“For This Very Reason”
November 30, 2007 at 2:40 pm | In Christanity, Devotional, Encouragement, Religion | Leave a Comment 
In yesterday’s message I shared a photo of the sunrise behind our house. (see here)
I stepped outside yesterday just as the sun was setting and took the above photo.
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“For This Very Reason”
“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour” (John 12:27).
Last night I attended a men’s meeting where we were again challenged to share our faith. The speaker was Patrick O’Neal the Executive Director of CBMC, an international organization of Christian men. He is from North Carolina and at one point he paraphrased God’s call for each of us to spread His message of love and salvation by stating, “I’m counting on ya’ll to do it” quipping that God is a southerner!
We will be worshipping God throughout eternity, we’ll be in fellowship with one another throughout eternity. But we have this brief lifetime window for the impact of evangelism.
We are now in the season of advent when we especially focus on the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. A special focus on my heart is that Jesus knew His extremely difficult mission when He left heaven. A song Dottie Rambo penned in the seventies describes it this way, “He left the splendor of heaven, knowing His destiny, ’twas the lowly hill of Golgotha, there to lay down His life for me.” Throughout His ministry He regularly reinforced and reminded His disciples of this mission, although it seems they didn’t really grasp it until after He was resurrected.
In the daily text He is teaching at the time of the Triumphal Entry and forthrightly states, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). His heart is troubled and He asks aloud whether he should appeal to His Father to save Him from the darkest hour of His human experience. “No”, He emphatically states, and with resolute resolve He declares, “It was for this very reason I came to this hour.”
For some time I have taught that it is important to have a very succinct life mission statement. My statement describes the very mission that I believe God has for me for the remainder of my life on this earth. I purposefully include it in the footers of each daily encouragement posting. “I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, I have been redeemed and I make it my life’s goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity.”
Amen, may it be so Lord Jesus!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we are grateful to be among the redeemed who triumph in victory over sin and seek to please You in all things. You have called us out from the influences of the world and yet You have also strategically placed us among those in the world who have yet to bow their knee in surrender to Your lordship. So many are searching but have not yet found the answer their heart is longing for; a deep, abiding peace. This can only come from a relationship with You, Father. You heal the broken-hearted, You forgive and restore the fallen one. Help us to freely share that life-changing message with one who so desperately needs to hear it. Amen.
I had a pleasant interruption this morning in the final moments of message preparation. I got a call from a lady who was trying to get me to renew a subscription to a national secular news magazine. In verifying my address I told her my town was Mount Joy. Then I commented, “Isn’t Mount Joy a great name for a town!” Although we’d never talked before, and she had no idea I was a Christian believer, she said that it reminded her of the joy of the Lord and then she went on to declare her faith. I told her she was surely unaware that she was speaking to a Christian minister and, although I didn’t renew my subscription, I sought to encourage her. She asked me for prayer as she will soon be leaving a work release program and returning home. I prayed with her over the phone and gave her a brief exhortation. It sure wasn’t the normal telemarketing call and reminds me, and hopefully all of you reading this, that the Lord can use us in unusual ways and even those occasional unwelcome interruptions!
“Rescue the Perishing” – Fanny Crosby
Fanny Crosby tells others of how she came to write this wonderful missionary song: “I remember writing that hymn in the year 1869. Like many of my hymns, it was written following a personal experience at the New York City Bowery Mission [a homeless shelter with many derelicts at the time]….I was addressing a large company of working men one hot summer evening, when the thought kept forcing itself on my mind that some mother’s boy must be rescued that night or he might be eternally lost. So I made a pressing plea that if there was a boy present who had wandered from his mother’s home and teaching, he should come to me at the end of the service. A young man of 18 came forward – ‘Did you mean me, Miss Crosby? I promised my mother to meet her in heaven, but as I am now living, that will be impossible.’ We prayed for him and suddenly he arose with a new light in his eyes and spoke these words, ‘Now I am ready to meet my mother in heaven, for I have found God.’”
V. 1 – Rescue the perishing; care for the dying. Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o’er the erring one; lift up the fallen. Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
V. 3 – “Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore. Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, Cords that are broken will vibrate once more.
Refrain: Rescue the perishing; care for the daying. Jesus is merciful; Jesus will save.
Here is the website for CBMC
Suggested Music
“Rescue The Perishing” (Audio) Great song with Fanny Crosby lyrics but different tune than we sang growing up. Brooksyne really likes it and enjoyed listening when I found this version!
“People Need The Lord” (Audio)
An all-time favorite!
“Come Home Running” (Audio)
“Redeemer, Savior, Friend” (Audio)
Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement.
Here’s the photo of yesterday’s sunrise.
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“Bearing Burdens”
November 29, 2007 at 10:40 am | In Christanity, Devotional, Encouragement, Prayer, Religion | Leave a Comment
I was out for a walk early this morning and witnessed the pre-sunrise red sky just beyond our back yard.
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“Bearing Burdens”
“Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). “Pray for one another” (James 5:16).
Last night I called a friend from our church in New England who is in the hospital. A mutual friend who now lives in Florida emailed us and reported that Hope had been admitted to the hospital. Hope and her late husband, John, were a dear older couple in the church we served in New England. John passed away in 1999 and we stay in contact with Hope making an effort to visit her whenever we are in that area.
Brooksyne and I joined together and prayed with Hope over the phone and then shared a few words of encouragement. We sought to fulfill the two Scripture portions at the top of today’s message, a mandate I believe intended for all believers; bearing one another’s burdens and praying for one another. Actually we had several occasions to do so yesterday with people we know who would be unknown to most of you (some also unknown to us personally, but somewhat familiar through the daily encouragement.)
