Family News and Notes
MEN'S BUSINESS MEETING following services tonite. All men are encouraged to attend.
David will be preaching both AM and PM services today. He will be in Mount Vernon Wednesday nite preaching in their Summer Series.
Bonnye Horton had a flare up with her heart Wednesday and was admitted to the hospital. She was later transferred to East Texas Medical Center. Thursday she had a pacemaker installed. Her vital signs are good and she says she feels much better. She was still in ETMC on Friday but should be coming home this weekend.
Edith Shiflet was still in Room 324 at TRMC on Friday. She asks that we continue to remember her in our prayers.
R. C. Grissom saw his doctor last week and did not get a good report. He continues to have serious stomach problems. He is at home.
Cleo Teague, Nelda Cooper's mother, was taken to the hospital in Athens last week. She is doing better after getting the fluids away from around her heart.
Dennis Buchanan went back to his doctor this past week and did not get a good report. He has lost more platelets. His doctor says he does not have cancer but whatever he has is destroying his platelets. He returns to his doctor on Monday.
Rodney & Joan Cook have a new address and this change will be made soon for insertion in your personal copy of the Church Directory.
Rodney & Joan Cook
543 CR 3323
Omaha, Texas 75571
Same Phone:
903-884-2556
Directions to their home: 3 miles West of Omaha on Hwy 67. From Mount Pleasant, east on Hwy 67approx. 10 miles from Sandlin Motors. Second CR to right past the Morris/Titus County line. First house on the right on CR 3323.
Dale McFadden passed away on August 7, 2006. A Memorial Service was held at Curry-Welborn Funeral Home at 10:00 AM Wednesday.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
The Preparation Dilemma
"David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all countries: I will now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death" (I Chron. 22:5).
What are you prepared to do? How much preparation have you made? Are you prepared to pay the price? Have you prepared for every contingency? All of us have asked and answered these questions many times. The answers are always important and sometimes they are critical to our success.
Our first encounter with the preparation dilemma was probably in the fields of academics and sports. You do remember what you said, don't you, when you came to the realization that preparation was crucial to success? "If only I had studied more, I could have made a better grade." "Why did I wait until the last minute to start on this research paper?" "If only I had spent more time practicing, we could have won."
Nearly every day, we struggle with the preparation dilemma. We deal with it in business, the home, and the church. It affects us as individuals, as spouses, as parents, as children, and as brethren. Now the questions haunt us, because it's not grades or trophies, but life, which hangs in the balance. "Am I ready for marriage?" "Do I have what it takes to handle this job?" "Am I mature enough to be a good parent?" "Have I weighed all the options, covered all the bases, and prepared for results of this decision?" Tough questions! Hard decisions! The choices aren't always easy; the answers aren't always simple to find.
Sadly, in making preparation for all the important events of life, we often overlook the most pressing preparation priority -- eternity! While building our beautiful bungalows, establishing our earthly empires, and funding our financial futures, we must not forget, life here on this earth is only temporary. As the old song says, "this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through!" That's why Jesus warned, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt. 6:19-21).
Does that mean we can't ever enjoy any of the finer things in life? Absolutely not! Paul wrote, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ...laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (I Tim. 6:17-19) (emphasis mine - D.Mc.).
God wants us to be happy and to enjoy life, but He wants us to put our trust in Him, not earthly things. He then asks us to share our happiness by using His blessings to help others and glorify His name. Thus, because of His grace through Christ, and in obedience to His will, by doing good, and keeping our eyes fixed on heaven, we can be abundantly prepared for eternity!
David McCain
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
IDLE FAREWELLS
Johnny Ramsey
None of us is upon the earth for very long: "For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a sigh. The days of our years are threescore and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:9,10). In comparison to the centuries that have come and gone we should echo these words: "Oh remember how short my time is" (Psalm 89:47). As God's servant, Moses, stood on that mountain viewing the "Promised Land," and realized that he would soon be with God in that verdant land, it must have seemed just a fleeting moment since he had left Midian.
An unknown author, speaking of meeting the Lord face to face one day, pondered what to say: If I really trust Him, Shall I ever fret? If I do expect Him, Can I ever regret? If by faith I see Him, Shall I doubt His aid? If I really love Him, Can I be afraid? What shall I say?
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes of the vanity of worldly gain and glory, and of the necessity of spiritual emphasis, lest we have deep regrets. Paul made it clear to the Ephesian elders as they bade them farewell that God's word must be honored in life, if we would meet Him favorably in death (Acts 20:32). To the church in Corinth, he wrote, "Your labor is not vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). In the first and last chapters of Philippians, the apostle let it be known that the purpose of life is to glorify Christ, therefore think on purity, justice, nobility and truth. In order for the "henceforth" of 2 Timothy 4:8 to be of any value for us, we must faithfully fight in the Lord's army and persevere. Tennyson shared these brilliant lines: Sunset and evening star And one clear call for me, And may there be no sadness of farewell When I put out to sea.
The prophet Jeremiah once told a false prophet that he would die that very year, and Daniel also warned Belshazzar of his sudden departure from this world. The door was forever shut to those unprepared folk in Matt. 25:10, as it shall be for millions on that final Judgment Day! There is a "sin unto death" (1 John. 5:16), and some are living in danger of eternal separation from God (Mark 3:29). What a contrast for those who live and die in Christ (Revelation 14:13; 1 John3:1-3). Infidels may cry on that occasion, as did Robert Ingersoll: "Oh God (if there be a God), save my soul (if I have a soul), from hell (if there be a hell)." But devoted saints of the Almighty will "meet the Lord in the air" for a grand and eternal reunion (1 Thessalonians 4).
Why Some Will Miss Heaven:
The power of sinful pride: Sin is deceitful (Hebrews 3:13) and deadly (Romans 6:23). It causes many to refuse to come to Christ (John 5:4), rather than to seek truth ardently (Ezra 7:10). Stubborn refusal to let the Lord rule our lives (John. 1:11) will make the anguish of hell even greater (Mark 9: 43).
The Shame Of Bad Attitudes: Presumptuous behavior (Psalm 19:13) and arrogant disregard for God's commands (Luke 6:46) result in flagrant rebellion (Zechariah 7:11, 12) against the Creator Who made us for His glory (Isaiah 43:7).
Living And Dying Outside Of Christ: Poor decisions in life that cause men to pursue ungodly lusts, rather than spiritual integrity (Romans 13:14) will cause multitudes to be lost. Shallow preaching and softness toward error will doom and damn myriads who knew better, but just would not muster the courage to stand up for Jesus and His truth (Romans 1:16; 2:16).
However, there are loyal hearts and true who intend to go to Heaven and daily press on in that glorious direction -- no matter the cost. In the final crescendo of the brilliant epistle of Jude we have one of the Bible's most eloquent farewells. Let us rejoice in this noble reminder: "Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen" (Jude 24, 25).
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
