Bulletin for 4-24-22

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Birthdays and Anniversaries:

None this week

Prayer requests:

Dewey Prater, Dena’s father, pacemaker replacement Tuesday

Darlyne Stewart, Karl’s sister, her cancer seems to be under control for the moment.

Shirley Weeks, Steve’s mom, is not well.

Sharon Best, Steven’s mom, still recovering from surgery.

Sarah, Chris Girvin’s sister, on hospice care

Eleuterio Oviedo recovering from knee replacement surgery

Doris Coley, regular listener, also recovering from knee surgery.

Robert and Sue Waller, health issues.

Darla Nitti, Wendi’s mom, stage 4 kidney disease, stroke. New living situation!

Leta, has a recurring cancer, prayer request from her granddaughter via our website.

Tammy Jones, Weeks’ neighbor, kidney failure/dialysis

Article:

Two nameless prophets. One disturbing encounter. One powerful lesson.

Biblical narratives tell us what happened. They do not limit themselves to conveying what should have occurred.

As a result, it is not surprising to discover troubling details within some of these narratives. We can find ourselves asking, “why would he do that?” 1 Kings 13 contains such a story.

A nameless prophet from Judah, simply identified as “a man of God,” denounced the false worship at Bethel in Israel. After delivering God’s prophetic message he left Bethel to return to his home in Judah.

An old prophet who lived in Bethel chased after him. This old prophet invited the man of God to enter his house and eat with him.

The man of God responded that God had instructed him to neither eat nor drink in Israel. It is a good thing that Bethel was located just a handful of miles from Judah’s border!

The old prophet persisted by lying to the man of God.  He claimed that the LORD had told him to invite the man of God to eat bread and drink water with him in his house.

Why would a prophet lie? Does this upset you as much as me? Yet he did.

The man of God faced a decision. Would he obey what he had heard from God or would he obey this new message delivered by an old prophet?

As we know the man of God chose to disobey the instructions he had received from God. He entered the house to eat and drink. Then, because he disobeyed what God had commanded him, a lion killed him on his way home. Rough ending!

When I reflect on this story, a deep realization and resolve grows within. What matters is what God has actually said. It does not matter what others might claim God has said. Likewise their opinions are not a reliable standard.

We would do ourselves a great disservice if we dismiss the value of examining the Scriptures for ourselves. Like the Bereans we need to ensure we are following God voice (Acts 17:11).

Barry Newton, link to original article

Bulletin for 4-17-22

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Birthdays and Anniversaries:

None this week

Prayer requests:

Darlyne Stewart, Karl’s sister, her cancer seems to be under control for the moment.

Shirley Weeks, Steve’s mom, is not well.

Sharon Best, Steven’s mom, still recovering from surgery.

Sarah, Chris Girvin’s sister, on hospice care

Eleuterio Oviedo recovering from knee replacement surgery

Doris Coley, regular listener, also recovering from knee surgery.

Robert and Sue Waller, health issues.

David Shaffer, has been declared free of leukemia! Going back to work. Praise God!

Darla Nitti, Wendi’s mom, stage 4 kidney disease, stroke. New living situation!

Leta, has a recurring cancer, prayer request from her granddaughter via our website.

Tammy Jones, Weeks’ neighbor, kidney failure/dialysis

Article:

The desire to tell others about Jesus

“Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.” (Mark 7:31-32 NIV)

Trying to imagine what it was like to be in Israel in the first century when Jesus was there is difficult for us at the best of times. Here was a man, from outward appearance, but he was like the prophets of old. As he travelled he healed people as well as taught them the word of God. When Jesus would enter an area people who had heard about him would flock to see and hear him. Because he was known for healing people, they would bring those with them who were in need of healing.

When he was in the region of the Decapolis a man who was deaf and could hardly talk was brought to Jesus to be healed. Being deaf would make speech very difficult on its own, but it would seem that this man also had some type of speech impediment and was regarded as ‘mute’.

The Decapolis, literally ‘the ten cities’, was an area that was heavily influenced by Greek and Roman culture and was inhabited largely by Gentiles, but also had a Jewish population. Located primarily in modern Jordan, it was the area east of the Sea of Galilee, extending north and south, with the exception of Scythopolis (Beit She’an) in Israel.

