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Each month, Living Hope Ministry will ask local church members to write their perspectives on a given topic that is relevant to our lives and our Christian walk. February 2012: “Problems in the Wilderness…”From the Chalkboard: “It might be in the summer for many of you that the family packs up and takes off on their annual vacation. Time is taken from work and all have been looking for this getaway for quite some time. There have been times…” read more January 2012: “A New Beginning”From the Chalkboard:”I am the owner of a Bible given to me when I was in high school. It is small in size as well as print. When I think back to those times there was never a question about the size of that Bible or the print. Younger eyes see small print quite clearly. Today, some fifty years later…” read more December 2011: “The Alpha and the Omega”From the Chalkboard:”Hello to each and every one of you this beautiful month of December. We find ourselves celebrating many things this month. A year of work comes to an end and that employer of yours might finally recognize the value of his employees by distributing a bonus check…” read more November 2011: “In the Past God Overlooked Such Ignorance, but Now…”From the Chalkboard:”Sometimes I am amazed and surprised how a few people deal with their spiritual accountability. The very short list above deals with a couple of items from times past as well as a few situations I have found myself in with other people…” read more October 2011: “What You Worship as Unknown I Am Going to Proclaim to You…”From the Chalkboard:”Today is Wednesday, August 31, 2011. As of yesterday I was looking through a book that my wife purchased in March of this year. The title of the book is Petra. It is filled with absolutely beautiful pictures of this ancient city in Jordan. It became quite obvious that the Nabataeans….” read more September 2011: “All the Believers Were One in Heart and Mind…”From the Chalkboard:”I have a few situations listed below that I would like to know if you can identify with…” read more August 2011: “You Decide: Is it Right for Me to Obey God or Men?”From the Chalkboard:”The year was 1969 and I would be graduating college. My wife had already graduated and was working as an elementary school teacher. I would follow in those footsteps but as a teacher in the middle school. She had saved enough money for a good down payment on a car. Our transportation situation was….” read more July 2011: “They Took Note That These Men Had Been With Jesus”From the Chalkboard:”Have you ever known someone who has met a very distinguished, well-known, extremely important person?Everyone recognizes this person as important. It might have been a long time ago and this person was in a large crowd and saw the President of the United States from a distance. It might have been a time…” read more June 2011: “What I Do Have I Give Thee”From the Chalkboard:”I am sure many of you are aware of the prices of precious metals these days. Gold and Silver have exceeded all past prices and some days continue to climb in value. I know many people have invested in these two precious metals and will see a good return on their investment….” read more May 2011: “Why Do You Stand Here Looking Up into the Sky?”From the Chalkboard:”In my spare time there are quite a few things that I enjoy doing. Retirement is good and I have a lot of spare time. There are some days that I do not have enough time in the day and totally enjoy all that I do….” read more April 2011: “My Lord and My God…”From the Chalkboard:”I am sure there was a time in my life when I boldly proclaimed to others, “I told you so!” I am sure there was a time in my life when others boldly proclaimed to me, “I told you so!” Those occasions never did any real good but at the time and depending on which side of the fence you were standing….” read more March 2011: “What Manner of Man is This…?”From the Chalkboard:”I remember storms when I was growing up. I lived wth my grandparent for a time and my grandmother was so afraid of a storm. It was not just seeing it that bothered her, but also the sound of the storm. The sights and sounds would …” read more February 2011: “He Now Showed Them the Full Extent of His Love…”From the Chalkboard:”I remember, and I believe you do as well, when we were younger and did something we should not have done and were caught. Remember when our parents said something like this, “This will hurt me more than it does you.” I did not believe a word of it because…” read more January 2011: “Where is Your Brother…?”From the Chalkboard:”Have you ever had the feeling that the world just stopped going forard because of something that was happening in your life? Have you ever thought, it can’t get much worse than this? It was 1990 and my family and extended family were made aware that my brother was headed to the Middle East. Many families knew members of their family would be….” read more December 2010: “Every Man Did That Which Was Right in His Own Eyes”From the Chalkoard:”When I first started teaching many years ago the emphasis of study for seventh graders in the state of Indiana was ancient civilizations. We would study the ancient Egyptians, the peoples and civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, the Greeks, and the Romans. From these studies we learned many things. We learned that civilizations existed, in part, because of strong leadership. Strong leaders would…” read more November 2010: “Nobody Ever Did It For Me…”From the Chalkboard:”I remember the first year in college. Now this goes way back. Nine months of a great college education for a total cost of nine hundred dollars a year. That first year bill was paid for by my parents at the rate of one hundred dollars a month. And back then one hundred dollars a month was a struggle. It was such a struggle that…” read more October 2010: “Dear Lord, I am Tired…”From the Chalkboard:”You have had a long day at work and the weekdays just seemed to get a little worse as the week went on. The work is physical and the body just gets tired. It seems the only time