Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
25 Jesus said to her (Martha), “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” - John 11:25(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. - Psalm 40:11(New International Version).

A QUOTE
Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you. - H. Jackson Brown Jr. -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
Happiness is as a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Hawthorne -
To meet an old friend in a distant country is like the delight of rain after a drought. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -

NOTES
Today has been mostly cloudy in McAlester, Oklahoma, with a high temperature of 46 degrees and a low temperature of 35 degrees. I had lunch today with Charley, my pastor J. T. Carnell and his wife Dianne. I went to the post office and then to Walgreen's for prescriptions. I took my nap this afternoon. There is no need for me to keep saying I take a nap with Tony because he is there every day. I had a tree in my front yard cut down and hauled off this afternoon because it was old and half dead ( kinda like me :) ). I put treats outside for the cats at 4:30 p.m. Since last time I have heard from Alice, Debra, Pastor JT, Tiyan, Geneva, Tom (a former pastor) and Claudia (my great niece). I am always happy to hear from my e-mail friends.

The cats are fine. Rascal is in the recliner and Leo on the sofa. Smokey was just here. I have seen all the cats this evening.

Have a nice Saturday!
I will see you next time, In Christian Love, Everett.

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Some Things Cannot Remain Hidden”
“Anyone who hides hatred is a liar....” – Proverbs 10:18 (GNT)

I’ve spent the better part of 20 minutes mulling this verse over. I have been attempting to put this into a “word picture” that makes this a bit more applicable to our lives…and to be perfectly honest, it has been rather difficult. First of all, the very mention of the word, hatred, opens up a wide range of emotions—none of which I would admit are pleasant. Maybe the difficulty I am having has to do with the fact that for nearly 40 years of my life I have attempted to eliminate anything that even closely resembles hatred. What I mean by that is for a part of my teen years there were issues that caused me to have less than healthy feelings toward a member of my family…and those feelings spilled over into other areas of my life—even into my new-formed relationship with Christ. As an adult—there have been issues and incidents that have tried my resolve to curtail any anger/hatred matters, and what I find is I am brought back to those early years when it controlled me like a current controls a river. When Solomon says hatred cannot be hidden, he knows what he is saying! Just as boiling water will eventually spill out of the pan if not removed from the heat—hatred has to have some place to go! It cannot stay contained in a confined area.
Hatred is born of fear…or should I say fears. One is the fear of loss. Something has been taken from us that is exclusively ours…or so we think. A part of us has been ripped out and we fix our blame (and anger) toward the one(s) responsible for that loss. For me, it was the loss of identity. I will not go into great detail but when I realized that the people I had trusted and believed to give me the truth had betrayed that trust (or so I believed) that fear revealed itself through bitter and negative attitudes. It could not hide.
Another is the fear of redemption. Do you find that interesting? Allow me to explain. I mentioned previously that hatred occurs because something has been taken from us. It may have been something physical or it could be more emotional. But the loss had to have come from somewhere and it had to have been caused by someone. Now here’s the rub—the loss itself may have been completely forgotten but the person(s) that were the source of the hurt have not. And no matter how hard we convince ourselves that they have been “forgiven” there remains just enough resentment to prove…not yet.
And it will reveal itself. No matter how much you attempt to convince yourself you are “free” the only person you have deceived is yourself. It may show up in negative attitudes—a lack of spiritual initiative and/or spiritual growth. It may lead to not trusting God at all and cause you to lose faith entirely!
There is an answer to release both the fears and the anger. First, admit they are real! Admit there was real loss and it really hurt and it really made you mad! (Profound, isn’t it?) To deny we have never been hurt is to deny a heartbeat. You are human. You will get hurt, disappointed, let down, betrayed, ignored…add whatever response that might apply here to your situation. You cannot hide from your humanity. Second, do not allow the source(s) of your hurt (fear) to be an excuse for a lack of spiritual success! You see, Jesus experienced every form of hurt imaginable—but instead of showing contempt toward his accusers or blaming the current political climate—He forgave. And it was real. John writes: “If we confess our sins He is faith and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:9) I have a feeling that applies to a number of other areas as well. Maybe this is a good place to start the healing process if you are working through hatred and anger.
And yes…this does involve forgiveness!! Start with yourself. Forgive yourself for thinking it is wrong to have feelings of pain and hurt. And then take what may be the biggest step of all—forgiving the source of the hurt and anger. That is a great first step to bring things like this out into the open where it can be cleansed and resolved. I know…I have been there! It works!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:12-14(New International Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:6-7(New International Version).

