“It doesn’t get any better than this!” That is what the advertisement says. Last Saturday night, that is what I was thinking. I had spent a magnificent fall day with two close friends in the mountains of north Georgia where the leaves had already begun to turn, watching four great hunting dogs run free in the woods. After that, we shot skeet at a challenging sporting clays course. Then, we went back to the cabin to sit by the fire to watch Georgia beat Florida! After enjoying a great steak dinner together, we shot a game of pool and watched more football before retiring for the evening. Back home, I have a beautiful wife of forty years, two wonderful daughters and their godly husbands, and six terrific grandkids, all who follow Christ. I am blessed with a job I love, a nice house and a lovable dog.
I am surrounded with many friends. What a great day!
I know that when tragedy strikes, people tend to ask God, “Why me?” But, I find myself asking God the same question, “Why me?” “Why am I so blessed?” I feel like the “poster boy” for God’s grace. You would only have to look into my heart to know how undeserving I am to receive any blessing from God’s hand apart from His grace.
I have had my share of trials and tribulations in my life. I know that there will be more to come. But right now, I feel so blessed. Should I feel guilty when so many around me are suffering from loss, illness, broken or strained relationships? Do I wait anxiously “for the other shoe to drop, expecting for calamity to strike because things are going too good? How should I respond?
As near as I can tell, I believe that I should have an attitude of gratitude for the blessings I enjoy, acknowledging that all good things come from God’s hand. I do think that having the feeling that these good times cannot last is wrong. We do know from scripture that “in this world you will have tribulation.” Possibly it will come sooner rather than later. But, I do not believe that God would have us live in fear, unable to enjoy His blessings for fear of what lies around the corner in our lives.
I am learning to hold onto things lightly. Life is transitory by nature. Change is inevitable. If God wants to take some things away from me, He should not have to pry them from my hand. Do I trust that whatever He does is in my best interest? So, today I thank God for the myriad of blessings in my life. I am humbled by His goodness towards me. To paraphrase what St. Paul says in Phillipians 4:11, “I am learning to be content in all circumstances.” I celebrate the day, trusting in the statement, ”I do not know what the future holds, but I do know the One who holds the future.” God is so good!
(Over)
MINISTRY NEWS AND NEEDS:
Contributions are off by 40%. If things do not improve, we will not be able to meet payroll. We will definitely have to postpone it. As of this writing, we have received $44,000 in donations. Last year at this time we had received $62,000. Budgeted contributions through October 31st should be $72,000. Our annual budget is $86,000.
We are not sure how long this can go on before drastic measures are taken. I know I sound like an alarmist, but this is the situation as it now stands. We will cut spending as much as possible to do what is necessary to keep the ministry viable but the time may soon come when we can no longer operate.
Enough bad news… the good news is that the ministry continues to flourish. The Gospel is being presented. Our three groups are healthy. Men are being ministered to on a regular basis. Families are being helped. Plans are being made for mission trips in 2008. We have a faithful core of partners. God is in control.
Each one of you is a part of the blessings I mentioned in the newsletter. I thank God for you! We are together in His love and service.
Buck
Christ - The ReeseSource - The Newsletter of Net Work Ministries, Inc.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 8, 2007
Christ - The Reese Source - September 2007
I saw an interview the other day on CNN featuring an ex-NFL coach and a religious man, whose denomination I will not mention. The discussion centered on religion in sports. Specifically, does religion have any place in sports? One issue that was discussed was the practice by some athletes to kneel down, seemingly in prayer, after scoring a touchdown. Also noted was the practice of some players meeting together after a game in the middle of the field to pray.
The religious man and many who emailed their responses said that God has more important things to worry about than whether that guy scored a touchdown or whose team won the game. Issues like war, famine, crime and the like were things that occupy God’s time and attention, not trivial things like sporting events. The ex-NFL coach said he was happy that someone would acknowledge God’s presence in his or her life. He liked the fact that athletes could come together after a hard fought contest and lay aside differences and pray together. He did acknowledge that when he asked some of the athletes about their faith that they did the “touchdown thing” for show rather than a heartfelt gratitude to God for giving them the talents they had in order to achieve the success they were having.
In our Friday morning men’s group we are studying Phillip Yancey’s latest book, “Prayer”, subtitled, “Does It Make Any Difference?” There have been some very strong opinions voiced on the subject of religion in sports, specifically the “kneeling in the end zone” issue. We have honestly discussed the idea that God is personally involved in all aspects of our lives.
The thing I did not hear the coach say regarding the issue of God being more concerned with more important stuff than what team wins or loses a game or who scores a touchdown is the fact that God exists outside of our space-time continuum and is omnipresent. To put it so that somebody like me can understand it…God can do more than one thing at a time! I feel it gives Him pleasure when one of His creations acknowledges Him. He knows our hearts, so He knows whether or not the athlete is just “showboating.”
I do not claim to be a great theologian. Maybe I am wrong to be so simple-minded about these things, but I will leave it up to the academics to debate the question of God’s personal involvement in the world. I guess, to use a football analogy, I just like to stick to the fundamentals (throwing, catching, blocking and tackling.) In the theological world for me that would be “that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Also, that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Does God care about the seemingly trivial things in our life?
If He, in fact, knows the number of hairs on our head or when a sparrow falls to earth as it is stated in the Bible, then I feel relatively sure that He cares about all aspects of our life. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you. My contact information is on the bottom of the other side of this newsletter.
(MINISTRY NEWS:
We held a planning meeting to begin a new Net Work Ministries weekday group in conjunction with the company, Goshen Trading, Inc., that hosts our Wednesday lunch study. We will begin a Friday lunch study for the personnel at the Goshen Trading Inc. warehouse. The group will be led by Jim Finch, who has extensive ministry experience with the Hispanic community. I will supervise and attend the group on a regular basis. Current plans are to study the book, “Man In The Mirror” by Patrick Morley, after several introductory sessions. The group is scheduled to begin meeting on Friday, October 12th at noon. We are grateful to Seng and Amy Ng for their vision for their company to be a Christ-centered enterprise.
If you are interested in starting your own company lunchtime or breakfast study, please contact me at 678-986-4814.
MINISTRY NEEDS:
Þ Donations are off by more than 36%. Expenses are being held to 96%
of budgeted expenditures.
Þ A group of people committed to pray for Net Work Ministries on a
regular basis. They would receive regular e-mail prayer requests.
Contact us by e-mail at peggyandbuck@yahoo.com or call
678-986-
4814.
The religious man and many who emailed their responses said that God has more important things to worry about than whether that guy scored a touchdown or whose team won the game. Issues like war, famine, crime and the like were things that occupy God’s time and attention, not trivial things like sporting events. The ex-NFL coach said he was happy that someone would acknowledge God’s presence in his or her life. He liked the fact that athletes could come together after a hard fought contest and lay aside differences and pray together. He did acknowledge that when he asked some of the athletes about their faith that they did the “touchdown thing” for show rather than a heartfelt gratitude to God for giving them the talents they had in order to achieve the success they were having.
In our Friday morning men’s group we are studying Phillip Yancey’s latest book, “Prayer”, subtitled, “Does It Make Any Difference?” There have been some very strong opinions voiced on the subject of religion in sports, specifically the “kneeling in the end zone” issue. We have honestly discussed the idea that God is personally involved in all aspects of our lives.
The thing I did not hear the coach say regarding the issue of God being more concerned with more important stuff than what team wins or loses a game or who scores a touchdown is the fact that God exists outside of our space-time continuum and is omnipresent. To put it so that somebody like me can understand it…God can do more than one thing at a time! I feel it gives Him pleasure when one of His creations acknowledges Him. He knows our hearts, so He knows whether or not the athlete is just “showboating.”
I do not claim to be a great theologian. Maybe I am wrong to be so simple-minded about these things, but I will leave it up to the academics to debate the question of God’s personal involvement in the world. I guess, to use a football analogy, I just like to stick to the fundamentals (throwing, catching, blocking and tackling.) In the theological world for me that would be “that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Also, that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Does God care about the seemingly trivial things in our life?
If He, in fact, knows the number of hairs on our head or when a sparrow falls to earth as it is stated in the Bible, then I feel relatively sure that He cares about all aspects of our life. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you. My contact information is on the bottom of the other side of this newsletter.
(MINISTRY NEWS:
We held a planning meeting to begin a new Net Work Ministries weekday group in conjunction with the company, Goshen Trading, Inc., that hosts our Wednesday lunch study. We will begin a Friday lunch study for the personnel at the Goshen Trading Inc. warehouse. The group will be led by Jim Finch, who has extensive ministry experience with the Hispanic community. I will supervise and attend the group on a regular basis. Current plans are to study the book, “Man In The Mirror” by Patrick Morley, after several introductory sessions. The group is scheduled to begin meeting on Friday, October 12th at noon. We are grateful to Seng and Amy Ng for their vision for their company to be a Christ-centered enterprise.
If you are interested in starting your own company lunchtime or breakfast study, please contact me at 678-986-4814.
MINISTRY NEEDS:
Þ Donations are off by more than 36%. Expenses are being held to 96%
of budgeted expenditures.
Þ A group of people committed to pray for Net Work Ministries on a
regular basis. They would receive regular e-mail prayer requests.
Contact us by e-mail at peggyandbuck@yahoo.com or call
678-986-
4814.