Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

However all of you will be celebrating the 4th I pray you will have a safe and happy day.

No matter what you will be doing or where you are I ask that each of you say a prayer for all of the people in our military and ask the Lord to keep each one of them safe.

I received the following and thought I would share it with you. I ask each of you to remember there was one Man, Jesus Christ who died for our souls and it is the men and women of the military that fights for our freedom here.

For all of our

military personnel, where ever they may be,

please support all of the

troops defending our Country.

God bless our Military who

are protecting our Country for our

Freedom.

Thanks to them,

and their sacrifices we can celebrate

the 4th of July.

We must never forget who gets the

credit for the freedoms we have, of which we

should be forever grateful.

I watched the flag

as I passed by one day,

it fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

and then he stood at ease.

I looked at

him in uniform,

so young, so tall, so proud,

and with hair cut square

and eyes alert,

he'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men

like him

had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign

soil?

How many mothers shed tears?

How many pilots' planes

shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps

one night,

when everything was still;

I listened to the bugler play.

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That Taps had meant 'Amen'.

When a flag had draped a

coffin

of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the

children,

of the mothers and the wives,

of fathers, sons and

husbands

with interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

at the bottom of the sea,

of unmarked graves in

Arlington.

No, freedom isn't free.

Enjoy Your Freedom

and may God Bless Our Troops!
____________________

If you remember from reading your Bible, it was when the Israelites obeyed the Lord that the wars were won. We need to pray for the leaders of our country for obedience. With the obedience of our leaders, we will win the wars.

Psalm 33:12; "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own in heritance".

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

A Tribute To Pastor Debi

Debi, my beautiful daughter, is a Children's Pastor. She has been for many years. When she first became a pastor her children were very young but that didn't bother her one bit. She knew this was her calling and she wanted to do what the Lord told her

to do.

This has not always been easy for her but it made her just that much more determined to be what God wanted her to be and to be the very best. I might add she has done both. Being a Children's Pastor is like being a senior pastor but there are little extra things to go with the Children's Pastor. Children believe they should be first so it has to be taught to them that they can't always be first. We as adults have leaned and understand more than children do.

I have seen Debi work for hours and hours to make sure she had everything just right for her Sunday message. She, or any Children's Pastor, knows the message has to be given at the level children can understand and on top of that, it has to be exciting. It is hard to keep the attention of some children and if the message isn't exciting then you lose their attention and what has been given to them in the beginning of the message is lost.

Pastor Debi works diligently to find Christian songs to go with the message she is giving. It is always good if you can find songs that compliment the sermon. It doesn't always happen that way. It's often very difficult to find such songs. She spends hours looking for them.

Being a Children's pastor is not just being able to stand in front of a bunch of children and talk, it is being able to put a message together with visuals, music, having an overhead screen or chalkboard or some other visual tool that goes with the message, and then being able to discuss and answer question that any of the children have. It is not working just an hour or two a week and then one hour on Sunday, but it is hour upon hours.

If a child asks a question about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit the pastor has to be able to answer without hesitating one bit. They have to be able to tell the child in a manner they will be able to understand and if the child doesn't understand the pastor has to have the patience to explain again and again if necessary. They have to do this with love in their heart where the child will feel that love.

A Children's pastor should know each child by his/her name.  After all they are important so a pastor should show them this by knowing their names.  Would you feel important if someone was talking to you and didn't remember your name?

Part of the regular service that she does includes games. Not just any game will work. Hunting for just the right type of game is quite time consuming. The games usually go with what the message is about.

Often time, there are treats of some kind given at the end of service. A children's pastor must be aware of any allergies the children may have. When there are a lot of allergies she has to look for just the right type of treats so none of them will have a reaction but also finding treats that are good for children but yet the children will like.

If the church is able to take the children to church camp, that means more hours to work to get everything put together so they will be able to leave in time to get to the camp at the specified time.

