New Year

Joh 5:1-9
(1) After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
(2) Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
(3) In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
(4) For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
(5) And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
(6) When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
(7) The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
(8) Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
(9) And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.


This is about the time every year, that we sit down and make some kind of promise about how we what to change something about ourselves for the new year.. But as Newtons first law of motion states we seldom want to apply the force to our live in order to get a change !! In John chapter 5.. We have a man sitting by the pool waiting for a angel to stir the waters so his lameness may be healed and we see Jesus come by asking Him if he wants to be made whole..Seems as though its a foolish question, asking a lame man if he wants to walk?? Assuming Jesus never asked a foolish question.. Why did He ask ? Because some people never really want to change ..They may say they do, but when the time comes they refuse.. Why because they are content with the way things are..The lame man was a beggar people gave him money, now he may have to get a Job. Sometimes people really think that their lives are as good as God wants them, so they see no need to get up and walk, their content being lame by a pool even when The God of the universe wants to walk with them and heal them making a change..Think of this as we make those promises to change this year...You may hear Jesus say in that still small voice ... Do you really want to change I can Make it happen !! Be ready to take up those mats or at least be honest with yourself and Jesus, even if it seems foolish to say "I want to stay lame ".

Christmas

The Christmas play was great, I'll post a short video later, the kids did a wonderful job and Christ was glorified !! We have communion service Sunday morning and a candle light service Sunday night, I encourage you to invite family and friends so the house of God maybe full as we praise Him this Christmas....

Yours in Christ,
Russell

Thanksgiving

Psalm 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

All that we are able to do and accomplish is by the grace and mercy of a Living God !!!

May we praise Him this week with thanksgiving !!! Remembering His mercy

Love in Christ

Russell

Trouble

This crazy Cat never let a little trouble stop Him !!

John 9

Healing the Man Born Blind

¹As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.

²And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"

³Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

⁴"We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

⁵"While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."

Trouble seems to be everywhere we go and around everything we try to accomplish and as a result I sometimes find my self asking (as did the disciples), who sinned. Then I hear these words in my head .."it is so the works of God might be displayed in and through these things or TROUBLES" ...( If you read the rest of this passage you"ll see who the hard headed ones were..all that commotion over one blind man being healed)...I wonder if a lot of the stuff we face in our lives is not just so that the power of God might be revealed in us, so that we too, can be rejected by the world. Jesus, the light of the world, reflected in the actions of His people. In times of happiness, and in times of trouble. I guess it is worth it to go though the blindness and through all the questions, all the ridicule and disappointments to find the Son of God waiting on us. He is out in the world waiting on us to do the work of the Father ! Just think, the next time this guy came up to someone blind could you imagine the conversation. A conversation about the man he knew named Jesus...this was about the only thing he did know. Do you think he knew and understood that "I was once blind, but now I see", or do you think he would just pass the blind guy by, not saying a word about the man that had healed him. I'm sure he could have come up with some good excuses, but can you hide a light in a dark room? There are so many times that, we do so little with what God has done for us, all because of a little TROUBLE. This would really be a great sermon. Maybe one day after I finish writing it or we are living it...well, either way, God's got to Finish it.

Prayer

Remember Mr. Smith on the 12 th he is having 2 stints placed and a "kink" fixed in his aorta .. yea we had a good time talking about his kinks !!

In Christ,
Russell

People

Along the way in life we meet some interesting ( putting it nicely) people. And this proves that God has a since of humor because a lot of times we have to work with them to accomplish some sort of task...God, I believe allows this or purposefully does this to us, in order that we might grow in using the fruit of the spirit
Gal 5:22
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Its that word Longsuffering meaning Patience that we have to have drilled into our heads and what better way to do this than by sending people who either annoy or irritate or just say off the wall commits.. You know Christians are really expected to over look alot

Fall Festival 08

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Homecoming 2009

Homecoming Service 2009

We Had a great time !!

Mr Solz did great with the music and Bro. Travis brought a good message . The chicken was even good .The only glitch was Mrs Crabtree calling me at 5:55 wanting to know where everyone was !! Seems I forgot to announce that there was no service that night.. oops..Someone really needs to help me with the little details.. :)

Sunday Sunday !!

If you stop and think...you will usually Just Stop .. When God asks us to do things for Him in ministry we all will at some point stop and try to think about how hard the task is or about how we could be doing other things (usually selfish) and its at that point when ministry has its greatest chance of failure...The only time God tells His people to stop and be still are the times when we are complaining Exo 14:13-15
(13) Moses answered the people, "Don't be afraid! Stand still, and see what the LORD will do to save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again.
(14) The LORD is fighting for you! So be still!"
(15) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving.
In this passage the people have left Egypt and are standing in front of the red sea with the armies of Egypt behind them And So they Stop moving froward for God in order to complain to Moses because the situation seemed to hard to deal with.. They knew God was fighting for them but stopped anyway to think about it and complain ..I like God's response Why are you crying out to me ...He's saying I've given you victory and authority over the obstacles Keep it moving !!! I'll probably preach this at some point It's good stuff !! But here are some pictures from last Sunday ..we have a wonderful group. Someone said something about putting up a picture of myself, well there you go ... In the group shot of everyone sitting, I think you can tell who the 2 hams are... I have more !!

few pics from Wed night 15th

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth

The church members are good sports they know I love pictures ( a few do hide from me )

Good Day

Today was a good day !! When I think of good days today will be one of them. People work together to accomplish things for God that seem over whelming but God always comes though. We have big plans for Thanksgiving and God I believe is right in the middle of it..

