Memorial Day

This holiday weekend we celebrate something that I think is sometimes hard for many of us to comprehend: the sacrifice of soldiers’ lives for the sake of our freedom. In recent years I’ve heard many conflicted views on this matter. But I think it would be a mistake to see these brave men and women as merely victims. While each fallen soldier has a unique story, each soldier is a hero who willingly laid down his or her life for a greater cause.

I think part of our struggle to understand the fallen soldier comes with our difficulty in accepting sacrifice, especially when a sacrifice seems so final and appears to hold no obvious reward. The idea that anyone could give up everything – for people he doesn’t even know – is hard to process. We spend so much of life trying to gain, to acquire, to win. Our country is home to the American Dream, the land of opportunity. So contemplating the fallen solider can feel uncomfortable, even confusing. (Sarah Jennings - Crosswalk )

What does it mean to give your life for our country ?

Let's talk in class.

Behold His Glory

One day this week I stopped by my mom and dad's house after work and learned we had a cow trying to give birth to a calf. She was in labor and was having some problems. My dad and I moved her to the barn ( The Reeves Labor and Delivery Ward ) and called Dr. Ken for help. After a few minutes Ken was able to help bring the new life into the world. What a site !!! No one can tell me that there is no God when you get to witness the birth of one of His creatures. I take for granted God's glory. A rainbow, the flight of a bird, the bloom of a flower all are just a witness to God's greatness.

How can we slow down a little and behold His Glory ?

Let's talk about his glory.

The Last Week

As we start the week before Easter, I wondered what this week was like in the life of Jesus. He knew what was ahead for Him. Jesus was the only one who could understand the importance of this journey.

Let's walk the road of Jesus during this time.

What was that last week like?

See you in class.

When The Light Goes Dims

Our society glorifies youth and beauty. Billions of dollars are spent every year to deceive us into believing we are still young. But there is no way to deny the effects of gravity on your body. Every moment you are on on earth 14 pounds of pressure per square inch is pulling your skin and vital organs toward the center of the planet. Every time earth completes one rotation on its axis we call it a day. When earth completes one rotation around the sun, we call it a year. We make less than a hundred trips around the sun and call that life. Aging is nature's way of reminding each of us how many times our body has been around the sun!

Let's face it: Trying so hard to make ourselves look younger is just another way our culture attempts to deny death. God does not want us to be in bondage to our fear of death. Jesus died to make us ready for death. He rose from the grave to give us hope.

We should not make an idol out of this life. We should worship God, not life. If we worship God, He will be glorified in our body and our spirit. Paul said, "My earnest expectation and hope [is] that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness . . . Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:20,21, NKJV).

What does one gain?

See you in class.

Safe Worship

Isaiah 8: 11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
12 "Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy [f] ;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,
14 and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare.
15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured."
16 Bind up the testimony
and seal up the law among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the LORD,
who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.

In light of what happened to the pastor of a Maryville, Illinois last Sunday, one has to ask:

Is the church a safe place?

Let's discuss in class.

God's Beauty

Will Work For Food

2 Thessalonians 3 : 6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching[a] you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

With the new national bail-out program in place many Americans are wondering why should we pay to help some who refuse to help themselves. Blog site postings are on fire with comments about the unemployed young lady who has 14 kids and lives at her mother and father's home. This week she went shopping for a 1.2 million dollar home.
Also our tax code benefits those couples who choose to live together unmarried and not work through the unearned tax credit.

How do we as Christians follow the above verses and still show compassion ?

This should be a great discussion.