Looking for an earlier Watchword?
- In Memoriam - In Memoriam: Not so much a celebration as a commemoration, the remembering and honoring those men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Since the Revolutionary War, America has been involved in more than 60 wars, not counting expeditions and campaigns, and conflicts with strange names such as Sheepeater, or White River, or Pine Ridge, Gaza, Ukraine, and the list goes on. But it is the price of war that should be of concern to us. Casualties in the millions. Casualties is such a dehumanizing word...instead think of the blood of our young people, maybe your son or daughter! How many generations lost? How much talent lost? How much creativity lost? Continue reading
- Deny Yourself - Deny Yourself: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” That's exactly what Jesus said -- deny self. So, how does one do that? How do I deny myself? Does that mean putting others first? Hmm. How does one do that? Self. From the time we were small the emphasis was on building our self-esteem, our character, being who we are. As individuality develops it shoves others aside, separating, and isolating people. When we place our individuality over our spiritual life, our Spirit will become isolated, or misled, and we've lost something of value we didn't even know we had. Continue reading
- Love Everyone? - Love Everyone? “Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don't know what we mean when we talk about love.” Is that true? Do we still believe that love is the loftiest preference of one person for another? Read again the commandment: Love others as I have loved you. His command is not hard to understand. This is the true work of a Christian and it is not always easy. Continue reading
- More Than Enough - More Than Enough: When has God blessed you beyond what you imagined? Did you express your gratitude and recognize that it was the Lord moving in your life? Did you share that information with anyone, talk about how Jesus is more than enough for you? Isn't it true that we tend to keep things a secret, that we are shy in sharing our faith with others. Continue reading
- Missing Watchwords, But Not Lost - Missing Watchwords, But Not Lost: The errors and the disruptions of humans are no match for our Lord. A little inconvenience, maybe, but nothing that cannot be set right. He tells us, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness." Continue reading
- A Conversation with God - A Conversation with God: Life is filled with unexpected pits and twists. What has been happening to you over these past two years ? Some of you put on weight – blaming it that on the Covid. Some have drawn closer to family, loved ones, friends – crediting your own need and your common sense. It seems that most of us have drawn closer to God and our faith – Thank you, Lord. Truth – During this time, God matured us in our faith, in ways we could not have anticipated. We have drawn closer to the Word. We have changed in ways that bless the lives of others, and ourselves, even today. Continue reading
- Conversation with a Friend - Conversation with a friend, struggling with health issues, and his relationship with the Lord. Friend: I believe in God but sometimes I wonder, if God no longer believes in me. Me: You raise a very interesting question but I think the answer is right there within the question. If it is true that you believe in God, then the second part of your question could not be true, that God no longer believes in you, loves you. We all go through these moments of doubt when we're confronted with something that takes us out of our comfort zone, or threatens our health, or the health of a loved one. We must rely upon the truth that we find in the statement that God loves us. Continue reading
- The Spirit of Truth - The Spirit of Truth: Historic fact: In 1842 there were approximately 25 worshipers in the vast and beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In 1843, one year later, they were forced to add chairs in the outer lobby to accommodate all who came to worship. The difference? The book, A Christmas Carol. What is there about ghosts and spirits that cause us anxiety? How often during our growing up years did we hear ghost stories and spirits entertaining us in a variety of ways, maybe at night, around a campfire? For the disciples in His day, this was coming from the Master who had been walking with them for the past three years. They resisted His leaving and pleaded with Him to stay. Are we still resisting? Continue reading
- WPF - WPF: There are multiple instances in the scripture where Jesus has initiated a healing, a miracle. Where He provided a banquet for thousands out of a single young boy's lunch, raised a little girl from a death-bed, or a friend, long buried. Those are called miracles, and rightfully so. You may be wondering what WPF means. My daughter gave me this little figure of a pig with wings. It stands 2 inches by 2 inches, heavy, like it is made of bronze, signifying When Pigs Fly, something unexplainable, difficult, maybe impossible, that happened. Over the years she and I have often laughed and marveled at what the Lord has done in our lives. Things beyond our plans, or even our imaginations. That is true for you as well. Continue reading
- Milestones - Milestones: Today, Monday, May 6, is our anniversary. The number assigned is not as important as the meaning for which the anniversary is significant for both of us. We all have anniversaries. Love often plays an important role in making an event or date significant enough to acknowledge and celebrate, to remember. Love is not premeditated; in its purest form it is spontaneous; it leaves an indelible mark on us in extraordinary ways. We don't deliberately consider the role of God when we conclude that this date, this anniversary is God blessed, but the fact is, love in a relationship can only flow from one source. Continue reading
- Truth? Real Truth? - Truth? Real Truth? We know that quote from Jesus to trust in God. We have discussed it in so many different forums and tried to slant it one way or another, applying secular morality or inclusion to what Jesus said. But, Jesus did not say he would show the truth or teach the truth or model the truth. He said He is the truth. He is the source of truth. You and I can discover truth, but we cannot create it. We cannot mold it to our fancy. In this political world of ours, what is the truth? Is truth whatever you hear from whatever source you choose to trust? Is it true truth? How would you know? Can you manufacture truth? Put a false story out in the media and someone is going call it truth. This is a source of fear for many of us, fear for our families, especially the next generations, and what they might face in the years ahead. What do we lean on? What do we rely on? Then, we hear the Master tell us that He is the truth, and we are reassured. Continue reading
- Discernment - Discernment: Discernment is learning to think God's thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God's eyes and seeing them in some measure. We cannot follow the ways of the Lord without discernment. We need discernment in order to understand the Bible itself. Our human minds cannot understand the Scriptures without the discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit. God imparts discernment to us in many ways. I believe that the life experiences the Lord leads us through are designed to prepare us for something, yet to be revealed. Continue reading
- Praise Him Anyway - Praise Him Anyway: Have you read the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner? The title alone can remind you of times you really don’t want to revisit. I don't believe that we can live our lives, even with the strongest of faith, without having to climb a mountain of trouble, work our way through difficult times, along rough roads. Our faith gives us hope when the diagnosis comes our way. There is a new reality that comes with strong faith in God. It's the knowledge that God loves us, and that God has a plan for our lives, even here where we are. Continue reading
- Show Me - Show Me: You say you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Prove it. How would I know by watching you day by day? There was a time you believed in Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy, and what happened to those moments of belief? Gone, as you grew up? Now, how about Jesus Christ? What would your Christian resume look like? Your actions show you are a Christian. You were saved because Jesus loves you and you know that and that causes you great joy. Let it show! More than that, share it. Continue reading
- True Worship - Worship Habits: Do you think we get ingrained in our habits, preferences, and expectations, to the point where it interferes with our worship? Are you concerned about different styles of worship music? Are there people sitting in YOUR pew? Have you thought that your worship, your prayer life is your life being poured out to God for his glory? I find that my prayer life leads to my practical life being given to the Lord. The result causes me to think about lyrics and music. I break into song, such as Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. What's all this mean? Simply this, it isn't jus the music you're listening to, it isn't the time of worship, it isn't the sermon being preached, it isn't even the prayers that you may be speaking. Worship may be all of that, but it is what is happening within your heart. Continue reading
- Take Time - Take Time: Don't you love that hymn? Take Time to be Holy. How do we do that? Does that simply mean take time to be with the Lord, to follow the Lord in all ways? The word Holy does not mean to be a sweet approachable, generous, loving, easy to get along with soul. Although it could mean so many of those things. Holy means set apart for God’s use. Taking time can be hard. That requires discipline. The benefits of this practice are limitless. You experience a nearness to the Lord that gives you strength in your faith and you find yourself calm and at peace. Continue reading
- Water, Living Water - Water, Water Everywhere? In the beginning God's voice thundered over the deep and the water became the essence of life. Living water. Our pastor reminded us that the resurrection story is a love story, a story of refreshment, of rebirth, and, in truth, is demonstrated all around us. We read in the Bible the awful crucifixion of Jesus, then follow the resurrection, to Jesus standing among his disciples. We look outside to our world and we see resurrection everywhere: the budding of the trees, flowers pushing their heads up in a grand array, vast pasture lands greening-up from the browns of winter, time of rebirth. All seeking water that will allow them to live. Living Water, God's Love. Continue reading
- Are You Afraid? - Are You Afraid? Fear. Fear hits us all, maybe differently in you or in me, but, nevertheless it’s part of our lives, it’s part of how we function in this complicated and difficult time of life. What are you afraid of? The disciples, crowded into that boat on the sea of Galilee, and in the midst of a storm, cried out in fear for their lives. They saw no way to be rescued. The storm was too fierce, the waves too high, the wind threatened to capsize the boat. Then, there was Jesus, coming to them, walking in the midst of their storm. Too often, when we are fearful, we feel we are alone. But, the Word of God is both a command and a promise. The promise is that we are not alone. We are to wholly lean on Jesus’ name and know that He is with us. Continue reading
- Free Verse Prayer - Free Verse Prayer: There is a technique in counseling is called free association where client is encouraged to say whatever comes to mind without involvement of the counselor. It is surprising what comes out when the guard-rails are broadened. I believe that prayer is very much like that, letting the thoughts of your mind come and lay them at the foot of the Cross, before the Lord, without definition, formal recitation, just bringing it all to God. It takes practice, that is the point of Pray without ceasing. Continue reading
- God Loves Me? - God Loves Me? God loves me. And you, too? How can we get that through our thick heads so that it matters to us, hour by hour, of our days? So many of the scriptures that tell us that God loves us, but do we take the word of God into our very being and act like we are loved? I think that's hard for us to embrace when we consider all our evil thoughts, all our actions that we have taken over time. Our shortcomings, those times when we've turned our back on a person in need of help. But my friends there is a God, and He loves us, and He can be known. More than that, he wants you and I to know him, to talk with him daily. Continue reading
