Sermon Challenge
The Christmas Story
Matthew 1, 2; Luke 2

I love the Christmas season. There is something to be said for this time of the year. I love Christmas trees, I love Christmas lights, I love peanut butter fudge. I love Christmas music, giving gifts and yes, the cold rain brings it all together nicely.

Sometimes in the midst of all of this we forget the real purpose, the real meaning behind Christmas. I want to give you an action required Challenge this week. I want to challenge everyone to spend some time this week in the Christmas story. Read it aloud to your spouse, to your children or grand children. Soak in the story, remind yourself, all of these things about Christmas are fun, but the real meaning about Christmas revolves around a little baby.

(future students?)
Our Visit to Boise

We just got back from a trip to Boise to spend time with family. On our trip, we went to Boise Bible College to see some friends and to check out the new buildings. It was awesome! The new class rooms are state of the art and it was great to see Seth and Ash, they seem to be doing very very good.

Our trip was great, you can see and read more about our trip at www.earlywinefamily.blogspot.com

See you Sunday.

Aaron

This Week's Challenge

The Prodigal Son
Luke 15

Luke 15 gives us an incredible indication of how much God loves those who have not accepted him. He gives us an awesome picture of how far he goes to get his message heard. Ultimately, we are the tools that God uses to bring people to Him. All of us at one point in time or another were prodigal sons and daughters of God. We had to make a conscious decision to follow and accept our Savior Jesus. He waited on us, the same as he waits on others.

It really struck me while I was preaching this Sunday about how closely the last two weeks connect. I even thought about how much better these sermons would have fit flip flopped. Last week we discussed the sermon about the banquet and this week we talked about the prodigal son, who's father throws him a banquet upon his return. In each case, we see that coming to Jesus and seeing other's come to him is reason for CELEBRATION. God is all about a party.

This week, let us not forget the absolute joy that God brings when one returns to Him. With this in mind, we should be sharing this incredible news to those around us, in a natural joyous way. Ask God to help you live a life naturally expressing your love for God and others. Let it not be a forced expression, but a natural expression based upon what God is doing for you.



On another Note:
Please be praying for my family as we travel to Idaho to visit friends and family. It is always nerve racking to travel the roads this time of year.


Book From Yesterday's exert:
What's so Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey

This Week's Challenge:

The Parable of the Banquet
Matthew 22

This week we looked at the parable Jesus tells in Matthew 22. The great King throws a banquet for son, a wedding banquet none the less. He invites all of his friends and some ignore the invitation and others kill the servants who deliver the request. So, the King sends out his servants again, to invite everyone that they see both good and bad. The banquet is full, packed with people dressed in their wedding garments. The king walks into the banquet and notices one dressed, not in the wedding garments, but in other clothes. "How did you get in?" the King asks. He doesn't know how to respond and the king sends him away.

The Application:
Yesterday, we applied this parable in a few ways:
1. Sometimes people will respond to the invitation of Jesus and the Gospel the same way they responded to the King's request. Some will ignore the invitation and will find better things in life to do. Some may actually respond negative to the Gospel and may even harm or kill those who bring the message of Christ.

2. When the King receives negative responses, he gives another opportunity for his invites to respond. Finally, he opens the invitation to everyone. God, first of all will always give more chances. He is patient and full of mercy, not wanting anyone to perish. Secondly, his invitation is not just for a select few. His invitation is extended to everyone, both good and bad. It's not about who you are, it's about who you know.

3. The King at the banquet, notices that their is someone at the banquet who does not have the proper clothing. These wedding garments are not earned, they are given, based upon your relationship with the King.

The Challenge:
This week, take some time to consider your role as a servant and a messenger of the Gospel. Are you ready for the banquet? Pray for those you know and love, who need to hear this message.

This Week's Challenge:

What's Best for the Gospel

John Whitaker from Boise Bible College was our guest on Sunday. He had some very cool insights on Acts 16 from the life of Paul. The decisions that Paul made, he made with the Gospel in mind. The way he conducted himself and the decisions he had to make.

This week, in the midst of your decisions, consider very carefully the impact that those decisions will have. How are they going to affect the mission of Christ? What are those decisions going to say about your witness? How we carry ourselves makes a BIG difference. Carry yourself well.

aaron

A lot of memories have come flooding back to me lately. I was just recently made aware that a pastor in this beautiful city of Cottage Grove, that I call home has come down with brain cancer. It is a pretty serious sort, all brain cancer is and it's kind of scary. In fact, not too long ago a friend of our church was also diagnosed with the same form of cancer. It seems that both families struggle with this. It is not easy and it doesn't make sense.