I want to share something that could be misunderstood, but please hear my heart. Consider those mass forward emails that request prayer for someone unknown to us. I am sure the initial sender was earnest (sadly though this is not always the case since hoaxes exist in many forms including email prayer requests.) Perhaps the initial recipients were a part of that circle and knew of the individual involved. The email might have a touching request often accompanied by a photo.
But somebody then dresses it up a bit and creates a chain email. It often goes on to declare the more prayers the better with instructions to pass it on to everyone in your contact list, usually with a subtle hint that in not doing so you must not care or, worse yet, promising an esoteric blessing if you do. The internet is a great tool to help us get out important messages quickly and to many individuals all at once with the press of the “Send” button. But let us also use this tool responsibly and prayerfully.
Generally bearing one another’s burdens and praying for one another is relational. This is not to say that we can’t pray or enlist other prayer warriors concerning a distant disaster affecting many who are personally unknown to us such as the recent flooding in Bangladesh or fires in California. We do this regularly as a family. Tragedies such as the Amish shootings last year certainly captured our hearts and prayers were spoken all around the world. But generally speaking a personal bearing of burdens is based on factual knowledge and is relationship-oriented.
I recall standing before brothers and sisters who regularly associated with one another and asked, “How can we, in praying for one another, fulfill a call to glorify God as a church body?” Several thoughtfully responded:
1) We express our dependency on God, which is a fundamental aspect of faith.
2) We obey God’s call as expressed in the daily Scripture portions I have used this morning.
3) We show our genuine love and care for others.
Whose burden can you bear today? Who can you pray for? It won’t take long to identify real people in our lives who need our prayers. Let’s do it and follow up the prayer with personal contact that brings encouragement. “I prayed for you this morning….” “The Lord laid this Scripture verse on my heart that I would like to share with you….”
I have often had the weight of my heavy burdens lifted in this manner and I do well to help lift others’ burdens in that same spirit. I want to be motivated by God’s love and be a representation of Him in human form to one who needs to hear from God.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, as ambassadors of Your heavenly Kingdom, we want to be keenly sensitive to those whose difficulties seem overwhelming. Some of our brothers and sisters are weighed down with troubling circumstances that might overtake them if not for those of us who take them by the arm and pull them up out of the quicksand of discouragement that ultimately sinks them further to depression or despair. As we walk heart to heart and hand in hand with our family of believers we also weep with them in their sorrows and rejoice with them in their victories. Would You lay upon my heart today two individuals, a believer and an unbeliever, and love their souls through me. Help me to do my part to strengthen my brother or sister in their faith journey. Reveal to me a way that I can show genuine concern for the unbeliever, through my caring words or in a loving deed, who needs to see the love of Christ represented in human form. In the blessed name of Jesus, I pray. Amen
Note regarding anonymous prayer request forwards. Some of you may have received these and taken a prayerful interest in them and that’s fine. But several issues concern me and, yes, they can even annoy me:
1) The assumption that the more people praying is necessarily better, as if God is moved mostly by the number of people praying. Pity the poor soul who has no connection to the internet!
2) The often implied guilt if you delete the message without forwarding it on. I see this on a lot of group forwards, not only prayer requests. This is a clue for me to delete immediately and a sign of fraud. Years ago chain letters did this. Some even have a spooky warning that something bad will happen to you if you don’t pass it on or if you “break the chain.”
3) The promised blessing you will receive if you pass these and other types of group forwards on. As John Stossel says, “Give me a break!”
Here is a revised update concerning our Daily Encouragement Net ministry.
Suggested Music
“Somebody’s Praying For Me” (Video)
“Somebody’s Praying” (Video)
A Beautiful Scripture reading from Ecclesiastes (Video)
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“Transitions”
November 28, 2007 at 11:17 am | In Assurance, Christanity, Devotional, Guidance, Religion | Leave a Comment 
A horse and buggy passing in front of our house.
The distinct sound of clomping horse hoofs and rolling buggy wheels!
(This photo was taken last fall when our daughter Ester went out to eat with our friends Jesse and Anna Ruth.)
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“Transitions”
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
I recently received a note from a friend who shared concerning the lengthy transition he is going through. Several years ago he left a long-standing position and his family business has been going through hard times. In addition to this he and his family have had several major health challenges. I sent him a brief note of encouragement and reminded him that in a sense we are all in a lengthy transition but then we always will be on this side of eternity!
Seven years ago Brooksyne and I served as chaplains in a large printing plant in New England. We were there for 2½ years before the corporate office chose to close its doors, but many of these people had worked together for 20 years or more. I still recall the deep felt emotions that Bruce, a machine operator, expressed as he left work for the final time. He walked through slowly and said a tender farewell to his fellow employees. Some wept as they acknowledged the end of a long term work relationship which lent itself to a long enduring friendship. I walked to the door with him and saw him off as he left a company he had poured his life into throughout most of his adult years. I found this to be a valuable ministry time in reminding these employees of the things that matter most in life. (Though we’ve moved 400 miles away from New England we’re still in contact with several of these employees who are now our long standing distant friends.)
Transitions are a part of life. Some people have little stability and in a sense they’re accustomed to transition. Many have gone from marriage to marriage, job to job and place to place. It’s become a way of life to them. I have ministered to people who have had more jobs by their early twenties than I’ve had in my entire life. As former foster parents we had children who by the age of six had lived in more places than we have in fifty-three! Many years ago I had a request to perform a marriage. In ascertaining the request they told me they wouldn’t need pastoral counseling inasmuch as they knew all there was to know about marrige since they had both been married several times before! (I chose not to officiate since this marriage was very likely doomed to fail even before the vows were spoken.)
