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Coach John Wooden is the most successful basketball coach in NCAA history
Special Report
w/ Hugh H. Morgan
Urgent Prayer Request for The Rev. Dr. Billy Joe Daugherty
Quote of the day from the Bible, God’s Holy Word
Isaiah 55:6-7 This is good news from God to you and me
6 Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call upon Him now while He is near. 7 Let men cast off their wicked deeds; let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy upon them, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon!
TLB
Victory Christian Center founder in Tulsa Diagnosed with lymphoma
By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 10/12/2009 12:56 PM
Last Modified: 10/12/2009 2:01 PM
”The Rev. Dr. Billy Joe Daugherty, founder and pastor of Victory Christian Center, has been diagnosed with lymphoma.
”Daugherty, who is in his mid-50s, was hospitalized last week with a viral infection in his throat when tests found the cancer.
He remains hospitalized at an undisclosed location in Tulsa.
“In a letter to the Victory congregation distributed during Sunday services, Daugherty wrote that he was thankful for God’s gift of doctors, medicine, hospitals, nutrition, diet and exercise, and is ‘seeking to maximize the best of these for this situation.’
’Ultimately, all healing comes from God so our eyes are on Him,’ he wrote. ‘Our faith is in Jesus that we will come through victoriously.’
“In addition to founding one of Tulsa’s largest churches, Daugherty is founder of Victory Christian School, Victory Bible Institute with about 250 campuses in some 60 countries, and Victory World Missions Training Center. He appears regularly on Christian television, and for a short time was interim president of Oral Roberts University.”
May I encourage you, my readers of Hugh’s News, to lift up Billy Joe Daugherty in believing prayer for his healing. Here is the Scripture God has given me for his healing:
Isaiah 57:18-19
I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.
KJV
Twice over God says, “I will heal him.” Once is enough, but God is so loving and gracious that He will say it as often as we need it. What an encouraging Word from the Bible. It is indeed a faith builder. We can trust the Word of God to be true. I am believing for a miracle for this servant of the Lord. I pray that every cell, organ, and tissue in Billy Joe Daugherty’s body will come into conformity, alignment and agreement with what the Word says in 1 Peter 2:24, “Who His (Jesus) Own Self bare our sins in His own body on the tree (cross), that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed” (KJV).
We can expect miracles of healing if we only believe. All things are possible when we put our trust in God. God responds to our faith and trust in Him.
& Commentary
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Scripture text for today is recorded in Isaiah 55:6-7 in the Living Bible
Editor’s Commentary on today’s Scripture reading written in Isaiah 55:6-7
Coach John Wooden to celebrate his 99th Birthday on Wednesday, October 14, 2009
John Wooden’s Biography
Hugh Morgan needs your help
Will you receive the Benediction?
Stand by for Today’s News . . .
Lighten up with Laughter
A church blooper: Diana and David request your presents at their wedding.
Scripture text for today is recorded in Isaiah 55:6-7 in the Living Bible
Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call upon Him now while He is near. Let men cast off their wicked deeds; let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy upon them, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon!” (TLB).
Editor’s Commentary on today’s Scripture reading written in Isaiah 55:6-7
Last Saturday, my neighbor down the street from where Melvine and I live, was hunting with one of his four sons, and his grandson. He was bit by a rattlesnake and died almost immediately. Our neighborhood and county is in a state of shock. He and his wife are marvelous neighbors. They home and yards are kept with utmost care, and his wife is a meticulous home maker. We have eaten with them at neighborhood get-togethers. He walks in our neighborhood and beyond. I have had great conversations with him. I am so glad he sought the Lord while He was near to him. Now is the time to prepare for heaven, and to walk humbly before God in this world in which we live. We are called to be disciples, to be obedient to God’s voice.
We are called upon to cast off our wicked deeds, and to banish from our minds every thought of doing wrong.
My mother taught my sister, Mary Evelyn, and me to sing “Jesus Loves Me This I Know” in Chinese when we were small children. I still know the words in Chinese and sang this song to Donavan Ng at breakfast in Greensboro, NC, on Tuesday morning, July 28, 2009, at our Chaplains, Spouses, and Friends Breakfast. Let me quote in English a couple of stanzas of this song that is sung by children around the world in their own languages:
Jesus Loves Me This I know, for the Bible Tells Me So”
Jesus loves me when I'm good.
When I do the things I should.
Jesus loves me when I'm bad,
but it makes Him oh so sad.
Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow.
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.