The thought that has been returning, is the experience that I had with my best friend Cory that died of stage 4 brain cancer a couple years. The frustration, the anger. Yet, the things that stick out most in my mind are the things that happened, that could not have happened had Cory not had this cancer.

I remember one evening when we were gathered around in our small group. The room was full, and we prayed for long time and everyone in our small group prayed. We were calling out to God, praying for healing and even more than that, we were praying that God would give Cory the strength to fight this thing. At the end of our prayer time, Cory's dad, asked if he could pray. I remember seeing the tears in Cory's eyes as his dad prayed, how powerful.

At the funeral service, Cory's doctor got up. He mentioned how he had been to many of his patients services. He had seen many people die of this cancer, but this was the first time that he got up and spoke at any of his patients services. He said some words that ring in my head even today. "Cory was different than my other patients. He had hope, and love for people that I had not seen before. To give you an example of that, on Father's day this year, after a hard surgery that left Cory weak and in bed, Cory called to wish me Happy Father's Day. Even in the midst of this harsh battle, he was thinking of others."

I know this cancer thing is really lame but I live with hope and encourage you to do the same, that God knows what is going on and he will work to bring good out of every tragedy!

aaron

A Popular Day:
November 15th

November 15th, tomorrow, is a very popular day, at least in my world.

November 15th, Carl Hurd turns 75 years young.

November 15th, AJ turns 4 years old.

November 15th, Howard (my neighbor) turns somewhere between the 4 and 75.

November 15th, is also America Recycles Day. (at least there is one day to recycle huh?)

November 15th also marks my time here at the church in Cottage Grove. It was on this day, 5 years ago that I started as the youth minister. What an awesome experience this last 5 years have been. Lord willing I, Carl, AJ, Howard, and all of those recyclers will have many more November 15th's to celebrate.

aaron

The Least of These

I had never really considered this idea of reaching the "least of these." As a pastor, my concept of ministry was reaching out to all people. Yet Jesus was very specific with who and what and who he was a part of. He did not minister and preach to the religious people of his day. He brought Jesus to them.

That really got me to thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus came to set up. This Kingdom was the church, God's kingdom. As the people of his Kingdom, are we good stewards of what we do. Our King spent a lot of time with the people who did not know him and the people that needed him. Shouldn't our church reflect that? Our building even on Sunday morning should be welcoming to the "Least of Theses." Our ministries should be targeting the sick, homeless, poor, broken, drug afflicted, you name it.

I have to say, my heart is confused by how this looks and what it entales. Yet, at the same time, my heart is repentant for not seeing this better. How could I have missed this? Starting in a couple of weeks I am going to spend some time preaching through a few of the Parables of Jesus. I want to hammer the idea of community through the heart and narrative of God. To spark a church that is more than a community group, but a church that cares for its community. A church that finds its significance in the their relationship with God and understands that relationship so well that it becomes a part of their life.

Simply Jesus

I had a great opportunity to go to a great conference at the Oregon Christian Convention. The guest speaker for the one day conference was LeRoy Lawson. He is a native of Oregon and has gone to wonderful for the ministry. He gave us some very important encouragement on making our lives and ministry simply about Jesus.

One of the points that Lawson really drove home for me, is this idea of making sure that my life is simply about Jesus. As a pastor I sometimes get caught up in the ministry around me. I get stuck trying to come up with the answers, looking for the right program or formula to have effective ministry. The kind of business that takes away from Jesus.

All of those things are important. Yet, the most important thing is my relationship with Jesus. I have to put that as my primary goal, in life, in relationship, and in ministry. Everything we do as a church MUST be focused around Jesus, finding the effective ways to reach people with the message.

It is not about our church building, it's not about our Sunday School Program, or Small Groups. It's not about our fellowship times, our potlucks or our building project. It is about Jesus. All of these ideas are ways to bring the knowldege of the creator to people but they are not the only ways. They are not the end. Jesus is the end. Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the program. If we are not pointing people to Jesus through any of these, we need to stop it.

Let our lives be about Jesus, let the way we treat others be about Jesus. Let's not complicate things, lets simplify them. The one question we need to ask, "How is ____________ about Jesus?"

aaron

Our faith series has come to a conclusion and I have recieved a lot of wonderful feed back from our faith adventures. In particular, I really got to thinking about applying this to our lives. A life lived by faith is something completely different, something unique. A life lived by faith is lived with excitement and joy. A life lived by faith is specifically defined as a life of hope.

