Faith

We just came back from a ‘STM’ this weekend. A ‘STM’ is a short-term mission trip. This one is near Morgantown, WV. It's a great place to work for the Lord outside of our normal Christian area of influence.

I am so grateful that we have this place to minister at.  We can go out for a day and do work for the Lord and still be home in time to work around their house.  We have seen our teens attend every single trip that we have gone on and most of them have contributed on a very productive level. 

  For most Christians it is sometimes difficult to find a place to exercise our ‘faith works’.  We have our church but nothing else.  We find ourselves comfortable inside the four walls and that's our entire sphere of influence.  Short-term missions helps all of us get outside these walls and into the streets where the power of God works in ways unseen in the sanctuary.

 God understood the comfy-coziness of our faith inside the church.  He knew that we would find it easier to exercise our faith inside our comfort zone than to have to believe and trust outside our walls. Listen to what He says in James 2:14-18:

14 Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. 15     Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, 16 and you say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well"-- but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all-- it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds."  (NLT)

I want to thank the Lord for all of you in the body of Christ, and to those at "The SUB"  that work in our Homeless Ministry and those of you who help in the Storehouse of God operations and  those ministering in the Crisis Response Support Team, those involved with the Fire Department…or those who visit those in the Hospital or Nursing Homes..Let all of us at the ‘SUB’ be a people that shows their love through faith by our deeds.  God Bless.

Sand Castle memories

  Elijah and Steve are digging in the sand together for the better part of a couple hours. Deep trenches and well engineered water routes were factored into the construction plans for their father and son sand castle. Up out of the plain old sandy beach a royal homestead was being made. After hours of work it was time to close out the project so off they went to get some shells to put in the main towers and wa-la it was complete!  As we stood back, someone asked, 'How do you get into it, there's no gate, door or entrance'. Before you knew it, there was a little gate with a roadway to it.

  We all celebrated their castle! It had everything a castle could have & the job was done; smiles, imagination, father-son bonding, and new construction..it truly was a pleasant site on the plain, flat ordinary beach. We made a "Kodak moment" and took pictures, hugged and finally got Steve to get off the castle and get ready to join us playing football....BUT - as we all stood there still looking at it, the first wave came up to the end of the new road, within seconds the second wave came within inches of the new gate, then came a huge wave that almost swept the whole castle away......need I say more? 

  The next day we came down to swim and you couldn't even tell that any father or son had played there the day before...you would never think that some wonderful family memories were ever fashioned on that spot.  It was too bad, all we had were some pictures and, for those of us without a camera.....just the memory.  Three waves were all it took, just three waves and it was gone....If you look at that section of the beach today there's nothing. But thank you Kodak because the camera captured the castle, the shells, Elijah and Steve and all of us watching. It has the memories, even though the waves mercilessly erased the art form.

   In Isaiah 43:26 it says 'Put Me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case (NKJ)'

God is telling us here to 'remind Him', (not like He ever forgets or anything like that) but to just remind Him of the things that through His Word, the Bible, He has promised us.  Life gets like the beach to us and the waves of everyday work, worry, problems, struggle and activities kinda have a way of washing away our little castle of security or comfort.  Maybe some of you have seen your health castle being washed away. Someone else may have their peace castle bowled over by bully waves, or your job has been flattened. That's when it's a good time to sit down with your Bible, look up some of God's wonderful promises and remind Him what His Word says....His Word to you!!!

NO PARKING!!

Today's blog is the story of one man's patience-shattering experiences in finding a parking place. It was so bad it was almost comical.

The first time, I headed into Irwin to an appointment (well, yes, I was running late) but to my delight there was a parking place just near - so very near- to where I needed to go.  I pulled up to position myself to park, and what to my disgusted wondering eyes did I see, but a big bright red cone staring at me! Head down, hands firmly grasping the wheel (well more like wanting to rip the wheel off the car) I moved on, finally ending up 4.25678 million miles away...honest!!

Later in the day, I was doing some work and thought I would stop by and say "hello" to someone. I pulled in only to see an "Insurance Agency Customer Parking Only" sign. If that isn't enough, the sign told me that if I dare park there and can't prove that I'm a customer in good standing, they will tow my car away and I will have to pay the costs...I swear I'll never buy their insurance! They have no compassion for a poor guy trying to drop his anchor so he can visit someone.

It only got worse from there. Karen asked me to pick up something at Target, so up the rows I head, looking for a close parking place. I spot one just ahead, but there was a car in front of me and I figured he would take it. He doesn't!! I'm thinking this is my lucky day and I pull happily in - only to see a "Parking for Expectant Mothers" sign. Now I'm looking in the Jeep for a volleyball. None to be found! I have to pull out...and just where do I end up?? Down at Eat'n'Park!!  Well, now that I'm here, I'll grab a cup of Joe and a piece of pie, read some stuff and head home. I turn the corner and head for a nice little space left just for me. Life is good. I get the truck nicely stuffed between the lines, check the position of the car, hit the key, get out, press auto lock, put my keys in my pocket and look over only to see a "Take Out Customers Only" sign sternly and faithfully guarding the site.

?Have you ever thought of how much asphalt there is in North Huntingdon (or wherever you call home) that we are not allowed to park our tired, road-weary Goodyears on?  Go to the Hospital and it says, "Emergency Vehicle Only". Stop at the township office and it says, "Commish Pal Move It". One spot in town, this kills me... someone with a nasty streak in them put a sign up that says, "No Parking between 8 and 5PM". That's so cruel. Why would I ever need that spot other than those hours?? I think they should be sho...never mind!

I even stopped at my own loving, caring nutritionist's office to pick up the vitamins that keep my little engine going, and when I pull in next to the door, what do I see but a "No Parking Bio Waste Pick Up" sign...GEEZ!~!

Hey, all kidding aside, there really are a lot of places that for courtesy, practicality, or good reason, we can't park. It is the same way in our Christian life.  Think over your upcoming day...maybe there are some places you DON'T NEED to stop by and park in. If you're moving into the space of jealousy, anger, bitterness, impatience, sneaky, spite, etc...back out and don't park there!!