Devotional

Clergy He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13 Underemployed? Questionable. Overemployed? Possibly. Always employed? Certainly. The ordained ministry is one of the few professions where the time spent and the activities engaged in are not fully known, so ministers can work as little or as much as desired. What…

Suffering During the coronavirus pandemic I wrote this devotional and published it on May 12, 2020. The message of God’ overseeing protection is still relevant for us this day. I am 68-years-old with the underlining condition of leukemia. This makes me the most vulnerable to death by the coronavirus. I am also autistic, which means I live every day as an anxious day. This means the constant news coverage of the pandemic only increases my anxiety. I have Asperger’s, which is on the autism spectrum, which means I lack social skills but I am brilliant in one area. My area…

Discipleship Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31 As we walk through this story in John’s gospel, chapter 20 and verses 19 through 31, what unfolds before us is fear that is tempered by the presence of Jesus. The story takes place on the evening of the day that we now call Easter. The day of the Resurrection.…

Scripture All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17   Perry Noble was the pastor of NewSpring Church and the worship leader of 32,000, with the constant articulated goal of reaching 100,000, As the largest church in South Carolina with multiple campuses, it still wasn’t big enough for an egocentric pastor. Noble caused a theological stir with his Christmas Eve sermon in 2016, proclaiming that the Ten Commandments were not commandments, but…

Peacemakers In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall…

Serenity Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court. Psalm 127 STORY LeBron James grew up in Akron, Ohio. A city that was once…

NEW YEAR PRAYER HELEN STEINER RICE God grant us this year a wider view, So we see others’ faults through the eyes of You. Teach us to judge not with hasty tongue, Neither the adult … nor the young. Give us patience and grace to endure And a stronger faith so we feel secure. Instead of remembering, help us forget The irritations that caused us to fret. Freely forgiving for some offense And finding each day a rich recompense. In offering a friendly, helping hand And trying in all ways to understand; That all of us whoever we are ……

A Christmas Poem By Helen Steiner Rice I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look, And that is when I realize that these names are a part Not of the book they are written in, but really from my heart For each name stands for someone who has cossed my path sometime, And in the meeting they’ve become the rhythm in each rhyme And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim, I really feel that I’m composed of each remembered…

Christmas Homily William Dean Howells, who lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a Harvard graduate and served in the United House of Representatives. Though, he is best remembered today as an accomplished author of short stories. He was disillusioned by the commercialization of Christmas. Regarding how the spirit of the holiday had been lost, he wrote, “You cannot buy Christmas at the shops, and a sign of friendly sympathy costs little. . . . Should not the extravagance of Christmas cause every honest man and woman practically to protest by refusing to yield to the extravagance?” Condemning the secularization of this…

Christological Titles Thesis Boston had been under siege for nine months by the British and the commander of the colonial forces was journeying to Cambridge to break the impasse. Though three frontal assaults by the Red Coats had been repulsed at Breed’s Hill, mistakenly recorded as Bunker’s Hill, the coastal city still remained in possession of King George. As the general journeyed north a lesser known yet more significant development occurred by legislative fiat, far surpassing the victory at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Both the New York and Massachusetts legislatures wrote congratulatory letters to General George Washington, addressing him…