Sunday, November 17, 2019

O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

Happy Thanksgiving Week! Though it is a non-religious holiday, it’s a day when God’s grace was and is evident. From Google we learn that “The event that Americans commonly call the ‘First Thanksgiving’ was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. This feast lasted three days, and—as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow—it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.” 

As in the Book of Esther, nowhere is God mentioned, but the work of God is evident everywhere in the story of that first Thanksgiving feast. People came together to work and grow a harvest that would sustain them. Pilgrims and Native Americans combined their efforts for the sake of life in the New World. 

Sins Of The Fathers

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

Among my initial assignments in ministry was to reach out to one local Jail Inmate who was to be transferred into a State Prison. Word of mouth spread, and within two years, I received referrals to about 500 State Prison Inmates. My electric typewriter and copy machine were busy printing up newsletters with Bible Studies and words of comfort and encouragement to for both male and female Inmates. Teaching tapes from my Senior Pastor followed.

What I learned was that most all were incarcerated for the bad choices they had made, not for their “criminal minds.” Educated, or lacking in education was not the issue. More often than not, they had (sometimes inadvertently) surrounded themselves with others that seemed to lack direction and discipline. 

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Tough Love

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

Many State and Local Prisons had a program known as “Scared Straight.” It combined the efforts of Social Services, Faith-based Ministries, and each State’s Department of Corrections. Young men and women who had several low level arrests were “recruited” into a prison, where Inmates and Corrections Officers would present a very real experience of what it’s like to live behind bars. 

The testimonies of inmates in particular were frightening as they related their own experiences of mental, physical, and sexual abuse from different prison factions to the “recruits.” Scared Straight was a program designed to deter individuals from a life of crime. 

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Take A Stand!

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

The headlines in the media affirm scripture:  from 2 Timothy 3:13 - "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."  The proof of this verse is in the fruit of the lives of many of our elected officials, and those that put their stamp of approval on ungodly acts.

It seems that more leaders of various organizations than not, government officials, and yes, even members of the clergy are being brought up short, and being directly charged with criminal offenses.  It comes as no surprise that the public has become disenchanted on so many levels with corruption running rampant in every echelon of our culture.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Signs From God

Bobservations Column
By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

In Genesis 9:11, we find God’s Covenant promise to never again destroy the Earth with a flood. This is part of the Noahic Covenant, promises God made to Noah. As with all God’s Covenants, His promises will hold throughout the existence of the earth: “...neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” Protected from world-wide flood, we are not protected from drought!

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