Peoria Times
December 30, 2021
RELIGION
21
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2022: Is the New Year time for a personal reset?
SEE RESET PAGE 22
Harvest CHurCH www.fsbcg.org 10250 N. 59th Ave. 623-937-9216 Sunday Services: Bible Study (All ages) ...................9:15 am Morning Worship ........................10:30 am Youth Discipleship ........................4:45 pm Wednesdays: Adult Bible Study & Prayer ...........6:00 pm Children/Youth ..............................6:30 pm Dr. Mark Mucklow, Pastor
16000 N. Del Webb Blvd., Sun City AZ 85351 Tel: 623-974-3611
IN-PERSON WORSHIP SUNDAYS - 10 AM Music Begins 9:50 AM Live-Streamed at www.scfaith.org
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26
Revs. Mike and Sheryl Campbell Special Music Theme: “God Rest Ye Merry” Sandra Hobbs, organ and harp; Jeff Sinley, trumpet Faith Church supports Agua Fria Food & Clothing Bank, Valley View Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, and other Missions
“An inclusive, welcoming, caring community, serving Jesus Christ”
8340 W. Northern Ave. Glendale, AZ 85305 Information 623.334.9482
Dr. Ron G. Rockwell – Pastor
Sunday: 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. Nursery Provided
Wednesday: Family Night 7:00 p.m. www.hcaz.org
Harvest CHurCH 8340 W. Northern
Northern Ave. Glendale Ave.
83rd Ave.
Pastor Bill Johnson says: “We need to remain childlike. Children don’t dream of being insignificant.” We need to be reminded of this during these crazy, nonsensical times. Children start off seeing life beautifully and innocently. But eventually, life gets to them, molds them, holds them and hurts them. So often, temporary negatives become permanent negatives, and lifetimes are spent searching for significance in all the wrong places. Recently, I found a short story my son, Matthew, wrote when he was about 10 years old. It illustrates how children don’t dream of being insignificant. The story is called “The Bass.” If you think fishermen have big fish stories, wait until you read Matt’s fish story: “One day, I went fishing with my dad
of God, we must become trusting like a child. Otherwise, complex adult issues like those mentioned will paralyze us. To the pure, everything is pure. When truth, simplicity and purity come, dragon people can’t see good or God anymore. They lose trust in God, and they lose their perspective. God is there, but they can’t see God at work on their behalf. Wise but trusting people see God in both the good and the bad. The mature Christ followers and people see God in pleasures and palaces and the barnyards and stables of life. When wise people follow a star and find a stable, they look for God in the stable and find Him. That takes seeing things the way God sees them by looking through the eyes of a child. God chose to become a baby, not a “razzle-dazzle” form of a king, politician or entertainer. But, given time, that baby proved more potent than the whole Roman Empire. John Maxwell wrote about this truth a writer penned
91st ave.
Peoria Times Columnist
the bass tournament. Then, we went home and sat down to think about how I did it. Dad is still acting a little weird. I think it damaged his brain thinking that I caught a bigger bass than him. The end.” Well, you just looked through the eyes of Matthew, who has a big imagination and an even bigger positive attitude. As Pastor Johnson said, children don’t dream of being insignificant, especially 10-year-old Matt. It does mental and emotional harm to us adults to hate, gripe, become wounded, bitter, cynical or lose our joy. It’s even worse to lose our childlike trust and perspective. Friedrich Nietzsche said, “He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself.” The most brutal prison to escape can be one’s mind. Jesus addressed this idea in Matthew: 18. He wanted the people living through the dark times to look at life through the eyes of a child. Jesus didn’t mean they should be childish. Instead, he suggested that to enter the kingdom
Fre ewa y
CONNECTION
Pastor Ed Delph
at Big Daddy Lake. Now, this lake did not get its name from some old fogey. No, it has bass the size of the state of Alaska. Well, anyway, I was using a crankbait as big as my head, and I cast it about 20 feet. I reeled in the fish. It was a little, dinky bass. “While dad thought about how I caught it on my ‘hipper’-size crankbait, I cast my lure again toward a big rock. This rock was not a pebble. It was a huge, mega-size, bone-crushing rock. Well, I started reeling it in, and I felt a nibble. WWWWAAAHHHH!!!! Dad! Matt! AAAHH! SPLASH!!! Blurb, blurb. “Then I saw it. It was huge! It dragged me through the weeds and rocks. (The rock part kind of hurt.) Then I saw a tree, grabbed it, and I hung on for dear life. I started reeling the bass in. Finally, I got him close enough to grab him. Bad idea on my part. Weeeeeeeee! It was awesome. I saw the boat. I grabbed the boat and the fish and climbed in. “I told dad to get the ‘weigher.’ The bass weighed 600 pounds. Dad and I went back to the fish dock, and I won
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CHURCH-COMMUNITY
