Reflections on the Beach: The Selfish Seagull

 

Reflections on the Beach

Week Nine

The Selfish Seagull

Focus Text: Philippians 2

Bible Reading: Galatians 1-Ephesians 1

      One of my favorite Disney/Pixar movies is Finding Nemo.  Finding Nemo premiered in 2003 and remains the best-selling DVD in history.  The movie follows the undersea exploits of a clownfish named Marlin who is frantically trying to recover his son named Nemo who was taken by a human diver.  Along the way, Marlin meets a well-intended, though absent-minded fish named Dory.  Together they team up to take on the whole ocean.  Sharks, mines, scary fish with flashlights on their heads, jellyfish, the East Australian Current, nor whales can stop them from completing their epic journey.  One of their greatest enemies in the movie were seagulls squawking "MINE, MINE, MINE" while trying to eat them.  Seagulls are notoriously selfish.  All you have to do is throw a french fry onto the beach and they will practically fight to the death over it.  Each beachgoer has encountered the displeasure of sneaky seagulls encroaching on their beach blankets.

     Seagulls are rats with wings.  Their number one priority is themselves.  Tragically we as Christians battle with selfishness from time to time.  We like the attention and the priority to be upon ourselves.  I can honestly say that as an only child I struggle with being selfish from time to time, putting other people as more important than me.  It is our nature from birth to demand our own way.  Picture a baby.  A baby's primary concern is them.  We are 'inbred' to be selfish due to our sinful nature.   We find Paul tackling this exact issue in Philippians 2:2-3.  Paul challenges the believer to put on the mind of Christ and the mind of Christ was that of selflessness.  We can be reminded of Jesus' own words when  He said "I came not to be served but to serve and to give my life ransom for many."  Paul exhorts us to do NOTHING from selfishness.  He doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation.  We can't afford to be self-centered.  As Christ-followers we cannot desire to have the spotlight on us.  The seagulls in Finding Nemo said "MINE, MINE, MINE."  Tragically we emulate that in our lives from time to time. Instead, we should be saying "others, others, others" or better yet "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."  When we focus our eyes off ourselves and onto Christ we will quickly notice the needs of broken people.  With the eyes of Christ, we will be burdened for less of us, more of Him.  

Reflection on the Road:

How selfless are you?  Do you listen to other people?  Do you try to help them?  Do you value other people?  Can you work with others or do you always need things to go your way?  This week's challenge is to extend your hand with selfless acts of love and grace.  Look for other people to prioritize in your life, but make Christ the main priority.  

Hope in the Hills

 

Hope in the Hills

an outreach to Jackson Kentucky

 

Dearest friends,

      We are coming to you with a very urgent need.  Churches in Missions has been faithfully serving in Jackson Kentucky for many years.  This is an area that suffers with severe poverty, drug use, broken homes, child abuse, and sex trafficking.  Recently this area was devastated by severe flooding.  This area was already suffering through a multitude of different issues which were complicated by Covid.  This blow hits these people very hard, leaving many of them homeless and without hope.  The church that traditionally is the sole means of outreach in the community suffered incredible damage due to the flooding.  They are asking the mission to be the hands and the feet of Christ in this very broken community.  I wanted to share a few ways that you or your church could help be ‘Jesus’ to these people.

      A primary need right now is non-perishable food items that have a long shelf life and do not need refrigeration(soups, "one-can meals" such as stews, ravioli, and such), pasta's, boxed dinners, canned meats, cereals, sugar, coffee, rice, any kind of boxed food that has a long shelf life. Bottled water. Go ahead and get your food donations together and let us know when you're ready and we will come by and pick those items up.  Please keep in mind this food needs to be transported so please put it in a heavy duty cardboard box or purchase a plastic crate from Walmart.

      Another huge need is BABY ITEMS such as baby clothes, diapers, wipes, formula that doesn't need to be refrigerated, bottles, blankets, diaper rash cream, baby food, etc.  This is an area with a high single parent population and these items would go toward a family in tremendous need.

      We will also be needing disinfectant cleaners, tarps and ropes to tie down over garbage trailers, large heavy duty trash bags, brooms, or basically any cleaning supplies.

