Is Church An Essential Service?

What are essential services?  That is the question!  Essential services during a pandemic are different than what is typical at any other time.  Of course services like food, housing, banking, water, heat and electricity, health care and hospitals, law enforcement and firefighting are very essentials at all time.  Essential service is anything that is vital to our health and welfare.  We also need workers to maintain these essential services.  During a pandemic the same things are essential, because without these services, sickness, poverty, violence and chaos will result.  Failure to continue basic services during a pandemic can result in many unnecessary deaths. 

BUT when you think about it, everything is essential to someone.  Everyone’s job is essential to them.  We need jobs to earn money so we can feed our families.  How will we survive if we don’t eat? 

Is church an essential service?  We need church.  We need fellowship with others.  We need encouragement from our Christian friends.  We need to be able to praise and worship the Almighty God with other believers.  Yes, we know God doesn’t live in a building and we can worship Him anywhere, because He is everywhere.  There is just something about being in a place of worship with others Christians.  You get a feeling of awe to be in His presence.  We need to be with other people.  Being part of a church, together with people, is an essential of spiritual health and maturity.

We can worship anywhere.  Prayer is an expression of worship.  Hearing and teaching the Bible is worship.  Singing is worship.  The act of gathering together in a church building is worship.   We complete our worship by encouraging and prodding each other to live out our purpose in Christ.  The Bible tells us we need to worship God with other believers and be taught His Word for spiritual growth.  “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” – Acts 2:42.  “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Heb 10:25.

Rev. 5:9-12 tells us that the believers in heaven will come together to praise God.  We are to praise Him in our homes, in His sanctuary and in His heaven. “Praise the Lord.  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.” – Psalm 150:1-2.  Corporate gathering provide supernatural encouragement.  Our faith is not private, but it is personal.  We need to share it in the presence of other believers.  God values the gathering of His people.

There are many advantages by going to church.  There you will likely have some of life’s big questions answered.  The preaching of God’s Word will help set direction for your life.  It can help you define what you believe by helping you understand the Bible.  You will be able to pray for others and others will pray for you.  You will be encouraged by hearing the answered prayers of others.  It can help you take the focus off yourself and put your focus on God.  It can strengthen your faith and promote stability in your life.  It can and will literally change your life for eternity!  By going to church, it honors God.  To sum it up, churches offer essential services.

That said, we still have a responsibility to those around us even at church.  We still need to do social distancing and wear masks to protect others and ourselves during this pandemic.  During this pandemic, we may need to worship online instead of in person for a while.  I’m sure God will understand.  So be patient.  We all have a responsibility to ourselves and to others.

Join me here next time. -- I encourage you to trust in and have faith in Jesus.

__________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.

 

You can follow this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.

Heal Our Nation

We have so many blessings, but we have taken them for granted.  We’ve become spoiled and many have a sense of entitlement.  We are a generation of entitlements.  Everything we need is at our finger tips.  We expect to get what we want and then we want more and more.  We are never satisfied.  We think of ourselves and not others.  We treat others not the way we want to be treated, but the opposite.  It’s all about us.  We are far from humble.  We judge.  We complain.  We want everything and want to work for it as little as possible.  We’ve lost our moral compass.

So what can we do to change?  We can admit our selfishness, greed, pride and arrogance.  We can pray for wisdom and guidance.  It’s hard sometimes to know just exactly how to pray for our country.  Our hearts deeply ache for what is going on in American right now – and around the world.  We pray and pray, but it seems God isn’t listening to us.  God is faithful and He does hear our prayers.  He is waiting for us to surrender to Him and to love others as He loves.  We need to trust Him.  He knows what’s going on and He has a plan.  He can use evil and turn it into good.

Dear Father in heaven,
We call out to You in desperation.  We are under attack.  Our nation is in trouble.  We need You to heal our nation.  We need healing spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.  Calm the hearts and minds of all people.  Impress upon our hearts to be fair and just to all no matter race, status, background, or religion.  Show us how to bring change where change is needed without mobs and riots.

Convict our thoughts and turn them to Jesus.  Help us to do what pleases Him instead of what pleases our own desires.  Send revival before it’s too late.  Please bring unity to our world.  Please continue to hold our nation in the palm of Your hand.  Protect and restore us.  Bless your people and this nation.

Help believers be an example and a blessing to non-believers.  We pray for wisdom and guidance.  Pour out Your Spirit on our world.  Help us to discern between good and evil.  Fill our hearts with gratitude and thankfulness.

We ask that you purge our land from this coronavirus.  Remove the fear and replace it with faith.

Bring morality back and help us obey your laws and not our own evil desires.

We pray for our President and our leaders in government that they act fairly and obediently.  We pray that Your power will flow in their lives.  We pray for Your protection on all our law enforcement officers as well as our military.  Give them wisdom, protection and good judgment as they carry out their jobs.

In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

God says He will hear us, if we humble ourselves and seek Him.  Then He will restore peace to our land.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, than I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Join me here next time. -- I encourage you to trust in and have faith in Jesus.

