Twelve Inches of Snow in the Country!

     Country living in Enola, Arkansas!  What a beautiful experience!  We had a rare occurrence this week with more than 12 inches of snow falling on Christmas day in the country.  I couldn’t get out of my driveway until one of our neighbors came with his tractor and blade.  Neighbors in the country are certainly different from neighbors in the city.  I know and so do you, if you have ever lived in the city.  Utility trucks have been working tirelessly trying to get our roads cleared and our utilities back up and running.  We still don’t have any electricity at the main building and education building at Enola.  Hope everything will be back up and running before Sunday.  We can determine and manage many things in life.  Weather is not one of them.  All we can do is prepare and pray, then adjust.  No use complaining and worrying.   God is still in control.  I’m glad.

     A brand new year – 2013 is only a few days away!  What chances, challenges, and changes will come our way?  God knows.  We do not.  Of course, our own thoughts, dreams, words, actions, and decisions go a long way in determining the chances, challenges, and changes that we will face.  Maybe we will have to face a job change.  Maybe we will face sickness, or maybe we might have to face a financial crisis.  Maybe we will experience grief or sadness.  It could be that we will experience times of great success or pleasure in this new year.  That is my prayer for you and for me.  It is true that we may not be able to determine these things but we can certainly determine the attitude we have in facing these things.  Will we face these chances, challenges, and changes in faith or in fear?  We can decide.  Our happiness and our success are often determined by our decision.

     My last blog was posted just before I heard about my grandmother’s death.  My grandmother (Granny) was born in May of 1917. She was 95.  I tried to explain to my grandchildren that she was born in a very different time and lived very differently from the way they live.  They could not hardly believe that their great great grandmother only received an apple and an orange for Christmas when she was their age.  No videogames.  No Barbies.  No Legos.  No American Dolls.  No Wranglers.  No Remington hunting rifles.  No Four-wheelers.  Just an apple and an orange.  She often talked about the orange she found in her stocking hung on the fireplace, how it fragrant it smelled, how delicious it tasted, how very happy she was to receive such an expensive and rare gift.  My, my hasn’t times changed.  Let’s make sure our children understand, truly understand the importance of the things that really matter.  I need help remembering and understanding myself.   Maybe next year we can be different, better, deeper, more like God.  I miss my Granny very much and look forward to a grand reunion one day when we will all be together again in our heavenly home.

     This Sunday morning during the sermon time we will consider the Parable of the Unjust Steward.  Jesus teaches us responsibility, accountability, and the vitality of service in our everyday lives.  On Sunday evening we will consider the final lesson in the series Foundation Principles – Gentleness.  Jesus was gentle.  His invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 teaches us of His gentleness.  I hope you can be here with your fellow Christians at Enola to worship and learn the lessons of life.

Good News from the Country

     Hello again from up in the country, Enola, Arkansas and the Enola church of Christ.  I hope your week has been a good one.  Christmas is only a few days away.  I’m happy that for at least a few days every year, so many think about giving, family, and hopefully Jesus Christ.  Regrettably some Christians go to extremes one way or the other during the holiday season.  Some Christian fuss and fight about December 25^th not being the exact day of Jesus’ birth or maybe about whether or not we should even consider celebrating Jesus’ birth on a certain day.  Other Christians go to the other extreme and go bonkers over Christmas with decorations, candle-lighting ceremonies, plays, live nativity scenes, and such things.  It is true that we do not know the exact day of Jesus’ birth.  We can’t find the day of Jesus’ birth in the Bible and history does not record the day of His birth.  The Bible does not command us to celebrate His birth.  The Bible does direct every Christian to remember His death, burial, and resurrection.  Of course, how can you remember someone’s life and not remember their birth?  Additionally, the Bible does include the details of His birth in the gospels.  The birth of Jesus should be studied, taught, preached, and remembered at Christmas time and at any other time.  I love Christmas.  The holiday season seems to bring out the best in people.  That is good.  I love to show my love for my wife, children, grand children, and my friends during the holiday season.  I love to see them show their love for me and for others as well.

