This blog closing... new one starting... you are invited to follow!!

I will no longer be posting to this blog ("Living Stones - a chosen people"), but I am starting a new blog, and I invite any who would like to journey on a "faith trek" with me to become a follower of my new blog.  It is called "faith trek"!!  It is my hope and prayer that God will use this new blog to speak through me as well as to me.  Find "faith trek" at the following location.   http://faith-trek21.blogspot.com 

To Honor Our Veterans...

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Til all success be nobleness and every gain divine!
~America the Beautiful, 3rd verse

Shalom...

"Shalom is present where body and mind are well, where the relation to others is positive, and where the presence of God is sensed and felt."  ~Preaching and Teaching the Psalms by James L. Mays, p.11

For each of you, I pray you will have "Shalom" today!!

Remembering the Sacrifices of Others on this Memorial Day...

Today is Memorial Day... it is the day that we set aside once a year to remember those who have fallen in the service of our country... the day we remember those who gave all they had to give so that we might remain free from tyranny and oppression... that we might continue to enjoy the liberties that we prize so highly here in America. Let us remember in prayer those who have fallen and their families.

But there is another who gave all that He had in order to bring us freedom from tyranny and oppression... but He did not die only for the those of us here in America, but rather He gave His all for all of humanity, that we might all enjoy freedom from the tyranny and oppression that sin and death bring to our lives. His death brought us life, victory and triumph. Therefore, let us also on this Memorial Day remember and give thanks for Jesus, the Christ, the One who laid His life down on the battlefield for our very souls... and together let us say, "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory over sin and death through Christ our Lord!"

The End of the World... Today?

It was only recently that I became aware of a street sign on one of the major roads through my city.  It simply proclaimed, "The Lord is coming.  May 21, 2011".  Also seen on the sign was a website, which I confess that I have not looked up, and will not mention in this post.  I wondered at the sign, but didn't really think much about it until yesterday when my colleague at work mentioned that his pastor friends were posting on facebook that they were going ahead with their sermon preparation for Sunday just in case the world didn't end on Saturday, the 21st of May.

So, last night I watched some of the cable news shows, and was not disappointed to see that each of them had a short piece on this supposed momentous upcoming "end of the world" event...  granted, there were not any who were taking this apocalyptic prophesy seriously, but they covered enough of the story for me to learn what was behind the sign I had seen.

In short, an elderly Christian gentleman, through his study of the Holy Bible, believes that he found passages that enabled him to calculate the exact date that Jesus will return and take the faithful believers to heaven, and at the same time that the judgement of the world will commence... that day being sometime today, Saturday, May 21, 2011.    

A few thoughts about this:

I am Christian and do believe that at some time, Jesus will return, as He promised.  That being said, I do feel it is important to point out a couple of things about this event:

1.  When Jesus' disciples ask when the time will be that He [Jesus] will return, and what will be the sign of His coming, and of the end of the age, Jesus speaks of many events that must happen before His return [see Matthew 24].  He cautions that there will be many who will try to mislead believers [Jesus calls them false prophets], but in answer to His disciples' question of when He would return, He says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."  [Matthew 24:36]

2.  The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians, echoes this, as he tells the believers, "... the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night" [1 Thessalonians 5:2]... In other words, suddenly and without warning.

3.  When this event does happen, it won't be in secret... all will know and see it take place.  Jesus tells His disciples, "...they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." [Matthew 24:30]  We will not need to be told that He has come... when it happens for real, all will know... there will be no questions or doubt in anyone's mind.

I think that there are far too many people who focus on and worry about the exact date and time the Lord will return.  In the past, people have come to my house to tell me that they know when Jesus will return, and to ask if I wanted to know.  My answer to that type of question is, "No."  I would rather do my best to live as a faithful servant of my Lord, Jesus the Christ, so that when He does return, if it happens to be in my lifetime, He will find me living a life that brings honor to His name and doing the things that He has called me to do.

Do I believe that Jesus will return again?  Yes.

Do I think he will return today, May 21, 2011?  I don't know... it is always a possibility.

Am I ready for His return?  I believe this is actually the most important question that each person needs to ask themselves... However, I can only answer that question for myself...  You have to examine your own heart and relationship with the Lord, and answer it for yourself.

Christmas...

may you each travel to the manger and worship the King this night... for this is what Christmas is truly about...



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God's Grace... Our Response...

My pastor used this quote a couple of weeks ago in his sermon...  

"Religion says, 'I obey, therefore I am accepted'...   The Christian gospel transformation message says, 'I am accepted, therefore I obey.'"                   ~ Tim Kellerman


"For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."            ~ Ephesians 2:8-10


God's gift to us of salvation through grace, and faith in that grace, is the starting point from which our response of good works and good deeds should spring!!  God has much for us to do to help alleviate the pain and suffering in our world.  Who will seek God's will and plan?  Who will be willing to follow God's will and plan?  Who will answer God's call to serve?

sticks and stones...

