Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

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What a great song, Jesus Loves Me. Though known as a children's song, I feel it is a wonderful reminder for all of us adults as well, especially the adults who have come to doubt those words. *Lyrics and History of song below.

It's a sad thing when we adults begin to grow older we lose faith. And not just in God, but in dreams too. It's like we throw God and dreams in with the tooth fairy or Santa Clause; "those are childs play and only for the minds of children".

I am reminded of what Jesus said, in Matthew & Luke's gospel...

Matthew 18:4 "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 18:17 "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

I often have wondered what Jesus was really saying here? Could it be that he was referring to the child-like faith of little ones? Or that it's so easy for a child to believe in what is unseen. Unlike we adults who feel that, "if you can not see it then it is not real". I am reminded of a couple more scriptures...

Matthew 6:6 "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

2 Corinthians 4:18 "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Oh to have child-like faith that says and believes with the whole heart, Jesus Loves Me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!

First, know today and everyday, JESUS LOVE YOU, no matter what you've done, or what you are doing now... He longs for a relationship with you! Invite Him into your life today - you'll be glad you did. Secondly, begin to dream again! What do you want to become? What do you want to do in life? What do you want to accomplish? Dream again!

- Timmy


JESUS LOVES ME
Words: Stanza 1, bio("An­na B. War­ner","w/a/r/warner_ab")
An­na B. War­ner, 1860. Stanzas 2-3, Da­vid Ru­ther­ford Mc­Guire. This hymn first ap­peared in the no­vel Say and Seal, by War­ner’s sis­ter Su­san; she want­ed a song for a Sun­day School teach­er to sing to a dy­ing boy, and asked An­na to write it.
Music: bio("Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry","b/r/a/bradbury_wb")
Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry, 1862


Jesus loves me! This I know,For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;They are weak, but He is strong.
Refrain

Yes, Jesus loves me!Yes, Jesus loves me!Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me! This I know,As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,Saying, “Let them come to Me.”
Refrain

Jesus loves me still today,Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to giveLight and love to all who live.
Refrain

Jesus loves me! He who diedHeaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,Let His little child come in.
Refrain

Jesus loves me! He will stayClose beside me all the way;
Thou hast bled and died for me,I will henceforth live for Thee.
Refrain

The Rev. Dr. Jacob Cham­ber­lain, who for ma­ny years has been work­ing among the Hin­dus, writes as fol­lows re­gard­ing this hymn, long one of the most pop­u­lar child­ren’s songs in the world: “Ma­ny years ago I trans­lat­ed in­to Tel­e­gu the child­ren’s hymn, ‘Je­sus loves me’ and taught it to the child­ren of our day-school. Scarce­ly a week lat­er, as I was go­ing through the nar­row streets of the na­tive town on horse­back, I heard sing­ing that sound­ed na­tur­al, down a side street. I stopped to list­en, cau­tious­ly draw­ing up to the cor­ner, where un­ob­served I could look down the street and see and hear. And there was a lit­tle hea­then boy, with hea­then men and wo­men stand­ing around him, sing­ing away at the top of his voice: ‘Je­sus loves me this I know…’
As he com­plet­ed the verse some one asked the quest­ion: ‘Son­ny, where did you learn that song?’ ‘Over at the Mis­sion­a­ry School,’ was the an­swer. ‘Who is that Je­sus, and what is the Bi­ble?’ ‘Oh! the Bi­ble is the book from God, they say, to teach us how to get to hea­ven, and Je­sus is the name of the di­vine Re­deem­er that came in­to the world to save us from our sins; that is what the mis­sion­ar­ies say.’ ‘Well, the song is a nice one. Come, sing us some more.’ And so the lit­tle boy went on—a hea­then himself, and sing­ing to the hea­then—about Je­sus and his love. ‘That is preach­ing the Gos­pel by proxy,’ I said to my­self, as I turned my po­ny and rode away, well sa­tis­fied to leave my lit­tle proxy to tell his in­ter­est­ed au­di­ence all he him­self knew, and sing to them over and over that sweet song of sal­va­tion.”
cite("Sankey","sankey","179-80")
Sankey, pp. 179-80

