Psalm 51

by   February 12, 2024 with No Comments

By Rhonda Sassano

Hello again!  I hope you find strength and hope and healing in the words below, taken from Psalm 51.

”Father, I know that You delight to set Your truth deep in my spirit. You can use every challenging situation to make me aware of my deep need for You…  So I invite You: come into the hidden places of my heart and teach me wisdom. Find all the dark corners where I shove the things too painful to be recognized.  Show me what needs purifying, every small thing that my conscience refuses to acknowledge.  The places You have allowed to be crushed within me are deeply painful, agonizing even. 

Let Your love wash over me until my heart is pure, free, and completely convinced of Your unending affection for me.  When I am satisfied with Your sweetness, I know my song of joy will return. I will rejoice again when I find Your healing touch, and I determine to receive it from every hand that extends it.  I realize You have orchestrated persons and situations in my life to bring me to this place at this time, at this point in my journey.  Increase my courage to embrace the healing in every way it comes, even if I don’t understand or it seems like too much discomfort.  I want to be, and I will be, made holy and new.  

Erase all my guilt by Your saving grace. Keep creating in me a clean heart, a spirit that loves to do Your will.  Help me fill my mind with true thoughts about You, and with holy desires, ready and eager to please You.  

No matter how many times I fail, You never reject me! You never take back from me Your sacred Spirit! Let my passion for life be restored, tasting joy in every breakthrough You bring to me. Hold me close to Your heart; create a willing spirit in me that obeys whatever You say.

O God, my saving God, deliver me fully from every doubt, and even the sin that seems unforgivable. Then my heart will once again be thrilled to sing the passionate songs of joy and deliverance! Lord God, unlock my heart, unlock my lips, so that I can overcome with my joyous praise! 

Strengthen my determination to live out this truth:  The source of Your pleasure, sweet Father, is not in my performance or the sacrifices I might offer to You. The fountain of Your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before You. You will not despise my tenderness or abuse or scorn or mock me, as I bow down humbly at Your feet. 

And when I am fully restored, You will rejoice and take delight in the continuous offering of my life as a sacrifice of righteousness, given in love, from my heart to yours.”

If you struggle with depression, fear, anxiety, or discouragement, I would count it an honor to chat with you in person.  Find my information here:

With love and joy,

Rhonda

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“God is not looking for those who can but those who will.”

Sunflowers in February

by   February 11, 2024 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

If you are giving or receiving flowers this Valentine’s Day, roses are likely to be the star of the bouquet. Perhaps there are tulips, carnations, or even lilies. When did you give or receive your first rose? Was it a single rose or a bouquet? Was it well received?

I can remember the first dozen roses I received. It was intended for Valentine’s Day, though I received it a day later. It was not from a beau or someone I wanted to express interest in me. A boy at my church sent them to my school, a Christian school for elementary to high school grades. The florist delivered my flowers to the elementary wing of the school – to a little girl in kindergarten with the same name as me. I learned about it because her father called my house that evening asking if I knew someone with the sender’s name and if he would have sent me roses. In mortification, I wanted to slam the phone! Luckily, this timid high schooler dodged the bullet of blushing red upon receiving roses at my high school in front of my classmates. Still, I did not want to face this boy at church or even tell him thank you. I was not thankful. I was pretty rotten.

Maybe I would live through this embarrassment and one day forget it all. Fast forward two years later – my senior year. I finally have a boyfriend who shows up on Valentine’s at my school because their team was playing my school in basketball. Again, I receive roses, assuming they are from this first boyfriend. I’m wrong. It’s the same young man from my church (he is a young man at that point – 18 years old). I am not angry this time. I’m not as embarrassed. I even find it a bit comical, but I do not reveal the gift to my boyfriend.

You can probably guess what happens – a year later, I am dating the serial rose giver. I finally tell this fellow that roses are not even my favorite flower. Sunflowers are my botanical of choice. Poor but desperately in love, this young man orders sunflowers in February and has them delivered to me while he is living in another state. Bear in mind this was over 25 years ago. Flowers came from local florists – even sunflowers. You can imagine the cost of this delivery in the middle of winter! What a statement!

