Sunday's Coming

Good morning once again,

We are in stormy Oklahoma. There are storms in the state again today so please keep us in your prayers.

Just as storms from the weather come, so do storms in our life. It may be from family, friends or work and even in the church, so what do we do when someone gets mad at you or you have a grievence with someone? I read a story this week that deals with this issue.

"Once, there were two brothers who lived on adjoining farms who fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift they'd had in 40 years of farming side-by-side. They used to share machinery and trade labor and goods as each of them needed, without a hitch. But the collaboration fell apart.

"It began with a small misunderstanding and eventually grew into a major difference until finally it exploded into an ugly exchange of words, followed by weeks of silence. One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox.

'I'm looking for a few days work, he said. Would you have anything around here that I help you with?'

"Yes, said the older brother. 'I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor. It's my younger brother's place! Last week there was a meadow between us. He took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there's a creek between us. He may have done this to spite me, but I'm going to do him one better. See that pile of lumber over there by the barn? I want you to build an 8-foot high fence so I won't have to see my brother's farm or his face anymore.'

"The carpenter said, 'I think I understand the situation. Show me where you have some nails and a post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that will please you.'

"The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day--measuring, sawing and nailing.

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer's eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped at what he saw. There wasn't a fence there at all. It was a bridge--a bridge that stretched from one side of the creek to the other! It was beautifully built with handrails and all! He then saw his neighbor--his younger brother, coming toward them, with his hand outstretched.

'You're really remarkable--to build this bridge after all I've said and done.'

"The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then walked toward each other in the middle, taking each others hand. They then turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. The older brother yelled out, 'No, wait! Stay for a few days. I have a lot of other projects for you to do.'

'I'd love to stay,' the carpenter said, 'but I have a lot more bridges to build.'"

And so do we whenever we have grievances against one another.

When someone attacks, our natural reaction is to fight back."

We need to keep in mind that "We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them." (2 Corinthians 5:19 - The Message)

I pray you are a bridge builder today.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don

Sunday's Coming

It is that time of the week again, time sure flies when your having fun,huh?

I pray all is well with you today. We continue to receive prayer request, so I continue to ask that you lift our friends and their needs to the Lord.

Last week I did a funeral for the husband of a lady we had met while I was the pastor at a local church. There was tension among the family and after the service one daughter told me she was glad her father was gone. This led to a sermon on forgiveness which God was gracious to allow me a place to preach it. The text is Mathew 18:21-35. If you have someone in your life now that you need to forgive or ask them to forgive you, then pray and call or go see them. Don't let it end like this young lady, bitter even to the end. There is no way to say I'm sorry after they are gone.

I want to say thank you, again, to those of you who have given to our ministry again this month. Without you, we could not continue. You are such a part of our ministry. Your emails, phone calls, support and visits encourage us so that we can go on doing what we know God is leading us to do.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on.
Don

The mother of four young boys often had difficulty curbing their energy, especially in church. But when her minister preached on "turning the other cheek," the boys gave him their undivided attention.

“No matter what others do to us,” he said, “we should never try to ‘get even.’”

That afternoon the youngest boy came into the house crying. Between sobs he said he’d kicked one of his brothers, who then kicked him in return.

"I’m sorry you’re hurt," his mother said. "But you shouldn’t go around kicking people."

Still choking back tears, he replied, "But the preacher said he isn’t supposed to kick me back."

[Jane Vajnar, Tampa, Kansas. "Lite Fare," Christian Reader.]

Sunday's Coming

Good morning again from Arizona,

It has been another busy week. Just like back home, people get sick, have to go to the hospital, so we get to visit with them and their family. We pray and show the love that Jesus commands us to have.

We also have people coming by our house to talk, and also meet people out and about that need to share with someone.

There is a lot of hurt in our world today. People say things to each other that is hard to get over, they hurt one another. So what are we to do?

I read the following this morning and just felt I needed to share with you.

Thanks again for your suport, prayers, emails and phone calls. It is so encouraging.

Have a great day, love you, pass it on,
Don

Forgiveness,

Corrie Ten Boom in her excellent book "Tramp for the Lord” tells of a time when some close Christian friends hurt her. Forgiveness was hard; it took time. Finally, it happened and she was able to move on.

Many years later, she was now past eighty years old, a friend paid Corrie a visit. As the two of them sat in her tiny apartment in Holland, he asked about those people who years earlier had taken advantage of her.

"It is nothing," Corrie said, "It is all forgiven."

Then she continued, “They say there is nothing to forgive! They deny it every happened. No matter what they say, though, I can prove they were wrong."

I want to continue the story now using Corrie’s own words: I went eagerly to my desk. "See, I have it in black and white! I saved all their letters and I can show you where...."

My friend slipped his arm through mine and gently closed the drawer. "Corrie! Aren't you the one whose sins are at the bottom of the sea? Yet are the sins of your friends etched in black and white?"

For an astonishing moment I could not find my voice. "Lord Jesus," I whispered at last, "who takes all my sins away, forgive me for preserving all these years the evidence against others! Give me grace to burn all the blacks and whites as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to your glory."

I did not go to sleep that night until I had gone through my desk and pulled out those letters--curling now with age--and fed them all into (the fire.)

“Forgive us our trespasses,” Jesus thought us to pray, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In the ashes of those letters I was seeing yet another facet of His mercy....”

She went on to write, “Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.” 1 Corinthians 13:5 simply notes that love “keeps no record of wrongs suffered.”

If you want to truly and completely forgive, drop the matter. Let it go.