Happy Saturday!

Geni completed her final exit test today and felt pretty good about it. We are so very proud of her.

Travis competed in a power lifting meet and took 1st first place in his weight class with a lift of 650 pounds. Congratulations Travis! We are very proud of him.

Prayer: “Father, You are holy. Thank You for revealing Your holy standard to me and leading me to the Cross. Thank you for loving me in spite of my iniquities. Empower me to live in gratitude for the salvation You provide rather than in guilt for the sin that help me in bondage. Help me give grace to others just as You give grace to me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Galatians 3:22-23 “The Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.”

Tonight at the power lifting meet Travis lost his grip on the bar on his first lift. He was upset, but the meet allows him three lifts and they score the best out of three. I watched him after he lost his grip on 600 pounds. He walked over to a bench and sat down to regroup. He did not watch the other lifters or talk to his trainer. He sat and appeared to have shut out the rest of the very noisy gym and contemplated the first lift. He probably spent some time in prayer too. As he sat he went over the lift and figured out how to correct the error and lift again. His quiet time re-centered him and he was able to continue to compete. Now He could have “beaten himself up” over the slip-up and picked up his gym bag and gone home, but he didn’t. He continued on and finished the competition.

Faith is the drive that allows us to get through a tough time and endure even if we have to back up a few steps and begin again. God’s grace is what allows us to begin again in faith. Grace is never contrary to the holiness of God. His tender mercies are the hands that lift us up when our pride is broken and we must begin again.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer each day remembering that each of us is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all and see you in worship. Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Friday!

Well, I have reached the last day of spring break. I must tell you that it has been a really wonderful week. I have had lunch and coffee with friends. I have worked in the yard. I have had coffee and watched Matlock with Lamar. It was a great week.

Travis competes in a power lifting event tomorrow. He is planning to attempt lifting 700 pounds in a dead lift. Please pray for him to do his best and remain injury free.

Also, Geni takes her final exit test in the morning. Please pray for her. She is a bit nervous as this is her Special Education Test. Please pray for her.

Prayer: “Father I realize I cannot live the Christian life by myself and I praise You for giving me resurrected life. Grant me strength to forsake my agenda and to yield to You today. Make the crucified life a reality in my actions and attitudes. Protect me from my old way of life so that Your name will be honored through me. I dedicate the day to you. Amen.”

Galatians 2: 20 “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live is the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

In the Lutheran church we celebrate Christ’s death each week in our Eucharist. Christ wants us to celebrate His death in us everyday. The passage of scripture tells us that “I have been crucified with Christ.” That means that each day we must die to our old selves (the people we were before we came into relationship with Christ) and live with Christ each day. We cannot live a resurrected life if we don’t die first. Each time we confess our sin before Jesus the more room for Christ there is in our lives.

Tonight my meditation says “God does not rehabilitate His children. He resurrects His children.” We become resurrected when we lay down our bad habits, past grudges, dreams and plans that do no honor God at the feet of the Father, asking for forgiveness and then asking the Father to takes these bad choices and plans and replace them with His guidance, strength and grace. We don’t have to wait for Easter Sunday to experience resurrection. We are told in God’s Word to experience resurrection anew each morning.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift one another up in prayer remembering that each of us is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.
Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Thursday and St. Patrick’s Day!

Remember a couple of weeks ago I shared with you that I was going to go on the 40 pounds in 40 days weight loss plan. (I really hate the word diet!) Anyway I have lost almost 8 pounds in about 10 days. That was up until yesterday. I had an “Unwich” sandwich supplied by Geni and Travis from Jimmy John’s for lunch. So far so good, right? And then, after preparing a meal consisting of 20 pounds of pork, 25 pounds of roasted garlic potatoes with Ranch sauce, green beans, red velvet cupcakes and lemon bars, I “fell off the wagon.” No, I did not eat all of this food, but I did partake. There was not an item on the menu that is on the prescribed weight loss plan. I simply said to myself, “tonight, I don’t care.” I made an excuse and a choice. Consequently, I did not even weigh this morning and now I am back on the “wagon” and following the plan correctly. I realize it will take some time to reverse the effects of the pigout, but I am faithfully beginning again.

