Start sharing the love of Jesus Christ, it's the best we can do for God!

I have been honored and blessed to love music as most of you readers have found out.  I can NOT stop talking about it, because it is a gift that God has blessed a lot of people with and even a few have grabbed on to the opportunity to learn and are exploring this wonderful gift.  I have a small enthusiastic group of people from the church that I am sharing my guitar playing.  Teaching music is such a pleasure to experience.  Teaching people to play a guitar is rewarding when I see realization in their eyes that they are actually learning to make music after all! What a joy.  Several months ago to now, I am seeing in their eyes the enjoyment of being able to make some pleasant sounds from the instrument....sore fingers and all!

A couple of days or so ago, I posted on my Facebook page a picture of a group that I have talked about before.  The Celebration Music Team (pictured below) was a wonderful time in my life and hope the lives of the congregation that were blessed to hear them leading the music every Sunday morning at the 8:00 Worship service.  As I indicted in the most recent posting of the early '90's picture of the CMT, a couple of the folks are singing in Heaven now.  Miss Dorothy Cunningham and Mr. Vern Foree (standing together front row, middle and right) were a very important part of our lives.  Dorothy's most least liked song was "Unclouded Day".  It was a constant "thing" she and I had, because that is one of my most favorite songs and we both kidded each other quite a bit about having to endure it just one more time!  She had such an awesome Alto voice and her tone added just the right amount of "stuff" to everything we sang.  I miss her sweet voice.   Then there was Vern Foree, a gentle singer and enthusiastic member that did what it took to make our sound complete.  The biggest thing that was first and foremost with the members of the CMT through the years was the purpose each one had, standing up in worship leading the music, was that we were there for the Glory of God, and not for any personal reasons. I think that was what our "secret" was through the years, and as I have witnessed the couple times since moving away, it has continued to be that way.  Singing...sharing...smiling.

When you and I are blessed with a gift from God, we are to use it to praise His Name and share that gift with others whenever and wherever possible.  That is the real big FUN part!  It's also interesting to realize that sharing, is what is expected, and when you do,  you are even more blessed with the sense that something wonderful is taking place.  It has happened time and again through my walk through life.  I like to think of God's gifts as the gift that keeps on giving.  The more you share, the more blessed you and they are!

Life still has its challenges and trials and hurts, but when we can sit back and think about it, the people that have true Faith in God are the ones that continue to live a life that shows us that God is living within us.  Most times, most of us make mistakes and/or misjudgments as we travel through, and the best thing is that Jesus Christ has died for us and has redeemed us from sin.  It is then our turn to turn ourselves around and move on and live as good an example as we can, showing that Christ is living within us and our love of God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit are living within us.  None of us are free from sin are we?  We all try, but all fall short.  It seems that some of us even redo our failures because we couldn't believe we did did it the FIRST time!  So we start over, trying to do better, and before we know it, we are getting closer to the end and we still have so much to do and so many things to get taken care of, to learn, experience, share, and to tell others that our Lord and Savior died for OUR sins because God loves us soooo much, and, as a Christian . . . a believer in Jesus Christ, a FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ . . . not just a fan. Our hope is that at least ONE person has turned from sin because of how we have lived a life of value.

There is still a lot to do on this side.  We must continue to pray for our country and all this madness that is rearing it's ugly head.  It is our responsibility to live a life of example . . . of service to others . . to be aware of what is happening to our country and to bring it back to how our Founding Fathers envisioned it.  A land of the free.  Where we are free to to decide our own future, but having the freedom to decide what we are going to do to support ourselves, with what talents, hard work, education, and setting personal goals on how we are going support ourselves and those that CAN'T support themselves.  There are so many that have been let down with poor examples of life styles, and with the expectation of letting others pay for their own personal lack of motivation, education, and over stimulus of depending on others to provide them with whatever THEY feel THEY deserve even though they haven't put forth an effort into providing for themselves.  As a country, I still feel we are the very BEST in the whole world.  But we are dramatically slipping into a cesspool that is getting harder and harder to rise ourselves up and out of if we don't come together and make some changes, it seems like Satan is going to win!  But as we all know, in the end . . . God WINS!  He doesn't really need our help, but we are not meant to sit on the couch and take from others (through the welfare system) when, in fact, we can do for ourselves instead.  So we must pray for this nonsense to end.  Lets all join together and get our country back to the Godly Nation we started out to be.  Now is the time to begin.

There is so much out there that can be done, to share with others the love of Jesus Christ and the love that God has for us.  Start sharing the love of Jesus Christ, it's the best we can do for God.  Does that make sense?  Start sharing the love of Jesus Christ, it's the best we can do for God!  Figure out what "it" is in your life and get on with it.  Time is running out.  Share . . . love . . . experience life.

