I am a person with a high threshold for pain. 

 

I'm still young enough that when someone punches me in the arm (jokingly), I get a rush of adrenaline before I get a bruise.  And I'm also still at that age where those bruises are cool, like some sort of strange battle scar.  Or when I'm playing basketball and I get scraped and bruised, it is some sort of reward or trophy that I carry with me.  But I realize that these things too shall pass.  And it will happen very quickly.

 

The kind of pain I cannot handle - where I have a low threshold for pain - is emotional.  The pain that grips your heart and soul and you can't shake it - that pain - is what I have trouble with.  The number one catalyst of that kind of pain is change.  

 

For many of us, we do not like change.  We like our routines and our daily schedules.  We like waking up each day and knowing (for the most part) what to expect.  We like being comfortable in our day-to-day operations.  We don't like change.

 

No offense, but God is bigger than what you like or don't like. 

 

Today, I read Proverbs 24.  A part of my daily quiet time is to read the chapter in Proverbs corresponding with the date.  So, since it is June 24, I read the 24th chapter of Proverbs.  Brilliant, I know.  But look at this verse I read this morning:

"For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again; but the wicked are brought down by calamity" (Proverbs 24:16).

 

What will it take for you to get back up again?  When you experience pain in your life, do you believe it is God who is just messing with you, as if he enjoys seeing you downcast?  Or do you believe that God is bringing about a positive change in your life, and that change just might be very painful.  The question is (as Lewis put it), "Are you at the point in life where you don't doubt that God will do what's best in your life, but you just wonder how painful the best will be?"  Can you answer affirmatively to that question?

 

Because pain will come.  Life is full of pain.  Someone once said, "There are far more valleys than mountain tops."  So when you fall down time and time again, do you stay down?  Are you throwing in the towel?  Or will you get back up?  The Bible says that how you respond to pain will indicate what type of person you are - whether or not you are a righteous man or woman.

 

Jerry Falwell often told the student body, "You do not determine a man's greatness by his talent or wealth (as the world does), but rather by what it takes to discourage him."  Let that sink in.  What does it take to discourage you?  When you see pain coming, do you run and hide?  Or do you get back up - time and time again - knowing that God's best for you is right around the corner.  My prayer is that you and I find a high threshold for pain in the comforting arms of God.

 

 

I am so excited about our new study for this summer entitled, "BATTLING UNBELIEF."  You might say, "Well I don't have a problem with unbelief, so I'll stay home and watch re-runs of E.R."  Bad move.  How many more emergency room situations can they possibly come up with?  We're over it!  The show has been on as long as I have been alive and it's the same story every time.  

 

So choose something better to do this summer and come to MOSAIC each and every Thursday for this new series.  If you're like me, you keep struggling with the same issues over and over again in your walk with Christ.  Pride and Anxiety are my two biggest areas.  Maybe for you it's Bitterness.  Or maybe it's Lust and Impatience.  Whatever our issues are, their source is unbelief, because the Bible tells us clearly how to battle those issues.  And when we ignore the counsel of God, we are essentially saying, "God, I don't believe what you're saying about my problems.  I'll handle these on my own."

 

What a grave error this is!  I hope you'll come on Thursdays this summer beginning on July 10.  The Bible Study will either be in the CrossPoint Theater (as usual) or under the Portico when the weather is nice.  It is going to be an incredible time and I'm so excited to not only be attending and learning but to be teaching on one or two occasions.  This is going to be awesome and I hope you bring friends for all 8 weeks, starting on July 10.

 

 

Before we get to our BATTLING UNBELIEF study, we are going to finish up EVERYBODY LOVES A GOOD STORY this week.  This Thursday, June 26, is the second half of the infamous "Prodigal Son" story, from the perspective of the Older Son.  I hope you don't miss it.

The following Thursday, July 3, is our annual outing to the Bisons game.  There are a LIMITED number of tickets left so don't delay.  It's worth every penny because you get Bisons baseball, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Fireworks!  And you're spending the evening with friends in the Greatest City on Earth.  What more could you ask for?

 

On July 18, we will celebrate summer with the Steak-N-Corn Roast.  Tickets go on sale starting this coming Sunday, June 29.  There will be NO tickets at the door, so be certain and get your ticket earlier rather than later.  This is one of the few (if not the only) adults-only event we offer for our MOSAIC Singles, so there will be no childcare or children's activities at this event.  Get your tickets from Joe.

 

I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday and I will look forward to seeing you in about 50 hours from this posting!  

 

In Him,

Jonathan 

I hope this blog finds you dry and warm on such a wonderful 55 degree day in June.

