Let us draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
Hebrews 10:22
As we close the book on this year I pray that we will come closer to God as we embark on 2009. I pray for wisdom, hope, health and joy to fill your life. My love and prayers are with you always!
In Christ Rev. Terri
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Daily Devotion
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Daily Devotion
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.Luke 6:27-28
It is not easy to give blessings to those who hurt you or to pray for those who have done you wrong. However, when we do pray and bless others it will ultimately work out for our benefit. This spiritual principle is worth learning and living.
In Christ Rev. Terri
It is not easy to give blessings to those who hurt you or to pray for those who have done you wrong. However, when we do pray and bless others it will ultimately work out for our benefit. This spiritual principle is worth learning and living.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Monday, December 29, 2008
Daily Devotion
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mournand a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:4
The scripture from Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything under the sun. Just like life there are seasons of ups, downs and in-between ... Remember as you weep there will come a time for laughter, as you mourn there will be a time of joy! Be encouraged ...
In Christ Rev. Terri
The scripture from Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything under the sun. Just like life there are seasons of ups, downs and in-between ... Remember as you weep there will come a time for laughter, as you mourn there will be a time of joy! Be encouraged ...
In Christ Rev. Terri
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Sovereign God because God has come and brought deliverance and redemption to Gods people.
Luke 2:68
Christmas eve ... the night before Christ was born. We celebrate this night in wonder and awe knowing that this birth changed everything. Today as you go through your day I would encourage you to seek Gods wonder and awe as you celebrate. We join together and proclaim Glory to God in the highest for unto us a child is born.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Sovereign God because God has come and brought deliverance and redemption to Gods people.
Luke 2:68
Christmas eve ... the night before Christ was born. We celebrate this night in wonder and awe knowing that this birth changed everything. Today as you go through your day I would encourage you to seek Gods wonder and awe as you celebrate. We join together and proclaim Glory to God in the highest for unto us a child is born.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.
3 John 2
Amazing God I give thanks that when I am in union with you my life prospers. Even in times when I maybe out of sink ... You guide me and remind me that God will supply ... (Philippians 4:19). I pray for health, wealth and wisdom for all of you.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Beloved I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.
3 John 2
Amazing God I give thanks that when I am in union with you my life prospers. Even in times when I maybe out of sink ... You guide me and remind me that God will supply ... (Philippians 4:19). I pray for health, wealth and wisdom for all of you.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Monday, December 22, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
Do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.
Luke 2:10
Joy is much more than happiness. Joy can be present even when we struggle. Joy can be full in our hearts as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. Joy is knowing there is more to life than the packages under the tree. We can celebrate the joy of eternal life that the angles proclaim Glory to God in the highest!
In Christ Rev. Terri
Do not be afraid for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.
Luke 2:10
Joy is much more than happiness. Joy can be present even when we struggle. Joy can be full in our hearts as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. Joy is knowing there is more to life than the packages under the tree. We can celebrate the joy of eternal life that the angles proclaim Glory to God in the highest!
In Christ Rev. Terri
Friday, December 19, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
Be still before the Sovereign God and wait patiently for God.
Psalm 37:7
Advent is a time of preparation and waiting for the arrival of the
Christ child's birth. Are you taking time daily to be still before
God, seeking Gods presence for the present? If you are not I
encourage you to take a few minutes now ... don't wait ...
Allow the Spirit of God to surround you ...
In Christ Rev. Terri
Be still before the Sovereign God and wait patiently for God.
Psalm 37:7
Advent is a time of preparation and waiting for the arrival of the
Christ child's birth. Are you taking time daily to be still before
God, seeking Gods presence for the present? If you are not I
encourage you to take a few minutes now ... don't wait ...
Allow the Spirit of God to surround you ...
In Christ Rev. Terri
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
In this quite time remind us God that in Your strength we can make it through the difficult times. We are empowered by Your love, hope, peace and joy which can't be taken from us! Grant us a positive attitude and help us to release our fears.
In Christ Rev. Terri
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
In this quite time remind us God that in Your strength we can make it through the difficult times. We are empowered by Your love, hope, peace and joy which can't be taken from us! Grant us a positive attitude and help us to release our fears.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Daily Devotion
Dear Friends:
Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Sovereign God will do wonders among you.
Joshua 3:5
God you have called us to holy living. Show us those places in our life where we need to make some changes. Give us the courage to trust You knowing you are never late with Your intervention.
In Christ Rev. Terri
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sit Down Christian
I read this from another blog site ((http://jeremiahandrews.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/i-have-no-title-for-this/) ) and thought it was too good not to pass on...
Sit down Christian. You cannot wave your unread Bible and scare me because I know the larger story that runs through it from beginning to end. I'm trying to resist the temptation to snatch it from your hands and beat you with it. I am your worst nightmare, a Preacher who knows the good book better than you do. Show me your scriptures. Show me how you justify condemning homosexual people.
