FAMILY NEWS AND NOTES
Volume 10 17 August 2008 Issue No. 25
COMMUNION FOR AUGUST 2008
SOUTH SIDE NORTH SIDE
AM
Jerry Freeman
Bob Hedges
Rodney Cook Darrell Cooper
Ben McCain Charles Kyle
PM
George O’Neal Fred Harkrider
ANNOUNCEMENTS …...……….… Grady Duncan
SONG LEADER(AM)……….. Randy Eubanks
(PM) …...…. Randy Eubanks
Wednesday Nite ..…. Royce Armstrong
PRAYERS —– Sunday.
AM First Prayer ….............….To Be Announced
AM Closing…………............. To Be Announced
PM First Prayer……............. To Be Announced
PM Closing…………...............To Be Announced
PRAYERS — Wednesday Nite
First Prayer…………............... To Be Announced
Closing……………................…To Be Announced
PRAYER LIST:
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Doris Bell, Louis & Nona Bell, Billye Campbell, Irene Duncan, Amy Jones, Joyce Lee, Mary Jo Lee, Georgia Lide, Lacy Farmer Maxwell, Ben McCain, Thelma Reed, Rebecca Tippitt
ALSO: Lana Downs, Wesley DuBose, Michael Gilbert, Cammy Jo McCain, Betty Newman, Johnine Phillips, Don Shuette, Paul Unger, Shirley Wright
WEDDING SHOWER … to honor Jessie Wisdom and Jacob Massey, to be held here in the Multi-Purpose Room August 24, 2008 beginning at 2:00 p.m. Selections are at Wal-Mart and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
With regards to Daniel and Keely McCary’s new daughter, it should also be noted that the grandparents are Hal & Karen Roper, Great grandmother Helen Roper and Uncle Bronson Roper, all of this congregation.
The big “blow-out” occurred on Saturday when a large number of well-wishers and admirers gathered or passed thru the Multi-Purpose Room from 2:00 PM until sometime later. Why? To celebrate the 100th birthday of Irene Duncan. CONGRATULATIONS! What a milestone!
Ladies … mark your calendar … LADIES BIBLE CLASS resumes on Tuesday morning, September 02, 2008 at 10:00 AM. Topic is 4th chapter of Ephesians with Janice teaching.
LADIES DAY will be here on Saturday, September 20, 2008, beginning about 9:00 AM. Cindy Armstrong will be the featured speaker.
Amy Jones had surgery on August 12th at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. She said the surgery went well and she was released from the hospital Friday. She will be staying with her sister, Joanie Williams) in the Metro-Plex area until she is able to return home.
Shirley Wright (wife of John David Wright) had a procedure done at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler to hopefully correct an aneurysm in her head. John David reports that the doctor thinks everything went well and it was anticipated she would be released on Friday to go to their home in White Oak. Their mailing address is:
408 Brookwood Lane
White Oak, Texas 75693
Phone: 903-759-3445
John David is preacher at Talco. Please keep Shirley in your prayers.
Winell Blackard’s funeral was conducted Wednesday with burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Mariloe Washburn, grandmother of Karen Fox, passed away in Garland on August 12. No update as to where she was laid to rest.
SYBSNET is over for this season. Attendance was great at each meeting, especially at the smaller congregations. We are looking forward to next year.
Now that that has ended mark your calendar for the next event to occur. The first BIBLE BOWL competition of the 2nd season (2008/2009) will be hosted here at our building on Monday evening, October 13, 2008 from 7:00—8:30 PM. The first test will cover Judges 1-3, from the NKJV. The first study session, conducted by Royce and Cindy Armstrong will be announced at a later date.
