Peace family, this time of year, we pause to reflect and remember the victims of the Holocaust. It’s also a great time of year to examine our own hearts, and extend grace.

I was able to attend a remembrance march over the weekend, which was beautiful and moving. Hearing statistics, watching an interpretive ballet, and being blessed with the blowing of a shofar as we began the march all made for an amazing experience.

My favorite part, though, was people’s personal testimonies of how hate and love intermittently transformed their lives. A Holocaust survivor named Ruth Steinfeld spoke, followed by the son of a liberator, and even two young German women who had discovered that they are the descendants of Nazis. They wept as they spoke about what their ancestors had done, and then again as the Holocaust survivors and descendants of survivors offered reconciliation through comforting them and hugging them. What a picture of grace and forgiveness!

Holocaust survivor Ruth Steinfeld

Nazi descendants are embraced and forgiven by survivors and descendants of survivors.

Finally, we marched across the campus of Rice University. It was a beautiful day, but it was difficult for me to get a photo to show you the number of people who were there, because there weren’t really any long single stretches, but instead, a lot of curves in the trail.

All in all, it was a powerful experience and I’d encourage you to get involved in Holocaust remembrance activities if you get the chance! For several years, some friends and I have been trying to coordinate a march in Bryan-College Station, and of course, I will let you know if we get one up and running!

Meanwhile, I want to leave you with something especially powerful. A descendant of Holocaust victims, Rozalie Jerome, whose parents were saved by Christians, brought up a powerful point and asked us to examine ourselves: Are there any areas of your heart where you are holding a prejudice against others that you need to give up?

Most of the time, we think about prejudice only in terms of race, religion, and nationalities, but there are also many other areas where we hold prejudices. It might be against people who are wealthier or poorer than you. It might be against people who are more educated than you, or less educated. It might be against women. It might be against men. It might be against people of another political party. It might be against blondes, or someone who looks like or reminds you of your ex, your step parent, or someone from your past who hurt you. Relinquish that hurt and prejudice to God today. Trust that he is good, and love others, even our enemies, as Christ asked us to.

Peace family, let’s start by cleaning out our own hearts. Next, let’s take steps to ensure that nothing like the Holocaust can ever happen again.

To learn more about the March of Remembrance, CLICK HERE, or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.marchofremembrancehouston.org/

To learn more about The Crossover Project, a ministry which aims to bring reconciliation between Jewish people and Christians, CLICK HERE, or copy and paste this link into your browser: http://thecrossoverproject.org/

To learn more about the Jewish roots of Christianity and assist with sharing the gospel to Jewish people today, CLICK HERE, or copy and paste this link into your browser: https://chosenpeople.com/site/

Peace family, do you have a skill or talent that you feel is not important enough to be a spiritual “blessing” to others? Let me encourage you that God can always use you, even if you don’t immediately see how! I just received encouragement in such a way, from such a skill set!

Lately, I’ve been looking at the Bible and trying to learn more about the love that God has for women, the women of the Bible, and the ways that God has honored women throughout history. I’ve been looking at my life, and of course, there is so much more to being a woman than applying makeup, but that is an area where I’ve felt like a failure for most of my life. My mom did not wear makeup, so all I’ve ever learned about it, I learned as the high school dance team manager or back stage at the theatre. Those are not exactly the right avenues to learn how to make yourself look nice, face-to-face! It has been a source of discouragement for me for a long time, and was an area where I decided that I wanted to grow this year, but didn’t know how to start.

On the other hand, Jami, who does the afternoon show on Peace 107, always has great makeup. Her hair, eyes, and lips, always look great. As I talked with her about wanting to learn, she surprised me by shopping and painstakingly picking out things that she thought would look good with my skin color. Then she gave several hours of her time to teach me how to put it on. She cooked a beautiful, healthy dinner for me, and showed me, step by step, patiently and clearly, how to apply makeup.

Peace family, it might sound silly, but every step and tip, Jami made me feel beautiful, encouraged, and able to overcome my fear and intimidation. I told her, “Makeovers are nice, but you’ve taught me how to do it for myself, and I feel empowered!” Makeup might not seem very spiritual, but when we honor God and love others, he can use any avenue that we offer to deeply encourage our neighbor.

