Who Is A Total Loser 2/7/2016

Good Morning,

I believe Tuesday will lead to Wednesday and then we are half way to Saturday. My coffee this morning is Door County Heavenly Caramel.

I heard someone this week say that they felt like a total loser. I asked this person why he felt that way. He is in his mid forties and replied quickly "I have nothing to show for my forty years".

I took stock of what he has.  Beautiful kids. 1 beautiful wife, a house, a car and a job. Now for sure this fella would like a newer and bigger home, a big truck, and aging to stop. But he has lost focus. All this could be taken from him in a moment. His focus is on Earthly things not on what is important. The things of Earth have clouded his ability to see the blessings that many folks wish they had, and he possesses.

When we talk like this we are practicing self hatred. We must not allow ourselves or our fellows in Christ to be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2 Corinthians 2:7). We must quickly forgive ourselves and restore other repentant sinners. Having repented, we must trust God, who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We must hate sin, but not hate ourselves, for we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. To continue in a state of self-hatred after we have received the grace God offers us does not honor God and demonstrates a failure to understand the nature and value of the salvation Jesus purchased for us with His blood (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Satan works hard to discourage us and take us down paths we have no business going. He lies and tells us that we are losers in life. And that we should travel a different path.

John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

You are not a loser. God made you, one of a kind. You have a Designer label.

Have a great day

Marty

Searching For The Truth? Here's The Truth 2/6/2017

Good Morning,

My Monday snuck up on me. The weekend was very busy and I would have to say very nice. I just filled my Mug with Door County Cheery Crème Coffee and now it is time to write. 

People keep asking what they can do to make the world a better place? The want governments to do better, police to be kind, votes to always go their way. They are searching day and night for the answers. How do we raise our kids? How can our marriage survive? I will be posting one short message today. Without starting at the beginning and with the basics, the world finding the answers for life is like trying to come in from Lake Michigan in the dark. I have posted the basics. They should be posted on every cabinet or refrigerator world wide. They are the light we can follow for God's directions to the world. Our world is in a storm.

This tablet speaks for itself. It's the way to start every day world wide!

God bless,

Marty

Burgers, Old Friends And Public Prayer 2/5/2017

Good Morning,

The sun is coming up this morning and is casting a glow upon the back yard that I haven't seen in awhile. Our dog Gibbs is running from tree to tree looking for another rabbit to chase. My Door County Dublin's Delight Coffee is steaming for now. I don't think I will last too long sitting out here to write. My Sunday mornings are always special to me.

Last night after church service Rene and I went with our two Dear Friends for a burger and fellowship. We went to a local emporium to dine and it was what we called "Our kind of place and a cardiologists nightmare" simple menu, but good. We ordered our food and waited. During that time, we did like we always do and we covered every subject from food to politics. Our food came and we all bowed our heads to give thanks to the Lord. The prayer was short, from the heart and meaningful. It was over in thirty seconds. It was what I thought, appropriate and discreet.

The evening went on and a one hour meal turned into two hours of laughter and nonsense, just like old friends will do. We had a grand time. Before leaving my bladder kicked in and I had to use the restroom. I was washing my hands when another fella entered the room and struck up a conversation. He asked "Aren't you the guy who was praying with those other three at your table? Were you worried about bad food?" I replied "no we were giving thanks for the food and for being able to gather with our dear friends". He said, " We thought it was funny, we have never seen people do that in public before. That just seems odd to us". I said to him, "did we offend you ?" His reply was not what I expected. " No not at all, it we thought it was odd but very nice. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we prayed before meals. I thought that tradition had died out" I thanked him and went back to our table.

We all went home and I was thinking about my restroom encounter. First of all most men do not converse with strangers in the restroom. it's a guy thing. Secondly my thoughts turned to the millions of Christians in the world and how this guy never saw some praying before a meal in public just amazed me. My amazement wasn't derived from the fact that this guy only ever went out to eat this one time in his life, because it just seemed impossible for that to be the case. From his statement one could assume that he and his friends have been out in public dining areas before. What amazed me is this. Christians also go out to eat and there are plenty of Christians to go around. As I was driving home I started to think about the last few times we have been out and how many people I saw giving thanks besides us and the number was a fat zero.  My feeble mind deducted that maybe most people pray in their cars before walking in????  I also concluded that my thought on that one was at best "lame". This actually kept me awake last night and I asked myself a few more questions to make sure I was not ready for the emporium for the insane. 1. Aren't we supposed to give thanks? The answer was yes. 2. Aren't Christians to be people of prayer? Another fat yes. Did Jesus teach us to pray? Had to answer a yes with that one too.

Deuteronomy 8:10 urges us to remember God as the provider for our food and well-being: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.” The broader context of this passage refers to the Jews settling into the promised land over time, so this likely refers to an attitude of regular, community-wide thanksgiving, not necessarily the meal-by-meal prayer of an individual. Nonetheless, many Jews pray before and after meals because of this command. The early church continued the practice of giving thanks. It could be that many prefer the New Testament thought that all prayer should be in private.

Matthew 6:5-6New International Version (NIV)
⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


Jesus gave thanks and prayed over food in public. Matthew 14:13-21New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children 
I concluded that there must be a lot of  Christians out there who do not show thanks and pray before dinner in public. I think it is safe to say that for some it might not  happen at home either. There is this big push to put prayer back in the public schools. I am all for that, but I think it should start at home and in our daily walk first. Oh I bet we Christians would squawk if our right to prayer was taken away. Or would we?  I just haven't seen that many people lately enjoying giving thanks for friends and the food set before them in public.  This has been a long standing debate with some and with all debates there can be one or more views. But If we are to show our love for God to others why would a man be amazed at prayer in public? It is a fine line between sincerity and hypocrisy, or legalism and spirit filled. But eyes are upon Christians and I guess in some instances we just aren't seen anymore.

Christians, where are you?

Marty

Life Is Not Fair??? 2/4/2017

Good Morning,

The older I get the more I appreciate a slow moving Saturday. A little extra time to wake up and drink a cup of Door County White Christmas Coffee. No cream for me in my coffee. The cream bottles were left behind when I was twelve years old. Two eggs will be fried and some orange juice will be poured. Slow moving!

From very young on we hear children squawk about something that happened to them with these words "That's not fair". My Dad's reply to that was always "Get over it, like is not fair". I have told people that same thing. "Life is not fair". Earlier this morning I pondered that subject while I was in prayer.

I decided through the leading of the Holy Spirit to come to this conclusion. Life is fair. Now some of you just tuned me out by thinking "has he walked in my shoes?" No I haven't, and you haven't worn mine. But let's look at this closer.

1, We were all created by God and He has ordained each of our days. Pain, hurt and sorrow are all experienced at one time or another by everyone. Agreed that some have had more than others. But If God is in charge, what we were allowed to experience is in His control. To be fair, we all are just passing through this life to what lays beyond, each of us at a different time. Each of us was given a life and it was fashioned for us. some will die young and some will be older.

Job 14:5
A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Psalm139:16
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Hebrews 13:14
For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

2. Life after death goes on and we all get to choose where we spend eternity. We will al spend eternity in heaven or hell by our own choice. Eternity begins for everyone at death. For some it comes sooner than others by God's choice. But we all have the choice to walk the streets of gold, cry no more, hurt no more, and fear no more. We all forget that there is life beyond and it can be beautiful for all. We all get to choose how it goes for us.

John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Matthew 25:26
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

So as I pondered this, my conclusion is that God is in control and each life is different. But it is the life fashioned for us and each life leads to an eternal home. Our faith in Him is what counts. We are all just passing through to our choice of eternal homes. The two choices are the same for everyone.

Make the right choice today.

Marty

Winter Camp Theme 2/3/2017

Good Morning,

Friday was seen in my glasses today. I hope it slows down for me so I can catch it. I will be starting my day with a hold over from December. My mug will be filled with Door County Christmas Coffee and made extra strong.

Colossians 2:6-7New International Version (NIV)
⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness

When I was still doing youth work at church it was customary for us to take the teens to "Winter Camp" . The camp was offered to high school students through their church youth groups. The location was in the Northern Woods of Dunbar Wisconsin at a small Bible college. It was always a good time of Spiritual growth and bonding. There was so much to do inside and outside as well as the great gatherings of praise and worship. At night there was time carved out for a lesson to the teens and their leaders.

We would eat breakfast in the college cafeteria. On one of the walls you could see in very large print Colossians 2:6-7. For some reason those verses have stayed with me and when I hear them I always think about the winter camps at the college.

