Salt and Light Blog

My nephew Michael has made an honest and valid request. My family has faced great tragedy again. My niece Cheryl, Michael’s younger sister, was killed early Sunday morning in a head on collision. She had just turned 34 last Wednesday.

A few hours later, Michael’s uncle, my only brother Stephen, died from a rare pneumatic virus that took his life in less than 72 hours. He was only 52 and leaves behind a wife, children, grandchildren, and three sisters and me his brother.

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Technorati Tags: death, grief

Yesterday my pastor, Dr. Dennis Brunet, preached from one of my favorite passages in the Bible. This passage saw me through a very difficult time in my life. When I first came across it, it so soothed my hurting heart that the only piece of paper I could find in my room was an envelope. I wrote this passage on the envelope and carried it with me every where I went. It became very worn from unfolding and folding it dozens of times. It literally brought me the peace of God:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

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Technorati Tags: hope

I wanted to share an encouraging note I received from one of my devotional readers; she is somewhat new to our group (now numbering 212). Tara wrote in response to my taking a devotional hiatus, and I publish this somewhat unwillingly because I do not want to draw attention to myself, but I felt a strong urging from the Lord to share this with you.

This dear sister-in-Christ so clearly addresses what we all struggle with; how to best serve the Lord. Here is her response:

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When I was a young boy and even in my teenage years growing up in Northern California near the Pacific Ocean, one of my favorite things to do when we went to Bodega Bay was to go out on the jetty at Doran Beach and climb and walk the big rocks all the way to the end. We would even fish from there. However, it was very dangerous and at times extremely slippery on those massive, jagged rocks. If you were not careful you could slip and hurt yourself real good.

As we go through this Christian life, keeping in mind the encouraging words of Christ to be of good cheer, we must be certain we know what that means. We’ve said it means to take courage, but often that is easier said than done. I would submit that we usually are fearful before we are courageous.

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Technorati Tags: fear, trust

So many Christian patriots are very discouraged by the election outcome. Many are ready to quit; many are ready to start a third party; many are just ready “to go home” (I can sympathize with the latter sentiment). Discouragement is one of Satan’s greatest weapons against God’s people. It can be lethal. He may use persecution, predicaments, or privation to bring us to our knees and shout, “I give up!” Satan loves defeated Christians because misery loves company.

Beloved, we are not defeated! Our foe has been vanquished and we already have the victory.

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Technorati Tags: encouragement, Hope and Change

Those were the words of Reverend Pete Belmain during his benediction at our 5th Annual Hope Rides Alone Family Reunion Banquet in honor of my son, Sergeant Eddie Jeffers. It was on a Wednesday, September 19, 2007 that Eddie breathed his last breath on an Iraqi desert floor outside of Ramadi, Iraq. Normally before our banquet my grief returns and I weep for him. That didn’t really happen this year…until this morning. It happened when I read my oldest daughter Tiffany’s Facebook post honoring her brother:

I woke up this morning with a pit in my stomach. It’s the same pit that has shown up every morning on this day for the last 5 years. I can’t believe it’s really been 5 years….I know God had a bigger plan for you, but it’s still hard to think about what happened on this day not so long ago. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten and neither will you my precious brother….I love you and we miss you every day.

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Technorati Tags: death

For a politician to be attractive to a voter, at least according to his or her consultants, you must first sell despair before you can secure disciples. We must be told of how desperate our situation is and then be convinced that deliverance is only possible in the man or woman seeking your vote. Of course they give the empty platitudes of “together we can do this” and “lift ourselves up by our bootstraps,” but do they ever really come through as promised? Of course not!

The deliverance they are offering is found only in Christ.

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Technorati Tags: discouragement, encouragement

How do you comfort a grieving friend? As one who has given and received comfort in times of grief, I can tell you it was not what I thought it would be. It was so much more simple than I had ever imagined. What do I mean by that? Let’s look back at the life of Job for a great example of this:

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” (Job 2:11-13)

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Technorati Tags: Comfort, grief

One question many Christians have difficulty answering is why does God allow suffering. That is one of the favorite arrows that atheists love to shoot at us. And many times that arrow is rooted in personal suffering or tragedy. What is the answer? Why does God let good people suffer? The most obvious Biblical answer is found in the Book of Job.

“Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:3-7)

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Technorati Tags: pain, suffering

Do you ever get frustrated? No? Well just eavesdrop on this conversation anyway and perhaps you can help someone deal with disappointment and frustration.

Sometimes we work so hard to make a difference in our world and the lives of our loved ones, we invest so much time and energy that when it seems we fail we feel defeated. The feeling of defeat can bring humiliation and dissatisfaction to our hearts leaving us empty and exhausted. It at times seems to all have been in vain.

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Technorati Tags: happiness, vanity

Mary Magdalene loved her Lord so much that she just had to see Him again. She had followed Peter and John back to the tomb. When she returned to the tomb she still believed He was dead and she wanted to locate His body. Her grief was so great; she missed seeing Jesus and wanted to be able to care for His body:

“Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’” (John 20:10-13)

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Technorati Tags: grief, sorrow

Some Christians do not like the term Easter Sunday; some I know despise it. All of these folks prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday; I do too because that is what happened on that heavenly Sunday morn. Christ rose from the grave. How we came to call it Easter is another occasion of competing with the world, which again, is another whole lesson or course on its own.

But let’s focus on that empty tomb; how did it transform the Disciples of Christ?

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Technorati Tags: Easter, resurrection

What would you say if I told you there was competition among some pastors? I hope you wouldn’t be surprised because pastors are human too after all. The petty jealousies and rivalries are just as capable of entering the field of ministry as it is in any vocation. It is just less tolerated by the public. And the bellyachings and bickerings that go on dishonor God and His Son Jesus.

The 1st Century Church faced some of this in that initially Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles was not well received by many Jewish believers. Even many of the early church leaders were not pleased with Paul preaching to the Gentiles. He writes to the Galatian Church about defending his ministry:

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Technorati Tags: encouragement

Friedrich Nietzsche, noted philosopher, atheist, and God-hater, is attributed with saying, “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” It is actually a paraphrase from “What does not kill him, makes him stronger,” from his work Ecce Homo.

What is considered a deep philosophical thought is actually a silly statement of the obvious. I understand the sentiment behind it, but it is not true. How many people do you know who have faced tough times have become weaker from it? That is because they tried to face it in their own strength and their own sorrow burned them out. King Solomon wisely wrote:

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Technorati Tags: grief, Nietzsche, pain, sorrow

How does one deal with the loss of a child, a spouse, a sibling, or a close friend? What does one do with all the grief that floods the soul in such a time? My prayer is that they turn to God and not from Him.

When we lost Eddie in Iraq, because we had a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, it seemed only natural to turn to God. As a matter of fact as I reflect back on that time it was almost as though we were on autopilot. Actually God was the pilot. In what might seem a strange statement to some, I miss those special close times with my Jesus. I know I could have them just as equally in times of joy, however grief seems to bring a special attention to us from our Lord.

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Technorati Tags: death, grief, sorrow

It’s pretty gloomy out there isn’t it? I’m not talking about the weather; I’m talking about the state of the union, our nation.

To hear some speak the end is near and God is no longer on His throne. He has forgotten America and His Church here. While God has removed His hand of protection from America, at least in some part, He can still be trusted to save us.

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The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how powerful love can be. We have all heard of the cases where a child lifts up the back of an automobile to rescue his father who has knocked the car of its jack. This kind of power is supernatural; it is not something of which man is normally capable. Another amazing display of love is the power it can bring out in us when it comes to laying down our lives for those we love. That love drove my son to face a fierce enemy, both physical and spiritual. Jesus said:

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

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Technorati Tags: Jesus Christ

The Lord gave me a lot to meditate on after yesterday’s devotional. I ended it by writing “I must never forget to live through my Savior.” How is that possible? Well, let’s look closer at what is my daughter Tiffany and many others’ life verse:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

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What causes stinking thinking, and just as important, how do we clear it up?

First, we use worldly principles to guide our thoughts and actions. Even as Christians we can get to the point that the world’s point of view governs our actions. One example is how Christians elected to office end up rolling over to a godless edict sent down from the courts. To bow at the steps of an unlawful judicial ruling not only is godless, it is also unconstitutional.

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Technorati Tags: stinking thinking

You’ve probably heard this old adage before: “When the times get tough, the tough go shopping.”

Okay, so it may not be an old adage, but too many people live by it. And why do some of us go shopping when times get tough? To make ourselves feel better, to have a sense that we are still in control. The problem is we are not in control of our lives. The outcome is in God’s hands.

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Technorati Tags: Happy New Year