Christian Reflection and Prayer

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

About five years ago, I attended a pastor's retirement party.
There were songs and speeches and the sharing of special stories.
There were presents, plaques and presentations. It was a beautiful
day. At the end of the day I said to the pastor, "You know, they really
love you. You must love them all."

He replied, "Most of them -- most of the time." Then he added,
"It's not always easy to love everybody."
I asked him to share and, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, he told
me about the time he and his wife had gone to the hospital to see
one of the members of his church: a mother who had just given birth.
Before they popped into mom's room, they took a look at the baby.
Having looked, the pastor turned to his wife and whispered, "That's
the ugliest baby I've ever seen."

The minister thought 34 years of marriage would give him the right
to say that kind of thing to his wife. "After all," he reasoned, "it's not
our baby. I would never say anything like that about our baby. Not
out loud, anyway."
The pastor confessed he had reasoned wrongly. Yes, his wife had
been with him through thick and thin, in good times and bad, happy
times and sad, but she was not going to accept the ugly baby
comment. With fire in her eyes, and steel in her voice, the wife said,
"Every baby is beautiful. Every baby is perfect."
The pastor didn't argue. He did proceed to see the baby's mom.

She asked, "Did you stop and see my baby?" That was easy. Yes,
they had. The second question was harder. Momma asked, "Isn't
my baby the most beautiful thing you ever did see?"
The pastor told me, "You know, they say when you are about to
die your life passes, in an instant, before your eyes. I don't know if
that is true, but I do know, in that split second I saw my entire future
pass before my eyes. My honesty was weighed in the scale against
having a happy wife and home."

The happy home won out.

The minister said, "Every baby is beautiful. Every baby is perfect.
" Everybody breathed a sigh of relief, including the preacher who said,
"It's not always easy to love everybody."

On Valentine's Day we remember the Lord tells the truth: there is not
a soul in this world who, on his own, can be good. As far as lovable is
concerned, none of us, with the possible exception of Will Rogers,
likes everybody -- except for the Lord.

He who had been sinned against, who had been insulted by
humankind's disobedience, sent His Son into this world to rescue
humanity. Understand, Jesus didn't come for just the best of us; He
came for all of us. That's because, as the passage says, "God so
loved the world" -- not a piece of it or part of it, but all of it.

THE PRAYER:
Dear Lord, I give thanks that Jesus has given Himself so I might be
saved. Now may I, who have been rescued by Your love, reflect that
love into the lives of those around me. This I ask in Jesus' Name.
Amen.

(Pastor Klaus, Lutheran Hour Ministries)

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest
of these is love.”   1 Corinthians 13:13

HAPPY VALENTINES!!!   

Verse

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and
a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you: Do not resist an
evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue
you and take your coat, give your cloak as well."
Matthew 5:38-40

Voice

That is our vocation: to convert the enemy into a guest
and to create the free and fearless space where
brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and
fully experienced.
Henri J.M. Nouwen


Prayer

Forgive, O Lord, what we have been
Direct what we are,
And order what we shall be,
For thy mercy's sake. Amen.
1000 World Prayers

(Sojourners)

Verse:

[God] raises up the poor from the dust;
[God] lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes and inherit
a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord’s, and on them [God] has set
the world. 1 Samuel 2:8

Voice:

Christian faith does not cut us off from the
world but immerses us in it; the church is
not a fortress set apart from the city. The
church follows Jesus, who lived, worked,
struggled, and died in the midst of a city, in
the polis.
Archbishop Oscar Romero

Prayer:

O God, to those who have hunger give bread:
And to those who have bread give the hunger
for justice. Amen.
Latin American Prayer
(Soujourners)

"On the street I saw a girl
cold and shivering in a thin
dress, with little hope of a
decent meal.  I became angry
and said to God:  'Why did
you permit this?  Why don't
you do something about it?'
For awhile God said nothing.
That night He replied quite
suddenly:  'I certainly did
something about it.
I MADE YOU' "

"CHRISTIANS" DO SOMETHING
ABOUT IT!