Family News and Notes
A copy of the Minutes from the Men's Business Meeting and Financial Report for the month ending December 31, 2004 is available on the table in the foyer if you wish to have a copy.
We will have a SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION this morning following our regular contribution for the Tsunami victims. If you feel you are able your contribution toward providing help to these folks is appreciated.
Following services this evening, there will be a YOUTH DEVO in the Multi-purpose Room.
Keep Janice, Jon, Ben, and Meagan in your prayers as they travel to Houston to care for her sister, Barbara Bailey, who has major surgery Wednesday.
Lynn Barrett is moving to Tennessee to be near her daughter Cathy Booher. She will be moving on January 22, weather permitting. Her new address will be:
Lynn Barrett ~ P O Box 382275 ~ Germantown, TN 38183-2275
The wife of Tommy Briscoe, friend of Jody and Stephanie Sparks, passed away following a bought with cancer. Tommy is a member of the Tolar Church of Christ near Granbury, Texas.
Preston Duncan, uncle of Jim and Grady Duncan, passed away last Sunday evening.
J. E. Foust & Son Funeral Home in Grapevine, Texas conducted his funeral Thursday at 2:00 PM.
Traci McCracken's mother, Patricia of Las Vegas, passed away last Monday night but Tracy was able to visit with her mother before she passed away. Her funeral was conducted Friday.
Jan Hargrove had surgery on her foot last Monday, and is recovering.
Hazel Phillips, at last report, is still in the hospital in Tyler. We need to keep her and Ralph in our prayers.
It was good to see Jack and Narci Cooper back at services Wednesday evening following Narci's illness last week.
Billy Carter was able to return home from the hospital last week, but he still experiences many difficulties.
Also, Weldon Miller was back in services last Sunday evening, altho weak, and was able to attend Wednesday evening.
THANK YOU "It's a wonderful feeling to know that others care. Your thoughtfulness expressed through your cards, visits and inquiries with members of my family during my recent illness is very much appreciated. The doctors were not able to diagnose my problem but I am feeling better and expect to be back to normal soon. I sincerely appreciate your concern and prayers. Thanks Weldon Miller"
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PRAYER LIST:
Justin & Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Sue Browning, Billy Carter,
Perry Cooper, Jan Hargrove, Zenith Hargrove, Howard Horton, Ruby Lawhon,
Hollis Lee, Weldon Miller, Winnie Patton, Hazel Phillips, Dorothy Sargent,
Alva Mae Sheets
ALSO: Denise Dering, Ercell Fetters, Marie Holloway, Kelsey Meyers
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THE FAITHFUL FEW
What is your greatest desire in this world? To be respected as an expert in your chosen field of endeavor? To be popular among your peers? To be included in the "Guinness Book Of World Records" for some unusual feat or accomplishment? To be one of the beautiful people? To amass enough wealth in bank accounts, investments, stocks, bonds, and insurance to live the good life and enjoy a secure future?
I'll tell you what I want more than anything else. I want to find "the narrow way" to heaven, which Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:14. Then, I want to make sure my family and I get on it, and stay on it until the very end. The longer I live the more I'm convinced, nothing else in life really matters. One minute after we're dead and gone from this world, nothing else will matter except, whether or not we're prepared to meet Christ in Judgment. On that day, popularity, wealth, physical beauty, academic achievement, personal happiness, business accomplishments, athletic prowess, and all other worldly attainments will instantaneously pale in comparison to the question of our soul's salvation. As Jesus so hauntingly asked, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mt. 16:26).
Of concern to me, and I believe to you as well, is the fact that Jesus stated only a "few" would find and enter the strait gate and the narrow way which leads to eternal life. If I understand Jesus' statement, He was telling us that in comparison with the masses of humanity who have walked this earthly vale, only a faithful few will enter into eternal rest with God (Heb. 4:11), because only a faithful few are willing to put forth the necessary effort to be found faithful in God's sight.
What is the deciding factor between the few and the many? It cannot be God's grace, because His grace, which brings salvation, has appeared unto all men (Tit. 2:11), and His Word teaches that He does not want any to perish, but hopes that all mankind will repent and be saved (II Pet. 3:9). However, His Word also states that not all will be saved, so the deciding factor must be man's individual response to God's grace. There is no other possible explanation. If God wants all men saved, but His Word says not all will be saved, then our individual response to God's offer of salvation must be the determining factor.
Yes, God has prepared a narrow way which leads to life, and "in Christ," He has shown us that way (Jn. 14:6). But now the monkey is on your back. Will you search for the strait gate, and be diligent to be among the faithful few that tread the narrow pathway to heaven? Have you surrendered your life in complete dedication and total commitment to Christ and His cause? Are you willing to pay any price and make every sacrifice in order to inherit eternal life? May all of us give daily consideration to being faithful to God in every aspect of life, realizing that the alternative to being among the faithful few is to be rushing headlong down the wide and easy way that leads to eternal damnation. David McCain
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DRUG PROBLEM
(anonymous)
The other day, someone at a store in a small town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farm house in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?"
My answer was, "I did have a drug problem when I was a kid growing up on the farm.
I had a drug problem when I was young:
I was drug to Sunday School and church on Sunday morning.
I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.
I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.
I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.
I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher. Or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.
I was drug to the kitchen sink if I uttered a profane four-letter word. (I do know what Lye soap tastes like.)
I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flowerbeds and cockleburs out of dad's fields.
I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline or chop some fire wood, and if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the wood shed.
Those drugs are still in my veins; and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, and think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroin, and if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America might be a better place today!
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