The Lord is Salvation, Strength, and Song!

What a tough week this has been for a lot of people, including myself. Thankfully we have scripture to encourage us! Psalms 118:14 says, "The LORD [is] my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Praise the Lord! It is amazing how in times of trial, God is faithful. He is our strength. Sometimes we don't understand why we go through trials, but we can grow from these trials as we are continuing to be molded in the vessels that God wants us to be. We are not immuned to trials, but we are reminded by one of my favorite sections of a verse from Joshua 1:5.....God promises.."I will not leave you nor forsake you."

No matter what...I want to encourage you in good times and in the bad that we all need to look at the bigger picture. Christ is our salvation and He gives us a hope that a lot of non-Christians just don't understand. We have joy knowing that in this world we are just passing through to be with our Lord. But....Non-Christians need this joy too! Let's pray for one another that the Holy Spirit gives us opportunities to reach the non-Christians.....that way they can get rid of the "non-" and be a part of His Kingdom too. Let us have a song in our hearts and worship HIM!!!

God Prevails Against the Enemy!

Do you ever feel like Satan is just attacking and on the prowl? All of us need to remember that he will do all he can to tear down the good things that God is doing in lives. If you feel that you are under attack....don't fear!

We have a Mighty God that we serve and He is greater than our enemy! Let's remember the Armor of God! 1 Peter 5:8 teaches that we need to..."Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." I like what Ephesians 6:10 & 11 says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." If you read on in this section of scripture, it says that if we take up the WHOLE Armor of God we will be able to "withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Let's ALL take these parts up: Gird your waist with TRUTH, The breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS, have your feet shod with the preparation of the GOSPEL OF PEACE, take up the SHIELD OF FAITH, take the HELMET OF SALVATION, and we need the Word of God....THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!

We see a lot of great things that God in doing in our lives and at First Baptist Church. Satan wants it to come crashing down, but we serve a MIGHTY GOD! He will prevail! We need to continue to trust in Him. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness....Amen!

Baby miracles!

It's that time of year again, even in the deep cold of winter, when many in our Worland area are starting lambing and kidding season. That has happened at our house already. In the last couple of weeks we have had Suffolk lambs born, and just this past Monday morning, three little Nubian goat kids were born from Jacob's Champion Nubian goat, Real. The babies are already being bottle fed and making all kids of noise! We had to bring them in and warm them up with towels and heat lamps. I was getting ready to leave for work, when Sandra came in with the three of them bundled up in her arms. The goofy thing is that we may have, potentially, about eight more born in coming weeks!

I know that raising animals can be a lot of work, especially for our boys now with their 4-H projects..but each year these little ones are born, I am amazed at the miracle of creation. God is truly a God of Wonders! Thank you Lord for your creation. You are awesome in all of your ways! What a mystery you are! I still can't understand how some people think that life just happens......YOU are the Creator of all things!

Wow! What a Super Bowl!

Wow! What a Super Bowl it was between the Pittsburg Steelers and Arizona Cardinals! It was rowdy at our house! Sandra and I survived having the middle schoolers from our FBC Student Ministries youth group at our house for the Super Bowl. We had close to 20 middle schoolers, wall -to -wall, cheering yelling, playing board games, munching on junk food, and winding up and playing with our puppy...I have never seen so much potato chips, cookies, pop, candy, popcorn, PIZZA, etc., at a Super Bowl gathering! The kids didn't even get anything on the furniture or spill on the floor!!!!!!!!!!

Jess..you and Heather outdid yourselves on this one. I'm here to tell you, First "B", we are blessed to have such a wonderful youth pastor and wife that not only plan and support great fellowship activities for our kids, but show and teach the love of Jesus Christ. The Lord has blessed our FBC Student Ministries. I pray that He will continue to bless this bunch! All I can say is, Jess, we are praying for you, Heather, and little Kyston. Thanks for the fun FOOTBALL time with the kids last night!

Thoughts for today.....

Whew! Today is over and it is the start to the new week. Here is what is running through my head!

* I love Jesus Christ! How about you?

* Thank you Lord for my wonderful wife! Sometimes I feel that I don't deserve her.

* I sure like Jolly Ranchers...especially the cherry flavor.

* I sure like Sandra's lunches better than the boys' schools.

* Can you believe the number one and number two seeds in the NFL playoffs are done??!! Go Steelers!

* Speaking of football....I sure miss seeing my boys play! I can't wait for the FALL again!

* Sometimes....don't you wish you could just throw your computer off the top of a building? It would be a lot more amusing than to have them give you headaches!

* Gotta be at the FBC staff meeting at 5:00? Right? Better make sure.

* A big thanks to Mike St. Clair for the grain crumbles to feed my chickens. I need to get his trailer back soon.

* Wow! We have two baby lambs born!

* I sure love the puppy that I got my wife for Christmas. It's the goofiest Welsh Corgi!!!

* I hope that I have the music right for the new "UnHindered" song we will do for the youth on Wednesday night!

* Looking forward to bible study!!!! We've got some good teaching going on at First "B"!

Hope you're having a great week! God bless you!

Jeff

It's 2009? Already?

This is late coming out, but Happy New Year to all. I pray that all will have a blessed and safe 2009! Are you like me? I'm wondering where this last year went. Is it really 2009? Where has the decade gone? I guess I'm just getting older and the time is flying by!

* It's hard to believe that we have been in Worland, Wyoming since 2002 already!

* Caleb was in 4th grade in 2002, now a sophomore. Jacob was in kindergarten, now in middle school as a 7th grader. Joshua was at Worland Preschool and is now in the middle of 3rd grade! Boy..the time sure flies by!

* I moved here in my thirties....now I'm in my 40s?

* Sandra is putting up with me after all these years? She's still my sweetheart!

* It is still a pleasure to serve the Lord and being a part of our 1st Baptist family...or as Pastor Shaun calls it....First "B"!

2008 HIGHLIGHTS FOR ME!

* Continued service at First "B" with Shaun, Jodi, Becci, Jess, and now my wife, Sandra.

* Lambing and Kidding season

* The Egg Drop Event

* Picnic at the Park

* Branding Season

* Coach Pitch, Little League, and Babe Ruth Baseball!

* The Boys' School Ministry

* Fishing whenever possible with the boys.

* The county fair, seeing the kids showing their animals and doing well!

* Our anniversary...married since 1990!

* Football!!!! My kids playing high school football, middle school football, and community flag football!! THE NFL and Fantasy Football!!!!!!!!!!

* Taking the student ministry kids to the Quakes hockey game!

* Taking the student ministry kids to Acquire the Fire! Skillet rocked the house!!!

* Having Thanksgiving at our house this year and watching football!

* Seeing the candles raised up high in celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Christmas Eve Worship service!

* Staying up late New Year's Eve bringing in the New Year with the boys and family. Having a great dinner and snacks..with soda pop!

God bless you! I hope you have many wonderful highlights in your new year, 2009. God bless

you! To my out-of-state family, we hope to see you soon.

Jeff Garza and family

What a Christmas!

Hello Everyone. Ever had one of those Christmases where it didn't seem or feel like Christmas until the last minute? That is how this Christmas was for us......well...for me.

1) First of all, before I describe our Christmas, I do have to say that the 1st Baptist Christmas Eve service was the highlight of Christmas for me this year. The celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ turned out wonderful. The sanctuary was filled to capacity with many many people from the community! I am so proud of those that participated in the program. Thanks to one and all that sang, played instruments, ran media and sound, lit candles, ushered, etc. I thank God for you and the wonderful job that you did! You were outstanding! I am sure that the Lord was pleased because I know that the message of Jesus Christ was clearly presented. Jesus is the reason for the season! I want to thank Pastor Shaun and Jodi for their hard work and help in the production. A big thank you also goes to Wendy Compton for allowing us to use her choir risers for our chorale group.

2) Christmas for the Garza family seemed like we were playing "catch-up" the whole entire time. Christmas shopping? All late. Christmas cards? Late. We were also singing a made up spoof of "Oh Christmas Tree" called "NO Christmas Tree".

3) Weather and Christmas shopping didn't seem to mix this year. I know. I know. We should have started Christmas shopping in October, right? We were thinking....okay...start in December! We were able to get some shopping done locally in Worland, but of course, we needed to get to Billings or Cody for savings. All I know is, we hit some pretty nasty weather trying to get to Billings, Montana. It was so bad that we were creeping at about 20 mph through a white wall of blowing snow and gusts with cars stopped in the middle of the road in the storm! Sandra and I decided that it wasn't worth the risk, so we turned around and headed back. We then decided that we would go to Cody, Wyoming instead. While in Walmart, the horrible weather hit Cody too. We started to overhear people talking about an 11 car pile-up and a woman losing her life. After we heard about a school bus being involved, and we knew our boy Jacob was coming home from a basketball game on a bus....we knew we had to get out of there! It was a horrible time trying to get home in the blizzard. We should have just stayed home that day.

4) The weekend right before Christmas, we still didn't have our Christmas shopping done, we didn't have a Christmas tree either. We finally made it to Billings. There was snow and ice everywhere, and the people there were driving "nutty"! It was dangerous! No Christmas trees could be found! Christmas shopping was almost done that day, but had to be finished the day before Christmas back in Worland.

5) We finally were able to buy a artificial "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree from True Value in Worland for 40% off. This is the first Christmas we didn't have a real Christmas tree. Oh well.

6) Then it happened...Christmas Eve. God taught me a huge lesson! Such a simple lesson! This is what God showed me..."Jeff. I know you have been stressed. I know that you are behind and trying to finish up all the loose details with Christmas worship and the program. I know that you have been hustling to get Christmas shopping with your family done. So what if you do have or don't have a Christmas tree! Remember me.....Jesus! Remember me....I am Lord. Remember me.....celebrate me!" God really revealed Himself to me in the Christmas Eve worship service that I mentioned earlier. Yes...this was Christmas. Emmanuel..God With Us! After the choir sang the program "A Night to Remember"....and the the congregation raised their lit candles singing "Silent Night", I finally finally had my eyes opened. God taught me a great lesson. He is in control. He takes care of us. All things are possible.

1John 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

7) We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Have a blessed and Happy New Year, 2009! God bless you!