a church in pursuit of God, with a passion for people

08... Zachariah Greene

11… John Temple
12... Brenda Rapp
12… Savanna Harbaugh
13... Beckie Weaver
13... Ernest Machamer, Jr.
15... Travis Windham
21… Abra Coulson
23… Jennie Walleker
24… Patti Lutz
24... Savannah Greene
25… John Anderson
29... Christopher Rapp
31… Amy Bowersox
31... Joy Machamer

If you would like your birthday listed, email the office at vcfleesburg@embarqmail.com
 Randy Gideons Lead Pastor The Warehouse Church

STATURE Beach Week

I wanted to take a few moments to bring to your

attention that our annual youth Stature Beach Week
is coming in the month of June. Seven days and
seven nights of fellowship, food, fun, and ministry for our
teenagers.
This year, as any other year, costs have risen. Each
young person is responsible for their part of the cost of
the retreat.
Their financial contribution, fund raisers, and private
sponsorship fund the budget that enables our team to pull
This tradition for our body has taken place since the the whole thing off.
mid 1970’s. The first retreat that I attended was in 1977. Would you consider making a donation to the youth
Two years later I would have the opportunity to be in fund so that our youth family gathering can continue a
charge of the yearly event. 30+ year tradition of building deeper relationships?
It was on our retreat in 1997 that we had a Heavenly
outpouring in which the Holy Spirit took charge and many Thank you for caring about the future of our church!
lives were changed for the future work of the gospel. It Randy
was on that retreat that a Vineyard pastor prayed for me
and the Lord would reveal His plan for the Vineyard of
Leesburg, now the Warehouse Church.
Each year Neal and Tonia Hayes along with their
leadership team take our young people to St. Augustine
Beach. They provide the leadership needed to feed, Check out Randy’s blog on the Warehouse website.
house, and minister to some of the best Christian young www.vcfleesburg.com
people on the planet.
THE DRIVE HOME