Remember: Keep Singing, Keep Smiling, Keep Laughing

Blessings,
Gary

About time to smile and enjoy SATURDAY FUNNIES!

Creativity is something PEOPLE do.

Sometimes in our lives, we find a need to create something.  Some call it a hobby, others call it a career.  The fortunate ones are those that can combine their hobby with a career.  I am not one of the latter, but have dabbled in several of the "arts" with much satisfaction.  Most of us get the "rush" from creating things with a multitude of media.  My "media" is multi-plistic in which I have found I enjoy painting on canvas with either acrylic or oil paints, and also enjoy music. Some seem to enjoy listening and that is WONDERFUL.  Without listeners, the players would't get feedback.  Just like art painters wouldn't get feedback if nobody ever saw their creations.

With that said, I have enjoyed almost 50 years playing the guitar.  Looking back on my life, it seems that it is dotted with multiple band/groups as I/we have moved from place to place.  Even had a country band (of sorts) while I was stationed on an Aircraft Carrier during a coupleVietnam tours!  Before that, I had a small country band of fellow Navy guys practicing for a square dance group.  Since Pat and I had very recently gotten married, we had the perfect place to practice that wasn't in the barracks. So practicing at our apartment seemed, at first, to be a great place to learn some songs, etc.  That changed in a hurry when I realized I had new commitments as a partner in marriage.  After our first gig, it was best for my music to be put aside for a while!  The life of a musician!  I am glad I didn't pick Musician as a career, because some are cut out for that, but far more are cut out to enjoy their music in a more relaxed, listener, format.

I found out that Painting on canvas could become very fulfilling as a hobby almost as much as my music.  So, I bought some paints, brushes and some stretched canvas and started learning and creating.  I found that I couldn't paint a person or any part of them ,to save my soul.  Therefore, I focused on landscapes.  It is really rewarding starting with a blank canvas and just waiting to see what would grow into something on the canvas that was pleasant to look at.

I have drifted away from painting off and on over the years.  Sometimes people would even pay me to paint something for them, and that was always a nice thing to happen, but I do it primarily for enjoyment, whether I get to sell one or not...that's not the primary purpose of a hobby is it?  Of course my children have chosen their favorites (that's what they told me, anyway) for their homes.  Todd has asked for another black canvas painting to go with some others he has of mine, so I may have to figure out how I did that the first time around, and get him another one.  Just recently, I got out my  easel, dusted it off and have a canvas ready to paint once again.  So we will see what develops this time around.

The pictures are some very unprofessional camera shots and scanned into this electronic media to show some of those paintings I have done.   I had painted a series of three small framed canvas of tropical island type area for my Mother and after her passing they ended up with my favorite cousin who has graciously given them back to me.  I have enjoyed seeing them again and when they finally make the South their all year around home, I will give them to her and her husband once again.  They will be close enough that we will visit them every once in a while.

 Woodland with a spring flowing creek

 I love making flowing creeks and rivers

 Las Vegas Mormon Temple

 This is a black canvas painting

 Another black canvas painting

Man in the Mist 

reminds me of a fishing trip up north Minnesota one summer

So there you have a smattering of some of my work.  Love Bob Ross style paintings

Remember to take some time to relax and do something enjoyable.  Stretch your imagination and your life will be fuller and more fun.  Never even think that you CAN"T do anything....it will surprise  yourself with what you CAN do it you try.  I am so exited even at 67 yrs old to learn something different.  For instance, several years ago I bought a Mandolin and am now getting around to learning how to play it!  I have found it is not as hard as I thought it was going to be, so that makes me happy too.  Now once I have that mastered, I have a Dobro style guitar sitting here for me to learn how to play. 

I am planning on living to 100, just because there is so much to learn and so enjoyment to achieve with things in my life that mean so much to me, to be able to share with family and friends.  God has it all here for you to learn, share, enjoy.

Remember:  

Keep Singing, Keep laughing, Keep Smiling 

Blessings,

Gary

Saturday FUNNIES

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Living For God Today...Living for God Tomorrow

My message this morning:

Living for God Today, Living for God Tomorrow

James 4:13-15

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.¹⁵Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

I was doing a little Biblical research the other day.  Looking back on it, I seem to be doing things like that lately.  It reminds me of a joke line that has been going around for  a couple years at least. It goes like this: “Have you noticed that old people seem to read the Bible a lot?”    “Yes, they are studying for the final exam.”  With that in mind, I was living in Nevada for 20 some years and tried to keep in touch with my parents through the telephone.  My Mother once told me that Dad and one of my Uncles were having a Bible study over at Dad’s place.  I thought of that joke then and guess I am following in Dads footsteps.  

I was looking in some files that I had in preparation for today.  I started with a sermon I did at the beginning of the century.  Seems old doesn't it?  Actually a year into it.  A lot has happened to the world since then. But I took this very brief two page sermon I had put together in hurry because our Pastor at the time had received an injury that required him to stay home.  As I was reading it, God had me do some more study into what He wanted me to tell you today.  After praying about it and thinking and reading some more I feel that the message for today is simply put:   Living for God Today — Living for God Tomorrow.   

Let me explain how I figured it out and see if you agree.

The scripture this morning  comes from the Book of James.  It is actually a sermon.  If you were reading along this morning, you may have noticed that it only has five chapters.  James was not as prolific a writer as Paul, so we shouldn’t expect long disertations.  Sometimes good things come in small packages and that is what I think we have here with James.

When the church was just beginning, there was, to put simply: a lot of chaos.  There was persecution, false teachers, teaching false doctrine, and a lot of differences in the way believers behaved.  The people to whom James was writing were learning to live the Christian life in a pagan world.   Almost sounds like it would fit today doesn’t it?  Suffering was considered by both Jewish and pagan religions as punishment for wrong doings.  Wealth and ease were looked on as rewards for being good.  So when the new Christians were suffering it was not only painful, but embarrassing and confusing.  James addressed those issues along with having a right attitude toward wealth, and the wealthy.  He also taught them through this sermon/letter how to live a Christian life of love and kindness.  How we can put our faith in God and not have to be so concerned about the how things are going to happen, but how you will make a difference in those around you by being reliant on God’s grace . . . no matter what.  James was teaching to live for today.  Do your best work today, because you don’t even know if you will be here tomorrow!

Just the other day a friend of mine and I were talking.  It was interesting to realize how we get caught up in living from crisis to crisis and all of a sudden we are older and body parts are starting to either quit working or are in need of repair or replacement.  I have found that parts are starting to ache that I never even knew I had! 

How many of us have said, “I wish I would have been more attentive when my kids were younger.”  Or perhaps spent more time at home with my wife instead of all those bowling nights, or late nights at the office trying to impress the boss with my productivity . . . most likely while he was relaxing at home.

According to what we have read this morning, life is too short, no matter how many years we live. We don’t know if there will be a “tomorrow”.   To be complete, live for God today.  James writes about how we should be living today for God and because of that, good works will come with it.  James is saying that we are not judged by our good works, but that because we are living the best we can today and trying to please God, good works will be done.  That makes us complete.  He asks us “What is your life? You are but a mist that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” Have God in your plans every day.  Make Him a partner in your daily life.  Don’t be deceived into thinking “I’ll start going to church more regular next month, but this month is really a busy time at work.”  Or even worse, “That Bass tournament in Arkansas is calling me.”  But when you have included God in your plans . . . not just by going to church, but by talking to Him daily and even hourly . . . and being quiet and LISTEN for His guidance and reassurance, you will have fulfilled God’s plan for you.  He will never disappoint you when you include Him in your goals and plans.

It is good to have plans.  As a matter of fact, I believe He wants us to have goals in our lives.  Where do these “goal ideas” come from do you suppose?   If you are including God in your life, I would bet they are coming from Him.  If not . . . watch out!  You may be headed down the wrong path.

It doesn’t make any sense to make goals or plans if God isn’t included in your planning process.  Your future is in His hands whether you accept it or not.  Might as well include Him now and ask for His guidance and direction.  It will only make it easier on yourself and those that you are influencing.

A few years ago my wife and I were taking care of her Father in our home.  When we bought the house, it was with the knowledge that the possibibility was great that we would be taking care of him sometime in the future.  Several years later, the future arrived.  He was with us for a few more years and we were able to love him and spoil him to the best of our ability.  God was with us and our household.  We knew that.  We had prayed about it, and had asked God’s guidance.  Dad lived a full and long life.  92 years.  We were blessed to be able to provide for him in his last stage of life on earth.  Within a couple more years, we both felt that our work was finished in Nevada and that God was calling us to a new ministry.  Looking back on that part of our lives is so exciting to see how God was putting the pieces of our family puzzle together for quite a few years and it was becoming a complete and beautiful jigsaw puzzle!  Ending up in Western Tennessee was not where we had ever planned to live.  But then I had never given Nevada a thought before I got married to a Nevada girl.  This type of thing has happened throughout our lives.

When we have stress and unpleasantness in our lives, something is out of kilter.  

What are we missing?  

What can we do differenty?  

What do we need to learn or re-learn?  

