As a CSR for CTA, I recently talked with pastor who had just read, Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus. He passed it on—to a family grieving the loss of a child several years ago. The family came back a few days later to say, in essence, “We so wish we had read this at the time of our child’s death!”

Grief seldom evaporates the day after the funeral! Many people continue to grieve for months and even years. Experts in grief tell us that individuals each grieve in their own way, following their own timetable.

Do you have friends who struggle with grief? When you act in faith, our Savior will step in to care for those whose lives you touch. It’s never too late to bring the hope of Jesus to those who are grieving.

Editor’s Note: CTA’s Grieving with Hope . . . Leaning on Jesus has become a best-seller in only a few months! It costs much less than most sympathy cards and it comes with an envelop for easy mailing.  The Christ-centered message coupled with four-color, eye-striking photos, make it a truly valuable ministry tool! Churches, Stephen Ministers, chaplains, and others will want to buy a case to have on hand.

As much as we need courage, our Lord wants to give it to us. Courage is a virtue—one that comes to us as a gift from our Savior. He wants to pour courage into to us throughout life. That gift makes it possible for us to give ourselves to him and trust in him in body, mind, and spirit. 

As we face life’s difficulties, we can remember those who came before us. This past weekend in many liturgical churches God’s people observed “All Saints Day.” Among other thing, it reminds us that no generation was without its trials and sufferings, its ordeals and struggles. We thank God for our parents and for Christians in generations before them who relied on him, courageously raising their families, building our schools and churches, and inspiring us in our generation to take a stand for what is good, true, and beautiful. 

We “bend our knee before the Lord who made us” (Psalm 95:6). And we ask for his gift of courage.

Before I mislead you too much, let me explain. Last Sunday, after attending church, I went to Busch Stadium where I work as an usher for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. That particular day, I worked The Giveaway. The first 25,000 fans received an Adam Wainwright (Cardinal pitcher) bobble head. A give-away at the stadium draws extra people. Fans come early to make sure they’re part of the first 25,000 (or whatever the number is that day). They’re excited about getting a free gift that reminds them of their team, a player, or the special memory of attending a major league baseball game. And yes, some collect them simply to sell for a profit.

The bottom line is that most people love giveaways – at the ballpark and at church. When I served as a pastor I loved to give worshipers take-home gifts. They were sometimes remembrances of the message or series and Jesus Christ, the focus of the message. The gift often provided ideas for prayer, outreach, Bible Study, or personal growth. Most times it served as a faith encourager.

Over the years I’ve gone into people’s homes to find some of those give-ways still there. Sometimes they’ve been there for years and years, serving as an encouragement or faith aid.

Most CTA – Christian Tools of Affirmation – products and gifts are used in churches, schools, and personal ministries as giveaways. Ushers might hand them out at the door as people come out of church. Teachers give CTA products to students. Leaders give them to . Children’s ministry and youth leaders give them out. Pastors and other leaders use them in children’s messages. People give CTA gifts to neighbors and even people they have never met. Leaders have giveaways for their staff and volunteers to encourage them in their faith and service. Retreat leaders use CTA products as remembrance giveaways. The list could go on and on.

People love giveaways. People love receiving a gift that encourages them in their faith. People love giveaways that point them to the love of their Savior, Jesus Christ. And ministry leaders and others love CTA gifts of faith, gifts of encouragement for God’s people.

Gifts you see in CTA’s catalog, online/website, or maybe in stores can impact lives and faith for days, years, or for eternity!

As our culture drifts further and further from its Judeo-Christian moorings, respect for human life recedes further from most people’s consciousness. Other values threaten to replace it. For example, a concern for the “quality” of life (but who gets to define that?!). Or a focus on the “hardships” life itself may impose (again, by whose definition?!). And, perhaps even economic considerations. (“How much should we spend on grandma in the last six months of her life?”)

Those who champion these competing values have loud voices and big pulpits. Their arguments sound reasonable, reasonable, that is, apart from a foundation in the truth and love our Lord describes for us in the Holy Scriptures.

That’s why I’m glad the US Council of Catholic Bishops established “Respect Life Sunday” in 1972 and ever since then have set aside October as “Respect Life Month.” I’m not a Roman Catholic, but I treasure the clear language and the courageous Pro-Life call the USCCB continues to extend.  

Surely, their call applies to the issue of abortion, but increasingly their pro-life stance applies to other key issues, too–the limitations placed on scientific research, for example, or end-of-life decision-making.

If you serve in a Catholic parish, I hope you call attention to Respect Life Sunday and celebrate it fully. But even if you’re not Catholic, I hope you consider October 4 an opportunity to re-establish in the minds of members one of Christianity’s absolute and unchangeable values–the value of human life.

Strength for the Journey Pocket Tool, great as a Father's Day or Men's Ministry Gift

But before summer is truly gone, take some time to yourself to reflect and recharge for another busy school year.  My husband and I always like to go on a retreat in August.

Retreats offer an excellent opportunity to spend some quiet time with God.  Free from the distractions of everyday life, reading the Bible and engaging in prayer, blessed with serenity, retreats can provide you with the peace you may be looking for. 

When my husband goes on retreat, I like to send an expression of love along with him. There are several items available at CTA that I have enjoyed purchasing in the past. Just click here and you will see what I mean!  (There are some for us ladies, too!)

Whether taking advantage of a retreat or just carving out some special time at home, these products will help you revitalize your prayer life!

I slipped downstairs, knowing my family would sleep for another three hours before beginning the weekly, pre-church bathroom battle. (The only male in my household of four, I try to clear out of the way early on Sundays. Dads everywhere are nodding in agreement.)