A llow me to tell you the story of 3 different

workers on their way home from a hard
day’s work. All 3 are Christians with
differing views on loving their neighbor and
God’s kindness leading to repentance. All 3
Every one of us has been each of these types of Christians. It is a choice to
make. Are you the Christian that likes to go to church on Sunday and not be
bothered with the practical nature of Christianity for the rest of the week? Are
you the Christian that will go to church on Sunday and will do the practical
side of Christianity if it is quick and easy and doesn’t knock you off of your
have the fish symbol on their vehicles and will schedule too much? Or are you the kind of Christian that goes to church on
very quickly tell you where they go to church. Sunday and is constantly looking for a place to show God’s love in a practical
The first Christian had a very hard day and way? Kind of like sowing seed potato’s in the ground.
decided that he needed to rest. He called for Christian 3 really went out of his way to help the person on the side of
someone to drive him home. He pulled a the road. He got dirty. He got muddy (remember the story of the Good
sleeping mask over his eyes so that he could Samaritan). He helped the person out of their situation and put their tires on
see nothing and no light could enter his eyes. hard ground. That kind of sounds like when God pulls us out of the miry clay
He rode home like this and rested comfortably. and sets our feet on the rock, doesn’t it?
He passed several people on the road that If we are going to be Christian (Christ-like), we need to be like Christ. I
needed help but because he didn’t see them, he am not telling you to pull over and help everybody along the road. However, I
could not help them. am telling you to listen to Lord and when he tells you to get muddy and help
The second Christian had a very hard day someone, DO IT! Yes, you might get dirty, you might smell bad, and you
as well but thought that he could make it home might even have to wash your vehicle. Guess what, if God leads you to it, He
but only needed to rest one eye. So he put on a will lead you through it. Remember, your actions speak much louder than
Pirate’s eye patch so that he could still see half your words.
of what he was supposed to see. On the way
home, he too passed several people that
needed help but because he was only seeing
half of what he was supposed to see, the others
just got ignored. The one person that he did
see, he helped. He helped them jump start their
car since it was in the parking lot where he had
stopped to get a drink anyway. It was quick and
easy.
The third Christian had a very hard day too
just the same as Christians 1 and 2. However,
he decided to drive with both eyes to make sure
he could see everything that he needed to see. Find the Cross!
On the way home, he passed a car that had
skidded out of control and was stuck in the mud. Hidden somewhere in the newsletter is a “cross” just like pictured
Since he drove a big 4X4 (obviously this isn’t to the right and possibly a different color,
Randy), he decided to help the family in need. but, on a much smaller scale.
He backed up to the car and as he tried to get
the strap attached to the car, he was constantly If you find it and you’re the first to call the church office
slipping in the mud and literally had mud on him @ 365-2594 or email to vcfleesburg@embarqmail.com,
from head to toe. He finally got the strap you’ll win a treat! Happy Hunting!
attached and pulled the car out of the mud and
back onto hard ground. As he was removing the
strap, the family noticed the fish emblem on his Last newsletter the cross was in the text
truck and asked about it…….. You get the of the “Admit One” question.
picture.
First person to find the cross was John Rohal!
Congrats to Rebekah Riley, Vincent Mahoney, & Grady Anderson, also.
Tim Walleker ~ HA! Easy one. I married a seventeen year
old!!
Neal Hayes ~ Tubing backwards down the Toroco Gorge River
in Taiwan. What a trip!
Stacey Hairston ~ Going to Flagler College. It was good for
me to break away from EVERYTHING I knew and do
something for myself even if it was just for a semester.
Ray Didley ~ I married my wife Joan.
Sandy Lindsay ~ Making recent plans to go to Israel! Where
do I begin discussing the risks?
Jeff Light ~ Getting married.
Sonia Shearer ~ Moving to Florida.
Brenda Sims ~ Moving “North to Alaska” in 1980 and then
returning to Florida in 2000!!
Brenda Petersen ~ after having been married before I was not
looking to meet someone for a long term relationship. After
much urging, I went to an on line chat for single people, not
normally in my comfort zone. Not many "normal " people there
I thought. However, one man caught my eye, his bio went
something like this,,,Christian man looking for Christian
woman, & named some of his likes and dislikes. What
compelled me to respond was what he said, “I am a strong
believer of the Word, I strive to follow every leading of His
word. The right woman would need to be content knowing she
would be deeply loved, always taken care of, treated like the
bride of Christ, but most importantly, she would need to
understand she would always be second in line, ONLY TO
GOD HIMSELF!” His lineage of importance was, God, his
mate, children. The first time I allowed myself to call was one
evening as I was about to go to bed, his last few words to me
were, “Can I pray over you before you go to bed so I can be
sure God will keep you safe and we can talk again tomorrow?”
The day we were married, just a few short months later, he
said to me, “Brenda, you’re the sun, the moon and the stars to
me, and my love will forever revolve around you! Good risk?”

Elias James ~ Hmmm...good risk exists? Hmmm...to believe Kimberly Coulson ~ My pregnancy, the doctors said it was
on faith that by some superhuman feat God would change a risky, that so many things could go wrong and I could be worse
tithe into something, anything. It works. Tithing works. DO IT! off than before in terms of medical issues, but I chose to trust
God and I'm blessed with my miracle baby.

HAPPENING AT THE GAINESVILLE VINEYARD

Lennie Moser
Ed McGlasson former lineman in the National Football League where he
played with the New York Giants, New York Jets, and the Los Angeles
Rams.
He will share “The Blessing of the Father.”

Located at 3536 NW 8th Avenue in Gainesville.

The Conference will be held in the Main Auditorium.