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (which means ‘Be opened!’ ). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosed and he began to speak plainly.” (Mark 7:33-35 NIV)

Jesus healed people in a variety of ways. This time it was a bit unique, putting his fingers in the man’s ears, spitting and touching the man’s tongue, then looking up to heaven and saying, “Be opened!” Immediately the man could hear and “his tongue was loosened”, enabling him to speak properly (which lets us know that there was some type of speech impediment).

“Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” (Mark 7:36-37 NIV)

This is the amazing point of this incident. Although Jesus commanded those who saw this miracle to not tell anyone, they couldn’t help but to tell others! They couldn’t keep it to themselves!

What about us? We are the recipients of God’s love and great blessings. As Christians we have experienced forgiveness of our sins through the death of Jesus. We have the hope of living eternally with him because of his resurrection from the dead. All of these should cause us to be “overwhelmed with amazement”. But what do we do? Are we so amazed at what God has done for us through Jesus that we can’t help but tell others? Or are we afraid to tell others about Jesus?

This is a needed lesson for all Christians today. As disciples of Jesus we’ve been told to tell others the good news (Matthew 28:19-20). Maybe we’ve lost the amazement at all that Jesus has done for us. Although the pressure from many around us is to keep quiet about our faith, we need to be like the people of the Decapolis and tell all that we can about our Teacher and Saviour, Jesus the Messiah. The more they try to keep us quiet, the more we should keep talking about him!

Jon Galloway link to original article

Photo of Scythopolis, Israel, by Jon Galloway.

Bulletin for 4-10-22

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Birthdays and Anniversaries:

4-16 Maksim Camacho

Prayer requests:

Darlyne Stewart, Karl’s sister, her cancer seems to be under control for the moment.

Shirley Weeks, Steve’s mom, is not well.

Sharon Best, Steven’s mom, still recovering from surgery.

Sarah, Chris Girvin’s sister, on hospice care

Eleuterio Oviedo recovering from knee replacement surgery

Doris Coley, regular listener, also recovering from knee surgery.

Robert and Sue Waller, health issues.

David Shaffer, being treated for leukemia.

Darla Nitti, Wendi’s mom, stage 4 kidney disease, stroke. New living situation!

Leta, has a recurring cancer, prayer request from her granddaughter via our website.

Tammy Jones, Weeks’ neighbor, kidney failure/dialysis

Condolences and Sympathy:

Camille Crossen, friend of the Reames’, passed away this week. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Article:

God most high

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand’” (Genesis 14:18-20, NASB).

When Abram returned to the plains of the Jordon River after rescuing his nephew Lot and other citizens of the cities of the plains from the Mesopotamian armies who had captured them, he was met by the King of Sodom and by Melchizedek. This second man is identified as both the King of Salem and a priest of “God Most High”. The Hebrew for this title is “El Elyon.“

This title for God conveys various meanings including priority of position (“highest”), and therefore of order (“first”), and ultimately, supreme authority. Technically it may not demand a monotheistic view of God, but practically speaking it at least led to such faith. If God is the highest and most powerful of all beings, he is of course the only one to whom the title “God” may be logically attributed. “Most High” implies “only” just as does the description “Lord of Lords and King of Kings” (1 Timothy 6:15).

Abram accepted the blessing which Melchizedek bestowed from God Most High, but he also amended the priest’s identification of the one true God slightly, by adding the personal name of God, Yahweh, which is translated in our English Bibles by the word “LORD” spelled with all capital letters. Lest there be any doubt as to who exactly this supreme God is, the patriarch identified him by name (Exodus 3:13-14).

One is reminded of Paul’s sermon in Athens (Acts 17:22-31) in which he identified the “unknown god” to whom they had erected an altar as the creator and giver of all life. Their worship of such a deity without recognition of his identity, nature, or will, was unacceptable and unprofitable.

Many today argue that faith in any god, regardless of who it may be or how he or it may be perceived is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of salvation. Both Abram and Paul stand in opposition to such a view. God must be known (2 Thessalonians 1:8), he must be submitted to (Matthew 4:10), and his will must be obeyed (Matthew 7:21).

