Fwd: Grow closer to God and your spouse

From: Kathy Keller, Gospel in Life <support@gospelinlife.com>

Date: Wed, Jun 5, 2024 at 7:02 PM
Subject: Grow closer to God and your spouse

Discover daily wisdom for your marriage in The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional

View this email in your browser Over the years, Tim and I were asked a wide variety of questions about marriage — from how to have a healthy view of marriage as a single person to how to strengthen a marriage. When we first began working together on our book, The Meaning of Marriage, we reflected on years of being married to each other and the peaks and valleys we experienced. We considered how God worked on our weaknesses through our relationship. We also thought back on the questions we encountered in ministry while working with many people to help strengthen their marriages. We wanted to see marriages that thrived and that enabled both husband and wife to grow in their relationship with God. One of our favorite metaphors for cultivating a healthy marriage was to look at it like a garden. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul likens the Church to a garden: you've got to water, fertilize, weed, prune, and eventually, you eat the fruit of your labors. Gardens take an enormous amount of work. Your marriage is not like sod that you buy and bring home and roll out, ready to walk on. Your marriage is not like flowers that you buy at the store. The difference between the fruitful marriage you can and should have, and the marriage you start out with is as far removed as an apple tree is from the apple seed.  It takes an enormous amount of skill and attention to cultivate a marriage, no matter the weather, no matter the season. Your marriage is going to need enormous amounts of attention, or it will wither. For the first 26 years of our marriage, Tim and I didn't pray together, we didn't have family devotions, and outside of being at church, we didn't do anything together spiritually unless there was a big crisis. It wasn't until we finally came to the end of our resources that we realized we were going to have to pray together or we were never going to survive. So we promised that before falling asleep at night, we would hold hands and pray. After we started to do this, we have seen everything else in our spiritual life branch out and grow slowly. Tim and I did not have the perfect marriage….for one thing, no such thing exists when one sinner marries another. But indwelling sin caused us to miss opportunities to comfort and affirm each other, made me overly critical ("I'm just trying to be helpful!") and Tim overly sensitive, and allowed us to miss opportunities to encourage and affirm one another. On the bright side, our sons have told us that seeing us apologize and repent to one another was a major factor in them taking our faith seriously. Just days before Tim's death we were still repenting to one another. As Tim said in The Meaning of Marriage, we are one day in heaven going to see one another and exclaim, "I always knew you could be like this!" Marriage is a powerful vehicle by which God allows us to help one another become who He means us to be. Tim and I wrote both The Meaning of Marriage book and later a 365-day couple's devotional (with the same title), to help people see the way God uses marriage to shape us and how a marriage centered on God and his Word can grow and flourish. In the month of June, Gospel in Life is highlighting The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional. We designed the book for married couples to use together. In it, we highlight passages from The Meaning of Marriage, but we also added a great deal of new content which will provide the opportunity for you to think out the personal implications of one very specific aspect of Christian marriage each day — like dealing with self-centeredness, or understanding marriage as a covenant, or serving each other and reconciling when there are rough patches in your relationship. If you'd like daily wisdom for your marriage, request The Meaning of Marriage: A Couple's Devotional when you give to Gospel in Life in June. It's our thanks for your gift to help us reach more people with the love of Christ. A Christian marriage needs to be about spiritual growth and each spouse helping the other to grow into Christlikeness. If we aim at holiness for each other, happiness will come; if we aim primarily at just happiness, we will get neither. I pray that as you seek to make God the center of your marriage that you will grow closer to him and each other and that our marriage devotional book will encourage you to reflect the gospel to each other as you seek to serve Him in and through your marriage. In Him, Kathy Keller Request 'A Couple's Devotional' Now Copyright © 2024 Gospel in Life / Redeemer City to City, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Gospel in Life / Redeemer City to City PO Box 1696 Long Island City, NY 11101 USA

The howler monkeys of Belize

They howl at any time during the night. This time at 1am

Recorded from my bedroom

Shalom
Raymond Dueck?

Testing

 Does this post to Martha?

Stonewall New Life Church

Pastor Rusty: www.NewLifeStoneWall.com 

Imagine there's no heaven

https://youtu.be/YkgkThdzX-8

The world is a deeply broken place. It's a struggle. At 42 I'm having a midlife crisis. Now going downhill. 

