Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 10A
Reporter
October 12, 2011
Pastor’s Column
Orthodox Church to host Bible, BBQ day
C hrist is the begin
ning, the center
andthe
end of
the
Christian faith.
With this in mind,
one of the surest
ways for a Christian
to grow closer to this
center, to Christ, is
reading and medi
tating on Holy
Scripture. The im
portance or read
ing the Bible can
not be understat
ed if one’s goal is to unite one
self to Christ.
The Bible is inex
haustible in its ability to
teach us the profound
depths of the Christian
faith. A priest-monk
named Justin Popovic
from the Serbian Orthodox
Church once stated, “All
that is necessary for this
world and the people in it
the Lord has stated in the
Bible... There is no ques
tion which can torment the
human soul, and not find
its answer, either directly
or indirectly in the
Bible...By reading the
Bible you are adding yeast
Fr. Theophan Buck
to the dough of your soul
and body, which gradually
expands and
fills the soul
until it has
thoroughly per
meated it and
makes it rise
with the truth
and righteous
ness of the
Gospel... Every
Word of Christ
is full of God.
Thus, when it
enters a man’s
soul it cleanses
it from every defilement.”
The Apostle Paul writes
to Timothy from
prison“...from childhood
you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able
to make you wise for sal
vation through faith which
is in Christ Jesus. All
Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteous
ness, that the man of God
may be complete, thor
oughly equipped for every
good work” (2 Tim 315-17
NKJV).
This short passage from
2 Timothy should be very
familiar to those of us who
were born and raised in
the “Bible Belt”. With all
of the significance and
importance of reading the
Bible it is always surpris
ing to see how few people
actually read it regularly.
Aside from not reading the
Bible, it is just as surpris
ing how few people know
the origins of the
Scriptures, especially the
New Testament.
The origin of the New
Testament has become the
subject of much controver
sy in recent times.
Numerous documentaries
have aired, usually dis
missing the traditional
views of authorship and
inspiration. Of course,
these documentaries are
usually released around
the Christian holidays for
maximum effect.
We have to ask our
selves, what is the true
story of the New
Testament? In the average
study Bible, you can get
the general information
about the dates and
authors of the New
Testament, but what is
often missing is any infor
mation on how we got the
New Testament the way
we know it today. Who
made the decisions about
what books to include or
exclude from our sacred
New Testament and why?
Why were the so-called
Gnostic Gospels left out?
These questions are
important to answer since
in our modern times one of
the main attacks on
Christianity is squarely
aimed at the New
Testament. Cynics and
skeptics have also come up
with their own ideas of the
formation of the New
Testament. The answers
they give: power, corrup
tion and church politics.
Examples would include
books and movies like
“The Da Vinci Code”, the
Gospel of Judas and all
the various conspiratorial
writings which seek to
convince you that the
Early Church was really
trying to repress the real
truth about Jesus.
On Saturday, Oct. 22, St.
Innocent Orthodox Church
will be hosting an after
noon talk which will cover
this very topic. Our guest
speaker, who will start his
talk at 3:30 p.m., is Bishop
Mark Maymon, former
Adjunct Professor of Old
Testament at Oral Roberts
University and current
Bishop of Baltimore for the
Orthodox Church in
America. Along with his
talk on the “History and
Formation of the New
Testament Canon” our
church community will be
offering free open-air bar-
beque and educational
church tours from 12 noon
through 5 p.m. At 5 p.m.
we will have Vespers, our
evening worship service.
All are welcome. Please
consider joining us for this
wonderful opportunity to
arm yourself with the his
tory and knowledge of the
precious Word of God.
Father Theophan Buck is
the pastor of St. Innocent
Orthodox Church in
Bolingbroke. This column
is sponsored each week by
the Monroe County
Ministerial Association.
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Hotels
continued from the front
From January 2011 to
June 2011, the county has
received just over $136,000
in hotel/motel tax revenue.
Karen Manus-Pennings,
Forsyth-Monroe County
tourism director, said
hotel/motel revenue is
down slightly statewide in
2011, but up slightly
nationally.
There is a five-percent
occupancy tax on local
hotel/motel stays within
the City of Forsyth. Of the
five percent, the City of
Forsyth receives 60 per
cent of the tax money
earned, while the Forsyth-
Monroe County CVB gets
the other 40 percent of the
tax revenue.
City clerk Janice Hall
said the City of Forsyth's
revenue earnings are put
into the city's general
fund. However, much of
that is used to fund the
city's Better Hometown
Department, Hall said.
