International Prayer Day First Monday each month 10 am

Joel Griffith 10/13/23 Joel Griffith 10/13/23

Who wants another test?

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” 1 Peter 4:12

Not sure if you have experienced any fiery ordeals along your life’s journey, but can only assume that you have as everybody has had moments when our life’s roller coaster ride has ultimately crashed and burned. Read the news from Haiti; they are being tested by the hour. Believers and un-believers alike have their ups and downs throughout their journey; we are born, we live and ultimately we die. As His children in this sinful world, we suffer persecution and ridicule from a world that is hostile to our Triune God. Quite often this happens because we do not conform to or participate in their godless passions and activities; we are different from them.

The attached photo is of a sign along Delmas which is the main street in Petionville and it is a perfect example of this world tempting people to sign up and be a ‘quick thinker’ in no time at all. It is amazing that this sign is written in English where the greater population cannot read, let alone speak English. That type of thinking is NOT ‘quick wisdom’. An estimated sixty percent of the people in Haiti practice vodou and call upon satan when fires appear on their journey; they need Jesus. This world throws out many ‘promises’ along our journey but there is only one sure thing, we need Jesus.

Our Triune God promises a day of judgment in which all, living and dead, will give an account of themselves. While we await this Judgment Day, we are to live as His obedient and faithful children. We are not supposed to conform to the ways of this world but we are to be self-controlled and sober-minded, loving, hospitable, and use our spiritual gifts for the building up of the church throughout His world. In this way, even when we suffer as Christians in this sinful world, we glorify God and Christ our Lord and Savior.

The hymn ‘Come to Calvary’s Holy mountain’ was written by James Montgomery in 1819 and provides a wonderful invitation to each of us as we search for rescue from the fiery ordeals that clutter our pathway.

“Come to Calvary's holy mountain, sinners, ruined by the fall; here a pure and healing fountain flows to you, to me, to all, in a full, perpetual tide, opened when our Savior died. Come in poverty and meanness, come defiled, without, within; from infection and uncleanness, from the leprosy of sin, wash your robes and make them white; ye shall walk with God in light. Come in sorrow and contrition, wounded, impotent, and blind; here the guilty free remission, here the troubled peace, may find. Health this fountain will restore; he that drinks shall thirst no more. He that drinks shall live forever; tis a soul-renewing flood. God is faithful; God will never break His covenant of blood, signed when our Redeemer died, sealed when He was glorified.”

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 10/12/23 Joel Griffith 10/12/23

Are you content?

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13

Our culture tells us that ‘contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.’ If we honestly measure our contentment with the ‘stuff’ that we in North America have then we should be very CONTENT. Sadly, most of the people I listen to are not content with all the things that they have; it is never enough.

Most people look for greater contentment by purchasing a new house or a second one, or another car, or any number of things that they really don’t need by either shopping online or from a catalogue. Some people in this world seek to find contentment by sacrificing possessions and living a simple life, free from the temptations of this world. The attached photo is of the apartment building where my one room apartment was located in Petionville. My one room was on the second floor to the right of that hallway door.

When laundry day is here in my Normal two-bedroom townhome. my memory bank is opened and thoughts of washing clothes in the bathtub or sink and then heading to clothesline on the roof, fill my mind. While my clothes appeared to be clean, they were never as clean as the women who washed their families’ clothes in the river; or so it seemed to me. I was content in my living conditions and I imagine that the people living to the west of my apartment on the hillside were also very content as they lived in a house and didn’t have to sleep in the street or under a sheet of metal or plastic.

My friends, the truth is that real contentment can only be found through Jesus Christ. You know that as well as I do and also the Christians living in Haiti. When the Apostle Paul wrote the above passages to the church in Philippi, he was writing this letter from prison. His contentment, hope, strength and riches were found in Christ. We should have this contentment today; that our Heavenly Father that empowered Paul to be content in prison, is at work in our lives today and in the lives of all His children throughout this world. I am closing today with the words from the hymn ‘God bless our native land’ that was written by Charles T. Brooks in 1834 and their message seems to be an appropriate way to close.

“God bless our native land! Firm may she ever stand thro' storm and night! When the wild tempests rave, ruler of wind and wave do Thou our country save by Thy great might. For her our prayer shall rise to God above the skies; on Him we wait. Thou who art ever nigh, guarding with watchful eye, to Thee aloud we cry, God save the State! Amen.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/11/23 Joel Griffith 10/11/23

Washing.

“Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me..” .John 13:8

A.John 13:7 : ver 12

” John 13:8

Have you washed another person’s feet recently? I don’t mean have you washed your children’s feet or grandchildren’s feet or your elderly parent’s feet recently. Have you ever washed the feet of an acquaintance or a stranger’s feet?

When Jesus was going to wash His disciple’s feet the response from Peter was “no, you will never wash my feet!” Peter didn’t fully understand what we are asked to do as Christ teaches us to serve. Jesus gave one more lesson while washing feet; being a servant in not merely a sign of inner weakness but of incredible inner strength.

Witnessing the washing of children’s hands throughout Trinity HOPE feeding programs in Haiti reminds me of the lesson Jesus gave us when He washed feet. The washing certainly is a practical thing to do as the disciples feet were dirty from their walking in the dirt and sand, wearing sandals; their feet were dirty. The washing of the children’s hands in Haiti is important as their little hands have touched so many unclean items before lunch and the lesson of hygiene is important to them and their parents; their hands are unclean.

When Jesus told Peter that ‘unless I wash you, you have no part with me’, He was not only talking about his unclean feet, but was telling Peter and you and I and the children in Haiti that we are sinful and unclean and unless we accept Christ as our Servant and Savior we will never be clean. We have His lesson to always remind us of the need of our service to Him and others. Go out into the world and seek and save the lost.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/10/23 Joel Griffith 10/10/23

HE rescues us.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Perhaps nothing can better describe our Lord Jesus with more grace than when we consider Him humbly stooping down from His throne, descending from Heaven to bring a cure for the sinful nature of this world. Throughout the ages our Heavenly Father has again and again rescued His people from despair; the army of the Egyptians, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Goliath, lions, pestilence, disease and all kinds of evil that satan continues to unleash on this world.

How can we not offer our lives as living vessels to Him who continues to listen to the whispers of His children who are in trouble, starving, in danger or on their death bed? When the girl in the attached photo gives thanks to our Heavenly Father for the manna she has again received in a stone school in Chincheron…He listens to her prayer. When we offer petitions that this child’s life and the lives of other children in Haiti would be His instruments to bring hope to Haiti in situations where there is no hope…He listens. In whatever you do, wherever you may be, whether in word or deed; do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. We close today with the words from the hymn “Now thank we all our God” which was written by Martin Rinckart in 1636.

“Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices; Who from our mother's arms hath blessed us on our way. With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; and keep us in His grace and guide us when perplexed. And free us from all ills in this world and the next. All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given, the Son, and Him who reigns with them in highest heaven: the one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore! For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/9/23 Joel Griffith 10/9/23

If this were it.

“Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:38

V“Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:38

I heard a quote credited to Steve Jobs recently from a commencement address when he asked “if you knew that today was going to be your last day, would you be doing what you are doing?” How would you answer? Yesterday, Hamas was sending hundreds of rockets into Israel. In Haiti, gang members were trying to kidnap a Pastor conducting a worship service in Petionville. Thankfully the Haiti Police were able to thwart their actions and save congregation members and capture the gang members. My friend, as you sit reading this message, how would your plans for this day or tomorrow be affected if these were the final hours of your life?

In the Gospel of Mark, our Savior had been healing the sick and following a moment of solitude prayer, He tells the disciples that they should go elsewhere in the town to preach as there are many more that need healing and more importantly, the message of salvation.

If you knew that your life was nearing the end would feeding this child in Ouanaminthe, Haiti still be that important. The mission of Jesus Christ was to give the message of salvation to the lost; He came into this world to save the lost. That is what He did up until that final moment when He said that “it is finished.” If I knew that tomorrow would be my last day, there would still be an opportunity for me to feed children in Haiti, who will take the message of salvation to the nearby villages. Salomo Franck wrote the words to the hymn ‘I leave all things to God’s direction’ in 1685 and they are still good advice today, tomorrow and for the remaining days we have along our journey.

“I leave all things to God's direction, He loveth me in weal and woe; His will is good, true His affection. With tender love His heart doth glow. My Fortress and my Rock is He: what pleaseth God, that pleaseth me. My God hath all things in His keeping, He is the ever faithful Friend; He grants me laughter after weeping, and all His ways in blessings end. His love endures eternally: what pleaseth God, that pleaseth me. The will of God shall be my pleasure while here on earth is mine abode; my will is wrong beyond all measure, it doth not will what pleaseth God. The Christian's motto e'er must be: what pleaseth God, that pleaseth me. God knows what must be done to save me, His love for me will never cease; upon His hands He did engrave me with purest gold of loving grace. His will supreme must ever be! What pleaseth God, that pleaseth me. My God desires the soul's salvation, me also He desires to save; therefore with Christian resignation all earthly troubles I will brave. His will be done eternally: what pleaseth God, that pleaseth me.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/7/23 Joel Griffith 10/7/23

Who knew?

“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” Hosea 11:4

The first Saturday in October. This group of young souls living in Cap Haitian will not care about American football today. What will they be doing today? Twenty years ago, did they have an idea of where they would be today in 2023? Who knew; how many of us really knew what our life journey would be like? When I was a young man working in highway construction in 1970 there were times when paths that I selected ultimately separated me from God. He continued to pursue me while I was seemingly happily sloshing in the mud on these tangled trails that provided for me a path to those areas that were a ‘sure thing’ when seeking adventure in this sinful world.

