The Greatest Christmas Gift Ever

 Good evening and welcome to the Panhandle,  I'm sure glad you dropped by. It's Christmas time and I wanted to take a minute to look at Advent. On the first Sunday traditionally a purple candle is lit to signifies Hope. The second week another purple candle is lit to signifies Peace. The third week a pink candle is lit to signifies Joy. The fourth candle to be lit is white to signify the Light of the World. One site calls it the "Christ Candle." We don't light the candles at our church but we do celebrate Advent.

What is Advent? Is a season observed as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. The name comes from Latin adventus ('coming; arrival'), translating the Greek parousia from the New Testament, originally referring to the Second Coming. 

On this the 13th day of December let's remember that what started in a manger led to a cross, and to an empty tomb. And someday it will culminate with the return of Jesus Christ. This is the hope that all who know Him as Lord and Saviour can bank on. In this sometimes overwhelming season and all year long for that matter, it is Jesus Christ who gives us peace: And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7). Joy - joy is more than just being happy, it's more just being in a good mood. Joy is more a state of being than an emotion; joy is a choice. You get to choose to be joyful. The "Christ Candle" Jesus Christ was born under the light of the Christmas star, why? Because He is the light and life to a dark world: In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:4-5). Jesus said of Himself in John 8:12: Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 

Jesus is the hope, peace, joy, and light to all who will seek Him and start a personal relationship with Him. You can do this by first admitting your a sinner, don't worry your in good company because you see we are all sinners even those of us who are Christians. The only difference is we have admitted we are sinners and ask Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. The next thing you need to do is to believe that Jesus is God and that only He can forgive your sins: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10). Finally ask Jesus Christ into your life by asking Him to become your Lord and Saviour. Do this and you will receive the greatest Christmas gift ever. Eternal life with God: and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4). 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. And - The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ 

Bro. Orden - a Panhandle pastor

 

Celebrate! God's Got Ya Covered

 Good morning and welcome to the Panhandle, I'm glad you were able to stop by. Well, here it is just two days until December and I don't know whether to write about Christmas or the end of an old year and the beginning of a new year.
   People almost all around the world celebrate Christmas in some form or another. They may not celebrate the birth of Jesus, but they do celebrate. Isn't it funny that as humans we will celebrate just about anything just so we can come together and have a great time. 
   I guess that's a rabbit to chase some other time. Or maybe not. People celebrate Christmas without understanding the great thing it represents. Or maybe they do and don't want to admit it. Maybe that is why they have changed the name to "Winter Celebration" or "Winter Holiday" or just "The Holidays." In truth it is none of these; it is a celebration of a birth that would change the world. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.(Luke 2:10-11).
   So whether it happened in December or not, doesn't matter. We don't celebrate the day, we celebrate the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
   Because we celebrate what Jesus has done for us then we can look forward to the New Year. Why do I write this? Because I know that God is already there, Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2). And listen to what the writer of Hebrew says - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8). 
   The great thing about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is they are all present, all powerful, and all knowing. What that means to you and me is that God can never be surprised, never taken off guard, and there's nothing that He can't handle. So while we may have a tough time of it, God will have our back, and He will go before us. The God who spoke all creation into existence, who was, is and will be; loves us so much He sent His Son so that we can face tomorrow, and next year, and so on until Jesus comes back for us. And He is coming back! Until then Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And may, The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, 
And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.'        (Numbers 6:24-26)

Brother Orden

Seasons of Life

   Afternoon folks and welcome to the Panhandle. The air was crisp, the wind was blowing, and the sun was shining, it was a beautiful Fall day. While standing there enjoying the day I was reminded again how our life is like the seasons of the year. 
   For me my early years were like Spring. Life was new like the new grasses, it was scary like a thunder storm, or an earthquake, and it was exciting like the Fourth of July.
   Summer, well that was my life as a teenager and 20 something. These were years of exploring, hiking in the foot hills, heading to the beach, family vacations across the United States. It was in these years that I thought I had found love, on more than one occasion. It was the years of my first date, and yes my first kiss. It was a time of music, and friends just hanging out. It was also when I found the true love of God the Father, and I invited Jesus into my life as my Lord and Saviour. that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10). 
   Fall, that was where I entered my 30's and it is still where I fell like I am now. I finished College, I found the 2nd love of my life and she became my wife. We had children, and have made a great life together. We have faced hardship and loss. We have found that life is still scary and it gets messy sometimes, but we also know God has always been in control. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 
(Mark 4:38-39).
   Winter, I guess that is the part of life where days are short at least here on earth. This is  a time of fondly remembering friends and family and those who have passed on. It is also a time when we know that when death comes it isn't the end, but a new beginning.
   Of course to see Winter turn to eternal Spring you must have a personal relationship with Jesus. I pray you do. 

Thanks again for dropping by and  ‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ (Numbers 6:24-26)

 
 Brother Orden

It Ain't Easy, But It's Worth It!