Conference Schedule:
Friday May 14 Saturday May 15
7:00 PM – 9:30 PM 9:00 AM – Noon & 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Every Sunday ~
averagejoe’s Café
Free continental breakfast served from
10:00am to 10:20am
Contact: Renee Stoffel @ 253-2465
THEWAREHOUSE BAND
Contacts: Aaron Symonds @ 330-1928
Mela Striker @ 365-1006
WAREHOUSE NURSERY & PRESCHOOL
We believe in ministering to the needs of even
our littlest members. Our qualified teachers
create a positive experience that introduces
nursery and preschool children to the love of
Jesus early on.
Contact: Jill Porvaznik @ 793-1326
WAREHOUSE KID’S
Warehouse Kid’s is for all boys and girls in
Kindergarten through 6th grade. We provide a
combination of games, interactive characters,
and fun filled songs capture kid’s attention
while showing them that living for God is the
best way to live!
Contact: Ron Sellers @ 787-0385
Sunday, May 16th ~
All Church Picnic. See ad for details.
1st & 3rd Sunday @ 5:00pm~
1st Wednesday ~
Light Home Group @ 6:30pm
Our group is about RELATIONSHIPS;
building them and maintaining them. We are
studying Romans Chapter 12 and using the
examples given to do Acts of Kindness to the
people that we run into within our own
community. This in turn will hopefully build
more relationships to the people that need it
most.
1304 CR 245A, Oxford (West)
Contact: Jeff Light @ (352) 427-9211
Next Meeting: May 5
2nd & 4th Wednesday ~
* S OA K IN G @ 7:00pm
The Lindsay Home
The Plantations off Hwy 27
24113 Peekskill St. South Leesburg
Contact: Sandy Lindsay 315-0245
Bring a potluck dish for supper @ 6:30pm
Contact is Brenda Petersen 728-1463
Next Meeting: TBA
1st Friday ~
READER’S Book Group @ 6:30pm
This group is for the discussion of books
pertaining to the Christian Faith.
Barnes & Noble @ Lake Sumter Landing
Book to read:
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Contact: Brenda Sims (352) 787-5266
Next Meeting: May 7
4th Friday ~
Older Gents @ 11:30am
Older Gents is an opportunity for men over
50 to meet for lunch and enjoy great
conversation over a variety of topics that
affect all of us.
Golden Coral, West Leesburg
Contact: Randy Gideons 793-9270
Next Meeting: May 28
ation
elev
Young Adults of 18 to 29 years old gather for
fellowship and different activities. Contact:
Vance Harbaugh (941) 720-3912
CREATIVE ARTS
Drama! Dance! Pantomime! Sign language!
Flags! Children's ballet! These are just a few
venues that have been incorporated into the
Creative Arts Ministry at the Warehouse
Church. The message of salvation through
Jesus Christ and the ministry of worship are
key factors in the foundation of our Creative
Arts Ministry. Many people are blessed
through the visual arts and this is why this
ministry exists. Look for future opportunities
that will allow community oriented theater and
dance.
Contact: Barbara Smith @ 315-1400

2nd & 4th Friday ~ * Soaking is simply spending time in God’s

We desire to Tell, Teach and Touch those
around us. We are ordinary, everyday
people, working out a God-initiated,
supernatural salvation, and offering the same
to those we come in contact with.
12415 SE 60th Terrace, Belleview
Contact: David Schott 347-9841
2nd & 4th Sunday ~
S T A T U R E Youth Group @ 1:00pm
Stature is about experience, connection and
influence. Teenagers can have an authentic,
first-hand experience with God while they
connect with others, forming purposeful
relationships. As they grow, they learn how
to make an impact on the world they live in.
Contact: Neal Hayes 365-1496
Next Meeting: May 23
Every Monday ~
Young Adults 18 to 29
* Soaking at 7:00pm
Rachel Bruce/Dayna Hirsch's Home
32421 Quiet Harbor Ave #201, Leesburg
Contact: Rachel Bruce 516-2500
Presence rather than striving in prayer. It’s
Harp & Bowl - Worship & Intercession about resting in His Presence, experiencing
Cochran Home Him and choosing to be intimate with Him.
3233 Indian Trail, Eustis, 32726
Snacks at 6:30; Harp & Bowl at 7:00
Harp & Bowl is based on Rev. 5:8-10
... one had a harp and they were holding golden
bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints...
Our goal is to worship God and to pray the heart of
Jesus in every situation that God leads us to.
The format is simple--worship and pray--which
works out very free flowing, with sensitivity to the
Spirit expected. We worship and minister in many
various ways, along with focused/pointed
intercession. Everyone is expected to participate,
encouraging everyone that they
have the freedom to fail--just go for it! When we
feel like God's done with us we stop. Everyone is
encouraged to slip out earlier if they need to.
Our worship is led primarily by Ernest & Rita
Machamer and Jamie & Cliff Cochran. Ernest, a
former church worship leader, plays the keyboard
beautifully, while Rita sings beautifully and
prophetically. We’ve got three guitars, a piano, and
another keyboard just waiting for those who can
play them.
Contact: Cliff Cochran @ 483-3140
Next Meeting: May 14 & 28
 Brenda Petersen

