Our_Bulletin_2_29

Family News and Notes

Next week is a new month if you are making plans to contribute to the Building Fund please mark your calendar.

Grady still needs Volunteers to help clean the building. If you are able to help in this endeavor please sign the sheet on the table in the foyer.

Ladies We continue to remind you that there will be a LADIES DAY on Saturday, April 3 at 10:00 AM. The speaker will be Cindy Miller Armstrong (daughter of Weldon and Joan Miller). Topic will be "Inspirational Beauty Tips." We need every lady to prepare a salad for the luncheon. Sign the list in the foyer and give your recipe for your salad to Janice McCain by March 7 so this can be put into a cookbook for our guests.

Elna O'Neal fell and broke her ankle last Sunday evening. She is at home, in a soft cast.

Nelda Dunn was scheduled to have heart catherization and stint last Wednesday. However, her doctor became concerned and did not do the catherization. He did do a cat on her kidneys and should be able to do the heart catherization and stint next week.

Bill Jones had a bone marrow test and CAT scan last week but the results will not be known until sometime this week.

David Neal had an MRI on his neck in Tyler last Wednesday. He has not yet heard the results of that test.

Jack Cooper was admitted to TRMC last Monday night. Doctors have determined he had a light stroke. He was able to return to his home last Thursday but is still experiencing numbness in his left arm and hand.

Ralph Phillips is still waiting on the results of his biopsy last week.

William Embree got a good report from his checkup last week.

Sue Browning returned to her doctor this past week to have her stitches removed. The surgery appears to have been a success, but she is still experiencing some pain from the surgery. She returns to her doctor this week.

Address changes:

Joe and Betty Ferrell

275 CR 4510

Mt. Pleasant, Texas 75455

Megan and Kensi Proctor

312 FM Rd 3007

Mt. Pleasant, Texas 75455

Phone: 903-860-7761

THANK YOU "The family of D. R. Zachry, Jr. would like to make a donation to your church in appreciation for the part Bill Jones and Weldon Miller played in Dick's funeral services.

Sincerely,

Mrs. D. R. Zachry, Jr."

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PRAYER LIST

Justin Barker, Louis Bell, Winell Blackard, Sue Browning, Jack Cooper, Josephine Cooper, Nelda Dunn, Howard Horton, Bill Jones, David Neal, Jeanette Parham, Winnie Patton, Wayne Pickrel, Alva Mae Sheets,

Ola Mae Simpson

ALSO: Judy Betts, Diane Johnson, Velma Lucky, Larry McCain, Kelsey Meyers

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Cleaning Out The Closets (# 2)

By David McCain

I know you are waiting with bated breath for the second episode of the "McCain's Great Closet Cleaning Adventure!" I appreciate the interest generated by last week's introductory segment, and in answer to your most often asked questions, "yes, Janice is still speaking to me, and no, she hasn't "beaned" me yet for telling the dark secret of our dirty closets!" But, I digress, so moving from the mundane to the sublime, I would like to press on with attempting to draw some spiritual applications from the drudgery of our recent closet cleaning project.

Besides the obvious parallel to Jesus' statement concerning the hypocrisy of "white-washed tombs," our messy closets also reminded me of how easy it is for us to become comfortable in life with our "besetting sins." That is, so long as no one else knows about them. Let me explain. We had been living with our junked up closets for several years, but it didn't bother us enough to do anything about it. Like the old adage says, "you can get used to hanging if you hang long enough." Thus, we found it quite easy to get comfortable with our messy closets. At least that was the case until we started thinking about bringing others through our house, and opening up the doors to let them see inside our closets. Then all of a sudden the appearance of our closets became very important to us, because we began to view them from a different perspective.

The Hebrew writer said, "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1-2; emphasis mine - D.Mc.). When the inspired author said to "lay aside" our besetting sin, he didn't mean we are to hide it in a closet somewhere, but rather we are to get rid of it entirely. If you had been able to drive by our old house on "trash day" the weeks we were moving, you would surely have noticed the large stacks of "besetting sins," which we eradicated from our messy closets, and piled in our driveway to await pick up by the garbage man. You see, the time had come for our hiding to cease, and for us to get rid of all that old junk once and for all.

