Fishers of men

Fish fry anyone?

Who is mightier?

Who in heaven is equal to the Lord?

None of the angels is like the Lord.

When the holy ones meet, it is God they fear.

He is more frightening than all who surround him.

Lord God All powerful, who is like you?

Psalm 89:6-8

Ask and you shall receive!

In night #2 of VBS we had three more kids.


Maybe I was too cynical.

What if?

They spent their time learning the apostles' teachings, sharing, breaking bread, and praying together.

Acts 2:42

This was our scripture for Sunday.  


Great scripture right, how about if we tried to commit ourselves to just one of those things.


As we sat there contemplating that request, there were more.


These are all things the apostles did, and they did it joyfully.


They read the scriptures.


They would share whatever they had with others.


They rejoiced in fellowship.


They went to the Lord in prayer with enthusiasm and knowing that their prayers would be answered.


Seems so simple doesn't it?


Why do we make things so hard?

VBS

Ok, last night was our first night of VBS.


I have to say it wasn't a big crowd, actually it wasn't even a good crowd.


Total for the night, 20 kids.


20, now don't get me wrong, I heard of a church that did a day of VBS, and only had 6 kids to show up so I really thought we weren't doing to bad.


But I have to wonder, why don't parents take their kids to church anymore?


When I was young we went to all kinds of Bible schools, not just at my church.  Any church that would have us.


The more that I talk to people I wonder what it is that is keeping them away from church.


Any ideas?

Finally finished

Well, we did it, we finished Revelation.


I have to say this was one of the best bible studies I have ever done.


I loved everything about it.  I think it was so good because I am at a good place right now and was actually ready to hear it without the fear that is usually associated with Revelation.


I can't imagine what it must have been like for John, seeing Angels, the Throne of God, being transported in the Spirit.


WOW!


It is truly beyond words.


Reading it, and discussing it as a group.  So many things that relate to the old Testament, and seeing how much God must love us to warn us, over and over.  It truly is his desire that we all choose him, but we just have to choose.


So many things just awe struck me, the descriptions of the beings in the throne room.  The description of the New Jerusalem.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It was prepared like a bride dressed for her new husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now God's presence is with his people, and he will live with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them and will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain, because all the old ways are gone."

Revelation 21:2-4

Now that is an ending worth waiting for!

Hmmm,

The other day I saw an old friend, someone you know that you haven't really seen since school.  And while I was talking to them it hit me, 


they don't know Jesus.


I was sad.  Even worse, it was like I didn't even know what to say.  


I mean, I didn't know where to begin so that this person would even begin to acknowledge Jesus, much less believe.


I hate to say it, I didn't know what to say, so I just didn't.


Was that wrong?


What am I saying of course it's wrong, but I just didn't know what to say, so I said nothing.


Ever happen to you?

One Wish

I have been reading in Chronicles about Solomon.


Solomon was David's son and we all know that David had an amazing relationship with God.  Amazing in the sense that he was human like the rest of us, but he was constantly seeking God's will in his life.  In every aspect of his life also, I mean before he would go into battle he would ask God if it was the right thing to do.


I don't know about you, but I don't ask God's advice near enough.


Anyway, onto Solomon.


Solomon was made King after David because God had promised David that someone in his family would always rule Israel.  


God was pleased with Solomon, so he appeared to Solomon and said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."


I think I will let that sink in for a minute.


God, GOD, is telling Solomon to ask him for WHATEVER he wants.  


I would wager that isn't something God goes around asking lightly.  Can you just imagine, I mean really, be honest what would you say to something like that?  


Ummm, let's see.


Peace on earth.


No more sickness, or disease.


That everyone would know God.


Endless wealth.


Power.


I know, these aren't all things that we should be asking for but I bet somewhere, someone would ask for this and more.


But not Solomon, he was truly, truly, a good man.  He asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead his people in the right way.


Because God was so pleased with him, he told him he would have more wealth, and be more honor than any king before or after him.


I probably would have blown that all to pieces, but I am still learning.  And I really want to be like that so maybe I should take a tip from David and Solomon and seek God's will for EVERYTHING in my life.  All the stuff I struggle with, or maybe that I think I can handle on my own, anything that I do I should ask him first, if this is what he would have me do.


It worked for Solomon, so I think I should at least give it a try.

Sunday Scripture

The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it-the world and all its people.

He built it on the waters

and set it on the rivers.

Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy Temple?

Only those with clean hands and pure hearts,

who have not worshiped idols,

who have not made promises in the name of a false god.

They will receive a blessing from the Lord;

the God who saves them will declare them right.

They try to follow God;

they look to the God of Jacob for help.

Gates, open all the way.

Open wide, aged doors.

so the glorious King will come in.

Who is this glorious King?

The Lord, strong and mighty.

The Lord, the powerful warrior.

Gates, open all the way.

Open wide, aged doors

so the glorious King will come in.

Who is this Glorious King?

The Lord All Powerful

he is the glorious King.

Psalm 24

Relating to Saul and David

While I was reading about Saul and David the other day, it occurred to me that sometimes I act like Saul.


Now, I haven't tried to kill anyone, but I can see how Saul looked at God's favor on David and was a little jealous.


I feel sure he knew how blessed he was also, but the focus was shifting from him to David and he wasn't to sure he liked it.  


Now I am in no way the person Saul was, he was a chosen King.  If I am chosen it's usually last for something.  But I can relate to jealousy.


There is usually someone who looks like they succeed at everything.  Have everything they want, blah, blah, blah.  


Right?


But I also am wise enough to know that things are not always as they seem.  Look at David, he was doing great, always asked God before making any rash decisions, and he was loyal.  Loyal to a fault even.  I mean Saul did want to kill him, and even though he had the opportunity to kill Saul he chose not to, because he was appointed as the king by God, and he didn't want to displease the Lord.  


But as the story goes, Saul dies, David becomes king and then things start going downhill for David.  


I guess, as good as both kings were, they still were human.  They each had things about them that were displeasing to the Lord.


I'm thankful for that, makes me feel like if they can have such a good relationship with God, certainly I can.


There is hope, always!

Warfare

Last night at bible study we were discussing spiritual warfare.  I don't know about your church but our church doesn't really talk a lot about it.  We talk about the reality of Satan in the world today but we don't really talk about all the ways that Satan is trying to take us away from our faith.


While we were talking about it, the Pastor asked if anyone had read C.S. Lewis', Screwtape Letters.


I have.


He talked about what a hard read it is because the book is made up of letters written by the Devil, and his nephew Wormwood.  All the letters are correspondences of the Devil giving the nephew instructions on how to keep one man from living for God.


As we talked about some of the letters, I remembered the letter that stuck out the most to me at the time.  It was a letter about the relationship between the man and his mother.  The man lived with his mother and there was some tension between them, as I can totally identify with even though I don't live with my mom and I love her to death, I know that if I did live with her there would no doubt be some tension because we are both use to our own routines.


Anywho, the devil is essentially trying to place a wedge between the man and his mother.  I don't know about you but I see this happening every day.  Although I haven't ever really thought of it in terms of spiritual warfare.  But lets face it, that is exactly what it is.  The devil is real, he's very real and he wants nothing more than to steal our joy, and what better way to do that than to attack what we love the most.


The letter that stuck out the most to the pastor was the letter that told the devil to do whatever he could to keep that man a passive Christian.  WOW!


That speaks volumes to me, the devil doesn't want us doing anything to make us LOOK like Christians.  Hmmmm, he doesn't want us reading our bibles, or helping people or taking a stand for anything that might make it look like you love the Lord.


Does any of that sound familiar to you?  


This study on Revelation is so much more than just the coming of Jesus.  It ties into the Old testament with symbolism to the tabernacle and the Israelites, and Moses.  It is truly fascinating.


It's a good book, it really is.

Just wondering

This past weekend was our annual clean up day at our church.  I had signed up for hallways and stairs, and volunteered my sweet Baby Girl to help me.  


Due to a grueling basketball schedule we weren't able to make it to the actual clean up day, but I told them I would do it during the week.

So, yesterday was the day.  After I got off work, BG and I headed over to the church with our cleaning supplies and got directly to work.


Of course, while we were working we were talking about her day at school, and all the drama that high school holds for teens.  And as the story began to unfold she started getting more and more agitated.  The more aggravated she became the more aggravated I became.


Do teenagers ever stop complaining?


Anyway, standing there I said to her, I wonder if God gets as angry or aggravated with us, as we get with each other?


I am betting the answer is yes!


I am still reading about Moses and the Israelites, so I have read first hand about all the complaining they did and how if Moses had not intervened on their behalf, there were several times he would have destroyed them on the spot.


Do you ever wonder how God feels about all that is going on in the world today?  


I wouldn't imagine he is very happy with us.  


After thinking about it, I apologized to BG, and told her we should stop complaining.  We should try to be a blessing to God.  


So, maybe today we will try not to complain about things and to focus on Godly things and not worldly things.

Revelation

More on the letters to the churches.  


The letter to the church of Thyatira talked about Jezebel.  Apparently she was a prophetess and was leading some of the church members astray.  God tells them he has given her the opportunity to repent, and she does not want to change.   So she will face judgement, and it won't be pretty.


But to the ones who stay true, he will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and continues to obey him.


The church of Sardis seemed to have fallen asleep.  He says "Wake up!", Make yourselves stronger before what you have left dies completely.  Their spirituality was dieing, and God is trying to tell them to remember.  Remember all that he has done, and all that they have heard and obey.  Before it's too late.


Philadelphia received the kind of letter we all want to receive.  All good!!!  He knows they are weak but they are obedient.  And they are loved.  Because of their obedience he will keep you from time of trouble that is coming to the whole world.  


Laodicea can be compared to people who won't make any kind of decision.  Fence sitters.  They aren't sure what side they are on.  They may be wealthy, but it isn't they kind of wealth that will help them in eternity.  So he tells them they will be punished, because he punishes those he loves.  In the hopes that they will see the error of their ways and turn back to him.  


In all of the letters, God is telling us that he wants us to change because he wants us to follow him.  He is giving us the opportunity to change all we have to do is take it.  I love how even though he may be scolding some of them, they are always given promises if they will just come back to him.  I love that they all end with, all who have ears to hear, let them listen.


Really, he couldn't get any plainer.  It's not easy to change.  It can be hard for us to stop doing things that we do out of habit, good or bad.  I think the more time we spend growing our relationship with the Lord, the more time we will want to spend with him.  But we should make time.  It may not always be convenient, or we may not feel very enthusiastic about it, but who do you think wants to keep you from growing in your relationship with the Lord?  


In the letters to the church there are a lot of times where Satan is mentioned.  He is just as alive today as he was 2000 years ago.  


Until next time.

Revelation

We have officially started our new bible study.  We started it last week actually I just haven't had the time to tell you all about it yet, but it was fabulous!  


So, I can't wait to tell you all about it.  While we were reading over Chapter 1, the leader asked if we had read the whole book of Revelation, after most of us said no, he told us to have that done before the next meeting because as we read over it, he wants us to be able to look at what the whole book is saying and not just the chapter we happen to be reading.  So, I read the whole thing!


When we started going over the letters to the seven churches, our leader gives us some background information on the areas of the churches and what is taking place in the towns.  Makes the whole process that much more interesting to me, I love when he just makes it come to life for me.  


Anyway, didn't mean to get carried away there, just got a little excited.  One of the things we discussed was that in each letter, the author gives us a description of Christ, usually in the beginning and he always gives the churches a promise.  Like in the letter to Ephesus, the promise is, "To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat fruit from the tree of life, which is in the garden of God."  Revelation 2:7.


Not a bad promise, huh?  If they will just straighten up and fly right, they get to eat from the tree of life.  The warning to them was that they had left their first love, gotten away form what was most important, hmmmmm, sound familiar?


When we talked about the letters one thing we all agreed on was that there was each warning could be talking about all of us at some point in our faith journey.  At some point don't we all forget what is really important?  Don't we sometimes fall prey to the trappings of things/idols of this world?  We all fall short.  At least around here we do.


But it looked like the church of Smyrna, and the church of Philadelphia must have been on top of their game because he didn't really have anything bad to say about the way they were living.  It kind of makes you stop and think, if God were going to write a letter to your church, what do you think it would say?


Are you reaching out to EVERYONE?


Are you helping the needy?  Feeding the hungry?  


Are we pleasing him?  


I'm trying.

Reading Revelation

We just started a new bible study last week and we are reading Revelation.  And because Revelation can be interpreted so many ways, we are reading it and just discussing it.


It's not really a teaching kind of study.  Just something to get us thinking I guess.  Last week he told us to read the whole Book, and if something really stood out to us, write it down and we would discuss it.  


So that's what I've been doing, reading and writing.  


What an amazing time that must have been for John, to see Heaven, and heavenly beings, and strange creatures sent to clear a path for Jesus' return.  I would imaging it was hard to write it all down, surely some of it was beyond description.  Sometimes as I'm reading I think of how awesome and powerful God really is, and we don't have a clue as to all that he can do.  When I hear of natural disasters like the earthquake in Japan I think, even as large and devastating as that was, it doesn't compare to what he is capable of doing.


As John writes the letters to the churches he is pretty much saying OK, this is where you are lacking so fix it, get it right so you will be ready for his return.


Why is it so hard for us to do what is right?  Is it because when we stand up for something considered "religious", we are labeled controversial.  


And who wants that stigma, right?


Well, Jesus did, and he didn't mind saying it, I mean, look where it got him, straight to the cross.  


Kind of makes you think doesn't it?

Being a Helper

With Easter coming, for Lent I decided to do the 40 bags in 40 days challenge.


I don't know if you have heard of it but it's where you go through your "stuff" and get rid of things you may not have used in a long time or maybe you are just cleaning house, so to speak.  But since I was doing it for Lent I decided that I wouldn't just use it as an opportunity to clean out, but as an opportunity to give something good.


Saying something good I mean something that I really like, but I know that someone else could use it more than me.  


It's easy to go through my closets and give away the stuff I think is out of style or seems to have shrunk in the wash, but to really give something that means something to me, that is sacrifice.


I am at a point in my life where I am trying to stop caring so much about worldly things, and trying to simplify my life, which means focusing on the important things like relationships, caring for others, seeing a need someone has and trying to fulfill it.


So as I get my bags stuffed, I want to focus on the needs of others and what I am doing to help them meet their needs.  Isn't that what it's really all about?  Helping each other.

Awesome!

Impending Doom

Do you ever feel like there is nothing but BAD things happening all around you?


The other day I was talking with a group of people and we were talking about what was going on with us, when I realized that almost everyone who was sitting there had some kind of crisis going on in their lives.


I think we have 4 church members who were hospitalized, several more who were sick.  Many people who are in the caregiver role with their parents and it can be very hard to take that role on especially when they don't think they need it.


There are times when I think to myself when will things get better for them?  Then I think of Job, and I realize that my God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow.


PRAISE THE LORD!!!


What a comfort.

Praying for the right thing

 

Having two kids, and watching them grow up and make all the same mistakes that all kids make it made me realize something.

With my oldest, I really wanted him to be happy.  Of course I want my youngest to be happy too.  It’s just that I realized that maybe it isn’t always happiness that they need to grow.

I realized that sometimes I prayed for the wrong things for them. 

That sounds crazy doesn’t it?  But I realize now that the things that I may have thought they needed, they didn’t need at all.

One example, when my son was in middle school, he was pretty good at baseball.   As he got older he didn’t want to be involved in sports.  I prayed that he would be good at everything that he did.  I wanted him to get the feeling of self gratification that he got when he played baseball.

I was thinking about his self confidence.  I wanted him to know his worth, by someone other than his family.

I was wrong.  I had the best of intentions of course, but I was going about it all wrong. 

I wish I would have prayed for his relationship with Jesus.  That he would grow in his faith and then he would have naturally seen that he is worth so much that God would have sent Jesus to earth even if he were the only one on earth. 

I was focusing on trying to get him to fit into the what the world sees as self worth, when I knew that it is what God says we are worth that really matters.

So, I have changed what I pray for. 

I pray that they will grow in their relationship with the Lord, then everything else just seems to come together.

Blessings

Jesus has the power of God, by which he has given us everything we need to live and to serve God.  We have these things because we know him.  With these gifts you can share in being like God, and world will not ruin you with its evil desires.

2 Peter 3-4

This is just one of the things we have been talking about in our bible study.  


God has given us everything we need to live, not just to live but to serve.  


Lately, I can't let go of the need to get rid of some stuff.  


So I am going through and purging.  Getting rid of stuff that I haven't used, or maybe I just don't want anymore.


It will be furniture, clothes, anything that I don't feel like I can't live without.  


What about you?  Anyone else feel the need to simplify?