However, with just as much enthusiasm the Lord has poured out his blessings and for that we are so thankful. Highlights for this month include Youth Sunday. Though this was actually late September, it was a special Sunday service nonetheless? set aside to highlight the Lord’s work through the TLC ministry here at New Life. We had special music, testimonies from students and a few special thanks from the parents.

We also had a special Wednesday privilege to attend Fields of Faith at Todd Field in Hastings. This was an amazing event that involved music, testimonies and prayer time put together by the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes).

With the support of a few school teachers, church leaders, and friends, our teens were blessed by this event very plainly and boldly proclaiming the gospel for Jesus Christ within the sphere of influence our teens usually spend their time.

We have also restarted the Sunday night Sr. High Bible study. It’s at the Miller residence. And, we are currently working through a topical study by Erwin McManus called Wide Awake.

Crucify myself…. I am so surprised how often I am thinking about myself instead of others. Driving, buying, parenting, youth pastoring and even in my time with God I find myself at the center of my prayers. I read the word and filter it through what does this mean for me. What I am saying is I am sick of myself and God is sick of it, too.

I am thankful for who God is… (Take some time to think about this)

all Powerful, all knowing, all wise, great provider, giver of counsel, My Shepherd who disciplines, cares for me, leads me through the valley of death and helps me fear no evil. He is doing a custom work inside me (sanctified). He pulls me out of the pit of my sin (redeems). He is a complete forgiver. He is my Father that desires the best for me. He reigns Supreme and demands me to follow Him. He is a God who sacrifices and is mysterious. He is dangerous and unpredictable, but loves me in my broken, and undone state.

I can’t even tell you how in awe I am of you, God. Thank you for loving me and inviting me into an intimate relationship with you.

That all for now,

Glenn

Many people have committed the Psalm to memory because to focus on one verse alone is to do injustice to the message of the Psalm overall. The Psalm proclaims the sovereignty of God and an acknowledgment of His goodness. A reminder that one is too enter worship with a thankful heart.

Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness? come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his? we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise? give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love enduresforever? his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The Psalm reflects the character of God and our response to His goodness. There is also a practical element here for you and me. It is that recognition that I need to praise God for my many blessings. In a world today that can be rather cynical, focuses on the negative and lacks in grace (especially on the highway at rush hour)? this Psalm is a refreshing reminder of why we exist and the spiritual attitude adjustment that is needed.

Likewise, perhaps the best thing about November in the United States is a reminder that we have a National Day commemorating a day of giving thanks. For over a decade I lived in China & Hong Kong and I learned to appreciate a lot of significant holidays as I traveled throughout Asia. Chinese New Year is probably the largest celebration. In mainland China it can last up to 15 days and it is much like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day celebrations rolled up into one where one gathers with family, gives gifts and wishes everyone a prosperous new year as you watch the fireworks show. As I write this the sounds of firecrackers, red banners, Dragon Dancers, red money packets (gifts), small oranges and candy on trays offered to visitors, and large fireworks displays flood my mind as I recall the joy in the air as I visit with my Asian and International friends. Our holiday season has a striking uniqueness in that the focus is an acknowledgement and praise for what we have been giving from God Almighty. We praise God for the freedom we enjoy in this prosperous land. We praise God at Christmas for the birth of the Savior of the World that is come to lighten our dark path. Psalm 100 is also a reminder and a proclamation that the earth is to rejoice with “gladness” because we know who our God is and He knows His sheep.

The greatest joy I have every night is when I am greeted by my lovely wife and wonderful children as they shout “Dadddddy’s home! I missed you” as they shower me with hugs and kisses as I enter the door.” It is the official greeting as I arrive and it signals the beginning of the nightly routine of getting caught up on the activity of the day, reading books, reviewing homework, and thanking God for another day as children get tucked into bed with prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of supplication. When the routine is broken because I have a late night meeting (which often happens) it seems something isn’t right with the world. My wife and children seem to hate my job, fight more with each other and I get a cold shoulder from my wife.

Why? Is it because they long for the deep relationship we share as family? Is not also because we desire to sing praise more than we long for more tension? Of course it is. The bottom line is this? we were created to worship God. If we don’t worship the Creator, we will make something else an idol of the heart. God reminds us that our trueNorth compass is accurate and calibrated
when we praise God simply for who He is and what He as done individually and corporately with joy in your hearts.

That same joy will spill over into to every walk of life. This holiday season stop and reflect on what you have and not on what you DO NOT have (Wall Street has given us enough to think about what we don’t have anymore). No, let your focus be on praising God for family, life, friends, and a country with freedom to worship. Then maybe what will be the result of this is the recognition that there are a lot of people around us that are less fortunate than us. Maybe
this is the year that you make someone else’s Thanksgiving or Christmas a little brighter.
Maybe this is the year you go without one of your presents to give to someone else around the world that is struggling to count their blessings because of a recent tragedy. Or maybe as you are driving to visit family or friends this Thanksgiving you just sit back and say, “I am blessed! I am not going to let the stress of this holiday season get to me. I am going to be a Psalm 100
Thanksgiver.”

“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” Confucius, Chinese Philosopher

Blessings,
Pastor Randy

Pastor Randy

Greetings in the Christ!

Let me first state that I am excited to be serving as your pastor here at New Life EFC.  It is an honor and a privilege.  I am looking forward to the future and all that God is going to do in and through us.  There seems to be a freshness and sense of anticipation in the air.  I suppose all new beginnings are like that.  Charting a new course and moving in a new direction is always thrilling.  There is that feeling that we are moving in a manner that pleases God and ministers to the soul.
All God’s creation exists for His glory. We were created to honor God.  The uniqueness of God’s creation is that it grows! There are different seasons of growth.  New Life EFC has had a seasonal ministry of maturation, a season of reformation, and now a season of expansion as we seek to apply all that God has been teaching NLEFC.  The growth we can expect to see should first be inside of each of us as the Holy Spirit convicts all of us of our desperate need for God’s holiness.  We know God loves us, but sometimes our face has not been told of that great mystery of God.  As we embark on a study of the Book of Acts we are going to see that when the Holy Spirit is at work through God’s people, the love of Christ is infectious. 

I believe all of us long to be empowered and filled with the Spirit of God and to be part of something that is bigger than us!
If we were to see people the way God sees them, what would we see? I believe we would first see God’s great compassion for all those not in a right relationship with Him.  Second, I think we would see God’s desire and effort to do all that He can do to reach those in darkness.  Third, I think we would be overwhelmed with God’s grace and love for us when we know we really don’t deserve it.  After spending nearly a decade in Asia, I saw so many people in the clutches of darkness. Some clung to animistic pagan practices, others clung to legalistic religious rituals, and still others chased false gods of materialism and selfish pride.  The bottom line is that Jesus Christ the message of hope we are to communicate to our world.  As Acts 4:12 reminds us “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

As we embark on a new season of ministry and an in-depth study of the Book of Acts.  I want to ask you to join me in committing to pray regularly for New Life EFC’s leadership, ministries, and opportunities afforded us by God in our church and community.  Pray for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and a hunger to know God and His Word in a way that transforms us from the inside out. Let’s lock arms together to see God do what only He can do in us as we do what we must do for Him to work through us! Then as we move forward we’ll be able to look back and see a trail of God’s grace.  A legacy of godliness is worth living for today!

In His service,

Randy Strode