Evidently, according to the author of Hebrews, even Christians can have besetting sin/s. Those are the sins whose traps we find it so easy to fall into. They "beset" us because we are easy marks for their deceitful devices. Their greatest danger lies in the fact that we so easily become comfortable with them, we often fail to see their damning influence in our lives. Your besetting sin may be gossip, hatred, jealousy, lust, laziness, a quick temper, lying, a sharp tongue, profanity, cheating, pride, neglect, spousal or child abuse, alcohol, pornography, materialism, or any other thing which is contrary to God's plan of perfection for your life. The greatest deception is thinking you can hide those sins in a closet of secrecy, and all is well, just so long as no one else finds out about them. If that is your attitude, you will quickly find yourself becoming comfortable with your besetting sin/s.

If you've hidden your besetting sin/s away in some dark recess of your life, you desperately need to change your perspective quickly, before you become comfortable with those sins. Imagine if you will, either me, or the elders, or even better, imagine Jesus coming over to view your spiritual closet. Open your spiritual "closet door" and take a good hard look. Is there anything in there you don't want me, them, or Him to see? If so, get rid of it. Lay it aside! Throw it away with the garbage, because that's what it is. Do it quickly, before it becomes a drudgery which is impossible to handle (Heb. 6:4-6). Do it quickly, before your besetting sins become your eternal downfall. Do it quickly, before it is everlastingly too late.

(2B Continued Next Week)

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Is Dancing Suggestive?

By Lee Moses

The words of a popular song by country artist Vern Gosdin rang out, "I can tell by the way you dance that you're gonna love me tonight." Dancing suggests certain desires and attitudes which are most definitely not appropriate. Mr. Gosdin inadvertently points this out in his song, as he paints a commonplace picture of a certain type of dance being used to reveal immoral intentions (the so-called "love" he mentions is most certainly not agapee or philadelphia, or other such kinds of love as encouraged in the Bible). Certainly such suggestiveness is sin.

However, there are certain attitudes the Christian life is supposed to suggest. Before engaging in such an activity as dancing, one question for the Christian to ask him or herself might be, "Is dancing suggesting the attitudes my life needs to be suggesting?"

Is dancing suggestive of modesty?

The Oxford American College Dictionary defines "modesty" as follows:

The quality or state of being unassuming or moderate. . . . Behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency.

One definition of "modest" is:

(Of a woman) Dressing or behaving so as to avoid impropriety or indecency, especially to avoid attracting sexual attention.

Modesty is indeed a Christian attribute, as the Scriptures exhort that women "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation" (I Timothy 2:9, NKJV). Modesty is not limited to attire. The Greek word for modest here used "always contains the idea of control of the body and its movements and impulses" (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:896). In complete contrast, dancing is an occasion to let inhibitions run wild for all to see. Ask yourself, "Is dancing suggestive of modesty?"

Is dancing suggestive of holiness?

The Christian lives a life different from those in the world. He is "holy," or "set apart." Peter describes the differences in lifestyles between those of the world, and those given to the Lord:

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, reviling, banquetings ["drinking parties," NKJV], and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you (I Peter 4:3-4).

Those who do not participate in such activities as those enumerated by Peter will be thought strange and evil spoken of by those of the world. Someone who participates in the lasciviousness of dancing does not demonstrate that he has any more discretion in his conduct than one of the world.

Is dancing suggestive of Christ?

The Holy Spirit exhorts Christians, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27, ASV). Jesus Himself said, "Ye are the light of the world . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14,16). Jesus certainly would not have been seen participating in the modern dance, as He condemned lustful thoughts (5:28). The apostle Paul was able to say, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1). Should not every Christian be able to say the same? Someone who engages in the modern dance is not living a life worthy of Christ, will not cause others to glorify God, is not following Christ, and is not worthy of emulation.

Is dancing suggestive? It most certainly isof lustful thoughts, of worldliness, of disrespect for the will of God, and of disregard for the souls of men. Let each Christian live a life that suggests modesty, holiness, and, above all, Christ. Dancing suggests none of these.

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