My Thoughts and Reflections

I posted an article yesterday on Facebook about the abortion video made by Emily Letts. I believe that this video displays the disgusting, despicable, and demented culture of death that is spreading throughout our country. One of my former youth group members responded negatively to my post and my views and here is my response to him. I am calling him "Bob" in this post. I would love to receive anyone's comments on this. Hey Bob, Here's my response in full to your comment on the article I posted yesterday. I can accept it if you don't agree with me, but be patient and hear me out as I try to address each of the concerns you've raised. The government does have the right to make you do something even if you don’t like it or don’t want to  (a prime example would be the Obamacare legislation) . The government seems to have a lot more rights than it should, but that is not where the argument is. A government can make legal something that is w...

Lord of Heaven and Earth!   Your love for the world caused you to send your one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world so that he could die for our sins.  Thank you that he not only died, but that he also rose again to life.   Thank you that you provided over five hundred witnesses to your resurrection so that on account of all of the evidence we find in the Bible, we can come to believe that Jesus is the Christ and that he is the Son of God.   Lord, bless us this week with boldness as we proclaim, "Christ is Risen!" to our coworkers, family, friends, fellow students, and to all other people that we meet this week.  Give us boldness as we bring the good news of the gospel to all those who have not hear and accepted it yet.  Give us the words to say when it is time to say them.   We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.  Amen!

Where could I go to get away from your spirit?  Where could I go to escape your presence?  If I went up to heaven, you would be there.  If I went down to the grave, you would be there too! Psalm 139:7-8 (CEB) As we move closer to the end of this Lenten season, I continue to marvel at the innumerable things that I can praise God for!  My main focus, during Lent, is obviously on Jesus and that is cause for constant praise.  However, these two verses in Psalm 139 really are something to praise God for today as well. Earlier and later in the psalm, David is praising God for the fact that he intimately knows each an every one of us.  In these two verses, David is reminding us that there is no where we can possibly go where God cannot find us!  No matter where I go in life, no matter what I do, God is still there right beside me.  I can go to the furthest location away from heaven and earth and God would still be there with me! God ...

L ORD , you have examined me.  You know me.  You know when I sit down and when I stand up.  Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.  There isn't a word on my tongue, LORD, that you don't already know completely. Psalm 139:1-2, 4 (CEB) During this season of Lent, I have read and talked a lot about how Jesus experienced abandonment from his closest friends and followers and ultimately from God before his death in order for us to never experience what abandonment from God is like.  Not only are we never abandoned by God, but God knows us intimately. God examines each of us and knows us.  He knows us so intimately that he knows when we sit down and when we stand up!  Even from the far and unfathomable distance of heaven from our location on earth is, he still knows and comprehend's our plans.  How amazing is that?!?  God knows us!  He knows each and every word that we will utter even before that word come...

Lord , you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1 (NIV) What a beautiful verse to start the day with!  Proclaiming praises to God's name, worshiping him, and singing about the great things that he has accomplished in this world!   I admit, it is easy to sing praises like this at the beginning of a sunny, blue-sky morning after an awesome evening of worship on Ash Wednesday.  Last night was an incredible beginning to the season of Lent and what better way to celebrate God's forgiveness of our sins than by praising his name? I am so thankful that the Lord is my God.  There is no other in all of creation.  He is the one and only, the Great I AM.  I love being able to exalt and praise God's name for this reason and many more.   Isaiah proclaims that in perfect faithfulness God has done wonderful things that were planned long i...

Draw your strength from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1 (CEB) No matter where I am in life, one thing remains the same in how I conduct my life.  That one thing is the necessity for me to continually draw my daily strength from the grace that is in Christ Jesus. When I rely on myself, I let myself down. Sure, I have some bright moments, but inevitably, I will meet temptation, fail to resist it, and fall flat on my face. Paul's admonition to Timothy in this letter is so important for all of Christ's followers.  If we draw our strength from the grace that is in Jesus, then our passion for Christ will far outweigh the fleshly passions and temptations that confront us throughout the day.  If our passion for Christ increases, it increases as we continually and daily draw on the grace that Christ has made so readily available to us, then we will not have to worry about those temptations when we meet them.   If you failed to start your day...

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:35,37 (NRSV) Over the course of my life, I have felt and experienced some of what Paul is mentioning in this verse: hardship, distress, persecution, and peril, but I have not yet, thanks be to God, experienced famine, nakedness, or the sword.  However, when I have experienced the others, I have had in those moments the natural thoughts of "Where is God in all of this?" and "If God is so powerful and so loving, why am I going through this?" It is during those times when Paul's words here in Romans bring about the greatest comfort.  There is NOTHING and NO ONE that can separate us from the love of Christ.  Wow!  Even when Stephanie's and my checkbook was down to $16 in our first year of marriage and we had no clue where or ho...