Thank you Lord

Thank you Lord,
for night’s sparkling stars,
dawn’s promising sunrise,
and day’s warming rays.

Thank you Lord,
for a nose to smell your garden creations,
a mouth to sing your heavenly praises,
ears to hear your guiding voice,
hands to write your glowing tributes,
and eyes to see your wondrous miracles.

Thank you Lord,
for listening to my prayers,
comforting my heart in times of need,
humbling me when I do wrong,
and teaching me wisdom every day.

Thank you Lord,
for inviting me to your table,
accepting me with all my faults,
giving me eternal life,
and forgiving me of all my sins.

Thank you.

Final Day of Vacation Bible School

Well, Vacation Bible School is over for another year.  The theme of the night was God is in Charge.  Our schedule was abbrieviated due to the kids had to put on a presentation for their parents, so everything was rushed.  The kids all wanted to see the ending of Chaddar's Wild West Adventure, so that went really well.  We had some storms in the area last night and attendance was down by a few.  I hope that was the reason for the decline.  I thought VBS was organized very well so, I don't think it was that.  I think the staff was glad to get it done because how many times can you hear the children's songs before it's burned into your brain? :)  

Fourth Day of Vacation Bible School

Last night's theme was God Is Awesome and the kids for the most part seemed to understand what we were trying to teach them.  Of course, the younger ones wanted to see the new installment of Chaddar's Wild West Theatre, but we also talked about how Jesus died for our sins and what we needed to do to have our sins forgiven.  I was surprised how the little ones payed close attention.  It gave me a warm feeling inside that the kids listened to such an important message.  Did we reach someone who will become a Christian?  Only time will tell, but I know at least some that listened.  We wrap things up tonight and the parents are invited for the grand finale, so it should be interesting.

Third Day of Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School went well again last night.  Becky (my wife) got to do an experiment with the kids using a hair dryer and a ping-pong ball to show how we need to connect with God through prayer.  First, she played dumb and tried to use the hair dryer without plugging into the wall.  Once she showed that it wouldn't work, she got the kids to tell her she needed to plug the hair dryer in and did the experiment right.  She explained with the hair dryer connected with electricity, the ping-pong ball floated with the air on.  Therefore, if we pray to God, we are connected to him and we can use his strength in our time of need.  The kids had a great time with it and Becky enjoyed interacting with them.

Tonight's theme is God is Awesome.  I've been studying the material and I think it will be a special lesson as I explain how Jesus died for our sins.  I just hope everyone survives the heat outside before we go in for our lesson.

Second Day of Vacation Bible School

I was pleasantly surprised to see more kids last night at Vacation Bible School.  We showed the second installment of Chadder's Wild West Theatre and the kids loved it.  What is really encouraging is seeing that the kids are taking the daily challenges seriously.  Tonight's theme is God is Strong with the film part only 2 and a half minutes long.  We will be doing an experiment with the hair dryer and ping pong ball and connecting it with being in contact with God.  I'm having a great time with this and I'm letting my wife do more interaction with the kids tonight so that she doesn't feel like she's just there.  She's been adding things to the presentation and I'm so glad to have her in my room.  

Vacation Bible School and more

Last night was the first night of our vacation bible school.  The theme is Avalanche Ranch and me and my wife were put in charge of Cheddar's Wild West Theatre.  To be honest, when I signed up to help out with vacation bible school, I was expecting to help with the crafts or something else.  I wasn't really wanting to teach since that's what I do as my career.  After some careful thinking and praying, I realize now that God wanted me to teach the kids.  I felt really good teaching the Word of God to the kids and even though after seeing the first segment of the movie 4 times makes it tedious, it was a great feeling to talk to the kids about how God is real and he's the creator of all things. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week as we continue with the film and related materials.

Yesterday was also the first Sunday with our new minister.  He and his wife sat with our adult Sunday school class and listened while the teacher talked about comparing people.  I thought the teacher did a great job and honest discussion was given what the fears of the congregation.  Most of the fears was how was he going to do his sermon and how was he going to handle Children's Church.  I didn't plan on speaking up, but I felt compelled to say that when I accepted Christ and our former pastor planned the baptism, he found out a week later he was going to move.  Sure, everyone was upset because he had been here a long time and someone asked me I must be devastated since I just became a Christian.  I said to that person, yes, I'm upset that he was leaving, but I worship Christ, not the pastor.  Jesus is the head of the church, not the minister.  In regards to our new minister, I have a good feeling about him.  I thought he did a wonderful job with the kids and his sermon was about how he became a minister and how we are all priests of God and that we work together to build the church as a group, not one person.  How so true.

