Book Review: Heaven is for Real!

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Heaven is for realMaybe, I should begin this review with saying, I am naturally skeptical about “near death” experiences. Yet, after reading this book I was amazed. So, check out the book and keep in mind the following 2 points:

  1. If Jesus Christ is glorified and experiences point to his divinity and work, then…
  2. All things are possible with God

Thus, I let the Lord sift out his truth from non-truth.

With those comments, I can proceed with my review of Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. Todd shared his 5 year old son’s, Colton, experience of going to Heaven during a medical emergency. At first glance it may sound like one of those “near death” experiences that seem to occur with many people, both Christian and non-Christians. Yet, once you read the book, you find there are facts that make Colton’s experience unique, believable, and inspiring.

https://www.heavenlive.org/

 

Book Review: Heaven: Your Real Home

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In Heaven: Your Real Home

Joni Earekson Tada shares her heartfelt yearning for the promised hope of eternal life with our blessed Savior. The best way to share her perspective of this expectant life and wonderful place called Heaven is through the following poem from the book:

Heaven painting_cover

A water color by Joni!

Joni’s Waltz

Though I spend my mortal lifetime in this chair,
I refuse to waste it living in despair.
And though others may receive
Gifts of healing, I believe
That He has given me a gift beyond compare…

For heaven is nearer to me,
And at times it is all I can see.
Sweet music I hear
Coming down to my ear;
And I know that it’s playing for me.

For I am Christ the Savior’s own bride,
And redeemed I shall stand by His side.
He will say, “Shall we dance?”
And our endless romance
Will be worth all the tears I have cried.

I rejoice with him whose pain my Savior heals.
And I weep with him who still his anguish feels.
But earthly joys and earthly tears,
Are confined to earthly years,
And a greater good the Word of God reveals.

In this life we have a cross that we must bear;
A tiny part of Jesus’ death that we can share.
And one day we’ll lay it down,
For he has promised us a crown,
To which our suffering can never be compared.

by Nancy Honeytree (1995, p. 11)

Joni is amazing woman for the Lord whose life work is dedicated to the disabled. Check out the website and ministry at Joni and Friends. 

 

NCFI Cares: In the Garden with Jesus

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With Easter fast approaching and Christians around the world preparing to celebrate the resurrection, the tendency may be to rush past the pain and suffering our Lord endured. He invites us into the garden and into his experience: “My soul is deeply grieved, even to point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” (Matthew 36:39). Amidst his anguish and turmoil, we can learn from our Master to steadfastly pray, to endure suffering, and to welcome death as a path to life with him. (Romans 6:8; 8:17). Use the hymn below entitled, “Go to Dark Gethsemane” as a meditation or reflection as we spiritually accompany our Lord through his suffering.

Go to dark Gethsemane,

Christ In Gethsemane

Christ in Gethsemane by Michael D. O’Brien

You who feel the tempter’s pow’r;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see;
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away;
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

Follow to the judgment hall;
View the Lord of life arraigned;
O the worm-wood and the gall!
O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suff’ring, shame, or loss;
Learn of Him to bear the cross.

Calv’ry’s mournful mountain climb
There’ adoring at His feet,
Mark the miracle of time,
God’s own sacrifice complete:
“It is finished!” Hear the cry;
Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb
Where they laid his breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom;
Who hath taken Him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes:
Savior, teach us so to rise.

GYouTube video: https://youtu.be/vD6tcMroY0A

Hymnal w/ music: https://hymnary.org/text/go_to_dark_gethsemane

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Prayers for HealthCare

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This website by the Catholic Health Association of the United States offers an array of prayers for the ill, health care workers, nurses, and others. I also liked the Blessing of the Hands and a Prayer Service dedicated to health care workers and nurses.

Check out the website and be encouraged to join with others who intercede for the sick and for those dedicated to care for them.

https://www.chausa.org/prayers/prayer-library

Link

Prayers for Nurses

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Gentle and Gracious God,

You call me to purpose, sharing your ministry of healing,
to serve with a generosity of spirit,
to encourage, love, and care
to be Your heart, mind, hands and feet
throughout the health system.

You call me into your presence,
to speak words of reassurance and comfort,
to be your loving presence to patients,
colleagues and all I meet, those easy to
love and those who might try my patience.

You call me to the practice of nursing,
to look with gentleness on those who are
broken in body and spirit, to touch with
tenderness those who suffer illness or
injury, to listen with my heart as well as
my ears.

May I always trust Your purpose,
Your presence and Your gift of my practice of the
vocation and art of nursing. Amen!

Find more: http://www.lumc.edu/depts/ministry/prayers.htm

Providence and Prayer in 1 1/4 pages

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I will admit, I am sitting here stumped, yet quite tickled at God. I was researching prayer for an upcoming Christian Nursing 101 article and pulled out my handy-dandy Christian Theology textbook. Why I have a Christian Theology and a Systematic Theology textbooks is a topic for another discussion–LOL.

