Pastor Bruce’s blog

I’m sitting here in the Charlotte, NC airport just waiting for the next plane.  I planned this visit to see our friends the Arendas’ before I knew the challenges that lay before me. I’m really glad that I could pray with Larry and Carole and have the Lord speak to me through them.   You see, I have two ministry opportunities the next two weekends and well, frankly, I’m a little nervous.  I love ministering in our own church.  I know our folks and I love them and anyone who comes in the door who is new is at least a friend in the making.  It’s home.  But now I’m being asked by the Lord to go to 2 other cities and give them what He gives me for them, not really knowing them or how they will receive what Robin and I say.  That’s a bit nerve wracking! And I know I can’t do it on my own!  Hey, I don’t have what it takes at home, let alone somewhere else with people who are culturally different than I am.  It’s beyond me.  But isn’t that good?  Shouldn’t we consider that we don’t really have it so all together in life and turn to the Lord for His supply?  Yes, I think so.  So uncomfortable as life’s opportunities can be sometimes, we can be successful in what we do if we seek the Lord for the supply we need at the right time.  His grace is sufficient for the ordinary or the extraordinary.  I won’t be sufficient in myself, but He gives His great sufficiency to those who rely on Him.  And I can be comfortable with relying on Him.  As long as He’s with us, we can do anything any one of us is called to do.  PB

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I’ve been thinking about outreach and that “E” word, evangelism.  I know, it conjures up all kinds of thoughts, mostly fearful ones, and include an image of guys standing on the street corner with bullhorns, shouting at passerbys.  Is that really what we should be thinking about when it comes to reaching beyond ourselves to those who don’t know Him?  Do we fall into the same category as the folks who knock on your door and try to engage you in religious conversation with no relationship?  No, but we do cringe at the thought of becoming like that.  And rightly so, I think.

Jesus told us to go and tell the world about Him, beginning with those closest to us geographically.  But how do we do that?  By being real.  And by honestly caring about someone else, anyone else, enough that we would just ”cross the room” as Bill Hybels puts it, and say hello.  Jesus cared with compassion that few of us have.  His compassion drove Him to obedience on the Cross.  Is is possible that with a measure of His compassion that we could care enough about others to the point that we would temporarily leave our friends and find a way to establish a friendship that could lead to that person’s changed eternity?  How I would love for that to be all of our lifestyles.  PB 

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Fall’s here and finally, after a long and beautiful summer, we’ve got our clouds and cool weather back.  The seasons have changed, even though they changed on the calendar before this point.  I used to work outdoors in the tree care industry before my ministry days and I had a vested interest in those seasonal changes, much more than I do now.  I knew what was around the corner when the weather got cooler…

But now I’m more concerned with people changes.  And do people change!  Especially these days.  We’ve just sent the Zagata family to South Carolina for a new job situation, after John had searched for 2 and a half years for a job here in New York.  Honest?  I don’t like that kind of change.  The kind where people you love have to move away and move out of your everyday sphere.  It feels, well, kind of bittersweet. 

And yet the Lord has promised us all something.  He said in Romans 8.28 that He sees to it that “all things” work out for the good for believers, if we just simply hold out for His final say.  Have you lost someone?  Have you had people situations, situations themselves, change in some way that you don’t like?  The promise is this: He will work out (even) seeming losses so that in the end you’ll have to say, yes, that was good.  Can we trust Him?  Absolutely!  So place that change squarely in His lap and breathe a sigh of relief.  Change will be good.  PB

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I received an email today from a friend of ours in Romania, Pastor Stefi Micliuc.  He has been someone we have supported for many years and leads a great local church in Tirgu Mores.  I realize that doesn’t mean a lot to many of you, but take it from those of us who know him, Stefi is a sincere Christian leader and a good guy, a husband and father.  Stefi wrote to let me know that their oldest son, Luci, was taken to a local hospital with a congenital problem with the blood vessels in his brain.  Luci is having a hard time seeing, is feeling weak and sick and the prognosis is unknown.  Please pray for this young man and his family!

But really, doesn’t it make you think twice when you see Christian people run into difficult problems?  I mean afterall, shouldn’t knowing God result in His protection from all that?  A woman that Robin and I know has had tragedy and difficulty in her life as of late.  She asked us the same kind of question: does God really protect us?  Actually, the answer is a resounding “yes!”.  It’s not that God prevents difficulty.  We generally bring that upon ourselves while exercising whatever free will He has given us as a race.  God overcomes difficulty.  He restrains evil and difficulty so that it’s never what it could be.  And then to His people He promises to work it all out so that in the end it becomes good.  For us and for His purposes. 

So back to Luci and Stefi and their family.  Will God work this painful difficulty out so that in the end it becomes good?  Absolutely.  I don’t know how, and neither do they, but it will work out for good.  God is the One Who will make sure of that.  Pray for those in the middle of difficulties and watch what He will do when He writes the end of the story.  PB 

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It’s hard not to remember where I was on that day in 2001.  I had just gotten to the church office and Ellen called me in to listen to the radio regarding reports that a commercial airliner had crashed into the World Trade Center.  What followed was what followed for all of us.  We turned on a television to see the second crash.  Then the fires.  Then the collapse.  Our hearts sunk.  And for the first time in a while we all knew we had real enemies that hated our country and our way of life.  It was dark and frightening and we wanted to get our kids home and talk among our closest friends and watch the unfolding aftermath, even if we felt we could watch no longer. 

A lot has happened since then.  War in the Middle East, troops sent but not all come home, sorrowful families and determined Americans.  And the amazing thing; we’ve forgotten to some degree.  Forgotten that many innocent Americans died in an attack from a foreign force bent on ruining something of our freedoms.  And that this enemy still is at large.  How important it was to remember on Monday, at least, and to pay our respects to those who have given to the point of not being able to give any longer.  And to remember that there are those that hurt from their direct losses associated with that enemy attack….