I originally posted this on:  spotlight on...  sticks and stones

The old saying goes, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"...   in my humble opinion, that is a lie we tell ourselves...  and maybe we adults even believe it...  but I think children sometimes are smarter than us...  just try to get a child who is being teased and picked on to actually believe the saying...  they know it's a lie...

Recognizing the lie for what it is just might be the first [very, very, very, very small] step towards finding a solution to the problem of bullying...

If your child comes home upset because she/he is being picked on, don't tell them this lie...  they won't believe you...  instead, listen to them, acknowledge their hurt feelings, let them know you love and value them, and work from there to help them find creative ways to stand up to the bullies...

It probably won't be easy...   no one ever said it would be...   but no one deserves to be bullied for any reason...   and your child's life just might hang in the balance...

Telling the Truth

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."     ~George Orwell

Glad - This is My Father's World

chill out... listen... enjoy... and praise God!!

Glad - Be Ye Glad

"... while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8 [Bible]

Jesus "payed it forward"... just for you!!

Personal Reflection: My Will vs. God's Will

In scripture, Jesus teaches such interesting upside-down lessons to his disciples and those listening to him...

“...the last will be first and the the first will be last” [Matt 20:16]...

“...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” [Mark 10:43-44]...

Maybe one day my life will mirror such upside-down thinking and I will be able to say with a joyful heart that I was a failure in what I wanted to do for God, but a success in what God wanted me to do for the Kingdom...

Not my will, Lord, but Yours ... bring Your will to pass in my life!! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Faith Reflections: The Road to Emmaus

Read Luke 24:13-35

In this passage, two disciples of Jesus are walking from Jerusalem to a small village named Emmaus. It has just been a couple of days since Jesus has been crucified. They are troubled and dejected as they discuss the recent events while they walk, perhaps wondering what they would do now that their teacher and master and Lord had been crucified. Possibly, they are thinking that it wasn't supposed to have happened that way... then a third traveller joins them and asks what they are talking about.

The scriptures tell us that although the disciples could see and hear this third traveller, they did not really know who he was... they could not really "see" or "know" him for who he was until he "opened" their eyes and revealed himself to them as their Lord and master, the one who had so recently been crucified. And then, after their encounter with Jesus is over, they realize that somehow, they must have known all along who he was, because their hearts had "burned within them" as he had spoken with them.

As we walk life's road, while we cannot see the One who walks with us, yet we still can know who He is... with our eyes "opened" by His love and faithfulness, we can "see" Him who is now invisible to us... and through prayer and reading the scriptures, we can talk with and hear from the One who travels life's road with us. As the hearts of the early disciples "burned within them", even when they did not yet know who was traveling with them, so our hearts will also "burn within us" as our unseen Lord and Savior journeys with us along the roads we travel in life.

The Great Commission...

We Christians call it The Great Commission... "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." [Matthew 28:19 NRSV].

I just wonder what that "looks like" in real life for those who consider themselves to be Christians... how do you "go... and make disciples [of Jesus, the Christ]"?

I would like to know how those of you who read this post, and consider yourself to be a Christian, "go... and make disciples". How do you answer the call of the Great Commission?

And if you are not Christian, then I would like to know how you think that one who says they are a Christian should "go... and make disciples".

I invite your comments...

Prayer of the Day...

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. '"

Luke 11:1-4 [Bible - New International Version]

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What Time is It Really?

Not too long ago, I was talking with an individual who was getting ready to graduate from high school and I asked what she was thinking of doing after graduation. When she answered that she knew she wanted to go to college, but wasn't sure what she was going to study or do for the rest of her life, I found myself thinking that she still had plenty of time to decide those things. The idea of her having "plenty of time" came to mind because she was "young" ... and most people think a young person has "plenty of time" as opposed to someone older who might not think they have a lot of time left in life...

But then I realized that this comparison that we make between young and old regarding the time we have in life on this earth was not true!! We all have the same amount of time no matter how old we are... because no one is guaranteed any more time here on earth than "right now"!! We all hope and plan for the future, but that future is not guaranteed... each moment past "now" that we live is a gift from God!!

So hope and dream and plan for the future... whether you think your future on this earth is going to be for 60 or 70 more years, or whether you think it might only be another hour or day or year... and no matter how long you have, use it all for God's glory... after all, the time you have is God's gift to you, so you might thank God by living for Him!!

Happy 4th of July!!

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A Memorial Day Tribute

Let us not forget to pray for all who serve in harm's way... or the families who wait for them... and may we never forget that there are those who have given their all. May God give them peace and comfort.



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mothers remembered...

I came across this YouTube today... and as yesterday was Mother's Day, I thought a bit of humor in honor of Mother's Day might bring a smile!!



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