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KUMC LAYLEADER BRANDY ROBERSON |
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| DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) -
A van driven by former University of Alabama football star Siran Stacy was struck by a pickup truck at an intersection, killing six people, including Stacy's wife and four of his children, state troopers said Tuesday. Trooper Sgt. Tracy Nelson said the driver of the pickup was on the wrong side of the road when it struck Stacy's van on the passenger side around 11 p.m. Monday. Houston County Coroner Robert Byrd said the Stacy van, going north on Alabama Highway 123, had stopped at a red light at the intersection of U.S. 84, about six miles west of Dothan. "The light turned green and they proceeded to cross the road" when hit by the other vehicle, Byrd said. "It was a small pickup truck headed west, but it was in the eastbound lane." "He hit them broadside, T-boned them at the intersection there," Byrd said. Nelson said investigators are trying to determine what caused the truck to be in the wrong lane of the four-lane U.S. 84. Dorris Teague, a spokeswoman for state troopers in Montgomery, said the driver of the pickup truck also was killed and Stacy and his 3-year-old daughter were injured. Stacy, 39, who has been employed by a mortgage company, was a star running back for Alabama during 1989-1991, whose 17 rushing touchdowns in 1989 is second most for a season at Alabama. He was the first pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1992 draft, but amid injury and legal problems was cut the next year. While he never carried the ball in the NFL, he played for a few years in Canada and for minor pro leagues. He was listed in stable condition in surgical intensive care at Flowers Hospital in Dothan. His 3-year-old child, Shelly Stacy, was air-lifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where her condition was not released by the hospital. The county coroner said those killed in the wreck were Stacy's wife, Ellen Stacy, 36, children Lequisa, 18, Bronson, 10, Sidney, 8, and Ellie, 2, all of Newton in southeast Alabama, and the driver of the pickup, Adam W. Wayman, 29, of Dothan. "It was horrendous .... I've never had anything like that in my life and I've been doing this for 20 years," Byrd said. "The truck that hit the car was on the passenger side and the impact was substantial. Everybody in there all died instantly. The kids in the back had seat belts on, the parents did not." Stacy was also involved in a roadway accident in Florida last year in which two people died. The Florida Highway Patrol reported that he was driving a sport utility vehicle in Freeport, Fla., on Sept. 12, 2006, when he swerved to try to avoid hitting another SUV that had stopped for traffic. Stacy hit the rear of the vehicle, which was pushed into another lane and struck by a pickup truck, killing two people in the SUV, the report said. It was not immediately known if the accident led to any charges or citations. (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
| AWAKEN ' 09 |
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| AWAKEN '09 MOULTON RECREATION CENTER SATURDAY, AUG 1, 2009 6:00 PM, DOORS OPEN AT 5:15 Worship led by award winning singer and songwriter, Lenny LeBlanc Come and be blessed as Siran Stacy shares his story and testifies to God's Power in his life. This is a free event, and everyone is encouraged to attend. |
| The lie is tempting to believe. It wasn’t 6 months ago, after a meeting at church,
I found myself in spiritual warfare. A comment was made that should have blessed my heart, but instead doubt and hypocrisy flooded my mind. Immediately after this person had finished speaking, my first thought was, “ If you ONLY knew. I seriously doubt you would think so highly of me, if you REALLY knew my thoughts, fears, and temptations .” After a compliment such as this, I would normally fight off pride. This time is was doubt. The funny thing was, I knew it was a lie. I recognized satan’s tactic. I was fully aware I was under attack. More importantly, I recognized my Father’s Voice. It was this Truth, His Word and His Promise, that spoke Power and Deliverance over me in that moment. It was this Voice, I chose to believe. Luke says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” When Jesus went into the wilderness he was already filled with the Holy Spirit. He already had everything he needed to survive the wilderness and to resist temptation because the Spirit was already on him. Further, it was the Spirit that led him into the wilderness. This was the place God wanted Jesus to go. God had a distinctive plan and will for Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus went there to fast and pray. He didn’t go to be tempted. Filled with the Spirit Jesus went into the wilderness to focus on the ministry he had been called to. This was his time of preparation before his ministry would begin. But, it was also an opportune time for Satan to try