The world as we know it today is a hostile one and lots of children have many different fears. Children's pastors have to be able to handle each and every one of these fears and be able to talk with each child as an individual. There are no two children alike just as there are no two adults alike, so what might work for one child won't necessarily work for another one. The Children's pastor has to know what will work for each one and know how to soothe the fear. There may be more than one child at the same time that has some type of fear or problem and the pastor has to know how to handle them all at once. Each child feels they need to be first because they feel their problem needs attention first; all can't be first at the same time. Remember the problems of children are just as important to them as what an adult's problem is to them. Just as a senior pastor has to be available to the adults a Children's pastor must also be available to the children. It doesn't make any difference if it is day or night; the Children's pastor has to be there to help them.

Sin is everywhere in the world today, it seems as time has progressed it doesn't make any difference if a child is six or sixteen, there is someone willing to teach them the ways of the world. Yes, children get some training at home on this but sometimes there is no spiritual teaching. A Children's pastor is the one that begins this type of training.

A Children's pastor has to be polite, caring, understanding, loving, forgiving, a good listener, and one that has open arms for each child. A good Children's pastor has to be a lot of things just as a senior pastor. He/she has to love God with all of their heart and be able to tell children exactly who God is and sometimes that is hard when a child has had no spiritual training at home. Children's pastors have to be able to love each child, even the one that is obnoxious or nosey. They need love any child that walks into the children's church, it can't be chose and pick.

I once heard a woman ask another woman at church where her children were and the woman replied; "I put them in children's church so I don't have to bother with them while I am in church'. From that answer, I gathered she thought the Children's pastor was supposed to be babysitting. I guess you could say a Children's pastor is a baby sitter also although that isn't what they are supposed to be.

I would like to take this opportunity to say I feel every Children's pastor should be commended; they put in as many hours for their church and their flock as does a senior pastor and they certainly deserve the same respect. Children's pastors get very little recognition from people and it is really a shame. It is these pastors that start children knowing the Word and some of these children know just as much about God and His Word as do their parents. So the next time someone tells you they are a Children's Pastor, commend them on all the hard work they do and thank them that they are willing to go to so much trouble for the children of today.

Pastor Debi has been able to do this with or without helpers.  She has been fortunate to have some helpers but if she didn't have them she would find a way to do it by herself.

Pastor Debi, I know of all the hours you put in weekly to get ready for church and I want to thank you that you are so willing to put forth all this time for children. You are the best Children's Pastor I know and Dad and I are so proud of you. God bless you always for your hard work.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Untie The Knots

What is in our hearts or mind that is stopping us from working for the Lord?


Some of us seem to have a lot of different things that we believe cause us to think we are not good enough to do work for the Lord. God doesn't call the qualified He qualifies the called. So there is no reason why we should not step out and work for Him as it may just be you that He has called. The thoughts are just be in our mind and if we can rid ourselves of these thoughts we will be able to step out and do for the Lord.

I received the following and I thought it fit right in with what I was saying about the things being the cause for not working for the Lord. We do have a lot of 'nots' that will stop us from doing what the Lord has called us to do.

Dear God,

Please untie the knots

that are in my mind,

my heart and my life.

Remove the have nots,

the can nots and the do nots

that I have in my mind.

Erase all the will nots,

may nots,

may nots that may find,

a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots,

would nots and

should nots that obstruct my life.

And most of all,

Dear God,

I ask that you remove from my mind,

my heart and my life all of the am nots'

that I have allowed to hold me back,

especially the thought

that I am not good enough.

Amen

Author Known To God

With these 'nots' in our mind and heart we need to just pray and ask the Lord to remove them so we will be able to work and do exactly what the Lord has asked us to do. It sure won't hurt to try, will it?

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Rejoice Not

How many of us have had an enemy fall or stumble and have rejoiced because he has? I think at one time or another all of us have, we just may not want to admit it.


This is one of the worse things we can do, instead of rejoicing about it we should have prayed for this person. We have many excuses for rejoicing and not praying but believe me not one of these excuses are a good one. Why do we do it? Perhaps it is the evil in our heart or is it human nature for us. I am not sure why we do it.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit they were forbidden to eat, it caused every person born to be born with a sinful nature. So it was through Adam that the law of sin and death was introduced to the whole human race.

Proverbs 24:17; "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth":

Just as Adam and Eve had the choice of obeying God we also have a choice. Since God's Word tells us not to rejoice or be glad when our enemy falls then our choice should be what the Lord has told us.

This is not always an easy task to do as our enemy could have done something really terrible to us that was not right but we can do it. We have the Lord on our side and we are able to call on Him to give us the strength to do so. It is a wonderful thing having the Lord on our side to help us in our hour of need.

Proverbs 24:18 "Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him".

If we have hidden in our heart the rejoicing and gladness God knows this. We need to make sure we have not hidden these feelings but gotten rid of them. If we don't God may choose to turn His wrath away from this person. Romans 12:19; "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord". If we have rejoicing and gladness in our hearts isn't this a sort of vengeance and this is what we shouldn't have. We need to let the Lord take care of it.

Matthew 5:44; "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you"; The first time I pray for my enemy it is one of the hardest things I can do, I usually have to ask the Lord to help me and He does, the second time I pray for them it is easier for me. The time comes when I actually enjoy praying for them.

It really isn't fun to see anyone fall or stumble weather they are family, friends, or an enemy, we need to pray earnestly for them.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Listening To The Holy Spirit

Today started out like the normal Sunday mornings. We got ready for Sunday School and church, Dave and I talking about different things, mainly the church dinner after church, and then leaving for the church.


We visited as usual with the people in Sunday School before class started. It is always refreshing to hear how everyone's week has gone. Of course some people have had a better week than others so we know who to pray for.

The lesson we are having in Sunday School has bothered me some so I do hope I am able to talk with the teacher about it next week. It is about wine in the Bible and the miracle of Jesus changing the water into wine for the wedding He was at. Wine in the Bible, Old and New Testament might be a good post for later on as I think it would be an interesting subject.

The pastor had an awesome message but it seems he always does. At the end of the message pastor had the alter call as usual. I know we are supposed to bow our heads and close our eyes but I have this bad habit, if I close my eyes I want to go to sleep so I usually just bow my head and look at the floor but today for some reason my head raised a little and I saw that one of the women in our Sunday School class had raised her hand. This bothered me! I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that I needed to go talk with her, to be honest with you, at times I am afraid of saying the wrong thing to a person (I never want to do this as it would be bringing dishonor to the Lord) but I finally obeyed the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11; "...but whatsoever be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost".

She told me when I asked her about raising her hand that she had raised it at the wrong time. I told her that was great; I just wanted to talk to her about putting her on my special prayer list. That was all it took, she broke down and started talking to me. I found that there are some financial problems in the family and some other problems in the family. She is normally not the kind to talk about very many of her problems so she doesn't always ask for prayer in Sunday School.

Had I not obeyed the Holy Spirit this woman would have left the church with a heavy heart. I am so glad I listened to Him and I pray I always do, I just need to remember the above Scripture. When God wants us to do something for Him He will always give us the help necessary to carry out what He wants us to do. We should never, never be afraid to step out and do whatever He wants you to do. Had I not done what He wanted me to do this woman might have thought no one cared what she was going through.

When we do what the Lord wants us to do things will seem so much brighter. What we do for someone else helps not only the other person but us. God loves us all and wants us to help one another. He wants us to pray for one another. James 5:16; "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much". God will hear our prayers and will give us the help we need, asking for God's will to be done in each prayer we say. We need always to remember to give Him praise and glory for all things.

By obeying the Holy Spirit this woman has many prayers going up to God for the help she needs. I give the praise and glory to the Lord that my heart was open to hearing the Holy Spirit calling me to help someone. Thank you, Lord!

May you always have the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!