Cooperation

by  Mark Npokroeff,  Calabash, NC

COOPERATION

CO-OP-ERA-TION

You need it everyday

COOPERATION

Without it there's no way

Every Time that people start tofight

If they could see thelight

CO-OP-ERA-TION

Theonly way to live

COOPERATION

All  you do is give

People try to help each other out

But I prefer todoubt

CO-OP-ERA-TION

The greatest thing in life

COOPERATION

Without it there's just strife

Let your conscience be your gide

To see the other side

CO-OP-ERA-TION

No matter what the cost

COOPERATION

Time is all we've lost

It's as easy as one two three

All you do is rely on me

CO-OP-ERA-TION

Your  Perception can set you free

COOPERATION

If you undersand how to be

For enlightenment can be obtained

If you decide not to complain

CO-OP-ERA-TION

Try it and you'll see

COOPERATION

Whatthis world can really be

So ket wisdom be the key

To unlock the cooperation in you and me

CO-OP-ERA-TION

Editor's Note:  What think you? 

Good Things

by       Everett Christin,   McAlester, OK   

 
GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
 
 1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  - 2 Corinthians 5:1-4(New Living Translation).
 
 
 
GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
 
29 People with understanding control their anger;
      a hot temper shows great foolishness.
- Proverbs 14:29(New Living Translation).
 
 
 
A QUOTE
 
Conduct is what we do; character is what we are.
- E. M. Bounds -
 
 
 
THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
 
I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision.
- Age 66, Wisdom Through The Ages -
 
No cowboy was ever faster on the draw than a grandmother pulling baby pictures out of her purse.
- From Reminisce Magazine -
 
Winners look for opportunities, losers wait for lucky breaks.
- From Reminisce Magazine -
 
We are witnesses to Christ's resurrection through the eyes of faith.
- From Reflecting God -
 
 
 
NOTES
 
Today has been mostly cloudy with a high temperature of 58 degrees which occured just after midnight. Low temperature this morning was 47 degrees. We had thunderstorms last night from around 7:30 p.m. to around 11:00 p.m. We received around 3 inchs of precipitation. My pastor, J. T. Carnell, had lunch with Charley, June, and me today. June and I went to the post office, Country Mart, and Mays Drug Store. At about 1:15 p.m. we took Smokey to the vet for his annual exam and vaccinations. He was not very happy about the situation. After we came home he stayed under the storage buliding for a while. June left for home a little after 2:00 p.m.  At about 2:30 p.m. I went to the back door and called Smokey and he came inside and took a nap with me. He has been unusually friendly with me tonight for some reason. I have up to date cat pictures starting tonight. The picture tonight is Smokey. I heard from June around 6:00 p.m. She made it home safely to Yukon, Oklahoma. She will visit again before moving to Hawaii about the middle of June.
 
The cats are fine. Little Girl is on the couch and Rascal in the recliner. The others have been around sometime during the evening.
 
At 10:20 p.m. skies are fair with a temperature of 53 degrees. I will see you next time (probably Sunday night).
 
In Christian Love, Everett.

Nan's Calendar

by            Nan Forehand,   Statesville, NC    

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.
Dale Carnegie

There is much that can be said about fun.  As I sat here a minute ago thinking of how today's message is developing in my mind, I thought of an acrostic for the word fun.

F ellowship
U ndermines
N egativity

Fellowship Undermines Negativity.  Think about it.  Fellowship means companionship.  It is a mutual sharing.  It is a group of people with the same interests.  It need not be with a large group of people, however.  When we're really having fun, we are usually in the company of at least one other person and enjoying the same activity.  At that moment, we have something in common and laughter is usually a part of that time of fellowship.  Allow fun and fellowship in your life today.

I have a friend I recently met for breakfast.  As we sat in the restaurant, we shared a meal together and we talked about so many things.  Before we knew it an hour had passed.  We had so much fun in that hour!  Simply being with her was fun.  I loved the sparkle in her eyes and the way her face lit up when she smiled.  The sound of her voice is beautiful and it was music in my ears to hear her laughter.  I learned things about her and I learned other things I didn't know.  This time of fellowship was precious to me. She is precious to me.  I don't remember one negative thought that could have crossed my mind the whole time we were together in fellowship.

Yes, I can have fun by myself and I can be my own companion in a sense.  God didn't intend for us to be alone.  Sure, solitude is important and necessary, but remember to keep it all in proper perspective and proper balance and you'll be amazed at how much better you feel in fellowship with another in a small group setting or in a larger setting when the time is right.   Allow yourself to have fun!

I'm alone right now as I sit here typing this message, but I'm having fun.  I'm having fun because I'm thinking of the many people I know who will read these words of mine.  Thinking of you brings a smile to my face.  I'm having fun because I'm in the company of the Lord right now!  I'm alone, but I'm not lonely.  I pray for those who are lonely.

