Suicide – Satan’s Killing Field

Posted on 2022/08/08 by JimR, Chaplain

The book I wrote is now available on Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Walmart Books Online. If you would like a copy just type in the book title or James L Rowe.

If you have dealt with suicidal thoughts or attempted it, you need to read this book. If you have had family or friends that you feel need this book get them one.

I didn’t write it for anything other than I know it will help someone. I have seen what suicide does. For the person that commits this insidious act upon themselves is permanent. Never forget there is another day. It is a shame to the family in most cases and leaves more questions and puts guilt on them as they wonder why. This book may have the answer you or they need.

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Family

Posted on 2022/08/06 by JimR, Chaplain

I’m in a unique situation where I have family, but they are all cousins in the majority. I have only one brother left of four. My parents and all my aunts and uncles are gone. Being almost 72 years old puts me out there in the old age category.

My mom was only 16 when she had me. My dad was 20, yet both have been gone for over 20 years. I still have friends my age that have their mom still around. It amazes me the longevity of some people.

I have only one nephew and one neice. My nephew is married and he and his wife recently added a son to their family. But the neice is another story.

She has been sickly most of her life and is only 42 years old. Her condition led her to dialysis. She can not have a kidney transplant due to other health issues. As of last November she decided to discontinue her dialysis because of a severe allergic reaction to the procedure. She had to go have this done three times a week and it left her in agony with itching. They tried other approaches to the procedure, but nothing changed.

Upon deciding to discontinue the treatment she was told she would have about six weeks to live. Some of her friends said she was committing suicide. She called me. As a Chaplain I have to look at the situation from the prospective of perhaps someone that discontinues treatment for something other than this, like cancer. The effects of treatment can be very disconcerting. In the medical field discontinuing treatment is considered an “informed decision”. They know the end result will still be to die. In most cases treatment only prolongs, but does not cure.

In her case dialysis is not a favorable way to live with the side effects she was having knowing the only possible way of correcting her issue was via a transplant, which was not viable. After talking with her I am convinced that she has made her decision as wisely as she feels possible. I cannot fix it or advise her otherwise except to be assured she is right with God. That she feels is okay.

We all face death. Her position is that she is to be there soon. She has made peace with it. Have you even though you have no issues? Or maybe you do.

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Not Just Another Day

Posted on 2022/08/01 by JimR, Chaplain

How many times have you heard the phrase “Just another day”? The connotation of that is to say all the days leading up to this day are all the same and it’s just another one of those days like any other.

Upon waking every day we should thank God that we woke up in our right mind and can put our feet on the floor and walk out the new day in front of us.

A new day is like a blank canvas. We get to choose the colors for this day. Are your colors somber, dull, and dark or are they bright and sharp to the eye? You get to choose! I know someone reading this asks how do I get to choose when it’s a dreary day? What do I get out of the clouds and rain? Why here is something to think about. Without rain, crops do not grow! Washing away the grime and dust on the leaves and ground around us. It’s a shower that cleanses the earth were it falls.

I live in an area of the world where during the summer it gets oppressively hot. Living near the Atlantic ocean makes for high humidity. Combine those to weather events together and you get a nasty, sticky feeling when you go outside. Growing up on rural America on a tobacco farm I had to go to the fields in this environment. People talk about the earth getting hotter. I have to beg to differ. In the 1960’s when I was a teen working those fields it got to an air temp of 105 degrees many times. We had no A/C to cool off at the end of the day. Yet with this kind of weather we still have times of laughter. We still could go into the water and cool down. We could still rest at night and get out and do the work we had to do yet another day. Why? Because it was a sign we were alive and well.

I know sometimes I get a reader from China or Australia, the UK or even Brazil. The world contains a wide variety of climates. I’m sure all of you can get up in the morning and find the new day that is absent of mistakes and issues. Those things are yesterdays happenings, good or bad.

Make today a new day. Not just another day. Make it a day where you proclaim victory over yesterday’s mistakes or to amplify yesterdays growth towards a higher level of understanding. God is always giving us something to build upon. What we build depends on attitude.

