A Poem entitled Still Thinking

Still Thinking by Daniel Stevenson

        I, Like in a latter day,
        think away my things.
        Time ebbs on
        because that is what it does.
        With tears that surface-coat scars
         that drive me more than they should,

         I reach for a tomorrow
         guaranteed
         in the hand of the master,
         But framed in the thinking,
         too common
         to yesterday’s reality.

        Time ebbs on
        ever-closer
        to that unsealed future,
        The image in the rear view mirror
        is fading
        but I lean in straining.

        Service and tears
        but even today’s events
        seem distant.
        I am without torment
        but sometimes wondering why my scars,
        drive me more than they should.

        Thinking
        through things
        like in days past,
        when my thought should
        simply be
        of one certain tomorrow…

         The thoughts I think
         may be of today.
         The scars I bear,
         some I thought forgotten,
         drive a present
         seemingly based
         on an old life.

         This new life,
         it is somehow more real,
         Eyes open,
         I,
         like Lot,
         live vexed.

         Moved
         to certain action,
         I work
         though I wonder.
         My help is eternal.
         My pain is temporal.

         One day,
         I will
         stop
         thinking,
         but apparently
         not yet.

Fwd: URGENT! You are invited. Exposing the lies. Help Support Mississippi!

I believe in unilateral protection from discrimination and so does the governor of Mississippi.

P. Dan

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Citizens for Community Values Action <vvresponses@fuse.net>
Date: Apr 14, 2016 2:39 PM
Subject: URGENT! You are invited. Exposing the lies. Help Support Mississippi!
To: Daniel Stevenson <afamilyofgod@bex.net>
Cc:

This is from our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom. Hope you can join the Live Feed tonight on Facebook. Please share with family and friends. Blessings, Phil NOTE:  You must have a Facebook account to participate in this Live Feed conversation. Dear Friends, As many of you have heard, two weeks ago, Mississippi passed the most comprehensive bill to date protecting the freedom of conscience as it pertains to citizens' beliefs about marriage.  The law preserves the freedom of all Mississippians to peacefully live, worship, and work according to their religious or moral beliefs about marriage.  It ensures that the government does not discriminate against or punish churches, and other organizations, such as adoption agencies, schools, and charities, by denying them tax exemptions, contracts, accreditation, or licenses simply for following their deeply held beliefs about marriage.  It also safeguards against the government forcing citizens to surrender free speech and religious freedom in order to run their businesses. I've attached the language if you're interested. Per usual, there's been significant misrepresentations and attacks on both the law and Governor Bryant since its enactment. To expose some of those mischaracterizations and to tell the truth about the bill, who it protects, and diffuse common attacks (isn't this just a license to discriminate?), we are doing a Live Feed conversation on ADF's FB page this evening.  We will go live at 6:30 pm EST tonight. Please consider sharing the Live Feed from ADF's page through your FB page.  You can also encourage people to ask questions @alliancedefends #MSliveandletlive. Please help us spread the word so we can help people understand the good of this bill and how courageous Gov. Bryant was in signing it—championing freedom and ensuring that in Mississippi tolerance remains a two way street.  We would love to partner together to create national momentum about the good of this bill. What: Alliance Defending Freedom Attorneys Kellie Fiedorek and Casey Mattox on Mississippi's Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. Learn the truth and get your questions answered. When: Today, Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 6:30 pm EST Why: To explain the bill, and tell the stories of who it protects If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or Bob Trent (btrent@adflegal.org). Blessings, Kellie

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Fwd: Mississippi's Religious Freedom Law Signed Today Gives Fresh Momentum to Legislative Efforts

Praise God there is still a political avenue to protect the rights of American citizens to believe in Biblical concepts. The fight continues.