A QUOTE
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. - Bern Williams -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
Gray hairs seem to my fancy like the soft light of the moon, silvering over the evening of life. - Richter -
He has good judgment, who relies not wholly on his own. - From Proverbs for Daily Living -

NOTES
Today has been cloudy in McAlester, Oklahoma, with a high temperature of 52 degrees and a low temperature of 44 degrees. I saw Charley and Bill at noon. I went to the post office. I took my nap this afternoon. My doctor called and awakened me telling me that the lab work that they did yesterday was fine. I went to Petsense store and Walmart at 3:30 p.m. I put food and treats out for the cats at 4:45 p.m. I had problems with last nights Good Things but I hope everyone finally got a copy. If you didn't get a copy let me know and I will send one to you. Since last time I have heard from Gaetano, Michelle, Alice, Lucille, Margaret, Geneva, Pastor J.T., Burlene and Annette. It is always nice to get e-mails.
The cats are fine. Rascal is in his usual place and the rest are around somewhere as I have seen all of them this evening.

Have nice Friday!
I will see you next time, In Christian Love, Everett.

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“God is Fair – Life is Not!”
"Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path." – Proverbs 2:9

Without getting too wordy or redundant – everything this verse is telling us is that the longer we remain faithful and hold to The Word of God and to The Ways of God the more we will come to understand with a greater effectiveness what this life is all about. Who God is and how much He truly loves us.
We will also discover that though life is not fair, God is! We discover that people will betray us – hurt us – say and do things that seek to destroy us – but God remains true! And if our eyes are on Him and not what people do or say or what happens to us as a result of life’s circumstances—then the impact of those things will not be as severe.
If life were fair there would be no such thing as disease, poverty, war, divorce, or even death. We would not know grief for there would be no disappointments – no let downs or put-downs. If life were fair your favorite team would always win—you would always have plenty of funds to pay your bills and your refrigerator would always be filled with your favorite foods. If life were fair all of us would be able to live in wealth – have what we want when we want it and/or need it. Just think of the possibilities! However, we know from experience that this is not how it is.
In his book, Disappointment With God, Philip Yancey tells the story of man named “Douglas.” After several years of training in Psychotherapy, he had declined a lucrative career in favor of beginning an urban ministry. Unfortunately, his wife developed cancer and Douglas was left doing many of the household chores while holding down two jobs. Then one night, while traveling down a city street with his wife and twelve-year-old daughter a drunk driver crossed over the median crashing head-on with their car. Their daughter received several lacerations and his wife a broken arm. But it was Douglas who received the worst of the injuries. He received some severe head injuries and was in the hospital for three weeks. The injuries were also permanent. He suffered from sudden and painful headaches. Once an avid reader – his eyesight prevented him from reading for more than a few minutes at a time. His short-term memory was affected. From all appearances, any attempt to develop a ministry was now gone. And the man who hit them? He was just fine. Besides spending a few days in a prison cell – physically he did not receive a scratch. Yancey interviewed Douglas and asked him to respond to this: “Tell me about your disappointment with God.” To that Douglas responded: “To tell you the truth Philip, I cannot say I am disappointed with God at all. My wife getting cancer…the accident…anything that happens to us in this (physical) life has absolutely nothing to do with the love of God. I am disappointed that my plans have changed but I do not blame God for that. One thing I learned long ago and it has given me great freedom during events such as this – do not confuse God with life. What we mistakenly label ‘acts of God;’ natural disasters, diseases, accidents, are in reality, ‘acts of life’ and to credit or discredit God for any of these is dangerous to our spiritual health. God loves me! To think differently because my life did not turn out as I had planned would be destructive to not only my belief system – but to all that Christ wants to form in my life.”
What Solomon I think is attempting to say is that God cares about what we think about Him, and to be careful to not equate our problems of life with His love. God loves us…and that is all we need to know!
Pastor J. T. Carnell.

