Coffee Break

Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior is easy. We learn at a young age that Jesus is knocking at our hearts and is asking to enter in. We sing songs of God's love. We so very quickly accept God's forgiveness when we sin. We can justify our actions through Jesus loving us as we are. Following Jesus as Master and Teacher is hard. Again, we learn at a young age that the world is a cold, cruel place. We view hatred on TV and social media. To forgive when we have been wronged is almost impossible. To put another person's needs before ours is practically unheard of. To understand someone else's actions takes too much effort. Jesus never said being a follower would be easy. As a matter of fact, he said that it would be a narrow road that few would be able to travel. "S o in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,   for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  “Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to...

I have always been quick with an answer. Even when I don't know the answer, I am ready to say, "I don't know." For the past few years I have been working on being slower to answer. To think about what the other person is asking or saying. It is not easy. What is easy is to have an opinion already formed, an answer prepared or an argument in my back pocket just ready to be used. God's Word says otherwise. James 1:19-20 says, " Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person  be quick to hear,  slow to speak,  slow to anger;  for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."  Hence the Quick, Slow, Slow. Be quick to hear. It is more than just hearing what another person is saying, it is about allowing your heart to process the words being said. Are they words of encouragement? Correction? To have a quick answer is not giving your head or your heart time to process. Be patient with someone who is listening to you. Give them time to process...

Living on the Eastern Shore is scenic, beautiful, and dangerous. Over the past couple of years I have had to evacuate my home twice because of the threat of a hurricane. The nice thing about hurricanes? You know they are coming. You can prepare and make a plan. Some storms you cannot see coming, like tornadoes (and yes we can get those too). Life is a lot like where I live, it is beautiful and dangerous. When life is going the way we want it to, the way we expect it to, it is beautiful. When life is beautiful, we tend to not pay much attention to it, or even give thanks for the simplicity of the mundane. When storms hit, like tornadoes not hurricanes, we begin this crazy dance with tragedy and chaos. We call out to God for help when the storms in life turn us upside down and inside out. God. Our refuge and strength. Is He our refuge and strength only during a storm? Psalm 46:1 says, " God  is   our  refuge and  strength , a very present  he lp in trouble."...

Why do we view sins as not so bad, bad, and really bad? I have been thinking a lot about this over the past week. Isn't sin, sin? Are we to judge as God judges? God's word says; "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." -Romans 3:23 My sins, and they are many, are not better or worse than yours or your neighbors - or anyone else's for that matter. So who are we to pass judgement on another? Why spew contentment and hate when we know what another person's sin is? Isn't God's forgiveness and love for them just as much as it is for us? There is no "them" and "us" in the eyes of God so we need to stop dividing people up into these two categories. " Dear friends, let us love one another,  for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God  and knows God.   Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.   This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son  into the wor...

I have been noticing a theme during these Olympic Games. Stories of triumph and redemption. There, of course, was the scandal with the Russian team and their use of performance enhancing drugs. Many of the athletes were not allowed to compete, but a few were and have. I believe in competing clean, using the ability that God has given you with your desire to train to be the best. But in the Russian team story, there has been redemption. Then, this morning, I read an article about one of my favorite athletes to watch, Michael Phelps. To be honest, I did not know that he struggled with substance abuse, and if I had heard stories, I am sure that I dismissed them. How could he, he's the best.  http://qpolitical.com/1-nearly-dying-michael-phelps-tells-god-saved-life-made-swim/ So my thought (more to myself) is this, why is it we are quick to believe one story and not the other? Why do we celebrate the redemption of one, but not the other? The truth is, EVERYONE can be redeemed and ...

What does it mean to serve God? I suppose it takes many different forms, depending on your culture, religion or society in which you live in. Romans 14:17-19 (NIV) 17  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,  but of righteousness, peace  and joy in the Holy Spirit,   18  because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. 19  Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace  and to mutual edification. There has been so much harm done in the name of serving God. Mass murders, "terrorist" attacks, and suicide bombings just to name a few. This is nothing new. In the Bible's Old Testament God had ordered His people to go and destroy those tribes that did not follow Him. Deuteronomy 20:16-18 (NIV) 16  However, in the cities of the nations the  Lord  your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.   17  Completely ...