F ebruary 16, 1994 « T he P ortland O bserver
P age B8
I te m a tiv e s
by
M. I saacs
I have spent sometime during my
daily working life reflecting on my
happy, fulfilling work and also on my
days o f sad, dry, non-spiritual work
efforts that left me very dissatisfied.
Strangely, we christiansare more
likely to have work problem s than
non-christians. We have experienced
com m union with God and the joys o f
being under G od, in love with God
an d o b e d ie n t to G od. The non-
c h ristia n has n ev er k n o w n th is
achievem entor satisfaction. His worth
is measured by the size of his pay-
check, his social status, and the col
lege his children will attend. For
Christians, stam ped w ith the divine
nature o f God, the environm ent of
secular work tends to burst our spiri
tual bubble of peace and jo y . But.... we
have to work and so we suffer.
The Christian has a spiritual ner
vous system designed to inform us of
the pleasures o f serving God and to
warn us o f spiritual danger. God tells
us through our spiritual nervous sys
tem to “do this” or “d on’t do that”.
W hen our spiritual nervous system
sounds an alarm it is G od tapping us
on the shoulder. Christians are very
adept at making excuses to ignore
these alarms. W e say, “well, we can ’t
live on the m ountain top all the
tim e”........ or “God wants me to bear
this”. My Bible tells me that these
attitudes are not scriptural. Jesus says
we should have “abundant life ”,
“Peace like a river”, “joy that is full”.
1) The Bible instructs mankind to
establisha vital relationship with God.
2) It instructs us to form relationships
with each other. 3) In Ephesians 5 &
6, we find a list o f those relationships
with instructions for each. These scrip
tures show us what our priorities
should be.
The
in s tr u c tio n s
on
employment....the “servant-master”
relationship has everything to do with
our “abundant life”, and the enjoy
ment of our secular work. God has a
plan for the whole system o f secular
employment. He wants us, his follow
ers, to be victorious at our workplace
and over our workplace, because he
wants to draw the non-christian em
ployee into His Kingdom. There are
millions of people without knowl
edge of God and millions of people
who have the knowledge o f God. Those
millions of lost people go to work
daily with those millions o f Christians,
but none-the-less, the workers in
G od’s Kingdom are few and the har
vest is plenteous. W e Christians are
laborers in our workplace. Laborers
for G o d ’s Kingdom. W e are in the
world, but not o f the world. We are
now exposed in one day to more people
than a Christian a hundred years ago
could meet in a year. To be a light
shining in the darkness o f pressur
ized work conditions is a hard task;
yet this is a part o f G od’s plan. Be kind
and patient with fellow workers. It is
only when mean bosses, lying, lazy,
incompetentco-workers, subordinates
and flaring tem pers surface that the
differences between Christians and
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non-christians can clearly emerge.
Thats why we have more trouble with
people at work than we will have at
home, in the community and in our
Churches.
Never before have lives been so
empty; never before has depression
been so rampant. The harvest is ripe.
God is right on schedule. And the
Christian W orking Employee is the
key to His Plan of harvesting. God
wants us at the workplace. He wants
us to associate with non-christians.
Ungodly people are the single worst
irritant Christians face at work. They
don’t like to talk about God, they tell
dirty jokes. They plot and scheme
behind the boss’s back, they keep
things stirred up all the time; Yet, we
must form good relationships with
these people. Jesus associated with
people who were not believers. He
went out of his way to eat with tax
collectors, common fishermen and
even ate with the man he knew would
betray him.
Circum stances will arise, un
pleasant and unwanted; but the atti
tude we form regarding these circum
stances determine our action or re
sponse. Understanding the cycle of
attitude-action-circumstance is cru
cial to our Christian lives. We m ust
understand that it is the attitude that
creates the problems at work, at home,
in neighborhoods and Churches.
It is not the actions or circum
stances that are the culprits, but our
attitudes toward the circumstances
and our actions brought on by our
attitudes. O ur bad moods set up chain
reactions that have a vast and destruc
tive effect on many lives. We can’t
damage our salvation, but we can put
a major dent in our joy. Break the
cycle. Remember, we are on the job
for G od’s purpose, not just to earn a
living. Souls for Jesus are much more
important than righteous anger at
other employees and bosses. Follow
G od’s Purpose, gather the harvest
and our joy and life will be complete.
“These th ings have I spoken unto
you, that ye might have peace. In the
world ye have tribulations; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the
world”. John 16:33. As he faced the
cross, Jesus said, “I have conquered.
I have overcom e”. The world gives
peace through agreeable circum
stances. Jesus’ peace has nothing to
do with outward circumstances. It is
the kind o f peace “that no man taketh
from you”. John 16:22. The Peace of
God allows us to rejoice in the face of
physical and mental abuse initiated
by fellow workers and employers.
Remember, actions are born in
attitudes and attitudes are formed by
circumstance God does not change
our circumstances, but changes us so
as to render our circumstances o f no
e ffe c t G od changes our attitudes.
When we reach the point that our
attitudes are molded by God, our atti
tudes will produce Godly results. We
will be Christ-like and have the mind
of C h rist W e will have life and have
it more abundantly.
cSt.
103 NE Morris St., Portland, OR 97212
- 'Hietneùai {jäiden
Lombard Chapel
3018 N. Lombard
Portland, Oregon 97217
503-283-0525
Killingsworth Chapel
430 N. Killingsworth
Portland, Oregon 97217
503-283-1976
M a llo ry Avenue
Christian Church
"Come to me oil you who ore
weary and heavy laden and I
will give you rest."
