This past Sunday morning,  during our church service,  I quoted the passage of  Scripture from Ephesians  1:16-20. Apostle Paul is letting  the readers know of his  prayer. This prayer stands  out and I would like to share  a piece of it with you from  verse 17, “that the God of  our Lord Jesus Christ, the  Father of glory, may give to  you the spirit of wisdom and  revelation in the knowledge  of Him”.

This lets us  know keys in leading productive,  healthy Christian  lives. First, prayer, we too  must seek the “Father of  Glory” and His grace and  guidance. Far too often  we,(yes, me too) try to go  about this life without seeking  Him who knows all  things and can guide us  through the issues of our  day. Secondly, wisdom and  revelation (clarity and application  of knowledge), is a  gift which comes from  the Father of Glory through  our faith in the Lord Jesus  Christ. So many times we  try to manage our lives  based on what we understand  and know, verses the  perspectives of our Father in  Heaven (yes, me too here  also)

 Have you ever tried  to impart wisdom to a child  who was set on doing  things their way, knowing  full well that the result was  going to be painful for  them? Imagine our the  Father of Glory feels with  us when live our lives outside  of Him who can provide  simply by asking; and  of course listening to His  answer. Finally, notice the  importance of wisdom and  revelation for our lives is  “in the knowledge of Him”,  who is the Father of  Glory. The most crucial  aspect of Jesus’ mission was  to restore the relationship  between humanity and their  Creator (2 Corinthians 5:18-  19). So many of our community;  our world, do not  desire to know the Father of  Glory because He has been  so poorly represented by so  many of us who proclaim to  be His.

Why have we so  poorly represented Him you  may ask? Because we have  not sought His “Spirit of  Wisdom and Revelation” for  our lives and  situations. The struggle as  believers is we have taken  matters into our own hands  instead of seeking His  Wisdom. We have leaned  on our own understanding  instead of His. (Proverbs  3:5-6). May the Lord give  you grant His mercy and  grace as you seek His  will and the courage to pursue  it. God Bless.

Missionaries to other  lands often encounter people  with no background in religious  beliefs similar to what  missionaries bring.  Sometimes the hearers get  confused by what they hear.  For instance, when Paul,  Christ’s apostle, appeared to  Greek intellectuals in  Athens (see Acts 17:18)  they believed Paul was  preaching about two “divinities:”  Jesus and Anastasis  (Resurrection). Of course,  the last thing Paul would  want people to get from his  preaching was that he was  preaching more than one  God. Paul and all Jews were  reared believing “The Lord  our God is one Lord” (Deut.  6:4). The same is true of  Christians.  We love to teach those  grand words written by Paul  in Ephesians 4:4-6:

“There  is one body and one Spirit,  just as you were called to  the one hope that belongs to  your call, one Lord, one  faith, one baptism, one God  and Father of us all, who is  above all and through all  and in all.”  And, along with Paul, we  preach about Jesus and resurrection,  Christ’s resurrection  and our resurrection  (please read Romans 6:1-4).  Also, one might benefit  from reading the entire 15th  chapter of I Corinthians.  We hope we never find  ourselves preaching to folks  who become confused by  our words, or by our handling  of scripture. We urge  people who are seeking  teaching and clarification of  the great and wonderful  words of God to visit us, let  us help make the message of  our Lord clear and compelling.  Come see us.  We’ve been your neighbors  in Coquille for more  than fifty years.

Coquille Church of Christ  2nd and Gould  www.coquillechurchofchrist.  org.)

ATTENTION: Pastors,  Assistant Pastors and  Building Committee  Members, would you like  your Sanctuary to be more  sanctified? Class rooms to  be more classy? Hallways to  look less traveled?  Fellowship hall to feel more  friendly? Nursery to have a  little help? Get a FREE carpet  cleaning for your  Church, from July through  September. Heaven Carpet  Care in Coquille would like  to offer Churches of the Bay  Area a FREE carpet cleaning.  All Faiths welcome to  call 824-0199 or email us at  info@heavenlycarpet.net for  details or to schedule a carpet  cleaning.

Northwest Nazarene  University’s music group  Covenant will be performing  throughout the summer  at camps and churches  across the Northwest,  including the Coquille  Church of the Nazarene in  Coquille on Tuesday, July  7th at 7 p.m. A public relations  group, Covenant’s goal  is to provide visibility for  the university by ministering  through music and song at  camps and churches, according  to Mike Marston,  Assistant Director of  Admissions and director of  the University’s summer  ministry groups.  “Covenant provides us  with an opportunity to  showcase the best and the  brightest that NNU’s student  population has to offer,”  Marston said.

