Bill Johnson teaches us how to grow in the midst of trials and difficulties. We all have them. What do we do? Listen to what Bill Johnson has to share on the topic.
How to Grow Through Your Trial
May 13, 2025
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Mercy!
May 12, 2025
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Steve Hartman revisits a story or incredible mercy. Maybe it is about mercy and love. You’ll have to watch and decide… ENJOY!
Fallen But Not Forsaken
May 11, 2025
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By Ashlie Miller
It was not our first time observing birds; I wrote about watching birds a year ago this time. After all, it is the season of hatchlings making their way out of the nest. This time, however, it was a rescue mission.
My observant son saw our dog, Bruno, in the backyard, making eyes at something. No barking, just eying down something. Usually, as is the case with many hound mixes, he attempts to feast on whatever it may be – a rodent, a bumblebee, a lizard, a snake, or a bird. When my son saw that all-too-familiar look in Bruno’s eyes, he made a mad dash to see what it was. Behold, a fledgling tufted titmouse – stunned, most likely from a fall from a nest, but further paralyzed by fear of the glaring eye of a large beast!
Heroically, my son rescued the bird from the potential jaws of death and relocated the little birdie to the neighbor’s enclosed yard. Upon further observation, my curious daughter could hear the distressed cries of the baby bird’s parents and sat watchfully outside the fenced-in area to see if the mommy bird would come to the rescue. Eventually, momma swooped down to offer sustenance to her stunned baby. There were periods when it seemed the baby was hopelessly abandoned, but those parental calls indicated that the baby was not forsaken. My sweet girl would encourage the baby, occasionally approaching and sweetly speaking to it.
Before the sun fully set, with gloved hands, she scooped up the fledgling and placed him in a more well-lit area of the yard. She watched as the baby bird found a cozy spot to rest. The next morning, she could hear small chirps from a nest nearby. We assume all is well with this little feathered friend.
There is nothing like the care of a mother. The worries and seemingly nagging cries may annoy us in childhood or even up through adulthood, but when they are no longer heard, we miss them. The provisions and thoughtfulness that sustain us in our youth and delightfully surprise us later in life are but cherished memories when Mom is no longer here. How will we survive the rest of this life without her watchful eye and care?
Yet, somehow, we make it. Maybe we have someone who checks in on us when something is glaring us down. They may even mobilize us out of our paralyzing posture. There may be a friend sitting just outside our immediate situation who can see that we will be okay. They cheer us on, listen to God’s voice of truth and love, and maybe even relay those reassuring words to us. They may even help us get in a better position to feel protected and cared for.
But even when that does not feel like the case, there is One loving caregiver who sees all and knows all. If God considers each sparrow that falls, He surely sees us—those made in His image—in our hurts and sadnesses. He rescues us from the jaws of death. He calls to us with words of comfort and care. He provides sustenance to carry on another day, and He even sends us the kindness of others to help us when we feel alone or orphaned.
Do you see someone who is alone or saddened this Mother’s Day? Look for ways to encourage and help. And if you are without a mother on this special day, thank those who have helped and cared for you.
Ashlie Miller was blessed to have a wonderful mother for almost 45 years whom she misses dearly. You may contact her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
Love & Appreciation
May 10, 2025
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By Doug Creamer
Love and Appreciation
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers! Prayers and blessings to all those who hope to be mothers. Peace and grace to all those mothers who are missing their little ones. Mother’s Day can evoke many emotions, from love, joy, and happiness, to various levels of sadness. While it is considered a happy occasion, it can be difficult for some.
My siblings and I were lucky kids because God gave us a great mother. She gave each of us tons of love as we grew. She encouraged us to spread our wings and fly when it was time to leave the nest. She has been a cheerleader for all of her kids as we have all experienced successful launches. If you are lucky as I am, then you are blessed to have a good mother.
My mom is the news keeper for our family. My siblings and I are all busy and while we keep in touch we don’t know everything that is going on in each other’s families. That’s where my mom plays a vital role; I affectionately refer to her as News Central. If something is going on in the family, just check in with News Central; she has all the details. So when we visit or call my mom we all find out what is happening elsewhere in the family. There is great comfort in knowing you are in the family information loop.
While we are blessed with good mothers, God must have decided to bless my wife and me twice when it comes to mothers in our lives. When I was at college I ran into a bad living situation. An older couple decided to step in and help me out. They invited me to live with them for a semester. They became my “adopted parents.” My wife and I were close with them while we were in college. They shared dinners with us and took us on many adventures. We have many great memories of time spent together. We have stayed in contact with them since we were in college.
