About The Georgia post. (Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2013)
The Tale of Two Trees On the third day of cre ation God placed two trees in the Garden of Eden: the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The former was a fountain of youth—those who ate thereof would live forever. The other tree produced fruit that was forbidden by God. The Lord warned Adam and Eve “not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if you do, you will certainly die.” As the story goes, a crafty serpent came along and beguiled Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. The ser pent said: “You will surely not die; for God knows that when you eat from the tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” You know the rest of the story. Eve succumbed to the temptation and ate the for bidden fruit. She then offered some to her husband, who also ate the forbidden fruit. Suddenly Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened. Realizing their nakedness, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for their bodies. God responded to their dis obedience by levying curses on them. He told Eve, “I will make your pains in childbear ing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.” To Adam, God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life... By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will re turn.” So Adam and Eve, once placed in a virtual paradise where they would live forever, were now relegated to mortal beings who would die at the end of their earthly sojourn. God then addressed another issue. He knew that if Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life, they would live forever in their fallen, sinful state. Consequently, He banished them from the Garden of Eden and placed an angel with a flaming sword at its entrance to block access to the Tree of Life. Romans states that the death penalty devolved to all mor tal men, because Adam’s de scendants inherited his sinful nature: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, be cause all sinned.” So God devised a plan of rescue. He turned to another tree—the cross upon which Christ was crucified. On that tree, Christ became the “curse of God” for us, so that we might become the “righteousness of God” through Him. In summation, God cre ated man for immortality. But, Whatever Happened to Those Lazy Days of Summer According to my calcula tions, summer is half over. I am not quite sure how this came about but the calendar has never lied to me before. It has confused me and taunted me but it has never lied to me. Looking at my calendar I can see no lazy days of sum mer noted anywhere in the foreseeable future. I am not sure if this is an oversight on my part and that I should have at least penciled in one lazy day of summer or if those lazy days of summer are a thing of the past. I sure hope it is not the latter. I can hardly imagine a world without any lazy days of summer. It just would not be summer in my opinion. This probably is the price people pay for getting old. When I was young most of my summer was filled with lazy days where I practiced the fine art of doing nothing. Oh how I yearn for the return of those good old days of yesteryear. Someone once told me, ’’Sonny, don’t ever grow old.” At the time, I did not know what he meant. I as sumed he was referring to his loss of hair or arthritis in his joints or forgetting things. I thought that was what it meant to grow old. He meant nothing of the sort. Now that I am old, I under stand exactly what he was warning. There is no doubt in my mind; he was bemoan ing the fact that his lazy days were gone. Perhaps, he was envious of the fact that at the time I had loads and loads of lazy days on my hands. I did not know just how rich I was. Now I do, but it is too late. Where have all those lazy days gone? I was whining about this to the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage hoping to get some empathy at least. Instead of sympathizing with me, all she did was look at me and say in that tone of voice that I know so well, ’’You just want an excuse to do nothing.” To which I replied most sharply, ”1 don’t need an ex cuse to do nothing, all I need is an opportunity. ” Thinking about what I said I discovered there was more wisdom in that one sentence than anything else I have ever said. I had to sit in the comer for a few moments recovering from the shock of saying something with Out to Pastor Rev. James L. Snyder jamessnyder2@att.net or whatafellowship.com wisdom in it. I probably say many things with wisdom in it without even thinking. In fact, I am good at saying many things without think ing. Although I may not be good at a wide variety of things, I have mastered the art of doing nothing. I can do nothing better than I can do anything. Of course, I do not have too many opportunities to do anything; I have more opportunities to do nothing. If I had my choice, I would rather do nothing than any thing. My philosophy is simply this, why be good at nothing and not put it to good use? I have invested a lot of time and energy into doing LAZY CONTINUED , Page 8 Obituary} Charles Oscar Wilder Graveside services for Charles Oscar Wilder, 85, of Fort Valley were held on Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Roberta City Cemetery. Mr. Wilder passed away on Thursday, July 25, 2013 at Medical Center of Central GA. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Fort Valley, the Veteran Foreign Wars, American Legion. He was an avid hunter and fish erman. He loved to cook for his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Wilson and Clyde Wilder and daughter, Lisa Posey. Survivors include his wife, Mary Frances “Fran” Wilder of Fort Valley; two daughters, Nancy Wilder Hutto (Chuck) of Fort Val ley and Marcia Hitt of Cum- ming, GA; one brother, Au brey Wilder (Helen) of Fort Valley; two sisters, Reba Harrison (Holmes) of Bra- selton, GA and Betty Jackson of Byron; five grandchildren, Charles H. Hutto Jr. (Tracy) of San Diego, CA, Charles Matthew Oliver (Ivy) of Ideal, Shannon Hutto Bai ley (Jeffrey) of Byron, Caleb Posey of Fort Valley, Shane Patrick Hitt of Cumming, GA; six great grandchildren; numerous loving nieces and nephews; best friend and produce partner Rowe Fred erick of Cropwell, AL; and dedicated caregiver Gabby Campbell of Warner Robins. Visitation was held on Fri day, July 26, 2012. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to; First Baptist Church of Fort Valley, 209 S Miller Street, Ft. Valley, GA 31030. McLeighton Funeral Ser vice of Roberta was in charge of arrangements. McLeighton Funeral Service viewobituarksatWww.mcleightonfuneralservice.com 375 S. Dugger Avenue Roberta, Georgia 478-836-3336 David & Donna McLeighton - owners ’Our Family Serving Your Family’ PAGE 5-THURSDAY, AUGUST 1,2013 Billy Powell Columnist www.billypowellbooks.com Adam and Eve sinned. They broke a direct commandment of God not to eat of the for bidden fruit. The penalty for their sin was death. The death penalty was passed down to the entire human race, because “all men (bom with Adam’s nature) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Good News is “just as sin reigned in death (through Adam), so also (God’s) grace will reign through righteous ness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In the Face of Adversity Adversity is a word that we never like to hear. It means trouble is on the way. Just as the hurricanes, tor nadoes, economy, murders, etc. These are adversity, no one is exempt. Just as the wind blows, sometimes the winds of adversities are even stronger. It blows in every direction; sometimes it’s your family, your job, sickness, divorce or financ es. It does not discriminate between rich or poor, weak or strong. Adversity can cause a multitude of problems if we’re not rooted and grounded in Christ. It can cause fear, anxiety, and anger resulting in differ ent illnesses if not handled properly. And if a person lives long enough he or she will face some type of adversity. But no matter how dark or stormy life becomes, God is never out of control. He allows ad versity to touch our lives so that we will turn to Him and to make us aware of His love. Sudden disappointments can cause you to doubt the goodness of God. We must maintain a strong relationship with Him and with other believers who know how to encourage and motivate us to keep going. Everyone needs this. So whatever you’re facing today, you can be sure that God will use it some way to bring glory to himself and to bless you. Be Blessed! — them. Go ye into all the toorleg j be Unt ° „ c nel to every creature. A ««<■<* ,ht s — «» r Arv<* v ^ TVorship Opportunities Prayer Line, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Christ Abundant Life Ministries, S. Dugger Ave., Roberta. Call 478- 836-3912. Word of God Tabernacle invites you to join them for the following weekly services: Sunday Prayer at 9:00 a.m., Sunday School at 10:00 a.m., Sunday Service at 11:00 a.m.; Monday Prayer at 9:00 a.m.; Wednesday Prayer at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.; Friday Prayer at 9:00 a.m. Everyone is invited. Pastor Frank Martin, Sr. Lizella Baptist Church Special Needs Ministry will have a monthly event the 2 nd Friday of every month, 7-9 p.m. They also have a Parent/ Family/Caregiver Support Group for those who love someone with special needs. It is always the 1 st Tuesday of the month, 6-8 p.m. They have guest speakers and then a time of sharing. Lighthouse Community Church Homecoming and Revival - Location 4301 Jordan Rd., Byron, Ga. Sunday August 4th- Flomecoming 10:30 A.M. - Rev Joe Butterworth preaching with special singing by One Voice Sunday Evening August 4th- 7:00 P.M. Rev Rodney Flortman preaching with special singing by Francis Wilder; Monday August 5th- Rev Gary Berrier preaching with special singing by Zach Ware; Tuesday August 6th-Rev Monty February preaching with special singing by Becky Hattaway and the Pine Ridge Boys; Wednesday August 7th- Rev Myron Parkerson preaching with special singing by Becky Hattaway and the Pine Ridge Boys The Zion Hill Baptist Church invites everyone to their regular services on 2nd Sundays at 11 a.m., 4th Sundays at 10 a.m. and 5th Sundays at 8 a.m. They have Bible Study every Wednesday at 7 p.m. St. James Baptist Church will hold Homecoming the second Sunday in August, August 11th beginning at 11:30 a.m. Revival will be held Monday through Thursday, August 12- 15 at 7:30 p.m. Guest speaker will be Rev. Dickey of Greater Jordan Temple AME of Sparta, Georgia. Community Prayer Group forming. Will meet Wednesdays at 9:15 a.m., at 58 S. Dugger Ave., Georgia Post office to pray for needs in the community. If interested in joining or for more information call 478-836-3195. Mt. Zion C.M.E. Church will be celebrating our annual homecoming on Sunday, August 4th at 11 a.m. Our revival begins Wednesday, August 7th thru Friday, August 9th at 7:30 p.m. nightly. The guest ministers will be: Wednesday - Rev. Samuel Chester, Pastorof Cerease Independent Church, Thursday - Rev. Charles French, Pastor of St. James Baptist Church, Friday - Rev. Benjamin Tolbert, Pastor of Little Roger C.M.E. Church. Everyone is invited to attend. The Cerese Independent Church will be having their annual revival August 19- 22 (Monday - Thursday) at 7:30 p.m. nightly. Rev. Dexter Jordan from the Stone Creek Baptist Church will be the guest speaker for the week. Lighthouse Prayer Ministry Worldwide Evangelist, Buddy Williams of Thomaston, Georgia will be the guest speaker on Tuesday, August 6, beginning at 10:00 a.m., for the Word Aflame Prayer Ministry of The Lighthouse Church, located at 1556 Peach Parkway (Hwy 49), in Fort Valley. Evangelist Williams has served worldwide as a missionary to Russia, Trinidad, Haiti, India, Peru, Africa and many other regions. He currently ministers at the Sylvia Hill Pentecostal Church in Thomaston. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy a great time of fellowship. Lunch will be provided after the service The Zion Hill Baptist Church will have its annual homecoming and revival services on Sunday, August 11,2013,11:00 a.m. along with their regular morning services. Minister Colby McKenzie will bring the message. Revival services will begin Monday, August 12 thru Wednesday, August 14 at 7 p.m. nightly. The Rev. B.R. Fultoin of the Damascus Baptist Church will be the revivalist. Everyone is invited to come out and shar in this joyous celebration. Pastor Jeff Abner. Deadline for Church Happenings: Friday 5 p.m. Granite • Marble • Bronze • Coping • Monument Cleaning • Sandblasting 33 Serving all Middle Georgia cemeteries 33 Kade E. Rooks P. O. Box 1711, Fort Valley, GA 31030 *478-825-2424 or 478-951-1571 *Fax: 478-825-3794
