MIDWEEK MESSAGE 4<\/p>\n
Well…Easter weekend has come and gone. Resurrection Sunday has come and gone.
\nOr has it? Of course, in one way it has. The calendar tells us it has. April 13
\nfollows April 12 by every calendar known to man, so yes, it has come and gone. But
\nthe truth of the Resurrection has not. For the Christ-follower, the truth of the
\nresurrection is a reality that filters (or at least should) into every aspect of our
\nlives. According to Paul in I Corinthians 15 death has been swallowed up into victory
\nand neither death nor the grave has any sting. What a wonderful truth!
\nEvery Monday Diana, Ryan and I meet for staff meeting. Some days we have tons
\nto discuss. Others Ryan and Diana bring videos for us to watch and laugh at. (Never
\nme you understand. I have to be the \u201cmature\u201d one of the group). \ud83d\ude42 This past
\nMonday, as we did the week before, we spent some time evaluating our online
\nservice via FB. Diana has chosen to stay home on Sundays and since she is an
\n\u201coutsider\u201d now (I\u2019m trying to think who gave her that nickname), she affords us a
\nunique view we would not normally have. We spent over an hour talking through
\nyesterday\u2019s online offering. You can help us out. She will be posting a 3 question
\nsurvey that will take you about 1 minute to answer. We need your honest answers.
\nThanks. Just make sure you give me a 10. (Remember I know where you live!) \ud83d\ude42
\nActually, that won\u2019t be part of the questionnaire.
\nI read a story this week: A lumberjack was preparing to cut down several trees in a
\nmountain forest. As he began, he noticed a beautiful bird building its nest atop one of the trees.
\nNot wanting to harm the bird or its young, the lumberjack took a mallet and pounded on the tree
\nuntil the bird (quite annoyed) flew to another tree and began to build its nest there.
\nThe lumberjack did the same thing with the second tree. The bird and the lumberjack repeated
\nthis dance a half-dozen more times, until the bird abandoned the forest altogether and built its
\nnest on the side of the rock face.
\nI imagine the bird never understood why the lumberjack was pursuing it,
\nsystematically attacking its shelters in the trees. But his motive, of course, was
\ncompassion. He knew every tree in the forest was about to come down. He wanted
\nthe bird to build its nest in a place where his axes couldn\u2019t touch it.
\nI bet there are many people who feel like that bird right now. Our whole world is
\nbeing shaken, rattled and rolled and we just aren\u2019t sure where to \u201clight.\u201d Things we
\nhave taken for granted have been either taken away or shaken really well. Things
\nwe have clung to have crumbled in our hands.<\/p>\n
What if God, in love, was attacking foundations that will crumble anyway? Didn\u2019t
\nJesus talk about that in Matthew 7:24-27? (I\u2019ll let you read it). That\u2019s why it is so
\nimportant to have a firm foundation, to be standing on the ROCK. I\u2019m no prophet. I
\nhave no clue when this will end. I DO KNOW THIS though: God is with me in the
\nstorm and will not abandon me. He has not before and will not now.
\nLast week I gave a shout out to Terrie about his extra mile for his students. This
\nweek I want to be a little prejudiced and talk about what Jo did for her pre-school
\nstudents. She put together Easter bags-candy, juice packets, a He is Risen craft,
\nchalk and a book of the Easter story for young beginners (to be read by their
\nparents or sibling). Friday afternoon we delivered them by leaving them on door
\nhandles and porches. She also included goodies for any siblings they may have had.
\nWe had a blast doing it and getting out. I drove 85 miles but it was so good to see
\npictures of smiling faces. Way to go Jo! Do you know someone who is going out of
\ntheir way during these challenging times? Let me know. I\u2019d love to give them a
\nshout out.
\nYou know…no matter how short I try to make these I just can\u2019t. I think I have
\nsomeone using a cattle prod making me go longer. \ud83d\ude42 I think you know by now that is
\njust me. I miss seeing you all and look forward to the Sunday when we can meet and
\ncelebrate together again….whenever that may be. Love you all.
\nBill
\nRomans 8:38-39. Paul said that about God. I agree. Stand with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIDWEEK MESSAGE 4 Well…Easter weekend has come and gone. Resurrection Sunday has come and gone. Or has it? Of course, in one way it has. The calendar tells us it has. April 13 follows April 12 by every calendar known to man, so yes, it has come and gone. But the truth of the Resurrection … <\/p>\n