Family News and Notes
Copies of the Minutes from the Men's Business Meeting and a Financial Statement for the month ending January 31 are available on the table in the foyer. Please feel free to take a copy of each if you are interested.
Beginning March 6th a new Sunday morning Young Adult Class will begin. This will be held in the multi-purpose room. Team teachers will be: Jerry Freeman and Bob Hedges. There is no strict age definition of "young adult" so EVERYONE is welcome.
A FELLOWSHIP LUNCHEON is scheduled for February 27, following the morning services. Everyone is invited to be in attendance. Bring lots of food and desserts. Some of us may be hungry.
LADIES DAY has been scheduled for Saturday, April 2, 2005, beginning at 10:00 AM. Sister Sarah Fallis will be guest speaker. If you would be interested in working on one of the committees please let Amy Jones know. There is plenty of work for everyone to do. Sign-up sheets for the salads for lunch will be put out in March. All ladies are invited to attend.
Your editor is seeking photographs of the old 2-story brick North Jefferson church of Christ at 414 North Jefferson back in the 1940s and early 1950s. Also, photos of the new building built after the 2-story burned. If you have such a photo or photos please contact Rhodney Freeman. Also, if you know who served as deacons back beyond the mid 1940's please let me know. Your photo will be scanned into the computer and will be returned to you.
Joyce Lee has been sick at home this past week. Hollis was able to be out and about and was at services last Sunday.
Louis Bell is back at home after staying a while with his daughter in Tyler during his recovery. He is tired but glad to be home.
Billy Carter is still experiencing difficulties and has not been able to attend services. He hopes to be back with us soon.
Billie Campbell became ill last Sunday morning and Gene had to take her home. She is doing better.
Hazel Phillips has been dismissed from the hospital and is now at Mission Manor in Mount Vernon.
Ralph is in rehab at Dubuis Hospital in Paris. He says he is feeling better.
The address is:
Ralph Phillips
Room 528
Dubuis Hospital
865 DeShong Drive
Paris, Texas 75462
Phone number in room is:
903-737-1528.
At the printing of this bulletin, Howard Horton is back in Mission Manor Nursing Home in Mount Vernon. He had fallen but did not break any bones.
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Spiritual Discouragement's Cure
Have you ever been spiritually discouraged? I have! What, you thought preacher's weren't supposed to get discouraged? Well we do! Believe it or not, we're humans too and all human beings get discouraged at times, including preachers. In fact, I dare say every faithful preacher struggles with the scourge of spiritual discouragement. It's an occupational hazard. Many a Gospel preacher has cried himself to sleep at night over the rejection of his fervent appeals for obedience to the Gospel and godly living. It's hard not to take that rejection personally. It's hard not to think about quitting the ministry in order to seek employment in secular fields. Sometimes there's a strong temptation to give up preaching sound doctrine and to water down sermons with the liberal philosophies of men so folks will find your sermons more appealing.
Almost all of the Old Testament prophets struggled with the bane of spiritual discouragement. Jeremiah, "the weeping prophet," once got so discouraged that he threatened to quit preaching and go into the hotel business (Jer. 9:2). He lamented the sad state of Israel thusly,, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so" (Jer. 5:31). The people's lackadaisical attitude towards things spiritual, caused him to cry out in discouragement, "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by" (Lam. 1:12).
Isaiah felt similar discouragement when he sadly wrote, "This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits" (Isa. 30:9-10). When the people of Amos' day rejected God's Word (Amos 2:4-12), Amos, sadly discouraged by the prospect, predicted a day when there would be a famine in the land, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).
Jesus Himself, the last Old Testament prophet, undoubtedly felt spiritual discouragement as he stood overlooking Jerusalem, and lamented bitterly His people's rejection of His spiritual overtures (Mt. 23:37). The apostle Paul surely felt it, as he expressed his daily anxiety over the churches (II Cor. 11:28), as he mentioned his tearful spiritual warnings (Acts 20:31), and as he asked his haunting question to the Galatians, "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? (Gal 4:16).
What's a preacher to do when he grows discouraged because some reject the preaching of the Gospel? The answer is simple. He must keep on preaching God's Word, whether it's in season or out of season, whether folks like it or not. He must continue to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (II Tim. 4:2). He must not be negligent to remind the brethren of what God's Word says, even though some know it already and are established in the truth (II Pet. 1:12). Because, the simple truth is, humans forget, and though some remember what God's Word says, they don't always faithfully practice it.
Sometimes, some brethren will malign the faithful preacher's efforts. Others may try to lessen the heart-pricking impact of God's Word by accusing the preacher of being a hobby rider, or negative, or a troublemaker. Some may even accuse him of being perverted or lust-filled, when he preaches on issues of modesty or moral purity, because that's easier than having to change their ungodly lifestyle. However, faithful preachers will not let that scare them off.
The prophets were accused of being traitors to the nation (Jer. 26:8-11). Jesus was accused of being a glutton and a winebibber (Mt. 11:19). The Apostles were accused of being troublemakers (Acts 4 & 5), and ringleaders of sectarianism, sedition, and dissension (Acts 24:5). However, none of them stopped preaching! Though they wrestled with the dark force of spiritual discouragement, they did not let it keep them from their mission. Indeed, for the preacher, spiritual discouragement's cure is to keep on preaching God's Word, for God chose "the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (I Cor. 1:21). Likewise for every Christian, the cure for spiritual discouragement is to imbibe deeply of God's Word, and to live by its counsel, for it alone will set us free from spiritual discouragement (Jn. 8:32, 17:17). David McCain
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Lack Of Vision
(Guest article by Floyd Kaiser from The SouthwesternerSouthwest Church of Christ )
It's doubtful that all the social ills (teen pregnancy, AIDS, crime, child abuse, etc.) America faces today can be attributed to any one shortfall. No doubt there are many factors that have brought us here.
However, if I were to take a stab at a single culprit, I would likely refer to something like Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law."
It seems to me that "unrestrained" is a fitting description of what we see every day. Men walk around as if it is open season to sin license not required. Homosexuality, pornography, gross immorality, lying, dishonesty and wanton selfishness are everywhere because men don't feel a need to restrain or bridle evil tendencies.
The proverb reminds us that living without restraints is an effect of living without what is called, "vision."
What does "vision" mean in this passage? What is so lacking today that it has led to society seeming to be out of control?
In my Bible there is a footnote to Proverbs 29:18 which provides an alternative to the word "vision" and that is, "revelation." The vision that restrains the behaviors of men is something that comes from God. It is a revelation, a prophecy. in practical terms, what it's referring to is the word of God, i.e. what is written in the Bible.
Now we can understand. When the word of God, the teachings of the Bible, is allowed to have a free course it serves as a check to sin; it molds the collective conscience of society. When men, Christian and non-Christian alike, have regard for God's societal handbook, then they live more honorably.
If one could focus upon the single greatest contributor that initiated the moral decline of America, it would likely be when the Bible ceased being a regular fixture in the education of our children. Years ago, before public education, it was the religious institutions that taught children how to read and write. The Bible was their primer. Later, with the acceptance of education being a function of the state, in the beginning, the Bible was still used.
Now, however, the Bible is gone. In its place, the material used to educate our children is not only disconnected from the Bible but is actually anti-biblical. It is material that removes God as the moral center of society and puts man in His place.
Whether this trend of removing the word of God from society's consciousness will ever be reversed, I don't know. However, I do know that if it occurs it will only happen if Christians are activated and mobilized to carry the Message. We need to speak of it in casual conversations to strangers while standing in line at the grocery store. We need to jot it on notes and on emails. We need to frame it and hang it on the walls of our houses and office. We need to print it on our business cards.
May we be people of the word of God! May it be in our hearts and on our lips!
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