Something to Think About

The only things in heaven made by man are the scars in the hands of Jesus.

Pastor's Corner

Reputation and Character.  (By William Hersey Davis)

“The circumstances amid which you live determine your reputation;
the truth you believe determines your character.
Reputation is what you are supposed to be;
character is what you are.
Reputation is the photograph;
character is the face.
Reputation comes over one from without;
character grows up from within.
Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community;
character is what you have when you go away.
Your reputation is learned in an hour;
your character does not come to light for a year.
Reputation is made in a moment;
character is built in a lifetime.
Reputation grows like a mushroom;
character grows like the oak.
A single newspaper report gives you your reputation;
a life of toil gives you your character.
Reputation makes you rich or makes you poor;
character makes you happy or makes you miserable.
Reputation is what men say about you on your tombstone;
character is what angels say about you before the throne of God.”
Pastor Don

Something To Think About

The king’s (or President’s) heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)

Pastor's Corner

Praying for our Leaders.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1Timothy 2:1-2 ESV) The elections are now behind us and now we Christians need to pray most earnestly and fervently for our leaders and our nation. Let me share with you some thoughts from Dr. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

We should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization.  So much ground has been lost on these issues. We need to pray that we regain this ground.

We must pray that Americans will defend the least among us.  This starts, but does not end, with concern for the unborn and for the recovery of respect for the dignity and sanctity of every single human life at every stage of development, from conception until natural death.

We must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness.  This will be no time for rancor, condemnations, and conspiracy theories.  Instead, we must pray that God will settle the hearts of the people.  May Christians be ready to respond with prayer, respect for office, and a gentle spirit.  Others will be watching.

We must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry.  May the church, the sign of the coming kingdom, be faithful to declare the Gospel — knowing that this is the only message that will save.

May God grant us mercy and grace as we seek to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens — and our responsibilities as Christians.  This world is not our home, but we do bear responsibilities as followers of Christ as we are living here.

May God bless America, not because this nation deserves to be blessed, but because He is a God of grace and mercy.

I found this helpful and encouraging, I hope you did too.

Pastor Don.

Something to Think About

“Trust God to move your mountain, but keep on climbing” Daily Bread

Pastor's Corner

Keep Looking to God.
When God blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child in their old age He attached great promises to the child. They were told that through this child God would bless all nations; that this child was the first in a long line of descendants. God told Abraham that his descendants would be a numerous as the sand on the sea shore or as the stars in the sky! How this must have thrilled Abraham and Sarah’s hearts! But then God told Abraham to do a very strange thing, He told him to sacrifice this one and only son. What makes this strange is not only the command to sacrifice him since God hated the human sacrifices of the pagan religions, but what was to become of the promise? What about all these children that were going come from this boy? I think part of what God was doing with Abraham was to ensure that Abraham keep his eyes on God and not on the gift God had given him – Isaac. It’s so easy to get focused on the gift and not on God. It’s so easy to be swept up in the “dream” of what God is doing or going to do with me that I stop looking to Him. My gift now holds my vision; the ministry that I’m involved in captures my heart and energy instead of God. So, sometimes God will make us put our gift – our dream – aside to see if our dream is more important to us than following Him. Abraham got Isaac back because he was focused on God and so God will let us have the dream back as long as we keep our eyes on Him and not the dream.
Pastor Don.

Something To Think About

Oswald Chambers warns that many Christians have enough of the Holy Spirit to spoil their sin but not enough to change their character.

Pastor's Corner

In the 6th chapter of the book of Nehemiah we find Nehemiah and the rest of the Jews finishing up on the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem. All of their surrounding enemies began to conspire against Nehemiah, due to fear. These people had watched the Jews rebuild this wall in just 52 days, while resting on the Sabbath. Their enemies recognized that they could not have done this without the help of God. These enemies of theirs didn’t know God, but they could see the result of His favor, and took careful notice of the result of His blessing. When others see what can be accomplished when a group of likeminded people get together for a common cause, it creates wonder. They are witness to the impossible being made possible, and they begin to understand these feats could not have come to pass without special blessing from above. It can make them question themselves and their own beliefs, and maybe fear that power, which when in opposition to that power can be a great advantage, like in the days of Nehemiah. It can also attract them as well; they might see the strength and love that is available and say “I would like to have some of that”. 
Nehemiah’s enemies were trying to cause him to stumble by making him lose focus on what God had set in front of him to accomplish. Our enemies in life will be persistent but we know God’s love endures forever. We can trump the efforts of evil by applying the endless love and favor of God to these situations, and expect to be blessed for it. The general theme to this chapter of Nehemiah is persistence. Our efforts for the kingdom will persistently be met with opposition, but if we persistently look to the Lord and receive His blessing, we will overcome in His name. Roman’s 8:31[God's Everlasting Love] what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? With God on our side it doesn’t matter from where or whom our opposition comes from. We can stand firm in the Lord and know we will not be forsaken.  
Jake Thomas

