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With Pastor Paul April 2009
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My first 26" bicycle was second-hand, battered and rusty (by the looks of it maybe it was third or fourth-hand!). My father told me when he brought it home, "If you take GOOD CARE of this bicycle then we'll get you a brand new one in a year." Well, I did my part, and a year later my parents honored their part.
Later on when I began to play cornet (trumpet) in fifth grade my parents rented a horn that was manufactured in 1927. The rental horn had valves that would barely push down. The horn was so "nasty" that it actually leaked air from certain solder joints when you blew through it!! It was a wreck. Once again I heard my father tell me, "If you take care of this horn and keep on practicing it every day then we'll know you're serious about learning music. Then, in a year, we'll get you a brand new one." Well, I did my part by practicing on it every day. (Oh, you should have heard the sounds that came out of my bedroom each afternoon when I got home from school!!) One year later my parents presented me with a beautiful, brand new sparkling cornet which my uncle had purchased in Lockport, New York and shipped to Miami. Once I had this amazing instrument I practiced twice as much!! (Thankfully, the sounds got better and sweeter.) I share these two examples, (and there are others), just to explain that my parents taught me to TAKE CARE OF THINGS; BE RESPONSIBLE; BE THANKFUL AND APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE!! Nothing was ever "just handed to me". I had to "earn" them. The same goes for the church building that our Heavenly Father has "given to us.” Both the roof on the original building and the roof on the new sanctuary are in need of replacement. The original roof is now 17 years old and the City of Port Orange mandated that it was to be replaced three years after we moved into the new addition ( 2008). Due to our litigation with the contractor on the new roof they gave us an extension until March, 2010. Now we MUST replace both roofing systems. There are "no "ifs, ands, or buts". Our Heavenly Father expects us "to take good care of what HE has given to us." Thankfully, we have $136,000 to put towards this massive project. In order to complete both roof systems ($239,000) and still have two month's operating expenses on hand we need to raise $200,000.
For twenty years God has ALWAYS supplied our needs when we responded TOGETHER!! LET'S DO IT !! I still hear my earthly parents saying to me, "If you TAKE CARE OF THIS I'll get you what you really needed." I believe I hear the Word of God saying, "if you earthly parents know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will I give you The Holy Spirit."
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