Mr. Fix it

OK, this must be a God thing, because it was not a Paul thing.  I get a call from my friend Jeff.  He is in Texas, but lives in the Inland Empire.  He calls me to ask me if the church can help.  It seems that his wife is at the house with parts of a dead bolt in her hand and does not know what to do.  For some reason, I can’t think of anyone else to call, so I tell him that I will drive to his house and go and see what I can do.  I am going to do it.  I am the person who still has a broken front door lock on my own house because I can’t seem to get it to work.  I stop by Lowes and purchase a deadbolt thinking if I need it great, if not I can return it.  I get to his house and his wife opens the door and shows me the carcass of the once happy locking cylinder.  My friend’s dead bolt is dead.  There is one spring which is now a simple piece of wire.  All of the little pieces of metal have fallen out and springs are sprung.  The lock is dead.  But God was on my side.  I take out my handy dandy screwdriver, unscrew their dead bolt, open the new deadbolt package I purchased at Lowes and install the new parts into the old shaft.  This only took a matter of five minutes.  I fixed a broken dead bolt.  Now Jeff can still enjoy Texas.  The truth is that this is what the church needs to do for each other.  We need to be willing to ask someone for help, then let them help, then just say thank you.    That is it for the moment.  I just thought I’d update my blog. ….Paul

 

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Still Learning

Thursday, March 10, 2011

I finally figured out how to log back on to this blog.  It has truly been a case of trying everything and then just happening upon the right combination.

I am excited about Sunday.  Amos 5 and 6 are powerful passages which speak just as powerfully to our religious culture today and what we hope in, as long as it means we have a large house and two cars, as it did 2,7oo years ago to the people of Israel who lived in summer and winter houses, practiced their religious services, yet had no personal relationship to the God who rescued them from slavery and planted them in the land flowing with all good things.  When did religion become become more powerful than a relationship with the personal God of creation?  I spoke to a woman today who is beginning to understand this.  She has finally realized that going through the motions while living in a lifestyle filled with sin is not an acceptable form of worship.  How can she expect the Lord to bless her in such circumstances?

I am just rambling because that is what I am suppose to do on a blog. Right?

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The Stumpf’s Ramblings

The carpets and the flooring is now complete in the church.  Now it is time for a detailed cleaning and a little touch up, and the church will be better than it was before the bathroom flood of 2011.  It is my prayer that we wear it out with too many people walking on the carpet and touching the walls.  May God expand his kingdom through the ministry of the people in the church.  …..Paul

 

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