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!"

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?

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!!

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.

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!!

Living a Prophetic Life

Have you ever had anyone challenge your thinking about the way you live out your faith? 

Recently, I heard a speaker who did just that...  and his challenge to each of us was that we might live and preach in such a way, that people would know that our God was real...  That our words and our actions would cause them to be shaken to the very foundations of their lives with God's "fire", so that they would "fall on their faces" and worship God...  not just think that we were wonderful Christ-followers... or great preachers... or great Sunday school teachers or youth workers...

As I have been thinking about this challenge, it came to me that in order to answer this challenge, one had to live a "prophetic life".  Don't misunderstand - I am not saying that one has to become a prophet...  becoming a prophet is not a "career choice" that one can study for, and then go seek a job.  In studying Old Testament prophets, it is clear that they became prophets at God's choosing.  They weren't looking to be prophets or proclaiming themselves as prophets...  God chose them... God called them... God made them prophets...  and they served at God's will, prophesying only when given a specific message from God.

But yet, thinking of this challenge brought the conclusion that Christ-followers needed to live "prophetic lives"...   So what does that mean?  Although I think I may live the rest of my life figuring that out, here is what I think now:

A prophetic life is a "called" life...

A prophetic life is a life that has "a knowledge of God"...

A prophetic life is one that is in communion with God...

A prophetic life is a surrendered life...

A prophetic life is one that brings God's message of hope and love to the world...

A prophetic life is one lived as a part of the community of believers...

If you have answered Jesus' call to follow him, and have surrendered your life to follow God's will... if you are continuing to learn about God as you live in communion with Him and in community with fellow believers... and if you are willing to share the message of hope and love that comes from God with a world that is desperate and hurting...  then you might be on the journey to live a prophetic life.

Jesus told his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."  [Matthew 9:37-38  New International Version of the Bible]  

Pray that more will answer God's call to live prophetic lives!

I gave up chocolate for Lent...

This morning in Sunday school, as we began to talk about Lent, one of the youth said, "I gave up chocolate for Lent!" My reply was a question. "Why? Why did you give up something for Lent?" I wanted to know if she or anyone else in the class knew why people "gave things up" for Lent. Many times, during this Lenten season of the Christian year, people "give something up"... but if there is no understanding of the reason why this is done at this time of the year, then this becomes a meaningless ritual.

Lent is the 40 day time of the year [not counting Sundays] before Easter during which Christians take time for introspection, for soul searching, reflection and repentance... it is a time of growing in one's faith in preparation for the coming of the death and resurrection of Christ. In the earliest days of the church, Christ-followers re-dedicated themselves to the faith, and new converts learned about the Christian faith as they prepared for baptism. "Giving something up" was done to help a person focus on the ideas of reflection, repentance, renewal and spiritual growth during this time of the year.

While giving up chocolate might not seem to be something that would help a person focus on spiritual soul searching, it can still help as a little reminder... for example, every time you think about eating chocolate and then remember that you have given it up for Lent, as you begin to wonder, "Why did I give up chocolate?!!", you can then remember to ask yourself that question suggested by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement... a question he suggested we all take time to ask of ourselves and each other on a regular basis regarding our relationship with God: "How is your soul really doing"?

While some people take it very seriously, giving something up for Lent is not a "legalistic" requirement of the Christian faith... and you don't have to give up only food items... you can give up watching TV for a certain amount of time each day, or give up some other activity for a certain amount of time each day... what you give up and for what amount of time is your choice... because ultimately, it doesn't matter what you have given up, or even if you have given something up... ultimately, what really matters is the answer to the question: How is your soul really doing?

Take this season of Lent to reflect on how your soul is really doing... and to grow in your relationship with God... and if you are wondering how you can grow if you don't currently have a relationship with God, all it takes is one small step of reaching out for God... and you will find that God has been there all along.

Living Stones - a chosen people... and a light to the world...

I named this blog "Living Stones - a chosen people", because those of us who consider ourselves to be "Christ-followers" have indeed been chosen by our Creator...  but not "chosen" in the sense of being an exclusive group, "better" than any other peoples, and or "above" all other peoples...

Rather, we are people who have been "chosen" for a task...  we have been given a job, so to speak.  We are to be lights in the darkness of our world.  In the midst of hopelessness and despair, heartache and suffering, we are to be Christ's light so that others might have a chance to find their way through the darkness that surrounds them.  "... for you are a chosen people.  You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession.  As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light."  [1 Peter 2:9 NLT]

We may be living stones, being built into God's spiritual house [1 Peter 2:5], but we must not think that we will be the only "stones" that God is looking for...   and so we must shine out with Christ's love to all those around us, in the same way that the lighthouse shown as a background picture in this blog, shines a guiding light that revolves and shines in all directions around it.  

As God's chosen people, royal priests and holy nation, we are chosen to do no less than the lighthouse...  we are chosen to shine out a light in all directions of our lives, to all we come in contact with, that they might also become a shining, living stone in God's spiritual house. 

Upon whom is your light shining today?  And is it the light of Christ that they see?