Pastor’s Corner

Brenda came up with the correct answer for my last quiz. Which retailer started out as a mail-order watch business? The correct answer was Sears. Way to go Brenda.

Please continue to pray for John with his dialysis treatments, for healing. Also please pray for Vicky in Florida for a speedy recovery from her recent fall.

Here is a piercing question. Can February March? The right answer is. No, but April May. Ho! What a monthly task.

Eccl. 3:5b "A time to embrace and a time to turn away."

Throughout these contrasts there are opposites we must bring to our consideration, and determine to pass onto others. The warmth that we as believers share with one another should be contagious. It is so easy to allow our culture to distance us from each other.

This verse is emphasizing the importance of taking time to express our love & concern for each other in our world. Due to the fact that our lives are filled with daily duties, we can easily fail to express our love for others, whether it be other family members, casual friends, or even near by neighbors who are close in proximity.

We must be diligent to pass on care & concern for others whether in just a kind word, warm handshake, welcoming smile, etc. All of these expressions are so necessary for those who are around us. We should take the time to express care for those folks around us, for it is these words & expressions that make our world a warm, and compassionate place.

I can remember as a young boy how in the state I grew up in of Missouri when cars met at a stop sign, it wasn't unusual for each car to wave & visibly express a warm greeting. When we recently visited on vacation, I was struck with the congeniality that the folks in that area still pass on to one another. They are warm in their responses to others, rather than curt, rather than business prone, they are warm, friendly, and even helpful to strangers.

Last Friday I was privileged to get together with men who I worked together with for many years before retirement. Though I haven't been in contact with some of them for several years, it was refreshing to get back together & just discuss the events of our lives. Several of the men since leaving work had lost their lifetime wives. As we talked about those life changing events, the warmth & care was evident in that time we spent together among these friends.

Some were teachers, administrators, and classified, (not certifiicated) but all were happy to see each other. I noticed the warmth that was shared with each other (about 10 men). As we talked together, quite a few people walking by and because of the level of care being expressed by each another, were curious just what our connection was.

It brought back memories to me, back when mom would go to the city. There was a city square with an assortment of stores, those four blocks of stores, in the center was a small park with grass, shade trees, and a host of men who were retired.

When we arrived there, I would ask my mom to go there, to hear the stories that they would share with us & each other. Us kids were spell bound while they would share stories of their lives. This way mom could shop for several hours uninterrupted & we were enthralled with past days. We, my brother and I would get lost in the many adventures that they poured out for us to hear. We would be spell bound, kind of like the stories of Huck Finn, that we had read together at home.

The touching of our lives in care & concern were so magnetic than when mom came to take us home, we would beg for just a little more time. I was thinking about this just yesterday and the loss of these days for our children & grandchildren. In fact I was faced with the fact that these times had been abandoned in our day. This is what should be some of the experiences that should be shared in sunday school & childrens church the sharing of stories of past Bible characters, and believers of the past.

I know Becky is passing on this rich contribution to the children who attend our church, but I am afraid that this may be the missing link that many children's programming in our churches today. Just common stories of common experiences that can enrich our lives, snow storms, tornadoes, fires, etc. etc. the heroism that friends & family passed on to us. We are encouraged through this verse to spend the time to pass on these verbal expressions of love & compassion to those other people in our lives.

So Go With God for when He touches our lives in simple loving ways it is natural to carry out this same love to others in our life, isn't it? When I was teaching boys & girls in poor neighborhoods, asa teen anger, I was reminded of the times that I would stay after the class. As a teenager, sometimes mom would take one of my family to a dr. appointment, etc. I would find myself there in the street or yard with from 15-20 kids, I would recount some of the stories told me in that park by those men of my childhood,

They couldn't get enough, they'd ask for more, more, more in fact we started to have kids come to the local vacant lot in the summer on Friday evening to roast hot dogs, and tell stories into the evening around the fire pit. The kids came mainly for the stories, the suspense, the care of others sharing their life with each other. We would spread out a tarp & the blankets on top, for the kids to lay down under the star gazed sky's, then tell those stories. They would drift off into a spell bound state, until the dark sky's were surrounding them. Mom's would tell the kids it was time to go home.

Just like "The Waltons" their simple loving expressions of love & compassion were magnetic & have continue to be aired over the years. Our Father's love is magnetic to our world, we must never forget that fact. He continues to reach out to us in so many ways even today. Rest in His love my dear one for He Cares For You.

Don't let the cares of our world drag you away from His love & care for you.