Pastor’s Ponderings Traveling around town the other day looking at houses, I noticed a roof that had a shingle that was out of place. When the roofers were placing the shingles someone had to have missed their line which is marked so that all shingles will line up. Just one shingle, on a house large or small, that is out of place makes it a noticeable imperfection. This led me to a ponder. The ponder is on sin and how one sin is all it takes to take us to unrighteousness. God’s perfect world, perfect garden, perfect people, lost because of one sin. When Adam committed the sin of eating the fruit of the tree of which he had been forbidden, death came upon the world. Man was now dead spiritually and would die physically. Sin is what can cause a church to get out of synch as well. Open sin by one believer in the church can cause the whole church to look like a roof that has a single shingle out of place. The world judges the church by its members not by the Gracious God they serve. When one is living in open sin it brings a black eye to the church. A black eye is noticeable, just as the shingle that had been nailed in the wrong place on a roof is noticeable. The only way to fix a shingle that is wrongfully placed is to tear off the shingle and replace it on the right line. In the case of sin and in order for the church or believer to be back in a communal state (right line) with God, it takes repentance. In the book of Revelations when addressing the seven churches Jesus tells the church of Laodicea to repent! (As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent. Revelations 3:19 (HCSB)) Repentance is turning from the sin you are doing and head back toward God. It is my prayer you will take a look at your life and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in regards to sin that may be in your life. Are you a shingle that is out of line? Because of your sin are you causing the whole church to look less than pure? If you are, you need to repent and seek God, then forgiveness of your sin from God. In Revelation 3:19 the church of Laodicea was told to repent of their lukewarmness which was being addressed and yes, lukewarmness was, and is, a sin. We, today, need to repent and seek forgiveness from God from any sin that causes the church to not be unified.

Pastor's Pondering It is that time of year that many people get a cold or allergies are flaring up. One of the first things you reach for is a Kleenex. It is a powerful little piece of tissue that receives the little buggers we put in them. Not really the most enticing thing to think about but true nonetheless. We blow our nose and fill up the Kleenex and grab another and do it again and again. (Why is it we have to look inside it after blowing our nose?) Never figured that one out! Anyway, we have boxes of them all over the house or office so that we can blow out the unwanted from our sinus and nose. This got me to pondering the sin that plagues our lives. God refers to our righteousness as filthy rags, we are unclean things, in Isaiah 64:6. Even the things that we think are good in our lives do not come close to measuring up to God’s righteousness. We are not pleasing to the nostrils of God because of our sin. He will one day blow his nose of all those who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ. To be discarded into eternal trash can of death like a Kleenex we throw away to be discarded never to be seen again. It does not have to happen like this. God has given you a way out of your sin. In Colossians 3:5 “5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.” The apostle Paul is stating earlier in this chapter if we are alive in Christ, we will do as verse five says. We will put to death our sinful nature. We will rely and call upon the Holy Spirit to guide our day and keep us from sinning. Problem is, we tend to act like we want to keep the Kleenex around and call it back into our life. That is why sin keeps resurfacing in our lives. We do not die to it. Jesus died so we could live like we are in heaven according to Colossians chapter three. This means discarding the Kleenex of sin and never returning to it. This is called repentance. God’s word specifically says we have to repent from our sin. Luke 13:3 “3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well!” Picking up the Kleenex is not repenting! Let me encourage you to leave the Kleenex in the trash where it belongs, in the same respect leave your sin covered by the blood of Christ where it belongs and that is dead to you.

TeamKids coming to FBC Sept. 6th from 6-7:3-pm. A Bible focused time for Kindergartners through 5th grade. Register your child when you drop him/her off upstairs. They may be picked up downstairs at 7:30pm. A great time will be had while competing, memorizing, being taught and worship. Go TeamKIDS!

Pastor’s Pondering As I was writing some notes the other day my ink in my pen started to fade. I shook the pen in hopes of getting just a little more ink out of it. I tried this unsuccessfully a few times still not willing to give up on this pen I stood it up with the ball pointing down. Still no ink would come out of the pen. It was a really nice pen, it had been there by me for ten months, always ready to dispense ink upon contact with the paper. It had a extremely smooth glide to it. During its time as my pen it fulfilled its mission to write. It still looks good on the outside with its bright shiny grayish silver color, with the pocket clip still attached but the inside is empty, void of the essential ink to make it worthy of being called an inkpen. As I sat and pondered the pen, I realized it was really a metaphor of most people’s Christian walk. When one makes a profession of their Faith in Christ they are full of the Spirit and want the world to know of their Savior. This should not wane but all too often we see it over and over again when a person starts to lose the desire that they were once filled with. What causes this? It is caused at times by other ‘professing believers’ acting like fire extinguishers, with their words of discouragement. It comes in many ways, “oh you will get over being so excited”, “you need to pipe down people are going to think you are a Jesus freak”..., I have said many times it would be best if ‘New Believers’ were not allowed around other believers for at least six months so they don’t get their fire watered down. This is why we start losing the ink in the pen so to speak, our desire is beginning to fade. It is not that you have lost your salvation but you need a refreshing of the Spirit. Unlike the pen that has to have a total replacement in order to do the job, the believer needs a refreshing of the Spirit that lives within them. He has never left but the believer has allowed the things of the world to water down the Spirit’s effectiveness in their life. How is the ink (Holy Spirit) in your life? Has it been fading? Do you need a refreshing of the Spirit? If so, let me encourage you to stop what you are doing at this very moment and ask God for a refreshing of the Spirit that lives within you.

Pastor Pondering If you have any age on you at all you should remember the game tug-of-war. You had two teams holding their respective side of the rope and their hope is to drag the other team across a mudpit or line on the ground. If teams are evenly matched this game goes back and forth for some time. Eventually, one team will have one final pull and win the game. As I thought about this game I started pondering our lives and the constant tug-of-war that goes on between worldliness and Godliness. I can’t speak on behalf of anyone else but it seems I hit times in my life that I am “super-spiritual”, then gradually get pulled by the other side of the rope of worldliness and it starts making headway. It is an ongoing battle between good and evil, actually. Evil is characterized by the devil and good by God obviously. This onslaught of back and forths begins to take its toll on the mental and physical being. The good news is that God gave us a way to cope. I know it has been said over and over again to study the Word but that is the key. I remember speaking with a pastor who had fallen into deep sin and asked him why he thought he did what he did? His response has stuck with me for many years now. He said that he had stopped studying his Bible and praying and that was the reason for his falling into worldliness. It was a constant tug of war for him as a pastor juggling the role of a pastor, husband and father. He never blamed his wife, children or his church, he blamed his lack of being in the Word and prayer. This is where every believer has to be on guard of the tug-of-war that is going on in their lives. It is easy to get distracted by the world and fall into the snares of the devil. His greatest defense against the Gospel is for a believer to stumble and leave a black eye on themselves or the church. The Psalmist in chapter 119 states in verses 9-11 “ 9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word. 10 I have sought You with all my heart; don’t let me wander from Your commands.11 I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.” If you want to win the tug-of-war against the world take heed of what is said here in God’s word. Be encouraged to know that the ultimate tug-of-war was won when Jesus rose from the grave and opened the door to Grace.

BackYard Bible club... at a park near you! (Hillcrest, Sanders, and Riverside parks) from 9a-12p this week only (through Thursday). Children (ages 5 through 5th grade) are invied to join a great team to learn about God and how much he loves us through exciting Bible lessons, fun games,crafts and music. We can transport your child(ren) home when its through each day (just specify your need when you register them in person at the park you wish to attend). Hope to see you and your children soon! For questions, call 307-347-4442.

