Greetings to all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ:

Can you believe it...summer is almost upon us! A time for vacations, family outings, long weekends and visiting loved ones we haven’t seen for awhile. A time for fun and relaxation after a long winter; I don’t know about you but it seemed like a real long winter to me this year. But now it’s time for warm, sunny days and all the enjoyment that comes with this particular time of the year. I hope you and yours have a great time.

I do have one question to ask you though before summer hits us square in the face: “Where will Jesus be in your summer plans?” I’m afraid too many times Jesus is left out in the cold as we celebrate the warmth of summer. Personally, I know I’ve been guilty of that, how about you? It’s simply so easy to do! God won’t mind if we miss church this weekend to go to the lake, play golf, baseball, soccer, go fishing, camping, down to Branson, out West, out East, down South, up North, etc. etc. etc.

But the fact is that God does mind...and He minds very much! He doesn’t mind us having fun. He doesn’t mind us visiting friends and relatives. He doesn’t even mind us being out of town and unable to attend our own local churches. He created us to have a great and wonderful life full of joy, fun, love and meaningful relationships; but, He also created us to have that great life not by ourselves, but within Christ and in relationship with Him. Instead, what often happens is we allow ourselves to make choices that exclude God and Christ from these meaningful times of our lives; especially during the time of the year we call summer. It’s as if God gets in the way of us having our well deserved fun, when in reality, God is the real source of all the gifts and graces that allow us to have that all important fun! And God wants and insists on being included in that special part of our lives as well. Simply put, God insists on being first in our lives all the time, including summer!

Let’s be honest: too many times we go on vacation and forget about lots of things; including our commitment to our local church financially, and our promise to keep Christ first in our lives. As professing Christians, these are the absolute minimum requirements that God calls us to make. Yet many of us cast such commitments and promises aside during the summer, without apparent regard to our relationship with Jesus or the difficulty that it may cause our local congregations. God calls us to put our relationship with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ first in our lives and that means not missing our full tithe for the church because we were out of town on vacation. Sometimes I think Christians view their tithe as some sort of “cover charge” that we only need to pay when we show up for services. I pray that if you’re reading this “Pastor’s Pen” you know in your heart that this is simply not true. We are called by God, Himself to tithe back a full 10% of all we receive from Him in loving obedience so God’s work can continue within the church whether we are present or not. It’s God’s way for all the needs of the church and His people to be met in an honorable and Christian fashion and we are all called to be obedient to that plan. It is truly a very big part of our Christian journey.

So, is God saying that we shouldn’t have fun this summer and only spend our money on Him? Absolutely not! Is He saying that we shouldn’t go any where and give all our money to Him? Again, God answers a resounding no! What God IS saying is that He wants us to remember Him in the summer to. He wants to be first in our lives every season of the year, at all times and in all places. This is what it means to be in a right relationship with the Lord.

So, I’m wondering if we can make this summer different than past summers. If you have never been guilty of putting Jesus on the back burner during the summer months, please know that I’m extremely proud of you and this letter is not intended for you. But for the rest for us, can we strive to keep Jesus first in our lives throughout our summer as well as throughout the whole year? Can we keep out tithing current so our churches don’t fall into financial difficulty? Can we try new ways of celebrating the summer months by perhaps attending a church camp? Maybe read a new Christian book? How about attending a Christian seminar weekend or music concert? Could we join or sponsor a new summer Bible study? Can we come to appreciate all the many blessings that God has given us? And can we say thank you Lord for everything you have done for us by simply remembering that every joy we have in this life is directly proportionate to our foundational belief that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior; a wonderful, joyous, sacrificial gift of love, undeservingly given to us by our God, the Creator of all things. If we understand and accept this simple fact, putting God first in our lives becomes the simple principle of gracious gratitude by the creation for its Creator. Will you join me this summer by showing our gratitude to God for His gift of Salvation and Eternal Life through His only Son, Jesus Christ by keeping Christ first in our live throughout the year? I pray that God will make it so! Have a great and safe, fun filled summer! Blessings...

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Jim
jberlin@we.rr.com