Charles Counts had his leg wound cleaned out on Friday. Home Health Care personnel will be coming to treat him at home.
Florene Griffin is home & recovering.
Monte Randolph has finished treatments & is awaiting a PET scan.
Angel Johnson’s still recovering from surgery.
Cathy Painter (Wolfe City) is home & recovering well from her kidney transplant.
Kathy Hill had surgery Wednesday to remove scar tissue, no new cancer was found.
Barry Del Monte has liver cancer.
Rebecca Van Deren will have an MRI & other tests done. Spinal tap (to check for pressure on her optic nerves) has been postponed.
Ben Harrington is struggling with serious diabetes complications.
Nonie Tucker had hip replacement surgery March 1st. She is doing well & expected to leave hospital in a day or so.
Don Hickerson (arterial problems), Tabitha Griffin (cancer), Billie Bradford (in nursing home), Betty Clark (in remission from cancer), Les Hamel (weekly transfusions, stress), Gary Hickerson (disks fused), Beryl Miller (macular degeneration), & Alex Miller (spiritual issues).
Wolfe City first Sunday singing is at 2:30 today.
Mens business meeting will be next Sunday March 10th.
Serving in the military: Tyler Davies, Josh Van Deren, Kirklynn Hance and Kirk Johnson in the USA. Cody Blomstedt is in Korea.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16 (KJV)
Pantry Item: Toothpaste - or other non-perishable item. Pickup Mar. 5-6
Men Serving Next Week March 10, 2019
Morning Prayers Kerry King, Robert Embry
Evening Prayers Don Baker, Greg Counts
Scripture Greg Counts
Differing Paths
Often, when traveling through the Appalachians, I have noted the markers indicating the Eastern Continental Divide. This line denotes the watershed between streams that feed into the Atlantic Ocean and those that feed into the Gulf of Mexico. Two drops of rain, falling only inches apart on the ground, will end up separated by hundreds of miles before they reach the end of their journeys.
As we consider, personally, the choices we make day by day, we should recall the words of our Lord, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” (Luke 16:10) The small things in our lives can well lead to big changes, either for good or for evil. This principle extends to congregations, as well.
Frequently, an emphasis on doctrinal exactness is greeted with a roll of the eyes. Why should we, after all, be concerned over small departures here and there? Isn’t it just nit-picking to question everything that doesn’t measure up to the truths we understand from Scripture?
We should be concerned about apostasy, even in the smallest measure, because it is a step down a path which will end in destruction. Every heresy that has divided the church began with a small departure from the truth, which lead to greater and greater departures over time.
Our fellowship must stand firm on the inerrancy of Scripture, the total truth and authority of God’s word. We must stand firm in attempting to understand and follow the pattern of faith and practice outlined in the Bible. Most centrally, we must stand firm in teaching the exclusive truth of God’s way of salvation through Jesus Christ. Even the slightest deviation in our commitment to these basic truths will plunge the church quickly into all manner of false teaching.
When Christian teachers and preachers depart from a complete confidence in Scripture, they stand in danger of losing their faith altogether. When congregations begin introducing unauthorized elements into the worship and work of the church, there is no end to the changes which will occur. When the church begins fellowshipping outsiders as if they were members of the Lord’s church, soon the very heart of the gospel is laid aside. Constant vigilance is needed to keep the Lord’s church true to the Lord’s way.
Editor, the Gospel Advocate
**********************************
The Greatest Need in America
We are perplexed but not surprised that the fastest growing religious group in America is the group that identifies themselves as having “no religion.” According to the American Religious Identification Survey taken in 2001, adults who do not subscribe to any religious identification has more than doubled from 14.3 million in 1990 to 29.4 million in 2001; their proportion has grown from just eight percent of the total in 1990 to over fourteen percent in 2001. Only 77 percent of Americans now claim to be Christians.
Many of those who claim to be Christians have convictions far different from the teaching of the New Testament. For instance, the Pew Forum recently released a survey saying that 65 percent of American Christians say that many religions can lead to eternal life, a fact that contradicts Jesus’ plain statement in John 14:6 (see also Acts 4:12; Ephesians 4:4-6).
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Ephesians 4:4-6 - 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
What America needs most is the gospel, the old story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. That divine story will lead them to change their hearts and lives in repentance and to unite with Christ in baptism. The gospel will open their hearts to faith, hope, and love.
**********************************
Answer to last weeks question!
This man of Tekoa was a simple laborer who had the audacity to confront the king’s priest at his shrine. - Amos (Amos 1:1 – 7:10)
Trivia Question
This sister of a Hebrew leader was herself a prophetess. For a time she was afflicted with leprosy.