Healing Broken Hearts

Many people experience broken hearts. I will confess that mine has been broken different times. And a broken heart hurts awfully bad.

Healing takes a long time and even after the healing, we still remember the hurt. God is an expert in healing broken hearts and other hurts. The secret is to give the hurt to Him. Sometimes it's hard to let go. In the movie "Father of the Bride," Steve Martin got it right when he said to the dogs that were chasing him, "Release." Release and let the hurt sail up to God.

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

Taking Time

One of the things I have recently changed is taking time for myself. That includes alone time, Kathy and me time, me and the family time. The point is, I am rejuvenated by spending time with my family and also being alone.

This is a type of "weekly" healing. Six days of work, one day of repair. If we don't apply some of the advice we give to others, they well be repaired and we will remain broken.

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

This Too Shall Pass

Many times I have been in situations that I did not want to be in. Some were my own doing and some were not. Depending on my spiritual "condition" at the time, I learned some valuable things:

1. Bad things are going to happen.
2. It's frightening.
3. It hurts.
4. It tests me.
5. It grows me.
6. It strengthens me.
7. It helps me appreciate my life more.
8. It's "normal."

We all face trying times, but they shall pass, even if it means "passing" us into eternity. For the Christian, that is everlasting life with God. A place of joy, peace, perfect health, etc. But for the non-Christian, eternity means a very real place called hell. A place of torment, total sorrow, loneliness, separation from God.

Have you made your choice? (Romans 10: 9,10)

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

Ten Guidelines From God

My son recently me a list of Ten Guidelines from God. I thought they were worth sharing...

1. Quit Worrying. I am here to take all our burdens and carry them for you.
2. Put It On the List. Tell me and I'll put it on my to-do list. I can handle it. After all, I'm God.
3. Trust Me. Once you've shared with me, trust me to get involved.
4. Leave It Alone. Don't wake up one moring and say, "Well, I'm feeling much stronger now, I think i can handle it from here." Why do you think you are feeling stronger now? It's simple, kyou gave me your burdens and I'm taking care of them.
5. Talk to Me. You may forget about a lot of things, but don't forget to talk with Me. I want to hear from you every day, maybe even several times a day.
6. Have Faith. Have faith in me that I know what I am doing.
7. Share. Share with those who are less fortunate than you. Share your joy, laughter, tears for those who have forgotten how to cry, your possessions, your faith.
8. Be Patient.
9. Be Kind.
10.Love others as you love yourself.

'Til the storm passes.

Pastor Gary

Do You Know What Slop Is?

When I was a boy on the farm in Alabama we used to feed the pigs left over scrapes, etc. We called it "slopping the hogs." It wasn't the most pleasant looking food but the hogs didn't seem to mind. But for me, slop was nasty. Can you imagine eating something like that?

In Luke 15: 11-24 we have the story of the prodigal son. This was a young man that left home to "find himself." He asked his dad for his inheritance and took off for new adventures. Well, his adventures led him to the pig pen. He spent all of his inheritance and got to the point that he had to take a job "slopping" the hogs. From riches to the pig pen. Things got so bad that he was thinking about eating some of the slop. This young man had sunk to the bottom.

Sometimes it is when we are at the bottom of our life that we come to our senses as the prodigal son did. He said I'll go back home and see if my dad will hire me as one of his servants. He was willing to now serve, instead of receive. When his dad saw him coming he ran to him and gave him a big hug, a robe to wear, and threw him a big party.

Have you ever been in the pig pen? Has your life sunk so low that you felt like there was no hope, that you had made such a mess of things that you might as well end it all? Well, I've got good news for you. God wants to give you a big hug, clean you up, put a new robe on you, and throw you a party. All you have to do is confess your pig pen ways, believe that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead, and you shall be saved.

What are you willing to do? The Father is looking down the road for you to come home.

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

Peace At Last

In his book, Day by Day, Billy Graham shares this insight into peace...