Menno Brubaker at 100 years
But others know the blessings of long term stability. We have many friends who raised their own families in the same house where they were born or in the neighborhood where they grew up. The most remarkable example is Menno Brubaker, who turned 100 shortly after we moved here to Lancaster County. What a blessing to sit right in the pew in front of him Sunday after Sunday for several years. After hitting the century mark he lived to be 102 years old. We visited with him and his daughter and shared a meal in the very farmhouse where he was born, where he lived his entire life, and where he received his promotion to glory. He was a life-long member of the same church. He was carried to this church as a baby and we attended his funeral in the very same church! Menno wholeheartedly lived for Christ and scores of people recall, in one way or another, his lasting impact upon their lives.
Transitions can be an especially difficult faith challenge. Later in life Abraham, quite settled in Haran, was called into a transition. “He obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Consider he had no maps, gps and only the most primitive means of transportation and he didn’t even know where he was going!
Not knowing where we’re going is the hard part of transition isn’t it? And some of you are there right now. On the short term you simply don’t know where you are going. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. (I sure hope you do in the long term!)
Your transition, like Abraham’s, may be prompted by a direct call or leading of the Lord. Or more likely it may be due to circumstances beyond your control, such as a plant closing, a lengthy illness, or the death of a loved one. For some it may involve a transition with the church you’re attending where you have given so much of your heart, your time, your finances, and your spiritual gifts.
But the powerful assurance believers have is that these circumstances are ultimately ordained by God. He is reigning. He is in control. He will be with you. Stay faithful and experience the wonderful assurance of His love and care through this God-ordained transition!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, year after year our lives are marked by change which brings growing transformation in our lives just as You rotate the seasons of the calendar bringing about distinct change in the weather pattern transforming all of nature. As Solomon writes, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. Our pilgrimage includes a time for gain and a time for loss, a time for plenty and a time for want, a time of understanding and a time of perplexity, a time for listening and a time for speaking, a time for searching and a time for finding. In the midst of all these changes we are assured that You do not change, for You are the same yesterday, today and forever. And in all these changes we are assured that You are working for our good, for we know that in all things You work for the good of those who love You, who have been called according to Your purpose. We thank You for Your immutable nature that remains when all else changes. Amen.
Today let us share with our readers a revised ministry update.
Suggested Music
“God Is In Control” (Audio)
“Worth It All” (Video) is a powerful song by Rita Springer.
“All My Days” (Video) another song by Rita Springer.
“Yesterday, Today, Forever” (Audio) from here.
“Yesterday, Today, Forever” (Audio)
I was actually looking for an audio of this old hymn I recall singing as a young Christian that has a great message! I am sure a few of you have sung it but it’s rarely heard these days.
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“Formed At God’s Command”
November 27, 2007 at 9:59 am | In Christianity, Creation, Devotional, Religion | Leave a Comment 
Lancaster County Sunset
(Photo by Doris High)
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“Formed At God’s Command”
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3).
What do you think of when you see or eat a peanut? I often think of George Washington Carver!
One of my most memorable childhood trips was going to the National Monument where George Washington Carver is honored in Southwest Missouri. But I suppose I also like George Washington Carver because he has the same name as my Grandpa, George Washington Steincross!
George Washington Carver was born into slavery, orphaned as an infant, and traded for a broken-down racehorse. He had all kinds of excuses to fail and be bitter.
Yet he grew up with a faith and love for God and an appreciation of nature that would sustain him throughout his entire life. His forte was the peanut and he was a pioneer in the field of chemurgy, a branch of applied chemistry that is concerned with preparing industrial products from agricultural raw materials. Testifying before the Senate Agriculture Committee, he said that he got his knowledge of peanuts from the Bible. Asked what the Bible said about peanuts he replied, “The Bible does not teach anything regarding the peanut. But it told me about God, and God told me about the peanut.”
I especially appreciate Carver’s outlook in life. He was able to see the hand of God in nature. He certainly believed in intelligent design and an intelligent Designer. Carver said, “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour if we will only tune in.” As a devout Christian, Carver considered his laboratory, “God’s Little Workshop.”
I read this in an encyclopedia concerning Carver’s faith: “God and science were both areas of intrigue, not warring ideas in the mind of George Washington Carver. While contemporary scientific endeavors may practice methodological naturalism, an approach which believes the universe to be unguided or chaotic, Carver reasoned that the God who created the universe also created the rules by which it was governed. He was opposed to the scientific theory of evolution and believed the creation of the world to be the Biblical creation account from the book of Genesis verbatim. He would testify on many occasions that his faith in Jesus was the only mechanism by which he could effectively pursue and perform the art of science.”
I believe God is still speaking today through His creation and one of the keys to a positive, faith-filled outlook in life is to tune into His voice. In the daily verse the word “understand” translates a word that means “to exercise the mind, observe.” I once again affirm, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, we long to hear Your voice which gives us direction, affirmation, conviction, reproof, and comfort. Help us with the spiritual exercise of observing how You are working in our own heart and in the lives of those around us. And we especially need to observe the ways You are present in the daily grind of life. The daily routine can easily squeeze out those special sightings of Your glorious presence and supernatural workings where You make visible that which is not seen with human eyes, but only through the eyes of faith. Faithful and True God, just as You formed the universe with Your own hands, You also shape the human heart with Your own Spirit, bringing it into conformity to Your will for our lives. Help us to surrender ourselves fully to You so that we are among those who have supernatural faith which makes us confident of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see with human eyes.
Today’s lead photo is by Doris High and is found in this context on her photo blog. She has a creative way of sharing her photos with a quote from George Washington Carver that I also used in today’s message. Here’s an online article about him (scroll down for a description of his Christian commitment). Here’s info about the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond Missouri which I visited as a child.
Here’s another example of Doris High’s photo work that really blessed me!
Suggested Music
“How Great Thou Art” (Video) George Beverly Shea at 98 years old!