I am not saying that the sunflowers are what won me over and made me his wife, but it certainly didn’t hurt. He had found the gift that was precious to me – what uniquely made me smile. I didn’t ask for or expect it from him, but he found the way to my heart. He had taken the time to get to know me.

I want my worship and love for God to reflect that intimacy – spending time with Him regularly, delighting in getting to know Him better each passing day, and understanding my identity in Christ better. I desire my worship to be uniquely from me, not an attempt to replicate what everyone else around me is doing. 

In our intimate, regular fellowship with God, we discover He also knows what delights our hearts. Although there is common grace and gifts that are good for us all, what a loving, adoring Lord who seeks to display His presence in our lives with gifts customized precisely for us.

Ashlie Miller is married to her husband, who often brings her sunflowers and sometimes roses but always brings her delight in his gifts. He’s raising their sons and daughter to do much of the same. You may email Ashlie at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com. 

Our Thoughts

by   February 10, 2024 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            We had a guest minister at our church on Sunday. The man is a friend of our pastor. He has spoken at our church before and always brings a thought-provoking message. This week was no exception, as ironically, his topic was: our thoughts. His message wasn’t simply that we have good thoughts and bad thoughts, but more about our responsibility for our thoughts.

            He spent some time explaining to us that we have to learn what to do with any kind of negative thought. For example, I may have a thought that something terrible is going to happen. I need to take that kind of thought captive and not allow it to grow into something unmanageable in my imagination. I love my imagination but I can’t allow it to run crazy with bad thoughts, that is not good for me and it is a waste of my time.

            When bad thoughts attempt to invade our minds we have to take them captive. The minister explained that if we take a thought captive and keep it from playing in our imagination the bad thought loses its power over us. Worry is when we let a bad thought run wild. We keep imagining bad things happening or bad outcomes in potentially good situations. God wants us to be in charge of our thoughts and to not allow negative ones to grow.

            Let’s say you go to the doctor and receive a diagnosis of diabetes, or worse yet that awful word: cancer. Both of these diagnoses could result in serious outcomes. This is when it is vital to control our thoughts. While I believe that God can miraculously heal people I also believe that God will use doctors and medicine to change circumstances. We need to apply our faith in God to these situations and not allow our imaginations to run wild against us.

            The truth is bad things happen to all of us. We all face problems that sometimes feel larger than life. What I want you to do right now it remember a time in your life when you felt overwhelmed by your circumstances. Now remember how God intervened in your life, how he changed the circumstances and saw you through them. That is part of your testimony to God’s faithfulness in your life. The next time you feel overwhelmed remember God’s faithfulness to you in the past, how He came through for you in a pinch.

            Sometimes in life we face things that overwhelm us and none of our own testimonies are strong enough to see us through. This is a time when God is planning to grow our faith in Him. This is a time when we need to turn to others so we can hear their testimonies. Whatever over-whelming situation you are facing, someone has already been through it. Someone has a story of how God met them in their darkest hour to encourage their faith and renew their strength.

            God has a plan to help you. That plan begins in your mind. God does not want you to live in fear. God does not want you to worry. God wants you to have faith in Him, that He is sufficient to see you through. God wants you to be in control of your thoughts. I know that thoughts can run wild, that’s why we have to take them captive. When my thoughts have gone south I have several good friends who know how turn me around.

            Our minds are wonderful tools when we use our faith to keep them working in the right direction. We are designed to be overcomers and that process begins in our thoughts. We have to use our imagination to see ourselves overcoming. We have to apply our faith in a good God to our circumstances. When we feel weak and vulnerable we have to be willing to ask a good friend to come along side us to help correct our thinking. God intends for us to be victorious in every situation in our lives, but the battle for victory begins in our thoughts.

