O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!

Psalm 95:6-7 NRSV

listeingforgod

It is so easy to forget to give attention to our God. Church is not the only place to worship God. We should be thanking God and giving praise through every moment. We must stop and be silent long enough to hear God’s voice. We are so good at putting everything else first. Praise, thank, and listen to God at all time.s

caring and praying

It is a wonderful thing to care about others. Putting feet to the caring is the next step.

It is a wonderful thing to pray. Putting feet to the prayer is the next step.

caring-quotes

 

Notice the girl in the clip. She is actually doing something.

Sometimes doing something is not possible but when it is… do it. Too often the caring stays in our minds and not in our actions.

Caring and praying are critical. Just remember to follow through with the next step.

Prayer

Today as I watched the forecast for the hurricane I thought about how to pray about it. Normally I would just pray that the storm would not hit us but then I thought how selfish that prayer is. As I wishing that I would hit someone else? It does look as if it will land somewhere on the southern coast so I need to direct my prayers in a different way.

lights

Lord, guard and keep all those who are in the path of Hurricane Dorian. Give them strength and courage during the storm. Help them as they recover from any damage and give them the strength to help others as well. Hold in your loving arms those in the tropics who have been hit so hard in the recent past and help us to aid them where we can. We pray in your Holy Name. AMEN

When you believe

I heard this song today and absolutely love the words. It is so true. We can do things we never thought we could when we believe.

 

When You Believe
Many nights we prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hope for a song
We barely understood
Now we are not afraid
Although we know there’s much to fear
We were moving mountains
Long before we knew we could, whoa, yes
There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe somehow you will
You will when you believe
Mmmyeah
In this time of fear
When prayer so often proves in vain
Hope seems like the summer bird
Too swiftly flown away
Yet now I’m standing here
My hearts so full, I can’t explain
Seeking faith and speakin’ words
I never thought I’d say
There can be miracles
When you believe (When you believe)
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill (Mmm)
Who knows what miracles
You can

Hang together?

Mark 3:25 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

Unfortunately this seems to be the culture we live in. There is so much division that people can no longer hold a civil conversation. It is so frightening that the divisions are increasing. Years ago in the US there was another man who talked about standing together. We may not be able to do it again until we are invaded by aliens and we have to all join together to stay alive.

hang-together-or-hang-separately_orig

 

Responsibility

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
If we have any question of why mankind has not cared at all for the earth these two translations show the difference in wording. Many different translations…many different ideas.
earth responsibillity
We were to care for God’s creation not destroy it. Now we are faced with the consequences of our actions. The cause of the things happening now may not be entirely of our making but our view of the earth has been plundering its resources instead of caring for them. I hope it is not too late.

Words

This morning I attended the Lutheran Church that I used to work for. These are the words of the confession that was used today. For me, they were moving and powerful. I hope you find meaning in them.

love god

 

 

God of mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, against one another, and against the earth entrusted to our care. We are worried and distracted by many things, and we fail to love you above all else. We store up treasures for ourselves and turn away from our neighbors in need. Forgive us, that we may live in the freedom of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Journey with God

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.  Unknown

journey with god

 

Life is never boring. We never know what is around the next corner with one exception. That exception is God. God may have a journey for us that we never imagined. We have to learn to take that journey and find joy in it. God with be with us each step of the way

Feel the Lord’s presence

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
the lords arms
No matter what harm befalls us our God is always near. Picture arms wrapped around you and tears being wiped from your face. Know that you are loved. Feel the presence of the Lord. In his arms there is peace and comfort.