Pastor Doug's May 2018 Newsletter

When Life Gets Hard

There comes a time in everyone's life when trouble and difficulties seems to gang up on them. When this happens; when life gets hard; what is the creative way to handle things?

FIRST: Don't try to do it all yourself. Don't struggle and fret. Do not complain and strain. Do all you can about things, and then put it all into God's hands, trusting Him to make it all turn out right. You can trust in God. You can depend on Him.  He will not fail you. Let go and let God.

SECOND: Pray for guidance, and believe that direction is now being given to you. Believe that this guidance can be trusted. Depend on it, for it will not let you down.

THIRD: Pray for, and practice, a calm attitude. Disturbing things will remain disturbing as long as you allow yourself to be disturbed. When you become peaceful, conditions will iron themselves out. You cannot think creatively when your mind is upset and frantic. Remember: Upset minds upset; peaceful minds "peacefulize".

FOURTH: Saturate your consciousness with faith, believing that things will turn out right. Say aloud, every day, several times, "Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee." [Isa 26:3 KJV] "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength".[Isa 30:15 KJV] "Peace I give to you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." [John 14:27 KJV]

FIFTH: Remind yourself of one great truth; hard experiences will pass away. They will yield. They can be changed. Just hold on, with God's help.

SIXTH: There is always a light in the darkness. Believe this. Look for this light. This light is the love of God. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." [Psa 119:105 KJV]  Go ahead into the darkness unafraid.

SEVENTH: Ask the Lord to release your own creative ingenuity and wisdom, which together ca, in fact, handle any problem successfully. 

EIGHTH: Never forget that God cares for you, that He loves you, and  that He wants to help you. Turn to Him and gratefully accept His help.

NINTH: Remember that all human beings experience  troubles similar to your own. Many years ago, a graduating class gave a stone bench which had these words engraved on it: "To those who sit here, sorrowing or rejoicing; Greetings. So also we did in our time/"

TENTH: Hold onto this great promise: "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble." God will see you through, and a brighter day will dawn for you.

Author Unknown

Life is easier than you think. 

All you have to do is:

Accept the impossible,

Do without the indispensable,

Bear the intolerable,

And,

Be able to smile at anything.

Author Unknown

Pastor Doug's April 2018 Newsletter

Sorry, it's been a while.

Hopefully we are back up to speed, and ready to go on a regular basis!

Now, on to this month's newsletter from Pastor Doug!


We all say "Good Morning" to others.

Do you know what the new meaning of  "Good Morning" is?

G: Get up
O: Open your heart
O: Open your mind.
D: Dedicate your day to God

M: Meditate on God's Word
O: Optimize your Faith and Hope
R: Rebuke all evils
N: Never doubt God's Love
I: Inspire someone
N: Never let anything scare you
G: Go out with Joy

So I say have a GOOD MORNING, and a Blessed day!

10 things that take ZERO talent, but that gain you 100% respect

1: Being on time

2: Work ethic

3: Effort

4: Body language

5: Energy

6: Attitude

7: Passion

8: Being Coachable

9: Doing extra

10: Being Prepared

Reflections on aging:

*Remember, old folks are worth a fortune, with silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet, and gas in their stomachs.

*I have become a little older now, and a few changes have come into my life. Frankly, I have become a frivolous old gal, and am seeing 5 gentlemen every day. As soon as I wake up, WILL POWER helps me get out of bed. The I go down the hall and see JOHN.

Next, CHARLIE HORSE comes along, and boy does he demand a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, ARTHUR RITIS shows up, and stays the whole rest of the day.  He doesn't like to stay in one place for too long, so he takes me from joint to joint. 

After such a busy day, and am really tired, and glad to relax with BEN GAY. 

* What a life. The preacher came to visit me the other day. He said that at my age, I should be thinking about the hereafter.

I told him;  "Oh, I do, all the time. No matter where I am, in the parlor, upstairs, in the kitchen, or down in the basement, I ask myself; Now what am I here after?" Source unknown

Until we meet again, I wish you well, and may God bless you!

Pastor Doug's April 2017 Newsletter

The Wonder Of The Empty Tomb

The ancient world boasted of 7 wonders; The pyramids of Egypt, the hanging gardens of Babylon.  the temple of the goddess Diana at Ephesus, the lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt, the Colossus in the harbor at Rhodes, the statue of the pagan gos Zeus at Olympia, and the tomb of the Persian King Halicarnassus. 

Of all of those ancient wonders, only the pyramids are still standing. All of the others have crumbled, along with the ancient world powers whose accomplishments they memorialized. But another wonder form the ancient world is still very much alive in the world today! This wonder is far more significant that all 7 of these ancient landmarks put together. This is the wonder of the empty tomb of Jesus Christ.

When the body of Jesus was placed int he tomb, the forces of evil were certain that they had won the victory at last.But Jesus was raised from the dead on the 3rd day. His Resurrection proves that He is far more powerful than sin and death, and all of the other  negative forces that Satan uses against us. Wonder of wonders, Jesus Lives! His dynamic power is available to all who place their faith and trust in Him. 

"To be able to find joy in another's joy; that is the secret of happiness."

George Bernamos

Heart Delights

God is with me and I am with God. God's blessings of life light, and love flow through me. I have a special place in God's world.

Amen

Opportunity knocks but once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.

For the gift of life and health, Oh God, and the strength to do my work, I praise you.  Amen

Learn to forgive. You will never be happy with bitterness in your soul.  

