Wednesday, February 26 Meeting

What a blessed time it was - Angie and I lifted up your prayer requests.

• We prayed for safety for Elaine and Jim as they traveled home & for Miles as he too had to drive in the storm.
• We prayed for Rose & Ken's son, Steve.
• We prayed for Rose Mom, brother and sister-in-law who were in a vehicle accident over the weekend in Florida. They were not harmed physically & praying they stay that way.
• We prayed for Eileen who's newly moved to Mariposa.
• We prayed for the widows and elderly in our church.
• We prayed for Angie's training & courses.
• We prayed for the project I'm doing.
• We prayed for our congregation and the community.

We discussed our theme of these two weeks discussion subject - sin. We shared scripture and how what this meant in our life.

Angie was led to share this scripture in this regard - the blessings and curses:

Deuteronomy 28

Blessings for Obedience

¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

⁷ The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

⁸ The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

¹² The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ¹³ The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. ¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Curses for Disobedience

¹⁵ However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

¹⁸ The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

²⁰ The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. ^a]">[a] ²¹ The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. ²² The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. ²³ The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. ²⁴ The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵ The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. ²⁶ Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷ The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹ At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

³⁰ You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³ A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. ³⁴ The sights you see will drive you mad. ³⁵ The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

³⁶ The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.

³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. ⁴¹ You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. ⁴² Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

⁴³ The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹ The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. ⁵² They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.

⁵³ Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. ⁵⁴ Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, ⁵⁵ and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. ⁵⁶ The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter ⁵⁷ the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.

⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- ⁵⁹ the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. ⁶² You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. ⁶³ Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

⁶⁴ Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. ⁶⁶ You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. ⁶⁸ The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

*****

And here are some thoughts I've found on sin:

Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We are more concerned with our own "victory" over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. ~ Jerry Bridges

What a paradox: The sinner forever free from the slightest races of sin - the sinless Son bearing forever in his body the marks of sin's sacrifice. ~ Richard C. Halverson

There are... few stronger indications of ignorance of the power and evil of sin than the confident assertion of our ability to resist and subdue it. ~ Charles Hedge

The wages of sin is death - thank God I quit before payday. ~ Reamer Loomis

Sin arises out of mistrust. Man is afraid to trust the divine destiny and to accept his limits. The rebellion that follows is a decisive act of repudiation, a trusting of self over against God. ~ James I. McCord

Sin and the child of God are incompatible. They may occasionally meet; they cannot live together in harmony. ~ John R. W. Stott.

One reason that sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake. ~ Billy Sunday

No sin is small. It is against an infinite God, and may have consequences immeasurable. No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch. ~ Jeremy Taylor.

*****

This following week, we would like to concentrate on the subject of COMPASSION. If you have any thoughts, poems, scripture concerning this topic please let me know and I will post it here. Also, feel free to contact me anytime for prayer - we will post your requests here so we can lift your needs!

A POEM BY KAYE

photo credit: xymonau@sxc

Kaye Harkness passed me this poem at church this morning, to share with you. She wrote this some time ago. Thank you for sharing, Kaye! What a wonderful gift you have with words.

The Battle Song of the New Jerusalem

We have heard the call to battle,
And we have hearkened to His call,
We are tens of thousands strong,
Standing straight and tall.

His Word is our backbone,
His promise is our call,
We are privileged to be a part,
Of the joyous, happy throng.

What glory it is,
To carry His banner, great and strong,
No foe can come against us,
As His armour we put on.

His Word is a two-edged sword
That can never go wrong.

We will stand upon His Word,
As together we press on,
Singing Glory Alleluiah,
His saints are marching on.

Upon Zion's hill with Jesus,
We will save our race,
Singing Glory Alleluiah,
He has saved us by His grace!

The host of heaven will shout with joy,
As we come marching home,
Singing Glory Alleluiah! -
Christ is seated on His trone.

All creation will praise Him,
As together we unite,
Singing Glory Alleluiah!
Christ has won the fight.

No tears or sadness here,
Nor is there any night,
Singing Glory Alleluiah!
We share His glorious light.

by Kaye Harkness

Wednesday, February 18th Meeting

photo credit:: avleene@sxc

Don't Worry!

Well, unfortunately, our second meeting did not come off as well as the first one did. We ran into two problems. One person tried to join the MSN meeting but was unable to because she was using a 'mobile device' which would allow her to connect with ME, but not with all of us. The second person was able to join us, but only if she chose to have her status set to 'online' which meant that if she was visible to us, then she was visible to EVERYONE... and this meant that others were trying to get her attention as well. Kinda frustrating.

So we may try the solution of having her get a 'new idendity' just for our meetings. I'm hoping this will work, for it would be the easiest solution, especially seeing as how I've sent out instructions to everyone on how to do this using MSN. I want to keep an open and fair mind about it all.

There has also been the suggestion we might try a 'skype' VOICE meeting, and thats a thought... though from some feedback I've had is that the personal experience of someone who's done this before is that its fine for 'one on one' type situations, but getting several people in the mix can prove to be very difficult. I'm sure it might turn out this way no matter what we try, unless we all learn to cooperate. For now, lets try this first thing and see how this goes!