     If you decide to visit with us at the Enola church of Christ this time of the year you will find that our services do not change very much from one season to the next.  Every Sunday we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts to the Lord.  Every Sunday we do a lot of praying to the Father in the name of the Son.  Every Sunday we remember the life, the death, the resurrection, and the promises of Jesus Christ by eating unleavened bread and drinking the fruit of the vine in the Lord’s Supper.  Every Sunday we pass the offering plate and present our financial gifts to God as He has directed us.  Every Sunday we study God’s word to strengthen our faith in God.  Sometimes I might preach a lesson specific to a certain occasion simply because people are thinking about it.  Then again, I may not even mention what might or might not be happening when it comes to a certain holiday or special occasion.  You can rest assured that our mission to show and share the gospel of Christ continues steadfastly from Sunday to Sunday and every day in between.

     This Sunday we will continue to study Jesus’ parables and the Parable of the Lost and Found.  We have considered the lost sheep.  Jesus fulfilled His mission.  Are we fulfilling ours?  We have looked at the lost coin.  Every “one” is important.  We must always be on the lookout for any “one” who is lost.  When we find one who is lost, our mission is to introduce them to Jesus.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  This Sunday we will look at the lost son.  Actually, our lesson will focus on the love of the Father.  He loved the son when the son was at home.  He loved the son when the son left home and went into the foreign country in sin.  He loved the son when the son came home.  Oh, how wonderful it is to have such a Father as is our God! 

I Guess I'm Old-Fashioned

     Hello from Enola, Arkansas, from up in the country where the pace of life is a little bit slower and full of the things that make life worth living:  family, friends, and neighbors and people trying to take care of one another.  We care when we give a pat on the back when the job has been done well or a handshake that says everything is okay or maybe, a head-rub that says “I’m proud of you, son” or a little squeeze to say “You are such a fine young woman, daughter” or a swat on the behind to put a little “want to” in the head of the one who didn’t or maybe an elbow nudge when what has been said is enough or maybe even a kick in the pants when such a display of affection is needed.  The world we live in today is certainly different.  People now-a-days think that these things mentioned above can be done through email and texting or maybe through “Facebook” or “Twitter.”  And I guess in a way that might be possible.  How can sitting alone in my room typing on a computer, ipad, or cell phone be “social?”  My, my, am I becoming my dad?  I can hear him in my head saying such things to me only a few short years ago.  I have even heard that there are churches that meet together for worship, not literally, but vicariously through the internet.  There are churches in our area that watch their preacher preach via the internet through their projection system.  Whew!  Not me!  I guess I’m old-fashioned and if so I don’t care to be old-fashioned.

     This Sunday we will take a look at the second part of Jesus’ parable of the lost and found and see what we can learn from the woman who lost one of her ten precious coins, who lit up the house, swept it, and diligently searched until she found what was lost.  We need to follow her example.  We cannot wait to begin the search for what is lost.  Waiting can have eternal consequences.  We must use every available means to find what is lost.  We must search until what is lost is found.  Only then can we rejoice.  I hope every Christian will be gathered together with their fellow Christian brothers and sisters this Sunday.  Will you be there?

     Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 concerning the things he needed to flee from and concerning those things he needed to pursue.  We must pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, LOVE, patience, and gentleness.  We have considered the first three.  This Sunday evening at Enola we will consider LOVE.  Love is the greatest…period.  God is love.  All will know who we are when we love.  Love covers a multitude of sin.  Love compels us.  Love constrains us.  Love never fails.  We must love God supremely and one another as Christ loves.  That is the way it is.

     Last Sunday at the Enola church of Christ was one of those very special days every preacher hopes and prays for:   big crowd (130), a peaceful reverent time of joyful worship, laughter at just the right moments, the sound of little ones in the background during the service, positive responses, sweet fellowship, and of course I have to mention the delicious lunch we enjoyed in the annex.  I’m so happy to be a Christian and a member of the church of Christ at Enola.  You are my glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:20).