From the desk of Pastor John: 8-27-12

Can’t see the Forrest for the trees?

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

John 9: Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ⁴ I^[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
⁶ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. ⁷ And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.⁸ Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind^[b] said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”⁹ Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.”^[c]He said, “I am he.”¹⁰ Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”¹¹ He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of^[d] Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”¹² Then they said to him, “Where is He?”He said, “I do not know.”

As I opened my Bible this morning I came across this passage and it reminded me of a long time ago when my brother and I were working on our Uncle’s property where we deer hunted. We were coming out of the woods on our way to town when Tom stopped the truck. He was looking past me at the woods and said “Look, a doe is standing there”. Well, when I looked out there I did not see anything but the woods. He said “are you blind? She is just about 40 yards out there standing broadside and looking straight at us.”  Well, I looked for about a minute and could not see her. Tom was totally blown away that I could not see this deer. It wasn’t until she moved that I finally saw her. The next words out of his mouth is, “you need to get your glasses checked”.

Well, it was not the glasses that were the problem. It was a true case of “Couldn’t see the Forrest for the trees” syndrome.  Have you ever experienced that in your life? For a lot of folks they experience this every day.  Oh, I am not talking about the Forrest. I am talking about the works of our Lord and Savior.

When Jesus walked this earth He had compassion for all those in need of help. He is still walking among us… Can you see Him? Can you see the work of His finger or the works of His Father in our world around us?  Can you see Jesus standing in front of the drop cloth of our world? He is standing there waiting for you to see Him and waiting for you to call upon Him.

Can you see the Forrest for the trees? Let Jesus open your eyes…

“The Greatest Adventure in Life is seen through the Love of Christ”  

Bro John   501-262-0015

From the desk of Pastor John Johnston: 8-20-12

A new day:

Well if you missed church this past Sunday you missed a great day. On top of God smiling on us with a slow sink in rain on Saturday we also got to Baptize 2 young new believers. “Praise God”

It is a great way to start the week. Today (Monday) there are a lot of happy parents and sad parents as school started today. Oh I remember all those first days of our boys going to school. Every year it was new supplies, new clothes, and new back packs, you know, all those things that you had to buy each year. “But mom I can’t use the same backpack as last year, they will think that I am a geek!” “I have to have those new Nike shoes and mom… PLEASE NO MORE UNDEROOS OR SUPERHERO UNDERWARE!!!”  Oh yea I remember those days all too well.

Well today our youngest starts his first day of collage. The only thing that stands out the most is that he is a couple hundred miles away and it costs a whole lot more to get this day up and running. He now needs a new back pack that will carry a laptop, a new calculator that takes a rocket scientist to operate, and about 4 or 5 books that cost the same as a small used car. One thing is for sure, “He IS prepared” to be at all of the Razorback games he can… And you thought I was going to say, “He is prepared for classes”. Well on that part we really hope that he is ready…

One fear that Tina and I have had is will he continue to go to church, to follow Gods plan, to remember who he is. You know as you take part in raising your children there is always that thought as to who they will turn out to be like. As a Christian we hope that he will stick to his values and Christian principles that we have tried to teach him over the years.

As he started his journey, as a student, we prayed with him in the parking lot just before we left. At this point you give them to God and pray for their well being. The next day we talked to him and gave him words of encouragement. We talked about what he was doing and what to expect; about getting all his books and making new friends.

As Sunday approached and we had a great service we later found out that Brandon had gone to church that morning with some friends that he had ran into from his church in Benton. Yes folks he went on his own and it wasn’t a week or month or several months down the road, it was the very first Sunday… “Praise God”

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

There is one thing for sure…. Luck carried NO part in this journey. We gave our children over to God when they were born. We put our lives on hold to be a part of their lives. We made sure that we did not miss any part of their lives as they made their way and found their foot hold. We tried to live as God wanted us to live and we put God first in our lives. You see, if we don’t live the example, they won’t understand how important it is to follow God. We don’t have to be perfect, we just have to be willing.

 “The Greatest Adventure in Life is seen through the Love of Christ”  

Bro John   501-262-0015

From the desk of Pastor John Johnston: 7-30-12

A Daniel Faith!

Hello to all,

If you missed this past Sunday services you missed a good one… We had a young lady here who is a missionary to Israel. (We will protect her name) As she told of her experiences it led me to think of Daniel. She spoke of several attempts to take her life that failed and all I could see was the Hand of God on her ministry.

On Sunday nights we have started a study on the book of Daniel. This study has been a great one to say the least. It is my hopes that by the time we get to the end of Daniel we will all have the “Faith of Daniel”. Sunday night I asked a life question, “How far will you go to serve God”? It is not really a hard question to answer. But a lot of people will not answer it at all. They don’t want to face the fact that they either don’t serve Him at all or don’t serve Him enough. The point is we have to realize the fact that we all serve a master, whom do you serve?

As for this “Missionary”, she has chosen to serve the Lord; she has chosen to put her life on the line for Christ. Serving in Israel is not an easy task and can be very hazardous to your health. She overlooks that fact, as she is only interested in the fact that Christ called her to a task, and that is what she is doing. Her faith is that of Daniel.

There is an important question that we all need to ask ourselves, “Can God provide for our needs and will He protect us as we serve Him”? If you can answer that question with a “yes” then you need to move on to the next question. “Am I willing to serve God at all costs”?

Daniel was a man that was willing to serve God no matter what anyone would do to him for doing this. His faith was tested on many occasions and God never let him down. How about you? Are you willing to serve God no matter what the cost?

It is time for us to stand and be counted as followers of our Lord and Savior.

Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord”

 “The Greatest Adventure in Life is seen through the Love of Christ”  

Bro John   501-262-0015

From the desk of Pastor John Johnston: 7-30-12

A Daniel Faith!

Hello to all,

If you missed this past Sunday services you missed a good one… We had a young lady here who is a missionary to Israel. (We will protect her name) As she told of her experiences it led me to think of Daniel. She spoke of several attempts to take her life that failed and all I could see was the Hand of God on her ministry.