Month: October 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Twice Built

Canon City, Colorado

Christ is the foundation on which the church is built.

“You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.”

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.”
1 Corinthians 3:10 New International Version

Many stories are told about the Hotel St. Cloud in Canon City, Colorado but one of the most intriguing tales is how it came to rest at the corner of 7th and Main St. You see, this is not the original location of the hotel. The hotel was first erected fifty miles west, in Silver Cliff, Colorado. Unfortunately, silver prices plummeted shortly after the hotel was built.

Canon City, Colorado
Canon City, Colorado

In 1887 the hotel was torn down brick-by-brick, placed on wagons, hauled the short distance to Westcliffe, placed on a train and rebuilt at its current location. It’s one thing to build a structure one time, it is another to tear it down and rebuild it a second time. Talk about building with care.

Just as it must have taken careful planning to rebuild the Hotel St. Cloud, so it takes careful planning to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Paul understood that he was merely laying the foundation for the Corinthian church. He proclaimed Jesus Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) and other leaders helped built upon that foundation.

The foundation of the Christian community never changes. It’s always Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. Paul calls us to be careful how we build on this foundation. Our blueprints don’t come from within us, how we think we should build, but from the Scriptures which always rest on Jesus.

This church, founded on Christ, is a place of refuge for broken people. It’s a sanctuary in which God desires everyone to find rest. The purpose of the church is not to draw attention to the people whom God uses to build it, but to minister to people who would be lost without him.

May we take care how we build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and impact the world with the message of his saving grace.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

The Hat Drama

We are the refuge.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I wrote this years ago for a kids’ skit at church.  They were starting a hat drive for the poor.  It’s not meant to be perfect poetic meter.  My wife makes hats to this day.

“I do not like the cold,” said I
stepping outside on a brisk winter day.
“I do not like the cold,” said I
and went along my merry way.

“I do not like the cold,” said I
sleeping outside on a brisk winter day.
“I do not like the cold,” said I
and shuffled along my shivering way.

oct-22My breath in the air delighted me
walking along on a brisk winter day.
Like steam from a train it seemed to me
as I went along my merry way.

My breath in the air was a sign to me
trudging along on a brisk winter day.
‘Seek some warmth,’ it said to me,
as I moseyed along my teeth-chattering way.

My comfy coat surrounded me
in an air of warm insularity
My comical hat sat on top of me
with just a hint of jocularity.

My tattered coat was too small for me,
Not meant for air from the north polarity;
I had no hat on top of me;
frigid air frosted the tips of the hair of me.

I rounded the corner and what did I see?
Someone cold and shivering in front of me.
Far too big in that small coat to be,
wind swirling around a bare head icily.

Out of thin air, as if in a dream
the hand of an angel it did seem
reached out and placed a hat on my head.
Soft and warm.  “Thanks,” I said.

Now I make hats by the dozen and more.
Hats, hats, hats, hats, hats galore!
I do not sell them at any store,
but give them instead to Humboldt’s poor.

“For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.” 
Isaiah 25:4 New International Version

Picture and text, Copyright, Don Schatz

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

What to Do with the Holes

Blokus is one of our favorite games...when we have time to play a game.

We’re called to give thanks even when life doesn’t fit.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“And whatever you do or say,
do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through him to God the Father.”
Colossians 3:17 New Living Translation

We expect that everything in life will fit together seamlessly. Our work life will connect perfectly with our home life. Our home life will connect perfectly with our play life, etc. Yet, the truth is that things don’t always fit together like we expect.

Blokus is one of our favorite games...when we have time to play a game.
Blokus is one of our favorite games…when we have time to play a game.

In the midst of the colored tiles on this game board are holes. According to the rules of this game, there are no pieces that can fill these holes. They will remain until someone wins.

How do we handle the holes of life? Do we give up? Do we try harder? Do we blame someone else for the holes?

Life is filled with holes. The questions is, What do we do when life doesn’t fit together seamlessly? Paul’s answer is to give thanks. He encourages us to address the holes with thanksgiving, even when some of these holes could swallow a cow.

Because of Christ, we can thank God when there’s a hole created by our work which does not connect with our family life.

Because of Christ, we can thank God when there’s a hole created by our children’s lives not connecting with our lives.

Because of Christ, we can thank God when there’s a hole created by our walk in Christ not connecting with our behavior.

The holes of life cannot keep us separated from God even when those holes create pain. Through his sacrifice for us, life works. Life works through God’s gift of forgiveness.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner