We Are the Root

 

Matthew 18:19-20.  ¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” NIV

Praise the Lord for all those who are turning again to God through Jesus Christ. We are at a time of embracing love over evil. On television, we see great numbers gathering in the name of Jesus, praising His name, singing to the glory of God, and praying as a multitude.

Churches are congregations of people who gather together for fellowship, worship, and prayer. Some congregations are small, while others fill mega-churches. Today, I am lifting up the small, rural church where fewer and fewer attend due to waning farm life. Economic pressures, like the enormous price of farm land and the equipment necessary for operation, coupled with a very low profit margin, account for the shrinking family farm. The rural church, located a mile up the road, has been experiencing a decline in attendance. That isn’t bad. It’s a blessing. They are part of the root of the church and gather in faithfulness and love.

The anchor in the lives of many people, is the church family. The church holds the stories of Mr. Friendly’s constant service to others, because of his love for the Lord. The church also provides the echo of Mrs. Lovely, who taught your third-grade Sunday school class and brought the face of Jesus into your midst.

I lift up praise for the bursting fellowship of believers, and the small church where “two or three,” or twenty or thirty, are gathered together in Your presence. For we are all the root, ever faithful to gather together to praise His name, and to pray for others in need. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Let us pray:

Holy Father, God of all, we praise your name. May your Kingdom come at your timing. For this day, we ask that you strengthen the will of all those gathered in your name. Your presence is felt in churches, large and small. Actually, there are no small churches. Since you are there in the midst of worship, there cannot be anything small about it. Forgive us when we use numbers to evaluate your followers. For Your presence is miraculous, whether two or two thousand are present. To you we give all glory and praise. Amen  

Doris

Doris Gaines Rapp

 

The Blood of the Lamb

 

1 John 1:7   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (NIV)

My husband and I had a wonderful blue-sky drive on Friday to spend time with family. An interesting thought came over the radio, and I needed to jot down the idea in a notebook I carry. Glenn Beck reported that some people are concerned about the blood of Jesus purifying us from sin. Some found bathing in blood more than they cared to consider.

Lovelies, thousands of years ago, the temple priests in old Jerusalem would kill a lamb as a sacrifice to God. Though their people had sinned, as we all do, the lamb was slain in their place. When Jesus was crucified, though sinless, they pierced his side to make sure he was dead. The blood he shed was a sacrifice for our sins. He loved His Father so much and all of us who believe in Him, that he gave His life for us.

I do not intend to rewrite the Bible. To understand our scripture a little better, I’m simply offering another way to look at it. “… and the love of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

When we pray, through the name of Jesus, we wrap ourselves in His love as we stand before God. As He looks at us, He sees Christ’s love, surrounding us, and purifying us.

Let us pray: Dear Father in Heaven and Abba in my heart, I pray that I may walk in your light each day, to see more clearly the footprints of your Son. I don’t need to know when someone is touched by the love you give through me. I only asked to be used. You are love, and when I share that love, I speak your name. Forgive me when I’ve failed to share you with others. May it be that you are seen despite my negligence in speaking out on your behalf. I love you, Lord God, and I pray to you in the name of your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Doris

Doris Gaines Rapp, PhD.

Charlie’s Homecoming Celebration

 

September 21, 2025

Jesus told His disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14: 1-4 (NIV)

Jesus went to prepare a place for Charlie Kirk and, for you and me. While on the faculty at Taylor University, I always heard a funeral referred to as a “homecoming.” Charlie has gone home and will be there when his loved ones arrive in years to come.

We are all children of God. We are all Charlies, in our own blessed way, and every “way” is different, equally measured out, and designed to serve Him. I heard of a young man who attended a week-long spiritual rally. Whether the story is true or not, the underlying message is amazing. The revival meeting didn’t draw huge numbers, and attendance dwindled as the week went along. The few that remained at the close of the week greeted the evangelist at the end of the last evening’s service. One young man shook the evangelist’s hand and said, “My name is Billy Graham.” No, the evangelist didn’t reach many people, but Billy did. In my heart, I know that God planned it that way and blessed them both with “A job well done, good and faithful servant.”

Given a task, with Jesus at our side, we can fulfill it. We are not all called to establish a great movement like Charlie did. We are called to provide the witness that He gave us. We do not diminish that gift by saying, “But, God, no one will notice me. They won’t know that I am important to you with such a small job you have given me.”

Hallelujah, Lord, there are no small tasks. The books I write touch people I usually do not know, in ways I do not know. As a psychologist, my words were buried deep in a client’s heart even when I thought they hadn't heard me. Some would say, “Dr. Rapp, I remember when you said ….” My first thought was usually, “Oh my, what did I say that time?” But it was a blessing to them, because Jesus sat with us in my office.

We are all servants. I would rather scrub the floors in Christ’s heavenly home, than to be met at the door with, “I’m sorry. I do not know you.” As you remember Charlie Kirk, his life, his work, and his witness, I challenge you to pray every day, a special prayer – the servant’s prayer.

“Oh, God of glory, holy is your name. May your kingdom come on earth and may I serve you while I’m here. Give me the courage to serve your people, to speak your name and your message, and to say exactly what someone needs to hear today, or to do what needs to be done. May I not know who it was, or under what circumstances, so that I may not boast. Only you deserve glory, Lord God. I pray in the name of your son, my savior, Jesus Christ. Amen”

Blessings to all,

I hope you live all of your life.

Doris

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

Unblocked

 Like so many others, this blog had been blocked for many years. I will attempt to meet with you at least once per month. I ask that the Lord God bless you all.

