Saturday September 30, 2006
My eight year old son Jonah was in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Metro dome watching the Minnesota Twins in a late season baseball game earlier this week. Knowing that the Twins have a wild-card slot and that they could clinch their division, there is a lot of excitement in Minnesota these days.
Excited, he called me from his seat, and shouted above the crowd….”Dad, I’m at the Super bowl!” Of course he meant he was at the “Metro dome,” but to an eight year old boy, this was one of the biggest events he had witnessed in his life, and it was incredible.
God has blessed my wife and me with many children, and it seems, that many times the most important lessons I learn are from them. This time, it took my eight year old with shouts of excitement reminding me that life is a great event. Even when there is nothing the world would call “worthy” happening in our life, the “Superbowl” of life is going on. God is doing great things, and when we look through the “eyes of a child,” you never know what you’ll see.
Make this weekend a “Super” One in the Lord!
-Garrett Novak
-John 10:10 (NIV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Do you remember to thank God for your blessings? I know I do. I get caught up in life or the struggles of the ministries and I easily forget to thank God for all the wonderful things He has done for us.
I have noticed how offended some people get when they send a card with a small cash gift to someone celebrating a wedding, birthday or some other event and they don’t get a thank you card or don’t get it fast enough. Can you imagine if God were like that.
Or what if someone gave you a new car and when they handed you the keys you never said thank you. You probably wouldn’t get another one!
Yet forget to thank God for the miracles that we live with and around. We forget to thank God for our spouses, children and extended families. We forget how lonely life would be without them!
-Lyn Sahr
-Col 3:15-25 NIV
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
It is interesting to me how often the church snubs organizations like the Salvation Army when they are not only practicing their faith but they are demonstrating their faith by helping people with low resources and in crisis. Jesus said we will always have the poor among us and, therefore, we will always need those people and organizations that extend themselves to serving these people.
Some say they don’t have time to do those things or it is not their gift. Time is a priority management issue and lifting boxes, reading to the blind or feeding the hungry that are tattered and torn is not a gift issue but a God issue.
WWJD (What would Jesus do?)
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 69:32-33 NIV
The poor will see and be glad–
you who seek God, may your hearts live!
33 The LORD hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Singing cannot soothe the soul unless the lyrics are about the Prince of Peace.
-Lyn Sahr
-Isa 9:6-7 NIV
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
When faced with a difficult decision that has to be made we must seek God and depend upon Him for guidance. Personally, when I face these things I seek God and try to discern His will but even then I am dependent upon Him opening and closing doors to protect me from my own inability to always know the right choice. In these matters I am like a child who still needs my Heavenly Father to help me keep my life on straight.
Too often I have found myself in a situation that felt like I was hanging from the seat of my pants trying to make decisions and waiting upon God. Perhaps I don’t like to make decisions but all too often there doesn’t seem to be a clear direction or there is no good decision to make. Therefore, much to the chagrin of others, I wait upon the Lord in the most uncomfortable of circumstances.
As I have said many times, “God has never let me down but He has scared me really bad a few times!” God will never let you down so just hang in there!
-Lyn Sahr
-Isa 40:28-31 NIV
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Monday, September 25, 2006
When we pray, we tap into the most powerful source on earth and heaven. It is amazing that people seem to find so little time for it.
Prayer changes things and people!
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 6:9-13 NIV
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The last couple of Sundays I attended worship services at a church where they had someone share a testimony at the end of the service. Both of the testimonies were quite meaningful. I realized that testimonies are encouraging to everyone. It uplifts the work of God in ones life and it also makes a statement about the ministry of the church. Therefore, this week I would like to hear your testimony that we may email it out to our readers and put on our website to encourage others.
Here are the particulars:
We will exclude your name and show only your state and country when we email it or post it on our website.
We reserve the right to edit it grammatically, shorten it and remove any content that we deem inappropriate.
By sending it in you are giving us permission to use it electronically or in print.
We will use as many as possible.
Please include content as to how the ChurchMouse “Thought For The Day” has benefited you or someone else.
Your timely response will be appreciated by our readers.
Blessings!