Why is the world the way it is? 

Sin mars everyone everything

They had joy hearing God's voice and then they hid after they sinned. They were now angry at God. You God are at fault for putting this woman here. 

Man has now become a judge of others and themselves. Shame. Feeling bad about what you are. Broken self image. 

The place that was supposed to be a place of harmony became a place of alienation. 

You have become at war with creation. Nothing escaped the corruption of sin. Pain and toil are now part of life. You will die. 

Not now? They died spiritually. Romans 5:12. Through Adam we have been made sinners. 

An apple tree bears apples because it's an apple tree. 

We are by nature sinful. I'm an impatient person. Bumper to bumper traffic on the 401 showed me that I'm an impatient person. 

Genesis 3 is the saddest chapter in the Bible. God did not abandon the world. He sent his Son to redeem the human race to adopt us to sonship. 

Jesus crushed Satan. 

God made you alive with him. God provided clothing from the skin of an animal. The first death. It's the foretelling of Jesus death. 

Now we get more than a second chance. We are God's handiwork created to do good stuff. Ephesians 2:10. God will make you alive. Take away the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

What does this mean for us? Try hard? We can't. No one is righteous enough. We can trust that God is at work in us. 

We can say look at what has come to the world. 

Revelation 21:1-4 new heaven and a new earth. Every tear wiped away. That's what is to come. No more death. 

New Christian said to be in the Life Group I feel I can just be me. Harmony is being restored. 

BLESSINGS!

Raymond Dueck
LifeLight Founding President

Martha's health update

In June 2022, my beloved Martha, sought medical help for suspected endometrial cancer. It took until December to get surgery in Winnipeg. By that time, it had metastasized. She developed excruciating pain in her right knee. Eventually, they gave her radiation to reduce the pain. She had surgery

on October 10, 2023 to reinforce the leg bones. 

On October 19 they transferred her to Riverview Palliative Care. A week ago her bladder ceased to function and she was transferred to St Boniface Hospital for emergency dual nephrostomy to drain the kidneys. 

She's feeling much better now, but we don't know how much longer. 

She's in SBH palliative care now, and welcomes a few visitors a day. If you would like to see her, text me at 204-782-2112 to arrange a visit. We had hoped she could be home for Christmas....

She has spent a great deal of time at Cancer Care and continues to suffer a great deal of pain. The only treatment they can offer her now is pain control and hormone therapy until it no longer works. The cancer has become terminal.

There was hope that the new immunotherapy and targeted therapy to stimulate her immune system to fight the cancer would help. After weeks of painful side-effects, she developed immune related myocarditis. That required emergency care and hospitalization to administer prednisone to suppress her immune system. 

Now we are between a rock and a hard place. 

In early September she spent a week in hospital getting prednisone and scan after scan. They couldn't determine what caused the high levels of cardio enzymes, so they sent her home.... 

Needless to say, I'm devastated. 

Endometrial cancer is usually easily treatable if surgery happens early. 

Now it's costing our health care system far more money than it would have if they had sent her to a US hospital.

A slow response to cancer drags the system down, and responses get even slower and more expensive. 

But the worst of it is the needless suffering the patient and her family has to endure. 

Governments should send patients out of province for treatment when our system is overloaded until the backlog is cleared.

IMHO what the British government is doing is the right thing with the TWO WEEK RULE

https://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/our-services/cancer-services/cancer-care-hub/your-cancer-experience/what-is-a-two-week-wait/#:~:text=The%20Two%2DWeek%20Wait%20appointment,has%20not%20been%20diagnosed%20or

Thank you for your prayers. 

BLESSINGS!

Raymond Dueck

204-782-2112 

Health Care or Sick Care?

In June 2022, Martha sought medical help for suspected endometrial cancer. It took until December to get surgery in Winnipeg. By that time, it had metastasized. She developed excruciating pain in her right knee. Eventually, they gave her radiation to reduce the pain. Now, she is scheduled for surgery in October 2023 to restore the leg bones. 

Now, she spends time at Cancer Care 2 or 3 times a week and continues to suffer a great deal of pain. The only treatment they can offer her now is addictive pain control and chemo until it no longer works. The cancer has become terminal.

There was hope that the new immunotherapy and targeted therapy to stimulate her immune system to fight the cancer would help. After weeks of painful side-effects, she developed immune related myocarditis. That required emergency care and hospitalization to administer prednisone to suppress her immune system. 

Now we are between a rock and a hard place. 

She's already spent a week in hospital getting prednisone and scan after scan. Don't know when she'll be able to go home. 

Needless to say, I'm devastated. 

Endometrial cancer is usually easily treatable if surgery happens early. 

Now it's costing our health care system far more money than it would have if they had sent her to a US hospital.

A slow response to cancer drags the system down, and responses get even slower and more expensive. 

But the worst of it is the needless suffering the patient and her family has to endure. 

Governments should send patients out of province for treatment when our system is overloaded until the backlog is cleared.

What the British government is doing is the right thing with the TWO WEEK RULE

https://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/our-services/cancer-services/cancer-care-hub/your-cancer-experience/what-is-a-two-week-wait/#:~:text=The%20Two%2DWeek%20Wait%20appointment,has%20not%20been%20diagnosed%20or

Bibles For Shamattawa

Published for www.FirstNationsLifeLight.com 
www.BiblesForToday.com/donate

Watch "Paul Harvey, The Man and The Birds.wmv" on YouTube

From Christmas 1965

https://youtu.be/ddai8rkXWRs

BLESSINGS!

Raymond Dueck
LifeLight Founding President
NK CBMC.ca facilitator
204-782-2112
www.BiblesForToday.com/donate

Go into your community and all the world

Referencing Alan Kreider's The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, Paul Doerksen suggests the early Christians never did "outreach" at all, but "attracted people" to the faith by how they lived and cared for each other.

Added Gordon Matties, who formerly taught theology at CMU: "There is one main verb, an aorist active imperative, which is 'make disciples.' All the others are participles."

The context also helps us understand the verse better, he said, since it's clear from earlier texts in Matthew that the disciples will be harassed and will be forced to move.

"It's possible the 'going' isn't something they've chosen to do," he said. "It's something that is simply their way of life. So the translation 'as you go' makes sense, but it doesn't convey the passive very well. Perhaps it should be, 'as you're being made to go, make disciples," he said.

In his book The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, sociologist Rodney Stark suggested the Christian church grew because of how its members cared for each other - especially during epidemics that ravaged the Roman world.

Said Stark: "To cities filled with

the homeless and the impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well

as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services."

Maybe all Christians need to do

today is live in such a way others want to join them. After all, it seemed to work for the early church.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

All your wildest dreams will come true

The game of LIFE

To win the game you need to have the most money

Pastor John Neufeld www.EasTview.org 

https://youtu.be/8HEP89aOkvY

Say hello to someone

Proverbs by Solomon. Is he a model or a cautionary tale?

Why don't the kids follow the parent's dreams? Their values are not our values. 

The king must not take many wives. He needs to make a copy of law and follow it all his life. 

He had more than 3 kids. Rehoboam did not follow Solomon. 

1. What are you teaching?

2. What are you modeling?

3,000 teens were interviewed twice and their parents by Smith and Denton 

Moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD) is a term that was first introduced in the 2005 book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by the sociologist Christian Smith[1] with Melinda Lundquist Denton.[2] The term is used to describe what they consider to be the common beliefs among U.S. youths.[3][4][5] The book is the result of the research project the National Study of Youth and Religion.[6]

1. God exists

2. God is not active in the world

3. God wants us to be nice

4. The goal in life is to be happy

5. Good people go to heaven

What does the Bible teach? 

9 priorities

1. Fear God

2. Honour God 

3. Discipline

4. Appreciate correction 

5. Pursue a godly wife

6. Learn self control

7. Tell the truth

8. Work hard

9. Show mercy to the poor

How we worship is a primary parenting responsibility. 

Men are not singing in church and the kids quit singing

What's more important to you. The kids will follow the example. 

Did you appreciate discipline? Disciple with care and love. I always got spanked 3 slaps and then we talked. Dad had boundaries. 

Godly wife is a crown. Did Solomon have many crowns or many rotten bones?

