A Time for Everything

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1

Inferred in this introduction to one of the most quoted scriptures in the Bible is the fact that there is also a time and a season to not engage in every activity under heaven. If there is a right time to do it, there is also a wrong time to do it. You see, this is the beauty of the deeper meaning of this verse and those following.... indeed there is a time, but is it a soon time or a future time, a long season or a short season? Maybe we all need to work on our timing. Somehow we must find a way to get into God's timing of everything. How do we do that? The closer we walk with Him, the more we know how to go with His flow, how to sense 'the when' of things. Too often we get caught up in the temptation of thinking everything or something should happen NOW. Maybe not. NOW, may not be God's will. Later may be what He has planned. I may not like to hear that, but it is true nonetheless.

The Art of Simply Living

Greetings everyone, I am a big fan and promoter of the free Matt About Money blog that also comes in email format to subscribers. Matt has a way of addressing financial and stewardship matters that really helps me think clearly and keep my priorities straight. I don't follow but a handful of blogs and this is one of them. In this world we live in today we must realize simultaneously that money in one sense is not so important and in another sense, it is extremely important. I wanted to share with you this particular article in hopes that you might sign up to receive these very timely teachings about our resources. Simplicity is a gift that can change your perspective totally. I hope that you find this as convicting and liberating as I did.

An old folk song favorite of mine says....
"Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free, tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in that place just right, Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, to bow and bend we shant be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight. Til by turning, turning we come round right."
Take time to reread these lyrics and then read Matt's article. Good counsel for us all.

Many simple blessings,
Pastor Fred

Famous Last Words

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." Revelation 22:21

If I were to have asked you today to quote the last verse of the Bible, would you have guessed this? Seriously, maybe something about the Alpha and Omega or not changing a dot or even a title of any of the words in The Book, or that He is coming again. Nope, it is John's closing remark after he has recorded The Revelation given to all readers as a little word of encouragement, but vitally important.

Pray for India

"To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: (and Mumbai, India-Lahoma’s addition) Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints- the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already head about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may life a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." Colossians 1:2-6, 8-12

Many of you know that I recently had the amazing opportunity to travel to Mumbai India and participate in a 10 day mission experience. This was my first time to India, and certainly not my last. I have traveled to many countries like India, and I am usually able to easily submerge myself in the culture, the history, and the social settings… but my problem usually begins when I am coming home. Even the one hour drive home to Orange County on the 405 freeway was visually so different than what I had just seen 27 hours prior on my one hour ride to the airport in Mumbai with small children sleeping in monsoon rain on sidewalks or dirty soaked mattresses under freeway underpasses, MOUNTAINS of rubbish that thousands of people called home along the train tracks and highways and beaches, traffic 8 lanes wide with no guidelines on how to maneuver through pedestrians and mo-peds and taxis and motorcycles and bicycles and starving women with small frail children strapped to their hip, pounding on the windows of our bus desperately asking for food.

Instincts

Alan shares a devotional from Our Daily Bread by Joe Stowell:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." Psalm 32:8

Flying into a storm is a dangerous experience. The temptation is to fly by your instincts, or, as aviators say, “by the seat of your pants.” But as any pilot will tell you, that’s a prescription for disaster. If you rely on your feelings and instincts, you become disoriented, thinking the plane is going up when it’s actually going down. Thankfully, the instrument panel is set to magnetic north and can be trusted every time. Letting your instruments guide you, even when it feels like they’re wrong, helps ensure safety in the storm.

A Big If

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John1:9

A big if, a humongous if. Maybe the most important if ever written. If you can't respond to the if, then the rest of the verse is superfluous. Doesn't make any difference. For the sake of illustration let's rewrite this key verse so that we can sense what we miss if we can't by the if.

Urgent

"We urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." 1Thessalonians 5:14

I have always loved short, instructive passages of Scripture that give lists of things to do. I think it is helpful to have a checklist sometimes when trying to address the needs in the Body of Christ. This is not just passing advice, hence the 'urging' of the brothers to follow through on the directives. These are serious matters even if they come across as 'bullet points' in a seminar on how to deal with people. There are four instructions on the list and each one is equally important. All of us could benefit from considering either applying or sharing these action items from the Early Church. Let's look at them one by one.

Two Questions

Quoted from Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living, by Charles Swindoll:

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:11

Comparing the acts of forgiving and forgetting, I think forgetting is the tougher assignment. Why? Because forgetting is something shared with no other person. It's a solo flight. All the rewards are postponed until eternity . . . but how great they will be on that day!

Who Told You That You Were Naked?

"And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Genesis 3:11

Oh boy, here we go. In the oft replayed conversations of the four beings in The Garden of Eden we least often refer to this particular line of The Supreme Being, God. Who, knowing that they would start pointing fingers, cuts to the chase by holding all three of them responsible and doling out some tough consequences. The Serpent gets the rawest deal and the man and woman get pretty equal punishment. I think we should go back and answer God's questions, since nobody did at the time. Oh, they made excuses, threw hand grenades to draw attention away from themselves, but nobody was totally honest. Man blames God and 'that' woman. The woman blames 'that' snake. So typical of us humans, somebody else is responsible, not me.

Two Tales Of One City

Our devotion comes to us from Dennis Fisher at Our Daily Bread:

"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him." Nahum 1:7

The book of Jonah has the makings of a great movie plot. It contains a runaway prophet, a terrible storm at sea, the prophet swallowed by a great fish, God sparing the prophet’s life, and the repentance of a pagan city. But Jonah’s sequel—the book of Nahum—might not be so popular. Nahum ministered in Nineveh just as Jonah had, but about 100 years later. This time, the Ninevites had no interest in repentance. Because of this, Nahum condemns Nineveh and proclaims judgment on the people.

What His People Don’t Know

"Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift, and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord." Jeremiah 8:7

In verse 4 of this chapter of Jeremiah God tells him to say these words and others to His people. I am sure if you are a parent or even a good friend you have been so exasperated with a child or someone you know and have begun your sentence with the word 'Even'. One of my favorite exasperated sentence starters with my children and some of my friends too has been 'Even a dog in the street knows.... Storks are big, skinny, dumb looking and awkward birds that have a tough time even getting off the ground. They are no aerodynamic wonder and have to flap constantly to stay in flight. You never hear of soaring and elegantly gliding storks. They do rhyme with dorks ya know. Doves, Thrushes and Swifts are not birds that easily fly either, and spend a lot of time on the ground and in the bushes. Migrating was a chore.

Followers of the Way

"However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets." Acts 24:14

Paul is so bold. Especially given that he is on trial when he says this. He is before Governor Felix, having been charged (trumped up charges by the way) with stirring up riots among Jews all over the world. Sounds exaggerated already huh? Given the opportunity to speak he gladly shares that such charges cannot be proven, verifiable by countless witnesses. Then he makes the statement that is our devotional. He testifies, brings testimony, literally, that he indeed a Christian. He could have let it go, but no, he seized the opportunity to point to Christ.

Uneducated and Untrained

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

When I was in my twenties and about as zealous as a young believer could be, I was invited to a denominational meeting at Baptist headquarters in Los Angeles because the Executive Minister and several other key staff wanted to hear my perspective on the future of Youth Ministry in SoCal. The letter that invited me was so official it both thrilled and scared me a little. So the handful of us upstart Youth Directors from the San Fernando Valley went downtown to share our hearts with the denominational execs, not really knowing what to expect. After they talked about a few serious concerns regarding the typical complaints about music, fashion (we forgot to wear ties :) and why so many youth were gathering at events we were planning, the conversation turned to asking us what we thought and why. Well, myself included, we boldly explained our love for Jesus, and passion for young people, and desire to share the truth about Jesus, and that it didn't seem to us that in light of what we were doing-- that how we were doing it wasn't important as long as it didn't conflict with the Word of God.

Why Plans Fail

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." Proverbs 15:22

If you know me well, you know that I have a profound respect and admiration for people who take counsel. Not only take it, but heed it. Whatever we plan to do, we are seldom hurt by getting counsel. Counsel, that is Godly advice, not the endorsement or approval of friends who want us to do whatever we want to do.

Joy, Peace, Happiness or Misery, Worry, Confusion

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Kim:

"what I have forgive has been for your sakes to keep satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions." 2 Corinthians 2:10 – 11

God wants us to live a life filled with joy, peace, and happiness………..what do you think the devil wants from us??? Let me help you out – he wants you to be filled with MISERY, WORRY and CONFUSION (and the list is a long one but I will stop for now).

Slow Anger and Rich Love

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." Psalm 145:8

I have shared recently in a sermon that the 'glory of God' is the sum total of His character. Actually I am incapable of describing, listing or even approaching an explanation of what that is. His glory is too great!! God is so beyond perfect that He defies description, definition and explanation. In this verse are two of His myriad attributes that give Him the capacity to exhibit two more. The Lord is gracious, He exudes grace. He is the embodiment of grace, the very definition of grace. He is also compassionate, as the song "Great Is Thy Faithfulness” reminds us, "His compassions they fail not, As Thou hast been Thou forever shalt be." He changes not. Always gracious, always compassionate.

The Covenant of Love

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands." Deuteronomy 7:9

A quick run through before I share something about love, since this verse comes after verse 8 where Moses shares with the people that God swore an oath to their forefathers that He would love them, even though they were small in number, were enslaved and were disobedient, He delivered them and made a covenant to love them. So they should "know" that because God is God and is faithful, unlike other 'gods', He would keep His covenant. And, not only that, He would keep on keeping His covenant for a thousand generations. (We aren't quite there yet, although I think the number meant as many as would come until time ends).

Who's Eyes?

"For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also the eyes of men." 2Corinthians 8:21

This verse is from the section of chapters that talk about money and offerings in the early church. Paul was seeking to avoid criticism by doing the right thing with a significant financial gift. When you start talking about money and how to disperse it boy do you need to be careful. People can get their nose out of joint about money almost faster than anything can. Seems that Paul wants to make sure that he administers the money in such a way as to please God of course, but also in a way is right in the eyes of men. In essence, he wants to try to make sure that he doesn't offend anyone if at all possible.

Foolishness or The Power of God?

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1Corinthians 1:18

It is either one thing or the other and you can't have it both ways. Either the message of the cross is the most important thing to you or it isn't. What is the message of the cross really? It is GRACE... God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It is by grace we are saved. Only the perishing are totally oblivious to or just flat-out reject the message of the cross.

More on Soldiers

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Ray:

"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:3-4

I am still caught up in the activities of this Memorial Day weekend, and when I was sent this poem in an email, I thought it appropriate to devote a devotional to those who have spent time in our Armed Forces, and what it means to be a good soldier.

Foolishness Stinks!!!

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." Ecclesiastes 10:1

Sometimes we need to just have it told to us simple and straight. No beating around the bush or trying to soften the impact that the truth often has on us. So in the title of this devotional I have cut to the chase and gotten to the bottom line. Foolishness stinks!!! It stinks up everything and ruins everything. A little leaven, leavens the whole lump. One bad apple, well, you know all of the sayings that used to be such a strong part of our culture. Ever notice that a lot of those sayings have their roots in the Word of God? Also, notice that they are disappearing from our society because they sound moralistic. Of course they do, they are about morals. Fools forget their morals.

Troublemakers

"Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message." 2 Timothy 4:14-15

Troublemakers have been a part of life since The Garden. We have never been further from that beginning, by the way. Actually, the devil, satan was the first malcontent in prehistory, and as the father of lies and the leader of the fallen angels led the rebellion against God, leading to the expulsion from heaven of 1/3 of the angels before Creation. What an ugly drama that must have been. Ol lucifer then slithers into the Garden of Eden and spreads his disobedient troublemaking venom into the all too willing hearts of Adam and Eve, (I intentionally do not capitalize his name as a choice of disrespect which is ultimately more satisfying than being grammatically correct) and then comes Original Sin, the Fall of Man, the Curse and we all too willingly choose to continue the suffering with continued troublemaking and rebellion.