Gardens And God. Reap What You Sow May 5th 2013

Good Morning. God Bless Your Day.

Starting this Sunday with some prayer and a hot cup of Door County Blueberry Cobbler Coffee.

 

This past week warmed up a little in Wisconsin and a friend of ours came over and turned over our garden and it is ready to be planted. I really like fresh vegetables from our garden. Truth be known I especially like tomatoes. I like to take the tomatoes and make fresh spicy salsa and freeze plenty to carry us through the winter. One of the other things we like to do is to share some of the blessings from our garden with others. So today might just find me planting some lettuce and onions.

Here is what I have learned about gardening. When I plant a lettuce seed, lettuce comes up. When I plant a tomato seed I get tomatoes. Same thing with squash. Life is like that too. If you perform evil you get evil in return. If you send love and goodness you get love and goodness in return. If you deal with anger you get angry and anger in return. Our Pastor refers to this as the law of the harvest.

Galatians 6:7-10
⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

So today what will you plant in your heart or in the hearts of others?

Have a wonderful day. Plant good things!

Marty

Sporting Clays and Fun May 4th 2013

Good Morning Dear Friends,

Saturday at last. This morning I will be drinking some Door County Peanut Butter Crunch Coffee and heading out!

Today our church and three others will be competing for fun and charity in a sporting clays shoot off.

Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting, often described as "golf with a shotgun" because a typical course includes from 10 to 15 different shooting stations laid out over natural terrain. For safety, the course size is often no smaller than 35 acres (140,000 m²).
Unlike trap and skeet, which are games of repeatable target presentations, sporting clays simulates the unpredictability of live-quarry shooting, offering a great variety of trajectories, angles, speeds, elevations, distances, and target sizes.

The money raised will be going to a charity that all four churches have agreed upon. Although we will be competing against each other for a traveling trophy that will be displayed in the winning church for a year, the prize for all of us is not the trophy.

The prize is that as churches of different sizes we are of one accord. We believe that there is only one name under heaven that one can call on for salvation. And that name is Jesus.
We all believe that Christian fellowship is good.
We all believe that God desires churches to be charitable.

Oh we will talk some smack to each other and kid around too. Some of the better shooters will help teach the fellas that might still be learning. We will eat some lunch and start talking about hunting, fishing, dogs, God and our next event.

My point is this. We will be doing just what God intended churches to do. Just what Christian men should do. And you know what? We will have fun being of one accord! It is the manly thing to do!

Philippians 2:2

New King James Version (NKJV)

² fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

God bless,
Marty

On Solid Rock I Stand! May 3rd 2013

Good Morning,

Today my coffee that fills the cup to the rim is Door County German Chocolate Cake.

Back in 2011 I experienced my own Titanic! No loss of life and not a huge ship. But my duck hunting partner and I sank my small duck boat. We had to be rescued. It was quite an ordeal. The muck of the river was not allowing us free as we left the boat. At one time I felt that if I sank into the mud anymore I would be lost.

We will never forget this experience.
That following Saturday at our church service the quartet sang an old Hymn. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand. (Somewhat humorous) If you are reading this and it applies to you or you know someone else that it might apply to send it their way. Many people rely on being good to get to heaven. That idea is sinking sand. There is only one way.

John 14:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
We did not know what was under the water. We were not on sold ground for quite awhile. When we made it to shore we were relieved to be standing on solid ground. Jesus is the way to solid ground. He is the only way to make it safely home. Don't rely on yourself. Take Him in. He is the life vest. Like ours did in the water. Jesus desires to save you.

God bless,
Marty

Love is. May 2nd 2013

Good Morning.
Today my Coffee is Door County Cherry Creme. My old standby fills my cup once again.

What is love? I say pretty often that "I love lasagna". I truly do enjoy a big piece of lasagna. But can I apply the term love to it? Not really. God has given us that word and we seem to cheapen it from it's intended meaning.  Let's look at what love is, what it does, and what it does not do.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
Now after reading this. Can I really love lasagna or should I reserve that term for God, family and friends?