"The sea was beating against the rocks in huge, dashing waves. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, the wind was blowing; but the little bird wsas asleep in the crevice of the rock, its head serenely under its wing, sound asleep. That is peace -- to be able to sleep in the storm! In Christ, we are relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusion, bewilderments, and perplexities of life. The storm rages, but our hearts are at rest. We have found peace -- at last!" (Romans 14: 19)

In Christ, there is peace. Not only peace, but lasting peace. Peace that is there when I hurt, am lonely, struggling. He is my hope and my peace.

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

Not My Strength

There is a verse in Zechariah 4 that offers encouragement to God's children. It says, "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (v.6).

Sometimes we struggle with waiting. We live in a microwave society that wants things to happen right away. We want answers, solutions, resolutions, etc. now. I think we have been so accustomed to having so much readily available to us that when it's necessary to "wait upon the Lord" we have a hard time. One of the things we need to understand is that God does things in His time, not ours.

I like what Paul the apostle said. "When I am weak, then I am strong." Our strength is not in our capabilities, but in God's. If we can learn to wait on God, we will find that it was worth the wait.

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

What Can Be Done About Our Past?

The Bible Says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever more. It also means that His Word is the same as He is. This means that the Word you read today is able to heal your yesterday. One of the most difficult healings is our past. Our closets are full of past hurts, mistakes, unforgiveness, etc.

What can be done about our past? It depends on our past. ! John 1: 9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins." If you have bitterness towards someone, connect with them, forgive, confess your bitterness, and ask God for healing. If you've done something in your past that you are having a hard time forgiving yourself for, rest assured that God's forgiveness takes care of it. Accept that and move on. I know it's hard for us to forget but with God's forgiveness comes assurance that we can move on in our life.

God's Word today works for healing on yesterday's hurts. As the song says, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey."

'Til the storm passes,

Pastor Gary

Debt Free: Is It Only A Dream?

Is it possible to be out of debt? The answer is yes. I want to introduce you to a good book by Dave Ramsey called "The Total Money Makeover." It describes in seven plain and simple steps how to get out of debt and stay out. It's not a scheme or a quick fix. Depending on how far in debt you are depends on how long it will take to get out of debt. The idea is to take one baby step at a time. The very first thing you must do is set up a written budget each month. This is truly a must. All your income must be budgeted so you don't over spend. And, QUIT BORROWING! Your days of going in debt are over....... Now, here are the baby steps:

1. Save $1000 Cash as a Starter Emergency Fund

2. Start the Debt Snowball by paying off one debt at a time starting with the smallest and paying the minimum on the other debts.

3. Finish the emergency fund. Save enough in case your income stops for 6 months.

4. Invest 15% of Your Income in Retirement

5. Save for college (if you have kids at home). If not, skip this step.

6. Pay Off your Home Mortgage

7. Build Wealth

Now these are very simple directions. You need to read all the detail for each step plus debt myths in detail. Read the book and if you really want to get out of debt, get to work.

Hope this helps. Also check out Dave Ramsey's website: www.daveramsey.com.

Have a blessed day,

Pastor Gary

God's Way Is The Only Way

Jesus said, "I am the way," meaning to eternal life. There is only one way to heaven and it is God's way. Many people live "good" lives but have never accepted Christ as their Savior. They are trying to get to heaven their way, but it's not going to work.
Charles Stanley said, "We cannot begin to build a truth-based life until we accept God's way as the only way."

Have a blessed day.

Pastor Gary

Defeating Temptation

Hello everyone,

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Lazy I guess. I want to share a few points that we will be covering in this evening's Bible Study. Have you ever felt that a temptation is too overpowering for you to bear? One thing you should understand. The one who causes the temptation is Satan and he is a liar. God has promised never to allow more on you than He puts within you to handle it. He will not permit any temptation that you could not overcome.

Rick Warren, from his book The Purpose Driven Life, shares four biblical principles to help defeat temptation:

1. Refocus your attention on something else. Since temptation begins with a thought, the quickest wayk to defeat it is to turn your attention to something else. The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind. Whatever gets your attention will get you. Job said, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman." When a temptation enters your mind, do whatever it takes to refocus on something else.

2. Reveal your struggle to a Christian friend. Find at least one Christian friend you can share your struggles with. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10 tells us that you are better off to have a friend than to be all alone, because if you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.

3. Resist the Devil. James 4: 7b says, "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." We are not to sit down and take his garbage he throws on us. How do we resist? First, accept Christ as your personal Savior is you are not already saved. You can't fight Satan alone and win. Second, use the Word of God as your weapon. Memorize Scripture so that when temptation comes you can use the Word to hit the Devil. He is not afraid of much but he is fearful of the Word.

4. Realize your vulnerability. Given the right circumstances, any of us are capable of any sin. Don't let down your guard and think you are beyond certain tempations. Don't get over confident. Jeremiah 17: 9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" That means we are good at fooling ourselves.

Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations. Remember that it is easier to stay out of temptation than to get out of it.

Have a blessed day,

Pastor Gary

http://www.family.org/

Push, Push, Push - That's All I Do Is Push

There's the story of the Christian man who lived alone in a cabin in the mountains. He had an intense desire to grow in the Lord so he could do more for Him. He asked God for help. And this is what God told him. "Go to the huge boulder that is in front of your house and push on it every day from daylight until dark." That was God's simple message. Wanting to please God, the man did just as God instructed. Every morning he would get up at the break of dawn and push on that rock as hard as he could until it was dark. He did this for several months, push, push, push, but the boulder would never budge. Finally, the man became so frustrated that he cried out to God and said, "I have done exactly what you instructed. All day long I push this boulder until I am exhausted but it never moves. I don't understand. If this is something that pleases you, why isn't more happening?" God replied to the man and said, "I know the rock hasn't moved with all that pushing you have done but look how much stronger you have become."

Sometimes God allows us to go through circumstances that don't make sense. If He loves us so much, why does this have to happen? What God is saying is, "If you will just trust me through this trial( test, valley, "sifting"), you will be amazed at how much you will grow."

So ladies and gentlemen, let's keep pushing, pushing, and pushing, trusting, trusting, trusting, and faithing, faithing, faithing, and experience the growth God has for us.

Have a blessed day,

Pastor Gary

This Is Friday

Tomorrow is Friday (January 20th)and I'm looking forward to it. Not because it's payday or the last workday of the week, but because it's another day to live. I've got a lot to live for. First, I'm saved. That means I know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Each day is a new adventure with Him. Secondly, I have a wonderful family and it's another day to be with them. Third, I have a wonderful church family and it's only a couple of days until I get to be with them.

God made the family before He made church, government, or anything else to do with humans. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to enjoy life. As long as they stayed away from the forbidden tree they would be happy. But they couldn't resist the temptation to taste the forbidden fruit. Just a little bite. What is that going to hurt?

You too can enjoy life if you fall in love with Christ and stay away from the forbidden things. Life is too short to waste it. Live each day as though it where your last (and it might be)and do all you can to make a good difference in someone's life.

Have a wonderful Friday,

Pastor Gary

Love Is....

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter. It talks about what love is and is not. Love is kind, patient, always hopeful, and endures every circumstance. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude, does not demand its own way, or irritable. All of us have a personal definition of love because we have experienced it in different ways.

I love to be loved. I'd rather be loved than hated any day. Jesus told his disciples to love one another so that others would know that they were His disciples. Love does some wonderful things. It breaks down ugly walls of hatred, it heals some nasty wounds, it forgives. I love to be loved.

Love is also funny sometimes. A young girl admitted calmly to her parents that Jason Johnson had kissed her after Sunday school class. "How did that happen?" gasped her mother. "It wasn't easy," admitted the young girl, "but three girls helped me catch him."

Have a wonderful day.

Pastor Gary

Top Ten Predictions for 2006

I received this over email the other day and thought it was worth passing on.

TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2006

1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. Thee will still be singing of praise.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

--- Author unknown

Have a God-blessed day,

Pastor Gary

Leaders In the Church - Leaders In Life

Good morning,

In 1 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul gives Timothy the qualifications for an elder (bishop or pastor). Some of these qualifications are:

o His life cannot be spoken against (v.2)
o He must be faithful to his wife (v. 2)
o He must be gentle, peace loving. and not one who loves money (v. 3)
o He must manage his family well, with children who respect and obey him.
For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of
God's church?

These qualifications are not complicated. If a man desires the office of an elder (bishop or pastor), he desires a good thing. But if he is not qualified
according to Scripture, he doesn't deserve that office.

My point today is that not only are these qualifications for this office
described above, but they are also excellent guidelines for everyday life.
Be faithful to God, your spouse, your family, and your church. Live every
day like Christ is walking by your side. Seek to please Him, and you will.

Have a God-blessed day,

Pastor Gary

Defending Your Church

Dear friends,

If someone where to come against your family and threaten to destroy them, you would do all in your power to protect them. Why? Because you love your family. When your family is in danger, you'll defend with everything you've got. But how do we feel about our local church, our church family? Will we defend them against the enemy of God?

How do we defend our church family?

1. Be an encourager, not a fault-finder.
2. Avoid gossip at all cost. Don't spread it and don't listen to it.
3. Support your pastor and leaders. Pray that God will help them do what is right. If you have a problem with the pastor or leader, go to them and talk. Don't call others and complain about them.
4. Speak highly of your church when you are in public.
5. Be considerate of one another. Understand that some of your church family come to church sometimes with a heavy heart. If you sense this, give them a kind word. Maybe they just need to talk with someone or want you to pray for them (Don't wait to pray later, pray with them right there.).

These are just a few of the weapons you can use to protect your church family. God loved the church so much that He gave His Son for it. If God feels that way about His people, we certainly should be willing to defend them.

May you have a God-blessed day.

Sincerely,

Pastor Gary

What A Beautiful Day

Hi everyone,

I woke up this morning and a miracle happened at my house. I looked outside and the sun was shining. I missed the sun. It was like an old friend from this past summer showed up to pay me a visit. There's something special about starting our day off with the sun.

But you know, you can start off every day, even the stormy one's, in the Son. Because of what Christ did at Calvary we can start off, and finish, every day with the assurance that He lives in our hearts. Now that's a real miracle.

If you do not know Christ as your Savior, you can. The Bible says if you will acknowledge that He is Lord, and by faith believe that God (His Father) raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Clean, free, joy, peace, contentment. All of that and more comes with knowing the Son.

Have a God-blessed day,

In His love,

Pastor Gary

Pain - Why Is It Necessary?

Pain, and the suffering it causes, is one of life's greatest problems. All of us suffer painful times, whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual. Why do we have to suffer pain? In their book, "Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants," Philip Yancy and Paul Brand talk about the tragedy of living life without pain, as did the lepers Dr. Brand worked with in India. Inability to feel pain usually leads to an early death or disability because the body has no mechanism to warn or fight against that which is dangerous to it.

Pain is an indication that there is a problem, physical, emotional, or spiritual. The pain of a guilty conscience can warn us about evil dangers and moral trouble. Pain is a necessary part of healthy human existence. Because of pain, the Holy Spirit is motivated to comfort, nurture, and console - something that often comes to us by no other means but pain.

In Romans 8: 31-39, the Apostle Paul teaches that nothing, including painful times, can come between you as a believer and God. I know there are pains that come into our lives that we don't understand or no why we have to suffer them, but God showed us that He loved us so much by giving His Son on the cross. I truly do not understand why we have to have so much pain, but knowing God loves me and wants His best for me helps me to endure. You see, one day God promises that all sorrow, death, tears, and pain will be gone (Revelation 21: 4). That's when we go to heaven. I look forward to that.

Have a God-blessed day.

Pastor Gary