Imagebearer’s Weblog

This Day In The Life Of Your Pastor – February 17th, 2010

1. 15 to 19 years old and need an awesome place to experience God? Come to Out of the Box, everyone is welcome and wanted http://myloc.me/3VOgn about 15 hours ago from UberTwitter

2. had an awesome worship service @ Out Of The Box. the youth were mininsters. They did the worship music, served communion, did scripture txt about 15 hours ago from UberTwitter

3. Mike, Caitlin, and the kids are with us for the night, seems like Christmas http://myloc.me/3VNLt about 15 hours ago from UberTwitter

4. RT @RevMSlaughter: Neither Democratic nor Repub. Party speaks 4 Jesus & his kingdom; we must stand n prophetic tension w/ worlds ideologies. about 17 hours ago from UberTwitter

5. 42 youth involved in Ash Wednesday Service @ Out of the Box tonight, awesome http://myloc.me/3VrBR about 19 hours ago from UberTwitter

6. headed to OOTB for the evening, worship, communion, worship about 22 hours ago from web

7. I just learned how to create PDF Files, I know that is nothing big for a lot of you. about 22 hours ago from web

8. just spent some great fellowship time with Tommy Graham about 24 hours ago from web

9. 40 Day Devo for Preparation in 50 Golden Days of Evangelism (Corrected Version) « Imagebearer’s Weblog: http://bit.ly/dkHiY7 via @addthis 11:08 AM Feb 17th from web

10. ApoloOhno

    “Nothing happens until something moves.” & another a friend sent 2 me: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” 10:21 AM Feb 17th from TweetDeck Retweeted by you and 100+ others

    • Retweeted (Undo)
11. Team Impact – Coming April 14-18, 2010 Hillsville UMC Held @ VFW Community Event « Imagebearer’s Weblog: http://bit.ly/aWnYJF via @addthis 10:21 AM Feb 17th from web

12. We have 10 people in “Experiencing God” Bible Study @ Out Of The Box, it is exciting to see people hungry for God! 10:07 AM Feb 17th from web

13. We had 8 @ Carroll County Ministerial Association this morning, God is moving through this group, doing new things, excited about Holy week 10:06 AM Feb 17th from web

14. Are you a nurse, member of 1st UMC Hillsville, want to be in ministry as a parish nurse volunteer, contact me. http://myloc.me/3UIXV 6:58 AM Feb 17th from UberTwitter

15. Headed to Carroll County Ministerial Association Meeting @ Shoney’s 5:56 AM Feb 17th from web

16. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21 5:55 AM Feb 17th from web

17. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1: 10b 5:51 AM Feb 17th from web

18. Every time you open the scripture, you are face to face with the Father http://myloc.me/3UtE6 4:58 AM Feb 17th from UberTwitter

February 18, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Ash Wednesday Service @ Out of the Box

We are blessed to have an awesome group of Youth who helped to carry out the Ash Wednesday Service last night. Several of our youth played and provided music for the service. Others read scripture and helped to serve communion. There were 43 in attendance, not too shabby for a cold night, schools were closed, and the roads were drifting pretty bad with snow. God is Awesome and we are blessed.

Ronnie

Joel 2: 1-2 (NLT)

Sound the alarm in Jerusalem!
Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain!
Let everyone tremble in fear
because the day of the Lord is upon us.
² It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
a great and mighty army appears.
Nothing like it has been seen before
or will ever be seen again.

Joel 2: 12-17 (NLT)

¹² That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
¹³ Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
¹⁴ Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
to the Lord your God as before.

¹⁵ Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
for a solemn meeting.
¹⁶ Gather all the people—
the elders, the children, and even the babies.
Call the bridegroom from his quarters
and the bride from her private room.
¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:10

²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

¹ As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. ² For God says,

“At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

Paul’s Hardships

³ We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. ⁴ In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. ⁵ We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. ⁶ We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. ⁷ We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. ⁸ We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. ⁹ We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. ¹⁰ Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

Matthew 6: 1-6

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6: 16-21

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. ¹⁷ But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

February 18, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Holston Evangelism Conference Schedule – February 19 & 20, 2010

Evangelism Conference

Friday, February 19

2:00                      Mission element

5:00 – 7:00      Registration (dinner on your own)

7:00                      Session I – Rudy Rasmus

Saturday, February 20

8:30                     Registration

9:00                    Session II with Rudy

10:15                   Break

10:30                 Session III with Bob Pierson

12:00                 Lunch (on-site for all who preregistered)

12:45                  Session IV with Bob Pierson

1:45                     Closing worship with Bishop James Swanson

3:00                   End

February 18, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Waiting for surgery

Samuel went in for Tubes in the ears this morning. It is always a hard thing to watch your child be carried away and there is nothing you can do to make sure things go well. It is all in God’s hands. He did great and we are back home. He is already playing and eating again.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Ronnie

February 18, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Day 49-90 Days to read the New Testament (TNIV)

Galatians 3

Faith or Observance of the Law

¹ You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? ⁴ Have you experienced ^[a] so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by your observing the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ^[b]

⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ^{[c] 9} So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

¹⁰ All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ^{[d] 11} Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “the righteous will live by faith.” ^{[e] 12} The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “Whoever does these things will live by them.” ^{[f] 13} Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” ^{[g] 14} He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

The Law and the Promise

¹⁵ Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” ^[h] meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷ What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

¹⁹ What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. ²⁰ A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ²² But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Children of God

²³ Before the coming of this faith, ^[i] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. ²⁴ So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 4

¹ What I am saying is that as long as heirs are underage they are no different from slaves, although they own the whole estate. ² They are subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by their fathers. ³ So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces ^[j] of the world. ⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ^{[k] 6} Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, ^[l] Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer slaves, but God’s children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs.

Paul’s Concern for the Galatians

⁸ Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces ^[m]? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? ¹⁰ You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹ I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

¹² I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. ¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. ¹⁴ Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. ¹⁵ What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

¹⁷ Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. ¹⁸ It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. ¹⁹ My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, ²⁰ how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Hagar and Sarah

²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. ²³ His son by the slave woman was born as the result of human effort, ^[n] but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise.

²⁴ I am taking these things figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written:
“Be glad, barren woman,
you who never bore a child;
shout for joy and cry aloud,
you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband.” ^[o]

²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born by human effort persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” ^{[p] 31} Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

February 18, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment