Its seems there have been a rash of health and marital problems come upon the body of believers in the past several days. Its like ‘when it rains it pours’. As a pastor, its my job to encourage folks in those testing times, give spiritual advice, and pray for them to overcome those obstacles. God has called us all to become overcomers.
I see God as a merciful and grace-giving God. But, the victory comes in the battle. When battles come we often think we have missed God somewhere. If God were on my side surely these things would not have come upon me. But, somethimes God permits, or even sends, these trials to get us outside of ourselves and focusing back upon Him. That’s why James taught us, “Pray for one another that you may be healed” (James 5:16).
What battle are you facing right now?
Building community is a major focus for our church. If we are a family, we have to find ways to get together in smaller groups. There are two great classes that will be starting this summer that I’m hoping helps people connect. First, Ron Brunger is starting a class on how to design Greeting Cards at home. His experience will help a lot of people save some money while using their own creative gifts.
Secondly, Jennifer Wall is preparing to teach a class on Money Management for Single Women. This is not only a relevant topic today, but can also help those single women, who may feel out of place in a family-oriented church, to connect with one another. Watch the Insider for details.
If you could teach a class from your own experience, what would it be?
I was too young to remember, but my mother tells a story on me as a toddler. We were living on Main Street (US 6) in Butler. She was caring for my baby sister when she heard a semi blasting its horn. She looked out the front window to see what was up, and to her horror she saw me, just a toddler, running down the highway in front of the truck. She quickly came to my rescue and I was saved!
Sometimes, as we explore our way through life, even as adults, we find ourselves in more trouble than we can handle. I’m sure Mom had to change my diaper after that semi incident. Life is full of those scarey experiences, though.
As children we must rely on Mom and Dad to keep us safe and rescue us. But, as adults, we’re on our own unless we’ve come to the place of trusting Jesus to rescue us. I’ve come to that place; how about you?
Tags: deliverance, rescue, salvation
I’m back in the office from vacation. Anita and I spent most of our time at home, where she babysits our granddaughter on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and teaches piano lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We got out of town and visited Anita’s sister and family on Mother’s Day in Kokomo, spent a night in Shipshewana where we ate real good, and went to see the new movie, Robin Hood. I worked on some maintenance projects around the house and did a little more family history research, where I discovered a distant relative who died from wounds received in the Mexican War in 1848.
If we don’t take breaks from our routine, we become less effective in our routine, and prone to accidents and mistakes. Plus, its just good for the church to realize this is not Pastor Diehl’s church, but the Lord’s church, and ministry goes on without any one individual.
When my daughter was residing in England, she got a job at the local train station exchanging currency. She started out at 7 weeks paid vacation! Vacation periods got longer with seniority. They understood the importance of a ‘Holiday’.
What are your plans for summer vacation?
People always have interesting things to say about marriage. For example,
E. J. Graff said, “Marriage is when you agree to spend the rest of your life sleeping in a room that’s too warm, beside someone who’s sleeping in a room that’s too cold.”
Ogden Nash wrote: “To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it
Whenever you’re right, shut up!”
And Helen Rowland observed, “Marriage is like twirling a baton, turning handsprings or eating with chopsticks. It looks easy until you try it.”
What would be your comment on marriage?
Tags: marriage, wisdom
A pastor went speak to a group of fourth graders on the topic of marriage. He asked, “I wonder if anyone of you know what God has to say about marriage?”
Immediately one little boy was waving his hand back and forth and the pastor called on him and said, “Ok, what does God have to say about marriage?”
The little boy replied, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
The truth is, none of really understood what we were getting into when we first married. The number one problem in marriage is unrealistic expectations. We expect the other person to meet all our needs without considering their needs in the process. In my marriage, it took me about 10 years to understand that. How long has it taken you?
Tags: marriage, unrealistic expectations; pastors; satisfaction
This weekend we asked Pastor Paul Paino from CMI to speak to the church. What did you learn from his experience? What will you do with what you learned? What other comment would you make regarding the weekend services?