            I want to encourage you to examine your thoughts. I encourage you to create a spiritual screen for your thoughts. Any bad thoughts about yourself and circumstances you face are not from your loving Heavenly Father. God sees you as a victorious prince or princess in His family. Stop telling yourself negative things and believe that God wants what is best for you. Allow your thoughts and faith to connect to the awesome God you serve and you will see your victory.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Truth. Beauty. Virtue.

by   February 9, 2024 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Many years ago when our oldest granddaughter spent a weekend with us, she took a bath one evening before bedtime. When my wife walked in to check on her, my “scrubby gloves” were lying on the floor. Asked what happened, our seven-year-old granddaughter answered, “They itched me.”  A perfectly fine, and passive, excuse for such an age. She could not accept responsibility for the gloves being on the floor, so the source of the trouble had to be those pesky gloves.

The passive voice is the bane of any serious writer and teacher of composition because it expresses a lifeless, whiney, irresponsible, and dishonest voice. While not grammatically incorrect, the subject in a passive-voiced sentence accepts no responsibility and thus is dishonest.  For example, in such a sentence as, “I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them. And that is absolutely what I regret,”  is a good example of the speaker placing blame for an action onto someone or something else in her first clause. What the speaker is saying is, I was not responsible, it was not my fault.  If the sentence was uttered by a child, such as our granddaughter, it would be accepted, but that quoted sentences comes from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene while explaining a few of her actions. What she is asking us to believe is that she was “allowed” by some force to believe and support such dangerous bunk. She lies to herself and by extension to us.

I have recently “discovered” the Nebraska philosopher and writer, H. B. Alexander who wrote during the early part of the 20th Century. In his 1919 book, Letters to Teachers, he examines the role of public education in order for our democracy to flourish. His words, written in the shadow of the Spanish Flu Epidemic and The Great War still resonate:

 “Here [in his book] I shall but seek to give a broad conception of what qualities in the man a liberal education must cultivate. And these, I should say, are a love and understanding of truth and virtue and beauty. Love of truth means honesty with one’s self….”

Alexander’s language is archaic; however, we all could benefit from a deep understanding of his thoughts. Representative Greene is just one of many people in the public view who use passive-voiced language to sidestep honest responsibility. If we are not honest with ourselves, we cannot be honest with others, so true discourse, which is so needed now, is lost.

Think of the words Alexander uses in the above quotation: Truth. Virtue. Beauty. One may criticize those values as dated, but I suggest that they are timeless and a culture that turns from them will severely suffer.

Yet to have “a love and understanding of truth and virtue and beauty” we must begin with honesty to ourselves and others. Perhaps our public schools, including those at the secondary level, will begin teaching what we need instead of what we want. A poor diet leads to poor health.

Time to go Run Winter Flight

by   February 8, 2024 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Salisbury and Rowan runners have known about the Winter Flight races for a long time. Most races have a much shorter lifespan, simply because there are challenges to put just one event on. This race has a life of its own and to keep it going for 41 years through sickness, weather, course changes and more as it has evolved into one of the best races in the Southeast is quite special. This year, Feb. 4 is race day and momentum is building for the historic event. At present, we know that it is at least the fourth oldest race in the state but I am pretty sure it is the third oldest now after another dropped off. Definitely being the oldest 8K (4.97 miles) in N.C. status keeps bringing back some of the best competitors, a fun environment and some wonderful personal stories. Plus the 8K is also the state championship event at that distance.

Here are just a few highlights over the years. The first Winter Flight was held in 1981, then was not held in ’82 or ’83 and was reborn in 1984 as a combination of 5- and 10-mile races. These races originally started and finished at the mural in downtown. The race was moved to Catawba College in 1986, also the year that the venerable 8K distance was introduced. The 8K events were very popular then but have been replaced by the shorter 5Ks as the main race distance over the years since. The Winter Flight races were postponed by a measles epidemic in 1989, and heavy snow in 1996 and 2005. I remember SRR members having to call race registrants with a plan for the postponement and new race days due to the snow. In 2001, SRR went online with races and registrations. In 2002, the only course change since 1986 occurred due to new construction for Shuford Stadium at Catawba. The race was actually moved to Millbridge and the Sloan Park area due to COVID for only the 2021 version.

Course records remain with Olympians Hans Koeleman of the Netherlands with his sizzling 23 minutes and 34 seconds in 1988 and Joan Nesbitt of Chapel Hill in 1992 at 26.48. A Kenyan runner took the male record several years ago but was disqualified for illegal substance abuse in various races more than two years later, so it has reverted to Koeleman, a former Nike executive. Queens College cross country coach Luke Greer came within seconds of the record last year.

In 2003, the Salisbury Rowan Runners began making significant charitable contributions from the race. All proceeds from the 2024 event will again go to Rowan Helping Ministries. This year’s New Sarum Brewing Winter Flight event kicks off on Feb. 4 with a free half-mile fun run on the track and open to any age at 1:30 p.m. Wheelchairs hit the street at 1:58 p.m., followed by the 5K and featured 8K race that will start at 2 p.m.

Registration is available at www.runsignup.com and by printing the form at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org. Winter Flight offers tremendous opportunities for participation to runners and walkers of all abilities and age. The fun run is open to anyone, the 5K is a moderate distance open to anyone running or walking. The 8K is geared to those who can complete the course in 90 minutes. Special thanks to the city of Salisbury for services provided that allow us to have the race and to Catawba College for hosting it. Come join us for a big day! My granddaughter, both daughters and at least one ex-wife are all registered and ready to get their commemorative Winter Flight hoodie.

The Salisbury Rowan Runners annual meeting and pasta dinner is open to anyone on Saturday evening, Feb. 3 from 6-8 p.m. Club members and race sponsors are free, and others are $10. World class ultra-marathoner Dr. David Horton will speak at 6:30 p.m. Race registration, packet pickup and new memberships will be available also.

For more information go to www.salisburyrowanrunners.org or call 704-310-6741.

Growing In Him

by   February 7, 2024 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

  • Even though we are saved, we have to focus continually on growing in Him and letting the Lord renew our hearts.
  • Sometimes we allow wrong thoughts and need to return to our love for Him and God to strengthen our hearts with His love and upright spirit.
  • We are not of this world even though we are in this world and we need to be reminded constantly of that.  We belong to Him.

Prayer:  Lord I yield to You and ask You to create in me a pure and upright heart.  I want to belong to You in every way and have the right spirit. I am weak, but You are strong.  Amen.


Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

Am I Enough?

by   February 6, 2024 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Am I enough? Age is not a factor when it comes to that question.

I have seen students in despair over fractions saying, “I can’t do it!” I have heard toddlers cry out in exasperation, “I can’t do it!” I have been a mother crying out that same comment, “I can’t do it!”

The feeling of inadequacy can hit at any moment.

We learn our inadequacies early in life. We do not feel smart enough or athletic enough, we do not feel that we look good enough, or we do not feel that we can do things as well as others do.

We feel inadequate.

I experienced all of that when in elementary school, and the feelings only grew.

Experiences and emotions in life inform us that we are not enough.

I grew up on Mill Hill in a mill town. I heard the mill whistle blow every morning, which meant my mother was returning home from working her third-shift job, as my father was heading out to his first-shift job.

I remember not wanting to live in that mill house on that mill hill, because all the popular kids I went to school with lived in brick houses. Most of them lived far enough away from the mill that they did not hear that mill whistle blow.

Yes, my measuring stick for richness was whether someone lived in a mill house or a brick house. In middle school, I began to hear rumblings during school among the girls about sleepovers at their houses. I wanted to be invited, but I suspected that I was not enough.

In my mind, the house I lived in and the side of town I lived on apparently determined my worth. It was not their fault. There was no room in my mill house for their sleepovers and apparently there was no room in their houses for me.

