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Family News and Notes

Remember the Gospel Meeting by Talco church of Christ, which begins today. If you wish to attend this meeting you can check the poster on the round table in the foyer for times and places or refer to last week's Family News and Notes.

Copies of the Minutes from the Men's Business Meeting and the Financial Report for the Month ending February 28th are available on the table in the foyer. Please take a copy if you wish to have one.

Tom leaves for the MetroPlex area this afternoon in preparation for his trip to the Central School of Preaching in Queretaro, Qro., Mexico. His flight will leave at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning from DFW Airport.

Pat Dillard and Sue Whitney have a new grandson. He weighed 9 lbs and was 21" long. His name is Cooper Hall Whitney. The proud parents are Jackie and Lisa Whitney.

Mike' Shedria Traylor had her tonsils removed last Tuesday at Titus Regional Medical Center. She was an outpatient so is at home recovering. She needs to eat lots of ice cream!!!!!

Bob Adams has been diagnosed with Prostate cancer. He saw his doctor this past Monday and is scheduled for surgery on the 18th of March at Baylor Hospital in Dallas.

Irene Duncan remains in Titus Regional Medical Center, Room 430. She is recovering from a bronchial infection and is taking breathing treatments.

Ruth Taylor left the nursing home yesterday to live with her sister in Star City, Arkansas. She will be living with:

Jean Tarrier

P O Box 94

Star City, AR 79667

Phone: 870-628-4733

Ruth is still not able to talk well and is paralyzed on her right side.

Myrtis Grissom is in Room 516, Bed "B" at Titus Regional Medical Center. Her phone in her room is: 903-577-6516

Remember Bob Adams in your prayershe is scheduled for prostate surgery on March 18th at Baylor in Dallas.

Bud Roach has been ill at home.

Jerry Freeman has not been doing well lately.

Patsy Duncan continues her Rehab at Titus Regional Medical Center as an Outpatient.

Justin Barker has been accepted by Scottish-Rite and has an appointment scheduled for Monday, March 24th.

Barbara Duncan went to her doctor again last Tuesday. She still has a bronchial and sinus infection and is taking medication and breathing treatments 4 times a day. She still is not feeling well and covets your prayers.

Also, you need to mark your calendar now and begin to make plans to attend our Gospel Meeting from Thursday May 1 thru Sunday May 4 with Brother Davis Coats from Gonzales, Louisiana.

Summer Youth Series . Here June 9th with Michael Lite as Speaker.

You are invited to a Bridal Shower in honor of Brandi Duncan, bride elect of Jerod Parker, Sunday, March 23rd from 2-3 PM at Northridge Church of Christ. (Brandi is the granddaughter of Jamie and Betty Duncan.) Selections are at: Mason's Hardware, Hamilton's Jewelers, and Botanical Elegance at 207 West 8th Street.

Check the table in the foyer there are photos of Miguel Angel Bocanegra Leyva and others for your viewing. Miguel is from Pedro Escobedo, Queretaro, Mexico.

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PRAYER LIST:

Bob Adams, Delores Adams, Justin Barker, Billy Carter, Suzanne Charlton, Narci Cooper, Perry Cooper, Sandra Cooper, Barbara Duncan, Patsy Duncan, Patsy Embree, Julia Ethridge. Jerry Freeman, Myrtice Grissom, Howard Horton, Hollis Lee, Wade Miller, Meryl Riley, Murphy Ross, Ola Mae Simpson,

Ruth Taylor

ALSO: Christelle Cato, R. C. Grissom, Minnie Moore, Eldon Ring

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Tom's Pen

It Just Doesn't Make Sense

by Tom Wacaster

Perhaps it is due to my limited knowledge. Or maybe my education is not what it should be. It could be that I'm just not as "wise" as others. Whatever the reason, there are some things that just don't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense to me when men seek happiness at the bottom of a bottle. It doesn't make sense to me that some promising athlete would throw his career, family, and future away on some evening of pleasure with drugs. It doesn't make sense that the freedoms this country enjoys are actually being taken away in the name of freedom. It doesn't make sense when the supreme court rules to uphold the constitution and protect the life liberty and pursuit of happiness of each individual, and then removes that right from the unborn fetus prior to his/her entry into this world. A email itemizes yet another case where a mother is being tried for neglect of care for her unborn child. She evidently used drugs in the early months of her pregnancy and the child died prior to birth. She will be indicted for ... MURDER? The argument on the part of the prosecution is her negligence actually contributed to the death of the child. She is being charged with "culpable homicide." Meanwhile, just down the road from the court house, an abortion clinic is aborting fetuses with every rising and setting of the sun. It doesn't make sense to me that one act could be classified as "culpable homicide" and the other simply a "mother's choice." If a mother neglects the care of her unborn child, she commits murder. But if a doctor and a mother decide together to tear a baby from its mother's womb, that is "terminating a pregnancy." Like I said, it doesn't make sense to me.

