John Preached The Good News To The People! Luke 3:10-18

This below essay was written in this past Sunday’s Bulletin, December 16, 2016.

You get a sense of how hungry people are for a prophet when you read John’s advice to the crowds. He says very simple, obvious things. Share with the needy. Do not cheat. Do not throw your weight around. And people are ready to call him “messiah.”

In our time, people are still aching to be saved by some great leader. Dozens of contemporary gurus off their books, seminars and communes to people looking for salvation from themselves and the world that disappoints. The new gurus say simple things: Do not eat too much junk; be nice; go for a walk in the woods; and do not worry, the aliens will save us. And many are ready and eager to follow. Unlike the new gurus, however, John the Baptist was not interested in being proclaimed their fearless leader. He pointed immediately to the one who was to come, and humbled himself. What a strange thing to do with power, to lay it down.

John was, of course, anticipating a real messiah who would do the same. We call this good news, the way of surrendering power in order to be lifted up. We have a goal beyond good rules for livi8ng, as we follow this leader. Not mere good advice, but redemption from all that kills.

Become a messenger of joy. Turn your anxieties into fervent prayer, and leave them with God. Reflect on your faith, and write down what you really believe. Practice witnessing to your faith with your words and your confidence. Joy is a sure sign of the presence of God’s Spirit.

Taken from “God’s Word is Alive”
Permission granted from Alice Camille

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner 2012, Franklin, NC

The third Community Thanksgiving Dinner, held at Louisburg College, was the place to be for food, fellowship and fun thanks to A Blessing, Inc., the group that operates soup kitchens in the county the rest of the year. But on Thanksgiving, it takes Pilgrims, turkeys, a few dedicated cooks — and lots of hard work. When Joyce Green-McLeod of Louisburg volunteered to help with the Community Thanksgiving Dinner put on annually by A Blessing Inc., she spared no effort. In fact, she greeted guests at the cafeteria door at Louisburg College with a hearty “Happy Thanksgiving” while wearing Pilgrim-century inspired dress.

(Joyce and Joy are dressed alike.)
 

God Bless You This Thanksgiving Day!!!

Thanksgiving should be celebrated every day! Don’t you think! Do we wait until a certain day of the year to show our appreciation towards God and family? Is this day so special that we set it on the same level with Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days? Thanksgiving Day is so special that it requires a day off from work! And we all like to have those holidays off, don’t we? Even though there will be working on the holiday because it is the bottom line that many companies view more importantly. We should be thankful that we are working. There are so many people who are not employed and are not looking for handouts. But they are still thankful for being alive. We have roofs over our heads and food on our tables while there are millions in this world that have neither home nor food. There are people suffering from all kinds of abuse yet are still able to smile and make the best of what they have, surviving…living… Survivors of catastrophes are still thankful even though they lost everything they had except their lives. I say all of this because we do lose focus when we take what we do and get for granted. And when it becomes routine, we just complain why anything should disrupt us from our routine lives. We truly forget at times that God is always in control and we should be thankful at all times for the many blessings he has given us. I am not talking about the material things that we have to show off but the things no one can see or know except God and you. Look inwardly, my brothers and sisters, what are you faced with and how do you deal with it? How are you physically, mentally, and spiritually? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Can you compare them to someone who is handicapped, in the hospital, in a hospice? Do we forget to thank the Lord when we wake up each morning, see our love ones, get to and from our destinations, enjoy laughter and even crying? Our loved ones are no longer here to share our holidays with us but shouldn’t we be thankful that the times we had with them were fruitful? Shouldn’t we be thankful for the time with them? Thanksgiving isn’t just a day to eat our favorite meals, watch TV, and be around our family and friends. It is a day to recognize just how loving God is allowing us to have the benefit of sharing our lives with others. That love and mercy He gives us should be recognized throughout the year by us being compassionate, caring, patient, and tolerant towards others. What God has blessed us with, He can remove. He should be first in our lives, always. My thanksgiving message to you is enjoy your time with the people in your lives. Be patient and loving towards them. Appreciate them and think of pleasant things. Don’t let anyone still your joy. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 107)

My Boss Prayed With Me Today!

I can’t recall ever joining with any of my bosses for prayer since I started working at an early age but I did today. We all know that the devil is seeking to steal our joy, well, he tried to steal mine. I was in a great mood this morning but heard some unsettling news about how a co-worker was being treated. I could feel the negative reaction coming and decided that I will not give the devil the benefit of taking mine. My boss is a spiritual person, one who doesn’t mind praising God in front of people and admitting that Christ is his Lord and Savior. So, I went to him and asked that he pray for me because I was under attack. Without hesitation, he stood, bowed his head, and led us in pray. This may sound corny to some of you but to me, that burden of negativity was lifted. Prayer is more powerful than we think and I believe that without it, many more of us would be left for the buzzards. I appreciate what my boss did, because he didn’t have to do it. Real Christians are like that, they know that God is in control and will fight the enemy whenever and wherever it rears it head.  Remember: We pray for each other always.

The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same!

http://www.floatingsheep.org/2012/11/mapping-racist-tweets-in-response-to.html

Why is there such a major problem to the GOPers that we lost the election? It doesn’t seem that hard to understand to me. The party did not accept the fact that they did not care about the real facts. They are simply exclusive and did not seek the minority or women vote and appeared to care less. They wanted more white men and use their ace in the hole, voter suppression. Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and company seemed to tell our representatives what to do instead of truly representing all Americans. Grover Norquist put the party politicians in jeopardy by having them take an oath not to raise taxes. Karl Rove could not pull a Lee Atwater even with the millions of dollars contributed towards the campaign. The billionaires could not buy this election even though these folks have been used to buying and getting what they want with the money they are blessed with. But no one will accept the blame instead point their fingers and make excuses. The majorities of Americans are tired of this foolishness and want to move forward. Foolishness will outlive you. Top GOP leaders were proud to make this President a one term President. The divisiveness within the country went as far back as the OJ trials where the media pushed for racial polarity. Lies from both sides smeared this election but some were just unbelievable and the American people did not accept it. The irony that I saw was the audacity used by GOPers to say that minorities are voting for the President because he is black. Although many white people voted for Romney because he is white. But that was okay, for them. Another difference that I saw was Romney was selling snake oil, we were suppose to buy it but not test it until he was in office then we would see the actual effects. And we were supposed to trust him? Most people buy things because they know what they are getting and trust an informative salesperson. As a former CEO, he would know this. But after this election, the hate tweets and comments cried out. Trump wants a revolution, some Ole Miss students rioting, Ted Nugent and Chuck Norris declaring the end of America is at hand. What are these people thinking? What parallel universe are they living in? They don’t even live around us regular people. I found the above map browsing the news. I need to take a break from this stuff. The good news is that there are a lot of good people out here. It’s time the media acknowledge the good that Americans are doing instead of making money off of the bad news.

Happy Veterans Day!

Your Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback!

Congratulations, Mr. President and America!