Welcome to GIVING HEART

Welcome to Giving Heart, the periodic thoughts from the pen of Brad McFeters.  Through the pages of this publication, hopefully you will learn a little more about what motivates and encourages me, as well as the little nuggets from life and Scripture that grip my attention.  Some of the things that are posted will have spiritual application (I am a preacher, after all), and some will just be observations and thoughts about life.  

What’s in the name?  Why did I choose the name Giving Heart for this blog? Well, several years ago, I found a book in a used book store that grabbed my attention, and has become a resource staple in my personal study. The book is called The Family Word Finder (published by Readers Digest, a thesaurus of synonyms and antonyms in dictionary form).  One day, while thumbing through the book (I know, I’m a word nerd who enjoys thumbing through books like this) I came across the word “courage.”  After the definition was given, there was a box called “Exploring the Word”.  Here is what is in that box:

Latin cors, heart, gives us courage, having heart; concord and accord, being of one heart, agreement; discord, with the hearts apart, hence, lack of agreement; cordial, from the heart, friendly, and also a liqueur that invigorates or stimulates the heart; and even record, which literally means to bring something back to the heart or mind, as does a written record, a photographic record, or a phonograph record. (Our word cardiac doesn’t come from Latin cors but from its Greek cognate kardia, heart.)

That little text box exploring the word “courage” grabbed my attention, and as I meditated and thought on that definition, I developed a message on courage that I preached in our church.  And, through the years, I have found myself meditating again on the Bible principles I discovered in that study, and the word “courage” has grown into a special place in my heart. 

So, now I launch into the blogosphere for the first time. And as I do, I think the meaning of the word “courage” defines my purpose.  It is my desire that these visits will be used by God to bless you and help give you heart (courage) for your life journey.

If you are visiting this page and do not have a personal relationship with my Savior, let me introduce Him to you.  His name is Jesus Christ, and I love him (1 John 4:19).  Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, who came from heaven to take on the form of human man (John 1:14; 11:27).  He lived a perfect life, and “went about doing good”, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and preaching the Kingdom of God to all who would listen (Acts 10:38).  Then, he laid down his life, taking on him the punishment of sin that I deserve, and died on Golgotha’s cross (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He was buried, and three days later he arose victorious from the dead and has ascended up into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Acts 1:9).  And, he has promised to return someday to receive unto himself all those who have placed their faith and trust in him for the eternal salvation of their souls (Acts 1:10-11; 2 Thessalonians 4:13-18).  Jesus sent the promise of God’s Holy Spirit to indwell all those who trust in him, and it is that Spirit of God who gives to me the power, guidance and strength I need to live for God (John 14:26; Acts 1:8).  If you do not know my Jesus, I pray you will trust in him today.  Please send me a note or give me a call if I can help you with this decision that will impact your life and eternity.