Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Robin, thank you for posting this as it has special meaning for me. Almost a year ago, a deranged lunatic rammed me from behind about 5 times while i was driving down a busy two lane road. He then veered into oncoming traffic and hit 3 cars. Thankfully, no one was severely injured.
In the police report he cited Colossians 3:17 and said God told him to do it. Although I don’t adhere to dogma, i took it not as a message to him, but to me. To help me reconsider things and perhaps come to a point where i might believe in God again. Still working on it, but i do very much (oddly?) find comfort in this passage.
It's been almost 30 years ago that I was traveling with my husband and we were hit head on by a drunk driver and I was as close to dying as one can get. I can honestly thank the Lord everyday for that event in our lives. I would never change it if I could. That single event focused my attention on God in ways that I had never done before. I learned to trust God more deeply, to love God more deeply, and to worship God more deeply. I couldn't learn those things any other way. I'm thankful that God is determined to make me more like Christ and He will do whatever it takes. His grace is sufficient for me and His love of me is overwhelming. I learned to define my circumstances through God's character rather than defining God through my circumstances. There's so much more to that story that there is not enough space to share here. Prayers that you will grow in your love for the Lord.
This is really beautiful - thank you for sharing this - it gives us all hope and a reason for our hope- HE is the reason for our hope. God bless you and I hope you have a magnificent Easter this year! Hugs from SWFL.
God has greatly used Joni's testimony. May we all know each of our stories is designed to bring glory to God, remind us of who He is, and bring encouragement to others by sharing that story with them. Corrie Ten Boom is another person whose story is so encouraging.
I don't know if you would call it a near-death experience, but I do remember feeling like I was having an out of body experience where I felt like I was watching from outside my body. I was on a lot of morphine so there's that factor. But the encouraging thing that I can definitively tell you is that I could always hear what people were saying so if you have a loved one that cannot communicate, it doesn't mean that they cannot hear you.
During my nursing career, I always talked to my patients no matter what their condition. If I didn’t know them well I would talk about something really positive. I would explain what I was doing and not to be afraid. What bothered me a lot or other healthcare providers were treated them as if they weren’t there that they couldn’t hear. Some of these people were not meaning to be unkind, but were. I tried to explain that I knew they could hear me because they would cooperate if I was doing a treatment. I asked one particular other nurse to watch when I talk to a patient. This patient had been comatose longer than the hospital. Wanted her to be. If you get my drift, because she had no insurance. She was costing this particular facility money. I didn’t work there. I was doing some clinical training there while I was a nursing student. The staff nurse was rather surprised when I told the patient I needed to turn her, when instead of needing two people to accomplish this, I was able to gently position her to help avoid any bed sores. She cooperated she could hear me I knew she could hear me. Why did I know? Some of it was because I understood biology but much of it is because I saw her spirit.
Thank you. I had a great example in my mother who was always kind as a nurse. She was an Army nurse anesthetist in WW2 who served in the ETO. Afterwards she worked in a number of positions. She was a real hero in so many ways.
Sorry for the typos and somewhat garbled sentences. I used the dictation option for my comment. When I type manually on my phone it takes a long time. I should have waited until I was using my iPad with a keyboard! It just took me longer to write this than the above text did to use the dictation option! 🤓
thanks I did NOT know that! Wow. That is an amazing revelation; ALL should know this, should hear this direct account (or others similar) so they can effectually pray for their loved ones in a death crisis.
Studying NDE's for years(many books) by ITSELF alone has given me FULL faith of life after death, the true existence of Yeshua / G-d, and the joy awaiting me. . . and ALL. I did not require the full . . . experience. Hearing was believing.
Romans 10:14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Just by imagining myself in that position - unable to communicate outwardly yet understanding what everyone is saying around me - helps to give insight about what to say and do to be of comfort.
A lot of times, you think people cannot hear, they are comatose - they hear. You should always talk to people even if you think they are unconscious, talk in a positive way, read the Bible, pray aloud, play praise music. Don't talk about them in their presence as if they can't hear. One of my sisters died after a long illness, and after a lifetime of some very difficult disabilities. At the end, she was receiving hospice care. I was not with her at the end, but my daughter had asked one of my sisters to play the song "I will Change Your Name" for her. Due to tech issues, that had not been possible. It is a beautiful song about God giving us a new name - you will no longer wounded, no anxiety - but your name will be,
"Joyfulness, Overcoming One, Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who Seeks my Face." At the very end, my oldest sister was able to play this for my younger sister who was no longer "conscious," who immediately became very peaceful - and then, it was the end of her illness as she moved into her new life. The song is here https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=song+i+will+change+your+name+you+will+no+longer+be+called+wounded&type=E210US1079G0#id=13&vid=7e2341b2a08574b997f3703864e680ed&action=view In the case of this sister, it was a blessing for her to go on to her new life, but often there are people who are "unconscious" who can report on things they heard while seemingly unaware, and it is important to assume they hear and give encouragement and love because they often do have some awareness.
I plan on creating a playlist for myself if I'm in a position to be "needing" some music to soothe my soul - such as you described. I'll add this to the list!
I have a couple of other favorites that you may like - Behold the Lamb by John Willett - the piano in this is very soothing and beautiful, and the lyrics are very nice - Lord of all, give us light, deliver us from evil. Make us one, be our shield, Make still the winds that blow, cradle us with love.
One other is Michael W. Smith's "Sovereign Over Us." To me, the music is very beautiful and the words are a beautiful reminder that God is with us no matter what - "with us in the fire and the flood." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lay-r2g52SQ
You are working in our waiting, sanctifying us,
When beyond our understanding, you're teaching us to trust.
Your plans are still to prosper, you have not forgotten us,
You're with us in the fire and the flood,
Faithful forever, perfect in love, You are sovereign over us.
So - if you are making a list, you might like to have these on it as well as the other. And play them now, often, to embed them in your memory.
I’ve always been told that hearing is the first sense activated at birth and the last to turn off at death. I’ve had some experiences that validate to me.
Before birth - Babies can hear beginning anywhere between 16 to 22 weeks of pregnancy. There has been research where women are asked to read certain things to the baby during pregnancy, and then it can be seen that babies can recognize stories they have heard repeatedly, they prefer their mother's voice to the voice of strangers. They are beginning to learn language before birth. Some people put headsets with music on the abdomen, but some experts recommend against that - babies can hear and enjoy music, but with headsets it could be too loud for them - but calming classical music is best and they can hear a piano in the room - the fluid in the uterus transmits sound to them - or the mother or father singing to them, they will hear. Bonding between parents and can child often begins even during pregnancy, and reading pleasant children's stories or playing soothing music or singing to the child is all good, because they do hear. Earlier research did not originally recognize just how early in pregnancy babies begin to hear, now they place it earlier than what they used to say, but I don't know how much they hear at 16 weeks, but there is no question they do hear during pregnancy and their ability to hear and learn from what they hear increases as the pregnancy progresses.
Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
In thinking that through just a wee bit, what are the consequences, both good and bad, for what babies hear in utero? It stands to reason that a baby who hears loving communication between family members will already have a head start on feeling loved and secure vs. a baby who is developing in the womb surrounded by angry, bitter people.
Just a thought that occurred whilst I was reading everyone's comments.
Your last two sentences are worth more than anyone realizes. That state of being open and willing to hear God’s voice and see where it leads. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 That’s a promise from God.
When we aren’t willing to hear Him and seek Him, we will never find anything and the realization of the truth will remain closed to us. It’s another kind of “waking up.”
All who wear a badge or claim a name aren't who they pretend to be. True Christians are still human in body and there mind is still being untwisted to understand the True Spirit. There are many men who falsely add and certainly detract from God's true Word, in the flesh is Jesus The Christ. God answers all prayer that aligns with His Good Will. Paying this for and with you.
