ARE YOU GROWING TODAY?

Have you read God’s Word today?  Did you read the “Daily Bread” today?

Have you read at least a few pages of a good book Today? Have you listened to a good sermon latley? Check out our Internet TV Channel at the left!

Living Forward

Life isn’t designed to live looking in the rearview mirror. God designed us to look forward and to live forward. When our father’s sperm and our mother’s egg were united in our mother’s womb creation began! We were confined to our mother’s womb for 9 months. We were still much of that time. However when we began moving down the birth cannel we have been moving ever since.

We grow and become new human beings daily. Our body is constantly changing. Our body is constantly regenerating its self all the time. We are never still inside. Our amazing heart never stops, until we die! We are one constant ball of regenerating energy.

I believe we came into this world with a mission given to us by our Creator. I don’t believe in this whole “accident thing” or that we “just happened”. There is too much evidence to prove we are complex, intelligent beings with a purpose! That purpose is being revealed to us as we grow in understanding and relationship with our Creator. I believe God created us in His image and in His likeness (Gen. 1:28-28). We are created to live “forward” and to keep going “forward” as long as we live here on this planet.

Forward is the direction Jesus went all the way to the Cross! He never backed up or even looked backwards. He created us to do the same. That is to keep moving forward. One of the last things He told His disciples before He went back to heaven was to “GO”. (Acts 1:8) My good friend Leonard Albert asked a great question years ago, “Where has the ‘go ye’ gone?” If we aren’t carefull the cares of life and disappointments of life here on this planet can steal our “go ye” and leave us stranded on the side of the road of life.

Are you “living forward” or are you sitting still looking the your “rear view mirror” of life?

I’m Just Sayin,

Pastor Alan

Anger Management

I am very excited about my upcoming Anger Management class here in Soldotna, Alaska. It will begin on Tuesday evening January 26 at 7 pm to 9 pm. I am looking forward to sharing my story and some of the principles I have learned along the way. It has been a long journey. I have learned some life changing lessons in some very unusual ways. It is truly amazing what we can learn from the tough situations in life if we are willing to become a learner.

I invite you to join us here in Soldotna if you or someone you know may have some issues with Anger. It takes a big person to face their own “demons” and be willing to learn to overcome them. I love helping others who acknowledge they don’t know it all and are willing to listen and learn. How about you?

The class if for two hours and is for four weeks. It is every Tuesday evening starting on January 26 for four weeks. It is going to be held at the corner of Binkley St and Redoubt Ave at the Soldotna Church of God. If you would like to sign up or need more information please call 907-262-4729. If you don’t live in the area we do have the class on CD’s. Please call for details.

I am often asked if the class is accredited or if it qualifies for court ordered Anger Management. The answer is “not at this time”. I am working on accreditation , however what you can learn will change your life for the better!!!! My goal is to help you change and become a better person for you and the ones you love.

I would love to see you there. There is no charge for the class except your time!

Come grow with us,

Pastor Alan

It’s 2010!!!!

Who would have believed we would live this long? I mean really! 2010 is an amazing time to be alive. think about it, not only are we in a new millenium and a new year but a new decade also!! Time is an incredible concept to try to get my mind around. I don’t want to go too deep here but the whole time thing is still sort of mind-boggling.

I remember riding to church with Dr David Bishop and Dr Linfield Crowder during Destiny Conference several years ago. I ask Dr Crowder about the difference between the Jewish Calendar and the Roman Calendar. I never will forget that experience. I don’t remember much of what he said but he went on and on  from ACR to the church. When we arrived at the church he looked at me and said, “that may have been more than you wanted to know!” 

Time is truly an amazing concept! I still don’t understand a lot about it. However I do know that is sure seems to be flying by faster these days. Someone has said the older we get the faster time seems to go by. I think I have figured out why! Think about it for a moment. When we were 10 years old a year was on tenth of our entire life! Now that I am 56 a year is only one fifty-sixth of my life time. So a year is a much smaller increment of time for us now than when we were younger. If a year is smaller so is a month and a week and a day and then an hour and minute! It really is going by faster!

So as you get older time really will go by faster. Therefore we must be careful how we invest our time now!

Investing time together,

Pastor Alan

Jerry & Margaret Update

Thanks for your patience with me on this update. I have been working steady at both ends. the following is a note from Jerry this morning.
“Sorry for the late update. The doctor came in said everything was looking good. She hasn;t had anything to eat in five days, her mouth is so dried out, they started letting her have ice chips last night and that helps a lot. The surgeon said she would lose a lot of weight, she said she didn’t know it would be not having food. She is sleeping good and very little pain. She is still on the morphine pump. We are waiting for the move out of ICU to a regular room. She won;t receive food until she passes gas through her system, this way they will know that everything is working without a leak. Right now her system is in a sleep mode and they hope it will wake up soon. Mike our son stayed with her last night to give me a break. He said that was hard. He has gone to get some sleep now. The CEO from Alaska arrived in Charlotte this morning. I’d say he is getting rest before he comes to the hospital. That is one long and hard trip. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND REMEMBER GOD LOVES YOU” Jerry and Margaret

I spoke with Jerry this afternoon and they did move her out of ICU. She is doing some better but still needs our prayers. Ryan Smith was there with them and they were having a good visit.

