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Dear SCC & Friends, An appointed time… ~Ecclesiastes 3:1 Reflection #260                  Life is just a classroom with a glorious opportunity to prepare for eternity. ~Billy Graham~ I have been sending Reflections every Wednesday since the onset of the Covid Pandemic, beginning March 13, 2020. The very first Reflection began with a quote by Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom… Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. The Lord has sustained us through a very tumultuous…

Dear SCC & Friends, The Lord is good. ~Psalm 34:8 Reflection #259                  All that is good, all that is true, all that is beautiful, all that is beneficent, be it great or small, be it perfect or fragmentary, natural as well as supernatural…comes from God. ~John Henry Newman~ For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations. ~Ps. 100:5 He is essentially and absolutely good at all times in all places. He is the polar opposite of whatever…

Dear SCC & Friends, Who is my neighbor? ~Luke 10:2 Reflection #258                  Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. ~John Wesley~ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ~Lk. 10:25 Jesus knew it…

Dear SCC & Friends, …full of grace and truth. ~John 1:14 Reflection #257                  The devil doesn’t care which side of the horse you fall off, as long as you don’t stay in the saddle. You need to ride the horse with one foot in the stirrup of truth and the other in the stirrup of grace. ~Luther~ I hate to admit it, but “more than once” I’ve been right in judgment and wrong in my spirit. In other words, we are very…

Dear SCC & Friends, Have this attitude…~Philippians 2:5 Reflection #256                  There are a myriad of adjectives to modify the word attitude…bad, rotten, self-serving, lazy, mean, negative or even disgusting. Conversely, an attitude may be objectified as good, kind, exemplary, positive, selfless and inspiring. Our general attitude is our point of view as revealed by our thoughts, words and actions. It emerges out of our inward disposition towards people and circumstances. In aviation, attitude refers to the orientation of an…

Dear SCC & Friends, The secret of the Lord…~Psalm 27:14 Reflection #255                  A secret is something kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others. Conversely, some secrets are meant to be shared. People often ask an older couple who have been married for many years, “So what’s your secret?” An aspiring businessman might ask an established executive, “What’s the secret of your success?” In that sense, a secret is not something not to be known, rather…

January 15, 2025 Dear SCC & Friends, …the stability of your times. ~Isaiah 33:6 Reflection #254                  Our world is in a constant state of flux. Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. Stability may be defined as being firm, solid, steady and secure. It’s evidenced as we look at the unwavering quality of marriage vows, which serve as the bedrock for mutual love and commitment… Marriage vows are a shared covenant that transcend the changing circumstances of life that come…

Dear SCC & Friends, …like a lost sheep… ~Psalm 119:176 Reflection #253                  Have you ever seen a lost child at a shopping mall? It is so sad…the sobbing tears and eyes full of fright. No one can calm the situation like a loving Mom when she arrives on the scene… “Oh my gosh… I was so worried about you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” The child’s heaves start to subside and slowly the fear ebbs. Hugs and soothing…

Dear SCC & Friends, God created…~Genesis 1:1 Reflection #252                  The very first verse of Scripture describes a creative act of God… In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ~Gen. 1:1 We were made by God to be creative. Our problem is all too often that we compare, and comparison has a debilitating effect… …when we measure ourselves by ourselves, and compare ourselves with ourselves, we are without understanding. ~2 Cor. 10:12 Where did Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci get their extraordinary creativity?…

Dear SCC & Friends, It came to pass in those days… Luke 2:1 Reflection #251      Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city. Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea,…

Dear SCC & Friends, …no room for them… ~Luke 2:7 Reflection #250                  The Lord uses seemingly ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Jesus arrived “in the fullness of time” which is a beautiful word picture of prophetic fulfillment and joy… Part of that beautiful picture was to be fleshed out through two willing servants, Joseph and Mary. Obeying God does not mean that “the wind will always be at our back.” Joseph’s faith required great courage, compassion and sacrifice. Mary’s faith…

Dear SCC & Friends, Because of God’s great love… ~Lamentations 3:22 Reflection #249                  The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say God became Man. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this… ~C.S. Lewis~ The humility of God is beyond human comprehension… He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. ~Philip. 2:7 Why would God do this? Why come at all? Why does He care? Why…