Family News and Notes
MEN'S BUSINESS MEETING tonight following the evening services. All men are encouraged to attend.
David, Janice, Ben and Jon are on vacation this week and they plan to be back on Sunday, July 17th, where David will preach both the AM and PM service.
In their absence today Bro. Johnny Ramsey will preach both AM and PM service and also teach the Wednesday evening Bible Class.
2005 Summer Youth Bible Series of Northeast Texas (SYBSNET) Tuesday, July 12 at 7:00 PM, at Fulbright Church of Christ. The Topic will be "Keeping The Conscience Clean" and will be presented by Bro. David Henderson. Wade Miller is in charge of transportation and he will announce a time to meet for departing for Fulbright Tuesday evening.
Plans are still on for the Summer Christian Camp at Camp Cisco, for 8th grade thru 12th Grade, July 24July 29. This is a continuing announcement but if you plan to attend please see Bob Hedges for applications. If you have already sent in an application please advise Bob so we can obtain an exact number attending, for transportation arrangements.
Watch for some minor corrections to our new Pictorial Directory soon.new picture for Darrell and Nelda Cooper and others.
Hollis and Joyce Lee have been ill at home this past week, not doing very well at all. Their daughter-in-law has come to help them out for a while. Keep them in your prayers. Please check your directory carefully and if you find something that needs to be corrected please tell Grady.
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We have an important item that everyone needs to pay particular attention to. We need cooperation from everyone (Adults and Children alike) to remember to fill out an ATTENDANCE CARD for both the AM Bible Class AND the AM and PM Worship Services on Sunday as well as on Wednesday evening in order that we may obtain and record accurate attendance for everyone. Adults should show not only themselves, but the names of their children, even if we have duplicate cards coming from the teens, because this will be observed when the attendance cards are posted into the computer each week. Teens are encouraged to complete an attendance card for the AM and PM worship service. Cooperation in this matter from everyone is encouraged and we thank you in advance.
THANK YOU The family of Howard S. Horton acknowledges with grateful appreciation the kind expression of your sympathy. Our appreciation for your care, love and concern for the passing of Howard S. Horton cannot be expressed. We wish to try and let you know you have comforted us and will continue to do so through this pleasant memory.
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Mr. and Mrs. John Roy McCollum request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Crystal Lynn
to
Wesley David Freeman
son of Mr. and Mrs. Rhodney Gene Freeman
Saturday, the sixteenth of July
Two thousand and five
at half past five o'clock in the afternoon
Trinity Baptist Church
2830 West Ferguson Road
Mount Pleasant, Texas
The celebration continues
immediately following the ceremony
at the bride's parents home
802 Fleming Street
Mount Pleasant, Texas
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PRAYER LIST
Justin Barker, Rachel Barker, Louis Bell, Annah Brown, Billye Campbell,
Perry Cooper, Vernon Garrett, Zenith Hargrove, Hollis Lee, Joyce Lee,
Winnie Patton, Dorothy Sargent, Alva Mae Sheets,
ALSO: Melba Boyd, Denise Dering, Wesley & Juanita DuBose,
Ruby Jeffery, Lonita Thompson
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"Be Not Anxious"
In summarizing the teaching of Jesus on the subject of worry, Paul wrote, "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7). Admittedly, that is one of the hardest admonitions in the entire Bible, for humans to follow. We know the Lord has promised to care for us, and that we shouldn't worry, but we find "anxiety" to be a very difficult trait to overcome. Because we are a thinking breed, it is quite natural for us to try to think our way out of our problems. Where we get off track is when we let those thought processes get out of control like a runaway nuclear reaction.
Nuclear reactors produce power by carefully controlling the chain reaction of the splitting of uranium atoms. But, if that reaction gets out of control achieving critical mass, you get a "meltdown," or a "China syndrome," as the physicists call it. That's what worry is, a runaway mental or emotional reaction. If thinking is the controlled nuclear reaction that produces power for living, then worry is the runaway chain reaction of thought that ultimately ends in a nervous breakdown, an emotional "China syndrome," unless we do something to control our anxieties.
