Is there anything more annoying than the phrase, "Back when I was a kid..."
Which is usually followed by some story about walking 5 miles to school in the snow.... barefoot.... uphill both ways....
Well, today is my turn to be annoying.
Have you looked outside?
It looks like the middle of April. "Back when I was a kid...." the first snow of the year that stuck was on Halloween.
I remember getting ready for "Trick or Treating" by putting on my Lone Ranger costume (I was always the Lone Ranger).... only to put on layers of coats, hats, gloves, boots.... which made me look like a cross between the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man and a Raccoon.
Anyway, we could count on SNOW for Halloween.
I saw people on motorcycles all over Colville on Saturday -- January 11th. That is just wrong.
Every Monday I am a primary crew member with the Ambulance service. So for the last few weeks, I have been bundling up for work because of the cold temperatures. Today, I left the Underamor gear at home because it is sunny and warm. That is just wrong.
Anyway, I have a couple thoughts to pass along for you to keep in mind as you travel through your week:
#1. Please send up prayers of strength and healing for those battling the flu. This year, it seems especially aggressive and resilient.
#2. Take a moment to look up at the sunshine and thank the Good Lord for such a beautiful day. We often take for granted what a breathtakingly beautiful land we are blessed to live in.
Psalm 118:24
"This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it."
I'm praying for you....
Pastor Shane
Monday, January 13, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Keep a Close Watch
Keep A Close Watch
James 4:8 NLT
"Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world."
2014 is the year to meditate on "Coming close to God".
What does it mean to come close to God?
How do you do it?
What will it cost?
How will I know if I am close to God -- or not?
If coming to God is a good thing -- then why isn't everyone doing it?
Recently I had one of those faith shaking moments when someone I dearly trusted, spent 2 hours expressing doubt about me and every aspect of my service to God.
The sad part is that I could not salvage the friendship.
The positive aspect of the experience is that it served to encourage me to examine areas of my life that I often take for granted.
1 Timothy 4:16 NLT
"Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."
My thought for today is this,
"How often do you stop and ask yourself if your life pleases God?"
"How often do you stop and ask yourself if what you believe is consistent with what God's Word states?"
It is easy to "drift" along and avoid causing waves.
The problem is, drifting moves you further away from God.
For you to draw close to God -- you have to desire it and make decisions that move you closer to Him.
So what decisions move you away from God?
I will give you a HINT:
99% of them involve your thought life.
What you choose to think about determines your values and beliefs -- which eventually determines your decisions.
Do your thoughts move you toward God?
What do you spent the majority of your time thinking about?
Philippians 4:8 NLT
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Perhaps this is something you and the good Lord should spend some time thinking about.
I'm praying for you.....
James 4:8 NLT
"Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world."
2014 is the year to meditate on "Coming close to God".
What does it mean to come close to God?
How do you do it?
What will it cost?
How will I know if I am close to God -- or not?
If coming to God is a good thing -- then why isn't everyone doing it?
Recently I had one of those faith shaking moments when someone I dearly trusted, spent 2 hours expressing doubt about me and every aspect of my service to God.
The sad part is that I could not salvage the friendship.
The positive aspect of the experience is that it served to encourage me to examine areas of my life that I often take for granted.
1 Timothy 4:16 NLT
"Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."
My thought for today is this,
"How often do you stop and ask yourself if your life pleases God?"
"How often do you stop and ask yourself if what you believe is consistent with what God's Word states?"
It is easy to "drift" along and avoid causing waves.
The problem is, drifting moves you further away from God.
For you to draw close to God -- you have to desire it and make decisions that move you closer to Him.
So what decisions move you away from God?
I will give you a HINT:
99% of them involve your thought life.
What you choose to think about determines your values and beliefs -- which eventually determines your decisions.
Do your thoughts move you toward God?
What do you spent the majority of your time thinking about?
Philippians 4:8 NLT
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Perhaps this is something you and the good Lord should spend some time thinking about.
I'm praying for you.....
Saturday, December 28, 2013
No Excuses....
The
next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember....
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ (3 times!)
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was promiscuous
the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once...
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer....
AND
Lazarus was dead!
Now! No more excuses!
God can use you to your full potential.
You aren't the message, you are just the
messenger.
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ (3 times!)
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was promiscuous
the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once...
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer....
AND
Lazarus was dead!
Now! No more excuses!
God can use you to your full potential.
You aren't the message, you are just the
messenger.
The Perfect Pastor
The perfect pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.
He condemns sin roundly but never hurts anyone’s feelings.
