Something to think about as the summer months begin.  

Summer is busy for a lot of people and slow paced for others. For some people, it means a loss of income – school bus drivers, cooks, professors and the like. For those in construction, it is a really busy time

The same is true for churches. Many churches put weekly activities on hold – choir, special services, limited Sunday school classes. The main emphasis for churches in the summer season is VBS. I know at our church we had about 165 kids who had an absolute blast. Four of them were saved and others grew closer to the Lord as they asked a lot of questions. 

As a pastor, I would encourage all of us to stay active in our faith by reading or listening to the Bible daily, by spending time in prayer for others and for ourselves, and for seeking to soak in Jesus’ presence and peace, which we definitely need. Sometimes we just need to be quiet and drink in a big gulp of Jesus, then share Him with those in our sphere of influence.

If you are not a Christian, any of us at Unresolved would be glad to point you in the right direction. You can begin a relationship with Him at any time. Just give everything you know of yourself to everything you know about Jesus, and let Him take the next move.

This summer, let us be resolved to get and stay close to Jesus and share Him with the world.

Blessings,
Pastor John

“You Know You’re About to Become a Senior Citizen When …” a little humor!

“You Know You’re About to Become a Senior Citizen When …” a little humor! This bit of humor comes to us from the book “The Treasury of Clean Seniors’ Jokes” by Tal D. Bonham and Jack Gulledge. This book is in honor of my family, especially my sisters, and in memory of my late brother-in-law, Dan, who was a kind man with a great sense of humor.
a senior citizen

“You know you’re about to become a senior citizen when …

The grandkids come home and tell you about what they learned in history, and you remember studying about the same subjects in current events class.
You decide procrastination is the best approach to life but you never get around to it.
You walk with your head held high because you are trying to get used to your bifocals.
You look forward to a dull evening.
Your knees buckle but your belt won’t.
Burning the midnight oil means staying up past 9 P.M.
Your back goes out more than you do.
You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.
You bend over to tie your shoes and look around to see if there’s something else you can do while you are down there.
You sit in a rocking chair and you can’t get it going.

One problem that was unresolved has been fixed. Thankful!

I want to thank the Lord for several things that God did for me today. For the past two to three weeks, we have had water leaking on to the floor around the Air Conditioner. I have put bleach, yeast, a snake (plumbing kind, not animal kind!), and used a plunger to get the water to go down the drain. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nothing would fix or prevent the water from leaking into the hallway. 

The problem was getting worse, so I went across the street to see if Josh had a wet/dry vac so I could at least get some of the mess cleaned up. He did, so I worked on that, then began to study how to fix this problem. Josh came over and then the adventure began!

To unclog the drain line, it took a huge compressor/blower which we borrowed from the neighbor right behind our house, then Josh took his wet/dry vac outside and used it to suck water out of the drain pipe, which was at the end of the house. Nothing was coming out because there was clog which blocked the drain completely. It took a plumbing snake, a long stick, a garden hose, one compressor, one wet/dry vac, and a lot of work to fix the problem. Thank you, Lord, for my two neighbors, the right tools, the right picture in our heads to be able to fix it, a very willing neighbor (Josh) who stayed with it until it was fixed. Praise the Lord for this A/C being fixed!

It feels good in this house, and the floor is dry! Thank you, Lord, for this answered prayer, for great neighbors, and this problem is fixed. It is resolved, and I am a happy camper! 

A special announcement – a fundraiser to help a couple of friends. Please help!

From now until the last day of this month, I am selling my C.D., “Songs and Prayers for Seniors” (playlist below) for $15.00, delivered by U.S. mail. 

This is being done as a fundraiser for a couple who have helped me set up and maintain my website, Michael and Teresa Blaes. They have had some major expenses this month due to flooding in their home. My goal is to raise at least $100 to help with these needs. A portion from each C.D. will go to them.

Here is the playlist for this C.D.

Track 1 – Opening prayer
Track 2 – Wondrous Love
Track 3 – Talking to my Soul
Track 4 – Wrinkly Old Woman, Wobbly Old Man
Track 5– Sufficient
Track 6– Too Tired to Think
Track 7– Healing Prayer
Track 8– Senior Hymn
Track 9 – I Am Acceptable
Track 10 – A Musical Blessing
Track 11 – About this C.D. And website.
Track 12 – Closing prayer

To order, please contact me by e-mail for details. I accept payment by check or PayPal donation on the website, both links are below. 

pastorjohnday@gmail.com 
(I will send you my mailing address so you can send a check. When I receive the check, I will mail you a C.D. the next day.)

http://www.pastorjohnsseniormoments.com/
Click the “donate” button on the right-hand side. You can donate by PayPal or Debit or Master Card. I will need your address, either in the “comments” section of PayPal or by sending an e-mail to the link above.

