A Publication of the Mid-Missouri Church of God
July/August, 2010
Volume XIV, Issue 7/8
The Ozark Letter
Lake of the Ozarks
The Ozark Letter July-August, 2010
JULY/AUGUST GREETINGS: “…. those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 41:31)
2010 HOLY DAY CALENDAR
• Sept. 9—Feast of Trumpets (Thursday)
• Sept. 18—Day of Atonement (Saturday)
• Sept. 23-29—Feast of Tabernacles (Thursday-Wednesday)
• Sept. 30—Eighth Day Festival (Thursday)
In the June newsletter I wrote about the visit to Washington D.C. Since that time, PBS has had a debate about the lack of knowledge of Civics that our young people have today. It just is not taught in the public schools. No, our forefathers who conceived the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were not perfect and they had no idea how many people would be trying to follow their ideas. Nor did they have any idea how those ideas would be twisted, turned, and ignored.
I helped a young man who was a senior in high school to get through a history class. He was studying about World War I and World War II. He said that he didn’t like history and couldn’t understand why it was taught. I told
him that history was taught “so that we would not repeat the same mistakes and his generation has an opportunity to make a change.” Adolf Hitler knew who to indoctrinate with his ideas; the young people. We have that same opportunity and we must take that opportunity right now. When I heard our National Anthem and then Taps played at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I could not hold back the tears. If we don’t emphasize what our nation has gone through to become ‘this nation under God’, it will be lost to them and eventually to us. I know the United States is not perfect and I know that democracy is not perfect; but I would rather live here and have this democracy than to live anywhere else. For those who may have had an opportunity to visit a Third World Country, you know just how wonderful it is to set your feet down on the Good Ole USA. In what other country can you disagree with what your President says and not get shot or put in prison? In what other country can you worship where, how, when you please and not have to worry about a knock on your door from the police. In what other country is the Bible the most popular book, but the least read book. Just some thoughts and our freedoms allow you to agree or disagree with me. Our nation is at a perilous time and needs our daily prayers. Count your many blessings, Name them one by one…………..
“The strength of our nation has been challenged before – at its birth, during the Civil War, in the peril of world wars. It is challenged again today. In our past, Americans have risen to the occasion by confronting the challenge honestly and laying their sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. We must do so again.” This is a quote from No Apology, The Case for American Greatness by Mitt Romney. (Editor’s Note: I am not advocating Mitt Romney’s politics, but he does have a point.)
Wall Street Journal contributor Michael Ledeen has warned that “the world is simmering in the familiar rhetoric and actions of movements and regimes – from Hezbollah and al Qaeda to the Iranian Khomeinists and the Saudi Wahhabis – who swear to destroy us and others like us.” These are evil men and they have made it very clear what they intend to do to us and to our allies. The challenge of our time is not to deny the threat, but to soberly and swiftly pursue the policies that will defeat it.
Think about this….We are all missionaries one way or another, called to make a difference in the place where God has placed us. I was raised in a very small town and my best friend lived several miles from where I lived; therefore, I spent the summer anxiously waiting for the Newton County Bookmobile to come by every month. Books about other people and places filled my summers with excitement. I still frequent the library and it’s very organized and computerized, but you know what I really miss? I miss the old library cards that listed the names of those who had read the book. I could pick up a book and not really be familiar with the author, but if I saw Kathleen’s (fictitious name) name as a reader, I could be fairly certain that it would be a book that I would enjoy. Or if the card was full of names, it indicated a popular book. Today, once in a while, when I check out a book, that old library card is still in the book and it does bring back fond memories. And today, it is not names that I knew as a youngster, but names I am familiar with from the local community. Have you ever thought that if you had to sign your name to a card today, would you be more careful about the books you read?
As some of you know, my husband and I live on a small farm. We have geese and I have to admit that I am not fond of geese; dogs, cats, horses, cows, etc. yes, I like, but geese – they are not the smartest of animals, but they do have enough sense to stay away from the foxes and coyotes. Anyway, I did my best to not have baby geese this spring, but God had a better idea. We did have one gosling and as I watched the adult geese surround that baby every day, I could see that that is how God does us. He surrounds us with His Spirit. He doesn’t promise us that there will not be problems or temptations, but He assures us that He will be there for us. To make a long story short, an owl got the gosling and I do miss it, but maybe God only meant for it to be here a short time.
We are in the process of trying to get Feast of Tabernacle messages from Ray Wooten’s group ‘streamed’ to us via the internet. As an FYI, at the April meeting the MMCG Board Members gave the okay to have Feast of Tabernacle Services at the building at Eldon September 23-September 30. It will be an informal setting and we welcome anyone who would like to volunteer to speak, provide special music, give a Bible study, etc. The main idea is to “keep it simple”; therefore, it may be planned day to day. We will try to have a speaker at least on the First Day and the Eighth Day and the Sabbath that falls in between the first and last day. Daily activities will also be planned day to day. This service is being provided because there are some who cannot attend a FOT at another location, possibly because of health problems, financial problems, or just problems. We welcome anyone who wishes to attend with us. It would help us if we knew about how many plan to attend; therefore, we would appreciate an RSVP by September 20 by email info@mmcg.org or call Bud or Connie Houston at 573-392-6677 or Clarence or Charleen Gitthens at 573-392-5965 if you think that you will attend with us and/or if you would like to help in any way. Csh**************************
2010 Women’s Conference
United Christian Ministries will have their 2010 Women’s Conference at Ft. Wayne, IN, 8615 U.S. Hwy 24 West on July 30, 31, Aug 1. There is a registration fee of $65 per person which includes all registration materials, reception, Sabbath lunch and dinner. Hotel Rooms are $75 plus tax for 2 queen beds. Price includes breakfast bar. Each room has a refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker. Be sure to mention you are with UCM to receive this discounted rate. Reception begins Friday evening at 7:00 PM. Weekend concludes at Noon on Sunday. The theme of the conference this year is “Are You Pitiful or Powerful?” Mr. Ray Wooten will host a Sabbath Bible Study and Fellowship near by for all of the men that would like to make the trip to Ft. Wayne with their wives. The service will begin at 11:00AM at the Southwest Lutheran Church, 5120 Homestead Rd., Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 46814. If you have any questions about the conference contact the UCM office by phone at 888-985-9066 or email at ucmfamily@aol.com
CHURCHGOERS LIVE LONGER
(The findings are detailed in the March-April, 2006 issue of the American Board of Family Medicine.)
According to Robert Roy Britt, managing editor of LiveScience at LiveScience.com, one of the things you can do to increase longevity is to go to church. According to a new study among the several factors that contribute to lengthening one’s life expectancy is regular church attendance. Factors that add to the length of one’s life are regular physical exercise (3.0 to 5.1 years), proven therapeutic regimens (2.1 to 3.7 years), and regular church attendance (1.8 to 3.1 years).
This new study is actually a review of existing studies in the three categories mentioned. The study did not, however, reveal why regular religious practice increases one’s life span.
“Religious attendance is not a mode of medical therapy,” said study leader Daniel Hall, a resident in general surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an Episcopal priest. “While this study was not intended for use in clinical decision making, these finds tell us that there is something to examine further…. The significance of this finding may prove to be controversial, but at the very least, it shows that further research into the associations between religion and health might have implications for medical practice.”
Hall later speculated in a telephone interview that the social aspect of religion could play a role in the results: “There is something about being knit into the type of community that religious communities embody that has a way of mediating a positive health effect.” He further stated that being involved in religion could “then decrease your level of stress in life or increase your ability to cope with stress.” One other possibility is that, “Being in a religious community helps you make meaning out of your life.”**************************
The following is from the Sabbath Morning Companion
Moral Equivalency?
By Lenny Cacchio
Tod Robberson of the Dallas Morning News made an interesting leap of logic recently that illustrates in part the moral confusion of our times. Writes Mr. Robberson, “In the past three months, Muslims around the world have rampaged against cartoons in a Danish newspaper deemed to be mocking Islam, and an Afghan (sic) faced the death sentence for converting to Christianity. Meanwhile, two popular Christian preachers in the U.S. stoked the flames by labeling Islam as an evil or violent religion.”
Mr. Robberson goes on to characterize both the Christian and Muslim subjects of his opening paragraph as extremists. Not knowing precisely who the two Christians are, let’s take a look at the interesting comparison he attempts to make, leaving out the potential personalities involved.
If I understand the logic correctly, the reasoning goes something like this:
1. One side is rampaging in the streets, burning and pillaging, and rejoicing at the thought of killing the other.
2. The other side says the actions of those in the street are evil.
3. Therefore, both sides are extreme.
Call me extreme too, if you wish, when I call his logic a head-scratcher. If #1 and #2 seem morally equivalent, then our values are indeed in crisis, and we have no basis for making rational moral judgments. Is there a moral equivalency between Muslim extremists and conservative Christians? Indeed, are all extremists and conservatives brothers in different clothing, as one man proclaimed to after the 2004 elections? (“I see no difference between the Taliban and the people who won this last election”).
If Americans become convinced that they are on no firmer moral ground than their Muslim antagonists, then there is no moral rationale, and perhaps no moral will, to protect and preserve American interests and indeed even the American way of life.
I find it difficult to believe that the American people in general would accept such assertions. While I can appreciate any attempt at even-handedness, there does come a time when decent people need to call things as they are. A nation that doubts its values and heritage is a greater danger to itself than a confident one, and so it is with any group or movement, including Christianity.
More to the point, Christians have no obligation to accept upon themselves the label of extremis when they call sin for what it is.
(Lenny Cacchio lives in Lees Summit, Missouri)
MID-MISSOURI CHURCH OF GOD
PO Box 92, Eldon, MO 65026/mailing address. Actual physical address is: 602 East North Street. Phone: 573-392-1232 or 573-498-3775; Email: info@mmcg.org Website: www.mmcg.org The Mid-Missouri Church of God (MMCG) holds Christian Sabbath services each Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at 602 East North Street, Eldon, MO… A Bible Study and song service is scheduled at 10:30am before Sabbath services. Potluck meals after services are planned for the fourth Sabbath of each month. A weekly Bible study is held each Thursday at 6:30pm. It is best to call ahead and confirm times if you are traveling any distance to visit us (see the phone numbers above). Occasionally we will cancel local services to attend en masse elsewhere. Come and enjoy the fellowship! Also, the first Wednesday of each month the ladies meet for a “get together” and you can contact Martha Roberts at 573-496-3203 or Charleen Gitthens at 573-392-5965 for location and time if you plan to attend. You can also check the events calendar on the website.