Thanks again for your prayers and support as we are continuing on this journey of healing and recovery.

Pastor Alan

Where is Your Treasure?

In Matthew 6:21 Jesus said “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” I look at our treasure as our “values”. What I hear Jesus saying here is that where our values are there will be our desires also. He uses strong language here when he says “the desires of our heart”. That is huge! I have heard it said and for many years that “people will always do what they really want to do”.

As I think of this in relation to our values it makes sense! Whatever we value or treasure in our lives directly impacts and greatly influences our desires. I mean think about it, if we value something then we will naturally desire whatever it is that it takes to acquire what we value. Our values impact our desires and our desires impact our actions! It seems to me that most of us human beings do whatever it is that we really want to do! I know we say we want to lose weight or quit this habit or the other but we continue to engage in that behavior even though we know it is harmful to us. I am no psychologist but I really think our values or treasures are what is controlling our desires and our desires for sure control our actions!

The underlying foundation of our lives is our values. The things we value most in our lives directly influence our actions like a computer program running in the background of our desktop! Our values work much like a firewall in our brain! They stop us from doing many of the things “we say” we would like to do but don’t do!  Our talk is sort of like our key board on our computer we can type or click on whatever we want but the firewall prevents the action from happening in our lives. We think we want it and we may say we want it but our real desires controlled by our values kicks in and prevents us from attaining whatever it is we say we want!

Therefore if I want to truly change my actions and habits I must work on my values or the things I treasure in life rather than my behavior! My behavior seems to always want to go back to what I truly value. What I value in life is that firewall in my brain that keeps blocking my surface desires and only letting in those things I truly value!

These are just some thoughts on our “treasure” in life. I would welcome your comments and thoughts.

Really Thinking,

Pastor Alan

Margaret Stroup Update

The good news, in the midst of it all, is that Margaret has been scheduled for surgery on December 11, 2009. This could change but that is the plan for today!

She and Jerry are beginning to make plans for the day that they have been waiting for a long time. It is with great mixed emotions that they move forward with this surgery. It is an absolute must and also a risk. There is always risk with surgery but this is significant to say the least.

I want to ask all of you to please pray for them over the next weeks and months. It’s like revisiting so much in all our minds and hearts. With the anniversary approaching and the surgery looming it is not an easy time for all of us involved in this journey together;  so many of you have been there with us on this journey. There are no words that can be said or written to thank you for all your prayers and support for Margaret and Jerry, Valerie and her family and all of the CPH family whose lives will never be the same.

The prayers and support have meant so much especially from all of the CPH family and friends. From heart to heart the pain we all felt that day and still feel is shared by us all. I know you who were there that day understand as no others can. I sometimes feel like a “wounded healer” as I can imagine you may also.

I apologize if I went too deep for some of you. It is one of those things that only those who were there could understand. I hear some people talking about that day as if it was just an event in the past. An event that can be investigated dissected and understood with human logic. Whenever I hear someone talking in those terms I have to remind myself that person most likely wasn’t there that day as were so many of us. It is easy to want to get angry with them and lash out at them. However, let us remember “we know” and “we understand” and they “never will”! They can’t because we were there!

Thanks again for your prayers and support,

Pastor Alan

John Boy and the Fly!

Today a friend, John Bowen, shared a very interesting story. Several weeks ago we had an early cold snap. It got down in the low 20’s several nights. One morning John decided it was a little chilly in his house so he built a fire in the wood stove. As most of us Alaskan’s do he got a little carried away and built a large fire and the house was soon up to about 85.

Here in Alaska we have the large fly’s that are much like a regular house fly except they are quite large sometimes. They hibernate in the house when winter comes and come out next summer. Well I guess this fly thought it was summer since it was so hot in John’s house. He came out of hibernation and began flying all around the house. flying toward all the lights and driving John crazy as they usually do us all.

He got a bright idea, since it was still twilight outside he turned all the lights out in the house except in the bathroom. The fly soon made his way into the bathroom. John closed the door and removed the screen from the bathroom window. He then turned the light out and the fly soon started trying to get out through the window. He was attracted to the light. John just opened the window and the fly flew out the window into freedom! However,  it was still in the early 30’s and still quite cold for a fly. He didn’t make it very far until he lost altitude and crashed into the weeds to his certain death.

