June 2005

Hello All,

1I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, 2so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple.
3You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food--catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. 4They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. 5But you--keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 The Message)

In this passage from Paul’s second letter to Timothy he is telling his young friend to keep at it and to not get discouraged by those that are going with the latest fads. Several years ago when I was in the Boy Scouts, they always told us to remember KISMIF when doing something. Paul told Timothy the same thing, just in different words. KISMIF = Keep it simple, make it fun. I like how this translation calls fads “spiritual junk food.” Too often we do eat too junk food, whether it is a cupcake, cookies, or candy. And when we eat too much of it, we get sick. The same goes for the “spiritual junk food.” When we get too much of it, we become spiritually sick. We need God to heal us. This is why it is so important that we read from the Bible everyday, it is our nourishment. I think it is best said in a piece from the May Hus Happenings:
“I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this… They all nourished me and gave me strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today.”

It is important that we live the way that God intends us to live. He even sent a role model for us. Now I do not mean Michael Jordan, LeBron James, or Tiger Woods. God sent Jesus as our role model. Jesus lived his life without sin and with a lot of “spiritual food.”

I try every day to live like Jesus did. And everyday I fall short of that goal. Sometimes I do not even realize that I did something wrong. For example, this past Sunday we went to our niece Ashley’s confirmation. Before I even walked in to the church I had already developed an opinion that I would not get anything out of the service. At the end of the service I decided that I was right. It was not until many hours later that I realized that I was wrong! When we first got to the church there was a lot of activity going on. People from the congregation we setting things up for the service. The ushers and door greeters were genuinely glad that we were there. The confirmands were having their pictures taken. And the youth band was setting up. Once the service started I thought this was going to be a long one, especially since they were confirming so many kids. 30 minutes later the service was over. I thought, “Wow, what a short, quick service.” I looked at Diane to see how long we had to get to the restaurant for the family get together. That is when she told me that it had been a 90-minute service. The pastor and congregation served a wonder meal of “spiritual food” that day. And the best part … it was free, just like the gift that God gave us in His Son Jesus. Praise God!


Because of Him,
Terry and Diane

Fill us up Lord
Lord, fill us up. We thank you for giving us Jesus, the ultimate role model. Thank you for the church and more specifically our congregation at Hus Church. It is the fellowship with others at Hus that helps to provide us with the “spiritual food” that we need to sustain us. We know that for some of the people that we meet that we will be the only Bible that they may ever come in contact with. Give us the guidance, the strength, and the power to live as Jesus did. Help us to be role models to everyone we meet. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.

10I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. (1 Corinthians 1:10 The Message)