Perspectives

One hundred and seven years ago, on December 25th, 1914, the battlefields of Europe fell eerily silent as the sound of deafening explosions and the slaughter of mutilated bodies unexpectedly ceased, as the echo of familiar Christmas carols filled the air and were heard for miles around as the chorus of men began to sing aloud the glad tidings of he day. As difficult as it may be to conceive the on...

What does my faith really mean? Not the faith referenced in Hebrews Chapter 11, where it asserts; “now faith is …”, but faith as it pertains to my relationship with God. When we speak of faith is it about a belief, our belief, or something completely different? Being on full display; what does our faith look like? Depending on where we live or where we are from it may mean something completely dif...

Thanksgiving (or a variation thereof) is celebrated in nine other countries, and while the tradition is presumed to be a unique to the United States, it takes place in others signifying the arrival of autumn harvest and observances of gratitude. Thanksgiving (giving thanks) should be more than a singular occurrence each year. Likewise, if it only equates to afternoons of football and festive feast...

Goliaths of history and their inconceivable accomplishments come and go, as disputes surface about who is truly the greatest . The word great, as defined by Mariam Webster, is a noun meaning: an outstandingly superior or skillful person. The illustration can be applied to a great number of people, both past and present, but the applicability thereof may not be entirely accurate. Likewise, the fund...

I can, without hesitation, declare that God has protected me from some things, and saved and delivered me from an equitable number of others. While they may appear to be similar, protecting, saving, and delivering all have different meanings, as interpreted by scripture. Protecting means never having to experience something; Saving means we have sampled, and God reaches in to pull us out; Deliveri...

Traveling home last week, I had a layover in San Francisco. As I watched, I wondered where so many people were going, and looked out at the diverse types of airplanes as they landed and departed one after another. I began to think large planes are splendid, fast, and spacious reaching destinations such as London, Paris, New York, and Tokyo in a matter of hours; while their lesser turbo-prop counte...

Suppose we almost make it to heaven. Where does that leave us? We have the recipe (the Bible), but the ingredients are all wrong (what we pour into ourselves). There was an old credit card commercial whose oft quoted phrase was "Mastercard...don't leave home without it." So absolute was the message that we had to have it, if for nothing else as a measure of clout or status. The same applies to our...

Drafting is defined as the practice of two or more cars, while racing, to run nose-to-tail, almost touching . The lead car, by displacing the air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the nose of the following car, pulling the second car along with it. While independent in nature their success is interdependent [co-dependent]. I love watching NASCAR, but only on the large ovals...

I realize more and more that the entirety (the sum of everything, all encompassing) of my hope rests in Christ Jesus. We have hope in our physical strength, engaged in daily physical activity, visiting nutritionist, counting every single calorie, but that strength soon fades and the frailty and limitations of our bodies is revealed; we may have hope in our academic prowess, attending the best inst...

Life is often complex. We never quite understand is why some appear to suffer so much, while others are unaffected. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. I don’t know why it is our nature to proclaim our greatest accomplishments: graduations, new jobs, births, marriages, and the like, but guardedly, as if to protect our dignity, we are silent, when the circumstance is unfavorable: when school is...

Emissary: [noun]: A person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative. There are many people that I consider ambassadors of faith, each playing a significant role in my faith’s journey and who I've become, they include my mother and father; Annie Anderson, Marinell and Arthur Ludd; Georgia and Henry Ross; Mary and Harold James; Dr. E.V. Hill; Chaplains Burke and Eason; Willi...

I spent several days this week working on what I believed to be two appropriate messages and while they may have been considered timely, considering the magnitude of events that unfolded this week in Afghanistan and Haiti, as we witnessed first-hand the images of thousands of fleeing people, and the tragedy of others as they desperately boarding planes to leave their country. Amid our differences,...

Nothing prepares us for death, we can’t anticipate it and abruptly reverse its course, and it every so often happens when least expected. It is after all inevitable. I attended two of funerals recently neither of which were easy to comprehend. When they occur, unexpectedly or not, the feeling of hopelessness takes hold, as we earnestly yearn to fill the emptiness of our hearts. Death has an air of...

So many things occupy our time, as our lives are filled with the need to accomplish or achieve, … to prove or disprove, … but it does not provide closure to the most consequential matters of the day. For some troubles are brief, … while for others they are sustained, enduring for what characteristically appears to be a lifetime. Life’s sufferings are complex and do not always have simplified solut...

Perspectives is currently revising ways to improve its content and our methods of communication, for the next three weeks, to broaden its outreach. Additionally, we are exploring the use of Youtube to integrate as a visual aid to meet the needs of our hearing impaired audience. During that period we will continue to offer weekly scripture and prayer. Thank you for your patience.

Without the resurrection Christianity is not a sustainable truth. Absent the resurrection, we would remain in darkness, without the hope of redemption. Lost for all eternity. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith . Without it God's grace is of no consequence. When Jesus rose from the dead, he authenticated his identity as the Son of God, the work of atonement, redemption, reconc...

There are approximately 650 prayers recorded in the bible, of which 450 are presented as being answered. The first ever recorded prayer can be found in Genesis 4:26, And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Of which there are believed to be 10 types of prayers. 1. Prayer of Adoration “Let them praise the name of t...

This has not been a normal year. This week was unsettling as news spoke of the tragic deaths of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia. I am saddened and heartbroken by the needless loss of life, and yet angered by its occurrence, as it has now become all too familiar. So much so that many shrug in silence and look the opposite direction as if to say; “it has nothing to do with me”, and yet it has every...

I recall growing up, my family lived in a very cold and remote place in Labrador, Canada, called Goose Bay. My father was a DJ for AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Services), and each week he would play R&B, Jazz and Blues music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Before signing off he would use his often-quoted phrase: “If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say nothin...

Time is never on our side, too soon and the wait is exhausting; too late, no matter how narrowly, and our entire day is full of angst. Time is not a renewable resource, once lost, we cannot get it back. Of the world’s population, 7,850,458,763, it is estimated that 56 million people died lasty year (2020), that is 4,679,452 per month; 153,424 per day; 6,392 per hour; 106 per minute; nearly 2 per s...

Many of us have played the video game Tetris . Up, down, right, left, upside down, right side up, as we twist and turn each shape to fit in just the right place. The slightest indecision causes the pace of the game quicken, as the themed music warns of the games imminent end. Life often mirrors the game, as the hastened pace causes us to suddenly make decisions that are not in our best interest.

There are those that had close relationships with John Calvin, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and many others, but they, as a basis of their friendship, never became as familiar to the public. As profound as they were, independently and collectively, our relationship with God is greater. As well, the masses that followed Jesus ca...

Policies and directives in the workplace are used to solve complex issues. The Bible (God’s word), as well, is our authority as Christians. Just as the context of institutional policy is thorough in its expressed detail, we cannot expect to solve our issues or address the extent of our problems within the framework of a singular verse to justify our actions. There are 31,102 Verses, 1,189 Chapters...

There are things that consume our time and distract us from accomplishing the most urgent. We are drawn away by many things, most often it is unintended. But it is an issue when it impacts our relationship with God. He desires to hear us in prayer, and he reveals himself to us most often through his word. But we can neither hear or see, because there is too much noise in our minds and hearts, too...

Loss is both tragic and sudden. No matter how thorough our preparation with wills, powers of attorney, executors, lawyers, insurance policies, mortuaries, and the like, we are never entirely ready for the inevitable, the loss of a friend, or a family member. Likewise, no matter how many condolences we receive, none of them, while well intentioned, are enough to ease the pain of our suffering, nor...