In 1891, when my grand­fa­ther, Rev. Har­u­tune S. Je­nan­yan, took his wife and lit­tle daugh­ter on a per­i­lous and dan­ger­ous mis­sion­a­ry jour­ney from Tar­sus, Asia Mi­nor, the ci­ty of St. Paul, to Si­vas in Ar­men­ia, they tra­velled on horse-back through rob­ber-in­fest­ed coun­try for four­teen days. Two of the lead­ing rob­ber chiefs on that ter­ri­to­ry were Chol­lo, whose “name cast ter­ror on ev­ery side” since he had suc­cess­ful­ly evad­ed pur­su­ing Gov­ern­ment forc­es for ma­ny months, and Ka­ra Ag­ha, a fa­mous Koor­ish chief, whose name caused even the fear­some Chol­lo to trem­ble. Har­u­tune took his small par­ty di­rect­ly in­to the heart of Ka­ra Ag­ha’s coun­try, tell­ing those he met en­route that he was go­ing to be Ag­ha’s guest in his own vill­age. When they reached the bri­gand’s head-quar­ters, the mis­sion­a­ry asked that they be re­ceived as guests for the night. The sur­prised rob­ber chief gave them ac­com­mo­da­tions, en­ter­tain­ing Har­u­tune in his own spa­cious tent while his wife, Hel­ene, and their lit­tle daugh­ter, Grace were cared for in ano­ther tent by the wo­men of the vill­age. The next morn­ing, be­fore tak­ing their leave, the mis­sion­ary asked for per­miss­ion to read a por­tion of the Ho­ly Script­ure, and then of­fered a pray­er. See­ing that the chief was some­what af­fect­ed, he then said, “Do you wish to have the lit­tle child sing for you?” The chief re­plied, “Oh yes; can she?” Then lit­tle Grace, on­ly three-and-a-half years old, came for­ward and stood be­fore the tall old man and sang two songs she had re­cent­ly learned in the Sun­day School in Tar­sus, sing­ing them in the na­tive tongue, “Je­sus loves me, this I know” and “I want to be an an­gel”. The chief was so deep­ly touched, that he sent his own son, Bek­keer Ag­ha, mount­ed on a hand­some Ar­a­bi­an steed, to lead the small mis­sion­a­ry par­ty through the rest of his ter­ri­to­ry.

The Resource Challenge

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Here I sit preparing for messages in 2008, some in October of this year and looking into the future of Olathe Life Fellowship and I am hit with the reality of the Resource Challenge we face as a "church for the un-churched". Because as a "church for the un-churched" we are almost more of a Mission Organization, than a normal church.




  • The un-churched typically do not understand giving or the concept of tithing to your local church.


  • The un-churched typically don't trust "religous organizations" because of what they have seen from Religous TV personalities who seem to always talk, beg, steal and manipulate people to give their hard-earned money to them so that, "God can bless them in return".

So, this my friends is a challenge we face. How to over-come, or "take on" if you will, this Resource Challenge is my question.


Here are the facts:


1.) It takes money to operate an organization!


2.) God "commands" us to give! (I like the word "encourage" better, but "commands" is more biblical.


3.) God talks more about money then just about any other subject in the Bible.


4.) Giving to your local church, IS in fact GIVING to God. (We (the church) are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world; so when we give to our local church we are actually giving to God because we are giving to God's work, or God's purposes here on earth.)


5.) We are blessed when we give! (This is hard to understand, even for me (a churched guy). As I have said many times before, God can do more with the 90% then we can do with the whole 100%, so give God a chance by giving Him 10% first... and just see how far the 90% goes!)


6.) We've always done well financially and we've given 10% and as much as 20% for 13 years! And we've never gone hungry, or had to walk anywhere we didn't want to, and we've been able to give 3 cars away in the meantime.


7.) Giving to God (through the local church) your first 10% of all your increase shows where God is on your priority list.


I once heard it said, "If you want to know what is important to people... look at their checkbook registry". Wow, that is true; where people spend their money shows their heart, their commitment, and their priority!


Peace for now!


- Timmy

Volunteer Leadership

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For many years there has been this false belief that important church work is done only by the “professionals” and the simple stuff like picking up trash in the parking lot is for “volunteers.”

Well I am hear to tell you that is not even biblically correct! For one, I spent an hour just the other Sunday in the parking lot before service picking up trash (and I did it with a song in my heart and a smile on my face). “No way, but you are the pastor, you shouldn't have to do that?” some would say. But I come from a different mindset I suppose. We are all here to serve God in whatever capacity we can. Whether that is picking up trash in the parking lot to give first time guests a positive CLEAN experience when coming into Olathe Life Fellowship or using my gift of playing guitar, singing, my happy face to greet, or my muscles being used to unload the trailer at 7:00am, or my love and heart for children by serving in Kid’s Life.

I have met, even recently, people who feel some jobs are below them. Sorry, but Jesus said that HE himself came to earth to SERVE not BE served! Though, I think that thought is probably rare and only held by pride-filled people. The more common thought is the one that says, “I don’t have anything to offer, or I haven’t been to Bible School… what can I do?” And to you I say - Anything and everything! So jump in, be a player, impact lives with the gift God has given you!

For those who are know the Bible are familiar with 1 Peter 2:9 "you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light."

There you go! Each of us can SHOW OTHERS THE GOODNESS OF GOD by serving somewhere sometime!

Have a great week!

