A Watch Over Our Mouths

by   April 5, 2023 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

  • Life and death is certainly in the tongue and what comes out defiles rather than what goes in.
  • So much has been done in years gone by with what was said or not said.
  • The godly wise person watches carefully what comes out of the mouth and takes great care with words.

Prayer:  Lord I ask You to help me and put a watch in front of my mouth that I will not speak quickly or irrationally or impulsively or foolishly, but to be very wise with the words that I use that they will glorify You and bring life to me rather than ruin to me or my household.  Teach me Your ways Lord.  Amen. 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

Knock Knock

by   April 4, 2023 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I have two sisters who are twins. Not with me, with each other. Otherwise I guess we’d be triplets. Anyway, they are nearly four years younger than me. Unlike me they are still very active. They play Pickleball regularly. Both of them still get outside and walk often. They have card playing buddies and get together with them for tournaments and such. Best of all they still teach Bible classes and love their students. Tamra teaches elementary boys in her church while Janice brings weekly studies to ladies of advanced wisdom. Oh how I love them both. They make me laugh and think and think about laughing. Though we share the common thread of sisterhood, we are very different. While they enjoy people and love a good party, or fellowship as the church folks say, I tend to be a homebody. Please don’t make me go. My favorite plans are cancelled plans. I don’t even own a welcome mat because I don’t want to be a hypocrite. Annyyywayyy…


There is a running joke between us sisters about three old women who live together. These ladies live a confused life, much like my own. The other day we were trying to remember how the joke goes but couldn’t get it right. If that wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. Eventually sister Tamra texted it to us. It goes something like this.


Three elderly ladies lived together. One was upstairs and called down in a panic. “Somebody come help! I’ve got one foot in the tub and I can’t remember if I was getting in or out.” The second lady headed upstairs to help when suddenly she stopped on the staircase. “Oh no! I can’t remember if I was going up the stairs or down!” The third lady who was sitting at the dining table shook her head and commented. “I hope I never get that forgetful. Knock on wood. Wait… was that the front door or the back?”


So when Tamra sent me the text, I replied: “Since I can’t get in or out of the tub by myself, and I sure can’t be climbing no steps, can I be the one at the table? Knock on wood. Hang on. There’s somebody at the door.”


I have no idea where I was headed with this story. I guess the moral of it is to enjoy life no matter the season. Maybe even laugh, or think, or think about laughing while we still can.


Knock on wood.


“In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul.” -Psalm 94:19

What’s Your Story?

by   April 3, 2023 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

What’s your story?

We all have one, don’t we?

Our stories often come from our tests

. But instead of becoming bitter, we can allow our struggle to make us better.

We can allow our test to become our testimony and our mess to become our message.

We all have a story to share that God can use to bless and encourage others. I have had some stories from my life that I did not feel the freedom to share for years because of shame or embarrassment, but God’s timing gave me the go ahead when the time was right. When, why and how do we share? We share when the Lord puts it in our spirit to share. It may be a friend in need. It may be a family member who needs help. It may be a stranger that God puts in our pathway. We share our stories because they can be related to by many who are going through similar situations.

When we share, others can find comfort, help, hope and encouragement.

Surprisingly, we ourselves — the ones doing the sharing — can find those things, as well.

We are overcomers.

Reflect with me for a moment.

Where are we?

Are we in His arms?

Are we standing in the shadows wishing we were closer to Him?

Are we headed to a distant country without even realizing we have changed directions?

Have we been in a faraway land way too long?

The amazing thing about responding to any of these questions is that no matter how far we have gone off the path — we are only one step away from that path — and all we have to do is turn around.

Ever been lost before?

Our tendency is to go a little further in hopes that we will recognize the way.

For me, that never works.

At some point, I always realize that all I need to do is to turn around.

We can overcome.

How do I know?

John 16:33 says, “These things have I spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”

What’s your story?

Are you an overcomer?

Lord, may we tell our story for Your Glory!

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

Caring for God’s House

by   April 1, 2023 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            We had our annual spring work day at church last Saturday. Our leadership team created a long list of things that needed to be done around our church. If given a choice of working inside or outside, I will always choose working outside. There were quite a few things that needed to be spruced up outside and I was looking forward to getting them done.

            Our pastor was concerned about the weather forecast for Saturday. Most of my loyal readers know about my love for weather, so I’m considered our church’s meteorologist. I follow the weather daily, and sometimes, hourly. My weakness is that I do not follow daily highs and lows. I am more interested in the next weather event.  

            Back to Saturday’s forecast. We knew rain was coming, but we were unsure about the timing. The front that came through last weekend was the one that brought the tornadoes to the Deep South. Pastor wanted to know if we needed to be concerned about getting a shower or the possibility of severe storms during our work day. I studied the models and forecasts and thought the rain would hold off until after our work day.

