Newsletter Archive

A Letter  

Following this paragraph, you will read a letter—a response—to a person who wanted to know how I was supposed to be addressed about a problem.  I am letting you read my answer because maybe it will help you understand more who I am and how I see the job of “pastor.” 

                                                                                                   Dave  

Dear (you), I hope I have never hid behind the title of "pastor" because, while there seems to be a lot of socially and falsely conjured power in that job description, I am just a guy… a sinner saved by grace and wanting His perfection.  I am no better or no worse than anyone.  

The fact that I may know more about the Bible than some, and that I preach, teach and hopefully lead people to come to Christ, and/or grow in Him, does not make me above others.  I’m a guy who, by God's amazing and humorous grace, is doing the ministry He called me to do after I zealously disobeyed Him for many, many years. 

So, say what you have to say to me.  Be direct, blunt and literal if that helps you.   

I may disagree with you, but that doesn't mean I’m more special--or less--than you.   

I may become irritated with what you tell me because my soul didn't want to hear it.  That usually means I needed to hear it, so I will get over my little hissy fairly quickly. 

Or, I may agree with you.  I will most likely learn something that I didn't know, and I hope I let God teach me through it all to be a better son of His.  

I may have an answer or a point you hadn't considered, and vice versa from you. 

I hope that helps you decide to let me know what you think you need to say to me. 

God bless!

  -  Pastor Dave

   ‘Three R’s - II’…  

Relaxation, Recognition,

and Rejuvenation

R waiting for you.  

What’s up?   A Children’s Ministry Team Retreat

When?  Saturday, August 15, 2009, 8:30 AM-2:00 PM.

Where?  Fellowship Hall

What’s it all about?   Relaxation & Recognition

Morning snacks, massages, lunch, sharing and fellowship

Rejuvenation -  for you and for our ministry

Review -  our action items from Three R’s in January and to make new ones                                              

Sharing of curriculum and materials

Communion before lunch

Response-yours: this day is for your input, to be useful and fulfilling for you!                                   

On the agenda:  We need to discuss the use of our rooms; and any additional topics or ideas you may have.  Please let Chris know.  

Reservations ARE required, so please RSVP or direct questions to Chris Knox, Children’s Ministries Director at christinatk@comcast.net or 865-7864 or the church office (865-9334).  Please include information on any need you may have for child care.   

New volunteers are urged to respond to this invitation…and will be greeted with loud cheers! 

NOTES FROM THE NURSE  

Good sleeping posture allows the body to follow the natural S-shape curve of the spine.  The following advice may protect your neck and back while you sleep.  

Lying in certain positions while you sleep can throw the spine out of alignment.  For example, sleeping on your stomach puts stress on your neck and exaggerates the curve of the lower back.  A better choice that helps maintain the natural curve of your spine is to sleep on your side with your knees bent and a pillow placed between.  

Another option is to sleep on your back, but keep your knees slightly raised by placing a pillow underneath them.  This prevents your lower back from overarching by supporting the weight of your extended legs.  If you simply can’t break the habit of sleeping on your stomach, place a pillow underneath your stomach to keep your spine aligned.  If you have neck pain, consider using a neck support pillow.   

In the Journal of Rheumatology – the report is that individuals with chronic neck pain who slept with a neck support pillow and did isometric neck exercises 5 to 10 minutes a day reported improvement in their symptoms.  

PRAYER WARRIORS

He Shall Hear My Voice

Words spoken in prayer rise on the wings of faith
And enter safely into the throne room of grace.

The Father not only hears each word, 
He also recognizes each voice as a father discerns the sound of his child’s call for help.

Your voice is precious to Him, and prayer opens
the door for Him to speak to your heart with peace,
comfort and love.  

“Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud; and He shall hear my voice”

    Psalm 55:17  KJV  

Blessings to all of our Prayer Warriors!!  We are now 50 voices; 38 via e-mail and 12 are notified by phone.  When you request a prayer, imagine how God loves and hears us.  We are very busy with requests both on Sundays and all through the week.  I check the e-mails several times a day,  so that your request goes out quickly and prayers go up to God.  Some of the prayers are for people we don’t even know, but He recognizes them all.  

If you would like to become a Prayer Warrior, please call me at 869-2328, or e-mail me at lans233@q.com.  

If you have a request during the week, call the church office, 8t6-9334, or my number.  Please update us often, so we can know how the prayer was answered. 

“Conforming to God's Truth” 
by Dr. Charles Stanley

James 1:23-25  ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

The Lord conforms us to the truth by continually confronting us with the truth. And when He does, we have two options: either we can accept it, or we can ignore it.

When we accept truth, we can fully expect our Father's richest blessings. When we do not, then we have no reason to expect any blessings at all, because we have simply denied the Word of God. This is not an attitude that the Lord will bless, and it is certainly not the way we become more Christlike.

