PEACE

 

In an age when peace is so elusive, it is our hope you will find encouragement from this sermon.  Listen as Pastor Rick talks about God's Peace With Us and God's Peace In Us. 

A Few Painters I Enjoy...

I love many of the paintings of artists Thomas Blackshear and Ron Dicianni:

The Greatest Is Love

Listen as Pastor Rick scratches the surface of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 by recapturing and sharing part of a great sermon from more than 135 years ago by Henry Drummond.  It is a passionate reminder to the church to keep the greatest commandment and pursue the greatest virtue: that of agape love.

Footprints to Follow - The Submissive Child

Listen as Pastor Rick concludes this section of the Footprints to Follow Series on Submission.  This one is particularly kid oriented.  We pray it is a blessing to your family.

Footprints to Follow Series - The Submissive Husband

 

Listen as Pastor Rick continues the sermon series from last week and discusses the important role the husband has to fill in marriage.  It's not as easy as you think!

Footprints to Follow Series - The Submissive Wife

Listen as Pastor Rick endeavors to discuss a Biblical perspective on Marriage.  This message has two parts.  This week is the first part addressing the role of the wife.  Next week will address the role of the husband.  Though this topic is a sensitive one in our culture, it is extremely important.  Feel free to leave comments on your thoughts.  :-)

Footprints to Follow Series - The Submissive Life

Listen as Pastor Rick preaches a very serious and personal message about what it means to submit ourselves one to another in imitation of Christ Who left us an example we ought to follow.  The world may not understand it, but submitting ourselves humbly one to another is a hallmark of the Christian faith.  Are you living the submissive life?

What Does God See When He Looks at Me?

Listen as Pastor Rick talks about recent events in the news and uses them as a springboard for self-searching and seeking to draw closer to God.  Are you in an intimate relationship with God?  Do you know how He perceives you?  What does God see when He looks at you.

Building Altars

Listen as Pastor Rick weaves together several streams of thought to lay the foundation for this very intimate discussion about the importance of Family Altar.  This is one of the most important practices of the Christian Home.  Do you practice it?

Footprints to Follow Series - Walk Wisely

Listen as Pastor Rick quickly reviews the ground we have covered in the Footprints to Follow Series and plugs us in again with this simple message about walking wisely with purpose.

A Letter to Fathers

I forgot to post this in June.  Please forgive me.  Better late than never, I reckon.  :-)

At Water of Life Fellowship, we believe in fathers!  Your worth is inestimable.  Statistically, children who are raised with absent fathers experience far greater potential for crisis and failure than children whose fathers actively intentionally consistently invest in their lives!  This only begins to reflect the importance of fathers like you who embrace the role they have been uniquely designed to fill.

Sadly, our culture has emasculated men and diminished their God-given roles and somehow perpetuated the myth that women can do everything men do as well as they do without exception.  Foolishly, this overlooks the evident fact that men and women are specifically designed on purpose to do things uniquely and specifically suited to their abilities (and I am not talking about who does the dishes here).  These designed purposes can in one form or fashion be accomplished by each other under duress or necessity; but, the machine operates most efficiently when each person fulfills their designed purpose and role.  This is especially true in parenthood.  Fathers and mothers can exchange responsibilities and task assignments.  However, when it comes down to it, dad can never replace mom and vice versa.  The most balanced homes and families have moms and dads who clearly understand that each of them is essential to the equation.  Both of them have an equal essentiality though fulfilling very different roles. 

Dads, this underscores the importance of being present to fill your role as God has designed you.  You bring a unique perspective and set of skills to the table.  Your children will reflect your impact on them for the rest of their mortal lives.  Your influence is far greater than you possibly imagine.  Thus you are duty and honor bound to live rightly and truly as a man of integrity. 

History is full of great men who lived as excellent fathers.  But, I have learned recently a new perspective that we should look most to the Heavenly Father to understand how we ought to live and be. 

“We start with the word Father as describing a human relationship which we want to use to better understand God and how we should relate to him.  This is backwards.  In Christian thought, the word Father first applies to the first person of the Holy Trinity and only in an analogical way to human fatherhood; Father speaks of the divine reality that helps us know what the human relation should be (- Dennis Kinlaw).”  In other words, we must look to God and his relationship with Jesus for the perfect example of what a father ought to be. 

When we look at this relationship we find a Father with an intense love and loyalty to his Son – a father who empowers and protects, guides and directs, chastens and loves, delights and honors, serves and sends his Son when and where it matters most: a Father who always has the big picture in view.  We must strive to do the same with our children.  You see - by granting you the gift of children – God has entrusted you with souls that have an eternal destiny.  This is the big picture and we are called to never forget it.  Please recognize that you are called to be the spiritual warrior of purity, integrity, courage, strength, humility, and servanthood guiding and protecting your children as they embark upon their eternal pathway.  This is a most high calling. We count it a privilege to share your journey as you answer it and fulfill the role God designed you to play!  Water of Life Fellowship Salutes You!  May God’s richest blessings rest upon you today and always.  Happy Father’s Day!

-        Pastor Rick

Book Review - The Journal of John Woolman

Book: The Journal of John Woolman, as contained in The Harvard Classics, Volume 1, as part of The Five Foot Shelf of Books, © P.F. Collier & Son 1909, 1937, and printed in its 56^th Printing by P.F. Collier & Son Corporation, New York, 1965 (Pages 168-314).

Author: John Woolman

Reading Completed: 20150830

Reaction:

This is one of the more difficult books I have read, mainly due to its archaic forms of speech and grammar as well as many cultural expressions and terms for which I have little point of reference.  Nevertheless, I am very glad I have invested the time to read it.

John Woolman lived for 52 years from 1720 A.D. to 1772 A.D.  He was a merchant and tailor and a traveling Quaker minister.  His journal is a chronicle of his life and experiences in that time and many of the spiritual struggles with which he wrestled throughout his life.  He was deeply devout and very humble.  He continually strove throughout his life to align Himself with the Divine perspective and to live in a manner pleasing to God in keeping with Divine Love. 

His conscience was heavily burdened by the issues of his time.  In these pre-Revolutionary War years, he was against the paying of taxes since in his perspective they were used to prosecute wars and perpetuate violence among men for the purposes of earthly gain.  He was very tender in his spirit to the plight of all creatures whether it be the suffering of animals during a storm at sea or for the young sailors exposed to danger and corruption or for the slaves of the colonies. 

John Woolman felt that a great deal of the suffering in the world was generated by the unrighteous desires of men for gain.  As a result, he commenced to live a very plain life and focus his pursuit on the things of eternity rather than the things of this life.  He went so far as to refuse to partake of goods or services rendered by slaves and to labor with many tears and much gentleness with his fellow Quakers imploring them to free their slaves and not be wrapped up in the pursuit of wealth and prosperity in this world.

John Woolman traveled throughout the colonies ministering in hundreds if not thousands of meetings.  He labored in the Quaker assemblies, among the Indians, and even died in England of the smallpox while ministering there.  Everywhere he went, he was an advocate for the downtrodden and the poor.  He was a staunch abolitionist arguing for the freedom of slaves.  He was concerned deeply with the welfare of his church and its people, longing for them not to become too entangled with the cares of this world.  He had a particular love for the young people of his society and references them frequently in his journal.  He was a faithful minister who lived a life of tender submission to the Divine Will.  He exhibited some eccentric behaviors, but these could be readily attributed to his conscientious manner of living and his focus on eternal rather than earthly things. 

What impacted me most profoundly was the regular wrestling in his heart and mind which he experienced as he submitted himself to the leadings of the Holy Spirit and practiced the words of the Apostle Paul: “2 Corinthians 4:8 ¶ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”  I think Mr. Woolman would have identified very much with this spirit. 

The wrestling of his mind and heart against the things of the world and even just seeking to best know the mind of God in relation to his circumstances really encourage me.  If a man so spiritual could wrestle to align his will with the will of the Master and commit so carefully to follow His ways, then I too need not be afraid of the wrestling of conscience.  I can take comfort when I walk through my struggles and battles to know John Woolman’s testimony of the faithfulness of God amid it all.  I can also rest assured that if I surrender my will into alignment with the will of God, I will discover His ways are best and will know the sweetness of fellowship with the Divine Creator Himself. 

The quote that stood out most to me from the book was this: "Does he condescend to bless thee with His presence? To move and influence thee to action? To dwell and to walk in thee? Remember then thy station as being sacred to God. Accept of the strength freely offered to thee, and take heed that no weakness in conforming to unwise, expensive, and hard hearted customs, gendering to discord and strife, be given way to. Does he claim my body as his temple, and graciously require that I may be sacred to him? Oh that I may prize this favor, and that my whole life maybe conformable to this character! Remember, O my soul! that the Prince of Peace is thy Lord; that he communicates his unmixed wisdom to his family, that they, living in perfect simplicity, may give no just cause of offence to any creature, but that they may walk as he walked!"  This quote, in many ways encapsulated John Woolman’s life.

Oh that I too may walk with tenderness of conscience, and humility of spirit, ever surrendered to the Divine Will focusing on that which is eternal rather than the temporal as he did. 

Your Love Remains!

Listen as Pastor Rick welcomes you to enter into a personal intimate relationship of love with the God Who loves you more than you can imagine so that you no longer wonder if He loves you but instead you can pray in personal praise, “Father, Your love remains for me!”