Serving God

Our Catholic friend greatly admired her priest. “He is such a kind and caring man,” she said. He is extremely busy but always has time to listen to you and he is a man of prayer.” Another friend recently expressed her disillusionment with her priest. Because of his moral failings she said that she had not been to church for several years. But let me tell you about my priest. He also is so kind and caring. He prays powerfully for me daily. The one thing that stands out about my priest in that he is totally holy and righteous and though he was tempted, he never sinned.

Americans live in a land of abundance and yet so much is wasted. I believe it was the writer of Poor Richard’s Almanac who quoted the Puritan proverb “waste not – want not”. God our creator values all things. In Jesus’ miracle of multiplication we see the heart of God. In John 6:1-15 a lad gave his meager lunch to Jesus. Jesus took those five loaves and two fishes and miraculously fed over 5,000 men plus women and children. Twelve baskets of food were left over. Jesus told his disciples to gather up the fragments “so that nothing is wasted” (John 6:12 NLT).

America is a very religious society. In Post Modern America, most people believe all religions are equally valid. They believe there are as many gods (pluralism) as man wishes to invent for himself, with no one god being superior. As long as you do not say there is only one way to eternal life or heaven, our post modern society will accept you. They consider god to be a development of one’s culture, a manufactured god; thus, one god is as good as another and we are told that we must not say there is only one God. They do not accept any objective standard for truth.

What do you think of angels? Some see angels as a myth, like the cherubic looking Cupid ready to strike the heart of the lovelorn with his arrow of love on Valentine’s Day. Mankind has had a fascination with angels since ancient biblical times. Books, movies, art, sport team names, and cities have been inspired by the existence of angels. The truth about angels their origin, purpose, work, and destiny can be found in the Bible where angels are referred to almost 300 times.

Israel’s sin and rebellion against God brought defeat and destruction to their land. Jerusalem was destroyed and hundreds of surviving Jews were carried off to Babylon as slaves. The prophet and priest Ezekiel was among those captives. Ezekiel was given visions of the glory and holiness of God. For 27 years he prophesied hope and restoration to Israel. Whatever trials and tribulation you may be facing today, God has hope and restoration for you.

Spiritual Renewal: a renovation, an enlivening; a rebirth, a stirring up, a waking up, rejuvenation, a revival. Revival means “to bring life,” from the Latin root, “re” which means again and “vivere” which means life. Continue to focus on renewal for your own spiritual life. Join a Bible class, be prepared to have your heart impacted by a sermon, stay in God’s word, and prayerfully consider changes that need to be made in your life. I believe every one of us has times in our lives when we need true deep spiritual renewal.

Bethany, IL is a small but lovely community with rolling hills. There’s a spacious hilltop cemetery just across the street from the church our son pastors. Every Memorial Day at the statute of a Civil War soldier the American Legion hosts a ceremony honoring veterans. My grandson Elijah was quite impressed with the whole ceremony. “I like the part where we salute the flag and the honor guard shoots at the soldier statute. But they haven’t hit it yet,” he said. I still chuckle when I see that Civil War soldier statute.

Many senior citizens feel forsaken and forgotten by family and friends. Seniors struggle with poor health and age related issues. Our neighborhoods and nursing homes are full of seniors who face a sense of loneliness and abandonment. But the Psalmist gives us hope and comfort from God’s Word. “O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!

Life is sometimes a struggle. In the last few months I have really had problems focusing on living a more spiritual life. It seems the more I try, the more difficult it becomes. I think the devil really works on me by feeding me the line that I am alone in this struggle and by appealing to my sense of independence and pride. I know in my heart that I can’t do it alone; I also know that if I can just get out of the way, the Lord will make a way.

Who would steal the Christ child from a church’s crèche and for what reason? I was perplexed as I looked at our church’s empty manger that memorable Christmas. Recently I was walking by a church near where we live and noticed that their nativity scene was fenced in with chicken wire. No doubt it was there to discourage thieves and pranksters. Things have not really changed over the centuries. In many different ways the enemy of our soul still endeavors to steal or fence-in the Christ of Christmas from society and our souls.

I could feel and see the tension on the faces of many of the men in our prison Bible study. I had told them that Jesus taught us to relate to God in prayer as our Heavenly Father. (Matthew 6:9) I knew what they were thinking. For many of these men the image of “father” had a negative connotation. Today in America many children have a father who is abusive, distant, or absent. It is heart breaking to know that many children do not know the love and positive influence of a father.

I once saw an interesting bumper sticker that read “This car breaks for garage sales and turtles.” If you have recently felt brain dead, stressed out, or just plain worn out, you need to break today. McDonald’s made this slogan famous – “You deserve a break today!” But you need more than a quick fix or a fast food or coffee break. You need a regular, deep, quality break. You need a time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. For real rest break for Jesus each day.

As I leaned back in my favorite La-Z-Boy recliner and closed my eyes, my granddaughter walked into the living room. “What are you doing PaPa?” she asked. “I’m just resting my eyes,” I replied. The other day she asked, “PaPa, are you going into the room where you rest you’re eyes?” I guess she noticed I enjoy going into “my” room, kicking back, and “resting my eyes”.

Have you ever had a dream that seemed lost and dashed to pieces on the rocks of disaster or disappointment? Take heart. Many great men and women have had such experiences. But they believed that good things come to those who wait. They learned valuable lessons in God’s waiting room that could not be learned anywhere else.

Abraham was 100 years old before the promised child Isaac was born. Joseph, the dreamer, was sold into slavery by his brothers, unjustly accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife, and thrown into prison for 13 years before seeing his God given dream become a reality.

The Internet is a crazy place. It seems like all the negatives of the world are made popular and well organized on the Internet. However, trying to find quality Christian related sites can be fairly difficult to do. I built GodSurfer.com as a way to change all of this and to add a greater sense of connectivity among Christians online. I am a programmer who loves the internet but desired a place where I didn’t have to filter through all the garbage in order to find quality.