Peace

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December 20

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

One of my blogging friends, Martha Jane Orlando, blogs at Meditations of my Heart.  She recently wrote and posted a simple but profound poem. You can find her blog and the poem here. To save you some time on the poem, here it is: “Holy candles/Lit in hope/Peace and joy/Laced in love/Everlasting/Flames ablaze/Light profound/Darkness flees/When God surrounds/The Soul and self. Amen”

That simple poem carries the essence of the Christmas story. Or maybe I should the essence of what we are looking for in the Christmas story or Christmas season. We all long for hope. We all long for peace. We all long for joy. We all long for love. If what I write is not true, check out the many Christmas songs we sing. How many of them talk about one of those 4 longings?

The story of Christmas, and yes, even the season of Christmas for those not even interested in the deeper story, draws people to those 4 longings in some way.  Sadly, there will be many who will seek the answer to those longings in the temporary-a relationship, a drink, a sentiment, a party with friends, even ringing a bell. But in the long run those 4 longings won’t be answered in or with the temporary. No, as Martha says, “Light profound/Darkness flees/When God surrounds/the Soul and self.” Profound and everlasting change will come only when the Eternal Father (God) surrounds us with His presence. When the baby in the manger, God made flesh, becomes more than a prop in a play. When the angels are more than dressed-up kids in white sheets and the wise men are more than kids in bathrobes. 🙂 Only when the truth of the Christmas story becomes more than a cute sentiment will those 4 longings become a permanent part of our lives.

Thank you, Martha, for the simple, yet insightful poem. Thank you, God, for the answer to the longings of each and every heart: love, joy, peace and hope…Jesus Christ, the baby born in the manger. The King who became a baby, who became a sacrifice, who is now a King again…AND WILL COME AGAIN AS KING.

#GivePeaceaChance!

Friday, September 23rd, 2022

There has always been hawks and doves. The one constant through the whole of human existence has been conflict. Frankly, we have a terrible track record. The peace we hail today can collapse tomorrow. Who can forget British PM Chamberlain, after meeting with the madman (Hitler), came home to pronounce, “Peace in our time. Peace in our time.” Not too much later he found out what Hitler’s idea of peace was.

Out of curiosity, I did a little research. I typed in “years without war or conflict” and found the following statistics: There has been a total of 10,624 battles in history (2019); of the past 3400 years there have been 268 years without conflict= 8% of history (2003); of the 244 years of US history, only 15 have been peaceful (2020).  Well, as you can see we don’t have a great track record do we? But those stats are quite revealing.

They definitely show our propensity for fighting and not getting along. So how could Jesus be so bold as to say “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Was He just blowing smoke by giving us an impossible task?  My task this Sunday is to investigate this Beatitude and see how it applies to we who live in 2022. How can we be peacemakers is a contentious world?

Join us if possible in person at 9 and 10:45. If you are unable to, please join via live stream.  To echo my inner 60s child: Give Peace a Chance. 🙂

#Surgery#Atpeace

Monday, June 13th, 2022

As the title says, I am scheduled for surgery. It is to take place tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 8:00. It was originally scheduled for 11:30 with a 9:30 check in time. But they called Friday saying they had a cancellation and moved me up to an 8:00 time for the surgery.  Check in time is 6:00. I won’t have an issue with that but Jo doesn’t do mornings so it will be interesting. 🙂

I ask for your prayers. I don’t anticipate any difficulties but I am not the ONE who is in charge. For more of my thoughts on the surgery and some lessons from Psalm 31 please visit my devotional blog, “Living in the Shadow.” You can find that particular devotion at https://livingintheshadow.ovcf.org/2022/06/13/june-13-3/

Thanks.

#Snapshot#Tension

Friday, May 13th, 2022

We tend to think sometimes that the early church knew no friction. Nothing is farther from the truth. Like all earthly entities, the church was and is no different. Church is made up of people and as such will find itself embroiled in tension from time to time. I’m not talking about big “C” church. I’m talking little “c,” like the local body of believers.

There is an old saying we hear and may even use often: they are like oil and water. We hear it used about siblings. We hear it used about parents and children. We hear it used about coworkers and even teammates. We even hear it used about individuals in a church. Sparks fly and at times it may even feel like WW3 is happening.

Blaise Pascal once said:

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.

