannot do it on your own as a lone-ranger Christian. If you try to defeat Satan on your own without help, you yourself could get knocked out. That will not be a pleasant sight.

The key is contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel where ‘one man’ could refer to the help taken from the community of believers in Christ. For that to happen, we cannot be a lone-ranger.

I asked myself what does it mean ‘not being frightened anyway by those who oppose you?’

I learned it means not giving up or throwing in the towel while contending for the faith of the Gospel. It also means not letting any kind of fright stop us whether it be ridicule from our professors, ridicule from our peers, etc when we stand for the Gospel even if they are hurting punches of persecution, prosecution, etc.

The effect of doing it is two-fold:

Those opposing us will know that their way of living can lead to destruction and our way of living in Christ can lead to Salvation from God.

I saw important implications for our lives here.

I ASK YOU NOW!

I ask you now dear friends, how do you conduct yourself?
I learned that as saints in Christ Jesus, we ought to conduct ourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ so those around us (Christians or pre-Christians) whether they see us or hear about us can know that we stand firm in one spirit, contend as one man for the faith of the Gospel, and not being frightened by those who oppose us whether it be in school, in the workplace, or in the home!

Then everyone will see that the Gospel is worthy to be followed and that is because of the reality in Jesus Christ and our lives individually and corporately reflect the Sprit of Jesus Christ in us.

By the way we live in front of our professors, peers, parents, etc will show others that there is destruction involved for their lives spiritually without Jesus Christ and there is Salvation involved in people’s lives who have Christ with them.

May we not let opposition stop us from the way we conduct our lives for the sake of the Gospel! Amen!

Christ’s Offer Now Deals Us Contending Truth! (C.O.N.D.U.C.T)

PRAYER:

Prayer:

Dear Jesus, thank you so much for offering us deliverance with contending Truth. We Oh Lord need your help to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel so that people around us can see or hear that we have stood firm in the spirit, contending as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened by those that oppose us. In this way, we thank you that those who do oppose the Gospel can know that they are in danger of destruction but those who are with you are saved by God. Use us as your vessels wherever we are. And Lord, when we do fall and mess up, please help us to get up and go on. We thank you for being there as our Good Shepherd. When we get dirty, you clean us up, when we are bruised you can heal those wounds for you heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds. Thank you so much Jesus for your Word. Help us to live for you faithfully. I thank you Jesus. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

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JULY 2004

S.L.A.V.E.S (July 01,2004)

C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.T (July 02, 2004)

G.R.A.C.E (July 03,2004)

A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E (July 06,04)

S.P.E.C.I.A.L (July 07,04)

C.H.A.I.N.S (July 08,04)

M.O.T.I.V.E.S (July 09,04)

C.A.L.L (July 10,04)

C.O.U.R.A.G.E (July 12,04)

L.I.F.E (July 13,04)

C.H.O.I.C.E.S (July 14,04)

Previous Spiritual OD's

DECEMBER 2003

G.E.N.E.A.L.O.G.Y(Dec 22, 2003)

K.I.N.G.D.O.M (Dec 22, 2003)

D.O.U.B.T.S (Dec 22, 03)

P.R.A.I.S.E (Dec 23, 03)

L.O.V.E  (Dec 24,03)

S.L.E.E.P  (Dec 24,03)

C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S (Dec 25,03)


JANUARY 2004

CHAPTER 1

T.E.S.T.I.F.Y (Jan 02,03)

P.O.I.N.T (Jan 04,03)

S.T.A.N.D (Jan 05,04)

P.R.A.I.S.E (Jan 07,04)

T.E.M.P.T.A.T.I.O.N (Jan 08,04)

T.I.M.E  (Jan 09,04)

P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N (Jan 10,04)

L.E.C.T.U.R.E (Jan 13,04)

C.A.P.T.I.V.I.T.Y (Jan 15, 04)

H.E.A.L.I.N.G (Jan 17, 04)

A.N.S.W.E.R.S  (Jan 19, 04)

S.O.L.I.T.A.R.Y (Jan 20, 04)

C.L.E.A.N (Jan 21, 04)

C.A.U.S.E (Jan 22, 04)

CHAPTER 2

F.R.I.E.N.D.S (Jan 23, 04)

P.A.R.A.L.Y.S.I.S (Jan 24, 04)

M.I.N.D (Jan 28, 04)

A.C.T.I.O.N.S (Jan 29, 04)

F.A.S.T (Feb 21, 04)