Stubborn Ears!

This was originally typed on Febuary 12, 2012.  I just found it this morning when I was cleaning out drafts, but I thought it worth publishing.

Greetings All,

It has been one of those weeks, with meeting after meeting that eats into my time to make blog posts and I would like to tell you that it is slowing down, but the Lexington District Clergy have a meeting with the Bishop this afternoon.  Amidst the busyness, I wanted to share this with you from my quiet time this morning. Let's start with scripture:

Num 24:10 "At that Balak was very angry with Balaam, beat his hands together and said, 'I summoned you to denouce my enemies and three times, you have persisted in blessing them.  Off with you to your own place!'" from The New English Bible

 Balak has brought prophet Balaam to curse Israel before they go into battle.  We all know Balaam from the story where his donkey speaks to him to chastise him for his behavior, but this is the rest of that story.  Despite beating his donkey, Balaam in coming to Balak has professed that he will only speak the words the Lord gives to him and that is what he does.  The Lord speaks only blessings of Israel to Balaam and those blessings are what he has professed before Balak.  Each time those words are professed Balak gets upset and brings Balaam to a new place to look at Israel from a different angle hoping that in seeing them in a different light Balaam will profess what Balak wants to hear, curses against Israel.  Each time Balaam professes only the words of the Lord and not what Balak wants to hear so Balak finally gets mad and sends Balaam away.  He refuse to listen to God because God is not telling him what he wants to hear.

How often is that true for us?  How often do we ask for a word from God, words of encouragement, direction, decision, or even of blessing and God does speak to us, but not what we want to hear so we ignore Him?  God will respond to us when we call upon Him, but we must be prepared to accept what He has to say.  He is the creator of the universe and He knows what is best for us; yes, even better than we know for ourselves.  Balak's stubborn refusal to listen to God doesn't end well for him and the same is true for us, when we persist in our stubbornness and refuse to listen to God because we don't like what He has to say, it will not end well for us.  The question before each of us today is simply this: "When we seek God's face and word are we willing to accept what He has to say, or will we persist with our stubborn ear, refuse to listen and go our own way?

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

The God Relevancy Relationship

Greetings All,

I had another quote this morning from Eugene Peterson that I thought was worth sharing.  Today's chapter is completely rooted in the life and story of Elijah and Peterson makes some awesome connections between Baal worship and the manner in which we often worship today, trying to use God to fit our needs, our situations, our wants and desires rather than us trying to make our lives fit into His bigger story.  Sound familiar?  Anyway, here is the quote from pg. 103 of The Jesus Way: a conversation on the ways that Jesus is the way by Eugene Peterson.

"Lots of people more or less believe in God.  But most of us do our vest to customize God to suit our convenience by adapting and modifying, making him 'relevant to our situation.'  Prophets insist that God is the living center or nothing.  Our task is to become relevant to his situation.  They insist that we deal with God as God reveals himself, not as we imagine him to be."

Elijah's prophetic voice as the defender of Yahweh stretches across the millenniums and speaks to us through the modern day prophet of Peterson.  Wow! Are we making ourselves relevant today to God's situation?

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

The Work of God Along the Way

Greetings All,

Part of my morning devotionals as of late, which has been less than regular if there is any appropriate description due to my failure to find my new routine, has been reading a book by Eugene Peterson (author of The Message) called The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way.  It has been, as expected when you read Peterson, an excellent, enlightening and inspiring book.  This morning's chapter was about David and there was a paragraph that really struck me and I wanted to share it with y'all.  It comes from page 97 and reads as follows:

"The long and short of it is that there is a lot more going on on the way than getting to a destination.  And there is a lot more going on on the way than what we are doing.  There is what God is doing.  Which is why we "wait for the Lord."  We stop, whether by choice or through circumstance, so that we can be alert and attentive and receptive to what God is doing in and for us, in and for others, on the way.  we wait for our souls to catch up with our bodies.  Waiting for the Lord is a large part of what we do on the way because the largest part of what takes place on the way is what God is doing, what God is saying.  Much of the time, disabled or enervated by sin, we can't do what must be done, so we wait for God to do it in us.  Much of the time, we don't know what to do, so we wait until we understand what God commands us to do.  The waiting is not just an indolent "waiting around."  We wait "for the morning, " which is to say that we wait in hope.  We wait while we are being "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven."  We wait for God to do what we cannot do for ourselves "in the depths."  When he has done it, we are once more on the way."

I loved reading this passage this morning as it reminded me that while we are walking on this path that is our Christian lives, keeping our eyes on Jesus, striving to live in ways that makes it easy for others to believe in Him, we must never forget that we walk this path not in our own power but in the power of God.  It is not a path of pulling up our boot straps and toughing it out in our own power and resources to try and accomplish what we think God wants, rather it is a cooperative journey that God allows us to participate in and on which He does all of the heavy lifting.  It is not what we are doing on the way, rather what He is doing.  We put one foot in front of the other, being faithful and obedience, He has the job of accomplishing.  Let us never forget that on "the way" that is life in Christ that we must never sprint ahead of where God is at work in us, with us and through us.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Sermon: Sunday, July 22, 2012

Greetings All,

Here is the audio file from Sunday's sermon.  It is titled A Story of Fish and Bread! and the texts are Mark 6:30-44 and Psalm 23.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Recipe: Pam's Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

Greetings All,

Pam Sprinkle brought the best ever banana pudding to potluck one Sunday and I had to have the recipe because I am not sure there is a better combination of yummy goodness than banana pudding and Nabisco's Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies.  I am absolutely certain that Elvis Presley would attest to this absolute truth!  Anyway, Pam was gracious enough to send me the recipe and in an effort to clean out my email box I post it here for easy access and for your dining pleasure.  Enjoy!

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Nutter Butter Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
5 medium-size ripe bananas
1 (l-lb.) Package Nutter Butter Cookies
1 Extra creamy cool whip 12oz.
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 (3 .4 - oz) Vanilla instant pudding
3 Cups of Milk
1 8 oz. Sour Cream

Directions:
Place 3 cups of milk and vanilla in a large bowl; add 2 (3.4 oz.) packages
vanilla instant pudding mix. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until
thickened. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 (8 oz) Sour cream.  Meanwhile cut bananas into 1/4 inch slices. Break cookies into thirds. Spoon half of pudding mixture into a 3 quart bowl. Top with bananas and cookies. Spoon remaining pudding mixture over bananas and cookies. Top
with 12oz. Creamy cool whip and crumbled cookies for garnish.
Chill 2 to 24 hours.

Sermon: Sunday, July 15, 2012

Greetings All,

Here is the audio file from Sunday's sermon.  It is titled Part of a Bigger Story! and the texts are Mark 6:14-29 and 1 Kings 19:1-2, 21:25.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Recipe: Yummy Fruit Dip!

Greetings All,

I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while.  Life has been a bit overwhelming with the move and all, but this is a recipe for fruit dip I found a while back that I made for the kids and it was super yummy so I decided to post it, mainly so I would be able to find it again.  Enjoy!

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Yummy Fruit Dip!

Ingredients:
7 oz. Marshmallow Cream
8 oz. Strawberry Cream Cheese
2 Tbls. Orange Juice
1 Cup Cool Whip

Directions:
In blender whip together marshmallow cream, cream cheese and orange juice.  Once blended thoroughly, gently fold in the cool whip.  Chill and serve with fruit.

Sermon: Sunday, July 1, 2012

Greetings All,

Here is the audio file from Sunday's sermon.  It is titled Being Made Whole Again! and the texts are Mark 5:21-43 and Psalm 130:1-8.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron