Notes of Faith April 21, 2023

Notes of Faith April 21, 2023

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 offer both timeless encouragement and a warning to churches and individual Christians. While two churches received only encouragement from the Lord Himself, the other five found themselves strongly rebuked.

Jesus’ words to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:5 are instructive to us still today. This beloved church, planted by the Apostle Paul, was the first to be called out by name in Revelation.

The Lord first lauded their deeds, toil, and perseverance. He also noted that they did not tolerate evil men. However, His grievance against that church was that they had abandoned their First Love. Without question, God is justifiably offended when those who know Him — and should know better — turn their backs on Him and violate the relationship into which He has called them. And that is not only true for individuals. When a nation or society that once respected and honored the Lord strays from Him, insult is added to injury, grieving the heart of God.

We tend to see with physical eyes, measuring a nation’s health by its economic vitality or its citizens’ life expectancy. Those indicators have merit, but just as God told Samuel not to look at outward appearance when anointing a king from among Jesse’s sons, “God still sees not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

God’s prophetic Word says that most human hearts will grow darker and colder in the last days — and that society itself will become increasingly evil. We refer to this category of End Times signs portending the Lord’s return as “Signs of Society.” And America is following the tragic trajectory of ancient Judah right now.

Set Apart and Blessed with Grace

Too often, we are deluded into thinking that our nation is blessed because we deserve God’s blessing. With shouts of “USA! USA!” ringing in our ears, we figuratively thump our chests and tout the worthiness of our nation, forgetting that even our national hymn, “America the Beautiful,” repeats the line “God shed His grace on thee” six times. Few reflect today that Katharine Lee Bates’ poem was meant to inspire humility and thanksgiving to Almighty God.

Older Americans were raised to think ours is “the greatest nation on the earth” (if not the greatest nation ever). I would agree with that sentiment when it comes to the ordered liberty that marked the American experiment for its first 200 years or so — not because our “more perfect union” was indeed perfect. Instead, our nation longingly aspired toward perfection, respecting as Bates did the Source of our greatness:

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine!

Over the past century, few could dispute the unprecedented prosperity our society has enjoyed. But, sadly, that prosperity morphed into a sense of entitlement, self-importance, and self-sufficiency that has led America grievously astray.

Faith Of Our Fathers

David Barton and other Christian scholars offer clear evidence of the Judeo-Christian foundations of our society. Men such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and yes, even Thomas Jefferson, could not have imagined crafting a nation without underpinning it on Christian faith.

Some would retort that those men were hypocrites when it came to following the law of God. I would agree. All of us are hypocrites to some degree, and the founders were guilty of some glaring oversights and inconsistencies. But that realization still cannot detract from the ideals they collectively agreed to pursue — or the system of government that they established to honor “Nature’s God” and the rights of His most elevated creature.

Over time, our nation endured tremendous growing pains. The most pronounced happened less than fourscore and seven years after the original establishment of the United States. Reflecting on the horrible tragedy of the Civil War and the scourge of slavery itself, Abraham Lincoln observed, “The Almighty has His own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!…the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether'” (Second Inaugural Address).

A Christian Nation?

There is no doubt that America was founded on Christian principles. The Bible was once taught in every public school classroom alongside primers like the McGuffey Readers. Our laws and our collective morality were unapologetically shaped by the Word of God. But no more.

Some Christians still want to maintain that this is a Christian nation. I find this to be an offensive assertion. Would a Christian nation tolerate, let alone encourage:

Unfettered sexual licentiousness

Flagrant homosexuality and a willful appropriation of the rainbow (ordained by God) to convey enthusiasm toward sodomy and sin

Confusion over basic creation truths like the biological distinction between men and women

An epidemic of family-shattering divorce, though hated by God

Rampant mind-numbing drug use — prescribed or “recreational”

Millions of babies murdered in their mothers’ wombs.

Professing churches denigrating Christ’s deity and His Word.

National leaders flaunting their deceitfulness and sin that impoverishes future generations in violation of biblical principles.

I could go on and on, describing in heart-wrenching detail the transgressions against Heaven that are multiplying every day. Instead of focusing on the litany of transgressions, I’ll simply ask: Would God label our nation as a Christian nation, or would He be offended that such a people co-mingled the Name of His Son with their manifest perversions and celebration of wickedness?

It is not my point to prove here that America was founded as a Christian nation. The question that hangs over our heads today is: how did we get to where we are today?

It is not just that evil is prevalent in our nation, but that Christians tolerate and even endorse the evil that is against God and His Word. We must stand for what we know to be truth, while we yet live, and seek to live holy and pure lives, proclaiming the truth of God, until we are with Him in heaven!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 20, 2023

Notes of Faith April 20, 2023

You Are Essential: Everyday Heroes

The word hero gets thrown around a lot. A friend who brings you coffee on a busy day might seem like a hero in that moment, but the real heroes are the ones who put themselves in danger for the good of others. We often think of police officers, members of the armed services, firefighters, and other first responders — and they are, undoubtedly, heroes.

However, there are other everyday people who become heroes in a crisis, risking their lives to help. Volunteers who clear rubble after earthquakes or paddle out into floodwaters to rescue survivors are heroes. So are the doctors and nurses on the front lines battling diseases.

The good, dependable folks who go to work even in the midst of terror attacks, pandemics, and natural disasters are pretty heroic too. They rarely get honors for their service, but without them we wouldn’t be able to buy groceries, send our kids to school, have clean buses and bathrooms, buy gas, or any of the other countless things that keep our country running.

So thank an everyday hero today.