Honoring some courageous people this week

There are three people I want to honor for their courage this week. Well, really there are four, but two of them are married, so that counts as three.

First off, I want to honor the founders of this blog, Michael and Teresa Blaes, who have been put out of their house due to flooding. They, their daughter, and three cats have been holed up in a hotel for over a week. In spite of the obstacles, they still managed to keep giving updates on their progress, and Teresa kept doing two blogs per day – from the hotel room. Kudos to them.

Secondly, I want to honor Miss Hetti, who will be 96 years old on May 27. She is amazing. She still drives to Bible study and everywhere else she needs to go. She is courageous to just keep plugging away.

Finally, I want to honor a very courageous site member who gave her testimony on Facebook. She has come out of so much darkness, and the Lord has flooded His light into her heart and continues to do so.

I want to honor Jesus also for a great Bible study on Tuesday. Praise the Lord!

This post is from my website, which I invite readers to check out. The site is www.pastorjohnsseniormoments.com. I hope you enjoy the laughs. I love to laugh and to encourage through humor.

“When you’re over the hill, here’s how you will know!

You’re over the hill when Your feet hurt before you get out of bed.

You’re over the hill when the rock stars you used to idolize are now potbellied and grey.

You’re over the hill when your grey hair isn’t premature.

(These nuggets of humor come to us from the book by Bob Phillips entitled “Over the Hill and On a Roll”, sent to me by my sister, Susan, who got it from my sister, Linda. The book belonged to her late husband, Dan, who had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh. This also begins a series of funny moments and memories and can be found in a new category on the right-hand side of the page entitled “funny bone”.)Tags: #funny bone, #humor, #over the hillNew category – funny bone

Thoughts (From Toni Nichols) – “What does the Lord think about our bodies? I have been thinking about my imperfect, broken and somewhat deformed body, and speaking with my Mom tonight, whose body is a captive of Parkinson’s I asked her, “What do you th0000ink the Lord thinks about our bodies?”There was silence. Consider how in the Old Testament nothing deformed could approach the Holy of Holies, or be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. But we have our answer in the Old Testament book of Isaiah and the subsequent accountings of the life of Christ in the New Testament. It is clear what He thinks.“Isaiah 53Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people, he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Everyone is unresolved about something, whether it is a short term problem or concern or a long term crisis level problem that has lasted for way too long. Sometimes life is hard, and prayers go unanswered. That is the reality of what we go through sometimes.

But that is not the only reality there is. There is also people joining together to pray and prayers being answered. This is the reality that I want to focus on for this point. In the past four days, I have had at least four prayers answered.

The Bible study that my wife leads at the senior center had a disruptor for about six weeks. Eventually, he got disappointed that his plan was not going to succeed, so he left. This past Tuesday, the Bible study was great! There was lots of discussion, a sweet spirit, and a lot of lively learning going on!

A lifelong friend who had a biopsy on a growth which was on his thyroid good the good report he was looking for. The growth was benign! He was greatly relieved.

A friend on my website had an answered prayer for her daughter’s dental appointment, which went amazingly well and very uneventful. 

Finally, a friend who had a really long eye appointment found out, gratefully, that she does NOT have macular degeneration.

Sometimes prayers turn out differently than we expect, and sometimes the answer is even more amazing than we can ask, seek, or imagine. But in all cases, I want all who read this to know that God is faithful, and He absolutely will bring you through it all. God is faithful, and He is listening. 

Keith Green live singing his song “Easter Song”, and giving his testimony. Enjoy the song. Just click the link below:

Keith Green’s “Easter Song”

“Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing that we can born again. Hear the bells ringing, their singing, Christ is risen from the dead.

The angels upon the tombstone said “He is risen, just as He said. Quickly now, go tell His disciples that Jesus Christ is no longer dead. Joy to the world, He is risen. Hallelujah! He’s risen. Hallelujah! He’s risen”

And the church responds, “He has risen indeed!”

Seder Meal at church last night to celebrate our deliverance from bondage

Last night at church, we had a seder meal, something I had only heard of but had never experienced. The speaker, a Messianic Jew, led us through the different steps of the meal, which was part of the celebration of Passover. While some elements were part of the original celebration meal, others were added. The meal was full of symbolism for both Jews and Christians.

The meal was not what either Karen or I expected. On the table in front of us was a cup of grape juice, a cup of water, and a tray in the middle of the table with parsley, salt water, horseradish, apple and walnut mixture, matza bread, and boiled eggs. Each item had special significance and meaning, which the speaker revealed, each related to God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and being protected by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts.

We, as Christians, have been delivered from the slavery of sin and death, again protected by the blood of the Lamb. The foods represented the bitterness of bondage, the fact that they had to leave Egypt quickly (matza bread, with no yeast).

Thank you, Jesus, for being the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

https://www.chosenpeople.com/site/?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/search=Exodus+12 &version=NIV