Not Safe To Travel

If you must travel; stay close to home!

In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil." 2 Chronicles 15:5 NIV

Okay; so I've taken the unsafe travel scripture way out of context! But, If I ever decide I must travel on the day after Christmas again; someone, please remind me to not do it!

My husband and I went to visit our youngest son and his family in South Carolina Christmas day and came home yesterday. That is the second time in recent years that I have traveled a distance on the day after Christmas. Yesterday was not as bad as the last time; but, it was not good. I did a lot of gritting my teeth and my lower back is sore this morning from all the tensing up. Over an hour before we reached Jacksonville the traffic was quite heavy and the GPS was warning us about an accident on US 95 south of Jacksonville. By the time we reached the accident it had still not been cleared out. The GPS rerouted us along a slightly faster route; but, of course everyone's GPS was trying to reroute them and many changed their course as we did. Traffic was not light, to say the least!

I thoroughly enjoyed the visit; but, not the drive. The holiday travel season is not over, yet. So, beware and be careful as we come upon the celebration of the secular new year. Drive with caution as roads will be crowded and not everyone driving will be sober. I personally make it a habit to stay at home on New Year's Eve to help ensure that I will live to see the new year. Of course, even that is in God's hands. And, may He be with you to keep you safe whether you are traveling or not. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Is Jesus Welcome?

Is Jesus welcome at your table?

When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me."

Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me."

Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, "Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited."

Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?"

He will answer them, "I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me."

"Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Matt 15:31-46 The Message

God's Peace - Pr. J

Fill Us Up, Lord!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Rom 15:13-14 NIV

More than a few times over the last few decades, I have heard the lament that congregations are aging and there are just too few people to do the ministry of the church. Hogwash! I don't buy that excuse for not joyfully participating in the ministry that we have been called to. I am just not accepting of that story.

Of course, we are all aging. Everybody ages. But, that does not mean that the Spirit of Christ cannot continue to minister through us. Even the five-year old is aging. As we age; as we mature, we may receive different gifts to serve. No matter what age, we can all still serve in various ways. It might be as a prayer warrior in your recliner at home or as an usher or reader at worship. It might be that we are called to visit shut-ins. There are just an infinite number of ways in which God might call and empower us to minister to others. When I hear things like we can't do this or that because there are too few of us willing to serve and we're all too old, it brings be great pause; because in fact it is not we who does the work of God; but, Christ who abides in us who does these things. And, we ought not be thinking that there are too few of us. There are many. But, we need to acknowledge that Christ works through others as well as ourselves and be very careful about building up walls that might hinder the ministry of others within the church. It does not matter how old or young we are. It doesn't matter where we come from. The Spirit of Christ abides in us and we in him. How can we do anything but serve the Lord and the people around us?

If we're busy trying to sustain the congregation or church on earth under our own power, we are all in trouble. We cannot do it and deep down in our hearts we know that. We become afraid that because of our own inabilities the church on earth is on a decline.

Do not be afraid! It is not in decline! Jesus began the church on earth with twelve men and one of them a traitor. Do we really believe that what started with twelve disciples and in 2000 plus years has grown to what it is today, through the shedding of much blood and many tears, that God would let the church fold? We must remember, though, that those first disciples did not go out into the world until they received the promised Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit they could do nothing. But, with the Holy Spirit they were empowered to go forth to bring the Good News to all people. They were filled with hope no matter what adversity they faced.

May God fill us with the Holy Spirit and with His power that we might continue with hope to that which we are called; to instruct others in The Way of Jesus the Christ, that they everyone might enter into our Father's presence in His Kingdom.

Fill us up, Lord!

God's Peace - Pr. J.