Posts Tagged ‘church’
December 30, 2011
Seagulls at MacArthur Shopping Center parking lot.
This is just a few of the Seagulls that hang out in the parking lot. I am not sure why other than I did see someone feeding them the other day. To say the least they are a little off course as far as the normal environment they usually inhabit. There is not any natural food, you know fish, shrimp or salt water, so why do they hang out there. They are there on sunny days, rainy days, cold days and cold rainy days. But they are not there everyday. I am sure there is some scientific explanation other than they just got tired and decided to rest. Well maybe that is it, tired and resting.
Sometimes in our Christian lives we get a little lost, get tired and decide to just land somewhere and rest. Have you ever experienced feeling lost, tired and needing rest? Me too!
One of the essentials that seagulls seem to need is salt. They are hardly ever to0 far from saltwater. They depend upon it to provide the sustenance they need to survive in this world. Just like the seagulls we need salt but the salt that can make the biggest difference in our lives is the salt found in the Word of God. These few scriptures are very important to us and speak to us about how important it is for us to stay in His Word and keep it close to our hearts. We need to keep this salt close to our hearts and let the Word nourish us and revive us.
Mat 5:13 “You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It’s good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on by people.”
Mar 9:50 “Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, how can you restore its flavor? Keep on having salt among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”
Go to the place that offers you nourishment often. Live with those words close to your heart and revive your heart and soul. In our world today being salty may not be a compliment but being salty in the Word of God is never a wrong place to be. Like the salt water the seagulls live in we are a people of the Water and Salt found in His Word.
Have a blessed New Year, be of the Water and the Word getting the nourishment you need from His salty water. It will revive and refresh you,
Randy
Tags:church, Common, ethics, God, growth, integrity, Jesus, Jesus Matthew Peter Spiritual growth, lamp, Lectionary, love, Luke, meditation, methodist, Peter, psalms, Romans, Samuel, Scripture readings per Revised Common Lectionary, spirit, united, word
Posted in Pastor's Ponderings, Wesley United Methodist Church | Leave a Comment »
December 14, 2011
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We went to Austin for the birth of our new granddaughter Georgia Ann. She’s named after Jane’s mother. The slide show is just a very few of the many pictures taken on phones and cameras. Baby and parents are at home now and getting settled in with the newest member of the household. I guess we all know who will be ruling the roost for a while. She is a beautiful little girl with a head full of dark hair. Tracie had that same kind of hair but we also hear that Jeremy had a head full too.
Monday I experienced some beginnings and endings. Tracie called Monday morning and said she was being admitted to the hospital and should have the baby early afternoon. The baby was born at 3:52pm. That was the beginnings and the endings were the funeral for Chuck Swiderski at noon. Chuck was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church here in Orange and it was my honor to preside over the funeral. The day was a reminder that we experience life and death everyday and we must prepare ourselves for all that life throws at us. While Georgia has her life ahead of her as a new beginning we see that Chuck lived his life in a way that left his children and grandchildren missing him with the ending of his life. As Christians we believe that Chuck has experienced a new beginning, a rebirth into a new body and a new life with our God and Jesus Christ our Savior. Our lives can be rewarding and so can our deaths. We just need to pay attention to the teachings of Jesus Christ and live our lives the best we can today, each and every day. Chuck did and he received his reward.
Tracie and Jeremy received a reward Monday as an expression of their love for each other. Georgia will continue to be a blessing to us all and we will do our best to raise her knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ. Baptism is in the works for this little girl, maybe even on Christmas day. Hope you all can be there.
God’s peace and blessings to all with prayers for a Merry Christmas all around,
Randy
Tags:Baptism, Birth, Christmas, church, death, God, growth, Jesus, Jesus Matthew Peter Spiritual growth, Luke, meditation, methodist, united
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November 14, 2011
Tags:America, Bless, bridesmaids, church, Common, ethics, God, growth, integrity, Jesus, lamp, Lectionary, light, Lord’s, Luke, meditation, methodist, per, psalms, readings, Revised, Romans, Samuel, Scripture, Scripture readings per Revised Common Lectionary, spirit, spiritual, Spiritual growth, storm, study, Thessalonians, united
Posted in Lectionary Scriptures, Wesley United Methodist Church | Leave a Comment »
November 4, 2011
In Matthew 25:1-13 we hear Jesus tell us the parable of the Ten Virgins (bridesmaids) and the Bridal Party. Jesus again is speaking to the hard hearted, set in their ways, religious authorities. People who were afraid of the message that Jesus was bringing to them as the Messiah. Jesus uses this parable because it set a scene that all would recognize. A bridal party in Israel was something that everyone wanted to be a part of and looked forward to. Essentially what Jesus is telling the Pharisees and Scribes is that they have come to His party unprepared. There is no oil in their lamps (Holy Spirit) for the light that will show them the way into Heaven. Others cannot get that oil (Holy Spirit) for you. We each and everyone must find the love for God in our own hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to illumine our paths. When we succumb to the Holy Spirit’s leading ways we then will be able to see through the darkness of this world and go about our lives walking a path alight in God’s love and being a light to others. We are to be thankful that our God has given us an unlimited supply of oil for our lamps so that we will be ready for that eternity He has promised us. Our prayer, our study, our meditation and our involvement in the Church will give us more than enough oil through out our lives to give light to our paths and show others the light for their paths.
It was tradition in Jesus’s day to not know when the bridegroom would be coming. It could be at any time day or night. One never knew when the bridegroom would send someone out into the streets to announce his coming. We are to always be ready to hear the call or miss it and be left out in the darkness.
How is the oil level in your lamp? Our faithfulness in our prayers, study, meditation and Church life are signs of how well we are prepared or even that our lamp is lit.
God’s Peace and Blessings to all,
Randy
Tags:bridesmaids, church, growth, lamp, Lectionary, light, Matthew, meditation, methodist, oil, Prayer, Scripture, spirit, spiritual, united
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September 15, 2011
In my last post I mentioned “The Lord’s Prayer” and the forgiveness it requires of us. Please read it, meditate on it and note that Jesus feels it is so important to forgive He explains the forgiveness part. This scripture was copied from the International Standard Version.
Mat 6:9 “Therefore, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
Mat 6:10 May your kingdom come. May your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us today our daily bread,
Mat 6:12 and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.
Mat 6:13 And never bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
Mat 6:14 For if you forgive people their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Mat 6:15 But if you do not forgive people their offenses, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Holding grudges, being spiteful, living a life where you are always ticked off at someone is not the life that brings us closer to God. Unforgiveness that we hold on to keeps us from growing spiritually and moves us in directions that God does not want us to go. Jesus knew this and gave us a daily prayer that would remind us of how important forgiveness is to us. Keep your faith walk in line with the scriptures and your walk will be in line with God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Pray this prayer like you mean it. Not just from rote memory. Jesus gave it to us because it is important and means something to each of us.
Have a blessed day by making it a day in which you practice forgiveness,
Randy
Tags:church, Common, Lectionary, Lord's, methodist, per, Prayer, readings, Revised, Scripture, united
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Seagulls at MacArthur Shopping Center parking lot.
Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX 