My name is Jackie McBride, & this is my personal blog. It will contain reflections on my faith journey as well as any other items I might wish to include. Though I do not proselytize or disparage any faith traditions, & my views are often distinctly not those primarily associated with right-wing American Christianity, the reader should understand clearly that this is nonetheless an overtly Christian blog. If that’s not your cup, then I really would encourage you to find something you’d enjoy reading more & send you on your way with wishes for many blessings. If, however, for whatever reason my reflections interest you, then please accept my warmest welcome. I’d love to hear your comments, but please only leave those if they’re civil & relevant to the topic at hand. I do not accept advertisements of any sort here, and any attempt to try to sell products of any kind will result in the comment being marked as spam & the commenter banned. Racist, sexist, vulgarity, or hate language will also not be tolerated & the results will be identical to those in the previous sentence. Those things really should go without saying, but in today’s climate, unfortunately, it seems they can’t.
The blog’s name is derived from the account in Acts 16:25-36.
“22 The crowd joined in attacking them, (Paul and Silas) and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.
24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.
34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
35 ¶ When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”
36 And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.”
The theme of being able to praise God despite adversity is clear. Midnight is also a reference to my blindness. I’ve been contemplating doing this for years now, as husband Karl will attest, and I’ve finally gotten off square 1.
I’ll also be recommending other bloggers whom I particularly like, so if you have a blog you think might interest me, please let me know that.
I’ve been engaged in a series regarding praying for the nation(s). Some will undoubtedly notice that many of the scriptures I put forward to meditate & pray on have to do with conduct. That’s because I believe a nation is only as good as the people that live there. I feel if we can find things to unite for and agree on, even if we don’t necessarily agree how to implement them, it becomes a common ground for consensus building.
If you’d like to sign up to the blog, please do so using the ‘Registration’ menu item. Screen reader users, please use your arrow keys to navigate the form. To log in, please go to the site, then use the appropriate menu item. I’ve been forced to make these changes because of a large amount of spam traffic absolutely hammering the site.
I wish you abundant blessings, and I hope that perhaps something I write here might prove helpful or inspiring.