What's Going On (Page 3)

Build Up Your Courage Muscles “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:24 “Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the mastery of fear.” (Anonymous) Brave souls have discovered that conquering your fear, instead of waiting for it to disappear, is key to success in any undertaking. It could be in sports, education, relationships, military operations, business or health – fearful adversity is to be expected… Often, it’s in mustering the courage to face those fears that spell the difference between failure and success. “Be strong and courageous” was the Lord’s charge to Joshua (read Joshua 1)Read More →

“It’s right in front of them, why can’t they see?” Getting to the summit of Mount Everest is a climber’s ultimate dream! It is one of the hardest and most dangerous of extreme adventures. This is illustrated by Jon Krakauer in his bestselling book “Into Thin Air”. In his book, he mentions Andy Harris, an avid climber and expedition leader. Andy stayed at the summit too long. On his descent, his body lacked much needed oxygen… he radioed base camp and reported his situation. Base camp pointed him to some oxygen canisters left by other climbers for emergency situations like his. When he found theRead More →

Put the “GOOD” in Good News! Imagine a clear, sunny day complete with blue skies and no clouds… Perfect for Skywriting Airplane messages! I’ve never actually seen one live (but I sure would like to!)… The closest recollection I have of this type of advertising had a message that was supposed to read “JESUS SAVES”. But because it takes time for the plane to write it, the wind has already scattered the first few letters and all I could actually read was “@$#US SAVES”! I’m glad that the good news that “Jesus Saves” doesn’t fade with time or changing winds… It is a dependable truthRead More →

Overcome Evil with Good! “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 What does a Christ-follower do with widespread hatred, violence and injustice? How should a Christian react to unreserved displays of inequality, prejudice and discrimination? Well, there’s an “EASY WAY” and there’s a “HARD WAY”! The Easy Way is simply to react with anger and resentment – to answer evil with evil, hate with hate… revenge! To arm yourself with weapons of retaliation and retribution… as the world calls it, “sweet revenge”! It might be sweet… but, Is it right? Is it righteous? Will it bring about lasting change?Read More →

FAITH and FEAR during a PANDEMIC But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.“ (Matt. 8:26 NKJV)         In one of our lockdown bible studies, Pastor Jonathan Pokluda (Overcoming Anxiety during COVID-19) said something that stood out for me: “Whatever you feed grows.” He was referring to a choice we make daily… whether to feed our Fears or to feed our Faith. This pandemic serves either to grow your fears or to grow your faith. How you are processing the onslaught of news, factsRead More →

There’s Joy in Brokenness. “Kintsugi” Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together using gold as the adhesive. It’s built on the idea that, in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create a stronger, more beautiful piece of art. Kintsugi says “embrace brokenness, add creativity and imagination, the result is beauty.” “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) Intimacy with God does not mean freedom from Pain and Suffering. In fact, the Bible shows stories upon stories of people close to God and called by God experiencing a good measure of brokenness! Sometimes, the secret to findingRead More →

For the Love of Christ! 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Cor. 5:14-15 (NIV) I’ve heard of different types of compulsions springing from various mental health issues, most of them negative!… there are compulsive gamblers, compulsive drinkers, compulsive robbers, compulsive eaters, compulsive spenders or due to the current COVID-19 threats, even compulsive handwashers and compulsive sanitizers! But Paul shows that not all “compulsion” is evil. There can be “goodRead More →

In 2021: Commit to Change! Funny conversation between two factory workers on a lunch break:  Laborer 1: “Oh no, not baloney again! I can’t believe this, I hate baloney! This is the fourth time this week I’m having baloney! I’m tired of baloney… I just hate it! Laborer 2: “Why don’t you just ask your wife to make you something different?!” Laborer 1: “I’m single… I made these myself!” That’s the point! – most the ‘baloney’ we have in our lives we put there ourselves! Unless we are willing to change our ways and alter our behavior, we will have the same old baloney weRead More →