Ok, so I am somewhat back in the saddle now. It feels good.

Valeria came home today and I thank God for that. She is feeling good and ready to be fully recovered.

It has been so busy these past few days. It is never really possible to totally leave the ministry and so even though I was living in the hospital for 5 days there was still so much on my mind. Nevertheless, God gave me grace and tonight I will be sleeping in my bed and resting better.

We went to the hospital on Sunday morning at 8am. At 10:51 Noah was born. (I have posted 2 pictures of him in some previous posts.) This explains why I have not posted any blog posts in a while.

Noah is doing well and Valeria and I are so undeserving of 3 little sons. Three boys under the age of three makes for some tiring days now, but will hopefully make for some extra special moments growing up. (I am praying that maybe one day they will all be able to play on the same high school team together. I don’t care what sport. I probably prefer baseball or basketball. And this would mean that the youngest, Noah, would have to be really good to be able to play varsity as a 9th or 10th grader.)

This Sunday will be our Homecoming at church celebrating 94 years. We are excited for that.

There is a lot on my mind. I am glad to be back in Fairdale. Tomorrow is Friday.

With such a very busy and heavy last 5 days, Here is where my heart is now:

Psalm 73:23-26

“Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

We cannot have weak faith. Quite frankly, life on earth is often bad, hard, and devastating. Thats the truth. Sooner or later bad news is coming our way.

I was recently comforted by this verse.

Psalm 112

v.1 “blessed is the man who fears the LORD…

v.7 He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”

The man that is trusting in the LORD has a firm heart and “news” does not phase him. He is firm because God is firm! And all of his hope and faith and trust are in God… not news.

Amen!

Noah holding my hand on his 2nd day of life.

In the Proverbs, you have wisdom speaking to his son teaching him wisdom. He often is saying cling to my teaching. I recently had Proverbs 3:1 painted on my sons bedroom wall. It says “My son, do not forget my teaching.”

In this picture my son, Noah, is clinging to my hand. While this blesses my heart more than words can express, I pray to God that Noah will cling even harder to what I teach him as he grows up and becomes a man.

Here is a picture of the souvenir birth certificate of our newest son Noah.

I show it so you can see the stamps of his feet.

Noah Morris Greene was born Sunday, October 10th, and weighed 8 lbs 15 ozs.

JJ and Eli have this awesome little childrens book called ‘Jesus is Coming Back!’

We read it often! The other day the simple reality of this great truth really dawned upon me and blessed me.

One day soon, our Lord is coming back to rescue all His children.

Revelation 22:7 “behold, I am coming soon.”

Revelation 22:20 “Surely I am coming soon.”

May we all live in light of this great truth and reality!

I am excited to announce that… It is ready!

The new church directory is finally here and ready to pass out. They will be ready to be distributed tomorrow night at Wednesday evening prayer meeting.

I am praying that God will use these pictures and contact information to help us know and love and serve one another! May God use our church directory to magnify Christ!

http://www.sbts.edu/resources/chapel/gods-open-call/?play=true

For anyone who may see this blog that is going into ministry, Please watch this sermon.
Especially watch the first 15-20 minutes. Please watch it.

Over the years, Matthew 25:31-46 has become one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. Jesus is teaching about the serious reality of life and death and faith and works and heaven and hell and judgment. The passage is so attention-grabbing. I cannot help but really get focused when studying it.

Here is what I am learning:

We are saved because of what we Believe! And we are judged because of what we have done!

Both of these are true and both of these are clear in the Bible.

If anyone is going to be saved, it is because God in His grace has given them Faith. Being saved is always a gift and has to be. This way no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In judgment, we are judged and therefore either saved or condemned due to what we have done. In Revelation 20 at the Great White Throne Judgment it says twice that they were judged according to what they had done.

Now to bring it all back to Matthew 25. Verse 34 says the King (Jesus) will be on his throne separating the Sheep from the Goats. The Sheep will get heaven and the goats will get hell. The deciding factor is based on what they had done. But the whole Bible teaches us that we are not saved by works and cannot be saved by works. Our works our filthy rags. They fall short.

So Faith has a look! Saving Faith has a way of life! It is that a new heart produces good works. Salvation creates in the person the desire to feed the hungry, and give drink to the thirsty, and clothe the naked, and visit the sick and those in prison. Those things don’t save you. We all should know that. But they are going to be the very substance of the judgment.

Is it any wonder at all that James would write so adamantly that “Faith without works is dead.”

Remember, We are saved by what we believe, and we are judged by what we have done.

We must be careful to believe the right things. And when we do, we will start doing the right things.

Several years ago, I had a new young teenager come to our church. Valeria and I took him out to dinner, and he was really looking for help. Over the course of our conversation, I asked him “so, what do you need? How can we help you?”

He replied, “I dont know. At this point, I cannot tell the difference between my needs and my wants.”

That is a very wise statement for a young man.

Many of us struggle to know what we really need. We often want more. We often aren’t content or satisfied.

Tonight I will continue teaching through the Lord’s Prayer (model prayer) of Matthew 6. Verse 11 says “give us this daily our daily bread.” Jesus is teaching us that we are to pray to God for Him to give us the food we need.

I notice a cross reference to Proverbs 30:8-9

“Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.”

Notice what these verses are saying in regards to what we need. God, do not give me poverty or riches. Because too much money leads to too much food which leads to full and content bellies that forget about God. But not enough money leads to not enough food which leads to hurting bellies that will reject God by stealing and not depending upon God himself.

When Jesus teaches us to pray “give us this day our daily bread” He is meaning for us to live God-centered lives. Dependent on God for every single thing. From the food we eat to the money we get, it all comes from Him. And lets be careful to not desire too much.

We want just enough that is needful for us!

Today I had a little more time to myself than usual. It was nice. I took a walk to the gas station to get a drink. ( I found 5 different coins on the way.) While walking and praying for Fairdale, God brought to my mind that great old chorus “Sanctuary”. I remember years ago, my buddies and I would sing this song together desiring that God might use us somehow, someday.

Here are the words. I hope it still ministers to you as it does to me.

“Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true.
With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.”

My desire is for more and more people in Fairdale who have hearts like this. Oh God, make us usable so that you may use us!