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December 27, 2002
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13 NIV)

During the Christmas season we all share material gifts. It is a time of great love and caring. There are more hugs, more kisses more tears of joy. It is a truly wonderful time of year. We are blessed with love and the spirit of Christ.

Now we are faced with a new year and all of the resolutions that come with it. In many cases, we go back to the grind of daily life and settle into our routine. However, we need to continue to share this love, this zeal and this joy. When we do, we all benefit and live better lives.

Thought for the Week: As we proceed toward the new year, let us focus on our selves and our talents. Let us recognize that we have special gifts, given to us by the Lord to use for Him.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, we are entering a new year with thoughts of war, weapons of mass distruction and there seems to be hate throughout the world. We wonder where it will all lead. This week we pray for a sign, a word from You, some understanding of it all. Most of all, we pray that we can apply our talents and gifts in the new year to help.

Amen

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December 23
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”
(Romans 12:3-6 NIV)

This time of year it is easy to focus on material gifts. We are all caught up to some degree in the materialism of the Holiday season. We are exposed to the ads, our friends and relatives talk about shopping and gift giving and we all participate at some level. Romans 12 has a very special meaning to me as a person. If one reads further through verse 9, God’s many gifts to us are listed. It is important to understand God’s gifts to us and recognize which of gifts we were given. We need to understand where we fit in God’s world and how to apply those gifts in our lives. These are the gifts that really matter- They are not advertised on TV or in the news paper.

Thought for the week: As we approach the new year, let us think about who we are and what gifts God has given us. Let us learn to use these gifts to make our lives and the lives of others better.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord, as the new year approaches, self improvement always seems to be an objective. Each year I focus on “my improvement” and sometimes do not recognize the tasks You may have set forth for me. I pray that this will be the year that “my improvement” is accomplished by recognizing Your gifts to me and finding a way to do Your work with them.

Amen

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December 13
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

In life, we frequently hear “keep it simple.” Yes, we all know that simple is good. It is less stressful. Then why are we humans always complicating our lives.

Several years ago June and I noticed that we sleep over an hour longer when on vacation. One morning in Monterey, we awoke at 7:30 on our second day of vacation. That was 9:30 central time! What is the message? Simple, we had no calendar, no phone calls to make, not even a tee time—we were relaxed.

One of my favorite worship choruses starts with Psalm 118:28. It is a very simple message, the Lord made the day for us, let’s keep it simple and enjoy it. “Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6).

Thought for the Week: This week let us focus on keeping it simple. Let us enjoy the week by remembering every day that the Lord made it for us, and us for Him.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord and Father, we are living in busy and stressful times. Often we do not take the time to appreciate all that You have given us. This week we pray for the forethought to stop and enjoy every day. We pray that we take the time to share the enjoyment with our peers and associates. And most of all, through our prayers, share our joy with Christ Jesus.

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December 8
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:12-14 NIV)

This is a time of year when we are reminded of our great faith. A time when our spirituality runs very high. We are reminded of Jesus birth and the message that He brought to the world.

It is also a time of great celebration and materialism. Parties abound, liquor sales and toy sales are high. Yes, it is tempting to want to be a good Santas to our loved ones. I guess that is normal and OK. It is a small temptation when viewed as an overall piece of life’s pie.

Through the season, we always need to keep the spiritual piece in tact. We need to be persistent in prayer and thanksgiving. Yes, there will be the neighborhood open house, the company party the family sharing of gifts. They will be distractions. Through these distractions, we need prayer.

Thought for the Week: Amongst the materialism of the holiday season, spiritual leadership is needed and welcomed. This week let us focus and demonstrate our spiritual side. This week let us share our faith with others.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, we are all very busy. There is shopping, neighborhood parties, Christmas cards to be done and many other priorities in our lives. This week we pray that you will be at our side, on our minds and helping us live our lives. We pray that the thought of You and the birth of Jesus remain at the forefront of our thoughts.

Amen

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November 21
“As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord,so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

Once each year we celebrate Thanksgiving. It is the traditional start of what we call “the holiday season.” To give thanks we must be aware or focusing on the good and rewarding parts of our lives. Focusing on the positive.

H. Norman Wright put it this way, “Thanksgiving is not to be limited to only the times when we are aware of blessings. Let us give thanks even when we have a problem to solve, when there are difficulties to be met. At these times, we give thanks to God for unconditional love and goodness, for unlimited wisdom and abundance. When we give thanks continually, we are rejuvenated–spirit, mind and body.”

Let us hold those thoughts and be thankful for all of our blessings.

Thought for the Week: This week we move into that frantic period called the holiday season. Winter sports activities run high, holiday parties are abundant, year end financial activity in both our personal and business lives need care and then there are the holiday greeting cards. Let us focus this week on giving thanks to God for the love we have for each other and the support He will give us through prayer that will make this season a blessing. Pray and give thanks to the Lord.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord and Father, this week we give you thanks. Thanks for our friends, our families and our troubles. Yes, we give you many thanks for our financial crises, our family stress and the ripples in our personal seas of tranquility. Through our troubles we learn to pray and appreciate the many blessings that seem greater when compared with the ripples. This week we give you thanks for our lives, your love and your forgiveness.

Amen

What a joy it is for us to let ourselves sing in praise and thanksgiving for the good in our lives! As we make a habit of giving thanks to God for our blessings, we will become more aware of good. We will understand that blessing our good causes it to multiply.

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November 12
“Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ...There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” (1 Corinthians 12:1-6 NIV)

Often the bible mentions the gifts given to us by the Lord. However, in every case the same spirit is mentioned. Think about what that means to all of us. Think about us as a team, a Christian body, placed on earth to do God’s work. Not alone but as a team.

I have always preferred working with a partner. My belief is that two people working as a team is four times better than the best of the two working alone. If that is true, then how powerful is a small congregation working together doing God’s work?

In last year’s super bowl, the New England Patriots came out to play without the TV Network usual fanfare of individual introductions. They came and won as a team. Last week in the paper there was a page dedicated to the state girls’ soccer championship. It listed the rosters of the two finalists as well as the state all star team. There were no all stars listed on the rosters of the two teams playing in the finals. There is a message here somewhere.

So we all “have different kinds of gifts but the same spirit.” We can all participate and use these gifts to do God’s work but we do not have the gifts to do it alone. We need each other, we need our Christian family to get the job done.

Thought for the Week: This week let us focus on our talents, God’s gifts to us. If we have not identified them, let’s review Roman’s 12:6,7 and 8, where they are listed. Let us recognize our gifts and use them to do God’s work.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father we ask, “what is it all about?” There seems to be mayhem here in our society. Many of us are confused, many are frightened, trust and honor seem to be hiding someplace. This week we pray to you for the ability to better understand it all. We pray for the ability to recognize our gifts and the knowledge on how to utilize them to help.

Amen

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November 5
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes... Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace... And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying ...” (Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV)

Today we need to protect ourselves from our own self induced stress as well as the negativity in the World that we can not control. As Mac Hammond from the Living Word Christian puts it, “We need to protect our hearts.” The question is, how?

Over the years I have often heard the expression, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” In business and sports this meant to me that when the pain sets in, run harder; when it is break point, put the ball away; when the order is being lost, dig deeper. In each instance, “I” assumed the full responsibility for correcting “my” problem. My male ego would come into the issue and apply pressure to the situation. This has worked very well over the years, but it is not how I have acted since the late 80s.

Like many parents, when my two youngest were in private colleges, my ego driven logic failed me. The financial pressure combined with the desire to service the educational needs was too much to get through. This tough guy needed help and it came through the simple saying, “Let go and let God.” Funny how that works, everything turned out OK.

When we are deeply involved with our loved ones, we need to protect our hearts. We need to keep our feet on the ground and make caring decisions through love. If we allow the Lord to help protect our hearts, if we listen to Him and accept His part in our lives, our lives will be better and simpler. Keep on asking for support through prayer.

Thought for the Week: Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. It offers each of us a chance to renew ourselves, forgive others and move forward with positive thoughts. This week let us move forward through daily prayer and let the Lord help us over the bumps.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly father, life is good. The kids have food and shoes, there are two cars in the garage, TV sets in every home- we are truly “fat cats” living under your domain. This week we all want to give thanks to you for the physical needs that we have met and ask for help daily, meeting our spiritual needs that are sometimes lacking.

Amen

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November 1
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-10, NIV)

We, June and I, have enjoyed the last four weeks of vacation. It was not easy to do that surrounded by the world events. While staying in Pyrford, south of London, there were concerns regarding a serial rapist that had just struck for the ninth time. The sniper started shooting in Washington. There was the bomb in Bali and then the plane crash last Friday. It is easy to ask where is God in all of this. It is logical, by human standards, to be concerned, scared or feel helpless. It is common to feel guilty while enjoying a vacation amongst the tragedies.

Somehow, through prayer and understanding, we need to keep the faith we have in the Lord. HE does not expect us to understand everything, just to love and trust Him to put it all together. Together we need to demonstrate this trust and love to others through times of stress and tragedy. We need to be like the tree whose roots are planted by the stream. We need to be fresh and always bear the fruit of the Lord. We need to have this “fruit” available when others need it.

Thought for the Week: This week let us focus on our “fruit”. Let us understand what our faith can do for others with less understanding. Let us pray and keep our spiritual fruits fresh so that we may share them with those in need.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, we come to you confused by world events. We are concerned about out own personal issues; unemployment, depleted retirement funds, sickness and many other issues. Through out all of this, we pray that we may recognize our roll as servants. We pray that we make our spiritual fruits available to those in need.

Amen