A blessed Thursday to all,
There is terminology that has become a part of our present reality that did not exist a year ago. Among the new additions to our vocabulary is "Covid fatigue". The second word is easily understood but the first word has come on the scene in the recent months. The term refers to being tired: tired of being cooped up; tired of being careful; tired of being scared. The end result is that , according to some, carelessness has increased.  There are people who are so tired of the whole thing that they have stopped caring if they get COVID-19. They prefer to risk getting sick to staying home or being careful. Some have stopped listening to medical advise and updates.  There are tools to cope with this. These tools include exercise, honest conversations, constructive thinking and mindfulness and gratitude.  I noted that the secular world left out prayer, fellowship, and faith. 
The last three things I mentioned have perhaps taken on some new aspects such as zoom meetings, face time, and streaming worship services, but they are still a vital part of our existence.  Now more than ever we need to stay in touch with each other and reach out, perhaps in different ways than before, but still reach out.
However, there is another common thought going on at present that I wish to finish on today. That is the current political situation has exasperated the current public health challenges. Language is being generated from several quarters of our lives that gloomily bemoan we are entering a dark period as a nation.  Language that speaks of forced compromises to how we practice our faith; imposed restrictions that impede our religious freedoms; cultural attacks on Christian values; and pressure to shut up and go along.  Whether or not I fully agree on how dark things have gotten is not at issue here. It is not at issue because the perception that things have gotten dark is real and my opinion will not change that perception one way or the other.
Therefore, let me end with a question. When we walk into a room that is dark, what do we do? We either turn on a light switch or use a flashlight to light up the room. Jesus said in Luke 8:16 "No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light". Now more than ever, our light needs to shine. Our light, as individual children of God, and as a Christ's church, needs to be held high so that others can see the way out of the darkness.  Let us be a people who let the light of Christ shine and not a people that speak of the darkness. 
Blessings to all, Vic 

A blessed Saturday to all,
There have been several plates that I have been working to balance on a stick and regretfully it caused me to overlook this avenue of communication with you all. For that I apologize.   I realize that there is a disagreement on whether we should support the NFL by watching their games. I will confess that I set politics aside and decided to enjoy watching a game by focusing on the game and nothing else.  One of the recent games had a player, (his initials are Metcalf), who made a thunderous error. In case you missed that game, he made a great catch to a great pass and seemed like another touchdown was a sure thing.  However, that sure thing turned into an embarrassment because he was so sure of that touchdown that he allowed his guard to go down and an opposing player came up behind him and slapped the ball out of his hand. It was a rookie mistake from a seasoned player. 

As I watched, I said, "If they lose this game by one touchdown, it will come down to that play. This game could make the difference between making the playoffs or not. If that is the case; the playoffs could be missed because of his error."   .My bride said I was being very dark and pessimistic. Her view was that I was making too much out of one error.  What I had in mind and I shared with her was the quote from Benjamin Franklin:
"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For the want of a shoe the hose was lost.
For the loss of a horse the rider was lost.
For the want of a rider the battle was lost.
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And for the want of a horseshoe  nail."

As we continue to move forward in our adjustments to current meeting restrictions, we look forward to the time when we will be able to all meet. Until that time, we do the best we can to stay in touch viz zoom meetings, streaming the worship service, and communicating by phone, text, or social media.  While how we stay in touch may have changed, the need we have of each other has not. Sometimes,, whether we are meeting together or not, we allow ourselves to believe that our absence or not staying in touch with each other may not matter.  There are times in our lives that a simple smile or the words "I have been thinking about you and praying for you" is like that horseshoe nail. Sometimes simply seeing you on Sunday is like that horseshoe nail in my life. 

Please, be it up close or from a distance, remember how much each of us matter and have an impact on the battles we face as a congregation and as part of His kingdom.  Paul writes [For the body is not one member but many] (I Cor 12:14). He then point out the need each part of the body have of each other. Let us remember how much each of us matters.
Have a blessed day, Vic

