The Wisdom of Scripture

People, as a rule, dislike change.

Yet there are times when change is inevitable.

Scripture is clear on this.

The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us of just some of the many changes we can expect in this world.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NET) - For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones; time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; A time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Sometimes, change comes upon us without warning.

Often, we can see it coming on the horizon.

When the latter is the case, the more effort we put in early on the better.

By waiting until the last-minute, we put undue stress on ourselves.

We also put unnecessary stress on others as well.

In preparation for a future change I was assigned a very rigorous and physically demanding task.

I knew that once I started it would take me several days to complete the task.

I have not done this sort of work in a very long time.

But being in good health for my age I took on the task with vigor.

                                                                                                                          

One verse kept coming to mind as I worked at it.

Philippians 4:13 (NET)- I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.

This was especially true as I neared the end of my task,

After several days of hard work, I realized the task was near completion.

I realized that if I put good effort into it and counted on His help I could have the task finished by day’s end.

That is what happened,

As soon as the task was complete, scripture reminded me of something else.

The need for rest.

After God created the universe in six days, he rested on the seventh.

Even Jesus sought out quiet places from time to time.

Following their example, I now take some time to rest.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, November 9, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, November 16, 2018

Agents of Change

People, as a rule, dislike change.

If we had our way, we would like things to stay pretty much the way they are.

Yet things change all the time.

No matter how much we dislike it, one thing can be said for change.

Without change growth would be impossible.

There would be no advancement.

There would be no advancements in medicine.

There would be no advancements in technology.

Despite every advancement people still tend to dislike change.

People in the past were not that much different from us.

About 2,000 years, people encountered the biggest change ever in Jesus Christ.

His earthly ministry was unlike anything ever seen before.

He ministered to the lowly and outcast.

He healed the sick and the lame.

His criticisms were reserved for those in positions of authority.

Even the dead were brought back to life.

That made Christ the greatest agent of change… ever.

Many disliked this change.

This was true even after His death.

In the book of Acts we see that the apostles were to be the next agents of change.

They quickly found themselves in trouble for it.

They were brought before the council and the high priest for their efforts.

But a Pharisee and teacher of the law, Gamaliel, began to understand.

He told the others…

Acts 5:38-39a (NET) - So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God.”

2,000 years have gone by and no one has been able to stop the changes Jesus set into motion.

Changes that began with Christ continued through the apostles.

It now falls to us to be the agents of change in a world that dislikes change.

But we can only be agents of change with His help.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 10, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, August 17, 2018

Teamwork

The last two weeks have been among the most challenging I have ever experienced.

The circumstances that led up to these two weeks were completely outside my realm of control.

As the situation grew steadily worse it became obvious that something had to be done.

I was brought in as one member of a team of five people tasked with solving the problem.

Although there were some similarities in our backgrounds we were unique individuals.

We each brought to the table a unique set of strengths.

Together, as a team, we looked at the situation objectively.

We then weighed the options available to us.

Finally, as we neared the end of the first week, we determined the best course of action.

This course of action would bring with it a unique set of potential problems.

It would also be extremely unpopular with a few people who were not part of the team.

We presented our plan and defended it as best we could.

We then put that plan into action.

During the process we encountered a few problems we anticipated and we dealt with them.

We also encountered a few that could not be anticipated.

Working together as a team, we were able to resolve these as well.

Finally, we regained control of the situation and circumstances have returned to normal.

The members of this team have returned to their normal routines.

It is very unlikely we will ever get the chance to come together as team ever again.

I am sure that I will fondly remember each of these individuals and how we came together and succeeded as a team.

There are also some personal lessons I took with me as well.

First, there was a sixth member of this team as God was with us from start to finish.

Second, as challenging as this was it pales in comparison to the realities that some people face day in and day out and so we have no reason to complain.

Third, we are each the stronger for having faced up to the challenge together.

Fourth, we will each be able to utilize what we learned from this situation as we face other challenges in the future.

There will always be times when we are faced with challenges that seem overwhelming.

But, we do not have to face them alone.

We can put together an unbeatable team and overcome them.

Just make certain that God the first person you ask to join your team.

Psalm 138:3 (NET) – When I cried out for help, You answered me. You made me bold and energized me.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Stop Your Striving

Psalm 46:10 (NET) – He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”

The account of Joseph in the book of Genesis is fascinating.

It documents Joseph’s journey from a youth to becoming the second most powerful man in the land.

Once he had that authority, Joseph saved the land and its people from a terrible famine.

Yet Joseph’s journey was not an easy one and it took a considerable amount of time.

Joseph’s journey began when his own brothers hated him out of jealousy.

They threw him into a pit and conspired to kill him.

God intervened and Joseph was sold to a caravan.

Eventually this caravan made its way into Egypt and Joseph was sold into slavery.

An Egyptian official named Potiphar purchased Joseph.

God was with Joseph and Potiphar’s household prospered through him.

Just when things seemed to be going well for Joseph, Potiphar’s wife found herself attracted to Joseph.

She made advances to Joseph.

Joseph rejected these advances.

This infuriated Potiphar’s wife who falsely accused him of attacking her.

As a result, Joseph was thrown into prison.

Yet even in prison God was with Joseph.

While imprisoned, Joseph correctly interpreted the dreams of two men who once served Pharaoh.

The man who once served as baker was executed, just as Joseph interpreted.

The man who once served as his wine steward returned to his post, again, just as Joseph interpreted.

Joseph asked the latter to remember him when he returned to serve Pharaoh.

The man, however, forgot all about Joseph.

Joseph remained in prison until Pharaoh was troubled by dreams which none of his advisers could interpret.

At this, the wine steward remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him.

Joseph was removed from prison and brought before Pharaoh.

He correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and Pharaoh made Joseph the second most powerful man in all the land.

God continued to be with Joseph in this role and the decisions Joseph made saved the lives of many people including the brothers who once thought about killing him.

Joseph’s journey was long and filled with difficulty.

Yet God was with Joseph each and every step of the way.

God is with us on our journey as well.

Our journey may seem long and difficult, but that is not an indication that God is either absent or does not care.

God cares and is using our circumstances to prepare us for what He has in store for us.

We must trust God’s time table rather than our own.

We must be patient.

Perhaps patience is one of the things God is trying to teach us along the way.

Isn’t it time we stop striving on our own and truly recognizing that He is God?

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Growing the Distance

Growth is something every church hopes to experience.

Our church welcomed seven new members last Sunday.

Words cannot adequately express how grateful to God I am for bringing them to us.

Yet growth is not merely confined to numbers.

Growth is something Christians should experience in their personal walk with the Lord as well.

When our young people reach the age of confirmation our pastor asks them two questions.

He asks them what they expect to receive from the church.

He also asks what the church can expect to receive from them.

I frankly do not remember how I responded to those questions because too many years have gone by.

I really do think these are excellent questions and ones that we should ask ourselves from time to time.

I suspect that if we did we would find that our answers would change as we continue to mature.

What I offer my church today I could not have imagined decades ago.

What I offer in the future I may not be able to imagine today.

My expectations of my church have no doubt changed since the day I was confirmed.

My expectations of it in the future will be different than my expectations today.

That is another aspect of growth.

With God's help, we will grow in numbers.

With God's help, we will also continue to grow as individuals.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (NIV) – I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Turning Point

When I was a young man, I had a job that I enjoyed working with people that I liked.

There is an old saying that states that ignorance is bliss.

I was happy but only because I was ignorant of changes that would soon turn that part of my world upside down in the span of one day.

One Friday morning, I was approached by two managers.

They informed me that the company had promised a shipment to a customer that day.

They added that when the product reached my department for inspection we were to do whatever was necessary in order to make sure that product shipped that day.

While this might prove difficult I could not assure them of the likelihood of success until I had more information.

I needed to know how much product there was, when I could expect it and who the customer was.

There were over one hundred units and I could expect them by the middle of the afternoon.

This was going to be challenging.

Then they told me who the customer was and that made a challenging task impossible.

This customer was associated with a governmental agency and both demanded that every dimension on every part be measured for compliance and safety.

Even if I put every inspector on this task, there was simply no way we could both measure and record everything and certify that the inspection had been performed to their specifications.

It was obvious that they were not happy with my stance and they strongly suggested that I think it over before the parts made their way to me.

They walked away.

The moment they departed, the people in my department asked what was going on, so I filled them in.

They asked the question I anticipated, "What are we going to do?"

I told them that we were simply going to do our jobs to the best of our ability.

We were going to comply with the customer’s and agency’s demands unless they provided us with a waiver.

That afternoon the parts made it to our area and the two managers accompanied them.

I asked them if it were possible to request the waivers we needed.

They informed me that waivers would not be requested.

I told them that this was regrettable.

I turned to the staff and reminded them that we knew what the requirements were.

I divided the parts equally between us and we began working.

We were going to give it our best effort but ultimately we knew that we would not be able to keep this deadline.

The two managers watched us work for a few minutes and left so that they could talk in private.

About an hour later, I was summoned to one of their offices.

He reminded me that he had personally promised this shipment.

I then reminded him that he knew their requirements and therefore should either have not made the promise or requested waivers.

He told me that he expected me to look the other way.

He added that the next time, my job might depend on it.

What he was in essence telling me was that I would have to be willing to be dishonest.

This would mean being dishonest with myself as well as with a customer.

I informed him that I was not willing to compromise my integrity.

2 Chronicles 19:9 (NET) - He commanded them: "Carry out your duties with respect for the LORD, with honesty, and with pure motives."

I knew that my future with that company could never again be what I had hoped it could be and immediately began looking for a new job.

With God's help, I found one.

For what it’s worth, I have been at my current firm in excess of twenty years and that would not have happened had I compromised what I knew to be correct.

As I prepared to leave that company, I sensed that the people in my department were genuinely sad to see me leave.

I wished them all well and I still think of them often.

I suspect at least some of them were eventually asked to compromise what they knew to be right.

Although difficult, I hope they made they made the right choice.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

I wanna be a rock star

 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32
Many teaching we get in these two verses. I will look in this: "If you hold to my teaching..."
To believe in Jesus is more than to  know about Him. It is more than to know what He is able to do. To trust in Him means  to abandon our beliefs, even when we "believe" they may be came from God.
Many times we were taught about God but few of us look at Bible carefully to know if we were taught right, we use to believe because we use to believe!
When Jesus calls us, He says come and trust in me like I'm, even (and I dare to say, frequently) this believe means to abandon our on view point about Him. How many time we use to question our on faith? We have our faith and we always think be right.
John 7:27 shows us people confused about if Jesus was or not The Messiah, and why? Because a common sense in the time, used to say that when The Messiah come, nobody would know where He would come from and Jesus, even showing great miracles, amazing teachings and uncountable signs, was knowing by everybody, His birth city, parents and family making Him not fulfill 'the common sense'.
what it means, Patricia, you can ask me?
It means, dearest reader,  if we day by day, do not seek God, and obey His word more than religion and common sense, we are going to lost the real Jesus, and what is more important, salvation! Some times, we see Jesus in people that we don't think be "someone of God" and this kind of thought block us to listen God. We use to listen and read "that preachers we like" and few time we dare to question them, we just listen! Jesus said: If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31,32. 
To hold His teaching many (many) times, will means be against common sense, religious traditions and culture.
We are near of a big american commemoration, Halloween. Some churches have bringing it into its temples cultivating witches, monsters and many kinds of bad stuff, just because 'it is our culture'. Brazil has many similar things, what people call folklore and I call blindness.
But, what matter is, that we have to be free and this freedom only come from obey Jesus and His word. To keep our salvation we have to stay living Matthew 5. Loving those who persecute us. Forgiving those who hurt us. Helping the needy.

I have  seen the church of 21 century. This is the most rich church of all time, and to our shame and sadness, the 21 century church is that has less impact and influence in the society. How is it possible? Maybe it is possible because people and leaders of this church, look for become similar to the world. Our clothes, life style, language, and habits in almost nothing differs of the world. We have the same desires, we have the same plans, we look for our own will, we look for be known by our greatness, our diploma in big universities. The 'dream' of big part of people that are called christian, is the same dream of those who aren't.
It is rare listen young from our churches say that to dream in become missionary, pastor our be known for forgive, love and live like Jesus. They want to be celebrity! If be pastor, they want be at TV, our to be a "gospel rock' star".  Resigns, altruism aren't words of our vocabulary!
Church, we have to wake up. We have to come back to Jesus life style. More of Him and less (too much less) of us.
To be a real christian, we need fast, turn away. We have to review our concepts before it guides us to too far that will be impossible to come back.
Come back church, come back!

Pati Nanni

In Charge of More

This week, our church hosted another successful Vacation Bible School.

I am so grateful to God for my church family.

A great deal of effort goes into this ministry. I do not use the word work here because many do not consider what they do as work.

Preparations begin months in advance but the end result is a very successful ministry and community outreach.

Although children and their walk with God is the focal point of Bible School, we also provide an adult class every evening,

I felt both happy and privileged to teach two of those adult classes.

My second class posed a particularly interesting challenge as I had to discuss the first six chapters of Nehemiah in about one hour.

The point we were stressing that particular night was that "Prayer helps us stand strong!"

Thinking back on the number of times I have read Nehemiah, I was always impressed with Nehemiah’s personal growth and the number of skills that God bestowed upon him as he rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem.

From my professional life, I often thought that Nehemiah would have had an incredible resume.

When it came time to teach this class, I set up an easel with a large pad and wrote on the top line "Resume of Nehemiah."

I told my class that as we went through the first six chapters we would look for the specific skill sets God gave Nehemiah and we would build his resume as we went along.

I began with the last verse of Nehemiah chapter one which stated that he was "wine steward for the emperor". As we are to do our jobs as if we were doing them for God, we made that our first item.

We then went back to the beginning of Nehemiah and began to read.

We read that Nehemiah mourned, fasted and prayed so we added these three items next.

I asked the class to notice how specific Nehemiah’s prayer was.

Nehemiah requested letters from the emperor granting him safe passage and building materials, so we added "administration".

Upon arrival, Nehemiah surveyed the damage to the wall so we next added "damage assessment".

Next he rallied the people for the work at hand, so we added "management and motivation".

The third chapter detailed the various groups that worked on the wall and the sections each was responsible for rebuilding. So we added "project management" and "human resources".

Enemies then threatened to attack those working on the wall, and Nehemiah responded by having the people prepared for battle even while work on the wall continued. So, we added "military general" to the list.

Many had to borrow from the few that could lend just to buy grain and pay taxes.

Nehemiah grew angry at the interest the lenders were imposing on their own people.

He told them that what they were doing was enslaving their brothers and sisters and he strongly reminded them that this was wrong. They immediately agreed to stop this practice, so we added "spiritual advisor" to the list.

Nehemiah was then made "governor" so we added that to the list and learned that he did not demand from the people that which former governors still expected out of his respect for God.

Nehemiah’s enemies continued to conspire against him and even some of his own prophets were influenced by those enemies.

Throughout this monumental task, Nehemiah remained faithful and he prayed often.

In fifty two days, the wall was completed.

I reminded my students that Nehemiah’s prayers helped him stand strong and we should always be mindful that "Prayer helps us stand strong!"

Before I dismissed the class, I read the parable of the talents.


In it a man went on a journey and entrusted his slaves to his property.

Matthew 25:15 (NET) - To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

The first two put their master’s money to work and earned him more but the third buried his one talent in the ground .

The third was rebuked by his master and had his talent given to the first slave who had earned him the most.

The other two were each praised by their master.

Matthew 25:21 (NET) - His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

I pointed to the resume we created and reminded my students that as Nehemiah continued to be faithful, God had indeed put him in charge of many things!

He does the same with us today.

I also cannot help but notice that parable used ‘talent’ for the currency.

God gives each of us ‘talents’ of a different nature.

He gives these to us in order that we bring glory to Him.

If we are faithful with what He gives us, He will give us even more with which to bring him even more glory!



Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

On One Who Taught the Teacher

On Saturday, I attended the funeral service of a very dear and wonderful woman.

She was a woman of outstanding character who was actively involved in our church for decades.

She loved God and served Him faithfully for many years.

She taught Sunday School and for a number of those years she taught our confirmation class.

I consider myself blessed because I was but one of the many students that she mentored along the way and I certainly am the richer for it.

Our pastor had many wonderful things to say about this fine woman.

One of the things he said that struck a chord deep within me was, "Sunday School teachers takes their position very seriously."

I found myself nodding in complete agreement.

I agreed because I currently teach a Sunday School class as well.

My pastor cited the following passage of Scripture at her service and it is a more than sobering reminder.

James 3:1 (NET) - Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

Since that is the case, why would anyone do it?

Why would anyone risk being judged more strictly?

We do it because He called us to do it.

Romans 12:6-7 (NET) - And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. If it is service, he must serve, if it is teaching, he must teach;

She answered her call for the same reason I answered mine.

We did so because, in the words of Paul, we "must".

We did so knowing that if God called us to do this, He would also equip us to do this.

God equipped her for this responsibility.

God also used her, and others like her, to help equip me for my responsibility.

He was at work doing this for me even though I did not realize it at the time.

When I was young, God blessed me in many ways.

He blessed me with excellent teachers.

He also blessed me with excellent role models.

A few special individuals, like her. were both.

Now, it’s my turn.

I admit that is a bit intimidating, because teachers like her have set the bar extremely high.

I also admit that since I became a Sunday School teacher, I have learned some things as well.

Teaching comes with responsibility.

Teaching comes with a lot of work.

Fortunately, teaching also comes with a tremendous amount of love.

That is not all.

It also comes with the satisfaction of knowing that God is using me as yet another link in the chain of teachers that He continues to weave.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com