Worship News May 27, 2009

Hopeless Man Finds a Reason to Live,by Ed Kuehneman

Ernesto Flores got into drugs and gang life at age 14. Although he later became a certifi ed welder, his life went downhill when he started using heroin at age 21. He had no goal in life, "just working, causing trouble, selling drugs ..." He was always "fighting, cussing and drinking, and even family members didn't want him around. At 23, he "just got tired of it." He slashed his wrists. In the hospital, Gonzalo Quebedo told him, "The Lord has something better. He has a purpose for your life." Ernesto thought, "Who is this guy? Why does he care?" Gonzalo kept talking to him about Jesus, and showing him the Word of God. Later Gonzalo sponsored his dismissal and took him to "The Church on the Street" at the Phoenix Dream Center. "Everybody was so welcoming," says Ernesto. "I felt so much love, I started crying. I thought, 'There really is a God out there!' When nobody wanted me, they did." Ernesto pledged his life to Jesus at church, but in his old neighborhood, around old friends, he had "so many struggles" that Gonzalo told him, "You need more." ""Yes, I do!" said Ernesto. He gladly moved to the Phoenix Dream Center and entered their 15-month live-in program. He got Bible classes, outreaches, and support from other Christians. He was amazed by Pastor Ramon and Teresa Montoya, lives poured out for others. After the program, Ernesto got a job and a Christian family, and was blessed and happy, but he stayed active in the church, and was sure that God had called him to be a pastor some day. "I had to do what had been done for me." Today Ernesto is a full time pastor under Pastor Montoya. His life is full and he loves it. He says, "Before, I was just existing; but now, I'm living!" (For more information on Church on the Street, try cotsphoenix. com. Guided tours of the Dream Center are held every Tuesday at noon. Inmates: If you have release papers and are sincere about a new life in Christ, they have a room. Contact the offi ce at 602-257-8918. Services: Sunday 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday 7 p.m.)

Gila Community Food Bank: Thanks!

Dear Editor, We defi nitely live in the greatest community in the U.S. For 29 years I have seen the people's response in diffi cult times. There is never reason to be anxious or concerned about our needy going hungry. The more we give through one door, the more we receive through another. Of course, now at our Miami Branch it goes in and out of the same door.) Our corporation name is Gila Community Food Bank and while there never was a "Globe Food Bank," we now have to call our food bank in Globe, the Globe branch of GCFB. Would you believe? Here in these days of more need and higher food prices, over 7000 pounds of food was collected by the postal workers in Globe and Miami. Amazing! This is going to be a big help for the summer. In March we gave out 312 emergency food boxes; in April, 343, and now with school getting out, there will be more of an increase. Thanks, thanks, thanks to all the wonderful people who care and share. --Audrey Opitz, Operations Director

The Light of Life, by Dan Morton,Co-Pastor, First Christian Church(Disciples of Christ

Our neighbor has a yard light that is activated by a motion sensor. Sometimes, at two or three o’clock in the morning, the light comes on and we look out our bedroom window to see what may have triggered it. What we see is only what is on the ground, for the light provides only enough to show us that much. While God sheds his light on us, we also are charged with a responsibility. Matthew 5: 16: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." Does our light grow dim at times? Do we need to recharge our batteries or clean the lens? Spending time with God each day will do that for us, then our light will be brighter and when others ask, we can explain what God has done for us. To God be the glory! On other nights, the moon is high in the sky and sheds its light on everything within our eyesight. We take a moment and thank God for such a beautiful beacon, one on which we can always depend as we do so on Him.

29th Annual Campmeeting!

World Evangelsim Revival Center’s 29th Annual Campmeeting will be held June 3rd-13th, 2009. at 7:30pm nightly in Gilson Wash, San Carlos. Featured will be "different anointed preachers who rightly divide the Word of Truth." Everyone is welcome! Campmeeting is under the direction of Pastor Fernando Sr.and Angelita Pechuli.

Healing Services at Living Waters

Come and be prayed for, Sunday, May 31, at 6 p.m. at Living Waters Community Church, 125 Haskins Road in Globe. Phone 928-812-1902 for information. The Bible says we should pray for the sick and he would heal them. The key to healing in our mind and body is the Word of God. Trusting in God with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5-6); Matthew 21:22: And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Everyone is welcome. Come and pray for others; come and be prayed for.

Book Sale Will Benefit Nogales Children's Clinic, By Ed Kuehneman

Do you have some really good books at your house that you really don't need? Donate them for a really good cause! For 33 years, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Nogales has become a free children’s clinic one day each month. Volunteers, some from the U of A School of Medicine, seee over 200 children with a variety of serious medical problems. A benefi t book sale will be held June 5 and 6 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., at St. John's Episcopal Church, corner of Hill and Oak in downtown Globe. First, they need lots of good books! A collection box will be in the courtyard by the Globe church, inside the gate. The books you drop off could change a child’s life! For information, call 928-425-5427.

Nonprofit Group Survives Attack on 'Politics'

A nonprofit organization was challenged when it gathered pastors in 2006 to hear speeches on public issues, encouraging church members to register and vote. The Houston-based Niemoller Foundation was said to have violated its tax-exempt status by political entanglement, according to the "Texas Freedom Network," a liberal group that sets itself to oppose the religious right. The IRS. however, found “no evidence of political intervention.’ "This liberal attempt to intimidate pastors has backfired," said chief counsel Kelly Shackelford, and Hiram Sasser, director of Niemoller, declared, "The whole point was to educate everyone about the important social issues and get them to vote and register others to vote, and the IRS said this was perfectly okay."

Lesson from a Corn Dog

Dear Editor, This past Saturday my husband and I took our family to the valley to eat at Chili's Restaurant. Our 4½ year old son was so excited to eat his very first corndog. He loved it so much that he had to save the stick that the corndog came on!! His comment was "This is the very best day of my entire life!" He kept repeating this all the way home on how much he loved this day because of his corndog. I even went as far as to go to the grocery store to buy him a box of corndogs for lunch for preschool. His comment really stuck with me. It just made me realize how we take this life for granted. How often do we ever just stop to say, "Wow! This is the very best day of my life!" Life sometimes gets complicated. We worry. We complain. We rush and hurry from work to home to take care of the family etc. But how often do we just stop and enjoy the simple things of life… to say "Thank you Lord for giving me this day! This is absolutely the best day of my life and I thank you for it!" The Bible says "This is the day the Lord has made… let us rejoice and be glad in it." I am so grateful that my son reminded me of this simple truth. I want to encourage all of us to just take some time today to enjoy the simple pleasure of this life and to say "Thank You!" Name withheld at reader's requ

Those that Praise God See Him First, By Pastor Jack Siddle, Oracle Assembly of God

On their journey thru the wilderness, the Israelites would camp by tribe around the four sides of the tabernacle. Now the tribe of Judah camped on the side facing east. They were the first to see the rising sun. The name "Judah" means "praise". Believers are praisers, and as they praise God, they position themselves to face the rising Son. Thru the storms of life, praisers are uniquely positioned to see the first signs of spiritual breakthrough, revival, answers to prayers, healings, etc. Oracle Assembly of God is located a block east of the north Circle K. Sunday School is at 9:45 a.m.. Sunday worship services are at 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday Bible Study is at 7 p.m. and a Saturday Prayer Service is at 5 p.m.

It seems to me ...Praise God! (Or Do We?), by Ed Kuehneman

Oh, we all praise God, don't we, "in our own way"? And we praise our children, and always tell our spouses how much we love and appreciate them. Or do we fall into absent-minded silence sometimes, focused on little problems? We can be comfortable with a warm feeling toward our family or church, while we neglect to say or do anything. "Praise the Lord, and forget not all his benefits." Oh, sure, we say, remembering when we fulfilled our "religious obligation" with a listless recitation. What a difference there is in a church that actually praises God! Yet even there we “incurably religious " folks can "just go through the motions." The first time I really praised God, age 5, I had been lost in the wilderness and I suddenly felt so sure God was showing me the way out, that I was praising God like I'd never heard before! Were you ever lost? Are you on your way “home” now? Praise God! Have you noticed that those actually do things, find themselves in the middle of what God is doing today, an exciting place, better than nostalgia. Pastor Jack Siddle reminds us that praisers are in God's front lines.