So put away the negative and put on the positive and overcome the things that could bother you for victory in life as you confront your challenges by submitting yourself to a Holy God. He has the answers to your problems. He has the all-powerful ability to lift you higher than you ever imagined. Don’t just submit. Surrender all your aspirations for yourself. I would say God has greater for you than you could ever imagine. Never give up. Today is a new day and tomorrow will be even better.

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Where Do You Walk?

Posted on 2022/07/21 by JimR, Chaplain

This will be a short post today. This thought came from a post on FB.

Romans 8:1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

A fellow minister that I hold in high standing said this morning.

“Somehow people find it easier to believe that God is ready to judge and condemn them rather than finding it easy to believe that he wants to bless and save them.”

The keyword to knowing which realm people “walk” in will let you know why they don’t know better.

Stop cutting down trees (men) and start with learning how to plant, prune, water, and fertilize. Then we can watch God bring forth the new ones into the Kingdom of God.

The question that arose in my mind is how can anyone witness to someone of the saving grace of our savior without a solid walk in the spiritual realm. We will never convey the true need for salvation without it.

Those of us that are saved need to not let complacency become the norm for us. We need to awaken daily to the freshness of our need to walk continuously in the spirit in order that we recognize those that have not found their way and have reached the point of realization of salvation was meant for them.

Be a good husbandman and pick the ripe ones in this world that are ready for harvest. There is much low-hanging fruit ready for you to encounter today. Let your spiritual awareness kick in and go to them and introduce them to their gift of life everlasting.

Posted in Abundant life, Christian, Christian Mission, Common Sense, Follow God, God's direction, God's Guidance, Love, Mission Work, Patience, Possibilities, Priorities, Respect for Life, Salvation, Sobering Thoughts, Spiritual, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Investment, Spiritual Investments | Leave a comment

The Day of Vengeance

Posted on 2022/07/18 by JimR, Chaplain

For some reason this morning God took me to Jeremiah 51. It pertains to the desolation of Babylon. My mind wants to overlay it with our country’s present situation. Can it be?

We’ve wasted our inheritance in the last twenty or so years. Our country has become as Babylon. True Christianity in the United States is becoming a valuable treasure to find. We’ve allowed the wolves and foxes to destroy the vines of our morality and Biblical principles. We have sat by the side idly letting the world overtake our inheritance.

I’ve read FB pages of renowned ministries with people that babble nonsense as the true definition of scripture. Christocentrism has lost its place in our pulpits. Every so-called Christian I have seen blindly goes about espousing their beliefs as being the truth when they utterly fail to seek Christ as the centerpiece of their lives.

My heart has been troubled for a while now and this morning the Lord opened up to me why. The following paragraph has left me crying and trembling.

Prepare yourself before the Lord. His time of vengeance is coming upon us. If you think you’re escaping this time in some unseen mysterious disappearance you will be sadly disappointed. God never meant for you to escape. He meant for you to endure through tribulation, no, not only endure but overcome through it. Prepare your hearts, people of Zion. Your day of victory is at hand.

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Transparency

Posted on 2022/07/15 by JimR, Chaplain

This post isn’t about defeat. It’s about victory. But I must share this for those that think every day is peaches and cream.

I was mostly at fault in an auto accident last Sunday. I made a left turn knowing in my mind I had time to make the turn, but someone that was speeding, verified by two witness reports, hit my vehicle in the passenger door where my wife was sitting. I should have not turned, but this area of town is renowned for some rather daredevil drivers. I guess I could include myself from the turn that I was cited for. My wife was not injured. The vehicle we were in is a very safe one, but the crash was enough to turn it into salvage. I went by the salvage yard today to retrieve my license tag. The SUV is gone. Now comes the hunt for another as near like it as possible. I just got word that the insurance company had paid my lender for the market price of it which paid all but a small amount of the loan. I already have one picked out and I’m waiting for the dealer to finish prepping it for purchase.

