March #1

FAMILY BLOGSPOT – For those of you have been praying and keeping up on the family circumstances the is a blogspot that Jordan Lambert, a friend of the family, is keeping up to keep us all posted. Here is the address: http://newellfamilyupdates.blogspot.com/ You will also find a copy of the article in the Salem Oregon paper about the situation. I tried to send it but some said it got garbled in the transmission and you can get it from the blogspot as well as Gary’s poem about his brother John.

PRAYING THE SCRIPTURES – Have you learned to pray the Scriptures? What I mean by this is a matter of personal devotions as you read through your Bible. So often we pray through out list of requests for self, family, friends, etc. A more worshipful type of prayer takes place when we read our Bibles and see a verse that touches our hearts that we take pause in our reading to praise and thank God for the blessed truth you have just read. It is an uplifting experience to commune with our God through prayer, recognizing the beauty and wonder of the portion of Scripture being read. If you have never done this give it a try and see if you are not blessed in doing so. I was recently reading Psalm 40 and Romans 10 and as I did so, noting a number of great verses that stood out to me, I began praising and thanking God for the great promises and truths I was rereading. It gave me a joyous and unburdened heart for the remainder of the day.

MORE ABOUT OBAMA – As you know, I have expressed my concerns about Obama’s background and links with Islam through his father. As we gain new information and to be fair, in the face of what I have said about Obama, he has denied any ties with Islam. He has also stated that he has been a Christian for two decades and he prays to Jesus every night. At the same time, the radical Islamic Farrakhan has placed his endorsement on Obama’s presidential bid. Obama rejected his endorsement during the debate with Clinton on Thursday night in Cleveland. All this said, none of these matters change the reality of his inexperience and his being at the top of the list for his liberal voting as a Senator and his desire to raise our taxes. At present it appears that he is going to bypass Clinton in the Presidential race. His youth, appearance and eloquence of speech are drawing a lot of people to him. It seems to me that people are moved more by these factors than his position on issues politically and economically.

A REMEMBERED QUOTE – You will probably think this strange but maybe it will cause you to take pause and reflect back on things your grandparents of parents use to say. Many times as I am washing or showering at the beginning of the day I remember a saying of my grandmother from when I stayed with she and my grandfather during the summer, “I wash down as far as possible, then I was up as far as possible and then I wash possible.” Does that cause you to smile? Some of those old, quaint sayings from the past stick with us and bring us good memories of the past. I don’t remember too many past sayings but this is one that comes back to me again and again. If nothing else, it is a good quote for proper hygiene.

MEMORABLE SUNDAYS – During those summer stays, living in a small apartment behind the variety store that my grandparents owned, the store was always closed on Sundays. Grandmother would prepare a picnic lunch and then we would go to Sunday school and church. When church was over we would drive a few miles along the Columbia River Gorge and find a small road alongside a stream of one of the many waterfalls, park and enjoy our picnic lunch as we observed the beauty of God’s creation and sound of the passing water. We would then read the Sunday paper and I would get the funny paper section and they had the news to read. We would usually end up taking a walk or hike through the trees and climbing over the rocks, enjoying the outdoors. Those were wonderful and peaceful Sundays away from the usual weekly endeavors. There were no TV’s in those days and people weren’t hooked on sports that often keep people from enjoying God’s outdoors and handiwork. I hope you have some similar joyous memories or perhaps find similar events to break up the hurry and scurry of today’s living.

MAKING CHANGE – Living with my maternal grandparents on various occasions at an early age as they managed a chain variety store and later their own store, I learned to make change when I was quite young. Consequently I stand amazed at teenagers today working at McDonalds, etc. having problems with making change. That is probably why the products rather than the dollar and cents mark some cash register keys. Have you ever noticed them?

SERMON ATTACHMENT – I am going to attach my sermon notes from three weeks ago on what I call “Two Kinds of Faith.” I was going to have CD’s made up to mail out but that is a bit expensive. Some of our people don’t have Internet so I may have to mail the printed pages to them.