IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT

Seriously, I thought these words were immortalized by Charles Shultz with his famous cartoon character "Snoopy". Often Snoopy would be shown sitting in front of a typewriter typing those words. Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised when I just began a new SiFi novel (new to me) written back in 1962. The first words on the first page were, "It was a dark and stormy night" (From: "A wrinkle in time").

As I read those words, my mind flashed back to the night in the New Testament when a few men were making their way across the Sea of Galilee on a dark and stormy night. Have you ever experienced one of those nights? The ones that seem to bring total darkness, that leave you feeling totally alone, that cause you to feel like no one in this world cares?

Those disciples felt that way, but what they forgot was that Jesus was right there with them all of the time. Notice the story in Matthew 8:23-27, "Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!"

Have you ever forgotten that Jesus was right there in the boat with you on your "dark and stormy night"? Or like these men, failed to realize his power or who he really was? After Jesus stilled the storm these men ask, "Who is this man?" they still didn't get it, they still didn't understand. What about you?

When you are in the middle of your personal storm, to who to you cry out? Do you call your parents, or your friends, or your work mates, or your school mates? Why is it that far too often we don't think to call out to the one who can still the storm until we have no where else to go, rather than calling on him first?

A MOTHER'S DAY THOUGHT….

         

"Mother's day", a special day set aside to honor our mothers. Mothers we do honor you and thank God for your influence in our lives! Now having said that, I realize that not everyone has that kind of relationship with their mother, which will allow them to honor her. That is a pity for all involved, but that is Satan's influence with sin in the world.

Each year, we and most churches across our land acknowledge Mother's Day in some way. Have you ever wondered whether or not we should be doing this (as a church activity)? Have you every considered whether or not it is scriptural to celebrate Mother's Day? I mean, is it based upon scriptural doctrines, principles or example?

Well, I hadn't either, so here is what I came up with, I think it is. No, it is not commanded in the scripture and we have no example of the early church setting aside a special day to recognize mothers. However someone did acknowledge just how important mothers are to us and honored their mother.

Nine times in the scripture we are commanded by God to "honor your… mother." Think about Jesus' last few moments upon the cross, who did he remember out of all of the people gathered there? His mother! In John 19:25-27, we read: "Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home." (NLT)

If our God feels it is important to honor our mothers, even when he is dying in agony, then I feel it is important for us to do so also. So, for each of you mothers, I wish you the happiest of Mother's Days. May your husbands and children honor you as God intended.

Why go to Church?

Easter is now a thing of the past, many folks won't be back in church for another year, or at least until Christmas service rolls around. Why should they go to church any more than that? OK, I understand that you really don't "Go to Church." I understand that the Church is not the building, but rather we "ARE THE CHURCH" as people. But, as most people in our world use the term, they understand it as "going to church". Hopefully we understand that we really "Go to Worship," when we gather as the church (God's people).  

But as they say, "I digress". The question under consideration is, "Why Go". Actually there are a number of reasons for us to go and be with the church. For fellowship, for growing our relationships with others, for the singing and prayer, all of these things are good things. I would suggest though that we should primarily go to worship God. That's the most important thing we can do. We come together with others of like mind in the presence of the creator of the universe and give worship to Him. How important could that be though?

In his autobiography, Albert Schweitzer said that one of the best things his parents did for him as a child was to take him to worship services. Even though he was too young to understand much of what was going on, just being there was important. He claimed it is not important that children understand everything. What is important is that "they feel something of what is serious and solemn" in our relationship to God. Just being in the presence of God with others shapes a part of our hearts and minds in the image of God.

Why go to church? Notice what the writer of Hebrews 10:19-25 has to say about this:

(I kind of like the way "The Message" paraphrases this passage). Notice the words: "

 "So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.

So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching." (they title this section: Don't throw it away).

So, how about it, don't you think you could be just a little more frequent in attending the worship of our God? Why wait for a "special occasion," when each time the church meets it is a special occasion. The problem is, our world has forgotten that, how about you?

Russ Lawson

WHITER THAN SNOW

How do you get things really clean? The scripture used the picture of the whiteness of snow and of milk in comparison to a life without sin. How do  you get things really clean?

I know how strange that may sound, but it is the truth and I'll warn you right up front, "DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME".

When we were youngsters, it was a common practice for parents to "wash out the mouth" of a disobedient youngsters with soap. Normally this happened when they were using words (or language) that were not appropriate, often a curse word they had heard somewhere and had been warned about using. I honestly don't remember ever having to endure that experience (I may have blocked the memory), but I know many of my young age mates did.

 

Yesterday was an extremely busy day for us. Melody was cleaning (everything) in preparation for a group of ladies coming to the house the next day. I was helping out and we were both rushing around trying to complete the tasks we had chosen to do. In the afternoon I decided to take a break and fix me a cup of tea. I rushed into the kitchen and filled my cup with distilled water, put the jug back away and noticed I had filled the cup too high. I picked up the cup and took a mouthful of the water and immediately realized there was something wrong. After I finished spiting and washing my mouth out with water (it kind of helped) I realized there was another cup on the counter also.

It seems that Melody had put water in to a cup and mixed Oxyclean (soap) into the cup, stained with tea, to do some cleaning. Of course I managed to pick up the wrong cup. And no, I didn't get mad, I just laughed at the foolishness of the situation!

I wonder how you would have reacted (or have reacted) when something that makes you feel foolish happens to you? I laughingly told Melody, "Look what you made me do", (but honestly, I took full credit for the incident). One passage came to mind after this where David cried to God to be cleansed from his sins. Psalm 51:7, tells us: "Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow". As I said, don't try this at home (however I think my teeth may be a little brighter).

They say that "you can't judge a book by its cover or a man by his appearance." But I believe that you can find out a lot about a person by noticing what makes them mad or how they react to foolish or difficulty situations.

How are you doing?

Happy Easter

I was in a store this past week and saw the greeting card display filled with hundreds of Easter cards. I noticed that there were bunches and bunches of them that proclaimed in large letters, "Happy Easter".

Happy Easter, really? As I thought about that I wondered how many of those who would receive those cards, would think about the fact that they can say that because someone died. This is a time traditionally that folks dress up in their finest clothes, plan family gatherings, have special family meals, give candy and colored eggs to the children. All of this is done because of tradition. That's not a bad thing, but we need to stay focused on what is really important too.

Now I understand that Easter isn't a celebration of the death of Christ. That's not a problem for me, but then again we wouldn't have the ability to find anything happy about this particular time of the year, if it hadn't been for him first dying.

As Christians we should understand that this time which the world calls "Easter" is the culmination of the plan of God. Yes, it is a time celebration, at time of rejoicing, a time to be happy. But happy because of the promise fulfilled of the death, burial and resurrection of God's Son, Jesus Christ!

If you want to know what Easter is really about, then read what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (NIV)

Then in 1 Corinthians 15:13-17, "For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sin." (NLT)

Happy Easter? Yes, but we should be shouting Halleluiah rather than just saying we're happy! Because it is through the resurrection of Christ Jesus, that we have our hope of eternal life. It is the fulfillment of the first prophecy made in Genesis 3:15 about the hope of man and the defeat of Satan. The empty tomb cries out to the world that God has kept his promise, Christ has risen and we will be also!

ARE YOU READY?

While  much of the country was enjoying sunny and warm weather this past weekend, things have been different for us here in the Southern California Mountains. We have had temperatures in the 20's and have been under a winter storm watch. We ended up getting between 8 inches of snow here in our community.

How many of you rush to the store, when you hear about a snow storm coming into  your area? Personally, I went to the store early on Saturday morning,  just to pick up a couple of things… Needless to say, I was not alone.

The store was full of other shoppers, looking to do the same thing.  As I reflected upon this phenomenon later, I thought about the parable of the ten maidens in Matthew 25:1-13. You remember the story, a bridegroom was coming and the maidens had to be ready when he came, and his intent was to surprise them.

I read about another way to tell this story, but don't know who came up with the idea, but here is my rewrite of the story someone else shared.

"The kingdom of heaven is like ten people who sat down one night to watch the evening news. Before long, the All-Wise, All-Knowing and Always Accurate Weatherman appeared on the TV set and spoke.

"Behold," he said, "A snow storm of a severe nature approaches, so be prepared. At midnight, it shall be upon you and in the morning, there shall be whiteness on the ground which shall reach up to your knees. Thus says your weatherman.

Five of the ten people were prepared, so they sat comfortably in their homes and watched the rest of the news. But the other five were not prepared. They had no milk, they had no bread and they wondered where they had left their winter gloves.

So, they jumped into their cars and raced to the store with money in hand, desperately hoping they could lay an offering upon the altar of the Cash Register and get a few last minutes things in return.

But behold, they were too late. The door to the store was locked. The gods of commerce would accept no more offerings until the morning. The five people went home and asked their neighbors, "Do you have any bread or milk I can borrow?" Their neighbors said, "No, I don't. I only have enough for my family.

A curse upon you who hear this warning and do not prepare… The snow approached and you paid no attention to the day or the hour. You should have been prepared. Now you shall be judged wanting in the day the snow cometh…"

I know it is a silly little story, but does that make it any less true? If the Lord were to come tonight would you be ready?

TIME TO CHANGE

Here we are at that time of year when the time changes once again. You know, "Spring forward," "Fall back" Daylight savings time. It's actually only a small sign of how much life changes as time goes on. Life is definitely different for ever person, each of us have our own particular view of life, what it should be and how it should be lived. I wanted to share some thoughts on living!

Sign on a storefront in Great Britain: 

"We have been established for over one hundred years and have been pleasing and

displeasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered 

the effects of coal nationalization, coal rationing, Government control, and bad

payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed,

and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next."

If we ever hope to make it through this thing called “life,” then we are going to have to have 

the right attitude. I tend to think of life as an adventure, while I know folks who think of life as 

only something to be endured until something better comes along. Those folks never seem 

truly happy! They are always worrying about what bad thing is going to happen to them next. 

Melody and I have been married for 45 years and often talk about the great adventure it has 

been for us. That doesn’t mean that we haven’t had our up’s and down’s, our have and have 

not times in our life, but I think it speaks to how we view life in general. 

We have a faith in God that lets us believe that clouds do have silver linings and things do 

really work out for the good (Romans 8:28). Our faith allows us to see things differently 

from much of the world. We believe the promises we find in the scripture that God will 

provide for the necessities of our life if we make the effort to follow his word, 

(everything else is a bonus). 

Jesus speaking in the “sermon on the mount” tells us in Matthew 6:25ff   “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Go ahead and read the rest of the passage, it’s powerful and will test your faith to believe it, but then that’s one of the purposes of life isn’t it? To test our faith and see just how much we really do trust God to keep his word?

So, how do you deal with life? Is it an adventure or a burden to be endured? On a movie title a while back, were the words: “And the adventure continues!” It may seem strange, but I pray that for your life the adventure may continue or maybe more, and that you may view life as an adventure looking to Christ for your strength. Take a look at Hebrews 12: 1-2 about running the race to see what it’s all about..

May God continue to bless you with a sense of adventure and then some...