~ There's JOY in the
Kitchen ~
~When we realize that ~
Being at peace with yourself
is a direct result of finding peace with God.
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A Word from JoyfulArt
I am in the process of gathering together all of
the information that has come
my way regarding the struggle of homosexuality in
the church. Please bear
with me as I put it together - and pray for us,
as we minister to a family in
our church who's young mother is dying. She is a
dear friend of ours and
faithful intercessor. God's grace and mercy is
evident and she is at peace.
This is putting me a little behind on some things
- but I promise to make the
chat logs, web sites other articles, etc
available for you to request shortly.
Enjoy what God has blessed us today with through
the 'pen' of others in
Sarah's Tent!! Thank you to all of you who are so
faithful to submit these
wonderful thoughts that God has laid on your
hearts!!
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It has been my observation that
most people get ahead during
the time that others waste.
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While Waiting On An Answer
(LLsGran)
Has there ever been a time when you felt that you
were facing a trial of your faith that no one
else on earth has ever experienced? That no one
cares or understands? When we say,"God
doesn't answer my prayers"- God says He will
answer them. When the time is exactly right. And
that time will be soon, even if it seems like a
long delay. William Backus, The Hidden Rift With
God. Psalm 91:14,15 NIV says, "Because he
loves me," says the Lord, "I will
rescue him... He will call upon me, and I will
answer him." Take heart dear child of God!
You are not alone! The maker of creation has His
hand upon you and His timing is exact. He is
never a second late, nor a minute early. I have been in a trial of my
faith lately. My answer has not come yet, I am
still waiting. I wait with a peace in my heart
that I am not in this alone. I know that God Is
Able to do exceedingly and abundantly the things
that He has promised. We are promised abundant
living, that living by faith pays off, and that
He will never leave us nor forsake us. Nothing
ever takes God by surprise! What more could we
ask for?
Just remember this
thought...As you walk daily with Jesus keep your
eyes on Him. He loves His own and all we have to
do is ask...He will answer! The Greek word used
in the New Testament for hope could mean
expection of good or bad, but used by Christians
to mean that in which one confides, or to which
one flees for refuge. In essence of the
word...TRUST!!! Romans 15:13 NIV says, "May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him."
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For peace of
mind, resign as general manager of the universe.
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To Be Content
(By: CWEIMER)
I awoke this morning to
a very beautiful sight, a blanket of newly fallen
snow completely covered my lawn as well as the
outlining trees. For some that may be an everyday
occurrence. But for southern Washington it is an
uncommon event. How peaceful it is to see newly
fallen snow. There is a sweet stillness in the
air. A peace and a comfort. The ugliness of sin
and wickedness surrounding this community
suddenly shines with the purity of God. It now
possesses a sense of peace, like the peace that
only God can give. As the day has continued I am
constantly reminded of days gone by. Days in
Wyoming, Colorado, and the mountains of
California. Times in my past in which I spent
many hours playing in the snow or just sitting by
a fire watching the snowflakes gently fall to the
ground.
During my life time I
have moved several times. It seems as though I
have never stayed in one place more than a few
years, with the exception of Wyoming where we
spent nine years. One thought which has always
remained me was to never take anything for
granted because it may be taken away.
God has blessed me by
placing me in some very beautiful locations.
Right now I am in the beautiful state of
Washington. Washington with its majestic
mountains, snow covered volcanoes, rock laden
coasts, lush evergreens and a plethora of plants
and flowers. However, as I drive home each day
with the foothills before me, I realize that I
may not be here forever.
As a pastor's wife, I do
not know what God has in store for me over the
next year let alone the years to come. Will he
move me to the flat plains of Kansas, the extreme
heat of Arizona, the stifling valleys of Georgia,
or the swamplands of Florida? I do not know. Only
God knows the plans for my life.
How many times have we
looked back on places we have been and thought,
"I wish that I had appreciated more what I
had while I was there, then I might have enjoyed
my time more." I admit that I have thought
this myself. The year I spent in Texas was
wonderful, but how much better it would have been
if I hadn't pondered so much about the mountains
I was missing, and the friends I had left behind
in order to go there.
Being in the ministry we
experience good times and bad. There are times in
our ministries when we feel our hearts are going
to break from sorrow. There are also times when
we are so blessed that we feel surely we must be
close to meeting the Lord. These are times in our
lives that bring about much emotion. Times that
we will think about for a long time. However,
they are just that, times. Segments of our lives.
They are not our whole lives, just portions, tiny
little blips.
Think back on things you
have done in the past, places you have been. As
you do realize that the things you remember were
merely segments of time. Mere blips in respect to
a whole lifetime.
We do not know what
tomorrow holds. We do not know where the Lord
will take us. God may move us on from our
churches or He may keep us where we are at for
several years. Make the most of everyday my
friend. Understand that you will probably not be
here forever. Whether you are in hard times or
good, the Lord will move you on from here. He
will take you to places you have never been
before. He will show you things that you have
never seen before. Be thankful in whatever state
you are in. For today there may be newly fallen
snow while tomorrow may hold a tropical beach or
a scorching desert. (Philippians4:11)
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ANNOUNCING!!
Look for YOUR SPECIAL
EDITION the first of each month. In it we will
deal with sensitive and provocative subjects
which you rarely see discussed. We hope to not
only open eyes, but stir compassion and
understanding as we provide as many resources as
possible to help those who are struggling.
Sarah's Tent is hosting
very special THEME CHATS. Some of the topics will
be very challenging. The purpose of this is to
open our eyes and better equipt us to minister to
the lost and wounded. Not only will there be
special guest speakers, the chats will be open to
all who participate in this ministry. Resources
will be provided for you at the time of each chat
as well. Our topics will be areas such as,
Homosexuality in the church (this will be for the
first three weeks of January), Eating Disorders
in February, then topics such as Grief
Counseling, Alcoholism, Suicide, Physical
Challenges, Ministry Marriages, Finances, and the
list goes on. You name it, you request it, and we
will do all that we can to bring it before you.
These chats will run
along side the open chats on Monday nights, but
in a separate private room. Because of the
sensitivity of some of the subjects, if you feel
more comfortable in entering the room under an
anonymous screen name, you may do so. The purpose
will always be to bring salt and light to ALL of
those who are dealing with dark areas in their
lives, families, or congregations.
THEME CHATS
Monday evenings
Eastern Time = 8:00 pm
Central Time = 7:00 pm
Mountain Time = 6:00 pm
Pacific Time = 5:00 pm
Hawaii Time= 2:00 pm
Where We LIVE Host is JoyfulArt (Shannon)
Each chat will have one or more Special Guests.
For more information, please write Tcmah96
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"Cease
striving and KNOW that I am God. . . " Psalm
46:10
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LETTERS PENNED
FROM FAR AWAY
This portion of the Joy In The Kitchen
newsletter is reserved for letters from our
sisters on the mission field. I encourage you, if
you are one of these faithful few, to please
write and let us know about your country and all
that you desire to share about your life there.
-----------
None for this week - but
that doesn't mean "out of sight, out of
mind!!" Please don't forget to pray for
those who are so far away from home, family and
friends in the Masters service.
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". . . in
they presence is fulness of joy; at they right
hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Psalm 16:11
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POT LUCK!
THIS JAR
CONTAINS TEN WALNUTS AND ONE CUP OF RICE
The walnuts represent
the time spent for God and the rice represents
the time spent for the fun things we want to do.
If you pour the rice into the jar first, the
walnuts will never fit. If you put the walnuts in
the jar first, the rice will fill the open spaces
and fit just fine. The lesson is that if we put
time with God before time for other things we
want to do, we'll have plenty of time for both.
If instead we put the things we want to do first,
we will never find the time to fit God into our
life.
Pasta Carbonara
By GesuMiAma, Submitted by Justaservn
1/2 pound of bacon cut small ( 1 inch strips)
5 eggs
grated cheese
1 box of spaghetti
put cut up bacon in frying pan ( medium heat)
Cook spaghetti
beat the eggs with some grated cheese when
spaghetti 's are done, drain them and put them in
the pan that now you have removed from the fire
mix good and serve with some more grated cheese
~ Tiziana ~
(Thanks Tiz!!)
