Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” comes to you from Corrie ten Boom – whom I assume (I hope!) most of you have heard about. You may have even read the book, or seen the movie of her and her sister Betsy, called, “The Hiding Place.” It chronicles their efforts at hiding Jews in Holland from the Nazi’s, and their subsequent time in a German concentration camp as a result. This excerpt is from a letter written from China, in 1974, warning the church in the West that it should prepare itself to go through tribulations. It is a bit long, yet I include it in full, for she shares lessons learned by the Chinese Church that was so ill-prepared for the persecutions that began in 1949 under Mao Tse Tung's Red Guards, during the People’s Revolution. Christians in the West, she suggests, are in danger of falling into a similar unpreparedness because of an incorrect view of the future. I share it with you in the hope that you will gain wisdom and encouragement from her

Dear Friends, I like like stories that have a twist which catches you off guard! You think it's heading in one direction, and you end up in a place you didn't expect, nodding in complete agreement. For me, that was today's entry. It's by Julie Garmon, and is found in "Daily Guideposts for 2018." Enjoy. Letting God Be God “I am the LORD; there is no other God. . .” – Isaiah 45:5 (NLT) Twenty years ago, I told a close friend about some family members who had DUIs, court dates, and jail time. She insisted that I needed help and recommended Al-Anon. “I’m doing just fine,” I said. “The rest of them are in trouble.” However, I agreed to go. By the end of my first meeting, my own addictions were undeniable: people pleasing, perfectionism, trying to play God. My temptation wasn’t alcohol, but the “high” that comes from control. After all these years of working my program, I had a relapse. My b

Dear Friends, Over all the years I've been sending out these "thoughts," I have rarely (maybe one other time?) shared one from me as opposed to others. Today is one of the few other times I will do that. It is part of a sermon I preached two weeks ago, but after considering the length of the message, I took it out to shorten it a bit. (Yes, we pastors do sometimes try to be sensitive to that!) Yet, I thought I would like to pass it along to you now for your encouragement. I know it's content will not fit with the theological framework of some, but I send it out anyway -- not to be controversial, but to edify. Not to discourage, but to encourage any who may struggle with that sense of abandonment by God which most all of us have probably all dealt with to some degree on certain occasions (and if not, then someone we know). One or two of you receiving this thought, may be included in the group who shared that struggle with me in the

Dear Friends, Today's selection is simple but helpful. For his point is well-taken: many professing Christians who say they "believe" (that is, who give mental assent to a certain fact, or set of facts), really do lack the "faith" that should move them to act upon what they claim to believe! Most of us (if totally truthful and honest) would admit we've fallen prey to this sad inconsistency at one time or another. In fact, if we were completely honest, we would probably admit that the disconnect between believing and following-through likely stems from how costly (in terms of money, time, emotional investment, or personal sacrifice) the corresponding act of obedience called for by our belief might be! Yet, all that being said, the following devotion, taken from "The Gospel In Miniature" by Martin Copenhaver, is helpful in pointing out a distinction many people fail to make: That there is a necessary correlation between belief, and/

Dear Friends, Today's entry comes from a book I recently purchased at a local Barnes and Noble. It's title is: "Live in Grace, Walk in Love - A 365 Day Journey" by Bob Goff. Today's selection is the 7th entry in the book. Enjoy. DON’T LET ANYTHING BUT JESUS DISTRACT YOU “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 I read that the average person spends one out of every five minutes on social media. It’s literally taking over our lives, minute by minute. To minimize the distraction, software companies have developed apps to keep you off social media for twenty-four hours, no matter what. Some apps are designed to restrict your internet access completely, and you can’t turn your computer off or on, restart your internet, or do anything to get around it.  This is how seriou

Dear Friends, Today's "thought" has to do with pornography. The sad statistics are that porn is one of the biggest industries in the world, bringing in more revenue annually than the NFL, NBA and MLB combined. It's a major problem both inside and outside the Church. According to statistics, 68% of men in the church, over 50% of pastors, and 33% of women confessed to struggling with porn (a little less than the non-churched, but not by much). Pornography increases the infidelity rate by 300%, obsessive interest in it is a factor in 56% of American divorces, and 70% of pastor's polled said it adversely affected their church. Yet, given the number of people who say they struggle with it (and that's only based on those who actually admit it) only 7% of churches say they have a ministry to help people break free from it. Today's blog entry is by Tim Challies. It is written to help Christians see that looking at porn (if they have convinced themselves ot