A Few Moments with God - Feb.

[janbear]

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving.
(1 Timothy 4.4 NRSV)

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Sometimes we are like the dog in the children's story who found a bone. He was so proud of it. He picked it up and started home. On his way home he crossed a bridge over a river. As he crossed the bridge he stopped, as usual, to bark at the other dog that he always saw down in the water. This time as he looked down, he not only saw the same dog, but that dog had a bone in his mouth, too. What made him mad was that the dog in the water had a bone that appeared to be bigger than the one he had in his mouth. Therefore, he opened his mouth to bark at the other dog and lost his bone.
It is ok to better ourselves if we are not satisfied with where we are at in life. In fact, we should always be growing in our journey with Christ. But, we shouldn’t be measuring ourselves against others. God made you special and you cannot be compared to anyone else.


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God of love, help me to see my special-ness. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.
(Genesis 39.2 NRSV)

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Dean Smith, the former head basketball coach of The University of North Carolina wrote a book titled THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE. You and I might think Dean Smith meant that the coach's seat was the best seat in the house because it puts him in charge of the game, that it gives him control. Most of us think, "If I could just sit in so and so's seat for one day . . ." But in reality the coach's seat is the best seat in the house for Dean Smith, because it is there that he has the opportunity to make other persons into star players. The better he does his job the more attention is paid to the players he develops. The coach's seat allows him to develop such players as Michael Jordan.
Someone asked a dedicated Christian woman, "What is the secret of your being able to influence so many people?" She responded, "When you have contentment in your life others are attracted to you. The secret of contentment is to put Christ in the center everywhere you go. When you are promoted and when you are demoted. Remember Joseph. He was always in the center of God's will, even when he was abused by others. He did not let his position or lack of position in life keep him from being in his proper place. Because he kept God in the center, he always had the best seat in the house."


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Dear God, may your love and forgiveness flow through me so that others may come to know you. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
(Romans 12.7-8 NRSV)

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A fine Christian man lost a very good leadership position through downsizing in his company. He is such an outstanding leader and worker it is hard to believe that anyone would demote him. But it did happen. Now to make some extra money and to use his time for some good cause he cleans peoples' boats. You would think this man would be depressed. But not so.
He became the adopted parent of four college students from Costa Rica. It gives him great joy to help make their dreams come true. The loss he experienced in that very important company could not keep him out of doing God’s work.


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Lord Jesus, help me to never lose sight of doing your work. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12.2 NRSV)

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Bill Bright was honored some time ago by CHRISTIANITY TODAY. He is the founder of Campus Crusade. He is best known for his ministry in the former Soviet Union, the showing of the Jesus of Nazareth film. He and his organization have shown the life and ministry of Jesus film to millions. A decision was made recently by the leadership of Russia that could cause his ministry great problems. Now only mainline churches have freedom to teach religion in Russia.
Mr. Bright's best known work is a little tract called, THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS. In this tract he has a drawing of a throne. On the throne is self. He asks us to remove self from the throne and put Christ on the throne. Could it be that the best seat in the house really belongs to Christ? Do I find myself too often trying to sit in God's seat?


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Dear God, humble me as I sit in my proper place with you on the throne of my life. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
(Luke 4.8 NRSV)

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A young woman asks her father a question about her homework. But he's at the computer, working on a letter. And the television is on, shouting the world news. And two other children are busy with a noisy fight.
Suddenly Dad realizes he can't concentrate! He has to pause. He has to tune out the other messages. And he has to focus his attention on the one who came to him for help. Sound familiar?! And so it is with our lives before God. Are you ready to worship God right now?! Do you have a sense of his presence?! Could you lead another person to Christ?! Can you find him for yourself?!


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Loving God, help me to keep my focus on you. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin.
(Ezekiel 18.30 NRSV)

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We need repentance in our lives. King Ahab fasts in repentance before God after he and Jezebel steal Naboth's reputation, his life, and his property. The people of Nineveh fast in repentance to God after Jonah shouts his warning through the city streets. And fasting was even built into the regular rhythm of Israel's life as a nation. There was the annual Day of Atonement. The whole nation fasted and prayed that day. There was a sense that we tend to flit through life too carelessly, without taking stock of the grit of sin that sticks to the soles of our feet, as the writer of Hebrews described it, and the tether of evil that snags our hearts at inopportune moments.
Remember how Abraham Lincoln put it? The year was 1863. The Civil War ripped the nation's belly. And Lincoln said this can't be! Who are we?! What have we become as a nation?! And so, he called the people of this great nation together on Thursday, April 30, to spend the entire day in fasting and prayer. This is what Lincoln said in his official proclamation. He said: It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow . . . The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins . . . Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity, and too proud to pray to the God that made us. And the people humbled themselves before God in a day of fasting and of prayer.


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Dear Jesus, I repent. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 2.5 NRSV)

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A sixteen-year-old girl got her driver's license. Suddenly she knew how to drive! And that summer her family was going to go on a long trip together. So the day before they were leaving, she asked if she could wash the car. Get it all ready for the travels. It was a nice thought, of course. But all she wanted was a chance to drive the car.
So she opens the garage doors. It was a really small garage. Car barely squeezes in. Mom and Dad had told her so often: Make sure you check behind you when you back up! Be careful for anyone else who might be there!

So she gets in the car. She starts it. She steps on the brake, and slips the gear shift into reverse. She turns around and looks back to make sure there's no one behind. She lets off the brake, and revs the engine. And, as she's looking back, she turns the wheel! SCREECH! She proves the laws of physics! Two bodies of matter cannot occupy the same place at the same time! The left front fender is wrapped around the doorjamb on the garage! And what does she do? She jumps out of the car, crying and shouting: I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll stay home! I won't go on vacation! If you do something wrong, you want to make amends. And part of making amends might have to do with giving up something significant to you.

What sacrifices are you making for God?


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God of love, you have given so much to me. May I also give to help your kingdom grow. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
(Deuteronomy 10.12 NRSV)

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Neal Scarlett's pastor stood by his bed. Neal was a big redheaded man who took charge as soon as he walked into any room. But he was not in charge that day. He was in a hospital bed. He was facing bypass heart surgery. He knew his chances were somewhere between slim and none. His pastor asked him if he was ready to meet the Lord. Neil replied, "I am as ready as I can be. If I had my life to live over, I would not change a thing. I am a farmer. Every piece of land that has come into my possession, I have made it a better. When my wife and I started out, we had no land. We both worked and saved until we could buy forty acres and an old house. We immediately improved the house and the fences and upgraded the fertility of the land. Soon we found the opportunity to buy a place next to it.
God has been good to us. We have been able to buy and develop over a thousand acres. We now have the finest dairy farm in the state. We are proud of what we have done. No. I would not change one thing. All I ever wanted was a little more land. And I haven't wanted all the land in the world. I have always been content to buy just what touched mine." Then he began to laugh. His pastor asked, "Why are you laughing, Neil?"

Neil replied, "I guess God has used you to get to me today. God knows that there is some unfinished business. I do not own that farm. God does. God has been good to me to allow me to own and develop it, but I know now that my place is not as the owner, but as the trustee. God is the owner. Let's pray. I need to move over, and let God take His rightful place as the owner, and I need to take my place as His servant." Neil and his pastor had a wonderful time praying together. The surgery was successful on both Neil's physical heart and his spiritual heart. He had found his rightful place. He had discovered that sitting at the feet of Jesus truly is the best place to be.


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Dear God, I am your servant. Remind me of that often. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
(Matthew 6.14 NRSV)

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The person who knows he or she has been redeemed by the generosity of God is able to be generous toward others.
Jesus told parable about a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. A servant who owed the king about a million dollars was brought to him. Since the servant was not able to repay such a vast sum, the master ordered that the servant and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before his master. "Be patient with me," he begged, "and I will pay back everything."

The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants. This second fellow owed HIM about a hundred dollars. He grabbed his fellow servant and began to choke him. "Pay back what you owe me!" he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back." But he refused. Instead, he had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. "You wicked servant," he said, "I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" And the answer, of course, is yes. He should forgive as he had been forgiven. And that is where you and I are today. "Heaven," as Mark Twain said, "goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out, and your dog would go in."


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Lord Jesus, may I forgive as you have forgiven me. Thanks for your blessing. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.
(Luke 5.10 NRSV)

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When we read the Gospels, we discover that the disciples found the best seat in the house by choosing to accept the challenge of Jesus to invest their lives in others. Remember how Jesus came into the marketplace at the docks. There he found some commercial fishermen. He asked them to allow him to use one of their boats as a teaching platform.
After he finished teaching the people, he gave them an invitation: "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." He was asking them to give up their seats in their fishing boats for something better something more lasting to invest their lives in others. (Luke 5:1-13).

Will you accept the invitation?


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Dear God, show me the way to the best seat that you have reserved for me. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
(1 John 4.11 NRSV)

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Tony Campolo tells about an experience that occurred when he was fourteen-years-old. Tony's family was very poor, and his father was out of work because he had been struck down with Hodgkin's disease. His hospitalization insurance was running out, and the family did not know where they would get enough money to meet their basic needs.
Tony knew that it was his duty to earn some money for his family, but at the same time he wanted to stay in school, get good grades, and go to college. He figured out that he could buy unsold loaves of bread that truck drivers returned to the Bond Bread Company located at Fiftysixth and Market Streets. He could buy the bread for a nickel a loaf and sell it for a quarter a loaf to restaurants throughout West Philadelphia. The transaction promised a hefty profit, but there were a couple of problems. He could not pick up the bread until after 9:00 p.m., and the only means he had for delivering the bread was by piling in on a wagon that he pulled behind his bike.

One dark, cold, rainy night at about a quarter till eleven Tony was making a delivery. Unfortunately he rode his bike over a pothole. Suddenly there was a BANG! His front tire blew out. He pulled the bike off the street and sat down on the curb. After a while he started to cry. He remembers crying hard and long. He was soaked, shivering, and completely discouraged. It was a lonely side street. There was no one to hear him when he cried out loud, "God, you're mean. Everybody else thinks you're kind. But I know you're mean. If you were kind you'd help me."

He cried for a few minutes more, then, for reasons that he will never figure out, he got up and pushed his bike and his load of bread to the service station down the street. The station was closed for the night. Nevertheless, he pushed his bike over to the air pump and tried to put air into the blownout tire. It never occurred to him how unusual it was that the air pump of this closed service station was still working. He was in such a state of brokenness and sadness that he did what he did in a daze. Needless to say the air came out of the tear in the blownout tire as quickly as he pumped it in. He says he doesn't know what he was expecting. But trembling and crying, he just stayed there in the dark carrying out a hopeless task.

Then the miracle happened! Suddenly he realized that the tire was hard. Somehow and in some way that is impossible to explain, the tire was holding air. He stood up, confused and happy. He remembers yelling out loud, "Oh, thank you! Oh, thank you!" He made two more deliveries and then rode the bike three miles back to his house. And the tire held!

When he got home he lifted the bike onto his front porch and locked it. The time was just after 12:30 a.m. He went to the front door and was putting his key into the lock when he heard a hissing sound. He turned back to the bike and watched with amazement as the air quickly left the blownout tire. The miracle was over, and the tire went flat.

I tell that simple story for this reason: My guess is that everyone with a deep faith can look back over his or her life and see some miracle there such as Tony experienced in his life. Can you? Many of you can, I know. It doesn't always happen, and it may happen only once in a lifetime. There are other times we will ask for a miracle and Heaven will be as quiet as a tomb. But God does love us more than anything else! That is why Jesus came to be our savior.


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Loving God, forgive me of my moments of disbelief for I know you love me. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
(Hebrews 10.10 NRSV)

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When an athlete comes off the field and says, "God gave us the victory tonight," we hope he or she is saying, "I thank God who gave me a good body so I can play at my best; I thank God for my good mind that allowed me to play alert and with awareness; I thank God for giving me the hunger to always be at my best." If that is what the athlete is saying, then I want to say, "You are absolutely right. Thank God for all God's good gifts."
But if that athlete is saying God literally guided the football through the uprights for the winning field goal so that one team would win and the other lose, that man has a lot to learn about life and about God.

God is not our personal weather expert, football strategist, romance matchmaker, or rectifier of our past mistakes. God is God. God is our Sovereign, not our servant. It is we who are to bring our actions into conformance with God's will, not God who is to bring God's actions into conformance with our will. It is very human when something is very important to us to assume it is also very important to God like making sure our team wins.


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Dear Jesus, may my will be conformed to yours. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
(Matthew 3.16 NRSV)

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I love the story of Martin Luther who, on those dark and discouraging days that we all have, would say to himself over and over, "I am baptized. I am baptized." He affirmed that whatever was happening to him at the moment, he was a child of the covenant God had made with His people. Try that on one of your bad days. You might get surprising results.
We have been baptized. Think about the implications of that statement.


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God of love, I have be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
(Matthew 4.1 NRSV)

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In the book, GOD'S VITAMIN "C" FOR THE SPIRIT, there is an interesting story of a sixty-four-year-old mother with an interesting library. Her bookcase is separated into three sections. The first rack contains books on psychology and theology. Many are thick textbooks full of mile-long words. The second rack in the bookcase is stocked with medical textbooks and journals. There seems to be a special focus on genetics and medicine on this rack. And the third rack is jam-packed with multiple issues of HEAVY EQUIPMENT DIGEST. Quite a contrast, don't you think.
A stranger visiting her home might say that she is a woman of diverse interests. Her sons, however, know that she is a devoted mother. You see, one son is a Christian counselor, and so this mother reads all his old text books in order to learn more about his work. He is represented by the first rack in the bookcase. This mother also reads the books and medical journals on the second rack so that she can understand the work that her second son does. He is a doctor, and is active in cancer research.

And what about the subscription to HEAVY EQUIPMENT DIGEST? Well, that represents a third son who spent years in that field. This mother spends considerable time and energy to acquaint herself with her sons’ interests, in order to better understand them. Is it important to her to know about Freud and DNA and bulldozers? Probably not, but it is important that her sons know they are loved.

How do we know God loves us? Because Christ has walked where we walk. He experienced what we experience.


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Dear God, thank you for loving me through the gift of my savior. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
(John 3.16 NRSV)

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A young husband has a crippling, terminal neurological disease. His wife is carrying a baby which this unfortunate young man may never live to see. Thus he writes a letter to this unborn child to say something very important that is on his heart. Listen carefully as I read these words. They are very beautiful. Remember he is writing to his unborn child:
"Your mother is very special," he writes. "Few men know what it is like to receive appreciation for taking their wives out to dinner when it entails what it does for us. It means that she has to dress me, shave me, brush my teeth, comb my hair, wheel me out of the house and down the steps, open the garage and put me in the car, take the pedals off the chair, stand me up, sit me in the seat of the car, twist me around so that I am comfortable, fold the wheelchair, put it in the car, go around to the other side of the car, start it up, back it out, get out of the car, pull the garage door down, get back into the car, drive off to the restaurant. And then, it starts all over again. She gets out of the car, unfolds the wheelchair, opens the door, spins me around, stands me up, seats me in the wheelchair, pushes the pedals out, closes and locks the car, wheels me into the restaurant, then takes the pedals off the wheelchair so I won't be uncomfortable. We sit down to have dinner, and she feeds me throughout the entire meal. And when it's over she pays the bill, pushes the wheelchair out to the car again, and repeats the same routine. And when it's over, finished, with real warmth, she'll say, 'Honey, thank you for taking me out to dinner.' I never quite know what to answer. . ."

If you have ever been the target of unconditional love, you know that young man's predicament. If you ever get a grasp on all Christ has done in your behalf, you understand the uncertainty of this young husband with this tragic neurological disease. You simply do not know what to say. You and I are the recipients of an amazing self-giving love.


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Dear God, thank you for your self-giving love. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
(Hebrews 3.12 NRSV)

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After tucking in his six-year-old son Chris one night, Robert O'Brien tapped his son's chest and asked, "Do you know what you have in there?"
Chris looked puzzled and responded, "My guts?"

"No, you have a piece of God," his father replied.

After a brief silence Chris responded, "God is in my guts?"

"No," said his Dad, "we have a piece of God inside of us; it is God's gift to each of us." Chris smiled, tapped his Dad's chest, and asked whether his Dad had a piece of God in his guts. They laughed and together they began to ask this same question about the rest of the family.

"Does Mommy have a piece of God?"

"Yes," they answered, laughing.

"Does Matt have a piece of God?" they asked about his older brother.

"Yes."

O'Brien knew that Chris attended a day care center with a little girl named Mary who was so spoiled she made the people around her miserable. He said, "You know, even Mary has a piece of God." Chris looked stunned, and then he said emphatically, "No, not Mary." When his father insisted Chris said, "Daddy, I have been with her more than you. She doesn't have a piece of God." O'Brien told his son that God never missed anyone; everyone has a piece of God inside. Chris pondered this a while, and then said, "Well, her piece must be all covered up with junk!"

Don’t let God be covered up with junk in your life.


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Lord Jesus, don’t let me cover you up. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
(Hebrews 10.22 NRSV)

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A pastor in Winston-Salem, N.C., was teaching a membership class and explaining how some churches baptize by immersion and others by sprinkling. "Does anyone know how the Quakers baptize?" he asked the class. A young man responded, "Oats?"
Thankfully all Christians use water, not oats, but today we celebrate the washing away of all the junk that covers people and keeps us from being what God has created each of us to be.

Only one person who ever lived escaped being covered with this junk and that was Jesus. Still, he came to be baptized by John. The Jews already practiced baptism before John the Baptist, but their baptism had little to do with repentance and confession of sins. Among the Jews, clothing, utensils, and even articles of furniture were ceremonially cleansed.

The Feast of Weeks was a time when many believers from surrounding areas came to the Temple for the blessing of the "first bread made from the new harvest of spring grain." It was a perfect time for many people to witness Jesus' ministry and hear his message.

May we all be cleaned of our junk and ready to hear Jesus’ message.


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Dear God, clean me today of all the junk I have collected. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
(Matthew 6.6 NRSV)

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Have you ever noticed that communication is difficult business? In the book AMERICA'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS there is a story about a blundering, wannabe robber with speech difficulties in Thibodaux, Louisiana, who just couldn't win for losing. Sam Lincoln entered Bob's Cafe and, speaking in his thick, backwoods Cajun accent, ordered the waitress to "give me all the money." Unfortunately, she couldn't understand a word he said. To her it sounded like he was ordering "a sieve with all the honey."
In desperation, Sam turned to a patron and told him to hand over all hismoney. The diner could have sworn that Sam said to "live a big pile of bunny." When the patron couldn't understand him either, Sam got so frustrated that he pulled out his gun. He pulled the trigger. Click. The gun wouldn't fire. Now Sam grabbed the cash register and began to run. But he didn't get far only about three feet. The register was still firmly plugged into the wall, and he quickly ran out of cord. The register was jerked out of Sam's hands, and he fell. Humiliated and frustrated, he ran out of Bob's Cafe empty-handed. Waitresses and patrons breathed a sign of relief. Someone hefted the register back up to its place on the counter. But five minutes later, Sam was back. This time, he made sure he unplugged the register before making off with it. Sam was ecstatic for about three feet. A bystander knocked Sam down and made a citizen's arrest.

Communication is difficult. but even under the best of circumstances it is problematic. How many times have you heard the phrase, "What we have here is a failure to communicate"?

Don’t let that be true about your communication with God.

Let us pray.


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Loving God, thank you for listening. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.
(Acts 19.11 NRSV)

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The role miracles play in the life of the believer is awesome. God is not our servant. God is our Sovereign. God isn't going to do anything that ultimately is not for our best good. When we pray and Heaven seems to be silent, it is because God's plan is bigger and better than we can see at the moment. But somewhere along the way God gives us experiences that build our faith that serve as watersheds along our life's journey.
God gives us these events whether they be miracles or mountaintop experiences so that when we come to those difficult times when we pray but nothing seems to come from our prayers, we can say with confidence, "I know God is with me. God has been with me before and I know God is with me now."

Miracles happen, but they happen for a specific reason to build our faith. So, if you pray for the home team to win and they do not, or if it rains on your daughter's wedding day, in spite of all the time you have spent on your knees, remember this isn't what miracles are about anyway. Miracles are about helping us trust God.


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Dear Jesus, thanks for being the miracle in my life. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
(1 Corinthians 12.27 NRSV)

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Experts tell us that one of the most accurate means of discerning communication is to watch body language a nod of the head, a shrug of the shoulders, crossing the arms over the chest, all may tell us what the other party is thinking far more accurately than the words that come from his or her lips. In fact, some business books advise people to feign interest by deliberately using specific body language. For example, one source states that "steepling of hands is usually interpreted as a sign of deep thought. Doctors and psychiatric professionals traditionally steeple when listening to patients. Result: Someone who deliberately steeples tends to be considered a deep thinker and powerful, intelligent person. This expert recommends that business people steeple in meetings, or while listening to colleagues one-on-one."
St. Paul uses body language in our lesson for the day when he is trying to describe how a church is supposed to operate. Oh, we don't know if he steepled his hands or not. He used body language of a different sort. What St. Paul does is compare members of a church to parts of a body. Some of us are eyes, some ears. Some of us are mouths, some feet, and some of us noses, etc. I'll leave it to you to figure out who among us is what.

Paul's message is a very simple one and yet it is also vital. Each of us is indispensable.


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God of love, you are indispensable to me. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!
(James 5.9 NRSV)

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Are you a grumbler?
A grumbler is a person who doesn't know how to handle the unhappiness which naturally occurs when parties disagree. Grumblers are people who do not know appropriate ways to express their disagreements with leadership. Rather than finding appropriate ways to show their discontent, grumblers stir up unhealthy conflict. That's what makes a person a grumbler. Sadly, these are frequently people who have good intentions. Yet the results of their grumbling are disastrous to the church.

One recent writer compared grumblers to termites. They slowly chew away at the foundation of confidence and vision of the people of God. Grumblers simply don't seem to know appropriate ways to have healthy conflict in their lives. They don't know how to talk about their discontentment in ways that are honest.

Don’t be a grumbler. With love and care of the people of God, be honest. Do all you can to build up the community of faith.


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Dear God, move the grumbling out of my soul. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5.11 NRSV)

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One pastor says he is afraid to walk into his office on Monday mornings. He knows he will find an anonymous note. No signature, just an anonymous criticism of his church or of himself. Sometimes the content is serious. Most of the time the notes are concerned with petty complaints. One Saturday before Easter, there was a letter in the mail. It was an unsigned note that said, "Sunrise on Easter morning is at 6:05 a.m. not 6:30." The pastor wondered if the author of the letter understood that the purpose of a sunrise service is not to identify the actual moment of sunrise so much as to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher one Sunday morning found an anonymous note with just one word written on it FOOL. That morning he held up the note to his congregation and said, "I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name, but this is the only instance I have ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write the letter."

Our call is to build one another up in the Christian faith.


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Dear God, assist me and build me up in your understanding, so that I can build up others in their faith. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it.
(1 Corinthians 11.18 NRSV)

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Arnold Prater has turned Paul's teaching into a parable: Once upon a time, he says, almost everybody was an ear. All the ears had a big convention and were having a wonderful time when a nose and a mouth walked in, sat down on the back row, and were very quiet. But soon the sergeant-at-arms walked over and said, "You fellows don't look like ears to me. I'm kicking you out." So the nose and the mouth left. But after a while the convention hall caught fire and destroyed all the ears because no noses were there to smell the smoke and no mouths were there to warn them the place was on fire!
A person who loses her sense of smell suffers. A person who loses his or her eyes has a much different view point. The same thing is true about members of Christ's body, the church. Every one of us is essential. Everyone is indispensable.


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Lord Jesus, help me as I build up your church. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. (Philippians 3.13 NRSV)

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Some business people are now using the word, FEEDFORWARD. Think about that word for a moment: Feedforward, as opposed to the familiar word FEEDBACK. If you're running a business, feedback means when something goes wrong, you pick up the signal that all's not well, and you do something about it. You yell, you shout, you punish the "guilty" or whatever. The problem with feedback is it's always after the fact. You are being reactive instead of proactive. Why not try to anticipate rather than simply respond.
Watch a fast moving tennis match. The best players can't afford to wait until their opponent hits the ball to decide where they should be on the court. They have to anticipate where the ball will probably be hit, commit themselves to that part of the court, and be there. Or talk to an experienced fisherman; he'll tell you that chances of hooking a trout are far better if you see the fish coming at the dry fly, rather than waiting for the splash when the fish does hit it. Feedforward. Anticipation. Not always possible in tennis, trout fishing, business, or life, but better than feedback when you can do it.

Paul writes, "But one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul lived in anticipation about what God was doing in his life and in the world.


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Dear God, may I be a feedforward servant for your kingdom of love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Newhouse

[bluidkiti]

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11-12 NRSV)

C. S. Lewis once said something about the church that I believe is important. He said that the model many of us have in our minds for the church is the same model we have for secular organizations. That is, we think of the church as an organization that we join. Then we do what members of an organization normally do we come to meetings and pay dues. Maybe, occasionally, we read the organization's newsletter, if we have time. THIS IS NOT CHRIST'S MODEL FOR THE CHURCH.

Christ's intent is that his people will be joined to his church in the same way that members of a physical body are joined to that body. It is a living relationship. The body gives life to its members and they, in turn, are indispensable to the body. For the person in whom Christ dwells, being actively involved in church is not merely an option anymore than an eye has an option about being involved with a physical body. Losing an eye is a tragedy for both the eye and for the body. Christ is saying that each of us is indispensable. We all have a place in his family.

Loving God, help me to be an active and effective member of the body of Christ. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

[janbear]

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
(Ephesians 4.4 NRSV)

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Author Irving Stone has spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin. Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said, "I write about people who sometime in their life . . . have a vision or dream of something that should be accomplished . . . and they go to work. They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified and for years they get nowhere. But every time they're knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they've accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do."
He could have been talking about St. Paul. Paul was able to focus on the one thing in his life that really mattered his high calling in Jesus Christ. He was able to let go of excess baggage from the past that might have weighed him down. He was able to live in anticipation of Christ's future victory. Thus, he pressed onward and upward to his high calling in Jesus Christ. Those are lessons for all of us. Focus on the things that really matter. Let go of the past. Expect good things from God in the future. Press onward and upward, serving God all your days.


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Dear Jesus, help me to press onward and upward to my calling in Christ. Amen.
Ron Newhouse