My Walk toward Strength/The Map
OK so we all know that people come and people go. We all know that sometimes people just need a break? Sometimes we are just too busy? There is so much to do and something had to give? These excuses are given from two points of view. From the Brother or Sister that is missing church and from Brothers and Sisters that are going to church and noticing that someone isn't there.
For the Brother or Sister that are not coming to church these are convenient excuses usually based in a lack of knowledge of the scripture. There is no excuse that is acceptable(short of illness). When Jesus told the man to suffer him to go and bury his father and the Lord told him to let the dead bury the dead (Luke 9:60) this should tell us loud and clear that the Lord Jesus comes first before all. No excuses.
Then we have the Brothers and Sisters at the church that say "Someone should call on that missing Brother or Sister". No if you are thinking this you should have already made that call yourself the Holy Spirit uses this type of thing to talk to us.
Wow I have started to call on Brothers that I have not seen for some time. I have made inroads with them but find that I need to stay on top of it. I have stronger and stronger urges to keep in touch with them. It is hard to explain but as I get closer to my Brothers the more I miss them when they are not near. It even bothers me when a Brother that I don't know all that well is absent. I will keep working on them with Brotherly love until they relent and keep coming back to the Lord. We all need to learn to submit and stay in submittal and it is hard for us living in a secular world to keep our eye on the light that is Jesus Christ. I also find myself making sure that I meet new Brothers that I see in church. I have a very strong urge to tell them about First Monday for Men and try to entice them to join us.
My Walk of Sacrifice / The Map
I was born March 19, 1960. I went to Sunday school like many children. I learned about Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, Moses and many other prominent stories of the Bible. I lived like any other kid playing army, trucks, fishing and all sorts of other things. In the fall all the kids in the area would rake leaves and we would all jump in them, just a normal life for a child.
As I got older we moved to another town where we lived right next to a Catholic Church. All of us kids went to classes to become Catholic and were baptised into the Catholic faith. There were lots of children in the neighborhood, we would play all sorts of sports together, whatever sport was popular for the week. We would ride our bikes all over the place in town too. Charlestown was a great place to be a kid, lots of other kids and so many things to do.
This was also the time when I started to grow up. I learned to swear like a drunk sailor, started to get interested in girls and hung around with my friends that were also having the same issues. Then we moved again to another town in Southern Vermont. Here we lived in the country with not too many kids around but a few. I continued my art of having a foul mouth and became even more interested in girls, hunting, fishing and other activities. I definitely didn't excel at school. I found school to be confusing, boring and all sorts of other negatives. I just never really got the whole concept of studying things that just plain didn't interest me. I of course fell further and further away from Christ as I was doing all of these things that he would not approve of. I got my drivers license, got even more interested in girls and started to drink when we were out with friends on car dates and other things.
We moved again to another town in Vermont that was much bigger than the last town but not too far away, I was able to stay in touch with some of my old friends. I also met new friends and began to drink more and also found other forms of recreation and of course even more girls. I was old enough to be on my own most of the time and out in my car running with my group of friends.
Ok so I was speeding that isn't a sin!
We have become so diluted in our ways that we fail to remember that God makes all powers and authorities Romans 13:1. We have to remember this every time we say run through a traffic light that just turned red because we know that the other light will not turn green for a few seconds! Or when we don't stop at a stop sign, speed, steal, don't let someone cross in a cross walk or anything else that God tells us not to do. Remember that Jesus told us to love each other as we love ourselves. Any time we are not doing this we are not honouring God we are also not honouring Jesus and the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Lets go out and really be careful about what we are doing, let your Christian light shine for all to see. Let the good things in your life be seen so that others will see the great things that Jesus is doing in your life and they will wonder how they could live that way too. Then you will have an opportunity to introduce to them the Miracle of Jesus. Now back to the original thought. Yes it is a sin to speed and all of the other things and more.
Work ethic for a Christian
To all brother and sister Christians in the workforce.
We should all strive to do the very best we can on behalf of our employers, even in uncertain times. The servants that are spoken of in the New Testament were very often worked for a master, this master often held the keys to life and death for their servants but they also provided everything that their servants needed. The bible tells the servants and masters how to conduct themselves. (Ephesians 6:5-9) Our relationships with our employers are not much different than the servants and masters of Pauls day.
We don't have much control over our masters (companies) and I really believe the companies are not holding up their end very well but, we do have control over ourselves. We absolutely have to act honorably in a Christian manner for our part and let God sort the companies out, don't worry He will! (1 Corinthians 5:12)
We know that jobs are being lost and people are having a hard time during this economic downturn. Remember to look inward and pray to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with all of your heart. (Ephesians 6:18) Don't pray for only yourselves but for all of our brothers and sisters. If your brothers and sisters are loosing their jobs remember to pray earnestly that the Lord will provide for them. If you work with non-believers remember to plant seeds with them to bring them along with you in your Christian walk.