firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

There’s nothing worse than a cow gone bad.

At least that was the impression for Idaho Falls police last week as they tried to apprehend a fugitive 1,000-pound Black Angus, according to a March 17 Associated Press report.

Two bovine break-out artists nudged a barn door to make their escape. One returned to the barn on its own the next morning, but the second cow continued on its mad-cap crime spree for hours. When a police officer tried to herd the cow by driving beside it, the fugitive animal rammed his Ford Explorer.

The eventual capture involved two police officers, an animal control officer, and the farm couple from the original scene of the crime. “Bessy” (not the assailant’s real name) was eventually returned to the farm, undoubtedly to enter a period of extended probation.

“I don’t know what got into it,” said Shelley Turnbow, who with her husband owns the foiled escapee. “We've been raising cows for 20 years and never had something like this happen before.”

In our lives, sometimes things happen around us that have never happened before. I have heard people say “I have served the Lord all my life – why would something like this happen to me now?”

In this life, we need to learn to expect the unexpected! The rain falls on the just and the unjust! But, in the midst of whatever you are going through, you can always have that assurance that our God will never leave you nor forsake you, and that He will be an ever present help in a time of trouble!

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 4.13. Live for God, on purpose, no matter what the day brings. At all times, and in all situations, our Lord is there with you, a friend that sticks closer than a brother!

Former New York Yankees great Yogi Berra was known for his “Yogi-isms” – statements he would make that were just a little twisted. One such “yogi-ism” is this – “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.”

As confusingly simple as that statement is, that’s just about the procedure many people take each and every day. You see, I firmly believe that much of what we call “life” is all about decisions. And, unfortunately, many people don’t put much thought to the decisions they daily must make. Simply put, when they come to a fork in the road, they just “take it.”

Every single day – and most often many times a day – we are faced with decisions we must make. And quite often, these decisions have a profound impact upon not only our life, but the lives of others.

When you come to a fork in the road – a time for a specific decision – what choice do you make, and how do you arrive at that choice?

One of my favorite characters in the Bible is a king by the name of Josiah. You see, Josiah was a good king. And, he became a good king in spite of the fact that his father and his grandfather had left him a horrible example, and had made terrible decisions. Josiah did not do as they did. 2 Chronicles 34:2 says that Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”

When Josiah “came to the fork in the road,” he made the correct choice. He did not turn to the right or the left.

This Sunday morning, we will take a look at 2 Chronicles 34 and 35, and learn from four special “forks in the road” that Josiah faced, and the decisions that he made. I believe if we will make these same decisions, that we, too, will be successful in our life’s journey. You won’t want to miss this extremely timely and practical message!

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This Sunday evening, we will have the wonderful privilege to see some twenty-six people follow the Lord in water baptism! This is going to be a tremendous time of rejoicing and hearing the testimony of these folks, as they take this step of faith in following the command of our Lord to be baptized.

Also joining us for this service will be two missions churches that we regularly support – All God’s Children Church, pastored by Eric Nordin, and our own daughter church, New Life Christian Assembly, pastored by Rev. Bill Lorman.

Before the water baptism begins, I will be sharing a special message with everyone about baptism. Many people have questions about water baptism, and maybe you do to! Here are a few questions that we will be answering -

• I was baptized as a baby – do I need to be baptized again?

• What’s wrong with baptism by sprinkling?

• Do I have to get baptized? What happens if I don’t?

• What does water baptism mean?

• Why should I get baptized?

This Sunday night, you can anticipate a fantastic time of worship, a great teaching on this command of the Lord, and a special time of blessing as you hear these great folks share their testimony and watch them follow the Lord in baptism. Don’t miss it!

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Next Sunday night, April 4th, the Grove City College Touring Choir will present a concert of sacred choral music at WILMINGTON first assembly of God. My oldest daughter, Jessica, is a freshman at GCC, and was selected by audition to be a member of the Touring Choir. (She is pictured in the front row, center of the choir.)

The Grove City College Touring Choir, under the direction of Professor of Music, Dr. Douglas A. Browne, is a select group of forty singers. The choir, consisting of students of a variety of academic majors, tours annually during the week of Easter break through various regions of the United States. The choir seeks to praise and glorify God and to minister to others through the medium of music, striving together to achieve choral excellence. In addition to the spring tour, the choir performs for churches, schools, and various events in the western Pennsylvania area.

Recent honors include performing for the Pennsylvania Music Educators’ National Conference Eastern Division Conventions, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and recently for the American Choral Directors Association.