John didn’t kill the fly, he just gave the fly the opportunity to leave the house and the fly chose to fly away. However, the choice to fly out into what he thought was freedom led him to his death.

Satan does the very same thing to so many of us humans every day. He makes the lifestyle of “sin” look so appealing that we “choose” to go for the gusto! We choose the alcohol and the drugs. We choose to have sex with someone other than our spouse. We choose the “alternative” life style. Etc. etc. etc….

Remember the choice is yours, but so are the consequences!!!!!

Please, Think before you drink!

Don’t be like the fly and believe the lie!

Pastor Alan and John

Margaret Stroup’s Shoulder Surgery

Margaret had surgery on her shoulder yesterday. Things went very well. Here is Jerry’s update.

Margaret’s surgery went very well. The surgeon said she had a spur and a tear that was larger than he thought. Due to moving her surgery from the outpatient surgery unit to the hospital due to her records we spent 13 hours at the hospital and finally got home at 1am. She is doing good but tired from the long wait. She is in a cold pack to keep the swelling down. They blocked her shoulder so the pain won’t be bad for about 12 hours later. Will keep you updated for a few days. Jerry

We don’t have a date or a time line on her other surgeries. Please keep them in your prayers as it has been a long journey and there are still many hills and valleys yet to go through. They are doing quite well considering all they have been through. I think they are awesome folks with a faith and determination that is amazing.

Please don’t forget to pray for them. They are still a vital part of CPH and the Soldotna Community. Our lives have been touched and impacted for ever as a result of this tragedy. None of us who were there or involved in this unreal saga will ever forget the pain and emotional journey of this last year.

To all my CPH family please know that you are in my prayers and thoughts often. We are all in this together and I know God will help us all grow through this as we look to Him for His help and strength. However if we think we can make it on our own He will let us try! Please know He is there and He is always listening and waiting for your call for help.

Thank you Margaret and Jerry for your strong faith and love to us all.

Pastor Alan

Destiny Conference 2009

Greetings and Welcome Back! It seems like it has been a long time since I have written! Then I checked the date of my last entry and it has been way too long for sure.

I am very excited about our upcoming Destiny Conference here at the Soldotna Church of God, July 19-26. It is going to be one of the best ever. The theme this year is “Bridging the Gap with Faith, Hope and Love”.

I feel like the Gap between the Church of Jesus Christ and the “unbelievers” in our world and especially here in America is growing wider and wider.

I know I can’t close that Gap all by myself and I don’t even pretend to try. However I can build bridges to the “world” in my “circle of influence”! You and I have been called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and that my friend will build a very strong bridge to everyone we touch!

The concept of building a bridge is sort of like building an ARK! It is done one small Act of Random Kindness at a time. I simply mean to make a commitment today to start treating the people we come in contact with every day the way we would like to be treated! It’s really not “rocket science”. It’s just a matter of stopping and thinking about the way we treat all the “little people” in our life everyday! I mean the people we meet everyday as we go about our normal routine of life!

One of the things Jesus did as he went about His daily life was “He walked slowly through the crowds”. I mean when was the last time you stopped and thanked the janitor that cleans the restrooms in your office building or favorite restaurant? When was the last time you thanked the “cart chaser” at the grocery store for speedily recovering those wandering carts in the parking lot?

I don’t mean to demean any job because there is always someone higher than everyone else up the food chain but I hope you get my thought. I don’t have it down myself, for sure. I get caught up in the moment often; however I keep working on learning to “do unto others as I would have them do unto me”!

Let’s go build a bridge today,

Pastor Alan

Happy Mother’s Day 2009

I want to wish every mother who reads this a “Happy Mother’s Day”. A mother is a special person! I am not referring to every woman who gives birth to a child. I am referring to all the women who provide a mothering presence in their child’s life. I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone because I know there are many extenuating circumstances that prevent many women the privilege to “be there” for their children. However I am referring to all the women who are able and do provide that presence.

I know many of you don’t feel like you are a “good Mom” but you are there aren’t you? You are giving your children the best you have to offer from the well of life you have been afforded are you not? Are you doing what you can, with what you have, where you are? Don’t focus on what you can’t do but focus on what you can do and “Do It”!!!!!!

I had the best mom in the world! She was a wonderful godly woman that loved her husband and us three kids with all her heart! She was awesome. Was she perfect? NO! Was she really the “best” mom in the world? Well probably not, however she was “MY Mom” and therefore she was the best mom in the whole world to me!!!!!

The greatest Mother’s Day gift you can give your mom is to say “Thank You”. Have you told her that lately? Don’t thank her for all the dumb things she may have done, she would really think you are insincere! However you can thank her for being there!

Just say thanks,

Pastor Alan

P.S. If she wasn’t there or was a really bad person, go ahead and forgive her any way! It will do you both a lot of good!