He said that of his day. (the 1600s). I think we can say that about ours as well. Seems like there is nothing new under the sun.

2 John is the 2nd book in my short series called Snapshots.  The title is Picture of Tension Revealed. It is about the molding of truth and love. Truth is necessary; truth and love is vital.  We would do well to listen, learn and practice both. Join me please at 9:00 or 10:45 in person or via live stream. We will also be honoring our high school and college graduates this Sunday. All told I think we have 15.  Thanks for being a part of our worship.

#Don’tPanic!

Friday, January 14th, 2022

Man, because of his ego, ambitions, and idolatries, is often impressed by what he can build. For example, it is widely said that upon boarding Titanic one of the men was reported to have said, “Not even God could sink this ship.” Of course, it didn’t take God doing it; it only took an iceberg and some of men’s stupidity. The Twin Towers were often looked on as man’s view to prosperity and inventiveness and ingenuity. We all know what happened to them. It is easy to look at what we have and have a blind eye.  But when it happens to us or involves our family, we stand up and take notice.

When our back is against the wall, it is easy to panic. When it appears we are “on the ropes” with seemingly no way out, it is easy to panic.  Daniel and his three friends refused to panic.

This week we are going to be looking at what appeared to be a panic-situation.  Read Daniel 2 to find out what I am referring to. But Daniel refuses to panic. Instead, he trusts. My sermon is on Daniel 2 this week and I have titled it “Don’t Panic!” I would love to have you join me in person or live stream at 9 and 10:45. If not, please pray for us. 

LOVE GOD DEEPER…WORSHIP HIM MORE

#MyOpinion#Unpopular

Sunday, November 22nd, 2020

I have “soaked” on this since before the election. I have been writing it in my head since weeks before but I chose to hold off, to wait until my head was “cool” and my heart was right. As I write this, the election has happened but the results are still up in the air.  I seldom, if ever, write about politics. In many ways, I despise the topic. I believe they do not in any way, shape or form belong in the pulpit. I struggle with any so-called pastor who gets involved in politics on a national level and spews vitriol at his/her opponent.  I somehow cannot see Jesus approving of that approach, nor can I see Him approving abortion and hate.

But I feel I must speak up. We are living in a post-Christian culture. No question. We have seen “evangelical” preachers take a stand as being pro-life but aligning with a party that has as its basic platform to tear down that stronghold of life, all because they cannot stand a man.  We have seen the rise of a socialist agenda. We have seen the rise of people who mock God and mock our democracy. We have seen the rise of big tech and the media controlling the information disseminated to the people. (And people wonder why I am not on Twitter and FB and Instagram? Need I say more?)

Back when this whole mess started with BLM I made a public statement and published it on this blog here. If you missed it please check it out.  I stand by that. But I’ve also done some more thinking on it. (Now that is scary!).  I have heard a statement and have seen it loud and proud: “All lives don’t matter until black lives matter.”  Would you please take a look at that statement one more time and see one thing? Do you see how racist that statement is?

Racist you say? Yes I said that.  Here’s why.  That statement says Chinese-American lives don’t matter. That statement says Italian-American (of which I am one) lives don’t matter. And you can keep going with that.  I grew up in West Mifflin, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh.  For my first 12 1/2 years I lived and grew up in the projects until my folks were finally able to afford a home of our own. My brother still lives in that house. I grew up around black people-some of them were my friends.  I played sports with them. I got along with them. I didn’t have a clue about the different section of housing in the projects. We played together. My mom taught me to never use the “n” word.  A very vivid memory of mine is in 1969.  The racial riots were breaking out and my high school was no different (I’m guessing it was 1/3-1/2 black. My graduating class was between 300-400 students). I stood in the foyer of our school with 3, sometimes 4 other students commenting how stupid the fighting was. John was Catholic and came from a successful family. Bruce was black and had designs on being a concert violinist. Jeff was Jewish (Jeff Goldblum, the actor, a rich doctor’s kid who probably doesn’t remember me from Adam). And I was a Christian and came from a family that struggled to make ends meet. Did you notice the diversity? No one ever told us the other’s life didn’t matter. That would have been one of the stupidest ideas I/we would have ever heard.

