I am so proud of the good work our service people have done in Iraq.  It's only 7 years into what will no doubt be a very long term engagement there.  But I am delighted that today we pulled out our final combat troops.
Here is a neat video of President George W Bush welcoming troops back at DFW a few days ago. Love or hate his politics, he is a solid patriot, and I admire that.
Well done troops.  Now let's keep praying for Iraq - for stablity, peace and just government.

Ephesians 6:7 Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women...

Sometimes we weary of serving. Our service starts out being a loving response to all that God has done for us, and we serve from a humble and grateful heart. Sometimes however, for whatever reason, we serve beyond our gratefulness. We take our eyes of God and start to look to the other people to our right and to our left. We notice that they don't serve 'as much' as we do. Soon, we resent serving so much. Then, when resentment is ful growm, we become critical, judgmental and sometimes even say mean things.

The antidote to this condition, is to act as soon as we recognize the root of bitterness in our hearts. Two actions must be taken to remedy our 'heart condition':
1. Stop serving. Immediately. Take a 'sabbath rest'.
2. Use the time we now have to stop comparing ourselves to the people around us, and meditate on the Gospel. The best way I know how to do this is to look up all the names and titles of Jesus Christ in the Bible, highlight them and consider each one for 15 minutes a day. Maybe start with "the author and finisher of our faith".

In this way The Holy Spirit wil refresh us, revive us and renew us. Then we will yearn to serve again, and do so with cheerfulness, joy and a happy heart:

2 Cor 9:7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

From your pastor to you: thank you for being who you are, and I thank God for your cheerful service to Him, wherever and however you serve. It is my joy to be your pastor. To God be the Glory!

Isaiah 1:16–17 NRSV
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.

It's unhelpful to use the phrase 'social justice' in the US now - it has become politicized. So what shall we call the great imperative of God to His children to live recreatively on Planet Earth? Societal Justice? Social Righteousness? Perhaps Social Christlikeness?

Romans 15:5-6 NIV
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This scripture reminds me of the great prayer of Jesus in John 17. The unity of the people in the church is very important to God. It's is our unity that validates His presence in the church and therefore brings glory to him. The unity we have in not uniformity. The church is an organic whole in which persons live unified by one Spirit, one faith, one Lord. Anything less deprives God of glory, and the church of credibility in a world that needs both.

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Frank Reynolds
Pastor Frank completed 30 years as senior pastor of Manchester Christian Church, and preached his last sermon in that role today. Frank is a mentor and I admire him hugely. I managed to take in most of the 8:30 AM service there before travelling to my church. One of the texts he used was from 1 John chapter 4, and it is one of my very favorite passages of Scripture. If I could appropriate every promise, heed every warning and live out every word of this, I would be the person that God is transforming me into. I hope you will revel in these words of life, and savor every one:

I John 4:7-21 NRSV
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Carolyn Myatt - 3 wise sayings:
Veteran Nazarene missionary Carolyn Myatt spoke at Journey Church today. She was a delight. Here are three phrases she shared that her long life of adventures with God has taught her:
1) God promises a safe landing, not a smooth passage.
2) If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
3) You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.