Anyway, I looked up in the index and find one entry on prayer entitled: Prayer and Providence found on pages 405-406. The one entry and number of pages are clues.  So I turn to the pages and find 1 1/4 page discussion. Tucked away, almost a side notification is prayer. I will admit, I turned to the table of contents and look for the word prayer. Finding nothing, I return to the index and decide, in my ineptness to look up intercessory. Nope, still nothing more on prayer. This is it. One small section, a 1 1/4 page discussion on prayer.

Providence PrayerPart Four: What God Does

Chapter 18: God’s Continuing Work: Providence

-Providence and Prayer

This small section is powerful and quite informative for me and my writing project:

“It [Prayer] is not a method of creating a positive mental attitude in ourselves so that we are able to do what we have asked to have done. Rather, prayer is in large part a matter of creating in ourselves a right attitude with respect to God’s will.” The short discussion continues with Jesus’ teaching found in the Lord’s Prayer, “Prayer is not so much getting God to do our will as it is demonstrating that we are as concerned as is God that his will be done.”

My insight for the day in regards to this discovery is God has provided a means for us to join Him in his plan for our world; and he welcomes us to communicate with him continuously. Even though, at times we make prayer complicated, keep in mind the basics of the Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus. Through these simple, yet profound words, we can never go astray and loose that priceless connection with the God of the Universe.

 

 

NCFI Cares: Meditate on God’s Character

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77ba6-ncficares_3bloglogoSo often we mull over, moan over the wrongs that people have done to us.  People like family members, church leaders, members, colleagues and bosses who misbehaved.  Choosing this habit of thinking will produce a toxic mind set which will only rob us of the joy, peace and righteousness in the Holy Spirit and of course, our health and life.

Just to encourage you on the journey of transformation by the renewal of the mind, read and meditate Psalm 36 which have 12 verses.  In my New King James Version of the Bible the title of this psalm reads “Man’s wickedness and God’s perfections”.  David, the psalmist, states that it is an oracle (which is a divine utterance delivered to man, usually in answer to a request for guidance) within his heart mentioning the transgression of the wicked in the first 4 verses which is 1/3 of the psalm.  However, he spent 2/3 of the psalm (verses 5-12) focusing on God’s character – His mercy, faithfulness, righteousness, judgments, loving kindness, provider, fountain of life and God’s action of protection at the end of the psalm.

We can choose to dwell on bad behaviours or wrongs of others or we can choose to dwell more on God, who He is and what He has done and can do.  Like the psalmist, choose to dwell on who God is and His actions –  part of the renewal of the mind process.

 

Contribution by Swee Eng Goh, Singapore

NCFI Cares: The Word Sustains Us

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At the beginning of a new year, we make new plans to renew our strength. We are sure that nothing will stop our new plans. Yet, when we begin to take the first steps of change, or our dreams begin to be realized, doubts arise within us. A fear or a feeling that something bad happens; or we lack strength and resources, and we begin to waver.

What seemed safe and close now seems far and impossible. What we once wanted to accomplish and that we believed was so urgent, has now become routine or secondary to our daily activities. Just after the first month of the year our plans and objectives are diluted and we are already doing the same things that we do every year. Where did our plans go? Where did our resolve go to make those changes?

The Word of God has many resources to sustain you in everything you proposed this year:

Forces: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” Zechariah 4:6

Sustenance: “Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you” Psalm 55:22

Beware: “Casting all your anxiety upon him, for he cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7

Overcoming fear: “For I am Jehovah your God, who holds you by your right hand, and says to you: Do not fear, I will help you” Isaiah 41:13

Security: “Because I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans of well-being and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11

May this be the best year of our lives, because if “God is for us, who is against us?” And who can separate us from his love … nothing!  Thank my Lord. Romans 8:31-36

Guest Contributor:

Martha Fernández  Moyano, Argentina, International Board Member

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NCFI Cares: How Can We Have Self-Control?

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Self-control is probably one of the hardest things to master. How often have we been defeated by a bad habit, a bad attitude, or a wrong mindset? We make promises to improve. We ask someone to hold us accountable. But deep inside, we know that we don’t have the will or the ability to change. We can talk, we can plan, we can read from books, can pray but we still find it difficult to overcome and control many of the things that are inside us!

Thankfully, we know our God knows our weakness, and He also knows the medicine which we need! The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23). The only way to gain self-control is by allowing the Holy Spirit to control us.

God is not nearly as concerned with our ability as He is with our surrender.

In other words, our key focus is not effort but surrender—to live moment by moment submissively trusting in the Lord rather than in self. Paul says this is what it means to “walk by the Spirit” (v. 16).

Are you ready for a change? You can change, for God is in you and in us. As you surrender control to Him, He will help you bear the fruit of His likeness.

So our new year can be started like this: “I am in need, Lord, of your power so that I might change and grow. I surrender myself to You. Please help me to understand how to be submissive to You that I might be filled with Your Spirit.”

Written by Bulbuli Mollick, Bangladesh, NCFI Board Member