I received this email from a friend and felt it has such value in today's me first disposable society. Read this carefully and let it sink in - really let it resonate. Before you consider separating or divorce, keep this in mind because no one can see the future other than God and nothing in life is guaranteed. Enough of my bantering, onto the forwarded email. Not my work but definitely note worthy!

MARRIAGE

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? 

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her! 

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now. 

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again. In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible.

Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage. This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request. I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully. 

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. 

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. 

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. 

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore. She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears.

I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead. 

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband.... 

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

A CHRIST-CENTERED MARRIAGE IS A MARRIAGE THAT IS SURE TO LAST A LIFETIME.

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. Matthew 19:6

Remember people, life has no guarantees and tomorrow is not promised. You must live in the present but always be prepared for the future. Tonight, for all you know the Lord may require your life of you; don't waste it. Life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you want but you can only spend it once.

MAKE IT COUNT! 

        Last Sunday I was reading from various chapters, specifically the Lord God saying to Adam in Genesis 3:19b, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." It is a sobering reminder of the fact that apart from Christ Jesus, we are helpless and cannot do anything. The arm of the flesh has never been able to please God because God is spirit, flesh is not eternal which is who the Lord our God is. We all run around thinking, "Oh I got this..." and Jesus will just stand patiently by and allow us to struggle until we give up. Then and only then will God the Father be involved; when we come to the end of us, that is when we begin to enter the "God Zone". Here are some things to consider. Have you ever had a situation that just seemed impossible to resolve? How long did you struggle with it before deciding, "Hmm, maybe I should pray about this?" Even I am guilty of this because I feel like, 'Why would God be concerned with my petty problems?' I have to remind myself that He wants to be fully and completely involved in my life and your life. If He wasn't concerned with each and every human being's welfare and care, why then did He send His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross to redeem you of your sins?

        Think it over in your mind... many religions teach this foolishness about us having to reach up to God. There is one primary problem with that... our arms are way too short. Just like all our human efforts to try to earn salvation... they all fall short of the goal. In the arm of the flesh, we try to throw our good intentions and values and morals but they only reach about 2 feet away. To even begin to reach God's outer glory we would have to throw these things 2E+100 (with 100 zeros after it) miles just to hope to get God to notice; basically, you would need to throw all these good intentions across the universe. How big is the universe? Scientists estimate the visible universe is 78,000,000,000 light years across. Lets remember that light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Calculate the seconds in a year by multiplying 60 times 60 times 24 times 365 which comes out to 31536000 seconds. To find out how many miles there are in one lightyear, multiply 186000 * 31536000 and you come up with 5,865,696,000,000 miles! Now that you have that staggering figure, now multiply that by 78,000,000,000 and you have the approximate diameter of the universe.

       Now you are beginning to get just an idea of how mighty and powerful He is. He even shows His true power in Hebrews 11:3;  

"³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command,

so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

He merely spoke and things exist. Only the Lord our God can number the stars of heaven and even know the name of each one since it is He who named them all. Also, think about the fact that He knows the exact number of hairs on each person's head, keeping with the fact we have over 6.5 billion people in the world at last estimate. The average number of hairs on a person's head is over 100,000. Keep that figure in your mind now lets add some variations to it like this: the number of strands of hair on a human head varies with color: BLONDE - 140,000 strands; BROWN - 110,000 strands; BLACK - 108,000 strands; RED - 90,000 strands. 

       This is just scratching the surface of just how amazing our God truly is. Can anyone in clear conscience knowing who God is could even hope to stand there and question Him about why this or that is happening or why did He create you the way that He did? You can but the real answer would make no sense. Be an adult and try explaining how a carbuerator in a car works to a two year old. How successful would that be? Our dear friend Job thought he knew some thing about things beyond the grave but God quickly corrected him. He asked this question of Job but it could be asked of any one of us from Job 38:1-7;

"¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.

He said: ² "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? 

³ Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 

⁶ On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- 

⁷ while the morning stars sang together and all the angels ^[a] shouted for joy? "

Not a really good idea to try to claim you know something you really don't... He will correct you just like you correct your own children... not to be mean or hurtful but because they need the correction. Does anyone who loves their children correct them just for the sake of correcting them? Certainly not but any parent who does not discipline their child when they need it doesn't really love them. Why would God discipline us if it wasn't indeed biblical? And if you are claiming to be a Christian and yet you are able to get by in your sin, I would really strongly advise you check your spiritual walk; I say this because if some other person's child is acting in an inappropriate way, will you correct them? No, because they aren't your child... this is the point: if God isn't correcting you for your sin when you think you are a child of God, you may have something wrong in your walk... then again, He may be extending grace to you but that will only go on for so long.  Watch out!!!

