Hope and Help for the Single Mom
The class is open to all single moms. We will meet in room210 Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm. Facilitators for the class will be Tammye Whitaker, Beth Cunningham and Joan Wagner.
Feb
28
Feb
24
Getting Started
I guess we have often heard that half the battle is simply getting started. I want to lose weight—at some point I need to say “no” to that desert. I am going to exercise more—at some point I need to lace up my tennis shoes and go for a walk.
Back in April my contract with my cell phone was up and I took the opportunity to get an upgrade. My cell phone has many options, most of which are designed to keep me connected. My cell phone is so smart that it gets emails! Wow!! Unfortunately the emails do not always come between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm. They come at all hours. Guess what my phone lets me know when I received an email at 1:00 pm or 1:00 am, it didn’t matter it thinks I need to know. Finally I discovered an option where I only get phone calls during the night time hours. It was great to be able to get a full night of sleep without that cell phone going off at all hours of the night. The word connected captures our contemporary experience of life. Many people rarely go anywhere without a cell phone, iPod, laptop etc. We have become accessible 24 hours a day. Some psychologist see this craving to stay connected as an addiction. Yet a growing number of people are deliberately limiting their use of technology. Being a “tech-NO” is their way of preserving times of quiet, while limiting the flow of information into their lives.
Many followers of Christ find that a daily time of Bible reading and prayer is essential in their walk of faith. This “quiet time” is a disconnection from external distractions in order to connect with God. The “green pastures” and “still waters” of Psalm 23:2 are more than an idyllic country scene. They speak of our communion with God whereby He restores our souls and leads us in His paths.
All of us can make time to meet with God, but do we? In a little booklet by Robert Foster entitled “Seven Minutes with God,” he suggests a way to begin: Start with a brief prayer for guidance, then read the Bible for a few minutes, and close with a short time of prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication for others. It’s vital to take time today to connect with the Lord, who is our life. We will all agree that time spent with God is time well spent. Why not make it a goal to “get started” today.
Feb
17
A Friend
The flight from Nashville to Atlanta went well. No problems, I was surrounded by people just like me. From Atlanta to Mexico City was equally pleasant. I set next to a business man who occupied most of his time in preparing for his day. Once in Mexico City, I began to run into trouble. My flight to Topochula, Mexico was delayed and I was forced to spend several hours in Mexico City airport. When it was time to finally board the plan we went by bus to a plane setting out by itself. There were only about 30 on the flight, I was the only one who did not speak Spanish. I don’t know what a Mexican gang looks like, but I thought for sure they were occupying the front part of the plan. I felt their eyes were on me constantly. About 4 hours late, the plane takes off for Topochula. We had been in the air about 15-20 minutes when I noticed what appeared to be smoke coming from upfront somewhere. Then there appeared a man in an orange jumpsuit who came back close to where I was setting. He removed a little round cover plate from the floor of the plane, looked in, said something, put it back on and went back to the front of the plan. Then one of the flight attendants came on and in her best Spanish explained what was happening. I thought this was my last flight! I guess she could see the concern (maybe fear) on my face. She came back to my seat and in her best English explained that it was nothing to worry about, all was OK. She became my very best friend on that flight, she told me it was nothing to worry about. I was met at the airport in Topochula by our missionary Daniel. The gang members were met by their parents. All was well.
In the first century, a group of believers in Thessalonica were afraid that their believing loved ones who had died were gone forever and would miss out on the second coming of Christ. Paul wrote “I to not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13). Paul’s words of comfort were intended to soften their fears by giving them the right information, which made all the difference in the world. While grieving their loss, they could still have hope of a coming reunion with those who were in Christ. In times of distress and hurt it is good to get the right information. It is also important to know that the Bible has given us the truth.
