John Ortberg in his book "The Life You've Always Wanted" shares a story about giving a bath to his three preschool children.  His daughter Mallory was so overjoyed after playing in the water for 20 minutes that when she got out she began to do what is knwon at their house as the "Dee Dah" dance.  This consists of spinning around in circles singing over and over again "Dee Dah Day, Dee Dah Day."  It's a song of exuberant overflowing joy!

On this particular occasion, John says he was irritated by the dance.  So he said rather sternly, "Mallory, hurry up."  Which she did.  She began to spin in circles faster and faster, chanting "Dee Dah Day" even more rapidly.

"No Mallory, " he said.  "Quit dancing and hurry up and get over here so I can dry you off."  Suddenly little Mallory stopped dancing and asked a most profound question; "Why?"

John says he was taken back by her query.  He didn't have an answer.  He had no where to go.  There was an hour or so until bedtime.  There was nothing pressing that needed to be done, so he got up and did the "Dee Dah Day" dance with her.  By the time they finished, she didn't even need drying off.

Reflecting on the experience, Orberg says we need to learn to savor the "Dee Dah Day" moments.  Instead of waiting to live someday, waiting to have fun and waiting to find time for joy, we need to live in the moment.  We're missing too many "Dee Dah" experiences.

I hope this week as you gather with friends and family for Thanksgiving you will relish every second.  Have fun! Laugh!  From your heart thank God for every blessing He has poured out upon you and your family this past year.  And if you want to try the "Dee Dah Day" dance, then go for it!

One of the things I'm particularly thankful for is our great Parkway Wesleyan family.  I can hardly wait to get to church on Sundays.  You are such a blessing to Rosemary and I.

Don't forget our special "Prayer and Worship" service this coming Saturday evening at 7:00 PM.  We are going to bombard heaven with mountain-moving prayer.  If you've got needs -- if you are burdened for the lost -- if you could use a miracle, you need to be part of this special prayer time.  I believe God is going to do something extraordinary.

Have a great week.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Pastor Barry

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! -- Philippians 4:4

When I was a kid growing up I remember three rhetorical questions that were often addressed to me.  The first was, “Were you born in a barn?”  That usu­ally came when I left a door open.  A second was, “Where is your brain?”  This one usually came from my older brother, after I forgot or lost something:  lunch, gloves, coat, ball glove, hat, etc. [unfortunately, I still ask myself this one a lot …. I tend to lose things!]  The third question was, “Haven’t you forgotten something?”
This was usually a parental reminder to say “thank you” for a gift or some act of kindness.
           This week as I was reading the story of the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus [Luke 17:11-19] I thought of this question; “Haven’t you forgotten some­thing.”  Only one of the lepers, a foreigner, bothered to return to express his thanks to our Lord.  I wonder, how often I am like the nine ungrateful recipients of God’s mercy who went their merry way without a word of gratitude.

           Sometimes we’re so busy complaining about what we don’t have that we forget to count our blessings.  When is the last time you thanked God for a  beau­tiful sunset, a hug from a grandchild or a phone call from a friend?  When is the last time you thanked Jesus for salvation and the joy of the Lord in your life?   How long has it been since you thanked God for the encouragement of your church family and having such a wonderful place to come and worship?  Truly, we can say “God is good!

           I also want to say “Thank You” to all of those who responded to the “Call for prayer” on Sunday.  As we pray mountains will be moved and miracles are going to happen.  Mark your calendars for our “Evening of Prayer and Worship” on Sat­urday, November 28th.  Please let us know if there is a special need you want us to pray for.

           Have a great week and remember to “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love endures forever.” (Psalm 107: 1).

   Author and Bible teacher, Beth Moore reminds us in her book Believing God that the enemy loves to attack our minds with negative, spirit killing, defeating thoughts.  Paul, in Ephesians 6, calls these thoughts “fiery darts or flaming arrows of the evil one”.  Here are just a few the devil may have launched in your direction

•  Fear — “You should be afraid, very afraid.  Something terrible is coming and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
• Doubt — “You can’t trust God.  He’s not going to answer your prayer or help you out of this mess.”
• Loneliness — “You are alone, you will always be alone, and therefore you will always be miserable.”
• Rejection — “You’re worthless.  No wonder you’re rejected by everyone.”
• Unforgiveness — “You can never forgive ____.  And even if you could, why would you?”
• Anger — “You’ve been hurt.  You’ve got a right to be angry.”
• Jealousy — “You’re not being noticed.  Someone else is getting the credit you deserve.”
• Discouragement — “You’ll never get what you want.  You’ll never be happy.  Don’t get your hopes up.“

