NCarolinian

Reading the events of Scripture and experiencing them are two different animals. My father and family can empathize with Mary and Martha when they lost Lazarus. We echoed their words in prayers to Jesus when they said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (Jn. 11:32) At this writing, my Mom recently passed away. The sudden-ness of her leaving was just like the sting spoken of in Scripture that Death possesses. This sting haunts all those that have lost loved ones. The family had three churches, not three individuals, and a host of people on social media - praying and petitioning God for a miracle recovery. God said, "No". This answer almost stung more than death's sting. However, there was no doubt of the answer because every direction we turned - mentally, physically and spiritually for Mom - God was saying, "No". Mom's appointed time to be with The Lord had come on October 6, 2025 at 2:07 p.m. But God's "No's...

  Jesus said, "Do to others, what you would have done to yourself." (Matthew 7:12) If I may be so bold as to add some words for emphasis that are already implied - first and before having . So, Christ's instruction would read, "Do to others [first], [before having] what you would have done to yourself." I call this Unconditional Considerate Initiative. The phrase means to take the first step for a person or in a situation in being considerate without seeking reward or payment of any kind.  As an example, many people look at chivalry as a Southern behavior, locked into a geographical area of the United States. This is a behavior that contains more than opening doors for ladies that should transcend not only the South, but the nation. Then it needs to be triggered by those who love to love on others. The first thought in these kind of people would be - "I'm going to help this person out with..." or "I'm going to make this situation better b...