P. Dan Stevenson

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Citizens for Community Values <vvresponses@fuse.net>
Date: Apr 5, 2016 1:42 PM
Subject: Mississippi's Religious Freedom Law Signed Today Gives Fresh Momentum to Legislative Efforts
To: Daniel Stevenson <afamilyofgod@bex.net>
Cc:

 

April 5, 2016       It is time Ohio elected officials stood up to the bullies and liars and protected our freedom of beliefs the way they have done in Mississippi and North Carolina.  Anyone who is opposed to these laws has not read them.  Protecting one's freedom of beliefs is fundamental to being an American. More than 22 states have passed Religious Freedom laws. Ohio is not one of those states. Why are you waiting? Blessings, Phil Burress   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 5, 2016 CONTACT: J.P. Duffy or Alice Chao, (866) FRC-NEWS or (866)-372-6397 Mississippi's Religious Freedom Law Signed Today Gives Fresh Momentum to Legislative Efforts in Other States Mississippi Joins North Carolina, Texas in Protecting the Freedom to Believe Washington, D.C. -- Today, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed into law HB 1523, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act." Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement: "This new law gives fresh momentum to efforts on the federal and state level to stop government discrimination against people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. "We applaud Governor Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, and House Speaker Philip Gunn, for standing up for the fundamental freedoms of the people they represent. No person should be punished by the government with crippling fines, or face disqualification for simply believing what President Obama believed just a few years ago, that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. "Big business and Hollywood have engaged in economic blackmail in Mississippi just like they have in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas to try to force government discrimination of those who support natural marriage. However, unlike Indiana and Georgia, leaders in Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas have chosen to defend the fundamental freedom of their citizens to believe and live according to those beliefs, rather than capitulate to the economic threats of big business and entertainment. "Long-term, political leaders who refuse to sacrifice fundamental freedoms under the threats of big government, big business and big entertainment are rewarded with support of voters as their states find such policies promote stronger families, stronger communities, which lead to stronger economies," concluded Perkins. A poll released on Friday shows nearly two-thirds of Mississippi voters want to protect pastors, churches, schools, and businesses from government discrimination. -30-

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Blind Luck?

Since I became a Christian I stopped believing in blind luck. It seems to me that God is in charge and that all things happen according to His plan but is that what the Bible says? In Ecclesiastes Solomon, the wisest man to ever live wrote the following: Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 New International Version (NIV) 11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. Observing the way the world works and considering what He knew of God, Solomon who got his wisdom from God concluded that no matter how hard you work or how skillful or wise you are or are not things can still go right or wrong. It seems to us that there is no reason we should not hit on the next big thing and become rich or perhaps we are looking for a simpler victory like a month without a care repair or recognition for our hard work on the job. Sometimes we get it and we judge it makes perfect sense and other times we don’t get what we expect and our mind struggles to grapple with why things have not gone the way we orchestrated. James wrote something on this topic as well. James 4:13-17 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. According to James, all our great efforts are as mist. That doesn’t amount to much, does it? The accumulated learning of a degree in whatever and a life time’s experience and it amounts to mist. People make plans and leave God and their God given responsibility out of it and then they bemoan their situation while they struggle to understand why it worked out the way it did. So, James warns us, instead of devising clever schemes or well concocted business plans we should say, even as part of a good plan, whatever God wills. He ends by saying, whatever good a person knows they should do and does not do it, for them it is sin. Paul says something about the topic in his famous speech on Mars Hill: 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. A few quick takeaways: 1- Best laid plans go awry. Don’t not plan but don’t set your hopes on a good plan, rather trust in the God that has a plan that transcends all of ours. 2- Build yourself, get better educated, manage your health, clean up your mouth and your language because the only one that can get you better odds than a roll of the dice on the outcome of your next endeavor is God and if you want Him on your side you’d better live like your on His side. 3- If you know something you should do and you are blowing it off. If you are planning your life without giving special emphasis to those things that will make the world a better place (and you know what they are- feed the poor, care for those in need, be kind, and serve with no hope of being repaid by the person or persons you serve…) If you have a plan that leaves out any good thing that God would have you do, He calls that sin. Repent today and do the things you know you should. 4- Have hope: God can make something out of anyone at any time. He loves a reversal of fortune. He loves to bless those who don’t deserve it and realize it. Make asking God for help part of who you are. Make living for God more important than coming out on top and you can know that eternity settled and time and chance can’t touch that AND THAT”S HOPE The bottom line is: A lot of people are trying to bank on their good fortune tomorrow, they think it will eventually all come together because they work hard or learn much and while working hard and learning much are the right things to do, tomorrow’s profit is the wrong reason to do it and frankly just might not be coming because time and chance happen to all men. So, bank on God today doing the things you know He wants you to do. Start by accepting Jesus as Lord and then use all that you are and all that you can become for His glory. Do those small, good things today that you’ve been letting go because your plans or your business seemed more important. Let God take care of the outcome. If as His people we will choose to live like this, His kingdom will advance on earth, His will will be done, and that’s something so much more than mist.