I won’t go into details surrounding the moments following the accident, but it took a day for me to realize what had happened. My wife and her sister in the back seat could have been seriously injured, but by the grace of God, they are fine. The people in the vehicle that hit me have not contacted me so I have only the knowledge that they refused treatment at the scene and left in another vehicle.

However, this has not left me in a good way mentally. I’ve replayed the accident in progress as it happened over in my mind several times and hope to never have that memory be the first of more. I hope it to be the only time in my life this ever happens.

As I have stated in the past I suffered from severe depression with anxiety attacks. This week has been rather a playback of the depression part. My mind has been foggy and I wish to sleep all the time and don’t really want to go out. I have no interest in anything. If I were to let it I would go into a deep abyss and stay there.

This is where the learning process I’ve have endeavored to become has kicked in. I cannot and will not let depression be my way of life. I’ve talked to God and you know what? He is talking to me. What stablizes me is that He has told me He has everything under control and I’ll be alright. Oh, I’m waiting at times for some invisible hammer to drop, but still, I find comfort in God being in control. My wife and those around me hold me up and I find there are certain things that happen that let me know God is true to His Word.

Right after the accident I was threatened by the husband of the woman that hit my car with hers. The police stepped between us and I realized that my friends from the Warriors Motorcycle Ministry were there along with the City Harvest Reapers Motorcycle Ministry. They all gathered around and the husband left. They all stayed with me till the other party left the scene. If you’ve ever seen a motorcycle gang, there’s a close resemblance except these guys are Christian. Most of them came from a rough background.

I was actually able to drive my SUV back home the couple of miles, but when I turned into my driveway a tie-rod end broke making it undriveable. How’s that for the providence of God?

To move on a bit, the next day after the accident my niece called me to tell me goodbye. She stopped her dialysis last November because of severe allergic reactions and she could not deal with it anymore. To add to this she is not viable for a kidney transplant due to other issues. She told me she was informed most don’t live much more than six weeks after stopping dialysis, so she has done well to be here still. However, now she is fading in her memory, hasn’t eaten in six weeks, and has lost a tremendous amount of weight. We talked for some time and I assured her that what she decided was an informed decision that she made and not to let anyone fill her with nonsense. I concluded that I have to allow her wishes to be hers. I feel she is at peace with it. Then. . .I hung up the phone and cried.

Life is not guaranteed. My wife could have been seriously injured or killed. My niece is dying. Folks, it’s been a tough week, but we live and move and have our being in Christ Jesus. He is our rock. No matter what befalls us, including you that reads this will be crushed under the load for He will not give us more than we can bear.

If you’re feeling the weight of a load that you’ve been carrying this week just remember you can let it go in praise to God. He is more than willing to forgive you for yours or my own shortcomings and we can rise up tomorrow afresh and walk in His will for our lives.

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(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay

Posted on 2022/07/10 by JimR, Chaplain

By Otis Redding

Sittin’ in the morning sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
Then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah

I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothing’s gonna come my way

So, I’m just gon’ sit on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m sittin’ on the dock of a bay
Wastin’ time

Looks like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, listen

Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
2,000 miles I roam
Just to make this dock my home, now

I’m just gon’ sit at the dock of a bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

Just three days after recording this song, Otis Redding and all but one of his band members and the pilot died in a plane crash while heading to a concert.

He was described as vigorous, trustworthy, full of fun and a successful businessman. He was active in philanthropic projects. His keen interest in black youth led to plans for a summer camp for

disadvantaged children.

He came from a poor family. He quit school at age 15 to help support his family. He was married before age 20. So just from that you can feel where he came from. You can read his bio on Wikipedia.

What struck me to post this was because the song is such a sad song. All his family and musicians and producers didn’t want him to record it, but I feel there was something in his heart telling him to do otherwise, because he insisted it would be a hit. The reason I believe it was a hit was because it resonated in the hearts of so many people that grew up with no hope in their lives.