Sunday School -9:30am
Sunday Morning Wor
ship Service - 11:00am
■ Sunday School Teacher's
Meeting Tues - 6:30pm
' Bible Study Wednesday -
6:00pm
1 Prayer Meeting
Wednesday - 7:00pm
Church Phone Number
287-7457
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Dr. Joe S. Hardie, Pastor
We Invite You To Come And Worship With Us.
The Church Where Everybody is Somebody And Christ
Is All.
Presenting ‘Ifte. Founder O f
‘E ighty Eight E&ys
Elbert Mondaine’ Jr . the
Pastor and Founder o f C e l
ebration Tabernacle where he
has very successfully pastored
fo r five years also founded' A n
Evening O f Eighty Eight Keys'
an annual event created to
motivate, encourage and honor
local gospel m usicians fo r
much hard work and talent ex
hibited that much too often go
without recognition or reward.
Pastor Mondaine, being a vet
Elbert M on dain e’ Jr .
eran Gospel artist and musi
cianfor twenty years understands the frustrations felt by most
gospel artist partially because gospel musicians traditionally
are not compensated as well as secular musicians thus almost
literally forcing gospel musicians into the secular arena.
Pastor Mondaine’ is quite saddened that such great talent
designed to glorify our Father G od is often stolen by the spirit
o f the world lured by it’s glamour. Past recipients o f this
prestigious award are:
Terry Davis - Minister o f Music Mt Olivet Baptist Church
Mattie Ann Callier Spears - Veteran gospel singer and drama
Milla Dorsey - World renown gospel stylist.
Katy G ifford -Teacher and choral director Martin Luther
King, Jr . Elem.
Marla Gibbs - Minister o f Music Bethlehem BaptistChurch,
Tacoma, WA.
Jo h n Gainer - Choral Director University o f Oregon!
Founder and Director Inspirational Sounds.
Gerutha Favrall - Local Gospel artist
Lonnie Hosley - Founder I Director Heaven Bound Choir.
There are four different categories!Eighty Eight Globe
Trotter Award designed fo r veteran performers.
Gospel Education Award: fo r educators in the areas o f
music with an emphases on Sacred and gospel music.
Eighty Eight Key Award: For Gospel music excellence.
Eighty Eight Key Scholarship awards: For aspiring gos
pel musicians and students.
This years event will be held at Celebration Tabernacle
1505 N . Bryant at interstate at 7:00 P.M . Friday 18th 1994.
Special guest this year will be:
Daryle Coley
The Inspirational Sounds
Celebration Singers
Tacoma Washington Workshop Choir
Martin Luther King J r . kids choir
W illa Dorsey and many more.
ST PAUL CHOIR PRESENTS
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9:45am Sunday School
11:00am Morning Worship
7:30pm Tuesday Bible Study
and Prayer
F U N E R A L
In te r-ra cia l C o n g re g a tio n
D IR E C T O R S
ST.
126 N€ Alberta Portland, OR 97211 (503) 288-5173
Family Owned and Operated Since 1954 Serving
MT. OLIVET
BABTIST CHURCH
Worship Services 8:00am & 11:00am,
Church School 9:30 to 10:30 am,
Bible Study, Wednesdays, 116 NE Schuyler, 10:30am & 7:00pm
Radio Ministry each Sunday, 8:00am on K B M S
CHURCH
39 0 8
NE
OF
C H R I S T
M .A IL O R
Y
A V E N U E *
OF OAKLAND C A L IF O R N IA
A L B IN A
5:00 pm
Evening Worship 6:00 pm
Wednesday prayer meeting
and Bible study
7:00 pm
288-1092
503/281-2836
MARCH 1 2 ,
TIM E:
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PLACE:
S T . PAUL C . O . G . I . C .
285 9 N . E . RODNEY
5211 N. Williams Portland, OR 97217
B IS H O P J .
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Portland Oregon 9 7203
Study Phone: 2 i 3-1911
FOSTER,
PASTOR
(ßreater jB ahtt JBkpIjcn
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Sunday Service
10:45
Psalm 100:2
Sunday School
C.
We W elcom e You to The
“Serving The Lord
With Gladness”
Sunday School 10am
Morning Worship 11:05
9:30
Bible Study
Wednesday
6:00
Prayer & Bible Study 7pm
Evening Service
Rev. G.L. Black I Pastor
7:00pm
3605 N.E. Mallory Ave.
(503)281-8117 Portland,
OR 97212
Pastai, Re JamcsC C raulkner
Restoring New Testament Christianity
CHURCH OF GOD CHOIR
DATE:
Church Phone: 289-0147
Women's Bible Class
FE A T U R IN G
THE ROBERT LYON S S IN G E R S
8101 N. Fiske Avenue
Bible Study
9:30 am
Morning Worship
10:45 am
Men's Training Leadership
"WALK IN THE L IG H T "
hour o f need Vann & Vann are there to serve.
A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Marfin, Senior Pastor
Church Office 116 NE Schuyler St. • (503) 284-1954
T H EM E:
the City of Portlandfor over 37 years In your
H as m o ve d Sunday services to
Family Life Center,
8725 N. Chautauqua Blvd.,
at Willis Blvd.
P A U L A F R IE N D S
Rev. and Mrs. G.L. Black I
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