a church in pursuit of God, with a passion for

people

01... Jim Bruce01… Lauren Wilnau02... Steve Doggett03… Zachary Varnum05… Randy & Rhonda Gideons07... Regent Weber 08… Abbie Light08… Steve Porvaznik10… Terri Eldridge10… Tim & Jennie Walleker 11… Evan Wall12… Patrick & Danelle Wall13… Samantha Symonds13… Sonia Shearer 15… Juan Leiva15… Neal & Tonia Hayes16… Grady Anderson16... Mary Sommer 19… Jamie Cochran19… Kalen Harbaugh20... Devyn Levia21… Saige Blum23... Tina McGall25… Duane & Tonya Sturgess25... Ron Sellers26… Amanda Varnum

believe that there is a river that most married men come toand have to decide how to cross. So many times I haveheard…I do all these things for her but she doesn’t thankme for what I do. I too have suffered that river. At times I thinkwe men are not that smart. Our wives ask us to fix the cabinetdoor and we go paint the house. They ask us to repair the lightin the bathroom and we mulch the flower beds. We are askedto repair the rotten wood on the eve of the house and we putup new shutters…and then we wonder why they don’t seemhappy for all of our efforts.

One day I was griping to God about how I felt Rhonda didnot appreciate the things I was doing around the house andyard for her. In just a matter of minutes God’s voice brokethrough. He (God) said to me, “Why don’t you listen to whatshe is saying?” I got defensive with Him at that question andstarting defending my position, and I heard the challenge comethrough…“Why don’t you listen to what she is saying?” Over the next little while I could hear in my head clearly many of thethings she had asked me to do.I then realized the problem… (the river)…I was trying to pleaseher through my own understanding of what I was thinkingwould make her happy. Instead of doing the simple things shewas asking, I was inventing all of these other ways that Ithought would please her…in other words…the things thatwould please me thinking they would please her…GET IT? It’sa major barrier in our relationships of marriage.

It’s a major barrier in our relationship with God.

In thescriptures of the Bible there are many requests that God makesof His children. What do we do? We respond by giving Himwhat we think will make Him happy in a way that makes ushappy. He asks for something specific and we give himsomething else.I think of the scripture that says “OBEDIENCE IS BETTERTHAN SACRIFICE.”As a pastor I want everyone to like me…impossible but true…and I sometimes hate to have to point out the obvious when Ican see where God’s children are missing what He is sayingand giving Him what they want to give Him instead of what Hewants.True or false, does He not say in the Scriptures: __forsake not the assembling together, __bring into the storehouse the tithe, __feed those who are hungry, __Go and make disciples, __Train up your children in the

way

(His way…not ours!),

__worship Him is spirit and in truth.

Who are we pleasing with our actions? Obedience isbetter…

Randy Gideons Lead Pastor The Warehouse Church

Check out Randy’s blog on the Warehouse website.www.vcfleesburg.com

... "What

PLEASES

theLORDmore?Burnt offeringsand sacrifices,or

obeying

him?

It is

better

OBEY

than to offer a sacrifice.

It is

BETTER

to do what

he says

...

1 Samuel 15:22 NIRV

THERE IS ANOTHER WAY

kay, I admit it; I still love to watch LittleHouse on the Prairie. I grew up with it,and I still watch it if I find it on TV. Thatis where this article originated. Read on andfollow with me.

In this episode, the Reverend Alden told thechurch that he would like to have a church bell.Everyone thought it was a great idea and weredeciding on the details and how much they couldafford. Mrs. Olson stood up and volunteered topurchase the bell and the plaque that said thatthe Olson’s donated the money for the bell. Thepoint of views ensued between the two sides of the argument. One side said to let them buy thebell since nobody else could afford it. The other side said that no other part of the church had aplaque on it and the bell will be no different. Inthe weeks to come, the argument got more andmore heated and eventually split the littlechurch. You see for them, there was no other way. If the Olson’s win, the opposing side wouldleave. If the other side won, the Olson’s sidewould leave. Eventually, they asked for theReverend Alden’s resignation. There was nomiddle ground. There was no negotiation. Itwas one way or the other. Nothing else waseven worth talking about and would not bediscussed by either side.In the back of the room, there was a mannamed Tinker. He was very hard of hearing andcould not speak. He saw what was happeningto the adults and saw that it was being passeddown to the kids as well. So he decided that hewould use the kids help and build the bellhimself. You see, he saw another way. A waythat neither side could argue with since it didn’tgain favor to one side or the other. The ultimategoal would be achieved in that the bell would bemade. In the weeks to come, the kids gatheredall the metal materials they could find and theywere melted and poured into the form that theyhad made with Tinker. Then, Tinker went to thechurch and mounted the bell above the stepsand began to ring the bell until the entire towncame to investigate one Sunday morning.Folks, we are no different than the members of the Walnut Grove church.When we deal with people, we will often see things one way or the other. Wewill choose up sides and not budge. I am sure that churches have split for much smaller things than a church bell because nobody could see another way out of the situation.Can’t you see God doing much the same thing that Tinker did? Standing atthe back of the room getting aggravated and hurt because nobody asked Himfor help. Tinker had the answer that would appease both sides. God is thesame. You see, when we are in the middle of something that we arestruggling with, we get discouraged. We get down and attitudinal. We try torationalize things out with our carnal minds and eventually make a decisionfrom there.People, there is another way. God’s way! He has a reason for why youare where you are. If we would just stop and ask Him the way, we might notbe in the wildernessfor nearly as long.Remember; justbecause YOU can’tsee another way,doesn’t mean thatGOD doesn’t alreadyhave the way. Thepeople of WalnutGrove couldn’t seeanother way to solvethe bell problem untilit was revealed tothem that Sundaymorning. Ask Godto reveal your solution before youtrust yourself tomake the wrong one.