Don't Stop!

Today's Scripture:

Let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back.

Hebrews 12:1


In addition to the athletes on a track or other competitive team there is a coach. The coach evaluates the condition of each athlete's form and physical condition. He is responsible for helping the athlete improve his race performance, which includes disciplining and correcting the athlete. The author of Hebrews suggests that you look at your relationship with God from the perspective of a runner in a race with God as your coach.

Like the runner in a race, set your sights on the finish line, which in your case is the end of your life on earth. Set a training schedule that includes spiritual discipline. Prayer and worship are two spiritual disciplines you may be familiar with. Fasting is also a spiritual discipline you may have heard of; fasting is the decision to give up something that is important to you for a set period of time in order to focus on God. For instance, you could give up your favorite TV program for a week or month and use that time to do a Bible study.

If your goal is to stay on track with your relationship to God, then be like the runner and do not let anything distract you from getting to the finish line. Take the time to figure out what might get you off track in your relationship with God. Get rid of the things that tear down your relationship with him, and allow only those thing that build it up.

Stick to a good training schedule, and above all, listen to your coach ~ God!

Selah people' and friends if you aren't in training, you can't hope to be much of a racer. My wife Jennifer and I have rededicated ourselves recently not just to better quality time with God and each other. Join us as we allow him to coach us to better in all areas of our relationship and our lives, be it housekeeping, yard keeping and yes our taking our physical condition to a higher level along with our spiritual connection with Him. Get serious about seeking God; keep your eyes on the true prize Jesus, and the finish line.

"God's peace be with you on this journey to spiritual growth!"

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Do the Good Thing

Today's Scripture:

Even if you have to suffer for doing good things, God will bless you. So stop being afraid and don't worry about what people might do.

1 Peter 3:14




You've heard of Christians in other countries who go through great danger for the sake of the gospel. Worship services are interrupted by gun-wielding militants. Christians are threatened with death if they don't renounce their faith. Christians are denied jobs and other opportunities simply because they're Christians. How about you? Have you ever suffered because someone was making fun of the gospel?

In this country, persecution is much more subtle than a machine gun.


Probably nobody's ever threatened you and demanded that you renounce your faith.


But you have, no doubt, been in situations where you're tempted to deny Christ by going along with the group, by pretending your faith was unimportant to you for the sake of fitting in. Maybe you've missed a starting position because you wouldn't skip church for a Sunday practice or game. This sort of unfairness is sometimes subtle, and many times people don't even realize when they've put you in a sticky situation, but the principle is the same: you have to decide whether or not to deny Christ and go the way of the world.


The Bible promises that if you suffer for doing good, God will bless you. If you're trading in your consistent walk for the sake of popularity or a starting spot on the team or better position at work, you're missing out on God's blessing. You've got nothing to fear from other people. Do you really fear other people's dissapproval more than you fear God's? Would you really prefer to live a life of cowardice rather than a life of blessing?


Selah people' and friends there are many worse things than being persecuted ~ whether intentionally or unintentionally ~ for your faith. Don't fear what people can do to you. You and I have God on our side.


"God's unending Peace and Joy be with you as we face critisism, not alone but with our Savior Jesus Christ who is with us all the way"


Your pastor,


Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Good Fruit...

Today's Scripture:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

You might know Christians who are uptight and judgmental, or Christians who give the impression that following Jesus must not be very much fun. Maybe you're one of them. When the Holy Spirit enters a person's life, that person begins to bear a new kind of fruit. And it isn't the fruit of self-righteousness or a gloomy determination to "stick to the rules." No, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

To walk in the Spirit is to be set apart, distinct. Your are distinguished by a loving spirit; you can afford to love others because you're beginning to know how much God loves you. You are distinguished by a greater joy and fulfillment than the people around you. When you are set apart, you begin to take the world less seriously than everyone around you because, in the end, you take something else much more seriously that the world. And that means you can be patient with the short comings of the people around you, you can be kind and good and gentle rather than looking out for number one. Because you know there's much more to life than self-gratification, you can be self-controlled rather than self-indulgent.

But don't expect to do any of that in your own strength. This is the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of human beings. Only the Spirit can cause you to bear that kind of fruit.

Selah people' and friends what kind of fruit are you bearing? If the fruit of the Spirit doesn't characterize your life, you'd better reevaluate your walk.

"Peace be with you as we go into the fields as Christ servants seek to bring forth Good fruit."

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Satisfaction!!!

Today's scripture:

Whoever loves money will never have enough money; whoever loves wealth will not be satisfied with it.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Remember how cool your mobile phone was when you first got it? How long did it take before your decided that it wasn't cool enough and wanted to replace it with a newer model? It doesn't take long for mobile phones, gadgets, computers or clothes or cars to seem so five-minutes-ago. It's on to the newer model, or you're going to be left behind. That's the way it goes with material things. They're never good enough. Not for long, anyway. If you get the thing you think you want, you find that what you've really done is simply graduated to a desire for something a little newer, different, nicer, and for sure more expensive.

God is the fulfillment of all your desires. And he gives himself freely to you. The more you have of God, the more you want of him: in that regard, the desire for God is like other desires. The difference is that as your desire for God grows, he gladly gives you more of himself. When was the last time a new laptop or GPS gave itself freely to you? Objects are simply that ~ objects. Nothing more than just things.

When people chase after money, they are really searching for contentment. Contentment doesn't come from having more stuff, however. It comes from enjoying what you have already.

Contentment is a decision to be happy with what God has provided.

It comes from being thankful for the good things in your life. The more you appreciate what you already have, the less time you will spend trying to get more.

