Good day to all,
There is an old story about a farmer who wondered if animals had church denominational differences. So he decided to experiment a bit. He first tossed his golden retriever into the water and the dog happily swum and frolicked in the water. The farmer decided, "Golden retrievers are Baptists". He then tossed in a turkey and it came up out of the water gobbling away. The farmer declared, "turkeys are Pentecostal". He then grabbed his wife's cat and as he got near the water, the cat began hissing and doing its best to get away. The farmer said, "cats are Presbyterian". Of course this is a little church humor using baptism by immersion as the catalyst. 
There is another story about farm animals. Two animals decide to collaborate in a project. The project was fixing the farmer a good breakfast of ham and eggs. The two animals were a pig and a chicken. Needless to say, the level of commitment of the pig to the project was somewhat greater. 
In Matthew 16:24-25 we read, Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Jesus was laying out the level of commitment that those who choose to be HIs disciples are to live out.  He is calling for the level of commitment the pig displayed for the farmer's breakfast.
There are times that we speak of giving it all up for Jesus but the level of sacrifice we have in mind is the level the chicken displayed and not the pig.
There is not question that as a church, we recently hit a snag.  We need to keep in mind that God is bigger than any snag. And we are to remember the level of commitment we are called for to get past any challenge we face as a church.
Wishing you the best of weeks, from one pig to fellow pigs,
​Vic

​God’s blessings to all
When Pam and served on the mission field, blessed visits from U.S. short-term mission teams took various forms. One of them was to facilitate a Wellness clinic.  We set up stations at the church and nurses on the team gave medical checkups and performed some rudimentary blood work.  The church also hosted nutritional work shops to teach healthy eating habits.  The wellness clinics were a huge hit with the community surrounding the church. They received instructions with humor. For instance, when the lecturing nurse said that the amount of grain (rice) in a meal should not exceed the size of a fist, some folks from the church had Pam hold up her rolled into a fist and held it up against brother Luis’ hand rolled into a fist and asked, “Like Rosita’s (Pam’s middle name) or Luis’ fist?” Brother Luis’ fist was the size of a small ham.   I still remember my surprise at the number of people who were overweight and whose blood work showed them to be anemic.  In my mind, a person who was anemic would be extremely thin and show obvious signs of malnourishment. It never occurred to me that someone who could be both overweight and anemic. 
I then came to realize that their diet was high in carbs and produced obesity but did not provide any substantial nutrition. They ate a lot of bread (very inexpensive) and lots of noodles which were also very inexpensive.  The result were people who were overweight but with anemic blood.
The word anemic is defined in several ways: lacking force, vitality, or spirit; lacking interest or savor (being insipid or tasteless); and lacking in substance or quantity. When it came to the overweight individuals who were anemic, it meant a person who was large in size but had very little energy or vitality.  
I have often pondered the question if that same malady occurs in our life as individual children of God or as the body of Christ (the church). By that I mean, could we feed ourselves on studies and activities that make us feel bloated, busy, and give the illusion of being spiritually healthy but in reality, our spiritual state is actually closer to the definition of anemic.  I recall reading the words somewhere, “Satan loves a busy Christian”. The idea being he loved them because they were so busy being busy, they never posed him any threat.
How would we do with such a question when we apply it to us as a church?  I am not trying to be critical but hoping to get ministry creative juices flowing.  How much of what we do provides spiritual substance; could be considered flavorful; and is evaluated as possessing quality. Have we ever gotten sidetracked with things that may taste good (like bread or noodles) but yield little spiritual nutrition? Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8 [Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.] Let our days as individuals and as a church body be dedicated to such things and strive to be spiritually healthy and thus able to advance His kingdom.  
Have a blessed week, Vic. 

​A blessed day to all
This past Sunday we were able to enjoy some fun fellowship and food at our picnic after worship services.  It was wonderful to see that just about everyone stuck around for more than food.  I witnessed fellowship long after tummies were full.  For me it was one of those moments that as I looked around and heard laughter, saw folks engaged with one another, and beheld one smiling face after another, I could only whisper “Thank you Jesus”.  I was thanking Him for the encouragement of seeing many of our church family sharing a simple picnic. Now that it is over, I will confess that I was a little nervous as to potential attendance.  It was after church, a bit warm, folks would need to wait a bit for the burgers and hot dogs to be cooked, and perhaps the trek to the playground was a bit much for some of our seniors.  However, the response to the picnic demonstrated how much folks missed interacting as a church family outside of worship services.
David wrote in Psalm 133: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, as on Aaron’s beard, the oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down the mountains of Zion; for the Lord command the blessing there—life forever. The Psalm’s context is the unity of God’s people when they celebrated their common heritage. When together they remembered freedom from bondage in Egypt and gathering around the tabernacle in the wilderness.  The oil prepared for the tabernacle was a special, fragrant oil that whose recipe was not to be imitated outside of tabernacle use. When that fragrance filled the air, all present knew something special was going on.  That fragrance is found in the sound of laughter of God’s people in fellowship. It is found in the smiling faces of brothers and sisters in Christ that communicate, “we are in this together”. And it is found in being able to look around and being reminded, “I am not alone”. 
Have a blessed week, Vic

