Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 88 & 89

Good Morning World!

We've been busy trying to renovate our house, and what a mess that can be!  Drywall, dust and dirt everywhere!  So I apologize for not being on very regularly lately.

Psalm 88
The note in the margin of my Bible says that this Psalm is a prayer for those facing Death.  I am not sure if that is true or not as I wasn't around when it was written, but I can tell that it is for those who are having a bad day and are looking to God for fresh new mercies!

Sometimes life knocks us down and we don't know where to turn, but Jesus is the friend that sticks closer than a brother!  We may feel like we are as good as dead, but Jesus' mercies are new every morning!  We may want to die, but Jesus is our saviour and healer! 

Before you give up, look to Jesus he will take care of you, and help you find the answers you seek!  Trust Jesus Christ and He will direct your path!

Psalm 89
This song of Ethan is a very challenging Psalm.  for 2/3rd's of the song Ethan is praising and worshiping God for His mercy and promises, and then dives into the question that has been driving him the whole time: God have you forsaken us, are you going to bring us out of captivity?  Are you going to remember the promises that you made?

This is interesting because there is no indication in the first 30 odd verses that Ethan is upset or would like to ask God a question.  There is nothing but praise and worship in those first verses!

Too often we get caught up in the questions of life, and we forget that God is still Good all the Time!  It doesn't matter how you feel or what you are going through Jesus loves and cares for you all the time!  The first thing out of our mouth before any questions is praise, worship and thanksgiving!  If we are going to have a great lasting relationship with God our saviour Jesus Christ then we need to learn how to stay in touch with Him!

Yours for Thanksgiving,
Pastor Fred

A Prayer Family!

THANK YOU! Thank You! Thank You!

I appreciate your prayer so much. My back is much better (See Prayer Requests Label). I am finally up and about. I still can't bend over much, but I can walk around and help the wife with the house work and taking care of the children. As long as I keep my back fairly straight I can do quite a bit! I went back to work last night. Wasn't too bad. I will be going back to my day job tomorrow.

Again thank you for your prayers!

This little incident has given me yet another inspiration for this blog. I will start a prayer request sharing portion. In this section you will be able to send me your prayer requests, I will post them, and we will all share in your request, pain, situation through prayer. We don't have to know every detail, but a name or a little info will help us to focus our prayer for your need.

Everyone needs a family, and what better family than a prayer family! The United Pentecostal Church International has a prayer section called "World Network of Prayer", which works along the same lines. They have prayer nets all over the world and when someone needs prayer, they are all called and everyone in the net prayers of that need! In this case this Prayer Family would be you, and the requests would be visible to all, and everyone who reads them will be able to pray. I will also leave space for praise reports!

So please send your prayer requests to my email address through the comment link below, and let's become a Prayer Family!

Yours for Prayer
Pastor Fred

This is the Day that the Lord has made!

Good morning one and all! What a wonderful day this is! God is so Good, so righteous, so loving, so merciful; I love Him with all of my being!

There is a song that we sing, which also is a scripture; a Psalm of David.

This is the Day,
This is the Day,
That the Lord has made,
That the Lord has made,
I will rejoice,
I will rejoice,
and be glad in it,
and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made,
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the Day,
This is the Day,
That the Lord has made!

Did you realize that your attitude in the morning can reflect upon the remainder of the day? As a matter of fact a joyful attitude in the morning can help you stay joyful no matter what happens through the remainder of the day!

It is amazing what a godly attitude can do for your soul! Thankfulness and joy to God is healthy for you mind, and for all who come in contact with you!

So I challenge you to pray this morning (or whenever you read this) and get a thankful, joyful attitude before God and man!

Yours for the Day the Lord has made!
Pastor Fred

In Everything Give Thanks!

This was one of those days that you could write home about! WOW! It was really great! Work went smoothly for a change, it just seemed everything worked out right!

The Bible tells us in Thessalonians, "in everything Give Thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus Concerning you!" I realized something today in the midst of all the hustle and bustle that we ought to remember to thank God for the good days, and during the bad days remember the good ones so we can find something to thank God for!

I'm not too much into "positive thinking", however, I've learnt that if you set your mind frame to think joyfully, thankfully, and in a positive and cheerful maner that the day usually turns out much better than if you don't really determine to look at life any particular way.

We all know that a grumpy person tends to get grumpier, so that same should hold true for that of a person with a thankful and cheerful outlook on life!

So, here is my challenge to you! Instead of just letting life slip by tonight and tommorrow change your frame of mind and be thankful in every situation, be cheerful, kind and curtious, and finally put a big smile one your face. Next, go out the front door, and go conquer your day in Jesus Name!

I Dare you to try this! I can garantee it will change your life! (PS> if it doesn't work for you, you've missed something very important so go back and try again!)

Yours with a thankful heart!
Pastor Fred

Culture Shock

What a great weekend! Thanksgiving here in Canada! Jesus is so good to us! On Saturday morning I was talking to my mother and she invited us out to her place for Thanksgiving dinner, which we were going to have on Sunday afternoon. So in the proper impromptu fashion I woke up my wife, gathered the kids, packed some clothes and wisked off to St. Philips, (which is near St. John's) a 6 hour drive!

I ended up preaching on Sunday morning, and the Holy Spirit really met with us! I preached on "The Message of Fall". I'll blog about it another time - it was really good!

Thanksgiving dinner arrived and we had another guest. A man from England who my brother is working partners with. We both had culture shock! The poor guy has been in Newfoundland for about 16 months, and has had to relearn his ways of doing things!

In England any trip 1 hour or over requires a suit case! They don't eat pumpkins, which I might at is a shame because they are quite good! (pumpkin pie mmmmmm.....) This is in no way to slander or downplay the British, but I'm pointing out some interesting cultural differences between Canada and England.... We sometimes take our culture for granted, but we don't realize that other people just don't do it how we do, and we should be thankful for our respective cultures, and learn to worship God in them.

Another point before I go, it dawned on me this weekend that the Holiday of Thanksgiving is really only observed in North America (i.e. Canada and the U. S. of A.). What a priviledge to share some of our unique culture with someone, and on such a special holiday!

Yours for Christ,

Pastor Fred

Humming your way to a smile!

Yesterday morning I began singing some of the old hymns, which have some beautiful words, and great stirring tunes! Hymns such as: "I am Thine oh, Lord", "Draw me nearer", "Isn't He Wonderful!" What a great way to start a morning! It puts a smile on the face, stirs up the spirit, sets a wonderful mood for the day, and connects one with Jesus!

A scripture comes to mind: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. " Ephesians 5:18-20

Why do most people go to the club and have a beer or wine? Couple reasons: 1. They are going to have a good time, and unload from a long day or week. 2. They are trying to forget a bad time or something that is bothering them. In other words they aren't happy and they are trying to be happy!

They easiest and best way to a smile is to sing a song in your heart to the Lord! Something fast or slow, that really doesn't matter. What matters is that its a song you like, and that uplifts your spirit!

That is one reason why I listen to www.klove.com on me computer at home and work. Because it helps put an uplifting song in my soul. From there it grows and helps keep the whole day in focus and enjoyable!

Try it sometime and you will soon be humming your way to a smile!

Yours for Christ,

Pastor Fred