 Good afternoon and welcome to the Panhandle. With the one year anniversary of our son's suicide I've been contemplative. I guess that comes with the territory. I pray that you will find comfort and hope from today's blog. 

You know some times people think just because they are Christians their lives will be trouble free. But all they would have to do is look at the lives of Christians. Or if they could hear the prayers we lift up they would know that being a Christian doesn't mean a life of ease.

Jesus never promised us an easy life as one of His followers here on this earth. As a matter of fact He did just the opposite: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:20). If I ended my post here it would be depressing for sure. I mean with what I have just written who would ever want to trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour?

But this isn't the end. Sure life is hard like I said, but if you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour you have hope. Not just any hope but an eternal hope found in Jesus. Jesus told us that He would be with us and see us through this journey here on earth: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus will dwell with us to the very end of this age and we will dwell with Him in the next age which has no ending. A life in Jesus truly has no end.

Jesus not only sees us through He is right there with us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Look here at this very familiar passage: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30).

Sure we are going to go through some hard times, I'm not going to make light of them. But I know this from personal experience that with Jesus in my life I can make it through. Yes, there will be heartache at times. But at the end of it all when I pass through this life I will arrive in a perfect eternal life where I will see family and friends that have gone on before me and I will finally stand face to face with my Saviour and my God. 

Thanks again for dropping by and  ‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ (Numbers 6:24-26)

Bro.  Orden

A Word of Encouragement

   Good morning and welcome to the Panhandle I'm glad your able to drop by.  I recently took an old tea candle house and painted it some bright colors and wired it to a stand left here by one of the former pastors of the parsonage. Gayla filled it with birdseed and now we have a bird house just out our living room window. It is fun to watch the little birds flit and flutter around it and occasionally one will go down the chimney and chase the other birds out. 
   As I watch the birds I am reminded of that verse: Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26).
   It's easy to get discouraged, to feel like everything is going against you. You just want to cry out, "God, why?" "Why did you take my son?" "Why are you letting my son or daughter suffer?" "Why am I experiencing this now?"
   Maybe you think, "Am I not serving you like I should?" Maybe your saying to yourself, "If only my faith was a little stronger then maybe it wouldn't be so bad." It could be you feel like Job: "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me." (Job 30:20). 
   I know where your coming from I've been there. I even find myself telling the Lord, "I'm not Job, Father, please no more." And then after that I have called to Him, hollered at Him, begged Him and everything in between.
   Even when we can't find God, or when we think our prayers aren't getting any higher than the ceiling He is there. The promise God made to Joshua in Joshua 1:5, He has made to us: I will never leave you nor forsake you.
   So holler, beg, ask why, cry out to God. Do what ever you need to do. Then look at the birds. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.(Matthew 10:29-31).

“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ (Numbers 6:24-26).

 Brother Orden

Happy Birthday Sonny Boy

 

 

 

 

   Back last Friday I put up a post about my son, he would have been 20 years old this past Saturday, like I said would have been. I know this isn't the kind of post I usually write, and I don't know if any body will read it, but here it is. I pulled my post because I got an important detail wrong. I am posting again because I feel I just need to get this out there and it helps me in dealing with this. Thank y'all for letting me do this.

   My son was just 6 months old when we moved up to the Panhandle. He use to tell his sister he lived in the Panhandle longer because she was already 3 years old when we got here. He grew up like any child in a small town, playing with his sister and friends in the back and front yard or at a friend's house. He would also play with his "Cars" cars. We went to the movie house in Boise City and saw the movie "Cars" and he was hooked, as a matter of fact he would ask me to tell him the "Cars" movie as his bed time story for over a year.

  Being the son of a preacher my son loved to pretend to preach. We have a stand someone built before we got here and first his sister would lead the music and then he'd get up and preach. It was fun to watch because both of them barely cleared the top of the stand. My son was a very inquisitive child and he would ask some great theological questions. I really thought he would grow up to be a Biblical teacher or theologian. But that wasn't to happen.

  My son also had a thing for languages, when he was five or six he started making up his own languages. He would write out an alphabet and then put words together, he would work on these for weeks at a time. While in High School he had a teacher who taught him and his classmates Latin and I think my son was the only one who enjoyed it. It was in this class he also really got into philosophy and coffee. We had some great discussions around the kitchen table. Had, we won't be having anymore of those.

   Things started changing in my son's life around 2020. He became more of a recluse around then, but we chalked that up to being a teenager. He also had trouble sleeping, he even took Melatonin to help him sleep. In his Junior year we started having family game night, him, his mom and myself would pick some game and play for a couple of hours. But then he would head off to his room to game on the computer with friends. He loved playing Dungeons and Dragons a science-fantasy game. He came by his love of science-fantasy honestly, his mother and I have been a science-fantasy fans from way back. I remember that one Saturday he was so excited, he and some of his friends traveled from Norman to Moore to attend a sci-fi gathering. That night he told us he had finely found a nerd group to be apart of and he was so happy, at least for a time.

   Now here is some back story you need to know, my family on my mom's side for generations have suffered from an inherited chemical imbalance that can cause manic-depression, bi-polarism, and more. I, myself have been diagnosed as having manic-depression and spent three days in a psychiatric ward for it before I was diagnosed. Because of this when we had children I prayed that they would not suffer from this chemical imbalance. Because it was prevalent in my family I told our children that if they had any bad thought or anxiety attacks to let us know. Well my son was having them as far back as his Junior year if not sooner and he never told us. We would talk about this every so often and ask his sister and himself if they were experiencing anything and always the answer was no. Until...

   Our poor boy, he was so happy to be going to O.U. He had been excepted in to the prestigious Summer Bridge Program for in coming engineer students. Ever lacking self-confidence he felt inadequate being there at first but soon began to excel. And then it was time for school. He had a great roommate, he was doing great in his classes, was involved with his D&D group, had a girlfriend things seemed to be going great, seem to be. Then came the night our son sent his sister, and me and his mom a cryptic text and then his phone went dark. Just after he sent us those text he stepped in front of an on coming train. And now our son will never celebrate another birthday or any other holiday with us. Our only consolation in all of this is that we know that as a six year old our son accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour and so we will see him again some day. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. While I miss my boy sorely and I cry at the drop of a hat, I have hope, not a hope as men, but a heavenly hope. 

   Parents, family members I know it is hard to know if your child is struggling some times, believe me I'm still kicking myself that I didn't see the signs and was unable to save my boy. But spend time with your children, be invested in their lives. To the student, or youth struggling, seek out help! Seek it from a family member, a friend, a teacher, a counselor. If you don't feel comfortable with any of these call 988 the Suicide and Crises Hot Line. Please reach out and don't let those who love you acknowledge your birthday or celebrate the holidays without you.

Bro. Orden  
 

Cha-cha-cha-changes

    Good evening and welcome to the Panhandle. In my last post I wrote about what led up to my amputation. Tonight I would like to write about the changes that I've experienced along the way. Maybe you are experiencing the same things or know someone who is. I pray you find this an encouragement.

   When I had the bars and pins in my leg and foot I had to either lay in bed with my leg up or on the couch with my leg elevated. Needless to say this made many things difficult from riding in the car to taking a bath. I described a little bit about my process of riding in a car last time. Imagine trying to keep your leg elevated and straight as you climb in to the back of a car. I had to swing my leg in as far as I could and then pull and scoot to get in, a pretty rough process. Change - after my leg was amputated I would pile blankets and pillows in the front seat so I could prop up my stump. It was better than the backseat, but still a little uncomfortable. Change - now with my prosthetic I can climb in to the front seat, no problem. We almost no problem sometimes my foot wants to get caught on the door and I have to reach down and pull it in. 

    With the bars in my leg going to the bathroom was tough. When I was in bed, oh and that was a process let me tell you; anyway at night I couldn't get out of bed so I had to have Gayla help me by holding the urinal. Not a good feeling, and when you wake someone from a good sleep, no matter how much they love you they aren't happy. To go  #2 I had to have Gayla help me to my walker and then down into my wheelchair. After I got on to the potty-chair we had to prop my leg up into a very uncomfortable position. And then lets just say this is when you find out how much someone loves you when they put on their glove and take care of your business. Change - after the my leg was taken off I got confident enough to swing out of bed and into my chair and roll myself to take care of business. Unfortunately our bathroom door is to small for my chair to get through so I'm still on the potty-chair, and I still need help cleaning up after a #2, but hey it was and  is an improvement. Change - When I have my prosthetic on I can handle my business by myself. It's funny how such small changes can make a person feel happy.

   When I had the bars and pins I had to preach while sitting in my wheelchair, it wasn't comfortable at all. I sat at a table with my leg sticking out the other side while I read my Bible and notes. I gotta tell you this cut way down on my walking while I preached. But hey at least I was able to preach and give an invitation. Change - after my amputation I preached from my office chair that Gayla rolled up to the front for me every Saturday. I was able to use a music stand as my pulpit and after my sermon I would move back into my wheelchair for the invitation. Change - now with my prosthetic I'm able to go up on stage and sit at the big pulpit and preach. I tried to stand through my sermon and that didn't go so well, my knees started wobble so I had to sit down. It wouldn't been good to fall down while I was preaching, dramatic, but not good.  

   With all the changes in my leg or lack of the lower part I wasn't sure about ever driving again, but that looks like that may change. If I can pass a driving class and a driving test then using a hand control I will be able to drive again and Gayla is so ready for that to happen, me too. 

   Yes there have been a lot of changes associated with what started out as a broken fibula and tibia. But I can't say I was ever discourage, I know God is sufficient enough to handle what ever comes along - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Thanks for dropping by and may God be gracious to you and bless you and make his face shine upon you.