When you see God’s hand at work in a fearful and a possible tragic circumstance, it is a life changing moment. I sing praises to my Lord and Savior every day for His intervention and healing🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for sharing your truths for us all to be encouraged and thankful. 🙏🙏🙏
When she was alive and traveling, I got to hear her speak in person. Such an unassuming presence, and yet so powerful. There's a new book about her WWII experience, and life before her imprisonment. It's worth reading. "The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom" by Larry Loftis
I actually met her and I knew her Caregiver distantly. At one time there was a museum set up in her honor at Dallas Baptist University. I’ve read both of her books and saw the movie the hiding place. She was one of my favorite heroes.
“Check it for messages throughout the day.” Instead of just reading a passage once in the morning as per my Bible Reading Plan, that is exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t just eat once a day, so why shouldn’t I be nourished by the Word throughout the day?
Be real good! I like the idea that "we are spiritual forces." Luther believed the Holy Spirit is the force gifted to us as power to confront and overcome three things that can cripple and destroy us: a corrupt and doomed society (the world), the human nature we inherited from Adam and Eve’s original sin (the flesh), and direct assaults from satanic forces (the devil). Of course not all Christians see it that way, but it's a useful schema for identifying moment by moment impediments to being who Christ intends us to be.
If you accept we are spiritual forces, the meaning of being polite completely shifts. Don’t go looking for conflict, but there is no avoiding it if you mingle with society.
There's not much I'd agree with in that article, but I agree that organized religion has gone off the rails. We need to get rid of the tax-exempt status of religious groups, including churches. Some are hauling in more revenue than a Taylor Swift concert. However well-intentioned the law was, it has been abused.
I posted 2 Chronicles 7:14 on my MeWe.com profile as my "profile image" and prayed over that Bible verse constantly as well. IT IS BEARING FRUIT indeed.
Jesus is All! Blessed Holy Week to All! Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice to cleanse us of sin and to help us choose the straight and narrow path. Please take care of our nation and keep the faithful strong and may the Holy Ghost moves the hearts of those that lust for things that do not last. Blessed Holy Trinity, Blessed Messiah.
Love this… and how about we ONLY bring our Bibles (or, only ourselves) to church, and not our cell phones?
Having a bit of a problem with the clergy at our church who are reluctant to amend the announcement at the opening of our service, from “please silence all electronic devices”, to “please silence and put out of view all electronic devices”.
Increasingly people are staring at their cell phones now during service, not at the altar or the crucifix. Really is a distraction and an unsettling, irreverent development IMO.
Damn the Hallow app! It may have its place, but it should not be in the sanctuary. I read the day’s readings prior to leaving my home for mass each day.
I dread the day when all the congregants are staring at their iPhones or iPads.
Guess you didn’t read my comment. Yes they are, but it’s awful to have to be looking at a bunch of blue screens in pews ahead of you. Churches should have designated area for people to sit who can’t live without their phones, even in sacred places and sacred ceremonies.
This past Sunday I sat in front of someone who was typing on her phone the entire service. I could hear the keys clicking. So distracting! She even got a couple of text alerts with a series of notes. Her husband told her to just turn it off. She ignored him. She was clearly oblivious.
Thank you. A woman who was using her app to follow the daily readings, after I shared with her, the distraction and the reverence of being on your phone during service, said that sometimes her kids would text her a picture of her grandkids, etc., and she found herself unable to resist the temptation of opening it. She ended up agreeing with me. Just leave the phone in the car. Focus for 30, 60, or whatever minutes of your day on the moment of being with Christ or with whoever you honor or worship. Not a lot of time to be offline.