David will be away this Wednesday evening as he will be a guest speaker at Jacksonville, Alabama, where Allen Webster, editor of “HOUSE TO HOUSE, HEART TO HEART” is the preacher. Following that, David, Janice and Ben will attend the “POLISHING THE PULPIT WORKSHOP” in Sevierville, Tennessee from this Friday thru next Thursday, August 22-28. Ben will be manning the display booth for the Banger, Ireland mission work, where the Colin Graham family is working, and where Ben hopes to do mission work some day in the future. Over 700 people are expected to attend this year’s “Polishing the Pulpit Workshop.” On their way home, the McCain’s will stop by Bentonville, Arkansas to be with David’s younger brother Lee’s family, as Lee’s wife Cammy Jo has some very serious surgery on Friday the 29th. Please keep the McCain’s in your prayers as they travel, and please remember to pray for Cammy Jo that all will go well for her during surgery. Lord willing, David will be back in the pulpit on Sunday, August 31st.
Several East Texas congregations are looking for preachers to fill their pulpits. We need to pray that God will bless them in their search to find men who are sound in the faith and steadfast in the cause of Christ. Several of these congregations interact and fellowship with us on a regular basis and we pray that all of them will remain faithful to the Lord. Pray for our brethren and leaders at DeKalb, Pittsburg, Redwater, and Jefferson, that God will guide their selections.
Standing For The Truth In Love
Truth be told, none of us enjoy having our feelings hurt. Why, even constructive criticism, offered in love, is often hard to swallow, even when it points out valid faults or weaknesses. Still worse, though, is an unjust criticism, an untrue accusation, or unfair treatment that comes our way by friend or foe alike.
Certainly, it is clear from the Bible’s plain teaching that Christians are to guard our speech and actions, lest we unkindly and unnecessarily hurt the feelings of others. The spirit of Christ is to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt. 7:12). Understanding that the emotional feelings of human beings are often as fragile as glass, we ought to try our best to deal gently and meekly with the feelings of others (Gal. 6:1), as we treat everyone with the consideration and respect that is due someone who is “made in the image” of Almighty God (Gen. 1:27, 9:6).
Of course, no matter how careful you are to be kind and thoughtful of the feelings of others, when you stand up for the Truth, sometimes some folks may get their feelings hurt. Although Jesus was the only perfect man to ever live, He still offended many people. You can be assured Jesus never dealt unkindly with a single individual. Not once did He ride roughshod over an individual’s feelings. Never did He exhibit a mean spirit, or a hateful attitude. And yet, because Jesus taught and lived the truth of God’s Word, He hurt the feelings of lots of people (Mt. 13:67, 15:I2, 26:31, etc).
One of the great inherent characteristics of Truth is that it offends evil. Truth and falsehood, good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness are mutually exclusive. So much so, that when Truth is taught or practiced it has one of two effects. It either draws the truth-seeker closer to God and righteousness, or it drives the rebellious hater-of-truth farther away from God and what is right. Truth then becomes either a magnet or a wedge, depending on the condition of the heart of the person who hears it.
Knowing this, what should the Christian’s response be when confronted with the Truth? If our feelings are hurt by the Truth that ought to warn us a change of heart and life is needed. That’s what guilt is for. Just like physical pain, spiritual guilt hurts and warns us that something is wrong somewhere, and that immediate attention is needed to correct the problem. Truth only hurts when it convicts us of sin, but that hurt can be relieved initially through obedience to the Gospel, and continually through repentance, prayer, and renewed faithfulness to the Lord.
In regard to preaching and practicing the Truth, we must strive for balance. We should never charge through life like a bull in a china shop, using Truth like a club to beat people about the face and neck. Few people will be won to Christ with such tactics. However, we must guard against the other extreme as well. Some brethren, in their well-meaning attempt to win the masses, and other brethren, in their misguided and prideful lust for numbers, have become so afraid of offending others that they have soft-pedaled the Truth. To be sure, their watered-down version of the Truth is inoffensive, but it’s also powerless to save one from sin. Balance, brethren, balance! We must strive to present the Truth with all boldness and yet with kindness, consideration, and love.
Jesus said, “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32). Let’s practice the Truth to find spiritual freedom. Let’s preach the Truth to help the world find freedom from sin and Satan. Let’s ever be considerate of the feelings of others, but let’s always proclaim the Truth, no matter what the consequences.
David McCain
