For His Glory

05/17/2026

Good morning, and may the Lord bless you and keep now and for always!

Today, I want to address a point that may sting some of you who follow these messages, I know because it made me feel a little bit uncomfortable too.

Our passage comes from the second chapter of James. I want to preface this by saying that it is assumed that this “James” is the younger brother of Jesus. He, in his early years rejected Jesus’ divinity and was not one of his disciples. He was a Jewish leader, and he did not become a believer until after the resurrection. It was at this point that he started spreading the Gospel to the Jews who had scattered from Jerusalem to avoid Roman persecution.

James 2: 14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18 I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a co**se on your hands?
21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a co**se. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a co**se.

Read that again! You may say “Well. I’m not wired that way.”

I hear that almost every week about doing what I do as a family home provider for the disabled. I made the very same statement when talking to my CNA friends for 27 years. Guess what God has me doing now?

If we open our faith up to God and allow Him to work His magic, unbelievable miracles can happen. A mountain in North Carolina can be rebuilt after a hurricane that was supposed to be impossible in the first place. With God, all things are possible!

If we say we believe and aren’t doing anything, then we are just zombies feeding off others to survive to put it in our modern-day context.

Until next week,
Soli Deo Gloria!

05/10/2026

Good morning and may the Lord bless you and keep you now and always!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers out there, you are truly special!

I have never done a “Mother’s Day” message, but this week was led by the spirit to so.

I to want use 2 passages today to bring to light what my interpretation of what motherhood means. The first comes from Luke 1:26-38 (The Message)
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
He will be great, be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”
The angel answered,The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.
“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”
And Mary said,
Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.”

The second passage comes from John 19:25-27 (NAS): “Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”

Mary’s story begins when she is about 13 or 14 and betrothed to Joseph who was probably more than a few years older than her as he had an established trade as a carpenter. She is lying in her bed saying her bedtime prayers but then suddenly, an angel appears and tells her to not be afraid. I don’t know about you, but I would be freaking out! Then the angel tells her when she wakes up in the morning, she will be pregnant with the Son of God in her womb. Her mind had to be moving a million miles a second. How am I going to explain this to Mama? How am I going to explain this to Papa? How am I going to explain this to Joseph? I could be stoned if this news got out! All this had to be running through her mind yet her faith in God prevailed, and she breathed in and simply said” Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say.”

I got to also hand out kudos to Joseph for sticking by her side when she needed him.

Now, we don’t know a whole lot about Jesus' early years other than he was without sin. I have the feeling though that he drove his parents nuts. I can only imagine the menagerie of critters he brought home for rehabilitation. And we have the account where He got away from them at the temple and scared them to death only to find him teaching the Elders about the scriptures. Jesus was a good kid, but I imagine He had a lot of fun at his parents expense.

It is assumed that he learned carpentry from Joseph as He grew into a man. We don’t know anything about Joseph after Jesus being 12, but is assumed that sometime prior to Jesus beginning His ministry Joseph had died either by disease or accident. The reason for this belief is that Mary traveled with Jesus throughout His ministry and in that culture, care for the widowed mother fell to the eldest son.

Can you imagine the conversation Jesus had with Mary one night… “Mom, let’s talk. I’m selling my carpenters tools and going on the road to do this new thing called “preaching”. “What’s “preaching” Jesus?” Mary asks. “Well, basically I’m going to tell the priests and pharisees how big of hypocrites they are and then I’m going to thumb my nose at Rome!” “I’m going to teach people about the meaning of “LOVE”!
I imagine Mary packed her bags and said, “what are we waiting for”! She doted on every word that her son said and took them into her heart.

Fast-forward 3 years and she is kneeling at a cross watching her baby being tortured for teaching love and even from the cross Jesus showed it when He transferred his mother’s care to John.

So, when we were commanded to honor our mother, Jesus showed us what that truly meant even with his dying breath.

Mary showed us the dedication of a true mother.
It truly takes a special person to be a mother and do it right!

Soli Deo Gloria!

05/03/2026

Good morning and may God’s grace shine upon you!