      Sleeping bags and tents (many are homeless, some are in gyms and other locations but tents and sleeping bags are a bonus). New or gently used.

      Naturally monetary donations will go a long way. Your gifts are 501c3 tax-deductible. An online option has been created at our Churches in Mission's website.  You click on the choose a fund and go down to Kentucky Relief.  100% of your gifts will be used for Kentucky Relief, under the discretion of The Happy Church Ministries. The needs are many. Construction materials, clean-up expenses, appliances, vehicle needs, etc. Any amount helps. Your donation will be receipted for your charitable tax purposes. (Lowes giftcards will also help)

      If you have a trade skill such as plumbing, carpentry, drywall, masonry, electrical, or flood damage restoration, your skills are needed if you happen to find the opportunity to spend a few days in Jackson Kentucky we can put you in contact with our leads there who can use your services immediately

      Finally clothing is not the most urgent need RIGHT NOW but will be in the near future.  Feel free to start collecting clothing items while we start to search for a place to store our donation items.  As you begin to organize clothing donations for a future "run", please WASH, FOLD, BOX, and LABEL the clothing. Bags of clothing do not travel well and cause incredible wrinkling and such. Boxes travel better and having them labeled helps during distribution. We will let you know WHEN we are ready for new or gently used clothing.

      Thank you for partnering with us.  If you have any questions feel free to contact email us at faithiskey@hotmail.com.  We are excited to start collecting these items to deliver to Kentucky.  Help us be the hope in the hills.

 

Blessings,

The Robinson’s 

Reflections on the Beach: Sin Burn

 

Reflections on the Beach

Week Eight

Sin Burn

Focus Passage: Psalm 51

Bible Reading: 2nd Corinthians 7-13

      There are so many wonderful things that can happen on a vacation at the beach.  You share great memories like burying dad in the sand, building sandcastles, going for a stroll on the boardwalk, eating yummy food (Thrasher's  French Fries namely), playing games at the arcade, and stopping by your favorite local shops.  Almost nothing can ruin a vacation to the beach....that is until you suffer through the effects of sunburn.  Each of you reading this have been there, done that, and probably didn't learn your lesson.  The pain of a sunburn is constant.  It hurts to wear a shirt, to lay a blanket over your body, every move you make is literally agony.  The worst thing is that you typically get burned on your back which is the one place you need help from someone to apply aloe to soothe you.  I am one of those people that doesn't tan, I burn.  I go straight from pale white to bright red.  I hate sunburn.  I bring the strongest SPF spray they make, I wear a hat, and of late I wear a t-shirt to avoid sunburn.

      Too much exposure to the sun does damage.  Likewise, too much exposure to sin in the life of the Christian does spiritual damage to our life.  We know that the ultimate damage done by sin is death (Romans 6:23) but we also know that we have been given eternal life as a free gift through Jesus Christ our Lord.  As Christians we no longer fear the ultimate damage, suffering in hell, but that does not mean that we receive a sin freely card at salvation.  We are saved by grace through faith but that does not excuse us from not displaying the fruits of a changed and new life.  While we will not be perfect on this side of heaven we also should strive to be Christlike.  Each Christian will battle sin, we will lose, and we will fail miserably.  Our text for today showcases how David dealt with sin exposure.  He was broken, hurt, shattered, and without excuse.  David's lone hope was by repenting and confessing his sin.  Though we are saved we will still deal with the effects of sin in our life.  The longer we dabble in sin the more normal that lifestyle becomes to us.  We start to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit.  But please know that God does not allow us to sin cheaply or without ramifications.  The longer you remain in sin the worse the damage will be.  Maybe one of you reading this have been feeding out of the pigpen of sin for too long.  The Master calls you to His table to dine.  Repent, turn from your sin, and run to Jesus.  

Reflections on the Road:

      We live in a world of cause and effect.  We do something and there will be an effect.  It would only make sense that this scientific law would trickle down to our spiritual life too.  What effects are you currently experiencing from unrepentant sin?  The lone means to be 'healed' from too much sin exposure is to agree with David's broken heart "Against you, You only, I have sinned...create in me a clean heart O' God."  Admit your guilt and failure to the Lord.  He is gracious and merciful.

Churches in Missions: March Update

                                                     

Churches In Missions  P.O. Box 1559 Sanford, NC 27331

“Mobilizing the Church Through Short-term Missions”

Our faithful friends,

      The months of January and February are highlights in our home.  Our three children celebrate their birthdays within fifty days of one another.  This year Titus turned five, Noah turned nine, and Maggie just turned seven.  As parents we are constantly amazed at how quickly time has passed.  They are growing so quickly.  The sand in the hour glass is constantly running out in our lives and the seconds that pass are never able to return.  Watching our children’s rapid growth reminds me of how little time we have on earth to serve Jesus and make a Gospel impact.  Of late we have felt the urgency of making Jesus known with what little time we have and pray that you would feel the same pressing need.

      The past month has been incredibly fruitful.  Matt continues to be part time at Hagerstown Bible Church aiding them as their
transitional pastor.  He has the thrill of working with their leadership as they navigate God’s direction for HBC.  While at HBC, Matt and a missionary from Guinea West Africa have started an evangelism class for the teenagers.  Each Wednesday they get to challenge over forty teenagers on the why’s and how’s of practical evangelism.  Matt has also joined a Bible institute in Greencastle, PA to teach personal evangelism. The institute focuses on training men to be pastors and laymen to serve.  He has sixteen students each Tuesday.  This group is hungry to share Jesus and build Christ honoring relationships that lead to redemption.

      Our family had the privilege of presenting the mission and speaking two Sundays at Berean Bible Fellowship in State Line, PA.  We have also shared at multiple different chapels for elementary students.  Matt has continued to meet with multiple pastors.  God has faithfully been filling out our future ministry calendar.  We will be speaking at Hilltop Christian Fellowship, Paw Paw Bible Church, Genesis Fellowship, Grace Bible Church for a Good Friday service, and multiple other chapels.  Matt is also scheduled to go to a training seminar on teacher training/evangelism in May.  God has blessed us with two VBS’s this summer, three camps, and so far one mission’s trip to Kentucky.

      We did want to invite you to team up with us for a special mission.  One of the churches that we minister to in Jackson Kentucky has recently suffered through severe flooding.  Jackson is in the third poorest county in the United States.  This area is devastated by drug use, broken homes, and abject poverty.  Hundreds of families that were already suffering have been dealt another piece of discouragement.  This was an area already struggling to meet their most basic of needs.  The mission is burdened to be the hands and the feet of Jesus in this community.  We want to help with physical needs like clothing and food, construction teams to help people put their lives back together, to sit with people and cry, to play with kids that have lost their homes, to come alongside them and let them know that they are not alone, but most of all to let them know that even in the midst of this that Jesus loves them.  We will keep you updated as we finalize these ministry details but, in the meantime, please be praying.

      Thank you again for your incredible faithfulness to our family.  We are blessed by you.  We still offer you an invitation to join our work.  We would love to have you be a part of our team!

Gifts sent to:  P.O. Box 51519 Durham, NC 27717

Or give online via www.churchesinmissions.org      

Designate for Matt & Tiffanie Robinson

Reflections on the Beach: Forgiveness at the Surf

 

Reflections on the Beach

Week Seven

"Forgiveness at the Surf"

Focus Passage: Colossians 2

Bible Reading: 1st Corinthians 16-2nd Corinthians 6

      One of the first lessons I learned as a father is that there are certain tasks that dads typically do on a trip.  Most dads do the driving, and much to our wife's dismay we also do most of the navigating. We can't choose what the radio station will be despite the fact we are driving, (Baby shark on repeat for a multiple hour drive is not part of a relaxing vacation), we do most of the arranging of luggage items, and then when we arrive at the hotel we do most of the unpacking of the car.  It's almost as if certain things are ingrained into our Y chromosomes.  I also have come to the conclusion that it's our manly duty as a father to tote more stuff than humanly possible through hot, soft sand.  Take a moment and watch guys with a family try to make it a single trip, it will entertain you.  And yet another observation of being a beach dad is that it is your job to chase down any toys that were taken away in the surf.  You hear your child scream that the waves have taken away their precious fifty-cent sand bucket and we respond by throwing caution to the wind by diving headfirst into danger to rescue the irreplaceable bucket that can be found at any storefront along the boardwalk.