 

Can I confess something to you?  I mean, I've never told anyone this.  Do you remember the song - that old hymn - "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name"?  It is a beautiful song and I cherish most of the lyrics, but there was one thing about that song which bothered me; it was the very next lyric in that song: "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain."  

 

I have just one problem: I hate rain.  I hate it.  I hated it today.  I hated it way back when.  But I love the name of Jesus.

 

So there I was at a crossroads in life as a 10 year old boy singing this song in church that I didn't agree with.  I hate the fragrance after the rain.  It smells weird to me.  Maybe the post-rain odor was different in the part of the world that this hymn-writer was living in, and I'm sure he wasn't living in a large urban setting; probably a countryside somewhere.  But that I could never relate to that hymn because Jesus' name - to me - was not on the same level as a precipitous scent.  It was way more than that to me.

 

Thankfully, those hymns are not inspired.  I know that many of you from a previous generation might be inclined to believe that they are - along with the King James Bible - but those hymn-writers did not receive the same unction that Peter, John, and Paul did.

 

But the Scriptures are loaded with instances of what Jesus' name IS like. And the Biblical descriptions are way better than the fragrance after the rain.

 

-An angel came to Mary and told her to name the Christ-child "Jesus" because "he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).  Jesus' name is the Greek equivalent of what Joshua's name meant in the Hebrew: "Jehovah saves."

 

-At the conclusion of John's Gospel, the author states that his purpose in writing was so that "you may believe that Jesus is the Christ...and that by believing you may have LIFE in his NAME" (John 20:31).  Jesus' name alone has power to give us life, if we believe and follow him.

 

-THE ENTIRE BOOK OF ACTS.  Read it.  No - seriously - read it.  Read the whole thing.  Count the number of times anyone did anything "in the name of Jesus."  Not only was Jesus' name giving them power to do it all, although that is important.  But what the apostles were doing in Acts was worthy of receiving the blessing of Jesus' name.  Is my daily conduct worthy of being done "in Jesus' name"?  (See Colossians 3:17)

 

-The name of Jesus is tied to his mission of redeeming his people, since his name means "Jehovah saves."  One day in the future, that mission will be completed.  Matthew 25 speaks clearly of the righteous being separated from the unrighteous forever.  When that day comes, and Jesus has completed the mission of redeeming us, he will have a NEW name.  Revelation 3:12 says that Jesus will write this new name on us when we spend eternity with him.  What is that new name?  No one knows it (Rev. 19:12) except for the Son of God, himself.  His new name is so powerful, so incomprehensible, so unfathomable that it cannot even be known.  

 

Jesus' name is much more than the fragrance after the rain - as beautiful as that may be for some of you.  But His name is much, much more than that.  It is our salvation.  It is powerful.  It is our sustenance.  It is Jesus. 

 

 

There are no new announcements.  Remember the Bisons game on July 3.  Get your $20 ticket from Joe Grippi on Thursday night.

 

Also, keep in mind that the Steak & Corn Roast will be here before you know it.  Be sure to pick up your ticket for this adult-only event as soon as possible.  

 

Pray for the MOSAIC singles ministry today.  We often find ourselves coming before God with a laundry list of requests (usually stuff we think we need) and we rarely share with God from our heart.  Thank Him for all He has done in your life to bring you this far.  Praise Him for what is happening in MOSAIC.  Plead with Him for a revival to sweep across our region, our country, and our world.  Nothing is impossible for our God.

 

In Him,

Jonathan 

 

I am sure everyone of us have moms (and possibly dads) who love or loved to tell embarrassing stories of our childhood at social or family functions -- tales that seem to get embellished as the years go by and the memory becomes distant to her and you wish could be erased from your mind.  And of course, you can't question your mom's objectivity or the truthfulness of the tale, because you don't remember the event (other than the fact that you have heard the story told one hundred and two times...and counting).

 

One such story told by my mother involves me, mom, my brother - born exactly once year before me - and a bus-ride downtown.  Before my mother had her driver's license, she would take us two downtown to the stores in Buffalo.  This would require the aforementioned bus ride.  The way the story goes (though I am not in any way accusing my mother of fabrication, embellishment, or falsifying sealed documents): we were waiting for the bus, across the street from a gas station that was opening up (I wonder what the price per gallon was then) and they had a guy dressed up as Yogi Bear passing out balloons.  Then he made a serious tactical error - he headed my way.  I took one look at him, screamed, and ran in the opposite direction.  By the time my mom caught up to me, we had missed the bus and had to wait another hour for the next one.  I am personally responsible for delaying our arrival home and placing myself through a lot more torture as I had to still see Mr. Yogi.

 

I realized that I, too, had made a tactical mistake at this moment.  When I ran, I ran away from the one - actually the ONLY one - who could have comforted me in my own torment.  I should have run to my mom!

 

So what do you do when you are in trouble?  Do you run to the One who has promised to be a very present help in times of trouble, or do you run away from that One?  What do you do when you are in distress?  Do you run to the One who has promised to give you rest when you are weary, or do you run away from that One?  What do you do when you are overcome with anxiety or guilt or fear?  Do you run to the One who gives peace and forgiveness and love, or do you run away from that One?

 

The overriding testimony of the men and women of the Bible is that when they chose to run away from God (like Jonah), they only complicated things.  But when they ran to God, they found Him to be everything He said He would be...and much more.  That's why David said (wonderful words): He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  Believe me, it is worth your while to run to Him today -- and allow Him to bless you with His love, grace, and mercy.

 

You are greatly loved, dear friend.

 

Pastor Deone

 

 

I look forward to seeing you this Thursday.  My lesson from the parables of Jesus is found in Luke 16, and it's about money - hey, at least I'm being honest.  BUT I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THAT YOU NEED TO GIVE MORE TO THE CHURCH.  That's not the object of the lesson.  The lesson IS to give you a big picture of why you have money and what are some of the things that you and I can do to make the experience of receiving and using money more effective.

 

Remember also that we have cook-outs during the summer to make it more convenient for you to come straight to Singles after work.  We serve from 6:15-6:45 SHARP (no serving after 6:45 so we can be ready to begin our program at 7 p.m.).  Cook-out is $3 per adult, $1 per child.

 

 

Our annual excursion to Dunn-Tire Park for the BPO, Bisons baseball game, and fireworks, is coming up Thursday, July 3. There will be no Singles that night.  Unfortunately, the group tickets went up this year, and they are $20 each for this event.  We will have a block of 36 tickets, ready to sell them beginning this Thursday.

Good morning friends:

 

When I was a teenager, I was greatly influenced by a movie called, "Fear Strikes Out."  It was a baseball movie about the life story of Jimmy Piersall, a player for the Boston Red Sox who had what they called "a nervous breakdown" during a major league baseball game.  He is known for climbing the backstop at Fenway Park, screaming at his father after hitting a home run, "Is that good enough?  Is that good enough?"  It's a sad story of a young man pressured into playing ball and paralyzed by the fear of letting his father down.

 

Fear can be terribly paralyzing.  It can prevent us from doing the things we know we ought to do - and even want to do - because of what others might think, or because of some internal voice placing guilt or great fear upon us.  Solomon even said (Proverbs 29:25) that the fear of man brings a snare; it traps us.  We know that to be true.  Peer pressure is not a teenager thing; it is a predominant influence on what we do -- because we are too afraid of the reaction of others if we don't.

 

It might surprise you to know that great men have struggled with fear.  One such person is a man named Timothy.  If anyone was the Apostle Paul's right-hand man, it was Timothy.  He was loyal and trustworthy, dependable enough to give him the most difficult assignments.  And yet, Timothy was often filled with fear.  In one episode, Paul had given Timothy the task of watching over the church at Ephesus.  And all of a sudden, problems arose (like they do in any church).  And Paul has to tell Timothy to stay put and deal with the issues there.  Why would Paul have to tell Timothy that?  Because he was thinking of leaving -- because he was afraid.

 

So Paul had to remind Timothy of something, which we all could use a reminder of today: "God has not given you the spirit of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7).  Paul is saying, "I understand you are afraid, but I want you to know that you did not get this from God."  God, instead, has given you a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind -- one which can assess the situation before you and realize that God is more than able to work through you in that situation to accomplish His purposes.  The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who did significant things for God (or rather, God did significant things through them), simply because they - in spite of their fears - obeyed God and did what He told them to do.

 

The question I set before you is this: What would you do for God if you were not afraid?  I pray, even if you are afraid, that you will realize He is greater than your fear, and will work on your behalf to accomplish His good purposes.  So, trust Him with all your heart!  He is trustworthy because His Word says, "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).  Since God is the source of perfect love, we can safely say that when we are filled with God's love, fear has just struck out.

 

 

Please remember that we are starting our summer cook-outs THIS THURSDAY.  We do this for convenience, so that many of you can come straight from work (which saves on gas).  This year, we will be serving from 6:15-6:45.  We will stop serving promptly at 6:45 p.m. (so please come between that time if you want to eat).  We will start our normal program at 7:00 p.m.

 

The cost is $3 for 2 hot dogs + chips + lemonade.  If you want an extra hot dog, that will cost you $1 more.  Children can eat for $1.

 

Our Bible study this week will be an examination of the rewards Jesus promises us.  I am looking forward to Thursday.

-Pastor Deone