A Thought In Passing....

This morning I heard Dave Wilkerson say, "We (the Church) are being influenced by the very things that influence the world".

In light of this upcoming Sunday's message this statement hit me pretty hard. My text for Sunday is the Apostle Paul's proclamation that "Jesus is all and all" . I wish that were true of us today. Is Jesus our everything? If not what is He competeing with?

Are we being influenced (driven, drawn or enticed) by the same things that influence this world?

Dear God, how do we change that?

A Question For You....

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 Colossians 1:16

When is the last time you thought of Christ as the One by whom all things are created, as Colossians puts it; by whom all things were made: as John puts it; by whom God made the worlds, as Hebrews put it?

Safe In His Arms

Every little girl needs a big brother. Two of our grandkids are shown here, being at their best.

I can hear some of you saying, :Awww how cute!"

Sorry to burst your bubble, they are not always like this. ;-)

The Brethren

We had a great meeting this morning. It is very encouraging for men to get together, sharing, praying and sometimes even crying together.

As the author of Proverbs reminds us, the refining of character requires a second individual against whom we can hone ourselves: iron sharpens iron

Proverbs 27:17

One thing for sure, we are not in danger of being alone in this unique ministry. We as a family are surrounded by unsung heroes of the faith.

It is for that, we are very grateful.

Not Your Usually Church Event

Ok so its not the norm, but then again why not?

Last Saturday night we entered the Lawn Mower Races at the Rock Creek Fall Fair. It was awesome! I even placed in one of the heats.

I'm so very glad to see we are not a fellowship of bumps on a log. We can actually have fun! What a neat opportunity to meet new people and build relationships.

Great Ideas......

What a blessing we had several weeks back. Our folk thought it would be great to provide a FREE pancake breakfast at the park.

Our fellowship showed once again how a small group of dedicated people can do much for God's glory. We severed over 60 people. All ages and backgrounds were treated to flapjacks, juice and fruit.

Several people were witnessed to, and/or prayed for. It was very neat to see the Spirit of God's love ministering so freely. As a group of French Canadian fruit pickers was leaving, one of them yelled out, "We love you guys". That made our day.

Its All About Attitude!

My Heavenly Father knows, and He alone, what it is,

day after day, and hour after hour, to fight against bodily

feelings of almost over­powering weakness and languor and

exhaustion, to resolve, as He enables me to do, not to yield

to the slothfulness, the depression, the irritability, such as a

body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning

determined on taking this for my motto, “If any man will come

after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

The preceeding was a statement of resolve made by Charlotte Elliot (1800s) as she lay bedridden for some 52 years. During her struggles she wrote over 150 Hymns, one being "Just As I Am". What a powerful story of God's ability to use us in spite of our lot in life.

What Part Do You Play?

The Wrecking Crew
I stood on the street of a busy town,

Watching men tearing a building down,
With a ho heave ho and a lusty yell,

They swung a beam and a side wall fell,

I asked the foreman of the crew,

“Are those men as skilled, As those you'd hire if you'd wanted to build?”

“Ah, no, no indeed, Just common laborers are all I need,

I can tear down as much in a day or two,

As would take skilled men a year to do.”

And then I thought as I went my way,

Just which of these two roles am I trying to play?

Have I walked life's road with care,

Measuring each deed with rule and square?

And Now You Know .......

Dr. Thomas Welch (1825-1903) was the communion steward of the Methodist church in Vineland, New Jersey. The son of a Methodist minister, he himself studied to be a minister.

However, due to voice problems, Welch decided to become a medical doctor and later a dentist. At the time, unfermented wine (grape juice) was not available year round for use in communion. From history we know that unfermented wine was widely used and preserved in ancient times. William Patton in his classic book, Bible Wines and the Laws of Fermentation (c.1870), documents four methods of preserving grape juice in The Bible times. Apparently, these methods had fallen into disuse.

In 1869, Dr. Welch began to experiment in his kitchen with concord grape juice, using the pasteurization techniques developed by Louis Pasteur just four years earlier. He soon perfected a process for preserving grape juice and began marketing it with the label Dr. Welch‟s Unfermented Wine.

He produced it with the thought of providing churches with an alternative to alcoholic wine, never envisioning a beverage for the general public. His son, Dr. Charles Welch, envisioned greater things and bought the business in 1873. Charles said that the company was born, out of a passion to serve God by helping His church to give communion as the fruit of the vine instead of the cup of devils.

In 1893, the grape juice business really took off when samples were given out at the Chicago World‟s Fair and the name was changed to “Welch’s Grape Juice.”

Today, Welch’s is a $650 million a year business. Welch’s Grape Juice made worldwide headlines in 1913 when Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, gave a formal state dinner honoring the retiring British ambassador. He served Welch’s Grape Juice instead of fermented wine. Bryan was a dedicated Christian who once ran for U.S. President.

Worldwide headlines were made again in 1914 when Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the U.S. Navy, forbade the use of alcoholic beverages aboard navy ships and substituted Welch’s Grape Juice in their place.

Thomas B. Welch proved the truth that, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me Philippians 4:13
His son, Charles, demonstrated the Truth, where there is no vision, the people perish Proverbs 29:13.

The next time you see “since 1869” on the Welch’s Grape Juice label you can remember this service… and now you know the rest of the story!