Minister Moose Tracks

Do not allow the usual holiday hectic schedule and activities rob your joy of celebrating the birth of your Savior this Christmas season. Whether it's the shopping, the traveling, the gatherings, or whatever else, turn your eyes to Jesus Christ. This time of the year reminds me of when I was in the Middle East. Being in a foreign land with a vastly different culture and religious ideals, I often wondered about what my friends and family were doing back at home and I yearned to be with them, especially my wife and children. I remember looking out into the desert, praying to God that He would fill them with His presence, producing the joy of celebrating the birth of our Savior.  It seems though, at that moment, joy sprung up in me; all of a sudden, my melancholy state turned in a well of great joy, since God reminded me of the reality of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ. There I was, in a part of the world which is often hostile to people like me, praising my Lord for His wond...

Romans 10:21 "But of Israel he says, 'All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.'" The man whom God used as a vessel to bring me the gospel message was an automotive mechanic at a Tire Kingdom shop, where I too was an employee in my early adult years. He told me that God was patiently sitting at the edge of His seat holding out His hands to save my soul. This statement was very different from what I was taught in the past; it was as if God wanted a personal relationship with me or something. Why hadn't I ever heard of something like this before? You see, I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church where I was taught to say certain prayers, regularly attend Mass, pray the rosary, and attend confession/penance in order to maintain favor in God's sight (for more on this, visit http://voiceofvision.org/assets/articles/rome.pdf ). In other words, I was taught that I had to do works  in order for God to bless...

Ruth 1:19-21 19  So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20  She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21  I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” Distraught, sorrowful, and likely confused due to the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi understood these events to be signs that God was against her and therefore treated her harshly. Her reaction is somewhat reminiscent of Job's wife who said, "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). While having a finite understanding of their own circumstances, both Naomi and Job's wife witnessed the events that surrounded them and subsequently developed a bitterness toward their Creator. While a backstory ...

Ruth 1:15-18 15  And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16  But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17  Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18  And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. When the Spirit stirs within a person to fervently pursue the ways of God, the person's will is conformed to His own and diligently seeks ways to please Him. In this brief wonderful story found in the Old Testament,  we read of a woman named Ruth who dwelled in the pagan city of Moab. Ten years after two Israelite men took Ruth and Orpah, another Moabite woman, to be their wives, they both died, leaving Naomi, th...