O’Leno State Park, High Springs, Florida
Church this morning was at the First Baptist Church of High Springs.
Reading our Daily Guideposts devotional.
I don’t normally do that standing up, but I was waiting for Blaine so we could leave.
We never know what to expect when we visit all these houses of worship. Today was a phenomenal day! We were welcomed by no less than a dozen people – while we were in our seat! The congregation was filled with exuberant, lively worshipers. What do I mean by that? They were there to worship! They didn’t care who heard them or what they sounded like or how people ‘saw’ them. They spoke ‘Amens’ to things that were said. They clapped appreciation or confirmation at times – not just during the music, but for announcements/answered prayers, etc., too. Many lifted their hands in praise and worship. The men were just as happy and loving as the women, and in pretty equal numbers. Almost all were smiling like they were actually happy to be there. The two pastors who spoke today were as serious as they could be, but with joy on their faces and a few chuckles thrown in. It was so very obvious the people here love the Lord. What a wonderful place to be on a Sunday morning!
And the senior pastor was out sick.
Instead, the man we assume was the associate pastor (Pastor Derrick), started the service. He began by acknowledging first responders, but then launched into a mini-message about how we ought all to be ‘first responders’ to all our neighbors and friends, bringing Christ to them. He pointed out that we can’t rely on the pastors of the world because there are people we know that they will never meet. People who have an emergency because they don’t know Jesus. But we know them, and we know Jesus. It’s our duty to help them.
His message was longer than that, but short-hand notes makes for short-hand recaps. 😊
Then he told us that, because he’d had the flu, he’d asked the Youth Pastor to step up to give the message this morning. I must confess, when I saw this young man step up on the platform, I had my doubts. There was nothing about him that spoke ‘authority’ except the dress shirt and tie he was wearing. And then, he started speaking and I was reminded of Paul’s admonition to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” I Timothy 4:12
His message was on the 5 sins against the Holy Spirit, and he taught it well! He began by reminding/teaching us about some of the powers of the Third Member of the Holy Trinity: His renewing power (to make us new creations upon salvation), His gifting power (spiritual gifts we receive as Christians), His guidance (the still small voice we hear), Fellowship with other believers (how sometimes, when you meet someone, you just know they’re fellow believers), His intercession on our behalf (He’s the ‘translator’, Jesus is the lawyer), His conviction (those times when we feel/know we’re wrong).
He then turned to the sins, in progressive order.
- Resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). When we ignore His promptings with our apathy. The “Yea, but…”s.
- Quenching the Holy Spirit (I Thessolonians 5:19). How? By actually saying “No.” Or by refusing to get out of our comfort zone. Or bad-mouthing other Christians in some way. Getting uncomfortable with ‘too much Jesus’. By not using our gifts to serve the body. These things can draw others away from God rather than to Him.
- Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). You’re past quenching. There are things in your life that are opposed to God. You see the sin, you know it’s there, but you don’t care. “It’s not that bad.” We all harbor ‘pet sins’. “It’s so cute! I love it!” but we overlook the destructive part – the peeing all over, the chewing things up, the biting. If it’s causing destruction in your life, it’s time to get rid of it. We all tend to make excuses, mostly because God often doesn’t punish right away.
- Outraging/Insulting the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:26-31). Hating God and treating Him as your enemy. “Your heart is so hard, you can no longer hear Me.” You are unwilling to repent of a purposeful sin. If you’re having trouble finding purpose in your life, this may be why. When was the last time you felt close to Him? This may be why. Having trouble listening to the Pastor? This may be why. The disease needs to be pointed out in order to get to the cure.
- Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31). This one is more specifically for non-believers, but Christians can contribute to it. Blasphemy is attributing God’s power to something/someone else. It’s rejection of His saving grace (salvation). It’s saying God isn’t real. It’s rejecting Truth. We can contribute to someone’s blasphemy by our lives. It’s why it’s important to guard our behavior and words, and when we slip, it’s why it’s important to admit our wrongdoing and ask forgiveness – not just of God, but of the person we’ve ‘offended’. (I have a memorable experience to share on this – I had a really bad several weeks at work once and my attitude towards a co-worker and others was abysmal. I spoke to each person individually and apologized. You should have seen the shock on their faces! They couldn’t believe I’d do that, and some even asked why. I don’t know if it moved them toward Christ, but at least they got to see Him.)
It’s important – inexplicably important – for others to see Christ through us.
After church, we walked down to the River Sink again. It’s such a beautiful walk along the river! No pictures, because you’ve already seen them. 😊 Instead of walking back the way we came, we took the long way around to the campground. It’s a good thing. Considering what we ate today!
As usual, I spent Super Bowl Sunday cooking. That’s what I’ve done every year for I don’t know how long. This year was less food, but still things that took a long time, even with Blaine’s help! Blaine and I gorged ourselves on wings, veggie pizza and stuffed mushrooms and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
We don’t fry often, but when we do, we do it outside.
No oil smell and no splattered oil to clean up inside!
Don’t they look great!
Sorry. No mushroom picture. I forgot!
Everything (with the exception of the cake – see below) was scrumpdilli-i-shus!
I ALWAYS buy Duncan Hines. They make the best cake mixes! So when I saw this “Perfect Size” one just before we retired, I thought, “Great! A small cake I can bake in the toaster oven!” Ha!! Yes, I baked it in the toaster oven. Yes, it’s small. But it took more effort and time than a regular cake. I was expecting an “add water” type recipe similar to Easy Bake Oven. It definitely was not. My advice? If you don’t want a full size cake, go ahead and splurge on a full-size cake and throw away what you don’t want to eat. 😊 Oh! And here’s another interesting bit of information – – the box says “serves 2-4”, but the nutrition facts are for 5. How weird is that?? Like Blaine said, somebody doesn’t get to eat.
Great game, by the way! I wore my lucky green shirt (actually, it’s my only green shirt.)! Good thing! It’s not that I’m into football, but I always root for the underdogs in a big game. Plus, I got really tired of the “Tom Brady” show that played for weeks. Football is a team sport. He wouldn’t be so great if the rest of his teammates weren’t. That’s my two-cents worth. 😊
This morning (2/6/18 – just before I wrote this), we heard on the news that the viewing numbers were way down. I wonder if it’s because of the disrespect so many players showed for our country this year? Or the fact that a number of them have character issues that get swept under the rug, or not held accountable for? You don’t hear about things like that from players of any other sport. Things that make you go, hmmmm…..
I’m done dissing football now. 😊
During the game, we ate and I worked on a puzzle (different one, and one I finished by the way). Blaine is always a show in and of himself. He yells at the TV, claps and sometimes jumps up. I find it quite humorous, but it’s how I know when to look up sometimes. I’m certain he burned more calories than I did. 😊
