We’re in the Klamath Basin

My friend, Luke, was excited about showing his 4-H project, a cavy (Guinea Pig), at the Fair this year. He had worked hard learning all about its breed and how to show off its best attributes. This year held a surprise for Luke, and myself. You will be surprised too as the story unfolds.

But first you may need a primer on showing an animal at the Fair. There are generally two different showings: the first is the Market or Breeder Class, where the purpose is to show off the animals best features and convince the judge that yours is the best example of its particular breed. The attention is on the animal and how it is “put together.” The second showing is the Showmanship Class, where the emphasis is on how much the person handling the animal knows about the animal. The focus of the first is the animal; the focus of the second is the handler.

So Luke takes his cavy to the show table with it looking its best.  But the judge sees a problem. The cavy has a
broken tooth; a flaw, a defect, a blemish on its otherwise perfect form. The animal is disqualified and prohibited from winning any ribbons as a potential breeder. Those of us who were cheering on Luke sensed the wind drop from his sails as he took the faulty animal back to its cage.

But soon it was time for Showmanship. Forgetting the past, Luke marched up to the show table again with the same animal. This time the spotlight is on Luke as he goes over his animal for the judge. The competition is tight with 3 other kids showing off their skills and knowledge for the chance to win that wonderful purple ribbon that says “Grand Champion!”  And guess what…Luke is the winner! Even with his disqualified cavy he became the Showmanship Champion! And what a parallel to our lives with God.

Aren’t we all blemished in one form or another? Hasn’t our sin disqualified us from winning anything? Our human condition is full of flaws and defects that the Judge has to reject. We are so messed up we can’t even earn an “honorable mention.”  Then the Showman steps up, takes us in His skillful hands, flips us over, turns us around, stretches us out, delicately cradles us, properly posses us, and makes us shine. And the Purple Ribbon of Life is awarded! But notice the animal doesn’t receive the ribbon; all the glory belongs to the Showman. The Judge rewards His effort and His work.

Thank you, Luke for this powerful reminder that whatever we do, it should be for the glory of God, and not for ourselves (see 1 Corinthians 10:31). And Congratulations!

Praise God for a bountiful harvest!  We were able to deliver 2 tons of food to the Klamath-Lake County Food Bank and the Klamath Falls Gospel Misson.  A big thanks to Don and Joan McClendon for donating the ground, plants and water (plus lots of labor).  Another big thanks to all those who spent time working in the garden and harvesting the many pounds of produce. 

[Show as slideshow]

We recently returned from a trip to see my brother and sister and their families in Port Townsend, WA.  We had an absolute blast sailing across the Straights of Juan de Fuca to San Juan Island, fishing, hiking, and spending
great time with family.  Sailing on the 104 year old schooner Martha (www.schoonermartha.org) is always a real treat.

I took a turn at the wheel, steering the boat toward our destination.  It’s not as easy as it looks.  It requires constant attention to the compass and landmarks and continuous adjustments, however slight, to the tiller (rudder) in order to stay on course.

After we were home I took the WestSide 2:52 boys out on the Klamath River in our 14’ and 16’ aluminum boats, the Albert Ray and the Lena B.  I rigged up a tiller on the Albert Ray and that tiller became our object lesson for the day.

In a row boat you face one direction and row in another.  The rower’s back is toward the direction the boat is traveling.  This requires the rower to frequently turn around to make sure the boat is headed where he wants it to go.  He has to make adjustments with the oars to keep the boat on course.  With a tiller, someone sitting in the back but facing forward, can steer the boat.  The rower only has to row.

Luke 4:1 tells us that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert where he was tempted by the devil.  It’s as if the Spirit was at the tiller of Jesus’ life and steered him to the desert. Jesus rowed.

Who is at the tiller of your life?  Are you trying to row and steer your boat through this life?

I know that when I am at the tiller I avoid rough water, rapids, conflict, hard times, and times of testing.  But when the Spirit has the tiller of my life He sometimes takes me through all of these…and tells me to keep rowing. I can’t see where I’m going some of the time; it’s like I’m walking through this life backward.  But the Spirit is at the tiller and He has perfect vision of the future.  I can trust Him.  After all, He led Jesus through the desert; He can do the same for you and me.

Give up your tiller and keep rowing!

Pastor John

It’s that time of year again when the Kays boys have picked out their animals that they will raise as 4-H projects to take to the Fair in August. This year Ben and Josiah have chosen to take steers. Last year Ben took a steer but before that it was all goats and chickens and ducks (and it’s much easier to handle a goat or a duck than a steer!).

The animals had an official weigh-in back in March in order to keep track of their growth rate. That meant the steers had to be halter broke and the boys had to be able to lead them through a vet check to the scale. Ben and Josiah had to work hard to get their steers calm and build trust with them. Food is the great motivator; the steers are fed in the barn out of the weather, but they can only come in the barn by invitation and under a lead. Once inside they enjoy a feast of grain and alfalfa hay while getting brushed, a rub down, or a good belly scratch (if you were a steer you would really enjoy this too). It’s the bovine equivalent of a day spa!

They are eager to go in the barn and receive these benefits but they don’t want to be led by a human. They seem to have a bit of Frank Sinatra in them as they sing out, “I’ll do it my way!”

The steers are kind of like us, aren’t they? Oh sure, we smell better and have better hygiene, but we like to do things our way. We resist the lead rope. We tug and strain against the Holy Spirit. We quench the Spirit’s fire so we can have it our way.

We want the blessings of the barn but we insist on entering by our own way. We think we should have all the blessings of being a child of God, but we want to set the terms. And God won’t let anyone in who comes on their own terms.

Once the steer has learned the “Law of the Leash” he can be led around like a puppy. I remember last summer when Ben would walk his 1,100 lb steer, “Red,” up and down the street. The beast weighed more than ten times what Ben weighed and easily could have thrown him into the next field. It was something to see. But Red had learned submission. He learned when Ben had the end of the rope Ben was in charge.

Hebrews 12:9 tells us we ought to “submit to the Father of our spirits and live!” Let God take the lead and willingly follow behind. Put your full trust in the Divine Wrangler of our souls! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) The reward is so much better than grain and a belly scratching in the barn. It is an eternal city where the only light needed is the Lamb of God (Rev 21:23).

Trust Him!

I want to say a personal “Thank you” to Pastor Duane Pooley for sharing with us at WestSide Community his testimony on Fasting. Pastor Duane has had some incredible experiences during some of his fasting times and has seen the Lord do amazing things following his fasts.

Here are some of his notes that we weren’t able to cover on Sunday. Let’s be in prayer and seek God’s face!

Ps 27:7-8;

Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.

            “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.  I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”                     - Matthew 6:16-18

Occasions for Fasting in the Bible

1. Mourning someone’s death (1 Samuel 31:13).
2. Mourning sin/repentance (Acts 9:3-9).
3. A situation of impending danger (Esther 4:3).
4. Direction (2 Chronicles 20:1-30).
5. Sickness (Psalm 35:13).
6. Ordination of missionaries or leaders and new ministry (Acts 13).
7. Special revelation (Daniel 9:9, 18).
8. Fast when sorely tempted (Mat. 4:2).
9. Fasting for wisdom (Dan. 9:3).
10.  Fasting for protection (Ezra 8:21-23).
11.  Fasting for victory over seemingly impossible situations (Est.4:10-17; 9:31).
12.  Fast when something is earnestly desired from God and the answer hasn’t come from prayer alone (1 Sam. 1:6-7).
13.  Fasting when involved in spiritual ministry (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:27).

Tips for Fasting

1. Study the Bible about it.
2. Begin with short fasts.
3. Be prepared for dizziness, headache, or nausea.
4. Break a prolonged fast gradually.
5. Enter with a positive faith that God will reward those who fast with right motives.
6. Mix fast with prayer, time in Scripture, singing, and/or devotional reading. (remember: fasting without praying is just going hungry)
7. Keep checking your motives for fasting.

Hello WestSiders,

This email is a sort of follow up to last Sunday’s sermon on prayer.

One of the things that keep us from spending quality time in prayer is that we aren’t quite sure what to say. We don’t want to just spout off a list to God of the aches and pains of friends and loved ones, but how else can we really pray for others? Once again the Scriptures have the answer.

