God is Triune ! ! !

 

God is Triune.  He has been from Eternity.  IS (as we mere mortals “see” time). 

He will be for Eternity.  His Triuness includes the concept of Father, the concept

of Son, and the concept of Holy Spirit.  All are equally eternal.

 

Is this a Biblical teaching?  Remove all doubt. Take the time to look up (this

afternoon or at your earliest convenience) the following references:

Joh 1.33                 

Act 10.38

Act 20.28

Rom 8.27 

Rom 15.16

1Co 6.11

2Co 13.14

Gal 4.6

Eph 2.18

Heb 9.14

Heb 10.29

1Pe 1.2

1Pe 3.18

1Jo 4.2

1Jo 5.7.

These do not include the few times the Entire Trinity is shown but is spread across two or more near verses.

 

The Bible is under attack.  Concepts, basic teachings, doctrines about God and His Book are under attack.  One thing is the Divine Trinity.

 

One reason some reject the Trinity is they cannot understand It.  “Welcome to the club” – no human understands the Trinity.  (We will perhaps understand the concept of the Trinity better as we progress through Eternity but don’t be surprised if we never fully grasp this Lofty, Holy arrangement.  

 

But then, would God be God if we understood Him?  We are mere creators (He is the One and Only Creator) and we do not understand ourselves – it should come as no surprise that we do not grasp the Greatness of our God.

Those who knowingly deny the Trinity are to be pitied and prayed for. 

 

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• From the Pastor’s Desk •

 

We have, as you have noticed, marched into March. (Or should I say March has marched in upon us?)  March is one of the two secular month names which is also a verb.  And a new month hopefully will bring verbs (action words) into your life & mine. I invite you to be active in this action month.

 

Please be more active in reading that wonderful OLD, yet ever NEW Book called the Bible.  The Bible will not climb off the desk/table/dresser and demand to be read.  You will need to initiate the action.  Once you have picked up the Book & allowed yourself to get involved you will find action.

 

The “prayer closet” will not wander into your den/kitchen/shop where you are busy.  No, you will need to go to the closet.  You will need to take the action to shut the door (& re-shut it & re-shut it if necessary) in order to be alone with your Savoir.  To truly PRAY will require your action in March. 

 

Of course, as pastor I hope your March action will result in an increased effort on your part to attend church regularly.  Perhaps I should not have typed “of course.” If you have never pastored or taught classes (or been a pastor’s wife) you may not realize the disappointment it is to see this one missing and that one – to wander where they are or if they’re OK. 

 

Allow one last area for action.  Please start inviting people to church.  If they have no way perhaps you could bring them.  It would be great to invite them to your dinner table when you invite them to AM service. If you invite them to Bible Study you could invite to join you are Chick-Fil-A, Steak & Shake, or Burger King afterward.  We need to be inviting and a good way to get better acquainted is over a meal or a snack.  Invite more in March. 

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America needs Awakened

America needs Awakened        Agree?

 

Westfield needs Awakened       Agree?

 

YOU need Awakened                Agree?

 

Special  Services

Minister Ken Thompson

Evangelist, Pastor, Educator, Missionary, also Husband, Father, Grandfather 

 

Union Friends Church

533 S. Union Street

Westfield, IN 46074

 

Nov 13-17,  7:00 PM  & Nov 18, 10:30 & 6:30

 

You are ALWAYS welcome!

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Democrats, Independents, Republicans

Many messages this morning (I’d guess) will lean toward

(if not actually fall over into) politics.  Some pastors would

like to influence you how to vote Tuesday. 

(This is applicable to Democrats, Independents,

and Republicans.)  Such pastors feel justified in this

– they may rue it later.

 

Pastors are being urged to “get out the vote.”

I got a call from Chicago from a Lutheran pastor

AND a rabbi (same call) and from James Dobson

urging me to urge you to vote.  Some are even

registering voters in their vestibules.

 

Your pastor is not urging you to vote. Tuesday may

find me in a voting booth, if nothing else voting

for some lesser offices.  Be aware it’s not a sin

to vote (especially in local elections). 

Be equally aware it is not a sin to not vote. 

If you vote I distinctly urge you to pray,

seriously pray, before voting.

 

“Why seriously pray, pastor?” You & I ARE

responsible for whom we vote.

My dad voted for FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)

and later felt he should ask God to forgive him

– dad felt responsible for his vote – dad was right.

 

“I’m flabbergasted to read such.”

Let me give you a quote (can’t remember who said it). 

“To vote for the lesser of two evils, is still to vote for evil.”

 

It’s been decades now since I first said

“I’m a Christian first, an American second.” 

The King of kings has my allegiance, 100%. 

I can trust Him with the future and, as God helps

my little faith, I do.  Voting or not voting,

I urge you likewise to trust King Jesus. 

He’ll be King a million years (infinity, really)

from now and “of His kingdom there shall be no end”

Luk 1.33.

 

 

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ROCKS “WOULD…CRY OUT” (Luk 19.40)

 

Granite would stop taking it for granted.  

 

Limestone would linger no longer. 

 

Marble would loudly marvel.

 

Basalt would bless.

 

Pumice would loudly ponder.

 

Sandstone would sing. 

 

Congregate would congregate in chorus.

 

Coal would no longer have a cough. 

 

Peat would repeat His praise. 

 

Flint would feel felicity. 

 

Grindstone would greet God.

 

Obsidian would no longer be obstinate. 

 

Palisadeswould parade God’s praise.

 

Stones thus all breaking their centuries of Silence!

– eab, 2/16/10

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Have you praise God for your own Bible?

Have you praise God for your own Bible?  Leather bound (in many cases) in nearly-new condition.  (Many Christians have no Bible or if they have one, it’s poorly bound and dog-eared.)  Have you praised Him for a musical instrument with which to sing?  (Many little churches, world-wide, have no instrument or have an old piano but no one to “caress” it.)           

 

Most importantly – Have you praised the Father for the Gift of His Son, the Son, for the Gift of Himself, the Holy Spirit for His coming at Pentecost?  No man, be he moral as Abram in Ur, or Paul in Tarsus, can possibly save himself.  We need to be more grateful, daily, for the Gift of salvation and then Praise God for It.

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Have you praised

How are you doing in your Praise Life?  Have you praised God already today for TODAY?  (Many people died in the last 24 hrs.)  Have you praised Him for bacon, eggs, and toast, or cereal, coffee, and donut?  (Many a person has had little-to-nothing to eat in the last day.)   Have you praised the Lord for your “Sunday-go-to-Meet’n-clothes”?  (Many persons have one change of clothing, or even no change.)

 

Have you praised the Lord for the pew on which you are “parked”?  (Many Christians in the last 24 hrs. have been seated on a floor or a log or a hard backless bench.)  Have you praised Jesus for a hymnal?  (Many hearts sing only from memory OR in what are called “contemporary churches” they have read a “7-11 chorus” off from wall/screen.)

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H A P P Y G R A N D P A R E N T ‘S D A Y

H A P P Y  G R A N D P A R E N T ‘S  D A Y

Thank God for grandparents!  One or more may have lived close and you got to see them often. Or perhaps they all lived many miles away and visits were rare.  I hope you have the memory of at least one, maybe all four.  And I hope you had an amiable relationship with one(s) you knew.

 

Today is a day to cherish that memory of fishing or hunting with grandpa (or whatever he was called in your family).  Today is a time to re-live some far away afternoon spent at grandma’s house.  Do you have a memory of the smell of a grandparent’s smoke house (for curing hams etc)?  Can you still breath in the aroma of their barn stacked full of hay?

 

Perhaps it is grandma’s home-made noodles and chicken (or was it beef?) you recall the best.  Maybe it’s a memory of sitting on grandpa’s lap as he read to you (and your siblings?) a favorite bed-time story.

