Memorial Day 2022

This Memorial Day I would like to share a prayer with you I found…

“Heavenly Father, as our nation pauses today to remember those in the military who have given their lives for freedoms we enjoy, we pray You would have us all look to You for strength, comfort and guidance. Be with all who serve in our Armed Forces. Bless them and their families. Grant Your loving protection. Let peace prevail among all the nations, O God. Especially let Your mercy rest upon our land, even as we acknowledge with thanksgiving Your past goodness on this country. If it is Your will, preserve the lives of the men and women in uniform as they defend our citizenry. Most of all, we pray that You would turn the hearts of all – military and civilian – to Your holy Word where we find the true peace for our sinful souls that surpasses all understanding. Keep us repentant of sin. Move us to know, take hold and treasure your saving grace. In the name of Jesus, our Savior and Your beloved Son, who alone gives this peace and hope for eternity, we pray. Amen.”

_{From the Evangelical Lutheran Synod}

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Source:
https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/galleries/15-inspirational-prayers-for-memorial-day.aspx

One Enemy

Throwback Thursday Post from May of 2019. More timely in 2022 than it was in 2019.

The Good Word

We have one God but we also have one enemy. It is satan. All those who hurt you or others, those who lash out at our faith or do horrible things it’s not just them it is satan. He is using them as a vessel to bring evil into the world.

I am of course not saying that we people are blameless, unfortunately some allow him to take over their hearts. Some do it unwillingly, satan is cunning, he can trick a good Christian into thinking he is doing right when in fact he is acting against God.

Jesus knew this. That is why in Matthew 16: 23 when Peter rejected what Jesus said about His coming death He told him,  “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Jesus rebuked…

View original post 193 more words

Peace

What does the Bible say about peace?

Well, a lot of things.

Open Bible has 100 verses on peace! (I will post a link below)

Here is one of my favorites…

John 16:33 ESV

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

It’s no surprise this was at the top of the list as voted the most helpful.

Do you struggle to find peace? I sure know I do.

My mind never shuts off, it’s always going. Sometimes that’s a good thing and other times it’s a terrible thing. It can feel burdensome.

Often I am anxious or worry. I make up scenarios in my head. Or I think of things that anger me and what I wish I would have done or said.

In reality all that is truly fruitless.

It can be quite the struggle.

But Bible verses like John 16:33 sure help. Since Jesus has overcome the world and our peace is found in Him we need not to be burdened by the problems of the world, we can take our normal emotions to Him. We can take our sadness, our anxiety, our worries to Him. We can take our anger, hostility and pain to Him. We can take all things both good and bad to Him who is our peace.

This week, I will pray for those who read this for peace, I ask if you have the time to pray for peace for me as well.

Thank You and Have a Blessed and Peaceful Week,
Chris

Daily Bible Reading

Monday – Acts 1:1-11

Tuesday – Psalm 97

Wednesday – Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Thursday – John 17:20-26

Link:
https://www.openbible.info/topics/peace

The Journey: Six Years Later

After re-posting, “The Journey” for Throwback Thursday, I had meant to write a follow up to the series but honestly with everything that has gone on in six years it has been a bit overwhelming. I realized today I don’t need to fill this follow up with all these details on my life but just focus my attention on God.

God has continued to take me on this journey, molding me and changing me along the way. I am much better man the more I submit to Him and His Word.

The past few years I have gotten more into theology, invested my time in church and have became a deacon. I give all glory to God for these next steps in my journey.

It hasn’t been all great, it has been a tough road in these six years since I last wrote “The Journey” but what I can tell you is God has been there the whole way. It sounds cliché but its true. My wife and I have experience death of loved ones, financial strain, marital problems, doubt, fears, anxieties but God has always been there and He has blessed us even though we don’t deserve it.

He does this because He loves us and He loves you who are reading this!

I don’t know what my future hold but I know God has always been there and will always be there because He is the One who Was, Is and is Yet to come.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Daily Scripture Reading:

Monday – Acts 16:9-15 

Tuesday – Psalm 67 

Wednesday – Revelation 21:10, 21:22 – 22:5

Thursday – John 14:23-29

Forgiveness is Available For All Sinners

Throwback Thursday from May 2019. This is one of my more controversial posts, in that it attracted some angry attention in the comments. Two comments I had to delete due to profanity. Nevertheless it also received a lot more positivity. I’ve learned a lot about soteriology since I wrote this, so I may have worded a few things different to respect everyone’s theological beliefs but other than that I think the message holds.

The Good Word

I’ve heard many people ask a similar question that often times is hard to answer or even comprehend for some Christians. The question is usually along the lines of, “How can someone who is in jail who did terrible things and repented go to Heaven while I haven’t done horrible things will go to hell for not believing in God?”

For years I struggled with an answer to this question but God showed me the answer through scripture. The reason is that person in prison has now paid twice for their sins.

First through earthly consequences, the person committed crimes, was punished and served their sentence or is serving their sentence. That is their physical judgment.

