Memorial Day

 

"Memorial Day
is a United States federal holiday
which occurs every year on the final Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of
remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known
as Decoration Day, it originated
after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil
War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans
who have died while in the military service." (Wikipedia)

Remembering those who were willing to give their life for
you shouldn't take a special day. It shouldn't have to be declared by a
government to make it something special. However it seems to be human nature to
forget some of the most important events or people. We don't mean to, we have
the best intentions, but somehow it just happens that we forget.

Jesus knew human nature and understood our weaknesses.
That's why he instituted things in his church such as "Communion" or
"The Lord's Supper". He knew that although we have the best
intentions, we would eventually forget his sacrifice, unless we were constantly
reminded.

In Mathew 26:26-28
we read, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke
it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins." (KJV)

The apostle Paul explains it in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 in this way, "For I pass on to you what I
received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord
Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces
and said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember
me." In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an
agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as
you drink it."

I encourage you to celebrate Memorial Day. Celebrate the day
that remembers those of our military who were willing to die that you might
live free. But more than that, I encourage you to meet with your church,
partake of Communion and remember the one who died that you might live free
eternally.

Mother's Day - The Gift

Gifts are sometimes not thought out before they are given. A
report this past week said that Mother's Day gifts are much harder to find (or
purchase) than Father's Day gifts. Harder, in the fact that they take more
thought to find an appropriate gift. Another survey said that most people spend
between $40 and $100 on Mother's Day gifts, whereas Father's Day gifts are
typically between $15 and $25.

 

Understand I'm not complaining in any way shape or form, I'm
just trying to make the point that it's sometimes hard to find the perfect
gift. I'm reminded of a gift box we one time received while working as
Missionaries in Kenya, East Africa. Some good friends wanted to do something
special for us and fixed us up a special box. They wrote us about it and kept
check with us to see if we had received it, but wouldn't say what it was. It
took over 6 months for the box to arrive (you never know if you will actually
receive a box from America
or not, but we did.)

When the box arrived, I commented that it looked like an
elephant has stepped on it. With great anticipation we opened the box and found
a gallon can of Tapioca pudding (one of my favorites) and a bag of Mikesell's
Potato Chips (crisps) from our home state in Ohio (one of my wife's favorites)
and a couple of bags of chocolate.

Can you imagine a box, six months in transit with a gallon
can of Tapioca and a plastic bag of potato chips and chocolate (which had set
in the hot sun in a shipping container in the docks in Africa looked like when
we opened it? Actually the can made it through pretty well with only some minor
rust, the potato chips were now potato dust and crumbs and the chocolate was
large lumps (rolled in potato chip dust).

Do you want to guess our reaction? We were thrilled to get a
box from home. We enjoyed the stale potato chip crumbs and used some of them in
cooking, we ate the chocolate anyway and opened the can and ate the Tapioca
pudding. We rejoiced that these dear friends had remembered us in the far away
foreign land and had sent their love in the form of a battered box.

All of this is to say, with gifts, it really is the thought
that counts! Love is shared, not in things, not from spending money, but in
remembering to let the one you love know that you love them!

Mother's, we children and husbands sometimes stumble on that
point, but know that you are loved and appreciated for all you were and are in
our lives!

Some of the foundation principals in relationships is found
in 1 Corinthians 13:7, where we
read: "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures
through every circumstance". (NLT)

New Ideas!

New Ideas always
are a problem, whether in our homes or in our churches. Understand I am someone
who is very skeptical about change, but I embrace it when I am convinced it is
(1) in keeping with the guidelines found in God's Word and (2) it will really
benefit God's Church.

Not all ideas are
good ideas, just because they are new, nor are they of necessity bad, just
because they are new. I got a chuckle out of the following story about
embracing change:

      The elderly priest, speaking to the
younger priest, said, "It was a good idea to replace the first four pews
with plush theater seats. It worked. The front of the church fills first."

      The young priest nodded, and the old one
continued, "And you told me a little more beat to the music would bring
young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock'
n' roll gospel choir. We are packed to the balcony."

"Thank you, Father," answered the young priest, "I am
pleased you are open to the new ideas of youth."

"However," said the elderly priest, "I'm afraid you've gone
too far with the drive-through confessional."

"But, Father," protested the young priest, "my confessions
have nearly doubled since I began that!"

"I know, son," replied the old man, "but that flashing neon
sign, 'Toot 'n' Tell or Go to Hell,' is just not staying on the church
roof."

It is a blessing
for us that God did not give us directions on everything we do. Yes, he did
allow us some leeway on how we do some things. I'm not saying that we change
the doctrine of the church or God's plan of Salvation, or our worship as
outlined in God's Word. But we shouldn't be afraid to embrace new ways of doing
the old things.

I know that some
of us don't like change, yet there are some who like new things and change.
There is nothing wrong with that. God made us different. If you don't like
change I'm sorry, but the world in which we live is constantly changing.

We continue to try
and improve our facilities; we are trying to complement our worship and bible
study periods with a new sound system and coming soon a new projector system. A
new way of presenting the message, but we are not changing the message. I can
remember preachers hanging white sheets behind the pulpit with a bible message
printed on it, we don't do that anymore. We found a better way. In years past
we often knocked doors and passed out flyers about our church. Now we mail
bible study material and information about our church into 2,000 homes around
our building. We have a website with sermons you can listen to in your own
home. We have email contacts, etc. in other words, we have changed, but the
message hasn't and I like that! I kind of even like the idea of the flashing
neon sign on top of the building…. Well, maybe even I'm not quite ready for
that much change.