Fire & EMS Chaplain - Emergency Ministries

Let's face it, whether volunteer or paid, we have really strange jobs. We want to go into burning buildings... we want to go out on a lousy night to help people torn up by alcohol and their cars... we want to go into the worst part of town to help a shooting victim. What does this mean? It means we have jobs that are stress. So, how do we deal with it? Well, you know the old saying,"If all else fails, read the instructions!" The "instruction book" for life is the Bible. There are many stress-relievers in God's Word. On this page, we will be looking at different verses each week.

Click here to read the archived copies of STRESS RELIEF

Emergency Ministries is an IRS 501.c.3 organization and donations are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated. PO Box 9121 * Spring, TX * 77387

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June 26, 2009

"HE Is"

""Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but Him. "

- Mark 12:32 (NIV)

Throughout the Bible, a theme is repeated; "GOD IS." That phrase alone is used 161 times. A few short years ago, there was a father and son singing team that went by "Aaron Jeffrey." They wrote and performed a song called "HE Is." These are the lyrics to that awesome song that describes some of the things HE IS;

He Is

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest
Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice
Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign

Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire

In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary

In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain

In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

He is, He is, HE IS!

The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM

He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
and when time is no more
He is, HE IS!

In the beginning... HE was. HE has always been... GOD. HE will always be... GOD. When Moses asked GOD what His name was, GOD replied, "I am." isn't that comforting? It should be... time and time again we are assured that HE is. Leave no doubt in your mind.

Today, HE calls you. Today, HE is. HE wants you to know HIM and know that HE is. Ask HIM into your life right now and start serving...

...On HIS Shift,

Copyright � 2009 Chaplain Skip Straus and Emergency Ministries.

June 18, 2009

"Rescue ONE"

"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"

- Daniel 6:16 (NIV)

I think everyone has heard the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. It's a great story from the Bible (Book of Daniel... go figure) of a man of faith. The story goes that a king named Darius was convinced by his advisors to issue an edict that anyone caught praying "any god or man except you" would be thrown into a cave of lions. Daniel was one of the king's administrators. But, more importantly, he was a man of GOD. The other administrators then told the king that Daniel was in violation of the decree because... oh, my goodness... he prayed three times a day. Why did they say that to the king about Daniel? Jealousy? Hatred? Because he was a believer? Probably all of that.

But, the king really liked and respected Daniel and "When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him." (Daniel 6:14) But, the others came to the king and reminded him that such a decree must be upheld. So, reluctantly, the king threw Daniel into the lion's den, saying to him, "I hope your GOD rescues you."

And GOD did. And Daniel used it as an opportunity to give his testimony to the king. The story ends like this; At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions' den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?"

Daniel answered, "O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king."

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. (Daniel 6:19-23).

Have you ever been 'thrown in the lion's den' because of your faith? Maybe not so dramatically, perhaps... but, I believe each of us will face ridicule and hate because of what we believe... really Who we believe... our REAL CHIEF.

How about you? How has GOD rescued you? Maybe you need RESCUE ONE right now. Call on HIM. Ask to serve...

...On HIS Shift,

Copyright � 2009 Chaplain Skip Straus and Emergency Ministries.

June 9, 2009

"GOD's Fire Triangle"

"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."

- Proverbs 26:20 (NIV)

You remember the old fire triangle, right? Oxygen + fuel + heat = fire. Well, if you remove the wood (fuel), the fire goes out.

The same thing happens in the station. Huh?, you ask. Think about it, things are fine around the station (or the office, or the house) when everyone is busy with calls or with training or with duties. It's when there is idle time that the tension in the air is palpable at times. Why? Because someone starts a rumor. It is always the same, "Hey did you hear about ___________?"

Remember the old communications game from your High School class? Someone would whisper a scripted paragraph to one person, who would turn to the next person and whisper what they heard and so on and so on. By the time you got to the last person, the whole story had changed. That exercise was fun. Real rumors are not fun. They hurt people. It all starts with "did you hear about" and that person tells another person, who tells another... each time, the teller adds or subtracts information.

Proverbs 17:4 says, "A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue." That should tell you a lot about not only spreading rumors, it tells a lot about those who listen to them as well. The verse says that if you just listen to a rumor (evil lips - in other words, you have a pretty good idea that the person giving you the "scoop" on someone is not saying it to build that other person up) - you are a "wicked man".

Have you ever been the victim of a rumor? How did it feel? Now... have you ever help spread a rumor about someone? How do you think the other person felt?

Next time you are sitting around and someone says, "Did you hear about....", politely excuse yourself from the conversation. Don't be a party to spreading venom. That way, the morale will improve and you will become part of a solution as you serve...

...On HIS Shift,

Copyright � 2009 Chaplain Skip Straus and Emergency Ministries.

June 2, 2009

"The Best Crew"

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

- Colossians 3:13-14 (NIV)

Working in public safety is quite different than working in a "normal" profession (does that mean we are abnormal??? lol). By that, I mean that we are a group made up of "type A" personalities, called by our REAL CHIEF to serve in capacities that most folks would never conceive of. Add on top of those type "A" personalities extensive training and combine it with horrific situations and massive adrenaline dumps... well, as a crew, you get quite the mixture. That mixture can sometimes become explosive, can't it?

Throughout the years, though, I have observed that the crew that truly loves to work together emerges as the crew to be on. It is the crew (or the shift) that others want to transfer to. Why is that? Perhaps they have learned what our verses for the week say... they have learned to forgive and they have learned to love. They have learned to work almost as a family. I mean, after all, in shift work we sometimes spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our spouse.

Our verses for the week say that for any relationship to survive, we must have two things in our heart; forgiveness and love. I know there are times that someone on our crew has hurt us... and we have probably hurt others. The best crew is one that is made up of individuals who have learned to ask for forgiveness and also to grant forgiveness. They are also the ones who have developed such a good relationship with others on the crew that there is a love there that says, "I'm watching your back." It is a relationship forged by sleepless nights, gory scenes and a comradery and love that can only come by being there in the midst of things together... "together in perfect unity" as you serve...

...On HIS Shift,

Copyright � 2009 Chaplain Skip Straus and Emergency Ministries.

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Emergency Ministries is an IRS 501.c.3 organization

PO Box 9121 * Spring TX 77387