Relax and Refresh - by Ben Barnes

Summer is such a great time to relax and refresh when life has been so busy during the school year.  Schedules loosen up. Naps are on the to-do list. Flip flops are appropriate in public again somehow.  Society relaxes a little bit. It’s great. Summer helps us back away from the harsh reality of work and school and keeping up tiring paces. It’s as if our bodies are telling us we weren’t meant to live life at the speed we’ve talked ourselves into living. 

Jesus kept a pretty fast pace. He was always going from one place to another, healing people, performing miracles and changes lives, then going to another place. I imagine his schedule was pretty full (especially with twelve people in his group). But he got away to rest, too. Mark 1 talks about Jesus getting away to be alone to pray.  I’m sure he needed that break from the tight schedule to just relax, sit back against a tree and talk with God. Maybe we should look at Jesus’ example and take time this summer to relax, to get away from the noise and the crowds, and to pray. 

Prayer Changes Everything - by Susan Jensen

What does that really mean? Can we pray and ask God for anything we want and get it? No, God doesn’t give us everything we want like a big vending machine in the sky. He does what He chooses and He does what He know is best for us. There is also the factor of free will. God did not create us as robots, He gave us free will - the will to do what we choose, regardless of what He wants or knows to be the best for us. God allows free will; therefore, some things that happen are a result of that free will whether it was ours or the free will of another.

Some of you are aware that we lost my brother and father just a month apart from each other a few months back. Did I pray for my brother to live? Yes. Did he? No. I sadly accept the fact that even though my brother should have taken better care of himself, he didn’t. That was his free will, and his early death was in part a result of that. Did I pray for my father not to suffer through his trial of cancer? Yes. Did he suffer? Unfortunately, yes. My father did smoke for over 20 years, although not the last 30 of his life. He also worked in a profession that exposed him to asbestos for 30 years. Once again, his free will and free will in the world played a big factor.

So if I prayed, and these factors didn’t change, why did I pray? These weren’t the only factors. My prayers offered me and those around me peace, comfort, and strength that can only come from a loving God…a God who says, I know what it is like to see a loved one die, and He says My heart cries for yours.

My prayers and the prayers of others also made a difference for my brother and my dad. How comforting to know, that someone is remembering you before the God of the universe. Likewise, the prayers from faithful friends have helped my family through the toughest time we have ever had to face.

It has not been an easy year, but I know without a doubt, that my mother, sister and I have been blessed with a comfort that only comes from God. It still hurts, there are still tears, but I KNOW that prayer changes things. I have felt it. Most of all, I know that God will see us through and one day in heaven we will see Cliff and Dad again.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!    Psalm 66:20

 

*Come here Pastor Rod’s message entitled “Prayer Changes Things” at Redeemer UMC, DeWitt, Michigan this coming Sunday and Monday as he continues our summer series exploring the faith of Abraham.

The Wind Beneath My Wings: A Lesson from the Birds - by Debby Kloosterman

A couple of weeks ago, John was out of town and I decided to go out to breakfast by myself.  After enjoying a delicious omelet with spinach and mushrooms (my nod to healthy eating), I exited the restaurant to begin the tasks of the day. 

Overhead in the blustery gray sky, large birds flew against the direction of the wind.  As I observed their flight I noticed that they did not continuously flap their wings.  In fact, they would flap four or five times and then coast.  The aerodynamic design of the birds allowed the wind beneath their wings to hold them in flight and support their forward movement with seemingly minimal effort.  This sight reminded me of the many times that God instructs me to rest in Him, to cast my cares upon Him, and to rely on Him to work things out.

Why do I spend all my time flapping, worrying and trying to control outcomes that are not mine to control?  Maybe I need to allow God to be my hero and hold me up in trying times and regular days as well.  As the song made famous by Bette Midler says:

Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings

The apostle Paul continually repeats this theme in 2 Corinthians and again in Philippians:


2 Corinthians 1:8-10New Living Translation (NLT)
⁸ We think you ought to know… about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. ⁹ In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

Philippians 4:13
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

God is more than able.  I just need to allow Him to be the peace, the power and the hero He longs to be.

God is There!!! - by Ron Bekkering

So I've been listening to some old dcTalk recently and just before we left for Haiti on the annual Redeemer UMC Workcamp I had my headphones in and heard the song Supernatural. I focused intently on the words as I didn't know if I remembered the lyrics. I could recall the chorus, and more importantly the tag behind the chorus..."God is here, God is there" and "God is everywhere". I felt comforted by those words and knew he would be present on our trip! Well to be perfectly honest I didn't think I would see it but He made sure I did; let me explain!

The house we wanted to stay in was booked and a month out we had to find another house. Working with our contact in Haiti, he found another house and that fell through! We were about to be staying at his house and out of sheer panic he called one more place; they had room for us all! We quickly sent a deposit to secure it a month out!

When we arrived we went and looked at our worksite. They had begun making the foundation and it wasn't what we were told it would be. We went back to the house where we were staying and started trying to figure costs and how we would do it?

As Larry Olsen and Dan Klein were outside they struck up a conversation with RoBERson (emphasis added because that's the strong part of the name). Roberson was the construction manager for the mission of the guest house. He gave the guys a whole new plan and better than that; he had just finished a house on Friday and didn't have anything lined up! We asked the CEO of World Village if we could use him and his team? Not only could we use him, but they would pay for his services if we covered lunch! Gladly we accepted!!! God was there and got us in the right place at the right time to build a hurricane safe cement block home where the owners could now have their kids live with them; the kids had been staying with grandma, but now they live with mom and dad thanks to all of you for your prayers and support of the trip!

You would think that would be enough for us but we knew we didn't have the money to finish the house we had $388 left of our initial budget and knew we needed a lot more! I asked the team if they were willing to put some money together to see what we could come up with? When all was said and done the money we had was $1,280, we thought we would be way short and wouldn't be able to finish the roof. Dan went to the store with all we had. Get ready! The bill to finish the house was $1,286. Our host kicked in $6.00 and ladies and gentlemen; God is Here!

There is so much more to tell from the trip, but I want to tell you how I figured God was everywhere! VBS was amazing and to hear the over 270 kids screaming out that He loves Us made me know!  God was in Haiti and in Redeemer's worship on our first Sunday back, and He was certainly in Vacation Bible School! "Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you" (1Peter 5:7). Not only does He care, but He's there! Yup Everywhere!

God Rocks and We Roll,

Ron