Remembering Those Who Gave Their All.....

As we close out the month of May, I would be remiss if I did not take one last moment to thank each servicemen or women that gave their life that I might sit at this keyboard and write about the Land of the free and the Home of the brave...to each of them I dedicate this poem and to their families that have carried on in their absence...
MAY GOD TRULY WATCH OVER YOU AND GRANT YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEARTS!!!!

Tribute to Our Fallen ….Memorial Day 2009

Bombs exploding, bullets flying… upon this dying field;
Each man to give his all…his spirit he must yield.
To march to that beating drum…to follow, to be led
As comrades fall around him…living…dying… dead.

What great honor compels a man to pledge to give his life?
To focus all his energies to bring peace where now is strife.
What great passion ignites a man to stand for freedom’s cause?
What leads him into battle without question, without pause?

It is the hope of every man; it is freedom’s Holy Grail
To stand and be victorious …against all evil to prevail.
It is the spirit of hearts united that welcomes freedom’s call
And answer as one in unison …to pledge to give our all.

So on this special day, we’ve set aside to praise;
To lift our voices in one accord; our glasses we now raise…
And offer heart-felt gratitude for those who gave their best
To grant to us Sweet Liberty and though now, they lay at rest….

Let not their voices be silenced for as freedom’s anthem ring;
As angels in great chorus, the songs of freedom sing….
May their sacrifice be worth it all….May truth and valor lead the way…
May we honor those who died for us on this MEMORIAL DAY!


GOD BLESS THE USA AND THE MANY MEN AND WOMEN
WHO DIED TO PRESERVE OUR FREEDOM….

THIS DAY IS DEDICATED TO EACH OF YOU!!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT SACRIFICE
TO YOUR GOD AND YOUR COUNTRY

W. Patrick Queen
Copyright May 2009

Obeying the OTHER Commandment...

A few years ago, I was flying back from a business trip to southern Florida. It was a wonderful day; overcast with those big fluffy clouds that always look like something to those with vivid imaginations. Looking out my window as were passing along the coast, suddenly I see the Space Shuttle come bursting through the clouds as it rockets toward the heavens. It nearly took my breath away in its magnificence as it hurled itself toward the confines of an immeasurable blackness known as space. I followed its path as I watched the flames of the rockets pushing it higher and higher and I thought to myself that those rockets were built for one purpose….to quote Captain James Kirk,
“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

And that brings me to the second commandment of which I spoke yesterday.

Christ has been crucified and now raised from the dead; He stands before His disciples and issues his last command in Matthew 28:18-20…his final parting words before He ascends to His Father; Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

And there it is ….in one imperative commandment….GO!

Go and make disciples; go and baptize; go and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you to do…..Go and show my love to the lost and hurting in a lost and hopeless world. But for all too many of us that call ourselves disciples of Christ, we fail to heed this simple commandment…GO!

We would rather stay put and be part of the establishment…the church, the choir, the Sunday school or the ones that give little yet expect much from others. We can’t be called from our comfort zone or expected to sacrifice….that’s just not who we are! Somehow we have gotten it into our minds that we are not built like a rocket with one specific function….to GO where no man has gone before.

Now I’m not trying to say that we all must sign up for the foreign mission field…but somebody must! We don’t all have to knock on doors and invite total strangers to church….but somebody must! We don’t all have to work at the homeless shelter on the weekend…but somebody must! For if we are to be faithful to our Savior, then we need to be obedient to His commands to LOVE and to GO…..and the order in which we do this probably matters least.

It would be nice if we all were so filled with His love that we could not contain ourselves in seeking to show and to demonstrate that love…to love so much that we can’t help but GO and look for ways to love. But if you struggle with being filled with the love of Christ, then I challenge you to GO and let love find you in the act of doing, caring and loving in the name of Christ. Just the act of GO..ing might be all that is needed to stir your heart and let love propel you into service for the Savior.

Christ told his disciples to love as He had loved them and demonstrated throughout his solitary life...He commanded them to be willing to go and to serve. If you want to be obedient to Christ then your life’s mission is simple…follow his two commandments to LOVE and to GO….all else will fall right into place.

