“Getting old is not that bad, it’s the aches and pains that come with it that’s bad” _My 87 year old dad, Sunday morning, January 16, 2022
Dr. Richard C. Halverson, from Pingree, North Dakota (population 60), Chaplain to the U.S. Senate (1981-1995) and pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland for many years always gave this benediction at the end of his services:
“You go nowhere by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there; He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who indwells you has something He want to do through you where you are.
Believe this and go in His grace and love and power.”
Lee & Co. arrived safely to USAG Bavaria, Hohenfels this week.
Sonja and I saw a “sun dogs” this past Wednesday over the horizon of Bismarck. Pretty neat.
- I included a picture and blog link at the bottom of the page. The picture comes from the blog and the blog give a bit of context about sun dogs from a farmer’s point of view.
Money Matters: Maybe you’re like me and have been hearing a lot about NFTs (non-fungible token) lately . Here’s a good podcast to give you a better understanding about them.
- Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rule-breaker-investing/id1017325738?i=1000547715471
Around the North Central Region:
Slogan on the opening page of the Abundant Life Fellowship, Butte MT website: “In Butte as it is in Heaven” (I love it!)
To see it for yourself go to their website at: https://www.theuptownchurch.net/
Sonja and I will be in Union Center ministering at the Prairie Bible COG this weekend. We have a very special place in our heart for this dear congregation. They are in need of a new pastor. Please help us pray that God’s perfect will to be done in this situation.
Standout Quotes:
- “To face negative things is hard. Otherwise, everyone would do it. To change is hard work, otherwise everyone would grow. I said that the winners freely go to the dentist and get the gains. They want the pain to go away. But something else is true about them too: they are willing to go through the pain that it takes to get there. They do not see pain as something to be avoided, but the necessary price to pay for what they want.” — Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality by Henry Cloud
- I highly recommend this book.
- “If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.” _David Letterman
- Letterman and I have at least two things in common: we both share the same first name and we’d both beyond just loving coffee—it’s a must-have.
- “If you are not where you are, you are nowhere.” _Lamar Vest, conservation on January 20, 2021
- Dr. Vest was reminding me that while it is good to be planning for a better future, the doorway to that happing is to be fully present and engaged in the moment.
Closing Comment:
I’ve been thinking a lot about debts this week. According to which version we use, anytime we pray the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Forgive us our debts.”
We are highly indebted to God and to so many others. I think that much of our activities in life is based on our level of awareness of this and our response.
For example, what makes a person self-centered, narcissistic, and selfish? Answer: They have no concept of how indebted they are. Thus they sense no humility or gratitude and as a result they become a blackhole that sucks everything into the universe of Me, Me, Me.
But then there’s those amazing people who live a life of selfless sacrifice and service. Wherever they go they bring hope and help and encouragement. How do they keep doing it?
Answer: Whether conscience or unconscious, at the core of their being they are living a life of gratitude. They have been given great gifts and mercies, and graces and they know it and acknowledge it.
And they understand that with that comes a debt – a debt to pay it forward. To take what was given them and use it to advance goodness and godliness in this world. They understand that great grace is given as a mercy (never deserved) and thus, with honest, down-to-earth humility and happiness, they are only too glad to be grace-givers themselves.
Why you and me? Sure we have our needs and problems. But compared to billions of others we are so very blessed. What a debt of gratitude we owe! Let’s get busy…we’ve got bills to pay.
#Running2Win for the sake of the Gospel,
_david l. kemp
The ONE THING 