Worrying Times

 In the Bible the prophet Haggai who lived and prophesied during a time of great recession talked about a "shaking of the nations." The times that we live in today are a real shaking of the nations – the biggest global recession for more than 25 years.  This is having an impact on all of us.
 
Each month I receive statistics from Credit Action (the people who supply the free Money Manuals that we offer) that show the deepening of the situation:
· 1 person is declared bankrupt or insolvent every 4½ minutes
· Every 10 minutes a property is repossessed
· 2,915 people are made redundant every day
· The government pays £91m interest every day to service our national debt
· The average household debt in the UK is around £9,500 excluding mortgages
 
Within the church we have our concerns too. Our total income is down 40% on last year, yet our costs are ever increasing.
 
I am reminded of some verses from the Bible…

Matthew 6:35-34
 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will  eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life  more important than food, and the body more important than  clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or  store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry  about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not  labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his  splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God  clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow  is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you  of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or  'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans  run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that  you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteous- ness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore  do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it self. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

If we put the things of God first and foremost in our lives then we are promised that God will provide all of our needs. As a church we can testify to that – despite the significant reduction in our income we have not had to reduce our activities or put any projects on hold as the Lord has provided all of our needs.  We have renewed our commitment not to increase charges for any of our clubs or activities for 2009.

 

If you're worried about the effects of the recession read those verses from the Bible again. Let's all put Jesus first and see His provision for our needs – we need not worry any more.

Please contact me if you'd like to talk about this confidentially.

A Letter from God

To My Child,

Good morning, this is GOD.

Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not
need your help. If you encounter a situation you cannot handle, do not
attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do)
box. It will be addressed in MY TIME, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it nor remove it.
Holding on or removal will delay the resolution of your problem. If it is a
situation you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer
to be sure that it is the proper resolution. Because I do not sleep, nor do
I slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Please rest my child.

If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away. My prayer line is open
24 hours of your day. I love you and will always be with you wherever you
may go. As with all good things, pass my message on.

Love, GOD

An Obituary For Someone Else

Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else.

Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it." Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group."

It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do.

Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?

When you are asked to help this year, remember -- we can't depend on Someone Else anymore.

Moment by Moment

There was a small girl whose father was a pastor.

One day, after one of her daddy's sermons, the little girl asked him, "Daddy, can a person go their whole life without sinning?"

"No, honey," the father replied, "I'm sorry, but that's just not possible. Jesus was the only one who could."

"What about a year, Daddy?" the little girl continued. "Can a person go a whole year without sinning?"

"No, I don't think that's possible, either," Daddy said.

"What about a day, Daddy? Can a person go a day without sinning? Maybe just once?"

"Unless they're in the hospital and very, very sick and not even awake, I don't think that's possible, either, honey."

"What about one moment, Daddy? Can a person go one moment without sinning?"

"Yes, dear, I think that is possible."

"Then, Daddy, I want to live my life moment by moment."

An Easter Thought

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
Had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.