St. Luke's Blogs

How do you begin your prayers? Do you say the same thing every time? Do you wish you had better words to say when you pray? Do you struggle to pray? I find that the hardest part of praying is getting started. There are so many things that compete for our attention. To find a small moment, draw still, and just begin to pray is my struggle. And when you start, what do you say?

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

A little bit of kindness can go a long way, especially when it helps to recover a small wallet lost in a foreign country. Laurie Fenby was enjoying a relaxing Saturday in her hometown of Rochester, New York. She was spending the morning looking for treasures at garage sales. Laurie had made a small purchase and was walking down the driveway when she spotted a small wallet on the ground. She picked the wallet up, looked inside, and realized that it belonged to a young man named George.

Pee Wee Reese’s contributions to Major League Baseball were significant. He was a tremendous competitor with the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, his most important action, one that truly helped change the game, is his acceptance and support of Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. He joined Pee Wee Reese and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. That year, the Brooklyn Dodgers traveled to Cincinnati to play the Reds. The Cincinnati crowd was extremely vocal in their protest of Jackie Robinson…

Virginia Waller-Torres was driving her car near Arlington National cemetery. Out of nowhere, it began to pour, filling the streets. Virginia’s small car was quickly stopped by the rushing water. She had nowhere to go. Virginia was stalled in the middle of a dangerous road, worried what would happen next, as the rains continued to pour down.

As Virginia’s anxiety began to grow, something amazing happened…

There are few conversations more interesting in the Gospels than the one between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman.  (I hope you will take a moment to read it: Mark 7:24-30) In this conversation there are theological arguments, cultural struggles and name calling.  It would even seem that the Syrophoenician woman wins the argument.

The seventh chapter of Mark begins with several religious leaders from Jerusalem eating with Jesus and his disciples. The religious leaders have traveled to meet with Jesus in the area known as Galilee. Galilee is where Jesus does much of his ministry. There they have an argument about what is clean and unclean, because it seems that some of Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands, according to the “tradition of the elders.” Jesus strongly teaches that, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but that the things that come out are what defile.” This conversation was about dietary restrictions found in the Levitical law.  However, it was to teach that God was most concerned about what’s in our hearts and not in our stomachs.

Tim and Jessa knew what to expect when they moved into a new apartment in Orlando, Florida. They had lived in apartments before. The doors in their hallway all looked the same. People were moving in and out of their individual apartments, each looking to their own daily tasks. There was not a lot of community, even though so many lived so close together.

Wanting to make a positive difference in their new community, Jessa and Tim decided to do something with the door of their new apartment…

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
    my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
    or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
    In your presence there is fullness of joy;
    in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

– Psalm 16:7-11