Old

 Chill caresses skin Shivers

Massages tissue, tendons Trembles

Cold penetrates bone Shakes 

Shivers, trembles, shakes No warmth

Generates.

Old Cold.

.

Shrimpin'

The Missus and I spent many winters in South Texas after we retired. One day we were walking along the beach when we saw a man poking a device into the sand, sucking up clumps, and dropping them on top the sand. He was hunting ghost shrimp.  We inlanders had never heard of such a thing, and as he explained it to us, he brought up another clump and several little creatures were wiggling in it.  Miz Warr, always delighted with new things, and always helpful bent down and helped the man pick out the critters and put them in his bucket. . And about that time, a Texas Park and Wildlife ranger strolled up.  "Catchin' any?" he asked.  Man handed him his bucket, Warden quickly counted eleven shrimp, said, "Lookin' good; you can pick nine more, May I see your license, please?"  Man digs in pocket of his shorts and show him his license.  Officer turns to the Wife, says, "Your license, please."  "Oh," she said, "I'm just a tourist walking along the beach." Ranger says, super-politely, "Ma'am, I observed you picking shrimp from the sand. If you have no license, I'll have to write you up." And he did.  Then he turned to me, I was standing about eight feet away, and asked for my license,  "For what? I asked. I'm just strolling along the beach, saw this weird activity and stopped to see what was going on.  "You're not with these people?" "Oh, I said, "you got that right."

Doghouse, doghouse, and a deep hole in my billfold where the money used to be before I paid her fine.

Did you take up your Cross?

 Salvation cannot be earned, it is a free gift from God through the blood of Jesus.

This is truth, biblical truth. Yet I am weary of those teachers who proceed from this to "You do not have to do anything to be saved." This they base on the argument that if we have to do something it limits God. These people should study the Bible instead of cherry-picking verses that support their notions.  

First, God limited himself when he created mankind and endowed the creature with free-will.

Second, look at scriptural examples of the requirements on man in obtaining salvation.

Salvation is a gift, but the gift must be appropriated.  If you give me a birthday present and I do not open it, have I received a gift? No; I have been offered a gift. In every instance of Jesus' performance of healing or granting of new life, the recipient is required to do something. "Come see," he said. "Follow me," he said. "Go and wash," he said. "Take up your bed," he said. "Come forth," he said.  In every instance an action is required. He even upped the ante when he said, "Take up your cross and follow me;" and when he said "Go, and sin no more."

Sadly, these people who say, "Well, I think I'll just go ahead and follow the devil, because he knows all the fun places, and I'll be okay in the end because God loves me," are in for a rude awakening.  Just saying.

Discipleship

The scripture lesson is from the parable of Jesus about the blind leading the blind as recorded in Luke 6:39-40.

Disciples seek to

Grow disciples                    of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Connect people to               Jesus and others.

Serve God                           by serving others.

Share hope                          with everyone.

Discipleship is called a walk with the Lord for a reason:  It is a journey.  (We cannot stand still.)

Mentors:  You want someone in your life who has "been there ."  A disciple needs a guide; he needs a teacher.  Learning from untrained Christians is as a child without a teacher:

                                 Little kids know only little kid stuff.

Everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.   (Verse 40)  That is, a disciple is trained to become a teacher.

                                Train for being a student of Jesus by being much in His Word.

                                Must be trained by other disciples in close proximity to us.                                                              Follow who follows His Word.

                                 He is Worthy of your following.  He is worthy of all worship.

And the question is:

                                 Are you a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?

                                                                                                Pastor Chris Ellis

                                                                                                Sunday morning

Courage and the Greater Good

Accidentally saw part of a "news" clip while surfing (looking for a spaghetti Western). "It takes real courage to write a whole book anonymously," quoth the anchor.
And here we are. It is logical that in a time in which evil is called good that cowardice should be called courage.

National network "news" cast.  Why cannot these people report the news?  If the anchor has an opinion she should get a soapbox-- or write an op-ed column but don't call it news.

Laughter doeth good like a medicine?

The wife is reading Land of Wolves, by Craig Johnson.  This afternoon as we were sitting in our sun room she got my attention and read a passage to me in which this exchange took place between two of the characters.

 "So what are we doing about the wolf problem?"

"I think the Game and Fish are capturing them, neutering them, then releasing them." 

"They do understand that the problem is the wolves eating the sheep and not screwing them, right?"

I got truly concerned that we were going to be unable to stop the seemingly uncontrollable laughter that ensued

The thought actually crossed my mind that one or both of us might die laughing!

🤩🤩

Noodle noodle

He heard how do you like my noodle earrings.

Your noodle earrings? he asked

New little earrings! she shouted.

Service with a Smile

While on our recent Michigan vacation, we stopped at Culver's in Grand Haven for a bite.  Really pleasant woman took our order.  She said, "You guys are so groovy.  Were you at Woodstock?"  I said, No, I was much too old for Woodstock.  I'm 85.  She said, You were 35, yep, too old.  Oh, wow, I am thinking.  A lady who can smile while she serves AND she can do arithmetic!

Scales and Order

Nehemiah rebuilds the wall. Ezra reads the law.  Leviticus 19:35 -37.  God's heart revealed to his people.
Our actions must reflect God's character. God cares about order and honesty.  He hates when people are exploited.  Proverbs 11:1
 Nehemiah 5:1-7 people were subject to famine,taxation, and exploitation. Nehemiah is broken, angry, distraught. He said we must change our behaviors.  Further he said, May God shake out of the house anyone who does not keep this promise.  Read Galatians 5:13-15.  Christ fulfilled the law.  Do not indulge the flesh; serve one another humbly and in love.  In Leviticus 17:18 we read from the law, Love your neighbor.  Jesus upped the ante when he said. Love your enemy.  Don't worry about who your neighbor is but be a neighbor.  We are good at finding loopholes.  Read Ephesians 4:1-2. we are called to live a life worthy of the Gospel.
1.  How can you reflect God's order where you have been placed?
2. Who do you need to be a neighbor to?
3. How can you give yourself away to them?

Pastor Joe Johnson
Sunday morning, Holland, MI

Confronting Giants

“Open the servant’s eyes so that he may see.” --Elisha’s prayer, 2 Kings 6:17

Review of the account of David and Goliath from I Samuel 17.

Whatever Goliath you face, you need to bury one truth deep within your heart: God loves you, and when you place your trust in Him, He will not allow you to suffer defeat.

You may experience failures along the way but ultimately God wins.

We see the giant because we don’t put our focus in the right place. Train yourself to look beyond what you can see to what God sees. Trust is like climbing a ladder; take one step at a time and continue to climb higher and higher. The stronger the trust the deeper the peace. We are children of God; we can know.

How can we gain that kind of faith?

1. Recall past victories. David recalled how God delivered him from the bear and the lion. (I Samuel 17:32-37)

2. Reject discouraging words. Maintain your confidence in God.

3. Recognize the true nature of the battle. Our Father is sovereign over all.

4. Respond to the challenge with positive confession. David firmly declared, The Lord will deliver. He asserted that he could not lose because God was with him. The positive attitude is not mere mental gymnastics because we base it on the promises of God! The Holy Spirit will remind you that you are a child of God.

5. Rely on the power of God. God provided the victory and God received the glory. Trust God for the victory, praise God for the victory.

6. Reckon the victory. David knew that it wasn’t his strength or cunning that would win the battle, but God’s strength and wisdom. Understand that it is God’s battle and give it to Him!

Get out the ladder and take another step up!

Pastor David Harrold

Sunday morning