ALL SAINTS EVE!

A reformer's refuge

"A mighty fortress is our God.
A bulwark never failing.
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe—
His craft and pow'r are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not His equal."
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Martin Luther (1483-1546)


God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of
trouble. So we will not fear, even
if earthquakes come and mountains
crumble into the sea. Let the oceans
roar and foam. Let the mountains
tremble as the waters surge!
Psalm 46:1-3 NLT

The great reformer

"After posting his ninety-five theses
on the door of Wittenberg's Castle
Church in October 1517, Martin Luther
faced many years of trials and persecution.
And during the years of the ensuing
Protestant Reformation, Luther came
to know better than most the gracious
power of God's sheltering hand. He
confidently stepped forward to defend
the truth he found in God's Word, despite
excommunication from the Roman church,
continual threats to his life and freedom,
and times of intense spiritual battle.

In the comforting words of Psalm 46,
Luther found the inspiration for this hymn
that would become the battle cry of the
Protestant Reformation. Many who suffered
for their faith during that time found solid
comfort in Luther's words of faith and praise.
"A might fortress is our God!"

from The One Year® Book of Hymns by
Mark Norton and Robert Brown (Tyndale)
entry for October 31

GUESS WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN

Poem

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,

Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp-

The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice..

Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?

I would love to hear Your take.

How'd all these sinners get up here?

God must've made a mistake.

And why's everyone so quiet,

So somber - give me a clue.'

'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in
shock..
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'


JUDGE NOT.

THINK ABOUT THIS!

'To get something you never had,
you have to do something you
never did.' When God takes
something from your grasp,
He's not punishing you, but
merely opening your hands
to receive something better.

Concentrate on this sentence... '

The will of God will never take
you where the Grace of God
will not protect you.' Something
good will happen to you today;
something that you have been
waiting to hear.

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!

Scripture:

"But Jesus said, "You feed them."
"But we have only five loaves of bread and
two fish," they answered. "Or are you expecting
us to go and buy enough food for this whole
crowd?" For there were about 5,000 men there.
Luke 9:13-14, NLT"

Reflection:

It was the middle of the day, probably around lunch time.
People had been waiting a long while to see and hear
Jesus. They were hungry and tired, and on top of that
there was over 5,000 them (not counting women and children).
This was no small crowd. When the disciples expressed
concern about how the crowd of thousands would eat,
Jesus offered this surprising solution. "You give them
something to eat: The disciples were set
back by this proposal. Notice their response to Jesus'
solution. They protested, focusing their attention on
what they didn't have (food and money).

How many times, in our life, have we focused on the things
we didn't have. Do you honestly think that our God
would ask us to do something that we and He together
couldn't handle? WE NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT WE DO
HAVE, JESUS CHRIST!
Don't let your lack of resources blind you to seeing God's power.

Prayer:

Thank You God that I have you. I pray that I focus
on my relationship with You and on Your power and
strength. Not on what I don't have. Because when I
have You God I have everything. In Jesus name amen.

FEELING OLD?

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today.

The people who are starting college this fall were born in 1991.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

The CD was introduced two years before they were born.

They have always had an answering machine..

They have always had cable.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been microwaved.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: 'Where's the Beef?', 'I'd walk a mile for a Camel ', or 'de plane Boss, de plane'.



McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Pass this on to the other old fogies on your list.

Notice the larger type?

That's for those of us who have trouble reading.

P.S. Save the earth.. It's the only planet with chocolate.

TAKE A LITTLE TIME AND PRAY

Scripture:

Luke 6:12 (New King James Version)

The Twelve Apostles

12 Now it came to pass in those days
that He went out to the mountain to pray,
and continued all night in prayer to God.


Reflection:

When you have a decision to make how do you approach
making that decision. Do you seek other people's advice, do
you research a lot, do you spend days seeking advice
from experts, maybe you even look at self-help gurus.
Then as an after thought you spend five minutes with
God.
But before Jesus chose His twelve apostles, He spent
the night in conversation with His father. I mean we are
talking about the Son of God and He didn't think it was a
waste of His time and spent the whole night in prayer.
What about you? Do you pray when you have a
decision to make. Do you pray when you are looking
for a job, when you hire or fire someone. When you
change jobs, careers, or locations, do you seek your
father's counsel. Do you have other important decisions
that would benefit from godly wisdom? (are there any
other kind of decisions?)
ARE YOU WILLING TO SPEND THE NIGHT IN
PRAYER!