Peace family, so the question again: did you know that God can use your skill, even if it doesn’t seem “spiritual”? God can and will use it, if you let him! Pray and don’t be afraid to dream about ways that God might use you in a powerful way. You never know how you might inspire, teach, or help heal others!

Jami’s fancy mirror and makeup, all ready to get to work!

Jami bought several makeup bags and actual makeup as a gift. What a generous surprise, and I loved everything that she picked out!

“Before”: Kat’s a little red, because she exercised before she went to Jami’s house!

Jami made a beautiful, delicious dinner of lemon pepper chicken and steamed vegetables. It felt like a spa!

We just got started- this is with foundation only.

Jami and Kat! All made up!

Jami wanted a close-up, in case I needed a reference for how to do my eyes!

Peace Family, what does God owe us?

A good friend was recently talking with me about the Bible’s teachings regarding a specific sin. She said that kosher laws were practical for their time period, because God was protecting his people through the restrictions (for example, the prohibition of eating pork, which would have been difficult to cook correctly to remove parasites at that time period, would have kept the Israelites healthy) but on the other hand, she argued that the specific sin she was addressing doesn’t harm anyone, including the person committing the sin. Because she does not see a practical reason for God to forbid it, she judges that it could not be a sin, that we are misreading the Bible, that when God forbade it several times in the Bible, it could not really be applicable because other rules are not applicable (such as kosher law), and he was not as explicit as she feels that he should have been.

Peace family, do you ever struggle with these kinds of issues? Why does God just want to ruin our happiness or make us miss out on good things? Because he is good, shouldn’t he want us to do whatever we think will make us happy? Does God have the right to give us rules for which we don’t see any practical reasons?

Peace family, those beliefs show a false perspective of God, his character, and what goodness truly is. Likewise, as far as rules go, I have found that pretty much all of God’s rules are designed to draw us closer to him, or to protect us from something bad. Peace family, this is what it boils down to: does God owe us an explanation? Absolutely not! He’s God, and we are not.

I always prefer an explanation, and I prefer to see reasons why I might have to suffer or experience pain, but with some things in life, we will never get an explanation. Everyone has painful things in their lives that they don’t understand. We have to be able to trust in the goodness of God, and his love and care for us, despite how things look or feel. If I wake up tomorrow, and I had a stroke or an aneurysm during the night that leaves me paralyzed for the rest of my life, I won’t enjoy it, but God is still God. He created the universe, and he owes me no explanation.

What does God owe us? Nothing.

Some of these are hard to swallow, but they are still true: God does not owe us financial stability. He does not owe us an easy life. He does not owe us a faithful spouse, even if we have kept ourselves pure. He does not owe us Christian children, even if we did our best to raise them in a way that honors him. He does not owe us a good relationship with our parents, siblings, or other family members. He does not owe us good health, or healthiness in our families. He does not owe us children at all, or for us to have long lives. He does not owe us an enthralling, emotional spiritual experience, or to really experience falling in love.

God does love to bless us, but he doesn’t owe us any of these things. Is there anything that you have been believing (even if unintentionally,) that God owes you?

Peace family, let’s not become ungrateful and distrustful of God. It is the devil who tells us that God owes us something, including answers, when in fact, we owe God everything. He has given us every good thing, and we can thank him for it. We owe him our loyalty, our trust, our thankfulness, our praise, our love, our obedience, our finances, our talents, our futures, and more. How often do we really give him all that he deserves?

Let’s you and me both examine our hearts today, allow them to be softened, and consider what areas and questions we need to hand over to God. As we approach Easter, let’s really think about all that our amazing God has really done for us.

Peace family, win a free birthday party from Peace 107 and Powersports!

Your child will love all of the fun and excitement, and Powersports puts it all together for a birthday memory you and your child won’t forget!

Must be 18 or older to enter.

Party is for kids between 3 and 10 years old.

Only one entry per person.

To avoid confusion, please enter ONLY for yourself.

Multiple entries will be disqualified. 

To find out more about Powersports, CLICK HERE.

Your birthday party is good for up to 14 children ($300 value.) The party is for children between 3 and 10 years of age. Parties are held on Friday nights from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., and are scheduled on an availability basis only. For more information, call Powersports at 979-776-0018.

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By checking this box, you understand the following:

• We will not use any information you submit for purposes other than this contest.
• We will only use your information to contact you if you are selected as the winner.
• If you win, we may announce your name and city on air.
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• Only one entry per person.
• Multiple entries will be disqualified.
• Submissions are subject to review by the Peace 107 staff.

Winners will be announced weekly on Peace 107!

Peace family, who inspires you? Many people inspire me, but Saint Patrick is very high up on my list!

Although in society at large, Saint Patrick’s Day is, unfortunately, usually just an opportunity to drink, for me and my (mostly) Scotch-Irish background family, it has always been very meaningful.

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Saint Patrick, he was actually born into a Roman British family. When he was 16, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates who sold him into slavery in Ireland, and he tended animals as a slave for six years before God gave him the opportunity to run away and find a ship back home.

Patrick had grown up in a Christian family, but he had never really believed until his time in slavery, where he really examined God and spent a lot of time in prayer and suffering. After returning home, he decided to get into ministry and was ordained. As a full adult, he felt like God was calling him back to Ireland, to the land of his oppressors. He had seen the Irish people’s need for God, God’s peace, and God’s love to transform their society, and he was faithful to return and share the gospel so that they might be saved.

I love Saint Patrick for multiple reasons. One reason is his direct impact on my ancestors. I know that the love of God has transformed my life personally, but it boggles my mind to think of God’s love impacting my ancestors (my last name, in its original language, contains a Christian reference.) Saint Patrick’s ministry took place around the 400s, about sixteen centuries ago! Because he was faithful, and he loved God and the Irish people even when they were worshiping idols and actively rejecting him, millions of people over centuries have had the opportunity to know the truth of the gospel. (Even though I’m sure God would have provided someone else if Patrick hadn’t gone, I’m very thankful that Patrick did go.)

Another reason I admire Saint Patrick, is his sacrifice and his forgiveness. He dedicated his life to ministering to a people who had severely impacted his life for evil. Surely Patrick had baggage, and needed to forgive deeply in order to become the man who would bring Christianity to these rugged, ignorant islanders. He spoke and taught in their own language, he understood their culture, and he didn’t try to convert them into Roman citizens. He lived out the truth in a clear way, and empowered the people to find Christ.

It’s very cool to think about how, if you’re a believer, that someone, somewhere, was brave enough to share God’s great story with you, and someone shared it with that person, and so on, all the way back to Jesus. What is your spiritual heritage? How did your family or your ethnic group come to know Jesus? Which figures throughout time have cared enough to seek out your people? Don’t be afraid to dig into history, and think through the ways that God has provided for you to find the truth. Thank God, and celebrate!

Meanwhile, who can you forgive in your life that needs to know about Jesus? Is it someone who has hurt you personally? Is it a people, religious, or social group? Is there any group that makes you think to yourself, “They are too evil to be saved,” or “Let God deal with them, because I just can’t deal with them”? Maybe it’s time to start praying for them, treating them with love, and seeing how God moves your heart. As the Bible says in II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (see also I Timothy 2:4.) Has your life been dynamically changed by the freedom and security found in Christ? If so, share it!

Peace family, here’s wishing you a very blessed and inspiring Saint Patrick’s Day!

(And just for fun, here’s a hymn adapted from a hymn that Saint Patrick wrote in the Irish language, all those years ago: )

“I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
his baptism in the Jordan river;
his death on cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spicèd tomb;
his riding up the heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
of the great love of cherubim;
the sweet “Well done” in judgment hour;
the service of the seraphim;
confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
all good deeds done unto the Lord,
and purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken, to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort
and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of
all that love me,
Christ in mouth of
friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.”