Devotional

Christ's Loveliness Reflected in His People

Some good Christians are afraid to give notice to any lovely virtues which may appear here and there among God's people lest they detract from the glory of Christ. Such timidity is understandable, but uncalled for. If we know to begin with that all goodness is from Christ, that all sweetness, all holiness, all loveliness are out of Him and from Him and in Him, we will not hesitate to recognize moral excellence wherever it may occur on this dark planet. If a ray of holy light shines out from any man's life, it must be because Christ is there shining in secret in a human breast, and we should be quick to catch this dim glimpse of the Light of the World again incarnated in a human being. The glory of Christ will not suffer from this frank and eager acknowledgment of virtue where we find it. Because we are sentient beings, we must have some love-motivation to keep us running. This fact (on a lower level) is well known to everyone. God knew this (for He made us) and gave us the supreme love-Object of the universe to fire our hearts with holy passion. That Object is Jesus. The Christian faith may be summed up in the love of Jesus. To love Him enough is to be sweetly and wonderfully free. To love Him as He should be loved is to know at once complete release from religious forms and traditions. It is to reach the goal of life even here below.  A.W. Tozier

Verse

And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! (The Message). Psalm 90:17

Thought

Experiencing Christ's love and loving Him brings a new dimension to daily living. We serve Him, we obey Him, we follow Him because we love Him! Have we opened ourselves to that love?

Prayer

May Your loveliness rest on me and all your people. It is that loveliness that confirms the work we do. We serve You as an expression of our love for You.

Wildlife Around Timber Lakes

Devotional

When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me . . . —Galatians 1:15-16

"The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of God is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of the natural life was stated by the apostle Paul— “When it pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is,purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles . . . .”

Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life."  Oswald Chambers

2012 Events Calendar

Valentine Couples Retreat:  Feb 17-18
Men's Conference:  March 16-17
Ladies Retreat:  April 20-21
Youth Camp:  June 4-8
Children's Camp:  June 11-15
District Conference & Family Camp:  July 30 - Aug. 5
Fall Youth Retreat:  Nov. 9 - 11  

Facilities & Lodging

Lodge Meeting Room With Fireplace & Pulldown Screen

Lodge Meeting Room With Kitchen 

Dining Hall Serving All-You-Can-Eat Home Cooked Meals

  

North Dining Room/Snack Bar

Multipurpose Sanctuary & Gym

Pavillion w/Stage & Lights

Pool With Water Slide

4-Plex Motel

8-Plex Motel

10 A/C & Heated Cottages W/ Bathrooms & 4 bunks ea .  Bring your own linens.

14 a/c & heated cabins w/ double & 2 bunks.  Bring your own linens.

Secluded South Camp Cabins with Double & 2 bunks

Several fire rings to fellowship around.



6 South Camp Cabins W/ Heat & A/C.  Bring your own linens. 



Three a/c & heated dorms w/ 7 bunks each.  Bring your own linens

Devotional

I now send you, to open their eyes . . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins . . . —Acts 26:17-18

This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament.

God’s first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, “. . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins . . . .” When a person fails in his personal Christian life, it is usually because he has neverreceived anything. The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. Our job as workers for God is to open people’s eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light. But that is not salvation; it is conversion-only the effort of an awakened human being. I do not think it is too broad a statement to say that the majority of so-called Christians are like this. Their eyes are open, but they have received nothing. Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins.

This is followed by God’s second mighty work of grace: “. . . an inheritance among those who are sanctified . . . .” In sanctification, the one who has been born again deliberately gives up his right to himself to Jesus Christ, and identifies himself entirely with God’s ministry to others.

Construction of my Son's & Daughter-in-law's home on Timber Lakes

Come volunteer this winter!  We have many projects!

Walk out basement

Spiral stair found on Craigs List

Volunteers helping with baseboard

More framing

Devotionals

"The world's pleasures and the world's treasures henceforth have no appeal for me. I reckon myself crucified to the world and the world crucified to me. But the multitudes that were so dear to Christ shall not be less dear to me. If I cannot prevent their moral suicide, I shall at least baptize them with my human tears. I want no blessing that I cannot share. I seek no spirituality that I must win at the cost of forgetting that men and women are lost and without hope. If in spite of all I can do they will sin against light and bring upon themselves the displeasure of a holy God, then I must not let them go their sad way unwept. I scorn a happiness that I must purchase with ignorance. I reject a heaven that I must enter by shutting my eyes to the sufferings of my fellow men. I choose a broken heart rather than any happiness that ignores the tragedy of human life and human death. Though I, through the grace of God in Christ, no longer lie under Adam's sin, I would still feel a bond of compassion for all of Adam's tragic race, and I am determined that I shall go down to the grave or up into God's heaven mourning for the lost and the perishing. And thus and thus will I do as God enables me. Amen"

Come to Timber Lakes to fellowship with Christ and each other in the midst of God's creation!