Going on right now...BackYard Bible club... at a park near you! (Hillcrest, Sanders, and Riverside parks) from 9a-12p this week only (Mon-Thurs). Children (ages 5 through 5th grade) are invied to join a great team to learn about God and how much he loves us through exciting Bible lessons, fun games,crafts and music. We can transport your child(ren) home when its through each day (just specify your need when you register them in person at the park you wish to attend). Hope to see you and your children soon! For questions, call 307-347-4442.

Church, on the heels of my pondering don't forget that the Mission Team from Missouri will be here on Saturday and we do have some areas you can serve, serve serve!. Call the church for details. 307-347-4442

Pastor’s Pondering I was feeling kinda lethargic the other day and had to make a trip to another town, so I connected my phone to the car audio and clicked on my Pandora. I had only went a few miles when a song had a lyric that brought to mind this ponder. I don’t even remember the lyric, but it made me think of living for Jesus. We as believers will be quick to tell others that we are anticipating going to heaven. This means we are looking forward to living in the presence of the Almighty all the time where our thoughts will be continually on Him. We will be in perpetual praise of the Creator. So, why is it, that, we say we want to go to heaven and live with and for Jesus but here on earth we do not do so. Isn’t that hypocritical? I realize we are sinners saved by Grace but we seem to become lethargic in our commitment to Him; “Well I am saved so I can sit back and relax.” No, this is not what God intended! If this was His intention, He would just zap us out of this world upon placing our Faith in Jesus. God has more for us to do after salvation. We are to be ambassadors for Christ, since our home is no longer this world but instead our home is heaven. Jesus gave an explicit command in Matthew 28:19-20 that obligates a believer to be obedient to Him. (Matthew 28:19-20 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”) We are to make disciples. This is done by being an effective witness in all aspects of our lives. We cannot be lethargic in our devotion to this command or any other for that matter when it is given by God. If we are serious about living for Jesus it should be all the time, 24 hours a day. A quote from A.W. Tozer, “If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him one day a week. There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship, Tuesday worship and so on.” The apostle Paul says in the book of Colossians that we are to live as though we are already in heaven. (Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.”) So take your ambassadorship seriously and work like there is no tomorrow and give God what he deserves out of you as a child of the King. Quit being lethargic in your devotion to Him and serve, serve, serve!

Pastor’s Pondering In the Andy Griffith show, many times Barney locked himself in the jail cell. He was confined until someone could let him out. He would stand with one of his iconic facial expressions peering out from the solid metal bars. When someone is incarcerated they are in bondage to the keeper of the cell. They are limited in what they can do. They may be let out of the cell to exercise, eat, or have a visitor but they are still in prison. Unable to get out until their time has been paid to society. This got me to pondering the situation of someone who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They are prisoners to Satan, trapped behind the doors of sin and it looks like there is no hope for them to get out. They have tried all the world has to offer thinking it would give them freedom from the prison they are in. Money, drugs, alcohol, sex, power, prestige… the list goes on and on but hope is not found in the things that are not of God. Nothing can unlock the doors of the apparent prison they are in. Many continue to try but seem to be doomed for eternity in this prison. By God’s sovereignty someone stops to talk to them about a God that loves them so much that they feel drawn by an unknown urging to listen and respond to the Jesus they have just been told about. The doors of prison are opened and they, for the first time, see the light of eternity. They have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and he is the answer they were looking for all along. But why was it no one had shared with them earlier in life? That is the sad reality of many so-called believers, we are not good at sharing with those who need to hear. We have forgotten what it was like to be in the same prison this person was in. What we need is a reality check! A spiritual kick in the seat to bring back the realization that we were once there and if it had not been for someone sharing with us when the Holy Spirit prompted them to, we might still be in the prison of sin. We need to remember that we were set free from the burden of sin by God’s grace. Will you stop and look at your Christian daily walk? Do you tell others your personal testimony of how by God’s grace you are saved? It is a command for us to evangelize, you may not have the gift of evangelism but you and I have the command from the Lord Jesus Christ to tell others about our Faith in Him!