​As I posted on Facebook, the time has come to reroof our house.  We are trying to be responsible and consider several estimates and bids before making a decision. This means I have had to endure several presentations from roofing company reps. Some spend more time explaining why others were bad instead of the positives of their product. What I needed to hear was product, positives of that product and the company, and what it would cost. I did not need to hear about how others have inferior product, have been sued, use shady practices, or have unskilled workers doing the job. 
Over the years I have sadly seen this come into play when we do the “church comparison game”.  When we represent Christ and His church, let us focus on the positives of His message, the positives of His grace, the positives of His love, and the positives of what we as His church seek to do. No church is perfect. As much as strive to be obedient children and faithful stewards of what He has entrusted us with, we can’t kid ourselves by thinking we have our act all in one sock.  We are imperfect people serving a perfect God.  We are sinful people saved by He who knew no sin. Paul tells us in 2Corinthians 5:21 [For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.]
The need to stay on point of a positive message is stronger now than ever before. Our country finds itself in a time when mudslinging, finger pointing, and character assassination is at an all time high. Let us avoid getting drawn into that arena. Let us remain advocates of a positive message that offers life and blessings. There is only one person who can truly deliver them; that is Jesus Christ and no other. It is Him who we champion. 
Have a blessed day.
 

A blessed Tuesday to all,
It has been some time since I jotted down a thought and I apologize to you all for the lapse.  I pray that everyone is doing well and it has been a joy to be able to gather with those who can attend on Sunday morning.  One thing I have heard from more than one person is "I did not know how much I missed it". I realize that intellectually, and theologically, I can argue that the building is where we meet to worship but the church is who we are as a people. However, there is a feeling when we gather than can not be duplicated in any other fashion. Well, at least not for me.  There was a couple of thoughts I wanted to pass on to you this morning. 

The first has to do with the current political climate that has bled over into the church.  Passions are high, folks are making a stand on their views on social justice, law and order, abiding by state mandates, and even whether we should wear face masks or not.  I have heard and read some well worded arguments for opposite stands. I have also heard or read arguments that are undeniably passionate but woefully short of logic.  In the end, much of what drives the opposing views hinges on which source of information a person deems to be credible. This is evident because several points of view will cite one data source or another.  If one data source provides information that contradicts another data source, which data source we choose will determine the outcome of our decision. 

I realize that we all know this already so please indulge me as I restate it. Only God's word is truly reliable. Only God's word is one hundred percent truth. Therefore, whatever source of information we choose to examine must be looked at through the lens of Scripture. How can we be sure that our course of action is appropriate for a child of God, it is when it is consistent with God's word. 

The second thing I wanted to share comes from an thought that comes from Bernard of Clairvaux, a twelfth century monk.  He wrote of the infusive and effusive gifts of God through the Holy Spirit. What he meant by this is that some gifts are meant for our own development and some to be passed on to others. The summary of his lesson is that we can't effectively minister to others if we neglect our own spiritual needs.  We will talk more about this in the future but for now I thought of airlines that instruct passengers that in case of emergency, they are to first put on the breathing masks before helping others put on theirs. What I am getting at is that while we are called to minister to one another, we should not neglect our own needs. To meet those needs we need time in prayer, reflection, and God's word. Thus, we find ourselves back at anchoring our lives to the only sure truth, God's word.
Have a blessed day in His word, Vic

a blessed Monday to all
Since the church office is normally closed on Friday, I am enjoying Monday as my holiday celebrating our nation's birthday. However, I wanted to share a little bit with everyone.  As I enjoyed my morning coffee watching some news channels and also reading some posts on social media, I was again alarmed by the gulf between many citizens of the same country that seems to get bigger each day. I could not help but notice that many opinions are based on the source we choose as a template for arriving at conclusions on politics, public health decisions, and how to consider the protest movement that is sweeping our country.  When we consider the sources of information that we digest, we will find they include politicians (we agree with or not), mainline news media, non-main line media that for some reason we use as a source of news, and of course the internet. 

As I considered some of these sources, my mind went to a conversation I had with my oldest son about a book he was reading when he was a young boy. I explained that what the author wrote was not biblically accurate. His response was: "but dad, the author said he was a Christian."  I explained that just because he said he was a Christian, did not mean that what he wrote was Biblically accurate. The reason why that memory came to mind was that some people are reaching conclusions, and perhaps even passionately sharing them, based on information they have seen on social media or the internet.  I can almost hear a conversation where I would say, "What they wrote is not accurate" and hear the response, "But they said they were a news source".  

What is a reliable source of information? I would have us consider Peter's words in 1Peter 1:25 ["All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever."]  Only  the words we find in Scripture are truly reliable. I would encourage all of us to base our opinions, and consider our words, first and foremost on what the word of God says to us.
Have a blessed Monday
​Vic