Never Quit Learning

Thanks to NAMB I am blessed to be attending Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary on-line. Currently I'm taking a Hermeneutics course. The course has been enlightening and that's the whole goal of education. Some get degrees so that they can make more money or get a better job, even to feel better about themselves. That's not what God gave education for. He gave it to learn, to grow, to better oneself. One could argue that all things good and bad are given for that purpose. I remember one time we were driving in the woods. Well actually on the a road that was weaving through a wood. As we drove I looked up at the tall pine trees and I could see that all their branches had been broken from the wind rubbing them together. The Spirit in me spoke up and I knew there was something more there. I thought about how damaging the wind was and considered that this is the way that people are to each other and how the growth was damaging one to another and the process of refinement could be seen in these broken branches. Now, years later I am thinking that that process had happened time and again as rough winds had come and branches had been broken away. All the while the trees were growing taller and taller and the broken branches never stopped them. Think on this. Your troubles are incidental. They may be the worst that you have yet seen but they do not have to be the worst you will ever see. You will heal, grow, and continue on. You will have broken remains where the branches were. You will have scars but like those trees you will grow well beyond so that someone might see what you are facing at any given moment and mourn the damage not even thinking about how this has happened before. You can make it. You have made it before. You will make it through many times before. So, I'm studying studying the Bible and I'm learning how little I know. It's cool really because it leaves me with a long journey ahead and equipped to take it on. Better yet, it reminds me that I have been here before, ignorant and needing to grow, and I have made it through and I will again. Pastor Daniel Stevenson New Heights Fellowship Toledo Life Station Firestorm The Moment: Blood Bowl

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Expanding promotions

It's been interesting of late how God has provided more an more opportunities to get the word out there concerning the ministry and the books that He has led me to write. I can only assume that eventually this will take and people will start to respond in higher numbers. Praise God for the opportunities. Now, I pray Lord, your will be done. P. Dan Stevenson New Heights Fellowship, Life Station, The Moment: Blood Bowl, Think Again: Finding Happiness and Wholeness, How To Be a Great GM, and more...

Awesome Sundays

The bottom line is, if God shows up, it's going to be a great day. I feel like God shows up at New Heights every Sunday. That pleases me very much. We may have our difficulties and sometimes we have to figure out how to get through but we always do.

Those who won't quit have this going for them- they won't quit. Steadfast they stand... Fusional, they walk, we walk together. Our church needs to grow and she will add the Lord sees fit and we are wide open to new people joining us.

The people that are with us now, that are us, are so very committed to doing the work of the Lord and to hearing from the Lord and as He sees fit serving the Lord. Together He will allow us to Change the world!

Pastor Dan Stevenson

New Heights Toledo

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Book signing

So I went to the book signing in Akron at the nervous dog. It was awesome. Not because I sold a bunch of books. I did not. Not because I met a bunch of people. I met some but not a lot really. It was awesome because I met one really cool young lady. Lindsay was her name. She's ex army. She works at the mall now. More importantly Good sent her to the coffee shop today for a divine appointment with me.

We had a long talk and she wants to start living out her faith now the way she committed to when she was twelve. I encouraged her to find a church home and to live unleashed for Christ. She committed to try.

That one decision, that one commitment made the effort worthwhile. A few people committed to buy the book which is now available electronically. But Lindsay's bold acceptance of and Commitment to live out the truth meant much more. Praise God for another day serving and another day here for Him. Another victory for Jesus!

Pastor Dan

New Heights Fellowship Toledo

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March 2015 current facets of Stevenson ministry

I'm excited to be looking forward to my first book signing at the Book Nook in Monroe. The Life Station is in the middle of NE5 which is all of our partners helping to find new partners. We have a $5554 gap in projected giving to overcome before the end of the year if we are going to keep functioning at current levels and actually we expect the levels to increase. We keep seeing people get saved and recommitting their lives and that's awesome! However, many new people come all the time to get help which means more people hearing the gospel but it also means more people to feed and serve. New Heights has just moved into her new building and we are working on final inspections.The net step is getting the multi-purpose room ready and then getting the sanctuary ready. Walking the hall is a blessing. Anyone who's interested can check out our facebook page at facebook.com/newheightstoledo.

Empty Praise and Spiritual Warfare

When you are in a conversation on spiritual matters especially one that borders on evangelism or might call the other person to repentance beware of praise. It has been my experience that 'empty' praise is a defense mechanism. It is orchestrated by the enemy in the situation to set you back and slow you down. If you glance over it and do not give the glory to God you look petty and as if the conversation is somehow about how neat you are. If you give the glory to God at every empty praise then you will slow the conversation down and perhaps be distracted or the person you are talking with will be distracted. It feels good to be praised by those we are talking to but better we put a stop to it and stay focused on what we are about. Remember Peter imploring Jesus. He told Jesus how awesome He was and that it should never be allowed that HE would be sent to die. Jesus answered, 'Get thee behind me Satan.' Bottom line is, if you need praise, you aren't ready for evangelism or at least you have forgotten what evangelism is about. If you love the Lord an allow Him to use you there will come a time when the enemy tries to use praise to slow you down. Do not allow it. Pastor Daniel Stevenson New Heights Life Station Toledo

Temptation a Christmas Tree

It strikes me that temptation is sort of like a Christmas tree for evil spirits. They know the usual culprits and how we sometimes give into them and hover around waiting for an opening. They know how foolish people can be to yield to temptation and do those things that we know are wrong or to fail to do this things that we know are right.

Either way it gives therm an in. It's like a gift, so when you are in that moment and tarry there it's no wonder it gets more difficult to resist. If we understand this principle we would feel like we are standing on the edge of a pit of yuck in our best dress clothes. We would be careful or even more wisely, just move away.

They are waiting for people to come along and give them a gift, an inlet, a moment of free reign. I wonder if they are snickering. Maybe they sing a little ditty thinking how superior there are and how foolish their prey.

I say, let's leave them waiting. Don't go, let them wait expecting us to be lured and to yield. Meanwhile, let us live a life more abundant, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Clean, we will be usable by God in so many other ways. If we should find ourselves standing on that edge, rebuke, refuse, retreat but whatever happens do not give them what they want.

• Ooh, I'd bet they'd hate that. Snicker, snicker.

Pastor Daniel Stevenson

Newheightsfellowshipchurch.org

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Eyes of faith

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Allegory, Analogy, Algorithm

Okay, I'm going to try to give the snapshot of Allegory, Analogy, and Algorithm from this last Sunday. An Allegory is a story, poem or really any device that conceals a deeper meaning. An analogy is a comparison between two things wiht the purpose of revealing the nature of one or both things. An Algorithm is a process of dealing with certain variables. When a set of steps is automatic when a certain thing occurs that is an alforithm. It's common in mathematics. 2 Sam 14:14 The people of David's day had this understanding despite the lack of full revelation of Gods plan. The woman says (and David does not disagree) that all people die and are spit out and done. God is no respecter of persons meaning all have an end and none are spared or receive special treatment based on their lot in life or their race, age, sex, etc. God however, is a God who devises plans for the banished to return to Him. So the allegory led them to to a conclusion. The allegory was their own life experience, the temple sacrifice, and the scripture which included the histories of their people and spoak about God and His plans. The conclusion was an analogy. The analogy was man's holiness versus God's holiness and the need for a sacrifice but the allegory of the temple revealed that the temple could not be the permanent solution because eventually there would be no way for a temple sacrifice to be made for all people in the world. What's more, the temple sacrifces had to be repeated all the time proving that a future sacrifice of a uperior nature would eventually have to become available. The analogy lead them to the see/understand the algorithm. The algorithm is one perfect sacrifice to end them all, a means devised by God to bring any back to Him that would be willing. All of the previous and all current circumstances point to Jesus and truth about God. So, look deeper, look for the meaning behind the events. I'm not saying to judge people's motivations but to look at what the events of today say about the God of every day. It's his story after all and it always has been. Satan tries to hide the truth behind the allegory and even perhaps fails to see it himself. If you let that revealed truth point you to the comparison between you and God you will see you need a savior. Once you have Jesus as savior you become able to see beyond the veil to some extent, better able to understand the allegory and the truths behind it. Accept Jesus, live in earnest for the Christ. Seek out others who will do the same. Because, we all die. We all re poured out and done eventually. God is no respector of persons. But he does devise means for His banished to return to Him and the one final, perfect means is Jesus! Pastor Dan Stevenon Newheightsfellowhipchurch.org facebook.com/newheightstoledo facebook.com/lifestationtoledo

Running up bills and paying off debts

I'm thinking this morning about how every act of selfishness and correspondingly every act of kindness is like a pebble, cascading down the slope of time so that a collection becomes a rain and a large group becomes an avalanche until a person is buried under the effect.

There are no real superhumans that can stop bullets or jump in front of speeding cars and even the great power of government fails to legislate proper behavior in society.

However, this avalanche when properly applied results in adjusted behavior as people are carried along or buried under. Therefore, we could actually stop a bullet or perhaps an out of control car by doing acts of kindness now.

We could take this thought one step further by considering how our selfish nature, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life lead us to be focused on collecting and dreaming of our own goals rather than considering how loneliness for example leads a Person to desperation.

Just as with financial principles we would do well to address these issues before they mount up to that avalanche of selfish needs pursued prompts an action by someone that is harmful. In this sense it is logical to assume that almost every evil action could have been prevented with an avalanche of small good deeds conducted, initiated, and/orchestrated before the evil act.

In other words, when a person says I've earned it. And ignores the needs of the less fortunate while giving in to some foolish desire for another quick fix feeling of health like consuming convenience, they have written a check against tomorrow resulting in a tomorrow that maybe leads to even more evil.

And so we moan that things aren't right in the world and it's true. We complain that the problems of today are too big to handle today and it's true. But it's true because they were the problems of tomorrow when today was yesterday and humankind failed to address them or even exacerbated therm by pandering to their own desires.

Bottom line: we should be working today to make a difference for tomorrow not just today. Realized that when we defeat evil even in the form of poverty and/or loneliness, we remove pebbles of destruction and put into motion pebbles of creation so that tomorrow can be a better day.

And Jesus for the joy that was set before endured the cross. He didn't fight against it, grasp for a"better" end or cannibalize those around him. He knew that tomorrow would be better if he denied himself and accepted the cup of wrath himself. He stood fully under the avalanche of evil intention and it killed him but he do not stay dead thereby overcoming evil and death to the point that he secured a great future for all of us at some point. We can see how following that example of denying ourselves on a daily basis could result in a better future for all those we touch. You can make a difference and it can be in the things you often overlook as each is a pebble. Rise up Christian. Rise up. Jesus has made you a visitor in this land to fight against evil and reconcile all those who are willing to be reconciled to God.

Our ultimate future in Christ is certain if we have accepted him. Society's future is heavily affected by present day choices. Change the small things to overcome great big future evils that when the time comes people will feel powerless against. Just being willing to see this possibility should encourage us all to take a stand against evil today.

Suffer a little. Give more than you think you can. Step up for the hurting. Encourage the downtrodden. Even if you don't see it now, know that you are securing a better future.

Pastor Dan Stevenson

Newheightsfellowshipchurch.org

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I'm wondering why and then suddenly it hits me.

The world's action plan:

1 shoot self in foot
2 limp and complain all the way to the finish line.
3 spread this action plan to any others whenever possible.

I hereby veto this action plan.

Thank you Jesus!

Young men growing up

So several things amaze me about kids.

One, they don't need much to excel. They need good shelter, food, a bit of nurture and a little discipline. The things seem to provide the necessary soil for growth. Children do well in many environments where supposedly healthy adults would fall down and maybe not get back up.

Foster children go through wondering every day whether they will ever be part of a loading family. Worse than that children who live with one parent have the same questions. It is forgotten often that children can smell the same death that anyone else can smell on those that are perishing.

Without understanding it many people, children included have to experience those smells every day not understanding why what appears to be alive smells like death.

I feel for the children. For the adults, they should know better and are without excuse.

The children amaze me and go on after the hit so much better than adults. That is what I was just saying.

Then here's the rub. Maybe, just maybe the real pain that strikes an adult so hard that they can't hardly get up and give it another shot is not the smell of death or the hurt of recent circumstances but the reafforestation that they knew, that they should've or could've known if only.

Oh boy, if only...

Maybe we need to come to God like that. lord, I don't need a lot and I'll thrive. I'll continue in you if you shelter me, nurture me and feed me a little. I'll need a little discipline but I'll keep on going even after three hard his. I'll do and be my best and leave the rest up to you.

