Christian Thoughts and Meditations

Old Blog's demise, new blog rising!

2007-02-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a hassle in a month of difficult times, but we are finally switching to Word Press for our blogging at the suggestion of my nephew who just passed away as most of you know. Benny was going to do the transition for me, but now he is present with the Lord, so he simply needs to pray that we can get it accomplished.

For all of those who frequent and post, please register and we will try to get this thing rolling for the benefit of those who actually look to us for a word of encouragement or to be annoyed, whatever the case may be.

http://alaskahunts.net/solochristi/

Just like St. Peter

2007-02-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

I realized today that I have soemthing in common with Peter, namely that I struggle with my faith. I know God is there, and I believe in His son Jesus, but I still get mad at them when things aren't what I think they should be.

I have so many friends who are sick right now, and I am angry about it. My head knows God has a plan, but my heart is angry that these people and their families are suffering.

Please Lord, show me faith that accepts as Job accepted.

Benjamin speaks the TRUTH

2007-01-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

Speaking of life, guess what? I’m still living! I believe we all should be thankful for the gifts our God has blessed us with, and the one gift he has given us all is life itself. Day by day in my life I’ve struggled with problems most people would let fade them into history, and trust me - I’ve seen it happen. Most might take seeing so much demise as a sign of where the future lies, but I take it as a sign to rise. Thats why I’ve devoted my life to Jesus Christ, and in him shall I rely upon until the day I die.
There is so much more to say, until then, every night I pray, that everyone might be saved. Let there be no hate. Remember - only God saves.

I read this blog from Ben (Tony's nephew, deceased in a house fire) and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit with me. GUESS WHAT? I'm STILL LIVING!

Truly we hear the words from beyond his mortal life, and the truth is apparent! Benjamin still lives, just not here!

Thank you Ben, for a life well and truly lived, a life that witnesses the glory of Jesus Christ!

In Loving Sympathy

2007-01-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

I read with horror the note about the tragic deaths in Tony's family. I was immediately reminded of Job and his trials. Like Job, Tony has faith in Him, and like Job, Tony will use his faith to shine God's light for all to see, even as he grieves.

I will pray for all involved, for the souls of the children, for the parents and families, for the rescue workers and firemen, for all who have been touched by this loss.

The good news is that those blessed children are beloved of God, and are sitting with the Lord as we grieve. The sorrow we have is an earthly one, washed away forever in heaven.

Grace in Time of Need..

2007-01-17T00:58:00.000-05:00

We would appreciate the prayers of all the saints as my sister lost 3 of her beloved teen-aged children this past weekend in an apartment fire near Marshall University in Huntington, WV. My 19 year old nephew Ben Lucas (www.utaks.net) was a Marshall student living in the apartment building, and his younger sister Angel (17) was living with him and working in a Christian hangout for young people called the House of David. My youngest nephew Quentin (14) was visiting for the weekend when this disaster struck. At least 9 fatalaties have been reported, but certainly my sister has had to face what few mothers could ever imagine, and I have not even got over the shock of any of this at all.

God's grace has been great in this time of severe trial, and we ask all of you to keep our family in your prayers as we approach the schedule for services this weekend coming.

Christ will never leave us, nor forsake us!

Pray for another Ross

2007-01-11T20:11:00.000-05:00

My Dear Friends, I ask you tonight to open a special place in your prayers for Ross, a young man who is struggling with seizures and will need a 2nd brain surgery. Please ask the Lord to guide the hands of his Doctors and to offer strength to Ross' family as they walk this dangerous path.

No 15 year old child should have to suffer like this, yet somehow the love of the Lord is hidden within all this. I surely don't understand, nor need I, but Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Blogging disasters...

2007-01-03T00:14:00.000-05:00

I am still apologizing to everyone for the disaster of this new "beta blogger," and I am recruiting professional help to convert both this blog and my business blog over to WordPress, which I am told (by illuminated sources mind you!) is far superior to Blogger. Hopefully the transition will be complete before the weekend.

Hang in there with me everyone, but not by a rope, please!

Tony

Let There Be Peace on Earth

2007-01-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With God as our Father, brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With ev'ry breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!

May we each keep this song in our hearts throughout every day of this year!

