Clever Free Methodist

  The New Testament Gospels are filled with stories of Jesus interacting with the public. I find it fascinating that some of His most unique encounters were literal interruptions to what he was planning to do. Yet, despite the “interruption,” he stopped, engaged, helped, but most importantly, loved . One powerful example was the story of Jairus in Mark 5:21-43 . Here we find Jesus coming ashore and no sooner is He off the boat, but quickly found mobbed by a crowd. As the crowd pushed and pressed around Jesus, the man Jairus lands at his feet. Jairus begs Jesus to heal his daughter who was dying. Jesus agrees and they soon start heading for his house. Yet, it is still a struggle to walk as the crowd continues to press in and follow along with Him. THAT is when it happened. As Jesus was walking, he suddenly stops and asks, “who touched me?” Jesus had felt “that power had gone out of him” (Mark 5:30). Jesus interrupts his journey to the home of Jairus to have a most powerful momen

  During our most recent Sunday worship services at Church, our Pastor made reference to Luke 12:31 , “But seek his kingdom….” Our faith and our God should be involved in every aspect of our life. Being a Christian affects everything we do, think, and say. Simply put, there isn’t an “off switch.” We don’t stop…well, we shouldn’t at least. We don’t hide our faith just because we are hanging out with friends. We don’t stop being a Christian because we are at work, on vacation, or attending to chores on our own. Instead, Christ is with us all the time, in all we do and wherever we are. We never cease being a Christian. The strength of our faith and the ability to emanate the love and light of Christ in every situation we are in comes from that passage in Luke 12:31. The key word is seek . The word is a verb. A verb speaks of an action. We must pursue. It is a choice. We must make the choice to be the light and love of Jesus Christ. Free will. Intentional. What makes “seeking” so pow

Life obviously has it challenges, setbacks, trials and even joys and celebrations. Regardless how long one lives, it is apparent that life is not easy or worry free. Even Jesus foretold of life’s journey on this Earth in John 16:33 , “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”   As a Christian, I am beyond grateful that I have Jesus Christ as Savior and a Heavenly Father who is my strong tower…a fortress and refuge in this world (Psalm 61:2-4). I am thankful for such comforting promises such as Hebrews 13:5 , “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”   It is comforting to know that God is always with us in the good, bad and the ugly. His indwelling Holy Spirit will never abandon us and leave us fending for ourselves. Jesus Christ, dwells with us as our Savior and Lord, has afforded us eternal life, friendship with God (John 15:14-15), and joy unspeakable.   We are assured that, no matter what, we are never alone, abandoned

  This article runs in partnership with the last article I wrote on the man named Tobit (“Tobit’s Praise”). The Deuterocanonical book bearing his name “Tobit” has a song of praise with yet another lesson for us in strengthening our faith.   Beyond the words of praise comes the call for accountability in our relationship with God as our Father. Tobit uses calls to faith such as “turn to him with all your heart and soul” and “acknowledge him at the top of your voice.” These statements speak of passion and admiration. Here are those words again:   Tobit 13:1, 6-7 Then Tobit said: “Blessed be God who lives forever,     because his kingdom lasts throughout all ages…. If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul,     to do what is true before him, then he will turn to you     and will no longer hide his face from you. So now see what he has done for you;     acknowledge him at the top of your voice. Bless the Lord of righteousness,     and exalt the King of the ages.

I recently taught a lesson during our children’s “AWANA” program the other day. It was really fun teaching them how uniquely the Bible was put together over 1,500 years by over 40 different authors in three languages, and across three different continents. The unique thing about the Bible is that most Protestant Churches have sixty-six books in their Bible. However, our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters have seventy-three books which is seven more. They have a special name for those: Deuterocanonical! The seven Deuterocanonical books are: Baruch, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit and Wisdom. I want to focus on the book of Tobit . There is a beautiful song of praise that we can learn and, perhaps, include in our devotional time with God. It is eighteen verses long, so we’ll just look at a particular few. Here it is: Tobit 13:1, 6-7 Then Tobit said: “Blessed be God who lives forever,     because his kingdom lasts throughout all ages…. If you turn to him with all your