Daily Verse

The Most Important Cabinet Position

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. Proverbs 15:22 KJ

Since the recent election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the airwaves have been filled with announcements as well as speculations as to who will fill which role in the new administration. But the most important cabinet position has yet to be discussed. Who will fill the role of spiritual advisor to our incoming commander in chief? Everyone knows that George Washington was our first president, but few have read that it was Pastor John Gano who baptized him and Mason Locke Weems who pastored the little church near Mount Vernon where Washington attended. Some presidential spiritual advisors were well known such as Peter Marshall, with Truman or Billy Graham with Eisenhower, but most remain obscure. But what matters is not the star power of these advisors, but their spiritual integrity. Let us remember to pray for God to send good and wise counsellors, not only for our president but for all our leaders. Let us also pray that they will not only seek wise spiritual counsel but even more that they will seek the wisest counselor of all: the Word of God!

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The Lord is My Light

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 KJV

Back in my hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania is a place called the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour. What makes it special is that it is a museum that is entirely underground. The only way to enter is to hop aboard a coal car, and travel hundreds of feet below the surface to where the miners once worked. To those of us who have never been in a mine, there are many interesting and amazing sights, but to me the most impactful was at the end of the tour. There, in the far reaches of the tunnel system we came to a large chamber, our guide unexpectedly came to a stop and then turned off all the lights. There in the pitch darkness he asked us to observe a silence moment and remember the miners, especially those who never made it out. Now, I have been in some pretty dark places, but in all my life I have never seen anything as black as what we experienced in that moment. It is very likely that as David was writing the words of today’s verse, he was hiding deep in a cave. Outside, as the army of King Saul was searching for him, with orders to kill him, David sat in inky blackness. But even in the darkness, David remembered how God had been with him all through the years. Whether he had faced a lion, a bear or a giant named Goliath, God had shown him what to do and David became confident that God would help him even in that cave. In that same way, God will be with us in our darkest places, when all other sources of light in our lives have been extinguished. So, let’s put our trust in our God, who had romised to shine around us, give us courage and strength and be our light forever!

That’s Why We Came Here

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9 ESV

On election day, my wife and I arrived at our polling place by 5:45 a.m. “Now that’s an early hour to be voting,” you might exclaim. But we weren’t there to vote. we showed up because it was our job as poll workers. If you came in yesterday, you would have seen my wife Nancy, with a friendly smile, gently showing each person how to put their ballots into the machine. Since I cannot stand for long hours, I sit at a table, hand out the ballots and then explain how to fill them out. As people turn to go to the voting booths, I often add, “Thanks for voting!” After saying this for hundreds of times yesterday, I rarely listened for their replies, until one young Latino, turned to me with a big smile and responded, “That’s why we came here!”

After all the anger, arguing and overall hooting and hollering that goes on every election, we often lose sight of the privilege we have as Americans just to vote. We forget that having the chance to freely vote for our leaders, is a rare commodity in today’s world. Like Abraham, many have left homes, family, and familiar surroundings and by faith have settled here. With Veteran’s Day right around the corner, we need to not only be thankful to God for our blessings, but we should also be grateful for the veterans who have sacrificed and sometimes even given their lives for that blessing. Generation after generation of people have come from all around the world with the phrase, “That’s why I came here!” So, let’s be thankful for that right and ask God how we may use our freedom to share the message of the love of Christ with someone else today!

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