Posts Tagged ‘christian’
Upperroom Daily Devotional 1-30-14
January 30, 2014Lectionary Scriptures for 2-2-14
January 27, 2014Pastor’s Ponderings, Wonderings, Wanderings
September 5, 2013Just something for us all to ponder upon. It was copied from the Confessing Movement Newsletter (http://confessingumc.org):
WHY DOES AN EMPIRE FALL?
(The great historian Edward Gibbon, who was not a Christian,
gave the following reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.)
1. The rapid increase of divorce and the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies on bread and circuses.
3. The mad craze for pleasure and sport; sport becoming every year more and more exciting and brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy is within-in the decadence of the people themselves.
5. The decay of religious faith; faith fading into mere form which has lost all contact with reality.
How many times has History repeated itself and is it heading there again. Or perhaps I should say “Are we heading there again.”
Pastor Randy
Pastor’s Ponderings, Wonderings, Wanderings
May 28, 2012
This is Memorial Day and it is a day of remembering and honoring those who have given so much for their country. While this can be a time of sorrow as we remember those who have sacrificed everything up to and including their lives, we must also remember why so many have sacrificed so much. Our freedom and our way of life depends on their sacrifice. So lets also remember those who are currently serving our country in all of the military armed services. Let’s remember them in our prayers. Pray for their safety, for peace and for sanity in this crazy world we live in.
As we are praying let’s remember that there is nothing in the teachings of Jesus Christ that supports war. His way is a way of peace that reaches out in love to all. Let’s remember that as believers in God and Jesus as the Christ we should be praying for our country to find peaceful solutions to all disagreements in this world. Too many times throughout history men have taken destructive paths in the name of Jesus and we must always remember that it is not a teaching of Jesus to cause harm to anyone.
So we must pray for our country and it’s leadership. Pray that they will seek peaceful solutions to every crisis we are facing as a country. When our leadership chooses or is forced into military action, then we must pray the action we take will be quick and decisive with little or no loss of life on either side. We must pray that all who are involved will come home safely and if they make the ultimate sacrifice then we must pray for their families to be filled with the grace of God and be able to reach out to the world with the love of Jesus Christ. Pray for all of those who serve in times of war because so many suffer from the stress of war and all of its horrors. Pray that they may be able to return home and live a life of peace with pride in their service to their country.
Well I guess the question is “Are you praying for those in the military, past and present, for your country, for those who have suffered loss of any kind?” I believe that our prayers for those who are or have been in service to our country and their families are the best way for us to remember and honor them.
Have a blessed Memorial Day by spending at least a part of it in prayer, Randy
Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX 