KEEP YOUR GUARD UP

One of the most dangerous things a boxer can do is drop his guard. He may step into the ring with great alertness, but as he gets tired his attention may weaken. Those who follow boxing say it happens fairly often. If a boxer drops his guard, even an inferior fighter can throw a deadly knockout punch.

As your fellow believer in Christ Jesus, I warn you to keep your guard up in your walk with the Lord. The number one thing you can do to defend your life against the enemy is know what the Bible teaches. Do you? Are you using the Word in your life? Because when you do, you don’t ever have to back up or shut up when it comes to proclaiming its truth.

Okay, here’s a test.

The following list spells out several things you can do with the Bible that will build you up. How many are habits in your life?

1. Read it!
2. Memorize it.
3. Meditate on it! Think about it; mull it over. Take a whole day and ponder one verse of Scripture. It’s a wonderful thing to do.
4. Study it! Take time to dig into a passage and search for what it means.
5. Hear it. Receive the Word of God each time it is delivered to you. And James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only,” so …
6. Apply it to your life. This will naturally lead to …
7. Share it. Minister to other people with it.

Keep your relationship with God on fire. Nurture an intimate, passionate, powerful, growing spiritual life. It’s your best defense against any knockout blows.

Jude 17-18, 24 17, But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” . . . 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.

~ Dr. James MacDonald

For more from James MacDonald on "igniting passion in the people of God through the proclamation of the truth," visit Walkintheword.com.

On Monday June 15th please join us for a great day of Golf, fun and fellowship.  Golf registration starts at 10:30 am with brunch and a noon shotgun start.  If you’re not a golfer join us from 4:30 pm until 5:45 pm for a silent auction with dinner, live auction and program following.  We have a special night planned, please come and see what the foundation is doing and the lives that are being touched.  This year we are featuring a video of “The Mitch” the new Mitchell Swaback Athletic Center at Harvest Bible Chapel Elgin, IL, special live performance by artist Marc Eckel and closing words by Dr. James MacDonald.

For more information on any of the following, click on the links below:

• Registration Golf
• Registration Dinner
• Live and Silent Auction Items > Check out this year’s TOP items!

Be sure to invite a friend or two this year, they won’t want to miss this year’s auctions and dinner!  Help us make this year’s event the most successful to date!

Sign up today!

On July 18th eight individuals will be climbing Mount Baker in Washington for MSC.  The purpose of this climb is to raise money to help MSC fund current projects.  To date we have raised $4,100 of our $20,000 goal.   Mount Baker is a glacier with an 8,000 vertical and will require two days to summit and will prove to be quite a challenging climb.  Each climber has a short bio about themselves and how they knew Mitch.  If you are interested in knowing more about this climb or sponsoring one of the following climbers please click on the following. 

• MSC Summit Information
• Andy DeVore
• Jeff Harbeck
• Staci Hoover
• Dave Hoover
• Kyle McBroom
• Rich Seitz
• Lee Serritella
• Bob Swaback

Let’s cheer these climbers on as they continue to train and get mentally prepared for this summit! 

Sunday 3/21/2004

Well I crashed my car today! God must really be testing me - FIrst surgery, second broken thumb, third car crash. I don't understand why this is all happening, it's so hard. I will pretty much have to watch all my spending for awhile. This is all costing me a lot of money. It's hard to turn to God when you get mad or angry about these things but I know I need to.

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trails of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Mitch spent the last few months of his life not only living his life for the Lord but putting his thoughts in his journal everyday. How do we want to live our lives? Why don't we all try something radical today for the Lord!

> Visit Mitch's Story on our website

We will be changing our name from "The Mitchell Swaback Foundation" to Mitchell Swaback Charities." This change is necessary as we switch from a private foundation to a public charity. When this is complete, we'll have many more options on how we can run this organization. This change will allow us to continue to grow in a way that will increase the amount of lives we can impact.

In addition to the name change, we will be creating a new website and logo (pictured on the left).

Please feel free to call Bob Swaback if you have any questions at 602.763.0590 or email rswaback@msfcares.org