Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hands off - Don't touch...

Let's see if I can stir some memories in some of your hearts. Remember, growing up, the number of times you heard your mom, dad, or other relative tell you “Hands off – Don’t Touch?” Seriously, how many times have you told your own children, nieces or nephews the same thing? Probably can’t count them all, huh?
You know sometimes we still have that problem as adults. You know when we just want to put our little hands in a pot or just touch it a little even though we know it’s none of our business. Next, thing you know BOOM …..gum on your shoe! I say "gum on your shoe" because all a sudden you are in the middle of something and you don’t even know what it is really all about -- just because you couldn’t leave it alone and not touch it. Then you have to figure a way to get it off of your shoe!

God brought this truth home to me personally about ten years ago as I was out walking one day. You know when you walk, you see things along the road. Of course by this time in my life the “No Littering” laws were strongly honored and people were mindful of them as a whole. However, again as you walk the streets and roads, it is very interesting at times to scan the litter. One day as I was on the front end of my walk I noticed something off in the ditch. For the life of me I could not figure out what it really was, so of course, I reached down, touched it and picked it up to get a better look! It was nothing but trash, metal trash, but yet trash. Here I am with no pocket, convicted not to litter, even though it was litter, and I’m on the front end of my walk. Yes, I carried this metal trash with me until I got home. And it wasn’t as light as a coke can! I wish I could tell you I learned my lesson after that but nooooo. Over the next couple of months I finally got the principle God was trying to teach me. If you pick it up you then have to decide what you are going to do with it, even if it is litter (and not yours).

I was reminded of this today with something one of my clients was journeying through. It is good to be reminded and I am thinking maybe I should have paid them instead of them paying me!

There are so many things we deal with in our lives that God never intended for us to have to handle or touch. But, for whatever reason, we just have to put our hands in the pot and/or touch it. In fact, I suspect we could all live a more lighthearted life with Him if we were willing to let Him handle and touch things!
I think those signs they have in glass shops and antique malls, etc, that say, “DO NOT TOUCH” apply here. OUCH!

Proverbs 17:4
Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander!

His,
vickie

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Cultural Christian vs. Biblical Christian ...

In his book, “The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life”, Patrick M. Morley makes the following observation about himself after a two year self-examination of his life, “I realized I had been living the life of a Cultural Christian, not a Biblical Christian. What I mean is that even though I believed in Jesus, there was nothing exceptional about my lifestyle that would recommend Him to others.”

What a powerful observation. What a question for us to ask ourselves. Do we as a Christian live a lifestyle that would recommend him to others? Hmmmm

For those of you who did and didn’t see the blog last week, I wanted you to see and/or be reminded of what I wrote. I hope you will and/or have considered the question.

This past week I read through a book titled “Seven Deadly Detours”. While I wasn’t in total agreement on everything the authored penned, I most certainly believe his over all premise is true. The book was published back in 1996 but the same basic issues are still on the table. He discussed how we as believers can become so overly involved in issues such as politics, squabbling over prayer in public schools, the homosexual agenda, shutting down abortion clinics, making Jesus a Right Winger, Christian Television, etc. that we are not available to do what He actually asked us to do…… “Share the Good News of the Gospel and Become like Him.” Which way are you moving forward? God’s Way and or are you living a life of Detours?

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 1that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Matthew 28:16-20
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

His,
vickie

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Cultural Christian vs. Biblical Christian

In his book, “The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life”, Patrick M. Morley makes the following observation after a two year self-examination of his life:

“I realized I had been living the life of a Cultural Christian, not a Biblical Christian. What I mean is that even though I believed in Jesus, there was nothing exceptional about my lifestyle that would recommend Him to others.”

What a powerful observation. What a question for us to ask ourselves. Do we as a Christian live a lifestyle that would recommend Him to others? Hmmmm

His,
vickie

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Summer abounds...

Well, kids are getting out of school everywhere and the summer is kicking into full force. I just finishing praying, even as I type these words, for one of our ministry staff's sons who is in Bobadaugou, Africa with Awestar Ministries . If you don’t know about Awestar Ministries, it is a powerful ministry involving youth sharing the gospel near and far. www.awestar.org Check it out.

Please remember our missionaries on the field during this time of year. Many churches, families, and individuals take June-August to make trips overseas, They come alongside our missionaries to encourage them in local projects to reach the lost of their area. While this is great for the missionaries, it also requires lots of energy to make sure that there is housing, meals, and transportation for so many. Pray for their endurance as teams come and go without much turnaround time.

Also, pray for Pure Joy as we make plans for the 2011. Please pray that God will open wide the door to the areas we are needed the most to bring encouragement and refreshing! Also, we have a new project on the horizon that I will be sharing with you more along the way, so keep watch!

To all you moms out there…..we are praying for you too, as summer takes you places too, camping, swimming, church camps, football camps, cheerleading camps, etc. Maybe there should be a camp for moms at the end of September for you to gain some of your sanity back! Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha . . .

Have a blessed week!

His,
vickie