I was thinking!?!

  January 17, 2023 Episode 18   I was thinking…about my dogs and a cat .  Yes, I said dogs, all Five of them.  As I sit back and watch them interact because it is very interesting to see the hierarchy of the animal world.  Seeing the puppy and watching the puppy’s energy, ignite the house and older dogs. Making the older dogs play or at least annoying the older dogs.  They all have “Their Spot” and do have difficulty sharing from time to time, but it seems, no matter what they are family. Walter Showing Molly Downward dog   Seeing the two older female dogs sitting at the foot of the stairs “prodding” the puppy to scratch at the door and bark so they can come in is hilarious!    Then add a cat to the mix.  OH, the drama we get to watch unfold and as the drama unfolds, to watch who the real “king of the jungle” is and the power that Salsa has.  As he walks through the sea of dogs he’ll stop and look around as if to dare them to mess with him.  He’s trained them well since they were puppi

  January 13, 2023 Episode 17   I was thinking…About feelings.  Yes, I said feelings.  😊    I do have feelings!  I just have difficulty showing them.  Why is it it’s so easy to get our feelings hurt?  How do we over come getting hurt, angry, frustrated, Etc.?  I was thinking about this while I steam cleaned the carpets at the church and let me tell you that the carpets at the church really needed cleaned!!  What do you think of when you think of carpets?  It’s a place that you walk.  Things rest upon it?  It holds things (dirt, water, etc). It takes a beating!   Compare that to feelings.  Don’t our feelings take a beating?  Can’t someone race through different emotions in a short amount of time???? When we engage with other people throughout our day we stack different emotions on top of each other just like a carpet collects the junk and crud that falls on it as well as the weight of other items resting heavily on it.  Don’t we do this?  Don’t we do this?  Allowing the junk of the day

  January 8, 2023 Episode 16 I was thinking… About salvation and one of the most significant events in a person’s life is when they accept Jesus as their personal Savior.   Their whole life changes as excitement abounds and the church shares in the excitement with congratulations being offered to the new believer.  However, when this happens discipleship is often omitted, but when discipleship is a priority, the new believer is urged to read their Bible and pray.  These are two great and beneficial disciplines, however we as the church forget to show or instruct the new Christian on how to read their Bible with lasting benefits and how to pray effectively seeking communion with God.   Without these two very important practices in a believers life, they will struggle to become resilient in their spiritual walk, and thus when trials, traumatic events and disasters strike, as they will, they are left wanting and feeling alone because they have not prepared themselves to live a resilient s

January 5, 2023   I was thinking….About HEAVEN & HELL!!  I heard a this quote on the radio….”The fact that there is a Highway to Hell and only a Stairway to Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers.” The other quote that goes along with this is, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”    This is very interesting because AC/DC wrote a song titled Highway to Hell and Led Zeppelin wrote Stairway to Heaven.     As a pastor, it drives me crazy to hear, “Well, I know who Jesus is and I’m a good person.”  As if that is all it takes to go to heaven.  Even satan knows who Jesus is however, that does not make satan a disciple of Christ! It’s no wonder the secular rock group wrote a song (a song that is very popular) about the highway to hell.  Matthew 7:13-14 states  13  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  14  For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that l

  January 4, 2023   I was thinking…about our identity.  Please bear with me on my train of thought as it will probably wind through a couple of things.  In Genesis 2:7 God created Adam and put Adam in the Garden of Eden.  In v.15 scripture says,  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”  Then after the fall into sin God removed Adam and states in 3:17  “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.”   From the beginning of time, men have been wired to be providers.  Deep down in us, provided food, shelter, protection for our families is wired into our identity.   Since women were wired to have children, it would make sense that MOST women find their identity in childbearing.  They are nurturing, caring and protective.  I have come across numerous women

  January 3, 2023   I was thinking…about what a creature of habits actually is and what actually constitutes as a habit.  With thinking about habits I had to look up a definition of habit.   a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order or   congregation .  "nuns in long brown habits, black veils, and sandals".   Well that was not the definition I was looking for.  Let’s try this one, “   settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. "we stayed together   out of habit"   So then is it a habit to get out of bed?  Is it a habit to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner?  These are things that we do every day and honestly it is hard to give it up because if we do we die.  So you may be asking the question, “Well Charlie, so are habits bad?”  That’s a great question and I’ll answer that with Romans 6:15-16  “ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yo

  January 2, 2023   I was thinking…about a few things…..first, it’s been a few minutes since my last blog.  It’s been a busy last couple of months.  Catching COVID over Thanksgiving and the business of Advent (Christmas).     I was privileged to bring God’s Message on Sunday.  What a great way to begin the New Year for a pastor!!   One of the Seven resolutions I brought up was “I Will Not Worry About Tomorrow” Matthew 6:34,  “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”   Which brought me to a quote by Haddon Robinson “What worries you, Masters you.”  This could not be a more true statement because we give a lot if not the majority of our attention and time when we focus and worry about not only tomorrow but yesterday.   I’m not sure about a century or so ago, however today I believe this has gotten to the extreme!  Society is focused on the bigger, better, more and more stuff, recognition and moving up the ladder.  It’s no