- Timmy

Be a player

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I just returned home from a Cardinals vs Reds game at the new, way cool, Busch stadium in St. Louis, Missouri with my family and new found pastor friend, Matt Keller from Ft. Myers, Florida - Next Level Church. By the way, the Cardinals WON 4 to 3 (I think). Something cool; my former neighbor here in Olathe just moved to St. Louis and works the grass there at the stadium! So, we got to go down and get a fly ball he set aside for us - pretty cool! I am such a nice guy I gave the ball to Matt... he is a major Baseball fan. I am more a Football guy.

I did eat food I would never admit too... all part of the experience!

But keeping with the whole Baseball theme - I want to talk about the whole WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF CHURCH thing. There are a lot of thoughts out there... and I do believe that the model we here at OLF hold to is the BIBLICAL model, and that is this:

PURPOSE OF CHURCH




  • For the Christian - The church should be a place we can come and use our God given talent and gifts to to further perpetuate the mission and vision of Jesus which is to, "seek and save the lost". As a Christian, we should NOT be coming to church just to sit on our little cushy tushy and WATCH. We should be PLAYERS! And I consider those who work the grass as PLAYERS, the ball boy is a PLAYER, the security guards are PLAYERS and for sure those who yell, "BEER HERE... BEER HERE..." are PLAYERS! All working together to make for a wonderful experience for those who come - the CROWD. Who I consider to be the UN-CHURCHED. As a player (Christian) we come to GIVE! As Christians we get our MEANING and SIGNIFICANCE from being a part of fulfilling God's purpose here on earth through the local church.




  • For the UN-Churched - The church should be a safe place they come to find meaning, and purpose in life through the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ - all in a non-weird, fun, simply, life-applicable, friendly way! An un-churched person should feel that like, "this experience was all for me."


I am conviced that the quote from Zig Ziglar, "If you help enough other people get what they want, you'll always get what you want" is TRUE!


I think we as Christians have been so selfish when it comes to church! We've (me included) have felt that church was FOR ME. And in a way it IS FOR YOU... it's for you to USE your gift and SERVE GOD to reach people for God!


So, if you are a Christian, like me, prayerfully consider altering your thoughts about church and begin to partner with God through the local church to help people.


Jesus said, "I've come to SERVE not BE SERVED". "Be ye therefor imitators of God".


- Timmy








We Love Jesus, How-bout You?

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I have people ask me so many times the famous question; "What is life all about?" And my answer is usually the same; "It's all about Jesus!"

Now that is easy to say, but much more difficult to actually realize in our lives. And when I say "realize" I mean to live as though that is true. Many people, even well-meaning Christians, say they love Jesus, and they DO... but when you really love someone it should show.

In other words, it doesn't take people long to figure out that I love Jana (my wife) big time when you are around us. We do things that reflect our love - and we aren't "trying"... it just flows naturally. It's the same when you hang around a couple that doesn't have the "love" going on... you can see it, and even feel it when around them, huh?

I believe it is the same thing with those of us who love Jesus... you shouldn't be able to be around us too long before you notice - He/She loves Jesus!

In my opinion if you have to ANNOUCE "I am a Christian", then you messed up! If you are REALLY a Christian people should be able to SEE it and FEEL it when they are around you!

Q: How?

John 13: 34-36 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

A: Love is it my friends!

Q: How Did Jesus Love us?

A: Jesus loved us UNCONDITIONALLY! And He loved us SELF-LESS-LY!

Jesus completely gave Himself to us and FOR US!

So my challenge to you today is TO LOVE God, and LOVE those around you!

In ACTION TOP 10:

1.) Send a note to a friend and tell them how much you appreciate them!

2.) Write a poem to your spouse!

3.) Do something special with adn for your kids.

4.) Send a note to your boss thanking her for giving you a great job! (Praise goes both ways... many times we the employee expect it from our boss... but we never give it!)

5.) Send a note to your employees, thanking them for a job well-done!

6.) Compliment a cashier, or waiter next time you get the chance.

7.) Send your pastor a note of thanks (I just had to throw that one in there! ha!)

8.) Send a note to your machanic and thank him for doing a great job on your car repair.

9.) Send a note to your kid's teacher - thanking them.

10.) Buy someone's latte next time you are at a coffee shop.

Obviously there are a million ways to show love... but do it, and mean it from the heart!

- Timmy

A Fabulous Family Picnic!

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It's Tuesday morning, about 8:30am and I am sitting at my desk behind the computer (not the most exciting place to be... normally I like to study outdoors, or down at Union Station... it's a much cooler look...)... I will make sure to do that later in this week!