Pastor Doug's March 2017 Newsletter

"Thoughts while watching children

I watch them at play

Such serious labor 

Ceaseless Activity

A change from thing to thing

Contemplation, a plan

Action, error

Conference, change

A new plan;

Faults corrected

Ideas corrected

Activity renewed; success

Such glee, too much perhaps

A fall, a hurt

Amusing pseudo tears

That too soon disappear

Joy overcomes hurt

No time for despair

Their falsity exposed

No one will wait

The race keeps on

Inevitably they will change

Individualism will temper

Zest, empathy, camaraderie

Paths now closely sewn

Will be torn by the living

They will wander

Follow temptation, needs, desires, enticement

A plan, action, error

They will fall again

Cry their pseudo tears inwanrdly

Get up and run again

Quicker this time

They have learned not to lag

\Now they are the support

Their infancy knew

They watch theirs at play

And understand, without knowing

And someday they will see

Theirs watching theirs

Will Solo

******************************

The kids were fighting again, and mother shouted from the kitchen, where she was working, "Stop that fighting. Haven't I told you to go by the Golden Rule?" "Yes", came a voice from the recreation room, "But he did it to me first." 

******************************

Happiness:

"Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth is unhappy, though he be the master of the world."  Epicurus

"Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy."  Greta Palmer

"There is an hour wherein a man might be happy all his life, could he find it." George Herbert

"The happy people are those who are producing something; the bored people are those who are consuming much and producing nothing." Dean W. B. Inge

Pastor Doug's February 2017 Newsletter

Love;

"Love is ever the beginning of knowledge, as fire is of light". 
-Carlyle

"Love indeed is a light burden, not cumbering, but lightening the bearer, and 

making glad both young and old. Love is the fairest and most profitable guest that a reasonable creature can entertain. In the light and warmth of love, our lives grow strong and comely, a better dwelling,  a sweeter, never I  found."

-Richard Rolle

"But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
-Bible,  Ruth 1:16-17

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life".
-Bible, John 3:16

"Love is a well from which we can drink only as much as we have put in, and the stars that shine from it are only our eyes looking in."
-Stendhal

Things Money Can't Buy:

Manners
Morals
Respect
Character
Common Sense
Trust
Patience
Class
Integrity
Love

Pastor Doug's December 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

It's here. Christmas. A couple of weeks ago as I walked into our local Wal-Mart, I was greeted by a fully decorated Christmas Tree. This was 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. Television and the newspapers  have been flooded with ads for Black Friday Sales, although some retailers have felt a return of the spirit of the season, and are giving their employees Thanksgiving Day off, This is all part of the world's view of Christmas; sales, Santa, snowmen, and every child with more toys than they know what to do with. "Merry Christmas" has, all too often, been removed and replaced with the generic "Happy Holidays". However, even as the world turns the entire Christmas season into one great big shopping event, with Santas greeting us everywhere we go, Christians instead hold dear the knowledge that Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, when God sent His Son into the world to save all mankind from our sins. Christmas is love, joy, peace, and hope all wrapped up in the form of one small child, born in a manger, under the stars, and surrounded by shepherds and angels. This year lets all remember to keep Christ in Christmas, and wish everyone we see a "Merry Christmas", as it is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas to all!

Pastor Doug

Discovery: 

They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with His mother Mary. Matthew 2:10-11

How domestic. How ordinary! 

The Magi followed a wondrous star until it stops over "the place where the Child was born", and what is that place? A house. That's all, Not a castle, not a mansion, but just a house. The Magi discover the Messiah, the Son of God, in an ordinary house. The find Him in ordinary circumstances, with an ordinary looking mother. 

How often do we go looking for Jesus in all kinds of extraordinary places; on a mountaintop, at the seashore, or in any kind of spectacular location? It is always wonderful to see the magnificence of God's creation, but let's not forget that the best location for finding Christ is all around us, in incredibly ordinary circumstances. We find Him in our homes, in our workplaces, and in gatherings of our families and friends.

In other words, the Holy is in the ordinary. That is one of the most basic teachings of the Christmas season. The Son of God arrived not with the kind of pomp and circumstance most people might expect,  but rather entered history in the most ordinary of circumstances, and that is where we are still most likely to find Him.

Lord Jesus, Thank you for being present, always, in every ordinary time and place in my life. 

Pastor Doug's October 2016 Newsletter

Dear Struthers Families and Friends,

After many long months of hard work, the annual Canfield Fair for this year is over. Even though the Fair officially lasts only 7 days, the set-up and tear down add many more days to the project. The planning began months ago by the Fair Committee, and they worked hard at creating the menu, setting prices, arranging to move the trailer to the fairgrounds, making sure that everything was clan and sanitary, and making sure we had staffing for every moment the Fair is open,  They worked hard in finding suppliers who would offer the best prices so we could keep prices as low as possible while also offering the highest quality food we possibly can. Those involved made countless trips to our suppliers to purchase the items we needed, and then volunteers worked one long, hot evening, making 160 pounds of sloppy Joe! They chopped up  peppers and onions by the baskets, and cooked, and cooked, and cooked some more!,

This is just one quick glimpse into the work this ministry does. There are so many people to thank for their time and hard work in making sure the Fair came off without a hitch. The Fair Committee leaders, Phil, Fran, Sheri, Tom, and Dale guided us through another year of work at the fair, which provides vital dollars with which we can support important ministries of our church. The money we earn at the Fair allows us to be the hands and feet of Christ, serving those in need, comforting people who are suffering, and helping keep God's House in order. To all who took part, and to all who stopped by to buy a sloppy Joe, a chili dog, a street taco, or any of the other Fair treats we offered at the Fair, we thank you! We thank you for your endless hours of work and the effort you put forth to make sure everything ran so smoothly. Thank you for your prayers, and your support of these leaders, We thank YOU! We thank the men and women who had the vision to begin this ministry 54 years ago; to step out in faith, and to make the investment to begin this project, and we honor them all with the reward of 54 years of great service to our families.

See you at the Fair next year!

God Bless,

Pastor Doug