Had he lived left me to wonder if he would have been a beacon of light for so many young people with his camp. I wonder how many have been touched by his song. How did it help them if at all.

I would like to say this one thing. If you’re at the bottom of the barrel, rock bottom, or however you want to say it there is nowhere to go but up. I know that’s a difficult thing to do because I’ve been there. But to those that read this, it can be done, because I’ve seen it done. If you have nothing to lose, then go for the heights. It’s not the falling down that will bring victory. It’s the getting up. And that is no matter how many times you fall. The getting up is what brings that victory over circumstances that pushes us down.

Please remember that you don’t have to give in to the darkness that surrounds you at this very moment. Get up. Get active. Go talk to someone you trust. And most of all talk to God. He really does listen. And He really does answer.

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No One Knows

Posted on 2022/07/09 by JimR, Chaplain

But of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. . .Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you I say to all: Watch! – Mark 13:32-36

Many so called prophets of this day claim to know the approaching hour of the return of our Lord. I

have to give it to them for their diligence to seek out the “when” in all scripture, but I have learned there are things that are best left alone. Most prophetic pointers are taking people’s eyes off of the present day’s pressing needs to be at work for the Gospel’s sake.

People naturally fear what they are seeing today and equating it to prophet’s warnings. From what I’ve been through in all my years (over 70), I’ve heard the same stories over and over again. I study history to some degree. Not the depth of a true historian, but I get by. World War I and II were horrendous wars. In WW1, history experts estimate around 16.5 million and in WW2, anywhere from 50-70 million, others say 72 million. Combining both would roughly give 88.5 million people deceased from both World Wars. In 1945 at the end WWII the estimated population of the United States was 132.5 million people. Comparing those numbers we see that if it had been our country we would have lost over half of our population to the war.

I have to keep an open mind to who is saying what. Harold Camping, now deceased, made several predictions of which all have come and gone. Pat Roberson predicted the end to occur in 2007. A pastor in Indiana, Pastor Paul Begley is the host of The Coming Apocalypse, a show about biblical prophecy that is broadcast online and on some TV channels in the US predicts the coming Antichrist.

For more than thirty years Jack Van Impe came on TV to strike fear in people to be saved from the coming rapture. He is now deceased. Fear is a dominate emotion that is played on towards the lost as well as Christians. I’ve heard it said “If you have to scare them into salvation, you have to keep them scared to keep them from backsliding”. That’s an old order ministry. Hopefully this is a dying doctrine as well.

People should not have to be afraid of the future. I prefer to quote what many have said. “I read the end of the Book and we win.” Where’s the fear in that?

I don’t care one whit what the purveyors of doom sprinkled with fear have to say. I honestly don’t know when Jesus will return. I’ve studied it and yes there are signals spelled out in scripture to watch for and I do. But I haven’t the time to quibble over it. The important thing to do is what I told my once upon a time brother law, who was a preacher. He and I sat eating pizza in a popular restaurant in Wilmington NC many years ago. He asked me did I know the church I was attending didn’t preach the rapture. I said I know, but that doesn’t matter in the present. If we are not doing what God put us here for TODAY, what good is our worry over tomorrow?

There is so much I could say over this subject, so if you have questions, please pose them for me. Just let’s remember Mark 13 and what Jesus said. Let’s stay awake and be busy for this day, for the Master may return in our lifetime. If not, so be it. Just keep working. As I sometimes say, “When He gets here, He’ll be here.

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Tithing vs Giving

Posted on 2022/07/03 by JimR, Chaplain

Creflo Dollar has told his congregation to throw away all his teaching on tithing because he has been wrong in it. Tithing according to what he has found is not mentioned in the NT. I’d already done my research in the past on it and the following is what I found.


