Society Might bread laziness.

Good Morning World!

So, I think I might have figured out why we are breading a generation of lazy people.  This isn't necessarily 100% factual, but it is from my own personal experience, and therefore should have some merit.  Anyway, last weekend we went to the city for a doctor's appointment and to do some shopping.  My wife and I calculated the amount of money that we had available, and it wasn't much but it was more than usual.  So, we figured we had no worries, and while being frugal we would get what was needed, take our three oldest (who were with us) out for a nice lunch.  However, when we got to second store our account was dried up, and we had barely spent $200, which today isn't much.  So, leaving our treasures at the counter and being very frustrated we went to a bank to check out what was going on.  We had forgotten to account for our bi-weekly mortgage payment!  

I know that as a person who trusts in God and believes that all things work to together for the good of those who love God, I shouldn't have had a bad attitude, but it took a couple days and much prayer before I was even keel again!

So, with this story in mind, here is my premise:
How many times have you gone to pay for something only to find out that all your money is gone because someone has withdrawn it for you?  I know that as a parent my children do, on occasion, hear me grumbling about not having enough money.  They know that I work hard, getting up at 6am or before each morning to go to work.  Yet, for all my hard work I have very little to show for it, especially in my bank account!  Sub-consciously we are teaching our children that it doesn't pay to work hard, but rather that no matter how hard we work we will never get ahead.  Don't get me wrong I am teaching my children that working hard is good, but our grumblings and our complaints will get back to them, and the conflicting information will bother their little minds.  At the end of the day I see more and more young people entering the workforce, with little or no work ethic, and I believe this is why.

I am sure that there is more to it than this, but if we can learn to be content with what we have, and stop grumbling and complaining about our state our children would learn to do the same!

Yours for Christ,
Pastor Fred

Jesus I forgot....

As I was cleaning off the lunch table this afternoon I noticed one of my children's books on the high chair. It was a Frank Meyer's book, "I Just Forgot." The book tells the tail of a little boys adventures in forgetting to do or not do certain activities during the run of a day. Things like forgetting to turn of the taps and having the water run over the floor and such the like. You know things we do every day because we forget!

I am endeavoring to better myself and be more organized, which in itself is one of those unending, undo able tasks, but I will succeed - sooner or later!

One of the hardest things I am finding to overcome is my mind and memory. I do have a rather good mind, but it seems I have cluttered it up with useless stuff, and now I am waging war on my brain trying to clean it up! If we can overcome our habits, and force ourselves to do a new thing we can actually succeed.

As powerful as a habit and a schedule are we must have the backbone and fortitude to overcome ourselves. Thus, forcing ourself to do something new. As a Green Belt in Karate I have learnt that in order to train my body to remember and do certain actions I must over exaggerate some of my movements in the training phase so that when it comes time to use those actions my body has them memorized and they become second nature. So, in order to change in life and do something different and better we must exaggerate ourselves at first so we can overcome our little idiosyncrasies and win the battle of our mind!

Did you know that forgetting is no excuse? The fact is everything we ever hear, read, write or otherwise experience with our senses becomes a permanent part of our memory. The problem with most of us, including myself, is that we haven't trained our minds to have a proper filing system. Our mental filing cabinets are all messed up. The letters and numbers are all mixed together and vis versa. What we must learn to do is re-program ourselves to file our memories correctly.

Now for the question of the day. Do you think that Jesus is going to accept the "I forgot excuse" come judgment day?

NO! Of course not. We don't allow it as a legitimate excuse so why would Jesus? Just because you forgot to pray doesn't make it right. Just because you forgot to read your Bible doesn't make it O.K.. Just because you were to busy and forgot to go to Church doesn't mean you are off the hook. No, we have many means of forcing ourselves to remember in today's society that there is no excuse to forget anything!

Stop working so much!
Stop worrying so much!
Stop over thinking everything!
Stop procrastinating!
Stop allowing yourself to forget the important things in life!

Don't forget how old your children are.
Don't forget your anniversary.
Don't forget your spouses birthday.
Don't forget your wifes favorite flower.

Make yourself remember, be a better man - a better person - and don't allow yourself to tell Jesus you forgot. What would happen to your soul if Jesus forgot to die on the cross? What would happen to your chances of heaven if Jesus forgot to ascend to heaven, and pour out his spirit.

DON'T FORGET!

Ignorance Isn't always Bliss....

It came to my attention recently that "as a Pastor" I shouldn't be using pictures from other websites without permission. This statement is true in part. It doesn't matter if I'm a Pastor or not using these types of media can be wrong.

The truth be known I really hadn't put much thought into it. I would just Google a topic and find pictures that suite the thought. Then I'd paste the URL and viola there is the picture. It really never occurred to me that some people might not like me using there already posted to the public pictures for my own use. This fact triggered some thoughts in my mind.

In the Bible ignorance was no excuse for breaking the law. As a matter of fact in Leviticus there are sacrifices given for sins committed in ignorance. I guess it would be like being pulled over by the local law enforcement, and telling them that you didn't know that the speed limit was only 50Km. They would probably still give you a ticket because it is the drivers responsibility to pay attention to the road signs.

