Mark Schollaert (Page 4)
Fast & Easy
There are two very important catchwords in today’s hurried world: “fast and easy.” These words are designed to attract us to look for personal convenience in our world of hurry. The sense of “hurry” or as some call it, the fear of missing out (FOMO) has molded us into a people who evaluate the worth of nearly everything based on whether its fast or easy. And we’re always looking for that outcome in nearly everything. Some form of these words…
The Fear of the Lord Pt 2
What were you thinking? While Paula and I were in the final molding stages raising our teenagers, as child raising goes their actions were at times much less than a reflection of training that had been given. No surprise there, look at me, their dad, I’m still a work in progress! Often in the “heat” of some of those moments you could hear one of us asking them: “what were you thinking?” That phrase represented the fact that we as…
The Fear of the Lord – Part 1
What does the writer of Proverbs mean when he says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Is it that we are to be looking over our shoulders with anxiety dreading the possibility that we might make a mistake? Does the Lord expects us to be cowering about through daily life under a heavy sense that we’re not quite as we should be? I don’t believe that either is true. God sent His Son to redeem all…
June Prayer Challenge
We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over…
Listening on Memorial Day
Before you read any farther along in my ponderings, if you’ve not already done this today, take a minute and give thanks to God for the men and women and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Remember: we’re in this marvelous Country by God’s sovereign will. We enjoy the great riches of modern life in a form unimaginable by our predecessors. In large measure this is because the blood of millions of soldiers was spilled to…
Who’s Leading?
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23 NLT) The same verse from the Message Bible reads: Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. Jesus invites the crowd to join Him. He calls to all to have a relationship with Him…
Happy Mother’s Day
A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. Those who follow the right path fear the Lord; those who take the wrong path despise him. A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him, but the words of the wise keep them safe. Prov. 14:1–3 (NLT) Not just today but especially today my prayer is that we all will ponder the effects of the efforts of women in our…
Spring Wardrobe
It’s springtime in the Mon Valley! This past week we’ve seen our local weather make a big and longed for change to warm with plenty of sunshine. We’re all in the process of changing wardrobes for more seasonal clothing. I finally moved my snow blower out of my garage and back to the shed for the summer. Paula’s been moving winter clothes to out of the way closets and drawers and bringing lighter weight clothing to be more accessible and…
Listen Closer
We live in a time in history when the average and interested person can hear the Word of God taught or preached in so many ways. You can even have and hear their favorite preacher thousand’s of miles away in a different time zone almost any time they choose. Yet even though we have more to gain knowledge of the Scriptures we are seeing less and less transformation of American society because of that knowledge. Many love to hear the…
Teaching that Gains Attention
“…The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Matt13:23 NLT We are now two weeks into Spring 2016 and we’ve seen all sorts of weather here in Western Pa. Actually the weather across the U.S. has been unsteady and in some places its been violent. Tornados, flooding, golf ball size hail, seems that…