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Campus Ministry has Allowed many people to impact many students personally while on campus.

Do you feel isolated, hurt or afraid and have no one to talk to?

Her mouth stood wide open, unable to answer the accusations her once-good friend was spewing at her like the rat-tat-tat of a machine gun. Her lips clamped into a thin straight line as her eyes began to swim. Shaking her head, she backed away and ran for the Ladies’ room, riddled with shame.

This could happen in the halls of a high school, or in the aisles of an office work area, in the confides of your own home, or believe it or not, in the fellowship hall of a church. It may have happened to you. False accusations, misunderstood motives, misconstrued actions result in unforeseen reactions. How dare she or he think you’d ever . . .but they do. They want you to be ashamed. Instead, you are perplexed.

No one likes to be accused of doing something they did not do. But often, Christians are put in that position.  People see the hypocritical actions of a few and leap to judge the whole. It is as if there is a target painted on our hearts that say, “I’m a Christian. It’s not only okay to slap my other cheek when I turn it but to punch me in the gut or stab me in the back.”

Perhaps people have been hardened by skepticism. They are looking for the angle – what’s in it for you? Where is the secret key that will open the door and reveal the scam?  What’s the hidden truth in your message that will prove it is false?  Why are you being nice, and why should you care?

Jesus understands. He’s been there. The Scripture readings during the season of Lent are full of examples of how he was misunderstood and his motives misconceived. The Pharisees and Sadducees, even his own followers could not grasp the concept that He was willing to die for their salvation, much less that he had the authority to do so. His last day, He suffered shame, ridicule and physical beatings, yet he never opened his mouth. Why? Because to do so would fuel the fire. How do you rationalize with the irrational?

Instead, He looked to the One who gave Him the strength to endure it all our sake, for yours and mine. So did David, when he wrote this psalm. So can we when people wrong us. After all, the only person we are ultimately answerable to is our Lord. If we put His mercy and grace in control of the situation, then our conscience is clean, our souls renewed, our hearts protected.  We can find a way to love our accusers. The rest is between Him and them.

Questions: If you have been wronged, what was your reaction? Did you turn to Jesus for guidance? If you didn’t would the outcome been different if you had?

If you are hurting from the pain of having lost a child, we care and want to pray for you.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EST.

“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”  (Matthew 6:26).

Every spring birds build a nest in the corner between the roof and wall of our small patio. We find twigs on the floor as evidence of their determined building project. Soon eggs are laid and babies are born. In an unbelievably short time, these tiny fledglings flap wings so delicate we are sure they will never serve the purpose for which they were created.

Almost before we are aware of it, the nest is empty, our little feathered neighbors gone. After a few days, a combination of strong breezes and gravity combine to do the work of disintegrating the bell-shaped home that once was a birthplace and temporary home. The nest has served its purpose.

Do we assume that the safe, comfortable homes we provide for our children are to be permanent fixtures in their lives? These homes, these nests, serve a grander purpose: training grounds for flight. From the moment of their cracking through fragile shells, baby birds are fed and protected from predators in order to accomplish one goal:  the grand adventure of flying through the skies.

As we raise our children in nests as secure and stable as we are able to provide, we must also recognize a greater goal: providing everything they need to fly. We will doubt the capability of their wings and want to call them back to the security of the nest. However it is only when they have become strong by fighting through wind currents, seeking food in arid places, and learning to recognize and avoid their enemies, will these much-loved offspring be ready to take their place in the Kingdom of God as healthy reproducers—fed and sustained by their Heavenly Father.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: : A prayer from a parent’s heart

Questions: As parents, what is our primary task as we raise our children?

About the Author Marilyn J. Ehle

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What do you think the Bible means by hospitality?

In Biblical times, bread was thinner and crisper than our bread today, which brought about the term “breaking bread.” It signified sharing fellowship at a meal, or as it was called, the bread of fellowship.
It was a one’s sacred duty of hospitality (called the sacred law of hospitality) to offer bread, give lodging, and protect any traveler that came to one’s door, treating him as a guest.

If the homeowner and the guest broke bread together, this bound them together by the strongest ties of friendship.  It was a covenant and was confirmed occasionally by the giving of gifts. This was a pledge of reconciliation and peace and would descend to their heirs, for it was in perpetuity.  If the guest declined the offer, it meant, in essence, that the host’s bread was unfit for use, which violated the sacred law of hospitality and contained severe penalties.

The disciples depended on hospitality

When Jesus sent out the disciples, He commanded them to take no bread or money with them so that they would depend solely on the hospitality and acts of kindness of others and make covenant friends.
If the disciples had rejected the hospitality offered them by others, it would have been considered rude or an offense, hindering their efforts to spread the gospel.

Also, Jesus gave them instructions on how to respond to the cities that did not receive them in hospitality, “When you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” (Matt. 10:14-15, NKJV)  If people refused the disciples who were in partnership with Jesus, consequently, they refused Jesus. This was serious stuff!

Jesus spoke about hospitality

Concerning this same sense of hospitality, Jesus spoke to the disciples of that future day of separating the sheep from the goats:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (Matt. 25:34-40, NKJV)
(‘Stranger’ also means a guest-friend, bound by ties of hospitality. ‘Took’ or ‘take in’ means among other things, to entertain hospitably, to bring one into your house for hospitality.)

Jesus continued, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” (Matt. 25: 42-43 NIV) You received Me not; you did not receive me in hospitality.

This should be a wake-up call for us. Hospitality is more than having a potluck supper for our Bible study group.  Paul urges us, “When God’s children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.” (Rom. 12:13, TLB)  May you receive others to break bread in the spirit of hospitality.

How can we become more effective leaders?

Katherine J Kehler, an innovator and entrepreneur, has many years of experience in spearheading and leading projects, including being one of the original architects behind this website. Her article “Nine Principles for Effective Leadership” is written for women but the principles she describes are appropriate for anyone to learn and put into practice.

She begins her article by saying: “It is said that we all influence at least 250 people in our lifetime. We each have the responsibility of leadership. Every woman can be a leader. Yet results of surveys show that most women greatly underestimate their influence.”

Check out the article and let us know what you think. What is the most important piece of leadership advice anyone has given you? Please share with us if something comes to mind.

A “man cave” could be defined as a man’s private sanctuary within his home.

Website ManCaveSite.org is dedicated to photos and resources for men wanting to create their own room in their home. After viewing many of the photos on their website, we can see that some of the most popular items include:

- Big screen tvs and/or projectors
- Guitars (for playing or just for display)
- Sports memorabilia, including posters, jerseys, and other game equipment
- Pool tables or other gaming tables
- Bars and barstools, accompanied of course by the requisite liquor
- Comfy furniture like lounge chairs and leather couches

If you’re interested in building your own man cave, the site linked above provides plenty of advice. But if you are like most people and don’t have a lot of extra cash to spend on building a room like this from scratch, you might appreciate some tips on saving money. Our recent article Shopping for Home Decor – Finding the Bargains applies equally well to a man cave as it does to a bathroom. So check it out and you might save a lot of cash!

Do you have a man cave in your home? What made you decide to build it? If you don’t, would you consider building one?