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Morning Devotional...



Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
--Matthew 5:5-8

We have but to become acquainted with, or even listen to, the big names of our times to discover how wretchedly inferior most of them are. Many appear to have arrived at their present eminence by pull, brass, nerve, gall and lucky accident. We turn away from them sick to our stomach and wonder for a discouraged moment if this is the best the human race can produce. But we gain our self-possession again by the simple expedient of recalling some of the plain men we know, who live unheralded and unsung, and who are made of stuff infinitely finer than the hoarse-voiced braggarts who occupy too many of the highest offices in the land. . . .

. . . the church also suffers from this evil notion. Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They too have learned to equate popularity with excellence, and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount they have given their approval not to the meek but to the self-assertive; not to the mourner but to the self-assured; not to the pure in heart who see God but to the publicity hunter who seeks headlines.   
Man: The Dwelling Place of God, 96-97.

"Lord, I thank You this morning for all the unknown but faithful pastors serving churches in quiet places. We do place a lot of emphasis on the 'personalities' and big-church leaders. Thank You for the 'quiet heroes' and their faithful service; give them great encouragement today. Amen."

Amen Pat! Thank you for that good word. It is easy to miss the "quiet" heros but infinitely better to listen to them when we hear them than the loudmouths we have out there today.

Have a blessed day everyone!
<><Jeannine

Thanks for that quotation of Dr. Tozer, Pat.  It's so discouraging sometimes to see God's people (or at least those who call themselves God's people) being so heavily influenced by those seeking eminence today.  Oh may my God keep me quiet, hard working, and hard praying.

I think most of us are influenced far more by our pastors in smaller local churches than by any "big names" even though there are several I listen to and highly admire.  And just because they have a so-called mega-church or a television ministry does not mean they are not sincere, Bible preaching, Godly men (and women.)  Let there be respect where respect is due!

We are ready for church a little early, so thought I would check in and say howdy.  HOWDY!   

Good Morning to all who have been here and all who will enter.

I think we all have to be discerning to see which  of those mega preachers we watch and or  support are really what they seem to be. I have seen one in particular that I was so confident in before seeing him in person. I really believed that he was all he was supposed to be, UNTIL I was there in person and saw  for myself how phony he really is. I just happened to be in the right place in the audience  to observe with my own eyes some things that were done in preparation that were not right nor were they honest. Oh yes he does loves God and is definitely a good preacher. but .... there are other things that are phony. This is a mega peacher on TV and in crusades.

I am ready for church so I must go now.

TTYL

I just listened to two great sermons on The Lord's Prayer.  One from a Senior minister and one from a young minister.  Both were taken from scripture and the heart. 

I then ate at Taco Bell and came on home.  I took my camera and was hoping for some Autumn shots but the leaves are still green here for the most part.  I only saw a few...very few trees that were ablaze with color. 

I did hear at church that one of our college boys plays football for Indiana University and he scored two touchdowns yesterday that helped I.U. win over Illinois.  I think I need to watch some I.U. football.  So if any of you see an I.U. game, Josiah Sears is from Greenfield, Indiana and is the son of one of our elders.

I wish I could retrain my mind to be quiet the night before church.  I know I am afraid I don't have the alarm set, or that I won't hear the alarm, or it is set wrong and I will miss church but after almost 9 years that hasn't happened so why does my mind work that way?  Anyway, I had kind of a sleepless night so I feel a nap coming on.....ZZZZzzzz!!

Dr. Tozer always wrote in a direct and to the point style.  I enjoy this because is rare in today's society.  He taught that we need to be able to think for ourselves. 

Big and Small churches are filled with people who are trying to find a better way of life.  They come with their own agenda and many times, even a little bit of power, goes to the head rather than the heart.  We need to be able to tell the difference and act accordingly.  I have seen small churches that destroy with gossip, envy, greed, lies, etc.  The same as large....only on a different scale due to their size.
Some have radio ministries, some TV, some are remote and isolated.  All seem to suffer from the same sickness.  Human Nature. 