        Back to the matter at hand about the dialog between God and Job and again this could be said of any one of us. Basically, God is asking us what do we really know about eternal matters or in our modern dialect, "Dude, what are you talking about???" Were any of us there watching the Spirit of God move and speak light into existence? About the closest any of us will ever get to "Let there be light..." on this side of eternity is to use the "Clapper", you know 'clap on...clap off'... Have to lighten the mood a little here. The point is this, when we think we can do anything that is thrown at us, we have to remember that God remembers that we are only dust and nothing more. Tell me honestly, have you ever seen dust on your floor actually pull itself together and begin to walk on its own power or even clean your house?  Certainly not, and neither can we do anything that Jesus personally doesn't empower us to do.

        Another issue is many people get this strange idea that God gives us the 10 commandments as a list of dos and don'ts and if you keep them you go to heaven. Who can really keep them? If you prick your finger and blood comes out, you have a sin problem; there is no exception to this rule except for Christ Jesus and He was the God-Man. Even though The Law is in and of itself good, it can't save you or make you holy; it can only condemn you as it is a harsh schoolmaster. The 10 commandments were originally created to show us our need for Christ Jesus and His finished work on the cross. Think on this staggering figure, Messianic Law has 613 precepts that it is based upon... But Jesus cleared this up by saying (loose paraphrase here) "Love God and love people". All the law and prophets hang on those two simple principles. But who really can say they have always loved God more than anyone or anything? Who can say that they have really loved other people all the time; and I'm saying even those people who hate you... Who other than Jesus has been able to do this? Plain and simple, NOBODY!!! This is why we need Jesus and the gift of salvation so much! Come on church!!! Wake UP!!! Arise from your slumber!!!

          I recall back to Easter Sunday when Mario was explaining that there are two payment plans for your sin. YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER!!! You must either accept Jesus' substitutionary atonement or you can go the route of self-atonement. I do have to ask though, is self atonement really a good payment plan? The problem with self-atonement is once you die physically, you immediately go straight to hell, no purgatory, no soul sleep, plain and simple you are done. I mean, really think closely and carefully before making the decision on your payment plan... Why self-atonement? What is so glamorous about being eternally separated from Jesus and cast into outer darkness where Jesus even says there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth? To me, it is completely senseless to go that route when Jesus paid the price Himself by not only dying on that cross but also rising on the third day to prove his Deity. A final thought from a friend of mine who helped lead me to the Lord... "get smart...get saved..." Why do it the hard way when Jesus provided the One Way? Need convincing, watch our Easter Service available from the home page of www.salmoncreek.org

Until next time SC3rs! Love and God Bless...

The Brewerton's

Predecessor to the "Mark"??? And people say this technology doesn't exist... here is proof positive that it does...

Click here for the video

Just an FYI that our blog now has a new theme which is much more attractive than the old plain one. Also, to improve speed our blog is now using a database as the data backend. Let us know how we are doing!

What an explosive extra mile last night. The presence of the Holy Spirit was with us. We all brought shoe boxes with us that had our list of issues we have prayed over for a time and that we want victory over. It seemed as though Jesus began to answer some of the prayers in the affirmative almost immediately. One thing I have been earnestly praying for is that internet access be a reality at SC3. Well, the prayer got answered last night...we now have a working WI-FI connection at church. Is it the fastest connection in the world, no but its better than dial up. My suggestion to you is if you haven't yet tried "The Extra Mile" which is on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm, I'm urging you to at least try it. Remember, the Lord has always made it known that if you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. The key thing to remember is we have to make that first step because Jesus is a perfect gentleman. He will never thrust His Will upon anyone; you have to want it before it will happen. Each of us has a part to play in this. God will do His part, but we must first do ours. The cliff notes from last night are as follows (courtesy of Deacon Dave's notes:

1. Repent

Repentance must always precede deliverance. Repentance in it's simplest term means to turn away from. A change of direction, a change of mind. It does not mean just telling God your sorry, it means your sorry and your not going to do it again.

2. Change your strategy

Ask God what His plan or strategy for you is. You can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. That's insane!!! So we have to change our strategy.

3. Forgive

You must be quick to forgive. God will not bless someone in unforgiveness. The bible says to leave your offering at the altar and go make it right with your brother. Every promise God ever gave had some form of this statement in it: "If you will do, I will do". Let's look at a great example that will lead us into our next point.