If this is truly the case (I think it is), than my life should have more hope and joy. I should be more than excited to be a part of living, and when things aren't going the way I expect them to be going, than I should remember that it's not me that is in charge. Hmmmmm

I was listening to Bob Welch, who was at a local church of a men's ministry evening. Bob was talking about how important that it is that our lives are a better representation of our faith. He spoke at the beginning of a man who had called him angry about a piece that he had written for the Register Gaurd. The man was yelling frustrated and when Bob mentioned the church he attended, this man replied with, "Oh, you are one of us Christians." From then on the man was nice.

Shouldn't it not be that way. Shouldn't we be nice regardless of the person, doesn't my faith call me to be different. Anyway, Bob talked about a time when he was in the library and heard a little girl singing. Frustrated that she was cause a quiet library to be not so quiet, he moved closer, considering asking the girl and her mother to be quiet. As he approached, he heard the words to the song, "Jesus loves me this I know. . . " Wow, he thought, she is one of us.

Than it hit him, shouldn't he have showed love and grace to her regardless of the song?

It is very important that our faith is not only something very personal, but something very public. People should notice the joy love and peace that we have in Jesus. They should notice the love that we have for EVERYONE. Does your faith give you the confidence to live your life like that?

Lets do this, together.

aaron

All we need is that one thing. . .

I have been really reminded of something extremely important. This week at the schools of mission, the missionaries have reminded me of the importance of knowing and following Jesus. Terrorism, boarder patrol, drug and alcohol abuse have a simple answer. Jesus. Last night, a missionary by the name of Jaffet spoke of this important relationship. He said, "We have 12 step programs and therapy sessions and all sorts of things like that, but we are missing the 13th step, Jesus."

Every other religion finds it's significance, it's heaven based upon living the right kind of life. If you are to take away that religion, there is no true heart felt desire to live right. That is the importance of this faith. We have a unique religion in Christianity, that salvation we recieve is not conditioned on how well we obey the rules. God does care that we are Holy but he desires for us to be holy based upon our love for Him, not because the law tells us to.

aaron

A Faith that Pleases God

"Without faith is it impossible to please God." That right there is an exact quote from the Bible. What does it mean though? Frankly, it means exactly what it says it means. Without faith, we cannot please God. Here is something we may not have spent a lot of time on this Sunday: Our faith defines who we are in the eyes of God. God pays no attention to our lip service, he cares about the way we live out our beliefs.

So, ultimately please God is simple. Live for Him.

This pretty much encompasses every part our lives. Pleasing God requires that I have faith and I show that I have faith by my actions. I please God through the way I carry myself.

There were these T-shirts everyone wore while I was growing up, they were called "Trash Talking T's." One of the T's said, "You talk the talk, I walk the talk." As Christians, how good are we at walking our talk. One of the many excuses I hear about people who do not attend church, is that Christians are hypocritcal. I have difficulty with this excuse because I believe that a majority of Christians, try as they may, fall short. I am by no means perfect and have fallen short in terms of my word too. Yet I'm not certain those are the kind of people that they are talking about. I have seen a lot of people claim the name Christian and their lives are polar opposite of the name they claim. Those are the hypocrite I do not want to become.

The best way that I have found to see how you are doing at this, is what I call the characterization test. When you are described by those whom know you best, do they characterize you as a Christian, or not.

Aaron

Thoughts on Faith

Yesterday, we had the chance to begin the thought process of faith. We dove into the premise of what faith is and the awesome gift that faith brings. I have a couple reminders and challenges for you this morning and this week to consider. If you would like to participate in this discussion, click on the thoughts link at the end of the article, or send me an email by clicking here. Enjoy.

This faith we are talking about has a very distinct start. Faith is not just something that you stumble upon, like a great coffee house. Faith is often purposeful and we may not recognize its beginning, but it has one. “so, faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17) Faith comes from the Word of God. Without the Good News (the Gospel), there is no faith. It just can’t happen. You have to have something to put your faith in.

The day that you heard, read or were told about Jesus was the day that faith began to grow within you. Sometimes it may take years for that seed of faith to sprout, for some it may never sprout at all. I remember very distinctly the day that my faith officially sprouted. Call it a scare tactic, persuasion, whatever you will, but it worked. I was sitting around a Bible Study at a youth retreat on the Oregon Coast, when the speaker paused and said this: “About ½ of you will not be Christians by the time you go to college.” I sat there in amazement at that statistic. I realized I better take this seriously, or get out. I allowed that seed to sprout on that day and I allowed God to be the conqueror of my life.

