This past Sunday, two little girls from my congregation (who often sit a few feet away from me) presented me with two “rubber band bracelets” they made. I put them on my wrist and gave them each a big hug.

They soon ran off to junior church and later I went to the pulpit to minister the Word of God, still wearing their bracelets.  I may have looked a little funny (or a lot?) wearing them in front of all the adults, but I wouldn't trade those special moments for anything!

This is just one of the 10,000+ things I am thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

I came across an interesting article the other day that I thought I should share with you.  It is not original with me and I posted the website where I got it from.  But it really got me to thinking about who I am under pressure.  Am I like the Macedonians who under ‘severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity' (2 Corinthians 8)?

What is really in your heart?  Check out Luke 6:43-45.

 

PB

Grandmother says… Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee; “Which are you?”

A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her granddaughter, she asked, “Tell me what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The granddaughter then asked. “What's the point, grandmother?”

Her grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity–boiling water–but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her granddaughter.

“When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

~Author Unknown
Read more at http://wewalkwithjesus.org/carrots-eggs-or-coffee-which-are-you/#zmUCxwFJxtOvH0Fk.99

Mat 22:36-40  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In this section of Scripture, the Sadducees had just failed in trying to beat Jesus in a game of whits.  So they handed off to the Pharisees…like they would do any better!  They asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was.  Some have said that the Jews divided the law into greater and smaller commandments. Some of the Jews believed that sacrifices were the greatest, others circumcision.  They wanted to know what Jesus thought, but they were not prepared for His answer.

Jesus told them the same thing He tells you and I.  We are to love our God with ALL our heart, soul and mind.  Just like the Pharisees, we think that God is happy with us because we sacrifice something, but is He?

Mal 1:8-10  You sacrifice blind animals to me. Isn’t that wrong? You sacrifice disabled or sick animals. Isn’t that wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD who rules over all.  “Now you dare to ask me to show you my favor! But as long as you give offerings like those, how can I accept you?” says the LORD.  “You might as well shut the temple doors! Then you would not light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD. “I will not accept any of the offerings you bring.

After reading this verse– do you still think that God is happy with us as long as we sacrifice anything???  God wants our all.  We need to show Him that we love Him with every part of who we are.  That is why it says Heart, Soul, and Mind.  That covers the whole package!  Two out of Three is not good enough…

I recently finished a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  This book has changed my life.  God spoke to me directly throughout this book and the Holy Spirit convicted me many times…one important area specifically, was in the way that I love others.  This happens to be the 2^nd Greatest commandment.  We have a built-in nature that makes it easy to love and care for ourselves… that is why it is so hard to put that nature aside and put someone else first.  The Crazy Love book asks very blunt questions of us.  He uses Matthew 25 as the basis of his teaching for us.  The main verse is:

Mat 25:40  “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

So when we love the person who pulled out in front of us, and then proceeded to drive really slow…when we love the person who just stabbed us in the back, and they are a fellow believer…when we love the prostitute or drug dealer…then we LOVE GOD!  God is giving us a challenge that most of us have overlooked forever!  How would you rate your love on a scale?  What if you were to offer your level of love (for God AND Others) to God as an offering?  Would He accept it as pleasing?  This book made me realize that I have so far to go…but it also gave me inspiration and helped me find a deeper relationship with my God.  Please go out and by this book and then let me know what it has meant to you.

God is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him.  We cannot get closer on our own terms.  We HAVE TO let go.  Until we let go, we will only experience the shallow waters…the choice is ours!

Blessings to you as you surrender,

Pastor Ray

Last night a friend and I cleaned out my garage and added to my already large burn pile of branches and pallets.  There was virtually no wind and it had recently rained, so I knew it was safe to burn my stuff.  I told my friend what I was doing and he saw me go to the burn pile with my red gas can.

However, what we soon discovered was that it wasn't safe to light the burn pile!

I poured a liberal amount of “accelerant” on the wood and tried to light the fire with a match that proved ineffective. But as I went back in the house to get fresh matches, he went to the burn pile with the kind of lighter you light a grill with.

