Family Style

“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, 

proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him." - Luke 8:39

The stay at home orders during COVID-19 have given us an amazing opportunity to slow our lives down, and quite frankly, I am enjoying the slower pace of life. We aren't rushing around as much anymore. Since all practices and games have been cancelled, we have time to be together as a family. Hopefully you are spending that time around a dinner table. 

The dinner table at home is even more important than the dinner table at the station. It is the place where our relationships are forged and our worth is found. It is a place to both hear and to be heard. It is a place of love, acceptance, and truth. Kids who eat dinner regularly with their families develop verbal skills earlier, do better in school and have less incidents of depression and drug use. I believe that families who eat and pray together, stay together. 

My family has enjoyed lots of laughter and conversation over the past month and a half. We aren't scarfing down our food to get to the next thing. We are actually enjoying each other's company. With more time for meaningful conversation, now is the perfect time to share your faith with your children. It is an excellent time to pray together and count your blessings. It is a time where you can share how God has come through for you, how He has changed your life, and how you can't imagine life without Him, especially during this pandemic.  Seize this opportunity to share your life and faith with your family. Let us declare just how much He has done and is doing for us. 

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You!

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Flipped It

"...and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons." 

-Mark 11:15 

If you've ever played a no holds barred game of monopoly(the only way to play), it may have ended like the picture above. Did you think this was a game? Anger at a game, in hindsight, is pretty silly. Jesus did something like this this in much more dramatic fashion.

He had just entered Jerusalem to much fan fare on what we call Palm Sunday. Many of the people in Jerusalem declared him King. His first act as King wasn't to overthrow the Roman government but to overthrow their religion. He flipped it upside down.

Their sacrificial religious system required people to buy animals to be sacrificed on their behalf. The sellers were over charging and making a profit in God's house! Not only that, but they were doing so in the Court of Gentiles, the only place where non Jews were allowed to worship. As he flipped those tables in righteous rage, He reminded them of the scriptures saying my house will be a house of prayer for all people (Isaiah 56:7), but you have made it a den of robbers(Jeremiah 7:11). I picture Him waving his index finger in the air like Dikembe Mutumbo and saying, "Not in my house!"

God's house is a place where EVERYONE is welcome: all ages, races, economic statuses, and sin backgrounds. It is a hospital for sinners, not a country club for saints. It is not a business or a place to make a profit. Its leaders don't need or "deserve" million dollar mansions, personal jets, fancy clothes, book deals, or any other luxury. The church should stand against injustice and seek to care for orphans, widows, the marginalized, and the "least of these." And the church should be devoted to teaching ALL of scripture holding its leaders accountable for their own sins and crimes. May our churches be led by Jesus, His Holy Spirit, and the Holy Scriptures. 

-Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

The Homeschool Blessing

"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him." - Psalm 127:3

I love that I can count on you all for some great memes. Social media keeps me in stitches most days, but since social distancing has become the norm, you all have stepped up your game. I truly thank you.

As our kids and us have been forced into homeschooling, you all have not disappointed:

"And just like that corporal punishment and prayer are back in school"

"I am getting really tired of watching my parents' grandkids."

"Do you go to the refrigerator at school? Umm, No! Use your school stomach."

"Homeschooling is going well. 2 suspended for fighting and 1 teacher fired for drinking on the job."

All joking aside, instead of focusing on the negative aspects and inconveniences of the pandemic, we should focus on our blessings. We get to choose how we respond to extra family time. We get to be together as families. We have been forced to slow our crazy lives down. 

I remember being a brand new dad almost 18 years ago and having the generation before me tell me how fast time with our children passes. Now as my princess is a senior in high school, I tell young fathers the same thing. Cherish every moment with your loved ones. Embrace forced family time. Cook, play, laugh, binge watch, sing, workout, create, and dream together! Enjoy the noise. Truly make memories. It won't be long before they're grown and gone. The Good Lord tells us that they are a blessing. It's time we start believing and living it. 

-Be Blessed, 

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Sharing is Caring

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

These are interesting times. For the first time in our lives we have seen the world come to a stand still with no end in site. COVID-19 has caused a lot of inner turmoil as we face the uncertainty of tomorrow. It's in these hardest of times that we see what people truly believe and what they are made of. 

One of the first lessons we were taught as toddlers was to share. We were told incessantly to share our toys, food, and mommies. We are taught this because we are born selfish. We want to keep everything and everyone important to us to ourselves. It's human nature. A lesson that many adults should have learned decades ago has seemingly been lost. People are buying more food, soap, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper than they could ever possibly use because they are only thinking of themselves. Then there are the truly wretched who are only buying with the intent of making a profit. 

If you are a Christian, you are called to "do good" and "share with others." In these trying times we do both by thinking of others. It should be common sense. Now is the time for us to share God's love, our time, and resources with our neighbors. Now is the time for love to shine. Here are a few suggestions:

1. If you are sick, stay home. Don't go to work, church, the store, or anywhere  else where you can potentially infect someone else. Disease is something that should not be shared. 
2. If your symptoms are mild, treat them with over the counter remedies until you are better. This will free up our health care professionals to treat those who are critically ill.
3. When you are out shopping and the shelves are fully stocked, only buy what you need, and save some for the next person. 
4. Show compassion and patience to your store clerks as they are working harder than most, and tell them, "Thank you."
5. Check on the elderly who are the most susceptible and on fixed incomes. Share what you have with them or ask them what they need and get it for them.
6. Many parents don't have the luxury of working from home, so as school is cancelled and if you are able, offer to help take care their students while they work.
7. If your faith in the Lord is strong and you have a peace during this storm, share the reason for the hope you have. Pray for and with those who are struggling. 