In the early 70's, I was the church librarian in my spare time, for the medium size Independent Baptist Church, where Wendy and I both accepted Jesus.  They had a huge radio ministry that was in both Canada and US.  Were connected to Bob  Jones Univ. and got so carried away with their own 'goodness' that they were too godly for even that....everyone else was apostate.  I got a wonderful grounding in the Bible.....and learned that there were 'two faces' to churches and it's people. 

A dear Christian couple (Dutch) who sang in the choir with us, donated a most lovely book on religious history, from Reader's Digest.  I had to have all books approved by the minister and his family.  They didn't feel it was Holy enough.  I had to tell Cor & Helena that it wasn't accepted.  Have always remembered what they said, with a gentle grace and smile:

"We eat the meat and throw out the bones"

That is pretty much what we all need to do, in big or small churches.  When people learn about Jesus, we have to trust that God will take hold of the heart and lead them along the right paths, even if it sometimes takes many years.  Big churches are giving a message about God, we need to have faith that God will take over and throw out the bones.

                             

God Bless,
Liz 

Amen.  Well said, LIZ.   

Hi everyone.  A very interesting discourse today on churches and ministers.  Yesterday we received an e-mail saying that today was pastor appreciation day at our church.  We need to remember that our pastors are men and women and were created by God as humans and not Gods and therefore are going to fail from time to time.  And yet God is able to use humans for his own purpose. 

We had a very good Sunday School class this morning on the 1st & second chapters of 2nd Peter.  This is the section of scripture cautioning us against false teachers and the destruction that they can bring.

Our sermon this morning was from the book of Jonah and his running away from God when God directed him to Nineveh and he instead takes a ship to Tarshish.  Interesting how all of this fits with the devotional today.  Thanks Pat for sharing this one.

After church Pat and I went out to eat with 7 other folks and we went to the Chinese place we often visit.  They were very busy and we had to wait quite awhile.  When we got home around 2 pm we both decided that a nap was indicated. 

Hope this has been a good day for all.

Janet, glad to see you back and know your conference was probably very good. 

Liz, it sounds like you had quite an experience in your early church life.

Hello everyone.

I believe that I owe Nita a belated Happy Birthday.

My condolenses to you and your family Ohenry.

Liz, how was your visit to Chemanus?

I have had a busy week and am finally getting to the computer now.  My daughter moved last weekend to Barrie.  Yesterday a leisurely drive was taken (I forgot my camera and there were many wonderful views of the changing fall colours, oh well, perhaps another day) and we stopped in to see her HUGE apartment (1300 sq ft) and then stopped for a bite of dinner before heading home.  I think we are heading out for a bite to eat and then will be meeting some friends and perhaps a game of cards or talking or both....lots of coffee/tea and water...lol

I'll just pop into the gallery quickly to look at the photos there before signing off I think....

I am back home now and wanted to just say thanks to all the thoughts and prayers offered on my mother-in-law's behalf.  I haven't had the opportunity to read the recent comments and after things settle I'll get back into the swing of things.

Liz, I appreciate your comments, also those of Larry.  For sure, we need to remember that we are all human beings---pastors and families included---and extend each other grace and forgiveness.

Tonight at church, all the ladies who attended the retreat shared on what they got from the event.  It was interesting to get the different perspectives on it.  There were 25 ladies from our small church who attended, more than from any other church in the district!

We had a great discussion in Sunday school class this morning, really led by the Holy Spirit.  We began by reading in Ephesians and in Corinthians, Paul's instructions relating to marriage; then went on to talk about how those of us who have been married for a long time should be mentors/encouragers to other couples who are going through rough patches in their relationships.  Sometimes they just need to know that none of our marriages are perfect; they all involve fallible men and women, who have to work things out as we go along, always looking to the Word and trusting that things will pass.  I love our Sunday school class! 

See you tomorrow! 

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