On a side note, I was planning on blogging last week about preparing for vacation bible school, but I did a dummy and tried to life an air conditioner.  Something snapped in my back and I had to go to the emergency room.  I'm still on anti-inflammatory medication, but I'm doing better.  

Transition

Today is a day of transition for me and my church.  Today, our pastor of 6 years and who has been with the church for 10 is moving to a new position as pastor of a larger church 30 minutes north of Williamstown.  Chris Morgan was our pastor and he does such a fantastic job that I'm sure he will succeed at there.  I won't go on with a tribute because should he see this post, he would be embarrassed, but let's just say that I have never seen a person so knowledgeable and who brings in his humanity about the word of God than Chris has.  

Since Chris is moving, our church is receiving Bruce Hiner, whose previous postion was pastor at a church in Cannonsburg, Kentucky.  I haven't met Bruce as of this posting, but I feel he will do a great job and that our church will welcome him with open arms.  For Jesus is the head of the church, and we worship him, not the pastor.  Every person has a different style of how to do things, and I'm sure Bruce will have his own way of doing things.  I plan on welcoming Bruce to Williamstown and look forward to hearing God's message from him.

Inspired Poetry

One of things I like to do is write poetry.  I admit freely that it has been awhile since I wrote a poem, over a year I would guess.  After I accepted Christ, I was inspired to write.  It was like the words were given to me.  Other than an edit or two, the words came out like this:

Declaration

It’s not paint by numbers
as I write your praises Lord.
With a master’s guidance,
You have filled my empty canvas.

Before I accepted you,
despair enveloped my soul,
doubt blinded my eyes,
and I fell into the darkening abyss.

You saw me,
tortured and haunted
above deception’s deepening pit
and gave me your hand.
Your love lifted me to salvation,
my heart now beats with joy,
my sight, restored with trust.

Use me Lord as your servant.
I shall do what you expect,
just guide me along the way.
Thank you God, for everything
from the miraculous to the mundane
as I walk this path with you.

Mark Manis
© 2007

My Church History

This is my first post, so I would like to talk a little about my background.  Growing up, my mom would take me to a Baptist church.  Although I did like some of the singing there, I admit, I thought the church was too much of the "fire and brimstone" sermoning and not enough of the inspirational variety.  Also, I felt that that it was a little too conservative on social issues.  When I became a teenager, I admit, I quit going to church as I got more involved in school.  College came along and I was exposed to different people, but I wasn't a church-goer.  I was more involved with myself as I was trying to keep my grades up.  Once I left college, I was trying to start my career as a teacher and found myself working as a substitute teacher instead of being a social studies teacher.  Once I realized that I wasn't going to be hired as a social studies teacher, 
I decided to go back and become a special education teacher because I loved it so much when I substituted.

I was so involved with teaching that I didn't involve myself with church.  This was the time when all the televangelists were having their scandals and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  Not too mention, many politicians were trying to associate religion with a particular party that truly offended me.  (The practice is still going on, but I ignore it since I fully believe that God doesn't favor one political  group over another.)  I then met my future wife on the internet and we started dating on and offline.  After two years of dating, I proposed and got married a year later.  This was the time I found myself helping to plan the wedding and my wife wanted to be married in the Methodist Church she grew up in.  I didn't know anything about the Methodist Church and we met with the minister my wife wanted to officiate over the wedding.  At that time, I still wasn't a religious person, but from everything the minister was telling me, I was put at ease.  We had more or less a traditional ceremony in the Methodist Church and took Communion.  Once we moved my wife to Kentucky, we didn't go to church.  Again, it wasn't anything against church itself, we just never made time.  After we moved to our house 7 years ago, we found out that there was a Methodist church less than a half-mile away.  We had talked about going there, but for some reason or another, we never went.

Last October, we noticed that one of our cats had a growth on her head.  We took her to the vet and they said it was cancer and there was nothing that could be done about it.  My wife and I were both distraught and didn't know what to do other than to make her comfortable.  A friend of ours who goes to our local Methodist church said she knew of a person who did holistic medicene and she could possible help us out.  In December, we decided to go meet this person by attending a church service.  The service was dynamic and I felt welcomed there by members of the congregation.  We decided to go to another service, and then another and I started learn what the Methodist Church was all about.  I soon decided to join a membership class to learn more and several weeks ago, I accepted God's call and committed myself to Christ.  On June 10th, I was baptised and became a member of the church.  Our cat isn't doing well and I think it is a matter of time, but I feel that God sent our cat to us to bring us back to church and to show God's love to me.  I know that God has a plan for all of us, whether we know it or not.