Take the plunge

 

Not long before Jesus was tortured and died for his (Peters) sin,

Peter said to Jesus," I will lay down my life for Your sake"

 

Jesus asked Peter "Will you, lay down your life for My sake?" Then Jesus made Peter a promise....." Most assuredly, I  say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times." John 13: 36 - 38

 

My friends, like many of you, I gave my life to Jesus.  I told Him that He could have all of me.  In response, He forgave us of our sins and made us a new creation. Jesus is willing to forgive and FORGET.

 

We say that we love Him and to prove it we might have fasted or attended church more this week.  We will celebrate His resurrection this Sunday with special songs, food and candy. 

Yet, if we were to be honest, we would have to admit that we continue to deny him.  Sometimes we deny him access to the deep things in our heart such as unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness, anger, anxiety, fear......Sometimes we do not want our friends or associates  to know.... "I am with Jesus".   

 

 Our prayer this week is to ask God to examine our hearts. If we dare...pray Psalm 26:2 "Examine me, O Lord and prove me, Try my mind and my heart"  

 

Have you denied your Savior this week? 

 

After His glorious resurrection, Jesus appears on shore to the disciples who are fishing.  John 21:7, "When Peter saw Jesus he plunged into the sea."  He wanted, needed and desired to be the first one to His risen Lord. 

 

I pray that this week we are ready to PLUNGE in and follow Jesus.  

 

I promise you that He will NOT deny you.

 

I pray that you experience a wonderful day of resurrection with Jesus this Sunday and for EVERY day of your life.

 

Happy Easter

Milestone Ministries

 

The gift of service

Much of our time these days before Christmas might have been filled with trying to find the perfect gift for someone. 

I do enjoy shopping for friends and I love to see their reaction when they open the gift that I am hoping will be the perfect gift.  But I know for sure that the greatest gift that I have ever given and the greatest gift that I every received has been the gift of service.

When I accepted the gift of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He offered me, I realized that I had met the greatest servant that ever walked the earth.  Jesus was the perfect example of a servant. He was born to serve God and His children.  Jesus not only washed the feet of His disciples, He preached, He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, cast out demons and died for me.

With Jesus as an example, we too are called to be servants.  "What does the Lord God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 10:12

I have altered my prayer after reading  Deuteronomy 10:12.  No longer do I spend much time asking God to bless me.  Instead, I spend more time thanking him and asking him how I can bless Him and others.  "Lord, how can I serve you today?"

In Matt 10:7-8 Jesus instructs us to serve mankind exactly as He did "As you go, preach saying the kingdom of God is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons."
Romans 12:1 tells us that our "reasonable service to the Lord is to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice."
Paul called himself a "bond servant" (service by choice) of Christ. 

As we celebrate Christmas our thoughts often turn to Mary, Mother of Jesus.  I believe that the greatest thing that Mary every did in her life is the same thing that we can do.   She said YES to God.  Mary said "behold the maidservant of the Lord!  Let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38 

Let this be the Christmas of giving the perfect gift.  Giving of our lives for the service of others.

Merry Christmas! 

Milestone Ministries Blog: Be careful who you believe?

Milestone Ministries Blog: Be careful who you believe?

Be careful who you believe?

Everyone is talking, many claim to be experts, all claim to be truthful and concerned about me and my best interests. From news channel to news channel, from person to person, from church to church, everyone is talking. They all want my attention, my money or my help. In exchange they promise to tell me what is right.....what is the truth. To make it worse we want to follow these people, we idolize them and we believe they can do no wrong. We teach our children to like them to follow them and strive to be like them. If they win enough football games, sell enough books or attract enough people to a gathering, they must be righteous......right. "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." Matthew 23:27 We must test what we hear against the truth. The age old question....."what is the Truth"? The bible says that "my righteousness is like filthy rags". So don't take my word for it. Examine for yourself. Remember, to expose what is counterfeit you should study the truth and the counterfeits will be reveal themselves. Jesus said that He is the truth and Paul proclaims in 2Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God (breathed word of God), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". Time and testing has proven that the Word of God is not only historically accurate, but it is prophetically correct. Feel free to continue to test it, try to prove it incorrect or inconsistent or ....Feel free to believe it. In either case you will find yourself in awe of God, because nothing stands up to be true like His word. When I decided to stop chasing the truth and simply receive it I found unexplainable peace. I no longer have to labor over who is telling me the truth. I met the Truth and now all that is false is evident. How do I deal with what I know to be a lie and keep my peace? I am still working on that....I just know that I must be patient.

Cleanup Continues

"We love Him because He first loved us." ~1 John 4:9-10

It has been six weeks since the devastating tornadoes struck western Mass. and the work continues. Thanks to our many generous donors and volunteer workers, Milestone Ministries has so far committed over 500 hours of labor and thousands of dollars to the relief effort. Our primary focus for our volunteers has been tree and debris removal in Springfield, West Springfield, Wilbraham, and Monson.We have been working with Springfield Christian Ministries Tornado Relief, a wonderful group that coordinates the need for cleanup, and dispatches the necessary crews to get the work done. We have also been responding to direct calls for help from folks we have met on this journey. 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive." ~ Acts 20:35

This week we were blessed to be a part of the Monson "Chainsaw Response Team" an incredible group of volunteers made up primarily of off duty firefighters from all over Massachusetts. On Wednesday we joined with more than 150 volunteers to clean up King Street, one of Monson's most ravaged neighborhoods. It was absolutely amazing how well organized we were. We had just the right mix of chain saw operators, heavy equipment operators, and labor to move and stack the logs, brush, and debris. By 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night King Street, although barren, was cleaned of all debris and fallen trees.

