Enjoying the Journey
Posts Tagged ‘comfort’
5 Books To Read When You Are Having A Hard Time
Someone once said that everybody is having a hard time with something. The longer I live the more I think they were right. We are sinners living with other sinners in a sin cursed world. The oldest book in the Bible says it best, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). Now, this is not meant to be a depressing post! It is simply an acknowledgement that all of us at some time will go through a hard time. It is very important who you listen to at those moments. If you are not careful you will only listen to your own thoughts, and discouraged people often overstate their own…
Read MoreStill Worshipping Together
Today a precious friend, a faithful preacher, a man of prayer went home to be with Jesus. He walked with God and, in the last few hours, like Enoch, “he was not, for God took him.” I imagine that at this moment he is rejoicing at the throne, and while I grieve for his loved ones, I rejoice for him. With the social distancing in recent weeks we have all been worshipping at a distance from one another. (Thank God, we don’t have to be at a distance from the Lord!) It has caused me to consider that when Christians die they are immediately transported into the most amazing worship service. They are simply worshipping the same God in a…
Read MoreReflections On The Death Of My Childhood Friend
Last night I was asked to share a few thoughts at a memorial service for one of my childhood friends. Ramie and I attended kindergarten through high school together. He was my friend and now, at age 42, he is with Jesus. He leaves behind two beautiful little girls, a grieving mother, and a host of friends. He leaves behind precious children that he instructed and influenced through his work. And he left behind something else for me…a reminder that life is brief and we have a short time to make it count. Since his home going I have been thinking about Moses’ words in Psalm 90:10, life “is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Last week I noticed a timbering…
Read MoreGUEST POST: “The Pastor Is Not Supposed To Cry”
Pastors have their own hurts as they seek to help hurting people. A minister who cannot grieve does not have the heart of the Chief Shepherd. I thank the Lord for faithful pastors and pray that God will continue to encourage and use them. Below is a very personal article written by my friend Pastor Mark Fowler during a recent period of ministry to a hurting family. I am passing it along, by permission, with the prayer that God will use it to help another pastor and perhaps another church member to encourage their own pastor… I kept saying this over and over to myself this week, “The pastor is not supposed to cry. I am supposed to be the…
Read MoreWhat I Learned at the Dead Sea
My dad and I had the privilege to be part of training several Iraqi pastors a number of years ago. For over a week we taught a group of men in Ammon, Jordan who were going back to Baghdad to start Baptist churches. It was an exciting work in a needy place. Near the end of our trip, the Jordanian pastor who had hosted us announced that he wanted to show us a few things before leaving his country. Driving his old Mercedes about 100 mph through the desert, he gave us the quick tour of some of Jordan’s biblical sites. We saw bedouin people living in the same wilderness through which the children of Israel had passed. It was…
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