International Prayer Day First Monday each month 10 am

Joel Griffith 8/5/23 Joel Griffith 8/5/23

Consider what God has done.

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4

I have a question for you this Saturday morning; have you ever looked into the mirror in the morning after stumbling out of bed when your eyes are still puffy, your breath smelling like Lazarus after a week in the tomb and your mind asks the question “how can God possibly use me today?” I want to take a break for a week, but should I just put my gearshift in PARK? After all that our Triune God has accomplished and continues to do on this earth, who am I to think that my words matter to Him?

Look into the faces of the six children in the attached photo. They attend the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe in north central Haiti. If you think that your life matters or is even remotely important to our Triune God; what about their lives? They live in homes with dirt floors, are wearing one of the two sets of clothes that they own, don’t have a doctor or a dentist, don’t have air conditioning or running water in their homes; how could our Triune God possibly use their lives?

For a dollar and fifty cents Trinity HOPE will feed these six children at their school; most likely their only meal for the day. Your donation will be taking part in His plan for them, and also His plan for you. Amazing how He has accomplished His work through shepherds, fisherman, virgins, carpenters, tax collectors and children throughout the Bible and still today; now He is ready to use you. While out for a walk recently I listened to the song ‘I stand amazed’ by Squire Parsons Jr. When I consider how God is using me, and you and these kids in Ouanaminthe; well I too stand amazed.

“When I examine that old rugged cross the mighty gulf did span; it reaches down to the brinks of hell, to heaven's golden stand. I stand amazed, I stand amazed; of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me. I stand amazed. When I imagine in glory that day, when all of heav'n stood still as God, incarnate, the Savior of man, died upon Calv'ry's hill. I stand amazed, I stand amazed; of the love that has sought me, saved me and bought me. I stand amazed.”

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 8/4/23 Joel Griffith 8/4/23

The smiling face.

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Psalm 95:1-2

Back in the day, a fellow mission worker once ‘chided’ me for sharing with him photos of healthy and happy children living in Haiti; he wanted to see more of the downcast children and preferably boys. The verses from Psalm 95 explain the reason for the smile on the face of the child in the attached photo who attends the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian. I have heard this child ‘Shout’ and ‘Rejoice’ when asked if she knew of the Triune God and if she loves Jesus; not just a monotone ‘yes’ but an enthusiastic “OUI”.

There are times when we, and she, do not feel like praising God very enthusiastically, and certainly not out loud. It seems too easy to focus on our hurts, pressure from this world and the vodou priest down the street. Doubt, fear, defeat and hunger quite often become the enemies of joy and these can bring a suffocating depression into any soul and wipe a smile away.

Consider the joy that this young girl now has and what her face reflected while still living under the chains of the vodou priest before coming to know Jesus. Think of how listless her eyes and smile were like before she began receiving daily nourishment from a Trinity HOPE donor like you.

We all must be reminded to raise our hands and our head and look again at whom our Triune God is and what He had done for us. We must remind ourselves that He is our Savior, comfort, shelter, refuge and our strength. No one or any earthly ‘god’ can ever compare to our powerful and loving God. On the drive home recently I listened to Randy Travis sing ‘Shout to the Lord’ and the words to that song, the face of that little girl and you came to mind.
“My Jesus, My Savior, Lord, there is none like You; all of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King; mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name. I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand, nothing compares to the promise I have in You. My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength; let every breath, all that I am never cease to worship You. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King; mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name. I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand, nothing compares to the promise I have in You.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 8/3/23 Joel Griffith 8/3/23

Carry me home.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

The children in the attached photo are a handful of the 93 students that attend school in Lavanneau which was established in 2003 in the Jacmel District in the south-central part of Haiti.

Prior to attending this Lutheran school, the vast majority of them have never opened the Bible, heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, understood the need to confess of their sinfulness or probably had not even thought that they were living outside of God’s commands as they only knew of what the vodou priest had told them and their ancestors.

Then a person like you came along, brought the Good News of a forgiving God and the promise of a meal where there was none and the understanding of the difference between right and wrong. The Holy Spirit worked through people like you to touch lives such as these. These children now accept the Bible as their authority and have learned to confess their sins and how important that is and how important it is to know that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ.

