Hey everyone. I can’t believe it’s fall already. This stinks. I’m planning at least 2 more rides for this year. Of course that all depends on weather. I want to do a color tour. So expect an email or call that is last minute.
The reason for this email is to let you know I’d like to get together this weekend. I’m thinking we could meet at the Halfway restaurant this Sat. the 20th for breakfast at 9 am. As long as the weather is good we will take off for a ride afterwards. Otherwise if it’s raining, we’ll just go home. If you have a minute, let me know if you’re planning on making it so I can reserve enough seats at the restaurant. Well I’ll let you go for now. Hope to see you Saturday.
Onthevirg
Hey Everyone. This is a copy of an email that I received from Ben Fryc. I’m not sure if everyone knows him or not, but he’s a friend of mine from church. He already got clearance through Pastor Joel. So I am sending this out to everyone. It sounds like a good cause, and a good way to reach out into our community. Please let people know. His contact information is here, otherwise get ahold of me. Thanks in advance.
onthevirg
Law Enforcement
Benefit Ride
Friday, September 12, 2008
6:00 pm
Please join us in a scenic ride to benefit Tracy Larson. Tracy is a dispatcher for Montcalm County Central Dispatch in Stanton, MI. This past June, Tracy was beaten and shot point-blank with a 12ga shotgun. Her assailant then killed himself before police arrived. Tracy survived the assault, but will require a long period of time to recover. She has two teenage daughters, and is their sole provider.
The ride will begin at 6:00pm from the old Meijer store, 1220 N. Lafayette St. in Greenville MI. and wind approximately 45 miles through Montcalm and Isabella counties. The ride will end at the Littlefield Outreach Center, 3080 S. Littlefield Rd, Mount Pleasant, MI. There will be a dinner and auction, as well as a live band from 6:00 to 10:00. Cost of the dinner is 10.00 per person. Donations for Tracy will be collected at the start of the ride.
Contact Deputy Benjamin Fryc, Montcalm County Sheriff Department, for further information at (616) 225-2383.
Please respond early if interested, as the venue needs an approximate number for dinner preparations. Thank you.
Good evening everyone. I am trying to make contact with everyone who is going to the mens retreat this month. I looked at the calendar and it’s already next Friday that we’re leaving. Time flys. Anyway, if your going, we will be meeting at the church at 8 am Friday morning. If you are going, could you let me know so we can watch for you. From there we will be riding north and getting breakfast on the way. If you have any questions please email or call me. 616 835 1853 If you have not already registered to go, you need to contact me or Pastor Rob Tripp to let us know you want to go. If you know of some one who is going and doesn’t have email, please let them know. Thanks
Onthevirg
Hey everyone. It's June already. This year is flying. I had someone mention to me the other day, at church, that we needed to have a ride set up for this month and this person also mentioned the idea of doing breakfast. Which was good by me. So here's the plan, we'll meet at the Halfway about 9 am on the 21st of this month. If it's raining we'll just have that time together. Otherwise we'll take off from there and head for Ionia area on a ride.
The other thing I am going to give you a heads up on, is keep the 26th of July open. That is the date of our first annual Yatzee run. Same concept as a poker run only for the church. I would like to take credit for this, but it was actually Jerry Nestles idea, and he has been doing alot of the leg work and planning for it. It should be a great time. I'll get you all the details for that as soon as I have them. Should be in the near future.
The only other date I have to let you know about is August 15th through the 17th. That is the Mens retreat in Munising.
For all these rides, and any others we have, invite your friends. They don't need to go to our church, or even go to church.
So that's all I know at this point. Hope you can all make it this month. I'll send out a reminder email later. Have a good one.
Virg
I got this in my email and thought it was really good and worth sharing with those of you that didn't get it.
Onthevirg
This devotional is by Rob Garrison.
All Access Pass -
1 Devotional
He is risen! Our belief, our hope, and our life. All that we believe about Jesus, about the Bible, and God, hinges on that fact. Without the resurrection, it's just a nice story with a sad ending. Yet, 2000 years later, the belief is alive and well and strong. Only through God does something like that continue.
As I sat through second service yesterday, I was happy that we had such a full crowd. Another part of me grieved though as I started to think of all the other churches in the area, around the world, where the people who feel compelled to come to church for Easter (and Christmas) and leave thinking, "Well, that Jesus seems like a nice enough guy, but he's just not for me. You Christians go ahead and deal with Him the way you like, but basically, leave me out of it." Do you see or hear that attitude in your work or among your family or friends? That attitude was first displayed by Pilate at Jesus' trial. Pilate couldn't find anything wrong with Jesus. He saw no reason for this man to be put to death. But, he just couldn't bring himself to go against the grain and start an uprising, or make the one he already had even worse. That wouldn't be good for business; the boss wouldn't like it. Hmmm...how often do we take that stand when it comes to Christ?
Pilate's wife even warned him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for I suffered greatly in a dream last night because of Him." (Matt 27:19) Yet, he rejected that counsel and fell to the whims of the crowd. How did she know He was righteous? He should have been just another Jew to her and surely she had been witness to many trials that resulted in crucifixion; she still "knew" something in her gut about what was right, about this "righteous Man". I think Pilate knew there was something wrong with killing this "King of the Jews", but instead decided to let the wrong go and washed his hands of the whole mess.
My prayer throughout the service was for those who were like Pilate- non-committal. Maybe that service is just one step closer to commitment for them. How many times does it take to make that commitment? That answer is different for each of us. I also prayed for the Spirit to move through the sanctuary to move those that were ready to make the step...to open the door. I pray that we, as a congregation, can bring the new commitments to maturity in Christ. I prayed for those who opened the door long ago and have fallen away due to the nature of life. I prayed they would look again to the One with the answers, the One with peace, comfort, understanding and most of all, Love. Maybe that's what Pilate's wife saw in Jesus-compassion and love for the people that couldn't have an earthly explanation. And, that is a Love that we all need and we all seek one way or another. How do you seek it?
One other thought: if you are still "on the fence" or know someone who is, I recommend reading Lee Strobel's book, The Case for Christ. Lee Strobel was an investigative reporter for a Chicago newspaper when he decided he would investigate Jesus Christ as he investigates a newspaper story. His journey led him to ask a lot of hard, objective questions to many experts about the facts that surround Jesus' life, death and resurrection. He talked with theologians; he talked to medical experts about crucifixion and how that affects the body. He searched out the facts about the sightings of Jesus after His resurrection and the validity of the texts that we, as Christians, believe. When he started, he was a non-believer, but his journey led to his own salvation through Jesus Christ. Praise God...He is risen indeed!! And the facts more than bear that out.
I’d rather see a Christian than hear one any day
I’d rather have one walk with me than simply point the way
My eyes are a better pupil and more willing than my ears
Fine counsel can be confusing, but examples are always clear
And the best of all the preachers, are those who live their creed
For to see their good in action, that’s what everybody needs
I can soon learn how to do it, if you can let me see it done
I can watch your life in action, but your tongue too fast might run
And the sermons you deliver may be very wise and true
But I’d rather get my lessons, by observing what you do
For I may misunderstand you, and the good advice you give
But there’s no misunderstanding of how you act and how you live
I’d rather see a Christian than hear one any day
During this Christmas season, almost everybody is happy and in a Christmassy (yes I just made up a word) mood. I would like to encourage all of us to remember that as believers we are being watched. Not just during this season, but all through the year. People look at us, and that is how they see God. We are examples. I'll never forget a guy that came to the shop I work in. He was a very outspoken person who pointed out the faults of everyone. He left such a bad impression, that he's still talked about in a negative way. Unbelievers don't always remember the good things that we do. But they sure remember the bad things we do. I know we can't be perfect, and God doesn't expect that from us. The goal is that we have more good examples of being a believer, than bad.
onthevirg
First of all, I would like to say how surprised I was that I didn’t get more comments. I really thought that with a topic like this, I would get more responses.
I will start by saying that the number one reason I see for a question like this to turn out badly is insecurity. If we as spouses are doing our job properly, then there shouldn’t be any reason not to answer this question honestly and without hesitation. And our significant other will only be asking this as a fashion tip.
On the other hand, if we are not doing our job, and answer this honestly, we will be in all kinds of trouble. I know this from experience. As I am from the male gender, I am going to answer this from a mostly male perspective. I do, however, believe that the principles will apply to both sides. I will also say that the answer I have included here is impossible to do without the help of Jesus. If you don’t have a relationship with Him, either get a hold of me, or one of the pastors in the church and we would be more than happy to talk with you.
In 1 Peter 3, we read,
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
.
This passage is directed at wives. But I think it applies to some men too. It is telling wives that their beauty should not come from the outward appearance only. Their inner beauty is what we should be looking at. Now I’m not going to try to deny the truth and say that if you let yourself go and turn into a complete slob that this is ok. It will certainly put a bump in the road. But if your inner beauty is shining through, then it won’t make any difference if you’ve put on a couple extra pounds since you were dating.
There’s a joke I heard once. For the most part, the basics of it were that the difference between a man and a woman is that a man can walk down the street with a bald head and a pot belly, and still think he’s hot.
The reason I stated that in the middle of this is because I believe the intensity for a woman is a lot higher than a man. They are expected to look like a barbie doll like all the billboards and magazines show, and it is unrealistic to live up to. God created you the way you are. What the world calls beauty, should not matter. But we as men, hold those ideals up as what we want. Maybe not intentionally, but by the shows we watch on tv, and the magazines we read, with the girls in them and we make our comments. Or sometimes we just turn our heads and look at the jogger on the road. Not only does this make our wives self conscious, but what are we teaching our kids? At this point they are thinking that in order for us to look at them that way, they need to look that way. And we are passing this idea on to our kids. And if that weren’t bad enough, then we don’t do a proper job of building up their self-esteem the rest of the time. I am unfortunately stating this not from outside observation, but from firsthand experience. I throughout my marriage have done a terrible job in these areas. For the past 3 years I have been doing what I can to help build up my wife’s self-esteem. I tell you this, not to pat myself on the back, because I still don’t do as good of a job as I should. But to let you know, I’ve been right their with you. You’re not alone. We as men should be building up our wives self esteem on a regular basis. By telling them how beautiful they are, how much we love them, and by other ways of telling them how good of a job they are doing in whatever area. That is only part of it though. Our actions HAVE to back what we say. They should see that we only have eyes for them.
Ok wives, it’s your turn. When we compliment you, accept it. Don’t blow it off like we’re lying. Or we’ll quit doing it. Along with that, you are teaching your daughters. They hear your response and think that that is the proper way to respond. The most important thing I can share with you is this. Remember the part about the inner beauty? That is KEY. The first thing that attracted me to my wife was her looks. The thing that keeps me attracted to her is her personality. Her looks do help, but her happy, bubbly, fun personality is what does it for me. Her beauty stays the same from day to day. But when she is in a bad mood, I am far from attracted to her. I received an e-mail many years ago. It had a picture of one of the models of that time in it, and it read, No matter how good she looks, some-one, some-where is tired of putting up with her bad attitude. As rude as this may sound, it’s true. A man will go through anything for a woman that has a good attitude, and makes him happy.
To sum it all up, we as spouses should be building up our significant other on a regular basis. We should do such a good job of it that there is no reason for insecurity. That way when they ask us if those pants make them look fat, we can be honest with them, without worrying if it will offend them. I will also say that regular prayer for guidance is very helpful. And in the rough times, it is mandatory.
Again I will say that I would love to hear your responses to this. Either post it here or e-mail me at vjpackard@charter.net . Thanks for reading
Onthevirg
Well that should have gotten your attention.
I, along with others, have been posting on this blog for at least a year. I noticed that other than a select few, no comments are made, and very few people read through them. In the upper right corner there is a box that says sign in, or join. If you are already registered, sign in. If you've never signed up, do it now. It only takes a couple minutes. Then what I want you to do is answer the question below, and give me your reasons why. Then have your friends check it out. If you see where someone else has taken the time to write something out on another post, and it speaks to you, leave a comment on theirs too. My goal is, I would like these blogs to become a place where people are able to come and express their questions and opinions and get feedback on some of lifes issues that they don't understand. Along with it being a place to find out different information about things happening in our church.
Here's the question.
If your significant other comes to you and asks you, "Do these pants make me look fat". How should you respond if they actually make them look fat? If you're honest, it might hurt their feelings, and then they might get a complex. But if you lie, that is a sin. And God has told us not to.
I already have my answer and reason, and will post it in a couple weeks. Let's see how far off I am.
