Hymn from the persecuted church in CHINA

Martyrs for the Lord

Chorus:

To be a martyr for the Lord, to be a martyr for the Lord
I am willing to die gloriously for the Lord

Those apostles who loved the Lord to the end
Willingly followed the Lord down the path of suffering
John was exiled to the lonely isle of Patmos
Stephen was stoned to death by an angry crowd

Matthew was stabbed to death in Persia by a mob
Mark died as horses pulled his two legs apart
Doctor Luke was cruelly hanged
Peter, Philip and Simon were crucified on a cross

Bartholoew was skinned alive by the heathen
Thomas died in India as five horses pulled his body apart
The apostle James was beheaded by King Herod
Little James was cut in half by a sharp saw

James the brother of the Lord was stoned to death
Judas was tied to a pillar and shot by arrows
Matthias had his head cut off in Jerusalem
Paul was a martyr under Emperor Nero

I am willing to take up the cross and go forward
To follow the apostles down the road to sacrifice
That tens of thousands of precious souls can be saved
I am willing to leave all and be a martyr for the Lord.
==============================================
¹² Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
¹³ Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
¹⁴ So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

¹⁵ If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs.

¹⁶ But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?

¹⁸ And also,
“If the righteous are barely saved,
what will happen to godless sinners?”
¹⁹ So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
1 Peter 4:12-19 NLT

Thought Provoking

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King JR

Prayer Chain Request

Thursday morning at 10:00 am
GVCC member Suzanne will have cancer surgery.
I am asking everyone to take a moment and offer up
a prayer for her and her husband, Max.
They are wonderful genuine Christian people that I have
tremendous respect for.
Please join me in praying
"God's will be done on earth -- as it is in Heaven"
Thank you
Pastor Shane

A Truly Remarkable Day

No Room For Judging

Yesterday was Sunday -- and my church experienced God in an unusual way.

What makes this a truly remarkable is when you realize that GVCC was "about" full -- with a grand total of "about" 60 people in attendance.

No one is able to "hide" among the masses in a church of 60 people.

When you are in a church of 60 people, you are among family.
And the best part is, when you pass through the door,
"judging" stays outside and the love of God is the defining rule.

So what I am about to share, is about a group of people that are aware of each others humanity, with its limitations and weaknesses.  God's love demands that we sit side by side and worship the amazing Lord whose love makes it all possible.  All distractions have to be addressed and disgarded.

The "preacher" was a man that was converted while in a local jail and grew in the faith while serving tie in prison.  After getting out of prison, he continued growing in the faith and today, serves the Lord full-time as an evangelist.  Truly a miracle.

In the congregation was "a couple" men that spent years in jail for one reason or another.  What the world has thrown away and considered unworthy of a second chance, the good Lord transforms into His children.  Truly a miracle.

In the congregation was a number of police officers and corrections officers -- all who were fully aware of the ex-criminals sitting among them.  No one can be more judgmental than career law enforcement officers -- namely because, often their safety and the safety of the public rests on their ability to accurately judge the character of the people they confront.   So for these men and women to set aside their bias and participate in unified worship -- is truly a miracle.

And sitting in the back row, right by the door, was a young lady that had just a few short days prior, given her life to Christ.  She sat and observed the love of Christ at work in a room full of "Christians".  If she wondered what genuine authentic Christianity looked like -- then she got a close up look at what God can do when people honor His Word with all their heart.

She realized that what she was witnessing with her own eyes, went far beyond "church entertainment" and far beyond "church salesmanship" and far beyond "legalistic religion" -- this was Jesus Christ at work transforming lives that glorify God.  That my friends, is a miracle and it happened at Garden Valley Community Church yesterday.

For a text, the preacher spent a lot of time reflecting on the text:  

"Praise be to the God 
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Father of compassion 
and the God of all comfort, 
who comforts us in all our troubles, 
so that we can comfort those in any trouble 
with the comfort we ourselves receive from God"
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Lance Armstrong's interview

I watched Oprah’s interview with Lance Armstrong.  Lance confessed to both using performance enhancing drugs during his bicycle races and lying to the world in an attempt to hide the truth. 

