Remember to “Fall – Backward” on Saturday night before you retire to bed. Think about this small thing: setting our clocks back one hour in the fall and then ahead one hour in the spring. Just goes to show you what people can do when we are united together. It is true that Daylight Saving Time is primarily a North American choice and that the majority of the world’s population does not adhere to time changes. I didn’t realize just how much information was available on this subject. Check the internet and you will see.

Paul wrote about unity so many times in the Bible. Let me mention a couple.

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; that you speak the same thing; and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). Of course, Paul was writing about unity in the Lord’s church. No wonder people in the world today often look with distain at the church with so much disunity and discord. Please, Enola brothers and sisters, let us consider Paul’s pleading and live, work, play, and worship together in unity. This past Wednesday evening we sang hymn #358 in our books “O To Be Like Thee.” This song is tough. “O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer; This is my constant longing and prayer. Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear. O to be like Thee, O to be like Thee, Blesses Redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.” We can have unity only when we can sing that song with the spirit and with the understanding.

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3). When you read on down through verse 6 you will notice that there is ONE BODY (The church of Christ – Ephesians 1:22-23). There is ONE SPIRIT who has given us the Bible. There is ONE HOPE of our calling in Jesus Christ. There is ONE LORD, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. There is ONE FAITH. Not many faiths, ONE FAITH. There is ONE BAPTISM. This is the baptism that puts us in Christ and saves us, the new birth. There is ONE GOD. All other “gods” are silent, powerless, useless, and a waste.

This Sunday morning we will conclude our series “Counting Our Blessings – Naming Them One By One.” I count my blessings one by one when I understand how God blesses me, when I decide to live one day at a time, when I decide to live my life optimistically, and this Sunday; I count by blessings one by one when I decide to love life and see good days. I hope you are benefiting from this series. I certainly am.

I am enjoying our Sunday evening series very much: Lessons from Four Fishermen – Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Peter taught us about service. He said to the lame man, “What I have a give to you.” Andrew was quietly effective. We can be quietly effective too. This Sunday evening we will learn that, like us James often blundered, and many times misunderstood Jesus’ plan for him. Through it all, James stayed close to Jesus.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday here in beautiful Enola, Arkansas. We are growing in the love of the Lord every day.