Well, there was a time when the common people did NOT have any Bibles, and the Bibles were hand made by monks in the monastery, and big enough they were too large and heavy to carry around, plus too expensive, so the common people did not have Bibles to read the days' Scripture readings at church for centuries, and the common people could not read anyway. After the Gutenberg printing press in the 1400's, then more people could have their own prayer books and Bibles, and a lot more people were reading, and carrying prayer books and Bibles to church. So that was a new thing back then, and maybe back then there were those who thought - WHY do all those people have to bring their own books to church. It is disrespectful to not listen to the priest when he is reading the Scriptures... So now, fast forward 550 years or however long it has been, and the digital Bibles and digital prayer books are today's Bibles and prayer books. Different from what people had in the past, but still a way to read the Scriptures and not miss a word if the acoustics are bad, or the priest reads with an unintelligible African accent. In the Catholic churches, there often are foreign priests brought in who don't speak understandable English. So it is helpful to have a book whether print or digital, and I don't see the harm of a digital book.
Valid points, but read before attending service in the church. It is rude and inconsiderate to fellow churchgoers when someone pulls out their phones with their blue lights. Or at the very least, sit in one of the back pews.
Same as He tells us, right? American Christians have been late to confess our timidity and ask for God’s forgiveness. We have paid a heavy price “because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son” (Hebrews 12:6). Does that not prove we are His children and heirs? It is time to act again like we are. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Ned, re: your poignant question. He would love them all. He would teach the deep and personal meanings of his "Sermon On the Mount," emphasizing "Love your neighbor as yourself. Be good to them who despitefully use you."
Good Monday morning everyone. Found these quotes for you on the @dukeofgood substack
--
The Greatest Man In History Was Named
Jesus
He had no servants, yet they called Him master
He had no degree, yet they called Him teacher
He has no medicine, yet they called Him healer
He had no army, yet kings feared Him
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today
--
I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world
Than stand with the world and be judged by God
--
Christ is hated because sin is loved
--
The elites don't want you to know this, but you can just convert to Christianity and live forever.
--
What if we began to treat our bibles the way we treat our cell phones:
What if we...
...carried it with us everywhere?
...turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
...checked it for messages throughout the day?
...used it in case of an emergency?
...spent an hour or more on it each day?
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Robin, thank you for posting this as it has special meaning for me. Almost a year ago, a deranged lunatic rammed me from behind about 5 times while i was driving down a busy two lane road. He then veered into oncoming traffic and hit 3 cars. Thankfully, no one was severely injured.
In the police report he cited Colossians 3:17 and said God told him to do it. Although I don’t adhere to dogma, i took it not as a message to him, but to me. To help me reconsider things and perhaps come to a point where i might believe in God again. Still working on it, but i do very much (oddly?) find comfort in this passage.
It's been almost 30 years ago that I was traveling with my husband and we were hit head on by a drunk driver and I was as close to dying as one can get. I can honestly thank the Lord everyday for that event in our lives. I would never change it if I could. That single event focused my attention on God in ways that I had never done before. I learned to trust God more deeply, to love God more deeply, and to worship God more deeply. I couldn't learn those things any other way. I'm thankful that God is determined to make me more like Christ and He will do whatever it takes. His grace is sufficient for me and His love of me is overwhelming. I learned to define my circumstances through God's character rather than defining God through my circumstances. There's so much more to that story that there is not enough space to share here. Prayers that you will grow in your love for the Lord.
THIS ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼 is why I love the C&C Community so much. God is present here EVERY DAY. I am amazed and blessed by both of your testimonies. 🙌🏼🕊️🙏🏼😇❤️🔥🫶🏼
Darn right on that! Yay Jesus! God rocks!
Me Too Susan,
I will second that!
Amen to that! What an amazing group Jeff has assembled! 🙏
This is really beautiful - thank you for sharing this - it gives us all hope and a reason for our hope- HE is the reason for our hope. God bless you and I hope you have a magnificent Easter this year! Hugs from SWFL.
👆🏻This is what Joni Erickson Tata says about her accident that paralyzed her from the neck down.
