Christian Outreach Ministry to those Incarcerated, with Addictions and our Military
One downside of the surge in podcast growth over the past few years is the decline in the number of people listening to sermons. Even preachers don’t listen to preaching much anymore. But preachers should listen to other preachers because some things are caught, not…
Source: Why We Should Not Entirely Emulate Our Favorite Preachers
The Suffering Messiah or Servant is the Major theme of Chapter three. Matthew Henry divides it this way: The person. (1-3) sufferings. (4-9) humiliation, and exaltation of Christ, are minutely described; with the blessings to mankind from his death. (10-12)
In keeping with our ongoing Comfort for the Grieving, Hurting, and Dying Series, the above artwork was in my inbox this morning and of course, just begged to be today’s feature sermon.
Last Sunday, we returned to Lakeshore Baptist Church, Pastor Don Elborne preached a sermon from 1 Peter 2:24 & Galatians 2:20, entitled; “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”. In it, he reminded us of the old Black spiritual of the same name. If you have never heard it, here is the 1899 version (v.1-4), the oldest known written copy as passed down and likely the closest to the original.
1 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (were you there?)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh!
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
2 Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? (to the tree?) Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?
3 Were you there when they pierced Him in the side? (in the side?) Were you there when they pierced Him in the side? Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?
4 Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (were you there?) Were you there when the sun refused to shine? Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
5 Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? * Added around 1907
6 Were you there when he rose from out the tomb? Were you there when he rose from out the tomb? O–sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when he rose from out the tomb? * Added around 1950s
No one suffered or grieved on earth more than Christ Jesus. Man cannot even begin to comprehend the weight of all sins bearing down upon him. The inability to grasp this should not deter in fact it should sour us to think about it frequently.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, March 1, 1873,
Scripture: Isaiah 53:3
From: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 19
Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs, John Piper
“Acquainted With Grief”, Oswald Chambers
We can think and talk long and hard on Christ’s deed at Calvary. Yet we too must be willing to Crucify our sins to be truly a follower of Christs.
(William Dyer, “Christ’s Famous Titles”)
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24
Crucify your sins, which have crucified your Savior.
Did the rocks rent, when Christ died for our sins?
And shall not our hearts rent, who have lived in our sins?
Oh, that the nails which pierced His hands,
should now pierce our hearts.
Oh, that they should wound themselves with their sorrows,
who have wounded Christ with their sins.
Oh, that they who have grieved His heart,
should be grieved in their hearts.
Oh, that I should be such a bad a child to Him,
who has been such a good a Father to me.
My sins have been my greatest terror, and
my Savior has been my choicest helper.
Oh, put sin to death, for sin was the cause of Christ’s death.
If someone killed your father—would you hug him and embrace him as your friend, and let him eat at your table? Would you not rather hate and detest the very sight of him!
If a snake should sting your dearly beloved spouse to death—would you preserve it alive, warm it at the fire, and hug it in your bosom? Would you not rather stab it with a thousand wounds!
And were not our sins the cause and instrument of Christ’s death? Were not they the whips that scourged Him; the nails, the cords, the spear, the thorns that wounded Him, and fetched the heart-blood from Him? And can we love our sins, which killed our Savior? Can a wife truly love her husband, and still embrace an adulterer?
We complain of the sins of Judas, and seem to hate them, and shudder at their mention. And can we love our Judas sins, which put Christ to death? And yet how many are there—who had rather have sinful-self satisfied, than to have sinful-self crucified.
Oh, sin is that mark at which all the arrows of Divine vengeance are shot!
Were it not for sin, death would never have had a beginning.
And were it not for death, sin would never have an ending.
Man began to be sorrowful, when he began to be sinful.
The wind of our lusts, blows out the candle of our lives.
If man had nothing to do with sin, death would have nothing to do with man.
Oh, did sinbring sorrow into the world?
Oh, then—let sorrow carry sin out of the world.
Of all evils, sin is the great evil. “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23
Oh, sin is worse than punishment, banishment and imprisonment.
Sin kills both body and soul:
it throws the body into cold earth rotting,
and the soul into the hot Hell burning!
The sun never set on the British Empire. It was the largest empire in world history. Out of nearly 200 countries in the world, only 22 were never controlled, invaded, or attacked by Britain.
In April of 1775, the British Royal Military Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, sent 800 British Army Regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, on a preemptive raid to seize guns from American patriots at Lexington and Concord...
It’s easy to think that the story of the last several decades, at least as it comes to Christianity and society, is the story of moral shifting. In other words, things that were once considered wrong are now considered right, and things that were once considered right are now considered wrong. That certainly explains an awful lot, and certainly, there have been moral shifts in Western society…
QOTW – Why should I believe in Christ’s resurrection?
Answer: It is a fairly well-established fact that Jesus Christ was publicly executed in Judea in the 1st Century A.D., under Pontius Pilate, by means of crucifixion, at the behest of the Jewish Sanhedrin…
Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/why-believe-resurrection.html
“Sleepy Joe Biden plays the fool, but he is a ruthless practitioner of progressivism. The happy future that he promises is an illusion; the reality is regimentation and control.”