"But the salvation of the righteous is the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble." ~ Psalm 37:39

With our tornado relief fund we have been able to aid victims with transportation help, housing assistance, and equipment required for cleanup. This week we also purchased a Thomas Skid Steer Loader, a piece of heavy equipment that will allow us to move  logs, brush, and debris in a fraction of the time it now takes. Our generous donors can be assured that their contributions are being put to the most beneficial uses.

The work goes on. 

We will continue aiding those whose lives were changed due to the storms of June 1, 2011 until the need no longer exists.

Tornado of 2011 Now What

On June 1st Western MA was devestated by a tornado, the first in over 70 years.  The landscape of  Springfield, West Springfield, Wilbraham and     Monson has been changed for ever.  Those of us from Western MA who watched the tornado and it's aftermath on  television were stunned and amazed.  Those who were huddled in their basement holding on to their loved ones and praying were also stunned and amazed.  Stunned that in just a few moments much of their worldly possesions were scattered for miles and that their home was no longer on its foundation and amazed that they had crawled out of the rubble alive.

Watching the aftermath of a disaster from a distance will move you with emotion, but standing in the aftermath will bring you to your knees.

I am honored to be working with a group of Christian men, women and children from various churchs that spread out in work teams with chain saws, rakes and hearts for service.

Prepared with tools to cut trees, trim branches and rake debis I assended on the ravaged neighborhood believing that the "S" on my chest and the chain saw in my hand would actually make a dent.  But as I was driving through what remained of a neighborhood my "S" faded and my chain saw seemed as a spoon to empty the ocean.
I just stood in the rubble, took a deep breath to hold back the tears and dug in.   Sometimes the homeowners join in, sometimes they just stare with a blank expression.  They have been at this for days, often alone.

What do say as you stand with them in a pile of what  was their life?  "How are you"" seems foolish.  Should you ask them the same questions that they have already been asked many times? Should you ask, "how can I be of help"?  Sometimes in life there are no adequate words.  My Dad taught me that you shouldn't speak unless you can improve on the silence .....at this moment that is sound advise

I decided just to introduce myself and stand with them, often in silence, visually review the mess and start to work, just go ahead and start like I knew what I was doing.

The Bible also has sound advise for this situation, Paul said   "Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep".  Romans 12:15  This was the scripture that kept coming to mind.  Often the victims wanted to tell you how lucky or blessed or fortunate they were to be alive and so, standing in the mist of their life you rejoice with them.  Often  you could see desperation and fear in their eyes so you just stand and weep with them. 

It's kind of like going to the wake of someone that you never knew.  You are among people who have suffered a loss looking at a life laid out before them but you have no connection to the death.  So you just weep with them.

I am glad to report that we did make a dent after all.  But it was not the "S" on our chest that made the difference.  It was the heart in our chest that had the most effect.  We cleared many trees and picked up tons of debris but often the most important thing we did was to show up.

Milestone has also been providing needed supplies to the hundreds of families who are now living in a shelter because their home was destroyed.  If you would like to help you can donate on line at http://www.milestoneministry.org/.  100% of your donation will be used for the victims....no fuzzy math.

You can also help with prayer.  Just pray for restoration and deliverance.  God will respond.

 

Are Crumbs Enough?

It is always exciting to sit at the banquet table, and on many occasions I have been blessed  to enjoy that abundance.  But I have come to learn that I can live well on the crumbs. My daily bread is often what was left behind or ignored by others...... and that is sufficient for me.

Her daughter was sick, "demon - possessed", and she would do anything to make her well.  She'd heard there that there was a Jewish man named Jesus passing through her town and  that He had been healing the sick and casting out demons. 

Could it be true that her daughter might finally be healed.  If only she could meet Him and beg  for help. What are the chances?  As a Gentile, to approach him would be bad for her reputation.  What would her friends and family think?  Even if her daughter was healed who could she tell and who would rejoice with her.  Who would believe her?  Surely she would be chastised and possibly expelled from her people and her church.  But this was for her daughter and she was willing to risk it all.

She cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, Oh Lord, Son of David, my daughter is severely demon possessed".   His disciples urged Him to send her away; "she is not one of us".  But He answered and explained that He was sent first for the lost sheep of the house of Israel and she was not among that tribe.

This persistent Mom could not be discouraged so she worshiped Him, saying, "Lord help me!"
He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."
She pressed on, "yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire," and her daughter was healed from that very hour.

This story as noted in Matthew 15:21 is one of compassion, faith, desperation and a simple prayer.  This Mom knew that the crumbs would be enough.  "Lord help me"was her simple prayer.

She came to Jesus the same way that many people seek him;
- they have a need/problem beyond their own ability to solve
- they come to  cry out (worship), often out of desperation
- they have faith that He can help, but wonder if He will

I find it exciting that due to the cross our access to Jesus and His mercy, healing, compassion and deliverance has no restriction.  Regardless of who we are, what we ever thought about Him  or were taught about Him, He will still receive us.  A recovering addict once said these beautiful words to me, " when I got to the very bottom, my lowest point......Jesus was there."

About 24 years ago I reluctantly exchanged everything that I thought was important for just a few crumbs.  I am glad to proclaim that God responded.  Today my plate is full everyday..... with plenty to share.  For this I am grateful.  Alleluia.