Weekly Bible Verse: Luke 12:13-21: Where Are Your Riches?

Luke 12: 13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Preventative Medicine

For anyone over 60, talk to your doctor about getting a shingles shot as a preventative measure. Shingles is a chickenpox related virus that takes 12 weeks to work its way through your system and can range from fairly painful to outrageously painful. As on odd little added attraction, when you have shingles you can't give them to anyone else. However, you can give someone chickenpox if they haven't had it or the vaccine against it.

Seminarian Preaching at Tel Hai Chapel

Sunday, August 1, 2010, ECBC's own seminarian, Jeff Snyder, will be preaching at the Tel Hai Chapel in Honeybrook, Pennsylvania. The sermon is titled Come to the Party and is based on Luke 15:25-32. Jeff is very pleased to have this opportunity.

Success with VBS!

Congratulations and thanks to all who participated in this summer's Vacation Bible School program at ECBC. All of your efforts helped make this a success. Here's the run down on how it went:

We had 20 kids on most nights! A great time was had by all the staff and the kids. The 54 surviving egg cartons we collected are being put to good use by the Salvation Army to distribute eggs to those in need. We collected a bin of non-perishable food and we collected enough money to buy 3 and ¼ goats through Kids for Kids in Haiti. (If you wish to contribute to make it 4 goats or more, mark your offering envelope.) See http://www.internationalministries.org/ for more information.

Weekly Bible Verse: Luke 11: 1-13 -- On Prayer

Luke 11: 1He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” 5And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. 9“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Can You Be a Saint?

Can you be a Christian saint? Is such a thing possible? If it is, would you want to be a saint? Curious? Read on.

So, what is a "saint" anyway?  According to E. Glenn Hinson, in his book Spiritual Preparation for Christian Leadership, a saint is not a perfect person, a saint is not mistake free, and a saint is not extraordinary. I know, I know, that's a list of what a saint isn't. But, what a saint is, simply put, is someone who is willing to yield to God's will. A saint is a person who is willing to put aside his or her wants and desires in favor of God's will. A saint is a person who uses her or his God given talents in ways God wants them used, or as Hinson states on page 182, "What matters is what God does with the capacities that people give over to God's use.

So, what do saints do? Here's the short list, without a lot of academic explanation.

1. Saints live lives that are soaked in God's Divine Grace and who put themselves at God's disposal.

2. Saints do not seek out lives that are safe, but lives that are faithful to God. If that means walking a more difficult path, so be it.

3. Saints are not given a pass by God on troubles. As William Russel Maltby states, "Jesus promised his followers only that they should be 'absurdly happy, entirely fearless, and always in trouble'."

4. Saints are ... and this is the really good one ... joyful. To be joyful, saints rejoice because the Lord is near. Spiritual joy fills their hearts. They are not the Christians St. Teresa of Avila prayed she might not encounter when she prayed, "deliver me from sour, vinegary Christians!"

5. Saints are dreamers of God's greatest dream, seeking after, working for, and praying for the Kingdom of God to come to Earth. Saints are daring in striving for this special Kingdom (a different post to come later).

6. Saints are also prayerful. They make themselves open to the ever-present love of God. Saints stay in communication with God to be uplifted and to better know God's will for their lives.

So, there you have it. That's what it takes to be a Christian saint in a nutshell. Can you do it? Will you do it? This might be the most important and life changing decision you ever make.

God bless you on your journey!

Weekly Bible Verse: Amos 8: 1-12 On Issues of Social Justice

Amos 8: 1 This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. 2He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 3The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!”


4Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 7The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 9On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

11The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.

Helping Others Can Be Simplicity Itself

There are many times when we get the mistaken idea stuck in our heads that helping others as Jesus asks us Christians to do has to be a heroic and epic effort that will transform lives forever. Well, spending a summer in chaplain's work at a retirement community has taught me differently. Helping other includes such simple things as a gently held hand, a sympathetic ear, a warm smile, a small compliment, or a non-anxious presence in the room. These simple practices make a difference in the moment ... and are remembered.

I have also learned that practice helps. The more I reach out in these small ways to make a difference in a moment, for the moment, the better I become at this form of outreach to others.

Have a blessed day.

J. Snyder