What is it that God is trying to tell us?  

What do we need to do to make things right?  

Is it to re-learn something?  

Is it to re-focus on something?  

Is it as basic as shedding our pride and let God tell us what do do?  

Is it something as simple as actually LISTENING to what GOD is trying to tell us, but LIFE is getting in the way . . . “my mind is made up, I KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR ME”.  Things are not ALWAYS “THEIR” fault.  It may be a combination of misjudgements or issues.

Please listen to me.  When you make God an Active part of your life, you will be blessed.  That doesn’t mean you will be pain free or extremely wealthy!  It means your heart will be calm in crisis situations because God is with you.  It also means that in order to be right with God, we MUST be willing to apologize and forgive when we have conflicts and issues in our lives.   It is one thing to be upset today, but what about tomorrow?  What if there is no tomorrow?  You will have missed the opportunity to apologize and forgive . . . to make things “right”.  Hanging on to anger, not giving up your pride, keeping your pious attitude in front of your eyes, blinding you, so that you can’t see the results of your stuborness, is NOT the way that God wants us to treat our brothers and sisters in Christ!  Resolve your 

issues TODAY because there may be no TOMORROW.  Speak to that 

person this afternoon . . . before it is too late.  If it takes a few tears to make things right, let them flow.  If it gets resolved with God’s blessings and guidance it is good.  Today is such a short time to deal with.  Tomorrow is not for sure.  Sometimes change is painful, particuarly when God wants change and we aren’t listening.  It seems, sometimes, to be a two edged sword.  To resolve issues and heal completely, there needs to be forgiveness from BOTH sides.  We, as individuals,  can only control what God is telling us in our own lives.  We cannot demand others to forgive, but we can lead by example and pray that they are guided by God to do what is HIS plan.

So here’s the deal:

Live for God today.  Pray to Him.  Involve Him in your daily life.  Talk to Him frequently . . . particularly if something is “bugging” you.

Live for God tomorrow.  It’s really His tomorrow anyway.  Include Him in it and your plans for it.  Makes sense doesn’t it?  When you were a kid and you had plans to go fishing, wasn’t it easier to include your Dad in those plans, so He could get you to the lake?  Same thing here.  Include God in your plans and see what a wonderful journey you will have from then on. 

So make Him a part of your daily living . . . He likes that.

Please join me prayer

Dear Lord,

I thank you for this day.  I thank you that we are able to see and hear this morning.  We are blessed because you are a forgiving and understanding God.  You have done so much for us and you keep the blessings coming.

Forgive us this day for everything that we have done that does not please you.  We are asking now for your forgiveness.  Please keep us safe from all danger and harm.  Help us start this day with a new attitude and with 

plenty of gratitude.  Help us make the best of each and every day with a clear mind, and heart, so that we can hear you.

Please broaden our minds so that we can accept all things with the right attitude.  Let us not whine and whimper over things we have no control over.  When we sin, allow us to repent, and confess with our mouths of our wrong doings, and to receive your forgiveness with love.  When this world closes in on us , allow us to remember your son Jesus’ example — to slip away to a place where you and I can talk.  We know that there are situations when we cannot get away.  In those situations Lord we know you are listening to our heart and  understand.  

Lord we ask that you continue to bless us that we may be a blessing to others.  Keep us strong that we may help the weak.  Keep us uplifted so that we may have the words of encouragement for others.  We pray for those that are lost and can’t find their way.  We pray for those  that are misjudged and misunderstood.  We pray for those who don’t know you intimately.

We pray for those that don’t believe, and thank you Lord that we believe.  We pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ, and for every member of their households.

We pray for peace, love and joy in the homes of those that need our love and understanding.  We continually say things that are misunderstood and continually hear things that we misintrepret Lord.  We ask that a more complete understanding and forgiveness is achieved.  We ask for your forgiveness in the many times we have not been as loving and gentle as we should have been.  We ask that you allow us the opportunity to re-look at our perceived stumbling blocks to learn that it is US that are those sources of  weakness and misspeaking that has taken place...at least to an equal  degree of  pain.  We ask your forgiveness in our weakness and to share our joy in knowing that we are all of equal value to YOU, in spite of our human failures.   We pray that every ear that hears this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than YOU, Father God.   Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.  We ask that you equip us properly with the right amount of grace and gratitude.  We humbly ask for the correct amount of peace, joy and happiness and an over abundance of forgiveness and respect, in working with others in this time here, where your Son had given his life for us so many years ago.  Thank you Lord, God, our Father.

This is our prayer,

In Jesus’ most holy name      

Amen

Saturday Funnies!

Hope this FINDS you enjoying your Happy SATURDAY