A Promise of a New Journey

Greetings,

There are times when we are taken down a path in life that we never really expected we would be taken down. In all honesty, I am being taken down more than one of those paths and it has been an eye-opening experience. It has all helped me see the world a little differently and while the paths I am heading down are struggles in their own right, I am seeing changes within that I didn’t know were needed.

The Ephesus Pages Devotional: Dawn of Daybreak

 “Paul teaches us not to give in to fear and doubt, but to speak into those things with the word of the Lord. I find this difficult because of everything going on with Titus and John Mark. How can we continue to speak life into the Ephesian people when we are still searching for them? As a doctor, I must seek life. I am not seeking to save their lives by staying here.”

~Aristarchus ~

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There are moments, like the way Aristarchus feels, in life that we are going to struggle to understand. We are also going to struggle with the weight of the choices we have made and often wonder, “Was this the right choice?” As someone who endures a lot of anxiety at times, I can attest to how true feelings like these cloud our minds. They are intrusive thoughts that tend to keep us from seeing the path laid out for us through the chaos we face. 

The Ephesus Pages Devotional: Ties That Bind Us

 “I point to the weak moments in my life not to offer evidence of who I am, but to illustrate where my path has taken me.  Finding your way amid the chaos of what lies within is never easy, dear one, but facing that chaos will show you the way of glory. In finding my way, I found confidence in who I was created to be...”

~ John Mark ~

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At this point in John Mark’s story, he is beginning to see that there are things in his life that are worth reflecting upon. One aspect of life he is beginning to understand is that it is often the weakest moments that reveal the most to us. We should not see our weaknesses as stains upon who we are but as opportunities for growth and transformation. There is beauty found in our struggles, and they are the very foundation of what our strengths become. 

The Ephesus Pages Devotional: The Pathfinder's Way

 "In the past, there had always been someone for me to lean on and at this point in my life, there was no one to keep me focused. The pain that began throbbing upon my forehead left me motionless at times. Pride had no place in this battle and my spirit grew heavier with every chaotic thought that found its way to the forefront of my mind." ~ John Mark ~

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We often find ourselves in moments that leave us feeling utterly alone. In the first episode of The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins, John Mark finds himself in a similar situation. He is burdened by the weight of his thoughts and by the absence of support. These words can resonate with anyone who feels they are facing a season of solitude and struggle. However, it is in these moments that we can find significant growth and build a more purposeful connection with God.

The Ephesus Pages Devotional: An Introduction

Greetings, 

One of my favorite things about releasing The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins is that there are many quotable moments in the story. While it was not my intent to do this, that is what happened and I have been seeking confirmation about doing this for a few weeks. When I asked God to give me a story that focused more on Paul and some of his Missionary Journeys, the city of Ephesus stuck out to me deeply. 

Let's Wrap up 2024

Where to begin?

I rarely get sentimental or personal about aspects of my life outside of writing and encouraging others, but I have to say 2024 was a whirlwind of chaos and unpredictability. It has been a year of drastic change and a great deal of learning and discovery. While I began the year on a huge positive note by completing the novel, The Cyprus Journal, and then releasing it on Orthodox Easter, things quickly changed. 

The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins

 
Greetings, 

I'm so excited to let everyone know that The Ephesus Pages: A Journey Begins is now available for download.  It is crazy to think that this story started off as an eight-part mini-series and has now developed into three different parts of the same story. While Part I: A Journey Begins released today, Part II: Mysteries in Ephesus is still being written and should be ready in the first quarter of 2025. It will be uploaded as additional content to the story that released today when the time is right. 

The Ephesus Pages- Authors Note

Greetings, 

I thought that for today's post, I would share a bit about why my upcoming release was written. Without further delay, this is the Authors note. The Ephesus Pages Part I: A Journey Begins is live as a Pre-Order right now and will be released on my oldest daughter's birthday 12/20/24. I hope you will check it out for yourself. 

The Ichthys Letters: The Letter to Philadelphia (The One that Began it All)

Greetings, 

With my introduction to the Ichthys Letters being released just under a week ago now, I thought it would be really fun to share the very first letter, as it was written for my college assignment, here for everyone to see. I am going to re-write this one in the tone, and mindset, that I write today, and will also give you more background into these characters in another post, but it's always fun to remember, isn't it? I will publish the second one soon as well. Without further ado? 

Finding Philemon: The Foundation

Greetings, 

One of the Questions I've been asked about Finding Philemon is "How did you even come up with this story?" Let me tell you, that is two long stories in itself to write in a blog post like this, but I did want to hit the highlights for those who are interested in my process. There were several contributing factors in how this all came to be, but it all started back in 2015. 

Book Reviews: A Father Offers His Son by Scott LaPierre

Greetings, 

Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

Have you ever wondered why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22?