Prayer:

Oh Lord I want to walk as one of your blessed children.
"Order my steps in thy word"
What is Your Word concerning my life and the decisions
I must make? Oh Lord give me a greater hunger to spend
time with You, to hear Your Word of life, Your Wisdom,
Your Counsel,

HIS MIRACLES TO PERFORM

OUR LORD WORKS IN WONDEROUS
WAYS, HIS MIRACLES TO PERFORM!!!

A preacher concluded that his church
was getting into very serious financial
troubles. While checking the church
storeroom, he discovered several cartons
of new Bibles that had never been opened
and distributed. So at his Sunday sermon,
he asked for three volunteers from the
congregation who would be willing to sell
the Bibles door-to-door for $10 each to
raise the desperately needed money for
the church. Jack, Paul and Louie all
raised their hands to volunteer for the task.

The minister knew that Jack and Paul
earned their living as salesmen and were
likely capable of selling some Bibles. But
he had serious doubts about Louie who
was a local farmer, who had always kept
to himself because he was embarrassed
by his speech impediment. Poor Louis
stuttered badly. But, not wanting to
discourage Louis, the minister decided
to let him try anyway.

He sent the three of them away with the
back seat of their cars stacked with Bibles.
He asked them to meet with him and report
the results of their door-to-door selling
efforts the following Sunday.

Anxious to find out how successful they
were, the minister immediately asked Jack,
'Well, Jack, how did you make out selling
our Bibles last week?'

Proudly handing the minister an envelope,
Jack replied, 'Using my sales prowess, I
was able to sell 20 Bibles, and here's the
$200 I collected on behalf of the church.'

'Fine job, Jack!' The minister said, vigorously
shaking his hand. 'You are indeed a fine
salesman and the Church is indebted to you.'

Turning to Paul, 'And Paul, how many
Bibles did you sell for the church last week?'
Paul, smiling and sticking out his chest,
confidently replied, 'I am a professional
salesman. I sold 28 bibles on behalf of the
church, and here's $280 I collected.'

The minister responded, 'That's absolutely
splendid, Paul. You are truly a professional
salesman and the church is indebted to you.'

Apprehensively, the minister turned to
Louie and said, 'And Louie, did you manage
to sell any Bibles last week?'

Louie silently offered the minister a large
envelope.

The minister opened it and counted the contents.
'What is this?' the minister exclaimed. 'Louie,
there's $3200 in here! Are you suggesting that
you sold 320 Bibles for the church, door to door, i
n just one week?'

Louie just nodded.

'That's impossible!' both Jack and Paul said
in unison. 'We are professional salesmen, yet
you claim to have sold 10 times as many Bibles
as we could.'

'Yes, this does seem unlikely,' the minister agreed.
'I think you'd better explain how you managed to
accomplish this, Louie.'

Louie shrugged. 'I-I-I re-re-really do-do-don't
kn-kn-know f-f-f-for sh-sh-sh-sure,' he stammered.

Impatiently, Peter interrupted. 'For crying out
loud, Louie, just tell us what you said to them
when they answered the door!'

'A-a-a-all I-I-I s-s-said wa-wa-was,' Louis replied,
'W-w-w-w-would y-y-y-you l-l-l-l-l-like t-t-to b-b-b-buy
th-th-th-this b-b-b-b-bible f-f-for t-t-ten b-b-b-bucks
---o-o-o-or--- wo-wo-would yo-you j-j-j-just l-like m-m-me
t-t-to st-st-stand h-h-here and r-r-r-r-r-read it t-t-to y-y-you??'

SHOW MERCY!

Scripture:

But you, dear friends, must continue to build your
lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And
continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy
Spirit. Live in such a way that God's love can bless
you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord
Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.
Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.
Rescue others by snatching them from the
flames of judgment. There are still others to
whom you need to show mercy, but be careful
that you aren't contaminated by their sins.
Titus 1:20:23 NLT

<…the Lord has already told you what is good,
and this is what he requires: to do what is right,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 NLT

Reflection:

During my years in the Christian Ministry,
I of course had contact with a wide variety of
Christians. I delighted in my discovery of
the many positive things we shared as
followers of Jesus Christ.There were also negative
characteristics that we as Christians seemed
to share. One of those characteristics was
we as Christians,"often times shoot our own
wounded". We often times become impatient
and judgmental with our brothers, and sisters,
and reject them. Especially when they struggle
with sin and doubt. Instead of rejecting them,
Jude says, we should have mercy on them—
just as Christ had mercy on us when he forgave
our many sins. While we must not tolerate or
accept sin, we are to love and accept others
with kindness and mercy.

Would you remember this one very important
thing. Please remember this:
If you know someone who has fallen away from
God, your kindness may be just what is needed
to lead them back to God.

I HAVE A CONFESSION

I am a recovering alcoholic. I have been
recovering since 1978. I was one of those
happy drunks, this of course only fortified
my conviction to drink. If I was happy, if
I made everyone happy, it was ok to drink.
Of course I was never taking into account
that drinking was taking over my life. I
could do nothing, I could not even function
normally without being drunk. Everybody
loves a happy drunk, but I didn't love myself.
Only when I turned my life over to Jesus, my
supreme being, did I begin to recover. I received
no help, no encouragement, no assistance
at all from the church, only the head of the
church Jesus Christ.
We as a nation spend over 500 billion dollars,
that's right 500 billion dollars on addiction.
The emergency rooms of our hospitals, the
morgue's of our cities, are filled with the
bodies of drunk drivers, and overdose
victims. Close to 25% of all Medicare,
and Medicaid expenses come from
substance abuse.
We are in a war and we are loosing the
battles. Among all of this, Where is the
church? If, as a church, we want to see
God at work in our communities, I think we
need to examine and help these lives that are
being lost to self-destruction.
It is fine for a church to hold pot luck dinners,
present Christmas Pagaents, and have Wednesday
night prayer services. What is not fine, is for a
church, the body of Christ, to be apathetic and
unconcerned about the individual lives of our
community.
If, we as a church, are to serve God, then we are
to serve His people.
We need to see and help those lives that are being
disturbed by the epidemic of addiction. The bottom
line has been reached and our cities and towns are
spinning wildly into self-destruction. It's time to stop
building walls around our individual lives. We must
respond to the call as a faith community. We must
respond as a "church" of God. It's time to launch
"recovery ministries" in our churches. It's time to
open all aspects of our church life to addicts who are
seeking recovery. It's time to make a difference, one
day at
a time, one life at a time, in a whole society
that is caught in the "down fall" of addiction,.
WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED NOW! If we are
are truly the body of Christ, then we are to be
INVOLVED NOW! THERE IS SOMEONE IN
NEED.......DO SOMETHING!

"Help me to perform whatever miracles you want of me today."

Prayer to Overcome Addictions

Dear God,
I come to You as I come to no one else.
I am so sorry. I have tried to throw away my life, my body, my soul—through addiction.
But recognition of my addiction has never given me power to control it.
You know this. You never blame me. You know the truth.
Addiction is an attractor field in which minds and bodies become mired to escape emotional pain.
But there is another, better way to escape pain.
Pain is transcended through an authentic calling from You.
Therefore, I surrender myself, now, to You.
I demand, now, in this moment, Father, that You call me—that You call me loudly.
You raise me up out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field.
And as You raise me, so do You raise Humanity out of addiction and into a higher level attractor field.
Together we rise, as one force in You, one at a time and together.
Because the world needs us. We rise or we fall, together.
For You need me. I am Your Thoughts, Your Voice, Your Hands.
I rejoice in awe over my inherent holiness: I am where You reside.
By Your grace, as I read this, my mind is aligned with Yours.
By Your grace, the power of my mind is multiplied exponentially by all who read this.
Aligned with You, we are more powerful than any evil—
or any substance—can ever be.
Together WE form a conduit of love that reaches into my need for addiction and I am healed.
By healing myself, I now heal Humanity's need for addiction.
Joy fills my soul. My gratitude is infinite.