“How Great Thou Art” (Video)
“How Great Thou Art” (Audio)
“How Great Thou Art“ (Audio)
“How Great Thou Art” (Video)
“How Great Is Our God” (Video)
“God Of Wonders” (Audio)
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“Contending For Sound Doctrine”
November 26, 2007 at 11:47 am | In Christanity, Creation, Doctrine, Religion | Leave a Comment 
Central Market in downtown Lancaster
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“Contending For Sound Doctrine”
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42). “Watch your life and doctrine closely” (1 Timothy 4:16).
I have a friend who is a science teacher in a Christian school. He shared of an encounter he had with a student in his class who expressed that the Biblical accounts describing Adam and Eve and the flood were not really true, but merely myths.
My friend expressed his belief that the Biblical record was indeed a reliable account and later received a call from the student’s father. He identified himself as a PhD who taught Theology in a culturally Christian college. He stated that his child was merely reflecting his beliefs and was seeking to defend them. Thankfully my teacher friend was not swayed by his apostasy!
A major emphasis in 1 Timothy is the importance of maintaining sound doctrine. I have a tremendous burden when I see the slipping of sound doctrine, yet this has been a battle the true church has faced from its earliest years.
Too often, in the history of the church, apostasy begins in the church’s educational system. Schools pride themselves in educational excellence and academic respectability. Professors are often hired based primarily upon their educational attainment, not their adherence to sound doctrine, particularly if their degrees are from “prestigious” colleges. After all, it looks good to have PhD’s from Harvard, Yale or other elite schools on the faculty.
The daily text gives us a glimpse of life in the early church: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” I believe as we dedicate our lives to Jesus we will also continue to devote ourselves steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I believe it is the authoritative, infallible, inerrant, wholly inspired Word of God. I sure don’t understand all of it and some of the accounts are difficult to comprehend, but I attribute much of this difficulty to my own limited comprehension! Much understanding will take place at a later date, perhaps on the other side.
Today, wherever you are, whatever you do, keep contending for the apostolic doctrine. Hold fast to that which the Scripture teaches. Discern and resist the evil influences that would seek to discredit the teaching of God’s Holy Word.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Your Word is eternal and it stands firm in the heavens. You give me understanding to learn your commands and the fortitude to apply these principles which is a life-changing process over my lifetime. You established Your Law to last forever though it is often mocked by modern philosophers and those who want to sway the truth to their own liking. Help us not to be intimidated by those who claim “more education” has made them wiser than the miraculous black and white truths delivered to us by the Holy Scriptures. Help us to carefully exegete the Word of God as we earnestly contend for the faith once and for all entrusted to the saints. Amen.
PS: I had a similar experience as my science teacher friend several years ago when I was at a training conference in Springfield, Missouri. I attended a special meeting where one of the speakers also had an interest in astronomy. In the course of his lecture he scornfully mocked the Biblical teaching concerning creation and bragged that he was able to persuade the entire class he taught at Evangel College as an adjunct professor in the reasonableness of “theistic” evolution. (In essence it means that the current teaching of evolution is correct, but God is somehow at work behind the scenes. In this view the teaching of the Bible concerning creation is essentially a myth.)
This is a critical issue facing the Church. So many worship at the shrine of academia. In fact my teacher friend conveyed that the professor seemed to assert that his having a PhD would settle the issue and place his beliefs in an authoritative position above any criticism from my teacher friend (who ironically had a degree from the same college the professor taught.)
I have a new blog that will have periodic postings but with longer articles. I named it “Clear Minded” based upon this Scripture text from 1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” I have posted my first article on the site, a message I wrote about ten years ago when I had an overseer role in Southeast Massachusetts. Read it here.
Saturday we gathered with two of Stephen’s three siblings for a meal at our place. His sister Genelle and her husband Cesar were up from North Carolina and his brother Pat and his wife Laverne along with their daughters Heidi and Gretchen and Gretchen’s husband Greg drove down from Easton Pennsylvania (in the Lehigh Valley). Mike, his oldest brother, who lives in California, was unable to join us.
Today’s photo is taken at Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania which is the oldest publicly-owned, continuously-operating farmer’s market in the country.
Suggested Music
“I Believe” (Audio) Not necessarily my taste in music but an emphatic statement of faith that is surely related to today’s message!
“I Believe” (Audio) Different song but same observation as above!
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“Satisfied?”
November 23, 2007 at 10:12 am | In Christanity, Contentment, Encouragement, Religion, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment
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“Satisfied?”
“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me” (Hosea 13:6).
Did you fill up yesterday? Were you satisfied? In our home we enjoyed a veritable feast with my sister and her husband joining us for an abundance of delicious food. I know so many of you had a similar meal yesterday, particularly those living in America where the Thanksgiving feast is both a celebration of our blessing and an expression of overabundance. Following our meal we went for an invigorating wind-blown walk through the country. The winds must have surely been blowing at 40 MPH.
Why are we so blessed? How much longer will this long season of plenty and abundance last?
Consider the cycle in our daily verse. Where are we as a country in that cycle? I ask myself, where am I as an individual?
Surely we’ve been fed. Plenty of food for most of us and lots and lots of other stuff as well.
This leads to satisfaction, which is a blessing and that’s not a bad thing. But then we have to be on guard against our pride swelling which leads to forgetting God. Ironically this leads to dissatisfaction. Instead of being satisfied and content there’s just never enough.
Today is a massive day of shopping extravaganza here in the states. I just wonder how much of it is driven by dissatisfaction. I read this yesterday in regard to the increasing amount of stores now open on Thanksgiving Day: “Some people just can’t wait until Friday,” said Kirsten Whipple, a Sears spokeswoman. “Thanksgiving dinner is done and they have moved on.”
Moses warned the people of God some 600 years before the prophet Hosea lived: “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14).
Jesus warned of “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things (that) come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy (and to all of us), “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17).
