Letter to the Churches in NY

I had to write a Paul Style letter for the Course I am in to earn my theology degree/diploma. I got an A, so happy, but I thought I would share what I wrote.

 

Letter to the Church in New York

This letter is from Kurt, chosen by God to minister and reach the lost. I am writing to the churches in New York who have been called to be set apart, shining a light to the world around them. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Daily I lift you up in prayers of thanksgiving thanking God for the mighty things your churches have done. I bring forward to the Father the requests that you have given me. I pray that your love will overflow the confines of your church buildings and spread further into the streets. I want you to live lives in tune with the Holy Spirit ready willing to respond to His direction.

Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that God’s love to those in your communities is not limited to the family in the church but extends to all. There are those who have been using God’s name to shame those who are not covered by the grace of God. Did Jesus come to shame those who opposed him? Of course not! He reminded us that we are to love our enemies as God loves us. Judgement comes at the end, but here and now we must love as He loves us. Put down your signs of anger and religiousness, shine the light of love that comes from communion with Christ. Remember we were once sinners who knew nothing of the love of Christ, it was only once we received that we were able to see His love a interpret the darkness for what it is. Show those around you the light.

Remember the words of the Son ‘take care of widows and orphans’, we must work to provide homes and care for those without homes. Put down your picket signs and pick up the children who are longing to be loved. Let your example of love be the hope for your community and they will see the freedom and hope found in the truth.

The churches here in Victoria send greetings in the Lord. All the brothers and sisters send fist pumps and high fives. Encourage one another in love, build accountability with one another, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

6: 50 Days of Pray – Time for a Change

In today’s western society identity is everything. How one self-identifies often defines who they are. The problem with this is we have come to the point where it has become socially unacceptable not to accept someone whose identity is just plain wrong. I am not really looking at getting into that issue today, but it has crept into our Christian family where many have identified themselves as believers, yet they live a life that does not. It becomes really hard for a believer to confront those who are living like this as we become ‘judgemental’ and not showing God’s love. But what does God’s word have to say about this?

 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

 

Paul tells us we need to stand out from the world, what exactly does that mean? Paul tells us a few verses in number 9-13. (14-21 expand even more feel free to look it up)

 

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfast in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, giving in hospitality.

 

Evil has created blurred lines where many have been fooled into dabbling and not even realizing they have. A good example is the abuse of substances, many feel that they are strong enough to make the choice to use these substances and quickly will go to scripture and fight that it is okay, yet we see in our society how these can easily be abused and destroy the body and mind. The problem with evil is that it is very similar to the tools it uses. The enemy makes it out as harmless and has no bearing on you if you choose it, yet it digs in and makes it very difficult to escape its grasps like an addict. Think about those caught up in pornography, it only started as looking at the magazines of your dad’s or your friend’s uncle. Yet as it pulled you in it became entangled in your life making it hard to go days without looking for the next porn hit.

 

What can we do to free ourselves from these addictive powers that are trying to lure us away from God? Reread what Paul told us to do. Continue in steadfast prayer, fervently seek the Lord. Look for mentors who can help you navigate this life and steer free of the evil that tries to hold you down. How can you help fellow believers who have fallen into an identity issue where they have come to the belief that what they are doing is okay yet in all appearances they are conforming to the patterns of this world? We need to be ready willing and able to confront them in love. This is where our love needs to be free of hypocrisy, even as Jesus told us to make sure that we check ourselves and help our brother in love. Taking the splinter out of our own eye. Remember Romans 13:11-14 tells us that we need to put on Christ, 13 says ‘Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.’

I pray today that we can change to become men and woman of Christ who are willing to call their brothers and sisters to charge. In love, hope and faith that they will come to a richer understanding of the relationship with God. Not to shame nor to chastise, but to build them up and bring them to a close walk with God.

 

Father, it burdens me when I see those who identify as believers and to be part of the family walking a life that is in contrast to the word. I pray that you will help us to show them in love that the life their living is contradictory to what they claim to stand for. This is no easy task Father, I ask for the Holy Spirits guidance in this. Help us to examine our lives as well so that they will have nothing to hold us to account for when we start this journey of redemption. It is time to change the way we show love to our brothers and sisters in you. We want them to grow in their relationship with you. Amen.

 

2: 50 Days of Pray – Time For a Change

I wonder how many believers take the time to pray and fast? I can honestly say I am not in the category of those who have. I have taken time away from things using the excuse that I work too hard to give up food, but I could give up something else. Sure, it can be giving up something else, but I believe there is something about fasting in the traditional sense that has meaning to it.  Here in Nehemiah, we see the prophet of the same name hearing the stories of the broken city of Jerusalem and her walls in shambles from those who had escaped. In his heart, he knew something needed to be done but he did not know what, so he prayed.

 

 

 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you”

Nehemiah 1:4-6

 

This is only the first part of his prayer but it is the cry of many believers who felt they have lost their way. Those who feel like they haven’t heard God’s voice in such a long time, maybe they have just been going through the motions. Then one day something breaks them, brings them to their knees with an unbridled passion to repent and crying out to the one who loves them. Nehemiah didn’t just expect God to answer, he fasted and prayed for some days, how long is not important but he prepared his heart to listen to what God would say. He trusted that God would answer and give him some sort of guidance in what was happening. We don’t hear what exactly God says to Nehemiah but what we do see is the confidence he has to speak to King Artaxerxes about what he needed to do.

 

What I love reading in 2:4 it says: Then the king said to me, “ What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Think about it. He didn’t respond right away. Nehemiah stopped and went to ask God for what to do. I know all to often I have made brash and rapid decisions that have changed the course of my life. Did I stop and ask God, I wish I could say yes or that I took more than a 2 min moment with Him? No, I rushed into things and expected it to be okay. Why, because we love to make our own decisions.  We don’t know how long Nehemiah took from the moment he was asked till his answer but the king waited, and he gave Nehemiah what he requested.

 

Imagine with me if you will a church that takes the time to fast and pray for their communities.? What if believers when making life decisions took the time to ask God what he thought about the situation? We need to be church inside and outside of the building. Sunday is a place where we gather and grow but for the rest of the week, we need to be sharing the love of Jesus all over the place. How much more effective will we be if we take the time to ask and listen to what God’s thoughts are?

 

Maybe you have been living a life that is on the outs, you once served God but now you’re not so sure. God loves you and is calling you back. Take the words of Nehemiah and make them yours, let God know that you have fallen and you want to get right with him again. That’s the awesome thing about our relationship with God, he is not vindictive and will always be ready to welcome you back. Don’t ever think that you have done something that there is no returning from. Take some time and pray, I encourage you to try to fast a meal and focus on him. It is one thing to skip a meal but if you don’t pray and focus on him you might as well just eat. Fasting and Prayer go hand in hand. I am going to try to myself, are you up to see what God has to say to you?

 

Father, I am done making excuses for my actions. I choose things without prayer and wonder why life isn’t going the way I expected. This shouldn’t surprise me as I know that when I trust you it all works out. So forgive me for my arrogance. I give my life back to your hands and I will work at strengthening our relationship with more prayer and fasting. Help me to reach those around me that need to hear about the love Jesus has and the hope found in him. Let me now hide in the shadows but step out and share. Like Nehemiah, my heart breaks form those who are hurting living in shambles. Use me. Amen

50: 50 Days of 3:16

As we conclude this 50 Dyas of 3:16 we see that many of these verses all lead us to the same thing. That God loves us and desires to know us more.

 

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 3:16

 

The words teach us how to live as believers.

 

Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

1 Peter 3:16

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Colossians 3:16

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Philippians 3:16

These words teach us how to be bold in our faith.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.”

Daniel 3:16

 

It reminds us that sometimes we must wait on the Lord but that he will speak to us.

After seven days the Lord gave me a message. Ezekiel 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

2 Timothy 3:16

Remember that God is always with you seeing what is happening and waiting for the right moment, our ways are not his ways.

“Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, “I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you.“

Exodus 3:16

 

Take some time to study your bible. Grab hold of a scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to connect you to God through it. You will find that he can speak to you through his word. There is truth in the scriptures that will help you manoeuvre through this life and become effective in reaching the lost.

 

Father use us to be a people who want to hear from you. Holy Spirit gives us boldness to step out of our comfort zones and share our faith with others. Bind our fears and help us to be great witnesses and fishers of men. Use me. Amen.

 

Thank you for following with me through his 50 days. I will be back in September with a new series.

 

 

 

 

 

48: 50 Days of 3:16

The church has come to a place where they need to decide where they stand in the world. Many have split and split again each time becoming something that suits the needs of the people. Inherently this leads to unbiblical foundations sneaking there way in and undermining the faith. The traditions and rules become the way of living and attendance almost feels more important than the relationship with God.

So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Revelations 3:16

 

Our relationship with God needs to be the driving force in our lives. We see here in today’s verse one statement that has been used by many ministers to hopefully motivate the congregation to action. The sermon preached and the all to action accepted but the follow-up is lacking. If we want to see the church come alive we cannot expect it to happen without follow-up. Expecting Sunday services week after week to grow a church might happen but there are a few key things that need to happen;

1. Believers must spend time in prayer and read their bibles,
2. Connecting with fellow believers in fellowship, accountability, and study, and
3. Putting faith into action and taking the love of Jesus to the world around them.

 

Lukewarm tends to be comfortable. We were never called to live comfortable lives. Jesus promised us a comforter, he sent a comforter because our life in Christ isn’t meant to be comfortable. If we are living a comfortable life it may be time to asking ourselves where we stand in our relationship with God. A fire engulfs and consumes things around it. It is unafraid to share itself with others. We sing many songs that ask God or the Holy Spirit to send the fire, why? Because we need to have a life that is willing to be shared with others. Our faith needs to consume us and positively influence those who need to experience the love of Jesus. We are called to be the light, light gives off heat. Cold is the absence of heat. There is heat in life, God is calling us to live a life full of the light.

 

Father, set me on fire, help me to move past an apathetic kind of faith. I want to be more then an attendee and experience what you have for me. Let me be willing to share my faith with those around me. Give me boldness to step up in my faith, not being comfortable in where I am now. Use me. Amen

47: 50 Days of 3:16

The world desperately is looking for love. People have an ingrained desire to connect and have a relationship that foundation is so much deeper. Not just the superficial love in which we fall in and out of, but a love that will stick around when times get tough. Hollywood has become a love-generating machine showcasing fantasies of how man and woman might fall in love. It rarely continues the story and focuses on the deep love that keeps us connected.

 

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 3:16

 

Have you ever been in love? How many times would you say that this feeling of love has overwhelmed you to the point of telling the person? It is to bad that we have this one word overused to the point where in our conversations we throw it around cheapening the meaning. I love this hamburger. I loved that movie. I love this music artist. I love, I love, I love. We have truly lost the meaning of what it means to love. No wonder it is difficult for people to understand the love that Jesus has for us. If the acquaint love of Jesus with the love of superficial things it becomes non-important. Something we say when we enjoy something, yet it is really not going to become the centre of our lives. We may love the burger, but we do not embrace it in such a way we change our lives for it.

 

Here we see love explained in such a way that we must be willing to give up everything as Jesus did to showcase that love. This act of love asks us to change for the betterment of what we love. Jesus asks us to love him and follow him, giving up our old habits and burdens. His love for us is more than superficial love, so much that he was willing to die to show us how much he loved us. We often hear people say would you take a bullet for someone else, this is exactly what Jesus did for ever single person on earth, past, present and future. But we are called to do the same for our brother’s and sisters. Do we love them like that? Would you be willing to lay down your life so that someone else would live?

 

Hearing about these random shootings around my country, USA and the world, I often wonder why we don’t hear much about those standing up to take down the shooter. We are a people with a self-preservation instinct that gives us a flight or fight mentality and we tend more often than not to run. Love is stepping into the fight and preparing to lay down your life in love, not to be the hero, but so that others may experience the love of Christ. It has been said that love isn’t loving until you give it away. Laying down your life can also be sacrificing something that is important to you so that someone else can grow. It could be time, money, talents or many other things.

 

Father, thank you for sending Jesus and his sacrifice of love so that we could show love to others. We ask for boldness and faithfulness to show this love to others as Jesus did for us. Let our lives reflect a love that would be willing to be laid down for our brothers and sisters. Let our love be deeper than the word that is thrown around. Empower us to reach the lost. Amen

46: 50 Days of 3:16

Peter in writing his letters did not water down the faith and what each and every believer was responsible to do. This made it frustrating for those who wanted the express version of faith. They didn’t want to take the time to study his letters and see how they should apply it, they wanted the three easy steps. They would twist his words to satisfy their own version of Christianity.

 

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

2 Peter 3:16

 

The bible is clear about not twisting the words to satisfy our own version of Christianity. Yet even today there are people doing just that. It can be confusing to a new believer or someone exploring faith to run into two men telling them that they are Christians, yet their beliefs are not based on the teachings of Jesus. In truth, Jesus isn’t even close to the centre of their faith. I wish I could say all those who have done this are outside the Christian faith, but there are those inside who are teaching things that contradict the bible. The prosperity gospel is one message that is out there that many believers get caught up in. Yes, God will bless you and takes care of you, but we were never called to work towards being rich. If this was so would have not Judas been a more prominent disciple as his desire was riches? Jesus downplayed money and its importance in the life of a believer. He promoted character building over material wealth.