      The surf/tide is powerful.  It brings in seashells but it also takes away things.  It washes the shoreline clean.  During one trip my children and I were sitting near the water.  They were learning their letters and we were quickly trying to write them out before the wave came in and erased them.  I used this occasion to write the word sin.  The kids saw it and waited for the wave to wash it away.  Sure enough, the power of the wave overmatched the sand writing, and it vanished as if it was never there.  God does this in a much more powerful way in our life.  The problem is that the sin of our life is not written on sand, it's written on our hearts and soul.  Sin, the things we think, say, and do that doesn't please God, cannot be easily removed by a wave.  Because of the depth of our sin, because of how seemingly permanent the stain is we need something more powerful.  What is more powerful than our sin?  What is of such a force to wash away sin?  Jesus.  God in His infinite love sent Jesus Christ, His precious and perfect Son, to come to this world to die for us.  Jesus loves you, He shed His blood for you on an old rugged cross.  Colossians 2:14 says "By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."  Our sins are forgiven only by the death of Jesus.  Not by my own works, effort, morals, or religion.  It is by grace, through faith only.  It is only by Jesus.  You can't wash away sin etched on our stony hearts, but the Lover of our Soul Jesus can with His shed blood.

Reflections on the Road:

Robert Lowry, the famous pastor and hymnist asked a question in one of his songs, "What can wash away my sin?"  His reply was nothing but the blood of Jesus.  Nothing, not one thing other than the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin (1st John 1:7).  Have you come to Jesus to be saved from sin?  If not, why not today?

Reflections on the Beach: Beauty in Death

 

Reflections on the Beach

Week Six

"Beauty in Death"

Focus Passage: Psalm 116

Bible Reading: 1st Corinthians 9-15

      No voyage to the beach is complete until you have searched for sea shells (searched for sea shells sounds like a tongue twister).  I personally find the exploration for sea shells to be very relaxing.  My family and I walk down the beach, toes in the water, scanning the shore for a treasured  shell.  Each of you have probably stood where the tide was breaking trying to find the perfect shell being brought in by the waves.  There is an excitement as you find a big sea shell.  I remember one occasion when my daughter and I missed getting a large shell.  My daughter was super bummed so I told her we would pray that God would bring it back, and much to our surprise the next wave brought it in!

      Shells are beautiful.  We always bring home a bag full of them.  There is a certain irony though in the beauty of a sea shell, each sea shell is a remnant  of something  that died.  Each of those ornate and decorated shells always reminds me of death.  That sounds like an oxymoron, beauty in death.  How can death be beautiful?  Can there be beauty in death?  The answer is yes.  The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones."  God calls death precious, beautiful.  How can God call such a horrible thing beautiful?  Let's first understand that it's not the death of all people that's beautiful, according to the end of verse fifteen it's the death of His godly ones.  That sounds even more strange and morbid.  God considers the death of His people beautiful.  I don't often associate the death of those nearest to me as beautiful, but instead as painful.  But it's painful for me because that person leaves me via the avenue of death.  Let's instead look at it from the perspective of God.  The death of a follower brings that person to Him in heaven.  That's why God can call death beautiful, it's not a loss for Him but instead a gain.  Death is scary and an air of uncertainty hangs around it.  The timing and means of our death are left a mystery for us, but death is indeed a certainty, unavoidable.  But if someone we know, or we ourselves, have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ then God exclaims with excitement that death is precious.  Precious because when the barrier of death falls down that person gets to go home.  What a joy!

Reflections on the Road:
The past year has caused our society to think a lot about death, maybe even our own death.  Would God label your death as precious or painful?  God desires that no men die without coming to saving, repentant faith.  Have you come to Jesus?  Do you have the assurance of salvation through the finished work of Jesus?