We’ve all seen those signs outside of churches that have those funny or witty phrases. I love these! They always seem to put a smile on my face. Read More
As we celebrate on this Thanksgiving Day holiday, may we appreciate those who make up the fabric of our lives and remember to be grateful for all that we have. Read More
St. Augustine is perhaps the most significant Christian thinkers who shaped the practice of biblical interpretation and helped lay the foundation for much of modern Christian thought. It is said that he preached somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 sermons in his lifetime. Wow! Read More
There was one thing that my family took very seriously when I was growing up, and that was Family Night. This usually involved playing a game or watching a movie, like those on Family Classics, The Wonderful World of Disney, or network TV. One of our all-time favorites and one that we would never-ever miss was The Wizard of Oz.
For the past several weeks, I have been under
an overwhelming amount of stress. Most of this was work-related: working long
hours with short deadlines. Throw in several church-related activities and
tasks on top of that, and I was running on non-stop overdrive.
In
the midst of all of this, we had a family emergency at the hospital. Upon
driving to the hospital one day, I noticed that I was having difficulty
breathing and felt some odd pains in my chest that I had never felt before. I
thought that I was having a heart attack. I immediately broke into prayer
asking God to help calm me down. At that very moment, a song came on the radio
– and I heard these lyrics:
Every anxious thought that steals my breath,
It’s a heavy weight upon my chest.
As I lie awake and wonder what the future will hold,
Help me to remember that You’re in control.
You’re my courage when I worry in the dead of night.
You’re my strength ’cause I’m not strong enough to win this fight.
You are greater than the battle raging in my mind;
I will trust You, Lord, I will fear no more.
As
soon as these words touched my ears, I felt the power of God within me and I
began to realize that I could not handle all of this weight on my own. I suddenly
felt a calmness come over me and began to breathe normal again.
In
our first reading, Queen Esther, filled with anguish, breaks into prayer and
realizes that there is no one else who can provide her with the help she needs
other than her Lord and Savior.
Every
now and then, you and I need a little reminder that we need to turn to God for
help. We cannot handle our stress alone but need to rely on the one who can help
us carry our load.
During
this Lenten season, let us get into the habit of turning to our Father in
prayer. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to
the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Lord, turn our mourning into gladness and our
sorrows into wholeness. Praise be to God, now and forever. Amen.
Everyone knows about Saint Patrick — the man who drove the snakes out of Ireland, defeated the Druids in contests of magic, and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the pagan Irish. It’s a great story, but none of it is true. The shamrock legend came along centuries after Patrick’s death, as did the miraculous battles against the Druids. Forget about the snakes — Ireland never had any to begin with. No snakes, no shamrocks, and he wasn’t even Irish! Read More
Peace on the outside comes from knowing God on the inside - spreading the message that work and the circumstances of everyday life are opportunities for growing closer to God and serving others.