the 2nd sin

Isn't it interesting to wonder?  I mean what do you suppose would have happened to Adam and Eve if they had accepted responsibility for their sin?  God simply asked them, "who told you that you are naked?"  What would God's response have been had Adam 'fessed up?  "I did, Father, and I am sorry for breaking your rule."  Would God have responded with forgiveness?  We will never know, because both Adam and Eve compounded their rebellion by seeking to absolve themselves of their misdeed and blaming someone else.  Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake.  How much better off we are when we accept responsibility and seek forgiveness.

Creation

Interesting thing in the 2nd chapter of Genesis; God created man from the creation, that is from the dust of the earth, something that God spoke into being; but then he added his breath and that separated this part of the creation from all the rest.  All of creation came to be because God spoke it into being, but mankind (man & woman) came to life because God gave part of himself to give it (no longer an it) life.  How much like that was the Easter story when again God gave a part of himself (Jesus) to give mankind life eternal.  Just a thought as I read from our 1st day's assignment.  Anything strike you as interesting?

I am jumping the gun just a little, sitting here at home on New Year's Eve waiting for Patty to say that it is time to go to church for the watch party.  So here goes....In the beginning....a very good place to start.  I hope that this exercise in bible reading will bear great fruit for the kingdom something that is very good.  Very good is kind of the theme of God's creation.  Each day (whatever that was) when God had included his work, he pronounced it to be very good!  Wouldn't that be a marvelous way to live our lives, that at the end of each day we could look back on the events of our day and say, "that was good"!  I think that God intended for us to live our lives in a way that produced good as we shepherd and have Christian dominion over all that God has given us charge over.

God has given us these Holy scriptures and as we spend a little time in them in 2011, our prayer will be that God will do a mighty creation work in us; that we, the people of Faith will become good and out of his goodness will do good in the name of the great I Am.

almost time

Dear Faithful,
Are you ready?  I am getting excited about the possibilities.  God's word is alive....sharper than a two edged sword.  Imagine what God might reveal to us if we are sincere in searching his word for the truth that he intends for Faith UMC.  We have been birthed and nurtured by God's goodness and I believe that he intends great things for us in the time that lies ahead.  If we have 2o or 30 folks engaged in his word as we read the Bible chapter by chapter together, he may well provide some real "aha" moments for the faithful.  I hope that you will keep me faithful and on track.  3 chapters each day and 5 on Sunday.  God has been faithful to us.  Can we discipline ourselves to be more faithful to him.  I am praying for the church today.  Will you join me?

Black Friday

If you are reading this then I can assume that you have survived another Black Friday.  I must confess that I have never participated in this frantic search for the best buys.  My excuse is that I am still overcome by the excesses of Thanksgiving feasting.  That is really not true though, my Fridays after Thanksgiving are usually spent making sure that I am ready for Sunday, because I know that no matter what the rest of the world my have to say or do, Sunday is coming.  There is great comfort in that knowledge....Sunday is coming.  Rest is almost here, blessing is almost here, peace is almost here, Sunday is coming!  I am a Sunday fan, not because the NFL has made such a big deal of it, but because Jesus has made a big deal of it.  I look forward to the songs, the prays, the fellowship and to being present with and in the Body of Christ.  Ultimately, I look forward to being with Christ when Sabbath really comes.  In the meantime, I will be content with the Sundays at Faith UMC where we practice Sabbath in our haltingly limited way.  I will be content because I know the Sunday is coming!

Thanksgiving is coming

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday.  For my family, it is a time of to go home.  Everyone that is able is called back to the little Strasburg Union Church where we will feast on the fabulous fare that has become traditional with an American Thanksgiving.  There will be 60 or 70 of us.  I think my Aunt Allie Jo will be the oldest (nearly 90) and Makayla (not yet 1) will be the youngest.  We will miss a few who have been resurrected since last we met, but we will be Thankful both for those who are present and for those who are now a part of that "Great Cloud of Witnesses" that are just beyond our human ability to see, but who rest and rejoice in the presence of our Creator and our God.


Thanksgiving is a time just to be thoughtful of all of God's goodness that surrounds us.  That is more than material possession.  It is even more than the love of family and friends.  It is all of the promises of God in Christ Jesus.  The knowledge that in spite of any present day difficulties, we are children of the King and all of the promises of God are ours for all of eternity.  We should be thankful simply because God is God and his love endures forever.

If you are traveling during this Thanksgiving season, I pray for safe travel.  If you are home this Thanksgiving season, I pray that you will enjoy God's Holy Spirit found in this time of Thanks.  And for each of you I pray that God will reveal himself in a sacred and holy way that will cause you to catch your breath and marvel and how wonderful he is.
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless you and all those you love,
Pastor Dave

getting ready

This is exciting.....learning to blog.....I can almost feel the power.  My thanks to Zack Zimmerman for creating the blog and teaching me how to access it and to Jennifer Bell for assuring me that she will remember my password and hold my hand while I become comfortable with this new (to me) technology.

Faith is such an exciting place.  Just this month we packed 236 Christmas shoeboxes to be distributed by Samaritan's Purse, supplied sweet potatoes, dressing, condensed milk + several turkeys for 108 Thanksgiving food baskets and collected a pick up load of winter coats for distribution at one of the downtown shelters.  God is good and part of his goodness is found in the generosity of the folks that he has gathered together at Faith.

Now we are entering the Christmas season with cantatas, children's Christmas programs, Christmas Eve services, Advent bible studies, watch night programs and all of that wonderful stuff of this wonderful season.  I get goose bumps thinking about all of the beauty and the possibilities.

And the purpose for the creation of this blog, that we would covenant together to read through the Bible in 2011 and talk to each other about what we are learning.  I am praying that a significant part of the church will walk with us in this new initiative and that God will do even greater things through us as we yield ourselves to his word, his will and his way in the year that lies ahead.

Tell me what your are thinking.

God bless you,

Pastor Dave

What do you think about blogging?

I have little experience with blogging, but I love expressing myself through writing. I think writing things out gives the person a better understanding of the subject, not to mention a clearer perspective. Blogging seems to be an opportunity to do that in an informal way.