4th of July and always

ALMIGHTY God, who hast created man in thine own image; Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil, and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice among men and nations, to the glory of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

saved

i love this :)

The Nineteenth Psalm

Caeli enarrant.

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THE heavens declare the glory of God; * and the firmament showeth his handy-work.

One day telleth another; * and one night certifieth another.

There is neither speech nor language; * but their voices are heard among them.

Their sound is gone out into all lands; * and their words into the ends of the world.

In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; * which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course.

It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; * and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD is an undefiled law, converting the soul; * the testimony of the LORD is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.

The statutes of the LORD are right, and rejoice the heart; * the commandment of the LORD is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, and endureth forever; * the judgments of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; * sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is thy servant taught; * and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can tell how oft he offendeth? * O cleanse thou me from my secret faults.

Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me; * so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in thy sight, * O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

 

GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost;
AS it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end. Amen.

So how do we represent Jesus well in the workplace?

Here is an article from The Gospel Coalition that I felt was very relevant for us:

Before working at my present job, I was a cook for five years at an Italian restaurant. If you have worked in the restaurant industry, you know that it can draw an interesting and diverse crowd of employees. During that time, I became a Christian. I never thought that I would be in a more challenging work atmosphere to share and live out my faith. While my current work atmosphere is really nothing like the restaurant (I work at Fortune 500 company), I have found an entirely new set of challenges in living out my faith at work. The truth is, there are always challenges to carrying the gospel message in a fallen world, regardless of the context.

The corporate world presents a unique veneer of professionalism, ethics, and propriety. But in reality, the guts of the day-to-day in a corporate job can be quite challenging. There are myriad moral conundrums that come up in an office. We are faced with temptations to gossip and engage in malicious chatter when others aren’t around. Many are faced with struggles with the opposite sex. The challenge for Christians is to represent the gospel well at any job.

So how do we represent Jesus well in the workplace? Here are a five ways to grace your workplace.

1. Be bold but smart. Consider Paul’s boldness before Felix in Acts 24 or Jesus’ words on being brought before governors and kings in Matthew 10. Just because we are at work, we are never exempt from the call on our lives to make much of him. However, we must be smart and keep in mind passages like 1 Peter 2:13: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” At work, we are subject to our bosses and to the leader or leaders of the company. So be bold, but keep in mind where you are.

2. Take risks. I realize this point somewhat contradicts the last one, but the Christian life rests in that tension between risk and prudence. Take steps in work friendships to bring up Jesus. I am a relational evangelist, meaning I like to establish some type of friendship and then bring up Jesus. I am rarely the “can I tell you about Jesus?” guy. My temptation is to never actually bring up Jesus, or to do so in softened ways. Risk a friendship, risk a promotion, risk not “fitting in,” or maybe even risk your job if God would call you to that sacrifice. Of course, we don’t want to be reckless just for the sake of being reckless.

3. Pray for your enemies. Make it a practice to pray for the people who don’t seem to like you, who you don’t really get along with, or who just always seem to have something snarky to say to or about you. This is incredibly hard, which is why you need to rely on the Spirit. You will also discover God ministering to you even as you pray. Pray for them, for their families, and for their kids. Most importantly, pray for their relationship with Jesus.

4. Use your gift(s). I am a teacher/pastor type. I usually go into a teaching or pastoral mode at some point during my faith encounters with coworkers. The church is still the church both gathered and scattered. While at work we continue to be part of the church scattered, and in the church we are called to use our gifts to build up the body. Pray about and find a way to use your gift(s). Start a Bible study; start a prayer group; take people’s prayer requests and pray for them; give of your time, talents, or treasures to those in need. Do whatever it takes to be a reconciling minister of the gospel (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

5. Work hard. Be on time, care about your job, follow the rules, get your work done, and help others. Of course, nonbelievers can be good employees, too. What makes us different is really captured in the household codes from many of the epistles. “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust” (1 Pet. 2:18). We should be that “good” employee no matter whom we work for, what the conditions are, and/or whether we like the job. In sharing these sufferings of Christ, light they may be, we can make much of Christ by working hard with integrity. Never let laziness or grumbling be your calling card.
May God bless us as we seek to serve and make much of Christ in all areas of our lives!

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Col. 1:27-29)

http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-ways-to-bless-your-work-place

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lunch with family

Just arrived back at my desk after lunch with fellow co-workers, bible study members, well, members of the family of God :)

I was sending a thank you note to one of the people who met us, even though she has retired, she still comes out to have lunch with us every now and again.

Thank you for what you said after I spoke about all of the questions that are brought up that I don’t know the answer for immediately. I tend to focus on my failure instead of focusing on how those questions are a way to learning more by researching and praying so that I can know the answers.

Encourage and Equip! 

I wanted to share this with you because we are here to encourage each other and to equip each other so that we can bring in more people into the family of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Proverbs 25:11 - A word fitly spoken [is like] apples of gold in pictures of silver.

a wonderful idea

Hebrews 10:23