What a wonderful privilege I had last week to lay hands upon our youth pastor, Rev. Steve Miller, to ordain him into the ministry. Each year at our annual Pennsylvania-Delaware District Council, the MinistrieSummit concludes with this dynamic event, as members of the Presbytery recognize the call of God upon a select group of ministers who have proven their call into the ministry through their years as a licensed minister.

I still vividly recall the night twenty-five years ago when I was ordained in Carlisle, PA. It was a very special moment for me when Rev. D. Ronald Bailey, my presbyter then, laid his hands upon me. Now, as a member of the Presbytery, I continue this biblical tradition of conferring ordination upon others.

We are very proud of Pastor Steve. I met him many years ago as he was on the staff of the Christian Publications Bookstore in Camp Hill, PA. He married the former Debbie Sproull, one of the daughters of my good friend, Pastor Dennis Sproull, who served in the district office with me for a number of years. The Millers recognized their call into the ministry, and moved to Springfield, Missouri, where, like my wife and I, were married students at Central Bible College. Following graduation from CBC, Pastor Steve joined the pastoral staff at Walnut Grove Assembly of God outside of Pittsburgh, PA, and was also became a licensed minister of the Assemblies of God. Last year, they joined the pastoral staff here at WFA.

The Millers have diligently pursued their call, and have faithfully followed the will of the Lord. Through times of difficulty as well as times of victory, the Lord has confirmed His call upon them time after time. Last week’s ordination service was a time where we acknowledged what the Lord has done and His anointing upon their life and ministry.

In 1 Timothy 4:14, the apostle Paul tells his son in the faith, Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” This same word was communicated to Pastor Steve during the ordination service.

And, it is a word for each of us today! Perhaps you have not been called into a full-time preaching ministry. But, God has nonetheless called you into full-time ministry! You are gifted by Him, and called by Him! Do not neglect the gift that He has given you!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 8.20. Live for God, on purpose, serving Him each and every day, being used in the gifts and calling of God upon your life!

Overcoming Bad Habits

Have you ever tried to throw away an old bad habit or a self-defeating addiction?

Someone said that the best way to break a bad habit is to drop it. If we don’t break that bad habit or addiction it will have a way of breaking us! So how do we break that bad habit and/or a self-defeating addiction?

First, we need to admit that we have a problem and that it has us beaten. The only person God or anyone else can ever help is the one who admits, “I have a problem. I need help,” and genuinely means it and is prepared to do something about it. Bad habits and addictions rarely, if ever, leave us without a battle.

Second, we need to avoid playing the blame-game at all costs, and accept full responsibility for our actions and our recovery. We need to realize that bad habits and especially addictions are a means to medicate some inner problem or pain that we have never faced, dealt with and resolved. Bad habits and addictions are almost always the “fruit of a deeper root.”

Third, we need to ask for qualified help. It may be a support group or a qualified counselor, or an accountability partner. We need this support in order to keep us accountable and to help us stop acting out our addiction and thereby medicating (deadening) the pain. To heal it we need to feel it. Medicating it stops us from facing and resolving it.

Fourth, we need to allow God to handle the root cause. Many people beg God to deliver them from their destructive symptoms but never think to realize that they need to pray that God will confront them with the reality of the cause or causes that drives them to act out in destructive habits and/or addictions. It is only as we face and confront the truth behind our destructive habits that we have any chance of recovery.

When we are hiding a deeper sin or fault we tend to confess a lesser one all the more vigorously. That is; instead of confessing the cause of our behavior, we get obsessed with and confess only the symptom. This tends to reinforce the addiction rather than overcome it because whatever the mind dwells on, the body acts on.

When we pray for truth and genuinely mean it, God always answers. Once we see the truth (cause) of our problem, we usually know what we need to do about resolving it. As God’s Word says, “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.”

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Practicing the Golden Rule

by Alan Smith

I read recently about one of the most touching moments in sports I’ve ever heard about. It took place at a women’s softball game on April 26. Central Washington and Western Oregon faced off against each other, with the winner to receive a bid to the NCAA’s Division II playoffs.

Sara Tucholsky, a Western Oregon player, came to the plate in the second inning with the score tied 0-0 and two runners on base. Sara had never hit a home run in her lifetime. However, things were about to change. She connected on a pitch and hit the ball over the center field fence. Due to her excitement, she missed first base. So she stopped and turned to go back to the base. But when she made the sudden stop and turn, she collapsed to the ground, having torn her ACL.

Her first base coach wanted to run out and help her, but if she touched Sara, she would have been counted out. As Sara lay on the ground, umpires conferred and determined that the best thing to do was to allow Western Oregon to substitute a pinch runner at first base (which would have canceled the home run).

The coach prepared to make the substitution when she heard a voice: “Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?’” You see, in softball, a teammate can’t touch a player while running the bases, but there’s no rule that says the opponents can’t touch her. So Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace, two players on the opposing team offered to carry Sara around the bases so that her home run would not be counted as a single. These two players gently picked up Sara, and carried her around the bases, allowing her to tap each base along the way. After reaching home plate, these two girls handed Sara off to her own teammates.

When asked later why she did it, Mallory Holtman said, “Honestly, it’s one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me...” In other words, she was practicing the “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

There’s not much I can add to a touching story like that. May it serve as an inspiration to find ways in your own life to look for people who could use a hand. When we are less concerned about “winning” than we are about helping others, we can truly begin to reflect Jesus Christ in our lives.

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do for you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

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There are No “Small” Acts of Kindness

The author wishes to remain anonymous, edited by Shmuel Greenbaum

Since I founded DoOneNiceThing.com, many people write to me about nice things they do for others or are done for them. I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a “small” act of kindness. Some actions might be less dramatic than others, but each one has the potential to make a big impact on someone. We never know:

• A man in Missouri told me that his 10-year-old daughter had the idea to give some of her books to a little friend who loved to read but had no books. The father readily agreed to help his daughter assemble some books to give away. But he said she must not give the books to the girl at school. Instead, he dropped them off on the doorstep of the classmate’s home to avoid embarrassing her or her family. Is giving away a few used books a small thing? Not to a poor student who is hungry to read, and not to a father who is proud of his young daughter’s desire to help others.

• A fellow in Wyoming called me about a nice thing that his friend did: They carpool together in a truck, and on their way to and from work each day, the men noticed another man walking down a long road – everyday. One day the friend put his old but decent bicycle in the back of the truck, and when they saw the man walking, the friend jumped out and gave him the bicycle. The man was surprised and very grateful. Is giving away an old bike a small thing? Not to a person who can now save hours and avoid pain by riding instead of walking. And not to the giver’s friend who is inspired by his friend’s kindness.

• A woman in New York told me that she buys a sandwich for lunch almost every day. When she does, she eats half and asks the waiter to wrap up the other half and put it into a bag. When she leaves the restaurant she finds a homeless person to give the leftover sandwich to. Is giving away a leftover sandwich a small thing? Not to a person who is starving.

• A man I know takes a walk every morning in his California neighborhood, and when he does he carries a package of cookies with him. He hands a cookie to anyone he sees – neighbors, gardeners, repair crews, delivery people – and wishes them a heart-felt “Good morning!” When they see him they call out, “Cookie Man!” and wave and smile. Is giving someone a cookie and a smile small thing? Not to the recipient who is filled with joy by a simple act of generosity.

• A marathon runner wrote to me to praise the people who help her train. She is blind, and sighted runners allow themselves to be tethered to her by a loose rope so she can follow the course. She said she has never had a problem finding another runner to help her – someone always offers, and she is deeply grateful to them. Is wearing a loose rope around your waist a small thing? Not to a woman who can now fulfill her dream of competing alongside others.

Every act of kindness matters, no matter how small it might seem to us.

Used with permission of http://www.PartnersInKindness.org. Kind Words is a free weekly e-mail distributed by Partners In Kindness. Although the content of this e-mail contains copyrighted material, Partners in Kindness allows users who register at our website to reprint them in print, on a website, or on an e-mail distribution list at no cost. If you have permission to reprint this e-mail, please ensure that you reprint the entire e-mail (including this notice). Kindness is like music, art, sports or any other discipline – it can only be mastered with practice, training, and lots and lots of encouragement. That is what PartnersInKindness.org is trying to promote.

For further information, please visit their website at http://www.PartnersInKindness.org, or e-mail them at info@PartnersInKindness.org

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Envying Mozart

Remember the story of Mozart’s life told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri. The play and the film were both called Amadeus. Salieri was the court musician in Vienna. He worked hard at his craft, writing melodies that were nice and choral pieces that were fine and instrumental works that were good. He knew that God had blessed him.

As a young man he had prayed fervently to God, “Let me make music that will glorify you, Father. Help me lift the hearts of people to heaven. Let me serve you through my music.”

Then came the boy wonder, the child prodigy, young Mozart. He dazzled the crowds, playing music as if it was second nature to him. Complex melodies came from his dancing fingers. His melodies were complex and fun all at the same time, songs that soared till they seemed to bring heaven right down to earth.

Here’s the catch: Mozart was such an obvious sinner. He was immature, vulgar, and obscene. He made off with the ladies every chance he could get. Salieri grew green with envy. How could life be so unfair. He was the servant of God. Why should Mozart be blessed with such talents? Salieri lived a pious and obedient life. Why should Mozart traffic in all these worldly pleasures and still get ahead? Salieri spent a lifetime of hard and tedious work. Why should it all come so easily for youthful Mozart?

The story continues until Mozart dies a mysterious death. Salieri’s eyes gleam. And in the dramatic climax, Salieri sits in an insane asylum, where he curses God for denying him the kind of talent that blessed young Mozart. Envy lurks on the path of the crushed spirit.

From Wayne Brouwer’s “Taming the Beast,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 118. As seen in Norman Lawrence’s “A Dose of Inspiration.” Subscribe by sending any email to adoseofinspiration-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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He is Everywhere!

God spoke the universe into existence. Everything is made for His glory, including us.

At the far edges of the universe, about as far as we can see, is the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). It’s 23 million light years away. Here’s a photo from the Hubble telescope. This is actually what is seen inside the core of the galaxy:

One of the tiniest, wee things we can see is laminin, a structure of polypeptide chains that are an integral part of holding nearly all animal tissue together. Here’s what it looks like:

A visual reminder that Jesus gave His life for us, and no matter where we go, there He is.

Colossians 1:17 tells us “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

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Give It All to God

At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work.

“I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”

He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat.

As he sat down a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him “I dare you to do it again.”

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The Last Impression

Over the years, I have usually managed to decode the cute, but confusing gender signs sometimes put on restaurants’ restroom doors. But every so often, I get stumped.

Recently, I wandered off in search of the men’s room and found myself confronted by two marked doors. One was labeled “Bronco” and the other was designated “Cactus.”

Completely baffled, I stopped a waiter. “Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.” Gesturing toward the doors, I said, “Which one should I use?”

“Actually, we would prefer you to go there,” the waiter said, pointing to a door down the hall marked “Men.” “Bronco and Cactus,” he explained, “are private dining rooms.”

No mixing up where you need to be this Sunday! The sign above the doors says “Let us exalt His name together – Psalm 34:5” Looking forward to gathering together with you this Sunday to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! See you here at WFA!