He doeth according to his will
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?
I had the same basic philosophy, that I had the freedom to choose my own destiny, and I did my best to be the best person I could be. But the Lord revealed to me, through the preaching of the gospel, that He does all his will and that no one can stop Him. Like King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, the Lord caused me to see and confess this truth: That his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?
The Lord Jesus Christ is God Almighty. He owns the whole universe and everything in it. And he gives eternal life to whomever he will, not according to there works, but according to his purpose of grace. Look at Romans (9:15 - 16 ), “For he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”
Again in Romans 9: 17 -18, “For the scripture said unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardened.”
You see the Lord Jesus Christ is not waiting for anyone to make a choice to follow him, he is saving his people. He is not leaving it to man and his so called free will, but he is making man willing in the day of his power (Psalm 110 : 3 ).
Consider this question: Do you really think your will is free? If you do, than you are like a man in a prison cell who thinks he’s free because he can move around in his cell. That’s not freedom at all. True freedom is knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you from sin by the shedding of his blood in your place at Calvary, and that all of your sins are removed from God’s sight, as far as he east is from the west.
And the means that God uses to reveal that to sinners is the preaching of the gospel, so when you hear the gospel, may the Lord be pleased, by his own sovereign will, to give you an understanding unto life eternal. Paul makes it very clear that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believed.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Hillary Clinton wants to be a preacher, and a Duke Divinity School alum who served as her spiritual adviser during the 2016 presidential campaign says Clinton would be powerful in the pulpit.
“I think she would be a terrific preacher,” said the Rev. Bill Shillady, who has been a friend and a pastor to the Clinton family for 15 years. “She knows her Bible, and she loves people and she loves God.”
Shillady met Clinton in 2002 at a memorial service for 9/11 victims in New York. She was a New York senator at the time and Shillady was pastor of Park Avenue United Methodist Church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Shillady is a native of Reading, Pa., who studied religion and business administration at Lebanon Valley College. He earned a master’s in divinity from Duke in 1981 and a doctor of ministry degree from Drew Theological School in 1993. Since 2008, Shillady has been executive director of the New York-based United Methodist City Society, which supports United Methodist churches and their programs.
After the memorial service, Shillady said Hillary Clinton brought her daughter, Chelsea, to Sunday services at his church. He became friends with the family and served in a pastoral role for the Clintons. He co-officiated Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mesvinsky in July 2010 and led the memorial service for Hillary Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham, in 2011. He would have meals with the family from time to time, he said, usually around holidays.
In 2015, he celebrated Easter with the Clintons. Shortly after, he said, Clinton announced she would make a second run for the presidency, and Shillady wanted to do something to support her. Shillady knew that Joshua DuBois, Barack Obama’s “pastor-in-chief,” had provided Obama with a daily devotional during his presidency, weaving together scripture, song, prayer and reflection. Shillady decided to do something similar for Clinton for the duration of the campaign.
“It was really just a movement of the spirit,” Shillady said. “I didn’t know how difficult the campaign was going to be, or how contentious. I just thought it would help her to have a scripture and a meditation on that scripture and a prayer each day.”
Beginning April 6, 2015, Shillady would start each day by looking at news headlines and finding a Bible verse appropriate to what was happening in the world or in Clinton’s life. He would write a short meditation on the verse, offer a prayer and email the devotional to Clinton by 5 a.m.
“She has said it was the first thing she read every day, and it helped to center her that day,” Shillady said.
About three months into the project, Shillady said, he enlisted the help of some church laity and other clergy members, including Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians.
“They were written specifically for her,” Shillady said. “Sometimes they were about strength and perseverance, qualities the campaign demanded endlessly. Sometimes I would write about joy, with a reminder to seek and savor the exciting and exhilarating moment, like the birth of her grandson.”
Some devotionals were about gratitude, or celebration, Shillady said. “And when there was a difficult day — when there was a shooting, or a terrorist attack — I would write about grief and hope.
“It helped her to stay focused on the values that were important to her, and have been since she grew up, in her Methodist faith: justice and dignity, compassion and love.”
Shillady said Clinton would respond to the messages if she especially liked a scripture passage or a devotional.
When Clinton lost to Donald J. Trump, she quoted a verse from Galatians that Shillady said he had sent her a few weeks before. “Let us not grow weary in doing good,” she said in her concession speech, “for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
When Clinton lost to Donald J. Trump, she quoted a verse from Galatians that Duke Divinity School alum Rev. Bill Shillady said he had sent her a few weeks before. “Let us not grow weary in doing good,” she said in her concession speech, “for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Shillady continued sending the devotionals until Dec. 31, 2016, a total of 635 in all. Earlier this year, Clinton suggested to Shillady that he make a book of the daily devotionals. He did, culling them to 365 and trimming them to fit on one page. His publisher, Abingdon Press, included email exchanges between Shillady and Clinton, news clippings from the long campaign, and photographs.
The book, “Strong for a Moment Like This,” takes its title from the fourth chapter of the Book of Esther, about the Jewish queen who feared speaking out on behalf of her people when some members of her husband’s court planned to exterminate them.
Shillady said he and Clinton were together for a photo shoot for the book’s release when she said, almost offhandedly, “’Bill, I think I’d like to do some preaching.’
“I said, ‘Oh, really? Are you serious?’ “Shillady said he asked. He said she answered, “I am.”
Clinton did not immediately respond to a request for an interview made through The Clinton Foundation.
Clinton grew up in the Methodist church, attending First United Methodist in Park Ridge, Ill., as a child. After moving to Little Rock, Ark., with her husband, Bill Clinton, she joined First United Methodist Church there, and taught Sunday school and worked with the youth. When Bill Clinton was elected president and the family moved to Washington, Hillary Clinton attended Foundry United Methodist Church in D.C. In an address to the general conference of the United Methodist Church in Denver, Colo., in 1996, Clinton said the church, with its emphasis on personal holiness leading to social holiness, had had a formative influence on her life.
“The church was a critical part of my growing up, and in preparing for this event, I almost couldn’t even list all the ways it influenced me and helped me develop as a person, not only on my own faith journey, but with a sense of obligations to others,” Clinton told the gathering, which included 150 Methodist bishops.
“It taught me practical lessons as well: for example, how to recover from the embarrassment of passing out in an overheated sanctuary when I was playing an angel during the Christmas pageant,” she said. “That particular lesson has stood me in good stead on many occasions in my adult life. But most importantly, I learned from the ministers there and the lay leaders there, the men and women such as yourselves who ran the church life, about the connection between my personal faith and the obligations I faced as a Christian, both to other individuals and to society.”
Horizon Community Church
• GriefShare is a network of over 12,000 churches worldwide equipped to offer grief support groups. This is a 13 week support group that is led by caring and loving folks that have experienced loss. They will help you walk on the long path through grief toward healing. The cost of the class is $15 to cover the cost of the workbook. You can come at any time and repeat or rejoin the group when convenient.
We offer two locations for support. Please contact one of the leaders below to let them know that you are attending so that we have enough workbooks available or just call and talk to them more about what the class is all about.
Lodi- Dan Brown House, 11 West Lockeford Street, Lodi, CA (Leaders are Sharon: 209518-9529 and Janice: 209-7450812)
Starting Sunday, Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Galt- Horizon Community Church/Family Life Church, 445 Fairway Drive, Galt, CA (Leaders are Cathy: 916-9478596 and Lori: 209-745-3747)
Starting Monday, Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, call Horizon Community Church Care Ministry Director Tiffany Bamert at 209-7450700, or visit
Emanuel Lutheran Church
• Emanuel’s Family Movie Party takes place on Sunday, Aug. 20 beginning at 12:30 p.m.
There will be lunch and popcorn with a family movie showing in the Social Hall and a teen movie showing in the fireside room.
For more information, call 209-334-2130 or visit
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
• The interfaith potluck with St. Anne’s Catholic Church takes place in the Lodi Lake youth area on Sunday, Aug. 13 at 2 p.m. Guests are asked to bring finger foods to share. Parking is $4 for residents and $5 for non-residents. For more information, call 209-368-2747 or visit
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is located at 710 South Pleasant Drive, Lodi.