This Year's Mother Of The Year Is Awarded To ...

Good Monday Morning To You.

I hope all you moms who are reading this had a good Mother’s Day yesterday. We had a really good Mother’s Day service at Friendship Harmony; I’ll tell you about it in a minute.

Last week I shared a prayer request concerning my wife, Miss Bessie. Last Monday afternoon I took her for an X-ray, and after reading the films, the radiologist told us to go straight to the Cape Coral Hospital Emergency Room. The ER physician looked at the X-rays and ordered a CT Scan. The scan showed that she had 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a partially deflated lung with a touch of pneumonia. This was on top of the fractured wrist we were already of. The CT also showed bruising on her liver, but they were not too concerned about that. As I said last week, our orthopedic doctor, Michael Jugan, believes her hip is the problem and the reason for the fall. Thank you for your prayers, and I’ll keep you posted.

Yesterday I gave much thought to my own mom, Alene Cooper. She was a tremendous mom. Every night at bedtime she would come in and sit on my bed and listen to my bedtime prayers. She taught me two. One was, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the LORD my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the LORD my soul to take. A-men.” The other was, “I see the moon, the moon sees me. God bless the moon, God bless me. And God bless mommy, and God bless daddy, and God bless …..”

Did you pray either of these prayers? The lessons she taught me about prayer stays with me to this very day. The first prayer was a prayer of faith. It was faith in God and faith in prayer. The second was a prayer of thinking of others. I would later learn that was called an “intercessory” prayer. I may not have known the theological technicalities of it in the late 50’s and early 60’s, but I did learn about the importance of prayer.

As I said earlier, the service at Friendship Harmony was tremendous. I know it seems like I always say that, but it is true. The attendance was good and the Spirit in the service was awesome. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for meeting with us at church. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we would be just a club.

The message was called, “Mother Of The Year: Naomi. The message came from selected passages in the book of Ruth. We talked about Naomi being acquainted with sorrow and hard times, yet knowing the LORD was sufficient to see her through. Untested faith is shallow faith, and Naomi’s faith was deep and steadfast. This was from Ruth 1:3-5.

We saw from chapter 1 verses 7-9, we saw that Naomi was considerate of the needs of others. She had buried her husband, then her two sons, leaving herself and her two daughters in law. Naomi was going back home to Israel and told the girls that they could return home and find husbands among the men of Moab.

In chapter 1, verses 16-18 we learned that Naomi was a highly treasured woman. Her daughter in law Ruth said this to her. Ruth 1:16-18
“And Ruth said, ‘Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: [17] Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.’ [18] When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.” What a fitting compliment for a fine lady.

We saw that Naomi was a descerner of God’s will. To accomplish this she had a close personal walk with the LORD. Are you able to descern the will of God? If not, perhaps you need to draw closer to Him. This we saw in chapter 3, verses 1-4. From this wise counsel of Naomi to Ruth, Ruth and Boaz eventually marry and have a son named Obed. He grows and has a son named Jesse, who in turn has a son named David. David would not only become Israel’s greatest king, but from him one day the Messiah, Jesus would be born. Naomi knew the will of God for Ruth, and her simple act of faith blossomed into a Messianic line.

Finally we learned Naomi was known to others as a person blessed of God. From verses 14 and 15 of chapter 4, we saw how others recognized the hand of God at work in the life of Naomi. May we all, women and men alike, follow the fine example set forth by dear Naomi.

May the LORD bless your upcoming week with the blessings of good health and Spirit filled days. There is no video being posted tomorrow, so I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!©

The Battle Is The LORD's!!!

Good Monday Morning To You!!!

Last week I posted a prayer request concerning a family in our church, Claude and Ann Ogle. Their daughter, Brandy Ward, was trapped under the mud in the Washington mudslide. Her husband, Tim, is in a Seattle hospital with a broken back and pelvis. As of the date of this writing, Brandy has not been found. They are bringing in a dog to see if it can pick up on her scent. Pray that the LORD uses that dog to accomplish His will. Please also continue to hold up this family in your prayers.

Another lady from our church, Barb Radcliffe, asked if I could use the blog to request prayer for her son Mark, who is having heart surgery on April 15th. I also promised her that I would keep you informed of his progress. ABSOLUTELY I will share prayer requests and updates. I cannot think of a better purpose this blog can have than that. If you have a request, send it to me at fhbcsjc@gmail.com, or preachercooper@hotmail.com. You may also call me at 239.283.8331. This blog is currently reaching over 22,000 readers in places like The United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, India, as well as countries from the former Soviet Union. Your brothers and sisters around the globe stand ready to pray for you. Share your request with me and let me post it so others can be praying. If yours is an unspoken request, we will also let others know to be praying for you.

Yesterday was a fantastic day at Friendship Harmony. Most of our services are truly enjoyable, but some days seem to be a notch above. Yesterday was one of those days. What did we do that was different? Nothing! It’s just that the glory of the LORD was present and He decided to make Himself known and felt. I was hopping He would. The last few weeks I have been preaching messages of encouragement and hope. I preached from 1 Samuel, chapter 17 where a young shepherd boy named David, steps into a seemingly impossible situation. He asks, “Is there not a cause?” He is saying, “Is their not a cause to stand for? Is our God worthy of our taking a stand for Him?” Each of us come face to face with our Goliaths frequently. Does Goliath cause you to fear and tremble, and become paralyzed as he did the army of the Children of Israel, or do you go face him with what you have and the LORD at your side. All David had was a slingshot and five rocks, but he trusted God, faced the giant, and declared victory in the name of the LORD.

I put a statement in the bulletin in big bold letters. I encouraged the people to cut it out and put it on their refrigerator. It said, “Child of God do not be downhearted. The victory is yours because the battle is the LORD’s.” You think about that.

May the LORD bless your week. Do what you can to keep yourself healthy and safe. I’ll see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

Don’t forget to send those prayer requests!!!