About The Monroe County reporter. (Forsyth, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2008)
February 27, 2008 § Reporta: PAGE 11A Pastor’s column Christ UMC is back on TV Things are not always as they seem Pastors are often asked “what do you do all week?” There are those who think that all we do is to preach three times a week and the rest of the time we take off and laze around. If you are one of those, all you need to do is to try to prepare three ser mons each week. That alone is task enough, but add to it the other things that a pastor is called upon to do, and you will understand what he does all week. It is very rare that a pastor of a small church ever gets to complete a vacation. During the time he does try to get away somebody connected to the church will have a serious opera tion, have an emergency situation, or maybe even die. The pastor is then located and told of the situ ation. Most pastors I know will immediately cancel the rest of his vacation time and return to be there for those who may need him. It is just a part of the job. I cannot tell you how many vacations I have returned from uncompleted. In another town where I was pastoring I had gone on vacation. I was however, able to complete this one, JAMES KENNEDY but upon my return I had no sooner gotten in the door of my house when a call came to me that some one’s relative had gone into the hos pital. Immediately lay ing down all other things, I ran to the hospital, walked down the corridor to this person’s room. Nobody was in the room except the lady, who someone had told me was there. I did not know her, except that she was the mother of a member of the church I was pastoring. She was lying there with the covers up to her neck, she appeared to be sleep ing. Wanting her to know that I came by to see her, I quietly spoke her name. She did not respond, which often happens when some one is in the hospital. But still wanting her to know I came by, I pressed the issue, and then I gently nudged the bed to awaken her, still no response. I looked for evidence that she was still breathing, it appeared she was, so I got a little closer and called her name again. Still no response. I looked as close as I could for evidence of life. I finally surmised that she had gone on to her reward. I walked out of the room and ran into a nurse and stated to her that I thought the lady in the room was gone. She just matter of factly said to me, “oh she has been dead for 30 minutes, the family is around the corner in the waiting room.” Feeling embarrassed and glad that no one saw me talking to this lady and trying to get her to respond, I went around and tried my best to minister to the family. By all visual indications, this lady was alive. And that leads me to my thought for this article. Things are not always as they seem. In the book of Revelation, chapters two and three Jesus has instructed the writer to write to the churches of that day. To the church at Sadis He states, you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. To the church at Laodiceans, He states that they think because of their riches and abilities that they are in fine shape, however, he finds them to be wretched, and miser able, and poor, and blind, and naked, and worthy to be spewed out of his mouth. And worse, they did not even recognize it. In other words things were not as they seemed! At least to them. My purpose is not to bring condemnation on those that have necessary needs met and more. I believe the Word states that God desires to give us the Kingdom. But we also need to recognize that if our trust is in anything more than Him, then things are not as they seem. We need Him and His love and grace for us to get to where He designed us to be: with Him in glory when the time comes. If we have not given our hearts over to Him and repented of our sins then when our time comes to stand before Him, we may not hear “enter in thou good and faithful servant.” And things will not be as they seemed. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end is destruction. By repenting of our sins and making Him Lord of our lives then at the time of judgment, “all will be as it seems.” James Kennedy is the pastor of First Assembly of God on Juliette Road. The weekly pastor’s column is sponsored by the Monroe County Ministerial Association. Christ United Methodist Church of Forsyth is back on Forsyth cable channel 50. Unfortunately there is no set schedule for air times but it will run multiple times throughout the week so stay tuned. CUMC has many new programs/study groups available and would love for you to join us for any that might appeal to you. For more information, call Simone at 478-994- 1232 or visit the web site at www.christumcforsyth.org. CUMC recently added a college/young adult Sunday school program which is studying the Rob Bell book, “Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith.” S&Se 'fdol/eeticoi \ w@ mm somm m§ mm u® « ■ mmi OPEN: THURS. FRI. SAT - 1IAM-6PM 100 Bennett Street • Forsyth, GA (Between Farmers Furniture & Karen’s Fitness) c/Iee/itm SPREADING THE NEWS: His Garden ministry members the Rev. Janice Slaughter, Minister Patricia Edge, Bobbie Jester and Shirley Smith. His Garden Ministries celebrates two years His Garden Ministries is celebrating two years as an outreach ministry that was formed to meet the spiritu al needs of the residents and staff. The ladies have been going to Hilltop nurs ing facility ministering to the residents and to the staff every Thursday from 10-11 a.m. They minister through fellowship, songs and spreading the word. Pastor Adolph Parsons of St. James Baptist Church spoke inspiring words (God is good to all, Psalm 145:9) to the residents, staff, visitors, guests and friends who came to cele brate their second birth- Church Calendar March 15 Kynette UMC hosts prayer breakfast Kynette United Metho dist Church will hold a prayer breakfast Saturday, March 15 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Monroe County Clubhouse. Plates are $6 per person. The guest speaker will be the Rev. Eddie Collier from the Towaliga Countyline Baptist Church. Please email church news by Friday at 5 p.m. to gina- herring@bellsouth.net. day at Hilltop Health care recently. Also present were Bessie Mays and Brother James Slaughter who min istered through songs. The residents and staff enjoyed the fellowship. ATWATER ‘Putting God first’ St. James celebrates women’s day St. James Baptist Church will cele brate its 59th Women’s Day at 11 a.m. March 9. The theme for this year is “Putting God first.” The guest speaker will be Minister Lesia Atwater. Minister Lesia Atwater is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Haygood and the wife of Rev. Tony Atwater. She has three sons, Jareem, Nick and T.J. Her family are members of St. Timothy Baptist Church in Yatesville, where Reverend Bryon L. Broussard is the pastor. With God's help, she has accomplished a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education. She is employed at the Monroe County Board of Education as a resource coordinator for the pre-kindergarten program at T.G. Scott Elementary. After running away from the call of God’s voice and trying to fill the void in her heart by working for him, she surrendered her will to Him and accepted the call to preach the word with boldness in order to gain souls for the kingdom. A licensed minister who loves the Lord, her belief is "With God all things are possible and apart from Him, we can do nothing." 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Phenols have been shown to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) oxidized in the body, reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. Most of the research has been performed in animals; however, research in humans is underway. The optimal amount of cranberry needed to reduce the risk of heart disease in humans has not been determined. The Reporter has been inundated with pour ballots in the Best ol monroe County contest. Our uote counters are working ouertime to determine the winners. There are no exit polls. No early projections. So stay tuned for actual results. med