Lyn Sahr
Prov 3:13
Saturday, September 23, 2006
It will be one of those “Novak funniest moments” for years to come! Our 4-year old daughter Kathryn had helped my wife make her birthday cake this past Monday, and we celebrated that evening with a chocolate cake with pink frosting. We only had a couple pieces, as most of our family wasn’t able to be there until the following day. The next day, Kathryn decided to stand on the kitchen counter when mom wasn’t looking and look for something to eat. While digging through the cupboard, she lost her balance and fell back right on top of her birthday cake.
Now, it was pretty obvious to my wife what had happened, as she looked at the smashed cake with a “design” on it. Our daughter tried to get out of her “chocolate and pink” mess, but it was no use, she had been “caught.”
Now the good thing about cake is, no matter what it looks like, it still tastes great, and we laughed and celebrated Kathryn’s birthday with the smashed cake.
Maybe some things have been “smashed” in your life, and you don’t know how to move past it. God still has great plans, and even though there are things making you feel less than perfect, take heart. He isn’t finished with you yet.
Now, please pass the birthday cake
-Garrett Novak
-Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Friday, September 22, 2006
We recruited volunteers today to load approximately 45,000 pounds of crushed pineapple. They were four Jr high kids and two staff from Oak Grove Middle school in Mounds View, MN. They had to unload the pallets in the basement of a building, put them on a conveyor belt to go to the next floor and repack them on pallets to go into our trucks. The job was much bigger than any of us expected but the life lesson was was even bigger.
Perhaps the first life lesson for us is to have a better assessment of what is required when we use groups doing community service. But perhaps the great lesson for these young people was that they had committed to the job and even though it seemed impossible, they stuck to it until it was done. Did they like it? Probably not but they finished the job! It is my prayer that one day they will face what seems an insurmountable problem in life and remember that they moved 4500 pounds of crushed pineapple that they never tasted to be a blessing in someone else’s life and they did it!
Satisfaction is found in completing the task!
-Lyn Sahr
-James 1:2-5 NIV
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Churches grow numerically when the leaders and the people grow spiritually to the point that they are equipped to move beyond their church circle, to take what they learn in the “holy place” into the “market place.” If the leaders and the people in the congregation don’t grow spiritually they never develop the maturity to reach out beyond the walls of their “Bless Me” club! And the result is…..
-Lyn Sahr
-2 Cor 10:15-16 NIV
Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Spiritual growth should be the main theme of the life of every believer. Christians must strive with all their heart, soul and might to go beyond being a Sunday morning spectator or commentator to become an everyday “transformator.” First by letting God transform our lives, and then He can use our lives to help transform others. But it starts with the passion for God to become more in our lives and for “me” to become less. God never gave birth to any of His children expecting or intending them to remain the same.
-Lyn Sahr
-1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
To continue the theme of lack of control, we noticed we have no phone today or internet. We have some work being done on our driveway and they dug down and cut our phone line. So after the squirrel dropped nuts into our furnace fan now we have this. Therefore you will be getting this a day late as they will not have our service working until tomorrow. Yesterday I couldn’t control what the squirrel did and today I couldn’t control what the construction worker did. I must be out of control!
Funny thing is there really isn’t that much in life that we are really in control of which is why we really need to learn how to be dependent upon God.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 62:5-8 NIV
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Monday, September 18, 2006
At 4 A.M. this morning we were awakened to what appeared to be the worst hail storm I had ever heard. After catching our bearings we realized the noise was coming from our furnace. It sounded like there were nuts in our blower fan that emits the fumes from the natural gas out of the furnace. So I pulled it apart at 4:15 A.M. and believe it or not, there was a big butternut that came from our butternut tree near the house. The only explanation is that a squirrel had dropped the nut down the vent pipe, falling into our fan and breaking it.
As I thought of the craziness of this I was reminded how there are so many things in life I have no control over. There was nothing I could do to keep the squirrel from dropping that nut down our vent. I couldn’t control the squirrel. Sometimes we just need to say, “That’s just life!”
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 119:37 NIV
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
When I handed my keys to him, I knew it was a bad idea but he looked so innocent. The keys opened all the important doors in my life and there was a risk of losing them but for that fleeting moment I relented and handed my 2 year 10 month old grandson my keys to play with. Needless to say I left without them because my 2 ½ year old granddaughter decided it was her turn to play with them and… you know how it goes. I knew better than to give them something they were not prepared for or understood the responsibility of holding but I did it anyway.
Churches often do the same thing to people. New people attend a church for awhile with little or no church background, profess some form of Christianity and soon we find them on our church boards. Eventually the cycle is continued and we wonder why our churches are not places of spiritual refuge. It all comes down to who is holding the keys and if they are mature enough to understand the responsibility.
-Lyn Sahr
-1 Tim 3:1-7 NIV
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Today I took my three oldest grandchildren out for ice cream cones. It was a first. The boys are 5 and 2 years 10 months and our granddaughter is 2 ½. They had ice cream everywhere from the table, their shirts, their hair, their face and some actually hit their mouths. As I sat there I realized how much I love to spend time with them. It feels like we are a team with a bond that will never separate.
So it should be with the family of God, a bond that is eternal and the love for each other that brings joy.
-Lyn Sahr
-Matt 16:19 NIV
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The good news for today is that God still loves you in spite of yesterday! People are constantly battling self-worth issues. Those with Godly desires are often their worst critic and beat up on themselves emotionally and spiritually for the things they do, their personality traits, their circumstances or life in general. God is a loving Father, a Redeeming Son and a comforting Spirit who wants only good for each of us. When we cling to His goodness it is amazing how even what appears to be bad in our lives becomes Christ-like.
-Lyn Sahr
-Rom 8:28-29 NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
“If a church isn’t leading people to Christ, its members will end up picking fleas out of each others hair!”
-Paul E. Little
Editors Note: Paul E. Little was a popular evangelist on college campuses before his death in 1975. He authored a number of wonderful books including “How to Give Away Your Faith.”
-2 Cor 5:20-21 NIV
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
A middle age father is selected to meet with the president of the United States so he decides to bring his family with for this once in lifetime experience. His teen age daughter and son ask their father what the family is going to wear to meet the president and he says, “The same thing we wear to church!”
What’s wrong with this picture?
-Lyn Sahr
-Rev 4:11 NIV
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Monday, September 11, 2006
Life is the journey to the promise land! If you don’t experience joy in the journey, you will be unprepared for eternity!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 90:14 NIV
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Yesterday we distributed food to 136 families out of our Ruby’s Pantry building in North Branch. God has blessed us with a good amount of food and the people were blessed. Interestingly, some people come late. Some actually arrive when we are packed up. So it was yesterday when a young woman came and asked if she could still get food. Because most of our volunteers had already left and much of the food was gone or put away the lady at the registration table yelled down the building at me asking if this young lady could still get food. I said, “No, it is too late!” As I noticed the women walking away toward the door a small voice inside of me said, “It’s never too later when you are able to give help!”
I yelled up the building to have her wait and I headed up toward her. When I got there I saw a woman with tears in her eyes and desperation on her face. I asked her if her family was out of food and she said, “Yes.” We pulled food back out of the freezers, coolers and even the big freezer truck to make sure she had enough food for her family for several days. It would have been easier for me to turn my back but God got my attention by piercing my heart with his reminders of love. For this I am thankful because giving can be humanly exhausting for the giver but the receiver is revitalized. Today this family will probably be eating a chicken dinner and enjoying each other.
Yes, I get tired of helping people but people never get tired of being helped when they have a need!
-Lyn Sahr
-Prov 19:17 NIV
He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD,
and he will reward him for what he has done.
Saturday, September 9, 2006
School started in many cities across the United States this week, and for many parents, we are starting our fall schedules. Many churches are starting up their fall children’s program schedule as well.
Would it be a great time to invite some neighborhood children to your church for midweek activities? Some of the most well known Christians in the last 200 years were brought to the Lord through midweek and Sunday school programs.
-Garrett Novak
-Acts 2:39
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Friday, September 8, 2006
Fall is making its appearance today as the cool morning air enters Seekers Bay. We are very grateful today as yesterday we received the good news that the biopsies taken on our daughter last week were benign. PTL! Life is good. God is good… all the time. Thank you for your prayers.
I truly feel fortunate these days as we have a wonderful family including four precious grandchildren, three that call me grandpa and one who calls me “Bompa.” I am excited about what God has for me in the years ahead.
But sometimes in life one can experience enough trial, disappointment or failure that others around you begin to think that is your life. Unfortunately, sometimes people look at me as if I am destined to struggle in all I do or venture to do. Part of that is imaged by the constant struggle for funds that our ministry encounters.
In looking at funding issues I realize that ministry has become a spectator sport for many today which is made obvious in our spectator oriented worship services and church activities today. Some people actually watch ministries struggle and never invest a penny in them, almost going to a free movie. In thinking about this earlier this morning I realized that Abraham probably would have had trouble taking up an offering to help fund the promise, Noah certainly would not have had much support in building the Arc or there would have been more people on board when the flood came and Moses wealth for the journey to the promise land came from the Egyptians, not the Hebrews (The Church in the Wilderness)!
I am not trying to justify or rationalize what I do but I stand before the Lord with a clean heart knowing my motives are for His glory. My critics and non-supporters, which I have accumulated plenty in almost thirty years of ministry, for some reason never bring their ministry resumes to the table of judgment, only their accusations.
Some of my critics over the years have said, “He never sticks at anything and goes from one thing to another. He has not had a long term pastorate.” I smile at these critics when I have re-birthed six churches and planted one church in the past 27 years and I am entering my tenth year of writing the ChurchMouse Chronicles and tomorrow (September 9th) … Lonna and I celebrate our fortieth (40th) wedding anniversary. Yes, I guess I don’t have any “stick-to-it-ness!”
Forgive me for speaking out a little but sometimes in life we need to look in the mirror and appreciate how God has used us and what He has done in our lives. Too often we live in the image of our critics instead of the image of God!
-Lyn Sahr
-Gen 1:27 NIV
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
-Ps 37:16-17 NIV
Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
-Prov 13:22 NIV
A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children,
but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Faith is not the absence of reason but rather the absence of doubt!
-Lyn Sahr
-Heb 11:1 NIV
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
When God calls a pastor to a church He also must call the church to the Pastor!
-Lyn Sahr
-Heb 13:20-21 NIV
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Tuesday, September 6, 2006
Today is my birthday and so I am doing nothing! Sometimes it is okay to just do nothing. One of the big problems in the American life is that we do not take enough time for ourselves. When people live in that mode they generally have no time for God either.
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 116:7 NIV
Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.
Monday, September 5, 2006
God is not concerned how old we are but rather how mature we are!
-Lyn Sahr
-Heb 5:12-14 NIV
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Sunday, September 4, 2006
If you think that God wants His people to go around with the old “poor me” mentality, think again. Yes, there are times of sorrow in this life but some people make misery their daily theme. God would have us rejoice always, in all things and at all times.
Misery loves company, but joy craves a crowd!
-Lyn Sahr
-Ps 28:7 NIV
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
Saturday, September 3, 2006
It’s Labor Day Weekend here in the United States. The last “blast” of summer, as the days are starting to get shorter, and the nights are getting cooler here in northwestern Wisconsin.
My family and I are busy trying to cram one last weekend of outdoor activities in before the summer is over and the kids are back in school. There have been a lot of things we have wanted to do with our children and feel like time has gotten away from us this summer. I would suspect that you might feel the same way, and yearn for just a few more days or weeks with your children, or yearn for the nice weather to remain just a bit longer.
Isn’t it great that as a Christian, in our journey through life, it’s not a “cram it all in” sort of thing? God is there teaching us and growing us no matter what season it is. And His word is constantly showing us new things, and teaching us new truths about Him. But yet, at the same time, we yearn for more of Him and some days for heaven.
Enjoy your family time this weekend if you have it, and make sure to spend some time with your Abba Father this weekend too!
-Garrett Novak
-Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Friday, September 1, 2006
When I see the glory of God, I see His love for man. Sometimes we forget that God is passionate about people. Like a parent, he wants us to do well and is disappointed when we really mess up. And yes, sometimes discipline is required which doesn’t make God a villain but rather a loving father.
There is never a time as a parent that discipline is not heart wrenching to administer to a child. However, unless you want to raise a wild donkey of a kid you will discipline that child. So it is with God. He would rather always be the heavenly Father of “warm fuzzies” but He doesn’t want any wild donkey kids either!
Obedience to God brings us peace with God, ourselves and others!
-Lyn Sahr
-Job 36:5-12 NIV
“God is mighty, but does not despise men;
he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.
6 He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their rights.
7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
he enthrones them with kings
and exalts them forever.
8 But if men are bound in chains,
held fast by cords of affliction,
9 he tells them what they have done-
that they have sinned arrogantly.
10 He makes them listen to correction
and commands them to repent of their evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
and their years in contentment.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will perish by the sword
and die without knowledge.