Grove City College was founded in 1876 and has a three-part mission to provide a high-quality education in a thoroughly Christian environment at an affordable cost. Grove City is a truly independent and private college, which accepts no federal funding in order to protect the integrity of its mission.

Since its founding, Grove City College, committed to Christian principles, has striven to be equal in academic quality to the finest four year colleges. It seeks to provide liberal and professional education of the highest quality that is within the reach of families with modest means who desire a college that will strengthen their children’s spiritual and moral character.

Grove City College is a residential, undergraduate campus of approximately 2300 students. It is located in northwest Pennsylvania near the intersection of I-80 and I-79 – about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. Current students represent 45 states and 11 foreign countries. The 150 acre campus is located on the edge of Grove City, PA – a town of approximately 8000 residents. The college is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

You can visit Grove City College on the web at http://www.gcc.edu

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by Ron Hutchcraft

They take more abuse than anyone in professional baseball. More than the managers who make some dumb decisions. More than players who mess up. No, it’s those umpires that many fans love to hate. Oh sure, they make some calls the fans don’t like or agree with, but I'd hate to think of a ball game without some objective official deciding whether the pitch is a ball or a strike, or whether a hit is foul or fair. I mean, it would be chaos without the umpire. Perhaps the place he’s needed the most – and sometimes appreciated the least – is those close judgment calls when the runner and the ball arrive at the base at the same time. Everyone holds their breath as the umpire signals his verdict – “Safe!” or “Out!”

The umpire decides what’s safe or out in baseball – a decision which should not be left to the players themselves. Of course, baseball is just a game. It’s in the decisions we make in our everyday lives that we could use a good umpire – who could make a call as to whether what we're considering is “safe” for us or “out.” From God’s perspective, that is – the only perspective that is never wrong and always best.

If you've been around Christian things very long, you know about the importance of trying to find out what the “will of God” is in the decisions that define our life. Well, easier said than done. Not because God is trying to hide His plan for us, but because we have a hard time discerning what’s His will and what’s my will. We know His plans are so much better than ours. But we're pretty caught up in our own plans, and it’s often confusing to figure out what’s God’s will for us.

But God has provided an umpire that will make the call for us. He writes to us about it in Colossians 3:15-16, our word for today from the Word of God. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts ... and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Now, that word “rule” carries an interesting connotation in the original Greek language of the New Testament. It suggests someone officiating at an athletic contest. “Let the peace of Christ 'be the umpire' in your hearts.” Or, let Christ’s peace decide whether something is “safe” or “out” for you.

When you're struggling with a decision, one helpful guideline in getting it right is this: trust what you have peace about in the times when you're in God’s presence. In other words, believe what you feel most consistently when you're praying fervently about that decision. That peace tends to get compromised as we get up from our knees and start listening to all those other voices and to our roller coaster feelings. But the peace of Christ is clearest when we're closest to Him. It doesn’t mean the absence of doubts or questions, but a sense of rightness about a certain course, especially when we're listening to Him alone.

That “peace of Christ” is, of course, tied directly to having the “word of Christ” permeating your life. The shaft of light shining on the right road comes as God illuminates a verse from His Word and makes it an arrow pointing His direction. Those who don’t spend regular time in the Word of God are unlikely to recognize the will of God. As are those who come seeking God’s direction, full of their own will. Many have missed God’s best because they tried to manipulate God or His Word so that their will would be God’s will. It doesn’t work that way.

You'll never know what God wants if you come to Him with a contract containing what you want Him to sign for. You have to come to Him with a blank piece of paper, signed by you, accepting sight unseen what He writes there. The most powerful prayer in the Bible may be Jesus’ eight words in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

God promised that He would “...instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8). And if you believe Him for the answers He promised, you will experience the peace of Christ over the road He wants you to take – God’s infallible umpire to let you know if it’s “safe” for you or “out.”

Copyright (c) 2004, Ron Hutchcraft. Reprinted with permission. “A Word With You” is a radio outreach of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.

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by Richard Innes

“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” – John 5:5-6, NIV

It may be hard to understand, but according to statistics I have read from both a Christian and secular standpoint, many people who have either a physical or emotional problem actually don’t want to get well!

“That’s absurd,” I can almost hear some readers saying. How could a sick person not want to get well?”

Of all those who go to see a physician or a counselor with a problem, approximately 25 percent don’t want to get well... they want people’s sympathy, they want to be taken care of, and some want to die.