and derail his calling. At the end of the passage, after Jesus has rebuffed Satan and his temptations, Luke records these words. “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” The devil left him until another opportune time! That is the challenge of our life. At the most opportune time, temptation comes to devour us. So we must be ready. We too, like Jesus, must live lives filled with the Holy Spirit. We must live the Word of God so that we too can quote it and have it not be mere words, But the Strength of Our Lives. We must PREPARE ourselves for times when we will be most vulnerable. Brother Bryan shared a sermon with us a few months ago that struck me personally. While Jesus was tempted, he was without sin. He was tempted, but was without sin. To dismiss the temptation Jesus experienced would be foolish. Not only did this allow for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice, the atonement for our sin, IT SHOULD BRING COMFORT TO ALL HIS FOLLOWERS. Jesus understands. He gets it. HE OVERCAME IT. He knows our heart, He understands our pain, and He’s walked in our valley. Hebrews 2:18 says, Because He Himself SUFFERED when HE WAS TEMPTED, He is able to help those who are being tempted. It wasn’t easy for Him. Jesus suffered through the trial. He was distressed and felt pain. He was ACTUALLY TEMPTED. Praise God, that because of His Love, His Obedience and His Faithfulness, we can walk with hope and assurance that the sacrifice was and will always be sufficient. Our "excuses" will not suffice. It isn’t enough to just "feel guilty". We can’t allow ourselves to "justify" our apathy. With Him, WE WILL STAND FIRM! Without Him, WE WILL FALL! Last week Tony and I shared a lesson on temptation with the youth group. Tony brought his fishing pole and explained what bait you would use to catch a certain type of fish. Whatever catch you were after, determined the specific bait you would need. “Per Tony”, you are most likely to hook a bass, with a crank bait or spinner bait. If you desire catfish, he recommends chicken liver. If it’s brim you want, good old crickets will do. Just like each type of fish is attracted to a specific bait, everyone of us are lured by certain temptations. My weakness might have no affect on you and vice versa. The key is, regardless of which bait we are attracted to, there’s always a hidden hook. What’s interesting is the fish is never aware its being tempted. The animal is just fulfilling a basic survival need. Only when it’s too late, is the hidden danger of the hook revealed. Many times we get caught in the same situation. We’re not out looking to sin, throwing ourselves in situations that we know are dangerous. Most often, we’re just going about our own business, distracted with the requirements of the day, and focused on meeting our own basic survival needs. But then out of nowhere, we find ourselves caught up in a hidden temptation, hooked by a sin, we were negligent to see. Pride, gossip, envy, lust, the list goes on, whatever the sin, many times the consequences are hard to see, hidden away in what the world proclaims as “innocent”, “normal behavior”. We should not want to be average. We do not serve an average God. God is a God of excellence, and we should want to follow His Example. We are instructed to follow His Example. We are expected to follow His Example. With that said, He can only do through us what we believe for. The devil seeks to keep us from God by appealing to our desires and by casting doubts into our minds about God's Goodness and Grace. Jesus' protection, against his attack, was the Spirit and The Word. All three of his responses to the devil are from Deuteronomy chapters six and eight. Jesus could resist the devil because he was full of the Spirit, and he knew God's Word! When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus again faced an overwhelming temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane when he wrestled with going to the cross. But full of the Spirit and the Word, with the discipline of resisting temptation deeply ingrained into him, he is able indeed to go to that cross, thereby defeating the devil once and for all. As Christians, we have nothing to fear from the devil. As long as we, like Jesus, strive to be full of the Spirit by obedience , prayer, and The Word Of God, we can be confident of the devil's defeat, fully prepared to Resist any and all temptations. That night at the church, If I had chosen to believe the lie, I wasn’t just saying “I’m a hypocrite”. What I actually would have said was, "What Jesus did was not enough, the sacrifice wasn’t sufficient and the cross has no power.” In that moment, I had a choice. I was faced with a temptation. In that moment, I chose to believe My Father. In Your moment, who will you choose to Believe? Do not be deceived. There is Always a CATCH! God Bless, Brandy Roberson |
| SO WHAT'S THE CATCH? |
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| JUNE 2009 |
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| JULY 2009 |