WFA.org

opening-article The average family now devotes a full one-fourth of its spendable income to outstanding debts. Over half of us spend 110% of our disposable income trying to manage debt. And our obsession with “stuff” carries a price tag.

And who can keep up? We no longer measure ourselves by trying to “keep up with the Jones’” next door, but against the stars on the screen or on the magazine cover. Who can satisfy a Hollywood lifestyle? No one!

That’s why Jesus warns in Luke 12:15, “Be on your guard against every form of greed.” It is why we read in Hebrews 13:5 to “be content with what you have.”

Greed has many faces. But it speaks one language: The language of more!

Epicurus noted, “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”

Not every teacher is supposed to be a principal. Not every carpenter has the skill to head up a crew. Be careful, for in the pursuit of “more,” you risk losing your God-ordained purpose.

Just because a king gives you his armor, you don’t have to wear it. David didn’t. He rejected Saul’s armor, selected the stones, lobotomized the giant, and taught us a lesson: What fits others might not fit you. Indeed what fits the king might not fit you. Learn to be content!

Let God direct your steps. Isaiah 26:3 says “You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You.”

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 9.24. Live for God, on purpose, being content where He has placed you, to perform what He has called you to do!

What If Starbucks Marketed
Like a Church?

Is there a Starbucks near you? Chances are pretty good that you answered yes! Seemingly around the world, Starbucks coffee shops have multiplied with such success and intensity, that in some cities you can find two Starbucks on the same street – even in the same block!

Much could be said about their business plan that has led to such great success. But have you ever thought about what would happen if Starbucks began to market like a church? What if they treated their new customers just like “first-time visitors” at most churches.

You need wonder no more! Take a quick look at this video.

Be prepared to laugh... or maybe cry. But – you will never think the same way again about going to church... or going to Starbucks!

Building a Sanctuary

How do you build a "sanctuary" in your busy life; a place where you can meet with God...? Build a "closet."

Isaac's closet was in a field (Genesis 24:63). Peter's closet was on a housetop (Acts 10:9).

You must fashion your own.

It may mean leaving the kids with your spouse, while you sit out on the back porch with a cup of coffee and your Bible for fifteen minutes.

It may mean snatching a few minutes when your baby is taking his or her afternoon nap.

For those who have a long drive to work, your sanctuary may be in your car with a CD player. It may mean posting a passage of Scripture near your steering wheel, where you can meditate and pray about it during the time that you drive.

It may mean reading your Bible during your lunch break at work.

It may mean taking the first ten minutes to read and pray in your office each morning.

It may mean putting your tennis shoes on and going for a walk with your Bible in hand.

It may mean sitting in your garage or workshop with a CD player to listen to sermons.

It's not what the sanctuary looks like or where it is that matters. It's what you do there that makes it a meaningful place. The sanctuary does not provide rest. What takes place there in the desert is what refreshes the inner man.

Matthew 6:6 says "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

loving-someone Loving Someone You
Can't Stand

by Alan Smith

Doctor: "I see you're over a month late for your appointment. Don't you know that nervous disorders require prompt and regular attention? What's your excuse?"

Patient: "I was just following your orders, Doc."

Doctor: "Following my orders? What are you talking about? I gave you no such order."

Patient: "You told me to avoid people who irritate me."

Unfortunately, we don’t always have the option of avoiding people who irritate, people who hurt us, people who offend us. In fact, sometimes those who irritate us the most are found right in our home (or in our church building). So how should we deal with them?

Milton Jones has written a wonderful book entitled “How to Love Someone You Can’t Stand” which I highly recommend (you can find it at Amazon.com). In this book, Jones lists six godly principles which are derived from Romans 12:

1. Manage Your mouth – Bless and don't curse (Romans 12:14)

2. Put yourself in the other person's place and try to understand their feelings, thoughts and position (Romans 12:15)

3. Never, never, never take revenge (Romans 12:17)

4. Plan ahead to do something beautiful (Romans 12:17)

5. Don't just win the war, win the peace (Romans 12:18)

6. Make room for God (Romans 12:19)

The bottom line is that we do not overcome evil with evil by retaliating and seeking to "get even". The only way to overcome evil is with good (Romans 12:21). It is never easy to respond to those who do us wrong in a way that is godly, but it is only by following the example of Jesus Christ that we can truly have an influence on the world around us.