Do you remember the day you put your faith in Jesus? As a former youth minister, I have seen the faith dance played out in many lives. Some, I expected faith to grow, flourish and take hold. Others, I doubted their faith would last. Often times I have been surprised and completely disappointed. Yet, I have to say I have learned a lot by watching people go through this journey.

"Jess" had come from a broken home, she had an alcoholic mother and a father who lived in another state all together. She came to know Jesus at a Christian sponsored concert through the church. I was shocked to see her walk on stage to accept Jesus as Lord. As we sat and talked about this important decision I could see a real desire for change, yet with her background and friends I wasn't sure this was going to really stick. She was baptized into Jesus and has since done some very incredible things for the Lord. She took hold of her faith and lived by it.

"Tod" was quite different. He had grown up in church and had been surrounded by Christian people his whole life. He came to youth events, shared his faith, and invited just about everyone from school to attend. He began to drift a little from the church as he experimented with drugs, skipping classes and distancing himself from the church. Now, his parents still remain conected to the church they attend, but he is far from it.

It is often difficult to understand how this faith takes root but I believe it can be seen. For Tod, his faith never took root, not because he didn't have the knowledge but because he never really allowed it to penatrate his heart. Maybe he was living out the faith of his parents, maybe he never really had a faith of his own but it didn't take root.

Jill on the other hand, allowed the faith in her life to change her life. She changed friends, activities and places she hung out. She allowed Jesus to run her new life, and allowed God to change her.

What are some ways we can encourage a stronger faith with in our children and grandchildren?

What was the difference between the experience Jill and Tod had?

Is your faith grounded, rooted and ready to withstand anything?



***************************************************************
Just as a fun side story, my kids did something incredible this morning. They caught a mouse. I have been setting traps, finding them unsnapped, missing the bait for the last 3-4 days. I play basketball at the high school on Monday mornings. When I arrived at home, there was my furry friend, captured by 5 strong willed children. Have a mouse problem, I've got something better than a cat.

Enjoy

Aaron

We are stepping out in faith here in a few weeks. We are going to be trying something we haven't tried since at least I have been here. We are shooting for an outdoor service, combining both of our services together. It should be awesome. Come check it out.

I picked this up from another blog. A youth pastor who heads back to school as a Sophomore. This is very interesting and I look forward to the experiences he has to share with everyone about this. Parents, please read. Grandparents, take heed. Our youth are important, VERY important.


After sitting on my experience for over a year and reflecting on this “Back to School” season, here are a few suggestions I would like to offer to parents if they want to have a better relationship with their kids.
1.Offer Amnesty to your kids
2. Play Favorites.
3. Suck up to teachers
4. Take your kids out of school.
5. Schedule a two week check up
6. Yell less, hug more
7. Don’t listen to your kids
8. Get comfortable with the word “Porn.”
9. Don’t believe everything you read..
10. Practice not being surprised

1.Offer Amnesty to your kids…Wouldn’t you love for your boss to walk into your office and tell you that every mistake you have made in the past can be forgiven , without consequence, if you’ll just come clean at that instant. . “You get a fresh start and a chance to start over” he says. Your kids would love that chance with you and they need that. Take your kid out to eat at a restaurant of their choosing. Share with them that you want them to have the chance to share anything they have ever done wrong with no consequence ... That’s right, you can’t ground them, spank them or punish them for what happened in the past. Offer them a clean start. (while there may be no consequences or punishment for past mistakes, your future decision making may be influenced by their previous bad choices.) Partner this with suggestion number ten: Practice not being surprised.

2. Play Favorites. Your kids are different. No two kids are alike. They are in different grades, they are at different maturity levels and they even view the world differently. So don’t treat them the same. The odds are pretty good that one of your kids right now needs more attention that your other one. So give it to them. It doesn’t mean that you love the other ones less, it means that you care enough to reach out to the one in need, when they need it. As a matter of fact, if you share with the family what is going on, all of you can work together to play favorites!
3. Suck up to teachers—You suck up to your boss, why not suck up to your kid’s boss? Think about it…teachers generally spend more time in a day with your kids than you do. You want them being nice to your kids. You want them investing in, caring for, nurturing, supporting and encouraging your child. Model that for them. Treat teachers like you want them treating your kid. Now that I read this one, it seems kind of obvious. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto your kids.”