Soooo - the long and short of the last meeting was that we spend a good portion of the time just trying to connect everyone, which left us little for prayer and virtually no study time. So we have carried the theme of sin over for this week. I will post anything you would like here, just let me know.

Isabelle suggested we read Psalm 18.

Kaye Harkness says she will perhaps try to hunt up a poem for us to share here too.

Angie asked me if it is possible for me to set this blog up so that if I update it then you might be alerted - I think there is a way. Please let me know if you are interested in recieving the updates as they are posted and I will add your email address to this feature.

Thank you all for being 'game' to giving this a try - and for your patience as we get up and running.

Thank you, Angie, for you pointed out to me that I should not get frustrated or impatient if things take a while to sort out. We need to stay focussed on the fact this is a great opportunity and blessing!

Hope you all have a wonderful week, and see you next Wednesday. I will post my FURTHER thoughts on Sin, in a day or two!

♥ Barb

Feedback on "SIN"

photo: Mattox @ sxc

I guess I am the first to post any thoughts on our subject of last week - SIN. These are some bits of scripture which spoke to me as I pondered.

Jeremiah 6:10 (Amplified Bible) 10 To whom shall I [Jeremiah] speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised [never brought into covenant with God or consecrated to His service], and they cannot hear or obey. Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach and the object of their scorn; they have no delight in it.

So, the first thing that occurs to me, is that we all have sin, thats not even a question. How it must grieve the heart of God to see us stumble over and over the same issues. I can almost feel His exasperation. But even more humiliating for Him must be that not only we do we close our ears and eyes to Him, but we get so caught up in sin that we forget there is JOY in obeying the Lord. So, in relation to the question of how we discern if the sin in my life - do I obey God to not sin because I WANT to please Him or I try not to sin because I LOVE him and delight in walking in His ways - I think thats the answer there. I think that if I am not sinning to show my LOVE for God, then I will find a delight in it. I will feel a postive way about it. I won't feel like a reluctant child who obeys a parent's 'rule', but rather trust God's wisdom in the commandments He's given us, and accept them as wise advice and loving boundries put in place to protect me. If I feel something is sin in my life, should I not jump at the chance to pray to God about it and if in doubt lovingly, eagerly and willingly abstain from this particular thing? I think its about maturity in my walk with God.

16-20 God's Message:

"Go stand at the crossroads and look around. Ask for directions to the old road, The tried-and-true road. Then take it. Discover the right route for your souls. But they said, 'Nothing doing. We aren't going that way.'

Ah, isn't this SO true? See, we do that. We KNOW when we sin - not only this, we throw it back in God's face. So is this what we should be recognising - that we sin KNOWINGLY?

Jeremiah 7:23-26 (Amplified Bible)

23 But this thing I did command them: Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people; and walk in the whole way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 24 But they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear [to Me], but followed the counsels and the stubborn promptings of their own evil hearts and minds, and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early and late. 26 Yet the people would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ears [to Me], but stiffened their necks and behaved worse than their fathers.

So we HEAR God. He surrounds us, dwells in us and clearly lays out His commands. He even sends Prophets for us - but still we sin by closing ourselves off from Him and walking in our own way. SIN times two, again.

Jeremiah 8:12 (New International Version)

12 Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.

And this is crucial - for we allow ourselves to 'captain our own ship' - to totally ignore God, to discount his wisdom, throw it all in the trash of our corrupted hearts and minds. And worse, we are not ashamed. To me, Sin is Sin - pure and simple, and if God says its sin, thats good enough for me. I pray that I will have the wisdom to 'sift' ALL my thoughts and actions through Him so that I can discern what God's will is in them. This way I can know that I've asked God to indicate to me if something I'm doing, hearing, saying - participating in, is Sin.

So, though the subject we chose was not completely clear, this was where I landed up for answers. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts too. Email or phone me and I'll post your ideas too! See you all tomorrow night at our MSN Meeting.

~ Barb

I'm adding in a video I found - its called Open Me - by Shawne McDonald, and I think it speaks well - a request of God to open us to HIS will. Open our ears, our minds, our hearts! Click on the little gray triangle and it will play the song for you!

Also, check the comments too - (click the COMMENTS button at the bottom of this article and you will see additional feedback. I know for sure Angie has shared too!

ADDITION - here's Angie's feedback:

Thank you Barb for that great scripture and insight.

I agree with an open heart.

Something that I have noticed for me this past 10 days is as I have been really busy getting ready for this course and the work around that and clearing up my plate to free me up for next week THAT I haven't taken the time to soak in God's love and read much of his word. Satan has used "busy" to let sin creep in. I have noticed my heart getting annoyed with people in my life instead of loving them.
(Seeing them as God see's them)

A wonderful friend had this to share when we sin-

"When you mess up, "expose the darkness" IMMEDIATELY - what, where, how, with who
Journal the SITUATION, what happened, how, who with, the setting, the lies you believed. Expose the situations where you feel most tempted and every detail, especially the parts you are most ashamed to admit! EXPOSE IT. THEN, TROUBLESHOOT, with THE TRUTH!
Really, really search your heart and ask God for the truth. One of my main prayers this week has been to ask God for courage to tell the truth about my sin, and not be afraid to face it, look in the mirror etc. and CHANGE!

Write what you should have done, now knowing the truth. WIthout making excuses, identify what you should have done."

Go to the bible and see what God has to say.

"God Blesses those who realize their need for HIM,for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them." Matthew 5:3

Read Matthew 5 3-11 for more great blessing that come from God .
Thank you for letting me share..."see" you ladies tonight.

Love Angie

February 11, 2009 Meeting

Thank you to our church ladies who were able to join in the first OCC Women's Online Fellowship. It was a nice way to gather. Its looking like everyone managed to download and use MSN with a good degree of comfort and its sure to run even smoother as we all settle in.

It was a good time of sharing for Barb, Rose, Angie, and Elaine. Thank you, Leila for taking the time to call and let us know that you were not able to join in this session.

If anyone would like to join in, you're welcome to email Barb at lalalime@hotmail.com for an introduction and instructions if you would like to gather with us.

We basically had a visit with each member and got familiar with MSN messenger. Part of our time together was in gathering prayer requests. . If you cannot be with us, please, feel free to give a written or verbal request to Barb and she will add your request to our meetings. You are welcome to phone Barb at 250-495-3516. Even if you cannot use a computer, this is still as much YOUR ministry as the few of us who gather.



The following prayer requests were given and we would love for all Church members to pray for these needs too, please.

Angie asked for prayer for an interview she was to attend on Thursday, February 29. Please continue to lift our sister as this is an ongoing process for her.

Rose requested prayer for her nephew as he heals, for herself for healing from her flu & migraines and for her husband Ken to be protected from germs. She also asked for prayer for her friend from Vernon regarding a job opportunity.

Elaine needed prayer for her test she took on Friday. Elaine continues to take courses & classes and may we lift our sister up to be enabled to meet her needs in this area.

Leila requested prayer for the Youth Valentine's party. She desires we continue to pray for the youth – that she and Nathan could be a ministry to them, and a vehicle for Jesus to come into the hearts of the young people they are in contact with.

Barb asked for prayer for this online ministry, that it would bear fruit OUTSIDE of the internet, and open doors for ideas the entire Church can benefit from. Also, the Lord has been working in some areas and convicting her heart.


If you do not have a prayer request, but would have a scripture, psalm, poem, photo, or song you would like us to post on our Blog site, don't be afraid to ask. We would love you to share!


The last part of the meeting we chose a subject to ponder during the week. This week's thought is SIN. When we are convicted of a sin, can we discern if we are simply being obedient to the Lord's commandments, or do we feel the Lord's influence on us BEFORE we consciously look at something as a sin in our life. This description is a very loose interpretation of our discussion, so we welcome your thoughts on this!

Welcome to our Women's ONLINE meeting place!

I hope this blog will be a site where we can all share our thoughts and ideas, scripture, and prayer requests. This is YOUR blog - and I look forward to your input. If you have a resource to share, let me know and I can put a link in the sidebar, easily.

I think our first meeting on the chat, we will just 'visit' and get to know one another - that is if there are more than a few of us, and if we don't actually already 'know' each other real well. We can get the system up and running and mentor to each other to make sure everyone is comfortable with how it all works. It does take time and practice.

I mentioned that we would pick a subject to study during the coming week and we could all share our thoughts and ideas on that one. You're welcome to either email me your 'stuff' (specially if its lengthly) or you can leave it as a 'comment' here as well.

To leave a comment, just look down to the bottom of this blog post and you will see COMMENTS at the bottom, click on that and you should be able to leave a comment. Since I've set it to allow 'anonymus' comments - you might consider adding your name to the bottom of your comments so we know who its from!

I will add some of my own useful links in the sidebar for you to explore. For example, the Bible Gateway one, if you search there, and go to the site, you can actually LISTEN to it in audio (click the little speaker symbol there and be sure your speakers are turned on)

Another favorite of mine is Midday Connection. They have terrific audio shows on, daily, Monday to Friday - and you can also click and listen to the past shows! Just click on the blue underlined word "listen" beside the particular one you want to hear - thats it, your computer will do the rest!

I see some of the latest titles are:

"When your spouse disappoints you" (never happened to any of US though, right?) "Nurturing Boys"
"Widowhood"
"Your Daughter's Value System"
"Global Poverty"
"The Beatitudes"

- so as you can see, there are a variety. I am game to using any of these shows as subject matter too!

I look forward to meeting all of you - I thing good things will come of this resource.

I'm going to pitch Angie's subject out for discussion first, and we can talk about it on our next women's night one week from tomorrow night's meeting - Wednesday, February 18th at 7 or 7:30.