“Ministering  to others in this venue is at  the heart of the mission of  the University and the  Church of the Nazarene.  Covenant, which is primarily  a music group, will  begin its summer tour in  June and will travel through  August representing NNU  throughout the Northwest.  For more information on  Covenant or any NNU’s  public relations groups,  please contact Mike  Marston@nnu.edu or by  calling toll-free 1-877-NNU-4-YOU.

by Pastor Ken Duke  I was reading my devotional  today; from Oswald  Chambers book “My  Utmost for His Highest“,  and today’s lesson struck me  right smack in the kisser. In  Job 42:10, it says “And the  Lord turned the captivity of  Job when he prayed for his  friends.” Some of you may  not know who Job was, but  he was a man who had  everything, wife, kids, lots  of animals, a fine home and  good, faithful friends. Yet,  one day the Lord allowed  Satan to put Job to the test  and Job lost everything, and  I mean everything.

He  ended up owning nothing,  none of his family survived;  left broken and destitute, yet  he still refused to curse  God. Now some of you  may wonder why God  would allow Satan to test  Job!!! So do I and I never  want to be tested in such a  way; yet, what we do find  out is no matter how righteous  and holy Job was, he  was still a sinner. He was a  man full of pride who  felt he deserved better from  God. How many of you  reading this would think we  deserve better too? Well, to  be honest; we don’t deserve  anything from Him, yet, He  has already provided all we  will ever need.  As Oswald Chambers said  and I paraphrase it, “The  complaining, selfcentred,  kind of prayer is  never found in the New  Testament.” He goes on to  say that the very thought of  thinking we can be right  with God is an act of rebellion  against Him and what  He has accomplished on the  Cross of Calvary. It totally  agree with Mr. Chambers,  for I cannot make my life  perfect;

 I can only be in  right standing with God  when I accept the Lord  Jesus Christ as an absolute  gift. The next question is,  are we humble enough to  accept this gracious and  wonderous gift? The  Scripture, “The Lord turned  the captivity of Job when he  prayed for his friends.” The  real business of our lives is  to love one another as Christ  has loved us and to pray for  our friends and loved ones.  So why don’t you pray for  your friends now; pray for  those with whom you come  in contact all through the  week. (source: My Utmost  for His Highest, by Oswald  Chambers, 1935, Dodd  Mead and Co.)

The Wesley Bell Ringers  from Christ United  Methodist Church, in Salt  Lake City, Utah, will play  their nearly two hundred  precision tuned handbells in  a concert at North Bend  United Methodist Church on  Monday, June 15th at 7:30  p.m. The concert is part of  the choir’s 44th annual concert  tour.  Over the past forty two  years the choir has visited  and played in all 50 states  and in 9 Canadian  provinces. They have performed  in such diverse  places as Mount Rushmore  National Monument, the  United States Capitol, Walt  Disney World and the  Cathedral of the Pines  National Shrine.

The choir  has performed several times  with the Mormon  Tabernacle Choir and has  appeared with the Utah  Symphony. They also performed  at the Salt Lake  Winter Olympics in 2002.  This handbell choir has  been featured in newspapers  and magazines, has played  on radio and television and  has produced 16 recordings.  They have been honored as  the demonstration choir at  numerous handbell conventions.  The concert includes both  sacred and secular music,  and is designed to show the  versatility of handbells. The  program includes works as  diverse as “Little Fugue”  (J.S.Bach) arranged by  Michael Kastner, and “Good  Vibrations” (Brian Wilson  and Mike Love) arranged  for bells by Matthew Prins.

“The Sunken Cathedral”  (Claude Debussy) arranged  by Kevin McChesney, and  “Bugler’s Holiday” (Leroy  anderson) arranged by Hart  Morris are also included in  the performance.  Arrangements and compositions  by Ed Duncan, Karen  Buckwalter, Cathy  Moklebust and Linda Lamb  will also be performed. It is  brought from Utah with  love....the love of young  people doing something special  for God, their church  and their fellow man.  North Bend United  Methodist Church is located  at 2289 Meade St., in North  Bend. Admission is free,  with a free will offering to  be collected.