Thanksgiving & Making Peace

"So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift.” – Matthew 5:23-24 (NCV)

 

Who has something against you?  Who do you have something against?  Have you tried to make peace with that person?  Why would Jesus say we must make peace before we can offer our gifts to God?  What does peace look like?  Is peace a gift to God?

 

The following story came from an unknown author in an e-mail to me:

I grew up in the '50s with very practical parents.  A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it.  My father was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, lawn mower in one hand, dishtowel in the other.  It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.  But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away... never to return.  So, while we have it... it's best we love it... and care for it... and fix it when it's broken... and heal it when it's sick.  This is true for marriage... and old cars... and children with bad report cards... and dogs with bad hips... and aging parents... and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

 

We make peace because our brothers and sisters are worth it!  Our friends and family will not last forever, so it’s best to make peace quick.  God will always be there to give our gifts too, so He wants a different gift first.  The gift of knowing His children are at peace with one another!  This Thanksgiving we must not offer our thanks to God before we have made peace with those who have something against us!

Our "Yes" Face

He said: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior.  My God is my rock.  I can run to him for safety.  He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender and my place of safety.  The Lord saves me from those who want to harm me.” – 2 Samuel 22:2-3 (NCV)

 

How is God your rock?  Do you run to God for safety?  How have you witnessed God saving you from those who would do you harm?  What is life like when you rely on God in this way? 

 

The following story was told by Chuck Swindoll:

During Thomas Jefferson's presidency he and a group of travelers were crossing a river that had overflowed its banks. Each man crossed on horseback fighting for his life. A lone traveler watched the group traverse the treacherous river and then asked President Jefferson to take him across. The president agreed without hesitation, the man climbed on, and the two made it safely to the other side of the river where somebody asked him: "Why did you select the President to ask this favor?" The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the President of the United States who had carried him safely across. "All I know," he said, "is that on some of your faces was written the answer 'No' and on some of them was the answer 'Yes.' His was a 'Yes' face."

 

Those who know that God is their rock always have a “Yes” face!  Life throws many things our way.  When bad things happen some react with fear, and others know that they can run to God for safety, for He is their Savior.  When we know God in this way others will say of us,  “All I know is that on your face is written the answer ‘Yes.’”

With hope and joy,

Garrett

Being Interviewed by FOX

Dear all,

I was interviewed by the local FOX News station about the problems of sexual addiction.  Not my best hair day however.

http://www.wfxl.com/news/video.aspx?id=219793

True Religion

People who think they are religious but say things they should not say are just fooling themselves. Their "religion" is worth nothing. Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence. – James 1:26-27 (NCV)

 

Have you encountered people who think they are religious but are fooling themselves?  Are you someone who is fooling yourself?  Who needs help and how can you help them?  Why must you be careful of the world’s evil influence?  How will you act to ensure that God accepts your religion?

 

The following story was found at: http://www.inspirationpeak.com/cgi-bin/stories.cgi?record=142

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. 

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it.  The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.
 "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.



"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."



He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.



So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.



The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

 

Some are so afraid of the world’s evil influence they forget they have the solution to evil, God’s hope and joy as found in Jesus Christ!   You will say the right thing and have a religion that God will accept when you give your seeds of joy and happiness to your neighbors.  Good is more influential than evil, go do good!

With hope and joy,

Garrett

New Website Getting Closer

Dear all,

I am excited to share with anyone who might look at this blog that we have the beginnings of a website for First Pres!  Check out http://www.1stpresalbany.org and let me know what you think... for those of you who prefer .coms go to http://www.firstpresalbany.com or http://www.1stpresalbany.com they all go to the same place!  Soon we will have the whole thing up and running and you will have one more way to connect with us.

With hope and joy,

Garrett

November Newsletter - Being Loved

By this time next month I will be a father.  I have ceased attempting to understand what fatherhood means and what parenthood is, I do not know and I will find out soon enough.  There are so many aspects of being a parent that I am bound to mess up, not understand even after the baby comes, and wonder if I am doing right.  No parent told me that he/she was anything but scared the first night the baby was at home.  No parent, who is at all honest, believes mistakes have not been made.  No parent claims to have been ready for all of what was going to happen.

