Pastor Mike’s Garage July 21/2022
July 21, 2022
Sooo, any excitement in your life as of late? I say that with a wink wink,
nudge nudge, for anyone living in the Grenfell area! What a big difference
a little bit of wind can make to ones plans for the week! If you close your
eyes at any point in the day in Grenfell, you could pretend you were in a
BC logging town because there is the constant sound of chainsaws, heavy
equipment and the smell of cut trees and smoke in the air! It is
encouraging to see how the community has for the most part banded together
to clean up the aftermath of the storm. Considering the weight and height
of many of those trees it is an absolute miracle(and I don’t use the word
miracle flippantly) that no-one was seriously hurt or killed!
Last night to wind down from the day I was watching some praise and worship
videos on YouTube when a compilation of worship songs featuring Jerry Lee
Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart came on. Now I will make it clear that in no way
am I a passionate Jimmy Swaggart fan or follower but I would like to
believe that even though he has a checkered past he is trying to serve the
Lord. What surprised me was Jerry Lee Lewis. I’ll admit that, while his
name was familiar as a rock legend and wild man, I didn’t know a lot about
the man. I thought, hmm, he must have had a conversion experience in his
later years. I decided to do a little bit of online research and was
surprised and saddened to find that while for the most part he has lived a
very depraved lifestyle all of his life he has always claimed to be a born
again Christian. There was absolutely no mention of a deepening of his
faith or change of heart in the last few years which, to me at least,
affirms my concerns with Jimmy Swaggart’s character. I’m assuming they
thought, hmm, if we put a couple big names together and do a worship song
album think of all the sales and money we’ll make!
This morning I was reading a letter written to Timothy from the apostle
Paul, a guy with a pretty definite conversion experience and about face
from his previous course of action. I have always been inspired by these
words found in 1 Timothy 1 15-16. “This is a trustworthy saying, and
everyone should accept it: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners’-and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that
Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with
even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can
believe in him and receive eternal life.” To think that the man who wrote
most of the New Testament, had a major role in starting the church, and is
one we still look too for direction and inspiration now two thousand years
later, thought of himself as the worst of sinners, is thought provoking to
say the least! But, and I say this with a definite emphasis on the word
but, there is a very big difference between calling oneself the worst of
sinners and striving to live a Godly lifestyle and calling yourself godly
and continuing to live a sinful lifestyle! While we all have been redeemed
from a past mired in transgression and sin, and still from time-to-time
stumble and fall, we have been called to strive to live a life worthy of
that redemption. The apostle Paul was very clear throughout all of his
writing that what we do,how we act, and what we say in this life does
matter! An example of this can be found in the same chapter as the above
verses were found. “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers
would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience,
and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point. They have
turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless
discussions. They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but
they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so
confidently.” 1Timothy 1:5-7 “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your
conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their
conscience, as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.” 1 Timothy 1:19
He made it quite clear in his teaching that while we are definitely saved
by the provision of Jesus’ payment for our sins and the grace and mercy
provided by our heavenly father, our actions and the things we do and say,
both in the open and secret, do matter!
Please pray for Pastor Dave and his family, that their time off for the
next couple weeks would be refreshing and enjoyable. Pray for those among
us who are struggling with health concerns, the Theisen’s and Warner’s come
to mind. Pray for summer camps who are running right now, Springside’s
family camp is on this week. Also keep in mind our church camping weekend
coming up in a couple weeks at camp O’Neil, we would love to see you
there. Please let me know by July 28 if possible if you plan to attend so
we can plan for food for the weekend.
Pastor Mike