Terlingua Ranch Community Church

It is with mixed emotions that I must inform you that this may be my last post on this page as the Terlingua Ranch Community Church. The church trustees have released me from my position as Pastor as of today. In a way I am relieved as I have been receiving signs that some major change was about to occur in my life path and there have been times when this responsibility has weighed rather heavily on my shoulders. I always knew that I was filling in here until someone more in line with people's expectations came along, being well aware of my limitations and unorthodox approach to Christianity. Yet I have experienced a great deal of personal and spiritual growth as a result of taking on this position of leadership, and I am grateful for the opportunity and calling the Lord provided for me here. I have seen a great deal of growth and progress for the church and its membership during my watch and hope this will continue under the new leadership. I love all those who have blessed me with their support and trust as your Pastor, and hope to continue to enjoy warm relationships with you all. I have no judgments regarding those who made this decision, that was not my job at any time and is certainly not my job now. I wish them well in all their righteous endeavors. I know they will learn a lot from this experience as I have. I give grateful thanks to the Lord I love for always looking after me, and supporting me even in times of difficulty and when I made mistakes. I don't know if the new leadership will continue this church page. I am confident that the Lord will always provide a source of inspired messages for those who knock and those who seek.

Much Love,
Hat Bailey

Message for 3-13-22
Peace On Earth

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

So what is peace? Is it not a mind that is still, a mind that is not anxious, perfectly quiet and fearless despite any outward appearances that might tempt one to be fearful?

John 8:31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Now the truth is that God is in control of all things, all powerful, omnipotent and that He is a God of love, our loving Father in Heaven.

So knowing this truth, from what do you think Jesus meant us to be free? When someone truly has complete and total trust in God, what is that person's state of mind? Will such a person be free from temptation? If you truly know that God is in control of all things would you suffer from fear, from even the smallest amount of anxiety?

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.

The words "Fear not" are used sixty two times in the bible. God might just be telling us something to which we need to listen. Here are five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Free your mind from complexity, Live simply.
4. Free your mind from covetousness, Give more..
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ISAIAH 26:4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord is everlasting strength:

When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
--Alexander Graham Bell

We have seen too much defeatism, too much pessimism, too much of a negative approach. The answer is simple: if you want something very badly, you can achieve it. It may take patience, very hard work, a real struggle, and a long time; but it can be done...faith is a prerequisite of any undertaking.
--Margo Jones

We are not here to do the easy thing, which is to make decisions made obvious by sight and agreed to by everyone, but to base our lives upon an inner knowing that is not dependent upon the senses of the body, nor the arguments of learned men. It is a willingness to trust in the deep inner knowing that is unseen, truths that lie behind the veil of mortal forgetfulness and limitations.

Why are we so fearful and anxious so much of the time. Do we truly know that our sins have been forgiven and through the worthiness of the Lord who loved us so much He was willing to die for us we can call upon our Father in Heaven for all our needs. Or do we allow doubt and false humility rob us of our promised blessings?

Knowing that your perfect innocence and forgiveness have been assured and is irrevocably guaranteed by the Son of God, will there be any room for false guilt?

God will not desert His beloved and innocent child despite any appearances to the contrary. Do we really believe this? Do we Know it? This is the beginning of real faith and trust. For those who truly trust gratitude and thankfulness are strong in their hearts.

ISAIAH 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

PSALM 125:1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

PSALM 91:2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

If you ever want to know just how close you are to Knowing the Truth that shall set you free, simply ask yourself how much of your time you spend worrying, and how much time you spend being grateful. If there is even the smallest twinge of anxiety you know that you do not yet have the faith that amounts to knowing, but still have doubts in your mind and heart.

Now to doubt is to be human, and all of us indulge in it at times don't we? Yet there are steps we can take to develop the faith that we have. When those nagging voices of the carnal mind come tormenting and pointing out appearances that seem to indicate that you are not taken care of and perfectly nurtured, do you remember to rebuke them in Jesus name and turn your thoughts to the many blessings that have been yours in the past. Including those that came unexpectedly at the last minute and made all your worries for nothing.

This is a true story. I have told it before, but it is worth the retelling. I hope you appreciate it for the important message it teaches.

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean. Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody's gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts...and his bucket of shrimp. Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier. Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, 'Thank you. Thank you.'
Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida as a bit of an odd bird himself. That's too bad. They'd do well to know him better. His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero back in World War II. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven- member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft. Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were.
They needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft. Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap. It was a seagull!
Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal - a very slight meal for eight men – of it. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait....... and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued (after 24 days at sea...).

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull..... and he never stopped saying, 'Thank you.' That's why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.
PS: Eddie started Eastern Airlines. Before WW1 he was race car driver. In WW1, he was a pilot and America' s first ace.

A number of important lessons can be learned from this simple true story. Lessons about how important the gospel principles of hope and faith and trust in our Father in Heaven are, and how they can lead to miracles. How important it is to give thanks and remember in gratitude blessings given, and to learn how good it feels to pass them on to others in simple ways. It is also a lesson for us all to take a moment before we judge and criticize some older person for doing something a little out of the ordinary, for how can we know who they are, what has happened in their lives, and the important things they may have done or accomplished. So, I also want to thank you for also taking a moment to contemplate the importance of these thoughts. May they bless you with some of that peace that passeth all understanding. This is my humble prayer and my message for today.

Monthly Church Business Meeting Notes for 2-27-22

Don't forget to turn you clocks forward before next Sunday morning!