Let's look at Malachi 3:6-12

6-9 is the problem

6: You're destroyed because of disobedience.

7: Return to me and I will return to you. ( out of fellowship with God due to rebellion )

8: We rob God in tithes(10%) and offerings (God determines the amount above and beyond the tithe).

9: Your under a curse. That would be all this stuff in your boxes.

10-12 deliverance

10: Bring the whole tithe (10%) into the storehouse (church you attend)(if you will) He says "Test Me" (only time in 66 books) and see if I'll not pour out a blessing for you till there's not room enough to contain it all and I will rebuke the devourer (Satan/Lucifer) for your sakes. ( then I will)

As the notes show, the relationship starts with if you will, then Jesus will.  Realize that Jesus is watching you.

We have available online the full service in video format. Just click the image below and enjoy. Comments are always welcomed.

Wow, what a 24/48 we had tonight. We discussed the various things we learned over the entire series and made some really great observations. The messages in the series that seemed to carry the most weight was the two-part message "My Ism Schism - My Problem With Them is..." We have all been in either the one up or one down grouping at one point or another. There are as many social identity groups as there are reasons to like or dislike another person. How many times have you been in that one-down group or one-up group? Most people have been in that situation more times than they even care to mention or imagine. In line with that series, there is a behavioral line that we all traverse. The range is from denial to genocide with several key points between. The line kind of looks like this:

   Genocide              Violence          Jokes/Slurs       Collusion of Silence            Denial
<-------|------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|------->

In essence, we are all traversing the line. God takes the calling of names extremely seriously. Whenever he renamed someone in the Bible, not only their name changed but also their destiny. Take for example Jacob which means heel catcher. He was renamed by the Lord to be "Israel". The Lord also renamed Abram to Abraham as the name Abraham means "father of a multitude". God was going to make him a multitude of nations. So always be careful when engaging in jokes or name-calling. You may very well be offending the very One you don't want to.  The Lord was very matter-of-fact when he talked about "the least of these" and how He will rightly judge us all on how we treat others. In Matthew 25:40-45, He spells it out very clearly:

⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 
⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'  
⁴⁴"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 
⁴⁵"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Therefore, I beg of you to be very cautious on how you treat others!

Until next time :)

Salmon Creek Community Church features a podcast of Pastor Mario's messages past and present. You should really check it out sometime soon :)  You can access it from our main page or by clicking this link.  Now, we covered the topic of reconciliation. This isn't like reconciling your checkbook, this is more about being reconciled first to Jesus and then to people. The point is you cannot really make amends to others when you are unwilling to repent of what harm has been done. Like the character named Earl from a TV Sitcom, he believed that you could take a shortcut to reconciling with others. The problem with his whole system was he had this impression that Karma had something to do with his problems; plainly put, it really doesn't exist like some would have everyone believe. The truth is, what some think is Karma is actually the Lord tugging at the strings of their life trying to get their attention. To truly be reconciled to someone, there are four "R"s in Reconciliation. They are:

o Take Responsibility
o Feel Remorse
o Make Repairs
o Never Repeat

If you get nothing else, get this:

Reconciliation is an exercise of grace and forgiveness to bring about the restoration of relationship.

Let's face it, shall we? This week, Mario discussed the topic of being self-disciplined - gotta tell ya it was very challenging to me personally. We dug deeply into the subject and I realize though I will never reach perfect discipline on this side of eternity, I'm better off than I was a year ago. The point is discipline is the glue that makes good habits stick - those days when you don't want to do something you know you should, discipline is what forces you to keep on going. This topic in and of itself is so deep, I really recommend that you subscribe to our podcast and listen in. This week's message was entitled "my Discipline - Gotta Go to Work!" which is another segment in the myFace series. Until next time, peace out!

p.s. Here is a video clip that gives a little better explanation of the topic from tangle.com.

We all seem to be creatures of habit. When you boil it down, a habit is nothing more than a learned behavior that is practiced and soon becomes second nature, so much so that the person isn't even aware that they are doing it. For example, running a red light could become a habit if you do it enough times. Eventually, however the consequences of said habit will catch up to you. Everything both good and bad have consequences. In your mind, you have to stop and think, 'hey, why am I doing ______ ?' You fill in the blank. Then think it over; is this blank a good or bad habit? My suggestion is to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to reveal what habits you have that the Lord would like you to change.  Have a great week everyone!  The video below really explains it in great clarity, check it out!  Peace out!