The Angel stopped Abraham showing God did not intend for him to kill Isaac, but what did God desire? Prophecies in the Old Testament look forward to Jesus, but He is also revealed through types and shadows. Genesis 22 is one of the greatest examples. God wanted to test the patriarch and prophet, Abraham, but readers will discover the account also reveals:

• In human terms what God would do with His Son two thousand years later

• The many ways Abraham and Isaac are a picture of God and His Son

• The tremendous love of God shown through Christ’s sacrifice

Genesis 22 is not primarily about Abraham and Isaac. God and Jesus are the true and greater Father and Son shining forth in the account. Abraham did not spare his son but was willing to deliver him up for God. Likewise, God “did not spare His Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).

Learn the remarkable parallels between God and Abraham, and Jesus and Isaac. With thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, the book is perfect for personal use or group Bible studies.

My Review:

Scott LaPierre has a real talent for taking the scriptures and bringing them to life through what he writes. His heart for reaching others reveals itself in many ways throughout the context of his new book "A Father offers His Son."

As we dive into this newest release, there were times when some of the text seemed above the norm. In other words, he is speaking to an audience that tends to be more aware of the contextual issues behind the scriptures he uses to tell his story from the point of view that he does.

While other books by him seem more practical this one deeper look into both him as an author and the story he is sharing. I always look forward to reading Scott's books and learning something about the meaning behind the message he presents to his readers.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is Scott’s use of imagery and symbolism. It’s not every day that someone can successfully include this in their work in such a way that really helps you grasp the depth of the story’s meaning and the message they are communicating.

I am sure that this book will speak to your heart as it has spoken to mine. The message he communicates, while not what I expected at first, it is still an interesting one to read. It will give you a good look at the foundation of scripture, and the story scripture teaches.

You may be surprised to learn a few new things upon completing this book, and I encourage you to keep an open mind when reading it, so that it will speak to you all the more.

The Purpose of Pain- An Emotional Reality

Greetings,

I started this little series a while back, the first post is entitled, Thoughts on the purpose of pain. I've been thinking about it a lot more lately and thought I'd share a bit more.

Thoughts On The Purpose of Pain

Have you ever wondered what life would be like if there were no pain? How different would life actually be? Would we really be all that different?

I have often thought of this, and even more as of late with some news I heard recently. Sometimes I've wondered why pain even exists, what its true purpose is. To be honest, it hasn't always made any real since to me. Life is full of so many different hurts and all types of suffering and I just don't really understand why sometimes. If it were up to me I don't really know if I even would have brought the concept of pain and suffering into this world.

It's really hard sometimes for me to see what goes on in the world and then to think any other way. However, I've always known that pain is a part of what God can, and does, use to make miracles happen, but there is just so much of it.

Our world is broken and while I have never really thought that the purpose of pain was about Judgement or His wrath, it can be difficult to see it in any other light. I realize that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but would He really take the concept of pain and use it to pass judgement on His beloved children.

If you think about the way a parent disciplines a child, we often do bring some type of pain to our children, whether we ground them from TV, put them in time out, or when we start embracing more of a tough love approach. Each of these causes some type of pain.

One of the things that I learned a long time ago was that there is more than just one type of pain. There is Emotional Pain, there is Physical Pain, there are even Mental attributes to pain, but most importantly there is Spiritual Pain. All of these types of pain have a purpose I'm sure, but why?

I've come to believe that maybe the purpose of pain changes with circumstance, situation and experience. So, there is not really one purpose but many. You could say that pain is the result of sin, which some would argue, or you could say that pain is only in this world so that the light of God can use it to break through the darkness that has taken hold of each of us in some way or another.

None of us are perfect are we? We all have something we struggle with and to me, that's where the darkness has the higher ground. You could even say that we experience pain so we can learn from it, I'm not sure how that would work but, there it is.

Maybe there is an answer that I just haven't been able to comprehend yet or maybe there really is no purpose behind it. I think that it's worth some research though. So, I guess I'm going to commit to doing some research about it and go from there. For now, Let's just leave it open and see where God leads.

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

Welcoming Hannah Joy

Hello Everyone, 

I know it's been quite a while since my last blogpost and I've got some I will be posting this week before I head back to work. For today, I wanted to share my account of we welcomed a beautiful little girl, Hannah Joy Elliott, into our family this past week and it was a miracle to say the least.

As many of you know we usually plan to have home births, both Leyla and Caleb were born in the comfort of our home and we had planned to do the same with Hannah. However, there were some unforeseen complications with her delivery. These complications we completely unexpected, both the good and the bad.

My wife, Traci, went into Labor at home around 10:30pm on September 21st and was doing quite well. We were only 6 hours in and we thought that Hannah was going to be here with in the next hour, but for what ever reason she could not get any further. No matter how hard Traci tried over the next several hours nothing changed.  She was bleeding pretty badly and it seemed to be getting worse. WORRY!!

