Joel Stiff's Adventure

 

Our church has recently been blessed with a wonderful couple to be our assistant pastor and wife.

They will be helping with our youth, music and anywhere else they are needed.

It has only been two weeks since their arrival and a difference can already be noticed.

When people team up, far more is accomplished than one can do alone.

We are excited to have them on board and anxious to see how God uses them.

Leviticus 26:8: And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 – 12 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

Today marks the eleventh anniversary of our church.

My family and I started the church from scratch holding our first service on the first Sunday in June 2003.

It has been an amazing ride watching God work in us and through us.

I am so very grateful for all that the Lord has allowed us to see and be a part of.

I am also very grateful to our folks.

They have understood our vision.

They have been patient when we have been unable to offer as much as a larger ministry may be able to offer.

They have been patient when I have not been everything I should be.

They have been patient when I made mistakes.

They have been patient when I was going through a hard time.

They have stuck by us when times have been hard.

They have never abandoned ship.

Thank you, LBC family, for always being there and for not going away.

I love you.

 

 

Winston and I were on the motorcycle today.

It was a beautiful day with the sun shining bright in a clear blue sky.

Most motorcyclists are very proud of the amount of chrome on their bikes.

Because of this, there is usually chrome aplenty.

Today, the sun was shining right down on the top of my forks casting a reflection back into my eyes.

Not a lot of use for chrome when you are careening towards oncoming traffic.

Too much chrome can be a bad thing.

A lot of things in life are this way.

A little bit is pleasurable and brings happiness.

Too much can make you sick.

The full soul loatheth even the honeycomb.

 

Do you know what the greatest killer of moose is?

Humans? Hunting? Vehicular strikes? Predators?

Nope.

It is ticks.

Yep, tiny, little ticks.

This is the way destruction comes about.

Most people don’t see their lives destroyed by one giant stupid act of foolishness.

It always comes by way of one little indiscretion followed by another.

Enough little slips add up to enough damage to destroy a life.

 

 

You have probably heard people say that they feel trapped.

Maybe you have said it yourself.

I’ve seen a bumper sticker that said, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go”.

Sounds like a prison.

I have two broken down dirt bikes that my kids ride and a truck that’s out of commission.

I’ve got to find time to work on these things and get them running again.

Seems like too many possessions can be a prison of sorts.

I’ve been guilty of doing things and making decisions that affect my life in order to make someone happy.

A prison?

Maybe when we feel trapped, we should examine exactly who it is erecting the bars.

 

When I was younger, I used to think that sleeping was a waste of time.

I did the math. If I slept an average of eight hours a night, that is a third of my day. If it’s a third of my day, it is a third of my life. If I live to seventy-five years of age, I would sleep away twenty-five of them.

The efficiency freak in me hates to think of twenty-five years being wasted in such a manner.

But God wouldn’t have designed us in this way, if it weren’t for our best.

He speaks of creation in terms of a rhythm: the evening and the morning, the evening and the morning, the evening and the morning.

Our lives work on a rhythm of activity, rest, activity, rest, activity, rest.

If you have ever burned the candle at both ends, you have noticed how your effectiveness drops as your fatigue increases.

We are actually more productive when we have periods of diversion and rest than when we go wide open all the time.

Our culture has gotten so bad that we almost villainize anyone who takes a day off or a vacation. If they do, they better well have earned it by slaving away in a noticeable manner.

 

 

I heard a man say that if you had five true friends at the end of your life, you would be a blessed man.

Besides my family, I know that I have at least five friends who would do anything in the world for me if I had a true need.

Once, I was on a motorcycle ride and broke down sixty miles west of the bridge (C’mon, what bridge you ask. I’m in Michigan. Google it). My brother and I called a friend and asked if he could help. It was nine o’clock at night. He said, “I’ll be there in five hours.”

At two o’clock in the morning, there was a knock at the door. It was Maurice with his truck.

I don’t drive well at night. Maurice drove us home throughout the night while I slept.

He’s my friend.

I don’t think I believe that line about five friends.

The reality is that I have about fifty friends.

You probably do too.

You are probably also a friend like that to many.

Let your friends know that you are there for them.

Love unexpressed cannot be appreciated.

 

Every day I walked a path to school.

For three years, I walked this path to school.

For five more years, I walked this path to the bus stop.

I walked it with many different people.

I found three paths while walking this one path.

The first is the path of the simple. The simple one does not know God’s principles. He is easily led astray.

The second is the path of the fool. The fool knows God’s principles but chooses to ignore them.

The third path is the path of the wise. The wise one knows God’s principles and obeys them.

Everyone starts out simple.

Then you learn God’s principles.

Where you end up after that is a result of the path you choose.

 

There were three different people present at the feeding of the 5,000.

There were the people who received the blessing of a free dinner.

There were the people who distributed the food and witnessed the blessing.

There was the little boy who gave his lunch and was a blessing.

It’s good to receive a blessing.

It’s good to see a blessing.

It’s best to be a blessing.

 

 

 

Our church has recently hired a new staff couple by the names of Sean and Miriam Gallegos.

They arrived on Wednesday and some of their family was able to come with them.

We have spent the last several days helping Sean and Miriam to get settled in, while enjoying their family’s company as well.

The thought today is how easily we strike up friendships and relationships with those who love Jesus like us.

Upon meeting the Gallegos family, we had an immediate rapport. They were friendly and kind as we tried to be.

We shared testimonies, stories and laughter. We are quite honestly a little sad to see them go.

When God is your Father, Jesus is your Savior, the Holy Spirit is your Comforter and the Bible is your book, it is easy to find common ground.

It makes Heaven even more appealing when we realize the people we will get to spend eternity with.