The Pastor's Perspective

  There’s a powerful, raw letter that once captured significant attention, penned by a girl named Anna. She wrote: "I wish I could say that I believe in Jesus Christ, that He loves me and cares, but I no longer believe that. From a mother who is vicious and has wrecked my adoptive family, to the death of my adoptive brother, I no longer believe. I even find myself wondering if God really exists. I look around at all the Christians who say that they help people who don't know how to ask for it but they have not even noticed my pain. IF GOD LOVED OR EVEN CARED FOR ME, HE'D AT LEAST HELP WOULDN'T HE? BUT NO HELP HAS COME! GOD DOESN'T LOVE ME – ANNA"      Those concluding words resonate deeply with countless individuals who have experienced profound pain or trauma. Perhaps you've heard the well-intentioned but often unhelpful religious clichés, like "God will never give you more than you can handle." Yet, for many, the questions linger: "Why is ...

      Have you ever felt like you’re stuck in a loop of frustration? The coffee’s cold, traffic’s bad, your to-do list is endless, and suddenly, every little annoyance adds up until you’re just… grumbling. You find yourself frustrated at the current situation and every chance you get you share your frustration to anyone who will listen. You form your own little pity party and everyone is invited.        Complaining can feel like a harmless vent, but it can also be a slippery slope. Before you know it, you’re not just expressing a temporary frustration; you’re living on the "Path of Complaining," a journey paved with despair, disappointment, and doubt. Perhaps you know someone who has been on that path for some time. Every time your around them they always have something to complain about. You begin to think "Man is there anything that makes you happy?" They seem to point out things that they disagree with, things that are not just right. It's a p...

       We've all witnessed it. The campaign speeches filled with bold pronouncements, the unwavering commitments made with conviction. Yet, as the dust settles and the realities of governance take hold, those promises often seem to evaporate like morning mist, don't they. It sometimes leaves you wondering "Hey have you forgot about what you said just a few months ago?"        We hear explanations, justifications about "evolving circumstances," and needing to reach across the isle. Sometimes we hear things about how they don't have enough votes anyway. Or a thousand other reasons why they can't do the very things that they promised they would do. It can leave us all feeling a bit used, and frustrated.        Machiavelli, once said "the promise given was a necessity of the past; the word broken is the necessity of the present," that sadly seems to echo in the halls of capital hill today. We've become accustomed to a cer...

       As a parent I think we all have had this common experience. You ask your kids to do something simple – put away their shoes, clear their plates – and you get a cheerful, "Okay, I will!" Any experienced parent knows not to get their hopes up. Because fast forward an hour (or three), and you discover the task remains untouched. Then you begin to hear the excuses and reasons why the simple task was left undone.       As a bus monitor, I see this play out daily. The rules are clear: "Sit down properly," "Stay in your seat while the bus is moving." It's not a mystery, and by this point in the school year, it shouldn't be a challenge. I mean we are not talking rocket science, right? Yet, the wiggles, the wandering, the outright refusal to comply persist. It's not a lack of understanding; it's a failure to obey, a resistance to immediate action.      But before we cast too many stones at these minor's, let's take a long, hard look i...

    Problems, difficulties,  and hardships I don't know about you but I have had my fair share of them. Maybe this week you, yourself have had to deal with certain things that have just seemed overwhelming. Perhaps you have had a car wreck and you are now trying to fight with the insurance to give you the money you need to purchase another vehicle. Maybe your recovering from a surgery or you received word that someone in your family is very sick and is in the hospital. Maybe you are reeling from the loss of a loved one and the grief you have is overwhelming.      I want you to know that your not alone.  Problems in life are nothing new, we all go through them from time to time. This is true for both the good and the bad, the saved and the unsaved. Problems and difficulties in life are impartial, they come to us all.      Now while that is true there is a diffrence for the believer in Christ and those who have yet to put there faith in Je...

