Main Pages Today's Word You are welcome to use the writings on these pages or pass them on to others who might find a touch from God in the words. Our purpose is always to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. Please remember to give credit to the Author who has given you everything, and keep in remembrance the vessel which He used to bring these words to you. We pray that this site may be a blessing to you and anyone with whom its been shared. All rights reserved. Peggy Hoppes Christian Bible Study Pages Proverbs 31, Archives
Travel Pages Salisbury PlainClimb a Hill, Look at a Rock Day
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Our Lord is so good, He grants us many blessings. We can see Him in the daily course of events, in our homes, our jobs, our lives. I pray that these words help you to grow in your faith and recognize His hand in even the most mundane circumstances. The picture to the right is of a Celtic Chapel located in Cornwall England. This building is approximately 1700 years old, and contains a holy well known for its healing powers. (Click for enlarged) “Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place where he was about to come. Then he said to them, ‘The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way. 5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house.” If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house. Into whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, “God’s Kingdom has come near to you.”’” Luke 10:1-9, WEB I love Texas. We are so blessed for having ended up here. Oh, it isn’t perfect. No place is. The weather can get rather warm in the summer. Storms can be extreme. There are those who would say that Texans are arrogant; perhaps it is true, but it is hard to be humble when you live in the best place in the world. (I’m being facetious.) Texas is thought to be barren, but you wouldn’t say that if you visited the Hill Country in spring when the wildflowers cover the fields with every possible color. The food is a delightful blend between barbeque and Mexican. The people are friendly. The variety of places to visit is incredible. That’s why I want people to come visit me. I want to take them to see the Alamo and the River walk. There are painted churches and German settlements. There is history, art and nature to see and experience. I love it so much that I want to share. I love to visit churches. Some of my most profound religious experiences have happened in incredible worship spaces in England. I enjoyed our visits to churches during our trip to Germany. One of my favorite places to take visitors to Texas are the painted churches of the Schulenburg area. As an artist, I enjoy looking at the art in the architecture, furnishings, and objects used to decorate the space. The cathedrals of Europe are filled with items of spiritual and historical significance and meaning. There is a church in Fairford, England that has an extraordinary set of Medieval stained-glass windows, which were saved from destruction during the Reformation and World War II. The builders of the painted churches wanted to remember their European homelands, so they painted the walls, altars, and arches of their simple buildings with colorful patterns and images. These spaces, and many more for their own unique reasons, are breathtaking. One of the things that many people do not realize about Texas is that it is made up of incredibly diverse ethnic groups. You expect to find Hispanics and Native Americans, but German, Czech, and Polish immigrants established communities in central and south Texas. The town where we go to church has the oldest German band outside Germany! There is a tiny town named Dubina that has one of the painted churches, and it was founded by Czeck immigrants from the Northeastern part of Moravia. They came to Texas in 1856. The word “dub” in Czeck means “oak grove.” They were headed toward Iowa, but decided to settle in a spot studded with oak. They built their first church in 1877. The first church was destroyed by a hurricane in 1909, but they were hearty folk and rebuilt. The iron cross which had been fashioned by a freed slave and blacksmith Tom Lee, was found among the rubble of the first church and reinstalled on the new steeple. The church was named Saints Cyril and Methodius Church. It is one of the prettiest painted churches I have visited. They do not have records that identify the painter, but the walls are covered in vines, oak leaves and angels with shy blue ceiling and walls. The walls were whitewashed in the 1950’s but were restored in the 1980’s. Today is the day we remember Saints Cyril and Methodius, relatively unknown saints. You might think on this Valentine’s Day I might talk about Saint Valentine, but there’s something special about the story of these Byzantine monks who were brothers known as “Apostles to the Slaves.” They were born into a prestigious senatorial family in Thessalonica early in the ninth century. They were well educated but gave up their wealth and status to become priests. They were sent to be missionaries and converted many to the Christian faith. Prince Rastislav of Moravia asked for teachers who could teach the Christian faith to his people in their own language. The brothers were chosen. They invented a new alphabet, the “Cyrillic alphabet” which made it possible to translate the scriptures and liturgy into Slavonic. Their mission was successful as they spread the faith by sharing the Gospel with the people. Some in the Church were suspicious of their use of vernacular language, but their methods were eventually approved after a trip to Rome. Cyril died in Rome on February 14, 869. Methodius returned to Moravia and acted as a missionary to the Hungarians, Bulgarians, Dalmatians, and in Carinthia. He was again persecuted for his use of the vernacular, but his methods were again approved, and he was made an archbishop. He ministered in Bohemia and Poland, and then Moscow to establish a new diocese. He was imprisoned for three years by more critics but was again supported by the pope and restored to his position. With the help of others, translated the Bible into a language known as Church Slavonic. Methodius died on April 6, 885. It is no wonder that the Czech settlers who built their church in Dubina chose these two saints for the name of their church. Today’s scripture passage is the appointed text for the feast day for these missionary brothers. On this day of love, we are reminded by the stories of Saints Cyril and Methodius that the greatest way to show our love is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with whomever God puts in our path, doing everything in our power and ability to make it possible for them to hear the scriptures and experience the liturgy that guides our worship of God. The message of grace is shared in Word through the reading of the Bible and the worship of God’s people, filling those who hear with faith, hope, and peace. Like Cyril and Methodius, our Lord Jesus sends us out into the world to minister to others so that they will see the love of God and believe. If you would like to contact me, please use the following address, replacing the bracketed words with the symbol. Thank you for your continued interest, prayers and messages of encouragement. ![]() A WORD FOR TODAY is available daily through a mailing list. Visit the link below and you will receive the WORD in your box Monday through Friday. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:12-27, WEB I like to use my photos to make memes with cute or inspirational sayings to post onto my Facebook page to encourage my friends. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they are spiritual, and sometimes they are timely. Sometimes I purposely take pictures of the center or in monochrome so that they will make good backgrounds for these posts. It isn’t always easy coming up with the words to add, though. I often pick scripture passages or quotes from poems, but I sometimes just use something out of my head and heart. I was working on one for Valentine’s Day using a photo I took once while wildflower hunting. It was a picture of a prickly pear cactus that has a pad shaped like a heart. In the meme, I wanted to focus on how hard love can be sometimes but that it is worthwhile. I typed in one thing that sounded good. I had a specific meaning in mind. However, before I posted the meme, I realized the saying was completely inappropriate. Many people would have taken the words in a way I did not intend. I thought it was funny, but I knew that I could not post it on my page. I reworked the words and found a better way to say what I wanted to say. It was not as funny, but it was wholesome and inspiring. I was tempted, but rejected the inappropriate meme to use something that would uplift those who would read it. The new saying made for a better Christian witness in the world. I read a story by Henry Ward Beecher about an encounter he had with a very ugly fellow. The man’s wife and daughter became Christians during a revival and Henry went to visit them after the event. The man became irate, threatened Henry and warned him never to enter his home again. Henry promised that he would only do so at his request. It was a small town and they two encountered one another over and over again. Despite having been so maliciously attacked, Henry treated the man with grace and compassion. He even worked to get him elected to the city council. The man didn’t understand but eventually approached Henry. He invited Henry into his life and into his house. Henry said, “Now I might have thrown stones at him from the topmost cliffs of Mount Sinai, and hit him every time, but that would not have done him any good. Kindness killed him. I won his confidence.” We struggle with temptation and sin every day. It is part of our human character. However, just because we are tempted does not mean we need to sin. We can stop ourselves, think twice, and act in a different way. We are His witnesses, and as such we need to try to do everything in a way that will draw the world to Him. Satan doesn’t always tempt us with things that are obviously bad, but it is not enough to just avoid those things. We are called to live like Christ, to live in a way that glorifies God. The following links provide some specially chosen scripture that tell the stories of the Birth and Passion of our Lord as Savior Jesus Christ, as well as a fictional perspective of the Crucifixion. Spend time in God's Word, read about His life and learn of the wonderful gifts He has for you. Know Jesus Christ and honor Him today. Thanks be to God. The Story of our Savior's Passion The Crucifixion, a fictional perspective When researching, I use several versions of the bible, including the New International Version and English Standard Version. Due to copyright restrictions, I have not included quotes for the scriptures on some of the archives, but highly encourage you to open your own bibles to read the scripture passages for yourselves. Where scripture is quoted, it is usually the American Standard Version or World English Bible which belong to the public domain. Any other versions used in quotes are identified. The devotion posted on Wednesday is based on the Lectionary texts used by millions of Christians each Sunday. The Lectionary consists of four texts: an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, a passage from one of the Epistles and a Gospel text and follows the church calendar. Archives for these writings are found at Midweek Oasis.
You are welcome to use these words to share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Please remember to give credit to the Author who has given you these gifts, and keep in remembrance the vessel which He used to bring them to you. We pray that this site may be a blessing to you and anyone with whom you've shared it. Peggy Hoppes
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