LIKE-MINDED by Pastor Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson Introduction: Few years ago, we were at a family camp in Bryson City and one of the outdoor activities was canoeing. Nicole and I got into this two-person canoe. She had plenty of experience from her days as a camp counsellor in Texas. I had very little experience and I kept paddling in the wrong... Continue Reading →
UNITED by Pastor Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson Introduction: Have any of ya’ll ever walked into an establishment like a restaurant where the waiters or waitresses didn’t get along? The meal was good but the atmosphere gave you a heartburn! Have any of you ever been to someone’s house where the family members didn’t get along? The house... Continue Reading →
Something is wrong when people live in a perpetual state of “I want to get away from here.” In this kind of thinking, people are unhappy and disgruntled with where they live and/or work.
CHANGING SEASONS OF A MARRIAGE (Article) by Abidan Paul Shah (Published in the newspaper Daily Dispatch, Henderson on February 3, 2018) Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season…” We all have our favorite seasons.... Continue Reading →
My last article, “How To Handle Toxic People,” drew more responses than any of my pervious articles! Evidently, it touched a nerve and God used it to meet a real need. Thank you for all the words of appreciation! Some of you raised a question that I feel the answer may benefit others as well – “Daily we go through minor toxic encounters that leave us feeling upset to one degree or another. Does that mean that for each of those incidents we have to go through the same process of praying for 20 days until we are free of the toxin?” Of course not. Toxic people and minor toxic encounters are two different things. The first are individuals who perpetually cause us to feel miserable and the second are chance happenings that inject just enough toxin in us to ruin our spirit. Although the latter are not as harmful as the former, don’t assume that they are completely harmless. If left untreated, those emotional fender-benders can cause us to ruin others’ spirits as well. Let me explain below.
Have you ever been a victim of a toxic person? Let me share with you how to handle them.
In this message we will focus on the line – “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This is by far the most important message in this series. Our world is in desperate need of heavy doses of forgiveness. We need both to receive forgiveness and give forgiveness. Furthermore, human forgiveness is inextricably linked with divine forgiveness.
This message is easier preached than practiced! I am not referring to the simplistic “I’m sorry.” I am thinking about deep pains and hurts that cannot be voiced or explained. Such are the ones that deserve to be forgiven. Such are the ones that God in Christ has forgiven in us.
The Old Testament had laid out the law – “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” but Jesus told His listeners to “turn the other check.” What does that mean? Does it mean we need to sit back and watch the innocent getting massacred? Does it mean that evil people can run amuck? Does it mean that being a Christian means being a coward? No. Jesus is dealing with how we respond when someone offends us.
When Jesus raised the bar on divorce, he chastised the men for refusing to give a certificate of divorce to their wives. The reason for failing to do so was not lack of knowledge or forgetfulness but bitterness. They wanted to make the other person suffer.
Unfortunately, the same spirit is evident in many marriages today. In this message we will learn how to release resentment and allow God’s grace to flow through our marriages.