I could go on and on, but I think we all get the point. Let's do the right thing. Let's be decent human beings, and in doing so, God is pleased. Be blessed!

-Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Photo Credit: Sonia Escobedo

Draw Near

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." -James 4:8

Most of us in the Houston area love this time of year. The weather can offer us some of the most picture perfect days of the year. With the arrival Mardi Gras comes a season of celebration. It also means it's crawfish season! Which also means the Rodeo is upon us, which means the world's best barbecue and fried Oreos are with us. All this fun, excitement, and good food is jam packed into 3-4 weeks of southeast Texas awesomeness!

With all the great food, music, and time spent with good people, it is easy to forget that we are now in the season of Lent. It started this past Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, by placing ashes on our foreheads. In Old Testament times men and women would put on sackcloth and ashes to represent mourning. On Ash Wednesday we mourn over our sins because we realize and admit that it is our sins that separate us from a Holy God, and it is our sins that nailed Jesus to the Cross. 

During the season of Lent we repent, turn away from our sins, and turn towards God. It is a time to draw closer to the God who created us and knit us together in our mother's womb(Psalm 139:13) and loved us so much that He died for us. For 40 days Christians around the world are fasting from meat, social media, coffee, chocolate, etc...And they are taking up prayer, scripture reading, volunteering, and random acts of kindness. 

Jesus' brother, James, promises us that as we forsake the things of the world, and draw near to God, He will draw near to us. That verse always makes me picture the father from the prodigal son, who sees his son returning home in the distance and takes off running towards towards him. God is calling all of us to Him for the first time, back to Him, or closer to Him. Would you join us in drawing near to God this Lent by reading this Bible reading plan from YouVersion? As you do, I pray that God will become more real and relevant than ever before. 

Be blessed, 

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Confession

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

One of my favorite things about fire station life is sitting around the table sharing life. Every morning and evening we (hopefully) share a meal together and talk. We solve the world's problems, vent, and laugh. We talk about anything and everything rather frankly. 

As believers in Christ, James tells us to confess our sins to each other. For some reason this is something extremely hard for those of us who are truly trying to follow Christ. Before we were in Christ we had no problem boasting about our sins. We actually wore them as a badge of honor. My Protestant children had no clue what the above picture is. When asked, one said, "A coffin?" True Biblical confession is a lost art.

We don't confess our sins because we don't want to admit our faults and failures, because they really become true once the words leave our mouths. We may feel that we are weaker and less than. Maybe we fear judgment. Some of us have been vulnerable before and a trusted friend used those words of confession against us. Whatever the reason, we must all remember that we are all sinners(Romans 3:23), and our temptations are common to us all(1 Corinthians 10:13).

James says that healing comes from our confessions. We don't have to carry the weight of our guilt and shame. We don't have to let it keep us from church and away from God. That weight causes so much inner turmoil which can lead to anxiety, depression, and isolation. Christ desires for us to be free. We all need that one person with whom we can share our deepest darkest secrets. That person who will then pray for us and encourage us to follow Christ and keep us accountable. Who is that person for you? Chances are that person is struggling with the same things you are and will not treat you like you have the plague. Let us find our people and in turn our healing in confession.

-Be Blessed,

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Eye For An Eye

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 

39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." -Matthew 5:38-39

An eye for an eye has an interesting ring to it. Our primal, self protective instinct likes the idea of administering swift, equal justice. Our logical self says eye for an eye is both archaic and barbaric. It is more vengeance than justice. Gandhi says following it "makes the whole world blind." Rick Warren says, "hurt people hurt people."

The saying is found in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Leviticus. It was meant to remind local judges to administer justice fairly and equally. It was not intended for individuals to inflict the same pain they received. That attitude of retaliation has led to endless cycles of violence, abuse, and war.

Jesus, who always holds us to a higher standard, tells us to "turn the other cheek." He is not instructing us to be the world's punching bags because we are His followers. He is telling us to show true grit when we are insulted and offended. He is asking us to end the cycle of hatred and abuse. When we retaliate the violence is sure to escalate.

This world, which is perpetually offended, could use a whole lot of turning the other cheek. Instead of jumping on our keyboards to lash out digitally against a seemingly mild offense, what if we said nothing. Someone cuts you off and gives you the middle finger, so what. Keep driving. There is no honor to defend against people who do not know or care about you. Your spouse or teenager is having a bad day and says some mean things out of anger, we've done the same. Our family's future is dependent on us all exhibiting grace. Jesus is asking us to grow thick skin and to be the adults in the room. He is asking us to do as He did. He stayed on the cross taking every form of verbal and physical abuse possible for the good of all mankind. That is the true measure strength. 

-Be Blessed

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain