M.A.G.I. Donatons

Thank you to the generous donors of the church who supported the MAGI boxes this year. Thanks to your efforts we were able to fill boxes to bless 92 children this coming Christmas. Each box was packed to the brim with an outfit, flip flops, personal care items, school supplies and some small toys and candy. Due to time constraints, we were not able to host a box stuffing party this year, however your donated items and monetary gifts were still a great blessing to the children. The boxes are on their way to the distribution center where they will be sorted and sent to the children in time for the holidays. If any member or group of members would like to head up the MAGI project for next year, please let Sherry know.

Listen & Shut Up

I’ve had a sticky note in my Bible for years—16 years to be exact.  It’s written in Romanian and says, “Asculta si upcineste—Bogdan.”  It was given to me on a mission trip in the summer of 2007 by a Romanian friend, Bogdan.  I kept it because Bogdan signed his name to it, not because I knew what the phrase meant.  All these years, I never knew what the note actually said, so this week I looked it up.  The Romanian phrase means “listen and shut up.”  I laughed out loud when I typed it into Google translate.  I have no idea what was going on when Bogdan wrote that, but he had a way of saying things at important moments that made you think.  So, I began to reflect on my own life and how I have often needed someone to say, “listen and shut up.”

James says in James 1:19, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”  How often have you been in a conversation and realized part of the way through you were more interested in what you were going to say next than you were listening to what the other person was saying?  Many people believe they are good listeners, but when it comes down to it most of us only retain about half of what other people say in a conversation, according to research.  We are easily distracted by our own thoughts, what someone across the room is doing or saying, what we want to say next, etc.  Yet, Scripture calls us to listen better than we speak.

This week, I challenge you to “listen and shut up”—concentrate more on what other people are saying than what you want to say next, what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, who’s playing this weekend, etc.  Be interested in people.  One of the reasons I think God is so adamant about us being good listeners is that it mirrors God’s listening to us.  Scripture says God listens to the cries of his people (Psalm 40:1)—let’s listen to the conversations of others.

                                                        Scott McFarland

The World Is Ending!

Today is May 21, 2023. Do you remember what May 21, 2011 was? Judgement Day, of course! I was reminded this week that May 21, 2011 was the day Harold Camping—a once famous radio evangelist—had predicted Christ would return and judge the world. Of course, that didn’t happen, but I do remember it received a lot of press attention at the time. It was so widely publicized and believed across the world that there were thousands of Christians in Vietnam who gathered in a deserted town in early May, awaiting Christ’s return. Many were shot or arrested after the Vietnam government dispersed the gathering. It was tragic.

The end of the world has long fascinated Christians, especially as our country continues a moral decline. Every year it seems, things get more ridiculous, and we all wonder how much longer this can really keep going. I think our ancestors would roll over in their graves if they saw what we are seeing today.

So, when is it? In Matthew 24, Jesus deals with this same question from his disciples—when will “the hour” be? Jesus answers in verse 36, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” If Jesus doesn’t even know when He’s coming back, I’m sure I won’t either! So, where does that leave us—are we just going to wait? No! The very next chapter, chapter 25, Jesus tells two parables—the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of Talents. Both of these parables, if you read them in context, are dealing with preparedness. Even though we don’t know when, we should be ready with oil in our lamps (Ten Virgins) and using /investing what we have (Talents). So, yes, the world is ending! Let’s keep working…and be ready.

-Scott McFarland

Mother's Day Crossword

JOY Bus Inspection Update

The JOY buses passed the bus inspection on Wednesday.

Preacher Ponderings Chuck Schultheisz

Chuck Schultheisz – Aberdeen, Washington

On my way into town the other day, driving past one of our infamous bikini barista coffee huts, I noticed an unusual amount of traffic and commotion around the stand, including a long line of cars waiting to place their order. Must be free coffee day, I wondered. So, on my way back home, passing the stand again, the reason for the commotion and backup was clear. A van at the window had it’s hood up with a large car-hauler facing it and several fellows leaning into the engine compartment.

I had to chuckle. This would be my luck, were I ever to take a notion to visit one of these pink coffee shacks. I’d pull up to the window, praying no one I knew had spotted me, and my care would die. No wonder the poor sap had the wrecker service in front of his van – after all, you probably don’t want to call your wife in that situation and have her come get you, and something tells me the girl in the bikini isn’t going to know much about alternators or fuel pumps.

But what struck me as interesting, in addition to the van with the hood up, was the line of five cars behind him, whose occupants were so intent on seeing what they wanted to see, that they would patiently wait in line. I mean, the coffee just can’t be that good, nor the show that captivating.

Sin is an interesting creature. When we’re tempted through our own lust, we know that there exists always that possibility that we could really get busted. We could get caught. We could find ourselves in a very embarrassing situation. It could be revealed to all the world around us what our otherwise hidden desires have been. But the devil somehow persuades us that it’s all worth taking that chance. “After all,” he whispers into your ear, “there’s always that chance that you will get away with it.”

Sin can be so enticing that you’re willing to wait patiently for it to come to you. You’re not going to flee from the devil, as the inspired writer James instructs. No – you’re going to literally wait in line for your turn with him. And the fact that giving in to this temptation didn’t work out so well for the guys in front of you in line doesn’t really bother you. “That’s just him,” you reason, “It won’t happen that way to me. I’ll get my kicks, my satisfaction, and life will go  on peachy from there.”

Satan is a liar and evil to the core to be sure, but he’s not stupid. He’s actually quite a smooth operator. He knows who the stupid one is, and he entices accordingly.

Avoid every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22

Mission Support Updates

M.A.G.I. Box Donations

Bible Class Update

Congratulations to the following Bible Class students for “Winning Gold” in this quarter’s Bible classroom:

Hannah McFarland     Willow Bates

Kylee Jones                 Trace Ruger

Josie Friday                 Reagan Britton

Colton Jones                 Tempie Harris

They can recite the books of the Old Testament or the New Testament, and find the following on a map: Jordan River, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem, Nazareth and many other facts have been learned as well. Be sure to congratulate them if you see them today.

Also thank you to all of the quarter’s teachers: Carla Rose, Sue Dearth, Bev Jones, Jewell Neville, Paul Eikleberry, Russell Roth, Trisha Eikleberry, Denise Harris, Bob Burrow, Rudy Gauding, Stephanie Gauding, Jeff Seidler and Eric Carothers. Your love and encouragement for our children does not go unnoticed.

Thank You

Thanks so much to Ron & Kathy Beardmore, they have done an amazing job updating the teen room! It looks great!