FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Bible Bowl study at 5:00 PM this evening before worship service. Everyone is invited to attend and participate.
Monday night’s BIBLE BOWL here at 7:00 PM will be hosted by the DeKalb congregation, Ephesians 11th chapter. The test will be over Matthew 17-20. Please come if you can.
Gospel Journal subscriptions renewal time has arrived. If you wish to continue your subscription, or become a first-time subscriber, please see David McCain ASAP and give him your correct mailing address.
Aw, come on all you widows and singles … sign up for the Widows and Singles noon luncheon scheduled for next Sunday February 17, hosted by the youth of this congregation. All widows and any other singles are invited, so please sign the sign-up sheet on the table in the foyer. Our young people are working hard to make this a special day of honor for the honorees, so don’t miss this event if you are a widow, widower, or single.
OUR GOSPEL MEETING BEGINS March 30th and runs thru April 02. It is not too early to make your plans to attend. We hope to have good crowds each evening. Won’t you be there?!
Lana Downs, who has visited this congregation on several occasions as the guest of Jim & Barbara Duncan, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. She will undergo surgery Wednesday in Dallas to remove the upper lobe of her left lung. Doctors will determine a plan of treatment after the surgery. Lana has been undergoing treatment for leukemia for several years and was recently declared free of leukemia. Jimmie and Lana have asked that we place them on our prayer list.
THANK YOU … “I would like to thank the congregation for their support and acknowledgement while I was in Iraq. I want to thank the Ladies Bible Class for the gift boxes of snacks and the cards. It was truly appreciated. I would like to point out my parents for their undying love, support and words of encouragements. It was very difficult being in direct combat and I could not have done it without your support. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I may be deployed again to Iraq by the end of this summer. I will be going to my new duty station, Ft. Louis, WA with the 3rd BN, 2nd ID on May 26, 2008.
Sincerely, Michael Pickrel”
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PRAYER LIST
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Doris Bell, Louis & Nona Bell, Winell Blackard, Annah Brown, Billye Campbell, Perry Cooper, Josephine Cooper, Patsy Duncan, Joyce Lee, Georgia Lide, Ben McCain, Charles Neal, Elna O’Neal, Edith Shiflet, Cody Sparks, Rebecca Tippitt, LaShedria Traylor
ALSO: Wesley DuBose, Betty Newman, Whayln Payne, Don Shuette, Paul Unger
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Where Are You Training Their Feet To Go?
One of my favorite songs to sing with little children is “Oh Be Careful!” You remember its simple but poignant premise don’t you? As I write this, I can almost hear the angelic voices of a room full of enthusiastic little tykes belting out its repetitive lines with only three words changed in each successive verse: “Oh be careful little feet where you go, ...mouth what you say, ...hands what you do, ...mind what you think,” etc., and then the resounding chorus, “There’s a Father up above, Who is looking down with love, so be careful little feet where you go!” It’s a great song to make kids think about the responsibility they bear for the choices they make, and to encourage them to be careful about those choices in view of the all-seeing eyes of Jehovah, and His eternal judgment (Prov. 15:3, I Pet. 3:12).
However, it is not the main purpose of this article to remind the little ones of their responsibility to make righteous choices, but rather to remind parents and grandparents of our responsibility to teach and train our children to make Godly choices, and then to really show them how important righteous choices are by the example we set before them. Sadly, it appears we are not doing a very good job of training the feet of our little ones to walk in the paths of righteousness. If the statistics are accurate, different studies done in our brotherhood over the last 75 years estimate our losses at between fifty and eighty percent. I refer to the spiritual loss of our children, who grow up in “Christian homes,” only to fall away from the Lord, and His church, after leaving home at around age eighteen.
What causes this heart-rending result? I’ve heard lots of opinions. “Well, the world’s more evil nowadays.” “The kids are tempted by more things, than we were when we were young.” “It’s the church’s fault.” “They (meaning every other member except me) are not providing enough activities (meaning babysitting and entertainment) for our young people, to keep them involved, active, and faithful.”
Brethren, is that the truth, or are we only kidding ourselves by rationalizing away the real reason for this terribly tragic loss of precious souls? Is it possible that the real reason we are seeing so many of our children lost to Satan’s service is that many parents are not really living a committed Christian life before their children? Could our losses be attributed to parental spiritual negligence, by our own failure to continually and consistently train our children in the ways of the Lord, and to model a righteous life before them?
I have no desire to add to the burden of parents who did their best to bring their children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” only to have those children turn their back on their raising. We must always remember that ultimately children are “free moral agents,” who are free to choose, as we all are, to go against God’s will, and against good parental instruction, if they so desire. However, those of us who are still raising our children should remember that most people do what is modeled before them. That being the case, we must ask ourselves, “what kind of life am I modeling before my children?”
The Bible says, “Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Ps. 127:3). Parents, do you really think very often of your children as one of God’s greatest gifts to you? Considering them as a gift from God, do you really spend enough time training them in His will, so that you might return them to Him as faithful servants, when they reach age 18, or a little older?
Dads, seriously now, are you really spending enough time with your children to make sure they go to heaven? In view of their eternal spiritual destiny, are you really the spiritual leader of your family that God wants you to be? Do you live a consistent, Christ-like life before your children? Will your children be helped or hindered on the road to heaven by your example and influence? How will you answer God in eternal judgment for the stewardship of your precious children?
Mothers, how about you? Are you teaching your children to be good Christians, or are you leaving that up to the baby-sitter? Do you love your children enough to provide for them the example of the Godly woman portrayed in Titus 2:4-5?
There are no substitutes for righteous parents. Bringing up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4), is one of the most awesome and fearful responsibilities a person can ever face in this life. We parents need to understand that we play the most important and vital role in the training and development of those precious little souls given into our care by God.
The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). With each child you get just one chance. The product of your efforts will be an adult who goes the way he should, or an adult, who in the Day of Judgment, will end up going where he shouldn’t. Where are your children’s and grandchildren’s feet being trained to go? Won’t you think seriously about it!
David McCain
