We will have a baby shower for Kellie Craig this Saturday; for all those that know Kellie and Brandon keep them in their prayers as they are expecting soon.
We concluded our studies on the Psalms and the book of Acts 2 Sundays ago and began 2 new studies this past Sunday: the book of Proverbs for Sunday School and the Gospel of Luke for the worship sermons.
The book of Proverbs is a unique book in the bible. One of our church members who wished to remain anonymous said that "Proverbs is the Bumper-Sticker book of the Bible." So true! Each verse is short, pithy and concise but very meaningful. The book is full of these little general sayings that are worthy of our learning and applying them to our lives. Even though they don't always come true in every situation, usually because we don't apply them properly or because we say we're following them when we're really not, those that will live by these proverbial sayings will live in wisdom and avoid an awful lot of trouble. I'm just sayin!
The Gospel of Luke is the longest gospel and the most detailed. The good doctor Luke wrote a thoroughly investigated and highly documented account of the life of Christ for his good friend, the noble Theophilus. Luke thought that every word he wrote and account he described was true because he was so orderly and detailed in his writing. We need such detailed people in the kingdom of God today: precise, thorough, intelligent and well-written. The last time I studied the book of Luke I was typing my notes on a typewriter, so it is high time we go back through this book with the use of word processing, spreadsheets and overheads.
C. S. Lewis wrote, “For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity” from The Screwtape Letters
As we think about our past we find many regrets, embarrassments that bring waves of shame over us (we don’t spend much time reflecting on our past triumphs)
As we look to the future we find uncertainty, fear, and hand-wringing worry: the worse-case scenario of what might happen dominates our thinking, and what future fears and frights await us causes energy-numbing emotions to fill up our souls (and crippling the body of the necessary energy for today’s problems)
And we spend so little time thinking about right now, for those people right in front of us that we can love, the little things we can accomplish now and the little pleasures we can enjoy; when we live in the present we are experiencing eternity
And in living the present we find that the pain of the past passes into forgetfulness
And the fear of the future is washed away by hope and faith
Regrets and fears are pushed out of our minds by our focus and concentration on the task or experience at hand
When we are actively doing that which is good and wholesome and right in the present we don’t let the past or the future steal our present eternal joy
And we wonder why we spent so much time and emotional energy fretting on things that have not happened yet and most likely won’t happen at all
Or reliving the grief, regret, remorse and embarrassment of those things that have already happened that we can’t do anything about now anyway
Other than to resolve to not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that takes clear thinking for the present, so the present time is all that matters now, for “the present is the point at which time touches eternity”
The Pester
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