 

In the midst of all the uncertainties surrounding parenthood there is one thing that is certain.  There is one thing, which while I cannot yet understand, I know will happen.  In story after story of parenthood that has been shared with me no one felt they could underestimate the love that overwhelmed them at the moment they held their child.  I have heard some proclaim, “I never knew I could love that much.”  “My heart started overflowing.”  “I still cannot believe how my whole body and mind became love when I held my child for the first time, here was my child, in my arms.”

 

I eagerly await my turn to enter into the pantheon of love that is known as parenthood.  For all of that which is unknown, this singular known element of becoming a father is worth every second of worry.  Holding that baby boy will open me to a whole new understanding of God’s love.  When my whole being becomes love for someone brand new, I hope I have the strength of faith to remember that God’s whole being is love pouring upon my baby at that moment too.  I hope I remember that when I am crying tears of joy, God is also crying tears of joy.  I hope I consider that as much as I feel love more than ever before, God still loves more!  And in the moment of clarity may faith grant me the understanding to recognize how much God loves each of us!

 

God already loves my baby more than I will ever be able to love him.  Think about that, God loves more than we can understand.  When we are so overwhelmed with love our lives change, are hearts melt, are tears become joyous, smiles cannot be wiped from our faces, and we spread joy wherever we go, God still loves more.  If you have felt the love for someone else that I am describing, if you have felt a love so overwhelming you love just thinking about it, know this, that is the way God loves you and more.

 

So many of us go about our lives not celebrating the way we could.  We could be celebrating life in each moment no matter how bad it is, because in each moment God holds us like a parent holds a brand new baby.  God holds you in his arms looking down at you smiling a smile bigger than life, his heart exploding with love grander than ever thought possible, tears streaming from his face as he considers what he created, if you are perfect to no one else in the world you are perfect to him, perfect in a way that ensures his love for you has no bounds.

 

This Thanksgiving, give thanks to God for this way that you are loved.  Try to see yourself as God sees you, the object of all of his love, the beloved, the child that makes him see the whole world as a different place, a place that is better because you are in it now.  When I hold my baby on Thanksgiving, I hope I will be thanking God for being his baby held tight in the blankets of love.

Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit,

Garrett

Being Happy

Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.  Their hope is in the LORD their God. – Psalm 146:5

 

What does it mean to be happy?  Are you happy?  How have you been helped by God?  How does a person act who realizes his/her hope is in the LORD?  Knowing that hope is in the LORD your God how will you act for the rest of the day?

 

The following story is called, “The Secret” found at: http://www.skywriting.net/inspirational/stories/the_secret.html

A woman named Vicki once knew a young person at church named Susan. Susan always seemed effervescent and happy, although Vicki knew she had faced struggles in her life. Her long-awaited marriage had quickly ended in divorce. She had struggled to get a grip on her single life. She hadn't chosen it, but she decided she would live it with utmost enjoyment and satisfaction. Susan was active in Sunday school, in the choir, as a leader of the junior high girls' group, and in the church renewal movement. Vicki enjoyed knowing Susan. Susan's whole face seemed to smile. 



One day Vicki asked Susan, "How is it that you are always so happy, you have so much energy, and you never seem to get down?" With her eyes smiling, Susan said, "I know the Secret!" 

"What secret is that, what are you talking about?" Vicki asked.  Susan replied, "I'll tell you all about it, but you have to promise to share the Secret with others." 

Vicki agreed, "Okay, now what is it?" 



The Secret is this: "I have learned there is little I can do in my life that will make me truly happy. I must depend on God to make me happy and meet my needs. When a need arises in my life, I have to trust God to supply according to HIS riches. I have learned most of the time I don't need half of what I think I do. HE has never let me down.  Since I learned that Secret I am happy.” 



Vicki's first thought was, “That's too simple!” But upon reflecting over her own life she recalled how she thought a bigger house would make her happy -but it didn't! She thought a better-paying job would make her happy -but it hadn't. When did she realize her greatest happiness? Sitting on the floor with her grandchildren, playing games, eating pizza or reading a story, a simple gift from God. Susan knew the secret, Vicki learned the secret, and now you know it too! 

We can't depend on people to make us happy. Only GOD in His wisdom can do that. Trust HIM! And now I pass the Secret on to you!

 

Happy are those who are helped by God!  It is a great secret worthy of sharing with everyone you come across.  God gives us pieces of hope and joy at every moment.  We must trust in God and see each blessing, when we do people will see us as God wanted us to be, happy!