King Over All The Earth!

 

Zechariah 14:9 KJV; Our only one true God is King over all of the earth.

By His Stripes We Are Healed

 

1 Peter 2:24; Jesus bore our sins on the cross that we might be reconciled to God.

Zaccharias Was Speechless

Luke 1:76-78 KJV; Advent; The Lord took away Zaccharias speech until the day his son John was born. Then he praised the Lord.

Weep At Night Rejoice In The Morning

Psalm 30; 3rd Sunday of Easter; The Lord turns our mourning into dancing.

Praise Ye The Lord!

Psalm 150 KJV

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

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There is nothing that our God cannot do. Give thanks and praise to Him for all that He has done and will do! Our God is a great God! Praise ye the Lord!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Stop, Look, Listen

Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised. 

                                                                          (Psalm 113:1-3 KJV)

I was up early this morning to witness the beauty of Venus and the moon set against the dawning sky. Such beauty God has created! Too many miss it. They never get to witness God awesomeness in his creation. Some miss it because they are in cities where the lights of the sky overwhelm the lights that God has placed in the skies. Others miss the beauty of creation because they are just too busy. They are so busy pursuing their own desires that they fail to see the gifts that God has already given them. Maybe, they are just sitting in a darkened room playing on electronic games.

Years ago, I brought some teenage boys from a correctional facility for a hike around Bond Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They were a bit nervous about it. When I asked them what was wrong, they admitted that they were thinking that maybe I'd brought them out into the wilderness to lose them or to do them harm otherwise. They did think that maybe we were lost because they could not see the rarely used path before us. They were also very amazed. They had never seen a waterfalls in their lives. They had never been out in the woods. Now, that amazed me even as it reminded me how fortunate I was to be able to get out and explore these things.

But, it is not just the beauty of the creation found outside four walls that is often missed. We often miss the awesomeness of God's creative work in one another. Again; too busy with our own agendas to have time to stop and look and listen to one another. 

Stop, look, and listen to what all of God's creation would share with us. Stop, give thanks, and praise the Lord for all that he has given us.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Teach The Children To Praise Him

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

(Psalm 145:1-5 KJV)

One of my pet peeves is hearing Christians complain that the world has corrupted their children. The institutions (particularly public schools) have turned them away from God. It makes me a bit irritable when I hear that the state has kicked God out of school when it became illegal to pray in school. First of all: it is not illegal to pray in schools. It is illegal to force a child to pray in school. It is illegal to mandate that a teacher lead your children in prayer. Think about it for a half a minute! Do you really want someone who is not a Christian leading your children in prayer? What will they be teaching them with the prayers. Remember, Christianity is not the only religion whose people pray. 

It is not illegal for our children to pray in school. If God seems to be absent from the schools it is not the state's fault. If our children do not pray wherever they may be, it is the church's and the parent's fault. No one can stop our children from bowing their heads and praying before a test. No one can stop them from giving thanks and praise to God for the lunch that is provided for them. But, it is not the state's job to teach them to do this. It is ours as the church. It is ours as parents and grandparents; as family members and friends.

I do not agree with many things the public schools now teach our youth. Secular society has taught them many things that we would prefer that they had not learned as it can be most damaging to them and to future generations. As for our young children, we do need to be cautious about what kind of environment we are allowing them to engage in. But, when it comes to giving thanks and praise to God, it is our job, as Christians, to teach them that and not the state's; not our public school systems.  Psalm 145 is a reminder of our privilege and responsibility to teach the generations that come after us: "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts."

Having served as a pastor responsible for previewing Sunday School material for over twenty years, I found that much of the material does not teach our youth about Jesus or about being in relationship with God our Father because of what Jesus has done for us. Many never even consider introducing them to the Holy Spirit! Many of these programs do not teach our faith as much as it teaches our youth how to be good citizens. My contention is that if our youth come to know Jesus, they will also be good citizens, not because they are so good; but, because the Spirit of Christ abides them is. 

I have also found that many within our congregations assess young people to be little more than irritants at worship. Some of these servant/leaders end up on committees and councils that spend more time trying to regulate youthful behaviors rather than teaching the next generation why God is to be praised.

If the generations after us do not praise God, it is no one's fault but our own. Martin Luther recognized this problem in his day. He wrote the Small Catechism as an aid for heads of households to teach their families the very basics of our faith. Sadly, the Small Catechism is used very rarely in the home today. I am not sure if it is even prevalent in the church any longer.

May God remind and inspire us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to teach our children of the awesome works of God that God might be praised by them. Maybe it would help if we spent a little more time praising Him in their presence.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Trust In God

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. (Psalm 56:4 KJV)

After awhile, a person can get pretty worn out trying to do it all under their own power and might. We are just not made to confront chaos or brick walls for too many years and still be able to stand. We are human with many weaknesses. We succumb to various fears which weakens our ability to be as fruitful as we could be. 

We are not gods. Without the help of the one true God; we can do nothing. It is better to begin trusting God while we are young so that we might do His will for many years more.

God's Peace - Pr. J