31 Day Challenge

January 2016
31 Day Challenge

Feel free to pick and choose what order you want to do these challenges.

1 Pray for a minister.
2 Pray for Elder Bob Burrow and his work here.
3 Pray for Elder Keith Jones and his work here.
4 Pray for Elder Bob Kenney and his work here.
5 Pray for Elder Duane Landefeld and his work here.
6 Visit a member older than you.
7 Visit a member younger than you.
8 Send a get well card.
9 Write a note to one of the deacons and thank him for all his hard work.
10 Tell some child under the age of 10 why you think they are so special.
11 Hold a door open for someone today;
12 Drop a contribution in the box in the foyer to help with a need.
13 Do an unexpected act of kindness for someone.
14 Buy someone a coffee or soda.
15 Call someone and ask if there is something you can pray about for them.
16 Pay someone a compliment.
17 Give a smile away.
18 Drink only water today and remember that we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness.
19 Share a scripture with someone.
20 Thank someone for encouraging you in your faith.
21 Pray for a member that isn’t related to you.
22 Write out a scripture card and share it with another member.
23 Send a thinking of you card to another member.
24 Write out a scripture 5 times and pray about it.
25 Thank God for 5 blessings you’ve received.
26 Praise God for 5 of his characteristics.
27 Read at least one chapter of any book in the Bible.
28 Tell a teenager why they are special to you.
29 Visit someone in the nursing home. ·
30 Invite someone to your home.
31 Pray for CCA Covenant Christian Academy or send them a card of encouragement. 

A Lasting Gift

In an effort to lighten the load of this upcoming cross country journey, I have been going through my possessions, a.k.a., junk, to see what could be sold, given away, or pitched in the dumpster. I've come to the realization that a guy probably doesn't really need fifteen tackleboxes and thirty rod and reel combos. One I tacklebox, however, is definitely making the trip. It's made every trip of my life since 1982.

Not many forty-somethings can boast (or are willing to admit publicly) that they are still using their childhood Christmas presents. We eventually break the toys, outgrow the clothes, lose all the pieces of the games, and watch Mom put the rest of it in the summer yard sale. If you do have them still, they are probably in a trunk up in the attic or in a display case in the man cave, only to be looked at, not touched But for some strange reason, I never outgrew this tacklebox. It doesn't sit in a display case to be reminisced about. lt actually has a custom-made spot in the front of the boat and is full of catfish hooks and sinkers; a rare Christmas treasure still used and cherished decades alter it was first unwrapped.

It is not, though, the‘most cherished gift given by my parents. Long before I ever started ripping the wrapping paper on that Christmas morning, I had received the gift of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. His life was told to me. His book was read to me. His church was made the center of my young life. I will never outgrow it. I will never lose it. It will never be out of style. Long long after that tacklebox has melted along with everything else in this material world, I will cherish that wonderful spiritual gift! .

I cannot imagine the joy you must experience as a parent watching those little hands cling to that toy they so eagerly had begged Santa for, or watching those innocent eyes sparkle as they rip the paper from the box. That after all, is why you withstood those ridiculous lines on Black Friday, put up with the crowds at the dollar store, and spent the money that you really didn’t have to spend. And while it certainly is not my place to burst the Christmas bubble, I beg of you to remember that compared to the spiritual gifts you could be giving your kids, it's all junk.  In fact, Paul once wrote that compared to God's blessings, all this material stuff is just manure.

It costs you nothing but your time to read the Bible to, and with your children. A couple bucks worth of gasoline will get them to the church building for Bible class. Letting them see you act and talk like Jesus doesn't put you in debt. Small prices to pay indeed for a gift that will benefit them for the rest of their existence.

Proverbs 22:6

~Charles Schultheisz
Woodsfield. OH
 

Volunteers Needed

The children's bus ministry needs new volunteers and leaders.  Ideas for new events and programs would be greatly appreciated.  We are hoping 2016 will be a great experience.  Please let Keith know if you are willing to help.  Thanks.

Not Real Cheese

I thought maybe some honey on my biscuit would taste good, so I went back up to the counter and requested a packet. One bite in, and I realized this may not be "real" honey. So I read the ingredients list on the backside. Then I read the ingredient list on the butter packet, followed by the small packet of lemon juice I had just poured into my tea. Suddenly, it hit me -- no wonder we are facing an epidemic of diabetes. No wonder so many of our children struggle with weight-related health issues. The honey wasn't honey. It was "honey sauce", whatever that's supposed to be. Honey was number four on the ingredients list, if that tells you anything, preceded by high fructose corn syrup, regular com syrup, and sugar. The butter wasn't real butter. It too was "butter sauce." I don't even want to know what it's ingredients are. The lemon packet clearly stated that it contained "no lemon." The cheese was actually called "cheese product" and contained no dairy.

Obviously food manufacturers and many restaurateurs couldn‘t care less how good the food is for you. The don't even care if it's real food. And like pigs at a trough we just keep lapping it up, while they are more than happy to accommodate us. Why do we do it? Because as long as it's cheap, convenient, tastes good, and doesn't kill us immediately, we don't care what it's made of.  Sadly, I'm afraid many of us are someday going to be elderly folks really paying the price for all this cheap, fake food we've been injecting into our bodies.

What's more sad though is the price some will pay for trying to feed God fake Christianity. When God examines you today, does he find real Christianity, or more like a "Christianity product"? Is it real faith, or just a "faith-like sauce"? Does your church-going and your Christian lineage present a nice package to the world, as long as they don't examine the true ingredients? You need to remember that fake isn't as palatable to God as it is to you and I. We just chew and swallow. God vomits it back out (Revelation 3:16).

People in the world who have to get a taste of us deserve the real thing. They need to see real Christianity, not this disgusting man-made, devil propelled phoniness. Let Jesus live in you and through you. He's the real thing! And God not only deserves the same realness, he demands it.

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.  -Titus 1:16

~Charles Schultheisz
Woodsfield, Ohio
 

On The Search For A Signal

If I go outside, walk to the corner of the pasture where the windmill stands, hold my phone up into the air tilted slightly toward the east, I can get two bars.  Sometimes the bars turn from gray to blue.  I’ve never really known what this means exactly other than that blue is better.  If I bring my phone back down to my ear and the blue bars remain, I am able to make a phone call.  During that phone call, if I move too much eastward, westward, northbound, or southbound, or if the wind blows slightly harder, or if the elk in the pasture raise or lower their heads, or if the ants in the grass hiccup, I lose the call.  They tell me these areas are called “dead zones” or “drop zones”.  As I write this while camped out on Shannon’s home-place here in the middle of nowhere, it feels more like a twilight zone!

Everyone on the planet has bought into the idea of having a telephone glued to their person because we recognize that it makes life easier and less stressful.  Sometimes, though, what it does is make you want to throw it against the wall and gleefully watch it break into tiny little pieces.

There are certain times in our day to day lives, certain situations in which we must have a signal.  The meeting place or time has changed.  Someone is sick.  Someone is dying.  I need to talk to you, now.  You need to talk to me, now.  One bar, five bars, whatever – just put me through to whom I need put through!

Maybe this is why I so appreciate the prayer of Jonah:          

       "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the deep in the realm

      of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

You just can’t be anymore in a “dead zone” than folded up in the gut of a fish swimming around the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.  But in fact he had a signal.  It went through.  The one he so desperately needed to contact could hear him clearly.  You know the rest of the story.

It’s not the phone you keep attached to you like a third arm that makes your life easier and less stressful.  It’s the pure, repentant, Holy Spirit-filled heart inside of you, the one that keeps the signal between you and God strong, which gets you through to the next day.  It’s a signal that cannot be lost by the circumstances or geography of your day.  Whether on the dry land embraced by the warmth of the sun, in the boat rocked by the storm, or in the deepest, scariest darkness, God is available to you because he is in you.  You don’t need to be so frustrated.  You don’t need to feel like you want to smash something, or someone.  You don’t need to hold your hands or your body in a certain formation.  You need not be in a certain place, in a certain posture, with your eyes facing a certain direction.  Just open your heart and talk to him.  Call out to him. You have a signal.

~Charles Schultheisz

Joy Bus News - Fishers Of Men

October 4th was a great day of worship in Bible hour. The children learned about Elijah and after worship the family was invited for hot dogs, chips, cake and drinks. When we arrived at the pond each child got to fish and most of them caught fish. 40 fish were caught and released back into the pond. This was our 15th year and seeing Martha Lee’s smile and feeling the warmth of Clyde Ault’s heart brought a great day of Christian fellowship.

The church family responded well with volunteers to help kids fish, measure fish,  document the names of people, food, bathroom monitors, and watching for the safety of children around the pond and woods, setting up the poles, driving and knocking doors, setting up Bible studies, cleaning up and the list goes on.

Thank you to the Fellowship Ministry, Teen Ministry, Bus Ministry, Benevolent Ministry and Education Ministry for all your help and support for another year of fishing.

Congratulations to Cooper Hayes for catching the largest fish. Coopers name will be on the 2015 Clyde Ault, Foxy Daily biggest fish award plaque in the Fellowship Building.