BUDGET FRIENDLY FOOD TIPS

S
About Kids. It is good training for kids, if they
hop grocery outlets. Every major city has them. Ours is called *The
are old enough, to comparison shop; I
Canned Food Warehouse*. Not every item in the store is a deal; you have usually ask mine to go get the cheapest
to know normal food prices to compare, but when you do find a deal, it is ketchup, or whatever is nearby so I can still
usually a great one. You will find enough of these deals to make your trip worth it see them, so they get hands-on experience
(you'll need to supervise this in the
Always check the weekly grocery ads for the good sales. If there is a really good beginning, then later you'll be able to trust
deal on something, be sure to buy it in multiples. This will save you from paying they are making the right decisions). Kids
full price later. have a tendency to ask for things in the
store; the best way to handle this is to let
Use coupons for food products. I have found the best way to use them is them get something within a set price limit
combined with a sale. Most of the time, if you use a coupon without combining it and keep this limit each time you go
with a sale, you will still be paying more than other brands, so be sure to watch shopping. If your kids are younger, you may
for this. want to consider leaving them at home with
a friend or relative; younger kids can tire and
Always use your leftovers. This saves a tremendous amount of money and time get difficult in the store spoiling your frugal
by extending your shopping trips. If you need ideas for using leftovers, check out efforts
*The Leftover Recipe E-book* that includes over 100 ideas and recipes for
leftovers here: www.homemakersjournal.com/leftovers Shop at the store's off-peak
hours when you will be less
Stop buying junk food, sodas and prepared food. These are not only expensive, rushed and can make
but unhealthy, therefore a waste of your hard-earned dollars better decisions.

On Sunday, May 30

The Warehouse Church will be meeting at

Main Street Receptions

on the corner of Canal St. and East Main St. in Leesburg.

Parking spaces are available on the site, the street, or in the lot provided on
the corner of Main and Kaolin Streets. Look for the signage.

Our service time will be:

10:00am – Café and 10:30am – Worship Service

Hope to see you there!

 Its young adults like Joel that give us hope for the future of church in America!

Full name: Joel Benjamin Hayes When you see God, what do you hope
He'll say? Something greater than what I
Nicknames: Rico can imagine on earth.

Born where & when: Pt. Charlotte, Florida-- November 25th 1990
Joel Hayes

A FEW OF YOUR
Family stats: Two parents, Neal and Tonia & One Brother, Jeremy. FAVORITE THINGS

Pets: Two dogs: Bucky and Tally

Last movie seen: Dark Knight Color: Blue-Green

First job: Putting stickers on t-shirts Food: Greasy Over-sized Cheeseburgers

Worst job: Editing Weddings Words: Theoretically, No, Absurd.

Worst subject in school: Every subject besides film.
Your favorite sport/game to play: Anything non-traditional, like Rock-
Climbing, Ping-pong, Pinball, etc., etc.
Best way to make you laugh: Jay Coulson
Vacation spot: A cabin in the mountains,
Dream Vacation Spot- New Zealand
Bible Verse: "Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear
no evil..."

Most annoying habit: I wait to respond to Facebook and Myspace Song: Currently, Meet me Halfway by the
messages and then forget about them... all the time, sorry. Blackeyed Peas

If you had to pick another profession, what would it be: A theoretical Dessert: Cobblers of any kind, peach,
physicist, so I could spend all day shooting atoms at each other and apple.
making up ridiculous theories. "Based on my math calculations Pink
Unicorns do exist, we just can't see them because of the specularly Cologne: Uh, I like that Vurt stuff at Pacsun
refracting effects of dark matters molecular nature, theoretically".
CD: Brian "Head" Welch's Save me From
Word or phrase you overuse: Cool, that's cool, and coooollll. Myself

Worst trouble you got into as a child: We'll have to leave this one Book: Mere Christianity, and anything C.S.
blank. Lewis

Hidden talent: I rap Spiritual Song: Adonai by Brian Head

Welch
Most embarrassing moment: I was at a piano recital when I was young
and halfway through my song I went blank and started hitting random Restaurant: Olive Garden/ Fish and Chix
keys.
Movie:
Best advice you've ever been given: Braveheart
Take responsibility for your own actions! (In my fathers
deep authoritative voice.) TV show: Glenn
Beck
How many speeding tickets: Zero
Toothpaste:
Most unusual thing in your fridge right now: A fork. Really?

Flowers: Roses

SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN A NEW DIMENSION
I
t is Saturday morning. It is cool and
I have the windows open. The birds
are singing and the sun is shining.
It is beautiful. I picked up my bible to
read but Hayford’s Handbook was lying
on top of my bible. It is similar to a
commentary. As I was flipping through I
found his information on spiritual
warfare. The first thing I read was about
putting on the full armor of God. Why
do I forget to do this? The first thought
that came to my mind was I haven’t done
this in forever. I forget. Then I read on
about spiritual warfare. His next
statement threw me a little, but it is so
true. The statement is this “To believe
the impossible, one must first see the
invisible” he goes on to talk about Elisha
(2 Kings 6:8-17) in this story he asked
God to allow his servant to be able to
see in another dimension.
How many times do we pray when
we can’t see what is going on? I do it all
of the time. I think it is amazing that
Elisha had the capability of being in such
a close relationship with God that he
could see in another dimension. You
may think to yourself that he was a major
prophet in the Old Testament and that
just doesn’t happen to everyone, but I
think it can. I know I often think Elisha
was a great man of God. Well, that
statement is true but he is no greater
than you and I are. We have the same
capabilities as Elisha. The problem is,
we don’t want to get that close to God
because we are so afraid that he is going
to show us something that we might
have to act on.
Most of the time what is going on isn’t
about us.
In the story in 2 Kings it looked like
they were going to get a butt beating.
The servant couldn’t see beyond the
natural. Elisha didn’t ask God to show
the servant a miracle, he asked God to
open the servant’s eyes to see what was
really going on. It really wasn’t about
Elijah and his servant. It was about a
war that was about to happen that
needed to be won.
by Sonia Shearer
Seeing the angels was more like a side
note. How many times do we want a
miracle but we don’t really want to see
what is going on?
Many years ago there was book that
was very popular written by Norman
Vincent Peal; the book was called The
Power of Positive Thinking. In the book
he challenged people to dare to dream
the impossible by thinking outside of the
box. I don’t think he obtained his
information from scripture but he saw
something that most other people didn’t
see. I challenge you to think outside of
the box. We think if someone sees
angels or if they get a word of knowledge
or they can see into someone’s future
that they are special in the eyes of God.
That is true, but we all are. What is
unnatural to us is very natural to God. All games are played
Supernatural things need to become the on Tuesday
normal things in our lives. at Sleepy Hollow Field 4
We are soldiers for Jesus. Being a
in Leesburg.
good soldier requires training and
knowledge. It requires knowing what the
enemies moves are going to be. The Warehouse Church
Somehow we have gotten it wrong. team versus:
We are playing defense instead of
offense. In Jeremiah 33:3 the scripture Northside Christian
says “Call unto me and I will show you May 4 @ 9:00pm
great and mighty things which you know
not”. The word mighty in the Hebrew Good News Church 2
(batsar) means” isolated “or May 11 @ 7:00pm
“inaccessible.” In other words he says
that if we will ask he will show us things
that are isolated or inaccessible to others Oxford Assembly of God
but we have to ask. May 18 @ 9:00pm
In conclusion my thoughts are, put
on the full armor of God. Ask him to Emmanuel Baptist Church
show you the invisible so you can May 25 @ 7:00pm
believe the impossible. Then do what
Jeremiah did and then go to work Contact:
invading the enemy’s territory. Derek Striker 551-9535
If we don’t do it,
nobody will.
COME OUT
AN D SUPPORT
Y O U R T E AM !!
 Fish Fry
BRING YOUR
ENTIRE FAMILY.