You make the call.
Marty

Dogs and Saturday May 1st 2013

Good Morning,
Starting today with some Door County Heavenly Caramel Coffee.
This past Saturday was a beautiful spring day in Wisconsin. I had to work for a few hours at my secular job.
When I came home I wanted to spend some time outside with the dogs. I have on very old Springer Spaniel and one just a year old. They both love to be outside. While I was sitting at the picnic table working on a sermon for the evening service both dogs seemed on edge. They could smell something that I could not. I noticed the younger one backed away from the tree fence we have. He came and sat by Fritz the older Spaniel. He seemed to be looking for protection. Fritz is a long way from protecting anyone anymore. So I thought.

Within about 20 seconds a huge dog appeared. It looked sick and crazed. It started to come for me. At first I wanted to see if I could help it. But the look and the snarl was more than I thought I could handle. My instinct was to protect my dogs knowing that neither one was a match for this one. But their instincts kicked in and they sensed that this was a danger to me. Both stood up and started barking and growling at the other dog from two different sides. Convinced that two growling dogs might just be more than he wanted, the other dog took off. I still think that my two would have lost if push came to shove. But what I saw was a willingness to sacrifice to protect me from evil.

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because^[ your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

I am challenging parents today to sacrifice personal time to spend more with your kids. There is a world out there that seeks to devour our kids and entice them with the wrong things. This is a day when we are being told that "we need to take care of number one". Buy the kids and electronic game and that will occupy them. Vacation without the kids. You need time for yourself.  If my dogs thought that way one may have been hurt pretty bad or I might have been attacked.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

There is evil out there. Let's be honest about it. And our kids need to be protected from it. Are you willing to sacrifice some "me time" to make sure that your kids are protected?
Spend time with your kids. Take them to church. Love them and teach them about God. Serve with them. Enjoy them! Do this so you don't lose one. A young kid alone is know match for this world. My dogs did not care about the size of the problem. To them I was more important than anything. How about it? How important are your kids? Grand kids, Nieces and Nephews?

God bless,
Marty

God the Painter 4/30/2013

Dear Friends,
Good Morning. My day started with a hot cup of Door County Blueberry Cobbler Coffee.

Today I want to share with you a picture from a recent vacation. My wife and I were blessed to be on a beach last December. We took this photo of the sunset.

 

I am reminded that every time I am blessed to see things like this God knows exactly where I am. The Bible tells us that God knows everything about us and knows exactly where each of us is all the time. So then our Great God takes time to paint the landscape we see. What a marvel. And He does this for each and everyone of us.

Psalm 139

New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall^[a] on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

 

God does paint the landscape before us. We have a few paintings in our home and they are beautiful. We had to pay for them. But none compare to what God has allowed us to see. And He does it each day for no charge. Appreciate what you see and thank God that you have seen it.

 

God bless,

Marty

Going My Way 4/29/2013

Good Morning.
Where did the weekend go? I am starting my Monday (very early) and I have a travel cup filled with Door County Coconut Crush Coffee.

I have used the expression a few times in my life. "Going My Way"?. Sometimes it is just an attempt at starting a conversation with someone. Many people you meet each day are actually headed in the same direction as you. We usually exchange pleasantries with others. ( If not, you should). Good morning, how are you? Most responses are "fine, yourself"? Do we really mean what we say? What if someone stopped and said "I am terrible and I found out yesterday that I have three months to live. Would we stop and spend more time with that person? Would we add them to our prayer list? Would we go out of our way to make them a meal and take care of them?

We are all very busy and we usually use that as an excuse. Jesus was busy and tired too but He took time to have compassion every chance He had.

Mark 6:34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

I know I fall short in this area and, instead of constantly looking to show love, I often will give in to a love of self instead of a love for others. Maybe you too can identify with that thought. We try to show compassion like Jesus did but it doesn’t always come easy.

So to be compassionate one needs to practice compassion. I believe Webster has it wrong in the dictionary. Compassion should be a verb not a noun.

God bless,
Marty