Children are awesome. Now it's true I've seen the worst in children as well. But then again it's easy to become confused with the standards adults are setting. Also there the smell and no explanation...
Good help us be better care givers and representatives of you as we teach and lead the next generations and the remnants of the past generations that didn't get it when they might have, in Jesus' name, amen.

Fwd: Fatigue doesn't stop the victorious

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fatigue doesn't stop the victorious
From: Pastor Dan <afamilyofgod@bex.net>
To: Sms Blog <go@blogger.com>
CC:

When a person gets tired they need to rest. This isn't technically stopping. It's more like preparing to go on. I guess it's a point of view thing but if your effort is as much about going forward as it is about where you've been and recovery then you have the possibility of victory when Victory lies before you. So then it's in attitude and agenda.
If you can simply make your time spent resting productive for kingdom advance you win.

It's like those pumps for kids balloons that blow on the movement in or out. Either way they are sucking in air and sending it where it needs to go to get the job done and the balloon just keeps getting better and better bigger and bigger.

I know the victorious get up and get back to work fast. They get up more often and they learn from their mistakes and claim victory from the jaws of defeat when someone else would just give in. While these things are true I think it must not be forgotten that the truly victorious are victorious in that their time spent recovering is by no means wasted time. It is spent winning and preparing to win some more.

If you want to battle the victorious you will find that they never quit prematurely. They start again when you are not ready and they rest to win and even win while resting. It doesn't make any sense really. It takes a miracle and it's a miracle that God does every day. Start over fresh in Christ and have the victory.

Pastor Dan

Thoughts

I lay me down after a long day. Today was the Lord's day. Every day is but today was as much as any because it was Sunday and the day of the week upon which we celebrate his resurrection. We worshipped in the name of Christ. we served in the name of Christ and we celebrated in the name of Christ. we know that we are a people with the power to do his work upon the earth and that even our enemies the world, Satan, and our selfish nature can not hold us back.
The house was not empty. There were a number of servants gathered there. We could always hope for more and there were even a few who are on the fringe and reluctant to be sold out for Him.
It's always an encouragement for me when there are some of those present as it sort of marks the footsteps of the Lord as he is at work changing mankind from the inside out. Perhaps someone was profoundly affected though none said so.
Technology struggled. We had a hard time doing some of the simple things that we have done well before. This partly because we are meeting in a sister church building and not a building that is prepared for our use and our methods.
We managed to record the service though I have not inspected the quality of the video recording yet. We use to do this every week. Once upon a time the recordings were on vhs. I remember a runty, pimply Josh Mitchell setting up every week and making sure the camera ran and recorded onto a vcr the entire service and he almost never missed. He grew up, the air force was hard on him. He's back with u now but he is changed. He is a servant of the Lord but now works full time and has trouble finding the disposable time to do all the things he might for God. That seems to be the state of affairs for a lot of God's servants. In some cases it is worse than others and a few cases the conflict is manufactured to be an excuse from service.

Roans 15 reminded us that God's people must find and utilize a surplus of grace. With a few other points of I think of value it took us an hour plus to hear these truths clearly. i'm resting wondering whether some heard or not. It is not my place to say or to worry. It's in the Lord's hands but I am passionate to see others grow.
The annual meeting is this week and so waiting on the contractors and on those who might donate on the heat estimate is going to be particularly hard and in at least one sense easier. I'll be distracted. That will make it easier. However, I wonder whether there will be any movement if i don't push for it which makes the situation seem hopeless as I am going to be busy and I think maybe Friday will come and little will be accomplished.. Lord, please pull this together.
I am concerned for a few of my flock that seem to miss the fact that all of what we are trying to do is rooted in the Love of Christ his blood shed for us. They have a great discipline and seek to serve him sometimes more faithfully than anyone else but somehow they just miss the love part. The actions speak love until something gets in a strike and the next things you know the reaction seems to be more anger than anything else. That's not love and the end of that road is not grace.
Help me God. Help us all. Help us stand firm to make our community and the kingdom better than ever. We can work for something so much bigger than ourselves and accomplish something that others will never even think to try. I know God is hard at work and I just don't want anyone to miss it.

Pastor Dan Stevenson
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