Family News and Notes
Now that the summer vacation period has passed and school has started again our Visitation Program will resume. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, September 05, at 7:00 PM in the Multi-purpose Room here at the building. The purpose of this meeting will be to make assignments of visits that need to be performed each week, following, and to enjoy a group fellowship with those that wish to attend. There will be refreshments such as cake, cookies, coffee, tea, etc., rather than a meal as we have previously enjoyed. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Visitation is one of our duties that we have toward one another. The elders encourage your participation. Any questions or suggestions should be directed to Grady Duncan at 903-572-3888.
GOSPEL BROADCASTING NETWORK has a wonderful website for those of you who have computers. You may wish to visit this site: www.gbntv.org. This important tool is being used to help spread the truth about the Word to the world.
Janaan Parker responded to the invitation last Sunday nite and was restored to the Lord. Please get to know Janaan and pray for her continued faithfulness.
Ben McCain has been sick at home this past week. Keep Ben in your prayers.
Jessie Wisdom left this past week to attend college at Tarleton University in Stephenville, Texas.
Dustin Heath Freeman graduated on August 11, 2006 from Texas A&M University with a Batchelor of Science Degree in Agronomy. Congratulations Dustin!
Austin Cody, nephew of Brandon Marshall, was scheduled to have cranial surgery last week. No update on that at the printing of this bulletin.
Albert Miller, granddad of Courtney Marshall, has been having heart problems and was scheduled to have heart catherization early last week. No update on his condition.
Johnine Phillips of Longview (relative of many in this congregation) has been experiencing health problems and received a negative biopsy report last week. Her doctors will review to determine proper treatment for her. She requests that we keep her in our prayers.
Roy & Carolyn Fox of Marshall (kin to many in this congregation) are presently undergoing treatments for health problems they are experiencing. They would like for us to keep them in our prayers.
THANK YOU "Each of you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, have been so very kind to us over these many months. Your concern for our health and your expressions of love are much appreciated. We love all of you.
Perry & Josephine Cooper"
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50th Wedding Anniversary
Weldon and Jo Ann Miller were married August 24, 1956, in Mount Pleasant, Texas. They have two sons and daughters-in-law, Wade and Vicki Miller, and Kent and Jeanette Miller as well as two daughters and sons-in-law, Dana and Joe Rigano, and Cindy and Royce Armstrong. They also have 14 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. Their children will honor them with a reception in the Walnut Room of the Mount Pleasant Civic Center beginning at 2:00 PM today, August 27, 2006.
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PRAYER LIST
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Jean Bell, Winell Blackard, Annah Brown, Nancy Chastain, Josephine Cooper, Perry Cooper, Linda Jones, Hollis Lee, Bonnye Horton, Joyce Lee, Georgia Lide, Wayne Pickrel, Marie Plemmons, Helen Roper, Alva Mae Sheets, Edith Shiflet, Ola Mae Simpson, Julia Terrell, Rebecca Tippitt.
ALSO Cristell Cato, Austin Cody, Juanita DuBose, Wesley DuBose, Carolyn Fox, Roy Fox, Edna Graves, Ruby Jeffery, Wayne Lineberger, Albert Miller, Johnine Phillips, Wanda Abbey Rivers, Theo Teague
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God Makes The Difference!
By: Grady Duncan
Did you ever stop to think how it might be to live in another land;
to live in constant fear for your life under some tyrant's brutal hand,
to feel the pangs of hunger while trying to fall asleep at night,
not knowing if you might rise again to see the morning's light;
without any hope that tomorrow you'd find relief for your troubled soul,
or food on your table, and clothes on your back, and shelter from the cold?
Did you ever wonder what you would do if they would your home invade,
to ravage your children and plunder your goods, leaving you sore afraid,
with no recourse from their crimes, nowhere to turn for help that never comes;
taking your flight to seek refuge from harm, leaving your friends and your home;
wandering and watching for somewhere to hide, but no refuge is there to be found,
making your abode where you can find ease from horror that prevails all around?
Have you ever wondered how it would be, living where all have forgotten Our Lord;
where the Devil roams free having his way, sowing hatred, malice and discord?
well, my friend, those places exist, far more than you would care to admit;
not far from our shores are lands quite the same whose description these would fit.
there they live as slaves to egotistical men and their freedom is only a dream.
their lives have no value, and torture prevails, and blood flows like a stream.
Let us be humble before God, for it's His cares we are seeing;
knowing in Him we live, and move, and have our very being.
As, "One Nation Under God," for it is "In God We Trust,"
we must fight to uphold His truths, fighting to win, and win we must.
Like patriots gone before, our freedoms we must defend.
The Victory is ours, if on God we will depend.
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The next time you see a veteran, soldier, sailor, airman, marine,
or the mother or father of a serviceman who made the ultimate sacrifice,
give them a great big hug, a pat on the back and a sincere, "Thank You!"
God bless our men and women in uniform and God Bless America!
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WHEN A PERSON DIES DOES HIS SOUL GO DIRECTLY TO ETERNITY?....
OR, DOES IT REST SOMEWHERE UNTIL JUDGMENT?
By: Johnny Ramsey
This is a difficult question because the answer is virtually impossible to pinpoint; it is a problem dealing with relative answers. After a careful analysis of all the Scriptures pertaining to the subject and the surrounding difficulties, I must conclude that the spirits of men go into an intermediate state between death and the judgment.
Before delving into this matter fully, let me remind each of you that there is something far more important than what happens to us between death and the Judgment. The truly significant point to be concerned with is this: "Will the life I have lived on the earth result in the redemption of my soul in eternity?" Some religious groups make this entire problem the key-stone of their teaching. You can scarcely get them to mention anything but "soul-sleeping" and related themes. I have often told these ardent followers of error that it is of greater moment to be prepared on the Judgment Day than to worry about the state of the dead.
There are two major reasons that we believe the Bible teaches that our spirits go to an intermediate place called "Hades" after death and prior to eternity.
First of all, the great emphasis on the universal Judgment Day is mentioned throughout the New Testament. In Matthew 25; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:12; John 5:28-29 and 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 we find abundant proof that all mankind will give a public answer for their conduct in their sojourn on earth. Immediately thereafter the doors of eternal doom and everlasting righteousness open wide (Matthew 25:46). This necessitates "a realm for departed spirits" (The Hadean world) prior to the Judgment. If our souls go directly to heaven or hell upon our separation from this life, the Judgment Day would be a farce!
Secondly, the passages in Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:4 and 2:9, along with Jesus' answer to the thief in Luke 23 stoutly affirms the existence of the Hadean world. The King James translation has thrown a lot of people off the track at this point by failing to distinguish between "Hades" and "Ghenna." The former being defined as the 'realm of the unseen" while "Ghenna" refers to the eternal abiding place of the wicked. Luke 16 teaches that after death the righteous enter one compartment in Hades while the unrighteous are detained in another, completely separated from the faithful.
At the consummation of Christ's reign (I Corinthians 15:23-25) the Hadean world along with death shall be abolished and all mankind both good and evil shall stand in Judgment before God (Revelation 20:12-15). At that time sentence will be given and the wicked shall depart to be with "the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41), while the righteous shall enter in through the gates into the city the eternal abiding place of the redeemed (Revelation 22:14).
