Month: June 2022

Just Like Dad – Guest Post

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Re-introducing Rob Keller: Rob is a friend of mine who is not only the graphic artist behind the layout of our weekly publication Sunshine Newsletter; but he is also a writer of some of the articles. Seeing as Father’s Day is just a bit over a week away, here is one more look at being a dad.

Growing Up to be Just Like Dad by Rob Keller

Every July, my dad would bring our family to his company’s annual picnic. Because it was mostly adults and I was still a kid, I would get bored because there just wasn’t much for me to do. So, to make things interesting, I decided to entertain myself by seeing how many hot dogs, hamburgers, and steak sandwiches I could consume. On our way home, I would announce my stats and wait for the amazement to come rolling in. Aside from being a little queasy, I felt like a true champion. I had won the boy versus food challenge. As I look back at all of those picnics, there was one thing that left a lasting impression on me. All-day long, my father exchanged warm greetings and good-natured banter with a seemingly endless array of coworkers. Clearly, everyone liked my dad, and I was proud of him for that and wanted to grow up to be like him. By example, he taught me how to get along with the people around me and make them my friends.

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 NLT

I thank God for my dad, but maybe you had a distant or even abusive relationship with yours. But no matter what our earthly fathers are like, we all have a Heavenly Father who is perfect. As we spend time with Him in prayer and trust in His word, He begins working in us by His Holy Spirit. As we face complicated circumstances and difficult people in our everyday life, He helps us to grow up to be more like Him. The more time we spend with him, the greater His influence will be in our lives. Jesus’ life showed the world exactly what His Father is like. He said,

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. ” John 14:9 NIV

Even though we aren’t perfect like Jesus, as we follow Him, we can become examples of our Father in Heaven’s character to our children, friends and neighbors. Those things we have learned from God through the years are the best inheritance we can leave behind for our children. Which of God’s attributes do you want them to see?  

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I love you and I love everything about you! Please help me to grow to be more like you. I pray that the people around me would see you in me.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

While everyone needs respect, long term care is especially painful for men because they sense more acutely its loss. Men who have been providers, planners and protectors for others, now need the help of nurses and aides, sometimes younger than their grandchildren to get to the toilet. In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon gives […]

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I’ll be reposting here the posts from Walking With Lambs for a few weeks, then if you have an interest in nursing home outreach I suggest that you subscribe there. Praise2worship will continue as a devotion and occasional poetry site and we’ll see how this goes. Have a blessed day all!

While We Were Enemies

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:10 ESV

These days there is much talk about spiritual warfare (and rightly so), with the emphasis on our battle against the devil. But what is often overlooked in this matter is the origin of that war and that is the warfare between us and God. From the moment Adam and Eve took the fruit that God had forbidden, all of us became traitors, chose independence from God and declared war on our creator. By unanimous consent we decided that our way was better than God’s and we chose rebellion and separation from our Heavenly Father in order to follow our desires. Of course, the devil does tempt us in order to enlist us in his battle against God, but what he did not count on was the Almighty God’s strategy and how Jesus came to counterattack and defeat him through the cross. Until the cross we really had very limited options on the spiritual battlefield. We were slaves to sin and by nature marched along to the commands of the enemy of our souls. But at Calvary, the devil’s uncontested claim over us was broken. As Jesus cried out in pain and weakness, “It is finished!” we were at once presented with a choice. We no longer have to be the enemy and betrayer of a Holy God. Now we can be His children, because the amazing, astonishing and powerful good news is that while we were still at war with God; Jesus died for us! What an amazing battle plan. What a hope we have. Now we can joyfully choose to surrender to Him and then by the power of His Holy Spirit we can win the warfare against anything the enemy throws down against us today! With God as the Captain of our unit, that’s a spiritual war worth fighting because our eternal victory is assured by the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!