My initial response was from Solomon, when he wrote:

“People who conceal their sin will not prosper,
but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13

When people lie and attempt to hide their sin, they are following the example of their forefather, Adam in the garden of Eden.  After Adam sinned (Genesis 3:7), he attempted to hide his guilt by sewing leaves together for clothing.  When that failed to hide his shame, he tried to HIDE from God (Genesis 3:9-10).  Then he hit rock bottom when he blamed God for giving him an inferior quality wife (Genesis 3:12).  Adam’s lies and blame shifting only bound him deeper and deeper into Satan’s control. 

My grandfather used to say, “When you find yourself in a hole ~

stop digging”. 

When I watched Lance Armstrong’s interview, it was challenging to try and determine if he was “publically confessing his sins” or if he was conducting “damage control”.  My personal opinion is of no consequence but the life lessons Lance offers us are endless. 

I worked in jail for 20 years and spent more hours in court than I care to remember.  Sitting in court listening to attorneys posturing their cases ~ is a very special kind of torture.  Guantanamo Bay won’t stoop to such tactics when interrogating prisoners because it is inhumane. 

Sorry, I took a “rabbit trail”….

When a criminal preys on the public for years and years…. and only confesses to his crimes AFTER he is caught ~ that is called “damage control”. 

When someone confesses to their sins BEFORE getting caught…. now that is more in line with Proverbs 28:13. 

Let’s stay with Solomon and look at Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” 

Numbers 32:23 states, “…. and you may be sure that your sin

will find you out.” 

My challenge for you is, “Don’t use a Band-Aid of silence or blame shifting to cover a wound of sin”. 

We may not want to talk about our sin but God demands that we shine His light of TRUTH on it and ask Him to forgive us. 

1 John 1:9

“If we claim to be without sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The Deep End of the Pool

This coming Monday, I have a dear friend facing a life threatening surgery. 
Every doctor she talked to, politely declined, stating the surgery was too risky. 
Then the good Lord brought a surgeon into her life that offered her hope. 
He looked everything over and offered to perform the surgery.
Our hearts are filled with prayer and confidence that the good Lord will hold her in His arms through the surgery.
And whatever God’s will is for the outcome….
Then that is our prayer.

Meditate on James 4:14-15:
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. 
What is your life? 
You are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes. 
Instead, you ought to say,
"If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Paul was able to look at life from the perspective of,

“We are confident, I say,
and willing
rather to be absent from the body,
and to be present with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:8

Jesus instructed His disciples to pray Matthew 6:9-13:

“Our Father in Heaven
Hallowed be Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven….”

Many of these struggles are through no fault of their own ~

but the pain and frustrations remain none the less. 

Most people have discovered that the great “WHY ME” question

isn’t to be answered in this life. 

“WHY” is a faith building exercise that leads us to accepting

that God is good and knows what He is doing ~

and we have to find peace in that. 

Repeat after me, "God is God and I am not God". 

This is a healthy perspective that sheds light on our issues.   

This introduces one of my favorite Bible verses:  Genesis 50:20

I would suggest you write this down somewhere because it offers a perspective of encouragement when you are swimming in the deep end of the pool.

“You intended to harm me,

but God intended it for good
to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives,”  

So my concluding thought is this:

Will you trust that God is always good
in every situation
working behind the scenes
to bring about the best possible result? 

The Blame Game

I call “The Blame Game”, throwing rocks at bad memories. 

We fling the rocks over our shoulders without looking, knowing that it is an effort in futility but it beats admitting responsibility and fault. 

This is the #1 most common problem that I confront when talking to couples struggling with an issue that is causing them grief. 

Instead of looking forward as a united front, addressing the problem and working toward a healthy solution, the “finger pointing” begins. 

My dad likes to remind me, “It is a funny coin that doesn’t have two sides”. 

So in an effort to start the week out with some “tongue in cheek” humor, I thought we would “go see the folks”. 

Genesis 3:9-13 NLT

 ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

¹¹ “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

See, “The Blame Game” begins with our 1^st folks ~ so it is something of a unhealthy family tradition. 

And to make it worse, the fact I am pointing my fingers at the 1^st folks, I am carrying on the family tradition by pushing responsibility back to them. 

I can hear Adam’s voice whining, “But God, you made me a defective woman.  If you had given it some thought, we could’ve avoided this mess.” 

Adam was trying to dodge responsibility by blaming God for his decision. 

And to make it worse, Adam basically was telling God that he was less than good, because a good God would’ve done a better job and provided him a better living environment. 

When Adam realized that throwing rocks at God was a dangerous game, he then shifted his “Blame ‘chucking” toward his beautiful bride, Eve. 

 To make this more ironic, Adam was supposed to be Eve’s protector.  God provided Adam with strength and decisiveness to provide Eve with safety.  Instead, Adam ducked his head and whined, making excuses. 

 Oh good grief. 

 The life lessons we can draw from this short story would fill volumes. 

 Most of which, I confess, place the full blame for their sin at Adam’s feet.

 And STOP IT ~ yes you! 

 I know you are looking at your husband right now, comparing him to Adam.  That plugs you into “The Blame Game” yourself. 

 So instead, let’s review verse 9:

 “Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 

Do you honestly believe that God, who sees all and knows all, couldn’t find Adam in the garden? 

OR

Was God providing Adam a chance to do something great? 

Do you think that possibly, because God loved Adam and Eve, that He was providing them an opportunity to confess their sin before God and ask for forgiveness?

Like a loving parent, God had to confront the sin but also wanted to give His children a chance to confess and make things right ~ restore their relationship. 

Instead, “The Blame Game” began and man has been trying to dodge responsibility ever since. 

So our lesson here is simple:  “When you hear God’s voice in your heart, asking you where you are…. Stop and see what sin God is trying to get you to take responsibility for and confess it.  Throw yourself on God’s love and mercy and ask for (a) forgiveness and (b) a restored relationship with God. 

I’m praying for you
Pastor Shane

The Exclusivity Rule

Years ago, I needed to hire a couple employees.  My dad has been involved in hiring 100’s of employees so I went to him for advice.  I remember he made a statement, “Hire people with work ethic and character ~ you can teach them everything else they need to know.” 

 Isn’t that good?  

Trying to teach an adult work ethic & character,                             

is like trying to push water uphill. 

 Over the years, I have listened to many couples struggling with marital issues.  And out of all those 100’s of hours, 2 words keep reoccurring:  TRANSPARENCY & EXCLUSIVITY.    

 “He who covers his sins

will not prosper,
But whoever confesses
and forsakes them
will have mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13

Transparency requires honesty, character, communication, and trust. 

Exclusivity requires discipline, contentment, focus, and effort. 

I will make one observation on this ~ then go eat pizza. 

Exclusivity is having your spiritual needs met by the good Lord ONLY. 

Ask yourself this, “Where do you go for comfort, peace and strength?” 

Exclusivity is having your emotional & physical needs met by the spouse the good Lord have you. We live in a world that offers a plethora of distractions that offer to meet needs outside of marriage. 

I worked with a guy that had a long distance relationship “on-line”.                    

 

He didn’t consider it “cheating” because it was all on-line and there was no physical contact.  In fact he never met her (he assumed it was a woman he was communicating with) in real life.  He convinced himself that he wasn’t hurting his wife and his marriage through his decisions.  And yes, today he is divorced. 

 Truth is, on-line relationships violate the exclusivity rule. 

 I counseled a family a few years ago that was having problems because the husband worked so many hours that he was never home.  Then when he was off work, he was an avid hunter of every animal that was legal to hunt.  So he was never home.  In my judgment, he violated the exclusivity rule twice ~ because he found two different ways to avoid his wife and kids.

 Anyway, I just wanted to push a couple ideas out there and pray it stimulates some conversation and challenges some comfort zones. 

 ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said,

“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
²⁰ He gave names to all the livestock,
all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals.
But still there was no helper just right for him.
²¹ So the Lord God caused the man
to fall into a deep sleep.
While the man slept,
the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs
and closed up the opening.
²² Then the Lord God made a woman
from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.
“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”
²⁴ This explains why a man leaves
his father and mother
and is joined to his wife,
and the two are united into one.
Genesis 2:18-24

Shuffling Leaders

OK, if confession is good for the soul, then my wife and I will be super healthy.

Michele and I are involved in a ongoing debate over the best technique for selecting NFL football coaches.

Pretty much every team that failed to produce a winning season, fired their coach as soon as their season concluded.  About 1/2 the teams fired their head coaches and began searching for a new fearless leader that will insure their teams success.

