Download Report

Volume Eleven Issue 11
A Place of Joy, Hospitality and Hope
November 2014
Cartecay Courier News
Paul the Defendant
Paul writes the way he does here is because he has
been slandered. Luke tells us in Acts 17:5 that when
Paul planted the church in Thessalonica, the Jews
were jealous and set the city in an uproar. And, of
course, their aim is not so much to discredit Paul as to
discredit his message and the apparent work of God
among the new Thessalonian believers. The
Thessalonians had experienced something powerful,
and if it is real, the unbelieving Jews are in trouble.
An Often Unnoticed Side of Paul
It is good thing that Paul was forced into saying some
of the things he said in these verses. They show us a
side of him that we might otherwise have missed. He
was gentle among them. He was saying, “We were
delighted—we were eager—to share with you not only
the gospel of God but also our own souls, because we
love you.”
The truth that immerges from this text is this:
WHERE THE GOSPEL FLOURISHES, PEOPLE
SHARE THEIR OWN SOULS.
We can see the gospel flourishing if we look back to
chapter one in this 1st letter to the Thessalonians,
verses 5–6. 5because our gospel came to you not
simply with words but also with power, with the Holy
Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived
among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us
and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the
Our Pastor is:
Rev. Rebecca Holmes
[email protected]
Church Phone: 706-276-7400
Church email:
[email protected]
WEB: http://www.cartecayumc.com
midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel flourished in Thessalonica and the result was that
Paul and Timothy proved to be a certain kind of person, and
the Thessalonians became their imitators.
What kind of person? Answer: the kind of person who shares
his own soul. WHERE THE GOSPEL FLOURISHES, PEOPLE
SHARE THEIR OWN SOULS.
I recently engaged in a time of sharing some concerns in my
life with a dear Christian friend who related to my situation,
because she was also was going through some stressful times.
She directed me to 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, where Paul writes.
8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; 9Persecuted, but not forsaken;
cast down, but not destroyed; She shared with me this comfort
of scripture but moreover, as a Christian woman, she shared
her soul with me. We were both uplifted, not only from the
power of the scripture, but the sharing of our very souls with
each other. It’s amazing how those troubles we felt were so
oppressing, now became so manageable!
Here’s something to think about. It came to me as I was
reading my Bible this week. You know what the Bible is?.....It’s
food for the soul! Soul food, if you will.
Three questions to think about:
1. What is it to share your own soul?
2. How does the gospel cause this to happen?
3. Why is it important for us to do this?
As Christians and followers of Christ we must do three
basic things:
1. Reflect the grace of God back to Him in worship… to His
glory.
2. Apply the grace of God to each other for our strengthening
of faith and love …to the glory of God.
3. Extend the grace of God to unbelievers so we can make
disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the
world….to God’s Glory..
Part of Lay Leader – Sarah Corkedale’s sermon
28 Methodist Men Feed 385
October 11, 2014 again brought forward a
wonderful day of fellowship and working
together for the glory of our Lord. On that
day 27 Cartecay United Methodist Men
worked together to cook, package, serve
and deliver 385 Bar-B-Q chicken dinners
during our annual Fund Raiser. President
Mike Pilvinsky led the charge with getting
tickets printed and distributed to the men.
Don Messick coordinated the ticket sales
and job responsibilities. Don Smith and
John Hiscox seasoned and cooked the
beans and Russ Loper seasoned and
cooked the sauce. “Head chef” Richard
Morse directed the actual cooking of the
chickens while David Wiggins, BJ Baker,
Phillip Johnson and Charlie Edmondson
handled the basting and turning of the 11
racks of chickens. Bill Ford and Royce
Hughes headed up the assembly line for
packaging and serving the meals with help
from Rod Thomas, Calvin Rolan, Larry
Fraelix, Billy Adams, Ron Ennis and Joe
Morales. Mark Winnie, Herb Andes,
Frank Fordham, Gary Adams, Danny
Daly, David Wiggins, Bob McDonald,
Howard Gardner and Billy Adams worked
in 2 man teams to deliver over 150
dinners to area businesses. Rob Hicks
and Yuri Schillin were in charge of
collecting the money for our Saturday
sales.
Special Thanks goes out to:
1)
Paul and Joan Melton who
arranged cold storage for our
chickens and got up at 4 a.m.
that Saturday to deliver them to
the Walt McDonald Pit for
cooking.
2) Big John Hochkins for reporting
for work in his wheel chair and
providing his usual amount of
supervision and banter. We love
you Big Guy and appreciate all
you do for us.
