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Some food for thought
Cyber Prayer
Dear Lord,
Every single evening as I'm lying here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer keeps running through my head
God bless all my family, wherever they may be,
Keep them warm and safe from harm for they're so close to me.
And God, there is one more thing; I wish that you could do;
Hope you don't mind me asking, please bless my computer too.
Now I know that it's unusual to Bless a motherboard,
But listen just a second while I explain it to you, Lord.
You see, that little metal box holds more than odds and ends;
Inside those small compartments rest so many of my friends.
I know so much about them by the kindness that they give,
And this little scrap of metal takes me in to where they live.
By faith is how I know them, much the same as you.
We share in what life brings us and from that our friendships grew.
Please take an extra minute from your duties up above,
To bless those in my address book that's filled with so much love.
Wherever else this prayer may reach to each and every friend,
Bless each e-mail inbox and each person who hits "send".
When you update your Heavenly list on your own Great CD-ROM,
Bless everyone who says this prayer, Amen.
How to react to a challenge
I was made aware of an organisation/company recently who face quite a major financial challenge. There were two sets of views adopted by members of that organisation.
The first set of views were as follows:-
We'll never do it
It's just too much to achieve
The way things are these days will make it impossible
We're never going to get there
Everything seems to be against us
The second set of views were:-
Well, the sooner we get started the better
We'll do it, no matter what setbacks we encounter
Let's get in about it
Let's set a target date
What can we do first?
Let's put a plan together
An elder once asked me 'how do you eat an elephant'? When I said I didn't know, he told me 'a little bit at a time'.
It is said that even the longest journey begins with just one step. If we don't take the first step, we will never get there.
In terms of that organisation/company, I hope and pray that those with the second set of views prevail and that they resist the temptation of being dragged down by the negativity of the first set.
The same principles apply within this Church. New initiatives are being tried and some will be successful and some may be unsuccessful. The important thing we need to be able to say is 'at least we have tried'. So rather than any of us being critical of the unsuccessful initiatives, we should be commending those responsible for their efforts and encourage them to continue developing new ideas for spreading the gospel message to all age groups. Even better, why not step forward and become involved in the good things that are happening in this place?
Annual Report
For the second year since its introduction, a report of the achievements and performance of the congregation has to be prepared. It will feature in our annual report to presbytery along with our financial accounts. Once again I would sincerely thank those who regularly submit magazine articles detailing what has been happening within the various Church groups and organisations they are involved with. This has made the compilation of this report a much easier task than it otherwise might have been. I would also ask that those who don't use the magazine quite so much, to publish more information more frequently about the groups they are involved with throughout 2009.
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