FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!! Just in case no one has told you yet today dad, let me be the first, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!! We are really glad that you are here for our 3rd Annual Father’s Day Cook-Out, we hope to do our best to honor you today dad. When God made the family He made man to be the head of the household, but all too often in our society dad is made out to look like an idiot. In this age of the absentee dad, the fatherless home and the abusive fathers, we tend to forget about the men out there who are good husbands and great dads. Are they without fault, no, but then neither are you. We as men and dads need to remember our role and our calling to be Godly men because we represent Christ who is the head of the Church, and the way that our kids look at us is the way they see God, our Heavenly Father. I think that is one reason that some people have tried to feminize God. In the very popular book The Shack, God is portrayed as a woman. Why, I’m not sure, but I do know that Jesus said Father, Our Father who art in Heaven… Today there are so many children being raised by mom, and dad is nowhere in the picture and this may make it hard for people to understand God as Father. But God said that He is a father to the fatherless, He has not abandoned us, He is still right here. So dad, I’m glad that you are here in church today, a day when you could be off anywhere, but you chose to be here, may God bless you richly for that.
I want to ask you something, have you taken time to honor your dad today? If you are able to, in some way, honor him today, I’m not going to tell you how to do that, but please make an effort to do it. In this day and age when all too many men think that all you have to do to be a dad is to have a kid, (even goats do that) take time to honor those who are truly fathers. A little appreciation goes a long way, it doesn’t take an expensive gift, just love. Men are simple creatures, (not simple minded), just simple and easy to please. Real fathers just want family close, to cook out or to be with friends...and look we have all three here today. So, Happy Father’s Day. Remember, God honors dads and here at Carey, so do we!

God & Country

I want to take just a moment to welcome you here on Memorial Sunday, the Sunday before Memorial Day. This day was first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. Memorial Day has been set on the last Monday in May since 1971. Memorial Day was first Remembrance Day, a day we have set aside to remember and honor those who have fought to make and keep us free and those who have died for the same cause. It was, and is still used by some to decorate the graves of those loved ones who are lost and the military men and women of our nation. All too often we just see it as a day to be off of work, a day to cook out, be with family and friends, which is good, but if were not for those who have fought and died, those who would not quit, refused to give up, continued to push on regardless of the conditions or the enemy, we might very well be living under the British flag, or the German, Japanese or Russian. But we live under the stars and strips, in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Where we are still free to go to the church of our choice, where we are still free to tell others about Jesus, where we can still have a manger scene in our front yard, where we can fly the flag, but these very freedoms may all go away if some politicians get their way. We need to be pro-active as Christians in politics, voting for God fearing men and women, voting out those who vote in an anti-Christian way, making phone calls, writing letters and e-mails to those who represent us. That is our responsibility! Did you know that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee of Congress in 1854 wrote; “Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, That Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle...In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity… That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expect it to remain the religion of their descendants.” What has happened since then?

KINGDOM & MONEY

I was watching an auction the other day, the auction took place at Christy’s in New York and they were auctioning off memorabilia from Star Trek. These were items from the very first pilot in the 60’s through all of the TV shows and movies. Uniforms, all of the gadgets that were handheld, make-up props and even 6 foot models of all of the ships used in filming. What got me was the amount people were willing to spend to have something from the show. The cheapest bid was $800 for some small something; the next lowest bid was $2800, those 6 foot ships sold for between $85,000 to $500,000; for this 6 foot thing that the buyer will have no room for. I’m sure that those who bought thought that they got something great, but I have to wonder what could have been done for the Kingdom of God with the money spent. But then I have to think about the money we waste and what could be done for the Kingdom with it. As you well know it takes money to spread the Gospel, and it takes money to keep the doors open on the church, but if these are the only reason that we give, we give for the wrong reasons. We should be giving back to God from what He has given us, we give because God said to, and when we do we will be blessed. Thank You for your giving and for being obedient. When you give tithes and offerings for VBS or missions you enable the church to go forward, thank you again.

Master Mechanic

I was walking through the park one day, in the merry merry month of May, looking at all of the flowers brought on by April showers...no wait, those are weeds, and they are all in my yard. Can you believe the way everything is growing? On Monday I worked in my yard, I ran the edger, cut tree limbs, ran the trimmer, and then worked on my riding mower, and worked and worked, and it did not want to start. I had to put the jumper cables on my truck and it still would not start. Finally I broke down and went and bought a new fuel filter, air filters and a new spark plug. Put all of this on and guess what. It started and ran better than it has in a while. The old spark plug was so gummed up that it couldn’t fire if it wanted to. I think that sometimes that’s the way we get, we go and go until we get so gummed up that we have to get a new spark plug or a fresh fire from the Lord. In our daily walk with the Lord we need that fire from the Holy Spirit everyday, but sometimes we get bogged down and need that boost. Ask God to give you that boost today, we don’t need to be just going through the motions; we need that fire that only God can give. Ask Him and He will give it to you.

P.S. The mower had to go to the hospital (shop), do you need to be in the hospital (church)? We all need to visit with the Master Mechanic, do we as often as we need to?

PASTOR'S PEN 4-25-10

Remission is still a good word, no...it’s a great word. Becky is still in remission, we saw her doctor in Denver and she said that Becky was to continue her treatments twice a week, so we continue on. And we saw my doctor on the Tuesday before we left and everything is looking good there also. So….PRAISE THE LORD!!
Did you know that next week is Senior Adult Sunday? Well it is, and our senior adults will be involved in our service and it will be a very special service. But I have a favor to ask of you, we will be honoring our senior adults next week with a potluck dinner after church. Now I don’t know if you know it or not but they bring a lot of food when we have fellowship meals, so for next week can we who are not senior adults bring lots of food so they don’t have to? They may wish to bring a dish but they should not have to bring as much as they do most of the time. So can you help me honor our senior adults next week? Let’s all show up in force and stay and eat lunch, our senior adults are worth it, they are the ones who have kept things going for many years and we can take time to honor them. So one more time...be here next week, bring lots of food, stay and eat, honor our senior adults, and, and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Next Sunday, Senior Adult Sunday!! Be here!!

PASTOR'S PEN 4-11-10

This the last week of our Annie Armstrong Easter Offering which is used to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in North America, that means right here where we are. So far we have not reached our goal, but we are getting close. Our goal is $700 and so far we have brought in $616. Every penny given to this is used for missionaries in North America; all we need to reach our goal is $84 more.
Well what did you think about last Sunday? We started off with the Sunrise Service and then we baptized two, had a great service, and ended it with communion and an Easter Egg Hunt. After church Amy, Zach, Zoe, Becky and I went to Amarillo to spend some time with Jody, Sarah and the girls. We watched the girls hunt eggs together and then went to church with them as they were having Resurrection Week. We had a great time with them and at church, and got home way, way, way late, but it was worth it.
Have you received your census yet? I don’t mean to sound political, but does this seem like a big waste of money to you? First we receive a letter telling us that the census will be mailed soon, this cost money for postage, paper and envelopes, plus someone to write the letters, copy them and send them. And then we get the census in the mail, and then we get a second census in the mail and I’m told that we will be getting a third. Does this sound like overkill? Now I’m finding out that census workers are being told to slow down, stall, waste time and stretch out their work unnecessarily, they are being told that in order to make unemployment look better they need to be slower. They are being sent to soup kitchens, parks and shelters to count people, not talk to them, just observe their race, sex and approximate age, 2 or 3 times. It just seems to me like a lot of wasted money at a time when our government is out of money, but what do I know? The census is also being used in ways that it wasn’t meant for but the information that it asks for is just about the same as was asked for in the Madison administration, how it’s used though is another matter. But, I have filled out our first census, thrown the second in the trash as I will the third. My beef isn’t with the census, but the waste and misuse. Isn’t this why Jesus was born in Bethlehem, because of a census?

PASTOR'S PEN, 3-28-2010

Happy Palm Sunday Everyone! Is this an appropriate greeting on such a day? This is a day when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem among shouts of acclamation, much as a king would, and He was heir to the throne of King David, but then again so were a lot of other people. He was a very popular man, feeding thousands, healing the sick, raising the dead, doing miracle after miracle, gaining in popularity. When he topped the hill over looking the city He wept for the city, not for the bricks and streets, for he knew that in forty years the temple would be destroyed, but He wept for the people He loved because He knew they would betray Him and reject their one true Messiah. Their only hope for salvation was and is Jesus Christ, but they couldn’t see it; they wanted a warrior-politically savvy king who would led them out from under the Romans, although they never realized that every time they were given their freedom they stopped serving God and then fell back into bondage. It was a vicious circle, freedom - turn from God - bondage - cry for mercy - prayer heard and answered - freedom given back by God - turn from God……. Do you ever find yourself falling into this trap? The Jewish people could not stay out of it because they let other gods; other things come between them and God. Have we as a nation fallen into this trap? We are the land of the free and the home of the brave except now we have lost more of our freedom to politically savvy politicians. This isn’t the first freedom we have lost, we have been losing them for a while and we have accepted them, now we have lost in a big way. I don’t mean to get political but I have to wonder if we are ready to cry out to God for mercy for our nation, if we as a nation are ready to turn back to Him yet and I don’t think so. Too many people believe that they are still as free as their parents and grandparents, but with 1,600 more I.R.S. agents coming on board to watch you and me, I don’t think so. It’s time that we as a church, city, county, state and nation began to fall on our faces before the one and only true living God and cry out to Him. But then maybe these things are happening to bring us to that point.
On a brighter note...Next Sunday is Easter...Who will you bring to church? If you begin asking today, you will be surprised how many will come with you. Try it and see.