Show me what you got, Christian. The Sodom story? That story is about people who wanted to commit a brutal rape. Let's all say it together, "God doesn't like rape." You could have listened to your heart and learned that, Christian. Move on. What else you got?
A passage from Leviticus? Are you kidding me? Are you prepared to adhere to the whole Levitical code of behavior? No? Then why would you expect others to? Move on. What else?
Two passages - two verses from Romans and one from 1 Corinthians. There you stand, your justification for a worldwide campaign of hatred written on two limp pieces of paper. Have you looked closely at these passages? Do you understand their context and original language? I could show you why you don't have much, but there is something more important you need to see.
Come with me to the church cellar. Come now and don't delay. I am shaking with anger and fighting the urge to grab you by the collar and drag you down these steps.
You didn't know the church had a cellar? Oh yes, every church does. Down, down, we go into the darkness. Don't slip on the flagstone and never mind the heat.
There, do you see the iron furnace door, gaping open? Do you see the roaring flames? Do you see the huge man with glistening muscles, covered with soot? Do you see him feeding the fire with his massive scooped shovel?
He feeds these flames with the Bible, with every book, chapter and verse that American Christians must ignore to support our bloated lifestyles, our selfishness, our materialism, our love of power, our neglect of the poor, our support of injustice, our nationalism, and our pride.
See how frantically he works? Time is short, and he has much to burn. The prophets, the Shema, whole sections of Matthew, most of Luke, the entire book of James. Your blessed ten commandments? Why would you want to post them on courtroom walls when you'e burned them in your own cellar?
Do you see? DO YOU SEE? Do you see how we rip, tear, and burn scriptures to justify our lives?
The heat from the cursed furnace rises up and warms the complacent worshipers in the pews above. The soot from the fire blackens our stained glass so that we may not see out and no one wants to see in.
Do you smell the reek of this injustice? It is a stink in the nostrils of the very living God. We are dressed in beautiful clothes and we wear pretty smiles, but we stink of blasphemous hypocrisy.
Every church in America - mine not excepted - has a cellar like this. We must shovel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, because every chapter and verse we ignore must be burned to warm our comfy pews.Our souls are stained from the biblical holocaust, but somehow these two scraps of scripture mean all the world to you. You swallow whole camels, and now you're gagging on a gnat? When did you ever care about what the bible has to say?
Sit down, Christian. Sit down and be you silent.
How long has it been since you forgot that we were called to walk the earth as pilgrims? Do you not remember when he told us to give our coats to those in need and sell our possessions to help the poor? Did you forget how the first church had all things in common so that none would lack?
Did you forget the day he told us that whatever we did for the oppressed we did for him, and whatever we withheld from them was kept from him as well?
Sit down, Christian. You have not earned the right to speak to this generation. The right to speak is earned with love.
Take back your Bible. Take it back and start reading it. Fall in love again with Jesus. Sell what you must and walk the earth. Let your love be astonishing and people may one day listen to your words.
Even now you might be saved. Our God is merciful and forgiveness awaits.
The Preacher
Sit down Christian. You cannot wave your unread Bible and scare me because I know the larger story that runs through it from beginning to end. I'm trying to resist the temptation to snatch it from your hands and beat you with it. I am your worst nightmare, a Preacher who knows the good book better than you do. Show me your scriptures. Show me how you justify condemning homosexual people.
Show me what you got, Christian. The Sodom story? That story is about people who wanted to commit a brutal rape. Let's all say it together, "God doesn't like rape." You could have listened to your heart and learned that, Christian. Move on. What else you got?
A passage from Leviticus? Are you kidding me? Are you prepared to adhere to the whole Levitical code of behavior? No? Then why would you expect others to? Move on. What else?
Two passages - two verses from Romans and one from 1 Corinthians. There you stand, your justification for a worldwide campaign of hatred written on two limp pieces of paper. Have you looked closely at these passages? Do you understand their context and original language? I could show you why you don't have much, but there is something more important you need to see.
Come with me to the church cellar. Come now and don't delay. I am shaking with anger and fighting the urge to grab you by the collar and drag you down these steps.
You didn't know the church had a cellar? Oh yes, every church does. Down, down, we go into the darkness. Don't slip on the flagstone and never mind the heat.
There, do you see the iron furnace door, gaping open? Do you see the roaring flames? Do you see the huge man with glistening muscles, covered with soot? Do you see him feeding the fire with his massive scooped shovel?
He feeds these flames with the Bible, with every book, chapter and verse that American Christians must ignore to support our bloated lifestyles, our selfishness, our materialism, our love of power, our neglect of the poor, our support of injustice, our nationalism, and our pride.
See how frantically he works? Time is short, and he has much to burn. The prophets, the Shema, whole sections of Matthew, most of Luke, the entire book of James. Your blessed ten commandments? Why would you want to post them on courtroom walls when you'e burned them in your own cellar?