Today as you work off the extra big meal and likely enjoy some leftovers, keep remembering the Lord. And learn the real joy of satisfaction as we truly put and keep our hope in God, who always richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer (written by Joe Sherer pastor of the Mount Joy Mennonite Church and shared as the benediction at our community Thanksgiving Eve service):
May the Lord bless you and keep you, May He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the broad expanse of God’s love and the abundance of His riches in glory, shape your perspective on your own life and needs,
including those things which disappoint you.
May the eyes of your heart be open to all the blessings which surround you; may this awareness produce a harvest of generosity in your spirit.
May thankfulness rise up within you, not just during this short season, but day after day, from the early morning watch until you retire for the night.
May your prayers reflect gratitude, while also acknowledging the needs of others whose situations are so drastically different.
May thoughts of Jesus fill your mind, and hunger for God drive your soul, and love for Lord guide your speech and your actions.
And finally, may the grace, peace, and love of the triune God, protect, defend, and empower you to run with perseverance the race marked out for you.
Amen.
My sister Genelle and her husband Cesar.
Today we are taking them to some of the local “Farmer’s Markets”
Suggested Music
“Godliness With Contentment” (Audio) Original by our friend Mike Book.
“Thank You Lord” (Audio)
“Enough” (Audio)
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“Thanksgiving”
November 22, 2007 at 11:42 am | In Christanity, Religion, Scriptures, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment 
Amish farm taken from a hot air balloon.
Photo by Debra Zimmerman (Used by permission)
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“Thanksgiving”
“Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise” (Psalm 79:13).
Today’s message will be a bit different. It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA, a national holiday and great day to especially give thanks to the Lord and gather with family and friends. Today my sister, Genelle, and her husband, Cesar, are coming up from North Carolina and late this afternoon we will share our traditional Thanksgiving meal. Saturday my brother Pat and his family from Easton, PA will join us. (My brother Mike, who lives in California, will not be able to join us this year.)
Last night we attended our community thankgiving service with a mix of churches participating. We sang songs of praise and thanksgiving together and had Scripture readings, testimonies and special music.
Today we want to merely share Scripture reading from Psalm 136 that is very suitable for responsive reading, even for those with very young children who can simply respond, “His love endures forever.”
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
Who by His understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
Who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
Who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
The sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
The moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
To the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
And freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.
And who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
Be encouraged today and be overflowing with thanksgiving!
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
A Thanksgiving Prayer
In thanksgiving we lift our voices of praise from grateful hearts, Father, as we sing songs of praise and adoration to You, our blessed King. Whether in seasons of prosperity or in seasons of want we find Your grace sufficient to meet each one of our needs. You guide us, protect us, and You provide for us as we journey here below. Every good and perfect gift comes from Your hand. Thank You, faithful Father! Amen.
Some more balloon photos
I’m quite sure I have been on this road.
It sure beckons for a country drive on a beautiful autumn afternoon!
This is sure an interesting photo, especially the variegated surface.
See this photo for zoom-out context.
Today’s photos (like those on yesterday’s post) were take by Debra Zimmerman, daughter of our friends Cerwin and Doris High. More photos are on Doris High’s photoblog site. Here’s another great photoblog with a country theme. These photographs are outstanding!
Thanksgiving Resources
”Thankful For The Thorns” – A family reading and exercise that is a wonderful way to give a thoughtful focus around your Thankgiving Table (webpage)
Most every year our Thanksgiving celebration is first and foremost the turkey and trimmings. Lots of food with little meaningful conversation. Why not add some stimulating discussion about the ways God has worked in your life over the past year! I realize that some of you are not in charge and are only visitors at your Thanksgiving gathering. But if it is possible I recommend sharing together around the table the theme of “Thankful for the Thorns” or the questionnaire we’ve provided in the link below. Perhaps you could just use it as a discussion guide to provide stimulus for other’s reflections.
“Hymns of Hope” A project that has been in the works over several months is now completed. Brooksyne has compiled eleven hymns that deal with the recurring theme of loss and ongoing trial and titled it “Hymns of Hope” based on Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Amber Martin plays the hymns on the keyboard and Lauren Gingrich accompanies her on six of the hymns with the viola. Tracks 12-22 play each hymn softly in the background while Brooksyne shares a personal devotional thought, the biographical setting of the hymn text, and an intercessory prayer. We recorded this in the very modest and limited computerized recording studio of Daily Encouragement so that we could make this ministry project available to all who are in need of such encouragement without huge overhead expense. Thus we realize the audio quality is not what we’ve become accustomed to. You can go to this site to listen to the songs. You can download one song at a time if you find this to be of special blessing to you or know someone whose spirit might be lifted by listening to these meditative hymns. Here’s a sample with a Thanksgiving theme: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Audio reading)
A Thanksgiving Scripture reading – A selection of Old and New Testament readings dealing with thankfulness appropriate for church, family and personal readings. (pdf) (Suitable for printing out and copying.)
A Thanksgiving family exercise – We have used this questionnaire as a stimulus for discussion among family members in the past. We encourage you to share results around the table at Thanksgiving before or after the meal. (pdf)
A Day of Rest in Plimouth Colony - This is a summary of a chapter in the lives of the pilgrims that Brooksyne uses to teach about their Sunday worship. (pdf)
Books used in Brooksyne’s research on the Pilgrims:
Saints & Strangers By Vision Video
Three Young Pilgrims By Cheryl Harness / Simon & Schuster
Suggested Music
“I Am So Thankful” (Audio)
“Give Thanks” (Audio)
“Be Unto Your Name” (Audio)
“Godliness With Contentment” (Audio) Original by our friend Mike Book
The offertory for the service last night was a song we hadn’t heard for many years but was a favorite while we were in Bible College in the mid-seventies. I am sure some of you will recognize it and it really has a great perspective on thankfulness with the title, “Thank You Lord For The Trials That Come My Way.” Here are the lyrics although I could not locate an audio version.