As I came out of the garage I heard an explosion and soon smelled burnt hair.  He said “I thought you put kerosene on the wood!”

While there are many lessons to be learned from this experience, a primary lesson that comes to my mind is the importance of effective communication!

So to all my pyromaniac friends out there: let's be careful!

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

Does God care about animals?  I am convinced that He loves dogs, but I am not so sure about cats.  Just the other day I was traveling home from doing something that I really cannot stand to do…are you curious?  It's grocery shopping… There has to be a better way for food to get from the store to my shelves!  Anyway, while I was driving home, singing with the song on the radio, I saw a white blur moving in the weeds to my left.  This white blur was a little Jack Russell which then decided to run right in front of my car. I don't know how smart this dog breed is supposed to be, but this particular model had a few biscuits short in his box.  As you probably guessed, I hit the dog.  I knew that someone out there probably loves small yippy dogs, so I pulled over.  When I got out of my car, I could hear the dog barking and growling.  He was probably chewing me out…I can't repeat some of the things he probably said.  The dog was still on the road, and a semi was coming, so I pulled him off the road and into a yard by his back legs.  The first thing that came to my mind was someone needs to put him out of his misery.  I walked up to the house and started banging on the door.  No one answered.  I did notice a sign in the yard which had a phone number on it—(they sell straw and hay.) When I was getting ready to call this phone number, the dog started crawling.  Before this time, he only barked and growled.  The only problem was he started crawling back to the road. I yelled and a big truck flew by…that was enough to persuade him to come back towards the yard.  As I said earlier, this dog was not too smart. He probably couldn't pass a urine test.  After the dog started crawling, I thought that I should probably be praying.  So I prayed.  Then I called the number, and a man came up from the barn.  But before he got there, this dog stood up, and tried to walk.  He did but he sure would have failed a sobriety test.  After walk-running sideways for awhile, he went up to the house and sat down. The man came up and picked him up and I explained what happened, and I told him that I prayed for his dog.  He thanked me several times, and I left.  As crazy as this sounds, I believe that God showed me a miracle.  God began the healing of this dog.  I noticed and started to pray.  I was able to join in what God was doing, and it blessed me and increased my faith.

This leads me to my next point.  Sometimes we either see or hear about someone who is struggling in their spiritual walk.  This person may be just going along not aware the direction is danger that they are headed into.  We can see the truck coming and know they will not survive…yet what can we say?  We don't want to risk sounding too religious or preachy. What if this person no longer wants to be our friend?

Jude 1:21-23  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Next time you see a friend or someone that you know who is struggling with faith, and have wandered a little far from the herd…I want you to picture them on the road about to be hit.  What would you say to them?  Would you apologize for what you are going to say, or would you scream—“GET OFF THE ROAD!”  If you start praying now…the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say when you need them.

Be Blessed and Used Today,

Pastor Ray

Like so many people, I've had some really cool and sometimes unexpected experiences.  A couple summers ago I was standing in my front yard and in the field across the road, a fairly large “dust devil” formed.  As it moved toward me I realized it might be possible to move into its path.  Thirty second later I stood in the middle of the miniature dust-filled tornado.  I wish I could tell you this had some deep spiritual meaning.  It didn't.  It was just cool.

Years ago in a Wednesday night church service we began to pray for a man who was headed for major surgery.  As we started to pray everyone present could sense an invisible “wave” that went from the back of the sanctuary, through those present, to the front and then it “rebounded”, went back through us and to the back wall and repeated the motion for almost 20 minutes.  To this day I have no explanation except the inexpressible peace of God.

In a church service many years ago, it was spring weather – not warm enough for air conditioning or cold enough for the heat in the church to be on. No windows were open that day. After the service two men came to me and asked if I experienced what they had –a gentle breeze blowing across their faces.  They sat on opposite sides of the sanctuary and hadn't talked to each other before they individually talked to me.

Though we are creatures of habit and routine, I am so grateful to know and serve the God of creation and wonder.  His spontaneity reminds me He's ever present and powerful.  God IS, and that's enough for me!