Do you accept truth or ignore it? Think about the way you exit church on Sunday mornings. Do you walk away with the sermon heavy on your mind, trying to commit the main points to memory, and reciting the key Scripture passages? Or do you let the whole message slide right out of your head?

Even committed churchgoers lose more truth between the sanctuary door and the Sunday lunch table than they realize! The true meat of the message doesn't even start to make an impact until you give it time to settle in your mind. If you stop thinking about the sermon as soon as you hit the parking lot after the service, then you are not allowing God's truth to work its way into your life.

Don't be a passive listener during the sermon. This week, master your attention in worship--allow God's Word to penetrate your life. And take notes so the message will sink in. Talk about it over lunch. Don't lose one more sermon in the church parking lot!

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2009 All Rights Reserved.

  What is going on with celebrities lately?
Excerpted from Gotquestions.org; July 10, 2009

Suicides, drug overdoses, (prescription or illicit), divorces, alcoholism, financial disasters – why are tragedies like these seemingly common among celebrities?  Why do many celebrities, some of whom are relatively intelligent and good people, make such complete disasters of their lives?  There is no single answer that definitively applies to each and every celebrity tragedy, but if there is an explicit biblical answer, it is one word – pride.

The most powerful biblical example of a “fall from grace” is Satan. Listen to Ezekiel’s description of Satan before his fall: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden , the garden of God ; every precious stone adorned you…your settings and mountings were made of gold.” (Ezekiel 28:12-13)  

What happened to Satan? “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” (Ezekiel 28:17)  

Isaiah expands on the cause of Satan’s fall: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13-14).  Instead of honoring God who created him and gave him beauty, Satan became proud and worshipped himself.

What is the end result? “All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” (Ezekiel 28:19)  “But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate.” (Isaiah 14:15-16)

The messages of Isaiah and Ezekiel regarding the fate of Satan sound remarkably similar to some of the tragedies that have occurred among celebrities in recent years.

Member: What does it mean?

\MEHM-buhr\ n.   {Crazy Talk}

One who joins a group in order to avoid expectations of participation; God’s partner in mission.  

We are also supposed to learn from our elders and pass that same knowledge on to those who are younger in the Lord than us. Here is an account of personal Epiphany based on the important lesson an older gentleman from our church taught me.  

I have been noticing for some time now, that the weeds along Highway 47 were so big that at times it was difficult to read the church marquee until you were right up on it.   Since I have been the one to put the wording up on the marquee it was a little irritating to me that the Village of Peralta has not done anything to cut down the weeds and allow people a better view of our marquee.

So in walks this older man, and we get to talking about stuff in general.  It happens to be one of my ‘in office’ work days, and just before he gets ready to leave for the day, he asks me a few questions: “Can you get into Medlin Hall?” I answered with a yes. “Can you start up that lawn tractor that’s in there?” Again I answered with a yes. “Do you think you can drive that mower down the road?”   Another yes.  “Well, if you’ll mow down those weeds today, I’ll bring my weed spray over tomorrow and spray all those weeds so they don’t spring back up.”

And there it was, a simple lesson that will stay with me the rest of my life, I hope. This is God’s church, I am blessed to be a member here, and yet my attitude in a lot of things is “SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIX THIS”. This Elder, and several others who do a lot of work projects around here, see something that needs to be done, and they do it.

Incidentally, the weeds were already too tall for the mower to cut, and I kept throwing the belt off.  Four times I had to fix the belt and decided that I might break the mower so I stopped and called the gentleman to tell him of my dilemma. He said that it was no problem and that he would bring his big weed eater over the next day and take care of it.   Well, I planned on trying to come by and help him, but when I drove by the road that same evening, he had already come and done the cutting.    

OurSpace youth group hit brick walls every time we tried to set up a mission trip for this year. The above lesson helped God direct us to holding our Mission trip right here at PMUMC this year and we will be fulfilling that work the week of July 26^th through the 31^st.     

MISSION \MIH-shuhn\ n.    The greatest party ever; what God is up to for you, for your neighbor, and for all creation; your participation and presence are boldly requested.  

IF YOU ARE THE ONE GOD HAS SHOWN SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED, MAYBE YOU ARE THE ONE HE WANTS TO DO THE FIXIN.                            

--    In Christ,   

Marlow Frasier  

Colores of Worship

Ladies, please come and join us to work on banners for worship.  We meet in Fellowship Hall the 2^nd Thursday of the month from 9:30 -11:00 am (August 13^th).  Share in this ministry, as we glorify our Lord and Savior with colors. 

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN  

Greetings to

all Women of the Church!!  

The general unit of United Methodist Women will be meeting on August 11th – after a two month break.  We invite you to come and meet our UMW Albuquerque District President, Opal Lee Gill.  Opal has returned from a trip to Africa and will share her experiences with us as well as bring us up to date on district happenings in the fall months ahead.  

Join us at 9:30 am in Fellowship Hall, August 11th for a summer brunch.  Come, and bring a friend.  We have lots to share!!! 

Chris Knox and Sylvia Regelbrugge are our co-hostesses.  

--   Margrace Grotefend, President

Mission Outreach continues to be very active on Monday mornings.  In the last four weeks, we have assisted 13 new families and 92 other families.  The total number of individuals helped is:  225 adults and 215 children.  

With school beginning soon – and sales offered in the stores, we will begin to collect school supplies to help those in need.  Please leave any contributions in the shopping cart in the Narthex, if you can.  

Thank you so much for all your donations.     GOD BLESS!!

--   Janice L. Knowlton

CRAFTY LADIES  

Ladies (and gentlemen) are welcome and invited to join us as we craft items for the annual Holiday Bazaar.

August meeting days and times are:

Aug 4 & 5^th, Aug 18 & 19 from 9:00 am  until 2:30 pm  in Fellowship Hall. 

Items needed:  hard sided luggage; 8”, 9”, 10” pipe for chimes; jewelry; straight nails. 

The Directory-Finally-But Worth the wait!

Hopefully everyone will get to know each other’s names now.

As always, I’m sure that there will be some mistakes and some omissions that you can definitely blame on me. Let me know of your corrections, please, or send a note to the office and we’ll do the best we can to remedy the situation.   Since the Directory was such a long work in process, there are new people and even some long-time members who may not be pictured.   Let me know who you are and we will take some more pictures and make additional pages that everyone can add to their respective Directory.   It took a lot of work to put together, and I would like to thank our Youth for financing and binding them, and special thanks to Genevieve Hernandez and Debbie Frasier for the hours they have put in.   Remember, the Directory is FREE, but you are also welcome to make a donation earmarked to the Youth to help offset the cost of production.        

Thanks for your continued support!!

--   Marlow Frasier, PMUMC Youth Director

News from the Ark  

An update on what’s going on in the Nursery.  

To put your mind at ease, especially since we recently went through the H1N1 pandemic scare, we sanitize every surface in the nursery before and after every use.  Once a month, we sanitize and inspect every toy.   During the month while the nursery is in session when a child has a toy in his or her mouth, we take the toy and put it in a laundry basket and they are run thru my dishwasher.  We do this as our standard of care so that our children have a safe and healthy place to play.    

We did our own VBS in the Nursery – consistently, 7 and 8 children attended.  Some were members of our church and some were new.  We joined the whole group to learn songs and watched the skits that Ms. Joan, Skeeter and Marlow performed.  (Oh No Pharaoh  -  I’d be surprised if the kids don’t see Marlow in the store, run up to him and kick him--they loved to not like him at all).  Then we went to the nursery and learned the bible story (which one day, two of our kids got up and explained—Passover no less—to the whole group, on the microphone, I might add --- Amy, Jenifer and myself were ALL proud).   We did crafts, played games (Moses Says was a favorite), watched Chatter’s Adventures, and to top it all off, we were served a snack right there in the nursery.   So next year keep in mind that your children 4 years old and under are welcome in the nursery to participate in VBS.     

On Sundays, we are doing so much with the children, a short Bible story, crafts, activities, games, etc.  (Sort of a mini-VBS)  We are going over Old Testament and New Testament lessons, like Jonah and the Whale, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, and of course, Noah’s Ark.  Kids, at this age, have a real good concept of God, but Jesus is a bit of a mystery, so we are doing lessons on the parables, so that Jesus is not just a baby that shows up at Christmas and a guy at Easter.  We currently have a challenge going, for the children to learn and sing back Jesus Loves Me.  They get a prize and are allowed to get help from Mom, Dad and/or family members.  We are also getting ready to start our own Nursery Band.   There’s going to be a whole lot of shakin goin on!   (We have so much fun in the nursery that sometimes if you come by, you may find it hard to tell the children from the workers.)     

We accept donations:  baby toys, books, games, children’s bible songs on CDs or tape, and we do go through a lot of juice (100% juice that we dilute) and diaper wipes, so if you have any of these items or come across store coupons that you have no need for, we could use them, just leave them with Genevieve in the Church office or by the nursery door.    

 If you have any of the following and are looking to give them a good home, we could use any odds and ends of craft supplies, like:  pipe cleaners, large buttons, etc., basically anything that can be colored, painted or glued or that can be colored, painted or glued on like:   construction paper, poster board,  foam sheets or scrap paper.   We could also use water colors, finger paints, big crayons and markers (they do need to be kid-safe) stamps and sponges.   We are also starting a box of dress up clothes for the kids and could use any old clothes, especially, old hats, costume jewelry, (non-scary) Halloween costumes, etc.   

