Dear Lord; Good afternoon Father. As You’re aware Lord, I’ve had something on my mind the last few days that’s been bothering me. The funny thing is, my aggravations are regarding an event I’ve never really had much interest in; the Super Bowl.
I’ve never been a big football fan. In fact, other than a couple of games I went to when I was in college, I’ve never even attended a live game… It just never really caught my interest. This year really wasn’t much different, until I read a news story about a commercial that had been rejected by Fox Broadcasting Company for “delivering a religious message”. As I’ve seen some pretty racy and scary Super Bowl commercials over the years, I went and sought out the “offending” segment :
Really?? This was deemed to contain too much religious doctrine?? Wow… I am so terribly sorry Father. We’ve truly fallen from You as a society. From a country that has “In God We Trust” on our currency, this truly makes no sense to me. Fox certainly isn’t worried about offending viewers with the content on shows like “Family Guy” or Fox Sports’ Internet show “Cubed”, but they’re concerned that someone might take a reference to a Bible verse as an affront?
Fox issued a statement last week that stated :
“As a matter of company policy, Fox Broadcasting Company does not accept advertising from religious organizations for the purpose of advancing particular beliefs or practices. The Fixed Point Foundation was provided with our guidelines prior to their submission of storyboards for our review. Upon examination, the advertising submitted clearly delivers a religious message and as a result has been rejected.”
Ok, so the reason they’re airing commercials for the new movie “The Rite” is because it’s not from a religious organization? Wow… I’m completely at a loss on this one.
I realize that as a private company Fox has the right to choose what they do and don’t air on their network within FCC guidelines, but if a little of that “concern” about offending viewers were redirected to examining some of the programming and advertisements they do broadcast, I have a feeling the lineup would be far different than it is now.
Heavenly Father, thank You for letting me rant on about this today. As always, You’re a wonderful listener. Please fill our hearts and minds with Your Presence and Understanding, so that everyone can experience that Hope :
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Dear Lord; This morning Father, I want to share a story with You; A very powerful story that brought both my wife and I to tears last night.
It was a long day yesterday Lord. Between the ice storm which led to school delays and then closings, and a number of other typical daily stresses, Shannon and I both came home a bit worn down. Grabbing the mail on the way in the house, Shannon spotted a hand-addressed envelope from the kids’ school. She opened it up, and inside was a letter written to us by one of the office staff regarding Jonathan. She quietly read the letter, laid it down and started to cry.
The letter was a personal note from one of the school administrative staff detailing a conversation she’d had with Jonathan the previous Friday. Apparently, Jonathan was assisting with shuttling some computer equipment between his classroom and the office, and helping with putting it away. At some point during this process, he started talking to one of the ladies in the office and asked her if she was familiar with a man called Jesus Christ. While surprised, she replied that yes, she was very familiar with Jesus. He then went on to tell her all about his disease (Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis), his surgeries, treatments and chemotherapy as an infant, and how he’d gotten through all those trials and was doing very well now. She told him how wonderful he looked and that she was glad everything was doing so well, at which time he then left to go back to class.
What Jonathan didn’t know however, was that her husband had been battling two forms of serious cancers for many years, and that it was only through the grace of Christ that he was still alive. Along with that, she indicated there were others within earshot going through similar trials who also took interest in his story. She wrote that Jonathan’s unprompted testimony was exactly what she and others needed at that moment, and she was sure he was meant to be there to deliver Your message. Her faith had been renewed, by the witness and encouragement of our little boy.
When I came home shortly thereafter and read the letter, there were tears in my eyes as well.
I talked to Jonathan later that evening about the conversation that prompted the letter (of course, not revealing what she’d written to me), and asked him : “What made you ask her if she knew Jesus?”. He answered that he really didn’t know, and honestly didn’t remember what led up to it; It just came to him at the time.
You spoke through him Father, and to him it seemed perfectly natural and reasonable at the time. May we all be that open to Your Voice Lord, and not be afraid to share it with others.
Thank You Father. This touched me in a way that only You can. Please bring Your Healing and Comfort to those going through these trials, and let us all be as effective and powerful a witness to Your Grace as the words of a child were that day. Amen.
Dear Lord; Good morning Father… And a frozen one it is! The weather here has once again shifted and covered the Delaware landscape with Winter’s bounty. This morning though, it’s not snow that layers the ground, but a shiny frozen sheet of ice and sleet. This of course, makes traveling dangerous Lord, so please watch over those who are going out into this weather and keep them safe from harm.
As I was chiseling the ice from my “truck-sicle” this morning, waiting for the heater to add it’s inner glow to the effort it dawned on me that this was an interesting analogy to how You come into our lives (Ok, so this may be an odd tangent, but bear with me…). We’re like the truck shrouded in ice; spiritually cold and covered in misunderstanding, pain and sin. Little by little You scrape at our frozen shell, slowly revealing Your Light and Warmth to us until our inner heat kicks in and bridges that gap.
Ok. I said it was an odd tangent, but I think a valid one all the same. 🙂
Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Diligence and constant Presence in my life. Please keep “chipping away” at my earthly shell, so that I may see You with more perfect clarity. Amen.
Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! What a powerful release Lord! I truly feel like the floodgates on my heart have opened, and it’s an amazing sensation. I can’t thank You enough for this, and I lift my Praises to You for this wonderful gift.
As there are others that read these conversations Father, let me explain.
The last couple of months have been filled with significant trials for me, my business and my family and although I’ve tried to maintain a positive outlook and listen for Your Voice, I’ve been very much eaten up with fear, worry and self-doubt. These deep-seated demons have affected me severely enough that my health has suffered, and I’ve not been able to focus as closely as I should on ministering to those who count on me. I didn’t lose Faith Lord, but I certainly felt beaten… until this morning.
I had just dropped off my boys to school, and was headed towards my office thinking about what new nightmares the day had in store for me, when You intervened. In the middle of a thought, out of nowhere, I started crying uncontrollably. The only way I can explain it is that my heart felt like a plug had just been pulled and all the pain, fears and worries burst from my chest. It was a truly staggering feeling, and I’m still tearing up thinking about it. You are indeed a Wondrous God!
I Accept Your Love, and Your Help, and Your Gift!
I lay my Burdens at Your Feet Lord!
Heavenly Father, I can’t thank You enough for this release and for staying close to me through my trials. I know I am Blessed, and Loved and I feel Your Peace. May all those in similar turmoil receive Your Presence as I was Graced to this morning. Amen.
Dear Lord; Good morning Father. I want to start today by thanking You for being such a good listener. I feel like I’ve been talking Your Ears off the last day or so, and while my heart is still troubled by earthly worries, laying them out to You does worlds of good for my sense of Hope. I keep hearing You telling me to let go and find rest in Your Love, and I’m trying to Lord… but these fears have a true grip on me at the moment.
Searching for focus in You today, I found some comfort in verses from the Book of Matthew :
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” – Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV)
Verse 27 really grabbed me Father. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Wow… I guess I need to take a step back and Accept that. (Ok… There’s that word again. I get it.) Then a little further on in the chapter, Verse 34 says :
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Such a simple truth, and yet I somehow haven’t been able to see it through my inner clouding. I have my focus now Father.
Thank You for leading me to Matthew today Lord, and for staying by my side through these trials. Only in Your Loving Hands can my heavy heart be whole. Amen.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