God has greatly used Joni's testimony. May we all know each of our stories is designed to bring glory to God, remind us of who He is, and bring encouragement to others by sharing that story with them. Corrie Ten Boom is another person whose story is so encouraging.
Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Count it ALL joy!
Amen!
This brought tears to my eyes.....so happy for you!
To God be the glory.
Deuteronomy 10:21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.
just curious.
Did you have an NDE?
I don't know if you would call it a near-death experience, but I do remember feeling like I was having an out of body experience where I felt like I was watching from outside my body. I was on a lot of morphine so there's that factor. But the encouraging thing that I can definitively tell you is that I could always hear what people were saying so if you have a loved one that cannot communicate, it doesn't mean that they cannot hear you.
During my nursing career, I always talked to my patients no matter what their condition. If I didn’t know them well I would talk about something really positive. I would explain what I was doing and not to be afraid. What bothered me a lot or other healthcare providers were treated them as if they weren’t there that they couldn’t hear. Some of these people were not meaning to be unkind, but were. I tried to explain that I knew they could hear me because they would cooperate if I was doing a treatment. I asked one particular other nurse to watch when I talk to a patient. This patient had been comatose longer than the hospital. Wanted her to be. If you get my drift, because she had no insurance. She was costing this particular facility money. I didn’t work there. I was doing some clinical training there while I was a nursing student. The staff nurse was rather surprised when I told the patient I needed to turn her, when instead of needing two people to accomplish this, I was able to gently position her to help avoid any bed sores. She cooperated she could hear me I knew she could hear me. Why did I know? Some of it was because I understood biology but much of it is because I saw her spirit.
I'm thankful to God for nurses like you who care. Very rare indeed.
Thank you. I had a great example in my mother who was always kind as a nurse. She was an Army nurse anesthetist in WW2 who served in the ETO. Afterwards she worked in a number of positions. She was a real hero in so many ways.
Sorry for the typos and somewhat garbled sentences. I used the dictation option for my comment. When I type manually on my phone it takes a long time. I should have waited until I was using my iPad with a keyboard! It just took me longer to write this than the above text did to use the dictation option! 🤓
No worries 😉. My typing is atrocious.
thanks I did NOT know that! Wow. That is an amazing revelation; ALL should know this, should hear this direct account (or others similar) so they can effectually pray for their loved ones in a death crisis.
Studying NDE's for years(many books) by ITSELF alone has given me FULL faith of life after death, the true existence of Yeshua / G-d, and the joy awaiting me. . . and ALL. I did not require the full . . . experience. Hearing was believing.
Romans 10:14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
awww, come one now!
I'm misting up.
This is known in hospitals......hearing is the last sense to go so keep talking to your loved one, even if you think they can't hear.
Just by imagining myself in that position - unable to communicate outwardly yet understanding what everyone is saying around me - helps to give insight about what to say and do to be of comfort.
A lot of times, you think people cannot hear, they are comatose - they hear. You should always talk to people even if you think they are unconscious, talk in a positive way, read the Bible, pray aloud, play praise music. Don't talk about them in their presence as if they can't hear. One of my sisters died after a long illness, and after a lifetime of some very difficult disabilities. At the end, she was receiving hospice care. I was not with her at the end, but my daughter had asked one of my sisters to play the song "I will Change Your Name" for her. Due to tech issues, that had not been possible. It is a beautiful song about God giving us a new name - you will no longer wounded, no anxiety - but your name will be,
"Joyfulness, Overcoming One, Faithfulness, Friend of God, One who Seeks my Face." At the very end, my oldest sister was able to play this for my younger sister who was no longer "conscious," who immediately became very peaceful - and then, it was the end of her illness as she moved into her new life. The song is here https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=song+i+will+change+your+name+you+will+no+longer+be+called+wounded&type=E210US1079G0#id=13&vid=7e2341b2a08574b997f3703864e680ed&action=view In the case of this sister, it was a blessing for her to go on to her new life, but often there are people who are "unconscious" who can report on things they heard while seemingly unaware, and it is important to assume they hear and give encouragement and love because they often do have some awareness.
