philressler.com

Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of you, let my first impulse be to worship you, let my first word be your Name, let my first action be to kneel before you in prayer. - John Baillie Put God first in your life! It is something I have said. It is something I try to do. I want God to be first and foremost in my life. But I will be honest and admit that this is a struggle. I do not often put God first. I tend to put my worry and anxiety first. Prayer becomes more of my last resort than my first option. If I am honest, I will recognize that I give more lip-service to God … [Read More...]

I remember when I was a teenager and stayed up late at night watching television. There were times when I stayed up so late that the television station would start playing the National Anthem before going off-air. On the screen would be a picture like this: There was nothing else to watch. That was it. I had reached the end of the available viewing content for the day. With not much else to do, I would find my way to bed. The world is different today. There is never a time when there is nothing to watch. There is an endless feed of content to consume in the age of Netflix, Amazon Prime … [Read More...]

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29, ESV) I hope you have had a great summer. The Fall of the year is quickly approaching. Kids in many parts of the country have returned to school. My kids are counting the days until they return in September. It has been a busy summer for me. I feel as if I have hardly been home. I have been present with my congregation only two of the last six Sundays. I was away at our denomination’s National Youth Gathering in July. In August, I took a sabbatical. I call … [Read More...]