Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

Reading Ephesians 3:6 this morning This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. and the thought kept coming to me that, as in Paul's day, the gospel wasn't meant for just a specific group of people. It was meant to be shared with everyone. For Paul that was anyone else who was not a Jew, in other words. . .Gentiles. And anyone and everyone that accepted Christ became heirs of God's riches and blessings. . .they, too, were members of one body - the Body of Christ. . .and shared together in the promise of Jesus. Now stay with me. . .this means that the people in Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Damascus, Happy Valley and all of the surrounding areas share in this mystery of the Messiah. Not that they already share in the heir-ship, but there's nothing keeping them from it except their unwillingness to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. But h

Hey couples! Looking for a reason, or two, to get away without the kids? Or just to get away? Tim Stevens, executive pastor at Granger Community Church, has posted about it here . Looks like he's hit the nail on the head of several excuses we use not to get a way just to ourselves. Thanks Tim. Mike

It's quiet in the house this morning. It's Friday, my day off, and as usual I got up grabbed a mug of joe, and spent some time with God . . .and Lucy (the tailless cat). Then I checked out some blogs I like to read, replied to some email, and surfed the net. This morning I found myself looking back at another blog I used to write called In the Midst of the Valley . It's about two year's worth of lessons, confessions, discoveries, and travails in my own life. God used this time to remind me of some of those lessons. Some of which I still remember to this day. Others that I have long forgotten, but no less valuable at the time. He showed me how He led me through some of the darkest valley times of my life. Don't know about you, but I'm kinda like that Boston song Don't Look Back . I don't look back very often. It's one of my quirky flaws. I deal with something, learn something, try something, then move on. I like looking forwards and at what