​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

Happy independence day to all
This weekend we celebrate the independence of our nation. It is a time that we take time to recall the principles of freedom that led to our declaration proclaiming our desire and intent to be a sovereign nation not beholding to, or under the yoke of a European monarch.  What is sometimes forgotten is that there was a span of several years, battles, and lives sacrificed in order to make such a declaration a reality. Our countries declaration of independence was proclaimed on the 4th of July 1776. The final battle making such a declaration an accomplished fact occurred in October of 1781.  

When I think of our independence story as a nation, I can't help but draw a parallel to our Christian walk. There was a day in our lives when we declared our freedom from the yoke of slavery to sin.  Our declaration was signed by our proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and entering the waters of baptism in obedience to His instructions. However, while free from the yoke and consequence of sin, our battle with sin is a process that will require a long life struggle. The difference between our declaration as children of God and our birth as a nation is that our victory is a sure thing.

That it is a sure thing does not in anyway mean our battles with our old nature are easy. We will fight with discontent, anger, envy, lust, gossip, and resentment until we find ourselves at our Lord's feet. Even when some aspects of our old nature seem to be completely eliminated, they can attack our life if we drop our guard. If we recall, thirty three years after the British defeat at Yorktown in 1781, thus sealing our independence as a sovereign nation; British forces burned our capital in 1814 when they again invaded our shores. 

Our battles with our old nature, like the battles for our nation, are not won by an individual but by reliance on others. We not only have the enabling power of the Holy Trinity in this live long battle, we have each other. 

So as we celebrate our independence today, let us remember that like our independence from sin, it is more than "my freedom" but "our freedom" and continually work to face our battles as a body.
Happy independence day
​Vic

a blessed Friday to you all
Over the years scientists have been sending signals to outer space in an attempt to make contact with lifeforms that may exist beyond our solar system.  There have been countless  movies based on a story line that someone answered and the events that followed that answer. I think that in our current social upheaval, if there were life out there, they would come to the conclusion that there is no intelligent life on earth.

There is no question that things have gotten wonky. The current public health challenges, social unrest, protests, disregard for life and property, and politicians that behave like escapees from a mental institution, have left some of us feeling like corks caught in a rogue wave.  These situations have led to polarizing views that have caused divisions, even among God's children.

The solution is to focus on what unites us and not what we differ on.  A well known story in the Gospels is when Peter walked on water but then began to sink when his eyes turned from Jesus to the storm.  In Matthew 14:31 we read [And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt"]  The lesson being that peace in the storm is found by keeping our eyes on Christ.

Life throws all sorts of things at us. Some make us happy, while others are challenging.  What we focus on will impact how we move forward. If we focus on the negative, we can be in danger of entering into a downward spiral. If we focus on the positives, we may feel happy but such happiness is limited by time and circumstance.  Only focusing on Christ can bring constant and permanent peace and joy. 
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As we proceed to navigate the interesting times we live in. let our focus be on the permanence of Christ, His love for us, and who we are in Hiim.
Have a blessed day,
Vic