Something to Think About

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. (Native American Proverb)

Pastor's Corner

In the fifth chapter of the book of Nehemiah we find the Jewish people diligently working on the rebuilding project in Jerusalem. There arose a great outcry from the meekest and poorest of the Jews. They were not only under the rule and authority of the Babylonian empire but their own structure of hierarchy within the Jewish community was very oppressive and judgmental as well. The richest and most powerful “nobles” were charging high interest and forcing their brethren to mortgage their lands to keep up with their debts to them. Some even had to pay their debts by selling off their children into slavery, slavery within their own community. Nehemiah, as leader of the Jews, was angered by how they were treating each other. He took counsel with himself, and prayed for an answer. Nehemiah confronted and rebuked the oppressive hierarchy and told them of a solution, it sounds so simple yet carries so very much weight, forgiveness. They were to forgive the debts, return whatever land, goods, or slaves they had acquired and begin to help in the healing process of a community. Nehemiah was privy to quite an allowance of food, money, and goods for being the leader of the Jews. Instead of hoarding it all and being wasteful. He opened up his home and table to those who were less fortunate and made sure all the goods were going as far as they could to serve the needs of as many as possible. The overall message I gather from this chapter is love and forgiveness. We are called to love one another, not to judge and belittle. We are called to forgive one another, not to take advantage of each other when we are down and most vulnerable. We don’t always need a hand out, possibly just a hand up. We can share in our challenges, and also share in the joy that comes from tight knit community, fellowship, and love for Jesus. Remember this week we are all in this together, one church, together for Jesus.        
Jake Thomas.

Something To Think About

“Fix your eyes on Jesus, who endured the cross, so you won’t grow weary and lose heart.”.” (Heb 12:2-3)

Pastor's Corner

In the book of Nehemiah chapter’s 3 and 4, we find the Jewish people back in Jerusalem ready to rebuild the city walls. Nehemiah has gathered all the clans together and appointed each a task of rebuilding a specific area of the wall and its gates. As their work begins they start to make noticeable progress immediately. In the matter of just a few days the wall is beginning to take shape and the enemies and oppressors of the Jewish people have noticed. At first those opposed to the Jews made fun of them, and made jokes at their expense. The Jews just kept on working and persevering as progress on the wall moved forward. As the progress became more and more the enemies of the Jews began to plot an attack on them. Nehemiah caught wind of their plans to attack so he had his people arm themselves and be ready for a fight. Nehemiah chapter 4: 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The Plan of their enemies had been thwarted by the Mighty God, but His people were ready for a battle, and ready for the hard work to continue as well.
What I see from these chapters is that we all have a specific job appointed to us by God himself. We all come from different backgrounds, home towns, social circles, etc, but we can come together on behalf of the Lord and be blessed for it. We are going to be met with opposition when we labor in His name, He will always go before us and bless our efforts. We are to have our swords strapped to our sides, our sword, our weapon is the word of God. We can speak His word directly into the enemies of our lives and find relief and blessing. This week I encourage you to get into God’s word, commit it to memory and speak it into your lives. God will bless your efforts in fulfilling His will but watch out for the devil’s schemes.
Jake Thomas

Something to Think About

Trust in the lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Prov. 3:5)

