Tag Archives: Matthew

Lessons learned in an unexpected way

Posted on April 16, 2013 by | Comments Off on Lessons learned in an unexpected way
Don Sadler (1937-2013) with our daughter, Edith February 10, 2013

Don Sadler (1937-2013) with our daughter, Edith
February 10, 2013

This past Sunday evening (April 14, 2013), our church family held a memorial service for a dear friend and member of our family, Don Sadler. From November 2011 until March 22, 2013, he quickly became a cherished member of our church family. For those who didn’t know Don, he was just another old man fighting cancer with a set of peculiar habits.  For Michelle, our daughter, and me, he became a part of our family.

In 2006, when I became serious about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I felt the strong desire to reach out to others in a manner that not only lifts them up, but where I can demonstrate and share the love that I feel from Christ in my own life.  There have been many times in my life, even after coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior, where I have felt abandoned by my fellow Christian and felt I had no earthly friend to turn to.  I decided then that if God ever blessed me with the means, I would do my very best to reach out to others; its an easy concept and one that our Lord and Savior calls us to do: Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me (Matthew 25:44-45).

Ever since Michelle and I started talking about getting married in 2007, we both expressed a desire to use our home and love of the Lord Jesus Christ as a means to minister to the needs of others.  We never talked about specifics but knowing each other’s past – she is the daughter of two Salvation Army officers, Bruce and Vicki Stefanik, that are still active and when needed voluntarily serve as disaster assistance with the Salvation Army; and my past history of service in Scouting and as an interim pastor – we both possessed the ability and desire to serve others.  As a side note, as I am preparing this entry to post, the widget that imports the daily King James Version verse is indicating that today’s verse is Romans 13:8: Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.   I cannot think of a more fitting verse to describe the relationship shared by our family and Don.

When Don first began coming to our church, we knew he did not have any family in the area and decided that we would open our home for Don and invite him over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Little did we know that the first Thanksgiving dinner we shared together would be the beginning of a relationship that not only taught us about ourselves, but taught us about ministering to the needs of others.  Don was a man that had a strong need to feel wanted and soon he would get that from our church family and from us.  As our pastor, Alan Ramsey, worked to make sure that Don had the means and transportation to attend church services and special events, Michelle and I had a much easier task – we simply opened our home and our time and allowed Don the opportunity to become a part of the family.

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Posted in Christian Living, Our relationships with other Christians

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What map are you using on your life’s journey?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by | Comments Off on What map are you using on your life’s journey?

00000149Maps are useful tools that can help us understand the importance of geography in shaping human history, they can help us to make travel and vacation plans, or even help us find our way in unfamiliar places.  We have access to maps on our smartphones, on our computers, or we can buy a map or book of maps at our favorite gas station.  Mankind has gone so far that many of us have navigation devices that allow us to program our destination and it will give us step by step directions until we arrive.  Maps come in all shapes and sizes, contain a range of details, but the basic purpose remains the same – to provide information on the area we are travelling though. Maps can also show us where we have been and can even remind us of the obstacles we have overcome.

For Christians, we have such a map that not only shows us where we were before we accepted Christ as our Savior, but it also provides us direction in our everyday activities and even tells us about our final destination. David, the author of the psalms, wrote Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11).  While none of us seek to start the day by planning to sin and yield to our temptations, we can easily slip at any moment.  The apostle Paul also wrote about this very thing: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).  These two verses together illustrate that as Christians, we must be willing to allow God not only to guide our  paths, but we must yield to his instruction and direction.

The older I have grown and the closer I have come to the Lord, I have come to realize that if there was ever a piece of information I could pass on to a new believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that could help them in their journey, it would be to read the Bible and pray daily, and seek the wisdom and guidance of God. Many Christians have squandered gifts, blessings, and opportunities because they were not familiar with the journey nor were they familiar with the pitfalls that they would encounter.  Solomon wrote Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil (Proverbs 4:25-27).  Too many times in life we take our eyes off our path, we become fixated on what someone else is doing, what someone else has, or maybe we think their pathway is easier than ours.  It is at those moments we lose sight of what is important, it is at those times we choose to yield to temptation and fall into sin.  God’s warning to Cain should resonate with us all:  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door… (Genesis 4:7a).

The apostle Paul wrote a lot on discipleship and instruction to Christians of any age.  In a letter to the church at Thessaloniki, Paul urged Christians to adopt as second nature some things that can improve and maintain our walk with Christ if we will do them on a continuing basis: Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:14-22). Imagine if every Christian would adopt these things that Paul wrote – warn the lost, provide comfort and assistance to those who are mentally disabled or have physical illnesses or injury, have patience with each other, rejoice in what God has done, pray for everything – all these are things that we can do that God will find acceptable in our lives and we can do each of these every day!

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Discipleship

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A quiet witness and the unexpected harvest

Posted on March 20, 2013 by | Comments Off on A quiet witness and the unexpected harvest

Harvest Time 4

The first day of spring has always been regarded as a new beginning by many.  In the ancient civilizations that arose after the flood, springtime was the time for festivities to celebrate the end of winter, the beginning of planting season, and rituals to appease the various gods worshiped in hopes of gaining favor during the growing season.   For modern societies, we are no longer directly tied to the seasons unless we have agriculture-related or other seasonal jobs.  Many see the seasons as simply a cycle of life repeated each year without any regard to what our ancient forefathers once celebrated.

Each spring, Christians around the world celebrate Easter.  The community college where I teach is in an area of Kentucky that has a large Catholic population so one of the many signs of spring are the ashes on the foreheads of the faithful and dutiful Catholic student.  The week before spring break I had a student walk into the classroom a bit early and found me taking a moment to pray for the class.  Not only was I praying for the souls of the students, but I was praying that I would not only be effective in what I was teaching, but also be found as honoring to God as well.  The student quietly entered into the room, and after I had finished, she began asking questions about my faith.  As I answered what seemed like one question after another, she finally began to focus on the difference between my faith and the Catholic faith that she was accustomed to.

The one thing she wanted to talk about was my faith, which she could tell was inward based, unadvertised  and real versus the  outward appearance of the Catholic faith.  She commented on how some of her best friends claimed to be good Catholics, went to mass, but other than their claims and outside appearances, there were no differences between them and other students.  They wore the crucifixes, ashes, and if they remembered to pray at lunch, they did make the sign of the Cross.  Other than that, there was no difference; they cussed, smoked, made fun of those different or that were perceived as being weak. She then began contrasting what she had seen of her friends versus what she had seen from me in class: she had never seen me ridicule or belittle a student in front of the class; I had always maintained an attitude of wanting to help the student learn; I was genuinely concerned and wanted to help students; and, I took the time to listen to students when they came to me with problems or difficulties rather than ignoring them.

Until that moment I was unaware of how Christ had become evident in my life.  I began to wonder how many other college students I had come in contact with had also noticed what this student had noticed.  I was simply acting in a way I thought would be honoring to God: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalms 51:17). As I mentioned in several posts, in 2004 I made a decision to literally study the word of God as intently as I was studying the information for my preliminary exams.

As a part of that and much later in 2007, I was determined to reach beyond myself and to focus on the lesson provided by Christ during his earthly ministry: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:34-40).  Simply stated, I want to serve others as I would as if I knew I was personally serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

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