 

As followers of Christ, I encourage you to take hold of what you hear and read from others in the faith. Challenge what you are inputting into your life against the Holy Scriptures. Is what you are listening to following the truths that the Apostles wrote about, does it align with what Jesus taught? If we take the time to examine the sermon of the Sunday past during the week it will help cement the teaching and confirm what they were teaching is the truth. We tend to treat Sunday sermons like fast food, eat it and think nothing else of it. But if we think of it as fine dining, which we truly enjoy we would be talking about it for days about how good it was. How many of you can remember what was talked about last Sunday at your church?

Take some time and study scripture, it is okay if some things are hard to understand. Ask God to reveal what it means through the Holy Spirit. He is there to be the wisdom you need. Find someone in the faith who will guide you in your questions. We do not have to go through the Christian walk along, nor should we.

 

Father, thank you for the Scriptures. We thank you for the faithfulness of those who wrote them. Reveal to us the wisdom and knowledge we need to strengthen our lives and walk in faith. Give us boldness to go out into our world and share this with others. We want to be a light in the darkness. Amen

 

44: 50 Days of 3:16

Bigger, better, faster, stronger, cooler, more exciting. These are just some of the things we see that other people have a desire to obtain. Many call it keeping up with the Jones. If your neighbour buys a new car well then we had better buy a new car, they upgrade something in their house, must be time for us to upgrade. Your friend buys the latest phone, you can’t have that and buy a better phone. All these things lead us into debt and jealousy. A place where we just want to be better, instead of just being happy for the person and their success we need to one-up them.

 

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

James 3:16

 

Jealousy is not a New Testament concept. It first popped its ugly head up back with the first two recorded offspring of Adam and Eve. Cain and Able were both adept at what they did, one a hunter the other a gatherer. They offered some of their respective hunts to God and God was more pleased with Ables offering than Cain’s. Cain could not control his jealousy and recorded the first murder ever. If only Cain had been happy with his brothers offering, things might have been different. He could have learned from him, Able had given the best of the best. One might assume that Cain had not given of the best, maybe he had added a few pieces of fruit that had already fallen off the tree, being lazy he offered God bruised fruit in hopes that it would not get noticed. His selfish ambition to one-up his brother was his downfall. It might have also been a case of Able seeing his brother about to give a sacrifice, not to be left out decided to give one as well and gathered things in a hurry not to glorify God but to make himself look good.

 

How are you living your life? Are you content in what God has provided for you or are you always looking at what others have, desiring to upgrade your life so you are living like them? Is your self-ambition overpowering your desire to serve others? Working hard to be seen by others so they take notice of you and shower you with praise? Being recognized for things you do is not a problem, but when we work looking only for the praise it leads to cutting corners and stepping on others in our quest for this recognition. God honours those who work diligently in their jobs, the mission and church that push forward knowing what needs to be done, doing it and not boasting about it. I have heard it said that if all you desire is mans praise for the works you do here on earth then that will be the blessing you receive. God promises to give us crowns for our faithfulness here on earth, I would prefer those then mans praise. Let us not let our jealousy and self-ambition lead us to a road of disorder and evil.

 

Father, thank you for loving us. If we have been envious of others in our lives I pray for forgiveness. Help me to be satisfied with what I have. Let me take time to pray and be wise in the things I do buy so not to be keeping up with the trends. I want to work to glorify your name, if I have been working for man’s praise, forgive me, I want to work to show my faithfulness to you. Let us be a witness to those around us, working hard and consistently. Give us wisdom and boldness to be a light in the world around us sharing your love with others. Speak to us today. Amen

40: 50 Days of 3:16

Turmoil rages in the lives of the believer and unbeliever alike. We tend to focus on the turmoil and work to achieve some relief by any means necessary. Many times, we tend to treat the symptoms of the problem with our dealing with the root cause. In most cases, the solution to our needs is a peace that can only come from God himself. This reminder from Paul could be the answer to many of our troubles. A reminder that God gives peace.

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

 

Many cultures do not use the term ‘goodbye’. They just don’t have a need for the word. They have come to understand that in life or even death that it is not the end and the hope is that one day they will see their loved ones again. Goodbye is an indication that you may never see the person again, how many times have you heard someone use the phrase when they have lost someone close ‘I never got a chance to say goodbye’? This saddens me as I feel there is a hope of reunion for those who are part of the family of God. But for those who reject or ignore the call of God in their lives, it is final, there is no such reunion. The enemy has deceived the world into believe that a party awaits those who reject God and that heaven is a lame place to be. You see this in many depictions of the afterlife. This could be further from the truth but how can so many people be deceived?

 

It boils down to is that those who tend to believe in nothing will believe in anything. They chase after whatever it is that fills the void and gives them a warm and tingly feeling, yet it never lasts, and they have to go on to another and another.  Each time their resistance to the Gospel of Jesus grows harder feeling that even Jesus cannot have the cure to what haunts them. So instead of going to the source of truth, they continue living in sin using poison after poison looking for peace that is unattainable outside of God’s love. They sacrifice their children to other god’s and wonder why our God does ‘bad things to good people’. They live their lives immorally and in sexual perversion and then ask God’s people not to judge them in their sin. Yet if a murderer was to ask for the same he would be not given the same. The world lives in a constant double standard if not multiple standards.

 

We need the peace of God in our lives. We need to share this peace with the world around us. They need to hear us as believer sharing our faith no matter the opposition and persecution it may bring. As believers if we truly believe that death isn’t the end for those who are in Christ why are we satisfied that it is the end for those who have not accepted him? Our hearts should be broken for those dying in their sin. We can no longer sit on the peace given to us, it is not for us to hoard but to share. I share with you the same words that Paul shared with the church as we go into our day today. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

 

Father, help us as believers to share this peace that you offer to those around us Let us not be content to sit in our faith and with for the end. We are called for so much more. You have called us to be witnesses to the ends of the earth which includes our neighbours, family and coworkers. Not one of us can say that we have no one we can talk to about Jesus, you give us moments daily. Give us the strength, wisdom and boldness to actually do it. We pray that when we take this step of faith it will empower us in a way that we have never experienced and encourage us to keep going. Even if it feels like we have not gotten through to that person we were talking to I pray Jesus that we plant a seed that will one day bud and grow. Use us, help us to share the peace that only you provide. Let us show the world that there are no Goodbyes for believers only see you soon. Amen.

 

38: 50 Days of 3:16

We all have our physical limits. As someone who has no hardship when it comes to running, I also know that I have limits. The more I run the higher that limit becomes as I am training my body to respond to that kind of distance or speed. To try to run the 100-yard dash at speeds beyond my capabilities would tear at my body and cause me pain. Running a marathon without any training would be unobtainable. If my mind was set on these tasks yet I was unprepared I may be devastated by my results. Paul likened the Christian faith to a race, and he knew we must strive to the finish line, yet he also was quite aware that we all are moving at different paces.

 

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Philippians 3:16

 

We train spiritual very similar to how we would train for anything else. Sure, I would love to walk out my door and run as fast as Usain Bolt or Andre De Grasse, but I can’t and to obtain their speed I would need years of training. I know that I can run around 5 km without any trouble, that is what I can attain. We tend to walk out our doors and set unattainable goals for our lives. This sets us up for failure. For me to walk outside and plan a 10 km run when the best I have done in the past is 5 km will set me up for failure. Once I have hit my 5 km I start to see the goal as a far way off, I may push an extra 1 km out, but I start to slow down and lose sight of the goal. I may just quit, why bother.

 

We do this in our faith as well. Maybe your prayer life is lacking and the sermon on Sunday invigorated you to spend more time in prayer. That is awesome we all need to be motivated. But we set unrealistic goals that truly are unattainable in our current state. We walk out saying we will spend 1-2 hours a day in prayer focused on God when just the day before we were lucky to have spent 5 min. This jump from min to hours will drag on a believer and make them feel like they just don’t have what it takes. Instead, they need to gradually work their way up. Adding more time each day or adding smaller sessions to break it up. God isn’t looking at the act of prayer but the heart behind it, I can pray for an hour but if my heart is elsewhere then was it worth the hour? Same as reading the Bible, many will jump in and start reading many chapters in a day but that too will fade if they are not used to it, they will miss a day and feel defeated. Joining a plan on a bible app or buying a plan at the store can help focus your thoughts and provide the training to increase.

 

I do not believe Paul is telling us to settle for where we are at in our faith. As we read in just a few verses earlier he reminds us to ‘press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus “ 14. What I believe he is trying to tell us is we need to prepare ourselves to do what is next. One cannot expect to become a believer one day and preaching to a congregation the next. Even Paul took time alone with God, two years or more, preparing himself to go where God called him. How is God preparing you in your race? What is he calling you to do? Are you preparing yourself? Have you been comparing yourself to others in the faith only to fall over and over again? Look and see how God is using you, how your race is different than any other and that you are growing. Use your training to reach others with God’s love. Using what you know will propel you to grow even more.

 

Father, many times we try to outrun what we know and are prepared for. I pray today that you will show us how to reach people with what we know. We are not all at the same level in our faith but what we know about Jesus love and grace is enough to change the world. For those discouraged, I pray that they will see that you love them where they are at and that you don’t play favourites with your children. Propel them forward in their faith, help them to grow at a pace that will starch them but not break them. Let us take what we know about you and reach those around us that need to experience your love. Amen