Find a follower of Jesus. 

Consider your choice. 

He who Lacks of Self control is like a city with the walls broken down. 

Tell the truth. David repented deeply and God restored him. Don't hide your brokenness. Joseph's descendents became slaves in Isreal. 

Proverbs is Wisdom and counsel. Not promises

EasTview mission day

Online https://youtu.be/PvBCUoERIwg www.EasTview.org 

Team going to Thailand to see the work that we are doing with Dave and Louise. Being a witness and being present with them and the believers in Thailand and Burma. 

Johnny Beatrice Rick Julie....

Pastor John Neufeld

Need volunteers to help with movie night and also with helping the refugee family. Need life group leaders. No need to be passive. 

Dave Sinclair-Peters

Great to be here today. Thankful. We are both from Manitoba. Happy to be here in summer. 

This is so different from the worship spaces in SE Asia. 

"I make disciples who make disciples." Can you say that? When people do that, they grow in faith. Clusters of churches are getting together to form the Mennonite Brethren conference. We share resources with other churches. 

MBs are spread around the world making disciples who make disciples. 

Our kids are in Toronto. We have our first grandchild coming. Exciting. 

We recently went back to the country we worked in. After 2 years we have 12 churches. Tripled in size in 2 years. 

One pastor couple moved into a hostile village and kept loving them. In time they were able to share Jesus with them. Now they have a small group meeting in their house. 

I'm excited to be part of MB and Anabaptist group. 

If you didn't grow up in that ethnicity you are welcome at EasTview. 

We don't talk about the ethnic stuff to the believers in Thailand. 

A pastor is in jail because he's a Christian. What do we do? Jesus said do not resist an evil doer. I want to push back on Micro aggressors. How do we respond? Roll over? Jesus makes it incredibly difficult. The earliest Anabaptists were persecuted for adult baptism. Authorities started to round up the leaders and baptize them again by throwing them in the river to die. They chained up the women and eventually started killing them because they kept sharing Jesus. They didn't resist the evil doers. They were completely free to love the people who hated them. 

They were radical disciples of Jesus. Not passive. 

Love your enemies in a way that will blow your minds. You are a new creation. No need to fight back. 

We gladly give them love instead of hate. 

We lay hands on leaders. Jane became a Jesus follower. One day she woke up with extreme incapacitated pain. One day she prayed for healing and worshipped and praised God. 

In the morning she had no pain. She got up and walked. Every week they now go out to tell others of what Jesus has done. She has family anger to deal with.

Pray for boldness to love people and an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. 

EasTview service

Bruce and Lisa Enns 

General Director of Multiply.net 

They have 4 adult daughters not married

Parenting by suggesting

The world is coming to us. 

David and Louise will be here next weekend

Proverbs

https://youtu.be/xB1cSLpAt-c

God have us wisdom. Apply knowledge of how to live in this world. The wisdom of the world vs the wisdom of God

General statements of how things will generally work out

Job and Ecclesiastes fill in some details

That changes things a around us

I'm talking about money today. Proverbs teaches us. 13:11, 16:8, 21:26, 22:1

Greed is hard to see. Relationships matter. 

We don't think we're wealthy because we always look at others who are wealthier. We are in fact wealthy in the eyes of the world. Much of the world can't choose which clothes they will wear. $54,000 a year puts you in the top. $90,000 assets puts you in the top 10% of the world's wealth. 

Imagine a Costco cart full of stuff you don't need. 

Heart condition. That's what God is after. We have joyless prosperity. 

Incomplete joy. Timothy Keller 

Jesus talked about the kingdom of God. 

Parable of the seed and the sower. The deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word. 

Where your treasure is your heart will be also. 

Ezekiel says the leaders have set up idols in their hearts. 

Money is not evil. It's neural. Unless we get enslaved by it. 

Prov 4:23

We take the good things that God has given us and making them ultimate things. 

Matthew 6 you can't serve God and be enslaved to money

1. Settle the ownership, it belongs to God

2. Honest assessment. How has Greed crept in. 

3. How we handle money is a discipleship issue

4. Practice JGSP Giving Joyfully Generously Sacrificially Proportionally. Jesus calls us to go beyond the tithe. Start at the local church

5. Prov 3.  Set your heart on things above. Colossians 3:1-5

Put God back on the throne. Lord we give you thanks. 