4. Take your kids out of school. These are your kids, so spend time with them. Perfect attendance awards may be important, but a high school graduate who knows their parents care more about them as a person than they do about a perfect attendance award is priceless. I’m not suggesting taking your kids out of school every week or on test days, I’m suggesting a calculated, “planned surprise”, coordinated with teachers and administrators where you get to spend lunch, an afternoon or even an entire day with your kid.

5. Schedule a two week check up… Why wait until the first grade card comes home to check on your kids. Two weeks after school starts, take them out for a burger and inquire how things are going. Focus on their academic life as the last part of your conversation! The odds are pretty good that the social aspect of their day is consuming most of their time. Help with the relational/social part of their life…and the academic part will follow. Let your child know that this time is about you caring for them and not about you trying to ensure college scholarship money for excellent academic performance.

6. Yell less, hug more. Do I really need to explain this one? Kids never outgrow hugs. Safe meaningful touch is always appropriate from a parent. Your kids will never come home from school and say “Hug me, I had a bad day.” Look for moments to grab your kids, no matter their age, and wrap them in a genuine warm embrace. They won’t say that’s what they need, and will probably even act like they don’t want it at first, but they are lying. If it’s been a while since your last parent/kid hug, it may be awkward at first…but over time, it will get easier and you will see your relationship change from this simple, yet meaningful gesture.

7. Don’t listen to your kids. Kids say things that hurt. Sometimes they say things that make no sense. Sometimes they even say things that aren’t even true. So don’t listen to them. Okay, you need to listen to them a little bit, but don’t let their words be the only data you use to determine what they are trying to communicate. Filter their words with the information you have about their personality, about their maturity, about their relationships, about their day at school and even about their diet and sleep patterns. If you don’t know about those things, maybe you need to find out more about your kid before you try and listen to just their words. They are trying to tell you something, even if they don’t know how to say it with words. All behavior has meaning.

8. Get comfortable with the word “Porn.” If they can’t talk to you about it, they will talk to someone else about it. You don’t want your or your kid ending up on Dateline because you were afraid to say it. So go into the bathroom, look into the mirror and practice the phrase, “So, do you know kids who look at porn on the internet?” Get them talking about other kids and their habits…then go for it. Ask the question: “So, have you ever looked at porn?” It will be awkward. Do it anyway. You are making an investment in their future relationships, their eventual marriage, and even the relationship you have with them right now. Keep the conversation short, but ask regularly. Seriously, get comfortable using the word porn.

9. Don’t believe everything you read. –A lot today is written about kids. Every day statistics are released, studies are done and we are bombarded with even more information about how bad things are for kids, and sometimes even how bad kids are. I wonder if kids are even starting believe this stuff? We are the grown ups. We are supposed to be the ones they trust. We are supposed to paint the picture of hope for their future. In my opinion we are committing an act of betrayal by bombarding them with all of this information that “de-inspires” them. Thank Al Gore and Jeremy Iverson (High School Confidential, Atria books) for your “near sighted” view and of a potential future and current reality for our kids.

10. Practice not being surprised. One reason kids don’t communicate with their parent is because of the initial pain involved for the student. Kids know they are sharing things that will leave parents hurt, confused or even upset. Often they don’t share because of the initial “freak out”, “hit the ceiling moment” that happens when the information is shared. Practice a calm rational response that only includes phrases like, “tell me more” and “you have my attention, would you like something to drink while we talk about this.” You may be surprised how much your kids will share if their introduction to the conversation isn’t greeted with “I told you so…”, What did you do now…” or “I can’t believe you did that.”

Building up or Knocking Down

I don't consider myself much of a carpenter or a repair man for that matter. I'm not very good with a saw and I am much worse with any forms of electrical tools. Give me a sledge hammer though and I can make it work.

This last couple of days I have been removing a harth from my house. It is made of cement stones and brick. I have loved just about every minute of it, in fact my 3 year old looked at me when we were almost done and said, "Lets do this to the whole house!"

Sometimes as Christians we fail miserably at building one another up. Let's face it, that is one of the traits of being a human being. If we are down in dumps, it feels much better to bring other along, or if we are feeling great, we better kick others down before they kick us. Once you get started, it's hard to stop, if you're not careful, you've destroyed the whole house without even knowing it.

Paul is very clear about how we are to treat one another. "Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humilty, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another and forgive. . ." Colossians 3:12-13a. Yikes, that is a lot of goody goody stuff floating around.

Stop for a minute and think about this though. Isn't it nice to be around people who are like this. I know a few and I much perfer their presence over say, almost anyone. Now, here is a much deeper question. Do those verses describe you? I know, touchy, but think about it. Are you that kind of person or are you destructive in nature?