Based on the figures pro
vided by the CVB, the City
of Forsyth would have
earned just under $82,000
thus far in 2011. The CVB
has taken in the other
$54,000. Chamber of
Commerce president
Tiffany Andrews said the
Convention and Visitor's
Bureau's percentage of the
money must be used exclu
sively for product develop
ment, marketing and
staffing. Manus-Pennings'
salary, which was $40,000
in 2010, is one of the
usages of the Chamber's
portion of the funds.
During the 2010 year,
Forsyth-Monroe County
collected over $278,000 in
hotel/motel revenue. Over
$111,000 of that money
was paid to the CVB,
which used it to aid its
2011 budget of $122,000.
According to a 2011
tourism budget prepared
by the Forsyth-Monroe
County Chamber of
Commerce, the CVB
planned to spend just over
$25,000 on advertising and
promotion in 2011. These
items include: an official
Monroe County visitors'
guide entitled "Targets,
Trails and Fried Green
Tomatoes," as well as
advertising in various
hotel/motel guides and
magazines, such as KOA
Southeast Publishing and
AAA Georgia Going Places.
Also, nearly $5,000 was
spent to lease a billboard
on 1-75 at mile marker
183.
About $14,000 also went
toward advertising and
promotion of annual com
munity events, such as the
Forsythia Festival, the
Hometown Holiday
Parade, the Public Safety
Games and the Green
Tomato Festival, which
will be held Oct. 22-23 in
Juliette.
Another $6,700 was allo
cated for meetings and
conferences while about
$53,000 was used for
tourism staffing.
Finally, nearly $20,000 of
the 2011 budget was used
for such office expenses as
rent, utilities, telephone
service, janitorial services
and internet service.
Manus-Pennings said
tourism is a catch-22 situ
ation right now because
the less that people travel,
the less revenue it brings
in for tourism promotion
in Monroe County. Despite
this, Manus-Pennings said
she is doing the most she
can in 2011. For example,
the CVB recently debuted
a new local map with
addresses on the back for
city restaurants, schools,
government offices and
hotels among other things.
The CVB also has a new
logo designed by local
artist Linda Sosebee, as
well as an impressive new
website, www.themiddle-
ofeverywhere.com.
Earlier this year, Manus-
Pennings gave away over
3,000 pieces of information
about the county at a
major bass fishing tourna
ment. She also said she
meets regularly with local
hoteliers to let them know
what she is doing to pro
mote Monroe County.
"We recognize we are a
drive-thru community,"
Manus Pennings said of
Monroe County's close
proximity to 1-75. "My
responsibility is to make
them stay a little longer."
Despite the year-by-year
nature of budgetary projec
tions for the Forsyth-
Monroe County CVB,
Manus-Pennings said she
is looking ahead to some
future promotional oppor
tunities. Just one year
after the Georgia legisla
ture dubbed Monroe
County the "Public Safety
Capital of Georgia," the
Georgia Public Safety
Training Center (GPSTC)
intends to host the first-
ever Public Safety Games
in September 2012, in
which state law enforce
ment officers will compete
in skills contests. Manus-
Pennings said the CVB
plans to work hard to
make that a successful
annual endeavor.
Also, Manus-Pennings
said she is working with
the Monroe County
Historical Society to hold a
150th anniversary Civil
War remembrance in
Monroe County in 2014,
which could include a play
or reenactment of the
war's impact on Monroe
County.
According to a September
2011 study prepared for
the Georgia Department of
Economic Development by
the U.S. Travel
Association, travel spend
ing in Georgia actually
increased by eight percent
in 2010 from 2009 from
$19.4 billion in 2009 to $21
billion in 2010. An esti
mated $25.92 million was
spent directly by travelers
within Monroe County in
2010. The same study
showed that overall local
tax revenue within
Georgia cities and counties
increased by 4.6 percent
from $542 million to $567
million in the same time
period.
Economic impact data for
2011 has yet to be released
by the state.
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1 Oth Annual
Monrot County Toy Run
To b one fit the
C*A,R*E, Cottage of Monroe Co*
October 22, 2011 - Sign-in 10 AM
Ride will begin at 11:00 AM from
41S, Bldg B
Bolingbroke, GA
From Atlanta: 1-75 S, 1-475 S, Exit 15
Turn right and follow signs.
From Macon: L75 N, Exit 175
Turn left and follow signs.
Everyone Welcome!
After-The-Run Get Together
at the Monroe Co, Moose Lodge
Prize Drawings, Free Food,
Entertainment, Saturday 1:00 PM
BIG MIKE & THE BOOTY PAPAS
Please make your gift or donation at least $10
Let's make this a special Christmas
far all Monroe Count} Kids!HI
RIDE SAFE!!!
For more info call 478-957-2853
No calls after 9 PM
**The organizer of this event is not responsible for any loss
or injuiT to am ’person o r property