Our_Bulletin_6_27

Family News and Notes

Next Sunday July 4, 2004...hope you all can be here and not at the lake.

First Sunday of the new month next Sunday.if you are willing and able you may contribute to the Building Fund on that date.

Our Clean-Up List for the month of July is lacking Volunteers. Please if you are willing and able won't you sign the list?

Only 1 month left 2nd Annual Summer Youth Series EACH TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7:00 pm THROUGH July 27.

June 29 North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt Pleasant

July 6 Oak Grove church of Christ, Mt Pleasant

July 13 Talco church of Christ

July 20 Mount Vernon church of Christ

July 27 New Boston church of Christ

Ola Mae Simpson has been dismissed from the hospital and is temporarily at Mount Pleasant Healthcare (Room 41) on West 16th Street to complete her recovery.

Winnie Patton and Annah Brown have both been dismissed from the hospital and are at home.

Bud Roach continues his recovery and therapy at home following his recent knee replacement. He's still experiencing some pain.

Elna O'Neal is back at home but she is not feeling well and is weak following her stay at Baylor in Dallas. She has to return this week for further treatment.

Aresser Thursby (mother of Mary Glover) has been moved from ICU to Room 332 at Titus Regional Medical Center.

Perry & Josephine Cooper have not been feeling well for several days but say they are improving.

Tom Dooley asked for our prayers. He recently lost his arm due to diabetes.

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AIM HIGH

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old shotgun and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out and kill something for dinner. As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. As he went further, he saw a wild turkey in the tree and he had only one bullet, but a voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused." However, at the same time he saw a deer which was a better kill.

He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still the voice said again to him, "I say 'pray, aim high and stay focused.'" So, the man decided to listen to the voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat. The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Moral of the story: Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God.

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Rhodney's "Funny Bone"

Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself - "Where in the world is the ceiling???"

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PRAYER LIST

Justin Barker, Louis Bell, Winell Blackard, Annah Brown,

Sue Browning, Josephine Cooper, Perry Cooper, Laci Farmer,

Howard Horton, Elna O'Neal, Winnie Patton, Bud Roach,

Dorothy Sargent, Ola Mae Simpson

ALSO: Tom Dooley, Robin Embree, Mary King, Kelsey Meyers, Meghan Rios, Aresser Thursby, Virginia Ward

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Never To Know God's Rule

By Lee Moses

Why is it that there are some people who are absolutely adamant about removing "under God" from the words of the Pledge of Allegiance? It is difficult to know their exact reasons. Certainly, it can be agreed that the United States as a nation has never submitted itself fully to God. However, in the main, those who are making this push are not desirous of honesty concerning the nation's relationship with God. Some people are terrified of the thought of a God in heaven. As Creator of the universe, God is entitled not only to rule over this nation, but over the universe. But many people wish never to know God's rule. So some wish away their own perception of the evidence for God, and are able to delude themselves into thinking that there is no Lord to Whom they must submit. Others reshape God into a less imposing god, one to whom they need worry about submitting themselves. Such people think it is a blessing not to be hindered in their lifestyle pursuits by an all-seeing and all-knowing God; for God knows all their deeds, thoughts, and motives, and does not forget (except figuratively and by His own choice). They think it is a blessing not to be hindered in their lifestyle pursuits by an all-just and all-powerful God; for God must hold them accountable for their actions, and has the power to administer the according punishment for the most serious offender. But is it truly a blessing never to know God's rule? The following lament of the people of Israel is preserved for our learning:

We are become as they over whom thou never barest rule, as they that were not called by thy name (Isaiah 63:19, American Standard Version).

Of course, the people of Israel had been called by the name of God (Deuteronomy 29:13). They had been ruled by God (Judges 8:10; I Samuel 12:12). And now, as affliction upon affliction was besetting them, they wished that it were the case that they were still manifestly under the rule of God. Is it wise to wish never to know God's rule?

One would never know the institutions of God.While there are many human institutions, there are only three Divine institutions on the earth: civil government, the family, and the church. While many people feel that government is too intrusive, can you imagine the world without any civil government at all? What would hinder murderers, rapists, and thieves from plying their craft? Without an enforceable common standard, crime could no longer be considered crime, and absolute anarchy would reign (cf. Judg. 17:6; 21:25). God placed the institution of government upon the earth as "a minister to thee for good . . . a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Romans 13:4).

What if there were no families? God created the family for the protection of its members, for the perpetuity of the race, and for the ability of parents to instill values in children. While government provides justice, the family provides prevention as proper values are instilled. Yet there are efforts being made as you read this to redefine what a family is. Would the world be better if children lived by "the law of the jungle" from their birth? Do we wish to deny the world the loving attachments of a family?

If the church did not exist, mankind's means of reconciliation to God would not exist (Ephesians 2:16; cf. 1:22-23). By means of the church, God is glorified (3:21). By means of the church, the angels are made to know the manifold wisdom of God (3:10) and we can see the wisdom of God by means of the church as well.

One would never know the direction of God.

The course for each man and woman to pursue through life is uncertain without God. People search for direction in life, as seen by the myriad of different religions and cults professing to offer some sort of meaning or direction. However, man has an utter inability to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23; Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Without God, there can be no direction in life. The furthest we can see with our own eyes is death, and none of us has any idea when that will be. God has the ability to see infinitely beyond our limited tunnel of awareness. If we do not know the direction of God, all we can do is stumble in the dark as we make our way toward death. When Moses reiterated the law for the Israelites, he ebulliently asked,

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deut. 4:7-8).

God had blessed them with direction. The very reason for the later plight of the people of Israel was that they had left the "ways" and "fear" of the Lord (Isa. 63:17). However, when one knows the rule of the Lord he has both direction and meaning in life. As wise Solomon completed his search for the meaning of life, he realized, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole (duty) of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

One would never know the hope of God.

Assume for a moment that the universe was created as the atheists hope it was. They hope that rocks and dirt collided in such a way as to create life (no one has exactly figured out yet from where the rocks and dirt came, nor how life could come from non-life). They hope that we are the result of that creation of life that occurred. And they hope that when our earthly life is ended our eternal existence will be nothing more than that of rocks and dirt. Is there really any hope at all in such a scenario?

Contrary to the above scenario, God is not a product of over-imaginative and under-realistic thinking. As hope is defined as desire plus expectation, where there is no reality there can be no hope. God is real, and God extends hope to all of mankind. God has promised eternal life to the faithful, a promise certain and unwavering (Titus 1:2; cf. Hebrews 6:18-19). This is true hope, which can carry us through the most trying times of this life and into the next life. Yet so many hope that there is no God at all.

Conclusion

If one never knows God's rule, he will never know His other blessings. And His rule itself is an incredible blessing. As Israel was able to rejoice, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance" (Psm. 33:12). Now it is spiritual Israel, the church, who is God's chosen nation (Galatians 3:26-29; 6:15-16; I Pet. 2:9). But we can certainly appeal to the civil nation in which we live to govern itself by Biblical principles. These are the principles on which America was built and made great by the blessing of God. The people of Israel lamented that they had become as those who had never known God's rule. Contrariwise, it seems as though the number of people desiring to be completely rid of God's rule is growing greater each day in the United States. As the old saying goes, "Be careful what you ask for you just might get it."