Pastor Bruce’s blog

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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Hi Everyone!  Well, we’ve arrived back home after an effective week in Mexico.  All our flights worked out well and we landed in the Rochester airport a bit after midnight on Saturday night/early Sunday morning.  The Lord was good to us, as usual, and all our luggage arrived with us, greeted by a significant group of welcomers from the church and our families.  As we close the chapter on this short trip we are amazed by the Lord’s ability to work eternally in such a short window of time.  Many people heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, some became followers of Jesus and many received some very real physical good while we were there.  And we were changed also by the experience.  It’s a great thing to go somewhere, directed by the Lord, and to be with people who have so much less than we do, yet are loved by the Lord as much as we are.  It changes you to see heartbreaking poverty and to give a “cup of cold water” in His name to those who are caught in that poverty.  Many, as I said, have been enriched by the Good News and though their circumstances haven’t changed much their hearts and lives have been transformed.  Great kudos to the church and leaders down in Texas and Matamoros, they extended themselves so well to the people in need that live right on their doorstep.  Which brings me to another point: will we do the same for folks who live and work in our area?  Hmm, let’s pray about ways to reach to all those we can! 

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We spent our Friday in both Mexico and in the USA. This morning we all had our devotions and breakfast and then headed off to the border. Today was our fun day and we went out to South Padre Island. After a morning at the beach (yes, just suffering for Jesus) it began to rain like crazy. Texas and the coast here have been pounded by unusually heavy rains for weeks now. Immediately the streets were flooded, but we were able to get to a fast food restaurant to ride out the storm. After the rain sort of left we went back to long walks on the beach and swimming in the surf; a good reward for the team. We left about 4:30pm and headed off to Brownsville and International Christian Center. Tonight was their annual “Night of Worship” and it was amazing. Three hours of very high energy, deeply spiritual worship. The worship team had been preparing for weeks for this night. There were hundreds of people there and the Spanish flavor of the church showed; the songs were alternately in English and Spanish or both. They had a team of 50 people (!) on the stage which included a choir of 25 and a dance team of 10. Folks were dancing and rejoicing with lots of passion. Now I can’t see us doing this exactly at home, but at one point they broke out balloons, the long thin kind, and gave them out to the congregation. Everyone was waving balloons and then they actually tossed big beach balls into the crowd! It was such a great experience. In the middle of the 3 hour service, Pastor Bob preached and led 14 people to the Lord. After the service we went out to IHOP with our friends here and had something to eat. Very late end to a wonderful day. Tomorrow, oops, today, we head off to home. Everyone has been blessed by the great week we spent here. Please pray that we’re able to catch all our flights, especially since the layovers are so short and we’re switching airlines in Houston. Looking forward to seeing everyone at church on Sunday morning!

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Today I’ll just show a few photos of the medical clinic.  Here’s Carolyn dispensing medicines donated by the local churches here.  This was actually the end of the process of seeing patients and treating them.  Carolyn, Bonita and Adrienna, a local leader, mostly dispensed the medications, but only after the patients had sat with a prayer counselor and received prayer for their situation.  A number of patients received the Lord at that point. 

Here’s Diane W seeing patients on their way into the clinic.  All told, there were over 200 patients seen in the 3 days we ran the free medical clinic.  Mostly moms with kids were there and it took some doing to entertain the neighborhood while folks were inside getting needed attention.   That’s where Mallory and Laura came in, Kristen too (she was mostly the “runner”, pointing patients to their next station, guiding them through the process).  This is a photo of the girls with their new best friends…one even claimed to be Mallory’s cousin!

We rest some tomorrow, going out to see South Padre Island and at night to take part in a Worship Night at ICC in Brownsville.  More soon!  PB

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