“For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10

If you have never played the game of golf… it’s hard to know the frustration of the game. Yet even though the folks who do play the game regularly admit how frustrating it can be; they continue to go out time and time again with high hopes that it will be better next time.

You stand on the first tee-box of any golf course and gaze at the fairway ahead, trying to visualize opening your shot. You know you have 18 holes in front of you on that day and your hope for success is high. As you look down the fairway, you see trees on each side of the course, perhaps sand traps in the distance and maybe even a lake or stream of water that lies between you and the green. Yet, no matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned golfer, you never visualize yourself driving the ball in to those hazards. You know they are there, but you do not focus on them. Life is a lot like that. We stand at the edge of each day and face the world that lies before us, knowing that there are many dangers standing between our intentions of glorifying God with our life and finding ourselves in an unwanted situation. Yet we never visualize ourselves in those hazards, messes, situations, etc. Though we know that the world is full of danger and temptation, the lust of the eye or the desire of our heart grabs us away via evil desire. In short – we hit a bad shot.

The Psalmist never played golf, but he faced the same first tee situation. In his optimism he saw something in the courts of heaven that was so exciting. To spend a day in God’s presence is to fulfill the longing of a thousand days. The golfer just wants to put the ball in the middle of the fairway. The Psalmist just wants to be in the presence of God. That should be our goal…to be in the presence of God. The New Testament reveals to us that Jesus has cleared the fairways of life of all hazards – if we use him as our caddy. He will steer us away from those dangers as he did the work for us. He perfected our game and restored our relationship with God. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as our guide to travel with us through life and help us avoid the hazards that lie before us
daily. Every day we stand at the tee-box of life and know that God is with us! What a powerful thought!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

We need Volunteers… The City’s July 4th parade will be Tuesday, July 4th. We need every available volunteer to assist in the parade! The theme of our float this year is: “Children are Our National Treasure”. We also need volunteers for our “VBS Day in the Park” as we once again hold our 1-day Vacation Bible School on Sunday, July 9. Volunteers are needed for all kinds of roles…please see Paul Reeb if you can help with the parade and Ruth Evans if you are willing to assist with VBS. We need lots of loving hands to accomplish this community outreach.

Thursday, June 22… marked the second anniversary of Karen and I physically being a part of the Muscatine church. It’s hard to know just when I started working with you: Was it the day I started preaching for you via ZOOM in November of 2020? The first Sunday I arrived in January of 2021. Or when Karen and I physically arrived in June of 2021? No matter when you want to say I started, what I can say is that you have opened your arms and welcomed us in a powerful way. We have traveled many roads since I began but we still have much work to do. God is present in our church and he is urging us to get involved in the community and make his presence known throughout the city. I’m all in, and I hope you are too! Thanks for welcoming us and making us feel at home!

This Week at MCoC… we will continue with our lesson series Plug IN, as I continue speaking on what the Bible says about salvation. I hope you will join us in-person, on-line, or on MPW cable channel 3 at 10:00am Sunday. These lessons are full of scripture and a great way to know and understand what the Bible teaches.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!
DJA