NICK AT NITE AGAIN

Good day dear friends.
We welcomed a new member yesterday! Please make Don Boney welcome. Don was a longtime member of our church, then went to the Lutheran church for a while then decided to "come home" yesterday. We will present Don next Sunday in worship.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday - John 6, 7
Notice the reappearance of Nicodemus in John 7. To what degree of faith-commitment has he come?
Nick at Nite shows up again in the reading of John 7. He came to Jesus to find out what He was up to, and gets the lesson on being born again or from above. He ponders this and goes away. In the reading for today, Nick is hearing the charges and discussion about Jesus and he tries to make the case for at least adhering to the law which said one must find out more about a person before deciding on what course to follow. Nick wants his brothers on the council to find out more about Jesus before making a decision. He is cut off and the discussion ends and they go home.
Yesterday's sermon presented three salvation stories and Nick's was one of them in which he is a cautious convert. He needed more information before he knew what to do about Jesus. The Samaritan woman became an instant convert when she was confronted by her own sin and the fact that Jesus knew it. Jesus showed that He cared for her and would take away her sin; that was the closing part of the deal. The third one was the man in John 5 that receives healing and takes a so-what attitude. The question posed to us: What are we doing from what we know Jesus has done for us?
PRAYER: Loving God of salvation, speak to my heart. You have done so much for me, let me surrender to You. I pray this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

PERSPECTIVES ON PRAYER

Good day dear friends,
Our brother and dear friend John Morrissett was taken to the ER on Monday with an elevated heartbeat. He was treated and released home the same day. I spoke with Beth yesterday afternoon and she reports John continues to self-monitor his heartbeat and should it get elevated again he will have to be taken back to the hospital. Please keep John and Beth in your prayers.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: Luke 17, 18, 19List insights on prayer you gain from Luke 18:1-14.
What I gained from this passage about prayer is that we should be persistent in our requests to God. We should not give up trusting or asking God for whatever need we believe we have. We should however, know that as we pray we know that we should be asking that perhaps our attitude towards the need changes as we pray. It could be that a change in attitude may bring about the solution that we're praying for. The story of the widow shows a woman of determination and faith. We should be like her.
In the second example of the pious man and the tax collector, we get the model of honesty and humility in our prayers. When we pray we're going before the Most High and as such we need to humble ourselves. We don't go to God to brag about our accomplishments but rather to get right with God. The pious man thought prayer was a great time to show off what he did and who he was, while the tax collector realized his need was to get right with God. Whose prayer did God hear? God heard them both, but one made Him realize that some still haven't gotten it yet. The other one made God happy in knowing some still go to Him to get it right.
PRAYER: Lord, I confess I am not what I should be, forgive me. Help me be the person You would have me be. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Good day dear friends.
Some of you from FUMCSM will remember Mrs. Bess Hopson. She died yesterday at 2 p.m. She was 89 and a longtime organist for our church. Her funeral is tentatively set for Saturday at 10 a.m. Please hold her family in your prayers.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Luke 1, 2, 3What are Luke’s several reasons for writing a Gospel in light of the fact that other records had already been written?
Luke was a physician and he was a Gentile. He was a trained scientist, and an educated man. He knew about investigation and compilation and he applies all this to compile a Gospel he believes can be one that help prove "beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability" of what Theophilus had learned. He talked to eyewitnesses who were disciples and believers in the Lord and tried to get from them as much detail as he could about this man named Jesus.
The result was a gospel that is called by many the universal gospel, the Good News for all people. Unlike Matthew which was complied for the Jew and Mark as a sort of catecism manual for new believers, Luke tries to include all people and to show that Jesus came for all people. His birth story has shepherds coming to see the baby Jesus and the lineage of Jesus traces Him back to Adam, to God.
At this time of year we do well to remember that Jesus came for all people. Last night that was driven home as we followed the prayer service out of the Home for Christmas campaign. It included prayers and scriptures that deal specifically with those who have not yet come to know God's love. We prayed for those whose names have been turned in for invitation to our Christmas Eve services and for those who have not yet heard. We ask you continue to pray for them as well as to use this opportunity to invite folks to come home for Christmas.
PRAYER: Loving God of all people, we pray you would help us reach of Yours who have not heard or don't want to hear, to come to a situation where You would be shared and glorified. Let me be an instrument of Your peace. I pray this in Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

WHAT ARE YOU KNOWN FOR?

Good day dear friends.
Please don't forget those in the SM area, that tonight at 6 p.m. we're having our Home for Christmas Prayer Service. Several have shared three names of neighbors, friends, etc. that they want invited to our Christmas Eve services and we will be praying for those individuals and families as well as praying for the Lord to bless our church. It won't take long, but it will be a powerful service. Also, our TV ad is available online at http://www.fumcsm.org/ click on the Home for Christmas part of the front page of our website.
I have not heard back from Dr. Judy Allen, she was to have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and I will share that update as soon as I hear.
On a very happy note, our eldest daughter, Nellie Maria, is now engaged. Jorge Garcia, her intended proposed to her last night and Nellie accepted. Please keep Nellie and George in your prayers.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: Mark 15, 16Why do you think the writer identifies Simon of Cyrene as “the father of Alexander and Rufus” (Mark 15:21-22)?
Simon of Cyrene forever has a special place in the heart of Jesus and the followers of Jesus. He was the man forced to carry the cross for Jesus for a significant part of that death walk. I don't know if he considered it an honor at that time or not, but I know that Jesus was grateful for this needed assistance. As Mark writes this in his gospel he feels it necessary to further identify Simon beyond where he was from, he also says, this man is the father of those whom you know, Alexander and Rufus. The tradition is that Alexander and Rufus had some standing in the Christian church in Rome while this gospel is being written. Some have identified Simon since he is from Libya of being the first African Christian, though others claim that there was a large Jewish population in Cyrene of which he could have been a member.
To be the father of those known for their Christian life is not a bad thing. It speaks highly of those who raise their children in ways that lead them to the Lord. Tradition says that Alexander and Rufus were Christian missionaries who took the message of Jesus into the world. We can't know for certain what they did, but we do know their father did a great thing for the Lord and tradition also says that Simon went on to be an evangelist for the Lord as well.
What has Jesus done in your life? What have you done for Jesus in your life? The two are closely related. Recognize what Jesus has done and then do something about it. Tell somebody!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for saving my life. Thank you for lifting me up from the pits of despair and destruction. Help me this day share a word or two of the goodness and life that I have found in You. I pray this in Thy Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

JESUS WILL COME AGAIN

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Mark 13, 14Put yourself in the role of an observer or a disciple in these chapters and comment on what you hear and see.
These chapters are the final chapters with the Lord before His crucifixion. Jesus is using this time as the final sharing or teaching before He can no longer be with them alone; and He uses this time to talk about End Times. Jesus knew that in their hearts the disciples were still awaiting something spectacular along the lines of political or military demonstrations. Most of them believed Jesus would be set up as the King of the Jews and that they would become governors alongside Him. And yet Jesus says to them as they marvel at structures they believed would be theirs one day, one day not one stone of these shall be upon another. In their minds they must surely think, yes, a thousand years from now; but to be sure let's ask. And Jesus can only give them the warning signs, nothing definite.
Advent is a time of preparation not only for the remembrance celebration of the first Christmas, but also the preparation of our hearts and souls for the second coming of Christ. The hymn we sang on Sunday was one of Charles Wesley's poems set to music about that glorious event. Yet, many of us still worry if we have enough time to do our Christmas shopping.
PRAYER: Lord of the first and second Advents, prepare my heart and spirit for You. Be glorified in my life I ask in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

A LOVE RELATIONSHIP

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: Mark 10, 11, 12As you read Mark 12, and observe the confrontations between Jesus and his opponents, reflect on what Jesus said to the scribe in 12:28-34. Why did Jesus think the scribe was close to the Kingdom? How close?
God desires relationship with us. God is a God of love. Love requires relationship. For Jesus to be asked the question of which was or is, the greatest commandment, was an easy one for Jesus. Jesus answered with His scripture and spoke of relationship necessary between us and God. It is not an easy love, for it is an all-encompassing love, a love that permeates all areas and aspects of our lives. There is not one dark, secret corner where God is not present nor should we speak of not having love. The love for God is to love God with our very being. And Jesus said we carry this love even further by loving others in the same way we love ourselves. God made us to love ourselves in a positive, encouraging way; and that is the way we should love others.
As for the scribe he understood this and his response to Jesus made Jesus reply that the scribe was close to the Kingdom of God. We are close to the Kingdom as well when we take our love relationship with God to our everyday lives. The other day when I spoke of discipleship that was what I was talking about, loving others and taking that love outside our churches into the streets, into our homes, our work places, our play spaces, etc. We are a people of relationship and we should be in relationship with God.
PRAYER: Loving God, let me seek ways to grow in my love relationship with You. Help that to carry over in my relationship with others. I pray this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

TRUE DISCIPLESHIP IS ACTION!

