Breakfast of Champions!!!

I am proud of you all!

Breakfast of Champions!!

Breakfast of Champions!

Congrats to all of you that completed the 31 Days With Jesus Challenge!  Many thanks to the mentors who helped cook a fab breakfast and to those who set up and cleaned up!!  We couldn’t have completed this challenge without your help.  I hope that we can call on your  mentoring abilities in the future.

 

31 Day Challenge Winners and Mentors!

Saturday, December 4

7:00-9:00 am

Grace Cafe

Shame on you all for attending church in your “jammies”!!!

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”

“What is the wise thing to do?”~Pastor Gene~

Many thanks to the Hochstetlers for hosting and feeding us this evening.  Many thanks also to Pastor Gene for his insightful words of wisdom.

*********Be very careful how you live,  not as unwise but as wise

Make the most of every opportunity

Because the days are evil

Therefore do not be foolish

But understand what the Lord’s will is

Ephesians 5:15-17

Day 31! You Have Done It!!!!!! Matthew 25:1-46

Happy Thanksgiving,  Merry Black Friday, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Kwanzaa, and Congratulations on Day 31!  Finish today and you have successfully completed your 31 Days With Jesus Challenge!!!!!!  Yea! Go you!  If you have finished today’s reading, reply with a comment with you name on it!  Then sign up for the Mentor Breakfast!

Be The Change You Want To See In The World

Interesting isn’t it that our last day is Jesus telling us to “Be the Change” in the world?  I have always struggled with the story about the three servants.  I never understood why the master would be angry with the servant who buried the gold.  I thought that the first servant was risking the gold on an investment that may return void or with a loss of money, like the stock market.  I would have been afraid to invest the master’s money.  The second servant also invested, what if his investment was a failure?  Then the master would have been out even more gold.  The third servant who buried the money, I thought saving it for a rainy day, that would have been me.  I don’t do risky investments!  And why didn’t the servants tithe on the gold?  When the master told the servants to “take care of his things while he was gone”, did that include investments?  I always thought the master wanted his house and fields taken care of until his return.  I assumed the gold was intended for any unforeseen emergencies that may have come up in his absence, like a famine, a destructive hurricane, a house fire, camel stampede, or an untimely visit from a wretched tax collector.

It wasn’t until this morning that this story made a little more sense.  I am not a Biblical scholar, just the lowly wife of a KIC leader.  Woe to me as I try to sort this story out.  I think that the master is Jesus and we are the servants.  He left us in charge until his return.  Do you follow me so far?  If the prior is true, then what is the gold?  Could the gold represent the gifts and talents that we are given?  Then what are his “things” to take care of in his absence, could that be “Kingdom Business”?  If this interpretation of the story is correct, and we bury our “gold”, that would be us living our life not using our gifts and talents to further the “Kingdom”, right?  Then it would also stand to reason that if we invest our “gold” in others, we may yield a large return.  So, what is the moral of this story?  First, tithe on your gold, give a tenth on your gifts and talents.  Give your tenth to the “Joy Box”, (screaming, hollering, cheering, sounds in the background), give a tenth of your gifts and talents to “Kingdom Business”.  Then use your remaining gold to show God’s love.  What does that look like?  Here is some suggestions:

Donate your time to serve in church, host a fundraiser for clean water in Africa, sort clothing at the Economy Shop,  hold the door for a stranger, silently send up a prayer for a person you  pass by, rake your Grandmother’s lawn, bless an elderly person, bake cookies for a new family at church, send a greeting card to someone who needs it, donate your Christmas gifts to Toys for Tots, wash the car of a single mom or offer to babysit while she grocery shops, return cans and give the money to the Salvation Army, clean out your mom’s purse and donate the bounty you find to the Salvation Army, ask your Grandfather for $$ and donate it, make up comfort bags for the Red Cross (toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, wash cloth, and or a razor), clean out Grandma’s pantry and donate some cans to the Atmore Christian Care Food Bank, work for Mom for several hours in exchange for toilet paper and paper towels for the Atmore Christian Care, make or bake something and give it to an elderly person, make cookies for your school teacher and include your favorite Bible verses, carve a verse in a piece of wood and give it away, send an encouraging letter anonymously,  host a bake sale, the possibilities are endless.

Be The Change You Want To See In The World

Post a comment if you finished!  Post a comment if you have more suggestions for your “gold”.

Day 30 Matthew 24:1-51

We All Speak The Same Language

After the flood, Noah’s sons had families, greatly increasing in number.  Remember they were the only people on the planet at the time and became arrogant.  Imagine how easy it would be to think greatly of yourself if your immediate family were the only people on earth.  Your parents and grandparents were hand-picked by God to carry on the human race.  Don’t forget, you had the awesome privilege of ensuring the animal kingdom survived.  You Rock!

What these self-absorbed people forgot was that God made the way.  He chose Noah, He laid out the plan for survival, the Ark was His idea, He brought the animals, He brought the rain, and He made the rain stop. (And don’t forget who shut the door!)

The descendants of Noah decided to build a monument to themselves (Tower of Babel) so that they would be famous and not be scattered throughout the earth.  Knowing God’s plan, they insisted their way was better.  God came down to see this thing they were building and I believe that His heart was saddened.  He confused their language so that they would be divided among each other.  Perhaps once divided, the people would again turn back to God, but that didn’t happen.

I do this.  I often think that my way is the best, with little of no attention to God’s way.  I get absorbed and I forget where I come from and who brought me.  I get arrogant.  (Sometimes because of how humble I think I am, how twisted is that?)

We are all a little confused at times.  The good news is that in Christ were are all one family, one nation, one language in Christ, not divided but united.  On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus returned to Heaven, the people were gathered together.  The Bible says that they were of one accord, though were from different places, and speaking different languages.  They were united with all barriers broken down.  They were a family again.

Some believe this to be the remains of Noah’s Ark in modern day Turkey on Mt. Ararat.  The measurements match fairly close to the Biblical account of the ark.  Hundreds of artifacts have been found in this area that lead many to believe that if not Noah’s Ark, it is the remains of a very large boat resembling the Ark.

Some of the artifacts found were: petrified wood timbers, large metal rivets, fossilized fruits, and fossilized animal droppings.

The September 5, 1960 `Life Magazine’ published the aerial photo of the “Ark” taken from a U-2 spy plane doing a routine mission over Turkey.  The pilot immediately recognized the boat shaped remains and this area became an archeological excavation site.

This photo below is of a recreation of the Biblical Ark based on the measurement listed in the Old Testament account of Noah’s Ark.

It gives visitors a tangible way to transform “cubits” to feet.

In the last photo, is one of several stone carvings.  These stones are believed to be of the Tower of Babel.  The date of these stones is still in question, but historic simply because they are located near the believed remains of the Ark.  Could Noah have left these as a reminder to us?  Could his descendants have crudely carved them to mark this spot?

Regardless of the authenticity of this archeological location, we can use it as a reminder of Noah, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and of God’s promises and plans for our lives.

Day 29 Tephillin

In Jewish religious practice, one of two small, black leather, cube-shaped cases containing the Torah, (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), texts written on parchment, which, in accordance with Deuteronomy 6:8 (and similar statements in Deuteronomy 11:18 and Exodus 13:9, 16), are to be worn by male Jews of 13 years and older as reminders of God and of the obligation to keep the Law during daily life.

In Hebrew, tephillin means “attachments.” They were originally prayer thongs worn by Jews at morning prayer—one on the left arm and another on the head. They came to be regarded as talismans and were used in many traditional ceremonies. Once believed that whoever has the tephillin bound to his head and arm … is protected from sin.

The tephillin for the head differ from those for the arm. The former consist of four compartments, each of which contains a passage from the Bible written on a strip of parchment, which is rolled up and tied with a hair. On two sides on the outside of the box is placed the letter Shin, one with four and the other with three prongs. The arm box has one cell in which the same Biblical sections are contained on one roll of parchment. The tephillin for the head during prayer are firmly placed on the forehead below the hair, between the eyebrows. The knot of the loop that passes around the head must lodge on the neck behind, and the straps must be long enough to fall over the shoulders and hang down in front below the breast. The hand-tephillin are fastened so that the box is turned inward toward the heart.  The straps are wound seven times around the arm and then three times around the middle and ring finger. The single compartment of the hand-tephillin symbolizes the unity of God.

 

Day 28: What does your sign say?

Have you ever seen a road sign that made you wonder if there is intelligent life on earth?

In our reading today, do you think that Jesus was asking the same question of the religious leaders?

What does your sign say?  (Nothing it is a road sign!)    How does your sign read?

Day 27 Matthew 21:28-22:14

Question to Ponder

Based on today’s reading…..

If Adam and Eve were the first human beings… wouldn’t it stand to reason that even though our skin, hair, eyes, height, weight, and language is different, we might all be related?

Wouldn’t it also stand to reason that our ancestors once spoke the same language?  If that is true, what language was that?

Day 26 Matthew 21:1-27

“Big Dogs”

What is a “Big Dog” you ask.  I will enlighten.   Big Dog is a dynamically stable quadruped robot created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with Foster Miller, NASA, and Harvard University.  Big Dog is 3 feet long, stands 2.5 feet tall, and weigh 240 pounds, about the size of a small mule.  It is capable of traversing difficult terrain at 4 miles per hour, carrying 340 pounds, and climbing a 35 degree incline. Locomotion is controlled by an onboard computer that receives input from the robot’s various sensors. Navigation and balance are also managed by the control system.

Big Dog is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles. Instead of wheels or treads, BigDog uses four legs for movement, allowing it to move across surfaces that would defeat wheels. The legs contain a variety of sensors, including joint position and ground contact. Big Dog also features a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system for the ability to send out the data that it receives back to the control center.

For the purpose of today’s reading, our “Big Dogs” are those who are set apart from the vast majority due to incredible deeds.  Some lead extraordinary lives, others lead plain lives with great faith, others were humble but God uses them to move mountains.  Which are you?  Are you a “Big Dog”, do you want to be?

In  your reading today, our study suggests that you take a look at some other “Big Dogs” and their examples of faith.  I have a challenge for you.  List the “Big Dogs” by name and give an example of their faith walk.  I have found __ __ “Big Dogs” listed and one that isn’t listed but should be.  I have a reward for the first person to list them all by name and deed.  (Hint!  Only use the reading listed in Day 26!)  Good Luck KICers!  Don’t give up, we only have 5 days left to go!

Day 25 Matthew 20:1-34

Day 25!  Way to go KICers!  You are almost there!

Hunting story coming right up!

I am from a family of deer hunters.  Deer hunting was a holiday in our house.  Hunting Camp” meant traveling four hours north to an even colder part of Michigan to an ancient farmhouse filled with relatives.  This was the only time each year that I would see many of my family, and we never missed it.  The farmhouse had one large wood burning stove to heat this five bedroom monstrosity.  People who believe that heat rises have obviously never been to my aunt’s house.  We would sleep in down jackets to keep one step ahead of hypothermia. My aunt and cousins lived well below the poverty line and house insulation just wasn’t a priority.

By morning the house would clear of any person old enough to carry a weapon.  By lunch time those who stayed behind to keep the home fires burning, literally, would make sandwiches.  Then as quickly as the hunters arrived to thaw out and refill, they were off again until dusk.  Dark arrived with the hunters and the fun would begin.  Cards, soda, chips, and cookies would fill the tables and the stories of the day’s hunt would ensue.  The Elders would reminisce of the old days while the youngers listened intently.  Then the cousins, my sister, and I would disappear upstairs to the meat locker they called a bedroom to exchange ghost stories.

Interesting that the kids slept in the coldest part of  the house.  The adults would sleep on the main level that was warmer and my uncle, who was usually in the “dog house”, would sleep in a travel trailer outside.

My grandmother was a wise old Indian who had enough stories to fill three lifetimes.  She was by position, the head of the family, but slightly yielded to my aunt in whose house we were staying.  She was a young thriving warrior trapped in an aged body.  She never wore pants, but “wore” the pants in the family.  When Grandmother spoke, I saw all the men at Hunting Camp straighten up, the women stopped dead in their tracks, and the kid’s ears would perk up.  (One year she tore at the ear of an uncle’s friend who was slightly disrespectful.  He was quiet for the remainder of Hunting Camp.)  Grandmother would tell stories of life on the reservation, stealing bread from the white folks to feed her children (many of who were at Hunting Camp), and the Great Depression.  She was a delivery room nurse by trade, during a time when female nurses were paid very little but her stories were worth a million.  As the evening would wind down, she slept in the time honored position next to the wood burning stove.  Any closer to it and her bedding would spontaneously combust from the heat.

As I travel back down memory lane… I never heard arguing over sleeping arrangements, dish washing, laundry, house cleaning, or seats at meal time.   No one headed for the recliner after dinner, that seat was reserved for Grandmother.  I think it is interesting how we each knew our position in the family at Hunting Camp.   ~

James and John’s mother did a big “No-No!”  By asking Jesus to guarantee positions in the “family” in Heaven.  She assumed that her son’s were worthy as leaders.  Jesus corrected by stating that to lead is to serve first and greatness starts at the bottom.  You can’t sleep next to the wood burning stove at Hunting Camp until you have metaphorically served your time in the meat locker.