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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Church shopping
BY MIKE RUFFIN
ruffinml@gmail.com
y Good Wife
and I moved to
Macon a few
weeks ago. At the time,
I was in the last month
of an interim pastorate
in Stockbridge. I finished
that assignment on the
last Sunday in June.
But Pastor Cyndi of the
Barnesville First United
Methodist Church ex
tended gracious pastoral
care to me by inviting
me to preach there on
the first Sunday in July,
thereby letting us post
pone for a little longer
a process 1 really don’t
look forward to: church
shopping.
(The process was
postponed for one more
week by a Friday after
noon root canal that left
my Good Wife still feeling
lousy on Sunday. Not
being a full-time pastor
and not having a preach
ing commitment that day,
1 chose to stay home to
support her - just like 1
was a normal husband.)
Here 1 am going to ad
mit one of my past pasto
ral peeves -1 never liked
it when people who were
engaged in their own pro
cess of church shopping
visited a church 1 served
as pastor. There were
several reasons for my
attitude.
First, 1 didn’t like the
idea of competing with
other churches. After all,
we’re all supposed to be
on the same team, aren’t
we? The second reason
1 didn’t like dealing with
church shoppers is relat
ed to the first
one: 1 didn’t
know how to
compete with
other church
es. What was
1 supposed
to do? Give
prospective
members a
sales pitch
on why
our church
was better
than other
churches (or
point them to our really
great website that was
designed to make the
same case)? Or maybe I
could tell them that this
was a good time to join
our church before our
special This Month Only
- The Tithe Is Only Seven
Percent! offer expired.
My third reason for
not wanting
to deal with
church shop
pers is also a
confession.
1 didn’t see
why 1 had to
compete with
other church
es when
- and surely
it should be
obvious to
anyone paying
any attention
- the church
1 pastored was the best
church in the area. 1
mean, it clearly had the
best pastor, so ... Any
way, I had a lot of grow
ing to do in that whole
“dying to self” thing that
the New Testament says
so much about.
But seriously, folks -1
want all of the pastors
and churches in Macon
that we might visit over
the next few weeks to
know that you don’t need
to try to convince us that
your church is better
than other churches or
make any kind of effort to
recruit us. As a matter of
fact, making such an ef
fort will probably get you
marked off our list.
Besides, the truth is
that we already know that
certain kinds of churches
will be a better fit for
us than other churches
will. We know this from
over four decades of
participating in church
things. First, we want to
be part of a church that
takes following Jesus
seriously. Second, we
prefer traditional worship
with a liturgical flavor.
Third, we appreciate
preaching, teaching, and
ministry that focus on
this world as well as the
next. Fourth, we resonate
with congregations that
are willing and able to
think and talk about chal
lenging questions. Fifth,
we value churches that
understand the difference
between prayerful patrio
tism and civil religion.
1 reckon the list of
churches that fit that
description won’t be a
long one.
But you know, in the
end we will ask the good
Lord to show us our
church home. And then
we will gladly embrace it.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives and works in Macon. His
new book, Praying with Matthew,
is available at helwys.com and at
Amazon.
LETTERS T<
THE EDITOR
American Camellia
Society is close
enough to enjoy
ON THE ANCIENT PATH
A holy and sacred covenant
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Beverly and David Brisendine on their wedding day on July
23,1966. This year they are celebrating their 55th wedding
anniversary.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Share interest
ing places to visit in our area with
our readers. Email suggestions for
day trips to news @ pikecounty
georgia.com.
A mong the many
things and
places to see
in our area, 1 would like
to make sure that your
readers are reminded
of or made aware of the
presence of the na
tional headquarters of
the American Camellia
Society headquarters. It
is located at the Massey
Lane Gardens on Geor
gia 49 southwest of Ft.
Valley, just 59 miles from
Zebulon.
There are several
acres of camellias of
many different sorts
as well as other mod
est, low-key attractions
The Pike County Jour
nal Reporter welcomes
letters to the editor.
For a letter to be
considered, include
the writer’s actual
name, address and
telephone number.
We publish name
only. Letters from
individual authors
will be published no
more often than every
other week.Limit let
ters to 250 words or
less. Shorter letters are
appreciated. All letters
there at the Gardens. We
enjoy going there from
time to time, and as
most of you know, win
ter and spring are the
times when most of the
bushes are in bloom.
Membership in the
ACS is inexpensive and
entitles one to free or
reduced entry at many
gardens all over the
country.
1 don’t remember
exactly how it came
about, but my wife and 1
became members of the
ACS some years ago and
enjoy going to Massey
Lane from time to time.
Ruth is the flower-and-
landscape artist in our
family, but 1 love going,
too. Maybe your readers
will also enjoy it and will
look it up online.