I'm beginning to think that God really intended today's message to be more about reaching the lonely.  God wants you to to have fun.  Whatever is holding you back is something that only you and the Lord can know.  Grief can hold us back; fear of being hurt can hold us back.  When we're lonely, we're missing someone who is not with us.  Allen and I know about loneliness.  He was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey for a year and then again for a year in the Middle East.  We both had work to do and people to be around, but we were lonely for each other.  I remember sitting in a church full of people on Mother's Day 1995 and I felt completely alone.  I had, at that moment, built a wall around myself without even realizing it.  I missed Allen so much it hurt.  It was important for me to be in that church rather than spend the day at home.  I had to reach out beyond my self in order to move beyond the aloneness I felt.  It was temporary.   I got through it and I moved on and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Perhaps you know who you're lonely for and another person may be lonely for someone they haven't even met yet.  As you allow yourself to have fun in the midst of being lonely, the loneliness disappears.  The whole body, mind and spirit are involved when we're having fun.  Having fun has healing components all wrapped up in one package.  The body is positively energized when we're laughing.  The mind is refreshed and the spirit nurtured.  Yes, life can be serious, but we can still allow ourselves to have fun.  I believe it is not disrespectful, in the midst of the grieving period to have fun.  I believe, also, that when others see us having fun, they are drawn to us.  Remember, negative energy draws negative to itself and positive energy draws positive to itself.  Being in the company of others sharing mutual interests is healthy and important for our growth and development.

Let yourself relax and have fun today.  Fellowship undermines negativity.  It's a beautiful day.  Don't waste one minute of it!  Today is a gift from God.  Believe you will have fun today and then do it!  Have fun!  Take care.  Love ya! Nan

P.S.  Now I'm going to have fun getting ready for work!

Daily Jewel

by  Pastor J.R. Carnell,  OK 

“End of the Road” 

“Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. “ – Proverbs 7:27

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

                                                – Robert Frost

Have you ever come to a place where there was no where you could go?  It was literally the end of the road.

Recently I was asked to go visit an individual that lived about 25 miles from my house.  Now, to say she lived 25 miles does not tell the entire story.  If you were to take a map, draw a straight line from my house to hers then I would say yes, it would have been about 25 miles.  But getting to her house was not quite that simple.  There was absolutely no direct road from my house to hers.  There were at least 12 turns…and about a third of it was on dirt roads.  By the time I left my house to the point where her house was my odometer registered 52 miles.  And by the time I reached her house it was literally at the end of the road.  I could go no further!

How fitting that the last verse of this chapter describes perfectly the result of allowing the wrong passions to grab a hold of us and leading us to a place where there is no place to go!  The road ends there and so could your life.

What is even a greater distress is to know that so many take that same road—one after another follows the same path leading to the exact destructive end.  It is like going to the end of the road—a road that ends at the edge of a cliff—and instead of stopping before going over the precipice they keep on going…tumbling down into the abyss that is death.

The poem by Robert Frost talks about the “road less traveled by.”  Which perfectly describes the road that Jesus refers to as well in the book of Matthew.  I referenced it a couple of days ago but it fits here as well:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” – Matthew 7:13

            Solomon’s advice, which has led us through most of this chapter, has been along this line.  This verse (and the message attached) not only concludes the chapter—it concludes life.   And he is imploring his readers to avoid taking this route and spare the most precious gift we are given—life.

            There are a number of ways we can self-destruct.  This is just one of them and if we can apply the same principle, that the “woman” in this passage represents not a person but a method—a means to an end that is not God’s way. 

            Stay on the right road.  Stay on the one that leads to life where the last stop is a glorious end!

God's Tug - By God's Grace & Glory

By God’s Grace and Glory

April 14, 2011

¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing  will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. ¹² O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalms 85:1-2 KJV

I have been going through many things lately: the ugly, the bad, & the good. Here’s how I see it – not through my eyes, but through the eyes of the Lord.

God, I hurt physically so much, but thank you God that I’m alive.

God, I have very little money, but thank you Jesus that I have some money in my wallet.

God, I have overdrawn my checking account, but thank you Father that I have a couple friends who lent me the money to cover the overdraft.

Father, I’m lonely, but thank you God that I have friends who love me and a cat to keep me company.

God, I hurt today when I went to an AA meeting, but thank you God that I was able to get there and that I’m sober (I know many people struggle with getting and staying sober).

God, I’d love to be able to help people more than I do, but thank you God that you’ve provided a way to help people one day at a time through the internet.

God, I don’t have very many clothes to wear, but thank you Jesus for the clothes I do have, since I know that many people have less than I do.

Jesus, sometimes I dislike living in one room, but thank you Jesus for the roof over my head, since I know that many people are living on the streets out in the heat and cold.

Father, I haven’t been working much lately, but thank you Father for the hours that I am tutoring and for the extra work that has been promised to me by my company.

So, this is my list for now; however, I’m sure that I can add so much more. Today I was thinking that all the bad things that are happening to me right now are the evil one attacking.  Yet, by God’s grace and glory, I am blessed. He watches over me and protects me. I praise you God. I praise you Jesus. No one will take me from your hands. I know that.

Michelle Rose