 

I hope one or more of them were sincere followers of Christ and your memories of visits there include a service in their church (white wooden, brick, native stone) and the ride to or from the place where they took you to meet with God.  Did grandpa/grandma sing a special or play an instrument? 

 

Cherish, today the flavors, smells, words, soft touch of your grandparents.    

 

If YOU now are the grandparent allow me (as one grandparent to another)   to suggest a “Do – Do not” list.

1. When you visit grandchildren (or better yet, they visit you) make sure your time includes some words (from the Bible or your heart) about Christ. 2. Do your best to treat all, repeat, all of them the same. If not, some may “forever” glory that they were your pet, but the others will also remember.

3. You may have more money (than you had to spend on their parents) but use restraint in things. “Too much” is seldom appreciated, even from you.J

4. You may not agree with your child (less with the “in-law”) on how Suzie is not being taught to work or learn – do your best to pray and be quiet.

5. Please don’t undermine discipline you see administered to your “angelic” grandkid -you and I see them seldom and may be blind to their true self.

6. Give your one (or many), the indispensable gift of YOUR time.  Let they remember you for giving them your full attention – a rare and lasting gift.

7. Pray for each grandchild every day (or at least often). They face many temptations in media, peers, even Christian schools. They need our prayers.   

– eab, September 2012

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Today is the beginning of another week

Today is the beginning of another week.  If you keep a journal, do a diary, or have a great memory you probably can relate something mundane or monumental which transpired every day of last week – a phone call, a letter, a visit, an email, a “chance” conversation at the store, gas station, etc.  

Last week is history, dare I say f-o-r-e-v-e-r history, only to be re-lived in those wonderfully glad (or solemnly sad) “halls of memory.”

 

Today is a fresh start.  Today is the commencement of a new week.  Will this week be as nice as last week or nicer, as sad or sadder?  “How do I know, pastor?”  Of course none of us know the events to come but we can know with Whom we will face those events.  Our Friend – who is closer than a brother – will be with us (if we are with Him) and will give us help in the coming week.  With Christ next week does not have to be weak.

 

Christ, the greatest possible Friend, not only will be with us but He (and the entire Holy Trinity) has given us a great way to start, a proper way to begin this new week – it’s called the Lord’s Day.[1]  There is no better way to start your week than with Him.  There is no better place to start your week than here in God’s house.  Have a great Lord’s Day here and beyond the walls of the church. And, with Christ, have a great week not a weak one.

---

[1] Please remember this, this afternoon & evening It IS His day – give Him all of It – willingly.

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Involved in Worship?

Welcome to the meeting this Lord’s Day.  If you could sing any song you wanted to sing this AM what would we sing?  Please feel free to speak to Bro. Stephen about a preferred song for a future service: Lord’s Day or midweek.  He will not need to feel bound by your request but will at least know and your number may send his mind in a fresh direction from which we all will benefit and God will be glorified. 

 

If you could hear any special song you desired what would that be.  Please feel free to look at the song list & speak to one of them about your request. They should not be confined to “your” song but they could appreciate it (Sometimes choosing the right song is harder than actually singing it.)

 

If you were the Worship leader who would YOU ask to pray (opening, over offering, closing, etc.)?  Bro. James may (or may not) call on them but again your request to hear “So-n-So” prayer may move his mind a new direction to the benefit of us all.  (Please come to service “prayed-up” so, should you be called on, you’re ready to help us into God’s presence.)

 

And is there a line of truth upon which you would like the pastor to preach/teach?  This could be either one sermon or a mini-series.  I try to find the mind of the Lord for each service and I thank Him for any (and all) of His help.  I attempt to preach from both of the Testaments and to not “ride a hobby.”  Having said that, I would pray about suggested “themes.” I do not fit in the highest bracket of preachers. But even the best men may fail to address a topic(s) which his hearers want (need) to hear.

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