   L ast week as I happened to come to a interesting article   published by Popular Mechanics. This article was about a new scientific discovery where they said they found the light source that literally turned on the Universe.  You can find this article here:  Astronomers Found the Ancient Light Source That Literally Turned On the Universe       I want to just share the first portion of that article because I found it very interesting.   " For hundreds of a millions of years, the universe existed in the dark ages—an epoch when only primordial gasses existed.  Then, a period of reionization, cleared away this foggy existence an introduced light into the universe.  Now, an international team of scientists at the helm of the James Webb Space Telescope have analyzed eight of the faintest dwarf galaxies that existed during this time, and determined that these galaxies produced enough radiation to kickstart the reionization process....

    I have a problem and I am finally willing to admit it. Its a problem that apparently, if not all, men have. No its not the unsightly hair that seems to be growing out of my ears at such a rapid rate. No my problem apparently, at least according to my wife and kids is I don't listen. Although I am not exactly sure about that because I wasn't really paying attention when they told me 😂     Apparently my wife or my children will tell me something important, like a appointment. They will tell me that on a specific date at a specific time there is something that is needed to be done. Now when that apparent date comes around. I find my self dumbfounded. I am shocked that it is the first time I have ever been told about that appointment. However they swear up and down that they had told me about the said appointment days, weeks even months ago. Now no matter how much they try to convince me of how they have time and time again have relayed this information and repeated...

     If you have had kids for any period of time you know that sometime getting them to do something is like pulling teeth. I have three kids of my own and I learned really quickly what my father and mother had to go through with me and my two brothers.      I have found that there are a couple of common responses when you try to get your kids to do something. No matter if it is asking the kids to feed the dog, or take out the trash, or clean there room. There are a number of responses that you might get. You might hear "I did it last time" as they point to their siblings who they claim never have to do anything. You almost always get the eye roll, that is if they lift there head up from their phone that they are glued to. Then there are those rare, almost supernatural moments where they get up and do exactly what you told them to do. At least that is what I am told.      However, many times when you  ask your kids to do something and th...

     Some years ago there was a counselor on the first night of church camp who was about to shut off the lights to the boy's cabin. However as the camp counselor went to shut off the light one of boy's screamed out "NO, DON'T TURN OFF THE LIGHT!!"      The counselor was startled and asked the boy if he was scared of the dark. The young camper said, "No." "Well why don't you want the lights turned off them" the counselor asked. The boy replied "I don't want to the killer rabbits to kill me" When the boy said that there were several boys in the cabin that started snickering, because it turned out that the other boys had tried to scare this boy and told him that at night there are killer bunny's that come into the cabin when the lights are turned off.      That boy was scared, but being fearful is not just for children. There are a lot of people today that live in fear. There are moments in our lives when we can become worri...

    There once was a man who one day decided to go to church. This man was not really religious. In fact this man had not darkened the door way  of a church since he was a boy. However one of his co-workers who he was good friends with had invited him. So the man decided to go out of respect for his friend.      The man sat there as the service went on. Nothing unusual went on that day. They sang songs and some of them the man remembered from childhood memories. The preacher preached on what it meant to truly surrender to Jesus Christ. The preacher shared how to be a true follower of Christ will mean a great deal of changes and hardships that you will have to face.      As the sermon drawn to a close the pastor bowed his head and prayed a simple prayer. The pastor prayed "O Lord, you know we can trust the man that died for us" The prayer was simple, but it was the one thing that got this man's attention.      As the man headed ...

   It has been 4 years now since we had to deal with COVID and the "New Normal". Since that time we have endured a great many changes. Now some of these changes were good, and some were not.      For me one of the positive changes has been me using Amazon Prime to purchase various items online. Prior to COVID I had never used Amazon prime and rarely did I purchase items online. I never really felt the need to use it. However with the demands of social distancing we were forced to use more online shopping options. Since that time I have been using Amazon prime for a variety of reasons. I have bought everything from coffee, tools, and even some country ham.      If you have ever used Amazon prime, or you have ever bought anything online, or even the Shopping Home Network you know that it will take a couple of days before your item's arrive. Normally it will tell you when you can expect your items to arrive at your house.      Now ther...