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK

“Stay in Your Lane”
“Accept correction, and you will find life. Reject correction and you will miss the road....” – Proverbs 10:17 (CEV)

I remember a time as a teenager I was driving home after church; it was around 8 at night and dark. I had only been driving a short time and was not prepared for what I was witnessing. The car coming from the opposite direction was on MY SIDE of the road. It was approximately 200 yards away but there was just enough panic in me and I was uncertain as to what to do.
Again…I had only been driving a short while and my inexperience was really showing. Do I drive on the other side? Do I pull over and wait for the car to pass? I just did not know what to do! Fortunately the car corrected itself and moved over into its lane—so any decision on my part was made for me and I was able to go on my way with no problems and I was home within just a few minutes…but it is an event that I will never forget. Obviously when automobiles became the popular mode of transportation someone came up with the idea to create “lanes” giving drivers safe passage to their destination. The key(s) to safe driving is simple, obey the rules of the road—stay in your lane and then hope other drivers do the same. I find that the rules for living a successful life in Christ are fairly similar if you think about it. Jesus said: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14
I think back to that night and wonder, what if the driver of that other car had not corrected their course? What if that person had continued to come towards me, knowing full-well the probability that it could cause us to crash? It is a haunting thought needless to say but it is the way so many choose to live their lives! They live going down the wrong side of the road knowing that at some point there is going to be a crash but they continue down the same destructive path. Listen to how the Amplified Bible interprets this verse: “He who heeds instruction and correction is [not only himself] in the way of life [but also] is a way of life for others. And he who neglects or refuses reproof [not only himself] goes astray [but also] causes to err and is a path toward ruin for others.”
Translation: When we “stay in our lanes” (so-to-speak), it is actually a safeguard for others. Allow me to illustrate this in another way. I will never forget the Christmas of 1982. Our oldest daughter was three months old and we were spending Christmas Eve with my mother who lived in Colorado Springs. Our intent was to get up on Christmas day and make the 90 minute drive to Denver to spend Christmas day with my wife’s family. (Take note that it was a 90 minute drive).
Late that afternoon it began to snow, which being Colorado—that was nothing unusual. When we got up Christmas day there was about 10 inches of snow, which under normal circumstances was not that big of an issue.
We made the decision to go to Denver giving no thought to what was before us. You see, it was not until we almost reached the northern city limits of Colorado Springs did we realize that the further north you traveled, the worse things were. We should have known that there was a problem when we did not see any south-bound traffic coming from Denver but with it being Christmas day…we just figured people did not want to get out. When we got to the town of Monument (just outside the city limits), the Highway Patrol had stopped traffic. What made matters worse was that there was no way for us to turn around—there was no safe outlet and with cars behind us we were trapped.
Now…let me remind you that we had a three-month-old with us. To conserve gas we had to turn off the engine for at least a few minutes at a time. After about two hours, the Highway Patrol finally allowed traffic to pass. By the way…did I fail to mention that we were on a major Interstate? I-25 to be precise.
I mention that because there was only one lane of traffic opened. The Transportation Department had trucks “create a path” for cars to follow which accounted for the two hour delay. And the only way you knew were okay was by following the car in front of you because you could not see a lane in which to drive in. It was the same way on both sides.
By the time we reached my in-laws house (which was on the North side of Denver) it had taken us SIX HOURS!! But we made it! And that was the bottom line.
It was when we had arrived that we discovered that the storm that had dumped 10 inches of snow in Colorado Springs was far worse in the Denver area! In fact, Denver received 28 inches of snow in less than 12 hours…literally shutting the city down!! Had we known that prior to setting out we would have delayed our trip a couple of days…but as it was, had it not been for some cars that had made a path for us to follow…it would have been impossible. If we would have gotten off of that path…the results could have been deadly!
Accept the fact that the road at times will not be an easy one. Stay disciplined and on track. Follow the path laid out by God and He will keep you safe.
Pastor J. T. Carnell