And then we have to remember that as Christians, we’re always at war.  We have an enemy that wants so badly to ruin our way of life and see us taken out.  Wants to separate us in any way he can from our Lord’s calling, His nearness, His image in our lives and homes.  We ought to remember that each day our needed response is to resist him, having put on our armor and taken up our sword.  And defend our families, our community from his lies and trickery. 

Fight well and don’t let your defenses down.  The Lord has already beaten him, but he’s still around, seeking whom he may devour.  PB

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Just sitting here in sunny Indiana, drinking a smoothie with my buddy Paul King and enjoying a few minutes on the internet.  We’ve been swimming, playing and just plain catching up with our friends here.  You know, God is definitely a “fan” of rest.  It’s been so good to get away, even though our hearts are always connected to home in good old Brockport.  We’re refueling, refreshing and getting ready for a busy Fall season.  Looking forward to seeing everyone next week! 

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I was thinking about it this morning as I was reading through John chapter 10.  He is the Great Shepherd of the sheep and it says that we hear His voice and follow Him.  So much of the time, we as humans don’t even consider that God might have a different plan for us than we have for ourselves.  So we plan our day, our calendar, and ask the Lord to bless it.  Then we go and live out our lives without too much thought about Him being there; until there’s trouble.  Then we cry out to Him and wonder how God could let such things happen to us!  We really need to be God followers.  We need to ask the Lord about His thoughts and plans, His priorities, and then follow whatever He indicates to us.  Our thoughts during the day should be, “Lord, what do you want me to do here?” and we should be ready to change our plans to accomodate.  I had a dead car battery this morning, shortly after my devotions and before I hit the office.  I had just prayed and told the Lord that I wanted to follow His plan for the day, even though mine was highly scheduled.  I managed to get the car going with Tim’s help, and got it to the auto parts store where they confirmed it was the battery and got me going with a new one.  I had a great conversation with the man who installed the new battery; one I wouldn’t have had if the car hadn’t died when it did.  Was that the Lord’s plan?  Absolutely!  Yet not mine.  I’m determined: Lord don’t let me live the life I plan out with my PDA, let me have the privilege of living alongside You and what You’re doing.  Blessings on your day! PB

PS; tell me what’s wrong with the photo I’ve included here, as far as sheep and shepherds…

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Today’s services were great.  I really felt the Lord’s Presence with us during worship and when I shared what the Lord put on my heart for the message.  I was looking back on my last post; guess I had leadership on my heart all over the place this week.  For those of you away, that was the center thought of the message today, leadership.  The call of God to each one of us is the call to leadership within our sphere.  It is so important for every person who knows the Lord to see that they have a particular sphere of influence and even authority.  We need to lead in that sphere, for the good of those we touch in that sphere.  There were six principles of leadership to be learned from Hezekiah in 2Chronicles 32 where Hezekiah was challenged by the Assyrians in his day.  My question is still this: will we lead others in the ways and Word of the Lord so that every person may know His great love and grace? 

Tonight we had a great prayer meeting, and one of the folks who has a special need, Ed O, was brought before the Lord.  Within an hour he received a call at Strong Hospital from our NYS Senator Maziarz with some encouragement for his situation.  Thank you Lord!  God hears and answers prayer. 

Today the producer, Chad, from the Christian film that is being developed in Brockport, worshipped with us.  Had a chance to meet him and we prayed for him and the film to enjoy God’s favor and protection as the weeks go on.  They’ll start the actual filming near the end of the month…May the Lord translate that into changed lives!  Blessings, PB

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John Maxwell is quoted as saying that everything rises or falls on leadership.  I really think that’s true.  There’s been a great more attention placed on leadership, its development, its nature, than ever before.  In the business world, the church world, everybody’s talking about leadership.  But are we “doing” leadership?  That’s the question I’m pondering right now.  Because leadership is really service and sacrifice, many people who are qualified to grow in leadership don’t ever put one foot in front of the other and lead.  That goes for husbands who ought to be servant leaders in their homes, to bosses, to those who hold political office; you name it.   It’s work to lead!  And the enemies of good leadership are many.  But the rewards are great, especially in the Kingdom, as the results of good leadership are changed lives and a “well done” from the One Who matters most.  Should you become a leader?  Absolutely!  Will you and I actually lead?  I think the Lord leaves that choice to us.  Blessings on your day-PB

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I was reading in John 2 today, among some other portions, and found something interesting in a familiar story.  It was the story of the wedding in Cana, and as you remember, Jesus went as an invited guest with His disciples and his mother.  It was early in the relationship with these men and I’m sure they weren’t necessarily expecting much.  Of course the wine runs out and Mary indicates to Jesus that He needed to do something.  And He turned a goodly amount of water into the very best wine of the evening.  However, unlike many other miracles, the people who were the recipients didn’t get to know exactly how this new wine showed up and Who to thank.  The MC of the wedding just remarked on the quality of the wine and the irony that it was being saved until last.  It was the disciples and the servants who knew Who was responsible and knew what a miracle had just occurred.  You know, sometimes Jesus does His wonders simply to confirm His disciples and servants.  He wants you, as a follower, to be confident in His Presence, His Power and His Love and He’s willing to do the supernatural things, unnoticed by the world, that give you that confidence.  Have you ever had the Lord do something for you that no one else would notice, but you do?  That’s His special attention and love given to you to build your faith.  Don’t worry that no one else saw it!  It was likely just for you… yes, He loves you that much.  Blessings, PB

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