FREE ADMISSION

“SERMONS BY THE
SEA,” PREPARED BY
JESUS FROM
NAZARETH.

Elevation, our Young Adult

This is a popular
event. At our last
outing, the attendance
was in excess of 5,000
(not counting women
and children).
Don’t miss the
excitement!
Who knows maybe
Jesus will again
multiply the food! Or
better yet we’ll accept
H i s c a l l t o ... “f o l l o w
Him, and He will make
us fishers of men.”
John James and his highly-prized
sport fishing “Wahoo” catch.
group will be sponsoring our
annual Spring Picnic this year
as an Act of service.
Included will be child care, and
games for young and old. The
Park has a nature boardwalk &
trail, a playground, horseshoe
pits, sand volleyball court,
swimming beach, and open-
field play areas, also.
Hickory Point
27341 SR 19, Tavares
What to bring:
A potluck dish to share, chairs,
yard games, and anything else
you can think of to enjoy a
picnic.
The Church will supply the
meat and beverage.
Sign up at the Info Table.

Contacts:
Myra Harbaugh (941) 720-3444
Mela Striker (352) 551-4050

ANGER A COMPLEX EMOTION
“Whether or not we want to admit it, we
all experience it: Anger,” says Lisa Harper a
columnist with Christianity Today.
“It's a complex emotion. Anger rising
within us can be frustrating if we feel swept
under its control, but it can also inform us that
a wrong has been done. As Christians, it's
vital to think about anger in light of God's
wisdom and instruction throughout the
Scriptures.
In "What Is 'Righteous Anger'?" Lisa
Harper fleshes out what God says about
anger, providing us with the helpful term
"righteous anger" and offering scriptural
guideposts for assessing our own motives in
expressing anger.”
I would like to share my thoughts on
Anger. Many pastors have wanted to simplify
this emotion, as all anger is sin. Then there
are many who try to ignore this emotion. This
is where we get into trouble. As we deal with
anger, we have to deal with fears, frustration
and hurt. When we ignore it and hope it will
go away we have lost the battle.
We all are aware of Anger Management
classes, I have taken them and they have
been beneficial. Good things can happen by
taking part in these sessions. Identifying
anger is the start on the road to healing.
Many things can bother us and cause us
to react in an unpleasant manor. Life is full of
displeasure, aggravations and irritations. I
can’t help believe the many of life’s
frustrations and irritations are allowed in our
lives to bring us out behind our shield of
"everything is cool" rather demonstrating our
true self. One is not to manage anger, which
eventually becomes out of control but deal
severely with the demon.
“Do not associate with a man given to
anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, lest
you learn his ways, and find a snare for
yourself” Proverbs 22:24, 25, NASB).
When my family lived in Aurora, Illinois,
our home was in the flight path of airplanes
flying in and out of O’Hare Airport. The
communication waves to the airplane and to
the Federal Aviation Center behind our home
would cause our electric garage door to go
up and down at will. This would happen at
the most inconvenient times. One day I had
all I could take, grabbed a hold of our double
door and just by sheer force pushed it
upward and the opener gears skipped and
jumped off the track. It made a terrible noise.
My mother-in-law Grace Day came rushing
from the kitchen to the garage and stood
there shocked. She said, “Why Leo I can’t
believe you would do something like that.” I
was embarrassed! She was the last person
in the world I wanted to see my angry side.
After the dust (sort of) settled, I felt the
Holy Spirit tell me I had to deal with my
anger, it was a problem. I apologized to
Grace, asked God for forgiveness and began
to cry out to God for the grace to change.
Anger was just a surface problem. This had
been with me for a lifetime and I had to make
a conscious effort to change in more than
one area of my life. I knew this was going to
be a long process and that things would not
change overnight. I am still in the process of
recovering. I am better today but never
would I turn my head and say it is not with
me. God wants me to always deal with this
emotion as well as others.