Seeking to GO where the Savior leads,

WPQ

Poem for the day:

We should follow Christ’s example
With everyone we meet…
We should seek to show the Savior’s love
For we are His hands and feet.

For Christ would have us working
To care for those distraught;
To go and serve in loving ways
Is what our Savior taught.

WPQ@ February 2011

The Two Commandments of Christ....

Joy...Do You Have It?

Whether you believe in God or not…or unless you have lived totally secluded from human contact, you have probably heard of the Ten Commandments. Many people know, understand and try to implement the following of the Ten Commandments into their daily life…they live trying to keep the letter of the laws to make themselves “good enough’ to earn their way in to God’s perfect heaven.

But, as Christians, we know this is an impossible task …no one makes it to heaven on their own merit. We are not and can never be good enough to qualify for admission. So our gracious God provided a way through the shed blood of His Son and our admission of guilt; thus, by placing our faith in Jesus and His redemptive power, we are declared righteous and invited to spend eternity with God and His Host of heavenly beings.

But while we are still sojourners here, Christ gave us two commandments that I believe now supersede or at least encompass the former ten and place on each of us a higher calling of service and obedience.

The first is found in some of the last words shared with His disciples on that fateful night of the Passover Supper in John 13:34-35. “A new command(ment) I give you: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples because you love one another.”

I consider this the eleventh commandment and surely one that Christ himself lived out in giving himself for our redemption. It is the greatest commandment that we love God with all our heart, mind, body and strength…and as Christ taught; our neighbor as ourselves. So in love we are to love on three accounts….Love God, love others and love ourselves.

I fear that all too often, we in the Kingdom community get these out of balance and our lives begin to flounder in ineffectiveness and chaos…we fail to find JOY in living because we have our love quotient unbalanced…..Jesus-1st ….Others-2nd ….Yourself-3rd.

J O Y…..do you have it? Are you living as God intended and Christ commanded? Are you known by the love shown in your life…or are you loving yourself first, God on Sunday and others whenever it will prove to be beneficial to you and your personal agenda?

If so, then that might explain the lack of JOY in your life and the absence of peace that passes all understanding. Living outside the will of God and breaking His commandment to love so that you might be known as a disciple of Christ has many ramifications ….but one in particular….and that’s the other commandment that Christ gave his disciples before He returned to His Father.

Come back tomorrow and get the rest of this story….

Loving as He loved…Obeying the Master,

WPQ

Thought for the Day:

If I’m living for the Lord
The proof is easy to see;
I’ll be loving others
And not just loving me.

I’ll seek to obey His command,
To make it all about His love;
Then Jesus will smile down on me
From His heavenly home above.

Praying in Joy…

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I encounter some people that really try my patience. In fact, in all honesty, they make me lose it completely. Now, I’m not one to name names…you know who you are, but in my studies the other night, Paul admonished me in Philippians 1 verse 3 to pray with joy. He said, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”  Do I always pray with joy? Not on your life…but there it is, from one of the pillars of the early church….PRAY WITH JOY!!!!

Paul is telling us to begin our experience with others by remembering them and then, in our remembrance, to pray with joy. Unfortunately, it seems that I don’t always remember the good things of others …only the things that seem to make me lose my patience. Then I am faced, too often, with my shortcomings which are able to disrupt my walk with my Lord. What if I started using “spiritual eyes’ to view those that God brings into my life; then, as we unite in the partnership of the gospel, I won’t have to overlook their faults…rather, I will be focus on the good work that God has begun in them and in our relationship.

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He that began a good work in you will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That should be my focus…if I must be myopic, let my focus be on the good work that God is accomplishing in each of us. I can revel in the misery of the injustice of the moment, past or present…..or I can look at those around me and see them as God does….A WORK IN PROGRESS!!!!

And then, I can pray for them and with them in a spirit of joy and thanksgiving, knowing that God is at work, bringing to completion this person of faith …my brother or sister in Christ. And that’s the eternal partnership that is available to each of us….we belong to Christ and we belong to each other. So, let the praise and prayer begin and let the JOY of Heaven rain down.

