Independence! Our country was founded on it, numerous songs have been written about it and our culture today encourages the cutting of any reliance on any other source of support…
Psalm 77:11-13 NKJV[11] I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. [12] I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk…
“Take Heart” John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;…
Get Your Worship On! Five years ago, during a difficult time for the ministry of Choice, God brought forth a Divine Appointment. Because of the exodus of a key family…
My salvation testimony- April 11th 34 years ago! I vividly remember one night when I was 16 years old. I was laying in my bed and wondering if there was…
March 15, 2020, One Year Later March 15, 2020 will be a date that I will not soon forget. It was 1 year ago when I saw professional sports games…
One Powerful Way You Can Move Your Church Out of Crisis I remember when the first week of ministry was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. We contacted our ministry leaders, who…
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas in 2020, many are wondering has there ever been a more difficult season to work through Christmas. We are experiencing a medical crisis with thousands dying and many more sick from the pandemic. We have severe racial and political unrest and even a financial crisis taking place. Families are not permitted to gather or are strongly discouraged from doing so, and it appears this Christmas of 2020 is going to be different than anything we have ever experienced.
It would be easy to think we have it tough and we are alone in humanity and history in what we are experiencing. As we turn the pages back in our local history to the time of the Civil War in the Fredericksburg area, we are reminded of what our country and even our local community was experiencing on Christmas. In December of 1863, our country was at war, right in the middle of the Civil War between the North and the South. The Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania and Orange areas locally became a strategic location for the war, that many called the eastern theatre of the Civil War. There were several major battles and campaigns in our area. Just one year prior in December of 1862, nearly 17,000 casualties occurred in the Battle of Fredericksburg.
A few months later and a few miles west, at the Battle of Chancellorsville over 30,000 casualties in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania. A year after Chancellorsville, and a few more miles west, another 30,000 casualties occurred in the Battle of the Wilderness in Locust Grove. A few days later and a few more miles south east, another 30,000 casualties at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Christmas for the country and for our local community in the years of 1863 and 1864 was a disaster to say the least. Each one of these conflicts had several hundred thousands of troops marching through the locals’ properties, taking
As I take a moment to think of the Love that God has for all humanity, I think about Adam & Eve. They had it made! God loved them so much that…
On Sunday, we lit the candle of peace. We began Advent by discussing HOPE. How the world needs hope. Too many are filled with despair. Thankfully we serve the God…