For even MORE recipes,
click on these!! More Recipes and Once-a-Month Cooking (OAMC)
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Because the LORD
is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! Psalm
23:1
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~ PRAYER ~
Please send prayer request to C.O.P.E. Ministries
(Christians Online Praying by Email) in care of
Mama Brrr@AOL.com
DON'T FORGET TO LET THEM
KNOW YOUR PRAISE REPORTS!! BAMPRAYER@aol.com
For special prayer JUST for marriages. This is a
ministry from Born Again Marriages. If you would
like to visit their web page. . . click here: BAMWEB
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Hi...we thought this was
"interesting"... Brian & Lisa
Pastoral Search
Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like this one! I have to I'm a pastor. We have
to always remember that God calls the weak, the
imperfect, the cracked pots to work in His
Vineyard. Hey I fit right in!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In our search for a
suitable pastor, the following scratch sheet was
developed for your perusal. Of the candidates
investigated by the committee, only one was found
to have the necessary qualities. The list
contains the names of the candidates and comments
on each, should you be interested in
investigating them further for future pastoral
placements.
Noah: He has 120 years
of preaching experience, but no converts.
Moses: He stutters; and
his former congregation says he loses his temper
over trivial things.
Abraham: He took off to
Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got
into trouble with the authorities and then tried
to lie his way out.
David: He is an
unacceptable moral character. He might have been
considered for minister of music had he not
'fallen.'
Solomon: He has a
reputation for wisdom but fails to practice what
he preaches.
Elijah: He proved to be
inconsistent, and is known to fold under
pressure.
Hosea: His family life
is in a shambles. Divorced, and remarried to a
prostitute.
Jeremiah: He is too
emotional, alarmist; some say a real 'pain in the
neck.'
Amos: Comes from a
farming background. Better off picking figs .
John: He says he is a
Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie.
Would not feel comfortable at a church potluck
supper.
Peter: Has a bad temper,
and was heard to have even denied Christ
publicly.
Paul: We found him to
lack tact. He is too harsh, His appearance is
contemptible, and he preaches far too long.
Timothy: He has
potential, but is much too young for the
position.
Jesus: He tends to
offend church members with his preaching,
especially Bible
scholars. He is also too controversial. He even
offended the search committee
with his pointed questions.
Judas: He seemed to be very practical,
co-operative, good with money, cares
for the poor, and dresses well. We all agreed
that he is just the man we are
looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior
Pastor.
Thank you for all you have done in assisting us
with our pastoral search.
Sincerely,
The Pastoral Search Committee.
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CHUCKLES
Sermon on Lying
Submitted by JeffNet
A minister told his congregation, "Next week
I plan to preach
about the sin of lying. To help you understand my
sermon, I want
you all to read Mark 17."
The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver
his sermon,
the minister asked for a show of hands. He wanted
to know how many
had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The
minister smiled and
said, "Mark has only sixteen chapters. I
will now proceed with my
sermon on the sin of lying."
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For your Exploring Pleasure,
(If you have discovered a web site that
you think others would be interested
in, please let me know, and I will put it in our
newsletter. Just click & drag
the sight from your Favorite Places and drop it
into your letter.)
Pattie's Web Picks for
the Week
CCN MovieGuide - I saw this site recommended in
the CO newsletter, so I
decided to check it out. I was afraid it was one
of those ultra-conservative
things that labels everything in the media as
inherently evil, but I was
pleased to discover that I was wrong. This site
tells you exactly what's in
the movies that are out there. I tried it out by
looking up the movie
Titanic. It gives the basic plot, the actors, the
rating, and all the things
that give it that rating (for example, the number
of profanities, any nudity
or that type of situation, any violence and
exactly what kind... the list goes
on and on). It's not didactic...it lets you make
your own decision. An
excellent site!
http://www.mindspring.com/~stewartwb/mackenzie.jpg - This is currently my
favorite spot on the web, since a friend has
posted a picture of my dear sweet
daughter (who only recently discovered the reset
button on the
computer.......). This picture was taken when she
was 13 months old, two
months ago. Hope you enjoy it!
Today's Christian Woman Jan/Feb
1998 - I think
that the cover article
about Gwen Shamblin and the Weigh Down workshop
is excellent; in fact, the
article prompted me to buy the book. Well, that
and the fact that my mom is
now leading a Weigh Down group at her church and
fully supports the program.
I'd be interested in knowing what people have to
say about this topic . . .
These sites were recommended by Dee:
Here are some great places to share:
Poems for God
and:
Blue Letter Bible: Concordance
and
Word Search -
his is a good Bible word search and verse. Enjoy!
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