_______________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.

You can follow this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.

A Good Father

What is a father?  The dictionary gives several definitions:  a man who has begotten a child, a male parent, a founder, a producer, an author, to accept responsibility for, to care for or look after someone, someone deserving respect or reverence.  But a father is much more than this.

Father’s Day is coming up and it’s time to reflect on the importance of fatherhood.  Everyone needs a father figure.  The role of a mother in the family is well known, but the role of the father in especially important.  Fathers bring strength and stability to the home.  All families need fathers.  Our society is in moral decay.  Kids need both mothers and fathers to train and set examples for their children.  Our kids are exposed to so much filth and violence on TV and the internet.  You’ve heard to saying, “garbage in, garbage out”.  That is exactly right.  What goes in our brains influences what comes out good or bad behavior.

You don’t need a Ph. D. in child psychology to figure it out.  We all are influenced by who we spend time with and where we spend it.  What would you rather see your kids influenced by?  Would you want them to be influenced by TV, computer games, friends or by you?  The best way to be a good influence is by taking time to be with them and for them to be with you and with the family.  Taking them to Sunday School and church is good, but that’s only a few hours a week.

It starts in the home.  It starts with God’s Word.

There are several Scriptures for raising your children.  Eph. 6:4 – “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  How do you do that?  Study the Bible together.  2 Tim. 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

We as Christians want our children to grow up to love God and others and to obey His Word.  It’s a process, but your goal should be to have them keep their focus on God.  Teach them to be obedience and that disobedience displeases you and it displeases God.  We want them to develop a godly character and godly qualities.  Heb. 12:10 tells us that God disciplines or trains us so we may share His holiness.  Parents must do the same. 

They should be taught moral purity.  They need to learn how to deal with trials with the right attitude.  They need to learn to be thankful in all things.  They need to learn not to be selfish.  They need to learn biblical love not worldly love.  They need to learn how to solve conflicts God’s way.  They need to learn certain skills to be able to function as adults.  They need to learn respect and responsibilities.

Tips on how to be a good father:

Love your children as God loves you.  Love them in spite of their shortcomings. 

Give them hugs and kisses.  Never withhold your love from them. 

Be patient with them as God is patient with you.

Be their protector and provider.

Be a dad that disciplines.

Spend time with them.

Play with them and read to them.

Love their mom.

Teach them godly ways.

Pray for them.

Take them to church.

Teach them about Jesus.

Be an example.  They will learn far more from your actions than from what you say.  You don’t have to be perfect.  You will make mistakes.  Just, be a good example and the authority figure in your home.  You have a responsibility!

Have a Happy Father’s Day!

Join me here next time. -- I encourage you to trust in and have faith in Jesus.

_______________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.

You can follow this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.

God is not fair!

Does it make you mad when it seems God is unfair?  Does it seem that the guy whose sin is very obvious gets away with it?  Why does God let people get away with being mean and unkind to others?  How about the gal who can eat anything she wants and never gains a pound?  Is that fair? 

Jesus told a story of a man who owned a vineyard.  He hired workers in the morning and agreed to pay them a day’s wage.  The same thing happened at noon and again later in the day.  At the end of the day he ordered his foreman to pay all the workers, beginning with those hired last.  They received a day’s full wage.  All the workers received the same pay. 

Those who had worked all day grumbled saying it wasn’t fair because they had worked more than the others and should receive more.  The owner said he had not been unfair because they had agreed to work for the wage.  He said as the owner he had the right to pay them what he wanted.

God doesn’t operate on the merit system.  He deals with us according to His free grace.  “For it is by his grace you are saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9.

God is no respecter of persons and does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34; Colossians 3:35).  It’s a good thing He is not fair.  Your status, race, wealth, or background doesn’t matter to God.  He will save all who call upon Him and will judge all who deny Him.  Before you wish God would be fair remember if He was fair, you would get what you really deserve.  God is just, but merciful.  Instead of giving you what you deserve, He extends His mercy over and over.

We are so blessed, but don’t deserve any of His blessings.  Because of our sins, we deserve judgment and condemnation.  So be very glad God isn’t fair.

When we see others who are blessed more or differently than us, we say that’s unfair.  God knows each of us and He knows what we need.  He doesn’t give us ‘one size fits all’ blessings.  He molds each of us with His personalized care for our good and for His glory.  We need to be thankful for the blessings He give us and for the blessings He gives to others.

God is love and He is not fair, but He is good and just.  It isn’t fair that Jesus endured rejection that should have been ours or that He suffered on the cross on our behalf.  It’s not fair that we received the grace of God.  If He was fair, we would all receive what we’ve earned and deserved – DEATH.

Do you struggle with fairness?

What right do you have to question how and why God uses what He created?

Will you trust God to do whatever is right?

Principle:  God is not fair, but He is always right.

Join me here next time. -- I encourage you to trust in and have faith in Jesus.

_______________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.

You can follow this blog by clicking "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.