3) Maggie Anderson who worked
like a Trojan keeping our kitchen
clean and making sure the
customers eating in were
supplied with sauce and drink.
Thanks Maggie.
Thanks to all the men who helped us raise
over $2000 to be used for Outreach to the
community and within our church family.
Thrift Store Updates:
UMW Dates:
November 13 UMW meeting at
10:30 in fellowship hall
BRING YOUR WORLD
THANK OFFERING.
Election of 2015 officers
Disbursement of funds to
missions
Recap of year
December 18th UMW
Christmas party @ 6:00 pm
As I am putting together the
budget for 2016 for the thrift
store, I am concerned though
business is great, volunteers are
greatly needed. If this sounds like
begging, it is!
We desperately need another
cashier or two and certainly need
work room help to sort and price
the large amount of donations we
get. It would be great if one of
you would volunteer to be a day
manager on Wednesday, Thursday
or Friday. Some of you have said
what day do you need help and I
have
to
say
every
day! Unfortunately most every
one says they cannot work on
Saturday, but this is probably the
best business day we have! If you
have not volunteered because you
do not want to be tied into a day
when you may have company or
be going out of town, please know
if we have enough help, anyone
can take off, even cashiers. Please
give this your prayerful thought
and see if you can help us
out. The store has done great
things but we need you badly!
Julie Deloney, Board Chairman
Details will follow later in the
bulletin.
Am I too Old to Go?
Sunday schools aim at
inculcating in our minds the
principles of social service. We
should be a part of these so
that we gain exposure to their
mission of social service.
It is important for the
young minds to be cultivated
and nurtured and an excellent
way to bring about this
cultivation is to encourage the
children and youngsters to
attend the Sunday school.
These schools aim at
instilling in the minds of
students, a positive attitude of
looking towards life. Their
main aim is to bring about
spiritual growth of their
students.
Attending Sunday
school as an adult gives us an
opportunity to be a part of
this process of growth and
development. It nurtures our
adult minds towards looking
at our world in ways we may
have never thought about.
Come join your peers!
2
Giving Thanks
Sarah Kate Smith 11/4
Mary Ann Taylor 11/4
Barbara Clement 11/5
Ron Ennis 11/5
Eleanor Cipulo 11/6
Larry Fraliex 11/6
Barbara Ann Wilson 11/8
Betty Willard 11/9
John Hiscox 11/10
Jessica Petty 11/19
Betty Westfall 11/20
John Hochkins 11/21
Mary Hochkins 11/22
Jayne Morales 11/26
Mary Gentry 11/27
Carolyn Edmondson 11/28
Vincent Cipullo 11/30
Happy
Anniversary!
Herb & Sylvia Andes 11/3
Bill & Mary Battle 11/15
Mark & Hope Winne 11/19
Gary & Jill Adams 11/20
John & Beverly Hiscox 11/24
Red & MaryJeanne Watson 11/27
Thanksgiving was founded as a religious observance for all the
members of the community to give thanks to God for a
common purpose. Historic reasons for community
thanksgivings are: the 1541 thanksgiving mass after the
expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado safely crossing
the high plains of Texas and finding game and the 1777
thanksgiving after the victory in the Revolutionary War Battle
of Saratoga. In his 1789 National Thanksgiving
Proclamation, President Washington gave many noble reasons
for a national Thanksgiving, including "for the civil and
religious liberty", for "useful knowledge", and for God’s "kind
care" and "His Providence”. After Washington, the only
presidents to express a specifically Christian perspective in
their proclamation have been Grover Cleveland in 1896, and
William McKinley in 1900. Several other presidents have
cited the tradition.
The tradition of giving thanks to God is continued today in
many forms, most notably the attendance of religious services,
as well as the saying of a mealtime prayer before Thanksgiving
dinner. Many houses of worship offer worship services and
events on Thanksgiving themes the weekend before, the day
of, or the weekend after Thanksgiving. At home, it is a holiday
tradition in many families to begin the Thanksgiving dinner by
saying grace (a prayer before or after a meal). Before praying,
it is a common practice at the dining table for "each person to
tell one specific reason they’re thankful to God that year."
Traditionally, the hostess or host led the prayers of grace.
The day after Thanksgiving is a day off for some companies
and most schools. It is known as Black Friday as a popular
highly commercialized shopping day. In some states the same
day of Thanksgiving is a rushed meal to hurry to the mall to
shop. - adapted
3
MONTHLY MEDITATION
Keyword: CHANGE
This month’s word is CHANGE.
My dictionary defines it thus: verb 1. To
alter; make or become different; vary.
2.
To substitute. 3. To exchange. 4. To
give smaller pieces of currency in
place of a larger. Noun 1. A changing;
substitution or alteration. 2. Variety. 3.
Money returned when the payment
exceeds the price. CHANGE, when
used as a verb involves some form of
action on our part.
On Friday evening at the recent
United Methodist Men’s Spiritual
Retreat at Rock Eagle the moderator
asked the ushers to come forward; he
asked the audience of several hundred
men to stand, reach into their pockets,
and as the ushers passed around
cardboard tubs, to give only the
change in their pockets. Then he
prayed, much as I imagine Jesus
prayed over the five loaves of bread
and two fish. Then we sang a song to
the accompaniment of the sound of
coins clinking together as the tubs
were passed.
For all of September and part of
October the Cartecay Congregation
was asked to assist STOP HUNGER
NOW by setting aside twenty five
cents for each meal we ate during this
time period. A quarter per meal was
all that was asked for; pocket change
for most of us.
And speaking of change have you
noticed that the leaves are beginning
to CHANGE. I love living in an area
that has four distinct seasons.
Recently Jane & I spent a few
delightful days traveling the Blue
Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah
Drive through the mountains of North
Carolina and Virginia.
We
experienced lots of CHANGE in both
leaves and weather.
In the 60’s Bob Dylan wrote “The
Times They Are A-Changin”, a song
about CHANGE. And the world that
we live in is in a state of constant
change, except that that the CHANGE
that we experience seems to be
accelerating - coming faster and
faster.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 (CEB) says;
1
There’s a season for everything and
a time for every matter under the
heavens: 2 a time for giving birth and
a time for dying, a time for planting
and a time for uprooting what was
planted, 3a time for killing and a time
for healing, a time for tearing down
and a time for building up, 4 a time for
crying and a time for laughing, a time
for mourning and a time for dancing,
5
a time for throwing stones and a time
for gathering stones, a time for
embracing and a time for avoiding
embraces, 6 a time for searching and a
time for losing, a time for keeping
and a time for throwing away, 7 a
time for tearing and a time for
repairing, a time for keeping silent
and a time for speaking, 8 a time for
loving and a time for hating, a time
for war and a time for peace.
What season are you in? What is
God asking you to change in your
life?
Do you accept CHANGE
joyfully or grudgingly? Oh, by the
way, The Rock Eagle pocket change
totaled almost $900.00 and was
donated to THE SOCIETY OF ST.
ANDREWS to feed the hungry in this
country.
And the 2014 Gilmer
County STOP HUNGER NOW
EVENT raised almost $12000.00 and
packaged over forty two thousand
meals to feed the world’s hungry. And
that’s not pocket change; it’s
transforming CHANGE.
Royce Hughes
October Giving and attendance
Budgeted $18,000
Given 13.508/30
Attendance = ss average 24
Early Service = 15
Regular Service = 66
Praise God from
whom all blessing
flow..
Issac Watts
Known as the "Father of
English hymnody," Isaac Watts
1674-1749. He showed literary genius
even as a boy. Born in Stoke
Newington, England to parents
convicted of being “dissenters” to the
Anglican faith by following
Calvinistic theologies. His parents
were arrested and his mother soon
gave birth to Isaac and was allowed to
nurse him outside the prison.
Isaac was a precocious child learned
to read in infancy and was given to
rhyme and verse. Learned Latin at
four, Greek at nine, French at ten and
Hebrew by age thirteen.
Frustrated with the heartless psalm
singing of his time, young Watts at
age 20 sometimes criticized the
singing at his church. Listening to his
concerns one day, Watts' father
challenged him, "Well then, young
man, why don't you give us something
better to sing?" He rose to the
challenge by writing his first hymn. It
was well received by the congregation
and he wrote a new song for each
Sunday over the next two years,
which were later published.
He moved to London to tutor the
children of a wealthy family of
Dissenters. While a member of Mark
Lane’s chapel he was asked to teach
and hired on as an associate pastor.
Preached his first sermon at 24.
Calvinists continued to sing the
psalms but the German Lutherans
loved Watts’ songs and incorporated
them into their Liturgy. When he
wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous
Cross” it caused great controversy.
(continued Page 5)
4
(con’t from page 4)
One man complained, "Christian
congregations have shut out divinely
inspired Psalms and taken in Watts'
flights of fancy." The issue split
many churches.