Our parents and adopted parents have been a great blessing in our lives. In return, we have strived to show our love and appreciation to them. We visit with them, try to be helpful, call, and send cards. It is important to give back and express our love and appreciation to those who gave so much to us.
The question that rolls around in my mind is, how do we show God how much we love and appreciate Him? You can’t send Him cards. You can’t take a trip “home” for a long weekend or for the holidays. I know we can “call” Him, but aren’t those calls reserved for needs and emergencies? What can you offer and bring to God as a gift when He owns everything?
I think we begin by talking to Him like we would our best friend. Tell Him what is in our heart. Tell Him about our hopes and dreams. Tell Him about our day. Thank Him for our many blessings. Thank Him for all He has given us. Thank Him for the special people in our life. Maybe, if we dare, ask Him about His day. Ask Him what is on His heart. Ask Him if He would like to talk with us about something. Talking with God is a two way street. Listening for His voice is critical.
Next, I wonder what can I give God? I think we begin by giving thanks and praise to Him. Praise Him for the sunrise or sunset. Praise Him for the beauty in creation. Praise Him for saving your soul. Just praise Him with all your heart. Let that lead you into worship. He deserves your praise and worship. He is the God of all creation. Express your love and gratitude to God. These are things He doesn’t have until you offer them to Him.
There are so many ways to show God how much you love Him, including reading the Bible and getting to know Him. I want to encourage you to demonstrate your love by expressing your heart-felt praise and thanksgiving to Him. Talk to Him any time you want during the day. You don’t have to be in a special place because He is everywhere. When you think about Him in the middle of your busy day, just send Him a little “Hello” which will bless His heart. God loves you unconditionally and He proved it by sending Jesus into the world. Let your heart respond to His great love.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
Key to Stumble Free Life
May 9, 2025
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By Ed Traut
1 John 2:10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
- Undoubtedly, God is love and that is the greatest force on earth.
- If we walk in love, we can do no evil and certainly it is the evidence of God in us.
- We will not stumble spiritually if we live this life of continually loving others, even if they are undeserving or do things wrong to us.
Prayer: My Lord, I pray that You fill my heart with Your love continually. I yield to You and do not justify any wrong thinking in my heart, but honestly want to be filled with Your love to love everyone with Your love, because there is no other way. I feel blessed to be an instrument of Your love in Jesus name. Amen.
Ed Traut
Prophetic Life
Tried & True Fitness Testing
May 8, 2025
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By David Freeze
Tried and True Fitness Testing
Back in the late 1970’s when I found an interest in running, I kept hearing the name of Dr. Kenneth Cooper. Then recently in our just completed spring beginning runners class, one of the younger participants told me about following the Cooper Test. That brought back great memories of testing myself against Cooper’s age group standards. After reading them again, I guess I still am.
The scientific tool known as the Cooper Test is designed to measure how much oxygen your body uses while exercising, known as the VO2 max. The higher your VO2 max, the more efficiently your heart is said to be pushing blood out to your organs and tissues, indicating that the organ is healthy. Studies have shown that those with a high VO2 max for their age are less likely to die from heart disease than those with lower scores.
The test was developed by Cooper in 1968, who originally designed it to measure aerobic fitness in the US military. It can be completed on a treadmill, a running track or on any flat and hard surface.
Here are some of the highlights and how to test yourself simply against Cooper’s assessments. You run, jog or walk quickly for 12 minutes without stopping while using a distance-tracking watch or app such as Strava or Apple’s health feature. A meter is 3.28 feet. For a simple measurement of distance, the Catawba College track is 400 meters.
A results table called Cooper Test: A 12-Minute Run to Check Aerobic Fitness at Verywellfit.com shows the distances that are considered excellent, above average, average, below average and poor. The figures are listed by gender and age up to 50 years old, but sadly Cooper didn’t continue his work to older age groups.
Men in their 30s should be able to run 1.9 kilometers (1.1 miles), while women of the same age should manage 1.7K, or roughly a mile. If a man can cover 2.6K, or 1.6 miles, in his 30s, his VO2 is considered ‘excellent’. The same is true for women in their 30s who manage 2.5K or a mile and a half.
For mid-lifers, the threshold is a little lower. The average man in his 50s can cover a distance of just under a mile, or 1.6K in 12 minutes. If he reaches 2.4K, or a mile and a third, his performance is ‘excellent’. The average distance for a woman in her 50s can cover 0.8 miles or 1.4K, while anything over 2.2K, or over a mile, she’s excellent.
Anything between 1.1K and 1.6K is considered poor, depending on the age group. You don’t need to wear a bunch of sensors hooked to your body to get these results because running engages most of the major muscle groups in the body. including legs, abs, shoulders, back and arms.
