If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands… nod your head…. shout hooray. If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it; If you're happy and you know it do all three! Remember this song? We may not sing the song out loud, however our faces surely show it.
Many a happy Spirit-filled Christian has been asked by others, “Why are you always so happy? As I have observed you, you don’t seem to get gloomy and downhearted. What is your secret?” What an opportunity this gives to testify to our joy in the Lord! The secret for some is to get their souls full of joy each day in their time alone with God. (You will fill me with joy in your presence. Psalm 16:11) They do this before they go about their day. They carry the blessing of the secret place into their day’s activities. The first great and primary business to which we ought to attend every day is to have our soul happy in the Lord.
A heart bubbling over with joy makes your life more attractive to the unsaved, is a powerful witness to Christ’s grace, and makes a more lasting impact on others than almost any other aspect of your Christian life. Measure your own life’s testimony by your joy. Ask yourself…. Is my spirit singing the song today?
- Elaine Wood
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Let us encourage one another
This past Saturday, Pastor Chris and I took a group of children from Kid’s Church on a “Kid’s Day Out”. We went to play putt-putt golf and then took the children out for ice cream. The thought of taking ten children, boys and girls ages 5-12, out on such an adventure was initially a little bit scary. But our prayer was that these children would develop friendships with one another and begin to feel a bond of Christian fellowship, even at that young age. I cannot express how wonderful each one of the children were; they were so well-behaved; even the children who typically do not interact with one another enjoyed playing with each other and seemed to have a wonderful time. Our prayer is that all of the children will be able to develop friendships with one another that will be nurtured into adulthood.
Relationships are very important to God and His Kingdom. Developing bonds of friendship with other Christians gives us strength and encouragement in our walk with the Lord. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us “We must also consider how to encourage each other to show love and to do good things. We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming.”
Spending time with and developing relationships with other believers is so important to the believer. Enjoying our free time is also important. As summer time approaches, we begin to make plans for all types of summer fun: vacations, trips to the lake, picnics, ball games, you name it. So many fun things, so little time! It is important to remember, however, to prioritize. God should always come first in our life. Jesus commanded us in Matthew 6:33 to seek God’s Kingdom first, to be concerned about His Kingdom and what has His approval. It is important to be in His house on Sunday morning. All those summer activities are just as fun on a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon. Being a part of the body of Christ and worshiping together with our brothers and sisters in Christ will help us to develop those friendships and give us that encouragement in the Lord that we need even more as the day of the Lord comes.
-Pastor Tina Blackburn
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Divine Design...
It’s been a real blessing to have a Dad as gifted with wood working as my Dad and over the years I’ve benefited greatly from his talent. Such as every pine wood derby, an event held by the boy scouts, the scout was to whittle away at a block of wood until it took the shape of a car, then race for all honor and glory at an annual race. My fellow competitors always assumed my car was some model we had simply bought and assembled, you could hear murmurs of “they bought that car” or some such rumor to discount my Dad’s gift. Though nearly every year, we came away with the best in show trophy, notice how I still say we, when in all realty I had very little to do with the whole process. The role I did play every year was picking out the style of car I wanted my Dad to construct, I did this by perusing one of the many encyclopedias of automobiles we had laying around the house.
Any craftsman prior to starting their craft has a picture of what it is they’re making. The design, which includes the intended function, is already in mind prior to the first stroke of the brush, or the first cut of the knife. So it is with God when He designed mankind and if we are to ever function properly we must understand what that purpose is. We get a good glimpse of this when we see the first commandment, (Mat 22:37,38) Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. God’s ultimate purpose for humanity was to be family to Him, He is not content with just causing the mandatory obedience that will ultimately occur. (Phil. 2:9-11) Instead His desire is we love Him in the same way He loves us. So He empowers us to love Him this way, (Rom 5:5) And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. The result of loving Him in this way is we function as He intended, it is impossible to love Jesus and not love people.
(Joh 14:21) He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him. This is simple stating a fact, if you love me then the result is you will keep my commandments. The challenge for us, to insure we are properly working is to continually realign our lives and priorities to make the first commandment first in priority.
-Pastor Ted Farmer
Any craftsman prior to starting their craft has a picture of what it is they’re making. The design, which includes the intended function, is already in mind prior to the first stroke of the brush, or the first cut of the knife. So it is with God when He designed mankind and if we are to ever function properly we must understand what that purpose is. We get a good glimpse of this when we see the first commandment, (Mat 22:37,38) Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. God’s ultimate purpose for humanity was to be family to Him, He is not content with just causing the mandatory obedience that will ultimately occur. (Phil. 2:9-11) Instead His desire is we love Him in the same way He loves us. So He empowers us to love Him this way, (Rom 5:5) And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. The result of loving Him in this way is we function as He intended, it is impossible to love Jesus and not love people.
(Joh 14:21) He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him. This is simple stating a fact, if you love me then the result is you will keep my commandments. The challenge for us, to insure we are properly working is to continually realign our lives and priorities to make the first commandment first in priority.
-Pastor Ted Farmer
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wisdom In An Age Of Drama...
As is the case with many of us, I occasionally will take the time to watch a few of the reality shows on TV that focus on the day-to-day drama of people that we don’t know and really don’t care that much about. It seems that we can relate to their situations or to their storylines and that is what draws us in to the show. I have found that some shows will draw me in to the point where I want to watch from week to week to see how everything will turn out.
Unfortunately, the drama on these shows never really resolves itself. Nobody seems to really learn anything . . . nobody seems to have a real change of heart . . . and their lives never really have any significant change. Although it may seem that they have a personal “Ah Ha!!” moment at the end of each episode, the drama finds a new script, new characters and new plots each week. In reality, nothing really changes. Quite frankly, they are addicted to the drama of their lives. They profit by selling it to a public thirsty for more drama.
The real scary part of these latest reality TV shows is that there is a growing lust for more and more drama while nobody really learns anything from them other than to speak, think and act in an immature fashion despite their age or lot in life. This does have an impact on our society and our kids. It has an impact on Christians and non-Christians alike. Quietly, many of us want to be just like them.
In the Bible, the book of Proverbs speaks often about wisdom. Wisdom, quite frankly, is the opposite of drama. If we all made choices to live in a Christ-like manner in every life decision we made . . . in every word we spoke . . . in every thought we have . . . many of us could avoid and would choose to avoid the drama we develop in our own lives and, quite frankly, would turn away from the TV filled reality shows that distort the way we should interact with one another.
Proverbs 3:29-32 states “Do not plan to do something wrong to your neighbor while he is sitting with you and suspecting nothing. Do not quarrel with a person for no reason if he has not harmed you. Do not envy a violent person. Do not choose any of his ways. The devious person is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord’s intimate advice is with decent people.”
After reading that, I was convicted in my own heart about my own desire to watch many of the shows. If you find that you gain pleasure watching these shows or that you favor a particular character because of how they behave, take a moment and read . . . study if you will, Proverbs Chapters 1 -4 which talk about wisdom. God’s Wisdom is ours for the asking.
BTW, if you really want to take a bite out of most reality shows . . . go and read Proverbs chapter 5 on adultery . . . or chapter 6 which talks about avoiding disaster by the way you think and act . . . or chapter 7, which is even more advice on avoiding adultery . . . I’m just saying. It is time we start to look at the world around us and how we choose to interact with it.
-Pastor Chris Blackburn
Unfortunately, the drama on these shows never really resolves itself. Nobody seems to really learn anything . . . nobody seems to have a real change of heart . . . and their lives never really have any significant change. Although it may seem that they have a personal “Ah Ha!!” moment at the end of each episode, the drama finds a new script, new characters and new plots each week. In reality, nothing really changes. Quite frankly, they are addicted to the drama of their lives. They profit by selling it to a public thirsty for more drama.
The real scary part of these latest reality TV shows is that there is a growing lust for more and more drama while nobody really learns anything from them other than to speak, think and act in an immature fashion despite their age or lot in life. This does have an impact on our society and our kids. It has an impact on Christians and non-Christians alike. Quietly, many of us want to be just like them.
In the Bible, the book of Proverbs speaks often about wisdom. Wisdom, quite frankly, is the opposite of drama. If we all made choices to live in a Christ-like manner in every life decision we made . . . in every word we spoke . . . in every thought we have . . . many of us could avoid and would choose to avoid the drama we develop in our own lives and, quite frankly, would turn away from the TV filled reality shows that distort the way we should interact with one another.
Proverbs 3:29-32 states “Do not plan to do something wrong to your neighbor while he is sitting with you and suspecting nothing. Do not quarrel with a person for no reason if he has not harmed you. Do not envy a violent person. Do not choose any of his ways. The devious person is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord’s intimate advice is with decent people.”
After reading that, I was convicted in my own heart about my own desire to watch many of the shows. If you find that you gain pleasure watching these shows or that you favor a particular character because of how they behave, take a moment and read . . . study if you will, Proverbs Chapters 1 -4 which talk about wisdom. God’s Wisdom is ours for the asking.
BTW, if you really want to take a bite out of most reality shows . . . go and read Proverbs chapter 5 on adultery . . . or chapter 6 which talks about avoiding disaster by the way you think and act . . . or chapter 7, which is even more advice on avoiding adultery . . . I’m just saying. It is time we start to look at the world around us and how we choose to interact with it.
-Pastor Chris Blackburn
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