Now I could say I became angry because I
had been disenfranchised, patronized, or
ignored or injustice had come my way. I his or her sins.
could tell you my father had an anger
problem. I felt my mother treated me with
indifference and loved my brother more than
me. On the other hand, I had been abused
or misused or I lived in a bad environment
and unfortunate up bringing
therefore the cause of this antisocial
behavior.
To a small degree this was true but self-
justifying will not wash with the Holy Spirit. I
must take ownership. This is so hard to do
for it is lot easier to blame someone else for
my sin. Did I use that bad word sin? Yes, I
said Sin. Sin, you mean original sin, it cannot
be my fault. Adam and Eve were the cause
of all that. I confessed my sins when I was
“born again.”
No, anger is sin out of control. I must
deal with it continuously. God wants to put
his finger on the root of the problem or
problems and keep it there. Use the
manifestation of anger to further detect un-
yielded rights. “And He was saying to them
all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow Me’” (Luke 9:23, NASB).
I am to take full responsibility for my sin
of anger. This is not a one-time decision and
after that, it is all taken care of. Many other
areas are connected to this one problem
such as fear, bitterness, rejection, rebellion
and resentment. Anger can lead into
depression and depression becomes a
controlling fact in your life.
I have God given rights that at times I
have to give up. The older I get the least
expectations I am to have. God did not tell
us we could have it our way. That was
Burger King’s slogan. Philippians tells us to
be like Christ. Starting with verse 3, “Do
nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind let each of you
regard one another as more important than
himself: do not merely look out for your own
personal interests, but also for the interests
of others. Have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians
2:3-5, NASB). Balance expectations and
recognize them as privileges.
The real problem is anger is a God-given
emotion. There are valid reasons to become
anger. God never called us to be passive.
He wants us to be real with all of our God
given emotions. How do I know when this is
a God given emotion and when it is flesh,
there is a “righteous anger” and an
“unrighteous anger”. Positive anger can be a
motivation for dealing with personal and
social injustices. Anger can give the energy
or fire to fight the evil one therefore binding
demons and loosing freedom. A spouse or
parent has been given a special portal to God
when it comes to someone touching or
messing with the person’s wife or husband or
children. My Scriptures commands me to be
angry at things that anger God. We are not
to be tolerant of intolerance. We are not to
have the "well whatever will be will be"
attitude. We are not to be tolerant of
dysfunctional behavior excusing someone for
Maturity comes when you deal with it. Go to
God this very day, and ask the Holy Spirit to
pluck out of your heart any remnant of
bitterness or unforgiveness. Every day,
every hour that you let it go unchecked, it
takes deeper root until you may be over
powered by it – and end up distrusting the
Lord God.”
An old monk once said, “I have a greater
desire to be righteous and spiritual than I am
to be angry. Anger is a monster of such
awful mien, that to be hated needs but to be
seen, but seen to oft, familiar with face. We
first endure, then pity, and then embrace.”
Thomas Moore wrote, “Our anger,
depression, bitterness, and failures are not at
odds with the spiritual life. Indeed they are
essential to it.”
Today each one of us is dealing with
something. The lie is that only you have
these struggles, these sins and you will never
overcome them so 'give up and cover up'.
But as Christians, it's vital to think about
anger in light of God's wisdom and instruction
throughout the Scriptures. Seek
reconciliation.
Brennan Manning author of “The
Ragamuffin Gospel” wrote, “The reconciled
heart says that everything that has happened
to me had to happen to make me who I am –
without exception.”
As I see it, you cannot afford not to have
emotional struggles.