Also, when we all get to heaven's gates many people are going to claim ignorance, but the Bible tells us that "God doesn't wink at ignorance" anymore. The "No one told me that I had to repent of my sins, and call out the Jesus for salvation" excuse will not hold any water any longer. Sure there is much more to it than just repentance and calling out to Jesus, but that will at least get you pointed in the right direction. Just like the tip I received about pirating pictures points me in the right direction. Now it is up to me to take action and start asking permission for these types of pictures. So, it is up to you to look into the perfect law of liberty, and truly find out how and why you must be saved.

PS. "Sorry for posting personal pictures without permission!"

If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword!

Mat 26:52 ALT Then Jesus says to him, "Put your sword back into its place! For all the ones taking up a sword will die by a sword.

What is going to kill you?

Crazy question? Not really!

As Jesus put it: If you live by the sword you will die by the sword!

I want to live by God's Word, and in His Spirit. If it kills me so be it!

What do you live for? Work, Money, Fame, Glory? You will die by what you live for!

If you live for work, you will work yourself into the grave!
If you live for money, you will die trying to get money!
If you live for fame, you will die while attaining that goal!
If you live for glory, you will probably be assassinated!

I would rather live for the cause of Christ, and die on my way to heaven than any other foolish, irresponsibles, vain or frivolous things we live for.

May this be a motivation to live for Jesus, rather than this world!
You will die by what you live for!

Pastor Fred

You Can't Hide YOUR Mistakes!

Have you ever made a mistake, whether small or large, which you tried to cover up? Of course you have! We've all done that at some point in time. Adam and Eve humanities parents did it so what hope do we have!?

Anyway, I made a mistake while working at the print shop a couple months ago. It was a "big" mistake! If you read my post from yesterday, you'll know I had a great day which included church bulletins, however, the last order of bulletins I destroyed! (just to be honest and plain!) Anyway I forgot to set them up properly, and printed them. I only figured out I'd done it wrong while I was cutting them down. Anyway I worked really hard to make them look like they were the right size, but many of them were about an inch small both length and width wise! I hoped and prayed my boss wouldn't notice!

That night she was in the shop doing some work after hours, and decided to see if I'd done a good job, well she took one look at the bulletins and knew they were too small. (After 20 years of experience her eye is pretty good!) To make a long story shorter, we had to redo all the bulletins, and didn't hardly make a penny on the job! (By The Way: I do know what I'm doing now!)

So, the moral of the story is, it doesn't matter how hard you try you can't hide your mistakes for ever! You may keep something hidden for awhile, but somewhere alone the line your mistakes will be found out!

Yours for honesty
Pastor Fred

Lessons Learned in the Print Shop

I wonder what the title would be on the blog Jesus would have had if he had lived in 2006 as he did 2,000 years ago? Maybe, "Lessons Learned in the Carpenter's Shop," or "Parables learned from life." Anyway, I'm going to start this section of my blog, and it will appear from time to time.

I've been working at a local copy, print and party supply store for a few weeks helping out a friend who has been off for awhile because of an operation. This segment will highlight lesson's I've learned will working there, which can translate into life and teach a spiritual lesson. I guess I could sub-title this blog: "Parables from the Print Shop!" Well, here are a couple of lessons I've learned in the past couple of weeks.

LESSON # 1
When beating down paper, (the process of taking a sheaf of uneven edged paper and beating it off a table or something hard inorder to get the sheaf straight, and looking like it just came out of the package.) in order to get an even edge all around quickly and accurately one must losen their grip and let go of the sheaf of paper so that it is no longer compressed. This allows the paper to move freely and fall in to an orderly form.
--->Application:
So many time in life we feel that we must keep complete control over every situation in our lives. We try to hold on to everything and make sure it goes exactly as we plan. However, things rarely go as planned, and if we would learn to let go a bit, step back and let God work things out we would live lives that were free of stress!
Matthew 6:24-34
---->Don't be anxious about your life, your things or tomorrow. Rather serve and seek Jesus, and He will take care of the little stuff too!

Philippians 4:4-9
---->Rather than worrying about everything, would it not serve a better purpose to take everthing to God in Prayer? For, do we not have a friend in Jesus?

1 Peter 5:5b-10
---->So often we let appearances dictate who we should be. Stop being proud, start being humble and God will take care of your reputation! Worrying about what others think of you, can bring a nervous break down, rather expend your energy giving your worries to Jesus; He cares about you!

(The next part of the scripture leads me to my next lesson, and ties both together!)
LESSON #2
---->Slow Down, pay attention, focus on the job at hand, do not get destracted, and stay organized. In doing this each job will be done quicker, you will not make as many mistakes, and the end result will be much more enjoyable!

continuing with 1 Peter 5:
---->Rather than clouding your mind with worry, give all your anxieties to Jesus, in so doing you will be much more alert and aware of the important things in life!
You will also learn and be alert to the fact that the little worries of life are only a snare placed by the "Roaring Lion" to knock you off balance, and mess with your mind. This, if not delt with, will inevitablely destroy and devour your spirit! Because you are now alert you can resist him (the roaring lion called the devil), and establish what you really believe in, and realize you are not alone in this world! In due time Jesus will come and complete you, confirm you, strengthen you, and establish you!

Yours For Christ,

Pastor Fred