Making an Impact....

I found this short story on an old church bulletin and I'd like to share it with you.
The author is not known.

Struggling with Worldliness while making an Impact

John the Baptist would never get hired today.
No church would touch him.
He was a public relations disaster.
He "wore clothes made from camel's hair, has a leather belt around his waist, annd ate locusts and wild honey" ( Mark 1:6 )
Who would want to look at a guy like that every Sunday??

His message was as rough as his dress:
a no-nonsense, bare fisted challenge to repent because God was on his way!
John the Baptist set himself apart for one task - to be a voice for Christ.
Everything about John centered on his purpose. His dress. His diet. His actions. His demands.

You don't have to be like the world to have an impact on the world.
You don't have to be like the crowd to change the crowd.
You don't have to lower your standards down to their level to lift them up to your God.
Holiness doesn't seek to be odd.
Holiness seeks to be like God.

Prayer - Heavenly Father, remind us that worship is not only what we do on Sunday mornings in coats and ties, but how we live for You seven days a week. Amen

False Teachers - Know them by their Fruit

Matthew 7: 15-17 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mark 7: 21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

In our world today, there are many many teachers and preachers providing programming on the radio, TV, and through the internet. There are books coming out constantly that claim to be from the Lord. How do we know which Bible teacher or preacher to trust? We are told that in order to recognize a counterfeit, one must be thoroughly familiar with the authentic and in that way we will be able to distinguish the true teachers from the false. I have found though, that the false teachers also proclaim some truth mixed in with their deceptions. So it can be quite a challenge sometimes to differentiate between the true and false teacher. I am not going to name any names in this blog post but I want to explore what to look for. What does the Bible say about this? How can we know and what should we be looking for? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that false prophets come in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. This means that they are very deceptive - they really do look like good people whom we could trust - BUT they are not. Jesus also says  - Ye shall know them by their fruits - This means that it's not so much who they say they are but their actions ( their fruits) will make it obvious for whom they are working ( either for the Lord or for satan)  Jesus says a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Evil fruit is that which Jesus mentions in Mark 7 -evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness
SO, look at the life of the person who is claiming to be God's messenger - what kinds of things are they doing when they think no one is watching? What kind of life are they promoting?

Let's look at some more characteristic of false prophets and false teachers as described in the Bible:

* deception - ( shall deceive many - Matthew 24)
* sign and wonders - ( shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, - Mark 13)
* destructive, untrue doctrines - (who privily shall bring in damnable heresies - 2 Peter)
* in word or action they deny the Lord; ( denying the Lord that bought them,  2 Peter)
* they are popular and are held in high regard by many people ; ( all men shall speak well of you! Luke 6)
*does not confess Jesus is not from God - ( confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God 1 John )

As I read through this list, what I see over and over again is that the false teacher lies. He lives a lie and speaks a lie but all the while tries to have people believe that he is a true Christian. He pretends to be a true preacher of the gospel.

Heavenly Father, You teach us in Your Word to be careful of the false teachers among us. We ask that you give us wisdom to discern and to know who is of the truth and who is deceiving us, and help us to not follow those destructive teachers. Protect us Father.  In Jesus Name we ask, Amen

Heroes of Faith - Billy Sunday



Who is Billy Sunday? He is one of the Heroes of Faith and in this post I will share some interesting things about his life as well as quotes.

Billy Sunday was born on November 19, 1862 in Ames Iowa. Sadly his father William Ashley Sunday died just three days after Billy was born due to pnemonia. Therefore Billy Sunday grew up without his father. Billy began to play baseball for the Chicago White Stockings at the age of 21 years. Things did not go so well as he struck out the first 13 times at bat. Three years later, Billy Sunday came to know the Lord in Chicago through the witnessing of a woman named Mrs Clarke.  At the age of 26 he married the love of his life - Helen Thompson and they had four children though only two survived.
Billy Sunday left his professional baseball career to become an evangelist. He held his first evangelistic service in Iowa in 1886 and he would continue this work for some 40 years. He would invite people to make a decision for Christ and as they came forward make that commitment they would also shake Mr Sunday's hand - they would walk up the "sawdust trail".  He consistantly preached against dancing, gambling and the use of alcohol - calling it "demon rum"  and warned people of the dangers of hell with fire and brimstone type preaching. He kept up with the news of the day hoping to see positive changes but he is quoted as saying "It's just like putting a new frame around an old picture-the picture is unchanged."
Billy Sunday passed away on November 6, 1935 after suffering a heart attack.  Only two weeks earlier, he had preached at the funeral service of a dear long time friend. It is estimated that he preached to 80,000,000 people during his life as an evangelist.
I would like to share twelve of Billy Sunday's notable quotes:
1) Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile
2) The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees.
3) The Bible will always be full of things you cannot understand, as long as you will not live according to those you can understand
4)The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you.
5)  Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I've butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition
6) One reason sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake.
7)  Hell is the highest reward the devil can offer you for being a servant of his.
8) The rivers of America will run with blood filled to their banks before we will submit to them taking the Bible out of our schools
9) I believe that a long step toward public morality will have been taken when sins are called by their right names.
10) Temptation is the devil looking through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting him in.
11) Try praising your wife, even if it does frighten her at first.
12) I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to cover.

What a great inspiration it is to read about this hero of faith - Billy Sunday.

Sunday Sermon "First Place in Everything" - Money...

Sunday Sermon Review June 17th, 2012 - "First Place in Everything" - Money...

The preacher at our church today was the Lead Pastor of our church.

Today is Father's Day. Church started with singing "This Train is bound for Glory and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

 The MC of the service reminded us that God is the perfect Father and that we should look to Him for direction. This was followed by Scripture reading from 1 Peter 1.
Verse 7 says: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

There was a children's feature where all the children were called up to the front for a talk about Father's Day. The children were shown a wrench which reminds us how Dads fix things around the house, a baseball glove to show that Dads often play sports with their children, money to indicate that Dads provide food and clothes for the family and finally a toy car to represent that Dads drive kids to various places. The children were reminded to thank their Dad for taking care of them and to thank God who takes care of us all.

The preacher came up to speak and wished all Fathers a happy day. He read Colossians 1:15-23 (which I have posted entirely below) focusing in on verse 18: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
He said that in the NRSV the ending of verse 18 reads - so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

When we become disciples of Jesus, He requires that He become  first place in our everything. It is part of the Christians's journey to bring everything under His control.
The preacher choose to focus on God wanting to have first place in our money, finances and possesions. He gave 4 principles about money.

1) Money is not evil - It is not wicked or dirty even to have a lot of it. In the Old Testament God often used wealth to bless people richly. He refered to Abraham , Isaac and Jacob.

Warning - Money is only one of the ways that God chooses to bless people. Money is not the marker or measuring stick of God's blessing in our lives.
Sometimes people will think that because we are poor, that we are not receiving blessing from God. This is not true. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:20 that God blesses the poor. - And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

The Measuring Stick or Primary Signs of Gods Blessing in your life is if the fruits of the Spirit are present in your life. He read from Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

2) Caretakers or Stewards: Money and posessions do not belong to us. God owns all things - He simply entrusts things to us and into our care. Our culture would have us think we need to own more things.
God entrusts us with money and possesions  so that we will use them to :
A) Glorify God
B) to Extend the Kingdom  and not to use them on our own desires and wants.

3) Become Wise in Handling Finances
Proverbs is a book of wisdom which teaches us to seek wisdom and  to work, to work hard in order to provide for our families and others around us,  not to attain the latest gadget or item of fashion. He suggested reading a few good books on finances and to check out the Crown Financial website as well as the Mennonite Foundation website.
We need to become a GENEROUS PEOPLE. - He read 2 Corinthians 9: 6-8  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
⁷ Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

God loves a cheerful giver. We need to look beyond our own needs and become generous towards others. Jesus calls the church  to go into all the earth. The preacher asked the question - How do I give more?? and still provide for my family. He said to hold money and finances loosely.

4) Money can Become an Idol.  -- it can take the place of God in our lives.
Matthew 6 : 24  - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You can not serve God and Money. Money has the ability to take the place of God in our lives. God gives us meaning in our lives, value, significance and security. If we are not careful money will try to provide meaning, value , significance and security in our lives.
The preacher mentioned a book he was reading by Timothy Keller where Keller says that as a Pastor, he has had many people come to him confessing various sins but no one ever came confessing greed and yet greed is a core issue.

We need to repent:
1) Confess that we may be caught in greed. The Holy Spirit will reveal this.
2) Choose to place Jesus 1st in our finances by becoming more wise and more generous.
3) Decide to serve God , not money

Let Jesus have first place in everything!

Thought for the week - " Never blame any day in your life. Good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience, worst days give you a lesson."


Colossians 1:15-23

¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
²² In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
²³ If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Daddy - the old time preacher man

In this post I would like to share a bit more about my Dad. He was born in 1925 in Mexico but came to Canada with his parents as a very young baby. He spent most of his growing up years in the Kleefeld area of Manitoba. My Dad and his family were also among the group of Mennonites that moved to Paraguay in the late 1940's where they hoped to find a peaceful life.  I mentioned this move to Paraguay in an ealier post about my Mom. My Dad was among an early group of men that flew to Paraguay to prepare the way for the others that would come by ship later. He quite liked the adventure of going to Paraguay and had many fond memories of the time he spent out there and he even learned to speak a bit of Spanish.  After coming back to Canada, he worked for an English farmer (in the Carman area) which he also enjoyed very much. He married my mother in 1951.
My parents started farming in a very small way and gradually built the farm to a more moderate size. They started with just few acres of land and milked a few cows, sold the cream etc.  The Lord was faithful and provided all that was necessary to raise the six girls that were born to them.
My Dad always knew that the Lord had placed a calling on his life to be a preacher of the gospel. The actual call came in January of 1976 at the small country church that we attended. He was ordained as a preacher of the gospel in April of 1976 and began preaching immediately thereafter. He continued to farm on the side with the time that was available to him. The church did not provide a salary to the preachers so continuing to farm  was the right thing to do. The church denomination was involved with was is known as circuit preaching. There were churches of our denomination scattered throughout southern Manitoba and so my Dad was put on a schedule that would take him to each of these churches by rotation and thereby preaching in a different location every Sunday morning. He would spend many hours during the week preparing the sermon he would preach on Sunday. The drive to the church for any given Sunday morning ( other than our own local home church) would take about an hour or longer depending where the location of the church was that he was scheduled at that particular morning. This meant an early start to the morning chores. The cows  needed to be milked and fed before getting ready for church. It was very plain to see that Dad loved preaching. He preached his last sermon in January of 2002 at a little church at the village called Stuartburn.  At this time we already knew that Dad was not well, but we did not know that it was cancer. My husband and I took our family to hear Dad and Grandpa preach his last sermon. Our children were ages 9 and 9 and 5 and 3 when they heard Grandpa preach the last time. I don't remember much about the sermon but I know he talked some about the terrorist attacks that had happened in New York on September 11, 2001 which was just a few months earlier and that laid heavy on his heart.
I hope to post more in the next little while about my Dad, and his final message to the family.