Who knew? I read a book by Max Lucado recently titled ‘God Never Gives Up On You’; and HE doesn’t. He did not give up on me and He did not give up on you or the children in Haiti. He did not write me off as a lost sheep that was unable to stay in the fold. He did not despise, reject or abandon me. It is humbling to consider how our Heavenly Father followed each of us through the dark paths upon which we have walked, worked and wasted away.

Only our Savior Jesus Christ could possibly care enough for you, me and the children in Haiti to bring us to Himself through the Holy Spirit. Just as our Good Shepherd brought us back into His fold, He feeds each of us. Who knew that our Heavenly Father would have brought you here today, to help in the process of feeding His sheep in Haiti? Who knew?

The internet radio just completed playing a song by Randy Travis titled ‘I am going’ and I hope that its words will inspire your thoughts today as you go out and walk down your life’s journey.

“I am going where I've never been. I am going where there's no sin. There I will join my Lord and my friends; yes I am going where I've never been. Don't be crying those bitter tears; don't be crying 'cause I'm not here. I'll be happy the first time in years, so don't be crying those bitter tears. I have travelled life's weary highways and my last journey is at hand. I can hear the angels calling and I am going where I've never been.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/6/23 Joel Griffith 10/6/23

How Majestic...

“LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” Psalm 8:1-2

The above verses were in one of my morning devotions yesterday and when matched with the attached photo the words “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name” really jumped out at me. I took the photo at the school at Font Baptiste which is high in the mountains of the Arcahaie District. I really like this photo. I have it hanging in my living room. The door to this ‘classroom’ was open probably to coax a cool breeze to lower the temperature inside this small stone ‘shed’ of a room. What is taking place in this room is reason enough to say “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name.”

Our awesome Triune God is using your gift to feed the 516 students who are are in several homes at this location, daily being fed His Word and a plate of rice and beans and they will go out into their neighborhood and do His work of driving the vodou priest and his lies from their homes. Our God who gave His only Son for each of us so that we might have our sins forgiven and receive Eternal Life is using each of us to serve Him in this simple way, in the simple place to wage a war against satan. Beni soit L’Eternal!!! (Praise the Lord!!!)

“Oh Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. Oh Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. The heavens declare Your greatness; the oceans cry out to You. The mountains, they bow down before You so I'll join with the earth and I'll give my praise to You. And I will worship You.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/5/23 Joel Griffith 10/5/23

We need some of both.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

While listening to a Christian radio station last night the speaker spent twenty-five minutes preaching law and quoting scripture. The speaker was not aligned with any specific church but seemed to be focused on ‘scaring’ people with his rough voice, to repent of their sins.

The attached photo is of Pastor Thomas Bernard from Bon Berger Lutheran Church and School in Caredeux which is a suburb of Port-au-Prince. He is teaching a Sunday morning Bible study group ‘Law and Gospel’ from the Lutheran Catechism. Whether sitting in a Lutheran church in Illinois or in Caredeux, the balance was the same. Luther taught balance…always balance. If you only hear the tough ‘Law’ stuff it can turn people cold, distant, intolerant and unbearable. Hearing both tends to mold a person to be gentle, thoughtful, teachable and considerate.

The words of Ambrose in the Book of Concord support this balance; he denies justification to words and ascribes it to faith which liberates us through the blood of Jesus Christ. This balance is so important to our heritage and to the young children and adults living Haiti who are hearing this teaching…for the first time. There is a short hymn in the ‘Old’ Lutheran Hymnal titled ‘God’s Word is our great heritage’ that was written by Nikolai Grundtvig in 1817 and will close this message.

“God's Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever; to spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor. Through life it guides our way, in death it is our stay. Lord, grant, while worlds endure, we keep its teachings pure throughout all generations.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/4/23 Joel Griffith 10/4/23

Bright lights.

“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering” Hebrews 10:32

Do you remember receiving your first flashlight? Was it small or large? My uncle Vic was an electrician for the REA and he had a powerful flashlight with a large battery that I always thought that sometime, when I was older, that would be what I would have to provide light during an emergency.

Lessons from the Bible are much like powerful flashlights than can light up the darkest of trials that the world can throw at children and adults. The four girls in the attached photo attend Bon Berger in Caredeux and daily survive the vodou priest and on January 12, 2010 lived through the earthquake that claimed so many lives. And today, they and their families struggle to stay away from the violent gangs.

These girls have learned the message of Hope from the Bible and you may have seen others like them whose light shone brightly in the evenings following the earthquake on CNN. They were the bright lights praying and singing hymns in the darkness of Port-au-Prince when death, suffering and uncertainty seemed to be everywhere.