But what remains is their spiritual judgment and when one truly accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, it is He, Jesus who took on their spiritual punishment. God will know if they truly are…

View original post 663 more words

Mother’s Day 2022

Yesterday was Mother’s Day.

I know for a lot of people their mother’s had a big influence on them spiritually. I know my mother has always been a woman of God who has cared deeply about church and all of her children’s relationship with God.

I thank God for my mother.

I would like to share a prayer with you I found,

“Dear Father, we approach your throne on behalf of the mothers whom you have entrusted with the care of your most precious little ones. We thank you for creating each mom with a unique combination of gifts and talents. We thank you for the sacrifice of self each mom gives for her children. For the late nights spent rocking a colicky infant. For the hands calloused from washing, wiping, scrubbing, mixing, backing, stirring, hugging, patting, disciplining, holding, writing, erasing, painting, and pouring.

We thank you for the gift of time moms give for their kids, whether it’s stay-at-home moms, working moms, and moms who have some combination of the two. We thank you for the flexibility of moms, for their tirelessness, their perseverance, and their devotion.

We pray you give each mom strength. Help her to see in every mundane task the eternal, cosmic significance that you place on motherhood. Help her to understand that the most radical, world-changing events may be happening anonymously in her home. Help her to forgive those who undermine her significance.

We especially pray for single moms, who must lean solely on you for the fathering of their children. We thank you that you’re big arms surround children who may never know their earthly father. We also pray for mothers who never had the honor of bearing children, but whose nurturing extends to the many poor and needy who cross the threshold of their lives.

We ask you to be the daily bread of tired mothers. We ask you to be their living water. We ask you to be their source of spiritual and physical strength. We pray that the same grace that flowed from Father to Son to us in salvation will flow from mothers to their children. We pray that each mother rejects perfectionism and instead embraces the goodness of the gospel. We pray the rhythms of repentance and forgiveness shape every home.

Lord, give each mother a worshipful reverence of you, the Creator and Sustainer of life. Help each mother to rest in the knowledge that they are but stewards of your children and that only your Spirit can produce change into the hearts of each boy and girl. May each mother find rest in you.

Most of all, Lord, on this day in which we honor mothers, may we love and cherish the special women who have born us, who have nurtured us, and who have prayed for our well-being. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to you, who formed and knitted each of us in a mother’s womb.  Amen. 
– Daniel Darling”

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Daily Scripture Readings:

Monday – Acts 11:1-18

Tuesday – Psalm 148

Wednesday – Revelation 21:1-6

Thursday – John 13:31-35

For the Source of the Prayer and Other Prayers Click Here…
https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/mother-s-day-prayers-to-encourage-and-uplift.html

Anger

This week I am re-posting an old blog entry from four years ago about Anger. This is the perfect post to reflect on for a lot of reasons. The first thing I noticed was that my writing seemed a lot sloppier back then. However after I dug deeper I started to notice the more important things to reflect on. God has transformed me in so many ways. I still struggle with anger at times but not nearly like the way things were. Also reading a few of those blog entries from that same time frame, it reminds me of how tough things were during that season. Since then God has blessed and transformed me in more ways than I can imagine. Praise God.

I hope you enjoy reading this post from May of 2018…

The Good Word

Today I am writing about anger. This is hard to talk about because one of my biggest struggles is my anger. Out of nowhere something occurs, could be major or could be small and I lash out. I shout, I bang the table, throw something, kick something. Then comes the shame. Whether a short outburst or a long one, the shame comes.  My wife and I were watching the new Thor movie and there is a scene right after the Hulk has an angry moment. He calms down and is pouty, looking like  a child ashamed of himself. My wife looked right at me and motioned to the screen, I could tell what she meant. We both laughed as it reminded us of me.

While that moment was funny often times when I’m in the middle of my anger I get angry at God. I’ll question him, wonder why the…

View original post 282 more words

Heritage Baptist Church Service 5-1-22

Rethinking Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-29 (New International Version)

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

A couple Sundays ago my Pastor was preaching about the above story from the Bible, he asked us if we as Christians focus too much attention on Thomas’ doubt and miss a more important message.

The message that Jesus met Thomas’ need. Jesus wanted Thomas to believe so He showed him His wounds, giving Thomas exactly what he needed in order to believe.

How amazing is that? That is a wonderful thing to focus on but instead we often focus on the doubt, we call people a “Doubting Thomas” if they have doubts, rather than focusing on their need and what will help them believe.

Yes, Jesus said, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” but He did not condemn Thomas for needing to see, instead Jesus knew Thomas’ need and didn’t hesitate. He didn’t shame Thomas, He didn’t call him an insult instead He met the need. What a merciful and gracious God we serve.

Let’s try mercy and grace with those struggling in doubt.

Lord helps us do so.

Have a Blessed Week,
Chris

Daily Bible Readings:
Monday – Acts 9:36-43

Tuesday – Psalm 23

Wednesday – Revelation 7:9-17

Thursday – John 10:22-30

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020%3A24-29&version=NIV