He works from 8am until midnight and is also the church janitor.
The perfect pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the church.
He is 29 years old and has 40 years experience.
Above all, he is handsome.
The perfect pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers,
and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.
He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor
that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church.
He makes 15 home visits a day
and is always in his office to be handy when needed.
The perfect pastor always has time for church council and all of its committees.
He never misses the meeting of any church organization
and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched.
The perfect pastor is always in the next church over!
If your pastor does not measure up,
simply send this notice to six other churches that are tired of their pastor, too.
Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of the list.
If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1,643 pastors.
One of them should be perfect!
25 Questions for Spiritual Growth:
26 questions to help develop spiritual growth:
1. How is your relationship with God right now?
2. What have you read in the Bible in the past week?
3. What has God said to you in this reading?
4. Where do you find yourself resisting Him these days?
5. What specific things are you praying for in regard to yourself?
7. What are the specific tasks facing you right now that you consider incomplete?
8. What habits intimidate you?
9. What have you read in the secular press this week?
10. What general reading are you doing?
11. What have you done to play?
12. How are you doing with your spouse? Kids?
13. If I were to ask your spouse about your state of mind, state of spirit, state of energy level, what would the response be?
14. Are you sensing spiritual attacks from the enemy right now?
15. If Satan were to try to invalidate you as a person or as a servant of the Lord, how might he do it?
16. What is the state of your sexual perspective? Tempted? Dealing with fantasies? Entertainment?
17. Where are you financially right now? (things under control? under anxiety? in great debt?)
18. Are there any unresolved conflicts in your circle of relationships right now?
19. When was the last time you spent time with a good friend of your own gender?
20. What kind of time have you spent with anyone who is a non-Christian this month?
21. What challenges do you think you're going to face in the coming week? Month?
22. What would you say are your fears at this present time?
23. Are you sleeping well?
24. What three things are you most thankful for?
25. Do you like yourself at this point in your pilgrimage?
26. What are your greatest confusions about your relationship with God?
1. How is your relationship with God right now?
2. What have you read in the Bible in the past week?
3. What has God said to you in this reading?
4. Where do you find yourself resisting Him these days?
5. What specific things are you praying for in regard to yourself?
7. What are the specific tasks facing you right now that you consider incomplete?
8. What habits intimidate you?
9. What have you read in the secular press this week?
10. What general reading are you doing?
11. What have you done to play?
12. How are you doing with your spouse? Kids?
13. If I were to ask your spouse about your state of mind, state of spirit, state of energy level, what would the response be?
14. Are you sensing spiritual attacks from the enemy right now?
15. If Satan were to try to invalidate you as a person or as a servant of the Lord, how might he do it?
16. What is the state of your sexual perspective? Tempted? Dealing with fantasies? Entertainment?
17. Where are you financially right now? (things under control? under anxiety? in great debt?)
18. Are there any unresolved conflicts in your circle of relationships right now?
19. When was the last time you spent time with a good friend of your own gender?
20. What kind of time have you spent with anyone who is a non-Christian this month?
21. What challenges do you think you're going to face in the coming week? Month?
22. What would you say are your fears at this present time?
23. Are you sleeping well?
24. What three things are you most thankful for?
25. Do you like yourself at this point in your pilgrimage?
26. What are your greatest confusions about your relationship with God?
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Christmas Perspective
To avoid offending anybody,
a school dropped religion altogether
and started singing about the weather.
They now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly non-memorable songs such as "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snowman"
and--this is a real song--"Suzy Snowflake,"
all of which is pretty funny because the school is in Miami.
A visitor from another planet would watch all this and assume that the children belonged to
the Church of Meteorology.
a school dropped religion altogether
and started singing about the weather.
They now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly non-memorable songs such as "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snowman"
and--this is a real song--"Suzy Snowflake,"
all of which is pretty funny because the school is in Miami.
A visitor from another planet would watch all this and assume that the children belonged to
the Church of Meteorology.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
My mom gave me this....
Things
to plant in your garden
1st
plant 5 rows of Peas
Preparedness, Promptness, Perseverance, Politeness,
Prayer
2nd
plant 3 rows of Squash
Squash Gossip, squash indifference, squash criticism
3rd
plant 4 rows of Lettuce
Let us be faithful, let us be unselfish, let us be love,
let us be thankful
4th
plant 4 rows of Turnips
Turn up for church, Turn up with a smile,
Turn up with a positive outlook,
Turn up with a positive outlook,
Turn up with a commitment to do your best
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