Highland Lakes church of Christ

I love sitting and listening to older, wiser folks than myself. I love history and learning it from people who loved it. There is something about sitting on a porch swing with someone old in days who has seen so much change and endured so much through their walk in life. The proverbial writer acts as a father to us and treats you and I as “sons and daughters” who are learning. As disciples of Jesus, that’s exactly what we are doing and we constantly sit in the learner seat. Thank God for wise fathers who taught us what to do right. Even so, for those of us who had no good fatherly example in life, we learned what “not” to do. I wanted to share some of the wise words and sayings I’ve heard in the first 35 years of life.

1. When you hear a kind word spoken about a friend, pass it along (Proverbs 3:27; Galatians 6:10). If it’s a negative word, keep it to yourself.

2. As a man, spoil your spouse, not your children (2 Samuel 12:3, 8; Proverbs 5:18–19; Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 3:7).

3. It is not our job to get people to like us. It is our job to like people (John 13:35; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22; 2:17).

4. To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money on them (Genesis 44:30; Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 5:16; 6:4; Colossians 4:5).

5. Focus on others, not on self (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:3–5). Someone wrote, “How to Be Miserable.” It reads, “Think about yourself. Talk about yourself. Use „I‟ as often as possible. Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others. Listen greedily to what people say about you. Expect to be appreciated. Be suspicious. Be jealous and envious. Be sensitive to slights. Never forgive a criticism. Trust nobody but yourself. Insist on consideration and respect. Demand agreement with your own views on everything. Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them. Never forget a service you have rendered. Shirk your duties if you can. Do as little as possible for others.”

Better to apply the principles of: Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8. By living those, the blessings of Ecclesiastes 11:1,2, at the right time and time of need, will come back to you.

Jake Sutton Piedmont Road church of Christ Marietta, GA

I am not really a morning person. I loathe early alarms. Most days, it takes me a while to really get going. If, however, the day promises something out of the ordinary and pleasant, like the beginning of a vacation, I’ve been known to wake up before the alarm clock goes off. But the prospect of an unpleasant day makes getting up that much more challenging and pulling the covers over my head that much more alluring.

That’s one thing, among many, that makes the faith of Abraham so amazing to me. There are three times in his life that the Bible says he arose early in the morning—and he knew on all three of those days that what he had to do would not be pleasant.

The first is Genesis 19:27 where Moses tells us that Abraham “went early in the morning” to a special location where he would survey the destroyed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The second is Genesis 21:14. There Abraham “rose early in the morning” and with great sadness kicked Hagar and Ishmael out of his house to appease Sarah. The third is Genesis 22:3 when Abraham “rose early in the morning” to take Isaac to Mount Moriah with the intention of sacrificing him to God.

Abraham, no doubt, arose early to some beautiful mornings and pleasant activities. But his only early mornings specifically mentioned in the Bible are the three above. How brutal they must have been! How tempting it must have been for him to keep rolling over and sleeping just a little longer. But instead of hiding under the covers, he rose up early and met the challenges of the day.

Life brings with it many unpleasant days. But with the help of God and the faith of Abraham, we can throw off the covers, confidently rise from our beds, and face what each day brings. For God has promised, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).

• Eddie Parrish, Brown Trail church of Christ, Bedford, TX

For Everything There is a Season, a Time for Every Purpose (Eccl. 3:1)

The elders believe the time has come for fellowship, that is, a fellowship meal. Conditions permitting, we intend to resume our monthly fellowship meals after the morning assembly on the last Sunday of each month. We realize that there may be some who are not comfortable yet with the idea of gathering for a meal, but there are many who feel ready to take this next step toward what was “normal” 18 months ago.

We intend to have our first fellowship meal of 2021 on Sunday, October 31st. We invite everyone to get out their cookbooks and bring something delicious to share after we have worshipped our Lord together on the 31st of October! If all goes well, we will have our annual “Holiday” fellowship meal on Sunday, December 5th after morning worship (this typically takes the place of the November and December fellowship meals). Please mark these dates on your calendars and pray for the success of these plans. We hope to see you there! — Joe

Former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Lou Holtz was a strong proponent of the “do right” rule for athletes and inspired his athletes to follow the rule as they interacted with others on and off the athletic field. I agree with Coach Holtz’s “do right” concept as regards Christianity. We can look to God’s word to find that rule of thumb as Paul said “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). This verse reminds Christians to “do right” as we go about doing good always.

Following are some ways Christians can “do right” by doing good. The first God-given mission for a Christian is “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them…teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19, 20). It’s not possible for a Christian to literally go into all the world to physically teach but we can “do right” by this commandment to spread the gospel by taking advantage of mission opportunities to send the gospel to the world. Christians “do right” by reaching out with mercy and compassion to “the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). We do this as we support efforts to take care of the orphans and widows. Christians “do right” when they “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2) by being there for them with money, time, energy and effort. There are many more examples in God’s word of means whereby Christians can “do right” by doing good.

Above, we’ve spoken about “doing right (good).” Contrarily, let’s think about how we “waste good.” We “waste good” when we fail to do all we can to help others. There are many who need to be taught, visited and have their burdens lifted but we don’t teach, we don’t visit, and we don’t ease their burdens. We “waste good” when we don’t use even our simple opportunities to ease the pain and suffering of others and help them to see the love of God in our lives and let them know they can have that same depth of love in their own lives. We “waste good” when we fail to be kind to others by so simple a thing as holding a door for them to go through or by.

There are many, simple ways in which Christians “waste good” by failing to be Christ-like in their day-to-day living. Whether on or off the athletic playing field, whether in or away from the church building, people “waste good” by not exercising a good, positive attitude that lets others know they are Christians who care.

We “waste good” when we fail to reach out to delinquent members who no longer attend services regularly. Quite often we hear the blame game by a delinquent person as they say “no one visited us” and we need to remove that crutch.

We can also “waste good” when we expect others to do for us what we should do for ourselves. A good example of this happens when we depend on someone else to carry the gospel message to our friends and neighbors instead of fulfilling our own obligation to do so. Unfortunately, we see so many examples of how we “waste good” in our daily living.

Christians will never “waste good” when they go about the “Father’s business” as Christ did and “do all to the glory of God.”

Ever forget something? Sure you have. If it is any consolation, you are not alone. All of us can forget and often do.

Some years ago, a researcher from Johns Hopkins University compiled a list of what we forget most often. At the top of the list was names (83 percent), followed by where something is (60 percent), words (53 percent) and faces (42 percent). Any of those a problem for you?

It is obvious that the researcher forgot to check on spiritual forgetfulness. Maybe he/she forgot to question whether people being surveyed ever forgot the goodness of God, the promises of God, the love of God, or the expectations of God.

Long ago, God used men to address the problem of forgetfulness. For instance, Moses warned his people not to forget the things their eyes had seen (Deut. 4:9), or forget the covenant (4:23), or even forget the Lord (6:12), or His commandments (8:11). He reminded them what their forgetfulness would cost them (Deut. 8:19).

The Psalmist understood that it was important not to forget God’s word. In Psalm 119, he reiterated his conviction in vs. 16, 83, 93, 109, 141, 153 and 176. We can believe the determination not to forget God’s word would help him to remember what was truly important in God’s sight.

The Jews of Isaiah’s day thought God had forgotten them (Isa. 49:14). God reminded them, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you” (49:15).

Please don’t forget this: Our God doesn’t forget us.

Allen Hahn Graeber Road church of Christ Rosenberg, TX.