Good Morning Church,

I am blessed to be the pastor of a wonderful church. We had a good time at the Lord's House yesterday. What a joy to baptize believers and to hear their testimonies as they resolved to follow Jesus! To John, Sierra, Cassandra, Athena, and Lisa, congratulations! Pastor Don is proud of. Your baptism was a great blessing to me. May you always walk in love and obedience to God! On Sunday night we shared a wonderful message on Psalm 23. That message will be on our website by Monday evening if you wish to listen to it. I guarantee it will bless you spiritually!

For a thought this morning I want to say, "God began with nothing and made something." Even today, God still takes nothing and makes something out of it. I read a story this past week that brings that truth out. The story was about a man named Richard Wurmbrand who was a prisoner in a communist prison. Over the weary months of his 14 yr. captivity, he and several other Christians worked out a system of communication through tapping on a sewer pipe that connected their dark, tiny cells.

As the months went by, the men in that prison longed to share a Communion service together. They had nothing. No church building, no music, no bread, and no wine. How do you have communion with nothing? Then one of the prisoners tapped to Wurmbrand; "Nothing can be something for us, for I remember God hung the world on nothing." So with nothing in their hands, they broke bread. With nothing touching their lips, they sipped wine. They worshiped the Giver of everything in those dark prison cells.

In his later years, Wurmbrand would remember many communions, but none sweeter and none richer than the one in which the participants had nothing at all. In his late 80's, Wurmbrand and his wife were given a tour of a Christian bookstore in post-revolution Bucharest. The Wurmbrands were then conducted to an underground warehouse room under the bookstore, which was piled high with Bibles and Christian books. As Wurmbrand peered into that little room, a look of puzzlement came over the old man's face. Then he began to weep and cry. Then boundless joy overtook him. The "warehouse" was his former prison cell. It was the very place where he had once shared Communion with no wine and no bread. Now the cell was overflowing with God's Word, God's comfort, and God's love. Though nearly crippled in his feet from the years of torture, the old man began to dance for joy.

This morning the message is, God can make something out of your nothing. That has always been God's way. The woman who had nothing in II Kings gathered all the pots she could from her neighbors at the man of God's instruction, and God filled them with oil to overflowing. If life today leaves you feeling empty, lonely, and in need, according to what I shared with you today, you have hope. May God meet all your needs according to His riches in glory.

Till next time, Pastor Don

P.S. Softball Games Monday and Tuesday night are at 6pm at Calvary Presbyterian Church this week. The Men's Church Shootout is Saturday morning at 10am. We will be shooting against 6 or 7 other churches at Grand Blanc Huntsman Club.

And one prayer request, Mary Beals will be having Gall Bladder surgery on Friday morning. Please keep her in your prayers.

P.S.S. Food for Thought: The Urine Test
(Not original with me, just passing it on)

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as they see fit. In order to get that paycheck I am required to pass a random drug test, which I have no problem with.

What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass the urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, because I have to pass one to earn it for them.

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sit on their rear using my taxes to get high.

Could you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?
 

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