Acts of the Apostles

2006-12-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

At Bible study this week we looked at the episode where Peter heals the paralytic simply by invoking the name of Jesus. After the earlier plea for Doug and helaing, I thought I would remind everyone who wonders if we are crazy to think of the power we each have been given through Jesus.

Christ has offered each of us the power of His holy name to use in works that proclaim His glory and His love for us. Let each of us invoke the name of Jesus Christ for Doug!

Apologies

2006-12-26T19:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry everyone about the technical bugs over the weekend. Hopefully this transition is smoothed out now.

Behold O' Zion...

2006-12-25T03:17:00.000-05:00

It is now Christmas!

Jesus is born, and reborn again and again in the hearts of millions who have believed, who now believe, and who will believe in the time to come.

He is still born in poverty, in humility, in selflessness!

He isn't born in the arrogant, or the pompous, or the one exalted in conceit.

Venite adoramus
Venite adoramus
venite adoramus
Dominum

Come Blessed Jesus

2006-12-24T22:07:00.000-05:00

As I wait to go to Mass tonight, I want to share with all a special prayer asking God to come to all who call Him. So many in the world suffer, so many are without the basics of life, let each of us call to the Lord to come and save us all.

Father Paul said this morning that through His birth, life and death on the cross, Christ became an inseperable part of each of us. Perhaps if we all nurture that part we can truly bring Christ back to life with us here on earth.

Holy Spirit, warm each of us with your love, help us to grow closer to Jesus, bring Him to life within each of us, that we may make this world a better and more peaceful place. Amen!

Prayers for Doug

2006-12-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

Almighty Father, send the Holy Spirit to heal Doug's body, cast out the sickness that inhabits him, show all who believe the power of your will through this miracle. Please Father, bless Doug and hold him close. I ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom all is forgiven!

Amen!

Prayer obviously works...

2006-12-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

You guys are getting to be more like geeks everyday...I don't feel so alone :-)

I DID IT TOO!!!!

2006-12-18T21:49:00.000-05:00

Tony, I decided if you switch, so can I, switch completed.

Incense Rising...

2006-12-18T12:50:00.000-05:00

The young man mentioned in the previous post is Doug Hunt from California, and we would appreciate everyone presenting his name before the Father until the manifestation of the kingdom is evident in his spirit, soul and physical body.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. " 1 Thes. 5:23

Doug is the temple of the Holy Spirit (as all believers are) and this thing that attacks his very existence has no right to trespass in the temple of God!

The Prayer of Faith...

2006-12-18T00:44:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it seems as though this blog is just something else I have to tend to, something else that could just as well be left off, then there is a message like I received tonight from a brother in California. The brother found this weblog after doing a search for "Alaska guide schools," and he e-mailed me tonight, not for discussion on the apprenticeship deal we do with young guys in Alaska, but for prayer.

I can hardly describe the compassion in my heart as I read this young man's story, but I want to convey it briefly to those who read here, for this is why we do this in the first place, to effect lives!

I will post his name later if he grants permission but for now we will call him coach, since he was coaching the high school varsity basketball team and was in his 3rd year of teaching middle school when he was hit with a fairly rare form of Muscular Dystrophy called Limb Girdle 2B. Coach in his own words wrote:

"By November/December 2003 standing was tough. I could not get up off the floor without help-either someone or something to grab onto and pull. But my arms were weak too. By April 2004 I could no longer stand from a regular chair or lift my arms above my head and had to quit teaching. I moved back in with my parents so they could help take care of me. By September 2004 I could no longer stand at all and have been bed-ridden since. In July 2005 I was rushed to the ICU because my muscles had deteriorated to the point where they could no longer expand my lungs or help me swallow. Both lungs were partially collapsed.
I had a tracheostomy and feeding tube installed. I am hooked to a respirator at home, in bed, 24/7 and receive all calories through my feeding tube. I can move very little-but can still feel everything (it is a muscular condition, not a nervous system one-nervous system functions quite well, there simply isn’t enough muscle left for it to move)."

Coach is a sincere believer, and he was moved to write me simply because we have declared that we believe in the Gifts of the Spirit and he desires our prayers. He understands that the doctors have few if any real answers, and the real problem is a spiritual stronghold. Coach is believing for a complete restoration of everything the devil has stolen from him and his family and his desire is to move to Alaska and resume teaching and coaching.

I am asking that those of you who believe in the prayer of faith, come now and join with me in spirit as Saint Paul declares :

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. 5:4

Paul was speaking to the Corinthian believers about an offending member of the Church, but I ask you to join together now in agreement with me for the total miraculous restoration of health in Coach's life!

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. " Matthew 18:19-20

While some may claim that we are arrogant, I believe we can say unequivocally that it is the Father's will to heal and restore Coach completely. I simply believe that this is the obvious teaching of the scripture without reservation. So I stand in faith with those who are like minded and we declare that this thing formed against this dear brother will not prosper, rather you are healed by the power of the very stripes that Jesus bore in his body.

Dismiss the prognosticators of death and unbelief, and choose now, as we also will do to believe the report of the Lord, so shall His arm be revealed.

I switched!

2006-12-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

Not being the sharpest crayon in the box, I wasn't sure I could do this, but I did it! Hooray for me!

At Mass this morning Father Paul reminded each of us that "eye has not seen, ear has not heard" the glories of heaven that await each of us when we come home to His Kingdom! I can't wait to see Him seated in glory and majesty!

New blog update

2006-12-14T01:15:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone,

Blogger has updated some elements and we have switched to this new beta version so I believe that everyone will have to sign in with their Google account info, or create a new Google account when you are prompted to do so. Sorry for any inconvenience, but they take care of most of the technical side of this blog for free, so I can't complain.

Pray for Erika and her Twins

2006-12-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends...Erika is pregnant with twins and having a challenging time of it. She is 22 weeks and already on bed rest. She and her husband have been trying for a child for a couple years and are so eager to be parents.

Could we offer prayers to God to allow these precious children a healthy entrance into our world?

I know He will listen...

I've Been Thinking...

2006-12-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

Is there anything in the world more wonderful than a group joining together to pray for a lost soul? I was reading the responses to my note about Bill, grinning from ear to ear, as I recognized that once we get God involved, everything is possible! It doesn't even matter what Bill wants, we have turned him over to the Lord, from whom there is no escape!

Glory and Praise to our Lord
Who alone gives light to our days.
Many are the blessings He bears,
to those who trust in His ways!

Of Course

2006-12-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

Consider Bill Caught. He will not die Lost.

Sounds so Familiar...

2006-12-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

Sounds like Bill is a member of my family! Of course we will pray, and believe that Bill shall indeed find his feet tangled in the great net of the Master; captured, without any desire to escape!

Offering Praise and Glory

2006-12-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

I was thinking today about a friend of mine who is utterly unable to stop womanizing, stop spending money like a fool, and the damage he is doing to his wife. I have been that person in my life, saved by the touch of the Master.

Is there any more obvious sign of the glory and power of our Lord than knowing you have been delivered from the very gates of Hell?

Can I ask my friends here to pray for Bill? To ask Jesus Christ to come to him and lead him out of this mess he has made of his life , and to ask our Lord to forgive Bill his sins? While we're at it, let's ask God to help all who call on Him in their time of need, that He might comfort the sick, care for the poor and offering His everlasting love to all who seek Him.

Keep the Special Prayers Up

2006-11-26T15:15:00.000-05:00

Ross, we need to keep our special prayers going for our communities, neighborhoods and of course the land in general. Especially now until the New Year.

In my work world we refer to this time of the year as the "Gift that keeps on giving". That gift is depression, anxiety and domestic violence to name a few. (all created by Satan himself).

My family and close friends can tell you, this is the time of the year they are awakened out of a sound sleep on many occasions.

(I come home after the attempted, (not successful suicides), the gunshot wounds inflicted by self or another. The horrors I see heaped upon the children and the elderly is enough to write a book as truth and only to be able to sell it as fiction.)

So I wake them up. I have to touch them to be sure they are real and I am real.
I have to hear their voice, and where my grandchildren have been concerned, I have to smell and taste them. (They were sometimes confused at 0300, by Nan-Nan sniffing and kissing them.

We need to say a Special Prayer everyday, to keep Satan from having this holiday season in the homes of our communities and in the hearts of those that suffer from not knowing Jesus. Those homes that do not hear and recognize the shepherds voice.