The Maritime Minutes: Short Daily Devotionals Pointing Us to the Master of the Sea

By Chaplain Cecil Fayard

Seventy-one percent of the earth's surface is covered by water and 91 percent of the earth's water is in the oceans of the world.

Five hundred years ago, 90 percent of everything people needed was delivered by ship. That figure has not changed. The maritime shipping industry is still delivering the bulk of our daily necessities, such as food, automobiles, clothing, etc.

As a port chaplain, I have met scores of men and women who come to our ports from every corner of the earth. They are the driving force of the world's economy. These mariners share their stories with me, and I in turn share the good news of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection with them. The message of the gospel is the greatest story ever told.

The maritime minutes shared in this book are gleaned from my personnel experience as the son of a shipbuilder and the grandson of a commercial fisherman, as well as from studying the lives seafarers from ancient times to the present.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781639616459

Book preview

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The Maritime Minutes

Short Daily Devotionals Pointing Us to the Master of the Sea

Chaplain Cecil Fayard

ISBN 978-1-63961-644-2 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63961-645-9 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Chaplain Cecil Fayard

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Our Heavenly Sea Journey

Cleansing of the Holy Spirit

Jesus, Our Keel

Duty of Seafarers

Watch Out for Riptides

Stay the Course

Don't Be Left Behind

The Master of the Storms

Bearing Others' Burdens

Dangers upon the Sea

The Influence of Captain James Cook

Poisons in the Sea of Life

Eating Right: Avoid Spiritual Sickness

Lessons from the Red Tide

Fountains of the Deep

Chickens

Fresh Water: Essential for Life

Feed from the Galley

Use the Lifeboat

Jacob's Ladder

Call upon the Lord

Lessons from Rubber Duckies

Polar Explorers and the Boss

Press On!

Choose the Good Paths

Dredging Our Spiritual Channel

Death Has No Boundaries

Be Equally Yoked

There Is One Way

A Firm Foundation

Salty Christians

Take Burdens to the Lord

The Precious Cargo

Jesus, the Keel

Look Up in the Storms

Watch Out for Waterspouts

Strong Ships

There Will Be Storms in Life

Be Filled with the Spirit

Our Safe Harbor

Wonders in the Deep

Creeping Things Innumerable

Satan's Nets

Tidal Waves

Stay the Course

Our Sextant: the Word of God

Poor John

Christian Life of Service

Sea Birds and Sunshine

Watch for Traps

God Holds the Waters

Steady as She Goes

The Need for Physical and Spiritual Water

Island of Protection

A Witness from the Titanic

Watching Our Words

Vessels unto Honor

Be Balanced

Stay in the Deep Waters

The Lifeboat

The Weight of Wind

Dead in the Water

Don't Be Shanghaied

Stay Awake

Cross the Bar Safely with Jesus

Swim and Fight for Life

Dry Dock for Renewal

Anchorage, Not Alaska

On Beam Ends

Not Alone in the Storms of Life

Heaven's Shore

About the Author

Foreword

The compilation of these maritime minutes has been a great opportunity to share with you the heart of my sweetheart and special friend. I have been amazed at his gift of sharing thoughts in such a way to stir up people's minds to our God that is in every aspect of life around us.

These devotions show you his heart for his Pawpaw who used the sea to save him from the bad companions of youth and teach him the principles of honesty and hard work. But more than anything, they show you his love for His Savior and desire to share Him with others.

Denise Fayard

Acknowledgments

A special thank-you to Amy Livingston, who helped with the editing of these devotions, and to Timothy Works for his illustrations that were created for the devotions.

Introduction

The name of our ministry is Ship to Shore Regions Beyond International. Some have asked where we came up with the name Ship to Shore. Well, it goes back to the days when I was a young man working on the shrimp and oyster boats with my Pawpaw on the Gulf of Mexico.

On board our boats, The Holiday II and The Bonita, we had a radio that could communicate from our boat to other boats and to the shore. This radio was called a Ship to Shore Radio. This radio is VHF and operates at 156.8 MHz. Channel 16 is the international calling and distress channel, and Channel 9 can also be used as a secondary distress and call signal.

This radio carries the message of the captain from ship to shore. It is not always the captain who sends the message, but it is his message that is sent. Our ministry Ship to Shore is involved in getting the message of our captain Jesus Christ to the lost seafarers from around the world, and then they carry that message by way of the scriptures and word of mouth from their ship to their home shore.

The words of Hebrews 2:10 tell us the work of our captain for the lost sheep. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Our radio message is the gospel of Christ, who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

Our Heavenly Sea Journey

To the non-seafarer, the word port will probably have only one meaning, but to the seafarer, it will call to mind two definitions. The first description of port that I will give is that of the portside of a ship. The portside is the left side of the ship as viewed from aft (from the stern or back of the ship). Secondly, the most known definition of the word port as it concerns the sea is that of a harbor with facilities for berthing ships for the purpose of loading and unloading cargo, or the embarkation and debarkation of passengers.

For the Christian, there was a day when we got