Rediscover Kindness

Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.
Mother Teresa (1910-1997, Albanian-born Roman Catholic missionary)

Eph 4:29-32
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. NASU

I think kindness is a great word for the church today. It seems that churches have grown cold in the practice of kindnesses toward the world, and each other. We need to search for this warm spirit among us again, and each of us can culture it and spread it ourselves, if we are willing to put away some habits that we have developed.

Paul felt it necessary to address the problem with bold commands. Let “No” words proceed from our mouths that are not for edification, and “put away” bitterness, anger, clamor, malice, and slander. Paul tells us also why this is so important. It “grieves” The Holy Spirit, who places His seal on each of us, and marks us for the day of Christ’s return. That’s serious stuff.

Now listen to the commands given to us by The Holy Spirit, through Paul. Be “Kind,” and tenderhearted, extending forgiveness to one another, even as God, in Christ, extended forgiveness to each of you. Kindness is fuel to the soul, but bitterness is the acid that leaches away the strength that our souls can share with one another on this short walk between the cradle and the grave. Be Ye Kind…God Bless.
Pastor William

All In The Family

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. The young they keep out of mischief; to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds.
Aristotle (BC 384-322, Greek philosopher)

1 John 3:14-16
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. NASU

There are friends, and then there are friends. We have acquaintances, and then we have those that are very close to us, even as though they were family. Well, guess what, they are family. We, as God’s creation, have the same Father, and it is God Himself, our eternal Dad. We have some members of this family that are closer to us than others but, nevertheless, we are all related.

God purposed this from the beginning. He purposed that we would interact with each other, and in that interaction, we would learn some great things about who we are ourselves. After all, Jesus, Himself said this about the second commandment in Matt 22:39 "The second is like it, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

So, we can really drop all of these other names that we have for each other and begin to embrace the fact that we are all, “One Family.” We can begin to take our eyes off of ourselves, and pursuits of our goals, and embrace the goals of others around us as well. Today is a great day for the world to see who we really are, or we can cocoon with our own, and miss the greatest blessing of all…God Bless.
Pastor William

Know How To Plow?

Lack of will power has caused more failures than lack of intelligence or ability.
Flower A. Newhouse

Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." NASU

Have you ever tried to plow? Well, if you haven’t you should give it a whirl, at least once. One thing you will learn is it’s not as easy as it looks, not that it always even looked easy. In the old days, the task was even harder, and the complexity was increased by the use of an ole mule or an ox that had to be kept on track.

The most important rule one has to follow is to keep your eye on the end of the row. There must be a target there that you lock your eye on, so as to stay straight. The second important rule is to keep the plow in the ground, which is not always easy, considering there are rocks and roots to throw you off course. Some of those that have failed at this task started a rumor that there was more corn on crooked rows.

For us to stay the course in this life it is necessary for each of us to handle the plow rightly. That is to keep our lives grounded in the Word of God, and to keep our eyes on Jesus, our prize, and our crown. Jesus tells us in Matt 7:14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” We must hold on to Christ, and focus on the end of our journey, to enter the narrow door…God Bless.
Pastor William