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

I have been so blessed at Oasis recently (our youth group).  I know, I am 36 years old, an ordained pastor, been a Christian for 30 years…yet the youth group is a blessing.  Maybe someday I will grow up!  Over the past month we have been focusing on listening to God.  We have had some great discussions that have challenged us to get into the Word more often and learned more about the body, soul & spirit that makes up the human body.

This past week I came across Psalm 100.  Just 5 simple verses, but it is a great outline for having a great time with God.  What if we took the time, not a set time, but started a time with God and didn't look at the clock to see when we were done?  What would happen?

Try it:

-          Vs. 1 & 2 – start your time by praising God.  Come on, you can do it…even the rocks could!  Look for ways to praise God.

-          Vs. 3 – know that He is God.  Think about His character.  Remember God's grace, love, mercy, power, truth…  Remember our lowly position – we are His (we are not the potter, we are the clay – see Isaiah 29:16).

• Submit to Him
• Sacrifice – is God calling you to give something over to Him that is getting in the way of you loving Him more?  Think about this:  the only reason a sheep goes to the temple is to be the sacrifice.  What is God calling you to?

-          Vs. 4 – more time of praise & thanksgiving.  I have seen on Facebook this month that many people are writing things they are thankful for…1 every day.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  Remember the source of those blessings.

-          Vs. 5 – more reminders that life isn't about us.  Spend time just being with God and relishing in the blessings of His character.

What if we came to God to just be with Him and not shower Him with requests?  Just a thought…

PB

There's an old saying that many of you have heard:  The only things that are certain are death and taxes.  I want to add one more: change.

As I celebrate my 60^th birthday tomorrow (I know, the Land Before Time), I'm taking a moment to reflect on some of the changes in my life.  I'm not talking about the obvious stuff – I have a pulpit blister (when I was once as skinny as a rail), I used to have more hair (and none of it was gray), my sons are ages 34 and 29 (and I clearly recall giving them horsey back rides – fatal if done now), I had most of my life ahead of me (and most of it is behind me), and about a hundred other things.

No, I'm talking about how great it is to be 60 years old and be cancer free (never had it, PTL!), to have been loved by Dinah for 40 years, that my parents are still living, that I have two beautiful grandchildren, that I have served the same church for over 16 years (and I enjoy seeing every person each week), that I look forward to going to the church every day to work because of my great staff, and a thousand other things.

But mostly I am celebrating that Jesus loves me this I know!  I'm rejoicing that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life!  I am absolutely confident I will see the Savior I've spoken of so often!

And, to a lesser extent – I declare that, though I am growing older – I refuse to grow UP!

 

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

Lately, we have been challenged at the Oasis to get into God's Word more and spend more time with God.  I know, brand new teaching!  Ha.  We have been focusing on how to hear from God.  I have been challenging myself to get into the Word and not settle for the 1 verse that is listed in the devotional.  But to really read that verse over and over, meditate on it, pray and listen for God to speak.  I am not expecting an audible voice, but am trying to align my spirit with God's Spirit.  In fact, the other night I was having negative thoughts about something that come up and realized that those were my spirit's and not God's.  I have to fight to allow God's spirit to be in control and not my flesh's response.

God gave me this illustration about hearing from God and my devotional life:

A teen asked me how long I have been playing the guitar.  I said 15 years.  One would think that I would be a pretty good guitar player since I have been playing for a while.  However, I am not.  I know the same 10 chords that I have known since I started playing.  There are a bunch of new songs in the youth song book that I can't play.  I can't pick and struggle with strumming patterns.  I am not getting better.  However, I am not working at it.  I don't practice or challenge myself to get better.  I try a new song and give up quickly.

The same thing applies to my spiritual life.  No matter how long I am a Believer/Follower of Christ, I need to learn more.  I need to get into the Word more. I can't just come once or twice a week to church and expect to grow much.  The professionals in the world know that it takes time, hard work, practice to get to the level of a professional (welder, sports, business…).

Are you putting the time needed into your spiritual walk to get closer to God?  If you invest more time and energy in knowing Christ and the Bible, you will hear better.

PB