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Friday: Mark 1, 2, 3People sometimes call Mark “the Gospel of action.” As you read these opening chapters, consider why this phrase seems appropriate.
Any sharing of the Gospel requires action. One must hear, receive, accept, believe, and live the "Good News." To live the good news means a complete life change and a move from inaction to action as was evidenced by the folks in Mark's gospel.
Mark shares how John the Baptist comes with a message of action. He calls people to repent of their sins, to come forward and admit that, and be baptized publicly so that they could live lives that showed they belonged to God. As he proclaims the coming of Christ he tells of what Christ was to do. Then Mark introduces Jesus and He comes with a call for people to follow Him! Once they follow, they are taught and sent to do good works for the sake of God's kingdom.
To sit in a pew Sunday after Sunday for one hour is NOT discipleship. Sure it counts if you truly worship and glorify God and ask God to bless you and cleanse you of your sins, but to leave the church and do nothing that even resembles your being a disciple is NOT discipleship. To serve on a committee to vote and make decisions is NOT discipleship either. One has to go beyond voting and deciding, to doing something that blesses the kingdom of God. One must share the good news and invite others to come and learn about God through Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, fill our churches with the desire to do what your gospel asks. Make us uncomfortable beyond that which we can stand so that we will at last do something that helps rescue the perishing. I ask this for myself, my church, my family, and others in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

WE CHOOSE ANYONE BUT JESUS!

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Matthew 26, 27, 28From Matthew 27, describe the various responses of persons and groups to Jesus in his crucifixion.
The death of Jesus was caused by you and me. We sometimes sell Jesus out for the highest bidder. And it isn't necessarily for money all the time. We all have a little bit of Judas in us; we hold on to Jesus while the going's good, but if we hit some turbulence or find ourselves in a rough spot, we sell Jesus for "thirty pieces of silver." Then there are the times we ask Jesus the hard question, "Who are you really?" We know. We've heard. But we haven't received, so we ask and we ask. We sometimes sound like questioning children, who have heard the answer but keep asking anyway. But unlike children we have no excuse for still asking and not doing. And then we ask for anyone but Jesus. We may be hurting or we may be confused and saddened, and we know Jesus is the answer, but we ask, "Is there anybody else out there?" We become just like the crowd on that day, they could have chosen Jesus, but they chose the more popular, the most reckless, the most wild man they could find, the thief, upriser, rebel Barrabas. And in so letting him loose, we imprison ourselves.
PRAYER: Lord, you know better than I, that many have been the times I have been guilty of all the above. Forgive me and love me. Help me to choose You above all else today in all that I say, think, and do. I pray in Your precious Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

JOYFUL OBEDIENCE

Good day dear friends.
Please keep Bilha Alegria, of Nashville, TN, in your prayers. She underwent painful surgery to have her achilles heel tendon reconnected. As you can imagine recovery has been quite painful.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Matthew 21, 22, 23List the questions addressed to Jesus in Matthew 21 and 22. What seems to be behind the various questions?
The various questions asked of Jesus resemble some that we ask from time to time of Him as well. Who are You? Who gave You authority over my life? Why have You made some of the claims You have made? Can You really do the things You claim?
We know or should know from personal experience Who Jesus is and what He is about. We know or should know His power and authority. We know or should know the good He has come to bring into our lives if we let Him. And we should know Him as Lord and Savior of our lives.
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus today, now, into my heart and life. Let the special holy days approaching have more meaning and significance in those areas where materialism and greed have for so long had a hold. Set me free for joyful obedience, I pray in Your name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE PURPOSE OF THE MESSIAH

Good Sunday everyone.
Here is our study guide for today:
Sunday: Matthew 15, 16, 17What is the significance, as you see it, in Jesus’ predicting his crucifixion just after Peter has recognized him as the Christ?
Prayer Time: Here are some elements in my own personality that I want to bring prayerfully before God daily:
Peter, like us, does not yet recognize the fullness of God's plan. The Messiah would be He who would die for our sins. Peter sees the Messiah as one who would fulfill the dreams and desires of Israel as a nation in a political sense. Jesus came in a spiritual sense to bring us the fullness of life now and the promise of life eternal.
How do you see Jesus?
PRAYER: Lord God, let me see Jesus as my Lord and Savior, as He who loved me, like You, so much that He gave His body and blood for me. Let me live my life in a way that give You glory. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

WHAT'S YOUR PRICE?

Good day dear friends.
Please be in prayer for our brother Don Smith. Don recently underwent surgery and awaits more on November 28th. Don reports his wife Helena is declining rapidly. Pray also for the survivors of the cyclone in Bangladesh. Pray for the families that have been affected by this natural disaster. Also, the tv reported that "Mr. Whiffle" played by Dick Wilson, died.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Matthew 3, 4How would you compare the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness with temptations any Christian might experience?
Someone once said we can all be bought; it's just a matter of knowing our price. What's your price? Another way of stating that is to ask what would we do if we found ourselves in desperate need, for instance hunger? Most would say, well, for me I could go days without eating and I would be all right, but if it was my child, I would do almost anything to make sure that my child gets fed. The first temptation of Christ in the wilderness was that of hunger. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. At the end of that time he found himself completely hungry. Satan comes along and tempts him with Jesus' own power. Satan recognized Who Jesus was and what he was capable of, and so says, knowing full well He was, "If you are the son of God, turn these stones to bread." The rocks in that region look like the bread of Jesus' day and to be hungry and to have a morsal of bread would be enough to sustain one. This was not Jesus' price. Jesus responds how important it is to be fed by the word of God. Those forty days Jesus spend "nourishing" himself on the word of God and in prayer with God.
The second temptation of Christ was that of trusting and tempting God. Jesus was taken to His Father's House and then told to jump, again with the temptation "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down. You know God's angels will protect you." How much or how far do you trust God is the question. And is it necessary to prove that? The answer of course is no. One lives one's life trusting God but not by tempting God or putting God to the test. We are called to live responsible lives, yes at times risking to do God's will, but it is not God's will to throw yourself down from a high place just to prove that God will take care of you.
The last tempation of Christ in the wilderness was that of power and influence. This time Satan doesn't question Jesus' Sonship, but he does say that he will give to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world (and that makes you wonder, does Satan control them or is he just doing what he normally does - lie?) if Jesus would bow down and worship him. Would you worship Satan to gain earthly possessions and power? I heard a podcast last night where the commentator said while leaving Dallas to return home he saw a huge billboard advertising a church and besides no mention of God or Jesus on it, the biggest word on the ad was the word "success." He went on to say, "Forget about putting Christ back into Christmas, put Christ back into Christianity!" Sadly, a lot of folks forget about Christ and His worship, to worship at the feet of power and prestige. What's your price?
The price of Jesus was to pay our price. The price of our sinfulness. All that He endured and suffered was because He knew your price and mine. And He paid it.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me this day be a person of faith, who is fed by You, protected and guided by You, and blessed by You. Let me seek to worship You today in all ways. I pray this in the Name of He who paid my price, Jesus my Lord. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE NEW TESTAMENT!

Good day dear friends. We're in the New Testament!
Here is the study guide for today:
Monday: Matthew 1, 2
How often in these two chapters and for what reasons does the writer refer to the Hebrew scriptures?
Matthew is the first gospel. Most scholars do not believe it was the first gospel written, but placed there by the wisdom of church fathers and mothers as the gospel that introduces Jesus to the church. Some believe Matthew was written primarily for Jewish Christians and thus uses a lot of references to Hebrew (Old Testament) Scriptures. For fun, compare the family trees of Jesus in Matthew with those shared in Luke's Gospel. Matthew stresses the Jewish roots of Jesus and goes back to Abraham. Where does Luke take Jesus? Watch also for the prophetic formula, that which Matthew employs to say "in this Jesus fulfilled Hebrew (OT) prophecy." (See verse 23).
Matthew also found it proper that the Son of God should be visited by royalty. Early versions of his gospel employ the word "King" thus the hymn, "We Three Kings." They're also called the Magi, wise men, or as this version calls them "scholars." Where do we find the visit of shepherds?
PRAYER: Loving God for all for which we are thankful, we are most thankful for Your gift of Jesus Christ for us. May we count Him as the first for which we give thanks this week. I pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

KILLING BABIES, KISSING GOLDEN CALVES

Good day dear friends.
Please remember Billy Hardesty in your prayers this morning. I was able to pray with her just as she was to be taken into surgery at Seton in Austin. Thanks to an Emmaus brother at my 6:30 am reunion group, I was reminded she was to undergo surgery and so I left at 6:30 and got to the surgery area at 7:37, nothing like early morning Austin traffic! She's in great spirits and we pray the Lord grant the doctors and she a victory in Christ' Name.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Hosea 13, 14What about this book have you found most appealing? What is its dominant characteristic?
I don't know what it is about golden calves and their attraction. I've shared before that one of my childhood highlights of traveling from Kingsville to the Valley was the drive on Highway 281 as it turned the corner through Edinburg at the Golden Jersey Creamery. And yes, true to their name (and what were they thinking?) they had a golden cafe above the doorway leading into their building. Once we saw that marvel we knew we were close to our aunt's house. The calf now sits, or it did the last time I walked through the Edinburg Historical Museum. You could not, in those days, convince me that that calf was not a relation to the one Moses had to put up with in the desert.
How often do we go back to that which we know we shouldn't? If you've tried giving up that habit you know is bad for you and those around you, it's very tough to quit. If it's a channel on cable that you know you shouldn't be watching because of the negative influence it has on your life, you still pause there when you're channel surfing. It seems this was the case with the people of Israel as Hosea is trying to share with them what God wanted for their lives.
The saddest thing to read is from the Subject/Title for today: They kill babies, and they kiss golden calves." That pretty much sums up how lost and how far down they had gone. To kill a living, precious child, and then show devotion to a graven image. That's a serious indictment of where they were.
What's the indictment against us? What have we killed when we should have given life? Have we used a negative or hurtful word against someone when we know we should be using our energy and time praying for that person? Where have we shown our devotion? To the living God or to the idol of idle time, such as gossip, slander, half-truths, etc?
The lesson being taught to the people of Israel should be the lesson we need to be taught as well. God is still our God and He loves us and wants us all to turn away from the things that "kill, steal, and destroy" and turn our whole lives back to the fullness of life.
PRAYER: God of life, bring me back to life and that in its fullness. Lead me away from the things that kill, steal or destroy. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

MISS KITTY'S CHARACTER?

Good day dear friends.
Our sister, Billy Hardesty from FUMCSM, is to undergo surgery on Thursday morning in Austin. Please keep her in prayer.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Hosea 7, 8, 9Work out a short description of the soul of Israel as revealed in Hosea’s word in these three chapters.
"Gunsmoke" was one of the most popular series of its time. Some churches rearranged their evening worship hours to accommodate people's viewing preferences. I have to admit I never thought much about who or what Miss Kitty was in this much-loved television show. I thought, being a child at the time and quite honestly not giving that show much thought since it either went off the air or I lost interest in it, that she was a friendly lady who handed out little glasses of tea (at least that's what my mother said they could only serve on television) to thirsty customers. That she had many rooms upstairs made me think she also ran a hotel. I thought quite innocently that she was Marshall Dillon's girlfriend. And she might have been, along with all the others, as was being discussed on a radio show that I was listening to on the car yesterday as I returned home from a meeting in San Antonio. Hmmm. Miss Kitty was a ...? No! Well, maybe.
Hosea was called by God to live a sermon. God asked him to marry a prostitute and this was to live out what God was experiencing with the unfaithfulness of God's people towards God. Gomer, Hosea's wife, was inclined to give or sell her body to whomever she chose, and God told Hosea that's the way these my people are acting and living. Instead of the faithfulness that I seek, they are seeking only after their own pleasure. Your job is to live this sermon so that people will see how foolish their lives are, have been, and will be, if they don't turn back to me!
The short description of Israel's soul can be a description of ours. We seek that which pleases us and sometimes we don't even worry or consider the cost. The cost is an alientation from God and if we're not careful that can be an eternal decision.
PRAYER: Loving God help me to come to my senses about You and about me. Let me seek Thee in all ways. Let my life glorify You. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

HOW DO YOU SHARE FAITH WITH YOURS?

Good day dear friends.
Please keep Jim Scarborough in your prayers. Doctors have discovered he has prostate cancer and he asks for our prayers in determining his treatment and all that is before him. He also asks prayers for his wife, Jane, as she stands beside him during this time. May the Lord bring him complete healing!
Here is today's study guide. The Scriptures will follow a devotional thought:
Monday: Hosea 4, 5, 6Outline the people’s case, and God’s answers, in Hosea 6.
Last week I shared a devotional based on training up a child, etc. And this past weekend while driving in Austin I saw a "typical" Austin car, the kind with more bumper stickers than you can count, let alone read. Well, one of them jumped out at me for it read: National Atheist's Day, November 4th. I shared that thought with the congregation in our Contemporary service and one gentleman asked, "Are they still around?" I said I would not ask for a show of hands and my thought that atheists were not liked because since they don't have to go to church they're always first in line at Luby's. Well, I came home and wondered what information I could find about this national day for nonbelievers and Google revealed that the "real" day for atheists is April 1st, because "the fool says in his/her heart there is no god" and realized that that was not very nice nor true. But I found nothing on any celebrations or anything closely related to a national atheist day. But when I opened the NY Times Sunday magazine I found an interesting article on Antony Flew, a noted British philosopher, who at the age of 27 read a paper he had written called "Theology and Falsification." He read this paper at C. S. Lewis' Socratic Club and from that date in 1950 til the recent few years was noted for being a nonbeliever. He wrote several books that became the intellectual standards for atheists. All from the mind and hand of the son of a Methodist minister, who decided during his teens that he would rebel against dad by becoming a nonbeliever.
It turns out that a new book is coming out called "There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind." This book is co-authored by Roy Abraham Varghese, a noted Christian apologist. It seems now Flew is convinced that there can be scientific proof for explaining God. Flew was changed from nonbeliever to believer by seeing that the "fine tuning" of the laws of nature are too perfect to have been the result of an accident as well as the "intelligent design" argument that human biology cannot be explained by evolution to various computations mean to show that probability favors a devine creator. Some believe that "There is a God" is perhaps the handiest primer shared with society on the science of religious belief.
Nellie and I discussed the article and wondered how Antony Flew, now 81, and his father ended their life. Did "Tony" and Dad have a discussion prior to the parson's death about faith and the lack thereof? Was there forgiveness needed to be shared by either person and if so, was it shared? The article goes on to say that Tony won't be singing in any church's choir for he still rejects Christianity and the God of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians. He doesn't accept Jesus as God, etc., but to have come this far in his journey still is a victory, in a sense, for believers. And certainly a reinforcement of that verse that does say, "Train up a child in the way he or she should go, and when he/she is old s/he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 (Revised Standard Version)
PRAYER: Living God, we thank You for this day. I pray that as the day progresses I would show through my words, actions and thoughts to those around me the faith that I have in You. I especially pray for the "little ones" in my life that need my witness. Make my faith stronger, for I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

OUR EXAMPLE FOR OUR CHILDREN

Good day dear friends.
Here is today's text (and by the way, there was no University of The Way this week in order to allow you to catch up on your readings!):
Proverbs 22:6 Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.
All of my children make me proud, but I was especially proud of Carli, who is on the road this week in Houston, recruiting students for Texas Lutheran University. Prior to her visit to my alma mater, James Madison High School (yes, home of UT's Vince Young), she went by to see my dad and then told him she was going to go and buy lunch for the two of them. After the school fair, for lunch she went and bought food for the two of them. My dad called just to say how Carli had made his day and how happy he was. My dad lives alone and is paralyzed on his left side. A once active, strong man, a stroke left him in this way. He is very lonely and misses my mom terribly. He looks forward to "going home" and being with the Lord and with Mom. He appreciates all visits. Carli making time to be with her grandpa made me very proud.
The Bible makes an incredible promise that if we "train children in the right way," when they are old, they will not stray. I suppose most of us know it from the Revised Standard Version, "6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The key word is train. Our children learn from example and ours is the best teaching one available. Didn't you want to be just like your dad or mom? And didn't you enjoy the day when you realized that mom and dad weren't so dumb after all, they did know what they were talking about?
The "right way" is the way of the Lord. If your child sees that Christ and His church matter to you, it will matter to them. If you child hears positive comments about those who work for the Lord, they will have positive comments about them too. You will shape their perspectives and perceptions about life for the better. The list goes on: Is Sunday school a priority for you? If tithing something you've already trained your children about? We sat next to a cute little girl in church on Sunday and her mother gave her a dollar to place in the plate as it came around. The little girl hesitated and the mom held the girl's hand and showed her that now is the time and here is the place to give.
PRAYER: Loving God, for the precious gifts of children we are thankful. For the gift of knowing the right way, the way to life, we are thankful as well. May we continue to set the example for others in all that we say, think, and do. We ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

GOD CRIED FIRST

Good day dear friends.
Here is the text for today: 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. Colossians 3:16 NRSV).
Every Sunday or Monday, I try to go over all the prayer cards and visitor's cards. As I am sorting through them I am silently praying for every member and visitor. When I have a pile of member cards with prayer requests I take these and all visitors' cards and go to the altar to pray. I pray for each person by name and by listed need. Some of the names later appear on our prayer list, some are listed just for the pastors to pray over. Yesterday one told of a young couple's loss of an unborn child, so I prayed for them and I made a note to visit them last evening, which I did.
It is a devastating thing to lose a child as many in the church know from personal experience. Nellie and I know that experience personally, as does our daughter Sarai and our son-in-law, Eric. I visited this couple in their home and we both shared the sadness that comes with such an unexpected loss. And the thing that spoke to me was that the mom as this was happening remembered a sermon in which I had said, "God cried first." It was a reference to a story by William Sloan Coffin on the death of his son in a tragic accident in New York City. He was the pastor of Riverside Church, a large interdenominational church, and he had also been chaplain at Yale University, and he had many that came to try to comfort him and one particular woman said that it was God's will for this loss. Rev. Coffin said, "Madam, it was not God's will for my son to go and drink excessively. Nor was it God's will for him to get behind the wheel of a car. And it was not God's will for him to drive off that pier and into the water, but I do know that God's heart was the first to break and God was the first to cry when my son died."
This loss of the unborn child happened on the night the cold front came in, with wind and rain, and every drop of the rain reminded this mom of God's tears for us. Such is the wonderful, eternal love of God for you and me.
PRAYER: Loving God thank You for your love and the many ways You speak to us. Comfort those who are crying and mourning. Bring Your peace into every heart that turns to You. We ask it in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK...

Good morning dear friends. We are supposed to be going through The Bible in 52 weeks, mas o menos, and now it will be mas. The Children's Sabbath allowed us a week to catch up with our readings and this coming Sunday we'll start our trek once again.
This weekend allowed Nellie and I time to visit Caty in Denton and on Sunday we visited her second favorite preacher, Dr. Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. Tony is a nationally heard radio preacher and Caty hears him on a regular basis. (I had to remind Caty her favorite preacher is available on-line at our website http://www.fumcsm.org/.)
The text for this particular Sunday was Matthews 5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship is a huge church. We had to park across the street, busy Camp Wisdom Drive in Oak Cliff. But even the Dallas police officers who help worshippers cross the street are nice and friendly. They act as greeters. Once inside the church we were greeted by all those wearing greeter badges. The ushers counted that we were three and sat us near the front, people gladly scooting down to allow us to sit on "their pews." We arrived at 10:50 a.m. and the music was already in session. It was Pastor and Wife Appreciation Sunday and did they shower them with gifts. Dr. Evans has been there for 31 years and the ministry is a result of God working through his vision for this particular area of Dallas.
Dr. Evans' sermon was the third in a series on The Beatitudes: How to Be Truly Blessed and this Sunday's was the one on meekness. Tony explained that being meek is not about being weak, it is about power under control. Among the many examples he used the NFL soup commercial was the most humorous, about how a huge, powerful man, who is paid to be as mean and tough as he can be, is told by his momma to sit down and eat soup. Tony said that man as he sits to eat his soup is no less mean, tough, fast, powerful than he is on the field, but his power is under control while he relates to his mother. In the same way we should seek to be under God's control to be blessed.
This does not mean we lose our individuality, nor do we lose anything, in fact, putting ourselves under God's authority and direction will bring us God's favor and blessing.
PRAYER: Slow me down enough Lord God, to realize how we need to be under Your authority and direction. Help me to be meek when I should. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

LIKE A TREE PLANTED BY THE RIVER'S EDGE

Good morning dear friends.
An update on Rodney: He's home. If you can prepare a meal for him to freeze and use as he recovers please send an email to sslavik@grandecom.net. We thank God for his having been released from the hospital. We ask continued prayers for Aline Roberts, mom to Richard (Karen) Roberts. She is in ICU at Guadalupe Valley Hospital in Seguin.
Here is today's study guide:
Tuesday: Ezekiel 46, 47, 48What is Ezekiel 47 telling us about the role of worship in the life of society?
I don't know why this passage has been on my heart the last couple of days: "Then they (the disciples) left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name (of Jesus). 42 And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Acts 5:41
Ezekiel 47 deals with water and the subtitle for this passage is The Two Trees. It takes a lot of water to sustain a tree and those trees planted alongside a river do best for their roots are able to tap directly into the flowing waters of the river. In the same way the idea of worship is to tap into the flowing waters of life that God offers to us. If we would stop to think of all the blessings that are ours when we go into God's house, we wouldn't have second thoughts about going to worship. If we are thirsty after a rough week and we feel dried out by all that we've encountered, the only place to be renewed and refreshed is in the present of He who give living water. We read this in Jeremiah 17:8 "He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Are you in a spiritual drought or have you been enjoying the blessings of "living waters?" If it's the former, then get back to church. If it's the latter, then rejoice and give thanks for having a place to plug in and be refreshed. If more would come to worship and let God speak to them, we would be living in a different world.
PRAYER: Loving God of living waters, flow fresh into my heart today. Let me know that with You and in You I can find that which refreshes and renews. I pray this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

LIVING IN GOD

Good day dear friends.
Here's an update on Rodney Swan. He continues to heal. I visited with him late yesterday afternoon and he was ready to come home (in his opinion!). Doctors may release him today. His main worry was what his students in his classes did on Friday! He was also watching the Cowboys on tv so he's coming along. Please continue to pray for his complete recovery.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: Ezekiel 43, 44, 45Why do you suppose such strict regulations are laid out for the priests in Ezekiel 44?
There is no room for both God and evil in a person's life. God will not share the space of your heart with anything that is not of His. And this is more true for those whose job it is to worship Him. Ezekiel knew from experience and from recent history that some of the Levite priests left their sacred job of tending to the things of God to become the priests for idol gods. Only the Levite priests who descended from Zadok were to now serve in the most sacred areas of God.
No matter how much we may try to justify our being involved with things that are not of God, the reality is that God will not want to share His sacred space with filth. And if we believe ourselves to be Christian our lives should only be filled with God and the things of God. The job of the priest is to educate and train by example. That is our job as well. Can people know we've been in the presence of God yesterday and today? Can people learn from the way that we live or do we do such a poor job that they learn nothing?
PRAYER: Loving, Holy God, help me to live a holy life. May the words, thoughts, actions of my life reflect my commitment to You. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

GOD SEES THINGS THAT CAN BE AND SAYS GET TO WORK!

