Understanding Death

By Pat

One thing in each of our lives we can never be sure of is when we will die. It's a question that haunts all of us at one time or another, I think, and some of us more than others. As Christians, we have the assurance that when we die, we really begin life anew with the Lord, in a place of joy and beauty and the eternal presence of God. We become less and less afraid as we grow older and weaker in our bodies and stronger in our faith. We become more accepting as we gain more of an understanding that death for us is not the end. It's a natural progression.

But what about when tragedy strikes? What about the horrible accidents that occur, taking lives way before their time? What about when children die? It throws us. It shakes us. Our faith wavers, and we cry out, "Why, Lord?" We are left with more questions than answers. Sometimes we become angry at God, and wonder why God allows these things to happen. That's NOT the way it's supposed to be! We simply don't understand. We strive to understand... but do we really have to understand?

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Endurance

By Pat

I wonder where Christians would be in their walk if there were never any roads to travel that didn't have hills? What if each path we walked was lined with flowers, filled with beautiful sunshine to warm us and light the way, birds singing, and level ground the entire way?

Well, I have never found that road. Believe me, I've looked! It's nowhere to be found. (I really don't think it even exists!) But oddly, it's okay. The roads I have walked have been laden with hills-some steep, some small. There have been many dark clouds, and sometimes rain. At times I have encountered thunder and lightning. But just as my physical body does not become stronger without regular exercise, neither does my spiritual body.

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God Is At Work!

By Pat

I am one of the many people in the world who has to watch their weight. Ever since I was young, I have seen my weight creep up, knowing all too well that it will soon be diet time, which I dread! Eventually, I get myself on a diet, hoping that after two hours or so, the extra pounds will have magically dropped off like a snake shedding it's skin. I want it to happen overnight!

But of course, that's not the case, so I steadfastly diet. It seems like it takes forever...weeks go by sometimes with very little change, until suddenly I can see and feel the difference. It was happening all the time, but the progress was slow. Sometimes I want to give up, thinking it's just not working. It's taking too long. But of course, only fortitude, determination and patience will get the desired results.

I have come to realize that my faith walk is very like my dieting. I do my devotions, pray, go to church, plant seeds, and serve as best I can. I try to live for the Lord. But it's not until I am in a situation requiring God's mighty power that I am able to see the results of my efforts to be more Godly.

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Keep The Faith!

By Pat

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith. We all know the importance of faith. We've all said to someone "keep the faith!" and we've all had it said to us in our times of struggle. But it's also something that most of us (if not all of us) wrestle with. It seems like one day we're on top of the world; things are going well for us, life is peachy. God seems close, and we can see Him at work in our lives. That's easy!

But what about when things are not going so smoothly? How about those times when finances are stretched, health is poor, or relationships are feeling a bit strained? That's when it gets tough to maintain an unwavering, unshakable faith. I know how that feels for sure, and it used to really disturb me to realize that perhaps my level of faith is contingent upon the size of my struggles.

But as time has passed, I have come to realize how very human I am, and that if I struggle with my faith, I am certainly in good company. The book of Psalms is full of David and his struggles with faith, and ultimately God allowing him to triumph over his doubts and weaknesses. Even Jesus' disciples, who were with Jesus every day, had their faith issues. We all know the story of Peter walking on the water...

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Praying For Respect

By Jason (Connecting to Impact)

Respect carries many different meanings depending on who or what group you’re talking to. To one, it may mean that a child never addresses an adult by their first name, but rather with Mr., Mrs., or Ms.  To another, it may mean consistent eye contact. Another might see a weak handshake as a sign or disrespect.

See what I mean? There are lots of definitions, but when we are teaching our children respect, I think we can focus on honoring others above themselves.

"Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." (1 Peter 2:17)

I’m sure we’ve all witnessed kids who disrespectfully mock their parents to their face. It’s tremendously wrong. And if it begins there at home, the disrespect will expand to other authority figures and even God.

Respect is that important. Thankfully, my wife and I decided long ago that we would have each other’s backs and if we saw anything that looked disrespectful we would call our kids on it.

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