An Uplifting New Year's Message

I found this video post from Father Longenecker to be a good way to ring in the upcoming new year.

Sad Day

A great woman died last night after services. She will be terribly missed. Life can be devastating. But God, faith in Christ, and the hope He provides will get us through.

I said the closing prayer last night. My prayer was for us to take our frustrations and strife to Jesus. In times like these, that is what we must do.

Heavenly Father,

Help us to grieve. Help us to heal. Help us to look to You for answers. Help us to remember to cherish those good things that You provide. Help us to put away the loneliness, the bitterness, the hurt that the world employs to keep us away from Your Way.

Please be with the family of this great woman as we know she is with You. Be with her friends. Be with us. We know you are the one true living God, and we thank you so much for the forgiveness and hope you gave us in Jesus.

It is in His Name we pray,

Amen.

Happiness Is Fleeting

I listened to a priest a month ago discuss the idea that happiness is transient. Being happy is not a constant thing. We go up. We go down. We struggle and strive. We fail. We get up. Eventually, we die.

He brought the lesson to how people struggle with a "calling" in life. He talked about how some (most) Catholic saints searched and wrestled with what they were supposed to do in this world. They had an internal struggle that was emotionally brutal. They battled depression. They battled the devil.

He then told us that we are called to be saints (Romans 1:7). And it is okay to struggle, but we have to keep focused on Christ and the good things he gave us. We have to become saints today, and that is the key to happiness.

Most of life and "being happy" or the ability overcome the world's emotional brutality comes down to living by faith in Christ (Romans 1:16-17). Faith is truly all we need.

Another Thing About Opportunities And Failure

I started this blog moderately depressed. I thought posting was an opportunity to help with the depression. It thought it was an opportunity to help me rise above the world and the devil's temptations.

Well, I haven't posted much. I haven't sent the link to all of the people I've wanted. I haven't kept up with any reading schedule. And I also don't feel like I am in a good place. But I will do better.

Heavenly father,

Help me be better. Help me follow You and Your truths.

Put passion in my heart. Help me use this passion for You.

It is in Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Opportunities

Last Sunday morning, I ate breakfast with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and parents. I wasn't near my home church. I wasn't near a comparable church. And I felt God was calling me to be with my family.

My uncle asked me to say a prayer. I thought he should do it since it was his house, so I hesitated, and my cousin took control and said a beautiful prayer. I spent the rest of breakfast internally debating whether or not I had made a mistake. Should I have said a prayer? Should I have went to the local church that my aunt, uncle, mom, and cousins are members? Was this morning a test from God that I was failing?

The truth is: I was and am failing. And I will continue to fail. I will miss opportunities. I will fall to the devil's temptation. But we have to remember that "the word of God is living and active" (Hebrews 4:12). We have to remember that by worshiping a living God, by studying and striving for truth, by trusting in Christ we can overcome our failure, and we can take advantage of our next opportunities and stop worrying about our past failures.

We Are All Called To Be Saints

The last few messages I have heard live have all had the following theme "We are all called to be saints."

That is probably the best most effective message there is.

Driving Home Listening To Radio Preachers

I am driving home this evening so I can get up at 5:00AM and go to the city to play around with data. So I can finish something I started. Something I started with the decent intentions. Something that has become an albatross. Something that causes me great pain.

And this preacher is on the radio, and he is preaching about how we cling to the "filth" of life instead of trusting in Christ and clinging to the peace and good things he gave us.

And the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

I realize that I cling to "that jealously, that bitterness, that ridicule." I cling to the filth while I let go of the love that makes us truly complete.

I realize that this has to be the best year of my life. I got married to woman who is so full of love that even though I deeply hurt her with my obsession with filth, she still loves me. I have a wonderful family who lets me stay with them when I have to go to the city. I have friends who talk me off cliffs and do "give a damn" about me. I have love all around me. All I have to do is accept it. All I have to do is acknowledge it.

All I have to do is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." (Luke 10:27).

It isn't easy. I will fail. I will have to ask for forgiveness. But it is much better than the filth.