Do you see? DO YOU SEE? Do you see how we rip, tear, and burn scriptures to justify our lives?
The heat from the cursed furnace rises up and warms the complacent worshipers in the pews above. The soot from the fire blackens our stained glass so that we may not see out and no one wants to see in.
Do you smell the reek of this injustice? It is a stink in the nostrils of the very living God. We are dressed in beautiful clothes and we wear pretty smiles, but we stink of blasphemous hypocrisy.
Every church in America - mine not excepted - has a cellar like this. We must shovel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, because every chapter and verse we ignore must be burned to warm our comfy pews.Our souls are stained from the biblical holocaust, but somehow these two scraps of scripture mean all the world to you. You swallow whole camels, and now you're gagging on a gnat? When did you ever care about what the bible has to say?
Sit down, Christian. Sit down and be you silent.
How long has it been since you forgot that we were called to walk the earth as pilgrims? Do you not remember when he told us to give our coats to those in need and sell our possessions to help the poor? Did you forget how the first church had all things in common so that none would lack?
Did you forget the day he told us that whatever we did for the oppressed we did for him, and whatever we withheld from them was kept from him as well?
Sit down, Christian. You have not earned the right to speak to this generation. The right to speak is earned with love.
Take back your Bible. Take it back and start reading it. Fall in love again with Jesus. Sell what you must and walk the earth. Let your love be astonishing and people may one day listen to your words.
Even now you might be saved. Our God is merciful and forgiveness awaits.
The Preacher
Ugly Quilts
In 1985, in the rain, Flo's son was vomiting from his cancer treatments as they walked to a New York subway station. Commuters ignored them as she struggled with her suitcase. "You need help, lady?" somebody said. Flo saw a homeless man, in jeans, sneakers, and a cut-off army jacket. Feeling afraid, she declined. He insisted, picked up her suitcase, and led them to the subway which he boarded with them. After they got off, he hailed a cab. As she closed the door, Flo gave him five dollars, and heard him say, "Don't abandon me."
Flo Wheatley didn't abandon him. Back home, using old clothes, she sewed together her first sleeping bag. She delivered it to a man sleeping in a Manhattan doorway. She made eight more. As word spread, neighbors brought fabrics to her house. A church asked her to show them how to make the sleeping bags. She named her project, 'My Brother's Keeper Quilt Group', and the sleeping bags she calls 'Ugly Quilts', hoping that the name will show how easy they are to make. There's a one-page instruction sheet. Type "ugly quilt instructions" into your browser. Materials include bedspreads, drapes, blankets, mattress pads, fiberfill, and neckties. Ugly Quilts spread nationally. By 1997, 100,000 were sewn and distributed. In 2004, the ugly quilt project was going strong.
Flo believes her chance encounter on her walk to the subway wasn't chance at all. She believes she encountered Christ in the homeless man.
Let's Pray: Dear God, chance encounters change lives. Give us ears to hear your voice today, give us gumption enough to listen. Amen.
Today's Thought Is: Don't just sit there, do something.
Sources:
Jan Spence, Sleeping Bags for the homeless, Share International Archives, http://www.share-international.org/archives/homelessness/hl-ssleepingbags.htm
Ugly Quilt instructions http://www.reese.org/sharon/uglyinst.htm
The Boston Ugly Quilt project http://www.tbpm.org/giving/ugly_quilt_supplies.html
Flo Wheatley didn't abandon him. Back home, using old clothes, she sewed together her first sleeping bag. She delivered it to a man sleeping in a Manhattan doorway. She made eight more. As word spread, neighbors brought fabrics to her house. A church asked her to show them how to make the sleeping bags. She named her project, 'My Brother's Keeper Quilt Group', and the sleeping bags she calls 'Ugly Quilts', hoping that the name will show how easy they are to make. There's a one-page instruction sheet. Type "ugly quilt instructions" into your browser. Materials include bedspreads, drapes, blankets, mattress pads, fiberfill, and neckties. Ugly Quilts spread nationally. By 1997, 100,000 were sewn and distributed. In 2004, the ugly quilt project was going strong.
Flo believes her chance encounter on her walk to the subway wasn't chance at all. She believes she encountered Christ in the homeless man.
Let's Pray: Dear God, chance encounters change lives. Give us ears to hear your voice today, give us gumption enough to listen. Amen.
Today's Thought Is: Don't just sit there, do something.
Sources:
Jan Spence, Sleeping Bags for the homeless, Share International Archives, http://www.share-international.org/archives/homelessness/hl-ssleepingbags.htm
Ugly Quilt instructions http://www.reese.org/sharon/uglyinst.htm
The Boston Ugly Quilt project http://www.tbpm.org/giving/ugly_quilt_supplies.html
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