Pushups are also a great measurement for fitness and overall health. Young men should aim for 28 pushups and women 20. At age 45, men should be able to do 16 pushups and women 14. For 55-year-olds, the count decreases to 12 pushups for men and 10 for women.
Research has also shown that older people who can balance on one leg well are at a vastly reduced risk of dying within the next decade. That’s because how well a person can balance indicates their level of general strength, and ability to prevent trips and falls, which is a leading killer in elderly people.
Simples goals for age 18-39 are 43 seconds, 40-49 at 40 seconds, 50-59 at 37 seconds, 60-69 at 30 seconds, 70-79 at 13-19 seconds and 80 and over at 7 seconds. All this is good food for thought and a fun way to challenge yourself.
This week’s race is the Teens With a Mission 5K and Fun Run Glow Run on Friday evening at Overton School. Look for this event and others upcoming at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
Lynna’s “O” & Wouldn’t it be Nice
May 7, 2025
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By Lynna Clark
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of Your law.”
This little prayer from Psalm 119:18 is short and sweet. But when prayed prior to looking into Scripture will open the heart to see the things God has for us. Not only is it a prayer, but also an attitude. How blessed we are to be in a place where our hearts and minds are open to God’s plans for our lives; a place of submission and trust. It’s hard sometimes to realize that He has a plan that’s better than we can understand.
Open my eyes Lord. I believe. Please help my unbelief.
If your brain started singing that song by the Beach Boys, you’re either from my generation or you’ve seen the movie Fifty First Dates one too many times. But really. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone to run interference for us? Especially as we navigate doctor appointments and such. I think it might be kind of new, but we have that. Her name is Candice. She keeps close tabs on all things medically needed to care for my beloved David. Currently on top of cancer, a leaking gut, and sickness heaped upon sickness, he has developed kidney stones. The doctor he saw Wednesday proclaimed one to be the size of a peanut. David said he wasn’t sure if that was in the shell or not, but either way it’s too big to be left unattended. Yeouch! So before they can do surgery to mend the colon or the bladder; or deal any more with the cancer, they must address the kidney stones, plural. That’s one of the reasons we’re so glad to have Candice, our patient advocate. She is coordinating all these life saving events. It’s not been that long ago that I had cancer and couldn’t get a call through without being on hold for twenty minutes. Sadly, the muzac provided was NOT the Beach Boys. But not anymore! We have a Super Advocate! I’ve never met her, but I sure do love her. She leaps tall stacks of paperwork and hits the ground running just to help us navigate our current load of crap.
Sometimes we forget. As Christians we have an Advocate too. When we don’t know what to pray; when life is absolutely overwhelming; when fear grips our hearts with all the ‘what-ifs’; our Advocate is running interference for us. Romans 8:26 and following gives us this wonderful news.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us… And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or [fill in your blank here]?”
Thankfully the answer is a resounding NO! He is our Advocate WITH the Father. Together, They have a plan that is surely for our best!
David with his mama Nina at the Classic Restaurant in Denton around ten years ago; where she could eat all the fatback she wanted.
A Two Part Story… Serving the Military
May 6, 2025
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I enjoy the fact that I can sleep at night without worrying about whether our country is safe. We have men and women who put on the uniform and serve all around the world. That service sometimes takes someone away from the family. That means that there is a hole in a family. Steve Hartman tells a two part story about just such a family. ENJOY!!!
And here is the follow-up… Part 2
May the Force be With You
May 4, 2025
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By Ashlie Miller
May the fourth is upon us, and chances are, even if you do not have a Star Wars nerd in your home, you will still hear someone exclaim, “May the fourth be with you!” I have several Star Wars nerds, so I am braced for it.
The Force. Many have tried comparing it to the Holy Spirit. It is a tempting allegory. Even a casual observer will undoubtedly recognize themes of a great fall and redemption, allusions to a Chosen One or Messiah, and much more throughout the Star Wars franchise. But as with any metaphor, there is a lot of imperfection. Comparing The Force with the Holy Spirit is one of the most significant glaring imperfections. In fact, as I understand it, George Lucas did not really intend for his series to be a comparison to Christianity but rather an exploration of spirituality in general. However, for decades, Christians have tried to draw too many parallels, perhaps at the cost of correctness. Is it a reflection of how Christians have felt, or has it been a tool to wrongly direct unwary saints towards wrong impressions of who or what the Holy Spirit is?
