Only the Truth - December, Chaplain Tom

Does God punish Christians for their sins? After all, we do still sin after we become Christians. So does God punish us for these sins we purposefully commit after we are Christians? I know that sin can and does have consequences here on earth, in the form of penalties for breaking the rule of law. For example, speeding, drunk driving, etc. All these have consequences, since they are breaking man’s law, not to mention God’s law. So, what about sins that break God’s law, but don’t break man’s law. Are there consequences for those? Sins like lying to make a sale, or bending the truth to get a better deal. Hmm, I wonder...No I don’t think God punishes us for our sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus died for the sins of the world. Jesus died for the sins of the WHOLE world, including mine, yours, and everyone else’s too. As a Christian, I have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as a gift. I have opened the present of eternal life. I have crossed over from death unto life, but somehow...I still sin. St. Paul said; “the sin I commit comes from this body of death.” What Paul is saying, is that when he sins, it is not him sinning, but it is his well trained body that knows very well how to sin. You see, we have been changed on the inside, but we still live in this body that has been well trained to be selfish, arrogant, spiteful, lustful, etc. We still need to allow God to re-train our mind and body into a set of tools that will glorify Him. I don’t know about you , but before I accepted Christ as my savior, I got kind of tired of having to do it all myself, and take care of everything that needed to be taken care of. Now that I have Jesus, it is Kind of nice to have someone to lean on when I feel weak, because I know He is Strong!

Chaplain, Tom  ¶ 10:46 PM 0 comments

  Veep's Peeps - What's In A Name?

How many of you got to choose your name? It was most likely given to you. We often name our children according to meanings we find in baby books and elsewhere, desiring that character trait to be exhibited in them. Maybe they are named for a special friend or family member that we admire. I’ve always thought it would be neat to have a nickname. It is usually given to you by someone who’s sees something in your character or personality that deserves recognition. Like our given name, it’s not necessarily one we would choose for ourselves. To my aerobics instructor , I’m the Debster, which she uses particularly when she’s trying to encourage me to keep going. I kinda like the sound of that and it always makes me smile when she calls me that. There is another one, however, that in a certain place, has seemed to attach itself to me. On Wednesdays I go up to Hill Country Hawgs to learn how to work on motorcycles. At the end of the day, I am the one with the most dirt and grease all over me. Lisa said; I sure was a Dirty Debbie. Well, someone else shortened that to D.D. and it’s beginning to stick. Like I said; we usually don’t get to choose, but because it was chosen by friends, and you can’t say it doesn’t have meaning............well, I’m getting used to it. Thinking about this time of year, there is an- other name that was given that has special meaning. “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21 “...and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God is with Us” Matt. 1:23

A Joyous Christmas to you all!

Your Outgoing Vice President

Debbie Zimmer  ¶ 10:42 PM 0 comments