ABUNDANTLY BLESSED…PRAYING IN JOY,

WPQ

Poem of the Day…

We are called to work with others;

To serve our Lord both day and night…

And when we share in that great task

We are filled with heaven’s delight.

We join with others joyfully

To share what He has done.

To tell the world of His great love

For He sacrificed His Son.

So that all may come to worship Him

To bow before His throne;

To proclaim to all that He is Lord

So in us His joy is shown.

MAY©2018

Being Kind in an Unkind World...

This is a reprint of a former post...may you be blessed!

In today's fast pace world, the practice and pause for kindness seems to be a lost and dying art. In fact, it is a trait that was once almost ingrained in us as children...to share toys with friends; help someone who was having a bad day or even go the "extra mile" for a driver of an automobile seeking to enter a busy road lined with traffic...BE KIND, sit still and let them enter the roadway.

I am easily reminded of that because yesterday, traveling the roads that I normally frequent, I came upon a busy T-bone intersection and was waiting to make a left turn. As the traffic passed, rather than let a couple of cars pull out onto the highway before I made my left turn, I whipped my car into the side street and hurried on my busy way; however, the stare that I got from the lady in the second car in line at the intersection was like a dagger...and it pierced my conscience with this thought..."What's the big hurry that you could not take a moment and do a kind deed?"

The answer is quite simple...I had made my life more important than those I encountered. Paul did his best to remind us in his letter to the Ephesians, where in chapter 4, verse 32, he writes, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ  forgave you."  It is a simple message, but one that seems to have fallen on deaf ears these days.

My mother was a woman that made doing kind acts a vital part of her life...in fact, one might say that it was in her DNA to do selfless acts of kindness on a daily basis. I can still remember the thousands of cookies she would bake during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays all for one reason....TO GIVE THEM AWAY TO ANY AND EVERYONE THAT CROSSED HER PATH. She was constantly on the lookout for anyone that needed help and she always sought to meet their need, even if it took her out of her comfort zone.

But of course, the greatest example we have of someone doing simple acts of kindness was Jesus himself. He lived his life from beginning until the very end, giving of himself without thought of what he might gain...or even what he might lose. His kindness showed his true character and I believe that is true for each of us.

It is hard to be kind in today's culture. The very essence of the mindset of our culture tells you to look out for #1; take care of yourself and don't let anyone get the best of you; however, that should not be the mindset of one who declares that Jesus is their Savior.

Our mindset is simple....DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO FOR YOU!!!

Whether it's your spouse, your children, your friends at work or at church or a total stranger that has crossed your life's path, KINDNESS IS OF THE LORD and all those who practice acts of kindness will receive a reward....not just in the next life, but here on this earth as well. Jesus promised that even when we reach out to the "least" of those in our culture, we will make a difference in them and we will see a difference in ourselves as well.

Now, I know that I messed up yesterday; but today is a brand new day....and if I am blessed with the opportunity to show, do or demonstrate an act of kindness, my prayer will be simple....HERE AM I, LORD....USE ME!!!!

Praying for God's Grace...Living a Life in Kindness,

WPQ

Poem for the day:

It only takes a moment

To do a selfless deed;

To reach out in loving kindness

To someone who is in need.

To follow our Blessed Savior;

To  seek to lend a hand...

To be used by the Father

In Heaven's glorious plan.

So let His Spirit walk before you,

Just follow where He will lead...

And blessings will surround you

When you meet another's needs.

WPQ © October 2017

Memorial Day ...I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

I am so thankful and blessed to live in this great country that allows each of us to freely speak our minds and share our thoughts ...even if they are not politically correct. It is my prayer in celebrating Memorial Day that we may all feel that it is good to be an American and in so doing, we will bless the name of the Lord for our good fortune. Remember, some have given some for all, but on this Memorial Day, let us honor those that have given their last full measure of devotion for us all....and let us proclaim, 

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN....

I am proud to be an American

In this land of sweet Liberty;

For those who have gone before

And died to keep us free.

I am one with those whose blood cries out

From lands across the sea...

Who gave their all in sacrifice

To protect our sweet liberties.

I stand with those whose struggles

Keep them downtrodden and forlorn;

And I mourn with every mother

For the child that was never born.

I lift up the broken-hearted

With their Spirit,  I too weep;

And lament with those who have no place

To lay their head in peaceful sleep.

I champion those, our desperate ones

And pray for them sweet rest;

For the sure and ever present beat

Of freedom in each breast.

I unite with those whom I oppose

So together strong we stand...

In defense of this great nation

And the God who rules this land.

Oh, I am PROUD to be an American

So on this bright and glorious day;

May my actions and deeds speak louder

Than the words you hear me say.

Yes,  I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

Thus my prayer will always be;

That God will shower His blessings upon

 This land of the BRAVE and FREE!!!!

W. Patrick Queen©  January 20, 2017

This is a reprint of a former Series...In my reprinting of this series,  

I left out day 3!

As we pick up on our theme of our 5-part narrative of “HOW TO LIVE CONFIDENTLY IN A CHAOTIC WORLD,” I am reminded of the story of the disciples and their trip across the lake.

It seems that Jesus and his disciples had been very busy in the performance of traveling throughout the countryside teaching, preaching and conducting healing in the towns and synagogues of the region. One calm day, Jesus approached his disciples and said, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” Now, this seemed to be a reasonable request, well within the expertise of this band of former fisherman…so they all hopped in the boat and set sail for the far side of the lake. Jesus, who was certainly tired and needed some rest, found a comfortable spot in the boat and went to sleep.

Well, as is the custom of the lake, the winds began to blow and in no short time, these rugged, experienced fishermen found themselves in the midst of a terrific storm…so fierce that they feared for their lives….all the while, Jesus continued to sleep. As the danger seemed to mount and the disciples feared that the boat would be swamped and capsize, they hurried to the Master... Luke 8:24-25 continues the story; “The disciples went and woke him saying, “Master, Master, we are going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and ALL WAS CALM.”

In today’s world, if we are to live confidently in these chaotic times, we must learn the lesson that Jesus taught his disciples on the tempest tossed waters; in the midst of the raging wind and storm….we can be calm for HE IS CALM.

Yes, the third “C” in our list of the five “C’s” of confident living is we can live confidently for GOD IS CALM!!!!!

In the book of Psalms 107:28-30, we find confidence when we read, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm and he guided them to their desired haven.” Yes, our God is never anxious or unsettled; in fact, there are five words that do not exist in God’s vocabulary ….

“I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING!!!!”  Our Heavenly Father has never been surprised or caught “off guard”. He has never been mystified or uttered the words “oops” or “uh-oohhh”…He has seldom been early and he has never been late…but he has ALWAYS been right on time to provide us with our every need and to surround us with his unfailing love in times of distress and discomfort.

Yes, if you want to live confidently in this day and age, you need to do one thing….MIMIC GOD AND REMAIN CALM. He alone is ALL we need to make it through every situation that the devil and his minions’ may put in our path. If we will only take our eyes off of our circumstances and re- focus them on Jesus and his calming nature, then we will bring comfort and a blessed assurance to all those that we encounter in the midst of turbulent times.

As a disciple of Christ, we can watch as he rebukes the circumstances that bring about fear and trepidation in our lives ….or if we should succumb to that fear, we will be faced with the same question that Jesus posed to his disciples that night, on that stormy lake, when he asked, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?’

If you, as a child of the King, can remain calm when all others about you are in panic mode, then that speaks volumes about you; but more importantly, it speaks volumes about you and your relationship with Jesus.

So start living today as though nothing in this world matters…  except your relationship with Jesus and you will be surprised by the calmness that will envelope your life.

  

Riding out Life’s storms….Confidently Calm in His presence,

WPQ

Poem for the day...

When life’s storm clouds gather

And you see the threat of the coming rain;

Just place you hope in Jesus

And He’ll take away your pain.

Just put your trust in Jesus

For He holds you in His palm.

Then your heart will be at peace

And your life will know His calm.

WPQ©2010