So, in the blink of an instant we were talking about having to go to the Hospital. As we arrived at the hospital, it was about 10:30am on September 22nd.  The Doctor on duty met with us and checked everything out and said that she wanted to wait for a while before making any major decisions. While we waited nothing changed, what ever was keeping baby Hannah from coming into this world was not letting up. FEAR!!

While we waited, we heard of the arrival of other babies in the maternity ward and discouragement sank in. My mind began to wonder both about the baby and about Traci. Her lips had turned pale blue and her skin as pale as could be. The blood loss continued to control the entire birth. It was not a very easy feeling.  I could do nothing but pray and ask others to do the same. DISCOURAGED!!

Finally, the Doctors were able to get the bleeding to stop but Hannah still had not come down enough.  We sent out mass amounts of texts to those we could get a hold of and asked them to pray. Others called us saying things that were beyond comprehension as they prayed for us. It was as if the Lord God had moved in the hearts of Men and Women all over and that a war was waging, Satan would not take the life of our little Hannah or my beloved wife Traci. PRAYER!!

The prayers of the people spoke louder than all the discouragement around us and we were not about to give up. Some of those that prayed, shared of the promises that God had given them about our daughter and little by little the light began to gain the ground discouragement and worry has taken. Little glimmers of hope surrounded us all and unknowingly, God continued to work HOPE!! 

Our hearts slowly began to sparkle with peace and even in the midst of despair we knew we'd see our little Hannah that day. ENCOURAGED!!

Finally the Doctors had chosen, "We are going to prep you for a C-Section." Preparations began and while our hearts desire was that God would work a miracle WE WERE AT PEACE!! As they came in to take us into surgery, the doctor said to the nurse, "lets check her out one more time." Immediately Every thing changed...  PEACE!!

Close to 8pm on the 22nd the nurse stopped everything that she was doing. "Your going to give birth in the next hour or so." WHAT?? WE THOUGHT?? Well, not any more. At first we doubted but then the doctor confirmed and after just one push, our little Hannah was coming out all on her own. With in the hour, Traci held our beautiful daughter in her pale skinned arms and kissed her with her pale blue lips. REST!! 

IT WAS A MIRACLE!!!

We found out later that the situation was more dangerous that we thought, Traci had a partial placental abruption. This was what they assume had stopped Labor, if it had gotten worse things would have been a lot different. It could have been very serious and it was for a while, but God spoke life into both Traci and little Hannah through the prayers of the people and the knowledge of his peace within our hearts. JOY!!

God's hand was upon us and everyone involved, Satan's hold was vanquished and life truly prevailed. I will always remember that day and that God watches over us and that His glory will always win. LIFE!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, I hope and pray it will bring encouragement to all who read it. God is always with you and to those who claim God does not exist, you weren't there but HE WAS!!

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott

From the Darkside of the Light

“When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” – Jonah  3:10 (NLT)
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Sometimes it is hard to really grasp what God is trying to say to us, isn’t it?  We live our live in the moment, as we should, and it just seems that finding Him at work is almost impossible at times. All to often we talk so much about the Love of God that we forget about His wrath, His judgement and His reactive spirit.

It took me a great deal of time to realize this but every time I see God at work in one of those three fashions, I am seeing Him work in Love. God reveals His love to us in so many ways  and we will never be able to comprehend them.

In the instance of the passage above, God had just told the Ninevites that he was going to destroy them. At first he was, but when they repented, He relented His Judgement. In our lives, there may be those moments in which we feel as though we are getting hit way more with the bad things of this world than the Good. Many would even say, it often seems as though He is letting more of the bad happen then the good.

I don’t agree with this assessment, because we live in a fallen world and because of that one fact, we will always have to face the consequences of a world that has turned it’s back on God.

Don't get me wrong, there are still a faithful few but the world we, as believers, claim to love so much has turned its focus away from the one who created it. To be completely honest, I don't really think that it’s really a fair gesture that we have to deal with these consequences, but it’s reality, so what are you going to do, right?

We can’t change what’s happened in the past but we can change will happen in the days to come. God used a very dark message to bring a heavenly outcome in the history of Nineveh. The King’s willingness to bring His city into a repentant mind set changed a dark and gloomy future into something bright and beautiful. He can do that in your life today if you let Him.   

Today, I believe I share a calling that few have been given. It’s a call to speak of the repentant heart. As I begin to embrace this calling those that read my content will see a change in venue, so to speak. I will begin to speak from the dark side of the light. For the longest time It was my passion, my desire to share content that is both simple and positively encouraging but times have changed and God has placed this passion upon my heart.

I believe that you will begin to see a darker side to what I post. In the midst of this dark tone, I also feel that there be an encouraging flair to what I share. Just as the Prophets of Old spoke through lamenting, cautionary thoughts and bold warnings, it has been placed upon my heart to do the same.

This is only the beginning and I truly hope you will join in as we journey together into a bright and beautiful future. 

Stay Tuned,  

Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott