Just cause..

 We have been in the process of moving and getting settled in a new home and a new church. Things haven't gone as smoothly as I would like but God is still faithful. He has a great group of people who are working hard to get the parsonage we are living in up to a higher standard than it was and make it very livable. We have had help when desperately needed and things are going to work out. I even might get caught up on my writing but not today. However, thanks to everyone who has prayed, helped, and given. 

Crazy Love Story

 

Growing up I remember people giving each other Mizpah charms when they were going to be away from each other. As I grew up and read my Bible I realized this was a horrible thing to do. Give your sweetheart a Mispah charm in the Biblical sense was saying. "I love you, but I never plan on seeing your face again. You have been nothing but trouble for me and if we stayed together someone would end up dead."

Of course, if you said that to some young teenage girl, you might end up dead when their dad got a hold of you. 

Now I realize you might object and say that isn't what this charm says and in one way you would be right. Taken out of context the Mizpah sounds perfectly sappy for a couple in love to say to each other when they are going to be away from each other. 

However, this is not the context in scripture. In Genesis 34, Jacob is fleeing from his Father-in-law, Laben. Laben feels Jacob has robbed him but that is okay because Jacob felt that Laban has robbed him also. These two didn't like or trust each other. God stepped in and to make a long story short they agreed to stay away from one another for as long as they lived. 

The lessons from this; First - there are sometimes godly reasons to stay away from some people. Second - This is actually a horrible valentine's gift for anyone. Just saying.

Devotions with a Twist

 I read a tweet not long ago from someone who wanted a recommendation on a devotional preferably one with humor. I enacted with the person not realizing it was someone I would never have made a recommendation to if I had known who they were. Not that it was a bad recommendation, but it was my own stuff (What was I thinking, duh!)

So where am I going? Though there is some humor in Bible Reflections it wasn't exactly what she was asking for. Therefore, I thought I would give it a try and create 30-40 devotionals that are quirky, funny, ironic, or maybe even FOFL. 

Things like: 

Aaron tells Moses, "I threw gold into a fire, and out came this idol." (REALLY AARON?)

God told Laban and Jacob to go to their rooms.

God telling husbands, "Die to make your wife the best version of herself."

Well see what happens and I might post them more than once a week but I don't want to promise and not deliver so you'll have to wait. I hope it will be worth it. 

God Bless,

CSA

New Journey

Update: Just sent out this email last week.

Dear ST Marks Family,

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that I will be leaving my employ with St Mark’s Church on March 5, 2023.  The Global Methodist Church has appointed me as the new pastor of Selma Christ Church in Selma, Indiana. The distance and responsibilities of this new charge make it impossible for me to continue fulfilling the responsibilities for which I was hired here at St Mark’s.

It has been a privilege and an honor to partner in ministry with you. I have learned a lot and appreciate you taking me and my family into yours. I pray that our time here has been as much a blessing for you as it has been for us. We have walked through a lot this past year, we have ended up in a place we never expected, or at least not in the timeframe we imagined, and now God is moving again. I look forward to doing ministry with you in the future, not as the associate pastor but as the pastor of another Global Methodist Church moving forward into the work God has called us into. I’m reminded of the words God gave the children of Israel through Jerimiah “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (29:11 NLT).

May God continue to bless you.  

Sincerely, 

Rev. Charles Wesley Areson

Infection

 

The Infection

Ephesians 4:25-2725 “So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

I remember when I was growing up my mother would tell us not to mess with a cut that she had cleaned up and put a band-aid on. She would say something like, “If you keep messing with that you’ll get it infected.” Since we lived in the days of antibiotics and had never heard of anyone dying of infection it really wasn’t a great deterrent.

On growing up, I learned that infection was one of the greatest causes of death in the days before antibiotics. In fact, I read somewhere that infection often killed more soldiers than in battle. Often it wasn’t the wound that killed it was the infection that came in later. I talked once to a retired army nurse who remembered the miracle it was to get penicillin.

So what does this have to do with the scripture I quoted? I believe often it isn’t the instance of anger that flares up when something happens, but it is the infection of unforgiveness that is the real problem. This is why Paul says don’t stay angry and deal with it quickly (before the sun goes down). Scripture and science say that holding on to unforgiveness is bad for you. So, let it go. Don’t keep messing with it (bringing it up) because if you do the infection will set in and the infection of unforgiveness will bring death if you aren’t careful. 

 

Crazy Month but...

 It has been a crazy month and it's just started. Now, I look back and see that I haven't posted my blog on Monday as I have set it as my policy. I could tell myself that it shouldn't matter after all it's not like I have a bunch of followers (actually last time I looked it was only 1). If I was sick or my family was going through a huge emergency and we were all sitting in the hospital, I would agree. That isn't the case. Yes, it's been crazy, and yes there are a lot of things I can't post about right now, but I could have set aside the time to write something. I had the ideas. 

I don't have a valid excuse. But WHY? Why write?

For me, this is supposed to be a way to keep a rhythm of writing and ideas in my life. It is like doing a morning walk or an afternoon devotional. The one time might not change me but all of them together make me better. It's one of those "important but not urgent" things which all time management people tell you make all the difference. 

So what do I do? Get up and get on the ball...thus the four-day late blog post. 

Sorry to my one follower and to my future self, I need to do better. I will. 

Obey God--Do...Nothing! What?

 The LORD then gave these instructions to Moses: 13“Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’” Exodus 31:13-17

When I consider these words I don't want you to focus on God calling for capital punishment for breaking the Sabbath, but on the idea that God says there are times when the holiest and most obedient thing you can do is nothing.

I find it interesting that when people work all the time and wear themselves out they say they are, "Working like the Devil." As Christians, this isn't our role model. I'm not saying we should shut everything down on Sunday or Saturday, but I do wonder if we should be taking a sabbath. Jesus did call it God's gift. 

Think about it.   

Photo by Sébastien Lavalaye on Unsplash