Deadlines

Recently I published an article in the Peninsula Clarion about the power of a deadline. I can get writer's (or preacher's) block and have difficulty finding a subject. But as the deadline draws near, from somewhere within comes creativity, ideas or divine help to meet that deadline. I am not talking about procrastination, that's another topic!

The problem for deadline oriented people is when there is no deadline. Things that are important often don't come with a specific deadline. Like telling your wife or husband or children that you love them. No deadline, great importance. Or having that talk about forgiveness with someone who has wronged you. Or making your peace with God.

Yesterday, two well known celebrities ended their earthly journeys, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Both dying before their time, both wealthy and popular people. Their deadline for life was the same day. I pray they had met that deadline with their eternity certain by having Jesus as their savior. Someone on my Facebook page remarked, "The King of Pop meets the King of Kings!" Wow, I hope the King of Pop was prepared for that introduction.

Speaking of deadlines, when will we share with our neighbor about their need of Jesus? Hopefully we will do it before their deadline with eternity comes due.

Independence Day

I have in my electronic files an essay concerning the signers of the Declaration of Independence. It is a brief history of their fates following the signing of that foundational document of our country. You may not have ever read their histories, much like the fate of the Lord's disciples, once their moment in history is fulfilled, they quickly fade from view. I did not author this essay but share it with you for some depth of perspecitve concerning this "holiday".

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Have you ever wondered who the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were? What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and plantation owners; they were all men of means and well educated. They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that if captured, their penalty for signing would be death. By signing, they pledged their lives, their personal fortunes, and their honor to this cause of America becoming a land of freedom and liberty. Have you ever wondered what happened to these 56 men who signed? Five signers were arrested by the British, sentenced as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in combat while serving in the Continental Army; another had two sons who became prisoners of war. Nine fought and died from combat wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his trading ships attacked and sunk by the British Navy. He had to sell his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty. Thomas McKeam was so hunted by the British that he was forced to move his family constantly. He served in the Continental Congress without pay while his family was kept in hiding. Eventually his possessions were confiscated, and he became penniless. Soldiers sacked and looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., reported that the British General Cornwallis had taken over his family’s home for his headquarters. He urged General George Washington to fire upon it with artillery. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home razed and properties destroyed. His wife was imprisoned and died within a short time from the appalling conditions of the British prison. John Hart and his 13 children were driven from their home while his wife lay dying as British soldiers attempted to capture them. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. His fields and his gristmill were laid waste. A few weeks after returning home, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Common were such stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These men were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken gentlemen of means and education. They had wealth and security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Their sacrifice and service gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books do not tell much about what happened to individual people in the Revolutionary War. It wasn't just about fighting the British, we were British subjects at the time. We were fighting our own countrymen and government! Some take our liberties for granted because we didn’t pay, we didn’t sacrifice, we were not deprived. Their pain, sacrifice and deprivations were their gift to us. Their service bought us the freedoms we so enjoy, even if we are ignorant of the struggle that provided them. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember freedom is never free! It's time we get the word out that patriotism is not a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and civic parades. God bless America!

Men's Do Something!!

One of the things that I really enjoy in the summer months with our men's ministry are the "Do Something!" activities that occur throughout the summer. We had our first one this past Saturday evening at the Bennings. What a blast! We took advantage of the location with the Benning's back yard about 100 feet above the beach on a steep bluff with Cook Inlet lapping at the bottom. We teed up our golf balls and drove them off the top of the bluff as far (or not) out into the water as we could. Pastor Ryan took top honors for longest drive with his brand new 460cc Taylormade driver.

A unique activity of the evening was testing out the slings that the Peru Team brought back from their mission trip. When I say "sling" that is the David-and-Goliath vareity. Yes, the kind that you swing wildly around and let go of one side and send the stone flying....somewhere. Actually, it wasn't nearly as difficult as we anticipated. We felt pretty good about the fact that no windows got broken, no one was sent to the hospital and (most) the stones acually went where they were supposed to go at least in the general direction that was intended. That was actually pretty impressive. A 'bulls-eye" was made down on the beach with the 4-wheeler which we all started slinging stones at. All I can say is that I can assure you that we will have no Philistine invasion anytime soon with our slinging skills.

Then of course, we had good eats on the grill with lots of good fellowship and friendship shared as well.

We will have more Do Something! nights through the summer, I encourage all of our men to come on out and have a great time. You never know what we will be doing but it is always fun and usually unique. Stay tuned for the next event!

A Day Well Spent

James 1:27 (NKJV)

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

This past Saturday I was reminded of one of the reasons I enjoy pastoring Kenai New Life Assembly so much. It's you! It's the people of our church family that give in so many ways. The specific situation was the effort so many of you joined in to help paint Becky Smith's home.

I want to thank Roy Smith for coordinating the effort with all the contacts and equipment and so many who brought such great food and of course the great crew we had to actually paint. With two sprayer units going, lots of hands to mask windows and doors, painting trim and all the clean up, it was a busy time! We got the entire house painted with much of the trim either done or started and some other projects completed as well. The Lord blessed us with optimal weather for the day as well. THANK YOU for your help, you make me very proud!

Remember to Pray

1 Tim. 2:1-3 (NKJV)
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, [2] for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. [3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

I was privileged to attend today the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon where our governor, Sarah Palin was there to sign bills passed by the legislature into law and to announce the state's new attorney general. It reminded me that we continually need to pray for our governor. Recent vicious, crude and ugly attacks upon her by David Letterman as well as other media figures remind us that the very same values you and I hold are the very same values Sarah Palin is being attacked for. If it was you or I in her place, we would receive the very same treatment for what we believe.

There was a very long line afterwards to speak to the governor, so I did not take the time to wait, but if I had, I would have told her that we are praying for her. I would ask that you would pray for God to lead, guide and protect her and her family. It is not often that we, people of faith, have such a friend in a place of high authority. We need to remember how valuable this is to us as we "lead a quiet and peaceable life" that we enjoy so much.

Motivation

Wow, what a day we had yesterday! We heard so many high caliber, in-demand speakers yesterday at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Most I have heard of, Robert Schuller, Rudi Gulliani, Steve Forbes, Zig Ziglar, and Phil Town plus about that many I had not heard of but were also very outstanding and gifted speakers as well.

It was a day of surprises. The tickets to the event were almost free and to be honest, I had my doubts about the integrity of the event. I thought this must be a scam in some way, how would anyone get so many influential and powerful people to Anchorage, "live and in person" on one day for nearly free without charging people to attend? I was expecting a bait and switch sort of scheme. However, it was all as advertised. In fact the event organizer, Tamara Lowe, a great speaker in her own right gave the biggest surprise of the day. She is a Christian. Her "speech" was her testimony of once being a drug addict, drug dealer, and all the life that goes with those choices but delivered and saved by Jesus Christ. There in the Sullivan with several thousand people present, she gave a very bold, up front, no punches pulled invititation for people to give their lives to Christ and prayed a sinner's prayer with them. Wow! I might add, that during her talk she was strongly applauded many times for some of the statements she made. There are a lot of Christians in Anchorage!

All in all, it was a very inspiring and motivating day. Leadership, integrity and motivation are still the keys to success in any field. May God so use us!

A World of Need

I know you might not have the same perspective I have about the world of need around us, but some days it is overwhelming. Across my desk in a single day might come half a dozen pieces of mail that are asking me or our church for some kind of contribution to their cause. Most of these appeals come from qualified ministries from our Assemblies of God fellowship, but many from ministries that are independent or with another group. In a week or a month, there are often dozens of appeals that you would want to respond to. Missionary support, a contribution to help build a shelter/church in Africa, orphanages in need, evangelism literature, the rescue of those caught in human trafficing. The list literally goes on and on and on... I am left with the feeling often times that we are so in adequate to respond to the world of need that is out there. I could easily present 2 or more opportunities to give to a needy cause every Sunday of the year. I have to sift through the many appeals that confront me to try to respond to only the ones I think the Lord is asking us to respond to. I pray for wisdom to make the right choices to invest our limited resources.

The point of this blog installment is to thank each of you who so generously give offerings to missions above and beyond your tithe. The tithe is for the operation of the local church to maintain and grow ministry and respond to our local needs. Offerings are for anything beyond our tithe, such as a response to special needs. Your generosity helps us to be able to do something about some of these needs. We truly live in a world of need.

Now when people are feeling the pinch of higher prices (notice the direction of gasoline prices?) and a stalled economy your generosity is making more of a difference than ever. Just one more note, I know there are many worthy causes out there vying for your contribution, but I want you to know that giving through the Assembies of God is not only safe from those who might exploit your generosity for their own gain, but it also effecient. More money from every dollar goes directly to the need than almost any other organization, in some cases it is 100%. Often, it is 90% or more with just a small percentage being used to pay for the admistrative costs of getting aid to the place of need. Compare that with other organizations like the Sierra Club with its millions of contributions. In that case, a tiny fraction of their contributions actually goes to saving the environment while the rest goes for extravagant salaries, palatial headquarters buildings and lavish admistration. Not so with the dollars you give through the Assemblies of God. If you want to help someone, the Assemblies of God is a great place to invest your generosity in the Kingdom of God.