There are many Americans who have never heard this song. It is the greatest truth I have ever discovered in my life. It is to those people who may have never heard, and do not know Jesus I want to influence.
Jesus, God’s only begotten Son said this:
John 3:16-21
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
NIV
The ideal time to seek the Lord is when the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, is wooing our hearts. His work and ministry is "to convince or convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment to come" (John 16:8). Today is the day of salvation, the accepted time to come to Christ.
It is time to cast off wicked deeds. It is interesting and thought provoking these words of wisdom, ". . . let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong." What a powerful Word when we are faced with any temptation to do wrong.
The great truth is that our God will abundantly pardon. What an incredible gift of God. He does the forgiving and pardoning of all our sins based on the merits of the sacrificial death of His dear son, Jesus Christ. He makes all things new for us. He not only redeems, but restores us.
I would like to invite you to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today! "For it is by believing in your heart that a man or woman becomes right with God; and with his/her mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his/her salvation. For the Scriptures tell us that no one who believes in Christ will ever be disappointed" (Romans 10:10-11, The Living Bible).
Confess your sins and repent of them by turning to God; believe that Jesus can save you now; and confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
Coach John Wooden to celebrate his 99th Birthday on Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I am grateful to Coach T. J. Rosene, head men’s basketball coach at Emmanuel College, for sending me notification of Coach John Wooden’s 99th Birthday on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. When I was in grammar school (called elementary school today) I was captivated by a sports announcer and writer by the name of Bill Stern. I wanted to write stories like he did and call football games.
Today, I will depart from my normal news and talk about Coach John Wooten. I have read his book, They Call Me Coach, a couple of times, and often refer to many of his statements in that book. He is the kind of coach I would have like to have been because he taught not only the basics of basketball, but how to live one’s life. Developing the character and discipline of his athletes and their future contributions in life was his goal.
You are invited to share in Wishing Coach John Wooden a Happy 99th Birthday – They want 9,999 people to write him a brief note.
Basketball coaches, fans and people all over share a passion for a man known as the Greatest Coach of All-Time -- John Wooden.
A website has been built celebrating not just Coach's birthday, but his life well-lived!
We are asking that you'll join us and do three things:
1. Right Click here to send Coach a birthday message.
Let me share John Wooden’s biography I copied from his website:
John Wooden’s Biography
John Wooden is the most successful basketball coach in NCAA history, having led the UCLA Bruins to 665 victories and ten championships in the years leading up to 1975. Since his retirement, he has become a mentor to hundreds, in all walks of life, as well as the author of nine books.
“Few coaches have affected their player’s lives so fully as John Wooden, so here’s a natural question: Who mentored the mentor? Well, John Wooden is glad we asked…”
—Bob Costas
“John Wooden has been a vital force in the lives of many with his inspirational messages. He represents all the elements necessary to be a winner in the Game of Life, which makes him the perfect person to write this book filled with lessons. Coach Wooden has been a mentor to people in every walk of life.”
—Dick Vitale
John Wooden was born on his parents’ farm near Centerville, Indiana. Life was difficult for the Woodens. Their farm had neither running water nor electricity and money was often in short supply. In later years, Coach Wooden would credit his success to the habits of discipline and hard work he learned on the farm.
Rural America did not share in the prosperity enjoyed by large cities in the 1920s. In 1924, the Woodens, like many farm families, went bankrupt and lost their farm. The family moved to Martinsville, a small town which, like so many in Indiana, took great pride in the performance of its high school basketball teams. Wooden, who had shown a gift for the game from grade school days, soon became a star player on his high school team. The team went to the state championship three years running, and won it twice. While still in high school, John met Nellie Riley. By his own account, it was love at first sight, and the two teenagers decided to marry as soon as John finished college.
John Wooden entered Purdue University in Indiana to study civil engineering, but became an English major instead. In college basketball, he earned a reputation as a fearless player of dazzling speed. He made All-American three years running and won a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
After graduation in 1932, he was offered a spot on the Celtics professional basketball team, but passed it up to begin a teaching career and marry his beloved Nellie. His first post was in Dayton, Kentucky, where he not only taught high school English, but coached all of the school’s athletic teams. The basketball team had a losing season, the only one in Wooden’s entire career. The following year, John and Nellie settled in South Bend, Indiana, where he taught English and coached the basketball team of South Bend Central High School. In eleven years of coaching high school basketball Wooden’s teams won 218 games, losing only 42.
The young coach served as a physical education instructor in the United States Navy during World War II. Appendicitis kept him from shipping off for the South Pacific. A Japanese kamikaze plane struck the ship Wooden was to travel on, killing the officer who had taken his place.
After military service, Wooden, like many other teachers he knew, was not re-hired at his old job. He quickly found work however, at Indiana State Teachers’ College, later known as Indiana State University. He coached basketball at the school, resuming his string of winning seasons.
In 1948, Wooden accepted an offer to coach the UCLA Bruins. At the time, the team was considered the weakest in the Pacific conference. The University had not provided the team with the facilities usually considered essential; the Bruins lacked a home court to play in, and had to share practice facilities with the school’s other teams.
Wooden’s Bruins astonished the skeptics by winning 22 out of 29 games in his first season as coach. The following year, they took 24 out of 31 and won their conference championship. Under Wooden’s tutelage, the Bruins maintained their high win-loss ratio, and won the Pacific conference titles again in 1952, 1956, 1962 and 1963.
In 1964, Wooden achieved a long sought-after goal. His team had a perfect season, and won the NCAA championship. The following year, they won the title again, losing only two games in a 30-game season. What they lacked in size, the 1964 and ‘65 Bruins made up for in speed, discipline and an extra-keen will to win that has been the hallmark of all of Wooden’s teams. The break-up of this championship lineup may have cost the Bruins the championship in 1966, but they came back with a vengeance in 1967, and held the championship for the next seven years.
The seven-foot center Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) dominated the Bruins’ game for the first three seasons of their seven-year streak. Bill Walton was the dominant star of the 1973 and ‘74 seasons, when UCLA set the all-time record for an unbroken winning streak: 88 consecutive games. In 1974, UCLA again won the Pacific conference title, but lost to North Carolina State in the NCAA semi-finals.
The Bruins bounced back in 1975, Coach Wooden’s last year, winning 27 out of 30 games, turning around a losing semi-final against Louisville in the closing minute of the game. In the final game of the tournament, UCLA defeated the University of Kentucky, 92-85.
In all his years as coach, John Wooden prohibited his players from any use of profanity, and consistently avoided it himself. Still, in his first 12 years at UCLA, the coach developed a fearsome reputation among opposing teams for the fanciful harangues he directed at officials and opposing players from the bench. This habit is virtually the only aspect of his career for which the coach has expressed any regret. In the championship years, fans and players alike noticed a distinct mellowing of Wooden’s behavior on the bench.
One of Coach Wooden’s proudest moments, he later recalled, came when he overheard one of his players, an African-American, reply to a reporter’s question about racial tensions on the team: “You don’t know our coach. He doesn’t see color. He just sees ballplayers.
Hugh Morgan needs your help
It has been a pleasure to serve you for 12 years as the editor of Hugh’s News. I meet people everywhere who tell me they are not getting my newsletter any longer. It may be the result of three things:
1. You may have changed e-mail addresses and didn’t notify us.
2. My newsletter may be in your Spam or Junk file.
3. A Glitch of some sort may have occurred. I don’t understand the Internet, much less e-mails.
My role as a leader is to help you solve your problem. May I suggest that you go to my website: www.hughsnews.com and re-register. It is a simple procedure, and even as dumb as I am with computers, I can even do it. I know you are better than I am, and you can do it.
Tell everyone you meet how to get Hugh’s News. I need your support and good word.
Although Hugh’s News is a free service to all, may I remind you that it takes money to pay the bills.
In order for us to produce what you, my readers, want, it will take more financial support.
We need your financial support to enable us to continue this ministry of spreading the Gospel, teaching Scriptural holiness, the deeper truths of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the life led and energized by the Holy Spirit. We desire to keep you abreast of the latest fast-breaking news, take your prayer requests, and publish testimonies of God's healing power today. You are a vital part of this ministry and we thank you for your prayers and financial support.
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May everything good thing from God our heavenly Father be yours and your family in 2009.
Will you receive the Benediction?
Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38, NKJV).
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Your friend in all seasons,
Hugh Holmes Morgan
The Reverend Dr. Hugh H. Morgan
Chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, Retired
Director of Chaplains Ministries, IPHC
Vice Chairman, NAE Commission on Chaplains
Chairman, Endorsers Conference for Veterans Affairs Chaplaincy
Ex Officio Member, National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces Executive Committee
CEO, Founder, President, Editor of Hugh's News & Commentary
President, Hugh Holmes Morgan Education Scholarship Fund, Inc.
Pastor Emeritus, Christian Life Worship Center (formerly Tarkenton Memorial Church in Athens, GA)
Member, Board of Trustees, Holmes Bible College
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