Doris

Thank You, Sally Walker

Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”, and he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you… This is my name forever, and this is my memorial-name to all generations.… I AM.”  Exodus 3:14 (New American Standard Bible)

I heard it said … Yahweh (God’s name) is actually the sound of air, or the breath of God. He who is the very air we breathe identified himself to Moses as “I AM” … Life itself … and we, inheritors of all Jesus, the Son of God, had and has, should not let anyone or any circumstance identify us by any other  name — I am a child of I AM.

Tomorrow I go into the hospital for a second round of surgeries on my back. One necessity for now, and at least six weeks following, will be the use of a walker I named Sally. My physician called Sally “my BFF.” Maybe so, but I refused to be identified as the little-old-lady-with-the-walker. I have hired Sally to be my professional/personal assistant: the one who steadies my walk, provides a seat when I’m tired, and acts as a truck for hauling stuff from room to room. It does not define me at the very essence of my identity.

I am a child of the Living God. I breathe in the breath of God. I’m not rich in monetary things. … God isn’t about the things of this world. He’s about the richness of life with Him. Sally Walker is my employee, my tool for service and I refuse to let anyone identify me otherwise. Their misperception is not a label for me. It is an indication of who they are and who they serve or don’t serve.

Who or what events do you let identify you? Know who you are and whose you are, and serve Him alone. Let’s pray:

“Heavenly father, God of all who breathe in your sweet air, Holy is your name. May your kingdom of Love come to all of us, filling the entire world with your grace. For today, I ask you to so fill me with your sweetness that both this body you have given me to live in and this life you have created me to be may overflow with who you are: the creator, the healer, the forgiver, and the living God … always alive, always in the present, always I AM. Forgive me when I confuse wishes for myself with blessings from you. Help me to never identify others beyond another breath of life … of God. You are LIFE and BREATH, FORGIVENESS and GLORY forever. Amen”

Doris

Copyright 2018 Doris Gaines Rapp

www.prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com

www.dorisgainesrapp.blogspot.com

Author of nine novels and several non-fiction

Website: www.dorisgainesrapp.com

www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com

WORDS OF LIFE

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Proverbs 22: 6 (NKJV)

What language does your children or grandchildren hearing when you speak? Are you burying words in their mind and heart — that can never be un-heard — that are not worthy of treasuring? At this time of year, we have chosen to emphasize ghouls and goblins and things that go bump in the night, rather than beauty and color and things that lift us to realms of light.

With Halloween coming up in a week, how are you preparing your children? We live in a culture that glorifies death with skulls a common decoration around us. How can we lift up the living God and the resurrected Jesus, rather than death and evil?

I would like to suggest a phrase you could say when you hand out autumn candy on October 31. We could say, “Blessings to you at Harvest time!” Let us pray:

“Holy Father, love divine, sacred is your name. May your kingdom of love and mercy fall down on everyone this fall, that we may harvest your love and grace. For today, we ask you to give us the courage to stand up for life and songs of love, rather than death and dirges. Forgive me when I have joined the world that worshiped death in previous years and direct me to use words that lift up love and praise. In the precious name of Jesus, the Christ, I pray. Amen”

Doris

Copyright 2017 Doris Gaines Rapp

Other Blog: dorisgainesrapp@blogspot.com

Website: dorisgainesrapp.com

All books available at amazon.com, b&n.com, and cokesbury.com

Women of Honor

“But Ruth replied (to her mother-in-law), "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16  NIV

March is National Women’s History Month. I would like to honor parsonage women, spouses of pastors.

As the wife of a minister, I remember my first women’s meeting at a new church we began serving. A woman asked an innocent question. “What do you believe is the role of the pastor’s wife and their children?”

My answer was simple, “My children are on display for no one.” As to the roll of the pastor’s wife, I said, “God has given me some talents and training, one is vocal music. I would like to sing in the choir. Another is my degree in Education so I’d like to teach a Sunday school class if needed.” Then, I thought of the hundreds of women who have moved to join congregations and are completely misunderstood. I smiled and added, “Sorry, even with a minor in music, I do not play the piano; and, I have no particular talent in the kitchen. With my husband gone nearly every evening, I will be home with our children. I’ll not be at the church every time the lights are on.” Sounds harsh? No, it’s honest—no surprises, no disappointments, no failed expectations.

I honor all those wives and parsonage families who have to find a new physician every few years in a completely strange community. They must search out the most economic local grocery; which vet is best for their pets; organize play-dates for their lonely children; seek which merchants to trade with in order to not offend members of the church; . . . those who wait at home night after night for their minister husband to come home from meetings. I honor all those women who rear their children to walk in the footprints of Christ, who show up for recitals, track meets, and gather around the kitchen table every night to complete homework. I honor the love and loyalty they give to their husbands whom God called into ministry. The Lord God also called their spouse into the blessed unit called “family.” I honor parsonage women who create “family” for their children and respect their husband, even when absent. Let us pray”

“Father God, creator of all there is, you have called some into a walk with you that requires uprooting young plants from their bed of security. Holy is your name and blessed are those who walk in your paths. I ask that you bless all those women who honor you by keeping their children safe so that the world may not touch them, even though they are dug-up and replanted in new soil. May that newness be a blessing and fresh nourishment, not a curse on those who love and follow you. We give up all sense of “home-town” and claim Heaven as our home. In the name of Jesus Christ whom we follow, I pray. Amen”

Doris

"God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”

Copyright 2017 Doris Gaines Rapp

Another blog: www.dorisgainesrapp.blogspot.com

Website: www.dorisgainesrapp.com