I began to think about this in another light. This is how God deals with our sin. No matter what it is we do that separates us from Him (or our diets) when we ask Him for forgiveness, by His grace, God grants forgiveness and allows us to begin once again. The good news is that we do not have to wait until the next day or even the next meal to receive forgiveness. God’s grace and forgiveness are immediate. We live under the blanket of God’s grace with each breath we take. And when we ask for forgiveness it is a further measure of His grace so graciously and compassionately given out of His love.

The next step is to repent. We must change. Changing is the hard work. The rest of the good news is that God works with us through the journey of repentance. Do we have a phenomenal God or what? God forgives us when we have deliberately messed up and turned our back on Him and then waits with open arms as we walk back toward Him. The point is that God never leaves us or turns His back on us even when we turn away from Him. My friends …that is love!

Take joy in the journey. Wear a bit o’ green today with some comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer remembering that everyone is fighting some type of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Wednesday!

I am at home with my feet up relaxing from a wonderfully long day. Today, I, with the help of my wonderful husband and great kids, prepared dinner for 64 people at our church. Tonight was the first of our Lenten dinners. It was a great deal of fun and I think everyone enjoyed the meal and the fellowship.

Prayer: “Father, I recognize You as the source of every good and perfect gift in my life. Thank you for the freedom I enjoy in Jesus Christ and the relief of resting in Your grace. Increase my capacity to love fellow believers as an expression of worship to You. As a living sacrifice, I gladly forsake anything that would bring reproach upon Your name. Amen.”

Romans 14: 21-23 “It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith, for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

This is an interesting passage of scripture for tonight as I prepared 20 pounds of pork tenderloin glazed with Captain Morgan Spiced Rum Sauce to serve at church!

But here is what I discovered as I prepared this meal and watched as it was served. Bruce, Geni and Travis served the meal from warming pans and I replenished the pans as needed. When I had to walk out and tell my family that this was all of the food I found myself praying my prayer of “enough.” We had only 36 people sign up to attend the meal and 64 people ate. Our family waited until 6:45 before we sat down to eat.

Our goal was to get everyone who walked through the door fed and satisfied before worship at 7:00. We even had one person come in at 7:15 needing to eat. We served him and had two pieces of roast, one serving of potatoes and one serving of green beans left. Once again God provided enough even to the one who was late and all were fed and satisfied.

I think that is what the table of grace is about with one exception (and it is a biggie). As I am praying for there to just be enough and wondering what we would do if we had three people walk in with two pieces of meat left, God’s table of grace always has enough places to sit and and enough food to dine on for all eternity. God does not need to pray for enough at the table, for He provided the gift for all eternity in the death and resurrection of Jesus. And even if there is a late comer to the table there is not only enough, but there is abundance. When the late comer arrived, we greeted him just as we had greeted the first guests and prepared his plate just as if he had been in the first group of diners. His food was not cold nor was it in need of re-heating.

I think I have shared this with you because the woman who came up with this idea of our special Lenten meals has named our church kitchen Heaven’s Kitchen. And maybe tonight I learned just a bit about what the table will be like in heaven.

Take joy in the journey. Happy dining! Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Remember someone is always fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Tuesday!

What a day! I began early with breakfast at Starbucks with a friend and progressed on to a mid-morning coffee with a member of the candidacy committee and then back home to begin reading a book on which I have to write a brief paper which is due next week.

Also, great news! Asia Brewer, new daughter of Jeremy and Addie Brewer, come into this world this evening at 3 minutes after 7. She weighed in at 8 pounds 6 oz. Congratulations and welcome to this world, little Asia!

Geni passed her second exit test! Praise God! One to go…

Prayer: “Father, I worship You for being a merciful God. I recommit myself to living in a way that honors the tremendous sacrifice You made on Calvary’s Cross. My greatest desire is to walk within the parameters of Your will. Give me wisdom to think and live as a Christian fully surrendered to You.”

Romans 12: 1-3 “I pray you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly that he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Life lessons from Noah.
1. Always plan ahead. Remember it wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.
2. Stay fit. When you are really old God may ask you to do something really big!
3. Remember the woodpeckers inside the Ark were more dangerous than the storm that raged outside.
4. Stop what you are doing and do what God wants you to do.
5. Remember no matter how tough the storm there is always a rainbow on the other side.

I heard these on Sunday morning before leaving for worship. I found them humorous, profound and speaking to me.

As Christians we offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice on the altar of God’s grace. Noah, even though quite old, submitted himself to God, stopped what he was doing and began to do what God called him to do. This sort of reminds me of this time in my life. I am walking away from the only career I have ever known as a teacher and now I am following a new path to which I believe God has called me. I never knew what the path of discernment meant until I began this call to ministry as a second career.

In the passage of scripture we are told to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Noah had to make an enormous change from being a farmer (or whatever he was) to becoming the most famous sailor of all time. The change or “renewal” of his mind and thinking was that he was now submitting himself to God’s will. He put down what he was doing and began to do what God wanted him to do no matter how outlandish and impossible it may have seemed. And even thought Noah was quite old (about 600 years) God used Noah for a holy purpose. When God renews our minds, His direction is very clear because we are given the ability to discern God’s direction and plan.

Noah did not have scripture on which to rely and most likely he did not discuss this impossible plan with anyone, but I am sure he prayed to God for extraordinary strength, guidance and enough faith to finish the task. We have an advantage over Noah. With scripture, prayer and discussion with other Christians as guides, we will not only find the will of God, but also prove it to be good, acceptable and perfect.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers remembering that everyone is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Happy Monday!

I love coffee with Lamar and Matlock! I had a busy and very enjoyable first day of spring break!

Prayer: “Father, I worship You for speaking through Your Word. Thank you for leading me to Jesus. Create opportunities for me to share how You’ve changed my life and give me the compassion and boldness I will need to serve as a channel of Your grace. Protect me from apathy and make my heart sensitive to the prompting of Your Spirit as I encounter those who need You. Increase my confidence in Your Word. Compel me to be Your witness in the world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen”

Romans 10: 17 “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

In a simple phrase our job on earth as believers is to tell others about Jesus. We are to live our lives by example, but to count on our example of a godly life as all we are to do to share Christ with others does not complete the job. People must hear the message of Jesus. People must hear about salvation, forgiveness, love and grace and they must hear it from us. God’s Word changes lives. Think about when you first came into relationship with Christ. Was it through the example of someone else or was it through the hearing of the Word? This is a holy and sacred calling of which Christ has called us and it leads to an eternity with God. We are not just called to believe God’s Word and live God’s Word, but to share God’s Word. Jesus instructed us to be His witnesses and, according to Acts 1: 8, to the ends of the earth. Read God’s Word today and then share your findings with someone else.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Let us continue to lift each other up in prayer remembering that we are all fighting some sort of battle. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Blessed Sunday to you all!

Today in worship we were blessed with a 150 voice youth choir from Minnesota. They were amazing and the sanctuary was packed.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to walk in fellowship and communication with You today! Thank you for Your promise to guide my steps and direct my thoughts. Today, Lord, give me opportunity to tell someone about You! In Your name. Amen”

Colossians 1: 9-10 “We also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

This morning in Pastor Joel’s sermon he spoke of his desire to be not only a fine musician when he grew up, but to be the best musician he could be. He began by playing simple pieces of music and then advanced to more complex pieces. He is now an accomplished organist and pianist. But he did not get there by accident. God gave Pastor a talent for piano and organ playing and through study and practice he became an excellent musician.

He then compared this path to our Christian lives. God plants His DNA in each of us at our birth and it is affirmed at our baptism. We cannot stay at this infant stage of our spiritual growth. The way we grow into the likeness of Christ is through prayer, Bible study and fellowshipping with strong Christians, learning how to serve and then serving Christ through helping others.

At the root of all of this growth is salvation in Jesus. The outcome of our growth in Jesus pleases God. So let us continue to be lifelong learners in our spiritual lives and strive to grow into the likeness of the One who created us.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Have a blessed spring break and remember that everyone is fighting some sort of battle. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.

Special prayer alert: A friend from the Emmaus community lost their 27 year old son last evening in a tragic car accident near Stephenville. The family’s name is Burns. Peace, gc