An inheritance in Jesus

Charles Price

https://www.ccln.ca/podcast/episode57

https://thepeopleschurch.ca/contact/

https://youtu.be/vjaMzm3wVcQ

Glorious inheritance

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

Ephesians 1:3‭-‬4 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.3-4.NLT

A man in Portugal owned a lot of properties. One day he invited his lawyer and some witnesses to pick a random 70 people from the phone book to inherit his fortune. Only 2 people responded to collect the inheritance. Everyone else thought it was a scam. 

We are like that. Many people don't believe we have an inheritance from God. 

There is a list of things that are already done. Jesus death. Now we need to supply that to work, marriage, work, family

God did

God said

God revealed

God created

God......

Let us enter the rest

When Adam sinned God said sweat

Or rest in Jesus

He wrote a book:

Stop Trying To Live For Jesus book

42% of pastors are considering quitting because they are burning out because they are not resting in Jesus. 

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:3 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.1.3.NLT

Suppose you get a new car. You like the shape but I need an engine, seats, steering wheel....

God has given us everything we need. He is my strength. 

The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE....

is the Spirit in you? Thank him for God's love living in me and love the unlovable. Consider others more important than me. 

Thank God for the fruit of the Spirit. 

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

Ephesians 1:16‭-‬18 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.1.16-18.NLT

You have everything you need... just trust God. 

There is no one here that can live the Christian life. It doesn't work. It's like pushing a bus up the hill. There is an engine. Enjoy the ride!

Only Jesus can. 

Moses said I can't. God said I'm with you. Isaiah said it. So many others...

The resources of the Christian Life is Jesus only. 

We need to appropriate Jesus. 

Your car engine is doing nothing. It needs a driver... a transmission...

Thank you Jesus for your sufficiency. 

All Peoples Church

Erna and her husband were in Nashville

https://oakridgegardencentre.com/

Bill Ehlers pastor

https://www.facebook.com/All-Peoples-Church-Falcon-Lake-103328128572385/

Musician Jamie Giesbrecht formerly at Radio Southern Manitoba

Now at Eden Mental Health fund raising

Songs:

Leaning in the Everlasting Arms

Worthy of every song we could ever sing

Firm Foundation

Had a break-in last year, she got hit in the face, ran away screaming and broke her foot. Real trauma.

Keep me Safe till the Storm passes by

Bill Ehlers & Betty pastors

Offeratory

Sometimes I Feel Discouraged 

Bill pastor

Life on the side. Day job. Roofing company started by his son Above All https://aboveall.net/testimonials/ doing sales and general manger. Getting to know lots of people including contractors. One of them was a home builder that went the extra mile with foundations and roofing. Lost out to the competition. 

Gave up on residential. Went commercial. 

A story of Jesus. An earthly story with a heavenly meaning. At the end of the sermon on the mount. 

Matthew

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash." When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

Matthew 7:24‭-‬29 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.7.24-29.NLT

The difference is what they're built on. On the outside they look the same. One's got his house done in no time. The other one keeps digging and digging. His wife gets anxious. Why is it taking so long? 

Finally he found rock. 

In the meantime the other guy had already moved in. When the wadi filled his house crashed.

Jesus talked about appearances. The Pharisees. Jesus said you look good and people honor you. Jesus called them whitewashed tombs full of dead man's bones. 

Appearances are deceiving. Some people base their lives on passion. 

Some are building on eternal things. 

Storms will come. Not always sunshine and no wind. We all have to face temptation. Someone Bill knows had access to company funds. A woman got romantically involved with a younger man.

Warned about robbers in Hadashville. He was told to get a gun. 

A lady has long term Covid with loss of taste. Some have lost investments. 

Storms like loss of loved ones. Healthy man just died of Covid last Sunday. His children have a strong foundation. Let's pray that the children will survive the impact. 

There are also storms of prosperity. Wealth danger is that you become independent from God. You become a self made person. 

More people get knocked off their spiritual foundations by wealth than by hardship. 

The biggest storm coming up is the day we all have to stand before the Great Judgement Throne. 

We need to build carefully. 

It's possible to know about Jesus. It's another thing to do. 

You like sermons to make you feel good. Beware. You don't know when your life will end. 

4 months ago John 51 and Sharon had a happy family. 

V28,29 Jesus finished the sermon. The people were gobsmacked. Jesus had authority. They'd never heard speakers like that. The Pharisees reiterated opinions of scholars before them. 

"Thus says the Lord" is found 3,000 times in the old Testament. Jesus never used that phrase because he is the Lord. He spoke the matter and in the manner of the Lord. 

Jesus didn't teach religion. He taught that God knows what's in you. He knows your heart. 

Jesus talked about relationships with authority. He was 30 years old and came from a 5th rate town. 

Jesus was the ultimate radical. 

The crowd was 😯 astonished! 

Build on that foundation and you will stand strong.

Leaning tower of Piza was leaning 15 feet and they fixed it so it won't fall. The foundation was built on sand. 

www.BiblesForToday.com

The Game of Life

Pastor John www.EasTview.org 

https://youtu.be/INi2q0iuH1U

Wife of noble character

Rose flew out to help the sister in law who brook her foot

Noble wife

In The GAME OF LIFE you must add a spouse so you can win! Is the game real? Utilitarian to win the game. 

What does it take to have the wisdom of Proverbs? They tend to male centered. They can be applied to both men and women. 

They all got married. Intergenerational house holds. 

Happiness index is usually won by Sweden or Denmark. 

Cohabitation is what needs to be discussed.

"Good news about marriage" by shaunti feldhahn the divorce rate is less that 20%

72% are intact first marriage

Be encouraged

80% are happy

What are the things that bring you joy in marriage? Talk about it. 

If your unhappy in your marriage and you work on it 80% are happy in 5 years

We will talk about, how we will talk about it. 

Communication matters. 

Those who attend church and sit together have higher success. Lower divorce rate 25%-50% rate. 

Most marriages can be fixed by small changes. 

Marriage requires hard work but marriage isn't hard.

Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

Cohabitation 23% 77% married

20-35 year old 47% cohabitation 

The person with the least commitment has the most power. 

Do some of the work on how to be married well. 

Find a wife (husband) and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you.

Proverbs 18:22 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/pro.18.22.GNT

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praise. 

A man can inherit a house and money from his parents, but only the Lord can give him a sensible wife.

Proverbs 19:14 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/pro.19.14.GNT

Advice to his son. Honor her. Speak well of her. 31:31

Character is what matters. Gal 5 love joy peace... what character are you cultivating? How are you cultivating character in your children? 

Quarrelsome is like constant dripping. 

Conflict comes in many forms

10 on his list

Sometimes kids are brought into the conflict. Speak well of each other. Honor each other. 

Money and job related conflict

External family issues

Proverbs about marriage

Look for conduct. It's likely to continue. 

The Wise listen to advice. Prudent overlook insult.

What does love look like? Look to a single guy named Jesus. 

Prov 3 trust in the Lord 

The Lion the Lamb and the Throne

Guelph church

https://www.gracecommunity.ca/ 9:30

The SOLUTION 

The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. When they do so, the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say, "Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life."

Revelation 4:9‭-‬11 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/rev.4.9-11.GNT

Tozer says the first problem is the church losing the fundamentals 

32 ft scroll written on both sides was unusual. Sealed with 7 deals. Who is worthy? 

John Milton Paradise Lost is hard to read. Read the first 30 pages and got hooked on his story. Read it all. 

The mighty angel reminds me of one of John Milton's angels. 

The angel asks who is worthy? Not intelligent? 

No one could face Goliath. 

John wept and wept. Something terrible is happening? What is in the scroll? Tension in the air. The scroll contains God's purposes for the future. The scroll must be opened for God's purposes to be realized. 

Behold the Lion of Judah is here. At the end of Genesis Jacob blessed Judah. Lion's cub. There is authority in Judah. The prophesy was fulfilled here. 

He saw a Lamb that had recently been slain but it's not dead. Standing in the centre of the throne. 

Nations chose violent creatures to represent them. Apocalyptic literature has all kinds of symbols. 

7 horns represent complete authority. 7 eyes see everything. Don't try to paint that. 