Honestly, it stung a bit.

I began to become friends with others — that I was enough for.

Back then, we called it being popular, but there was nothing popular about me.

I did win the spelling bee in the seventh grade. After that, even the “popular” kids often asked me how to spell words during class, but they still never invited me to their parties.

Looking back, it makes me smile — and even laugh — because I eventually figured out that I was enough.

How do I know that? There is no need to share the how. I only need to share the Who, and the Who is Jesus.

I know Jesus personally, and He knows me personally.

If we can trust Him for our salvation, we can trust Him for our circumstance. And through Jesus, we are enough.

Psalm 24

by   February 5, 2024 with No Comments

By Rhonda Sassano

If you are feeling downhearted or discouraged, take a minute to speak this Psalm over yourself.  It’s been scientifically proven that anxiety and fear cannot coexist with gratitude. So, focus your mind on the verses below, allow gratefulness to swell in your heart for your Eternal Hope of Glory, and for the authority Jesus has already provided for us and encourages us to walk in every day, in every situation.  

From Psalm 24

”Jesus, You claim the world as Yours and indeed it is!  You created Everything in it and every one of us belongs to You, including me.  You are the One who pushed back oceans to let the dry ground appear, planting firm foundations for the earth. In view of Your majesty, Who, then, is allowed to ascend the mountain of Yahweh? And who has the privilege of entering into the Father’s Holy Place? It is I, since I’ve been made clean—my works and ways are purified, my heart is truly Yours and sealed by Your truth.  I am not deceived, my words are sure. I will receive Yahweh’s blessing and righteousness given only by the Savior. I will stand before God, for I seek the pleasure of the face of my beautiful Savior.  

So wake up!  I am a living gateway who carries His authority! I lift up my head, me, a doorway of eternity! Welcome the King of Glory, for He is about to arrive here through me. I declare, “Who is this King of Glory?” He is the Great Yahweh, armed and ready for battle, our Champion, invincible in every way! So I rise up!  I am a living gateway who carries His authority and I rejoice! Fling wide those eternal doors to which I hold the secret to opening!  Here He comes:  it is Jesus! The King of Glory is ready to come in, to reign over my life in power! I declare,  “Who is this King of Glory?” He is Yahweh, armed and ready for battle, the Mighty One, the invincible commander and Champion of heaven’s hosts! Yes, He is the King of Glory! I bow my heart to surrender to Your great mercy, I command my spirit to receive Your provision, Your healing and Your Word with joy!

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“God is not looking for those who can but those who will.”

Engaged in Love

by   February 4, 2024 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

“Does a Christian have to attend church to be a Christian?” My husband and I have been asked this question in our ministry roles. Last weekend, my husband shared another question he had heard: “Does a man have to go home at night to be married?”

The answer to both questions is no, but one cannot ignore the effects on relationships in either case. We could look at Hebrews 10:24- 25 in the Bible for instructions from the author – do not neglect meeting together as some people do. Yet, I would have you consider many other verses – 59 in fact (don’t worry, I am not listing them all here!) – that speak of the things we are to do to “one another.”

As Christians, we can love each other (Romans 13:8) as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18) and continue to love each other earnestly when wronged (1 Peter 4:8) and even to the point of forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15).

Christians can comfort one another (2 Corinthians 13:11), show compassion (Ephesians 4:32), and bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

When a fellow Christian is in need, a healthy church equips members to stir one another up (Hebrews 10:24) and edify or build up each other (Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:11), especially as times grow harder. We have gifts from God given to us to benefit one another (1 Peter 4:10).

True, Biblical love also goes beyond merely tolerating one another but strives to outdo each other in showing honor (Romans 12:10), where serving another (Galatians 5:13) comes as we learn to submit to each other (Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5) or prefer others over ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

In loving relationships, there will still be disagreements and times when we need to confront a wrong, but we can do so lovingly. It is possible to bear with one another’s faults (Colossians 3:12-14) and lovingly speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) as we admonish a friend (Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16) to live in peace with each other (2 Corinthians 13:11).

