News Worth Hearing

“So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!” Psalm 31:24

I don’t know about you but I enjoy watching and reading the news. Especially when news stories are news-worthy, accurate, and without an agenda. Every day this seems like a lost art. Now, it seems, news is written with an agenda. An agenda to cause fear, to cause doubt, and to dishearten us all. We are told to worry about this or to be concerned about that but little is actually really reported. This is the day that we live in. Days of uncertainty, despair, and often fear. Fear that is generated and created to move our hearts away from hope, away from faith. Yet, in times of such bad news don’t we need hope and faith even more?In times such as these my heart moves towards and longs for the hope found in Christ. My heart longs for the ‘Good News’ of Jesus Christ. In the pages of the Bible I read the news reports of the Gospels, the accounts of Paul, and the sweet writings of John. I’m encouraged through the Prophets and the psalmist who pen stories of hope and encouragement. I learn through them both sides of the story. The mistakes of mankind and the restoration love of Christ who came to save us, restore us, and daily walk with us. As I turn the pages I’m reminded that I’m never really alone, that Christ is only a prayer away, a thought away, a continual wellspring of hope that rises in my heart and displays the silver lining found in every day life.In this I’m encouraged, in this my hope is strengthened and restored. I read or listen to the Bible now more than ever because in its very pages I find more truth than any news program that’s on display or agenda that’s spouted forth.True, I miss out on everything that is happening in the world. I miss out on all the sadness, all the crime, and all the misery but sometimes I just need a break. There’s only so much that any of us can take and I would much rather take shelter in the Rock of my Salvation, and find there words of encouragement and hope and peace in days needing peace and hope and love.

God's Word for Today

Being a dog lover I thought this was a great verse. May we all be thirsting for the living water of God's holy spirit.

Something Funny

Something I am trying to teach my own children.....God bless everyone. Have a great day.

Perfect Peace

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. " Isaiah 26:3

Have you ever looked for peace? Peace to calm your troubled heart. A perfect peace that goes beyond understanding.You will never find peace in this world or the things of this world. That is why many are consumed with entertainment. That’s why drugs and alcohol are so important to them. For many, drugs and alcohol provides a momentary relief, a temporary escape from their mistakes and failures… from all that is troubling in their lives. They take substances, they self-medicate all to find the perfect peace that continues to escape them. They are like you and I in many aspects.We may not carry a bottle or smoke a substance but don’t we turn to something else instead of faith and trust in God? Maybe it is our position that we rely on, that we trust in. Maybe it’s our friends and family who only say good things to us and who give us comfort. Maybe it’s our money that we consider ‘ours’ and that we spend on substances that fill our homes to over-flowing. Maybe in these we comfort ourselves and that gives us a twinge of peace.Yet, there is a peace in God that goes beyond the substances of this world. A peace that brings comfort, clarity, and calmness. A peace that is available even when mistakes occur or failures or tragedy or heart break. A peace not of this world, that never fades, that conquers fear and hate. Peace that looks to give, to help, to heal, and to comfort others.People of this world need the peace of God in their lives. We need to share and give testimony of what God is doing in our lives. To spread the word of the great peace and comfort that comes from knowing, loving, and trusting in the giver of peace; the Prince of Peace.

Monday Morning Cup of Joe

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend and getting the week off to a good start. It was a wonderful day of worship yesterday at The Rock Church and the Holy Spirit was present and we were indeed blessed by the Lord. The day ended on a rather sad note, as I learned that my friend and fellow laborer in ministry, David Disbro, went home to heaven to be with the Lord on Sunday evening. He was a friend, brother in Christ, and faithful servant of the Lord and the Kingdom of Heaven. I will miss him very much, as will the church family of The Rock Church. However, I know that he is with the Lord and has received his eternal reward in glory. I am reminded of the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:8 when he wrote, "for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kep the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord Jesus, the righteous judge, shall give to me, and not to me only, but unto all those who love His appearing." My friend, David Disbro has kep the faith, run the race and fought the good fight of faith and is now home with Jesus in heaven. We'll miss you David.

Truth or Deception?

Therefore the Lord said: “ Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
(Isaiah 49:11-12). I wonder, sometimes, as I try to catch a glimpse of newsworthy-news of all the deception. With each click of the remote I turn from one lie, to one corruption, to one cover-up, and to so much insanity. It disheartens my heart on one hand to see integrity clouded, honor dismissed, and deceit praised. On the other hand, I’m righteously angered at the lives and hearts that are deceived and slowly destroyed by the corruption, by lies and deceit. Today, the name of Jesus Christ cannot or should not be spoken in our classrooms, our speeches, or our media. Our airways have been usurped by an unbelieving and dishonest societal class who espouse a realm of lunacy. We are told that ‘terrorists are only people, they are not that bad,’ or beware ‘our world will be destroyed by global warming’ or ‘we need to save mother-earth’. The Truth is that terrorists are killers. Global warming is a myth. And our hearts and minds need salvation, our world needs conservation, a big, big difference. So many lies are told and so often that many believe them because they do not love the truth, they become out-of-touch with reality. Does it not seem that wisdom is perishing? In this world right and wrong are so muddied that many are in wonder as to what is right and what is wrong. The consciousness of mankind is every so slowly being seared and that which is reprobate is called good, proclaimed as an example. Yet, in the midst of such an environment, God has called us to righteousness. Not our own, not a religious righteousness, but his righteousness. We are called to discernfrom wrong, to question truth from deceit, and to encourage and admonish one another as we see with each passing days, evil abounding. May the love of God abound in our hearts. May His word become our greatest treasure and may we shine as lights in a darkened world, for the glory of God!

Steven Curtis Chapman In My Prayers

With laughter and tears, Grammy-winning Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman and his family said goodbye Saturday to their 'cuddle bug,' daughter Maria Sue. The 5-year-old died three days earlier after being accidentally struck at their Franklin, Tenn., home by a reversing SUV driven by her brother. In a two-hour memorial service at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville that drew more than 700 mourners, the family remembered their little five year old daughter. The couple, along with their three older biological children and their two other adopted daughters, Shaohannah, 8, and Stevey Joy, 5, were all barefoot during the service as a mark of reverence to ground made holy, they said, by the loss of Maria. Standing in front of the tiny white coffin covered with pink flowers, they took turns holding the young girls in their arms and embracing the son whose car hit Maria. Tears streamed down the 17-year-old's face and he wore Maria's pink security blanket around his neck throughout the service. In a letter Shaohannah had written to God and her lost sister that her father read aloud, she asked for prayers for her brother. "He has been sobbing," she wrote. The family raised their arms as they sang songs of worship and sought comfort in their faith. "We had talked [with Maria] about what it meant to be with Jesus," Chapman said. "I had no idea how soon it was going to be, but we know she is in His amazing house, playing in the water." The Chapmans are in my prayers. God be with them.