I want to continue today talking about scriptures we tend to just read and skim over. Today the passage is from Colossians 3:12:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

The first question is, why does Paul make this statement?
The answer is because we are chosen by God to be His dearly beloved, to be His representatives on Earth.

Second question, what does it mean to “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”?

Ok, confession time, when it comes to me running into poor customer service, I completely loose it sometimes.

The word “clothe” literally means these behaviors need to become your normal behaviors that you are comfortable with even in those uncomfortable situations.

So, this week, when something starts wriggling under your skin, think of me and say a prayer that I am choosing to wear the right clothing and I’ll do the same for you!

Until next week
Soli Deo Gloria!

04/26/2026

Well, I’m back folks with a brand new hip. Pretty soon they will start calling me “Steve Austin”. I appreciate the prayers. God is Good! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!

Our study for the next few weeks is going to be about commonly overlooked scriptures. You know, we all have those passages we carry in our hearts “The Lord is my shepherd”, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” and of course John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”. Quick, without looking can you quote 17?
“God did not send his Son to condemn the world but to save it.”

We tend to just brush over this passage because we simply accept it and especially 18 because it definitely doesn’t pertain to “me”.

Last week we talked about how little we truly understand the depth of God’s love for us, so much that there is not a word in our language to describe it. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us from ourselves. To show us that depth.

Jesus is not just letters on a page in a story from 2600 years ago. He is a living entity in us so that we can show the world what that true loving nature of God is. We must accept that responsibility and not take it lightly. Someone you know needs that hope.

Until next week,
Soli Deo Gloria!

04/19/2026

Good morning, and I pray all is well with you on this and every day.

It is so hard in these times to filter through the garbage being fed to us through the media, that we often find ourselves living in either a state of anger or a state of fear, neither of which is healthy. That is one thing I have to give to Pope Leo XIV, he always remains calm, no matter what.

Our passage today is coming from Luke 24, and I am just going to put in it my modern day times with scripture at the end for you to read, as it is rather long.

There were 2 men walking down a road and they were both well, just confused. “How have we gotten to this point? I mean grown men and women are acting like maniacs. They are killing innocent people and using ‘keeping the peace’ as the justification.”

Just then a young man came up beside them and startled them. They didn’t recognize him, but he had a calm reassuring voice and he said, “If you want to make sense of it all, simply go all the way back to the beginning.”

When I was young, I deplored history. I considered it boring, at least until I met David Berg (History) and Phil Bennett (Latin) who brought history to life in my mind. Since then, I realized history is not about names, dates and timelines, it is more about psychology and sociology.

If you truly go back to the beginning (Genesis) and follow the timeline of repeating history, you will see how we got to this point. You will also see that Jesus has your back no matter what the fools do. Breathe in, breathe out. Take the Spirit in and let it dwell and give YOU peace! Amen!

You know, those two fellers never did git that young man’s name, but he was pretty dang smart!

13-16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
17-18 He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”
19-24 He said, “What has happened?”
They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”
25-27 Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
28-31 They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
32 Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”
33-34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!”
35 Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

I’ll see ya next week after my surgery.
Soli Deo Gloria!

04/12/2026

Good morning all! I was out and about this week celebrating this spring weather and ran into a few of you who told me how they follow these messages and appreciated them. Since all I see are number of reads, I don’t generally get feedback unless someone likes or sends a comment, so the face to face was appreciated.

I have a Jewish friend who has a doctorate in ancient languages, and he and I were discussing the Hebrew Bible. He was voicing his frustration with a particular young Rabbi who was fluent in modern Hebrew but had no clue about ancient Hebrew and how different it was.

In one of his messages, he brought up the word chesed (חֶסֶד) and stated “Chesed (חֶסֶד) is a Hebrew word meaning lovingkindness, mercy, steadfast love, or covenantal loyalty, reflecting both God’s love for humanity and the ethical duty of humans to act kindly toward one another.”

My friend’s frustration stemmed from the fact that for centuries scholars have trying to translate an untranslatable word. Chesed (חֶסֶד) is used 248 in the ancient texts and is so packed with meaning that no single word in the English language comes close to defining it. The closest any language has come is the Greek word “Agape”.

