Happy Live Easter

Happy Easter everyone. I was looking through the internet today to see what I could find on Easter. One of the things that I found very interesting was Easter Services Streaming. The headline reads, 

Pope Benedict's Easter Services 2012 Live Stream St Peter's Square, Vatican City Online Webcast.  This was taken from directly from Pr. log dated Apr 7. There is one catch, you will need to download FLV Flash player in order to watch. 

Next we find BETHEL church of Hampton VA. with a live Sunday service. Their page has a built in player which you can enlarge to full screen for a better view. They have it set up so you can even give tithes or missions through your local banking institution by using a program called Simple Giving.  There is a link button on the page for this. For your convenience have a schedule of live sermon Streaming on the lower half of the page. 

The Living Word Lutheran Church has a recorded service for those who wish to hear Gods word. When you get to their page there are several steps you must follow in order to get the audio to work. First join the crowd, then log in through face book and go to video page. 

As I looked further there are Easter Worship Videos and Recorded Early Services and a list of local churches listed under Easter Sunday Services. 

There is no shortage of ways in this day and age to hear or read the word of God. You can open your Bible and read from there or attend a Church in your community, or go online and watch a pre-recorded video or catch a live broadcast of his message.  A daily dose of His word will guide you through life. Remember he died and rose again for the sins of both you and me. Mark 16:6

but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid His body. He is there for us no matter what or who we are. Just call upon him and he will answer. In his time frame not ours an answer will come to us, and it may not be what we asked for but it will inevitably be what we need. Whatever your religion may be we all serve the same God, we just do it in different ways. 

Godspeed...

Mother Mary we Miss You

I have been feeling a little down the past few days so i pulled my family a little closer to me.  See, its like this the  17 of Feb would have been my mothers birthday but she is no longer with us. She passed on a couple years ago now.  Having them closer to me make it a little easier to deal with. I also find comfort in knowing she is with God in a much better place.

About a year before she passed on she came real close to dying. My dad, brothers, sister and I went to her. We stayed there taking turns sitting with her. On one occasion I had a chance to talk with her alone for nearly an hour. Promises were made and are being kept to this day. I held my bible in my hands and talked with God once she had fallen asleep. I asked him to watch over her and give her a little more time with us if it was in his plan. It was at that time I said my goodbyes to her as we didn't think she was going to make it.

I prayed; "Dear Lord, I sit her before you today and ask for your guidance in this difficult time. We are all fearful for the loss of Mary from our family. Some of us will have a difficult time with your will. Help them to accept it. As for me I know she is already in your hands the doctors have said they have done all they can. Its up to you. In Jesus name I ask you to watch over her through her remaining days here on earth and when it is time for her to come to be with you. We will all miss her when you do call her home. But, I know she will go to a much better place. She is in your hands lord and your will be done.   In Jesus name ... Amen."

Shortly after that I left the room so someone else could sit with her. I don't know how anyone else felt but I had this feeling I needed a little alone time. I went out to my truck and sat there thinking and talking to God as I would talk to a friend. I dosed off for nearly two hours, when I went back into the hospital I talked with my dad and said she will be okay. I had this calm feeling surrounding me. My mother Mary never gave up, she kept fighting and all our prayers were answered and she came back to us for about a year. It was difficult for her to get around but she was there with my dad for one last year. When she went back into the Hospital, I couldn't make it back to her side this time before she passed.  I did make it there for her funeral. However, because I didn't get to her side in time it created some bad blood with a member of my family because he thought I didn't care. I tried to explain it to him but he would not hear what I was saying. I hope one day he can understand she was my mother too and I loved her as much as he did / does, and I'm sure he misses her the same as the rest of us. We will never forget her.

Through all of this I have had one thing to help me remain strong, my faith and belief in Christ and his love,  forgiveness and grace. My mother encouraged me to go to church and wanted me to become a Preacher. I have known this since I was a teenager. I thank her for stressing that I go as often as I could. That little country Mennonite Church gave me a strong faith foundation. This blog was started to honor her request and even though I didn't become a preacher, I felt the least I could do was share a little of God's word with whomever would like to read it.

My mother and I talked several times about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That is how I know she is with him. We both believed in the following statements. "If anyone calls upon name of the Lord with an open heart he will be there in and instant to fill you with the Holy Spirit." It's the journey of allowing him (God) to guide you that is the hard part. But, he will not give unto you any trial that he hasn't given you the tools to handle. People say I wish parenting came with a handbook. It does "The Book Of Life" know as the Bible." 