​As we face the heat of this past weekend and what we expect this week, I find myself needing to confess my intolerance for heat which may seem odd considering where I grew up.  I am the kind of person that if the indoor temperature in our house goes above 72 degrees, I adjust the heat pump to cool the house down to at least 70, preferably 68 degrees.
How this is at odds with where I grew up is that I still remember, as a teen, hearing, “Good morning, it’s 7am, current temperature is 102, humidity is at 97%. Expected high of 112 with 100% humidity.”  That was a typical summer day forecast. A side note on hometown memories deals with tourists. My hometown had a lot of snow bird visitors in the winter and lots of tourists in the summer who came for our beaches.  These visitors provided my friends and I with at least two regular occurring amusements.  One was watching a tourist get out of their car in their bare feet onto an asphalt parking lot. You could almost hear the sizzle of the soles of their feet as we watched them do some free style dance moves while they hurried back into their cars. The other was at the beach, where washed up jelly fish were a regular sight. For some unfathomable reason some tourists thought it a good idea to jump up in the air and land down, again bare footed, onto the washed-up jelly fish to burst it open. This yielded some liquid onto the feet and legs of the tourist that was rather unpleasant to the skin so we were again rewarded with some rather interesting moves on their part.
The reason why I shared about where I grew up is that if they would see our weather app that states, “extreme heat warning” and the listed expected temperature was under 110, they would likely question our fortitude.  Living in Tacoma, I have seen such a warning when the temperatures are not expected to reach 90 degrees.
This comparison made me think of David when he faced Goliath. When David first said he would face Goliath, King Saul questioned his logic.  David explained that he had faced lions and bears as he protected his father’s sheep. We read in 1Samuel 17:36 [“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”]  David may not have faced a giant before, but he had faced the lion and the bear. Those encounters helped prepare him to face this giant.  He knew the God who gave him strength to face the lion and bear was with him now.  
We all face giants in our lives and draw on the knowledge that the God who helped us face the lions and bears in our lives will help us face those giants.  The thing is, what is a giant to me may be a lion or bear to others.  What others see as a giant to tumble, I may see as a defeated lion or bear. Just like those from my home town may not understand that we are not used to facing what is to them normal temperatures, we may not always understand why something is a giant to someone else that does not seem so big to us.
In those moments, we need to seek to show empathy, remembering that we are not all wired alike. We are to remember to be there for each other.  Whether we see a giant or not, our brother or sister in Christ needs to hear the words, “I’m here for you, let’s bring this giant down together.”.
Have a blessed week. 

Greeting to all
I need to begin with asking with your forgiveness. I have been remiss about keeping up my blog entries. I have been juggling several plates and this plate was dropped. I will do my best to update this blog at least once a week to share a thought that may lead us in reflection of our Christian walk, or challenge our thinking.
Most of us have heard the term "waking up on the wrong side of the bed";  or "starting off on the wrong foot". Both sayings convey that either a person is in a foul mood or a relationship (sometimes a project) began in a negative manner that is hindering a positive progression.  The saying "starting off on the wrong foot" has been on my mind. It has been on my mind in context of how my initial perspective of someone has had a negative impact on how I proceed in dealing with them.  Bear with me as I try to explain myself.  I realize that confession is good for the soul but bad on the reputation; nevertheless, I made a commitment long ago to be as transparent as I could with you.
We are aware that in the last few years the church has felt increasing pressure from secular society to adjust our teaching to be more in step with changes in secular morals and values. This has made some of us, myself included, a bit defensive when we feel demands are being made that we change what we understand the Bible to teach or that we endorse lifestyle choices we feel are contrary to God's expectations of His people.  Regretfully, this has caused me at times to begin my interaction with someone on the wrong foot. What I mean by that is that my interaction begins with either seeing the person as someone seeking to change what we teach, which means I begin on the defensive; or I see them as someone who is choosing a lifestyle that is contrary to what I understand Biblical values to be. In either case, I am starting on a negative which means I have started on the wrong foot. 
However, if I choose to begin any interaction with another by remembering that they are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and that they are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) then I have started my journey with them on a positive note or on the right foot.  When we see someone, regardless of their political or social agenda, as an image bearer of our Creator, we are reminded of our connection and of the intent of their design. This in turn may make our words softer, our demeanor more open, and our manner gentler.
Let us strive to start all of our interactions on the right foot.
Have a blessed week, Vic