You Are Able to Love Others

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart.

Jesus doesn’t let us sing some hymns and go to Bible study each week and say we’re done. He challenges us to do more and be better. He dares us to be bolder and braver and to love harder. He urges us to step outside of our comfort zones to care for one another in the middle of our messy lives and emotions.

Jesus was human too. He knows how we feel and what our weaknesses are. But He also knows what we are capable of. He doesn’t ask us to do anything that we can’t do. So when the Bible tells us to “love one another” and to “outdo one another in showing honor,” we can be confident that those are things we can absolutely do.

How will you rise to the challenge today?

You're a Miracle.

Go outside tonight and look up at the stars. Count as many of them as you can. The longer you look, the smaller you will feel. Isn’t it amazing that out of the vastness of space you are standing in this exact place at this exact time? The chances of your being born, just as you are, is more than one in four hundred trillion.1 Crazy! It’s truly a miracle that you are here. So what are you, as a living, breathing miracle, going to do with your one miraculous life? You owe it to yourself to make it count. Take the time to find what you are passionate about. Dig deep and discover your purpose. Discover how you can use your unique strengths to make the difference in this world that you were born to make.

“You are special, and so is your neighbor”— that part is essential: that you're not the only special person in the world. The person you happen to be with at the moment is loved, too. ~ Fred Rogers

Love Everyone

Each of us matters to someone. Your mailman is a beloved husband. Your child’s teacher is a cherished daughter. The barista at your favorite coffee shop is someone’s best friend. Think about your people. How would you want them to be treated by strangers?

Each of us deserves love, kindness, and respect. Life is challenging. We can all fall into thinking that our people and our lives matter most sometimes. But the truth is that we all need each other. Every person you meet deserves to be treated like they are one of your people — the people you love and cherish most. If we can all remember to treat others with that kind of love, imagine what a difference it would make!

Excerpted from You Are Essential, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 139 tells us a more important perspective … God created you! He made you exactly as you are, gave you specific parents, placed you in the world and loves you beyond anyone else! There is nothing more essential in your life than the love of God. Read this psalm over and over. Meditate on God’s love for you and learn to love Him because He loved you first!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 19, 2023

Notes of Faith April 19, 2023

Will We Know One Another in Heaven?

The descriptions in Revelation 21–22 of the new heavens, new earth, and new Jerusalem are literal — or they are images of an even more literal reality — and how wonderful is that? We will literally, physically, and bodily be with the Godhead, the godly personalities of the invisible realm, the saints of all the ages, and one another for eternity.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if we never recognized anyone? Is it possible we’ll be total strangers in paradise forever, that we’ll have everlasting amnesia?

No. It isn’t remotely possible — yet we sometimes wonder if we’ll know each other in Heaven. It’s an emotive question. Our relationships on earth mean more to us than anything else. I loved my dad and mom; I love my sister and her family; I miss my wife, and I cherish daughters, their husbands, and all their children. These relationships are more valuable to me than any other single thing in this world apart from my relationship with Christ. I never want to lose these bonds of love. It doesn’t matter if I lose everything else on earth, I don’t want to lose those dearest to me. I want to be where they are, and I want them to be where I am.

Jesus felt the same way. In the upper room on the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples,

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. — John 14:3

He wanted His friends to be with Him, near Him, fellowshipping with Him forever. A couple of hours later, Jesus prayed an unutterably deep prayer just before His arrest.

Father, He said, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.

— John 17:24

Jesus Himself — God of very God — wanted His friends and family to be with Him in eternity, where He was, so He could enjoy their fellowship and love. He feels as we do about our dearest ones. These passages in John 14 and John 17 clearly imply that one of the greatest joys of Heaven will be our everlasting reunion with those we love.

While the Bible doesn’t give us a verse saying, “You will know each other in Heaven,” it treats this reality like an obvious truth, simply assuming this is the case. There are a number of passages that make this assumption reasonable and clear.

John 20:19–23

The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us our first glimpse in Scripture of what the glorified resurrection body will be like. John 20:19–20 says,

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

When Jesus rose from the tomb, He had the same identity and the same appearance He had prior to His death. The disciples recognized Him. They recognized His face and His features, they recognized His hands with the nail prints, and He even showed them His side. They recognized Him by the scar left from the Roman spear. He knew them after His resurrection, and they knew Him, though His body was now imperishable.

I’ve long believed that our resurrection bodies will have the appearance of our being in our early thirties. Jesus was about thirty-three when He rose from the dead, and Philippians 3:21 says He will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Whatever our apparent age, we will be physically, mentally, and emotionally mature, and we will be recognizable as ourselves. The essence of our identity will not be lost through the process of rapture or resurrection. Our faults and failures will be gone, but I will still be me, and you will still be you — in the fullness of the perfection of Christ.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Another clue comes from 1 Corinthians 13. In the first several verses, the apostle Paul commended the virtues of love, and he ended the chapter by talking about its permanence. Love will continue after we die. Faith will not be needed in Heaven, and our hope will be fulfilled. But love will continue. Our relationships with those we love will go right on, and, in fact, be far better.

Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

— 1 Corinthians 13:12

In other words, “I know Jesus Christ now, but one day I’ll know Him better; I’ll see Him fully and I will know Him just as He knows me.” The implication is that we’ll also know each other better and love each other more fully in the future than we do now.

Right now, even the best of human relationships are imperfect. One day those of us who know Christ Jesus our Lord will see His face, reflect His love, and know one another even as we ourselves are known.

Jesus Himself — God of very God — wanted His friends and family to be with Him in eternity, where He was, so He could enjoy their fellowship and love.

1 Thessalonians 4

Another helpful passage is in 1 Thessalonians. The Christians in Thessalonica were still learning the rudiments of Christian theology. They had questions about what happens when we die. Paul wrote,

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. — 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

The basis of Paul’s encouragement and comfort is that we’ll be together with those we love and with the Lord forever in heaven. Our fellowship with our Christian loved ones goes right on! We’ll pick up where we left off, and we will know even as we are known. We will recognize Him and others, even as they recognize us.

There’s no capping the encouragement this gives me!

2 Corinthians 4:13–14

In a similar vein, in 2 Corinthians 4:14, Paul wrote,

We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.

Paul knew something. He didn’t hope, think, speculate, or wish. He knew his body would be resurrected and he would be reunited with his Corinthian friends in the presence of the Lord. That gave him vast encouragement, and he repeated the same idea elsewhere in his letters to his friends and to other churches he established. For example, he called the Thessalonians “the crown in which we will glory in the presence of the Lord Jesus when He comes” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

He fully anticipated an eternal friendship with those he had won to Christ.

Luke 16:22–31

In Luke 16, Jesus told about a neighborhood beggar who died and went to Heaven. But Jesus didn’t use the word Heaven. He used the phrase Abraham’s side, saying, “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.” The passage goes on to talk about “Abraham . . . with Lazarus by his side” (Luke 16:22–23).

In other words, a dirty but God-trusting Middle Eastern beggar went to Heaven and found himself walking down the street side by side with Abraham, the greatest figure of the Old Testament. The whole story is based on the premise that we will know one another in Heaven. Though their earthly timelines had been separated by two thousand years, Abraham and the beggar knew one another and fellowshipped together.

I don’t know if they knew one another instinctively or if they were introduced to each other. I’m curious about this. When I get to Heaven, will I instinctively know my grandfather, who was a mountain preacher and died long before I was born? Or will he come up to me and say, “On earth, I was your grandfather”?

I don’t know, but I’m looking forward to knowing him, along with Abraham, the beggar of Luke 16, and all the other heroes of the faith. One small hint that our knowledge may be instinctive comes from the next passage.

Matthew 17:1–8

The transfiguration of Christ was the moment when Peter, James, and John caught a glimpse of the intrinsic, eternal glory of their Savior. Matthew 17:1–4 says,

After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

When Jesus came to earth, He left His throne and its eternal glory. He temporarily relinquished His splendor and some of His divine prerogatives. He entered humanity as a baby in a manger. But on this occasion during His earthly life, He was momentarily enveloped with a flash of His original and eternal glory.

How amazing that two Old Testament heroes joined Him! Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all belonged to different epochs of human history. Moses dates to about 1400 BC, Elijah lived in the 800s BC, and Jesus lived in the first century AD.

Here we have three men whose earthly lives were separated by fourteen hundred years, and yet they all knew each other. They were standing there physically, fellowshipping and talking together. They were known by their same names, but they were glorified, energized, wrapped in light.

This is a sneak peek of Heaven!

So, yes, we’ll recognize our loved ones in Heaven. As someone once put it, we’ll certainly not be greater fools in Heaven than we are on earth. If we know one another now, we’ll certainly know one another in the soon-to-be.

Excerpted from 50 Final Events in World History by Robert J. Morgan, copyright Robert J. Morgan.

This world without sin would be marvelous! We do not know the depths of God and what He has planned for those that belong to Him. Though I know I have to, in my heart, I can’t wait!

1 Cor 2:9

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him"

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 18, 2023

Notes of Faith April 18, 2023

God Knows the Vindication You Seek

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. — Romans 12:18–19

I was eighteen years old around the time rumors were passing through the grapevine about my father’s potential affair, which for a pastor of a church is of particular concern. Not only did I, as his daughter, want to disbelieve it, but I felt passionate to defend our family name after time and again hearing it come out of someone’s mouth — often with at least some element of falsehood. Hurt, weary, fiercely loyal (and in a particular hold-my-earrings season of life after also dealing with some painful mean-girl harassment), I was in peak vindication mode when I was told the name of a person I knew who was the source behind several of the most damaging rumors about my dad.

That day, I was done with victimhood.

I was over people saying things that weren’t true and causing my family pain. I was through with doing “the right thing” by staying silent. In my mind, this had to stop, and I was the one to stop it.

Personal confrontation, biblically speaking, wouldn’t have been the wrong approach. Matthew 18 teaches us to go directly to someone who has wronged us. But I was mad. I wasn’t seeking spiritual reconciliation; I was seeking to feel better through my own form of vengeance. Those things change the game.

To make matters more combustible, I would be confronting this person at work, in a busy public place. So the conditions weren’t appropriate. In a fog of anger and teenage reasoning, I did not consider this to be of concern.

It’s been more than thirty years, but I can still remember whipping into the parking lot, jerking the car into park. The warm summer air enveloped me as I stepped out of the car and slammed the door, and the cold air hit me as I stormed into the store in what seemed like less than ten steps. I walked fast so I didn’t lose my courage. I can remember the exact moment of confrontation — walking straight up to where this person stood, working, without regard to my foolishness, and giving this person a piece of my mind. I can feel the heat rising to my ears and the adrenaline coursing through my entire body and the way my heel turned to walk away when I finished saying what I wanted to say, without waiting on a response.

I did it: approached the one who had hurt my family. Did I feel better? I wasn’t sure yet. I walked outside and slid behind the driver’s seat, heart beating fast and hands shaking.

My father sure wasn’t impressed by my theatrics. I found that out quickly thereafter, when I drove to his office and someone had already let him know. (Small-town grapevine, again, thanks.) “You can’t go around chewing out everyone who starts a rumor, Lisa,” he said, “or you’ll have a full-time job.” I knew I couldn’t, but my desire to set the record straight had caused me to at least try.

“It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. — Romans 12:19

That wasn’t the last rumor that was started about my family. Some were true, some were false, and some were somewhere in the middle, as rumors usually are. Some stories were crueler and hurt deeper, and some I’ve never written about. But Daddy was right. I could never fight them all, even though I wanted to. The desire to get peace for the pain other people caused often felt overwhelming. In the days that followed, my revenge-seeking was a symptom of something deeper: I felt helpless. Then I felt afraid. Angry. And then I tried to control it.

Seeking vindication over something like gossip certainly didn’t feel small to me at the time, when gossip was hurting and affecting my family. And gossip isn’t a small concern when you consider how it damages people. I’ve seen people lose jobs, opportunities, relationships, ministries, and even their lives. James calling gossip a fire in James 3 is wildly accurate. The damage gossip can do — even when there is some truth to the rumor — is not minor.

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

— James 3:5–6

But both things can be true: gossip is wrong, and we can also be wrong in how we go about trying to vindicate it. This is the case with vengeance regardless of the issue; it is different from biblical confrontation and different from advocacy for biblical justice. God’s omniscience covers the wrongs done to you that you long to personally make right. He knows what happened, knows the truth, and in one way or another, will set it straight.

Excerpted from God Knows by Lisa Whittle, copyright Lisa Whittle.

I have never seen someone offended, seeking vengeance, turn out well. We are not in control of our emotions and actions. All too often, rumors are just that, rumors, with little or no truth in them…a way of getting ahead of or perhaps back at someone who has offended them. Either way, it is not a biblical Christian way of handling conflict and pain. Let us offer grace and pray that we continue to receive grace from the Lord. The rumormill will always be turning out its’ pandemic flow!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 17, 2023

Notes of Faith April 17, 2023

Champions Find God’s Strength in Their Own Weakness

Run the Race!

It would be so much more comfortable if God would keep us in our “strength zone,” wouldn’t it? But God keeps thrusting us into our “weakness zone” because it is only in our weakness that He is made strong.

[Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. — 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

God is never limited by our limitations. Whenever He calls us to step out of our comfort zone and into the exchange zone, it is because He wants to do something in and through our lives.

Now, here is the critical question: How do we increase our willingness to trust in God’s strength when our own weakness is so glaring that it captures all our focus? Let’s turn to Peter’s championship training.

TRAINED TO BE A CHAMPION

The disciples were getting nowhere. When they’d pushed off from shore just a few hours before, the water had been calm and the boat seemed to offer what they needed most — rest and solitude.

They’d just learned that John the Baptist had been executed. Jesus had led the disciples to withdraw to a quiet place to rest. But the locals — about five thousand men plus women and children — had discovered Jesus’s location and soon swarmed them. Jesus miraculously fed everyone in the crowd with no more than five loaves and two fish. When that miracle was complete, Jesus told His disciples to “immediately” get into the boat and go to Capernaum on the other side of the lake while Jesus stayed behind to dismiss the crowd and then go off by Himself to pray.

Let’s focus in on Peter. Peter was no novice in witnessing miracles. Straining against the oars with every muscle, Peter must have longed to have Jesus there in the boat with him. If only the Lord were here, he must have thought, He would calm this windstorm before our eyes, like He did before.

And then they saw Him. Let’s pick up the story in Matthew 14:25-29.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to You on the water.”

“Come,” He said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

I love it! That’s Peter. He was all in.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” — Matthew 14:30-31

Why did he doubt? Yesterday’s miracles didn’t yet outweigh his fear of today’s dangers.

Can you relate? I believe we all can.

The danger of drowning was real. In a surge of ecstatic faith, he’d climbed out of the boat with his eyes fixed on Jesus, when it suddenly occurred to him that there was nothing under his feet but water.

And this is exactly why we need storms and trials in our lives if our faith is to grow.

UNTESTED FAITH IS FRAGILE

It’s no coincidence that the windstorm “just happened” to occur on the heels of the miracle of the loaves and fish. Jesus is omniscient. He chose to be on land, a distance from His disciples, when the storm hit. And He chose His words carefully when He said to Peter, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Jesus used Peter’s moment of weakness as a teaching moment.

In Mark 6:51-52, a parallel rendering of the Matthew 14 account, we catch on to what Jesus was showing them in the middle of that storm.

Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

They had not understood about the loaves. They had not grasped how that act had revealed the deity of Jesus — His identity as being one with God, and thus His omnipotent power over the physical world.

A few hours of fear must have softened those hardened hearts, because when Jesus came strolling along walking on top of the water, they got it.

And when [Peter and Jesus] climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” — Matthew 14:32-33

The storm had done its work!

Champions understand that God uses every trial to build our strength and endurance.

TRIALS ARE THE ULTIMATE STRENGTH-TRAINING EXERCISE

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. — James 1:2-4

The powerful message of this verse is clear — bad news can be faced with great hope. Whether your trials came as a result of your own brokenness or poor choices, or because of the choices of someone else, or by an act of nature such as a flood or an earthquake or a tornado, or as a consequence of living in a fallen world, you have reason, even while grieving and hurting, to be joyful.

Why? Because trials test your faith. Is it bad news when your weaknesses are revealed? No! Better to have them revealed so we can acknowledge them and, with God’s work inside us, see our weakness rooted out.

But notice this in the James 1 verses: It is not God’s work alone.

God gives us two commands: consider and let. We are to “consider it” pure joy. This requires us to make a deliberate decision about how we view the trial. We must “let” perseverance do its work by working with God, not against him, in the face of our trials.

We, like Peter, have choices to make in the face of life’s trials. Peter reached for Jesus. He could have sunk to his armpits and then, spitting mad, swum back to the side of the boat, cursing Jesus for allowing him to sink. But he didn’t. He cried out to Jesus, and Jesus reached for him. And do you know what happened next?

More tests. More trials. Obstacles. Hurdles. Of course! What else would we expect?

YOUR WALK-ON-WATER MOMENTS

Champions understand that God uses every trial to build our strength and endurance. This is why Jesus, knowing that within hours He would be arrested, flogged, paraded through the streets, and crucified, said the following words to us:

All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them… I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. — John 16:1-4, John 16:33

Do you hear Him? Take heart! Be of good cheer! Consider it all joy! Such times are when you will experience firsthand that greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world.

Between the disciples and Jesus that windy night, there was darkness, danger, and distance. Ever been there? Your storm is raging “here” and Jesus seems to be over “there.” Jesus knows when you are in trouble, when you have had enough, when you need strength and courage. He knows when to calm the storm and when to ride it out with you.

Climb out of that boat with your eyes fixed on Jesus. And if you falter, cry out to Him, reach out to Him, knowing He will catch you and climb into your boat. He will calm the storm. Then He will step into your weakness with His strength.

With this confidence, we can say, with Peter,

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

— 1 Peter 1:6-9

Excerpted from Run the Race! by Christine Caine, copyright Christine Caine.

I expect that if you look back on your life you can find more than one moment when you did things that in your own power you could not do. You experienced a “walk on water” moment. God provided the words for you to say to someone in need, you fell asleep driving on a long journey and yet survived unscathed, your care for someone likely saved their life. Things that God does through us, with His power, is “walk on water” moments. God can do anything and has done so in your life, if you will only recognize His work in and through you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 16, 2023

Notes of Faith April 16, 2023

Your Goodness and Love

Psalm 23 has brought comfort to believers since it was first written, read, and sung. In The Book of Common Courage, Psalm 23 is divided line by line and shared with photography, poems, blessings, writings, and prayers for your encouragement. Enjoy this excerpt!

Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God’s Sunrise will break in upon us, shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace.

— Luke 1:78-79 MSG

O God, who makes the sun to rise,

Open our eyes to Your goodness and love

stretching across the skies,

for we have been hounded

by hatred and lies,

but Your beauty

follows us

further

still.

Amen.

We can so easily become

that which has harmed us.

We pour thick concrete

around the softness of our souls

to protect ourselves

from more pain.

Poetry can penetrate

our layers of self-protection.

Beauty can call us

into resurrection.

Like words on the edge

of a cliff into death,

Goodness and Love can pull

us back from the ledge.

A forest can speak hope

in the scent of pine.

A wave can roll grace

to mist our parched pain.

A peony can bloom faith

with ballet skirts

of intricate praise.

Goodness and Love

always do seek

us in the layers,

lodged under hard sheets

of concrete, too thick

to breathe, too precious

to leave. They chase us

all our days and crack

open our shields,

calling us back

home to the beauty

of being healed.

You are the flower of God’s love.

Right now snow covers the soil

on the ridge where red rocks

jut from the foothills, where

I have walked and wept

and wondered at the way

winter is harsh

and spring is muddy.

The ground is barren now,

but in just months she’ll sprout.

Come summer, this soil will burst with green.

The trail will put on her lavender scarf.

The wind will ruffle through

each bloom.

May today be the day you realize

that if God dreamed wildflowers

into existence from the dirt,

which rise

season after season from snow-covered soil, through mud and muck

and storms, then

your blossoms can return from

winter too.

And if most wildflowers stretch

as rainbows on remote hillsides,

far from trails with human eyes,

your beauty can also be stunning

even if unseen by others’ eyes.

Honor the hard ground

where seeds hide under snow.

No farm lives in perpetual

harvest.

No wildflower blooms all year.

Hallow your hidden work,

how you push through the dirt

year after year, day after day,

choosing kindness over criticism,

forgiveness over fury,

and trust in the truth

that beauty will

eventually

bloom.

You are a perennial.

Your flowers always return.

There is beauty

both in your blooming

and your becoming.

Be tender

toward the time

between both.

If God imagined that small,

brown seeds

far beneath thick, white snow

could one day curl into damp,

dark dirt

and spring into whorls of green

with strong, maroon stalks

crowned

with bell after lavender bell,

then he will curl you in his care,

he will spring your life into

the air,

he will build bells from your

small buds,

he will delight in watching who

you will become,

for you are the flower of

God’s love.

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

Love is… mine.

Excerpted from The Book of Common Courage by K.J. Ramsey, copyright Katie Jo Ramsey.

Poets are given a different brain. Their thoughts are deep and brilliant and their gift of words often provoking images and heart-rending emotions. I pray you meditate on the Word of God today, on His love and blessings toward you, His gift of mercy and grace, hope and eternal life . . . May today’s note be a joy-filled challenge to dig deep and enjoy the presence of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 14, 2023

Notes of Faith April 14, 2023

Why Isn't God Answering My Prayer?

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28 ESV

In 2015, the New York Times ran an article called “Googling for God.”1 In this article, author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz started by saying, “It has been a bad decade for God, at least so far.” He went on to ask, “What questions do people have when they are questioning God?” The number one question was “Who created God?” The number two question was “Why does God allow suffering?” But it was the third question that slammed into my heart and made me realize the depth at which many of us struggle when we walk through devastating situations: “Why does God hate me?”

I’m not alone in wondering about God’s feelings when circumstances beg me to feel betrayed. While I would have never used the word hate, seeing it typed out as one of the most commonly asked questions about God shows me just how dark our perspective can get. The most devastating spiritual crisis isn’t when we wonder why God isn’t doing something. It’s when we become utterly convinced He no longer cares. And that’s what I hear hiding behind that Google search.

And I shudder to say this, but I think that’s what was hiding behind my own disillusionment as well.

What makes faith fall apart isn’t doubt. It’s becoming too certain of the wrong things.

Things like: Forgiveness doesn’t matter. It’s not worth it. It’s not time for that kind of obedience. God isn’t moving. What I see is absolute proof that God isn’t working.

That’s where I can find myself getting more and more skeptical of God’s love, God’s provision, God’s protection, God’s instructions, and God’s faithfulness. And most of all, where I start fearing He really has no plan at all, and I’m just truly going to be a victim of circumstances beyond anyone’s control.

The problem with that thinking is, while it may line up with what my life looks like from my place of pain and confusion, it doesn’t line up with truth. And before everything went haywire in my life, I had already put a stake in the ground, proclaiming that God’s Word is where I would turn and return to no matter what.

I could resist trusting God and turning to His truth. I could run from it. I could, with bitter resignation, put my Bible on a shelf to collect dust for years. But I wouldn’t be able to escape what was already buried deep in my heart.

I knew in this deep-down knowing place that what I was seeing wasn’t all that was happening. Past experiences where I have seen God’s faithfulness remind me that I don’t always see God working in the midst of my hard times.

God is active even if we can’t see His activity.

There are a few times in my life where I’ve seen dramatic moves by God happen quick enough for me to say, “Wow, look what God is doing!” But most of the time, it’s thousands of little shifts so slight that the dailiness of His work doesn’t register in real time.

It’s hard when we are living in that space where our head knows God can do anything but our heart is heavy because He’s not doing what we are hoping for, what we’ve prayed for, what we’ve believed for, for a long while.

I get it — and I’ve cried many tears because of it.

So what helps? It helps to know these things:

God is active even if we can’t see His activity. Just because we can’t discern or detect what He’s doing, doesn’t mean He isn’t working.

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

What may feel like a lack of intervention is not a sign of His lack of affection.

This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)

God loves us too much to answer our prayers at any other time than the right time, and in any other way than the right way.

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV)

Today look for beautiful ways God is showing you assurances of His love. His deep affection is all around you, friend. Even in the waiting places.

God, I confess it’s easy for me to become skeptical when things are not working out the way I had planned. Even when I don’t see it… even when I don’t feel it… I will stand on the truth that You are working all things together for good. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, “Googling for God,” New York Times, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/opinion/sunday/seth -stephens-davidowitz-googling-for-god.html.

Excerpted from Seeing Beautiful Again by Lysa TerKeurst, copyright Lysa TerKeurst.

Please don’t Google for God…you can find Him in your very thoughts or in the words on your lips, more specifically in His Word, in prayer, in relationship with other believers and followers of Jesus. The internet can be useful but is also a sad and sorry place where you can find evil and untruth about the living God. Ask of God Himself, to reveal Himself to you and to continue to do so that you may grow in knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. You will discover what is true and real from God as you seek Him with your whole heart!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 13, 2023

Notes of Faith April 13, 2023

Discovering God’s Dream for You

God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

— Ephesians 3:20–21 MSG

Without a dream, you’re not really living — you’re just existing.

God’s dream determines your destiny and defines your dignity. It’s the reason you exist. It’s your purpose for living. Without a dream, your life lacks meaning and direction. Without a dream, you will always struggle with your identity — who you are.

There is nothing more important, after you come to know Jesus Christ, than figuring out God’s dream for your life. It’s only when you discover why God made you and what He wants you to do that life makes sense.

There are many examples of this in the Bible:

God gave Noah the dream of saving the world from the flood.

God gave Abraham the dream of being the father of a great nation.

God gave Joseph the dream of being a leader who would save His people.

God gave David the dream of building the temple.

God gave Nehemiah the dream of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.

God gave Paul the dream of going to Rome

Nothing happens until you start dreaming.

The truth is, everything starts with a dream. Anything that has been created started with somebody dreaming it first. God dreamed up every tree, every mountain, every planet — the whole universe! He dreamed of you too, and then He created you and gave you the ability to be a dreamer. While you can dream up some amazing things, God’s dream is custom-made for you. He gives you the ability to dream of new hobbies, new businesses, and new ministries, to dream about making a difference and changing your community, to dream of impacting the world. It all starts with a dream.

Did you realize there are three types of dreams? A dream can be the thoughts and images you have while sleeping. Not all those dreams are good; some are nightmares. Dreams can also be the passions and ambitions you have while awake, and they are more important than the dreams you have while sleeping.

But the third type of dream, God’s dream for your life, is the most important dream of all.

How do you know whether a dream is from God or whether you’re making it up yourself? How do you know if it’s God speaking or if it’s the big meal you had last night? When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a rock star so I could play the guitar. But that was my dream for me, not God’s dream for me. God had a more important dream, one that went beyond anything I could ask for or think up on my own.

One way to know if a dream is from God is to determine whether the dream requires faith.

God’s dream will always require faith. It will be so big that you can’t do it on your own. If you could do it on your own, you wouldn’t need faith; and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”1

The second way to know if a dream is from God is to determine whether it aligns with God’s Word. God’s dream will never contradict God’s Word. God will not give you a dream of leaving your family to become a Hollywood star. He won’t give you a dream of cheating in business so you can donate the proceeds to your church’s building program. Again,

God’s dream will never contradict God’s Word

One way to know if a dream is from God is to determine whether the dream requires faith.

A Custom-Made Dream

God has a “good, pleasing and perfect will”2 for your life. It’s not a one-size-fits-all plan. God’s dream for you is personal. It’s custom-made for the way He shaped you.

There are five important factors that make you you. To help you remember them, I created a simple acrostic: SHAPE.

Spiritual gifts

Heart

Abilities

Personality

Experiences

You are the only person in the world with your unique, God-given SHAPE. That means you are the only person who can fulfill God’s dream for your life. Not only is God’s dream personal, it is also positive. It’s a plan “to prosper you and not to harm you... to give you hope and a future.”3

How do you figure out what God’s dream is? Let’s look at five steps based on the five letters of the word dream.

DEDICATE ALL YOUR LIFE TO GOD

If you want God to show you His dream for your life, then you must be willing to do whatever God wants you to do, even before He tells you to do it. Don’t say, “God, show me what you want me to do, and then I’ll say yes.” Just say yes, and then He will show you what to do.

Romans 12:1 says,

Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service.4

To discover God’s will, the Bible says you must “offer” yourself to God. That means you must dedicate every part of your life — your time, your talents, your treasures, your relationships, your past, your present, and your future — to God’s purposes. Sacrifice your agenda for His. Release control of your life to Him.

The Bible goes on to say,

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect.5

To conform means to fit something into a mold. To transform means to change something from the inside out — and there is a huge difference between the two. God wants to transform you by changing the way you think about Him, yourself, life, and the world around you. The number one reason people miss God’s dream is because they are trying to fit in with the rest of the world. They become a carbon copy of somebody else instead of being the person God made them to be.

If you want to get serious about figuring out God’s dream for your life, then you have to decide if you’re going to conform or be transformed. Are you going to settle for the “good life” or God’s life, the world’s standards or God’s standards?

Hebrews 12:1 says,

Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back... and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.”6

God has a particular life course for you to run. If you are always looking at other people, you’ll end up trying to run their race, and there’s no way you can win that one. To know God’s will, you have to stop conforming to the world’s standards and let God transform you into the person He designed you to be.

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).

Romans 12:2 (NIV).

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).

(GNT).

Romans 12:2 (GNT).

(TLB).

Excerpted from Created to Dream by Rick Warren, copyright Rick Warren.

Some have given up on dreams. Others pursue their dreams until they cannot dream any more. You are not yet in the land of the dead…do not act like it! Dream, and dream big. What does God want you to do to fulfill His plan for mankind, for your family, neighbor, and friend. You have much life to live and give for the sake of the One who gave His for you. Don’t stop dreaming!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 12, 2023

Note of Faith April 12, 2023

Strong and Confident

I was taught that courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the willingness to face your fear. Confidence doesn’t mean we don’t have self-doubt; it means we push forward, take action, and do what we need to until we no longer doubt.

Have you ever believed confidence is something we either have or don’t have? Just like some of us have curly hair, brown eyes, or a third nipple, some people seem to be born with confidence. But here’s the truth — confidence is not something we’re born with; it’s something we build.

Confidence is a skill that must be built up over time, and the only way to do that is by taking action.

You learn to ride a bike first on a tricycle, then with training wheels. Then we become so skilled at the training wheels that one falls off and we don’t even notice. Then we become brave, take off the training wheels, and go for it, wobbling down the road (and probably wiping out a few times along the way). Sometimes the process takes years, tears, and lots of skinned knees. But what results is confidence. You suck it up, take action, practice, manage your fear, and go for it, even if you wobble and wreck a few times.

It’s time to shed self-doubt and step confidently into your calling.

What does God want done that He is asking you to help Him with?

Is His heart broken because of the injustice of trafficking, and He put the dream in your heart to raise money to fight it? Does He want the second grade children in your town to have a loving teacher to develop them, and He nudged you to apply for the job? Does He want a local business to thrive so the owners can continue doing good in the community, and He wants you to pitch yourself as the new marketing person?

God called us all to do good works — not to earn our salvation, not to earn His love, not to prove we are worthy but because He loves us, saves us, and gives us new hearts to love others.

God delights in partnering with you for His purposes, and it’s time you believed that. You’re not an evil villain plotting to take over the world; you’re a woman of God partnering with Him to make the world right here and right now a better place.

When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom in the Gospels, He was also talking about the here and now, not just in Heaven. What does God want to do with you in His Kingdom here and now?

Whether you’re delivering comfort food to a grieving family, rocking a baby in the nursery, folding laundry and praying for a friend, growing a garden that feeds your family, or growing a non-profit that feeds the world, it all matters to God. And it is work that builds the Kingdom right here.

He wants me and you and all of us to get over our self-doubt and start living the lives He created us to live. And that starts with the small decisions we make every day.

When you want to say to yourself, “I can’t do this,” and self-doubt tries to sideline you, remember.

Remember who you are.

Remember where your strength comes from. Remember that you are a wonder, woman. Remember, you are called to stand strong. So start standing.

I Want You to Remember

When we bring God into any battle, we win.