I plan on creating a playlist for myself if I'm in a position to be "needing" some music to soothe my soul - such as you described. I'll add this to the list!
I have a couple of other favorites that you may like - Behold the Lamb by John Willett - the piano in this is very soothing and beautiful, and the lyrics are very nice - Lord of all, give us light, deliver us from evil. Make us one, be our shield, Make still the winds that blow, cradle us with love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpzyH98h09s&list=RDMM
One other is Michael W. Smith's "Sovereign Over Us." To me, the music is very beautiful and the words are a beautiful reminder that God is with us no matter what - "with us in the fire and the flood." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lay-r2g52SQ
You are working in our waiting, sanctifying us,
When beyond our understanding, you're teaching us to trust.
Your plans are still to prosper, you have not forgotten us,
You're with us in the fire and the flood,
Faithful forever, perfect in love, You are sovereign over us.
So - if you are making a list, you might like to have these on it as well as the other. And play them now, often, to embed them in your memory.
thank you Martha.
That is inspiring and I will always remember this and Robin's experience.
I've not heard this beautiful piece - thank you for sharing.
I’ve always been told that hearing is the first sense activated at birth and the last to turn off at death. I’ve had some experiences that validate to me.
Before birth - Babies can hear beginning anywhere between 16 to 22 weeks of pregnancy. There has been research where women are asked to read certain things to the baby during pregnancy, and then it can be seen that babies can recognize stories they have heard repeatedly, they prefer their mother's voice to the voice of strangers. They are beginning to learn language before birth. Some people put headsets with music on the abdomen, but some experts recommend against that - babies can hear and enjoy music, but with headsets it could be too loud for them - but calming classical music is best and they can hear a piano in the room - the fluid in the uterus transmits sound to them - or the mother or father singing to them, they will hear. Bonding between parents and can child often begins even during pregnancy, and reading pleasant children's stories or playing soothing music or singing to the child is all good, because they do hear. Earlier research did not originally recognize just how early in pregnancy babies begin to hear, now they place it earlier than what they used to say, but I don't know how much they hear at 16 weeks, but there is no question they do hear during pregnancy and their ability to hear and learn from what they hear increases as the pregnancy progresses.
When we had our two kids neither of us were aware of this. . . and, thinking back, MANY, many things!
Every young couple should be taught this; every teenager should be taught this in biology class.
The knowledge of this and what it implies is huge.
Your comment reminds me of this verse:
Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
In thinking that through just a wee bit, what are the consequences, both good and bad, for what babies hear in utero? It stands to reason that a baby who hears loving communication between family members will already have a head start on feeling loved and secure vs. a baby who is developing in the womb surrounded by angry, bitter people.
Just a thought that occurred whilst I was reading everyone's comments.
Mrs. "the Knife"
Your last two sentences are worth more than anyone realizes. That state of being open and willing to hear God’s voice and see where it leads. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 That’s a promise from God.
When we aren’t willing to hear Him and seek Him, we will never find anything and the realization of the truth will remain closed to us. It’s another kind of “waking up.”
Thanks for those kind words Juju and for sharing that inspiring passage from Matthew. I will keep asking! 🙏
May the Holy Spirit continue to work wonders in your life. Blessed Easter, Christ is risen.
Amen! May you have a blessed Easter as well. He is risen indeed!
He is risen indeed!
All who wear a badge or claim a name aren't who they pretend to be. True Christians are still human in body and there mind is still being untwisted to understand the True Spirit. There are many men who falsely add and certainly detract from God's true Word, in the flesh is Jesus The Christ. God answers all prayer that aligns with His Good Will. Paying this for and with you.
Praise God! He knows exactly what we need. He can even give grace to forgive and pray for deranged lunatics who seek to harm us.
