A web page for families

I've just come across a great web page for Christian families. I am always on the lookout for good spiritual materials to disciple my own children. I particularly like missionary stories. The web page I've just come across is called Wholesome Words. It has a children's section with about a dozen missionary stories for kids. It also has a section of much more detailed missionary stories for adults and teens. I recommend you check it out here.

Sermon Series

Biblical Parenting for the Twenty first Century
This is the title of our current series. We are just getting started and it will take us into the new year.
Some people might think that Biblical parenting, i.e. using the Bible's principles for raising kids, is just plain outdated and won't work today. We are going to see that the Bible way is the only way that really works. God made us and He knows what we need. Every time man tries his own way it ends badly.

Join us for this series. We'll try to record and post the messages online as well.

Thanksgiving Dinner Ministry

Tomorrow volunteers from the church and a few from the community will be delivering 25 turkey dinners to folks who are a little hard up this year.

This is the first year for this ministry and I've been excited to see how folks have responded. Honestly the hardest part has been locating people that could really need a meal. It always seems that many of the most needy will never come asking. But through the passing out of fliers, contacting of newspapers and paying for one news ad, we've found 25 people in need of a meal.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we must be known for our kindness, love, and hospitality. The early Christians were known by there love and we should be also. May God receive all the glory from this ministry.

The Day the Preacheer Skipped Church

This past Sunday I skipped church. It was the first time in many many years that I was not in church on Sunday morning. I guess you could say that I took a sick day.

I could have easily come to church even though I was a little under the weather, but what would be the point, my voice was nearly gone. I figured that if I couldn't talk I couldn't give my message. Even if I could have managed to deliver my message, who would want to be around a sickie. No I don't have the swine flu, Deb can attest, I haven't squealed one time. I don't have a fever, or chills, or any flu symptoms. I just have a bad cold that got in my throat and robbed me of my voice.

But thanks for all your prayers, they mean much to me.

Fun with teens after Bible study Wednesday

First we played a game --- eat the sour gummies as fast as possible.

Then I had four Snickers bars left over from another event. Since we had 12 teens I had to find away to give them away. I told them what whoever would beg like a dog could have one.

Harvest Rally

A few weeks ago our teens attended the Harvest Rally on a farm near Harrisburg. Despite cold rainy weather, nearly one thousand teens were in attendance. NLF showed up with ten teens.
The rain kinda ruined a lot of the games, but the preaching by Morris Gleiser was A++.

Beautiful Creation

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard."
Psalm 19:1-3

Last Saturday I had the chance to go out into the woods.
The leaves are changing and the beauty is almost breathtaking.
These picture were taken near my mom and dads were I grew up.

Stevenson Monthly Update

The Sevenson's have an update on their web page. See it here.

Missioanary Update - McLean's

The McLean's have posted their monthly update. See it here.

Also see their excellent web page and blog from Wales, here.

What happend this past week

Last Sunday Missionaries Daniel and Karen Deverna spent the day with us. They are preparing to minister in Japan. Malachi is 16 months old and Karen is expecting again in July.

On our regular Thursday workday about a dozen people came out to work around the church and start getting ready for VBS. Bob power washed the deck, John mowed the grass, Judy painted trim in the auditorium, and several ladies painted signs for VBS. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join us on Thursdays for fun work around the church.

On Sunday we celebrated the two years we've had with the Crocketts. It was their last regular Sunday with us, but our loss is another Church's gain. We wish them the best and I will write a post about them very soon.

Social Networking - Good or Bad?

Dr. Paul Chappell has this great message on this topic.

http://www.paulchappell.com/2009/04/25/the-blessings-and-pitfalls-of-social-networking/

An exciting week is approaching

This coming Sunday, May 3 will mark the first of what we hope to be many weeks of evangelistic meetings. This year our Evangelist team is the Mike Pelletier team. They bring with them the Murray's who lead in music and assist in children's ministries. Untold numbers of individuals have come to Christ for salvation and cleansing through these types of meetings over the years. We are praying for God to bless us in a special way this year.

Links to some great sermons

The first set comes from the men's retreat last weekend and the speaker is Mark Kittrell. The second sent is a collection of some of my favorites. I think everyone should listen to all of them. They are all excellent.

Evangelist Mark Kittrell
David's Purpose
David's Blunder
David's Mighty Men
David's Passion. This link is different. I could not upload it because if its' size. The link takes
you to the Independent Bible Church sermon page. You'll find many good sermons there.

Steps to personal revival. Bonus! This message was preached at the Independent Bible Church the Sunday after the men's retreat.

Music from men's retreat

Favorite Sermons you'll never regret hearing!

Dr. R.B. Ouellette. Don't know name of sermon but it is good.
Mike Pelletier. How Hot is Hell.
Tom Farrell. "How to get a man to Jesus"
Tom Farrell. "The Most Important Decision."
Tom Farrell. "Fill the House"

Men's Retreat was great blessing

This past weekend our men attended the men's retreat hosted by the Independent Bible Church of Duryea. Mark Kittrell was the speaker and the messages were fantastic. We had nine guys attend in total, but there were over 130 men at the retreat. All who attended agreed, anyone who couldn't come missed out on a lot. Here is a link to were the messages from the retreat can be heard.

Great trip to NYC

Last Saturday a group of us from church went into New York City for a little fun. Just a few photo's here for you enjoyment and their embarrassment.

Training for the big race

I've been training all spring and summer preparing to run a half marathon. That's 13.1 miles for all you couch potatoes. There are a lot things to be learned from athletic training and some of them greatly illustrate the Christian life.

The apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Paul was pressing for the finish line spiritually.

I want to list just a few ways that running a physical race is a lot like running the spiritual race.

1) I haven't trained anywhere near as diligently as I should have.

A person in training for a race of this length should train five or six days a week. Now, I'll be honest, I've only averaged about three days a week and sometimes only two times a week. Sometimes I'm just too tired physically to go out and run. Other times I want to run but there are just too many obligations to meet and not enough hours in the day. Still other times my body is not too tired and I have the time, but mentally I just can't get up the umph to go out and run four, five, or six miles.

What is the result of this lack of training? Quite obviously I'm going to be a hurting man on race day! My finish time won't be as fast as it could be, AND I'll be in much more pain than would have otherwise been necessary. Training matters.

I think the spiritual parallel here is clear. We know we should spend much time training our hearts and minds spiritually, but if we just go to church on Sunday's for an hour or two, that ain't much training for a big race. Daily training is necessary. A little bit nearly every day over a long period of time. If I pray and read my Bible and draw close to God every single day, I'll be prepared for the bigger races (test and trials) of life. If I only spend time with God two or three times a week, I'll not be as well prepared.

Just like I need to train physically nearly every day to be in optimal physical condition, I must train my heart and mind spiritually everyday!

2) Sometimes (OK a lot of times) I just want to quit!

About a week ago I went on a 13 mile training run with Martin and Johnny from church. While running up a long hill about ten miles into the run I said, "OK I don't want to be a runner any more. I don't want to run that dumb race in October. I don't even want to finish this one." I was just plain whupped. I wouldn't have felt nearly so whupped had I run one or two more times per week over the past two months, but it was too late for that. Since I was running with two other guys, I didn't stop, but pressed on. I pressed on through the pain, the agony, the suffering, the regrets.... And I finished that day without stopping to walk or quitting altogether.

There are many many times we want to quit in our Christian walk. Let's be honest, the Christian race can be tough at times. I believe it's the lack of spiritual training on a daily bases that is often the problem. We just aren't as prepared as we should be. But even with training, races are tough and so are trials. I had two guys running with me the last time I wanted to quit and they pushed me on. In the spiritual race we have the Spirit of God living in us as well as other believers around us. There have been times during long runs when I didn't quit but I did slow down and even walk. That was OK because I got the rest I needed and kept going. I didn't give up. We can't give up in our spiritual race either. Get some rest, train better, get some support from God through prayer and from other believers, but don't quit!

I'll post some pictures and a report after the race in about a week and a half.

Church picnic last Sunday

Global Warming is a Hoax

Found these excerpts on a political news page for New Jersey. They don't list the source of the study, but it is in line with what I've been reading in many other places.

“There are many credible members of the scientific community who have questioned the theory of global warming, and now we have some scientists actually suggesting the earth’s temperatures may be entering a period of dramatic cooling,” said Doherty, R-Warren and Hunterdon.

According to recent news reports, a top observatory that has been measuring sun spot activity predicts that global temperatures will drop by two degrees over the next 20 years as solar activity slows and the planet drastically cools down. They suggest this could potentially herald the onset of a new ice age. Following the end of the sun’s most active period in over 11,000 years, the last 10 years have displayed a clear cooling trend as temperatures post-1998 leveled out and are now decreasing.

Earlier this year, John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel, stated that manmade global warming is “the greatest scam in history,” adding, “I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a scam.” Coleman said the theory of global warming is based on fraudulent science.

Sermon: "Get Real Religion" James 1:26-27

Sermon preached at New Life Fellowship Baptist Church on August 3, 2008

What is Real Religion? Do you have it or practice it? Listen to find out what God calls Real Religion and learn where you stand with God.

Sermon: Look At Yourself (James 1:22-25)

Listen to sermon here.

Sermon preached at New Life Fellowship Baptist Church on July 27, 2008

Vacation Bible School a Blessing

We just completed our fourth Vacation Bible School at New Life Fellowship. This year was unique in that it was the first time that we ran the whole program as a church with out assistance from other groups or churches. The first year after the church launched we were assisted by Neighborhood Bible Time. The next two years we were assisted by Pastor Pemberthy and the Stanfordville Baptist Church Youth Group.

I was particularly excited to see the way our own people banded together and worked so hard to make it all such a great blessing and ministry. We had individuals pouring many hours into decorating, advertising, preparing games and crafts, bringing and serving snacks, overseeing our verse memory, our VBS store, and just generally helping out by watching out for kids. Each day we had at least fifteen or twenty adults helping out.

In addition to all the adult help we were blessed to have our teens working throughout the week. It was a fantastic opportunity for our teens to generally serve and be used by God. Most of the boys helped in the games and recreation time. This was a much needed area. The boys also helped in the set up and clean up each day. The girls worked directly with the children and were divided up by age group. We had two girls with the the K-1st grade class, and in each or the other three classes.

Both the boys and girls helped out each day with the skits at the end. These skits are always a particular attraction for the kids.

Our theme this year was "All God's Creatures" and we had a contest each day allowing the children to bring in various types of bugs, frogs, lizards, snakes, and other critters. It was very interesting to see the little getting excited about collecting all the critters. (I'm sure all the moms are really pleased with me right now too.)

On Thursday we were privileged to have Pete from the Pocono Snake and Animal farm come to give a demonstration involving two live turtles, a live snake, and a live fox. The kids loved it but the exciting part was the way Pete taught the children about God's creation. Pete is a believer and he emphasized the Genesis Creation by God.

On Friday we drew our Bible lesson time to a conclusion with a salvation invitation. Over twenty children and at least on adult responded to the invitation. To God be the glory!

We are already looking forward to next year's VBS. Hope you can make it.