Selah people' and friends try starting a list of things you are thankful for. Each day write down two or three things you are grateful for. Include at least one thing money can't buy. My next birthday I will be 40 years old and when I was in high school 30 seemed to me to be an old man with old ways. I now see with clearer more experienced eyes that God has happiness for us at all ages and each age gives us many reasons to be thankful that don't involve all our gadgets but more about those around us and His unfailing love and endless grace that He shares with us.

"Peace, happiness and true satisfaction be with you as you choose today to count your many blessings and share Christ Love with someone else today."

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Freedom Under God

Today's Scripture:
Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered and anyone who does so will bring judgment on himself.

Romans 13:2

Real freedom in life is found when you understand your relationship to the people in authority. God places authority in your life; rebelling against authority is rebelling against God. It's important to clearly understand how your response to authority affects your relationship with God.

Think of the authorities God has placed in your life: parents, teachers, government authorities, police, laws, covenants, and more. God placed authority in your life to guide you, direct you, challenge you, keep you safe, make you think, and help you. If a police officer or trooper pulls you over for doing 55 mph in a 35 mph school zone and gives you a ticket that costs you $100, you may feel like the officer, the law, and the ticket are imposing restrictions on your freedom. After all, you know how to drive safely, and 55 mph is not that fast. But it is too fast in that particular situation. What would happen if in that same school zone you did not see a little girl dart across the sidewalk? At 55 mph, you might not be able to stop in time...what would that cost?

The bottom line is that when you choose evaluate which rules or requests you are going to follow and which you are not, you make yourself the authority.

You end up damaging your relationship with God and the people he placed in authority in your life. Freedom from authority has a cost - it's called consequences. When you resist God's authority, you resist the One who loves you the most.

Selah people' and friends do you respect the authorities that God has placed in your life? If not, you're rebelling against more than human authority; you're rebelling against God's authority, too.

"Peace be with you as you honor God's authority."

Stop by our church website @ www.selahchurch.com !

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Selah ~ Listen Up!!!

Today's Scripture:

Always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily.

James 1:19

Think how much time you spend trying to explain yourself - trying to make your parents see your curfew issue, telling your friends or coworkers how you feel, making your case in a class discussion. Everybody wants to be understood. You want to express your opinion, and even if people don't agree with your view of things, you at least want them to know where you're coming from. I tell others often that it is OK for us to agree to disagree. I want them know where I stand on the issue.

The Bible teaches that your first move should be to listen, not to talk. I have been told "God has given you and I two ears and one mouth, and to listen twice as much as you speak." I know for some of us young and old this is a very difficult task, regardless of where you come from Grantham or the Great lakes. When you're talking, it feels like you're getting the upper hand in a discussion. We have seen this play out daily on the political issues voiced by various candidates (not too pretty). But if we are honest you gain knowledge by opening your ears, not by opening your mouth. And knowledge is power, isn't it?

A willingness to listen doesn't reflect weakness. It reflects the strength of wisdom.

Listening demonstrates a willingness to arrive at a conclusion that makes sense for everybody involved. And if it's necessary to "win" an argument, by the way, listening before talking is excellent strategy. Thinking before you speak is not a bad idea either. But if you're wise, winning is rarely your first concern in a conversation. I know for me my wife Jennifer has helped my understand this much better over the last 22 years.

Selah people' and friends, if you listen - if you seek to understand - you will be slow to anger. Talking has a tendency to convince you of your own rightness (even if it doesn't convince the person you're talking to) and self righteousness makes you impatient with other people's opinions and quick to anger. So listen. Understand. Then you'll be ready to make yourself understood. Stop by our church website for upcoming events or to listen to our online audio sermons at... www.selahchurch.com

Next time you find yourself running off at the mouth, stop, look, and listen.

"Peace be with you as you open your ears to listen and open your hearts to Christ. Grab someone else and as you listen to them share God' s love with them."

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)

Waiting for Everyone

Today's Scripture:

The Lord is not slow in doing what he promised ~ the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts and lives.

2 Peter 3:9

Peter addressed the complacency developing in the early church. He explained that God's timetable was a benefit, not a problem. Your concept of time is different from God's. In your life everything has a beginning and an end. God is timeless, able to be in all time ~ past, present, and future. When Jesus left the earth to return to his Father God, he promised he would return soon to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Many of his followers believed his return would be in their lifetime.

When the first generation started questioning when Jesus would return. This opened the door for all kinds of doubt. With the door open, false information crept in as is most often the case and it didn't stick to the Scripture and teaching established by the first-generation believers. Peter wanted the church to be patient and wait for God's timing.

Peter's reasoning included the fact that the longer they waited for God to return, the more time there was to spread God's message. More people could join the family of God. This isn't the time to sit around and wait for God to return.

It's the time to be intentional about telling everyone young and old that you know about God.

At some moment in time God is going to return. When he does, it will be too late for any person who hasn't come to know God. Prepare today to go to heaven and take as many people as you can with you.

Selah people' and friends I have included a photo taken this foggy morning that shows a "No Parking" sign, which is a reminder to both you and I that God has not called us to sit and wait, but instead to go out into his fields and labor until he comes. Is there someone you love or care for who has still not accepted the invitation to become a part of God's family? Perhaps, you are holding out are in need of rededicating...Extend the invitation to them today and take up his cross and in doing so secure you ticket to paradise. Stop by www.selahchurch.com to see what Selah Christian Church is up to, view photos or look at what we are about. If you missed worship or would like to listen to sermon on link click this link for recent messages from Selah: http://cid-af7ecca57d126f50.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Selah%20Christian%20Church%20Sermons%202008

"Peace and Joy to you and all who await God's triumphant return."

Your pastor,

Rev Muston (PreacherPatrick)