Unapologetically Apostolic

A song I recall vividly from my youth that we would sing in services leading up to Thanksgiving was "Give Thanks." The words were simple but yet everyone sang them with such feeling. It said "Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’, because of what the Lord has done for us; and now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’, because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks."  That goes along hand and hand with the message my pastor shared last evening in church.  Being the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, many congregations chalked it up to last minute prep work or travel and decided to cancel service. Not at my church. We were there, praising and worshipping the One that allow...

The photo above is of a quilt that I won as a door prize at a ladies brunch back in the spring of 2019, I believe was the year. You'll have to excuse me for not quite remembering the exact year as there were a lot of things going on in my life at that time. I guess that's why this patch worked quilt struck a chord within in. Allow me to share a little about that day. I had gotten off work late the evening before, came home to have to care for my husband that had recently been released from the hospital with what was the beginning of chronic hospitalizations and illness. I had been invited to this brunch by my counselor at the time as a way of getting some fellowship and to be around other ladies instead of a constant focus on him and my work. The morning dawned bright and cheerful, totally not matching the mood I had. I awakened with trepidation over going. I got up and got ready but drug my feet getting there. I was in no rush. I arrived to the venue and I was grip...

Back, I'd say a good twenty years ago or longer, Janet Paschal had a song called "Another Soldier's Coming Home." In it, she sang about the senior saint of God that has valiantly fought the good fight of faith and is now entering into death victorious. Tonight however, I have to see that song in a different light. The song starts out "His back is bent and weary. His voice is tired and low. His sword is worn from battle and his steps have gotten slow. But he used to walk on water, or it seemed that way to me. I know he moved some mountains and he never left his knees." As we grow in Christ, we do get weighed down and weary. There is a battle which rages around us each and every day, whether we are prepared for it or not. That comes with the "job" of being a believer. 1 Peter 5:8 says that our advesary the devil roams around as a roaring lion, SEEKING whom he may devour. Scripture also tells us in John 10:10 that the thief comes but to steal, kill AN...