Row after row! ~ May 29th, 2022
Well, as I start the Memorial Day weekend I was blessed with a new poem. As I thought about all our fallen soldiers it brought back the memory in 1963 when I visited the Cemetery of Verdun in France where I was stationed for 2 years.
Row After Row
I walked through the Cemeteries of Verdun,
with a heavy heart what did I see?
Row after row of white crosses,
lives sacrificed for you and for me.
Each one, someones loved one
that never did come back.
Young lives cut short
because they did what that were asked.
They believed in what that were doing
paying the ultimate cost you see.
They gave up their lives for us,
because freedom does not come free.
So on this Memorial Day observance,
it is important that each one of us knows.
It is a day just for those that paid it all,
now under the white crosses, row after row.
E. P. Shagott
5/28/2022
What also comes to mind is the thought of our soldiers loved ones, especially the mothers whose sons and daughters did not come back. What a cost for sure that was.
Yes, this weekend and ALWAYS, remember the fallen who gave their all!
I wrote this song several years ago. Though I served in the military from 1961 to 1964 I was blessed for it was during a peaceful time. Shortly after I left the military the Vietnam War broke out. My heart breaks for those men and women that came back to a country where many turned their backs to them. To all of them my sincere thanks for their service and love for their country.
God's love and grace to you all!
We all opened the door! ~ May 25th, 2022
Hate Walked Through The Door
The room was bright and sunny
love filled the air like before.
Smiling faces seen shoulder to shoulder,
then hate walked through the door.
No one seemed to notice
for hate looked like you and me.
You can’t notice inside a person
for only God knows the true heart, you see.
All of sudden love was over taken,
rage and anger began to soar.
Praise and worship was silenced
when hate walked through the door.
This isn’t the first time this has happened,
intolerance throughout history seems to be the norm.
Caring less and less for each other
letting hate walk through the door.
How can we stop hate from happening,
well, I think the answer is plain to see.
We must all learn respect for each other,
yep, may it all start with you and me.
E. P. Shagott
10/29/18
I was inspired with the poem above after seeing this picture and story on Facebook after a church shooting.
Just within 10 days here in America we have been made aware of two mass killings. One of mainly elderly and one of elementary children. Both the shooters were 18 years old. All the victims had the same thing in common, they were human beings. The difference was the elderly were in the senior part of their lives where the children just beginning. The shooters also had something in common, driven by hate and consumed by evil. As what was written above with the church shootings, "A madman pulled the trigger but "hate" did the killing.
With each passing day our hearts are getting more and more callous and hardening. Many people no longer understand about love, and it appears lack the desire to give or receive it for what ever reason. Many, many years ago our God, the God of creation gave man and women, "free will". I believe this was done so they could "choose" to love Him. Of course free will can go either way. What we have experienced within the last 10 days is the evil part. The evil in the 18 year old's hearts to drive them to do what they did.
We each are given one day at a time to choose. Do we use it for good or bad. Our great country, yes great even in times like this, was built on "Godly" principles.
Mark 12:38-31
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
I do pray to our Heavenly Father that His people will turn from their wicked ways. If you notice in 2 Chronicles 7:14 it starts off with a small word, "IF"!
God's love and grace to you all!
Tough times! ~ May 22nd, 2022
Today is a bitter sweet day for myself and my family. Sweet because it was my late wife's birthday. For 58 years I celebrated each one with her. Bitter because it is only done in memories now. For sure in life we all experience the good, happy times together. Even in the bad, the storms of our lives, it is easier going through them with love ones.
Tough times there will always be. Sunshine will be hidden behind storm clouds, but it is there. I love this story about birds singing through the storm.
There is a beautiful story I heard long ago which told of song birds being brought on a ship out to sea to arrive to the other shore. There were thirty-six thousand of them, mostly canaries. When the ship started out the seas were calm and the little birds set silent. They kept their little heads tucked under their wings and not a single note did they sing.(TALK ABOUT PERFECT PEACE) Anyway the third day out to sea , the ship struck a furious gale.. The passengers became terrified and all the children began to weep. Just then a strange thing happened. As the tempest reached it's height, the litlle birds lifted their heads and began to sing. First one, then another until all thirty-six thousand were singing as if their little throats would burst.
Lord, thank You, for now what I do, is "Praise You In The Storm"!
As the person who shared the story of the singing birds, we must ask ourselves, what must and should I do, how should we respond when the storms in our lives raise up furiously. Is our IMMEDIATE response, that one of SINGING?
Isaiah 49:13 , His word says that we are to break forth into singing.
FATHER, teach us to begin the singing of Heaven in every situation and grant us YOUR GRACE to sing immediate rehearsals of eternal Hallelujahs.
Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and forget not All of HIS BENEFITS.
SING...KNOWING that these are endless possibilities for HIM to perform the miraculous in your life.