God has given all of us the opportunity to bring souls under the sound of the Gospel. It takes work, time and money to accomplish this for God. This family is to be commended for your love and compassion to support an outreach to our community. in winning souls. A special thanks to Gods family for your prayers and kindness in touching lives for Jesus.

Quilting Ministy

The church's faithful quilters come in every Tuesday morning at 9a to stitch and make beautiful quilts for our Seniors in high school and burned out families in our community.  Their love and compassion to bring a cover of love to others is greatly appreciated by the family at Woodsfield.  If you would like to help and volunteer to learn or become a quilter for God, come to the Education Building on Tuesday at 9a and introduce yourself to a great team for God.  Also, thanks to those who piece the quilts.

From The Preacher's Pen

The radio was on the other day as I'm cruising down the highway. It was tuned to a station that takes me back to my teenage days, playing the rock and roll songs of the eighties. I have fond memories of the eighties So, trying to ignore the fact that some of these songs weren't exactly the most spiritually beneficial, I kept listening and reminiscing in my mind.  But after the lead singer used G0d's name vainly for the third time, my conscience just couldn't take it, so I turned it off.

Several minutes later, I thought I'd take a chance and turn the radio back up. This time it was a song about life in a rock n' roll band. Suddenly, the radio cuts out, then a few words, then it cuts out again. What's wrong with this thing? Then I realize what's going on. The song contained a rather uncouth word which today is recognized as a "homophobic slur." The powers that be had edited it out of the song.

How interesting. The vulgar use of God's name is left in, unedited, but the word that will offend the homosexual is deleted. This seemingly slight situation is truly indicative of where we are in this nation right now. Offending God is really no big deal. Offending God's people is less of a deal. Heaven help you though if you offend the gays, the lesbians, the transsexuals, the transgenderers, or anyone else in an "alternative lifestyle". If you are homosexual and a co-worker refers to you, either to your face or behind your back, using a derogatory term, you can actually, by following certain procedures, get him fired. I saw this first hand while working in the secular workforce. Everyday, though, I had to work side by side with men and women who used the name of Jesus Christ in all kinds of ridiculous and offensive ways. No one ever suggested they receive any sensitivity training.

To be clear, this is not being written to offer license for the use of hateful, derisive, demeaning references. That word that was deleted from the song on the radio -- Jesus would have deleted it too. Jesus was honest with people, but never hateful or belittling. This is being written to remind us that if anyone deserves to be respected and free from insult, it is God! He created us, he sustains us, he died for us!! If we as a church, as a world, as a nation, would be more concerned with honoring the name of Jesus and worshipping the Father, we wouldn't have to worry about homophobic or racial slurs.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.  Exodus 20:7

Charles Schultheisz - Woodsfield, OH

Building & Grounds

Thanks to the Building & Grounds men for their time and love to serve the family at Woodsfield.  The Education Building has had an extreme makeover and is ready to serve the children and our community.  The concrete steps and railing are ready and the roof of the bus garage and main building has been painted.  God has Blessed us with a great family who loves and serves Him everyday.  Thank you family for your willing hearts to serve God.

Get A Life

As the owner of a Craftsman push lawnmower, I received a notice that the company was being sued.  The letter indicated that I had the option to choose against participating in a class action lawsuit. Normally, I don't waste my time with this kind of foolishness, but something caused me to read a little further. Come to find out, some guy in middle America realized that the motor on his mower was not as fuel efficient as it was advertised to be. The company says you can mow for such and such amount of time on a tank of gas, while in actuality, at least according to the accusation, you get less time out of a tank.  

I don‘t know about you, but I'm thinking that life is way too short, and time way too valuable to be analyzing how much gasoline my little push mower actually uses. Who in the world has the time, the money, and the mental energy to pursue these frivolous fights and litigations? The things that make people angry, the things that people worry themselves over - it just makes you want to shout, "Get a life!"

I think of God wanting to create a giant bullhorn and shouting this to the entire planet.

Brothers and sisters, let's distinguish ourselves from the world. We have a life - a life in Christ Jesus. Let's act like it. If we're going to fight, let's fight over something worth lighting for. Let's fight to keep our marriages together, to keep our children interested in the church, to keep Satan out of our hearts. If we're going to stress, let's stress over something that may actually matter in the end. Maybe you should stress over how much your neighbor knows about God, or how you could be a better Christian example at work, or how you‘re going to approach a lost loved one about his soul.

What must God be thinking when he sees us mad because our name was misspelled on the "Anniversaries and Birthdays" list, or when he hears me constantly complaining that church services aren't starting on time and are running too late? If he spoke aloud these days what would he say to those threatening to quit the church because they didn't get as many cards sent their way as other members have? He'd probably say..."Get a life."

Luke 10:41-42