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“Living Better”
November 21, 2007 at 11:18 am | In Christanity, Contentment, Religion, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment 
Amish country photo taken from a hot air balloon!
Photo by Debra Zimmerman (Used by permission)
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“Living Better”
“A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15b).
Here in the USA we are accustomed to our mailboxes and newspapers being filled with ad fliers and we hear the blaring commercials on television that plead with us to buy more stuff. This increases during the holiday season and especially prior to this coming Friday when the retail industry hopes people will come off their Thanksgiving celebration with a shopping binge. Some of the “Can’t Resist” sales have now moved up from Friday to midnight on Thanksgiving.
Yesterday I received an ad flier from a prominent retailer here in America. It had a lot of neat looking stuff that Brooksyne and I found appealing. The subtitle on the ad was, “Save Money, Live Better.”
Interesting the phraseology “Save Money” when they are really trying to get me and millions of others to spend money in their store. But I know what they mean, essentially claiming that I will “save” money by buying the item at their store rather than another retailer that costs more. The true fact is, I will save a whole lot more money if I just stay home! (I’m aware that some of our readers are retailers and this would not be helpful to you if we all did so.)
But I especially consider the phrase “Live Better.” If better living is defined by having more stuff we certainly live better than ever before. Every single item on the front page of the sale flier was not even available 15 years ago. In fact as I looked all through the flier most of the stuff is new in my lifetime. Pity our poor ancestors who lived before this stuff was even available. I assume they just didn’t get opportunities like us to “live better” by maxing out their charge cards like many Americans where consumer debt is at an all time high!
Actually most reading this message are living pretty good as far as stuff. But the bar of desire, then expectation, then “need” and finally entitlement just keeps raising. I drive through the “poorest” sections of Lancaster City and see rows of satellite dishes on the public housing units.
You may not live in a mansion as currently defined but relative to the masses in many parts of the world you’re probably doing pretty good. Just look at the photos coming out of Bangladesh. We live in a long period of peace and prosperity and yet this is one of the most dangerous times for spiritual health.
Jesus said, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” We are so conditioned to equate the essence of the better life with more stuff or our “abundance of possessions.” Stuff can be an aspect of God’s blessing but we all know it generally provides a hollow, short-lived satisfaction. We keep needing more and more to maintain and feed that satisfaction.
Satisfaction, contentment, and thanksgiving are closely related in their word associations in the English language. Robert Flatt puts it like this, “Thanksgiving like contentment is a learned attribute. The person who hasn’t learned to be content will not be thankful, for he lives with the delusion that he deserves more or something better.”
The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Charles Spurgeon also addressed the need for contentment, “You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.”
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, I know that contentment with godliness is of great benefit. It brings about a lasting peace and grateful heart that only You can give. Help me not to focus so much on the material possessions that I lose sight of that which is of vital importance. May the character of my soul and the fruit of my actions be of much greater importance than the perishable goods that capture my attention. I look to You for proper balance in the things You have blessed me with and the attitude in which I receive these good things from Your hands.
Brooksyne’s Note: I recently read a touching story about a woman who had learned the secret of contentment. She was a legally blind 92-year old woman who moved to a nursing home after her husband of seventy years had passed away. She waited patiently in the lobby, and when her room was finally ready she maneuvered her walker to the elevator. As she did so she the nurse’s aid accompanied her and gave her a visual description of her tiny room. “I love it,” she stated with enthusiasm. “But Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room yet.” She replied, “That doesn’t have anything to do with it. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.”
Today’s photos were take by Debra Zimmerman, daughter of our friends Cerwin and Doris High. She has a layout and design business here in Lancaster County and had the opportunity to take photos from a hot air balloon over eastern Lancaster County’s Amish country. She took this photo just as the balloon landed of some Amish children walking home from school. More photos are on Doris High’s photoblog site.
Thanksgiving Resources
”Thankful For The Thorns” – A family reading and exercise that is a wonderful way to give a thoughtful focus around your Thankgiving Table (webpage)
Most every year our Thanksgiving celebration is first and foremost the turkey and trimmings. Lots of food with little meaningful conversation. Why not add some stimulating discussion about the ways God has worked in your life over the past year! I realize that some of you are not in charge and are only visitors at your Thanksgiving gathering. But if it is possible I recommend sharing together around the table the theme of “Thankful for the Thorns” or the questionnaire we’ve provided in the link below. Perhaps you could just use it as a discussion guide to provide stimulus for other’s reflections.
“Hymns of Hope” A project that has been in the works over several months is now completed. Brooksyne has compiled eleven hymns that deal with the recurring theme of loss and ongoing trial and titled it “Hymns of Hope” based on Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Amber Martin plays the hymns on the keyboard and Lauren Gingrich accompanies her on six of the hymns with the viola. Tracks 12-22 play each hymn softly in the background while Brooksyne shares a personal devotional thought, the biographical setting of the hymn text, and an intercessory prayer. We recorded this in the very modest and limited computerized recording studio of Daily Encouragement so that we could make this ministry project available to all who are in need of such encouragement without huge overhead expense. Thus we realize the audio quality is not what we’ve become accustomed to. You can go to this site to listen to the songs. You can download one song at a time if you find this to be of special blessing to you or know someone whose spirit might be lifted by listening to these meditative hymns. Here’s a sample with a Thanksgiving theme: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Audio reading)
A Thanksgiving Scripture reading – A selection of Old and New Testament readings dealing with thankfulness appropriate for church, family and personal readings. (pdf) (Suitable for printing out and copying.)