Confession is so important for those of us who profess our faith in the Triune God. We still stray at times as do the children in Lavanneau, but we confess and are forgiven. What will happen on the day when those still locked into the chains of the vodou priest meet our Lord Jesus on Judgment Day? I listened to an evangelist on the television recently telling about what will happen when we meet Jesus and have to account for our life and then I asked Alexa to play Southern Gospel music and listened to the song “Please carry me home” by Jessi Colter; must have been a God moment in time.

“When the blood curdlin' scream of the fear in my veins pierces the darkness circlin' my brain. When the pain in my soul is too great to explain I reach out for you, I'm callin' your name. Lord, please have mercy on my troubled soul. You keep me together when there's nothing to hold. Lord, please have mercy, I've nowhere to go when the temptation is over, please carry me home. Would the jewel of deception rest in the crown upon the heaven, the tempter who's hand keeps me down. Living so carelessly, so easy to do. But now that I'm paying, I running to you. Lord, please have mercy on my troubled soul. You keep me together when there's nothing to hold. Oh, Lord, please have mercy, I've nowhere to go when the temptation is over, please carry me home.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 8/2/23 Joel Griffith 8/2/23

Homesick and waiting...

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,” 2 Corinthians 5:1-2

Have you ever yearned for your Heavenly home to come quickly? Have you been in a situation where another human was lying in a hospital bed or in a nursing home asking why Jesus doesn’t come and take them now?

The woman in the attached photo is lying on a bench in the waiting room of the Lutheran medical clinic in Cap Haitian; waiting for her turn to see the doctor. It is hot and humid and she is in pain and the board she is lying on is hard and she may be wondering “ki le Jezu Cris vini?”; “When is Jesus coming?” Her child is being brought up in the Lutheran school also here and is receiving a meal; they will do fine. When will she meet her Savior?

Physical death for Christians holds the promise of a new, perfect body in heaven where we will live eternally with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am fairly certain that each of us has a hole in the heart that only God can fill; hope that it is not just me. So many of us reach a certain age when we become homesick for heaven.

The words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians are pure wisdom. Our Triune God created us to be homesick for heaven and we will never be at peace until we share eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The words from a song by the Hoppers titled ‘Yes I am’ were shared by Alexa recently and they are such a great reminder of how each of us should feel as we wait for the move to our Heavenly home.

“I'm gonna leave some glorious morning; yes I am, yes I am. I'm gonna cross the chilly Jordan, yes I am, yes I am. Though the water is deep and the river is wide I'm gonna stand on the other side; I'm gonna live in the heaven someday, yes I am, yes I am. I am waiting at the stations listening closely for the call; I have made my reservations through the one who paid it all. Not by might, not by power but in Christ and Christ alone. I'm leaving any moment, praise the Lord I'm going home.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 8/1/23 Joel Griffith 8/1/23

God's great plans.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:2

I was listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio a few nights ago while laying in bed and he was talking about the mob yelling “crucify” and how Pilate conducted business on that dark night. Then I started to think about how good it would have been if when Jesus was resurrected how appropriate it would have been for him to appear to Pontius Pilate or some of the guards who had scourged Him and said “TA DA!!!”; not in God’s plans.

God’s plans are always far greater than what this world would have scripted; His plans turn this world upside down. God the Father brought Him back on the road to Emmaus to walk with two whom He had walked with before and they didn’t realize ‘who’ they were with. This happens to us as well; we seldom see the Savior in the person that is helping us or correcting us or bringing us a smile on a dark day.

There they were, walking along a dirt road to Emmaus, and Jesus was walking with them. It's a reminder to us that at all times, even when we don't realize it, Jesus is walking with us. The child in the attached photo attends school in Merrotte and she is enjoying her noon Trinity HOPE meal. She is experiencing a great thing and walks with Jesus. You may be the person who donated the quarter for her meal; you are walking with Jesus and your small gift has done a really great thing for her, and for Jesus.

We might as well be walking on that dirt road to Emmaus as we don’t often realize that we are walking with Jesus, we always are; He is there right beside us. We may only think that he sits next to us in Church but wherever we go, here in North America or in Haiti; He is there walking with us. The Bishops have recorded a song titled ‘Great things’ and the lyrics bring a wonderful closure to this message and hopefully you will look a little harder the next time you are walking down that dirt road.