that you have to rest is over a long weekend. Going to bed early and having a little extra rest time is not on your agenda. You have made choices that….” read more September 2010: “Having Eyes But Unable to See …”From the Chalkboard:”A few years back it was common practice to travel, especially on vacations, with a map. In the case of my family, my wife was the navigator and I did the driving. She reads a map quite well and I do not remember ever being lost. There were a few occasions in which a quick decision had to be made, I would make that decisions, and….” read more August 2010: “Workless Faith is Folly…”From the Chalkboard:”I enjoy working outside in the wide open yard. Cutting grass and trimming plants are relaxing. There have been occasions that I do some of this work at church. I don’t sign up and do it because it gives me an opportunity to do something I enjoy. I do not feel obligated or pressured. I just do it.” read more July 2010: ”Is it Possible for the Living God to Still Bless America?”From the Chalkboard:”You have heard everybody say this at one time or another…the politicians, the preachers, the teachers, business people, everybody. All you have to do is put a person before an audience and sooner or later, most of them always add this to the ending of their speech. That familiar and I mean all too familiar ending is…” read more June 2010: “Listen - I Mean Really Listen…”From the Chalkboard:”I have a doctor who is a pulmonologist Over the past year I have seen him on several occasions. He is a man who takes time to explain medical things to you in a way the layman can understand. Occasionally he will look me in the eye and say, Richard listen to me. I want you to understand. How do you feel? I mean….” read more May 2010: “Bloom Where You are Planted…”From the chalkboard:”The fall of the year is an exciting time for me. It is still comfortable outside and in order to enjoy the spring, fall is the time to plan as well as plant. I must ask myself, what do Iwan to enjoy in the spring as far as flowers are concerned? The early spring flowers must be planted in the fall. So fall is the time to decide …” read more April 2010: “When the Words of the Lord Burn in Our Hearts…”From the Chalkboard:”Today, Friday, March 26, 2010, I read some stories from the Christian Standard brochure. This brochure was made available in our church and was dated February 21, 2010. The stories I read were about people who visited the Holy Land and the effect it had on their lives. Some learned how small this land of Israel actually is but how…” read more March 2010: “It Really is Darkest Before the Dawn”From the Chalkboard:”I had a grandmother that was scared of storms. Lightning and thunder would send her to a closet. Not me. I just pace the floor. Many, many years ago my wife and I moved into our new house. It was absolutely wonderful compared to apartments and a trailer that we had occupied for so long….” read more February 2010: “…the love of many will grow cold…”From the Chalkboard:”In times past I have had people get upset with me. I would say it is almost impossible to spend thirty nine years in a middle school teaching environment and not have a few students and parents be upset at one time or another. Generally, in time, the particular student or parent would make contact and a conversation would, in most cases, settle the issue….” read more January 2010: “In the Beginning God”From the Chalkboard:“When I put myself on task and begin these articles there are times when I just sit and question…What is next? And sometimes, the way I want to approach the article becomes quite clear to me. This article is no different and this time the beginning of the article seemed to be so obvious when I saw the title. When I read the title given to me I just sat and thought. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalms 46:10) I had to remind myself again that God is in charge and He provides that serenity in this chaotic world….” read more December 2009: “The Wise Still Seek Him”From the Chalkboard:”Do you understand the concept of free choice? Do you understand the concept of doing something against another person’s belief or will? Normally, free choice meant we did as we pleased at the time. Both choices always meant that a price would be paid if we offended someone. Sometimes that free choice cost us a particular consequence. We paid the price and sometimes we always hoped that we would never do that particular deed again….” read more November 2009: “Thank You”From the Chalkboard:“I knew this older man who became sick. He had lived most of his life and been healthier than most people. He also considered that a blessing to have been able to stay away from needles as much as possible. He once admitted to me that he was also a coward when it came to needles, shots, and hospital things. But, he did get sick and all the self medication he did could not solve his problem. So he went to a doctor.” read more October 2009: “This Present Darkness…”From the Chalkboard: “Make a list of things that you believe can contribute to this months writing, “this present darkness.” Your list may be things that are of local, national or international concern to you. Check your list twice. Stop. Now, compare your list to mine. My list is at the bottom of this writing.” read more September 2009: “Come Before Winter”From the Chalkboard:”I have a friend that I went to high school with and he has invited my wife and me to visit. He lives in the Minneapolis area. It is our hope to go and visit before October. A few years ago we were in Fargo, August 2009: “Overcoming Mediocrity”From the Chalkboard:”Some favorite statements you might have heard people use when facing some type of a task: I will get this over with if it kills me. Just get the job finished as quickly as possible. Don’t worry about it. No one will ever notice. Don’t worry about the content of the bill. No one will ever read it.” read more July 2009: “Freedom Isn’t Free”From the Chalkboard:”I hope your morning started just like mine. The colors of the sky were pink and blue. The sun would soon rise and I would