I just had to reflect on our annual picnic and outdoor service this past Sunday, May 20th... it was unbelievable! It was our best to date! Not just because we had 500 plus people there, but much more than that... it was just so stinking fun! Brandon and the worship band did outstanding; they always do! The food was great, the games for the kids were just too cool, the petting zoo, the pony rides, the cotton candy, the sand volleyball alll just great, even though the staff team got beat by a team who called themselves "Cool Club" whatever. (ha!) Even down to the CD music that was playing during the picnic was perfect! Oh yea, and the weather couldn't have been better! Flawless!

I met so many new people, and saw even more new faces!

Have a great week! And remember, "LIFE is WHAT you make of IT!"

-Timmy

God Loves Gays

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"GOD LOVES GAYS"
By Timmy Gibson

I just did one of the most controversial sermons I've ever done here at Mercy Church, or anywhere for that matter - called "GOD LOVES GAYS" on Sunday, May 6th.

I recently have been studying both sides of this issue of Homosexuality. I am interviewing homosexuals... Christian God-loving Homosexuals. Now I realize there may be some of you reading this (like the weirdos in Topeka, Kansas) who are hateful, hypocritical Christians who think all homosexuals are going to burn in hell. I am sad for your ignorance and lack of biblical knowledge! Because you of all people should realize that all of us are sinners – even you!

I am a Heterosexual male and have been all my life, so I can not relate to the "struggle" (if you will) of being a Homosexual, or having Homosexual desires. I've just never had them. But I have had several friends who have had these struggles, feelings, adn desires. And my first experience was with a good friend of mine in Bible College back in 1992.

My friend and I were in an evangelical denominational bible college at the time. And it was at that time my friend started coming to grips with his sexuality. He sang in a Gospel quartet as well during this time. At one of the meetings this Gospel Quartet had there was a prayer time where you can mention areas you need prayer, or support or whatever... so my friend mentioned struggling with feelings of homosexuality and wanted prayer, love and support. He got the exact opposite! I am totally embarrassed, frustrated, and saddened at the response he received... are you ready to hear it (it should hack you off)? They kicked him out! The sad thing is I could've guessed that is what would’ve happened by those judgemental un-loving so called "Christians".

Here is what just chaps my hide... why is it that people can mention any struggle they might have... lying, gluttony, lust for heterosexual sex outside the bounds of marriage, gossip; (normally people do not admit this one... because they justify it away like it's nothing but "sharing") gossip is a sin that is so poisonous it can break life long relationships with just a few mere words. The list goes on and on of things EVERY HUMAN on planet EARTH struggles with... why would we "especially those who call themselves Christians" who struggle with something, condemn homosexuals? I think there are several reasons and Jesus talks about it in the gospel account of Matthew.

Matthew 7:3-5 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

I think Jesus nails it here; they are hypocrites! We judge others because we are hypocrites! If I can point out something in someone else that makes me feel better about myself, my own struggle (at least in the eyes of others) then I feel better about ME. I know it’s sick really!
I had someone mention to me to rent the movie SAVED with Mandi Moore thought not my movie of choice I rented it and watched it. Wow, it wasn’t an academy winner BUT it had a powerful message I thought.

Basically the movie was all about these really weird “Christians” at a Christian school all “acting” like perfect little Jesus-loving-people. You then see them judge a homosexual, judge a girl who gets pregnant out of wedlock, and judges a Jewish girl who doesn’t fit into the “Christian Club”. Then the movie actually gets interesting; you later find out that each of those who were judging and pointing their little condemning “Christian” fingers at everyone were having affairs, lying, and hating… so it ended with WE ARE ALL SINNERS and can not JUDGE anyone else! We should LOVE! I am not much of a writer, but that gives enough to get the point.

Q: Aren't we ALL God's creation? YES
Q: Aren’t we all created in God’s image? YES
Q: Does God love EVERYONE? YES, He loves everyone! Period!
Q: What did Jesus say about homosexuality? Nothing! I wish He would have said something, but He didn't. Jesus was silent on this issue. I often wonder why? I have a small suspicion.
Q: Did Jesus die on the cross for only Heterosexual Republicans? NO! Jesus died for EVERYONE!

John 3:16 "for God so loved the WORLD that HE GAVE..."

World - kosmos - in the Greek means "all humanity, or all mankind"

Back to my friend who was kicked out because of his struggle with Homosexuality... He of course was completely rejected, hurt, offended, confused and more by this very un-Christian response to his struggle with homosexuality.

We as Christians SHOULD LOVE EVERYONE regardless of what their sexual orientation may be... whether we understand it or not, whether we struggle with it or not, whether we were raised to believe it's a sin or not, or even whether we believe it is a sin or not. In my opinion none of that matters... what matters is WE SHOULD LOVE and ACCEPT ALL PEOPLE, no matter what!

1 John 4:7-9 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

The entire law has been summed up with the law of LOVE!

Timmy Gibson
www.mercychurchKC.com