We worship whom we know (John 4:22). The God whom we worship and serve is the Creator (Genesis 1:1), the Father of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:30-32), the God of the Bible, and the only living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Our God is “eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Timothy 1:17). He is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). God is love (1 John 4:8) and has given his Son so that sinful mankind might have the hope of salvation (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

Abram’s meeting with Melchizedek reminds us of the importance of properly recognizing and identifying exactly who God is. Our faith is not simply an impulse to plea for help from “whoever might be out there” whether person or force. Rather, “He who comes to God must blieve that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Image to this article is courtesy of Jan van ‘t Hoff of GospelImages.com.

Michael Brooks, link to original article

Bulletin for 4-3-22

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Birthdays and Anniversaries:

None this week

Prayer requests:

Darlyne Stewart, Karl’s sister, her cancer seems to be under control for the moment.

Shirley Weeks, Steve’s mom, is not well.

Sharon Best, Steven’s mom, still recovering from surgery.

Sarah, Chris Girvin’s sister, on hospice care

Eleuterio Oviedo recovering from knee replacement surgery

Doris Coley, regular listener, also recovering from knee surgery.

Robert and Sue Waller, health issues.

David Shaffer, being treated for leukemia.

Darla Nitti, Wendi’s mom, stage 4 kidney disease, stroke. New living situation!

Leta, has a recurring cancer, prayer request from her granddaughter via our website.

Tammy Jones, Weeks’ neighbor, kidney failure/dialysis

Condolences and Sympathy:

Jesse Chase, Steve’s cousin’s son, passed away this week. Please keep Lisa & Russell Chase and family in your prayers.

Article:

The Judge

Even when driving the speed limit, nervousness erupts upon seeing a police car in the rearview mirror. The predictable behavior might be to slow down another mile per hour or casually change lanes.

If this is true about being within the gaze of an officer, how much more anxiety would arise beneath the scrutiny of a judge. Shift this to the Judge of all the earth and, well … anxiety can go off the charts. So what about the Judge of the whole earth?

From the very beginning, we have had a sense of what is fair. Righteous people should not be destroyed along with the wicked. Therefore Abraham when speaking to the LORD asserted the principle, “Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” (Genesis 18:25).

Imagine how horrible it would be to live each day seeking to do good, but then in the final judgment be condemned without good reason. Or imagine being condemned for what others chose to do.

Paul affirmed how every nuance of God’s judgment will be fair. Whereas in this life we might face prejudice from others, there will be no favoritism before God (Romans 2:11). Rather, God’s foundational principle in judging involves giving to each person according to what he or she has done (Romans 2:6). At the end of time we won’t be judged based upon what our social or ethnic groups chose to do.

Paul’s mind pressed further into the details. But how can people who do not know God’s ways know the good they should do or the unrighteousness they should avoid?

God will judge everyone based upon what they knew to be right and wrong. Those who possessed God’s Law will be judged by it (Romans 2:12-13). The rest of humanity will be judged by their conscience, that is by their awareness of right and wrong (Romans 2:14-15). This is fair!

Thus no one will be condemned because they were in the wrong place and never heard God’s message. Rather, condemnation will be issued if someone transgressed what he or she knew to be right. However, such fairness creates a huge problem.

Each of us knows we have transgressed what is right. While we may have chosen to do many good things, we are accountable for everything that violated the good.

This brings us to another characteristic of our Judge. Both the Old and New Testaments teach us the same truth about God. God said, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11). Likewise, God does not wish for any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Not only is God just, God also seeks our wellbeing.

As we are aware, it was out of love that the Judge of all the earth chose to provide a solution for our sinful ways. While God will not corrupt his righteous judgment by turning a blind eye to sin, God has provided his faithful son as our mercy seat, that is, the place Christ’s sprinkled blood redeems us if we will trust in his death (Romans 3:22-26).

Through Christ’s blood, God redeems us making us holy and blameless in his sight. We can receive Christ’s righteousness as a gift enabling us to inherit eternal life.

What will it be like to stand before the Judge? If we are disciples of Jesus sprinkled by his blood, we can have confidence entering into God’s presence (Hebrews 10:19,22). We can stand before the One who loves us and who gave everything in order that we might live.

Our Judge is for us, not against us. Our hearts can be at peace.

Our Judge cares for us. We are OK when God looks at us.