A Thanksgiving family exercise – We have used this questionnaire as a stimulus for discussion among family members in the past. We encourage you to share results around the table at Thanksgiving before or after the meal. (pdf)
A Day of Rest in Plimouth Colony - This is a summary of a chapter in the lives of the pilgrims that Brooksyne uses to teach about their Sunday worship. (pdf)
Books used in Brooksyne’s research on the Pilgrims:
Saints & Strangers By Vision Video
Three Young Pilgrims By Cheryl Harness / Simon & Schuster
Suggested Music
“Praise To The Lord” (Audio)
“Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven” (Audio)
“Praise The Mighty Name Of Jesus” (Audio)
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Audio)
Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement.
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“Living As Wise”
November 20, 2007 at 12:34 pm | In Christanity, Religion, Wisdom | Leave a Comment 
First snow of the season!
Photo by Doris High (Used by permission)
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“Living As Wise”
“Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16).
I was reading a blog with a very liberal perspective the other day. The writer was mocking a core belief of the Christian faith and spewing condescending venom toward those whom he saw as primitive Neanderthals who foolishly hold such a view. As with most blogs the comments that followed reflected the view of the writer. One comment especially caught my attention as the writer wrote concerning those who have this belief, which would include me and most reading today’s post, as being more dangerous than Osama Bin Laden!
Things are becoming increasingly topsy-turvey with the continued slide into decadence and denial of God’s ways. The prophet Isaiah’s words from 2,700 years ago are so amazingly timeless and powerful. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
Consider the timely message of these verses in light of the evil behavior that pervades our land today. Those who engage in wicked behavior have been exalted as role models and trend setters while those who continue to hold to God’s holy standards are now being referred to as the “evil ones.”
Yesterday I used the same daily text and challenged our readers to use the opportunities God places before us. As I prepared the message and carefully examined the text I ended up having far more material than I felt appropriate to use in a daily message! So I will expound on it today for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see God’s truths.
The daily verse gives a somber warning and important truth. I have memorized it and I encourage you to do so as well. What a somber expression of reality, as vitally needed today as when the Apostle Paul wrote it nearly 2,000 years ago.
We need to be very careful how we live. Our enemy, the devil, goes about like a prowling lion seeking whom he may devour. Many have lowered their guard but must resist him standing firm in our faith.
We need to “live–not as unwise but as wise.” We need “the wisdom that comes from heaven” (James 3:17) and this will increasingly be contrary to the wisdom of the world. Remember the old saying, “What’s popular may not be right and what’s right may not be popular.” Jesus never let the desire for acceptance or popularity among his hearers dictate the truths he would disclose or the errors He would refute. Who would want to be loved and accepted by the people more than Jesus Himself? And yet we often let the possibility of rejection stand in the way of whether or not we’ll speak up for righteousness.
“The days are evil.” In seeking the true wisdom that comes from heaven I want my eyes to be open to the evil, not blinded by it.
As God’s people seeking to live out our faith in these evil days we need to make the most of every opportunity, which the KJV translates as “redeeming the time.” Opportunities abound for the Spirit led, earnest follower of Christ.
Today how can you and I make the most of every opportunity to express our faith in Christ? Let’s be open to the daily opportunities God provides for us, seeking to make the most of them. Then we will live as those who are wise and fortify ourselves against the evils of our day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, it would be easy to be driven to despair in the midst of the evil that surrounds us if we didn’t walk in the light of Your truth. We walk in the true wisdom that comes from heaven, not in the flawed wisdom that comes from the world. Help us to make the most of every opportunity to stand up for divine truth in our speech and in our actions. We want to be the light that shines forth in the creeping darkness of our land so that we can show others the way to eternal life. In the name of Your dear Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Thanksgiving Resources
”Thankful For The Thorns” – A family reading and exercise that is a wonderful way to give a thoughtful focus around your Thankgiving Table (webpage)
“Hymns of Hope” A project that has been in the works over several months is now completed. Brooksyne has compiled eleven hymns that deal with the recurring theme of loss and ongoing trial and titled it “Hymns of Hope” based on Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Amber Martin plays the hymns on the keyboard and Lauren Gingrich accompanies her on six of the hymns with the viola. Tracks 12-22 play each hymn softly in the background while Brooksyne shares a personal devotional thought, the biographical setting of the hymn text, and an intercessory prayer. We recorded this in the very modest and limited computerized recording studio of Daily Encouragement so that we could make this ministry project available to all who are in need of such encouragement without huge overhead expense. Thus we realize the audio quality is not what we’ve become accustomed to. You can go to this site to listen to the songs. You can download one song at a time if you find this to be of special blessing to you or know someone whose spirit might be lifted by listening to these meditative hymns. Here’s a sample with a Thanksgiving theme: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Audio reading)
A Thanksgiving Scripture reading – A selection of Old and New Testament readings dealing with thankfulness appropriate for church, family and personal readings. (pdf) (Suitable for printing out and copying.)
A Thanksgiving family exercise – We have used this questionnaire as a stimulus for discussion among family members in the past. We encourage you to share results around the table at Thanksgiving before or after the meal. (pdf)
A Day of Rest in Plimouth Colony - This is a summary of a chapter in the lives of the pilgrims that Brooksyne uses to teach about their Sunday worship. (pdf)
Books used in Brooksyne’s research on the Pilgrims:
Saints & Strangers By Vision Video
Three Young Pilgrims By Cheryl Harness / Simon & Schuster
Music for today:
“Come Thou Fount” (Audio) “Give Us Clean Hands” (Audio)
“Be Thou My Vision” (Audio)
Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement.
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“Opportunities”
November 19, 2007 at 1:31 pm | In Christanity, Opportunity, Religion | Leave a Comment 
This majestic maple is about 2 miles from our home.
With the current wet and cold weather all these leaves will soon be on the ground!
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“Opportunities”
“Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16).
Today Brooksyne and I have several friends on our hearts we are praying for. A series of poor choices and acts of disobedience is yielding a harvest of heartache, both to them and those around them. It surprises us since they appeared to be “running well.” Just as one of the great joys in ministry is seeing people stay faithful to the Lord, it is also one of the greatest disappointments is when people fall away.
Ministry of any sort can, at times, be discouraging. One of the benefits of aging is gaining a long-term perspective and getting an increasingly bigger picture of the way that God is working things out. That’s why I can draw strength from the bigger picture and, as you consider your own work for Christ so can you, most especially as you see prayers fulfilled over the years.
Let me pull a story from my memory file. Nick is a young man who grew up in the church I pastored. I dedicated him as an infant, but like so many, he floundered in his faith as a teenager and young adult.
About 8 years ago I attended his brother’s wedding out in California. I took an overnight flight back to Massachusetts, where I lived at the time. Nick just happened to be on that same flight since it connected in Pittsburgh and he was going home to northern Pennsylvania. When he heard we were on the same plane he told his Mom, “I sure hope I don’t have to sit next to Pastor Weber; he’ll preach to me the whole way back.”
We didn’t have an assigned seat next to each other, but I managed to find him next to an empty seat. We made conversation and I reckon I did some “preaching” during our flight. We had breakfast together in Pittsburgh and I prayed for him at McDonalds in the airport before we went our separate ways. I never thought much more about that flight till some time later.
The Holy Spirit was dealing with Nick’s heart during those years of spiritual neglect and a few years ago he recommitted his life to the Lord Jesus. What a relief it was for his praying parents and others who were also praying. His wife, Darlene, whom I spoke to recently, also gave her heart to the Lord. They’re raising their daughter in the ways of godliness and they are expecting their second child. Their 3 year old daughter, Marissa, was recently diagnosed with juvenile diabetes which brings about a major lifestyle change for the entire family. Going through the process of such major changes requires a great deal of wisdom, discipline, and much prayer. What a blessing it is that they are in good standing with the Master.
All of you reading this who follow Christ are in ministry, although we often associate “ministry” in a formal, vocational way such as the pastor of a local church. But God has called each of His followers to serve. You are spread all around the world in a wide variety of situations to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, making the most of every opportunity.
Today’s Scripture text is an ongoing call. “Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Every one of us are to make the most of every opportunity. Today look for the opportunities to serve that God will providentially place before you. Then share His love and care and depend on Him for the results. And be encouraged from my experience that, as life progresses, you will increasingly see the blessed fruit of your labors!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Father, I want to walk in the wisdom of Your Holy Word as I make choices this day since the choices I will make tomorrow reflect the choices of today. You’ve given me the freedom to choose but You’ve also given me the wisdom and insight to know that the weight of those decisions bring about good or bad. May my actions not be based on man’s changing words or the standards of my brothers and sisters, for I know we are frail and subject to faulty thinking. I want the standards of the unchanging, living Holy Word to be an anchor for my soul judging the thoughts and attitudes of my heart so that I will stay the course for which You have called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. And help me to be watchful for those who are veering off course so that I can encourage them in the faith and be prayerful for their wandering souls. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Yesterday Brooksyne led in the worship service and started out in the most unusual way. She read Psalm 150 where the Psalmist exhorts us to “Praise the Lord” 13 times. He speaks of using stringed instruments, the trumpet, the flute, tambourine and cymbals to praise the Lord. She then asked for a show of hands from those who could play these instruments. There were very few but then she asked “How many of you can whistle?” A majority of hands were then raised. She then gave us the definition of a whistle – “a wood wind instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air.” We were then invited to use our wind instrument to “Praise the Lord” as we whistled through the verse and chorus of a hymn before we sang it. It was a first for me and probably for all who attended to use our whistle to praise the Lord! Here’s a demonstration and you can hear her at this link. Do you recognize the hymn? (Sorry for the wind pops I just couldn’t get them out!)
Yesterday afternoon we listened to the “Unshackled” radio drama and heard a testimony we know many parents can identify with. (Here’s an online audio) Message dated 11/18/07
Today we woke up to the first snow of the season, a light dusting. We still get excited (especially when we’re inside looking out and not having to drive anywhere.)
A project that has been in the works over several months is now completed. Brooksyne has compiled eleven hymns that deal with the recurring theme of loss and ongoing trial and titled it “Hymns of Hope” based on Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Amber Martin plays the hymns on the keyboard and Lauren Gingrich accompanies her on six of the hymns with the viola. Tracks 12-22 play each hymn softly in the background while Brooksyne shares a personal devotional thought, the biographical setting of the hymn text, and an intercessory prayer. We recorded this in the very modest and limited computerized recording studio of Daily Encouragement so that we could make this ministry project available to all who are in need of such encouragement without huge overhead expense. You can go to this site to listen to the songs. You can download one song at a time if you find this to be of special blessing to you or know someone whose spirit might be lifted by listening to these meditative hymns. Here’s a sample with Thanksgiving theme: “Now Thank We All Our God” (Audio reading)
More music for today:
“Make Me Your Voice” (Audio)
“A Servant’s Heart” (Audio)
“Give Us Clean Hands” (Audio)
Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement.
Thanksgiving Resources
A Thanksgiving Scripture reading – A selection of Old and New Testament readings dealing with thankfulness appropriate for church, family and personal readings. (pdf) (Suitable for printing out and copying.)
A Thanksgiving family exercise – We have used this Questionnaire as a stimulus for discussion among family members in the past. We encourage you to share results around the table at Thanksgiving before or after the meal. (pdf)
A Day of Rest in Plimouth Colony - This is a summary of a chapter in the lives of the pilgrims that Brooksyne uses to teach about their Sunday worship. (pdf)
Books used in Brooksyne’s research on the Pilgrims:
Saints & Strangers By Vision Video
Three Young Pilgrims By Cheryl Harness / Simon & Schuster Trade Sales
Comment on this encouragement message
Please help us continue this free encouragement ministry
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