The Apostle Paul wrote out prayers in almost all of his letters.  Let’s take a look at some of those prayers and adapt them to our situations today.

(click on the verse to read it at biblegateway.com)

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Ephesians 1:15-23

Ephesians 3:14-21

Philippians 1:3-11

Colossians 1:9-12

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

2 Thessalonians 1:3-5, 11-12

Let’s keep praying and expecting great things from our Father!

Pastor John

I am updating my personal prayer journal. Please feel free to email me you requests and I’ll join you in prayer.

Crazy Love

Our focus this summer at WestSide is to learn to love and serve like Jesus. We are taking a good hard look at the “Love Chapter” (1 Corinthians 13), the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 4,5,6), and many other passages.

Jesus is the best example of showing the love of God to others and we want to be like Him.

We have talked about how many people outside the church view Christ followers as homophobic, judgmental, politically motivated, and hypocritical.  Just saying these labels don’t fit us isn’t enough; we need to show that these labels don’t fit us.

We have looked at John 13:34-35; Romans 13:8; Galatians 5:13 and many other scriptures to find that to live like Jesus is to love like Jesus.

We began this series on Sunday, June 6, the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of World War 2. I called for an invasion of love and service to win back ground lost to the enemy.

A few weeks into the summer I began giving weekly assignments so that we may practice loving and serving like Jesus.

Each Sunday as we gather for worship we share our stories about what happens as we carry out the assigned tasks. Please consider joining us as we love and serve in Jesus’ Name!

CRAZY LOVE ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1: This week we looked at how Jesus washed the disciple’s feet; a very practical but humbling way to serve. Since washing people’s feet isn’t something we do in our culture we need to find similar ways of serving others. Our assignment is to “wash the feet” of someone else; mow their lawn, visit someone in the hospital, prepare a meal for someone (besides your family), etc. If you get a “crazy” idea it might just be from God. Don’t shrug it off…do it!

Week 2: This week you are to bake some cookies (or similar treat), or write an encouragement card and include a Dutch Bros. coffee card (or similar gift), or find some sign of appreciation and give it to your garbage man, postal carrier, newspaper deliverer, or someone who regularly serves you. The catch with this one is that it must be handed to them in person! Have fun with this!

Week 3: This week we read the story in John 8 about the woman caught in adultery being brought to Jesus. Her accusers were ready to stone her to death, but Jesus showed her mercy; something she least deserved or expected. The accusers dropped their stones and walked away. Our assignment is to show mercy, compassion, and love to someone even though they don’t deserve it or expect it. You may need to “drop the stones” you have been holding.

Week 4: This week’s assignment is an easy one. Write a letter to someone who had a positive influence on your spiritual journey; someone who showed you what the love of Jesus is all about. If that person is deceased then write your letter to God thanking Him for sending that person into your life.

Week 5: The assignment this week is to write a letter of praise and thanks to God.  Thank Him for the changes he has made in your life and for loving you like crazy!

I really enjoy reading Perry Noble’s blog (www.perrynoble.com). He gives good insight and gets right to the heart of the matter. Here’s a post from back on June 3, 2009 that I keep going back to. I pray it challenges you as much as it does me.

“Two Questions That Dominate Our Thinking…
…and can ULTIMATELY destroy our walk with Jesus and what He wants to do in us.
I know that is a huge statement…but it’s true!
In my nearly 20 years of ministry (and almost 38 of life) I have seen these questions change people for the worse…heck…they’ve changed me for the worse many times…
They are…
#1 – What will people say about me?
#2 – What will people think about me?
Yep…being obsessed with what others say and think is one of the quickest ways to take our eyes off of Jesus!
Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10 that if we are trying to please others then we can’t be Jesus’ servant. And…we’re either serving “them” or serving “Him!”
Proverbs 29:25 says that fear of man is a snare…something that captures us (usually for the purpose of eventually destroying us!)
As followers of Jesus our mind and heart must be fixed on Him (Colossians 3:1-2)…which ISN’T EASY because so many times the voice of the crowd seems to trump the voice of Christ.
Truth be known…ALL of us want people to like us!
ALL of us want people to say nice things about us!
ALL of us want people, when they think of us, to have nice thoughts!
I would dare say that NO ONE woke up today thinking, “I REALLY hope people hate me today!”
And I would say there is nothing wrong with the things listed above…UNLESS we allow them to interfere with what Jesus wants for our lives.
When we trade in being obedient to Jesus for being liked by others…we break the first two commands and are on a pretty good pace to shatter the next eight!
I am praying personally that the question that will dominate my life is, “What now Jesus…” and when He answers that I will recklessly pursue all that He wants for me with no regards for anything except for pleasing Him!!! I am not there yet…but it is what I am striving for…and the closer I get the more freedom I feel to live and lead as He has called me to!!!”