Another 50 percent want the counselor or doctor to fix or heal them. As one doctor said, “Half of my patients would rather I operate on their body than they operate on their lifestyle!”

And only one in four actually accepts responsibility for his/her well-being and does everything he/she can to follow the doctor or counselor’s guidance. These are the ones who are committed to getting well. They are the ones who want to get well—and are most likely to do so!

Perhaps this is why Jesus said words like, “Do you want to get well?” “Do you want to be made whole?”

“What do you want me to do for you?”

God will bend the heavens to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. That’s why he sent Jesus to die for our sins. But he won’t do anything for us that we can and need to do for ourselves – otherwise he would be keeping us over-dependent and immature. But as long as we want what is right for us, God will always do his part when we do our part.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me the want to be made whole, the want to get well, the want to be what you want me to be, and the want to do what you want me to do. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

P.S. What do you “want” Jesus to do for you?

(c) Copyright 2004 ACTS International. Visit them online at http://www.actsweb.org

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Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3 year old son Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his little sister in Mommy’s tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. In time, the labor pains came.

Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Michael’s little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive unit at St. Mary’s Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.

The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatric specialist regretfully had to tell the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.” Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby-but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.

Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her,” he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over.

Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in the Intensive Care. Karen made up her mind, though. She would take Michael whether they liked it or not! If he didn’t see his sister right then, he may never see her alive.

She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head Nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed “Get that kid out of here now! NO children are allowed!” The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse’s face, her lips a firm line. “He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!”

Karen towed Michael to his sister’s bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old Michael sang:

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.” Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. Her pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. “Keep on singing, Michael,” encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. “You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

As Michael sang to his sister, the baby’s ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten’s purr. “Keep on singing, sweetheart!!” “The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my hands...” Michael’s little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.

“Keep on singing, Michael.” Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine away....” The next, day ... the very next day ... the little girl was well enough to go home! “Women’s Day Magazine” called it “The Miracle of a Brother’s Song.” The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God’s love! Never give up on the people you love. Love is so Incredibly powerful. Please send this to all the people that have touched your life In some way. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be life.

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A small church in Sierra Leone, Africa, dreamed of having an organ with which they could make beautiful music to praise the Lord. They had saved up $200 to put towards the organ; they trusted God to provide the rest.

So the local missionary sat down to pray as he wrote a letter to a friend back in the States. Strangely, the letter was sent to the wrong address. It ended up in the hands of an Indiana insurance salesman named Paul Sell.

The morning that Sell received the letter, he had sold some insurance to an elderly lady who owned an old pump organ. Her asking price for the instrument? Fifty dollars. Sell contacted a piano-moving business that donated a couple of specially-constructed crates in which to transport the organ.

With the help of friends and family, Sell got the organ to New York, where it was loaded for transport to Sierra Leone. The cost of sending the organ? One hundred and fifty dollars. Two weeks later, the members of the Sierra Leone church played songs of praise to the Lord on their new organ.

from Rebekah Montgomery, Ordinary Miracles (Uhrichsville, OH: Promise Press, 2000), pp. 113-118. Cited on www.sermons.com

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A dear friend of mine, Jim Lutton, who has now gone on to be with the Lord, had many special “sayings” he would use to inject humor into a situation. As an example, if anyone would ask him “What’s up?” his reply almost always was simply “An adverb.” I find myself saying that same thing now, more or less in memory of good ol’ Jim!

But, did you ever stop to think about UP? It is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meaning than any other two-letter word – UP!

It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we waken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends, we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP.

To be knowledgeable of the proper uses of UP, look UP the word in the dictionary. In a desk size dictionary, UP takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and definitions add UP to about thirty. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it doesn’t rain for a while, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so I'll shut UP!

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A Scotsman, planning a trip to the Holy Land, was aghast when he found it would cost fifty dollars an hour to rent a boat on the Sea of Galilee. “Hoot mon,” he said, “in Scotland it wouldna ha been more than $20.”

“That might be true,” said the travel agent, “but you have to take into account that the Sea of Galilee is the water on which our Lord Himself walked.”

“Well, at $50 an hour for a boat,” said the Scotsman, “it’s ah no wonder He walked.”

This is going to be another tremendous Lord’s Day at WILMINGTON first assembly of God! I am looking forward to sharing the Word that the Lord has laid on my heart following last week’s special Spring Revival meetings. And, it is always a special time when we have water baptism! This is a weekend that I am confident can and will change your life! See you on Sunday!

Yours for HIM,
Timothy Satryan,
Senior Pastor
WILMINGTON first assembly of God