jenkinscountytimes.com
The Jenkins County Times
Wednesday, July 19, 2023 - Page 3
A WORD TO
THE WISE
Reverend Walter H.Hall
Grace Community Church
Perkins, GA
"Honesty Is The
Best Policy"
“Recompense to no man
evil for evil. Provide
things honest in the sight of
all men.” (Romans 12:17).
Someone once read on
a politician’s headstone:
“Here lieth an honest
politician.” They later said
that this was an oxymoron
to have the words honest
and politician together in
the same sentence.” This is
a grave commentary by our
society on the politicians
of today, but it, also, shows
the desires of people to
be treated honestly and
find honesty as a virtue in
people.
The theologian sees
Paul’s expression in
Romans 12:17 as a
reflection of Proverbs
3:3-4. The wise man in
Proverbs exhorts people to
carry with them love and
faithfulness so that they can
win the favor with man and
be described as an honest
person before God and man.
Two great characteristics
of an honest person are
love and faithfulness.
Our interrelationships
with mankind should be
motivated by love, and we
should be faithful to carry
out our word so we can
be deemed honest in their
sight.
What is honesty or the
state of being honest? A
person who is honest is
free from fraud or trickery.
They are truthful in their
business practices and
relationship with others.
It is the act of being just,
or genuine, real. It is the
uprightness of character or
action. Honesty implies
a refusal to lie, steal, or
deceive in any way. It is the
act of treating people fairly.
Honest yet compassionate
communication promotes
openness and tmst
and is fundamental for
functioning socially
and having intimate
relationships.
Paul exhorts the Roman
Christians to honest living.
He tells them not to return
evil for evil. Remember
love conquers all things.
Conquer evil by doing
good. Treat people in the
same honest manner that
you want to be treated.
Honest men and women do
not ghost or avoid people.
They meet life head on in
a frank and truthful manner.
Coming up as a boy, it
was always good to hear
people describe my father
as “honest Wade Hall”.
This meant that my father
had fulfilled his teaching to
me that a man’s word is his
bond. If he said something
to somebody concerning
business, work or social
plans, it meant he would
fulfill his word even if in
some cases, he suffered a
loss. A good name is better
to have than silver or gold.
Let us accept the challenge
to practice honesty with all
men.
Bethel Millen AMEC
217 Wnut Street
Millen, Georgia 30442
FAMILY & FRIENDS DAY
Guest Preacher:
Reverend Andre (AJ) Jones
Wens Chapel AMEC
Wens, Georgia
Host Pastor: Reverend Jerlyn Smith-Hudson
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surrounding area churches listed in
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Email announcements to
thej enkinscountytimes@gmail.com
or drop them otf at our office Tuesday,
Thursday or Friday at 425 Hwy 25 S.,
Millen, GA.
Our deadline is noon on Fridays for the
following week.
East Burke Baptist Church
Sunday Services 11 a.m.
Pastor: Jordan Clayton
Hwy 24 Sardis, GA
Please call 706-526-1733 for
more information.
Millen Baptist Church
Come join us!!
Morning Worship
8:30AM & 11AM
Sunday School 10 a.m.
219 N. Gray St, Millen, GA
478-982-5411
Pastor Brad Asbury
pastorbradasbury@gmail. com
Millen Methodist Church
Morning Worship 11AM
Sunday School 10 a.m.
413 N. Gray St, Millen, GA
478-982-2664
Pastor John Drake
For questions about our services, please
email us @ millenmethodistchurch@gmail.com
Oak Hill Baptist Church
Sunday School: 9 a.m.
Sunday Morning: 10 a.m.
Wednesday: 7 p.m.
Choir practice - Bible Study
Youth Group - Kids Mission Group
3233 Oak Hill Church Rd„ Millen, GA
Pastor: Joshua Johnson
478-982-1616
www.oakhillmillen.com
Scarboro Baptist Church
4204 Scarboro Church Loop
Millen, GA 30442
706-466-4494
Pastor: Perry Hearn
Sunday School: 10:00 a.m.
Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m. & 6 p.m.
Wednesday Evening Service: 6:00 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Church
4401 Country Club Rd, Statesboro, GA
Sunday Eucharist
8:15 a.m. and 10:30a.m.
Father Charles Todd, Rector
Jonathan Murphy, Music Director. 912-489-4208
www.facebook.com/TrinityEpiscopalStatesboro
Help visitors find you! List your
church in the directory for
six months $60 or one year $120
Call: (912) 451-NEWS or
478-401-5007 T-Th-F
Words of
Encouragement
By Joshua Johnson,
Special Contributor
for
The Times
Pastor Oak Hill
Baptist Church, Millen
64 Praying
Through”
How do you pray when
you don’t feel like praying?
Sometimes our feelings
get between God and us.
We are human, and that
means we have feelings,
we experience emotions.
Our feelings are generally
a good thing - they are
evidence that we are alive,
experiencing life, and have
healthy emotions. We have
feelings about ourselves,
about the world around
us, and about God - from
internal and external
sources, creating positive
and negative feedback in
our minds and hearts.
Sometimes though we
let our feelings infomi
our faith - our feelings
convince us that God is a
certain way, and negative
feelings can convince us
that God is not good and
not good to us. It should
be the opposite in our lives
though, our faith should
inform our feelings - our
faith should say “I know
this about God, even if my
feelings and emotions try to
convince me of something
else.” When our feelings
get in the way of our faith,
clouding our view of God,
and informing us that He
is different than who He
says He is, we have to pray
through.
In golf, if you are holding
up the golfer or a group of
golfers behind you, the
proper etiquette is to invite
them to play through.
You will pause and step
aside and allow them to
continue moving forward
because you would be an
impediment to their pace
of play. When praying, we
must pray through feelings
continuing to move
forward and through the
feelings that would impede
us in prayer. Here are three
ways to remember that
you need to pray through
feelings:
#1 - “Just Do ir - Nike
coined this famous phrase
to champion exercise, and
to make money selling us
their exercise apparel! If
you ever wait until you
feel like it to work out, you
never will - so just do it!
Working out is not about
feelings, as much as it is
about taking action. When
our feelings toward God
are negative, we will not
feel like praying - just do
it anyway. The disciples
asked Jesus to teach them
to pray. This tells me that
we can team to pray, we
need to practice praying by
doing it, and we can grow
in prayer over time. Over
time, negative feelings will
go away, but habits formed
stick.
#2 “Stand on the
Promises” - There is an
old hymn titled “Standing
on the Promises of
God”. When we pray, we
pray standing on God’s
promises. Prayer is all
about believing God and
drawing near to Him. I can
believe God’s promises
even when I have ugly
feelings toward Him
because His promises are
not changed in the least
by my feelings. The Bible
is full of promises for
us to stand on and take
hold of, as we pray. Read
the Psalms and let them
minister to your heart.
Pray through them as
practice for standing on
the promises of God in
prayer. The Psalms are a
good primer for praying
scripture, and you can
go on to pray through
any passage of scripture.
The practice of praying
scripture has immensely
helped my growth in
prayer. Remember this
promise about prayer in
Hebrews 4:16 - “Let us
then with confidence draw
near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help in
time of need.”
#3 - “Take the Leap” -
My favorite scene from the
entire Indiana Jones saga
is in Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade. Indy must
take a leap of faith over a
bottomless chasm to find
the Holy Grail and save his
mortally wounded father.
While Indy hesitates to
take the step out where
there is no bridge, his father
says “You must believe
boy! You must believe!”
Believe is the verb of
faith - believing is acting
because of faith. At that
moment, Indy steps out in
faith, to find that there was
a bridge there that he could
not see. Hebrews 11:1 says,
‘Now faith is the assurance
of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not
seen.” When we don’t
feel like praying but we
pray, we are saying, “God
I believe in you in spite
of my feelings, in spite of
my present circumstances,
that try to convince me of
the exact opposite of what
you’ve promised.” Praying
when we don’t feel like
praying is exercising faith
in God. And when we
pray, we see the bridge that
wasn’t there before.
I think there is an
element of praying
through feelings when
Paul says, “Pray without
ceasing”. Our feelings
can sometimes cause us to
cease from praying. If you
have ceased praying, start
praying ceaselessly again.
If you pray without ceasing,
you will learn to linger. In
Exodus 33:10-11 Moses
goes to the tent of meeting
to meet with the Lord, and
he spoke with God face to
face, like a friend. Moses
then left the tent and went
out to minister to the
people of Israel, but verse
II gives us a footnote -
Joshua stayed in the tent of
meeting. Joshua lingered
before the Lord.
Prayer ushers us into the
presence of God, and there
is nothing in this world like
being in the presence of
God. If you pray, you will
experience God’s presence,
and you will learn to linger.
Just do it. Stand on God’s
promises. Take the leap
of faith and find that God
is there. Pray through and
learn to linger.
' EXCITING WORSHIP"
Oak Hill Baptist Church
3233 Oak Hill Church Rd,
Millen, GA 30442
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Oak Hill
C h u rch
APP
Today!
^ Joshua Johnson,
Senior Pastor
