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Monday, February 26, 2018
Quilting room - Room with a View
White Horse Gift & Thrift Shop
(Click to enlarge)
The Amish women and other volunteers sew quilts in this room in White Horse, PA. The quilting frames drew my attention but after I snapped the photo I was drawn more to the center window that framed a large farm (no pun intended). With a rural setting like this our quiltmaking friends might just want to join these volunteers.
"More Alive Than Ever"
Message summary: We urge each of our readers to consider how you have given attention to your eternal plan. Are you prepared to be more alive than ever?
Listen to our
message on your
audio player.
"The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:17).
Last week I greeted Joe, a colorful man we see in the course of our chaplain work, and I asked him how he was doing. He told me "Excellent" and added with enthusiasm, "I have a five month plan!" I responded, "Wonderful! But do you have an eternal plan?"
Having a plan is a good thing and we all have them in various ways. Many in high school begin to develop their college and career plans. When we are younger we have marriage and family plans. We make short term plans for vacations and many other areas of life. As we age we have finance and retirement plans. And of course there's funeral planning!
But do we have an eternal plan? That is, preparations for the life to come? Many only focus on their existence while living here on planet earth. But the wise realize that this life, as we now know it, is only a small, but vital part of our eternal existence. Yet the planning we make here has consequences for eternity.
Billy Graham had an interesting way of expressing his plans for eternity. He said long before he died, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead—don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
Over
100 years ago D.L. Moody, a famous evangelist in the late 1800's,
expressed a similar sentiment written before his death, "Someday you
will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead.
Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive
than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this
old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death
cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His
glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the
Spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is
born of the Spirit will live forever."
Today's
text happens to be the Scripture text inscribed on D.L Moody's
tombstone in East Northfield Massachusetts, a place we have visited
several times. "He that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
What a solemn reminder of the importance of our eternal plans, not only
for ourselves but our family and all whom God brings into our sphere of
influence.
"When we love anything more than the true and living God revealed in the Bible, we are worshiping it. Whatever it is, it won't last. And it won't be able to help us when our plans shatter, our health fails, or death beckons. Only the one true and living God can help then. Beloved, time is passing -- have you chosen the eternal love of the Father for the passing, empty love of the world?" (Precept Austin commentary)
We urge each of our readers to consider how you have given attention to your eternal plan. Are you prepared to be more alive than ever?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
over the years we have made many plans and spent lots of money planning
our trips and vacations that last for a week or two. We dream, gather
resources, and learn from others about all that we should see and do to
make it a meaningful event. And yet the majority of people neglect to
make plans for the trip that we will all take which will last, not for
a week or two, but for all eternity. Help us not to be so temporal
minded that we neglect preparation for our eternal destination, for it
will be of great or disastrous consequence. Thank You, Father, for
making heaven possible through the sacrifice of Your
Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, in whose name we pray. Amen.
The following may be very convicting.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself, to evaluate whether you love the world or the Father (adapted from A. W. Pink, Exposition of 1 John [Associated Authors and Publishers], p. 126):
We need to make the basic choice: Will we love the Father, or will we love the world? Most of us have made that choice, but we need to maintain it. Do not yield to the temptations of the world, but do the will of God. You will abide forever!
Friday morning we had breakfast with our long-time friends, Mark and Carolyn Pulliam. Mark is a hospice chaplain and conducts several funerals each week. Hospice chaplaincy is a rather challenging ministry but can also be very fulfilling since hospice chaplains can deal with the eternal plan at a time when people may be especially receptive!
Barbara Musser and Mike Sipe
Also on Friday we stopped by to see the staff at WDAC, one of our local Christian radio stations. Since 2002 we have sent over 1,000 one minute devotional messages that are played on the station Tuesday and Thursday mornings just after 8 AM. We are able to prepare the messages on the same program we use for our podcast messages. We then send them to the station as an attachment. Barb Musser processes the messages and Mike Sipe is the morning announcer who plays them.
Yesterday we drove up to the Lehigh Valley to visit my
brother Pat and his family and church. I (Stephen) also visited for a
few minutes with Sharon Campany, a longtime reader, who attends the
church. Sharon gave her life to Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in
Syracuse New York in 1989 when she was 48 years old. Sharon shared that at
that point in her life she had a nominal Christian background but no
understanding of salvation. She attended with the crusade with others which was held
in the Carrier Dome. She then returned the second night and responded to
the invitation.
The last several days we have been listening to old Billy Graham sermons now playing on a station we listen to. His messages are timeless presentations of the gospel and just as impacting now as when he preached them, in some cases when we were little children (Actually his ministry began about 20 years before we were born).
We also observed how he would boldly deal with contemporary moral issues and how in many cases his messages are prophetic as he saw what was coming in regard to the moral breakdown and rebellion against God.
From Brooksyne: One more photo from the Quilting Room at the White Horse Thrift Shop. Since red is my favorite color this is the quilt that initially drew my eye to the quilting room.
Quilting room - Room with a View
White Horse Gift & Thrift Shop
(Click to enlarge)
The Amish women and other volunteers sew quilts in this room in White Horse, PA. The quilting frames drew my attention but after I snapped the photo I was drawn more to the center window that framed a large farm (no pun intended). With a rural setting like this our quiltmaking friends might just want to join these volunteers.
"More Alive Than Ever"
Message summary: We urge each of our readers to consider how you have given attention to your eternal plan. Are you prepared to be more alive than ever?
Listen to our
message on your
audio player."The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:17).
Last week I greeted Joe, a colorful man we see in the course of our chaplain work, and I asked him how he was doing. He told me "Excellent" and added with enthusiasm, "I have a five month plan!" I responded, "Wonderful! But do you have an eternal plan?"
Having a plan is a good thing and we all have them in various ways. Many in high school begin to develop their college and career plans. When we are younger we have marriage and family plans. We make short term plans for vacations and many other areas of life. As we age we have finance and retirement plans. And of course there's funeral planning!
But do we have an eternal plan? That is, preparations for the life to come? Many only focus on their existence while living here on planet earth. But the wise realize that this life, as we now know it, is only a small, but vital part of our eternal existence. Yet the planning we make here has consequences for eternity.
Billy Graham had an interesting way of expressing his plans for eternity. He said long before he died, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead—don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”
Over
100 years ago D.L. Moody, a famous evangelist in the late 1800's,
expressed a similar sentiment written before his death, "Someday you
will read in the papers that D.L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead.
Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive
than I am now. I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this
old clay tenement into a house that is immortal; a body that death
cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned like unto His
glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the
Spirit in 1855. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is
born of the Spirit will live forever."Today's
text happens to be the Scripture text inscribed on D.L Moody's
tombstone in East Northfield Massachusetts, a place we have visited
several times. "He that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
What a solemn reminder of the importance of our eternal plans, not only
for ourselves but our family and all whom God brings into our sphere of
influence."When we love anything more than the true and living God revealed in the Bible, we are worshiping it. Whatever it is, it won't last. And it won't be able to help us when our plans shatter, our health fails, or death beckons. Only the one true and living God can help then. Beloved, time is passing -- have you chosen the eternal love of the Father for the passing, empty love of the world?" (Precept Austin commentary)
We urge each of our readers to consider how you have given attention to your eternal plan. Are you prepared to be more alive than ever?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father,
over the years we have made many plans and spent lots of money planning
our trips and vacations that last for a week or two. We dream, gather
resources, and learn from others about all that we should see and do to
make it a meaningful event. And yet the majority of people neglect to
make plans for the trip that we will all take which will last, not for
a week or two, but for all eternity. Help us not to be so temporal
minded that we neglect preparation for our eternal destination, for it
will be of great or disastrous consequence. Thank You, Father, for
making heaven possible through the sacrifice of Your
Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, in whose name we pray. Amen.The following may be very convicting.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself, to evaluate whether you love the world or the Father (adapted from A. W. Pink, Exposition of 1 John [Associated Authors and Publishers], p. 126):
· Which do you seek with more fervor: the wealth and honors of the world, or the riches of grace and the approval of God?
· Which have the greater attraction: the pleasures of the world, which are only for a season, or those pleasures at God’s right hand, which are for eternity?
· Wherein lies your confidence: in the money you have in your bank account or investments, or in the living and faithful God, who has promised to supply all your needs?
· Which causes the deeper sorrow: a temporal loss, or a break in your fellowship with God?
· Upon which do you get more joy: spending money for personal comforts and luxuries, or spending money to further the gospel?
· What most dominates your mind: thoughts and schemes after worldly advancements, or resolutions and efforts to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord?
· Which have the greater attraction: the pleasures of the world, which are only for a season, or those pleasures at God’s right hand, which are for eternity?
· Wherein lies your confidence: in the money you have in your bank account or investments, or in the living and faithful God, who has promised to supply all your needs?
· Which causes the deeper sorrow: a temporal loss, or a break in your fellowship with God?
· Upon which do you get more joy: spending money for personal comforts and luxuries, or spending money to further the gospel?
· What most dominates your mind: thoughts and schemes after worldly advancements, or resolutions and efforts to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord?
We need to make the basic choice: Will we love the Father, or will we love the world? Most of us have made that choice, but we need to maintain it. Do not yield to the temptations of the world, but do the will of God. You will abide forever!
Friday morning we had breakfast with our long-time friends, Mark and Carolyn Pulliam. Mark is a hospice chaplain and conducts several funerals each week. Hospice chaplaincy is a rather challenging ministry but can also be very fulfilling since hospice chaplains can deal with the eternal plan at a time when people may be especially receptive!
Barbara Musser and Mike Sipe
Also on Friday we stopped by to see the staff at WDAC, one of our local Christian radio stations. Since 2002 we have sent over 1,000 one minute devotional messages that are played on the station Tuesday and Thursday mornings just after 8 AM. We are able to prepare the messages on the same program we use for our podcast messages. We then send them to the station as an attachment. Barb Musser processes the messages and Mike Sipe is the morning announcer who plays them.
Yesterday we drove up to the Lehigh Valley to visit my
brother Pat and his family and church. I (Stephen) also visited for a
few minutes with Sharon Campany, a longtime reader, who attends the
church. Sharon gave her life to Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in
Syracuse New York in 1989 when she was 48 years old. Sharon shared that at
that point in her life she had a nominal Christian background but no
understanding of salvation. She attended with the crusade with others which was held
in the Carrier Dome. She then returned the second night and responded to
the invitation.The last several days we have been listening to old Billy Graham sermons now playing on a station we listen to. His messages are timeless presentations of the gospel and just as impacting now as when he preached them, in some cases when we were little children (Actually his ministry began about 20 years before we were born).
We also observed how he would boldly deal with contemporary moral issues and how in many cases his messages are prophetic as he saw what was coming in regard to the moral breakdown and rebellion against God.
From Brooksyne: One more photo from the Quilting Room at the White Horse Thrift Shop. Since red is my favorite color this is the quilt that initially drew my eye to the quilting room.
Today's
Suggested Music and
Supplemental Resources
"Room With A View" Video 11th Hour
"Present in the Presence of the King" Video The Guardians
White House Thrift Shop
We are grateful for feedback from Friday's message, "An Asset To The Planet". The greatest sense we can be an asset is by faithfully proclaiming and living the message of Christ and His gospel.
Friday we shared a photo of a truck for 3:16 Gutters which we had driven behind. Duke, a thoughtful reader from Delaware, took the time to look it up and if you, like us, thought it stood for John 3:16 you were right!
"Present in the Presence of the King" Video The Guardians
White House Thrift Shop
We are grateful for feedback from Friday's message, "An Asset To The Planet". The greatest sense we can be an asset is by faithfully proclaiming and living the message of Christ and His gospel.
Friday we shared a photo of a truck for 3:16 Gutters which we had driven behind. Duke, a thoughtful reader from Delaware, took the time to look it up and if you, like us, thought it stood for John 3:16 you were right!
"Mike and Melissa
decided on the name 3:16 Gutters, taken from John 3:16, as a way to put
their faith first in the business. Also March 16th is their wedding
anniversary, making the name a perfect fit for their family business!"
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." -
John 3:16
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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