The summer morning in North Carolina was unseasonably cool, so I grabbed my Bible and headed for the screened-in back porch to enjoy some quiet time with God. I didn’t know till I got there, but there wasn’t enough light to read by yet. Besides, as I soon learned, God had a different lesson planned–one that had nothing to do with reading a few verses.

I sat silently for some time, serenaded by birds who were signaling the first signs of daylight. I also prayed, seeking the Father’s wisdom in some personal struggles I had endured. That’s when the lesson started.

Without warning, thunder rumbled in the distance, causing the birds to cease their singing. Moments later, a quick downpour could be heard making its way across our small subdivision. Lightning cracked! Thunder boomed! Dark clouds swirled. And a sheet of rain visibly marched toward me from my neighbor’s yard.     

I stood and prepared to go inside, but something in my spirit stopped me. I’m not claiming to have heard an audible voice, but everything in me was saying, “Stand still. . . . Watch and listen.”

Suddenly, the overgrown maple tree in my backyard started swaying in a southerly direction. The shifting direction of the wind seemed to sweep away the rain as well. In a matter of seconds, calmness reigned and ushered in the dawn. Playful chirping soon filled the air again.

That’s when I realized it. I can’t prove it, but I don’t think the birds ever stopped their singing. I couldn’t hear them as the storm was nearing because my ears were tuned to the rain, thunder, and lightning.

Lord, help me not to focus on the problems in my life or the noise they create. Help me instead to be still and trust in you. I want to watch you work in my life. Teach me to listen to the reminders of your continual care.

How about you? Has God ever used nature – his creation – to get your attention?

Serving in His Steps Devotion book

Here’s a sample devotion from Serving in His Steps, CTA’s newest gift book designed to express appreciation to volunteers and staff  in your church. Pastors, children’s ministers, youth workers, deacons boards, elders, women’s/men’s ministry leaders–whoever you want to encourage or thank for stepping up to serve–will, I hope, find these devotions encouraging! Visit the CTA website for more on the Serving in His Steps devotion book.

[Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.

John 13:4-5

He had to kneel. There’s no other way to wash someone’s feet. Bending over won’t do at all. So Jesus knelt. It was a step down. A giant step down, when we consider the rainbow encircled throne from which he had descended three short decades earlier. God became man. The Creator took on skin and hair and blood vessels. Embryo to fetus to newborn lying in his peasant mother’s lap, snuggling against the cold.

A step down. It was that alright, and more-much more! A thousand years earlier, King David had written about the steps our Lord would take to love us: You stoop down to make me great. (Psalm 18:35)

Just think of that! Jesus stoops so we can stand, unashamed and filled with joy, in his presence forever. The gentle Jesus, crucified and risen in love for each one of us personally, has by his death made us great. We have incredible value in God’s eyes, not because of what we have done or can do, but because of what Christ did for us.

What an amazing difference it would make if we could begin to grasp even a small bit of that truth! We would no longer agonize in guilt over sins long since forgiven. We would no longer need to toot our own horn or defend our own record. We would no longer wonder if we’ve done enough or if our best service has been good enough.

Jesus stooped down, stepped down from heaven itself into our reality. Now, he takes our hand to lift us up. What grace! Truly amazing grace!

Want to read more or find out how to order copies for those servant-leaders in your church? Click here!

However, one recent TV ad has stuck with me. I think it about it when I consider the blessings of fatherhood. The catch phrase of the commercial was, “It takes a man to be a dad.” What a powerful statement! Especially when we consider the admonition in Ephesians 6:4, which says, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (KJV).

Dads, it is a tremendous privilege to teach our children the things of God!

One of the fondest memories of my childhood focuses on waking up in the middle of the night and seeing my dad kneeling beside my bed, praying for me. He would then slip into my brother’s room and pray for him. Wow! I am so thankful for my dad.

Now it is my turn to hold my children before the Lord in prayer. It is my turn to model God’s love for them, his self-sacrificing love in Jesus and his cross. It’s my turn to teach them how to walk with God, and to show them by example how to do that.

It takes a man to be that kind of dad. May our Savior work that kind of courage and strength in all the men to whom he has entrusted the gift of fatherhood!

1. Have a small, Christ-centered gift for each graduate. Check here  for great graduate ideas.

2. Consider recognizing graduates from all levels of schooling, if possible. Our church is currently small enough that we can recogize those graduating from kindergarten, grade school, high school, and college.

3. Call your grads to the front to receive their gift and the recognition they have earned.

4. Recognize  parents, grandparents, and other family members who have played a role in each graduate’s achievement.

5. Don’t overlook home school students. Consider having a full graduation ceremony for them. Most do not get to participate in a formal graduation event. So if it’s possible, go all out. Let them march in. Use caps and gowns. Share scholastic accomplishments and thank God for them. Invite a guest speaker. Make the day special, even if you’re honoring one or two students. 

6. Include a prayer of dedication for the graduates in the congregation’s prayers.

I know you’re not ready to think about Fall just yet or about welcoming new workers to the paid staff or volunteer army that you’ll rely on to get your ministry off to a great start in September.

So here’s just a quick note you can file away for August when you begin to focus  with gazelle intensity on staff appreciation!

CTA’s new line of Christian Worker recruitment/appreciation products for Fall–Serving in His Steps–is another in a long line of tools designed to save you lots of time in creating an integrated look and feel. In fact, you could easily turn it into a leadership-wide  or even church-wide theme for all of 2009-2010.

The art is spectacular and the content, Christ-centered and Bible-based. You’ll love the encouraging messages, all drawn from Scripture and the free, kick-off Ministry Message CTA plans to provide.

‘Nough said for now. Get out and enjoy the sunshine, cook-outs, and lazy days of summer! But tuck the theme, Serving in His Steps, into a corner of your mind and heart. You’ll want to explore it further in early August!