In the back of my mind, I can hear jack-in-the-box music building in intensity as the moment for the clown to pop out draws closer and closer.

I suspect that this is how teams select their head coaches.

When the music stops and the clown pops out -- the coach standing in front of you is your leader.

Michele thinks that is silly and is promoting a simple lottery drawing.  Stick your hand in the helmet and grab a piece of paper.  The name on the paper is the name of your new head coach.

I mention this because it reveals how little people know about leadership and team development.

Leadership is getting under people and lifting them up -- developing them -- building them -- encouraging them.  Supplying them with whatever they need to succeed.  This is time consuming and requires patience.

"All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around David, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him." 1 Samuel 22:2

Absolutely fascinating reading is 2 Samuel 23:8-39

David was a natural leader that was hiding in the desert for personal reasons.  And the dregs of society heard he was out there and since they had nowhere better to be or anything more pressing, they wandered out to see what he was doing.

David took the time to train the people God sent his way.

David was not responsible for the people living in Jerusalem because that was not where God put him or the people God put under his influence.

So David took the time to train some of societies outcasts into one of the greatest fighting units this world has ever witnessed.

But it took time and patience.

My point?  Cut the leader God put over you some slack.  Allow that person to learn and develop.  Hold that person up in prayer as God moves and transforms.  And finally, trust that God is good and knows what He is doing.

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. 
Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, 
and give thanks for them. 
Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority 
so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives 
marked by godliness and dignity"
1 Timothy 2:1-2

Little Things

The good Lord enjoys taking the little things that most people take for granted and using it for something special. 

I have a wonderful friend that buys me pocket sized New Testaments by the case to give away as I serve as a pastor.  This opens a lot of doors, and once I started looking for opportunities to give them away, it has become an everyday occurrence. 

Last week I made a hospital visit on a close friend that is very ill.  He was asleep and his family had stepped out for lunch so I took one of the pocket sized New Testaments and set it upright on a night table close to the bed.  The good Lord nudged me to take one of my business cards and slide it between the pages as a bookmark.  I left the business card sticking up so it could be clearly seen by my friend’s wife when she got back. 

Today my dad and I dropped by the hospital for another visit with our friend.  As soon as we walked in the room, the first thing my friends wife said was, “I am so sorry, I didn’t know we were going to be here another week, so I took the little Bible home.”  I could see she was distressed and needed to experience comfort that only the good Lord can provide. 

So I slipped another New Testament out of my pocket and put it in her hand.  Tears came to her eyes as she held it close to her chest.  Through the tears, she asked me if I would sign it. 

I took the little Bible and wrote their names in the front flyleaf and signed my name underneath and returned it to her. 

A secret for hospital visits is, “The Shorter The Better”. 

So I had a word of prayer with the family and left. 

The power of this story is found in the strength in God’s Word. 

There is some fine printed material that Christians use when sharing their faith.  However, I suspect that much of the printed material out there is only effective as fire starters for my wood stove. 

So with confidence, I can hand someone a copy of God’s Eternal Word and encourage them to find peace and comfort within its pages. 

“There’s nothing like the written Word of God

for showing you the way to salvation
 through faith in Christ Jesus.
Every part of Scripture
is God-breathed
and useful one way or another
— showing us truth,
exposing our rebellion,
correcting our mistakes,
training us to live God’s way.
Through the Word
we are put together
and shaped up for the tasks
God has for us.”
2 Timothy 3:16  Message

2013

Pastor Rick Warren sent a letter out ~ suggesting 5 ways to get the most out of 2013. 

This was so good, I had to pass it along. 

ü  Get clean                                                                                                              God can use many different vessels to do His work, but He won’t use a dirty vessel. Make a list of everything in your life that displeases God. Agree with God that it’s sin. Ask for forgiveness. 

ü  Get fit                                                                                                               To do everything God has in store for you this year, you’ll need energy—as much you can get. Watch your weight. Start exercising. Get rest. You’ll need it!

ü  Get simple                                                                                                            Distractions—even good ones—will keep you from God’s best for your church more than anything else. Get focused on God’s purposes.

ü  Get faith                                                                                                   Not living in faith is sin. Your need a God-sized vision that can’t happen without Him.

ü  Get going                                                                                                    Do what you know God has called you to do. Start today.