“Peter and John saw while walking along a lame man begging alms by the gate. Straightway they told, “We’ve no silver or gold, but for you a great treasure awaits.” Now such as I have give I thee in the name of the Lord, rise up and walk.” And be not amazed that a crippled was raised it’s through Jesus we do great things. Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings. When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things. Now we have big dreams when we’re younger; it seems of a life where we do great things. But life finds a way of taking our dreams away when our plans unravel at the seams. And though you feel small in God’s eyes you’ll stand tall if your footsteps are faithful and true for the same power that raised Lazarus up from the grave is the same power Jesus gives to you. Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings. When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things. I won’t worry if I’m never famous, or for those worldly pleasures I’ve missed. For Jesus gave me sweet peace like a river. Tell me what could be greater than this? Great things are in store for the child of the Lord when he walks with the King of kings and each word that you say when you kneel down to pray will be carried on the backs of angels wings. When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things. When you walk with Jesus you’re going to do great things. Great things; great things.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 7/31/23 Joel Griffith 7/31/23

Together, we can always more.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

I read a pearl of wisdom recently from a morning devotion. It said, “To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world”. That pearl got me to thinking that if I could be a blessing to one person, how many more people could a group of my friends bless. God put each of us on this planet to do a certain work that only each of us can do. God didn’t plan for you to do that work alone. You need people to work with you.

You know the feeling you get when you do too much work on your own. You get exhausted and burned out and discouraged. At the Burnt Offerings event at my church a week ago my daughters provided me with an abundance of help. Working alone, you might even think about giving up! Why? Because you’re trying to do your work alone, and God never meant for it to be that way.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together”. When you work as a team, you get so much more done. Plus, having good teammates work alongside you is a whole lot more fun and less tiring! The Our Redeemer Lutheran Outreach Team partnered with a Thrivent Team and Trinity HOPE and had a lot of volunteers working together for the Burnt Offering event. And we had a lot of fun and good fellowship; winner, winner chicken dinner!.

Remember as you walk through life that you’re not supposed to do everything on your own. You need other people to walk with you, but you also need people to work alongside you. As you share the burden of your work with fellow Christians, you’ll find that you actually accomplish more for the glory of God.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 7/29/23 Joel Griffith 7/29/23

Regrets?

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5-10

This is the last Saturday in the month of July. Where did July go? Has everything you’ve planned this month worked out well for you? Wishing for a do over? The Burnt Offering event for Trinity HOPE went incredibly well. It was truly a God event.

Back in the day, there is a song with the lyrics “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption” that was made famous by Frank Sinatra. This sinful world that we live in has many different words for sin and most of them are used to mask the real meaning. There are three definitions for the word ‘regret’; to feel sorry and sad about something previously done, used as a polite expression of sorrow when making an apology or to feel sadness about something or a sense of loss.

The Haitian word for ‘sin’ is ‘peche’ and the translation for ‘regret’ is regret; I used it on numerous occasions when my pampered North American culture overstepped my guests’ culture or when brothers from North America would impose their desires, no matter how wrong, on my Haitian brothers and sisters.

Satan delights when we use words to mask sinful acts and place the blame on others instead of ourselves or Him. Make no mistake, the child in the attached photo may appear to be innocent but she, like us, is a sinner. If you can see a reflection in your monitor, that person is also sinful and unclean. We have all had regrets, too many to mention and we continue to do things for which we are hopefully sorry each day.

The girl from Gonaives and you and I have a Savior whose death on the cross has redeemed us from our sinful activities. Regrets? I wish that I would have skipped dinner last night and gave the twenty dollars to help feed more young missionaries in Haiti. Thank you for joining me to help prepare more missionaries in Haiti to bring more people trapped in the lies of the vodou priest to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 7/28/23 Joel Griffith 7/28/23

Are you afraid?

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” 2 Timothy 3:1

I read the news from Haiti last night and then more news from CBN and News Nation; it seems like the sand in the hour glass that measures our remaining time in this sin filled earth is running like a raging river as we listen, watch and read the news accounts of what is taking place on this planet and in our country.