Good Lord's Day everyone! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord!
May those two Bible verses speak to our souls this Lord's Day. The day was made for Him and we should gather in His house to praise and worship Him!
Update: Rodney Swan is still in the hospital in Austin and he was able to open his eyes a bit late afternoon yesterday. Jessica was sent home and is doing fine. Please keep Rodney in your prayers.
Here is our reading for today:
Sunday: Ezekiel 40, 41, 42Why would the details of the Temple be so significant to Ezekiel’s audience?
Those who love the Lord seek to be in relationship with Him all the time. And to those who love the Lord and are in relationship with Him receive from God visions of what can be. Usually these concern His church, for God loves His church and wants the best for those who make up the church, represented in this first vision in chapter 40 by the building of the Temple. God presents a vision and with it comes the question, "why not?" This becomes hard for those who don't know the Lord to say, "we've never done it that way before, why would we change now?" Or the most classic form of that, "this is the way we've always done it before, why change now?" And sadly this is also the way some folks see their own lives. "I can't be any better, I've tried!" Wrong! "I don't see where what I've done or the way I've lived is wrong." Wrong again! "God couldn't possibly want me!" Wrong still again!
God's vision for us is to keep bettering ourselves and to take "God-risks" letting God have His way and His say in our lives and in the lives of our churches. See the vision of God reaching all people. Receive the vision of God changing you!
PRAYER: Loving God of all possibilities, thank you for the vision that You will share in my life for myself and for my church. Help me not be limit Your power but to receive what You have shown as the things that can be. I ask this in the Name of He who can do all things, Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord in the Lord's House!
e.v.

LOOKING FOR GOD IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: Ezekiel 23, 24, 25The language in Ezekiel 23 is direct and explicit. Draw from it a description of the apostasy and faithlessness of Israel and Judah addressed in this allegory.
I doublechecked the language in the New Revised Standard Version with The Message version, and they're both pretty much alike. It is very explicit language and with a reason. God's anger in his message comes through about Samaria and Jerusalem's behavior when it comes to God. Instead of being faithful to God they have become like slaves to sex in their worship of idols and other false gods. They even have gone so far as to sacrifice children to appease their idol worship. None of this was acceptable to God. All went against what God expected from His children.
To be faithless to God is a serious offense even today. We know of His love for us yet we go seeking love, as the songs says, in all the wrong places. And to quote yet another song (I'm on a roll today!) we end up looking in low places. Ours is a higher calling. Ours is to follow Heaven. And what do we do? We follow the here and now and the instant gratification. We know little of sacrifice, patience, and obedience. We seldom think in spiritual terms any more. And we pay the price.
PRAYER: Living God, remind me again and again of the things that are Yours. Remind me that I am Yours and should live my life in that way. Help me to be a light and beacon to others about You. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

A LIFE LIVED IN LOVE

Good day dear friends.
Here is today's study guide:
Thursday: Jeremiah 46, 47, 48, 49What consistent elements, if any, do you find in these judgments upon the several Gentile nations?
The consistent element in God's message to all the Gentile ("godless" in this version) was the same: You're being judged for your transgressions against others. You've preyed on the weak and helpless and you do it for your own personal, selfish gain.
God is the God of all nations and people. God's message is the same today as it was yesterday: Love others as you love yourself. And this means treat them in that way, a way of love. Sadly, when it comes to nations and power, they tend to exercise that against others for greed and gain.
How do you treat others? How do you treat those members of your family? Are you known as a loving person? Or are you agressive and prideful and selfish? God's call for us all it to live a life of love.
PRAYER: Loving God, forgive me for my sins. Forgive me those times that I've trespassed against others. Help me this day live a life of love. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.

TRUE WORSHIP

Good day dear friends. Let me say how much I appreciate you and your willingness to get deeper into God's Word. It has been a difficult journey for some to even understand The Message version (and yes, the translator's choice of some words have disturbed even me!), but I thank God for you and your willingness to be a student of the most precious word there is, and that is the love letter from God to you and me.
If you like a particular devotion, please forward it to a friend. And if you get someone to subscribe to ConCafe, it won't hurt my feelings. It's up to us to awaken the sleeping giant that is the Christian nation, too comfortable in their sleeping and inactivity; imagine what would happen if all of God's people prayed and lived His Word!
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: Ezekiel 7, 8, 9, 10Ezekiel 8 tell’s one of Ezekiel’s dramatic visionary experiences. What connection do see between Ezekiel’s extraordinary visions and the circumstance of his ministry in exile?
Imagine the holiest place you can and then imagine arriving there and finding all that had once made it such a holy place is now the exact opposite. And imagine yourself standing up and speaking against it. You would find that your message to those in that once holy place would be unwelcomed and ridiculed. You would soon find yourself outside that holy place and standing somewhere else.
Ezekiel saw in his vision exactly what had happened to The Temple. The once majestic symbol of Israel's faith and might had now been turned into a worship place for Asherah, the sex goddess, whose religious "practice" attracted so many. In another part of the Temple Ezekiel finds paintings on the walls of reptiles and animals and monsters as worshiped by the Egyptians. And he found men worshiping them. And these God called the "elders." He also found a woman weeping for another goddess. And then he found men worshiping the sun.
Are you shocked? Would you be shocked to know that some people have quit worshiping God and started "worshiping" other things while in worship services? Their minds distracted, they cannot focus or center themselves on God, instead they fret and worry about what they should be doing. Others think of places they could be and soon leave the worship of God to be out in the "worship" of sun, surf, etc. You might argue that this is not to be compared with the terrible atrocities being committed by the so-called people of God, but what is the difference? If we're there in body but not in mind and spirit, then we're not truly in worship. God deserves and wants our full attention and devotion. What are you going to do this coming Sunday?
PRAYER: Loving Father, let me center myself completely in You today and all days. Let my days in church be days where I do worship You in spirit and truth. Let those days be days when You truly speak to me and my life and help me be the person You want. I ask this in Jesus' precious and mighty name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Ezekiel 4, 5, 6In what sense was Jerusalem “in the center of the nations” (Ezekiel 5:5)?
The people of God were called to be a nation of priests. They were called to be a "light to all nations," never to be one like all the rest. Their lives, their worship, their manner of dealings with others, was to be an example of what it means to be a nation of God, ruled by God, and guided by Him. Jerusalem as their capital was to be the "center of all nations" so that in the capital city they could see the leaders, the chief priests, the leading citizens doing what it was that those who belong to God do.
But it was not that way. Jerusalem became just like all the cities of the world, lost, misguided, sinful.
You and I when we became Christians were called to be like those original people of God; an example to others, not like the others. We are to be the salt and light to others, having the positive impact on our neighbors, coworkers, relatives and friends, not the other way around. Sadly, quite too often, we give in and say, what's the use, I'll just be like everybody else. No one will ever see a better way to live in us, because we've given up and we live just like those who don't know Christ.
PRAYER: Loving Jesus, let me live like You and may You be seen in me. Give me strength to hold on and to be like You in all things. May others see in me a better way to live! I pray this in Your precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

YOUR CALL FROM GOD

Good day dear friends.
I'm sorry I was not able to send ConCafes for this weekend. While at the Leadership Institute I did not have internet access at the hotel where we stayed. But that's another story. To continue to read your scriptures online, please visit bibleresources.bible.com, type in the requested scriptures, then the version you prefer (The one I use to these devotionals is The Message). The scriptures for Friday thru Sunday were Jeremiah 50, 51, 52; Lamentations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Here is today's study guide:
Monday: Ezekiel 1, 2, 3Compare Ezekiel’s call in Ekekiel 1-3 with those of (Isaiah 6) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1
Ezekiel experienced a call a bit different from Jeremiah, but still a call. Ezekiel had a vision of a creature with four heads, wheels, domes, and other remarkable and extraordinary things. But he summed it up as being the Glory of God. For our understanding, Ezekiel is saying that he had seen Heaven on earth or the purity and sacredness of God was so awesome, there is no other way to explain it. This also shows up when Jesus is transfigured in front of three of his disciples in Matthew 17.
Ezekiel is a 30 yr. old priest already in the service of God, but God calls him to be a prophet. He tells him up front that Israel has become the most rebellious people God has ever seen. God also says that they might not listen to him, but his job is still to proclaim the message of God in spite of what the people do.
You and I were called at our baptism, to do something for God. It was our entrance into the Body of Christ and to be a part of the Body means we have been given a special role and responsibility to do something for God. Yesterday in my sermon I mentioned that it might just be a word of encouragement to a co-worker, or a loving invitation to them to come with you to worship. That small simple act might be a life-saving, life-changing event in the life of your friend or loved one.
PRAYER: Lord, help me to accept Your call today. Open my eyes and mouth to help me share what You would. May I seek to be obedience in all ways. I pray this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

WISDOM FOR TRUE STRENGTH

Good day dear friends.
Special prayers for a team from our church traveling to Kansas City this evening for the '07 Leadership Institute at The United Methodist Church of The Resurrection. We leave today and return home on Saturday. The team includes Terry Estes, Sue Carson, Jim Scarborough, Frank Flauto, Pastor Ryan and myself.
Also, for baby Chloe Bluz Chamness, who was able to leave the hospital on Sunday, but still fights jaundice and may have to return back to the hospital. Her parents are new members Chad and Christine.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Jeremiah 46, 47, 48, 49What consistent elements, if any, do you find in these judgments upon the several Gentile nations?
Jeremiah 46You Vainly Collect Medicines 1 God's Messages through the prophet Jeremiah regarding the godless nations.
The lessons shared with the "godless nations" could be shared with those who do no know God: Either come to know God or get used to being in battle all the time. Not against God, but against life! You can be the strongest person in the world, and still not be able to lift the burdens of your heart. You can be the fastest person in the world, but you can't outrun sorrow and sadness. You can be the best swimmer in the world, but still drown in worry and doubt. You can be the best archer in the world and still miss the mark of righteous living. Will this help you in anything? No. Only God can deliver us from the challenges of life.
Life is lived so much more confidently if one knows, loves, walks and trusts the Lord. Any other way to live is half-empty!
PRAYER: Loving God, give me wisdom and all that I need to know, love, walk and trust in You. I pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

HEARING WHAT WE WANT

Good day dear friends.
A reminder that through ConCafe we are making our way through the Bible in 52 weeks. We're already in our seventh month! God's Word is precious and powerful, but only if we take time to read it. It had been years since I read it through from page one to the last one, and for many that's also true. So, prayerfully and lovingly, read the recommended texts to get deeper into the word of God.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Jeremiah 40, 41, 42, 43Trace the activities of Jeremiah through these several chapters.
Don't you love to hear what you want to hear? We seldom like hearing what we don't want to hear. It's almost a universal truth and it applies to the remnant of Judah in these chapters. One is murdered because he doesn't believe that someone would come and kill him. A man informed him that he was to die at the hand of Ishmael, but that if he wanted, he could go and kill Ishmael before he came and killed him. No way! Well, a few days later Ishamel comes and kills the man. In the same way, the remant of Judah wants Jeremiah to pray to God to ask what they should do. God tells them through Jeremiah, stay put. No, that's too easy, we're leaving.
If we listen to God, God has our best interests at heart. We may not hear what we want, but God will be with us.
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for loving and being with us. Help me today hear Your voice guiding me to faithfulness. I pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
e.v.

UNPOPULAR MESSENGER

Good day dear friends.
We had a great worship service at the park as well as at the church, as we celebrated the 160th birthday of the church. We fed over 250 people at the park, including some folks who just happened to be at the park for the day. Some even came to take park in worship and didn't eat with us. It was a great day!
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: Jeremiah 37, 38, 39How do you explain a person like the Ethiopian, Ebed-melech, who came out of nowhere, so to speak, to help Jeremiah when no one else would?
What a difficult job Jeremiah had! No one believed him any longer for his having spoken the truth of God. And who would believe a message that said, "Surrender to the Babylonians and you will live, resist and you will die at the hands of the Chaldeans." It appeared to be a no-win situation for the king and certainly more so for Jeremiah, the prophet of God. Jeremiah had chosen to speak God's truth even in the face of hatred and resistance. The people followed the king and so they did not believe the prophet. It took an outsider, a foreigner, to believe and help out Jeremiah.
What do you do when you face those who don't believe you, especially if you're trying to serve the Lord? I believe God will send someone who does and who will help. Our call is to remain faithful to the Lord and His teachings, not cave in to trying to be popular and accepted. The call to be a Christian is never an easy one.
PRAYER: Loving God, give me courage to continue to follow You. Help me this day to speak and share that which I know comes from You. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

GOD'S MESSAGE IN GOD'S PLACE

Good day dear friends.
Our newest members to the church family have a new member of their family as well! Chloe Bluz Chamness was born to Christine and Chad last night at McKenna in New Braunfels. She was four weeks premature, but still weighed in at 7 lbs. She is facing some minor difficulties, so we ask your prayers for Baby Chloe.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Jeremiah 25, 26, 27Why would God instruct Jeremiah to deliver the message of Jeremiah 26 in the Temple, of all places?
It was precisely the Temple where the false teachings were being shared with God's people. What should have been sermons of instruction and invitation back to God, the messages only reinforced the attractiveness of the culture and the path away from God. We all need, from time to time, to be told again of what God requires from us. We can't assume we're the only ones who require from God. It's the other way around. God made us for His pleasure and service. We should obey that.
It should be in church where we come ready to hear what God would share with us to truly become the people God wants us to be. As we prepare for our weekly worship, let it be the culmination of a week-long worship we do on our own as we seek to know God's will for our lives.
PRAYER: Come, loving God, and speak again to my heart. Let me know exactly what it is you would have me do for you. I praise You in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

FRUITFUL FOR THE LORD

Good day dear friends.
Please lift up in prayer Marky Vela. Marky has lived his whole short life with cerebral palsy and he is near the end of his life. Please also pray for his mother and family as this has been a most difficult time for them.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: Jeremiah 22, 23, 24If you were to deliver Jeremiah’s parable of the good and bad figs to a modern audience, what figure of speech might you use in place of his agricultural one to carry the parable’s meaning?
This is an interesting question. People understand the parable of good and bad figs; you can eat good figs but you can't eat spoiled, rotten figs. The image that came to mind was to choose between cell phones. It seems everyone has a cell phone now. But would you choose the one with no battery? Or one that was broken? The point is simple, those who wander away from God for whatever reason lose their usefulness for God. Until they return to God and submit to God, God will not use them.
This is what the people of Israel did, and this is what we do from time to time. Staying in God's favor and seeking God's will, is what will lead us to faithfulness and fruitfulness. This is what we should seek.
PRAYER: Loving God, choose me today to do what You will. Let me stay true to You all days. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
e.v.

FACING DISCOURAGEMENT

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Jeremiah 19, 20, 21Find individual words to describe Jeremiah’s series of emotions in Jeremiah 20.
A reality faced by those who serve the Lord is that of discouragement. To serve God is not the most popular decision one can make. Not everyone will rejoice and not everyone will agree or accept what one tries to do for God. To be called by God to be a prophet was a most difficult task for all the prophets who honestly served God, and Jeremiah was not exception. He faced ridicule and scorn and the threats of harm or death. Even the high priest in the Temple had Jeremiah whipped and arrested for preaching the truth.
How do you handle discouragement that comes from trying to do what God asks of you in your life? To try and be a Christian is not easy and not everyone will support you or agree with you. Some may even abandon you for making decisions that are not popular or well accepted. But God would say to you and me, never give up. I am with you!
PRAYER: Loving God help me with moments of discouragement. Grant me vision and hope for this and all days. I pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
PS Don't forget this coming Sunday we will be worshiping at Rio Vista Park at 10 a.m. This is followed by a delicious BBQ luncheon and then a time of recreation and fun! No BBQ will be served at the 8:30 service. See you all there!