Be blessed my friends, as you continue to walk hand in hand, LINKED HEART TO HEART WITH HIM.
See, today being a tough time, not being able to celebrate with my wife, as we did so many times before, I praise God for her life and what we shared, the good as well as the bad. Happy, 1st "ETERNAL" birthday, Jeanne! One day we will celebrate again, together! Yes, we will once again be "Home", together.
Yes, "When I Fall In Love", it is forever! See you at the house!
God's love and grace to you all!
Word of God, speak! ~ May 18th, 2022
I found this story of how an elderly gentleman explained to his grandson about the Bible.
The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.
The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.
That is the work of God in our lives. To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son. Take time to read a portion of God's word each day.
BIBLE = Basic Information Before Leaving Earth
Did you know?
The Bible – the best-selling book of all time
The Bible – the only book to be completely alphabetized
The Bible has a total of 66 books.
39 Books in the Old Testament.
27 Books in the New Testament.
31,173 verses total in the Bible (depending on the translation).
23,214 verses are in the Old Testament.
7,959 verses are in the New Testament.
The whole King James Bible has 788,258 words, 31,102 verses, and 1,189 chapters.
The Bible – no book has been translated into more languages
As of 2019, the entire Bible has been translated into 698 different languages while the New Testament has been translated into 1,548 languages. No other book even comes close.
The Bible – first message sent on the telegraph was from the Bible The telegraph, invented in 1844 by Samuel Morse, was one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century. It was only fitting that the first message sent on the telegraph was from the Bible – (Numbers 23:23), “What hath God wrought,” since Samuel Morse was a deeply committed Christian whose purpose in life was to honor the Lord in everything he did.
The longest word in the Bible is found in (Isaiah 8:3): “Mahershalalhashbaz.”
Yes, "Word of God, Speak!"
God's love and grace to you all!
Today's world! ~ May 16th, 2022
It seems almost like everyday now we are bombarded with one evil or corrupt thing after another. More and more people walking around confused or in a daze like manner for we are now living in uncertain times. I was brought to the Book of Matthew the 13th chapter. As I read it pointed out to me just how we are living today and as Jesus explained to His disciples how people were living very similar back then.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
People I believe are the same today as back 2000 plus years. So many of us just spinning our wheels as they say. We go about planting our seeds for daily growth but not understanding what we are doing. Yep, we have ears but we do not listen.
Now in verse 15 I believe we see what is happening today like back then:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
My friends like those many, many years ago "we are not understanding with our hearts"!
Now read what Jesus said in this parable about sowing;
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
and this parable about sowing "good" seed;
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
When I saw this picture Romans 14:11 came to mind;
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
My friends which will you be? With the tares or with the wheat?
No matter what is happening in the world today I think to myself "What A Wonderful World!" What we see daily, the good, the bad, and lately the ugly, we are seeing what God has given to each of us, "free will"! He did that for it was needed so that His children could decide to either love Him or not. Also we get to choose, do good, God's way, or let evil prevail. I choose to love God!
God's love and grace to you all!
That's me in the middle! ~ May 8th, 2022
Happy Mother's Day
A Mother’s Arms
A mother’s arms are strong and true, to hold tight what is dear to their hearts. They hold on in a special way, with a love that will never depart.
But what is most important to them, is the children that came from within. This is just special given to them, ever since each life began.
A mother’s arms cradles us when we are babies, lifts us up to kiss when we are small. They don’t want to let go when we are bigger, because a mother’s love is that strong.
So enjoy them when they are with you, think of them often when they are gone, for remember just like Jesus with Mary, in a mother’s arms is where we all belong.
E. P. Shagott
1/15/2011
I will always remember the day my mom passed. I was at work and got a call from the hospital saying I should come quickly for my mother took a turn for the worst. Of course when you hear those words you kind of know what has happened or is about to happen. When I got there my mother had already passed. When I saw her there was a Bible opened on her chest and her hands were pointed to the 23rd Psalm. As a Godly woman, she loved the Lord and this was her favorite Bible verses as it is with many. Yes, she did walk through the valley of death, "holding the Savior's hand!"
I love how this video I was blessed with for it explains the 23rd Psalm so well.
I love this song "Somewhere". When I sang it in a God's Love program I told the people that I did change some of the lyrics at the end. Listen closely when I sing the lyrics that I added, "Read His Word and your halfway there, ask Him in your heart and He will take you there!" Someday, Somehow, Somewhere, I will see my Mom again!
God's love and grace to you all!
Mom, Wow! ~ May 7th, 2022
Another Word For Mom
Did you know if you take the word MOM
and turn it upside down,
the next word you see is WOW,
yes, there the truth is to be found.
See, each one of the Mom’s are special,
for a blessing from God they surly be.
Just remember if not for Mom,
there would be no you and there be no me.