I had a 93-year-old preacher tell me one time it was not NT. I searched and found it isn’t in the NT. Only OT. So far as I can tell the NT says give everything. Jesus told the rich man to give all that he had (and went on to promise immense spiritual rewards to those who give everything to follow Him (Matthew 19:29-30). He also commended the widow who gave essentially nothing in actual material value, because she gave “all she had” (Luke 21:4). So, the amount matters not. It’s the “all” part that is correct in giving.

I can confidently say two things on the tithing issue as a biblical matter: (1) the 10 percent tithe was a specific requirement that served a specific purpose under the Old Testament law (see, among other passages, Leviticus 27:32 and Numbers 18:26-32) and (2) neither Jesus nor any New Testament writer assigns or even affirms 10 percent as a specific amount to be given by believers under the new covenant.

But what Christ has done for us on the cross and the future promise of perfect fellowship with God for all eternity has made us free from the old restrictions and requirements of the law, and we are called to present our entire lives as acts of worship to the Lord (see Romans 11:36-12:1). We are subject to giving in a broader sense including our time, talent, and treasure. In the NT we are taught not about tithing, but “giving” out of our abundance. In more than one of his letters, the apostle Paul instructs Christians to give financially — robustly and even sacrificially — to the work of the Gospel, especially toward the preaching of the Word (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 9:3-15, 2 Corinthians 5-9 and 1 Timothy 5:17-18). We should give some thought to what it means to “contribute out of abundance” (Luke 21:4). God is not calling us to irresponsibility.

In that sense, we should “give only what we can,” but as you evaluate that amount. As far as giving all I reference Acts 2:42-46. It’s not about tithing. It’s under the law. The NT under grace says just what the new converts in Acts did. They gave all.

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In The Midst of Graduation

Posted on 2022/07/01 by JimR, Chaplain

This past weekend I graduated from Aidan University’s certification process to become an American Chaplain Association fully accredited Chaplain.

Our commencement speaker was Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. M.L. King Jr. She has a rather impressive resume’, yet is such a down-to-earth, easy-to-talk-to person. Yet in all that she speaks with authority.

Dr. Alveda King

The journey continues. I now have a release date on my book for the 8th of August. It will be in Barnes & Nobles, Amazon (also in ebook), Walmart, and the TBN website, or maybe it’s the Trilogy Publishing site.

So, as I sit here posting this I find I’m blessed beyond measure, but I must tell you as someone who is transparent. My wife says many times I tell people too much. Being this way is not to puff up my chest. I have no itch to preach, nor speak of myself, except that which Christ has blessed me with.

Success doesn’t come without failure and I’ve had plenty of that. Someone posted on FB this week from my friend list that they felt like giving up. My response was that Thomas Edison spent a year and a half and some 10,000 attempts before he made a viable inexpensively producible light blub. Still, he was not the first to invent the light bulb. Just the first one to produce an inexpensive, viable public-use light bulb. Just like Henry Ford. He was not the first to build a car. His real claim to fame was reproducible parts assembled on a line to build huge numbers of cars. None of this came without failure.

Some of you that read my blog come from backgrounds where you have seen failure. I’m also vulnerable. I have written before about crashing and burning almost fifteen years ago from severe depression and suffered panic attacks. Anxiety is a killer when it comes to failure. I still have bouts of depression, even in the midst of successes. Don’t let the downside overtake your upside. Never give up on yourself. Remember that God gave His Son to reestablish a relationship with you. Why? Because He wants communication with someone He cares for without end. My response is I want the exact same thing with Him. It’s that simple.

The message of salvation is so simple. If you feel you have a relationship with God but feel not quite there, it’s time to find out why. Stop and reprioritize. Eternity is an endless time to gain out of it with the serenity of knowing nothing will change with that kind of relationship. That’s so reassuring that it should make all the failures here seem so small compared to the successes that will be our reward.

So far my life has seen the manifestation of the things that God told me I would accomplish. For decades I have pursued God in ministry and became ordained. Now I have gained status not only as a Chaplain, but now I’m an author. It isn’t much compared to some, but it is what God told me I’d see for myself. No one can take that away. What is out there for you? Are you pursuing it? If not, why?

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