Some of the 600 songs we know today
by Watts are:
Alas! And Did my Savior Bleed
At the Cross
Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
I Sing the Mighty Power of God
Joy to the World, The Lord is Come
O God, Our Help in Ages Past
This is the Day that the Lord Has
Made
~~~~~
Come, Let Us Reason Together
(Is 1:18) By Jack Kinsella 19522013 former head writer for the
television program “This Week in
Bible Prophesy” before joining
Hal Lindsey ministries in 1994.
Author of a dozen or more
Christian video documentaries.
Wrote the following and I have
included this article in its entirety
based on the fact it is so true.
Leslie
“I saw the following t-shirt slogan the
other day. It read as follows:
Atheism: “the belief that there was
nothing and nothing happened to
nothing and then nothing magically
exploded for no reason, creating
everything and then a bunch of
everything magically rearranged itself
for no reason whatsoever into selfreplicating bits which then turned into
dinosaurs. Makes perfect sense.”
I gotta get me one of those, if for no
other reason than because atheists
love to portray themselves as “free
thinkers.”
Jordan Froese, writing for the
Huffington Post, summed up atheism,
as he understands it thusly:
“I am an atheist, and I subscribe to the
idea that humanity and all of its works
are essentially the sum of water,
carbon, and random electrical
impulses.”
I’ve been analyzing that sentence for a
few minutes now and am of the
opinion that a two-word change would
make it a lot clearer:
“I am an idiot, because I subscribe to
the idea that humanity and all of its
works are essentially the sum of
water, carbon, and random electrical
impulses.”
Consider what he is saying, here. The
Mona Lisa is the sum of water, carbon
and random electrical impulses.
Following his line of reasoning, then
so too, is the atomic bomb. The Bible.
A crossword puzzle. An energyefficient home. The computer you are
reading this on. The software that
makes it work. A Faberge egg. The
Sistine Chapel. The Great Wall of
China. A baby’s smile. A tree.
According to Froese, all these -simply the sum of water, carbon and
random electrical impulses. Your
ability to read these words are not the
result of anything. Instead, they are
the result of nothing.
THIS is the position adopted by those
who claim that reason is on their side!
Recently, Stephen F. Hawking, hailed
as one of the most brilliant scientists
alive, made headlines by sharing what
he knows about God, the afterlife and
outer space.
Hawking certainly deserves the title of
the most brilliant scientists alive – he
knows things no other scientist does.
Hawking says that he knows that there
is no God. Hawking says that he
knows that heaven does not exist.
Hawking says that he knows that
everything was created from nothing
according to a random process.
But as brilliant as Stephen F. Hawking
is supposed to be, he was rendered
speechless by former child actor Kirk
Cameron’s two-word challenge:
“Prove it.”
“Ooops!”
Assessment:
It always struck me as odd that secular
scientists -- who would never dream
of making a blanket statement of fact
concerning a topic they know nothing
about and for which they had no
empirical evidence -- are completely
comfortable
making
blanket
assertions-- as fact -- like “there is no
God.”
The atheist’s blanket proclamation
that there is no God, or that the works
of mankind are nothing more than
water, carbon and electrical impulses
is actually a much more difficult
position with far less empirical
evidence in support than is the
Christian position.
The atheist position is one of total
negativity. There is no evidence to
support atheism. There are no ‘proofs’
that God does not exist. The entire
atheist argument rests on the absence
of any evidence whatsoever.
It is that absence of evidence that
forms the body of argument
supporting atheism.
Conversely, the Christian has the
Bible, two thousand years of Christian
history, various and sundry Christian
denominations,
prayer
books,
liturgical worship standards, and the
support of history.
These are things that can be seen,
handled, examined and analyzed. In a
word -- evidence.
What does the atheist offer in
evidence of his position? Attacks on
the Bible, Christian history, the
various denominations, prayer and
worship and history. His only defense
is an attack.
He cannot offer anything in support of
his position except his own doubts.
The only way that his position is in
any way intellectually defensible is in
the abstract – he can argue that it is at
least possible that God does not exist.
His entire argument rests on that
possibility. Moreover -- and this is
key -- it depends on his possibility
being the only possibility.
Atheists have another major problem
with their worldview that immediately
exposes the philosophical bankruptcy
of their position. Even if they were
successful in refuting evidences
offered in favor of the existence of
God, that in no way offers any support
to atheism.
Even if the atheist refutes all the
evidences placed before him, he still
loses the debate, IF the standard is
really as they claim, that of reason and
logic. (con’t pg 6)
5
(con’t from page 5)
At best, one can only argue that so far,
they’ve
not
seen
convincing
evidences.
Guys like Stephen F. Hawking cannot
say there are no evidences for God,
because Hawking cannot know all
evidences that possibly exist in the
world.
At best, the atheist can only say that
the evidence presented so far has been
insufficient. This logically means that
there could be sufficient evidences
presented in the future.
If an atheist is intellectually honest, he
will acknowledge at this point that he
has lost the debate, since his only
alternative is to deny that there may
indeed
be
evidence
as-yet
undiscovered -- which then becomes
the foundation of his argument.
Spelled out in words, it would read
like this:
“My position is that I know beyond all
possible doubt that which is
unknowable, based on a total lack of
evidence in support of my position.”
His opponent’s argument in summary
is this one:
“The age and existence of the Bible,
the historical failure to stamp it out,
together with the faith and inspiration
it has engendered, and the billions of
people that believe it -- all qualify as
hard evidences that can be examined,
debated and interpreted, but not
refuted, since all exist in the real
world and can be demonstrated.”
Every single debate between a
Christian and an atheist follows the
exact same pattern. The Christian
presents evidence, the atheist attacks
the Christian’s presentation. The
Christian always goes first because
without
the
Christian’s
prior
assertions, the atheist has NOTHING
to say.
Picture the debate as it would unfold
if the atheist goes first.
“There is no God because I can’t see
Him.”
That’s ALL he’s got. He can’t add
anything to that without reaching into
the believer’s evidence
something to attack.
bag
for
By itself, the atheist position is
identical to that offered by our pal
Jordan Froese:
“I am an idiot, because I subscribe to
the idea that humanity and all of its
works are essentially the sum of
water, carbon, and random electrical
impulses.
And since I have no evidence of my
own, the only evidence I am going to
offer in support of my position is that
your evidence doesn’t convince me.”
“See, I told you I was an idiot."
The defense rests.
Archives of past issues of The Omega
Letter Intelligence Digest plus many
other Omega Letter member features
can be found at:
www.omegaletter.com
THE MAGIC BANK
ACCOUNT
3. You may only spend it.
4. Each morning upon
awakening, the bank opens your
account with another $86,400 for
that day.
5. The bank can end the game
without warning; at any time it
can say, “Game Over!". It can
close the account and you will
not receive a new one.
What would you personally do?
You would buy anything and
everything you wanted right?
Not only for yourself, but for all
the people you love and care for.
Even for people you don't know,
because you couldn't possibly
spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every
penny, and use it all, because you
knew it would be replenished in
the morning, right?
Actually, this game is real ...
Shocked? YES! Each of us is
already a winner of this
“PRIZE”. We just can't seem to
see it.
The prize is “TIME”
The author is not known. It was
found in the billfold of coach
Paul Bear Bryant, Alabama, after
he died in 1982
Imagine that you had won the
following “PRIZE” in a contest:
Each morning your bank would
deposit $86,400 in your private
account for your use. However,
this prize has rules:
1. Everything that you didn't
spend during each day would be
taken away from you.
2. You may not simply transfer
money into some other account.
1. Each morning we awaken to
receive 86,400 seconds as a gift
of life.
2. And when we go to sleep at
night, any remaining time is not
credited to us.
3. What we haven't used up that
day is forever lost.
4. Yesterday is forever gone.
5. Each morning the account is
refilled, but the bank can dissolve
your account at any time without
warning...
SO, what will YOU do with your
86,400 seconds?
(con’t page 8)
6
Cartecay United Methodist Church
7629 Highway 52 East
Ellijay, Georgia 30536
Cartecay UMC has been meeting in this area since before 1834. The
original church was a half mile from the current site up Roy Road and
had burned to the ground; however the old church cemetery is still
there. A new church was built at the corner of Hwy 52 East and Roy
Road in October of 1859 and is on the National Registry of Historic
Places. The next structure was built in 1974. Current addition of the
Fellowship Hall began March of 2008 and was dedicated in 2010. The
church has served the community for over 175 years - slaves, Indians,
and pioneers alike. We welcome all who enter our doors, regardless of
your current affiliation or afflictions. Our prayer is that you will find God
in our midst and in turn that we become family. We celebrate an open
communion table the first Sunday of each month.
(con’t from pg 6)
Those seconds are worth so much more
than the same amount in dollars. Think
about it and remember to enjoy every
second of your life, because time races by
so much quicker than you think. So take
care of you, be happy, love deeply and
enjoy life!
Thank You for being part of us today.
Newsletter editor: Leslie Barker Thomas
Email: [email protected]
Email your submissions by the last Tuesday of each month,
unless otherwise specified in email updates.
We are the church –
Remember, you may be the only Bible someone ever reads.
8