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Showing posts from January, 2023

Our Six-Month-Old Nephew's "Sermon"

We recently had breakfast with our great niece, her husband, and their six month old baby. Our niece shared with us that the baby is already pulling himself up, and standing. It appears he may "skip" crawling as some babies do. As I thought about this possibility, the foundational Scripture for a sermon came to mind. Babies desire and thrive on milk. For the first months of a baby's life, it is recommended that all the newborn receive is milk, preferably from the mother. That milk nourishes the baby, provides immunity from certain diseases, and causes the infant to grow. As the infant develops, milestones occur that signify the baby is healthy, and parents are often amazed at how quickly babies learn new things. "Newborn" Christians can follow a similar pattern. When an individual accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord, a personal connection with God is established. In order for that individual to grow in the things of God, that person must desire to learn more about

Servant Leadership--Wednesday Word

There are a good number of books on leadership, and what makes a great leader. I am reading one of those books right now: the book was given to me by a dear friend. There are quite a few pieces of good information in the book, and I will be putting the information into practice.  God has given us the Bible and it has so many examples of good leadership behavior and not so good leadership behavior. As believers, it is important to not overlook the biblical perspective on leading; and to make certain our leadership honors God.  Here is what Jesus said about leadership: "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:42b-

Pearls of Wisdom--Lesson from a Vacuum

I was packing up our office today, which entailed quite a bit of shredding of documents. As I was emptying the shredder bin for the third time, bits of documents scattered to the carpeted floor around the trash bag. I looked at the tiny white bits and decided to get the broom and dustpan. Not a good idea. A few of the bits embedded themselves into the broom at the first sweeping stroke, and others went further into the carpet. Obviously, this was a vacuum job. So, I retrieved the vacuum from the garage, and five minutes later the mess was no more. At that moment, a Bible verse popped in my head.  I had options for how to approach the clean up. I could have kept sweeping and making things worse. The vacuum was the solution, but I could have ignored the obvious.  God has given us clear direction on what is needed to clean up our lives. I don't know about you, but I spent a good number of years trying to run my life my way. And my life kept getting messier and messier. The time came w

God Has a Dress Code--Wednesday Word

A good number of businesses have dress codes or uniforms. Did you know GOD has a dress code? He does. And it is extremely important  for every believer to know what the dress code is, and to "put on" every single item, every single day. Each item has a specific purpose. If we pay close attention, we see that most of the items God specifies will PROTECT us...if we use them. Unlike most businesses, God does not MAKE us put on what we need. It is totally voluntary on our part. However, if we comply, we soon come to realize that everything God specifies is because He is looking out for US.  Where is this dress code?!? You can find it in Ephesians 6:11-18. Blessings and peace to you! 

We Followed God to a "Star"

God truly knows how to bless His people! After much prayer and fasting, God opened the door for a wonderful new position for me in Roanoke, VA, and I start my new position early February. That of course means we need to move.  So, we put our current home on the market on a Friday, and received a great offer the following Monday (which we accepted). A trip to Roanoke to secure a new home was planned. In Roanoke, we met with our Realtor on a Saturday morning, and she started our time together by giving us a tour of Roanoke and the surrounding areas. Then we looked at four homes. The last home was the one our Realtor had picked for us: it was exactly what we needed. We submitted our offer on Sunday. In a little over 24 hours, God had blessed us with our future home.  It gets even better. We needed housing in between the time we have to move out of our current home and into our new one. God led us to two very kind airbnb owners in Roanoke, who drastically discounted their daily rate to an