Saturday, July 20, 2013

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

 
“LIFE IS NOT A JOURNEY TO THE GRAVE with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather sliding in sideways, totally used up, thoroughly worn out, loudly proclaiming, ‘Thank You, Jesus, what a ride!’”  I loved this recent quote from one of our friends out in Colorado!  And after smiling and shaking my head “yes” in full agreement with his statement, I read on a few lines more, and this is what he concluded with:  “Live life full steam ahead.  If you fall, you’ll cover a lot of ground moving forward!”  Now I was laughing!  Both statements struck home with how our lives must look to others in the midst of our crazy lifestyle – but I couldn’t agree more!  We do understand the high value that God places on priorities and pulling away from the hustle and bustle of life to actively rest.  We know how important it is to take time out to sit quietly and listen to His voice in a place of peace where there are no other voices.  There’s no place we would rather be.  Any other setting dulls in comparison.  But you know what?  When God puts a fire in your soul and gives you a Message that cannot be kept to yourself, that opening quote is pretty much how you live life!  If we’re going to give our lives for someone else, we choose to give it to Jesus.  In those times when the hours in the day melt into the late night, we remind ourselves it’s for the Kingdom of God.  If Paul could preach his heart out to share the gospel and be a tentmaker on the side … then so can we!  And if at some point He walks us back into full-time ministry, there will always be a part of us that will seek out people in the marketplace because that has definitely become our second pulpit every time God opens the door in that arena!  It happened again just today.  And I am always amazed.  I know – I shouldn’t be.  After all, He is God.  He will do what He wills.  But I just love seeing it take place!  We were gifted with a few evening hours with some precious ministry friends earlier this week.  How we love hearing about what God is bringing before them; but at the end of the evening, I think the scales were tipped in our favor when I recall how much time they spent listening to where God has us.  They have a gift for listening … and for sharing.  And they do both with no strings attached.  It is never their agenda – it is always about God’s priority.  That’s true friendship when it doesn’t matter who was on the receiving end more; it’s just whoever seems to be needing encouragement the most, I guess!  It’s a valued friendship that keeps us close no matter how great the time between our in-person visits.  It’s a treasured friendship that devotes time in prayer for each other’s families and ministries - and genuinely cares and intercedes for the times of struggles.  It’s a rare thing for ministry couples to both share the same heartbeat for lost souls – and to know that we cannot stop our pursuit of reaching people for Christ – wherever that takes us.  In my attempt to complete this message when I usually do, it seemed God was putting a hold on it.  At first I was frustrated, but when God brought before me some powerful words today, I knew why.  As I listened and received, the content rang true in my spirit.  This is what I heard:  “We need to make living our lives hearing God’s voice our highest priority.  It is only when we hear His voice that we can then choose to obey or to ignore.  Someday we will see that doing what He says – those things remain.  And everything we do that is not what HE asked us to do, will burn.  That’s pretty sobering.  What that all means is that if we are doing things based on our wants, those things will burn.  How do we know what God wants – or if it is our own will?  Why do people play church – when we can BE the church?  It is not now, or ever has been about pulpits and pews.  Being the church means that we are a living expression of the Living God!  It might not hurt any of us to think about doing an extended fast from all ‘other voices’ in the media, informational, and entertainment world that steal our time and distract us from hearing God’s voice alone.  You say, really?  How could I not watch TV or listen to music, or read a newspaper or check my e-mail or social connections like Facebook?  As I thought more about this, I had to readily admit that when we’re hearing so many other voices, God’s can easily get lost in the mix even though we don’t intend for it to.  Fasting like this would definitely help us get rid of lots of clutter in our lives and bring Christ back to the forefront where He desires to be.  We most likely need to have a bonfire – before the fire of God will fall!”  It’s time to give our all – and slide in sideways! 
 
 
 
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
 
You are invited to join us for worship on these summer Sundays:
 
THIS SUNDAY, JULY 21:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH
NEXT SUNDAY, JULY 28:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH
 
CHALLENGE:  In the next few weeks with more free time on the church calendar, we want to encourage each of you to choose at least one individual or family in our church that you can bless yet this month!  Ideas:  getting together for an uplifting visit, inviting them over for dessert - or just a glass of cold lemonade, sending them a card to tell them you are thinking of them, or if God leads, share a love gift with them!  They will be blessed and so will you!
 
ELEVATION NORTH SPOTLIGHT!
 If ever you want an opportunity to reach outside yourself and think of others … walking the path along the thousands of lighted luminaries at night on the weekend Relay for Life is a great event to participate in!  Our church team was able to raise $855 for this wonderful cause – as we thanked God for the survivors and remembered the many others who lost their battle with cancer.  Our special thanks to everyone who helped in ANY way … and especially to our team captains, Tina and Wayne & Verla! 
 
REMEMBER . . . “Your heavenly Father knows your needs.  He will always give you all you need from day to day … For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.” ~ Luke 12:30-32 
 
 
 
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
 
 
Pastor Doug and Debbie
 
 
 

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