Clothe yourself with Love Col. 3:14

Refraining from Complaining     During a previous Halloween season, I wrote about the “no complaining for 24 hours challenge” and received so much positive feedback that I thought I would invite us all to try it again this year. With all that is happening right now, this challenge is more timely and, perhaps, more difficult.   Before you read any further, please stop and note what time it is. Remember the time because, for the next 24 hours, I invite you to join me in taking the challenge to abide by the advice offered in the quote box above: go 24 hours without complaining, not even once. Can you do it? Can I do it? Of course, we can. Will we, though? We'll soon find out.  Negativity is easy and rampant, especially in these anxious times. The half-empty view of life is all around us. Like a virus, it's highly contagious. Being cynical is often defended as merely being realistic. Pick a topic -- whether it be politics, work, family life, school, health care...

  WED Evening Prayer Reflection 102820 (Eph 4:1-16) As I was reading this passage of Holy Scripture, I came upon this verse: “ Bearing with one another in love .” It seems that the Apostle Paul was careful with his choice of words, something we can all learn from. Many a times we speak before we had a chance to think about things deeply. Paul seemed to have been responding to a problematic situation in the Ephesian church, I think this is why he was giving this exhortation. Paul gave a list of exhortations to edify the church, but I chose this particular phrase because of its implications in our lives. Some translations use the word forbearing. This word makes us think of being more tolerant, or patient in the face of provocation. We could also say to show self-control, patience or long suffering. If one can imagine how many times, we have been upset by our brothers and sisters and how easily it is for us to react in ways that we would regret later, definitely this exhortation...

  Sunday 102520 (21st after Pentecost) How do we show God that we love Him? Now I know this sounds like a question we would talk about in our Youth Group on Wednesdays, but it is a serious one. Do you love God? If so how? Jesus had many questions to answer throughout his life but this one was amongst the most fascinating. How can I please God? It was a question that often-fascinated Pharisees. They knew the OT had a total of 613 different laws (of which 248 encourages actions and 365 discourages certain actions) The question quickly becomes: With that many laws, which one is the most important? You want to please God? You must know which law is the greatest! It makes sense! In the same way we also, would love to know what we need to do to show love to our family! Don’t we? For some of us, doing something good to help them show that we love them. For e.g. my children might clean and do the dishes for me. And I love it! That’s not to say that I will love them only if they do it! B...