Month: July 2019

Peace is Possible

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

I have spent a lifetime reading the news and seeing images of Arabs and Israelis fighting. From the Munich kidnapping and killing of Israeli athletes to the 50 innocent men women and children killed in a Mosque by a Jewish radical there has been bloodshed everywhere. We have grown immune to hope almost as if this is something we must expect…but we do not!

Where in the Bible is it written that this is God’s plan? Peace is possible. Even if everyone else in the world laughs at the hope of an accord we as Christians are required by God to pray for the impossible. We may forget that at Camp David in August of 1978 Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Why not today between Israeli and Palestinian leaders? To really pray as God commands us for the peace of Jerusalem someone must begin to believe it is possible. Who knows what God can do? The giant of hatred and death who has terrorized generations of children can be defeated by a single stone of hope.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 NIV

What Are You Looking At?!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

A number of years back one of the men who worked for me had a really quick temper. I found that I sometimes had to make amends for whoever the latest target of his anger happened to be. One day as we were coming to a stop sign Robbie looked out his window and shouted at a surprised looking pedestrian, “What are you looking at!!?”

“Do you know that guy Robbie?” I asked.

“No I just didn’t like the way he was staring at me!” Robbie snapped back. Then I realized that the problem was not in the target of Robbie’s rage but in how he saw the world.

How we see our world will always effect how we live. What we need most of all are eyes of faith. Only a faith that sees the unseen things of God can help us live for Him and prepare us for all He has in store in eternity. So what will you be looking at when you come to the final stop sign of life?

But we will be saved!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Acts 27:22

P1040482

When Paul spoke these words the men on the ship had lost all hope of survival. Their bodies were totally exhausted from weeks of frantic effort, lack of sleep and food. As they helplessly watched giant waves crashing over the ship’s deck they may have wondered if one of those would split the boat in two and send them to the bottom of the sea. Paul’s words spoke directly to their fears and weariness. He who had been the helpless prisoner in chains was now the only one who had assurance of a way out and for rescue. But to his life giving message each of Paul’s listeners had a different response. The owner and the captain may have felt ashamed for beginning the voyage at all. To them God extended mercy and a chance for a new start. To the soldiers and sailors aboard there came the startling thought that this weak puny preacher on board was in reality their best hope of survival in a storm. To his fellow prisoners Paul was a beacon of hope that they would not only survive the storm but that they, like Paul could put their faith in God.

Right now God is offering to go with us through our storms. Jesus Christ continues to send us messengers of hope at mid-night. At this exact moment God offers the hope of salvation to everyone who chooses to sail with Paul. We are all in the same boat. We all sail through the same storms. But we also all have the same promise: The boat may be lost but if we put our faith in God then we will be saved!

P1040081