In God’s economy, NO ONE is more important than any other.  Has injustice been done? Sure. To all when you check it out. How about the ugly Holocaust? How about the Japanese-Americans during WWII? I see a greater injustice done to the thousands of unborn babies whose lives are snuffed out before they can even take a breath…white, black, Hispanic, or otherwise. As people of God, as followers of Christ, we MUST begin to see that all lives matter.  Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Then verse 13 says, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Notice the gospel is for everyone. No color mentioned. Because we all need Jesus.

I realize what I have said may not sit well with some. I’m a big boy. Feel free to respond if you like, but please be courteous. To me. Or to anyone else.  Also keep this in mind: this is my blog.  The views expressed are mine and in no way reflect on the individual beliefs of others or the leadership of OVCF.  We truly do welcome all people-age, color, social status, or lifestyle. And just so you know: we do have a Hispanic who attends and an interracial teenage couple. And I guarantee you that he (I will withhold his name) would never tell you I judged him/them with prejudice.  We even had a Filipino attending for several years until she found a Filipino congregation in her town. We do believe the Bible is God’s Word and is true and won’t compromise its message to make ourselves palatable to the masses.

Oh yeah, one more thing. When some of the stuff comes true-jobs leaving the US; the socialist agenda (BLM and others) makes inroads; we become reliant on foreign oil; we become “beholding” to foreign powers because of compromised leadership; when organizations come calling for favors; when abortion and other ungodly things hit their stride; when you can’t afford gas (car or home) and your taxes are raised; when healthcare is truly unaffordable- I’ll make sure I don’t say “I told you so.” (Sadly, as I finally publish this, some of the above “prophecies” are coming true).

#NeurosurgeonWisdom#BookReview

Friday, July 10th, 2020

I’m not preaching this Sunday. It is the first Sunday since September that I have had off. We will be heading to Ohio for our grandson’s baseball game, coming back home Saturday and attending church elsewhere with some friends. So I thought I would take this spot, when I normally talk about my sermon, to do a book review. I welcome you to join me as I do that.

If you are like me, there have been times when doubts arise. Truthfully, I have never doubted who Jesus is. I have never doubted the divinity of Jesus or the truth that he was fully God and fully man. I have major issues with so-called Bible teachers like Bill Johnson, Todd White and others of that ilk who presume to know the deeper things and can’t even get it right that Jesus did not need to be born again. (And yes, BJ said he did. It’s on YouTube).  So, it isn’t the questions like the resurrection or the life of Jesus or even the miracles found in the Bible (Noah and the flood, for example, or Jonah and the big fish).

The doubt I’m talking about is the struggle between faith and doubt, the things we think we know that often cause the most trouble. The doubts which arise when prayers are not answered as we think they should be. The doubts that arise when we look around and see the injustice and war and slaughter of babies or the lives of young people or even young adults being taken away by cancer.

Those are the kinds of doubts W. Lee Warren, MD writes about in his new book I’ve Seen the End of You. What a phenomenal read!! Dr. Warren is a neurosurgeon (primarily brain) who is also an inventor (related to his brain surgery), an Iraq War veteran, and now a writer. He is also a blogger and a podcaster.  His first book, No Place to Hide -which I have not read but will- is about his Iraq experience, the PTSD which followed, as well as other fallout from that experience.  This book is about faith, doubt and the things we think we know.

I was captivated by it. When I first looked at it my thought was “What did I get myself into? He is going to be way above my head.” Not so. Dr. Warren’s style is what I will call conversational, filled with stories from his practice (primarily his work with Gioblastoma) and how his life was affected by his interaction with his patients. And just as he is dealing with the death of his patients (GBM has a 100% death rate), he loses his son. His faith is sorely tested. He asks a lot of questions; finds no easy answers; works his way through his emotions and feelings about God and life; and admits to his struggles-even to this day.  Dr Warren is real and transparent. I would love to meet him someday (but not for his specialty).

I can’t say enough about this book. You won’t find one negative comment from me. But you will find a rousing endorsement. I have already offered it to a nurse to read while on her vacation.  I had neck surgery back in 2010 (yeah it was from a bike wreck caused by a dog), and the neurosurgeon was a Christ-follower. I would give a copy of this book to him if I ever needed to see him again. (I just might anyway).  Please go out and buy this book. Read it first. Then give it to someone else to read.

