The Fishwrapper

January, 2010

Dear Friends,

Dante, in one of his allegories, tells of a  man walking upon a winding road up a mountain. 

As he starts the journey, a wolf tries to tear him in pieces.  Half way up, a tiger stands in his way, and near the top of the mountain, he escapes from a large, growling lion.  Dante was stating the obvious:  each stage of life is beset with its difficulties, challenges and temptations.

The early Methodist leader, Francis Asbury, wrote in his Journal: “O my God;  when will my trials stop?”   A little later, he penned, “At Death!”  

For our Lenten season, our focus will be upon the Seven Deadly “Potholes” in Life.  They trip us up, and many times, we don’t even know what we tripped over, much less have fallen down.  Have you ever fallen down, and wondered what in the world happened?   (Pity the person who thinks he/she never has!). 

The church has highlighted the Seven Deadly Sins (Potholes) of which we need to constantly beware.  The choices they present before us are a life “out of control” in lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath and pride.   What a“hellish” way to live!  Corresponding inversely are the virtues by God’s grace; chastity, temperance, charity, diligence,  patience, kindness, and humility.

Following Jesus does not happen by luck, chance or osmosis.   Walking by/ in the Spirit involves putting to death the old, self centered self. And if we do, we are “living,” a life of love, grace, and kindness.  (Romans 8).    If we don’t, we may be religious, but not real, and the world rightly labels such a person, “hypocrite.”  Or as Erik recently preached, it means feeding the “good dog within,” not the “bad dog.”  “Down, Fido, Down!!”

Yours in the journey, Mark

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January/February 2010

The older and more experience I get the more I am convinced of two things:

1.    Common sense isn’t so common

2.    Wisdom, in a very real way, is acting upon common-sense. Whether you are talking about personal life, family, career, or faith development… these everyday examples, forming the Acronym D.R.I.V.E ring true. These are the subject of a very good book by United Methodist mega-church pastor Mike Slaughter called Momentum for Life (Abingdon: Nashville, 2008).

·         Devotion: We become expert in what we consistently practice or participate in. The key to faithful living begins with consistent and disciplined faithful coming into the presence of God…   in prayer, in reading Scripture, in reflecting on our lives and what they mean in God’s creation and plan. This is an every day thing. And to make it habit-building we need to be setting aside that time every day and giving priority to that time for that purpose every day. Consistently.

·         Readiness for lifelong learning: Be prepared. Be a student of everything. Take every opportunity to learn and prepare. Insight, opportunity, direction, clarity, growth, development, and maturity all come through being open to learn and consistent attention to being prepared and ready for what lies ahead.

·         Invest in key relationships. Be involved, committed, and available to those most important to us: spouse, children, friends, extended family, colleagues. Love, respect, inspiration, synergy, encouragement, support, excitement, a healthy home, a productive workplace, a vibrant church…   these are the byproducts of investing in key relationships.

·         Vision: Scripture says, “where there is no vision the people perish”. Get a plan. We need to be passionate and committed to where we are going. We need some end goal…   some grand purpose… to inspire and encourage us each day to perform those consistent, disciplined, tasks…   even when we don’t want to.

·         Eat healthy and exercise: Eat healthy and exercise…   that just speaks for itself. If we want to feel good, look good, and perform good…   then we have to be good to ourselves. And by being good I don’t mean treating ourselves to that extra ice cream, that quick and good tasting fast food, or extra time lounging on the couch. Eat well, sleep well, exercise well…   and feel well.

This is all common sense stuff, right? BUT, so few of us are committed to these simple lessons. Every single one of us has some kind of ‘big BUT’ blocking our way. Now…   I wish that I had coined that phrase…   but it is Mike Slaughter’s (p.17). What big “BUT” is stopping up your momentum?

• But I’m too busy, But I ‘m too old, But I’m too young, But I’m too set in my ways, But I have no opportunities, But my plans always fail, But you just don’t know what I’ve been through, But I’ve got this limitation, But…   But…   But…   But…   But

It is a New Year…   it is time to get rid of that big ‘BUT’ in our lives. It is a New Year and our God is the God of New Starts…   it may have been easier to live with our Big BUT until now…   but I challenge all of us to the wisdom of practical, disciplined, common-sense living. Oh…   it will be hard…   but even the longest and hardest journey begins and proceeds with a single step…   repeated consistently and as often as necessary until complete.

The Reward? To be fully who God intended you to be…   to do courageously and without hindrance that which God intended you to do…   and to be inspired, encouraged, loved by God and others and self.

Erik

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 “Loving God” by Charles (Chuck) Colson

Sunday Evenings 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM ~ Beginning Sunday February 7^{th ~} Books are approximately $7.00 including shipping. ~ Please contact Ann Canter or the church office for more information or to register.

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“40 DAYS OF LOVE”

We Were Made for Relationships:  A Six-Session Video-Based Study for Small Groups

TAUGHT BY RICK WARREN ~ OFFERED 6 THURSDAY EVENINGS AT 7:00 PM ~ FEBRUARY 18, 2010 THROUGH MARCH 25, 2010

What is your #1 goal in Life?

Your answer to that question will reveal your dominant life value.  Everyone has one whether they realize it or not.  It’s what we unconsciously base our decisions on.

God tells us that our dominant life value is to “be love” to our world.  Jesus once said that of all the commands in the Bible only two are most important.  Love God with all your heart and love your Neighbor as yourself.

In this small group study, Rick Warren teaches that learning to love God and others is to be our highest goal, our greatest aim, our first priority, our deepest aspiration, our strongest ambition, our constant focus, our passionate intention and our dominant life value.  The more we learn how to love authentically, the more we become like Jesus.

THE SIX SESSIONS INCLUDE: ÿ  Love Matters Most  ÿ  Love is Patient, Love is Kind  ÿ  Love Speaks the Truth  ÿ  Love is Forgiving  ÿ  Love Isn’t Selfish  ÿ  The Habits of a Loving Heart

Optional Study Guides are approximately $9.00 including shipping.  Please contact Lucy DeBarge or call the church office for additional information or to register.

Family Ministries is delighted to announce th start of "Little Blessings" - a new program for families with young children within our church as well as the community. If you know someone with young children please share this information with them - we promise it will be a blessing!  There is no charge to participate in this progarm, but pre-registration is required. Families should call the church office to register.

What are the goals of the program? To support Christian principles within families; to provide positive education interactions between children and their peers; to support families, especiallly where a parent has made the decision to stay at home with their child(ren) and to promote relationships within and between families.

How does the program work? We will meet twice a month during the school year, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from 9:30-11:00 am, beginning on 10/14/09. The first meeting each month will consist of activities for parents and children to enjoy together, such as bible stories, crafts, cooking projects, games etc. For the second meeting each month, parents will gather for a Christian parenting study, while infants and toddlers will play in the nursery, and preschool aged children will participate in supervised group play activities, such as block building, playdough, dress up, puzzles etc. The study is entitled "Creative Corrections", and participants will need to purchase a book from the study leader. The study is also open to parents of elementary school aged children while their children are in school.

What do we need from the congregation? -prayers for this new ministry to be successful in supporting the children and parents of our community; - your help in sharing information about this new program with young families; - some simple play items you may have around the house; we are in need of : building toys (such as wooden blocks, duplos, tinker toys, connes); dramatic play toys (such as toy dishes, puppets, dress up clothes); pladough toys (rolling pins, cookie cutters, dough stamps); beanie babies; child sized tables and chairs (such as little tykes, first steps) And we still need a couple of volunteers to help with the program just once a month, on the 4th Wednesday, and we are looking for someone to run the nursery. Please let us know if you can help!

If you would like more information, wish to register, or have items to donate, please contact the Lisa Lockwood through the church office .

These actions will protect against the new H1N1 too!

Flu is a serious contagious disease. Each year in the United States, on average, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and 36,000 people die from seasonal flu complications.

This flu season could be worse. There is a new and very different flu virus spreading worldwide among people called novel or new H1N1 flu. This virus may cause more illness or more severe illness than usual.

1 - Take Time to get a flu vaccine.

CDC recommends a yearly seasonal flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against seasonal influenza.

While there are many different flu viruses, the seasonal flu vaccine protects against the three seasonal viruses that research suggests will be most common.

Vaccination is especially important for people at high risk of serious flu complications, including young children, pregnant women, people with chrinich health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.

Seasonal flu vaccine is also important for health care workers, and other people who live with or care for high risk people to prevent giving the flu to those at high risk. 

A seasonal vaccine will not protect you agains novel H1N1.

A new vaccine against novel H1N1 is being produced and will be available in the coming months as an option for prevention of novel H1N1 infection. People at greatest risk for novel H1N1 infection include children, pregnant women,a dn people with chrinic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease.

2 - Take everyday preventive actions.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in th trash after you use it.

Wash you hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.*

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends tha you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical attention and for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick.

While sick, limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Visit the CDC website (http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/) to find out what to do if you get sick with the flu and how to care for someone at home who is sick with the flu.

3 - Take flu antiviral drugs if your doctor recommends them. 

If you get seasonal or novel H1N1 flu, antiviral drugs can treat the flu.

Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaled powder) that fight against the flu by keeping flu viruses from reproducing in your body.

Antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications.

Antiviral drugs may be especially important for people who are very sick (hospitalized) or people who are sick with the flu and who are at increased risk of serious flu complications, such as pregnant women, young children and those with chronic health conditions.

For treatment, Antiviral drugs work best if started within the first 2 days fo symptoms.

Flu-like symptoms include feaver (usually high), headach, extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.

*Though the scientific evidence is not as extensive as that of hand washing and alcohol-based sanitizers, other sanitizers that do not contain alcohol may be useful for killing flu germs on hands in settings where alcohol-based products are prohibited.