Well, it's out! We have been driven to list the church with a realtor to try and sell the property. Pastor Jeff shared with us Sunday after the offering that the total offering for the day was a mere $175. While he was just sharing to reiterate the reasoning behind the need to sell our building and property, it was relatively sad that our church body of several working families could only muster up that kind of offering. While others claim to refuse to support a person, they are also refusing to support the family. As I have taught my ball players, if one guy decides he isn't going to give his all, he will infect the team and eventually bring down the entire team. This is true of the church as well. As we have talked earlier this usually stems from one person talking to another person talking to another person, or simply put idle gossip. As we all know gossip is detrimental to the well being of anyone let alone a church. Proverbs 16:28 says "A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends." It's those seeds of strife that will not only seperate the best of friends but it will also seperate us from God. Proverbs 26:20 says it best "Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. " Are you a part of the team or do you sit back and plant seeds of strife with your words, and lack of support? Malachi 3:10 specificallly says "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you! " Seems not only do we not have enough food, we haven't allowed God to show us His great blessings. It would also seem this is not merely a suggestion but a commandment. Are you ready for God's blessings and the windows of Heaven to be opened upon us?

God is in control!

Wayne

The Whirlwind

I know I know, it's been like forever since I have written in this. My bad! I will do my best to do better in this area. Did you know journaling is good for you? Anyway, what's new? I have recently been approved for and accepted a position as associate pastor at Faith Church of the Nazarene in Urbana. My job really hasn't changed, but my title has and I have more responsibility for outreach than I had before. It's all good as I have a good partner in ministry in our Sr. pastor.

As we bring new people into the church it is important we keep a sense of unity within the body of Christ and treat the new people with patience and compassion. At the same time it is critical that we as believers don't get caught up in the "he said, she said" that tends to get started with a growing body. As a new pastor and just completing the schooling on this very issue, I feel the need to nurture new people, but at the same time I have been made aware of the need for that nurturing not to a point where we take sides and become a part of the (at this point) hearsay. See if I get mixed up in the hearsay and begin to become a part of the bickering, I am taking part (at least in my mind) in gossip. I didn't witness it, I didn't experience it, and so I have no ACTUAL basis for a definitive opinion. Proverbs 6 speaks strongly against this type of behavior, and goes as far as calling this an abomination to God. An abomination is like the worst thing in the entire creation, it turns even God's stomach, it makes Him literally sick, to see people act like that. Jesus told us how to address this, and it wasn't with a "he said she said", approach. In Matthew 18 Jesus says "If another believer sins against you, go to them and point out the fault. (verse 15) We all know how things can be misconstrued, and we know how a story can be beefed up or melted down to accommodate one's desired perspective.

So keep these two scriptures in mind. Proverbs 20:19 says "A gossip tells secrets, so don't hang around with someone who talks too much." and Proverbs 16:28 "A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends."

My deepest apologies to my closest of friends. You know who you are, and it is my prayer that God, who forgives me, will give you the heart to forgive me as well.

In Him,

Wayne