Thank You.

WHAT ABOUT MY THINGS?

Scripture:

All the believers were united in heart
and mind. And they felt that what they
owned was not their own, so they
shared everything they had. The
apostles testified powerfully to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
God's great blessing was upon them all.
Acts 4:32, NLT

Reflection:
.
What do "things", mean to you.
Are "things", important to you.
Is it important to own what you possess.
I think to most people ownership is very
important. But today's scripture
verse gives us a very different slant.
None of these Christians felt that what
they possessed was their own, and
so they were able to give and share,
actually eliminating poverty among
them. This is important, THEY WOULD
NOT LET A BROTHER OR SISTER SUFFER
WHEN OTHERS HAD PLENTY.
This question begs an answer, "How do
you feel about your possessions? It seems
to me that we, all of us, need to adopt a new
attitude given to us by the scriptures. That
attitude is THAT EVERYTHING, YES
EVERYTHING, WE HAVE COMES FROM
GOD, AND WE ARE ONLY SHARING WHAT
IS ALREADY HIS.
With that attitude I know what "things" are
in my life.

Prayer:

Oh God thank You for sharing with me Your
grace. And especially, Oh God, for sharing
Your Son with me. Oh Lord let it be that
the only "thing" I possess, is the power of
the Holy Spirit!

SPECIAL GROCERY LIST

Scripture:

18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Luke 4:18-19 (New International Version)

(Please take time and read this,
and when your finished please,
please say a Prayer of Thanksgiving.)

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady
with a look of defeat on her face, walked
into a grocery store. She approached
the owner of the store in a most humble
manner and asked if he would let her
charge a few groceries.

She softly explained that her husband
was very ill and unable to work, they
had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at
her and requested that she leave his
store at once.

Visualizing the family needs, she said:
'Please, sir! I will bring you the money
just as soon as I can.'

John told her he could not give her
credit, since she did not have a charge
account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a
customer who overheard the conversation
between the two. The customer walked
forward and told the grocer that he would
stand good for whatever she needed for
her family. The grocer said in a very
reluctant voice, 'Do you have a grocery list?'

Louise replied, 'Yes sir.' 'O.K' he said,
'put your grocery list on the scales and
whatever your grocery list weighs, I will
give you that amount in groceries.'

Louise hesitated a moment with a bowed
head, then she reached into her purse
and took out a piece of paper and scribbled
something on it. She then laid the piece
of paper on the scale carefully with her
head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer
showed amazement when the scales went
down and stayed down.

The grocer, staring at the scales, turned
slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly,
'I can't believe it.'

The customer smiled and the grocer
started putting the groceries on the other
side of the scales. The scale did not
balance so he continued to put more and
more groceries on them until the scales
would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper
from the scales and looked at it with
greater amazement.

It was not a grocery list, it was a prayer,
which said:

'Dear Lord, you know my needs and
I am leaving this in your hands.'

The grocer gave her the groceries that
he had Gathered and stood in stunned
silence.

Louise thanked him and left the store.
The other customer handed a fifty-dollar
bill to the grocer and said; 'It was worth
every penny of it. 'ONLY GOD KNOWS
HOW MUCH A PRAYER WEIGHS'

THE POWER: When you read this,
say a prayer. That's all you have to do.

Just stop right now, and say a prayer
of thanks for your own good fortune. ..

So dear heart, trust God to heal the sick,
provide food for the hungry, clothes and
shelter for those that don't have as we do.

AMEN & AMEN