Susan Sinclair writes that we have not heard too many shots as of Monday morning, and hope the deer hunters are having success. Congratulations are extended to Tyler Cornett for his successful takedown of a spike this season.
The community revival is going so well that it is being extended for another week, praise God. Many brothers and sisters have long been praying for not only a community revival, but an Awakening of our nation, that our nation as a whole would wake up out of a long slumber; that we would wipe the spiritual sleep out of our eyes and acknowledge the reality that we are in big trouble. Big trouble! Sounds like something a child would say, but in this case it is right on target. Children do have a way of boiling thoughts and statements down to their purest form. God is the same way with His rules, they are not complicated at all, what is complicated is us choosing to obey them.
I remember as a child, my parents set some rules and boundaries about what I could do, and as a child I thought they were sometimes unfair and awfully intrusive, but looking back as an adult it is easy to recognize they were set with love and for my safety and my best interest. It is the same way with God’s rules, they are there with love for us and our safety and best interests- though we may not think so at the time. Not following God’s rules has gotten us into big trouble.
Do you remember feeling the dread of being in trouble? Now, please understand I am in no way talking about coming home to parents or guardians who habitually abuse their children. That type of dread is horrible and my prayer is that every child can get out of that environment as quickly as possible, and that every parent who is caught up in the nightmare of beating their own children will stop and seek help.
The type of dread I am talking about is the broken relationship with my parents, the fear of not receiving forgiveness, the fear of consequences, etc. So many things can run wild in a child’s imagination.
Well, it seems that individuals are waking up out of a spiritual slumber and are realizing just like one child said to another, “We are in big trouble”. Only our imaginations are not running wild. Breaking God’s rules has real-life consequences and we are waking up to that truth. I encourage everyone, Christian or non-Christian to read Deuteronomy Chapter 28. In it, God lays it out for us plainly so a child can understand it, the blessings that follow obedience and the curses that follow disobedience. Each person chooses which way to live, but myself, I want to live in God’s blessing! God is so good in His goodness. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. His intention is for good, He is a redemptive, loving Father who delights to show mercy to His children. He will forgive! He will cast our sins into the sea of His forgetfulness and remember them no more. We are the ones who disobeyed, we are the ones who broke the relationship, but God will take us back in less than a heartbeat when we choose to turn to Him. He loves us! He is our Father! He is Sovereign.
There is hope for our country and our county because God is still sovereign and always will be. If, and it is a big if, we choose to return to him, He can shower us with such blessing that we will know that our God reigns, and that His arm (that is a Bible term for his Power) has not shortened one inch. When we turn to God with our hearts, and choose God with our minds, we will see the mighty hand of God restore this land. Will you make that choice today?
Until next time, God bless you and your loved ones.
From the desk of Jamey Herd: It has been a rough few weeks but I was back in church Sunday. Pleasant Ridge had a good service with Brother Carl bringing the morning message from the book of Amos. Wanda Dugan blessed us with a special song. Laveta Ray and Susan Dugan had eight children for Children’s Church. The young ones sang a special before going back to their class.
Sunday night, business meeting was held at Pleasant Ridge. Gift baskets, Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner, a work-day, and the Christmas gift exchange and children’s program were discussed. Also the church will be adopting two residents from Ava Place, Heart of the Hills Nursing Home in Ava, and Glenwood Nursing Home in Seymour for Christmas. The dinner will be on Saturday, December 4 at 2 p.m. The community is invited to join us in fellowship. The Children’s program and wacky gift exchange will be on December 19th.
The area Revival I understand has had a full house every night. It will continue this next week beginning at the Dogwood Nazarene. It will be decided where it will go from there. Billy Joe and I attended the Dogwood Nazarene Saturday night. There was spirit filled singing and preaching. I regret not being able to attend the services this past week.
Our daughter, Janice, and husband and children from Augusta, Kansas were with us this past weekend. The grandkids got to help grandpa haul some wood in and helped him run the log splitter. I am always glad to see my kids and grandkids. Janice and Robert were able to go to Homecoming at C of O on Saturday and then visited with some old school friends in Branson. Our sons, Don, from Forsyth and Ron from Rogersville visited with us on Sunday.
Condolences are sent to Christine Breshears and family in the passing of her husband, Joe.
Carol Boeddeker-Genet truly enjoyed the beautiful rainbow in the western sky last Friday morning. It seemed to stretch forever. What caused me to go out and look originally was because the entire color spectrum out the north window seemed to change quickly and everything looked orange, caused by the sun’s morning rays through the overcast sky. This gave the effect of a flaming review. I called over for my great grandson to go out and look as it was so unusual and he probably had never seen such a site in other places where he has lived. Sunday evening we saw something similar, just beautiful.
I had about a year and a half with no harsh upper respiratory problems, but last week it came on strong. At first I thought it was just allergy but ended up seeing a doctor in town so that hopefully it wouldn’t be an ER visit over the weekend. Good thing I’ve had the pneumonia vaccine as I am allergic to the flu vaccine. This is the time of year for flu so we must all be careful to keep our hands clean, and those who can, should have the flu vaccine. Many stores now provide sanitizing wipes one can use on shopping carts, which is greatly appreciated.
On Saturday a group gathered at Arlene Boeddeker’s home to celebrate three birthdays. We had southern fried chicken and all that goes with it. Those attending were Tina Chriss, Trish Bohn and grandson, Aryan, Jocelyn Downs, Jean and Scotlyn Canape, Regina Boeddeker and son, Justin, Rex and Carol Boeddeker.
Next Saturday I’ll roast two 20 pound turkeys for the annual Thanksgiving dinner at St. Leo’s Church on Sunday, the 21st. This is just one of the yearly fellowship gatherings at St. Leo’s and all the ladies prepare and bring their specialties.
Rory filled his farm tag, Ron got four caribou, and Randy got a bull elk. We had ground caribou for tacos last spring and it was delicious. I’m not fond of venison but by golly, it does make for good chili. Rex, Regina and Justin had a small but wild rodeo on Sunday catching up with a 300 pound bull calf that needs some antibiotic. These three have bruises and aches, but the calf is penned up for now! I retired from that sort of activity as I don’t like being in the hospital one bit.
Please pray for all in our area as the flu makes its way through; for our disabled and homebound; and for our military. Regina hears weekly from Dan, who is in Afghanistan.
