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13 Hours: A Story Of Bravery Against All Odds

Went to see 13 Hours with my son and WOW…what an awesome movie! This movie, based on the book ’13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi’, tells the story of real life heroes and an important view of the events that occurred on the ground in Benghazi on the night of September 11, 2012. The action and the visuals pull you into the story making you feel like you’re right there next to these brave men, but the movie also does a great job at tugging on your emotions as you experience the sacrifice these men on the made.

I want to focus my commentary on the relationships and the survival of the six men of the CIA-contractor security team, known as the Global Response Staff (GRS), instead of taking aim at the political firestorm that Benghazi has created or the debate over Hollywood versus history.

If I had to sum up this movie in three words…

Can One Person Make a Difference?

Being Fall in New Hampshire, I spent most of the day in the yard blowing leaves into the woods and winterizing my summer equipment. As late afternoon approached and the daylight started retreating, I decided to call it quits and head in to grab something to eat and watch some TV. Of course I couldn’t find anything of interest to watch on my hundred channel cable listing, so decided to see what was on On-Demand.

Was all caught up on my favorite shows, so decided to check out what was on HBO. At first nothing caught my eye until I say McFarland USA and after a quick trip over to IMDb to see what this movie was about, I decided to watch it. McFarland, USA is based on a true story and an inspiring sports drama starring Kevin Costner about an unlikely group of high-school runners competing in 1987 California.

Kevin Costner plays Jim White, a high school football coach with a history of losing his temper coaching and getting fired. Because of his track record any new job opportunities become harder to get that he has no other choice to accept an assistant coaching position at a small town school in McFarland, California. Jim packs up and moves his whole family into the poor farming town of McFarland and soon regrets his decision. McFarland, which is predominantly Hispanic, was not the suburban neighborhood Jim wanted for his family, but his wife convinces him to stay and give it a go.

Every Young Woman’s Battle

As parents we all face that moment where we should have the conversation about sex with our kids. Remember if you’re not having the conversation with you’re kids, someone else is and the best place for a child to learn about sexuality is at home from those who care most about them. As a single dad, the conversation with my daughter was a bit more challenging. Where to begin that conversation was the tough part. Any single dad’s out there know what I’m talking about?

Struggling how to even approach the subject, someone recommended a book to me called, “Every Young Woman’s Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World”. I read the book first and then gave a copy to my daughter to read when she started Junior High School. This article focuses on daughters, but there is a similar book for sons called, you guessed it, “Every Young Man’s Battle”.

Now, is this the silver bullet dad’s are looking for?

Battle With Worship

Is life punching you in the face today? Are you in need of provision in some area of your life? Are you dealing with serious hardships? Have you lost your job or dealing with others struggles?

Watching the news and reading the headlines there seems to be so many things out there that threaten us. But our biggest enemy — fear — is not “out there.” The fear is in our own hearts and minds. When we let this fear tighten its grip on us, we struggle that much harder to break free.

When the heaviness of life begins to crack the support beams we’ve put in place to shelter us, sometimes the only thing left is to posture ourselves before our awesome God and worship Him!

Worship is an act of war against the enemy of our hearts!

—Holley Gerth

Why The Enemy Has Your Affirmation In The Crosshairs

There is an epic battle going on for the human heart because rescuing your heart is everything. God is pursuing your heart with an invitation of life — to become fully alive with a new name, a purpose and a mission.

This is the theme of Heartstone Journey, but it’s also the backdrop for our story too. The mistake many of us make is being blind to the battle over our lives. There is a God who is after our heart with the invitation of life; and there is an enemy who will stop at nothing to take you out! Until we come to terms with this, we will misinterpret most of what is happening around us — and to us.

Are you tracking with me?

Our enemy is cunning and is systematically hunting us down, carefully watching every move we make so he can take the shot. Once you come into clear focus he takes the shot delivering a paralyzing blow. The worst part…we don’t even know what just hit us.

Let’s start unpacking this tactic of the enemy as so many of us find ourselves centered in these crosshairs and are taken out with a single shot. The good news is that God gives us access to the battle plans and we can learn how stay out of the crosshairs and walk a victorious life.

Let’s step into the narrative of Jesus’s third test in the wilderness.

Continue Reading (on bradandres.com)

13 Hours: A Story Of Bravery Against All Odds

Can One Person Make a Difference?

Every Young Woman’s Battle

Battle With Worship

Why The Enemy Has Your Affirmation In The Crosshairs

Favorite Quotes

Cool Scripture

Never Out Of The Fight!

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