A friend of mine sent me an E-mail recently with some historical facts and quotes from Thomas Jefferson and one of them was recorded in 1802 and he said “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Maybe its just me, but it seems like the sands of time are swiftly passing before our eyes and as we slide with it; there are children in Poteau who are still waiting to hear about Jesus and our Triune God is calling upon each of us to ‘go and make disciples’ with their lives. I listened to song while driving home recently that was written by Ricky Skaggs, ‘Are you afraid to die’. Thought about the words and while I am not afraid to die, I do fear for those children attending school in Poteau and continue to pray for them and the feeding program in their school. As you read through the words, think about what is taking place in our country and then consider the urgency of sharing the Gospel message to the ends of this earth.

“Are you a stranger to God; carried away with your pride? Tell me sinner, do you ever stop and think; are you afraid to die? Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die? Call on Him while he is near; moments are swift passing by. Will you seek Him while He still may be found? Are you afraid to die? Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die? Are you too wicked to cry; would you to Gods’ bosom fly? Soon He’s comin’ like a thief in the night. Are you afraid to die? Are you afraid, are you unsaved, are you afraid to die?”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 7/27/23 Joel Griffith 7/27/23

Some things just don't make sense.

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:2-6

Have you hung up the phone to another challenge this week and asked God, “Why?” You need to learn to trust God in things you don’t understand. Read the book of Job. For 37 chapters Job asks the “why” questions: “Why is this happening to me? Why are you allowing this? Why so much pain? Why so much discomfort? Why haven’t you answered my prayers?” Have you asked those questions? I have, and other questions as well.

God askes Job things like, “Where were you when I made the universe? Can you explain the law of gravity?” And, after two chapters, Job realizes that he is just a man, and his knowledge is limited. Who is he to question God? Who are we to doubt God’s plans for our lives? What do you do in a situation where you can’t see the whole picture, things aren’t clear, and what’s happening makes no sense to you? Ain’t God good?

You remind yourself of the things you know about God. Even in the middle of his doubts, Job affirmed what he knew to be true about God. God is passionately and intimately aware of every detail that you’re going through right now. He’s paying attention to your every breath. God doesn’t miss anything. You may not understand why you’re going through what you’re going through, but you need to say this to God: “I know you’re good. I know you’re powerful. I know you see the details of my life. I know you’re in control and you have a plan.” Then, you need to trust God…no matter what.

Whatever you’re going through, tell God exactly how you feel. He can handle it! Then stop asking, “Why?” and start trusting God for the things you don’t understand.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 7/26/23 Joel Griffith 7/26/23

It ain't over...till it's over.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4

In 1973, baseball HOF catcher and wise sage Yogi Berra was quoted saying “It ain’t over till it’s over”. Fifty years later, living in this sin filled world, we are in a battle against hopelessness and we wonder when this challenge will be over. When something bad happens and we have a major loss in our lives, we tend to think, “Is this the end of the world?”

But it’s not the end of the world. You haven’t seen your ending date put on the right side of the dash on your stone. It’s the end of a moment. And in your life, you’re going to have many moments that end. You can’t treat each of those moments like the end of the world because it’s not. You know it isn’t the end of the world because when the real end of the world comes and Jesus shows up, then you won’t have any doubts about whether it’s really the end!

One day Jesus is going to come back to Earth and settle the score, even the odds, pay off the debts, and heal the hurts. The Bible tells us what it’s going to be like in heaven when it’s all over here on Earth. The last chapter in the last book of the Bible says that God “will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away,” Ain’t God good?

I’m looking forward to that day,,,but we’re not there yet. So, what should you do in the brief here and now, where everything is broken, there seems to be new challenges every morning, life doesn’t make sense, and it feels like a constant battle? What do you do during this in-between time?

You live in peace, even when life doesn’t make sense. You can do that because you know that God is with you and He loves you. He’ll never forget you or stop loving you.

You live with joy, even when everything on this planet is broken, because you know that God is good and He has a good plan that is greater than the problem you’re going through. His purpose is greater than your problem.

You live with hope, even when life is a battle and everything is hard and there’s a lot of conflict. You keep hoping in the perfect forever that God has promised to all those who believe in him and his Son, Jesus. It’s not the end of the world…yet. Keep living with peace, joy, and hope as you focus on God’s promises to you.

May God be with you,

Jay