"But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps..." (1 Peter 2:19-20)

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

too-blessed I'm Too Blessed to be Stressed and Too Anointed to be Disappointed!

I refuse to be discouraged, to be sad or to cry.
I refuse to be downhearted and here's the reason why:

I have a God who is almighty; who is sovereign and supreme;
I have a God who loves me, and I am on his team.

He is all wise and powerful; Jesus is His Name;
Though everything else is changeable, My God remains the same.

I refuse to be defeated. My eyes are on my GOD.
He has promised to be with me, as through this life I trod.

I am looking past my circumstances, to heaven's throne above.
My prayers have reached the heart of God. I am resting in His love.

I give thanks to Him in everything. My eyes are on His face.
The battle is His; the victory is mine; He will help me win the race.

What Shackles are Holding You Captive?

by Kelly McFadden

“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer...For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 6:1-2, 6, 11

When a captive elephant is young, its handler will place a shackle around its leg and chain it to a tree so that it will not escape. At this age the elephant is too small to pull the tree over. Try as it might, the baby elephant cannot get away. However, when the elephant is full-grown the handler can chain it to a stick in the ground and it will not escape. The elephant still thinks itself to be chained to an unmovable tree.

Think for a few moments: Is it possible that a “shackle” of some kind of habitual sin is tied around your leg? What is it that holds you back from experiencing the freedom found only in Christ? It might seem like you are tied to an unmovable tree. Yet, I’d like to challenge you to consider instead, that “thing” that holds you might only be a small stick in the ground. If you become comfortable with your captivity, you may be just like an elephant that was trained to believe it could not break free.

Even as Christ-followers, we’re still susceptible to sin and its natural consequences. But according to the Apostle Paul, the truth is that, by our relationship with Christ, we have died to sin. The fact is that the old shackle around your ankle can no longer hold you, if you recognize that you are a new creation and are no longer a “slave to sin.” While Christ can and has miraculously changed lives and immediately “set captives free” from habits and addictions, for most of us, old habits die hard. It takes a lot of work and prayer to accomplish change. But if you find yourself struggling, understand that you can break free. Christ’s death and resurrection has made it possible. In Christ, your old self is gone, your spirit has been made alive, the new has come, and freedom is within your reach.

as seen in “Today’s HomeWord,” a daily devotional with Jim Burns. Visit them online at www.homeword.com

other-side What's On The Other Side?

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was leaving the room after paying a visit, and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly the doctor said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door, on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice that dog? He had never been in this room before. He did not know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing: I know my Master is there, and that is enough. And when the door opens, I shall pass through with no fear, but gladness."

last-impression The Last Impression

There was a Scottish painter named Smokey MacGregor who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often thinned down his paint to make it go a wee bit further.

As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Baptist Church decided to do a big restoration job on the outside of one of their biggest buildings.

Smokey put in a bid, and, because his price was so low, he got the job.

So he set about erecting the scaffolding and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with turpentine.

Well, Smokey was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, the sky opened, and the rain poured down washing the thinned paint from all over the church and knocking Smokey clear off the scaffold to land on the lawn among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint.

Smokey was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he got down on his knees and cried, "Oh, God, Oh God, forgive me; what should I do?"

And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke...

"Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"

Here at WFA, our parking lot has been receiving some “TLC” this week, with much-needed repairs, cracks filled, and especially the entire lot being sealed and re-striped. We want to be good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us. And – we are praying it doesn’t rain on it while it is “setting up” or we might need to “repaint and thin no more!”

Hoping that you will drive on into our newly treated parking lot and worship together with us this Sunday at WFA!