2008

(What are the lessons you can learn from a little brown eyed girl ?) This year has seemed to fly by !! Here we are almost October, Fall festival time ,then Thanksgiving and Christmas, Then Hello 2009, I think as you get older time seems faster because you realize you have such little of it.... Im glad that our time is something given to us by God, to me this means that He's the one responsible for getting stuff done, as long as were willing to allow Him to accomplish it though us..I look back and see so much I wanted to do, but only what I see done are those things He wanted Me to do. So In that I find peace.. I think the bible puts it this way -Forgetting those things which are behind and pressing for those things which are ahead-

What is it that"s Ahead for You ??

Passion

Passion for souls ! http://www.tribesinasia.blogspot.com/
Read his blog !!

Russell

God is God

People at church have sometimes heard me say that I think God's crazy. By no means do I mean this in a disrespectful way !! The truth is that, I think this because as the bible teaches us His ways are higher than our ways this means His thinking is higher or smarter than ours. As a result He does things that sometimes seems crazy to me but in reality are perfectly sane. For example choosing us to spread the Gospel, or making that duck bill thing or a kangaroo, how about using the foolish things to confound the wise( In a Bible vrs. look it up !)..... God is God, He moves and acts how He wishes, no matter how crazy it may seem to me .. And I'm thankful For That !!

The Good Stuff

Not to quote a country song but... We sometimes forget that what makes life good is the little things that we experience every day and take for Granted. I hope that this week we all look for that GOOD STUFF and run with it!! Never let the troubles we face steal our joy, God Gives us those moments to enjoy so make the most of them.

Russell

Guard your Hearts

Php 4:6-8
(6) In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
(7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
(8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We as Christians have an adversary that walks about as a lion to destroy the work of God in our lives. Paul here by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gives us some guards for our heart. For anxiety Prayer, and be thankful for what you have been given. For the stresses of life He gives His peace that those in the world cant understand. And in verse 8 God provides good things to think about and as a result leaves no room for Satan to enter in with thoughts to discourage. The world is a big place and finding our place in it can be hard. I'm thankful God knows me and where I am and is able to meet me there, to Guard my heart by giving me these things from His Presence and His word
Russell

Report from mission trip picture

Isa 40:28-29
(28) Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
(29) He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

The Team gave their witness to the things they saw and heard on our trip. They all did a very good job (though a little nervous) and I pray that their boldness spreads and encourages us !! As the verse tells us, God empowers to accomplish great things for His Glory ..Just be willing !!

Russell

When Life is tough

2Ki 6:16-17 (16) And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. (17) And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Life is tough, and we feel like the deck of cards we were given is stacked against us. The kids are in trouble or the wife is mad (about Something) and gas is expensive... And it's in the mist of all this we look up to God and ask "Will you help me" ?? I think God wants nothing more than to Send help and I believe a lot of times He has help all around us... We just need to open our EYES..... Pray That God will open your eyes to see. . It may not be what your expecting !! Its probably better....

Revelation

The word revelation has changed the way we look at our world. With each revelation someone has our view of things change, just think someone had the revelation that the world is round their view changed. As we continue with the study of the book of Revelation ( the revelation of Jesus Christ ) may we pray the as we study that He chooses to reveal more of Himself to us through His Word. Never be content with what you know if so your world will remain flat ......

Things are going great

The mission team is doing well everyone´s having a great time in the Lord Jesus. Many people are reciving the Lord.. We stayed in a different hotel last night it was real nice Brent is still in bed but he is smiling ..I would spell chech this but its in spanish so youll just have to read it the best you can Be praying that Gods Glory may fill this place and that Jesus will be recived by many
In His Service
Russell

Interesting

I believe God Likes to keep us on our toes sometimes by sending things our way that you really never expect Just to see what you'll do with It ...( Not that He doesn't really already know but more to just watch you grow...)

unleash

March 13 the New spring unleash pastors conference will take place... I'm really looking forward to it, But I think no other organization has cause a stir in this community as New spring, But so few pastors will attend from this area... Why ?

Direct

The shortest distansant between two points is a stright line... But with God things very seldom happen that way, It seems God wants us to take the long way around, In takeing us from place to place. I guess Its because of all the things we learn from the trip we take..

New Year

This year we have a lot to accomplish in the name of the Lord Jesus, We have mission trips to raise money for, we have youth activities to plan, and souls to reach for Christ ...As we Have talked about over the past few weeks, we need to Redeem the time and make the most of the time we have been given. Its not the time to slow down but to strive for perfection in Ministry

So keep up stay in prayer and bible study so the Lord may use you for His Glory

God Bless,

Russell