Liberals are fond of predicting the future, and their predictions, which are always dire, then become the pretext for more government. Otherwise, they say, we’ll all starve, a class war will break out, or the Earth will come to an end…
You must reach wokeness herd immunity
Whew, digging a 300 square-foot bunker suitable for young children is hard work. My back isn’t what it used to be. So far, we’re 50 feet down in the backyard and are about to pour 10-inch thick WiFi-proof concrete walls. The kids will have goldfish, coloring books, a Kindle that contains all of Western classical literature, Play-Doh, and a hose for drinking water. They’ll be lowered into the hole when they turn six, and we’ll let them climb out when they turn 18…
Source: https://americanmind.org/salvo/how-to-woke-proof-your-kids/
ATLANTA, April 9, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ — The following is submitted by Evangelist Alveda King and she is available for comment:
In the 20th century and during the days of slavery in the 19th century and the 18th century, slaves and indentured Blacks were robbed of precious identities.
Today, when you say to me as a citizen of the United States of America, “You don’t need to have an ID to vote,” you are saying to me, your identity does not matter. You don’t need to know who you are, just show up, vote my agenda, and I will stir your emotions, your fear, keep you in the dark, and continue to suppress your civil rights. I will call the privilege of your having ID and knowing who you are ‘voter suppression.'”…
Source: Evangelist Alveda King: Voter ID Denial, Slavery and Abortion Are Identity Theft
Today we continue our series by looking at the last stage of the 5 Stages of Grief, Acceptance.
Many times as Chaplains and Ministers we never see this stage as the individuals we are dealing with have gone home or moved to another facility. That does not make it any less important to understand, mainly because it is the goal or end mark of the grief process.
If I may use an analogy (I hope it is not to bad of one) I think of this stage like getting ready to move. Being retired military and a missionary we have moved many times over the years, to many to remember. Each time it gets harder to seperate from friends and family. Yet, that is just what we must do seperate the old and prepare for the new. As in moving we pack up our old memories and prepare to make new ones. That does not mean we forget them, never, we just pack up and prepare to move on from them.
Another caution is that someone showing signs of acceptance DOES NOT always mean a wholesale transformation out of Grief. Folks can slip back into “lower” stages easily, especially those prone to depression and other mental health issues. Restrained encouragement, can go a long way here when someone reaches out and shows the beginning signs of acceptance.
Acceptance doesn’t mean someone is okay with the loss, illness, injury, situation, etc. it just means they have or are beginning to accept it as reality. The pain, anger, depression all seem to lessen and they can move on with life, albeit in a new way. One of the greatest tools in someones tool box is PST, Positive Self Talk. If they say it they can start to believe it. Here are some examples of this:
Once again I think it prudent to state the mission of Chaplain/Ministerial personal is to provide Care, Comfort and Counsel for the Grieving. In this the Acceptance Stage, we need to be that encourager, God’s cheerleader if you will, reminding them of all He promises and the hope for tomorrow, The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army];
Kübler-Ross and Kessler use the story of Keith to illustrate the acceptance stage of grief.
Keith’s son was randomly shot by a gang member while walking home from a sports arena. In the months that followed his son’s death, Keith and his wife were consumed with anger as they spent their days and nights investigating their son’s murder.
A well-meaning friend tried to tell Keith that he needed to “move on” and “accept” his son’s death, which only further angered Keith. While Keith could acknowledge the reality of his loss, it was unrealistic for his friend to think that Keith should have found some peace with it so soon after his son’s death.
After the killer was caught, Keith became consumed with the trial. After the trial was over and the killer was convicted, Keith had to contend with his grief and emptiness. There was no longer a trial to distract his attention.
In the 5 years that followed, Keith found acceptance, or so he thought. He felt the acceptance drain out of him when he heard that his son’s killer was up for parole. By the time the parole hearing rolled around, Keith was once again filled with anger. He attended the parole hearing and was struck by how quickly it was over. He saw the tears of the killer’s father when parole was denied. For the first time since his son’s death, Keith realized that there were other victims of this crime.
And for the first time, his anger was replaced by curiosity. Keith approached the killer’s father. He wanted to learn about the killer and what had led him to this place. Over the next few years, the two fathers formed an alliance to help gang members stop the violence. They visited many inner city schools to share their story.On Grief and Grieving, pgs. 27 & 28, Kübler-Ross and Kessler write: “Keith’s acceptance was a journey that was deeper than he ever expected.
“And it happened over many year, not many months or days. “Not everyone will or can fully embrace those who have hurt us, as Keith did, but there is always a struggle that leads us to our own personal and unique acceptance.”
The above with my adds, from: 5 Stages of Grief & How to Survive Them
How can we learn to trust God like the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:17-19)?