WALKER CHANDLER
are subject to editing.
Personal attacks on
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litical endorsements or
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Drop letters by the
office on the court
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Zebulon, 30295, fax
them to 770.567.8814 or
email them to news@
pikecountygeorgia.com.
For more, call
770.567.3446.
BY BEVERLY BRISENDINE
beverly.brisendine@gmail.com
David
and 1 met
in fourth
grade at
Third Ward
Elementary
School in
Griffin. It
wasn’t love
at first sight! Although 1
lived in Pike County I was
able to attend school in
Spalding County be
cause my mother taught
school there. In junior
and senior high school,
we were together early
each and every morn
ing. You see, we were
in homeroom together
because both of our last
names began with a B as
1 was a Brown. 1 remem
ber one particular day
in February, 1961, our
senior year, 1 had a date
with David but had to
cancel it. That particu
lar afternoon we had a
severe thunderstorm and
lightning came in on the
phone line and started
a fire under the house.
This house was built in
the 1800s and my father,
the baby in his family,
was born there in 1903.
It was like setting fire
to a matchbox. It was
consumed in probably 20
minutes along with the
original antiques and a
baby grand piano. Noth
ing was saved. Pretty
traumatic! My dad and
mom built a brick house
back on the same site
on Williamson-Zebulon
Road.
David and 1 graduated
from Griffin High School
together but parted ways
when we went to college.
David left for West Geor
gia College in Carrollton
and 1 went to UGA in Ath
ens. Phone calls were for
emergencies so we wrote
letters. 1 still have them
in a shoebox. Simpler
times! David transferred
to UGA his junior year
to enter the School of
Pharmacy which would
take an additional year
to complete and we both
graduated June 1966 as 1
went on an extra year to
get my master’s degree
in education.
We had a July wedding
planned so we had much
to accomplish in a short
time. The wedding recep
tion was easy back then
as the one wedding cake,
nuts, mints and punch
were all that was neces
sary! Simpler times! Ev
erything fell into place.
Finally it was July 23
and David and 1 were
both as nervous as could
be. It was an evening
wedding at Williamson
Methodist Church which
was not air-conditioned
at that time. The win
dows were all open with
greenery and one candle
on each windowsill. Fly
ing insects were being
drawn to the candles and
were venturing on into
the sanctuary heading
for the candelabras.
The church was full of
smiling people who were
fanning themselves and
shooing any flying crea
tures who might come
close by. These precious
people were accustomed
to these conditions and
there were no com
plaints. Simpler times!
My father walked me
down the aisle and David
and 1 stood looking at
each other having no
concept of the world
which was lying ahead.
It was a sacred mo
ment in time when we
made many holy vows
to each other. Heaven
took notice. The minister
pronounced us man and
wife. So we began our
journey.
Our first residence
was in an apartment in
Sandy Springs but we
were overjoyed when
we could in 1973 finally
build our home back on
the family farm in our
beloved Pike County.
Our boys, Tripp and
Jason, were 4 and 2 at
that time and we just
knew we were in heaven
being back on the land.
My father, who had no
sons, was delighted to
have David at his side
in his cattle operations.
David had lost his dad
to a heart attack after
graduating from high
school. There was such
mutual love and respect
between my father and
husband. Simpler times!
Our sons grew up
and got married, beauti
ful grandchildren came
forth, and the years have
rolled on and on and on
without us being able to
stop a one of them. Now
here we are anticipating
celebrating 55 years of
marriage this July 23.
1 look back at that hot
evening in July when
David and 1 entered
into a sacred and holy
covenant together before
God. We have kept that
covenant through hard
and very difficult times
only because there is
One who sees and knows
all and will come to
strengthen and guide
those who desire to walk
in His ways and in His
will.
Letter printing guidelines
Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
July 22, 1921: J.R. Chapman opened a market
in a corner store on the square where D.S. Barrett
formerly did business. Chapman would keep a
stock of fresh meats, have sale days for fish and
oysters and handle a select stock of groceries.
75 YEARS AGO
July 25, 1946: Tuesday night, July 23, burglars
broke into the Connell store, Vaughn Company,
post office and blacksmith shop in Williamson,
taking cash at each location. The culprits first hit
the blacksmith shop and took tools they used to
break into other businesses.
50 YEARS AGO
July 22, 1971: The Pike school system received
$4,940 from the Georgia Department of Education,
a portion of $3.2 million in state funds distributed
to 162 school systems. The money was earmarked
to bolster the schools’ reading program.
25 YEARS AGO
July 24, 1996: Patricia Wells of Molena and
George Norris of Zebulon were chosen from a
submitted list of volunteers for the Centennial
Olympics in Atlanta. They escorted athletes and
their families to and from the track and field venue
and did security checks at gated entrances.