Feb
16
Daily Bible Reading – February 2011
February 1: Matthew 12-13
February 2: Matthew 14-17
February 3: Matthew 18-20
February 4: Matthew 21-22
February 5: Matthew 23-24
February 6: Matthew 25-26
February 7: Matthew 27-28
February 8: Leviticus 1-4
February 9: Leviticus 5-7
February 10: Leviticus 8-10
February 11: Leviticus 11-13
February 12; Leviticus 14-15
February 13: Leviticus 16-18
February 14: Leviticus 19-21
February 15: Leviticus 22-23
February 16: Leviticus 24-25
February 17: Leviticus 26-27
February 18: Mark 1-3
February 19: Mark 4-5
February 20: Mark 6-7
February 21: Mark 8-9
February 22: Mark 10-11
February 23: Mark 12-13
February 24: Mark 14
February 25: Mark 15-16
February 26: Numbers 1-2
February 27: Numbers 3-4
February 28: Numbers 5-6
Feb
10
Green Beans
As a child I was a finicky eater. There were very few things that were brought in from the garden that I really enjoyed except possibly tomatoes. Mother would can all summer long. I just could not understand why she would go to all that trouble for something that I just didn’t care for. At the top of the list was green beans. My thought was who in their right mind would like green beans!! I remember called in from a hard day of playing for super. There to my discuss would often times be a large bowl of green beans. Before they were forced upon me, we gave thanks to God for the food that we had been blessed with. As a kid, my way of thinking was that you thank God as a response to receiving something that you wanted like a hamburger or hot dog. Why did I need to be thankful for something that I didn’t want. Many a night I had to stay at the table long after all were through eating, trying to get that last green bean to go down.
In the human realm, my thinking was very logical . Not everything people give us is for our good. And of course not everything we want is good. The situation with God is however different. Do you remember the words of Christ about what loving parents would give their child a stone rather than bread or a snake instead of a fish. Then Jesus reminded us that God is far more loving than our earthly parents (Matthew 7:9-11). Think about this for a moment. This passage doesn’t mean that God’s children can expect a pain-free, stress-free life. James tells us not only that every good gift comes from our heavenly Father (James 1:17), but also that we are to “count it all joy” when we “fall into various trials.” James continues and tells us the testing of our “faith produces patience,” and the work of patience makes us “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). It appears to me that when we receive something that doesn’t seem good, we can be grateful because we know there is more to it than we can see. What seems like an imperfect gift may be the means by which God perfects us. I would encourage you and I to look again at the first chapter of James and put together the logic of James’ thinking. Remember that a trial may be God’s good gift in disguise.
One last thing. When Elaine and I first married, I learned quickly that I couldn’t have hamburgers all the time. She taught me to love green beans.
Feb
3
John 3:16 and the Super Bowl
Once again it is Super Bowl season. Football fans around the world will focus their attention on a game that appears to be one that should be hard-hitting full of action and some interesting stories. Do you remember a man by the name of Rollen Stewart? His claim to fame was in the 80’s. Did that help? What about the image of John 3:16, will that help jog your memory? Still struggling? What if I added rainbow and possibly the term afro? Rollen Stewart became known as the rainbow man. He was the man who would attend as many major sporting events as possible, with the desire to get on camera holding up a placard with simply John 3:16. He was at baseball and football games. He was spotted at prestigious golf matches and he even made it to the Olympics. At first the cameras at these major events would focus on this man in a rainbow colored afro because he was a novelty. Eventually the producers of these events wanted to avoid him, but he still was able to pop onto the scene at just the right time. His eccentric behavior eventually took him in a direction that led to his being sentenced to 3 live terms. He kidnapped three individuals holding them in a hotel room waiting for the Lord to return. His story is bizarre to say the least. Interesting and intriguing are also terms I would use to describe his story.
I wonder how many people who saw him ever took the time to pick up a Bible and see what John 3:16 said. I would guess that everyone who reads this column knows what the passage states. I wonder how many who saw the passage had no idea what John 3:16 said. Probably some could have cared less what the message of John 3:16 was about. When was the last time you thought about how much God loves you? How much does it mean to you to know this one fact from the Bible. Enough to put a smile on your face? What about enough to try a little harder to please God and seek His will for you in your life? What about enough to tell others you work with, golf with, fish with, go to school with, the remarkable story of a man long ago who went to a cross as a perfect sacrifice for you and I.
Rollen Stewart’s approach was to say the least different. It was different, but he was at least doing something. I wish his story didn’t end with a foolish mistake that took him to prison. I wish the story ended with countless numbers understanding God’s love.