God has given us Hope in the darkness and the ability to find comfort in hopeless times when the lost cling in vain to the ways and logic of this world. I listened to Anne Murray sing ‘Whispering Hope’ recently on the Internet radio and they are a wonderful way to close this devotion.

“Soft as the voice of an angel breathing a lesson unheard; hope with a gentle persuasion whispers a comforting word. Wait till the darkness is over. Wait till the tempest is done. Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the shower is gone. Whispering hope, oh how welcome, thy voice making my heart in its sorrow rejoice. If in the dusk of the twilight dimmed be the region afar willn't deepening darkness brighten the glimmering star. Then when the night is upon us why should the heart sink away? When the dark midnight is over watch for the breaking of day. Whispering hope, oh how welcome, thy voice making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 10/3/23 Joel Griffith 10/3/23

How should we pray?

“This, then, is how you should pray” Matthew 6:9

When I was twelve, it didn’t seem like anybody was listening to my prayer and today, well I know better. I know that God answers prayer in His way and in His time. Often His answers are ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘wait’ and it seems much easier to hear the first two answers but the ‘wait’ is still hard to do.

So, why is prayer so important? Now, in my senior years, I can tell you that there are four short reasons why prayer is important to me. First, quite often my Heavenly Father does make me wait. I got nothing better to do. If there is a difficult problem facing me there is a time of prayer and a time of waiting. Prayer forces me to leave the situation with God; it makes me wait and has taught me patience.

Secondly, prayer clears my thoughts and opens my mind to what to be thankful for, what sins I have done that need to be confessed and supplications for others and myself. Prayer brings me to the face of my Heavenly Father and He has promised to listen to my prayer, your prayer and the prayer of this child in Ouanaminthe.

Third, prayer quiets my heart. Prayer is a time for me to be still as I am in His Holy presence; prayer makes me quiet. And lastly, prayer activates and energizes my faith; as I know that He is on the other end of the phone listening to my words. Prayer brings me so close to the face of God and brings a sense of peace about me.

Many people here in the US and in Haiti have been praying for well over a year and have been waiting for a sign that our Heavenly Father is ending the violence in Haiti. A Trinity HOPE feeding program director, his wife and two daughters were forced to leave their home in PAP over a year ago and have been living in a school. Late afternoon yesterday, Reuters news reported that the United Nations Security Council authorized a foreign security mission to Haiti; a year after the Caribbean country asked for help to fight violent gangs that have largely overrun its capital Port-au-Prince and terrorized the populace throughout the country. The article reported; "More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress," Haiti's Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus told the council. "It's a glimmer of hope for the people that have for too long been suffering."

The 15-member council adopted a resolution, drafted by the United States and Ecuador, that authorizes the so-called Multinational Security Support mission "to take all necessary measures" to end the violence from the gangs.

Please continue to pray for Haiti. May our Heavenly Father provide wisdom and strength as the Haitian National Police and UN foreign police will hopefully bring a swift end to this senseless violence.

I close today with the words from the hymn ‘Our Father, Thou in Heaven above’ that was written by Martin Luther so many centuries ago.

“Our Father, Thou in heaven above, Who biddest us to dwell in love, as brethren of one family, to cry in every need to Thee, teach us no thoughtless word to say, but from our inmost heart to pray. Thy name be hallowed. Help us, Lord, in purity to keep Thy Word, that to the glory of thy name we walk before Thee free from blame. Let no false doctrine us pervert; all poor, deluded souls convert. Thy kingdom come. Thine let it be in time and in eternity. Let Thy good Spirit e'er be nigh our hearts with graces to supply. Break Satan's power, defeat his rage; preserve Thy Church from age to age. Thy gracious will on earth be done as 'tis in heaven before Thy throne; obedience in our weal and woe and patience in all grief bestow. Curb flesh and blood and every ill that sets itself against Thy will. Give us this day our daily bread and let us all be clothed and fed. From war and strife be our Defense, from famine and from pestilence, that we may live in godly peace, free from all care and avarice. Forgive our sins, Lord, we implore, remove from us their burden sore, as we their trespasses forgive who by offenses us do grieve. Thus let us dwell in charity and serve our brother willingly. Into temptation lead us not. When evil foes against us plot and vex our souls on every hand, oh, give us strength that we may stand firm in the faith, a well-armed host, through comfort of the Holy Ghost! From evil, Lord, deliver us; the times and days are perilous. Redeem us from eternal death, and when we yield our dying breath, console us, grant us calm release, and take our souls to Thee in peace. Amen, that is, So shall it be. Confirm our faith and hope in Thee that we may doubt not, but believe what here we ask we shall receive. Thus in Thy name and at Thy word we say: Amen. Oh, hear us, Lord! Amen.”

May God be with you,

Jay