Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Journey
What you had to do, and began
Though the voices around you
Kept shouting
Their bad advice -
Though the whole house
Began to tremble
And you felt the old tug
At your ankles "Mend my life!"
Each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
Though the wind pried
With its stiff fingers
At the very foundations,
Though their melancholy
Was terrible.
It was already late
Enough, and a wild night,
And the road full of fallen stones.
But little by little,
As you left their voices behind,
The stars began to burn
Through the sheets of clouds,
And there was a new voice,
Which you slowly recognized as your own,
That kept you company
As you strode deeper and deeper
Into the world,
Determined to do
The only thing you could do -
Determined to save
The only life you could save.
By Mary Oliver
Today’s Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank you for planning for my salvation. Thank you that before I was even born, you knew you would adopt me into your family. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to hear about Jesus and the faith to accept him as my savior. Please help me be a good son/daughter to you, one that will make you proud. Amen.
A "peacemaker" is one who seeks to bring harmony and reconciliation between those who are estranged. Peacemaking seeks to produce right relationships between persons. God hates those who sow discord and stir up trouble (Proverbs 6:19). Vet every community and every local church and many homes have people who thrive on divisions and conflict and unrest.
Peacemakers are needed in our churches. Holding grudges and evil speaking are common sources of conflict among believers. Busybodies and slanderers and disagreeable persons can cause havoc in a congregation.
Peacemakers are needed in our homes. Quarreling and disagreements and unwillingness to respect God's order of authority, often lead people to treat the worst those who really love them the most -- intimate family members.
Peacemakers are needed among nations. Christians should face the nuclear question squarely, doing all they can to prevent nuclear war. We are to seek to live at peace with all persons (Romans 12:18). Our faith requires that we love God and our neighbors and pray for our enemies.
The greatest need is to carry to people the message of "peace with God" (Romans 5:1). God has promised a destruction worse than a nuclear holocaust for those who are rejecting the atonement provided through faith in Jesus Christ(Matthew 25:41; Romans 5:9). As individuals on a massive international scale come to know Christ -- to that extent, the world will experience a greater or lesser degree of peace.