Onthevirg
Wow! What a cold morning. It was 36 degrees this morning when I got up. Wasn't much warmer when we left. For a few minutes I thought that Tina, Dave, and I were going to be the only crazy/brave people to show up. But shortly after Darren, Rod, and my parents showed up. It was cold, but fun. We ran up by Croton Hardy dam to Baldwin and back. Not alot of color, but it was still fun. Tina did say that she didn't like my passengers seat and would be on her own bike next time. Well, thanks to those that rode along and kept me company. There are a couple pictures I took today that I put on the photos page under mens motorcycle ministies 07. Hey, leave a comment, let me know what you think. Thanks for looking,
Virgil
Hey everyone. Summer is over and fall is here. So very sad. I'm ready for summer to start over. With the weather as warm as it's been lately, it's felt like it. It's crazy, Oct. 6 and we had mid 80's weather. Well hopefully you're all doing well. Sorry that I haven't done as many rides this year as I should have. It's been a busy summer for me. Hopefully next year will be better.
Well the reason I'm writing is to tell you I'm planning a fall color tour ride for this Saturday. The date would be the 13th. This will be a couples ride, so bring your better half if they're into riding. As far as that goes, if you have a friend, neighbor, or relative that would be interested, they are welcome too. We will be meeting at the old Meijer gas station at 9 am. I'm planning on being out for awhile. So I'm planning on doing lunch somewhere. If it's raining, I will reschedule it for the following Saturday. If you have any other questions, let me know. Thanks for your time, and have a great week.
Virgil
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
What an awesome weekend. We ran into a little rain on the way up but the rest of the weekend was perfect. Thanks to all of you that went along. I appreciated the company. Hopefully the weekend was as beneficial for you as it was for me. I know my boys both enjoyed it. What did everyone think of Dale? I think I enjoyed him just as much this year as last year. I posted some pictures. Click on the photos tag, go under Mens Motorcycle Ministry, and check out the 07 mens retreat. Well, I'll leave you alone for now.
Virgil
Good evening everyone. Hope you're all doing well. The reason I'm writing this is to let you know about the U.P. mens retreat coming up August 24th-26th. I went last year and it was great. The speaker was really good, there were lots of activities, and the food was great. They give discounts for father son combinations too. I took my oldest last year, and am taking both boys this year. What we did last year was anyone that wanted to ride up on their bikes we got together and went up as a group. If you want to drive, you are more than welcome to do that too. We will be leaving early Fri. morning the 24th of August, and coming back on the 26th. If this is something that interests you, let me know asap as registration needs to be in by the 13th of Aug. My phone number is 616-835-1853, and my email is vjpackard@charter.net. Talk to you later.
Virgil
Hey everyone. First, let me apologize for giving such short notice again. This Friday, 6/29/07, I was thinking we could do an ice cream ride up to Sylvester. We could meet at the old Meijer gas station around 7pm. It's only about a half hour up there. This is a bring your significant other ride. If they don't ride, they can drive if they want. Hopefully it will be a fun ride. If it's raining we will just postpone for a later date. Hope to see you all there.
Virgil
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Hey there everyone. How have things been going? Hopefully well. I don't know about anyone else, but it seems the older I get, the faster my life goes by. So many prodjects, so little time.
Hey, the reason I'm writing this, is to see if we could get a ride together for this Sat. the 16th of June on such a short notice? I was thinking we could meet at 9am at the old Meijer gas station on M91 on the north side of Greenville. I was told there is a nice park in Shepherd we could go to. From the looks of the map we can run all backroads to and from. This would be a longer ride than the last time, so we should plan on most of the day.
I would appreciate your feedback as to if this is possible on short notice or not. We are on section 6 of our study too. But if there is something else you would like to go over, we could touch on that instead. I would like to have this be a fun time of riding with some relevant discussion.
Virgil
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Well good evening. Hope you are doing well. I've been pretty busy. We are remodeling the bathroom. What alot of work that turned out to be.
Sat. ride was great. We had decent weather. It could have been a little warmer, but this time of year, it was good. I took some pictures of the bikes with the covered bridge in the background. They are posted under the photos tag on the side. Just look under the 07 rides folder. We talked about where we could go to for rides. If you have any ideas of where you'd like to go, let me know.
I will again remind you that the blessing of the bikes is the 20th of this month. We will go up on the 18th. If you would like to come up and join us, let me know and I will get you directions. vjpackard@charter.net . Well, I'll leave you alone for now. Don't have too much fun and keep the rubber side down.
Onthevirg