What do you complain about the most?

Isn’t it amazing how fast our attitudes can change? When we take our eyes off what God is doing in our lives, and instead, focus on what He is not doing in our lives that we think He ought to be doing, our whole outlook changes.

“The riff-raff among the people had a craving and soon they had the People of Israel whining, “Why can’t we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt – and got it free! – to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is this manna.”

(Numbers 11:4-6 The Message)

The people of Israel didn’t seem to notice what God was doing for them because they were so wrapped up in what He was not doing for them.

What was He doing for them?

Setting them free: through a series of miraculous events God has rescued the Israelites from 400 years of slavery.

Making them a nation: God has given the Israelites a new law, a holy standard of living, and has called them “my People.”

Bringing them to a new land: God is leading His people to a land “flowing with milk and honey.”

Needles to say, those were incredible times to be a part of the People of Israel. God was doing some amazing things among them.

          Yet, what were they thinking about?

The good food they had left behind.

They forgot that all that good food came at a hefty price: the sting of the whip on their backs, living in bondage, the lack of freedom to worship as they please for generation after generation.

Every morning the Israelites would witness a miracle: food from heaven!

This was not good enough for them.

(v.13) “Give us meat that we may eat!”

Moses is so fed up with them he asks God to kill him: (v.15).

God tells Moses that He will give them meat; so much meat that it will come out their noses!

And He does; but along with the meat He sends a plague (a very severe plague) to punish them for their greed.

So what was their sin?

Their big problem here was their lust; they were craving for the things of the past.

Lust is defined as an unnatural or greedy desire for anything: Sports, Knowledge, Possessions, Influence over others, Power, and in this case, Food.

God punishes Israel for craving good food! Their desire wasn’t wrong; we all enjoy good food. The sin was allowing that desire to turn to greed. They began to obsess over food, they felt it was their right to have fine foods, and they could think of nothing else.

We see this attitude very clearly in our society today. I recently heard a radio ad about the importance of keeping kids off of drugs. The narrator was saying that kids who use drugs usually “don’t get the jobs that they deserve”…I had to laugh…Kids don’t deserve a job; they have to go out and find one. And when they find a job they have to work hard to keep it.

Another ad said that with this Home Business plan you will “get the success you deserve…”

We also saw this in New Orleans after the hurricane Katrina swept in. People were waiting in line to receive free food and a news clip showed a woman complaining because the food wasn’t up to her standards.

When you become preoccupied with something until it affects your perspective on everything else, you have moved from desire to lust.

Lets take a lesson from the Israelites. We are not too different from them. The God that led them through the wilderness is the same God that is leading us today. Let’s remember what happened to them and vow that we will not do the same.

We all have our own wilderness to wander through: family problems, health problems, money problems.

God will not abandon us in the wilderness. Just as He cared for the Israelites He will care for us. I once heard a wise old timer say, “God is more concerned with your character than your comfort.” How true that is!

Let’s vow to keep an attitude of gratitude for all that God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives.

Peace to you,

Pastor John

Our Vision is to introduce people to a holy God so they can experience His joy, His healing and restoration, and His sanctifying work in their everyday lives.

We are excited about what God is going to do in these growing neighborhoods of the Klamath Falls area and invite you to be a part of this great work. If you would like to get involved with the WestSide Community Church, please give me a phone call (541-591-4990) or email.

John Kays, Pastor
WestSide Community Church