God's Word shares two secrets to help us control anxiety in our lives, so we don't end up "stressed out," or emotionally "burned out, which can ultimately lead to a nervous breakdown. First, we are admonished to think our way out of worry (Mt. 6:25-34, Lk. 12:22-25). Jesus said for us to consider how God cares for the birds and the flowers, which have no souls. If God devotes Himself to caring for the plant and animal kingdoms, surely He will care for man, who is made in His very image. Jesus further pointed out, that worry is often the painful overburdening of thought about circumstances, over which we have little or no control. Can you add to the measure of your life by worrying about it? Absolutely not! In fact, worry will probably shorten your life.
Secondly, we are admonished to pray our way out of worry (Phil. 4:6-7). When we take time to humbly hit our knees and thankfully recount our blessings in the ear of God, we are reminded of God's providential care for His children. As the old song says, "When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost; count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done." Prayer, in reminding us of God's loving blessings, helps us to see that worry is unfounded and unnecessary.
The simple truth is, worry is futile for Christians, because God has promised to care for His children. We can be assured of His wisdom to care for us, for He is the only wise God (Rms. 16:27). We can be assured of His ability to care for us, for He is, "...able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think..." (Eph. 3:20). We can be assured of His desire to care for our needs, because He, "...shall supply every need of yours according to his riches... (Phil. 4:19). So, brethren, we should cease from anxiety by following Solomon's admonition to, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:5-6). David McCain
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HOW CAN WE SAVE AMERICA?
Johnny Ramsey
Since Jehovah rules in the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:25) and in His sight "the nations are as the drop of a bucket" (Isaiah 40:15), we must face up to our immediate responsibilities if we are to preserve America. In one of the most familiar statements regarding national concern, James Russell Lowell declared,
"Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide. In the strife ofTruth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side."
An impartial appraisal of American degeneracy demands that godly citizens awaken, arise and meet the challenge before us. In 1940, in one of his fireside chats, Franklin Roosevelt made this monumental statement that is so apropos today,
"We build and defend not for our generation alone. We defend the foundations laid by our fathers. We build a way of life for generations yet unborn. We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind."
Those even remotely conversant with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and the parallels in world affairs today ought to be convinced that now is the hour to stand up, speak out and help save America. So many people in the world are looking to us for guidance, maturity and leadership in the crises of life. However, presently, we are a great disappointment to many friends of the past due to the rebellion and immorality of a whole generation of our citizenry. Will it be said of us as it was of Rome, that "our vicious lives alone have conquered us" and "there is more wickedness being committed than can be counted." Truly, America is on the verge of committing suicide even as we race to the moon and beyond!
What can we do to stem the tide of reprehensible conduct that will eventuate in hell? There are several things we must restore if America is ever to be strong again.
(1) Godliness In Our Homes
(2) Respect for Authority
(3) Bible Preaching
(4) Evangelistic Zeal
(5) Personal Purity
In the final analysis the real salvation of any nation is the personal integrity of individual citizens. There is no substitute for purity and virtue and Christ-likeness. It is in this area that America is suffocating. our morals are at an all-time low ebb. Can God allow our age of nudity, filth, licentiousness and adultery to long endure? When shall we awaken to the satanic influences we have created, allowed and catered to? There must be a major backlash on behalf of decency and common-sense or we shall, as a nation, crumble into the dust. Truly, "a monstrous contest of wickedness is going on: and only the pristine beauty of Christianity can overwhelm its odious charms. Unless a deep spiritual surge comes soon, the carnality of America will bring sudden and sure decay. What a tragedy should our epitaph read,
"Here lies America a nation that died
for lack of righteousness by its citizenry.
Where were the Christians?"
But, across the centuries and the meandering scenes of time, the voice of the Christ firmly cries, "Follow Me." Our destiny now and eternally will depend upon our response to that plea.
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