 

By the way, there are some powerful quotes I might use at another time.  If  you read them you will find them too. 🙂

#Worry#Peace

Friday, July 3rd, 2020

Its funny (not ha-ha funny) how things come together and you are not even aware of it at the beginning.  When I started mapping out this series called Promises, Promises I was oblivious to the dates. I just started brainstorming titles, found the Scriptures, and then started putting them into the order I wanted to preach them. Little did I know that this week’s sermon would fall on the July 4th weekend and be so applicable that it blows me away. It wasn’t until I had started working on the outline and objective statement (what I want to accomplish) that I realized it was the weekend we celebrate our Independence as a nation.

I could not have planned it any better than if I had pulled out the calendar and said, “This week is this sermon.”  FDR once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” JFK said, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”  MLK, Jr stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave his “I have a dream” speech. His dream of racial harmony has not been fully realized (as we know), but progress has been made and we can pray it will continue.

But if there is one thing our world has plenty of is worry. One thing our world is missing in spades is peace.  I like what Corrie Ten Boom (Dutch Holocaust survivor) said:

Worry is an old man with bended head, carrying a load of feathers which he thinks are lead.

The enemy of peace is not war. It is worry. And that has a by-product: fear.  Peace is something Jesus has promised His followers: “My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John 14:7) There is no question that peace is what we all would like to see. Truthfully, that will never happen (not until Jesus returns). But the Christ-follower has the promise of peace…the kind the world will never know or experience. I want to give those who listen or watch some of that reassurance we find in God’s Word.

I think it is a critical subject. I’d appreciate your prayers please.

#AShelter#RunforCover!

Friday, June 12th, 2020

Forest Gump was famous for saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” Since I like love chocolate, I would agree.  But there are times when someone throws a curve and ruins the chocolate. All they have to do for me is to either put coconut or any nut but peanuts in it and they ruin it. I don’t have to say this because you know it from reality: we are thrown curves of every kind. The  end result is determined by what we do with them and how we handle them. 

I found some interesting quotes while I was studying for this sermon:

“Life is like an onion, which one peels crying.”

“When you are down and out, something always turns up-and it’s usually the noses of your friends.” Orson Welles

Here is one that made me chuckle: “Life’s a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest.” Wilson Mizner

Life and tough stuff go hand in hand. Let’s call them storms.  With all our high tech equipment we aren’t very often surprised by a storm anymore. Unless it is a tornado that comes while we are sleeping. In life, while we are not so much surprised by the storms because we know we are not exempt, we are often surprised by the intensity of them.  A more important question is this: where do you go when the storms hit?  Where do you hide? Where do you find cover?

The second sermon in my Promises, Promises series is called “A Shelter in the Time of Storm.” It is the first of two from Isaiah 40. This one covers verses 1-27.  In this day and age,  we all need a shelter. Not a monetary one. Not an abode.  Certainly more than an umbrella. We need a real shelter.  People are hurting. People are crying. People are living in fear. What better message than the one from God’s Word to give hope?

Your prayers would be appreciated. Thanks.

#SufferingHappens#Inevitable

Saturday, February 15th, 2020

 

Life is filled with joys. It is also filled with tragedies. No one is immune. As I wrote the introduction to this week’s sermon, it was two days after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and others in a helicopter crash. We are, of course, drawn to the death of a celebrity. Recently actor, Kirk Douglas, died at 103. On the death of Kobe Bryant (January 26th) thousands of loved ones across the globe suffered the same kind of tragedy.

Let me give you an example. On November 22, 1963 what happened?  If you stated that was the date of President John F. Kennedy’s death you would be 100% correct. But did you also know two other very significant men died that day? Aldous Huxley, who wrote the futuristic novel Brave New World, was one of them. Another one was C.S.Lewis. Ever heard of him?

Tragedy, suffering and trials are all part of life. They are inevitable. I mean, it’s not like anyone sits there and says, “Bring them on Lord! I’m ready!” but they are a fact of life. For someone to say the follower of Christ is not to suffer or should speak them out of existence has something stamped across his forehead: FALSE TEACHER. 

I’m continuing my year-long TRUTH theme with a sermon called Suffering Happens. Not only is it inevitable, it is something we need to realize tests our faithfulness. I tire of those hucksters who say, “Christians should not suffer. If they do their faith is not strong enough.” Hogwash. Hogwash. And more hogwash. Please pray for me and for us this Sunday. It will be much appreciated.