Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thirsty Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011

Dear Friends and Family of Hope,

Last Sunday I opened my message by talking about the impact of words. While some of our words are positive, others are negative. What's more interesting is that we have no idea how much people have been affected, or are being affected by what we say - even when others aren't around. Think about that for a moment!

To illustrate this point, throughout my teenage years, kids would joke with me about my singing. Some would say I sang okay and had a fine voice, while others would say, "Don't quit your day job". As a result, even though I enjoy singing, I'm pretty self conscience about how loud I sing. The reason is that in my conscience I believe I really can't sing because of people's past comments. Perhaps you have an incident in your life about people's comments that have affected you. Maybe the incident is from the past, but maybe the incident may have been recent. The truth of the matter is that people are affected by the word's of others - a spouse, children, or even friends. Unfortunately, people may say, "They're just kidding", but maybe they aren't. The reason is that their comment struck a nerve and brought back a memory of an incident that happened when we were young. As a result, it still 'stings'.

What has come to light recently is when people have shared with me that they have become the critic, and not the one receiving the criticism. Even though their comments were well-intentioned, they stung. Few people I know of, including myself, set out to harm someone with their words - yet it often happens.

The Apostle Paul was an outspoken person (we are discovering this in our study of Galatians). However, throughout his letters to the churches, he languished about his early days of persecuting the Christians. He said it was something for which he must be eternally repentant. I believe that deep down in our life we are pretty good at figuring what's wrong with us. I also believe that the Holy Spirit also helps reveal things to us that we have to ask forgiveness for and give over to Him to help us in our life. This includes our relationship with other people. The reason is that the overall goal of self critiquing is transformation, that is, being transformed into a more Godly person and living a newness of life in Jesus Christ.

Walking with you,

Pastor Tom


Items of praise:
1. Scott Robinson was at Wednesday Night Bible Study. It was good to see him and the progress he's making.
2. A sincere thanks to Jeff & Gayle Ewen for volunteering to sit with Scott as Kathy travels back to North Carolina to see her brothers wedding.
3. Over 50 people have signed up for the Salmon dinner. There is still room to invite more people. Also, the salmon came in today and is already in the freezer.
4. Jeff Ewen has got a new job. He begins on Monday.
5. For the great support from the Central Conference women in making 925 pillow case dresses.

Prayer Requests:
1. For the Salmon dinner and the KICY presentation.
2. For people and their ongoing relationship with the Lord.
3. For people who need healing