The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity that many do not know what to do with. We hear “the power of the Holy Spirit” and envision believers summoning His power in their own efforts. But Jesus told His disciples that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, not usher Him in. We see personable evidence such as He is an advocate (John 14:16), gives life (Romans 8:2), enables others to speak the gospel (Acts 2:4, 8:29), convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11), and comforts and abides with believers (John 14:16-18).
As Christians, we see the Holy Spirit as a giver of both gifts and fruit. He gives us gifts to build up the church and the kingdom of God. Likewise, the fruit of the Spirit we cultivate in a relationship with the triune God helps us deal with all humankind. These are indications of a personal being, not a force to manipulate for the benefit of gaining information from people or navigating life’s good and evils for righteous or nefarious ends. The third person of the Trinity is someone to know, love, and receive from, not an impersonal energy to use or master.
Achieving balance with an energy field sounds like an exhausting amount of personal effort. Living in the presence of the Holy Spirit as a guide does require submission, but He does the work in our lives to make us more like Christ. It is not a work of our own doing, thus making it life-giving.
Also, the Holy Spirit points to Christ alone. He speaks what He hears from God. He never points to Himself. Those filled with the Holy Spirit work as empowered by Him in a selfless, modest way, not pointing to one’s own filling or power but to the glory of God alone. A more mystical idea of who or what the Holy Spirit is can result in a self-focused and self-glorifying effort, puffing up one’s own ego or sense of spirituality.
Who or what are you leaning into this May the fourth? May you know the person and presence of the Spirit of the Lord!
Ashlie Miller and her family live in Concord, NC. You may contact her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.
Work Rest Balance
May 3, 2025
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By Doug Creamer
Work Rest Balance
I have worked with people who watched the clock and when it was time to go, they were gone. I never watched the clock that closely. Granted, there were times that I left as soon as I could, but that was the exception. Generally, I put in many more hours than was expected and I know I was not the exception. There are many teachers who put in long hours.
I think I may have had workaholic tendencies. For most of my career I put in way too many hours. It wasn’t until I was winding down my career that I began to develop a better work-life balance. I have been retired for nearly six years now and my former school still goes on. Soon it will be time for prom, reviews for the final exams, and another graduation. All that will continue and I am not there.
Of course, teachers are not the only profession with workaholics. Doctors, lawyers, firefighters, and the list goes on. There are people in every career field who could be considered workaholics. The employers may like it, but it is not healthy. That mindset can take a toll on your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. We have to learn to take a step back and figure out how to create a better balance so we can live a fulfilling life.
Jesus and the Old Testament both teach us the value of resting. In the Old Testament the Jewish people were told to take a Sabbath day. This was a day of rest, reflection, prayer, and a time to reconnect with family and friends. In other words, the people were encouraged to slow down and enjoy life and each other. The Sabbath day was a call to connect with God. To rest in His presence. To be refreshed.
Jesus would have obeyed the command to rest on the Sabbath. Jesus went to the temple on the Sabbath. Jesus healed people in the temple on the Sabbath. Jesus taught on the Sabbath. Jesus taught His listeners about the love of God. After Jesus fed the five thousand, He dismissed the crowds, sent His disciples away in a boat, and then went up into the hills to a quiet place to pray, rest, and be refreshed.
Jesus understands our need to rest. He calls to us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” He knows and understands that life has a way of taking a toll on us. In those moments, He calls to us to come to Him where we can find rest and peace. God wants to meet with us and lift our burdens, comfort us, restore us, and renew our strength.
Running to Jesus is not a call for us to be selfish, self-centered, or self-indulgent. He calls us to Himself to be refreshed and renewed so we can be ready to serve in His Kingdom. The reason for any self-care is preparation. Jesus wants us to take good care of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing so we can be ready to fulfill His purposes. If we allow ourselves to get burned out, how are we going to be useful to Him? Being ready for service is the purpose for self-care.
The struggle is developing a balance in our lives. Is it okay to take a break and go on vacation? Yes, we all need time to get away. Does God expect you to do and be a part of everything? No, but He expects you to connect with others in the family of God where you can be encouraged and challenged to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus and where you can do the same for others. He also wants you to be in prayer and His Word every day so you can develop a closer relationship with Him. There are so many things pulling and distracting us from being with God. Connecting with God will help us maintain a balanced life.
I want to encourage you to examine your life and see if things are out of balance. If you have allowed things to distract you from maintaining your spiritual life and connection with God, then it’s time to get life back in balance. A life centered around God is a healthy life. A God centered life will give you peace, joy, strength, energy, and a purpose. There will be more opportunities to be used by God if you draw close to Him. He wants you rested and refreshed so you will be ready to serve Him.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com