More of:

Tom's Pen

By: Tom Wacaster

This afternoon I will be heading to Fort Worth to catch a plane early Monday morning bound for Mexico City. Brother Miguel Arroyo will meet me at the airport and taxi me to a small town west of Mexico city where I will attempt to teach the book of Galatians in five days. Thanks for allowing me to be absent for this good work.

Please submit all questions for our 5th Sunday Q&A session no later than the 26th (Wed. evening). I will address these at the PM service on March 30th.

If you ordered one of the Spring Lectureship books on Islam, please see me after services this morning. By the way, we brought back a case of 24; sold out. This additional 16 books makes a total of 40 books that are in circulation for study on this most important and relevant subject.

The director of the Center for Christian Statesmanship says the men who founded America never intended to remove God from public life. Dr. Frank Wright says quite the contrary, most were devout Christians who applied their Christian faith to everyday life, including government. He says President Thomas Jefferson is a good example. He notes that at the same time Jefferson served as president, he was the chairman of the D.C. public school system -- and mandated in 1804 that two books be taught in those schools: the Bible and Watts' Hymnal. Wright calls that "an extraordinary thing to do" for someone who believes in the separation of church and state. Wright believes anti-Gospel forces like the American Civil Liberties Union have twisted the working of the establishment clause and developed their own false interpretation about separation of church and state -- which he says the founding fathers never intended. (Agape Press, 4/1/02).

Have a good week.

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In The News---According to Moses

By: Lee Moses

As the old saying goes, "no news is good news"; or as Gary Gnu from the television show The Great Space Coaster would say, "No gnus is good gnus." Usually, if death or mayhem is not somehow involved, an event is not deemed newsworthy for the television broadcasters or the newspapers. However, this past week has seen some very encouraging news items prominently featured.

First of all was the news this Wednesday that Elizabeth Smart had returned safely home. Most Americans had felt compelled to assume that she was dead when months had gone by with no trace of her nor evidence that she was yet living. According to statistics, the odds were greatly against her to be alive once that amount of time had passed. I, for one, was pleasantly amazed when I heard that she had been found, and found alive. Many have mistakenly used the term "miracle" to describe this occurrence, but truly it is a blessing from God that she is safe (James 1:17). Many good brethren, including those here at North Jefferson, have offered up prayers to the Father on her behalf. Truly, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16), and we need to be thankful to God for answering this prayer in an affirmative way.

Another encouraging item of news was the overwhelming passage in the Senate of a bill banning partial-birth abortion. For those who may be unfamiliar with this gruesome practice, the procedure of partial-birth abortion is as follows:

1. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps.

2. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.

3. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.

4. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.

The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

Source: National Right to Life Committee, http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/diagram.html

Shocking as it may seem, there are many in favor of keeping this inhumane practice legal. Two times during the last president's tenure, similar bills passed by Congress ended on the president's desk only to be vetoed. There were thirty-three senators who voted against the ban this time, many of whom were adamant. The so-called National Organization for Women (NOW) tries to divert the real issue, calling this ban a "war on women." For Christians, it is of course not a war on women, but a war against murder; albeit not a war with carnal weapons (II Corinthians 10:4). One of the seven things that the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:16-19) are "hands that shed innocent blood." No blood could be more innocent than that of an unborn child who has yet to know what sin is (I John 3:4; Ezekiel 18:20).

Not all is good news regarding this bill. In a compromise of principles for some, a provision was added in support of the Roe v. Wade legislation which made abortion legal. This provision states that the Roe v. Wade decision was "appropriate and secures an important constitutional right" and should not be overturned. However, overall the bill is a step in the right direction. Maybe at some later date we will have even greater good news to discuss, such as the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the saving of millions of lives thereby. Regardless, we will always have the greatest "good news" ever to reflect upon-the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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