notice a few birds and a small baby rabbit in my back yard. I would also enjoy the beautiful flowers blooming in the garden. Some time on this day I would walk through the garden and enjoy these flowers up close. The drizzle of rain would not hinder me but I would also find enjoyable things to do in the house…” read more June 2009: “A Man Shall Leave His Father and Mother…”From the Chalkboard:”It was always nice waking up in the morning and knowing that your job was going to school. It was always nice during the day knowing that someone would provide you with three meals and a roof over your head. It was always nice knowing that bills were paid by someone else. It was always nice knowing that most major decisions…” read more May 2009: “Doing Family God’s Way”From the Chalkboard:”A family is defined as a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry. In thirty nine years of teaching seventh grade social studies my students and I studied many types of families. We, in the Western world, commonly refer to our family type as a nuclear family. You know, mom, dad and the kids. Throughout the world there are family types referred to as extended, matriarchal, and patriarchal. Boys in my seventh grade classroom never really liked the idea of a matriarchal family which can be found in certain parts of the world….” read more April 2009: “He’s Alive”From the Chalkboard: ”It is amazing how songs affect our lives. When it comes to the above topic there are many choices of songs that sometimes become a part of our inner being. One such song for me is quite traditional at Easter time. That song is “He Lives.” A portion of that song goes like this; “He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. You ask me how I know he lives; he lives within my heart.” Unfortunately, for a lot of people this is not true. May I share a few thoughts with you for just a moment?…” read more March 2009: “Enduring the Storms of Life”From the Chalkboard:”Max Lucado tells a story about when he was living in Florida, owned a boat, and a terrible storm was coming. He speaks about doing what he thought would be best to save his boat. He also says everything he did was wrong and a gentleman came by and gave him advice. The advice was to undo and get rid of all the rope that Max had used to tie the boat off and take the boat way out into the gulf and anchor deep…” read more February 2009: “By This All Men Will Know ThatYou Are My Disciples….”From the Chalkboard:”I just received and e-mail that I would like to share with you. I would copy and paste some of it in this article but I have a bad habit of reading, deleting, and keeping the hard drive so clean that when one wants something … well, it is gone. The e-mail dealt with a speech that Ben Stein gave on a morning television program. He speaks of a lack of discipline of children, lack of prayer in school, lack of Bible reading in school, and acceptance of abortion.” read more January 2009: “New Beginnings”From the Chalkboard: ”Resolutions, resolution, resolutions. It is a new year. I do not know about you but I have difficulty keeping the resolutions I have made in times past so I choose not to make resolutions anymore. I just have to be honest about this idea of making resolutions and I understand how most people work hard keeping their resolutions. I applaud people who find success in doing so at the beginning of a new year. Congratulations to each and every one of you. But, if you are like me then what is next?” read more December 2008: “When Jesus Comes Again”From the Chalkboard:”Before I deal with the last word of this topic, “again”, let me just write about the topic of “when Jesus came.” In a casual conversation with someone have you ever had someone say …..my ears are burning? Then, you automatically respond by saying, somebody’s talking about you. Or have you ever had someone speak about you when you were not with them? I think these are common situations that we find ourselves in at one time or another in our lives.” read more November 2008: “Focus on Jesus”From the Chalkboard:”I can only imagine that most of you have something that you spend time on. Maybe a hobby or special interest. I know how easy it is for one’s time to pass quickly when you are working on something of high interest. I know how involved parents can be as their children are growing up…” read more October 2008: “Mentoring”From the Chalkboard:”Mentoring is a relationship that develops between a less experienced individual and a more experienced individual. The more experienced individual is called the mentor. I have an educational background in teaching middle school for thirty-nine years. It is absolutely impossible to have this type of background and not deal with mentoring. I volunteered on two separate occasions to be a mentor.” read more September 2008: ”Morality”From the Chalkboard:”Morality is a reflection of ethics, a reflection of absolute truth or relative truth depending on your point of view, a set of principles of right conduct, and the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession…”read more August 2008: “Absolute Truth/God’s Word”From the Chalkboard:”Recently, a friend called me and said he could use some help with a particular project. The particular project was one I have dealt with many times. It is simple manual labor….”read moreA Doctor’s Diagnosis:”I am amazed and often a bit frstrated at how complicated most Chrisitans make the issue of absolute truth. While we all make life and death decisoins every day basd upon assumptions (assuming other drivers will follow the rules of the road), many Christians and non-Christians…”read more July 2008: “Our Country”From the Chalkboard:”I have often wondered what it would have been like growing up in a city in the late 1800’s, a time when our country was young and life appeared to be less complicated. Baltimore was such a city during this time period…”read moreA Doc’s Diagnosis:”Much has been written in the past decade about the separation of church and state. What began as a protection of the church from the state has been reversed in recent years…”read more |
