Oh How He loves Us.

1 Thes. 5:16-28
6Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

25Brothers, pray for us. 26Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Reading all of 1 Thessalonians I was impressed by the Love demonstrated by the apostle Paul. How was he able to show such love, because he knows what real love is. He knows Jesus deeply.

Eagle

Isaiah 31:4
This is what God told me: "Like a lion, king of the beasts, that gnaws and chews and worries its prey, Not fazed in the least by a bunch of shepherds who arrive to chase it off, So God-of-the-Angel-Armies comes down to fight on Mount Zion, to make war from its heights. And like a huge eagle hovering in the sky, God-of-the-Angel-Armies protects Jerusalem. I'll protect and rescue it. Yes, I'll hover and deliver."

Lion

Genesis 49:8-10 (New International Version)

8 "Judah, [a] your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father's sons will bow down to you.

9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs [b]
and the obedience of the nations is his.

Steven curtis Chapman Sang a song King of the jungle which talked about the King of the gentle breeze is also the King of the rough and tumble. You can listen to the song at the bottom of the post. I like the way Steven describes our current situation. It may feel like we are caught in a jungle but if you know who that King of the jungle is you have a lot less to worry about. It's comforting to know that the one that rules and reigns knows what He is doing. The American's are so overjoyed to have a new leader which they suppose knows what he is doing. I pray that their new leader really seeks the Lord to bring comfort and confidence back to so many people. What for us though does our king deserve to rule?

Verse 10 says there is one who is coming who owns the staff which is the leadership of the nations. The mighty king Jesus does not need to exhort His power for us to know He is in charge. It says that the enemy is the prince and power of the air, but it says nothing about him being the king! Jesus is still king even though many people are unaware. It is up to us to seek His commands and follow the ways of His kingdom. There is coming a day though when all the obedience of the nations will be His.

Here is the challenge; If Jesus can rule and reign without forcing people like tyrant kings of old, how can we lead like him?

Ox

8-12I'm not just sounding off because I'm irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law. Moses wrote, "Don't muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it's threshing." Do you think Moses' primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don't you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in. So if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don't we who have never demanded deserve even more?

I don't really know why I was lead to this scripture but I will comment on it anyways. This passage is primarily about paying the people who minister for you. There is always a deeper meaning but you can not negate the basic message by delving further. Paul comments, why would you muzzle the ox while it's working? This means if the ox is hungry while working the threshing floor it has the right to eat the grain on the floor. The ox itself has the right to profit from it's work. Paul was talking about the work that he is doing would merit that he should be able to profit from his ventures. However he continues that he has not ever demanded any money yet does it for other reasons. It was his point to say that not providing for the people that minister for you is wrong, regardless if he does not take advantage of the opportunity himself. Many people were saying to the people ministering, "why should we pay you, we did not pay Paul?" Since Paul did not take any money or food for his service he was inadvertently setting a standard that you did not have to take care of the people ministering.

At grace ministries no one currently takes a salary for the work that we do in the church, and by no means am I writing this to say that we should. Because we are a body ministry we would end up just paying each other because so many people minister in our church. However like Paul we have inadvertently set a standard that we do not have to take care of those who lead our house of worship.

So what would it look like if we paid our leadership in the same manner of other churches? Below is a chart of the national avg. salary for U.S. Pastors taken from swz.salary.com. How about for a music director? I was offered $40,000 a year to lead worship at another church. I would not even entertain the idea because of the commitment and love I have for our church. How much would it cost for a deacon to take care of the grounds, how about children's director, youth pastor? All these volunteer positions at our church have paid equivalents at the larger churches.

We serve our church and our friends because it is something that we love to do but I fear we have under-appreciated the people that minister here. Pastor appreciation day was a great idea but it really does fall short on many levels. Especially in a body ministry where so many individuals take part in the service and are not recognized for there efforts. So when it comes time to shake each persons hand in the middle of praise and worship, maybe squeeze a little tighter, laugh a little louder and open our hearts a little wider.



I welcome any comments about this subject and I hope this message challenges you to read more of God's word and deeply contemplate the happenings in your family church.

Respect

1 Theselonians 5:12-15

12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

I was talking to a friend at school and he was wondering why churches split for the stupidest reasons? He was asking why can't people who all like the same person just come together and celebrate him together?

I answered him that people forget the experience of being a christian and get tied up into the roles they play at church. If we could just listen to 1 Theselonians 5 we could avoid all the foolish mistakes our church forefathers have made.

In His service
Joe

Obedience

Hey folks,

This week I was thinking of what the new year holds for Grace Ministries. I came to the simple conclusion that you never know. The one thing with God is he is full of surprises and that is the wonder of our faith. I believe that there are those out there with divine premonition and are not to be taken lightly but at the same time you can not live your life on the advice or feelings of another person. You have to make right choices on the information provided to you. God has provided us great direction through his word and many words that provide a promise. One promise I have found is in leviticus 26:9-13 where God talks about the reward for being obedient.

9 " 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place [a] among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

God wants all the best for his children, I firmly believe that God has afforded us more time with each other and it's up to us to make the most of that time.

Happy New Year.
Joe

Resolution Connection

It has been some time since I have put my thoughts onto digital paper and without good reason. With the new year fast approaching I feel it important to contribute my thoughts on the passing of 2008. This year has brought us many joys and troubles. We lost our Grandfather, and my uncle had lost his common-law wife. My daughters hip has not gotten worse but has not changed much for the better. I spent more time working and going to school then spending at home. 2008 felt very pressured for me to get more things done than I could handle. This year also brought us great joy in seeing the birth of our new church building! I enjoyed my education this semester by learning how to play and teach more instruments. I also enjoyed learning about the psychology of music.

This coming year I look forward to having more time with family and friends as our service time is much earlier in the day. With that opportunity I think it is wise for us to ask; how can we make the best use of our sundays? Church is a time for connection, it helps connect you to God, your own faith, and your friends and family. I believe God has afforded us some needed time to connect with all three.