When you bring God into the little things and let His Spirit help you push past self-doubt, you honor the calling He has on your life.

We can stand strong for one reason: God. Our wisdom, help, purpose, and gifts are all because of God.

Confidence is a skill that must be built up over time, and the only way we do that is by taking action.

Getting over self-doubt and living the lives God created us to live starts with the small decisions we make every day.

It’s time to shed self-doubt and step confidently into your calling.

Excerpted from Standing Strong by Alli Worthington, copyright Alli Worthington.

Growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and learning to follow Him is a life-long journey. We can certainly have all courage and confidence in Christ and trust His leading in our lives. As we draw close to the giver of life, listen, and follow, we stay on the straight and narrow path of God’s will for us. May you be courageous and confident in your Lord and Savior!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith April 11, 2023

Notes of Faith April 11, 2023

Angels Are for Real

Speculation about the nature of angels has been around since long before Queen Victoria’s time, and it continues down to the present time. Yet through revelation in the Bible God has told us a great deal about them. For this reason, theologians through the ages have universally agreed about the importance of “angel-ology” (the orderly statement of biblical truth about angels). They judged it worthy of treatment in any book of systematic theology. They wrote at length, distinguishing between good angels and “satan-ology” (the study of fallen and thus evil angels). But today we have neglected the theme of good angels, although many are giving the devil and all of his demons rapt attention, even worshiping them.

Angels belong to a uniquely different dimension of creation that we, limited to the natural order, can scarcely comprehend. In this angelic domain the limitations are different from those God has imposed on our natural order. He has given angels higher knowledge, power, and mobility than humans. Have you ever seen or met one of these superior beings called angels? Probably not, for both the Bible and human experience tell us visible appearances by angels are very rare — but that in no way makes angels any less real or powerful.

They are God’s messengers whose chief business is to carry out His orders in the world.

He has given them an ambassadorial charge. He has designated and empowered them as holy deputies to perform works of righteousness. In this way they assist Him as their creator while He sovereignly controls the universe. So, He has given them the capacity to bring His holy enterprises to a successful conclusion.

Angels Are Created Beings

Don’t believe everything you hear (and read!) about angels! Some would have us believe that they are only spiritual will-o’-the- wisps. Some view them as only celestial beings with beautiful wings and bowed heads. Others would have us think of them as effeminate weirdos.

The Bible states that angels, like men, were created by God. At one time no angels existed; indeed, there was nothing but the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul, in Colossians 1:16, says,

For by Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible.

Angels indeed are among the invisible things made by God, for “all things were created by Him, and for Him.” This creator, Jesus,

is before all things, and by Him all things consist. — Colossians 1:17,

so that even angels would cease to exist if Jesus, who is Almighty God, did not sustain them by His power.

Angels are God’s messengers whose chief business is to carry out His orders in the world.

It seems that angels have the ability to change their appearance and shuttle in a flash from the capital glory of Heaven to earth and back again. Although some interpreters have said that the phrase “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 refers to angels, the Bible frequently makes it clear that angels are nonmaterial; Hebrews 1:14 calls them ministering “spirits.” Intrinsically, they do not possess physical bodies, although they may take on physical bodies when God appoints them to special tasks. Furthermore, God has given them no ability to reproduce, and they “neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Mark 12:25).

The empire of angels is as vast as God’s creation. If you believe the Bible, you will believe in their ministry. They crisscross the Old and New Testaments, being mentioned directly or indirectly nearly three hundred times. Some biblical scholars believe that angels can be numbered potentially in the millions since Hebrews 12:22 speaks of “an innumerable [myriads — a great but indefinite number] company of angels.” As to their number, David recorded twenty thousand coursing through the skyways of the stars. Even with his limited vision, he impressively notes,

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.

— Psalm 68:17

Matthew Henry’s Commentary says of this passage, “Angels are ‘the chariots of God,’ His chariots of war, which He makes use of against His enemies, His chariots of conveyance, which He sends for His friends, as He did for Elijah..., His chariots of state, in the midst of which He shows His glory and power. They are vastly numerous: ‘Twenty thousands,’ even thousands multiplied.”

Ten thousand angels came down on Mount Sinai to confirm the presence of God as He gave the Law to Moses (Deuteronomy 33:2). An earthquake shook the mountain. Moses was held in speech-bound wonder at this mighty cataclysm attended by the visitation of heavenly beings. Furthermore, in the New Testament John tells us of having seen ten thousand times ten thousand angels ministering to the Lamb of God in the throne room of the universe (Revelation 5:11). The book of Revelation also says that armies of angels will appear with Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon when God’s foes gather for their final defeat. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians,

The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels.

— 2 Thessalonians 1:7

Think of it! Multitudes of angels, indescribably mighty, performing the commands of Heaven! More amazingly, even one angel is indescribably mighty, as though an extension of the arm of God.

Singly or corporately, angels are for real.

They are better organized than were the armies of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, or Eisenhower. From earliest antiquity, when the angels guarding the gates of Eden sealed its entrance, angels have manifested their presence in the world.

Excerpted from Angels: God’s Secret Agents by Billy Graham, copyright Billy Graham.

If you believe in the Word of God, it is not hard to believe in angels and the ministry that God has given them to do. They are called ministering spirits and have much interaction between themselves and mankind though we do not see them, hear them, or interact with them. But God, in His sovereign wisdom, uses them to be a blessing to us and bring glory to Himself! Praise God for many things He has created that we cannot see or take for granted. The glory of God is far beyond our thoughts. He uses all of His creation to work for His honor and glory! Praise His name!

Pastor Dale