Is this a lion or a Lamb? Both! 

When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last. I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead.

Revelation 1:17‭-‬18 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/rev.1.17-18.GNT

V7 he took the scroll. It is at the right hand of all power and he has no difficulty taking it. The restrained Christ was in the manger for our sake. In his public ministry he was mostly restrained. 

He's arrested, hands tied, condemned, but restrained. He is still restrained today. 

There is coming a day that will reveal Jesus in power. A terrible day if you're on the wrong side and a wonderful day for his followers. The Lord will execute perfect justice. 

We dumb down God as irrelevant. Angels are reduced to babies with wings. Left to ourselves we reduce God to manageable size. Tozer

People in hell will recognize that everything they did had meaning. 

3. All through Scripture there is the theme of the Lamb. Abraham and Isaac. The passover Lamb. John the Baptist behold the Lamb. 

Have confidence in Scripture. 

Notice the presence of central gospel truths in the Bible. 

People are removing the cross. Be here next week. 

The cross is bloody because sin is so terrible. 

https://youtu.be/by98Iwmn1Fc

Show me your friends and I'll show you your future

Pastor John Neufeld www.EasTview.org 

https://youtu.be/7VIXqsd9QJs

Dan Penna bought a castle in Scotland 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Pe%C3%B1a

His manager ripped him off and he forgave him

Show me your friends and I'll show you your future

https://youtu.be/dGbEs4xyQDA

Luke 5:17

One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a bed, and they tried to carry him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, "Your sins are forgiven, my friend."

Luke 5:17‭-‬20 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/luk.5.17-20.GNT

Think hammock. 4 friends hauling a guy up the roof on a very narrow set of stairs, dig a big hole in the roof and lower him. 

What kind of friend are you? 

1.Compassionate? Listen deeply? Are you that kind of friend? 

2. Faithful friend

3. Encouraging friend. The Holy Spirit

4. Determined friend who makes good things happen. To experience Jesus. 

Show me your friends and I'll show you your future video. You're sculpting yourself by the friends you keep. 

God is there for the paralyzed 

Sin is at the core of all brokenness

Forgiveness is the core of all of our restoration

Forgiveness is pulling the hook out. They never apologized. Why should I forgive? Jesus takes the hook out. 

What kind of helpless are you? 

1. If it's too crowded near Jesus we don't feel like bothering

2. Many of our best moments with Jesus because of our friends

Mom and dad bear our burdens. They pray for them

3. We begrudge our friends as they are taking us to Jesus

Maybe I'm too proud to accept help

4. We still carry our mat. We don't walk with the sleeping bag around all the time. Some do. Advertise our pain.

We need friends to help us in our helplessness. Jesus wants to help. 

3 questions

1. How do you remove a bad influence friend? Gently carefully. Be more powerfully connected to Jesus. Fill your life with good friends 

2. How do you take the hook out? Examine the wound. Take out the pain. Give the hook back. I don't want your pain in my life anymore

The woman caught in adultery

June 5, 22

Pastor John www.EasTview.org 

https://youtu.be/mb62Xv5YGt8

John 7.53 - 8.11

Deuteronomy 22.22 both shall die

John 8 there is no man. Where is the adulterer?

Jesus is full of grace and truth. 

Grace is forgiveness oriented

Truth is justice oriented. 

Most of us are flamingos standing on one foot

Neither is right or wrong

They thought Jesus was so grace oriented they would catch him

The Lord is merciful

The Pharisees (self-righteous ones) were setting a trap for Jesus with lots of holes. 

Don't contribute to the problem by malicious accusations. Where is the guy? They caught the prostitute but not the John. They let him off. 

What did Jesus write? Don't be a party to an injustice? 

Don't cast the first stone unless you are without sin?

Maybe he listed sins, the secret ones. 

Jesus stands up. 

Are you judging others? Are you forgiving?

The oldest one stepped away first because they would be accountable for being unjust. 

She said sir, not Lord. There is no indication of confession or repentance. 

Jesus just said go. Sin no more. 

We forego the gift of forgiveness by not asking for it. 

The temple court is 4 football fields size. Lots of witnesses to the event. 

Jesus gives this woman another chance at life. 