Until next time.... God be with You and your family

The Mission

From NKJV of the Holy Bible, Acts 13:46- 48
The Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the work of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us:  'I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth."'

The dictionary defines a missionary as: A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. from Wikipedia.com


Today we have people who crisscross the globe carrying God's word to those who may not have heard it. Along with this they take food, clothing, and many other things to improve their quality of life. The one true message that should be taken to them is, The Lord is there for all of us not just sister Mary in the church choir or the preacher on pulpit. He is there to care for us all. He is fully aware of the trials we have had and the mistakes we have made. That is why God sent his one and only son to die for us on the cross. To free us of our sins. As the songs say, "Are you washed in the Blood of the Lamb?" All we need to do is Believe and ask him into your heart. You will feel a difference deep inside yourself the moment you truly call upon him and accept him as your Lord and Savior. 


Delivering this message to all who will listen is the role the traveling missionary takes on.  There are those whom may never have heard this wonderful message and then there are those who have heard it many times and still have not let themselves believe. It is by far an expensive task and a difficult one. One where their belief in Christ could cost them the ultimate price, their life. Yet they go sometimes for years on end carrying the name of the Lord to many.  Let's not forget though it is not only the traveling missionary's responsibility to carry his message but yours and mine as well. The simplest way we can do this is in the way treat others and conduct our lives. 


Recently our family church undertook a huge task of building a new place of worship. This is a very expensive task, however through the creation of a building fund and some other creative financing they were able to accomplish this task. Now this coming spring they will move into a larger more accommodating church. In a manner of speaking the entire church body was part missionary. They all contributed specific amounts above and beyond their normal tithe. This amount was put directly into the building fund. Had it not been for this there would not be a new place for them to share Gods word with even more people. It is in a new area so I am sure there will be outreach activities to the surrounding community.   


Until next time ....

Christians and Online Dating

It was bound to happen the world of online dating crossing over. Let me state up front I am not against this, however I would ask that whomever is making a connection that you be very careful. Check each other out with Bible reference and talk online for a few weeks before sharing to much personal contact info. Here is one site to consider ChristianCafe.com.  It was recently featured on CBN.com.  Even E-Harmony has a Christian Dating site. Remember... be careful whomever you meet.

Until next time...

Leadership

Hello again.

Here is a little something for all people in authority to think about. I don't care if your a simple shift manager / crew leader or President of some country. Those who are running our government today and in the future, and those who are running governments around the world should all read and reflect on these few verses.

From KJV of the Bible:


Deuteronomy 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgement: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. ( This is referring to the God of Israel who is considered the Rock of all)

I bring that verse to light so that I may quote these from:

 2 Samuel 23:3 & 4 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

To those who say we need to separate our government from our church. I think they need to take a good look at the documents that our country was founded on and the beliefs of those who wrote it. I think you will find them to be men of strong faith in God and his teachings.

Until next time ... Godspeed
 

Today's Thought

Here is some food for thought.

Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than to be a somebody and have no food.

The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.

Proverbs: 12; 9-11

Until next time...

Work

He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. Proverbs 18:9

Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. Proverbs 19:15

If we do our work sloppily or refuse work we will find ourselves hungry and without means to support ourselves and families. If we scoff at Gods laws and disobey them we will also displease him and bring dishonor to our families.

Simply put, if one works and puts his or her all into the job they are doing the job will speak for its self and provides inner satisfaction. It also pleases God. "He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. Proverbs 10: 4-5"  If you follow God and do his laws you will find more riches that you can ever imagine. Not the type of riches you can hold in your hand but within your body and soul. I am talking about he riches of a strong family, a place among his chosen people in heaven.  It comes down to each of us having to make a choice. Do we follow what God has laid out for us or do we go our own way and try to get the same results. One thing for sure is, if we go it alone life will be a whole lot tougher and we will never attain the same level of well and understanding as his plan for us would provide.

I am not saying I have followed his plan exclusively. I can say I have and continue to try to follow it. One thing I learned a long time ago. "Treat others the way you would have them treat you and your life will be much easier." I know that's a simplified version of the golden rule. I carry that one step further. When I work for someone I work for them the way I would like them to work for me. You would be surprised how quickly you can advance upwards. It may be small movements but as you prove yourself to be able to handle the responsibility given. The next will present itself. One last thought, make your job as fun and fulfilling as possible for you and those who work around you.

Until next time...