EMMANUEL

Christian friend,

We serve an incredibly wise and gracious God.
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself."
He, the omnipotent God, walked here among men as a man to save mankind. (all of whosoever will) In His omniscience He knew you before you were born.

He is all powerful and all knowing but
let me ask you something friend, 'where is God?'.

You say 'well God is omnipresent, He ...is everywhere.'
And I say true He is. "In Him we live and move and have our being."

But that is not the most powerful answer you can give.
The most meaningful answer for me is 'God is here'.
"He is an ever present Help in time of need."
He is here with me at this very moment.
And He is there with you also.
That is powerful.

The omnipotent,
omniscient God is
our constant Companion.

'Here' makes it personal
and not simply doctrinal.
God is very near!
Incredible!!!

Terrific Tools OR Deadly Distractions

Imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on an almost daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege? Would you squander it and waste time with them on frivolity? Would you seize the opportunity for self aggrandizement? Or would you use the opportunity to build up others? I certainly hope you would use the time wisely; that you would use it to build up others and to build healthy, deep, meaningful, mutually fulfilling relationships.


Building relationships with other church members and friends is an exchange of ideas and interests that takes time. I have found in order to build deep friendships it takes much more than learning someone’s name and saying ‘hello’ on a frequent basis. It takes time, a lot of time; it takes caring and sharing, it takes compassion and cooperation. Time is a scarce commodity. If your church is like mine, usually everyone is so busy doing one thing or another that there is scarcely time for fellowship in, and around, and between various ministry activities and services.  So imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on almost a daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?

Before Dr. Franklin discovered electricity, and before Alex Bell ramped up communications, and before Mr. Tucker or Ford or whoever it was (it wasn’t Flintstone, :-), but before someone discovered motorized transportation, and before the Wrights discovered we could fly; Before the Industrial Revolution things were simpler, relationships were simpler.  People are busy today.
Very busy. And church people are busy too.

I have come to the conclusion that among the other more Biblical things that the church is, It is a group of very, very, very busy people, with their own problems and concerns, and their own goals and dreams, and their own pressures and trials, all coming together in one place where they have One Person as their concerted, holy, supreme focus for a few hours.  And since His desire is towards people, and the love of Christ constrains the spirit-filled believer, we have a burden for the lost and a desire to encourage our brothers. (and sisters too.)



But people are busy today. Very busy. And church people are busy too. So imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life on almost a daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?As we moved from the Industrial Revolution into a highly technological era, there are helps to building relationships that I think we have only begun to make proper use of in the church. Text messaging and e-mail have been among the most commonly used, but the internet and social networks such as FaceBook, Twitter, Google, and others have become the daily ‘meeting place’ for many. Now it’s not just the younger crowd getting comfortable with the tools of this century; there are many more 'technologically challenged' folks who are seeing the benefits of these tools as well. Also pastors, teachers, counselors, and other mentor type relationships are growing on the social networks at phenomenal rates. Pastors are building strong bonds of friendships with ‘their’ flocks, and others who have a heart for souls also, on an almost daily basis.


I have found that a Bible verse, or the words to a favorite hymn, or just some God-honoring thought can change a persons perspective and can turn a persons day around. We all need encouragement. I am so very encouraged when I get a text saying, "Hey Buddy, I just want you to know, I'm lifting you up to Jesus today." That does something in my soul friend. I certainly hope you will use the tools of our century, and use the candid moments wisely; that you would use them to build up others and to build healthy, deep, meaningful, mutually fulfilling relationships.

But there is another aspect of relationships, specially with regard to  personal time and private time, that I have not yet mentioned. It is the need for healthy boundaries and limits. Online we need boundaries to limit what we say to others and what we will allow others to say to us. There are predators out there that want to seduce you and eat up everything precious in your life. You must have solid, pre-defined boundaries. Also Paul warned the Galatian church, "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." (Gal. 5:15) And if this fleshy kind of thing can happen in our churches friend, don't you know that it can happen exponentially online. We need healthy boundaries. And we need to be careful what we text and type. Some things require a face-to-face meeting. Lets not be guilty of laziness in our communications.



You also need limits with regards to how your online activity affects your offline relationships, namely your relationship with your spouse and your children. I am told that here in Maine some guy named Farnsworth from Ellesworth invented something that has become of little worth to me. It's the television. The television is a major distraction for some, but so is the internet. Don't you know that these techno-tools that can help build relationships, can also tear them down. If we do not guard our time with our precious families we may find that we have much more 'free' time than we ever dreamed. It is deadly, it will kill your relationships. We need proper boundaries and we need to prioritize our use of time. Face to face encounters with those dear to us, and dear to Jesus, must not suffer because we are too busy trying to build techno-tolerant relationships.

A final thought;

Relationships require ‘give and take’, and truth is, often it is much more ‘give’ than take. If we have in mind to love and edify others, rather than love and exalt ourselves, then it should be our desire to give, to make investments in the relationship. To give without regard to whether or not we ever make withdrawals. We will want Jesus to become the supreme focus of another persons thoughts. (not us.) If this is our desire it should not bother us if the give is more than the get. Imagine if you had an open invitation into another Christian’s life for just a few minutes on an almost daily basis. What would you do with that kind of privilege?


Jesus must be first.
He must increase, WE must decrease!

A Bus Parents Faith

Did you ever stop to think about the bus parents faith? I don't know about you but it would take a lot of trust for me to send my kids off in a bus with older kids I do not know, adults I do not know, to a place I have never visited.

Many of these parents were once bus kids too and the bus ministry to them IS church. To them sending their child on the bus is as natural as a bedtime prayer, they themselves are just unable to make it. For whatever reason they grew older and stopped going to church, but they send their kids. Amen!?! Something inside of them clings to the 'faith' of their youth. We need to work prayerfully and diligently to win these folks back.

Some of them however got hooked up in drugs either dealing or using, many just got 'too busy' for Jesus, many are just trying to use Sunday to recoup from the damage of Monday through Saturday in the world. We need to help them come to Christ, or come back to Christ, whichever the case may be.

Now I know many of the bus parents like having a 'sitter' on Sunday morning so they can sleep in, or go shopping, or do 'Lord knows what'.  Some few of them perhaps could even care less whether their kid even returns home. All the more reason we should love, and pray, and work to reach them.

Did you ever stop to think about the bus parents faith? Those kids who grasp and accept the gospel, those kids who have come to know Jesus. Don't you know their hearts break to see their families saved. Don't you know their little faith hopes to see the day. Don't you know Jesus delights to answer their prayers, don't you know that Jesus cares more about mom and dad than the bus kid does! We need to tell them, the bus parents, about Jesus! Not a Jesus who is distant and unmoved by their pain, but the Jesus Who died for their sin, Who was buried in a borrowed tomb, and Who was resurrected for their justification. (Romans 4:25) The Jesus Who knocks on their souls portal and says, 'Please, Will you let Me in?'. Jesus will not force them, but we must tell them!

He must increase, WE must decrease!