A PRESENCE RELATIONSHIP

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Jeremiah 4, 5, 6Identify the sins of Jerusalem described in Jeremiah 5.
I can do no wrong in the eyes of my granddaughter. She's at the age where anything I do, any face I make, causes her to smile or laugh. The only wrong I do is when she's being carried by her grandmother, and I leave the room. She cries like she is in terrible pain. As soon as I come back in, she is fine. To be fair, she does the same if I'm carrying her and grandma leaves the room. For her at her age, relationship means having both grandparents together paying attention to her.
Today's reading of Jeremiah 5 reminds me a bit of what God desires and how we react to that desire. God desired, and still does, a "presence" relationship. Just like I know my granddaughter will soon be more mobile and crawl away on her own, then walk, then run, we do the same to God. God wants us near, we want to be on our own. The people to whom Jeremiah was preaching, had chosen to leave God behind and move on to a life of sin. And what sin could that be? To wander off in search of another god.
Nothing nor no one can take the place of God. We may seek substitutes but we'll never find one. The place in your heart meant for God can only be filled by God. Money, sex, drugs, alcohol, cars, boats, planes, big houses, none of those things can fill that place.
God wants a presence relationship with you right now. Why do you hold back?
PRAYER: Loving God, I know You desire a presence relationship with me, let it be. Let me seek You at all times and in all places. Help me to see You. Let others see You in me as well. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

HOLDING ON TO GOD

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Wednesday: Jeremiah 1, 2, 3List what you know about Jeremiah from reading Jeremiah 1.
Jeremiah's father was Kilkiah. His dad and Jeremiah were priests. They lived in Anathoth in the country of Benjamin. We know when Jeremiah's call came (13th year of King Josiah's reign). We also know that this call from God was constant, it kept coming until the fifth month of the 11th year of King Zedekiah's reign.
God's message to Jeremiah was that God shaped him in the womb and knew Jeremiah well. And God revealed that His plan for Jeremiah included Jeremiah's being a prophet. God promised He would guide Jeremiah in all ways. He even touched Jeremiah's mouth and "hand-delivered" His message for His people. Jeremiah's job was to tear down and build up. His job would be to rebuild and plant. God also shows Jeremiah a walking stick as a sign that God was with him. God then shows Jeremiah a boiling pot which symbolized the coming destruction of the kingdom. But Jeremiah was to know that God had made him indestructable to anything that would come against him. God called Jeremiah a one-man defense team.
It all says the same thing: Serving and standing for God is never easy. We'll encounter others with their own opinions about life, faith, God. We'll encounter those who would like nothing better than to destroy the work of God in our midst, all in the name of doing good or doing better. But ours is a faith that says to hold on to God and to do what God would have us do.
PRAYER: Loving God help my faith in You today to stay strong. Let me seek to serve only You in all things. I pray that Your message would be strong and clear to me, and that I receive from You that which helps me to hold on. I pray in Jesus' strong Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE COMING OF THE LORD

Good day dear friends.
Reeves Perry was released from St. David's Hospital in Austin last evening after spending time there since Saturday. While mowing his grass he passed out, was found by a jogger and taken by ambulance to SD fearing a stroke. Doctors have not determined what caused this. Please keep Reeves and Marilyn in your prayers.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Isaiah 64, 65, 66The latter portion of our reading speaks of a new day, when the Lord will rule over all. Compare Isaiah 65:17-19 and Revelation 21:1-4.
One of my favorite Bible verses as a child is found in today's reading. It was the images the verses spoke of "Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the same trough," (Isa 65:25) that caught my attention. Though I was young I knew enough to know that wolves and lambs don't normally "graze" together. I knew what a wolf loves to graze on is a lamb, and the same for a lion and ox eating straw. The lion would naturally and normally love to rip the ox like straw and then eat it completely. So, for us to read this passage speaks of the action of God coming in an unexplainable way. And when you think about it, isn't that what the movements of God are, unexplainable, wonderful acts that we just receive and enjoy.
The passage from Revelation 21:1-4 speak exactly of what Isaiah saw: "1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Isaiah saw "17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress."
God is doing and will do marvelous things. Are you prepared? If you are, you are seeing the marvelous things right now. If you aren't, you don't know what I'm talking about, and you're missing so much. Our attitude should be one that says, come, Lord Jesus and move in me now; let me see life in its fullness; let me be ready for the coming of Your Father's Kingdom, when all things will be made new.
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus, and move in me now. Let me see life in its fullness. I pray that I might be ready for the coming of Your Father's Kingdom, when all things will be amde new. Amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

IS HE YOUR MESSIAH?

Good day dear friends.
Here is the study guide for today:
Monday: Isaiah 61, 62, 63Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 in his hometown of Nazareth. Read the story in Luke 4:16-30. Why do you think Jesus’ townspeople responded as they did?
If you read the whole of Luke 4, you see Jesus had a custom or habit, of going to his church on the Sabbath. It was in this setting that Jesus shares Isaiah in the reading. Isaiah knew God's Spirit and his entire ministry was guided by the Holy Spirit and so he says, in prophetic tones that the Spirit was going to move in a marvelous way: Good news proclaimed to the poor, captives released, the blind would see, no more oppression, and the year of the Lord's favor was coming. Jesus' neighbors heard it in their frame of reference which was a great historical piece, meaning something to another era, not them, and to hear the carpenter's son say that He was the one to do all these things was received in the same way you and I would have reacted to someone we knew saying he was the annointed one.
But the more important question is how we see Jesus today. Has He fulfilled the prophecies of the coming Messiah? Is His message the one the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed waited to hear? In my opinion, yes, and more! But what do you say, and how do you live it?
PRAYER: Father, we thank You for Jesus and His message and life. We thank You for His being our Messiah. May He reign in our hearts and lives forever. We ask this in Jesus' precious Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
e.v.

TRUE FASTING

Good Lord's Day everyone. I trust this will find you preparing or already prepared to enter the Lord's House with thanksgiving and praise! Or relaxing after having spent the morning worshiping God and learning more about Him!
Here is our study guide for today:Sunday: Isaiah 58, 59, 60Isaiah 58 contains a powerful statement on fasting. Rewrite 58:6-7 in words to fit your time and place.
Prayer Time: Let us pray daily for God to stir the church so it will have a message for our time; and let us pray daily that our generation will be prepared to hear God’s word.
Here is the recommended passage in Today's NIV: 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Fasting is taking our focus off physical nourishment and placing that same energy and attention to the spiritual. It is a way of saying to the Lord, I can live on Your word rather than just on food. It is an act of worship and humbleness, and one that is sadly overlooked by so many. Yet, Isaiah says the kind of fasting God wants is the kind that gives up oppressing others, to work for justice, overcoming those barriers and thinking that keeps others down and away from true fullness of life. True fasting involves a turning away from ourselves and looking towards others, and that includes our giving so that the hungry will have food, the homeless will find shelter, and the one needing clothes will be clothed. This is true fasting.
PRAYER: Loving God, I am so good about taking care of me that often I forget You have lovingly called me to care for others. Help me be a person of true fasting so that I can give and live as I should. I pray this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

A WHOLE AND COMPLETE LIFE

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today
Saturday: Isaiah 55, 56, 57How does Isaiah 55, addressed to Isreal, address us also?
God's promises to Isaiah are our promises as well. Seek God and you will be blessed. Seek your own way and you'll end up lost. Seek God and you will be satisfied and blessed. Seek your own way and you'll end up empty and still hungry.
God's main promise for His people is the same for us: A whole and complete life. It's ours for the asking. Why don't you ask? You've tried the rest, now try the best!
PRAYER: Loving God of life and the fullness of life, fill me today with You! Let me quit seeking that which does not satisfy. I ask it in Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE HOLY CITY OF GOD

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today, but no telling when yahoogroups will get it to you!
Thursday: Isaiah 50, 51Again in Isaiah 51 Jerusalem is assured of restoration and of God’s care. Why was Jerusalem so important?
Jerusalem is the City of God. So named or called because of the place it has held for centuries as a holy city. The heyday of Jerusalem was when David made it the capital of Israel and it symbolized through Solomon's reign and building program, the greatness of the Jewish people. It was the major city of their faith, it reflected their military and political power, and it was a center of commerce. It was a city that said, "With God, all things are possible!" Think about what Jesus said about the great city and the image of a New Jerusalem we have in the last book of the Bible.
Jerusalem can also be a symbol of the ideal in our lives. A model of what can be if we trust wholly in God. For the people listening to Isaiah it was a call to repentance and restoration and for us the same. If your life is not as it should be, if you're not right with God, Jerusalem becomes that which should be and can be, if you trust in God.
PRAYER: Loving Father, may we all come to the holy city in our lives, where You reign as King and we serve You as subjects. Make my life whole and bring me closer to You, I pray in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

NEW IN THE LORD

Good day dear friends.
Yesterday's devotional I thought had been mailed out. Nellie asked me late last night if I had sent it and I said I had. And now that I'm way behind this morning, the first thing that pops up is that yesterday's message is "Awaiting Approval." Great. Sorry it's late.
Here is today's study guide:
Wednesday: Isaiah 46, 47, 48, 49Isaiah 49 speaks of the restoration of Jerusalem, which was fulfilled as the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. To what degree might this passage be applied to later times, including our own day?
In all our dealings, both at home and at work, we are to be known as God's people. There should not be a compartment where we try to keep God or our godly living. All areas of our lives should reflect the glory of the Lord in us. Restoration speaks of making new what was once broken. In other words, in God's hands, all things can be made new. Listen to that, not "like new" which is always a gamble as you try to be something that has been "reconditioned" or "almost new." NEW! That's restoration. That's life in God's hands. All who ask to be made new are so made.
What's cracking up in your life today? Turn it over to God through prayer and faith and wait upon the Lord. You'll be amazed and blessed.
PRAYER: Lord, you better than anyone know what is cracking up and breaking down in my life. I turn those over to You and trust You. Make all my life NEW! I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

WHO'S THE REAL IDOL?

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Isaiah 43, 44, 45What are our modern equivalents to idolatry? In what fashion are we worshipers of idols?
When our parents were growing up, roughly 80% of the people in the US went to church every Sunday. During our childhood (the Boomers) that number was about 50%, our kids' generation only 30%, and it is feared that by the time our grandkids are adults that number will have dropped to 10%. That generation will know "Adam and Eve" as perhaps in the form of a joke. The names of Samson, Moses, Noah will not be common. And even sadder, the Name of Jesus may not be known as Lord and Savior. What does that say about modern equivalents to idiotry, I mean, idolatry? That some actually make themselves idols and cater only to their needs. Others make staying in bed on Sunday, or having fun on Sunday with their cars, boats, planes, etc. their idols. And anytime we place anyone or anything above God, we are indeed worshiping idols.
The people of Isaiah's time suffered what they did because they did not know God. They placed their faith in what their neighbors did, which was to buy an idol and place it in their home or in a neighborhood temple, and God told Isaiah to tell the people that they were wasting their time, for nothing comes of idol worship. Not even today.
Go back and reread the Ten Commandments and see what God says about Himself. Know that our God is a living God, and one who doesn't take second place to anyone or anything.
PRAYER: Loving God, let me make You number one in my life again today. Never let me be distracted by idols or the worship of anything or anyone other than You. Forgive me the sins of my past. I pray these things in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

OUR TRUST IN GOD

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Isaiah 30, 31, 32Why did the prophet speak so vigorously against an alliance with Egypt? What spiritual factors were involved in such an alliance?
There are a myriad of ways to make decisions. Yet, two concern the Isaiah relates God being concerned and interested: Those decisions made with God in mind, and those made with us in mind. The two don't always intersect. And to make a decision to join in an alliance with Egypt truly went against God. Egypt was not known as one of the countries in which God was worshipped. Their history should have told them that the great showdown between Moses and Pharoah was really a showdown between a man who claimed to be a god, and the one true God. Moses represented God, and Pharoah represented his office which was believed to be Egypt's god. And we know who won that contest.
To make a decision to enter into a treaty with Egypt was go enter into a treaty with another god. And our God is a jealous God. We either trust God completely or we don't. There are no other gods in whom we can place our trust, especially in the sacred matter of our salvation.
Where does your trust lie? Are you walking with and trusting God or have you put your trust somewhere else?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you for my salvation through Your Son, Jesus. Help me to make decisions that reflect that commitment I have in You and that You have in me. Help me to tell others. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

PLEASING GOD

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Isaiah 24, 25, 26In what sense does Isaiah 24 refer to a specific, coming time, and in what sense is it a kind of general warning, intended to bring listeners and readers to repent?
The entrance question to join the early Methodist society was, "Are you willing to flee the coming wrath of God?" Quite a question! Very pointed. Some today would ask, what sort of question is that, or, I wouldn't join a group that asks such questions! Sadly, the Israelites thought much along those lines as well. They didn't care about angering God or that a result of that anger might bring destruction to them and their nation.
The passage from Isaiah 24 is indeed a general warning to all who hear it and receive it, to turn away from sin and towards God. The images the prophet is sharing are serious ones: "God's about to ravish the earth and leave it in ruins..." The list of who's to be included is simply everyone, no one will escape. Everyone has violated the covenant they had with God and they could care less.
This was mentioned in my sermon on Sunday; we think we're growing more sophisticated and mature, and we dismiss altar promises made yesterday as sentimental or emotional decisions that we can't accept today, we dismiss things we once saw as miracles as nothing special, and as Isaiah said in his first chapter, we've become dumber than the ox. At least the ox knows its owner. We've forgotten, and we find ourselves far from Him.
May we strive today to please God with our thoughts, words, and actions. May we seek to be a light to those still walking and living in darkness. May we offer God's love through our life.
PRAYER: Holy God, make me holy. Remind me of Your great love. Help me to seek ways to please You and glorify You. May my life be an example to others. I ask this in Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE PEACE OF CHRIST

Good day dear friends.
Happy Labor Day to everyone! I hope you all enjoy a restful day, with safe travel either for you or your loved ones!
Here is today's study guide:
Monday: Isaiah 20, 21, 22, 23Make a list of countries referred to in these prophecies. What significance, if any, do you find in the list?
The names may have changed, but the ages-old conflicts continue. Egypt, Assyria, Israel, Tyre, etc., all in the same area, all with the same hatred towards each other. According to the Bible, these are all related. From the common ancestor, Abraham, came Ishmael, the father of the Arabs, and from Isaac, came the Jews. Separated at birth by anger, that anger continues to this day and it seems that nothing will ever bring peace to them.
Sadly, this carries over in our own families at time. Though we might not be separated by anger, sometimes hurt feelings and resentments last through years and a funeral or pending funeral brings out the worse in us, and what good does it do? We need the peace of Christ in our hearts and allow that to govern us, and we'll see the family, the community, the world, would all be better places.
PRAYER: Loving God of love, send me the peace of Christ so that I can be a person of love in all places, starting with my family. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

A POWERFUL REMNANT

Good day dear friends.
Here is our study guide for today:
Friday: Isaiah 10, 11, 12The concept of a “remnant” is introduced in Isaiah 10. What is the significance of such an idea from a spiritual point of view?
A "remnant" in a spiritual point of view is that group of people who never lose faith and hold on to God when everyone else has given up. Or those who stay faithful to God when everyone else has decided to follow their own desires and ideas. For God to know that a remnant would remain, even in the midst of widespread desertion of the once faithful, meant a lot to Him. And it still means a lot to God for us who hold Him dear, to live our lives that shows that we are a remnant. Sadly, a remnant is a smaller piece of a greater whole, but it can be the most power piece in faith and spirit.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to stay faithful to You as your remnant today. May my life give example to others. I ask this in Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

THE PRESENCE OF PEACE

Good day dear friends.
We ask your prayers for John Schaeffer of our church who was to undergo a stomach procedure up in Austin. He has had a rough couple of months with health issues and we pray for his quick recovery. Pending the outcome of this test he might be home for the Labor Day weekend.
Also, prayers for Katrina, our Children's Ministry Coordinator. She is undergoing an exam this afternoon.
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Isaiah 7, 8, 9Identify passages in this section that are often seen as prophecies about the coming Messiah. How do you understand them in this context?
All in God's time, and all according to God's plans, even when they don't make human sense. But if you think about it, in the context of human relationships and interactions, God's prophecy for the people of Israel comes when brothers/sisters are up against brothers/sisters. The tribes that have now become nations, who are directly related you would think would be supportive and loving towards each other, but they're not. And doesn't that happen when material possessions are involved?
God says to them/us, "I'm going to act in an unbelievable way: A virgin shall conceive. And she will bear a son and his name shall be Emanuel, which means 'God with us.'" It will take this incredible act in the midst of their warring to show that God still cares and is still involved in our lives. And later the Names of that child are shared that further our hope in God's majesty and might.
What will it take in your life for you to know God is still God and in control? God already fulfilled the prophecies through Jesus. Jesus doesn't have to be born again and again, except in your heart. Having the presence of Jesus in your heart will mean your having the peace of God in your life. What's holding you back?
PRAYER: God of unexplainable wonder and might, come into my heart again or for the first time today. Let me have the presence and peace of the Lord Jesus. I ask this in His Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.