Bascom Methodist Church

Friday Fixin’s

Good morning to all those that are following Bascom’s time together. I hope that you have all had a great week. However, there are those that we need to keep in our prayers as they have medical treatment and healing to endure. There are so many that have been affected by the storms of this past week and are dealing with flooding.

It doesn’t matter how great our intentions are each week; there are always going to be those problems that confront us. This was partly my message Monday morning.

Do you ever have the thought that we complicate our lives way too much?

Our minds constantly look for problems to solve and gaps to close. That can drive progress, but it can also prevent appreciation.

With our daily struggles, with our human drive to accumulate more, with our inability to be satisfied with what we have and where we are, we tend to have itchy ears and itchy feet.

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he warns his young apprentice in the faith that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3–4).

Few descriptions fit our culture better, despite this particular passage being almost two thousand years old. And I think the reason is that Paul was speaking to a flaw in human nature rather than Roman culture.

You see, we often hold truth to a higher standard than God does, and that mistake is at the root of why so many fall into heresy and error. The truth doesn’t have to be emotionally satisfying. It doesn’t have to be thought-provoking or intriguing. And it doesn’t have to illuminate some dark mystery in the world.

No, as simple as it sounds, the truth just has to be true, but that’s often not enough for us. We are to search for the truth but sometimes we are distracted by the lights and sounds that draw us into the excitement of the moment. Sometimes the truth is not all that exciting. Once again, we need to find satisfaction with what we have and where we are in our search for truth.

Have a blessed day and I look forward to our time together Sunday.

Monday Morning Forecast

Good morning to all our Bascom family and followers. What a great day we had Sunday in worship together. Here we are on Monday morning and the week is already filling up with things to do, places to go, and people to see. As I was getting the coffee going this morning and checking on my yard rabbits, I had to laugh at myself. What simple little things bring enjoyment. A cup of coffee and watching rabbits.

Do you ever have the thought that we complicate our lives way too much?

Our minds constantly look for problems to solve and gaps to close. That can drive progress, but it can also prevent appreciation.

Many of the things we overlook today would have amazed an earlier version of ourselves. One of life’s key challenges is not acquiring more; it is remembering to notice what we already have.

Remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

What is something in your life today that you once hoped for, worried about, or worked toward for years? Have you stopped appreciating it simply because it has become familiar?
Do we take time to thank God for all that He has provided?

This week I am going to make a conscious effort to:
 Notice one thing I normally take for granted.
 Thank someone whose contribution often goes unseen.
 Start something before I feel completely ready.
 Spend less time focusing on what is missing.
 Appreciate something that my younger self would have been excited to have.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
-Thornton Wilder

Have a blessed week and look at all God has blessed your life with and be thankful.