Many of us have taken missionary trips to various parts of the world–particularly so-called third world areas where cleanliness and hygiene are major problems in the spreading of disease and sickness.  People live and eat from what we would call dumps or landfills.  We are typically appalled and do what we can to help to improve the natives situation while we are there.  We may even send money and needed items throughout the year.  Make no mistake, this is a good thing.

However, we could take all of those times we went on those trips, add in all our tithes and offerings, consider the ministries in which we’ve been active, count all our visitations to shut-ins and prisons, include our church attendance and all our time of prayer and, compared to God’s righteousness, all our efforts would be no better than a pile of stinking rags. We are all infected…

Nigerian Schoolgirls
Photo from article.wn.com

what terror murders innocence
for yearning education
rips ripe flowers from their stems
to subjugate their fragrance
paternalistic arrogance flaunts
deep sectarian misogyny
it has ugly eyes for the world
bloody hands for its own
stunted ethics compel its illusions

who will stand for the flowers
and tame this abomination
or failing that kill the beast
once and for all with clean
adamant weapons of justice
who will rescue the flowers
return them to their gardens
of humane society give them
sweet nurturing reverence

oh Nigeria giant of Africa
wailing your titanic clashes of clans
let your daughters and sons
breathe of your proud ancient
kingdoms reject the repugnant
sharia of Boko Haram and let
flourish the powers that flowers
exhibit when bathed in the nutrient
peace of Eden before the great fall
it is in you since birthmother Nok
culture opened your primitive heart

I had the pleasure of giving the message at our Special Touch R.E.A.C.H. New England Chapter meeting this past Saturday.  Special Touch Ministry, Inc. is a faith-based organization that helps ease and enrich the lives of people impacted by disability.  The theme of this month’s meeting was steps of faith.  This was the first message I have ever given and I can tell you I was a little bit nervous well actually more than a little bit.  The whole week before  I asked for prayer that God would give me the words He wanted His people to hear.  I thought I would share some of the highlights from Saturday’s message with all…

Despite the 1968 British film Work Is A Four-Letter Word, and the song by the same name sung by the Smiths in the 1980’s, and even the obvious number of letters in the actual word, work should not be looked at as profane, vulgar or offensive.

While the sign above is intended to be comical, it really isn’t.  Why do we look at work as something to avoid at all costs?  People seem to work simply to get to weekends, vacations, and retirement.  I’ve worked as an administrator, teacher, youth pastor, coach, paper-mill worker, tool shipper, cook, appraisal researcher, insurance salesman…

Our family has been going through a trying time as a beloved sister is in the final stages of cancer.  Like anyone else, I wonder why God sometimes heals immediately and completely and at other times does not.  I know He can heal and I know He does heal and I know He wants to heal.

So why is my sister-in-law dying?

Sickness and death entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned.  Our perfect bodies and our perfect environment began to die and decay.   Everyone but Enoch and Elijah would die a physical death.  They would be taken directly into God’s presence.  While not as prominent as healing miracles in the New Testament, there were miracles of healing in the Old Testament.  Elisha raised a child to life (2 Kings 4:35), healed Naaman of leprosy (2 Kings 5:10), and raised another man from the dead (2 Kings 13:21).  Elijah…

Why do we find it so hard to ask for help from people, never mind asking for help from God? Could it be that we think we have to be  independent with everything? Otherwise we might be considered weak to certain people.

God wants us to know that in our weakness we are made strong.

He states in His word;

⁹ …. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” ¹⁰… For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT).

 Growing up, I can’t tell you how many times I heard, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” As a kid, I did not know exactly why my mother would always come back to that statement. I used to think, ‘Enough already, I get it!’. Only after going through my own tests and trials did I realized she was…

~Prov 4:5-7 NIV

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about wisdom, and rightfully so seeing it was written by the wisest man in history, King Solomon. The first eye-opening thing I notice about the passage above is that Solomon writes to “get wisdom” instead of “be wise”. To me, this shows that wisdom is something you attain and earn, not something you are born with. Being unwise is not part of who someone is, no matter how often they choose to make unwise decisions. It is up to each of us to develop wisdom.

Another distinction Solomon shares…

When a loved one is dying of cancer or any other illness for that matter how many of us find it difficult to praise God in and through the whole process? I think many of us would agree that praising God is not the first thing on our minds when walking down that road. Believe me I know the heart wrenching pain of seeing someone you love suffer. You see my brother Mike died of melanoma cancer which metastasized to his lungs eleven years ago and it was painful to see him go through so much. I remember it, like it was yesterday. Hospice came in and made him as comfortable as possible. Most of our immediate family was there at his side the whole weekend before he died. My son Tom was only four months old at the time and I can still see Mike’s smile as he looked…