If you are the leader or organizer of an event or class being held other than on Sunday morning and you need the nursery open, please contact Danene at 864-8019.  We ask for a week’s notice and a count of the children you anticipate will be placed in the nursery, and if you will need child care for children older than 4 years.  This gives us the opportunity to have the staff required in place for your event.   Our nursery is regularly open on Sunday mornings, beginning at 8:15 am with the first service and closing after the second.  All children 4 years and under are welcome.  

From Your Nursery Staff:  Danene, Shawnda, Tessa, Erin, Cammie, Angie, Amy, and Lana

We’d love you to join in the singing!!  

A Fellowship Gathering is planned for August and new music will be introduced.  (Date TBA, so keep reading your bulletin!!)  

If you are interested in singing, laughing, and worshipping the Lord with us, please call Heather at 866-1198 or e-mail her at hrindels4@msn.com.     

Christmas music is here!!!  

 -- Heather Rindels

I saw the article below on a devotional page on the internet, and I decided to bring excerpts of it to you.  Lately, I have had the experience of being used as a sounding board for some folks because they don’t want to talk to others about   problems they are having with them.  But, the people with problems don’t tell those they are having problems with.  And, I have to confess that I have been guilty of listening rather than telling those who are upset to pray and talk to those who hurt them, etc.  I am going to seek God’s strength to iron out my lack of fortitude when I am confronted with a complaint about someone, and I pray this article will help all of us understand the importance of being a direct Christian when someone has said or done something that wounded your soul.       -- Pastor Dave     

Excerpts from the article:  

“Talk to People, Rather Than About Them”         
by John Piper    

In Luke 18:9, Luke introduces the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector like this: "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt."  It may seem minor at first, but notice that it says Jesus told the parable TO some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.  It does not say He spoke this parable ABOUT them.  Jesus looked at the Pharisees and told them a parable that implied that they were self-righteous.  He was not talking about them but to them.  

Though it may seem minor, it contains a lesson that is huge for the health of our church. Let's be like this: let's not talk to others about people's faults; let's talk to them about their faults.  It is easy - and far too tasty on the tongue of our sinful souls - to talk about people. But it is hard - and often tastes bitter - to talk to them.  When you are talking about them, they can't correct you or turn the tables and make you the problem.   

(It’s true that) if you talk to them about a problem, it can be very painful.  So, it feels safer to talk about people rather than talking to them.

But Jesus does not call us to make safe choices.  He calls us to make loving choices.  In the short run, love is often more painful than self-protecting conflict-avoidance.  But in the long run, our consciences condemn us for this easy path and we do little good for others.  So let's be more like Jesus in this case and not talk about people, but talk to them, both with words of encouragement, because of the evidences of grace we see in their lives, and with words of caution or warning or correction or even rebuke. Paul urged us to use the full range of words for the full range of needs: "Admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all."            (1 Thessalonians 5:14).  

I don't mean you can't discuss my sermon, both negatively and positively, without coming to me.  Public figures put themselves on the line and understand that everyone will have an opinion about what they say.  That's okay.  What I mean is when you know a brother or a sister is in the grip of some sinful attitude or behavior, take the log out of your eye, and then go to them and try to help them with humble biblical counsel.

My longing for our church is that we be free from gossip.  Let's be forthright and honest and courageous and humble.  Jesus was amazingly blunt at times.  Love sometimes sounds like that.  He could have easily been accused of callousness or lovelessness.  But we know He was the most loving person who ever lived. 

So let's follow Him in this matter.  He died for us so that all the logs and specks in our eyes may be forgiven.  That should give us both courage and care in dealing with others.  Especially when we realize that the faults of our brothers and sisters have also been forgiven by Jesus. 
        

“Praising Pioneer Club"

 For ages 4 years -6^th grade  

 Meeting place: in Education Bldg classrooms      

Wednesdays; 6:00-7:30 pm        

Activities include:  Choir, Bible learning, crafts, awards for sashes, cook-outs, etc.)

We will be singing on Big Sunday, August 30^th .

Join Now!

Contact:     Debbie   Frasier: 480-9720 or Chris Knox: 865-7864

Made With Love

Anyone wishing to help make blankets for newborn babies is invited to come to our next session - Saturday, August 8^th at 10:30 am in Fellowship Hall.  All blankets are donated to local hospitals/organizations. 

August Birthdays:

Anniversaries:

May be filled with God's blessings on your very special day!!

If your name has been missed, this month or ever, please contact the church office with the appropriate information.  Thank you!

The 2009 PMUMC Annual Budget   

The Church Financials are in the church office and always available.  Contact Walt Timmons if you’re interested in them.

YEAR TO DATE COLLECTIONS: