Potpourri

• Remember the kid’s bulletin in the foyer.
• Tonight’s assembly is the monthly singing. The teen class is organizing tonight’s service.
• We are still looking for song requests for the new supplemental hymnal. We have gotten very few so far. If you know a hymn that you would like for us to sing in our assemblies at Eastland, and it is not in our songbook, let us know. We need the title (or first few words) and the composer (if possible). The name of the hymnal where it is found would be helpful.
• There are several “Thank You” notes on the bulletin board.
• Have you read the monthly reports from the preachers we support? Check them out!
• Have you decided how you will do your daily Bible study in 2007? We have several Bible reading schedules that are available, and you can track your progress on one of the charts posted on the bulletin board in the foyer.

Monthly Duties
•    Transportation: R Wilson, Durbin
•    Lord’s Supper: B Crowder, S Neal
•    Meals: M Feldman, R Woosley
•    Deacon: R Wilson
•    Usher: B Price
•    AV: B Blain, M Durbin, A Woosley
•    Snow Removal: T Price, B Price, J Price, S Boatright

Who Says So?
By Reggie Robarts

After having heart by-pass surgery a few years ago the cardiologist turned me over to his rehab group for six weeks (I think) of exercises. Three times a week I went and stretched, got on the treadmill, and rode the stationary bike. After my six weeks time was up they released me back into society with the following instructions:

1.    Walk five days a week, taking off two so the heart could rest.

2.    Do not walk outdoors when the temperature is below 40 degrees or above 80 degrees because extreme temperatures put additional stress on the heart.

I had been walking four miles a day for 15 or 16 years in all kind of weather before this little heart incident occurred, so I knew walking. Sometimes in the winter when the temperature was in single digits I would come home with a big ball of ice on my ski mask where I breathed. When the temperature was 90’s in summer I would get home and be so soaked with perspiration that my shoes would squish. Who was anybody to tell me about exercise? Just because someone has been through medical school, and special cardiovascular training does that mean they know more than I do about MY heart? After thinking about trying what they had forbidden me to do, I decided they might be right and I needed to do what they said. I reckon my heart is reasonably healthy today because I finally decided to follow those instructions. Now what spiritual lesson does this personal experience hold for us?

Don’t people treat God about the same way as I treated the cardiologist and his staff until, I thought better of it? A whole lot of folks reason; who is God that He thinks He can order me around? What qualifies Him to judge what is good for me and what makes Him think following His rules are what I need to be happy and healthy now in this life and, more importantly, have eternal life beyond the grave?

What qualifies God as our ruler and gives Him a perfect knowledge of what it takes to make us healthy and prosperous both spiritually and physically is that He made us (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, Psalms 100:3). He has a perfect knowledge of everything about us including our mind (John 2:26). He knows what is necessary to keep this body functioning properly while we are on this earth He made. He warns us against what will diminish our brainpower and/or our physical prowess. Do men listen to and heed the advice that God intends for our good? For the majority it is seldom if ever that they pay attention to what He has said.

Example: God warns about the dangers of alcohol on both mind and body yet there is probably no more popular pastime in our society than drinking. Who has not witnessed the effects on someone who has indulged? Slurred speech, staggering gait, stupid actions, inflamed passions, and all the other things characteristics of the mind distorted by booze. Listen to the description in Proverbs 23:29-35: “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eye? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of a mast, saying ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?’”

Experience has shown that alcohol is a factor in a great percentage of fatal automobile accidents, spouse and child abuse, poor job performance, and premature death from alcohol related illnesses. Yet our government licenses and promotes it, churches endorse it and even some Christians defend its use “in moderation.” So no matter what God says, we drink in record numbers and we suffer all the evil consequences that come with the noxious liquid.

God warns Christians about the evil of the tongue and how diligently we should guard what we say. James 3:6-10 gives us this wisdom: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile, and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

In spite of what God says we turn our tongues loose to spread hurt, discord, and evil influences. We gossip, use crude and suggestive speech, tell smutty stories, make suggestive innuendoes, backbite, etc. etc. These are a far cry from what God says is acceptable speech, i. e. speech with grace, seasoned with salt (Colossians 4:6). We do talk inappropriately even when we know Christ has said: “But I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36,37).

There are a number of examples that could be cited that graphically illustrate how we ignore God’s will to our own detriment. We don’t learn lessons very well.

All God says to us is for our benefit. His word is not suggestions but commandments that He expects man to live by. He wants us to have the best life possible and for us to be with Him in eternity. Who says so? God says so and we need to listen to what He has to say.