May 2012 Blog Posts (34)

My first position as an emergency room nurse was in a new facility just outside the city limits.  Because we were nestled in cornfields on three sides, field mice would often find their way through the emergency entrance in the winter.  Rarely making an appearance when things were hoppin’, given a quiet night when all the emergency staff were restlessly anticipating the next disaster, the sneaky varmints would almost always show up as if to say, “Tada!  Na-na na-na na na!”

In…

Yesterday I was talking about recognizing Yehoveh as your Father and I began to think about that time with Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. He looks at them and says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask, so pray something like this: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be honored . . .” (Matthew 6:8-9) [Other translations render that, "Hallowed be your name . . ."] Then He went on to give them what we call the “Lord’s Prayer.”

The Lord…

Years ago I used to hear ministers and teachers try to compare the relationship between your Heavenly Father and your “earthly” father, saying that if you had a poor relationship with your dad, you would have difficulties relating to your Heavenly Father.

I have always had problems with that concept. It’s like saying that once you taste sour milk, you will never enjoy fresh milk. That’s ludicrous. Your relationship is not dependent on whether you had a good, or bad…

I chuckle every time I see the road signs as we come into Diagonal from the west.  Good thing we don’t live in the city!  Why, there’d be a traffic jam at the intersection where the undecided person sat ad infinitum reading signs trying to determine which one points where!

This conglomeration of signs pointing every which way has to be one of the best comparisons of the churches’ description of “how to get to heaven”.  Each…

Times of Prayer

Every moment I stand amazed at the awesomeness of our God. I marvel at the manner in which He fashioned me. Him taking care of every minute detail is never the work of evolution or some witty invention but with the crafting of hands of a loving Father.  I cannot be silent but share the Gospel at every…

Is it news to you that a growing number of Christians are supporting the idea of a 

A number of years ago, we began to consider buying a couple of horses.  After much research and consideration, last October we took the plunge.  We purchased a team of Halflingers, a breed the height of a standard bred horse, but broader and more muscular like Belgians lending them to both pleasure riding and strength to…

That Christ the Glory of God might fill all things

Part 1

Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled  With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the…

Jesus and I spent a few minutes in Hebrews 12 this morning. (05-13-2012)

My response to Him was to contemplate, laugh, and evaluate our life together.  I responded back to Him as recorded below.

²⁴ to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant …

You are GREAT, You are mediating out a new life called the new covenant.  This life is not just making me right before Father but for the world I live in.  You are moving upon this world through me –…

You know, I have shared a lot about praying with these Morning Messages, but one thing I think you would agree is that we were actually made to pray. Sounds like an odd thing to say, right? I should also add that although it may not be the easiest thing for us to do, it is certainly the most natural thing for us to do.

I could also add that prayer is the measure of a believer in the eyes of our Father. I think it was McCheyne who said, "What a man is alone…

We're going to think out loud about Christianity, especially reading scripture.

There are many contexts the Bible reader should consider in understanding what is written. Most of the time, we think in terms of the topic under discussion but there are larger contexts which are often ignored and not taken into account. These contexts include broader topics such as the…

I was reading in a magazine called, Mid-West Living, and found a great recipe for Oatmeal cookies (real good with less sugar than normal Oatmeal/Raisin cookies). Anyway, while reading the recipe, the instructions were to “be sure to sift the flour.” That caught me off guard. I had never seen a recipe make a statement like that . . . then it went on to explain why you sift the flour. What I learned is that when you first buy your flour, during shipping, it, of…

As a young girl, I saw a magazine ad for a “free” first-aid kit.  I painstakingly filled out the request card and quickly placed it in the mail box.  I could hardly wait for the kit to arrive!  I clearly recall the day a salesman showed-up on our door-step asking for Bonnie Jones.  When he discovered that his potential client was an elementary aged school-girl, he was not a happy camper.  While I didn’t quite understand why he was so disturbed, my older siblings evidently got…

Yesterday I mentioned Daniel and the three men with him and how they declared that they would not defile themselves in the midst of sin. You have to remember that their commitments were not easy to maintain. If you read the whole story, Daniel gets to meet a Mr. Lion, and his friend were sent to a real warm place to relax.

So how did they maintain this commitment? I mean, when they made that declaration and the persecution and hatred began, how did they remain steadfast in their…

Back in 2009, I had signed onto the Manhattan Declaration, which is a manifesto issued by Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christian leaders to affirm support of "the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. “ It was drafted back on October 20, 2009 and released November 20, 2009. The last count I saw was in February 2012, with more than 495,000 signatories.

The preamble of the Declaration reads:

We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians,…

I love reading about the beginning of the Church. It was an exciting time—and also, a challenging, difficult time. One of the key features we read about is that the church began with repentance. Do you remember when Peter preached his first message?

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of…