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

Don't Take It Back - by Suzie Unruh

I was recently reading in Sheri Rose Shepherd’s book His Princess – Love Letters from Your King.

My Princess …. I CAN DO ANYTHING

“I know how hard it is for you to believe that My power is for you personally. The only thing stopping you from seeing My mighty hand at work in your life is you, My love. Remember, I placed within you the same power that I used to raise My Son, Jesus, from the dead. Don’t let past disappointments or fears keep you from asking what you need and believing that My timing is perfect. Keep seeking Me with all your heart and continue to obey all that I say while you wait on Me. Know that I will always keep My word and fulfill My promises. Even when the world lets you down, I will lift you up again. I will be true to you until the end of time and beyond. Love, Your True King”

A friend once told me when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed to, “Let go and give it to God AND don’t take it back!”

The “don’t take it back” part is what always gets me! When I wake in the middle of the night, concerned about a work problem or one of my kids, my mind starts racing with a hundred ways to fix it. Then I remind myself, “you gave it to God – don’t take it back.” Like everything in my life, God has a plan! Most of the time things are even better than I had imagined. Sometimes, not always the plan I had hoped for and not always in my timing.

I know God’s plan is not to harm or hurt me, but for me to grow, learn, and love like Jesus. I just need to remember to “Give it to God and don’t take it back.” His timing – His plan – is perfect!

 

FAITH - by Kim Metzer

Faith…it’s been on my mind a lot recently.  I wrote a message on faith last year for Redeemer and used that message again recently at another local church.  Reading it again was a good reminder of what it means to live by faith.

The Bible gives us a description of faith in Hebrews 11:1 - Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

The Message version of this verse, along with verse 2, reads like this: The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

As I take another step this summer towards licensing as a local pastor in the United Methodist Church, I find myself operating on faith.  Even though this is something I’m called to do, not knowing what the future holds is scary! It is only by turning it all over to God that I’m able to take each step towards the license. 

Hebrews 11 relates several stories of faith where the people in question had to have an enormous amount of faith in God to get by.  One of them is Noah.  As I’m writing this, we’re in the middle of Vacation Bible School week and yesterday I had the opportunity to teach the day’s Bible lesson to the 1st & 2nd grade kids.  The lesson? Noah!  I truly believe God made it possible for me to teach that lesson so that I could be reminded that there are people who’ve taken huge steps of faith and came out better for it in the end.  Seriously, who builds a gigantic boat in their backyard with no body of water nearby and not a hint of rain? Noah!

So, the next time you feel like you just can’t take another step, let go and let God!  Remember, the ark wasn’t built near a large body of water and it most certainly wasn’t built in a day – important things take time!

Retirement - by Kelvin Fizzell

During a staff meeting at Redeemer Church earlier this spring, I shared with my co-workers that I was now officially registered with the United States Federal Government as an old gray-headed curmudgeon (most of my co-workers had thought that was official a long time ago). Because both Sally and I reached retirement age this past May, we had visited the local Lansing office to sign-up for Social Security.

Retirement… a life stage we had been preparing for over many years…was now upon us. We experienced a wave of emotions that went from excitement and exhilaration to worry and concern. For all the planning we had done, the tendency to second guess ourselves began to creep in. Did we think everything through, did we save enough, would our good health continue, and did we allow for any contingency; could we handle the significant changes to come? Being the “worrier” in the family, this probably affected me the most.

As God often does, He recognized my weakness and He placed a source in front of me to guide me along. I read a daily blog from Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church in California. Recent articles dealt with how to focus on the things in life that are important and to put aside the things that aren’t…how to put the emphasis on trust in God and to put away your worry. He would encourage us to find the strength to do this by reading pertinent scripture from the Bible. The following verses stood out to me:

Matthew 6:25, 33 (NLT)
That is why I tell you not to worry about everything-whether you have enough food or drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food or your body more than clothes? Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you all you need.

It seems clear that God’s message was telling me… “Stop worrying about retirement!!! Embrace the changes that are to come… Enjoy them…They are a gift from me…it’s why I’m giving them to you.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Again, to me the message is clear… “Trust me!!! Live your life as my son Jesus taught you…put your trust in me… and I will provide you everything you need to deal with all the changes life will throw at you.”

I can’t declare that I am worry free. But, I can say that I tend to focus on, and to be more grateful for, the many blessings God pours into my life each day…which leaves a lot less time to worry.