As we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, move beyond our labels (in my case, being an introvert), and enter the church community, we welcome our brothers and sisters (Romans 15:7), display hospitality (1 Peter 4:9), greet one another warmly (1 Corinthians 16:20), and share fellowship (1 John 1:7) by speaking with psalms and singing hymns and other spiritual songs together (Ephesians 5:19). Does that sound like healthy, regular church attendance to you?

Reviewing a handful of the “one another” passages, I wonder how we are to do these commands (see 1 John 3:23) without regularly being in the physical presence and community of other people, especially Christian brothers and sisters. It provides a mutually beneficial relationship. Though we can attempt to live an isolated life of faith and maybe even hope, it will not be one filled with love if we have no one to share our “one another” actions.

Ashlie Miller is a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home mom to five children in Concord, NC. Contact her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com

Teachable Moments

by   February 3, 2024 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            I love being a teacher. I retired from teaching and I am still teaching part-time. It’s in my blood. I teach my students to think about something that they love doing and see if there is a career related to that. If they can find a job working in that profession they will never have to go to work. They will get to do what they love.

            I tell my students if the thing they love is illegal or immoral then they need to choose a different career path, which always brings a laugh. I also explain to my students that there are always tasks in every career field that no one wants to do. That shouldn’t disqualify a career path. Focus on the parts you love and sink your energy there.

            There is nothing like helping and watching a student learn a task or skill for the first time. It is so rewarding to see students learning. I can’t contain the joy when I help a student pass a test, learn a skill, achieve a goal, or help them believe in themselves. There is no greater reward than seeing your students succeed.

            In teaching, there are special moments called teachable moments. Teaching occurs every day across the globe as students enter classrooms. A teachable moment occurs in those rare moments when the teacher has every student in the palm of their hand. Something can be taught in that moment that will last a lifetime. A good teacher recognizes that moment and never wants to squander it.

            Most teachable moments are special times a teacher treasures. There were several days in my career that I dreaded the lesson I was expected to teach. Consider 9/11. Imagine the Monday after a student was in a serious car accident that left him in the hospital for weeks. The hardest day was after a student passed away. Students look to the adults in their lives to explain why bad things happen. They want teachers to help them understand. Those were long days filled with moments I want to forget.

            Life is not always easy and it is filled with many ups and downs. God’s best lessons are taught as we walk through hard situations. For example, going through some financial struggles allows God to teach us that He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider. We can depend on Him to come through for us. I am a firm believer that we have to do our part in the process, but in the end He is the One who provides for us.

            There are many lessons in the Bible waiting for us to learn. It is how we approach the Bible and even God Himself that will determine if we can learn the lessons. The Bible is filled with many great stories of what others have gone through. We can learn the lesson from those stories so when God puts us in similar situations we will know that we can trust Him to help us in the same way.

            I think we also have to realize that God is alive and active in our lives. He is a good Father who wants to teach us more about Himself and who He is in our lives. That means that He will set up a lesson for us. Some lessons are simply learned by reading the stories in the Bible. Other lessons require us to apply what we have learned to our lives. Those are harder lessons and require us to exercise our faith. We have to believe God’s word and His promises to us. In addition, we have to trust Him in and through that process.

            Many of the application lessons require us to understand that God’s ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts. Many spiritual lessons are hard and will challenge us to grow stronger. Weight lifters will tell you that growing muscles requires straining. To grow spiritual muscles will push you to your limits of faith and trust.

            I want to encourage you to engage with your Father in Heaven, who wants a personal relationship with you. He wants you to know His heart, which is always for you. He wants you to know Him as your loving Heavenly Father. He also wants you to know Him as a teacher who will give you some easy and some hard lessons. You have to open your heart to learn from Him and know that you can trust Him. There are many teachable moments with God. All of them are designed to reveal Himself more and more to you.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

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