The reason David said it was untranslatable is our human inability to fully understand the nature of God. With both the modern Hebrew translation and the Greek adaptation,
the word is reciprocal, God loves us, we love God, we share that love with others. This works well with my messages but doesn’t line up with the true nature of God as David pointed out.

A couple of examples he gave: “They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in chesed (חֶסֶד). Therefore, you did not desert them,” (Nehemiah 9:17)”

And: “I will declare that your chesed (חֶסֶד) stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” (Psalm 89:4)”

So, as he explained the word is about showing the nature of God which is way beyond our comprehension. When we read John 3:16 “For God so loved (agape) the world that He gave His only begotten Son!”, John had knowledge of the ancient texts, and the Greek translators tried to put it into a term that we as humans could understand. Even they couldn’t fully grasp the depth of it!

God loved us so much more than even that! That is Amazing Grace!
Soli Deo Gloria!

04/03/2026

03/29/2026

Good morning and welcome to Passover week or Holy week for some of you!

Today, I want to continue our delving into Psalm 24:
“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. "Selah".
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. "Selah".”

You may be wondering how that ties in with Palm Sunday which is mentioned in all 4 Gospels but I will pull in Luke 19:
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the c**t and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

For 3 years Jesus had been walking around showing the world what love is supposed to look like, and he had built a huge following. So, as he entered Jerusalem, expectations were great. They were looking for an earthly king to overthrow the tyranny of Rome and restore the greatness of Israel and Jesus kept His mouth shut. He let them believe what they wanted to believe, knowing full well the truth of their hearts would soon be revealed.

He was saddened as he approached Jerusalem to the point that He wept for them that they failed to understand what was about to unfold.

So yes, “Who is this King of Glory?” His name is “Yeshua!” May that name be written on your heart!

We will continue this message throughout this week.

Soli Deo Gloria!

03/22/2026

What a Glorious morning my friends to waken to the sound of birds singing!

This week I want to take a look at a Psalm of David 24:
“1 The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”

Psalm 24 is a short psalm with a big horizon. It begins with creation, moves to worship, and ends with a shout of victory. In ten verses David answers three life-shaping questions: Who owns my life? Who can come near to God? and Who is the King we must receive?

Today, I want to tackle the first question, “Who owns my life?”

In my safe I have a title for my home and the title for two cars. So, I own my home and 2 cars erg, wrong! The banks still own my home and 1 of my cars until they are paid off, I just hold the title for safekeeping. Now here is the real kicker, let’s say I own everything lock stock and barrel and I open my mailbox and get a letter that states “Your property has been seized by the Federal Government under Imminent Domain for the rerouting of I-71”

The fact is, we truly don’t own anything, God does! We exist by His grace. This is His planet and we are expected to be its caretaker and frankly we suck at it! I’m not a tree hugger but for pity’s sake pick up after yourself.

I reality, we are just passing through our lease on life so let's make the most of it for His Glory!

He calls on us to be stewards with what He provides: our families, our jobs, our relationships, our communities, our health. He expects us to then pay it forward to others so they might know Him.

And that’s just in the first 2 verses!

Until next week
Soli Deo Gloria!

03/15/2026

Good morning, beloved friends.

Today, I want to go back to Matthew to one of Jesus’ most profound teachings from the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Circumstances these last 2 weeks have made me take a second and much deeper look at this verse.

I have spent my whole life thinking this was about being the mediator which my kids will tell you was not always successful.

I spent a few hours with someone recently released from incarceration and after talking with this person, I realized the battle they were fighting was from within their own self. Thank God they are starting to realize that and are seeking to change it!

“Blessed are the peacemakers!” What if Jesus was really talking about looking inside ourselves and making peace with ourselves?

We spend so much time carrying around garbage and accumulating it year after year after year! It’s like Marley’s chains from “A Christmas Carol"

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus wants us to make peace with ourselves before we tackle the world! ” If we truly accept the cross and quit carrying around the past garbage, then peace will come! Sounds like a pretty good idea. Francis of Assisi had it right when he penned “Let it begin in me!”

As we leave today, may we carry this blessing with us. May we have the courage to be instruments of peace, trusting that in doing so, we walk as true children of God. Amen.

Until next week
Soli Deo Gloria!