Our_Bulletin_12_19

Family News and Notes

UPCOMING EVENTS:

On Wednesday December 29, we will have singing in the auditorium. Also, all classes will meet in the auditorium on that nite.

On Friday Nite, December 31st there will be a New Year's Eve Get-together in the Multi-purpose Room for everyone beginning at 7:00 PM. Bring fingerfoods and soft drinks of your choice.

Remember, if you are interested in receiving the Newsletter for the Tanzania 2000 Mission effort please sign the sheet on the table in the foyer.

Mailing address for Helen Roper:

Helen Roper

80 CR 3045

Mount Pleasant, TX 75455

Iona Carpenter was in the hospital last week for tests following chest pains. Her doctor diagnosed low potassium and she is back at home.

Carl Lee had eye surgery last week and is doing better. He was at services last Wednesday evening.

Denise Dering (niece of Jim & Barbara Duncan) has been diagnosed with cancer and she is undergoing treatments. Her address is:

Denise Dering

5875 Harris Lake Road

Marshall, Texas 75670

Mrs. Johnnie Moss (1st Cousin of Suzanne Charlton & Frankie Sargent) passed away and her funeral was conducted last Monday.

THANKS to everyone who shared in our two parties for all the delicious food that was shared together.

David and Janice McCain

THANK YOU

"Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We would like to thank you all for the warmest welcome when we were visiting and upon placing membership. Also, we greatly appreciate all the cards, phone calls, and prayers for Hal following surgery. We feel greatly blessed that we now have a wonderful new Christian family here at North Jefferson Church of Christ. In Christian Love,

Hal, Karen & Bronson Roper"

THANK YOU.

"Thanks so very much for your concern and cards during the past few weeks.

Carl is doing fine now. Sincerely, Pat and Carl Lee and Family"

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Texas State UniversityCollege of Applied Arts Announces the Graduation of Audra Freeman on December Eighteenth Two Thousand Four with a Bachelor of Science in

Interior Design. Commencement ceremonies will be held at Strahan Coliseum at 9:30 a.m.

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PRAYER LIST:

Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Sue Browning, Billy Carter, Josephine Cooper, Perry Cooper, Patsy Duncan, Zenith Hargrove, Howard Horton, Ruby Lawhon, Carl Lee, Hollis Lee, Winnie Patton, Hal Roper, Dorothy Sargent, Alva Mae Sheets

ALSO: James & Marie Butler, Ercell Fetters, Larry Freeman, Marie Holloway, Patricia McCracken, Kelsey Meyers

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Crotchety Ogre Or Mellow Angel?

Why is it some folks are pleasant and easy to get along with in old age, while others are bitter and hard to bear in their twilight years? Aside from the random mental or physical incapacities which afflict some unfortunate souls causing unpleasant changes in their temperament and personality, what accounts for the fact that some folks mellow with the years, while others become crotchety old ogres?

Jesus once taught that if we don't fill our lives with positive goodness, Satan will fill us with evil (Luke 11:24-26). We don't have to work at being evil to be Satan's servant, all we have to do is fail to work at being good. Jesus warned that when the unclean spirit departs, and we clean house, we must not forget to redecorate, lest the evil spirit return with seven wicked friends, making our last state worse than our first.

A little evil befalls all of us from time to time, as we struggle to complete our earthly sojourn. Tragedy strikes. Persecution rears its ugly head. Trials and tribulations test our mettle. Friends let us down. Brethren say things that hurt our feelings. Family members betray our commitment and love. So, we work to drive the evil spirit out. We clean house, we bury the hatchet, and we offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

But, we don't forget! We fail to redecorate our spiritual house with sweetness, kindness, and love. We may have buried the head of the hatchet in the stump, but too often we've left the handle sticking out, where we let it fester, as if to remind us of the wrongs we have suffered and the injustice we have been done. The evil spirit returns then with his seven wicked friends: hatred, jealousy, envy, malice, strife, pride, and bitterness, and our last state becomes worse than our first. Rather than the sweet-spirited, mellow, patient, forgiving, mature Christians, which God wants us to be, we become bitter, hateful, envious, crotchety old ogres.

How can we avoid that most unpleasant end? Two Scriptural admonitions come to mind which give instructions on spiritual redecorating. "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not, rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. ...Recompense to no man evil for evil. ...If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves... Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rms. 12:14-21). "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

The only way to overcome the evil that attacks our lives, is to fill every nook and cranny of our being with positive goodness. Mellow, or crotchety? Happy, or sad? Sweet, or bitter? The choice is truly yours! Why not let good win out over evil in your life? David McCain

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An Angry Culture

A Guest Article from Southwest Church of Christ

The Southwesterner

by Floyd Kaiser

Over the past couple of weeks I've been surprised to be on the receiving end of one name-calling and an obscene gesture from total strangers. And, it was not even something I DID! However, it does bear witness to the prevalence of anger in our culture. Since I didn't provoke these outbursts, I've a hunch that these strangers were venting toward me because of an insult they suffered from someone else. I was the closest dog to kick.

The rage we witness today is alarming. There is rage between politicians, between races, between the poor and the rich and between religious groups. (Southwest was recently threatened with a lawsuit if we sent another House to House to a certain person's address.) There are numerous public platforms where rage is expressed, such as talk shows, town meetings, e-mails and letters to the editor. There is so much rage on our highways that one is well advised to not even look at the other driver.

Proverbs 29:22 tells of the danger of anger, "An angry man stirs up strife, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression." There would be much less crime in this country if everyone received instruction in anger management and knew how to lessen their anger and the accompanying impulsive action (psychologists tell us that most crimes of anger are committed in the first few seconds that anger is felt).

What can we do about the rage of others? We can answer another's rage with a gentle word (see Prov. 15:1). We can make sure that our own anger does not make a situation worse (see Prov. 15:18). We can make sure that we don't rescue wrathful persons from the consequences of their sins. "A man of great anger will bear the penalty, for if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again" (Prov. 19:19). And, when all else fails, we can simply escape. In Proverbs 17:14 it is written, "The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out."

However, what about managing our anger? The Bible gives us several suggestions.

WATCH YOUR COMPANY. In Proverbs 22:24-25, it is written, "Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself." The latest research suggests that destructive violence due to out of control anger is a learned behavior (The Battered Woman Syndrome, by Lenore Walker, p. 12). Therefore, it would stand to reason that we monitor our relationships and give a wide berth around those with a clear anger problem.

DEFINE YOUR VIRTUES. Understand that the Bible teaches that virtue and maturity is found in controlling anger, not losing it (see Prov. 14:17, 14:29, 16:32, 19:11, Eccl. 7:9). Contrary to what the world might teach, spouting anger is not mature at all. Even a child is prone to a tirade. Real maturity and spirituality is reached when control is practiced.

KNOW YOUR DANGER. "Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit" (Prov. 25:28).

STOP YOUR ACTION. The Bible does not say that all anger is sin. Even Jesus became angry (see Mark 3:5). However, the Bible does bear out that anger can be a gateway to sin (Prov. 14:17, 29:22, Matt. 5:22). Therefore, it is written, "Be angry, but do not sin" (Eph. 4:26). The ageless advice of counting to 10 when anger is felt remains one of the best therapies. The brief pause before one responds to anger can be all it takes to let reason prevail.

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