But praise God we have an answer!  Paul tells us to take up the shield of faith with which “we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  Beth Moore then gives us a very practical way of putting this Scripture into prac­tice.  [we’ve been doing this in our Sunday night Young Adult Bible Study].  When Satan shoots one of those ar­rows hold out your hand like a stop sign.  Each finger represents a different part of your shield.  Go ahead hold up your thumb and say it out loud! The Shield of Faith

• Thumb— God is who He says He is. (Jeremiah 32:17)
• Index— God can do what He says He can do. (Isaiah 50:2)
• Middle— I am who God says I am (Ephesians 1:3-8)
• Ring— I can do all things through Christ [yeah, I have trouble holding this one up too] (Philippians 4:19)
• Little finger - God’s Word is alive and active in me. (Hebrews 4:12)

 The next time the enemy attacks try using this little exercise to remind you that we don’t have to fall victim to the Devil’s lies.I’ve shared all of this to set the stage for what I am going to be preaching on this coming Sunday.  Over the past couple of months I am convinced that Satan has launched a major attack against  many of our Parkway families.  Many of you or your family members are dealing with catastrophe illness, chronic pain, a devastating loss, unem­ployment, or a host of other problems. Marriages are strained, relationships with children are stressful and some are even dealing with caring for aging parents.  Along with that Satan would love nothing more than to divide and defeat us as believers.  Our enemy does not want to see our church grow and prosper.  Things like our successful missions conference, Friend Day  and the influx of many new families makes Satan nervous.  He doesn’t like seeing people at the altar and decisions for Christ like we’ve had the last couple of weeks.  Yet, now is not the time to back down or give up!Thus, I am calling our church to prayer.  You don’t have to wait till Sunday, you can begin praying now!  On Sunday I plan to share some specific plans for an ongoing, intercessory prayer movement.  Tentatively, we are plan­ning “An Evening of Prayer and Worship” for Saturday, November 28th. (mark your calendars).  This may be just the first of many prayerevents in the coming weeks. [If you have any ideas let me know.]  Things happen when God’s people pray! On a lighter  note, I hope you are making plans to join us for our annual Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, November 18th.  Again, this is a great opportunity to invite friends and family members to our church.  We have a very special evening planned.Hope you are having a great week!Pastor Barry

  Good Morning!    

                  I hope you are as encouraged this morning as I am.  I’m still rejoicing over our great Friend Day!  It was wonderful to see so many guests and make so many new friends.  We counted 139 for worship service.  Pastor Dale and the Praise Team led us to the Throne in worship [I love that song …”Our God is mighty to save…!”]  The testimony of Rev. Sharon Reed spoke to us of God’s amazing grace and His ability to bring healing to our broken lives.  No matter what we’ve gone through the Lord can still use us for His glory.  The response to the message was encouraging.  Over ten people raised their hands indicating they prayed the prayer asking Jesus into their heart!  If nothing else was accomplished that alone makes the day a success.  There were celebrations in heaven over those decisions. (Luke 15:10)

And then, as usual, our ladies outdid themselves with the wonderful meal.  After over indulging with two pieces of cake, I could barely stay awake during the afternoon football games I watched on TV.  Thanks, Marcia and all the team who helped with the meal.  It was great to see so  many new people involved in serving, washing dishes and setting up chairs.  Parkway truly is a church that gets people involved.  The bottom line is we all need to take a deep breath and give ourselves a pat on the back.  Good job!

OK, that’s over! Now what’s next?  Believe it or not Thanksgiving and Advent are only a few weeks away.  The next big event on the calendar is the Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, November 18th.  This is another great opportunity to invite guests to Parkway. there will be a sign-up sheet in the bulletin this coming week). Then, before you know it we’ll be into Advent, with programs, special services and lots of dinners and fellowships. [I’ll have to jog lots of extra miles at running to burn all those calories.]

On a personal note, Rosemary and I would like to say  how moved we were by all the expressions of love for Pastor Appreciation month.  I think I speak for Pastor Dale and Pam as well, when I say that there couldn’t be a more caring congregation.  Your love and encouragement is simply amazing.

This past Sunday is a reminder of why we’re here as a church.  It’s not about us; our likes or dislikes, our wants, or our preferences.  It’s about reaching our community for Christ.  God has entrusted us with a mission.  As II Corinthians 5:18 reminds us “God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into His favor and be reconciled to Him.” (LB)  Let’s continue to look for every opportunity to introduce our friends and family members to Jesus.

With love and appreciation!

Pastor Barry

P.S.  Have you voted today?