Pastor's Corner

In the second chapter of the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah in turmoil over the destruction of Jerusalem and wanting to do something to rebuild the city walls and gates. Nehemiah is under the authority of the Babylonian King, so if he is desiring to go to the city and repair it, he must first get permission from the King. First he prays to God about his desire to rebuild the Holy City, then he approaches his earthly master about being permitted to travel to Jerusalem to begin work on Jerusalem’s walls and gates. I think that we can use this example of how we as Christian’s should go about our lives when trying to fulfill the yearnings that have been placed on our hearts. We first approach God from the prayer closet, asking for His will in these areas of our lives. We can seek His divine blessing on what it is we are trying to accomplish in our lives. We then must follow the proper channels of authority in other areas of our lives to make sure we have the blessing of those that have been placed in authority over us in our lives, or our wives, husbands, bosses, or parents etc… God is the ultimate authority in our lives, but I do think we can utilize the people God has placed around us in our lives. I have learned in my walk that having the perspective of a trusted individual or individuals is a good way to avoid self deception and back sliding. I know today that I will still make mistakes but if I can avoid making old mistakes, or the same mistakes over again, I can stumble less in my walk. I encourage you all to find someone to be accountable to spiritually, knowing of course our ultimate submission is to the will of God. Thanks, Jake Thomas.

Something to Think About

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
(Albert Einstein) Someone put it this way, “If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve always got”. Is it time to change?

Pastor's Corner

In Nehemiah chapter one, we find the Jews still in exile and in captivity in Babylon. Nehemiah finds favor with the Babylonian King and becomes his cup bearer. This puts Nehemiah in a unique position close to the King; he has the ear of the king if you will. The King of Persia at this time was the most powerful man on Earth, so being in a position close to him was a good place for Nehemiah to be. When Nehemiah is lead to ask for his captive people to be let free he does not appeal to the King, he goes to God in prayer. I think today we can look for favor from our Earthly superiors before we go to God with our requests; He is the one who is really in charge anyway. We can remember this as a rule of thumb and learn from the example of Nehemiah. We can seem to put way to much value on what the world or people think about things. Do we think to go to the Bible and see what God has to say about these areas of our lives? God has carefully written this book as a guide for us, and He is always there for us when we need to reach out to Him through prayer. Sometimes the Bible can be deep and tough to understand, this is a great reason to get involved in a small study group, or to reach out to someone who may have a better understanding of the word of God than you do. Each of us has been called into some form of service to the Lord, the better we understand His word, the better we can serve Him. This week I encourage everyone to step up their devotion time. If you read one verse a week, this week read two. If you always seem to be too busy for a Bible study, try and find a way to get to one on a regular basis. Pick up the phone and reach out for some help or call someone who may be struggling to see if you can lighten their burden. There are so many ways we can step up to the call of God and I believe the first step is going to Him and making Him priority in our lives. If we put God first in our lives, the rest of our lives will fall into place how He intended all along. Thanks Jake Thomas.

Something to Think About

You can’t change where you’ve been but you can change where you’re going.

Pastor's Corner

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. (Deut 32:4)

Exile-anyone separated from his or her country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.

In reading through the book of Ezra over the past couple of weeks, exile was one of the main points that jumped out at me. The nation of Israel was in exile to Babylon for 70 years. This book tells of the return of the people of Israel to their native land. God worked on the hearts of their oppressors and the people of Israel were allowed to go to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple. In the world of today there are so many people, institutions, and groups that are opposed to Christianity. It is reassuring to me to know that God can use the hearts and the minds of the unsaved for the betterment of His kingdom. This says to me that if I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, and knowing Him better, He will provide a way for me to keep “rebuilding” my temple. Regardless of who is in authority over us here on Earth, God is in authority over all. He will always make a way for His people, even when there seems to be no way. He will use the saved and the unsaved to bring glory and honor to His great name. We can work at rebuilding our personal temples through getting to know His word and will for our lives. Having the courage and faith of beginning the rebuilding process from ground zero, or a remodeling of sorts for those who have been walking with the Lord a long time and have become stagnant in their faith.
Jake Thomas

Pastor's Corner

How do we react when we have been wronged? Is our anger justified?  Are we quick to forgive or do we hold on to this resentment with both hands? We must remember that the anger and resentment we harbor only affects us, not the person we are upset with. God calls us to be quick to forgive and slow to anger. “…if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt 6:15) If we are to be forgiven, we must forgive those who have offended us.  Then the question can be raised, “how many times must I forgive someone who offends me?”  “…and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”(Luke 17:4) This is not saying we should put ourselves in harms way, or make unwise decisions that make us vulnerable to being used and abused.  I think it calls us to allow for the imperfection of our fellow man, and gives us a small glimpse at the grace of Jesus. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory, compassion is where our hearts should lie concerning our Christian brothers and sisters. This week’s Pastor’s corner is a call to break down the walls of resentment, let go and let God into these areas of our lives so we can love more and judge less. Thanks, have a blessed week. Jake Thomas.