I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, infact my hope is that all of us will treat one another in the way that Paul describes how we should. I sense that if we were truly this kind of people all of the time that everyone would want to know what this faith thing was about.

For know though, we can try. We can put our best foot forward and when we fail, and accidently on purpose destroy something, we will strive to build one another up. Not for our glory, because it's not about me anymore.

aaron

On a Faith Search?

Faith is not dead*. Jason Elam, the field goal kicker for the Denver Broncos is taking a comparative religions course in his spare time. When he attended Hawaii for college he wasn't exactly sure if what he believed was true. He chose to set his preconcieved ideas out of the way and started from scratch, so to speak, to figure out what was true.

The study has only made is faith stronger. You can read the brief article here. He is getting ready to lead a group of athletes to Israel and he knows what he believes and is not afraid to share the reason for the hope that he has.

Elam brings up a strong point. Many times we as Christians have a fear of defending our faith. We are afraid of looking stupid, we are afraid of looking foolish, we fear being challenged. Yet, God is not afraid of such advances. He is not afraid of being called in the carpet, He is the truth.

If you are having a difficult time with your faith, do not be afraid to test it. Here are some important things to consider when testing your faith**:

1. Be sure you are truly using an open mind. This can be hard, truthfully an open mind is very hard to come by. Don't go into your faith test with the purpose of proving something wrong. Take a look at all of the different angles. Consult others on both sides of the fence.


2. Don't bog yourself down. Sometimes we try to look at EVERYTHING related to our study. Follow the most important keys to the religions in question. Truthfully, no matter which religion you are studying, answers on specific things vary person to person. Understand the foundational beliefs. Ask the right questions. Who is God? Who is saved? How do you get there?


3. Set a time to make your conclusion. We can all argue ourselves to death. Literally, argue until we die. Set a time, be specific, on such and such a date make a decision. Give yourself enough to study, to focus and to answer your questions.

The God I serve is not concerned about being tested. He challenges you to seek. To find. We are not to be waffling in our faith for our whole lives. He wants us to understand, believe and live for him.

*Many people believe that it is a waste of time to have faith. It takes a lot of faith to believe that doesn't it? Faith is defined as taking what you believe and putting into action. If you believe there is no God, you must act like it. I pray more and more believers in Christ will put there faith in action and truly live what they believe. Wouldn't the world be a truly different place?

**I am sure there are more things to consider, but it is very important to set parameters on how you are going to make your decision. Don't argue to argue, argue to learn.

Struggling Because of Others

Colossians 1:23-2:5

We have been dealing with some pretty heavey stuff on Sunday mornings in regard to how we fit into and live our lives for Christ in the world around us today. Specifically, this week brought a lot of pain when we focused on living and dealing with the struggles we have today. One of the things we did not have time to discuss in our services is how do we deal with struggles that involve other people. For example you may be going through a struggle with someone, or your struggle directly effects the life of another.

Struggles are not fun, especially when they involve another. Let's first look at how God wants us to deal with those who harm us. In the book of Matthew Jesus asks Peter how many times he thinks we should forgive others. He responds that we should forgive 7 times, Jesus counters, saying, no, 7 times 7. Are you kidding me? Truthfully I pray none of us put ourselves in position to have to forgive someone that many times. We should be smart about who we choose to be around. Yet, in the same breath, when someone brings a struggle in your life, or they are a struggle in your life, God desires for you to forgive.

Often, to avoid in sort of confrontation, we choose to ignore. Hope it goes away. I believe that God wants something more from us. He wants us to take those challenges head on. Remember in Col. 1:29 Paul says that we struggle with all of GOD's energy, he will give us the strength to forgive, to face the struggle.

You cannot hide or avoid a struggle, you cannot make it disappear. Face up to your struggles, trust God for his strength and never ever give up.

ae

CIY Sickness

Art and the kids are at CIY this week and unfortunately they are sick!! About 3 or 4 of the youth we sent to CIY are sick with the flu. They have been taking turns using the bathroom and all of our sponsors are exhuasted. Let's all be sure we ar praying for them.



New Youth Minister

Last night the Elders and I met to discuss bring on a new youth minister. We all agreed to offer the job to Shaun Hart, a graduate of NCC. Shaun and his family live in Eugene, for the time being, Shaun will commute down to the church from Eugene on Sunday's and Wednesdays. He starts on Aug 12. What an exciting time for the church.

ae