Jesus wants you to get past your sin and be restored. He gives you a second chance. What do his words say to you? Read the Bible and see what he said. 

BLESSINGS!

Baptism at EasTview.org

Pastor John Neufeld 

Find a mentor, be a mentor. 

Jesus said:

Go. Baptize. 
Baptism is a sign of washing away. Take your clothes off and put on new clothes. Public declaration of realignment of social priorities. 

It's a starting line, not a finishing line. 

Not because you are good enough but because Jesus believes in you more than you believe in yourself. 

You can't be good enough. All you can do is say I'm sorry. Jesus died for your deep sins. 

Membership. CAA membership is different. Church membership is being part of a body. Fingers, nose etc are all part of your body. Each becomes part of the body. Opportunity to bless others. 

1 Corinthians 12:12 many parts. Individually members of the body. 

Jesus believes in you more than you believe in yourself.

We baptize on confession of faith. Obedience to Jesus. Infants can't confess. 

Jesus believes in you more than you believe in yourself.

Russ and Lisa Enns. Russ won the lottery by growing up in a Christian home. Jesus was always there. Got married to a beautiful Christian woman. That was not boring.

God gave me a special gift of Christian family. 

Church broke up and really hurt. The church is a gift from God. God's power becomes real. 

Looking forward to being part of the church. 

Lisa. Won the lottery of growing up in a Christian home. 

Thankful for sons Marcus and Simon. Had some miscarriages. 
Be still and know. McIvor church broke. 

We came to EasTview. The boys were invited to join the music group.

Christine Schmidt did not grow up with faith. Dad developed cancer in the first year of marriage. Got to know Rick and Sandy.

Attended Alpha course. 

Why why? My son passed away. Why? Alex my husband helped. 

God has been patient with me. 

Christine had become a leader of a life group. Baptized. 

Sing now. 

FAITH IS SPELLED "R-I-S-K"

Renee wrote this in Dec 1999

FAITH IS SPELLED "R-I-S-K"

"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised." Hebrews 11:39 NIV

It always amazes me how many

believers are hesitant to claim God's

promises because they're afraid they'll be disappointed. Perhaps they feel that if they don't expect too much from God, they can avoid the pain of being let down. 

I've heard it said that real faith is spelled "R-I-S-K". I think there's a lot of truth in that. It takes a lot of courage to trust God to come through for us when our senses aren't giving us any support.

But that's exactly what the Lord

expects from us. If you look at the

eleventh chapter of Hebrews, you see that God approves of those who put their faith in His promises, whether or not they come to pass. The verse above confirms this. And so does Hebrews 11:13: "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance." 

The Scriptures reveal that God holds in high esteem those who live by faith and continue to hold on to God's promises, even through long periods of waiting. The fact is, if we really want to please God and reap the rewards He has in store for us, we're going to have to risk putting our faith and trust in Him, even when it looks like the odds are against us. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The first verse of Hebrews gives us a Biblical definition of faith: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." And the next verse reveals that it's this kind of faith that God esteems: "This is what the ancients were commended for." (Hebrews 11:1-2) The words "sure" and "certain" make it clear that faith is a confidence in God and His Word, even when we don't see any tangible evidence to justify that faith. And the verse that follows reveals why our believing in what we don't see isn't just "pie in the sky:" "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." (Hebrews 11:3)

The Creator of the universe isn't the least bit hindered when our circumstances look "impossible". Making something out of nothing is what our God does best.

Now you need to ask yourself how

serious you are about pleasing God. If you're really serious, you aren't going to be able to avoid taking risks with your faith. Yes, you're going to

experience some disappointments you might have escaped. But I guarantee you this- -you're going to witness some miracles in your life that you would have missed otherwise. Hebrews 11:33 tells us that "through faith" some of God's people "gained what was promised." 

The bottom line is this -- whether or not we receive all the promises we believe God for isn't the issue; the issue is whether or not we are living by faith, trusting God with all our hearts in every circumstance every day of our lives. When we do, along with God's hearty approval, we'll have a peace and joy in our hearts that will enable us to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Today, my heartfelt prayer for you is that you'll dare to believe!

Check out her website from her mid teens

https://www.angelfire.com/la/renee/index1.html