Though we may break their hearts many times,
their love for all never ends.
No wonder when you see, MOM,
then you also see WOW, my friends.
So hug your mother tight, if still here,
remind her just how special she is.
For one day God’s going to want her back,
WOW, for a MOM she will always be His.
E. P. Shagott
5/6/2022
For sure tomorrow being Mother's Day we should all be thinking of them. I love this picture which states it so well.
and may we always remember all the important things she taught us!
Well, I will always remember a day in May 1991. That was the day my mom was called home to be with the Lord. It was shortly after I was inspired with this poem titled, "To My Mother";
To My Mother
My mother was a special person, who always gave from the heart. She never asked for anything even the day we had to part.
I always felt special when near her for she always heard my cry. And when I felt discouraged, I had to only look in her eyes.
She had a way of saying without me asking why life is always worth living, never give up and always try.
Besides being my mother she was also my best friend. My love for her is eternal and I pray we'll meet again.
All my love, Your son Ed
I know we will meet again. United forever.
This is a song that when I would hear it or sing it for sure my mother and growing up as a child titled "Suppertime"!
God's love and grace to you all!
Man's way vs. God's way! ~ May 1st, 2022
I thought this story about John Harper explains how God works compared to man. I saw this picture on Facebook which described John Harper as a hero, which I do believe he was. After reading what it states I want to share with you what the Lord put on my heart plus also a little more explanation why Mr. Harper was on the Titanic to begin with.
The Little Known Story of John Harper
We all know the story. The Titanic, a British passenger liner, struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and sank. There is part of that story, however, that is not widely known.
One of the passengers on the Titanic was a godly Pastor from Scotland, by the name of John Harper. Harper had recently spent three months ministering at the Moody Church in Chicago, during which time the church had experienced one of the most wonderful revivals in its history. He had not been back in Britain long when he was asked to return and continue his ministry. He quickly made arrangements for himself and his six-year old daughter, Nana, to travel back to American on board the Lusitania. However, he decided to delay their departure for one week, so that they could sail on a new ship, the Titanic, which was about to make its maiden voyage.
On Sunday the 14th of April, 1912, the day when the iceberg was struck, the weather was fine, the sea calm. Harper attended the church service for the passengers. His niece reported that later that afternoon she saw her Uncle speaking individually to people about their souls. It seems he was in the habit of seeking out the lost sheep wherever he went.
The Titanic struck the iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. As the call was issued for passengers to vacate their cabins, Harper wrapped his daughter in a blanket, told her that she would see him again one day, and passed her to one of the crewmen. After watching her safely board one of the lifeboats, he removed his life jacket and gave it to one of the other passengers. One survivor distinctly remembered hearing him shout, "Women, children and the unsaved into the lifeboats!" Harper knew that believers were ready to die but the unsaved were not ready. Harper then ran along the decks pleading with people to turn to Christ, and with the ship sinking, he called upon the Titanic’s orchestra to play, "Nearer, my God, to Thee." Gathering people around him on deck, he then knelt down, and "with holy joy in his face" raised his arms in prayer. As the ship began to lurch, he jumped into the icy waters and swam frantically to all he could reach, beseeching them to turn to the Lord Jesus and be saved. Finally, as hypothermia set in, John Harper sank beneath the waters and passed into the Lord’s presence; he was 39.
Four years later, a young Scotsman by the name of Aguilla Webb stood up in a meeting in Hamilton, Canada, and gave the following testimony:
I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the tide brought Mr. John Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck, near me. ‘Man,’ he said, ‘Are you saved?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I am not.’ He replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ The waves bore him away; but, strange to say brought him back a little later, and he said, ‘Are you saved now?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I cannot honestly say that I am.’ He said again, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’ and shortly after he went down; and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.
Apparently God wanted Webb's amazing testimony to be shared, because only seven people were plucked from the icy water that night to join the survivors in the lifeboats. Webb was one of them.
Now here is my belief of how God was in control right from the beginning. Mr. Harper (man's way) was on the Titanic to come to America to accept the position of Moody Church. Yes, he was doing God's work but that is not why God had him on the "unsinkable" ship as it was called. See, I think that if the Lord would of said to John Harper, "I want you to go on the Titanic and reach out to lost souls but you will lose your life doing so",well, maybe Mr. Harper would obey and maybe not. Man's way, probably not, but God's way, all knowing and all seeing, it is the best. All those people that heard the Gospel message from Mr. Harper on that terrible day, plus Mr. Harper himself are in a better place than we are right on this very day. Many non-believers will say, "But they are all dead!". No, my friends they are all alive, in the Kingdom with God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus!! To God be the glory!
Many times in God's Love programs I close with this song titled, "The Altar". May this story of God's way touch your heart and bring you closer to Him!
God's love and grace to you all!
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