Most of all I am reminded that we are to live free from sin, strong in the Lord, strengthened in faith, and to be thankful for Jesus in our lives. There is a whole lot to behold in that short passage. It truly points you to what is important and what is not. I sort of envied those college students for being able to attend school there and be held to that theme. I thought about how nice it was for them to see Scripture stenciled in their dining hall and having to walk under it every day.

We can do the same thing though in the comfort of our homes. We can subscribe to reading a Bible verse each day before starting out. There are some web sites that will send you one daily on your computer or smart phone. We have the power to set our own atmosphere.

Now the thing to do would be to start the day by reading, praying and listening. So start your day. I gave you your first verse!

Marty

Warm Hands, Warm Heart 2/2/2017

Good Morning,

The temperature dropped again and my attire for the morning will show it. My mug will be filled with Door County Apple Cobbler Coffee. I packed a lunch today of salad and apples. I am looking forward to lunch already.

I really do enjoy the cold weather, but I don't enjoy being cold. I like to do whatever it takes to allow me time outside even in the coldest of weather. I always say a prayer of thanks for anything that gives me warmth during the winter, like my truck, hats, long underwear, scarf, sweaters, or my mittens. I do possess gloves, but I prefer lined leather mittens. My hands are somewhat crippled up from hard work, sports and arthritis. So if anything really bothers me in the cold weather it is usually my hands.

You have heard the expression "Warm hands' cold heart". For me it is different. When I am warm during cold weather it reminds me that I am blessed to be warm. I take time to be thankful. When I cover up at night with a blanket my mother made for us, I am reminded of the love that made the blanket. I thank God for giving us our mother. When I look at the old mittens of mine and feel my hands inside as warm as toast, I thank God for my wife who bought them for me as a gift. When I sit down to some warm applesauce I am grateful for the apples God gave us.

Warm hands here also means a warm heart. I can't help but feel warm in my heart when I take time to acknowledge God for blessing me through others and providing for me. In addition He never leaves me.

Psalm 139:17-18New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

The cure for a cold heart is to stop thinking about what you don't have and be thankful for what you do have. Being thankful and directing praise to God takes you to a place that gives you that reassurance of love, which warms a heart and melts the ice away.

So today, count your blessings and start your heart on fire. Can you count that high?

God bless,

Marty

Sunny Side Up 2/1/2017

Good Morning.

I started a small crock pot full of turkey soup last night and let it cook ever so slowly. Rene turned it off when she arose from bed at 3:00AM. The house smells awesome this morning. Nothing like the aroma of that turkey soup. My Door County Maple Coffee is brewing now and I soon will be filling my insulated bottle and then chase off to work.

I was blessed to have two grandmothers who both possessed the ability to cook. One could serve an Italian meal to die for. The other made her own specialty dishes, but the one my Dad and I always looked forward to when we arrived at Grandma's was some toast and fried eggs cooked in her cast iron skillet. I liked mine over easy and my Dad always had his sunny side up. He would mop up the egg yoke with his toast. Those are some memories that I will never forget. Both grandmothers had different talents and what was nice about visiting was that they both lived within 8 miles of each other. I knew before the weekend was done I would be dining on Italian food and some eggs that most restaurants would love to be able to make.

They both knew what we liked and they made sure that we would have it. What made the food best is that it was made and served with love. They both made sure that we felt special by making something we loved to eat. I was thinking about this last night and if it were possible to visit heaven for a day I would be there for breakfast and stay for dinner. I would go back home with egg yoke and pasta sauce on my shirt. I would never wash that shirt. I would ask them both to take me to see Jesus, the One who died for me. What a day that would be. I guess that will have to wait.

Both grandmothers made sure we felt special at their table. I think we could learn a lesson here. They had mastered the art of hospitality. We recently had a couple over for dinner. I was struggling with what I could make for them to eat. Rene suggested that I find out what some of their favorite things to eat would be. She thought that making their favorites would let them know that they are special to us.  She was right as usual. Both remarked how they loved German food and that it had been so long since they had eaten it. I heard the husband say "What a treat"!

Do we make those who enter our homes feel welcome? Do they see the love of Jesus in us while there. Do we cook a meal or create a fond memory? Do you go out of your way for guests?

Genesis 24:31          
And he said, "Come in, blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"

What does our treatment of our guests say about our relationship to Jesus?


Have a great day.

Marty