When you see God’s hand at work in a fearful and a possible tragic circumstance, it is a life changing moment. I sing praises to my Lord and Savior every day for His intervention and healing🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for sharing your truths for us all to be encouraged and thankful. 🙏🙏🙏
👆🏻 Robin Greer, this is what Joni Erickson Tata says about her accident that paralyzed her from the neck down.
Corrie Ten Boom is another person whose story I find so encouraging. I love reading and watching Christian biographies.
When she was alive and traveling, I got to hear her speak in person. Such an unassuming presence, and yet so powerful. There's a new book about her WWII experience, and life before her imprisonment. It's worth reading. "The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom" by Larry Loftis
That is an excellent book. I have read it.
I actually met her and I knew her Caregiver distantly. At one time there was a museum set up in her honor at Dallas Baptist University. I’ve read both of her books and saw the movie the hiding place. She was one of my favorite heroes.
She has a wonderful testimony and has encouraged so many to pursue God over the decades of her challenging life.
For you this day: John 3:1-7
:16-18
Amen!
Beautiful verse.
“Check it for messages throughout the day.” Instead of just reading a passage once in the morning as per my Bible Reading Plan, that is exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t just eat once a day, so why shouldn’t I be nourished by the Word throughout the day?
Yes. “Hunger and thirst for righteousness” & “pray without ceasing” are directions!!!
great point!!!
A Christian mentor of mine vowed to never spend more time on social media than she spent reading her Bible.
We need the true Church and Christians to rise up vs organized religion that uses the name in vain for political and financial benefit: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/why-religion-shut-down-half-of-who
That is a very good article. I also came to this conclusion years ago through personal experiences. Hence my handle Johnny Be Real (not good).
Be real good! I like the idea that "we are spiritual forces." Luther believed the Holy Spirit is the force gifted to us as power to confront and overcome three things that can cripple and destroy us: a corrupt and doomed society (the world), the human nature we inherited from Adam and Eve’s original sin (the flesh), and direct assaults from satanic forces (the devil). Of course not all Christians see it that way, but it's a useful schema for identifying moment by moment impediments to being who Christ intends us to be.
If you accept we are spiritual forces, the meaning of being polite completely shifts. Don’t go looking for conflict, but there is no avoiding it if you mingle with society.
Thanks Sir! Glad you appreciated it! 😊
There's not much I'd agree with in that article, but I agree that organized religion has gone off the rails. We need to get rid of the tax-exempt status of religious groups, including churches. Some are hauling in more revenue than a Taylor Swift concert. However well-intentioned the law was, it has been abused.
If you are a 503. You are owned by the IRS.
You are totally right, the mega churches are a BIG business. Literally a production company.
There are few that have real love for the gospel but the bad ones are a lot more common.
Every time that they fail. They hurt exponentially the Truth movement.
To many have just done that and many believers would never come back and judge the gospel because of the actions of the pastor.
And then the question is were they ever really disciples of Christ.
Thank you TriTorch!!! I absolutely LOVE this !
President Trump issued a message ringing with the unapologetic moral clarity of the Founders—something no modern president has dared emulate:
I guess and I’m so happy to witness the answer of our Lord and Savior.
We did pray constantly 2 Chronicles 7:14
HE HEARD US…
PRAISE GOD.
The leaders of this country and the People has turned their evil ways.
GOD HAS BLESSED AMERICA 🇺🇸
And we say. Amen and Amen 🙏
THANK YOU JESUS.
I posted 2 Chronicles 7:14 on my MeWe.com profile as my "profile image" and prayed over that Bible verse constantly as well. IT IS BEARING FRUIT indeed.
Jesus is All! Blessed Holy Week to All! Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice to cleanse us of sin and to help us choose the straight and narrow path. Please take care of our nation and keep the faithful strong and may the Holy Ghost moves the hearts of those that lust for things that do not last. Blessed Holy Trinity, Blessed Messiah.
TriTorch, you hit it out of the park as usual. A very blessed Easter to you and big hugs from SWFL
Love this… and how about we ONLY bring our Bibles (or, only ourselves) to church, and not our cell phones?
Having a bit of a problem with the clergy at our church who are reluctant to amend the announcement at the opening of our service, from “please silence all electronic devices”, to “please silence and put out of view all electronic devices”.
Increasingly people are staring at their cell phones now during service, not at the altar or the crucifix. Really is a distraction and an unsettling, irreverent development IMO.
Damn the Hallow app! It may have its place, but it should not be in the sanctuary. I read the day’s readings prior to leaving my home for mass each day.
I dread the day when all the congregants are staring at their iPhones or iPads.
Maybe they are reading their scripture on their phone Bible app. as I and many others do.
Guess you didn’t read my comment. Yes they are, but it’s awful to have to be looking at a bunch of blue screens in pews ahead of you. Churches should have designated area for people to sit who can’t live without their phones, even in sacred places and sacred ceremonies.
This past Sunday I sat in front of someone who was typing on her phone the entire service. I could hear the keys clicking. So distracting! She even got a couple of text alerts with a series of notes. Her husband told her to just turn it off. She ignored him. She was clearly oblivious.
Thank you. A woman who was using her app to follow the daily readings, after I shared with her, the distraction and the reverence of being on your phone during service, said that sometimes her kids would text her a picture of her grandkids, etc., and she found herself unable to resist the temptation of opening it. She ended up agreeing with me. Just leave the phone in the car. Focus for 30, 60, or whatever minutes of your day on the moment of being with Christ or with whoever you honor or worship. Not a lot of time to be offline.
Well, there was a time when the common people did NOT have any Bibles, and the Bibles were hand made by monks in the monastery, and big enough they were too large and heavy to carry around, plus too expensive, so the common people did not have Bibles to read the days' Scripture readings at church for centuries, and the common people could not read anyway. After the Gutenberg printing press in the 1400's, then more people could have their own prayer books and Bibles, and a lot more people were reading, and carrying prayer books and Bibles to church. So that was a new thing back then, and maybe back then there were those who thought - WHY do all those people have to bring their own books to church. It is disrespectful to not listen to the priest when he is reading the Scriptures... So now, fast forward 550 years or however long it has been, and the digital Bibles and digital prayer books are today's Bibles and prayer books. Different from what people had in the past, but still a way to read the Scriptures and not miss a word if the acoustics are bad, or the priest reads with an unintelligible African accent. In the Catholic churches, there often are foreign priests brought in who don't speak understandable English. So it is helpful to have a book whether print or digital, and I don't see the harm of a digital book.
Valid points, but read before attending service in the church. It is rude and inconsiderate to fellow churchgoers when someone pulls out their phones with their blue lights. Or at the very least, sit in one of the back pews.
I love my Bible app!
That’s great! Just keep it out of our churches!!
First Comment out of the gate, and it's getting shared!! God bless you, TT!! 🕊️🙌🏼😇🙏🏼❤️🔥
Beautiful.
Marvelous, my brother.
Thank you for this TT. A very welcome read this morning.
These are wonderful, some are new to me. Thank you, TriTorch!
Israel VS Palestine. What would Jesus do?
He would probably tell them to repent and follow him
Same as He tells us, right? American Christians have been late to confess our timidity and ask for God’s forgiveness. We have paid a heavy price “because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son” (Hebrews 12:6). Does that not prove we are His children and heirs? It is time to act again like we are. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
He might begin by throwing the moneychangers out of the temples of Judaism and Islam.
He would smite the Islamist terrorist and their supporters with blindness . Because of the blackness of their hearts.
Ned, re: your poignant question. He would love them all. He would teach the deep and personal meanings of his "Sermon On the Mount," emphasizing "Love your neighbor as yourself. Be good to them who despitefully use you."
Great Find...and Posted TT!
He is Risen.
He has risen indeed!
The Proclamations stand forever ready and Holy!