            I rolled out of bed Saturday morning to the sound of thunder. I knew I was in for a good ribbing from my pastor and the congregation. I tried to hide when I arrived at church but my pastor announced my arrival with some healthy teasing and lots of laughter. I laughed the hardest and pointed out that the rain stopped as I walked in. We were able to get a lot of work done outside despite the fact that we had a couple of light sprinkles pass through while we worked.

            Some people chose to work inside, changing lightbulbs, cleaning up areas, getting the nursery ready for a couple of new babies that will be arriving soon, and a number of other things to make our church more inviting. The crew that worked outside got the weeds out of the flower beds, cleaned out the gutters, put out new pine needles, and trimmed up some of trees, among other things, to make the outside welcoming.

            We had lots of fun laughing and talking while we worked. I love my church family. We are always there for each other. We are also blessed to have a nice place to call our home. Just like the places we all live, our homes, our church home needs to be maintained. We have to consider what people might think when they visit us. We want to make the best possible impression on our visitors.  

            Maintaining our churches is important if we hope to attract new people to follow Christ. One of our main purposes is to attract new people to the faith, to reach out to the lost. We need to work at keeping our churches up-to-date and well maintained. The same can be said for ourselves in both a physical and spiritual way.

            My Dad who is now #*% years old (I am not allowed to print that number) does a lot to stay physically active. He goes to the gym regularly, walks multiple times a week, and plays golf multiple times a week. He has been a good example to me about taking care of himself physically. He has cheered me on since I began walking on a regular basis. He will tell you that staying physically active will help you stay healthy.

            Equally important in my mind is maintaining our spiritual lives. Our spirits can’t thrive without a regular intake of God’s word. There is so much wisdom available to us about how to live our daily lives. It’s full of promises to help us through the dark times in life. We also need to pray, not just for our needs but for the needs of others and for our churches. Our spirits really need to be in fellowship with other believers. You can encourage and be encouraged. It is vital that we maintain our close relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

            I want to encourage you to work on maintaining your physical and spiritual well-being. God calls our body a temple. He comes to reside in us, so He wants a well-maintained home. He also wants to work through us to reach the lost and hurting with His hope. There are people all around you who need the Lord. A well-maintained life prepares you for those opportunities. I encourage you to maintain your relationship with God, take good care of your spiritual and physical body, and be an active part of your church family.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Spring Petals and Crosses

by   March 31, 2023 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Last night’s wind left dogwood blossoms covering the walkway of our back garden. When I exited the screen porch, I tread on a blanket of still-white petals from the tree next to the walkway. None of the other dogwood trees had lost their petals, and this one particular tree still had many of them left on its limbs, but for whatever reason, it had showered a spring dusting that caused me to think about death. Especially the death that Christians celebrate this time of the year.

Crucifixion most likely began with the Assyrians and Babylonians who tied their victims to a tree or post, leaving their feet to dangle. The Romans, after learning of the punishment during the Punic Wars,  began using crosses to perfect the punishment. The Roman Empire used it especially in the Holy Land, and in 4 B.C E. the Roman general Varus crucified 2,000 Jews, and the historian Josephus writes that there were mass crucifixions during the first century A.C.E.

 The victim was scourged, forced to carry the horizontal beam to the upright post, stripped, then either tied or nailed through the wrist to the cross beam before it was attached to the upright post. The victim’s name and crime was posted above his or her head. It was a slow, painful, and public death. Viewed as a shameful way of death, it was reserved for only the worst of criminals, and no Roman citizen would be executed in this manner.

Christians wear crosses, churches attach them to high steeples, and the symbol is used in a myriad of other ways that represent our belief. Yet, the crosses we use are sanitized images of what was used to kill. The Christian crosses have no representation of blood, mucus, pieces of torn flesh, urine, feces, or hair. Nothing that is evident from such a brutal death is on any part of the gold cross worn around the neck of many Christians or on the silver crosses that are present in all Christian churches. They are pristine, and I suggest that is where we delude ourselves concerning His death.

Through our art, music, architecture, jewelry, and more, we have created a false image of what His death was. While we read and say the words of it, we deny its reality by our accepted images of what His execution was. What I am suggesting is that we can be honest of its brutality by our language of His ordeal and the images we use for it. Each of us, for instance, can discard the neat, golden cross worn around our necks and wear a small, rough, and irregular wooden one that would be more representative of the cross on which our Savior tasted death for us. I appreciate that houses of worship will not and perhaps can not remove their crosses. But we individual Christians can make a small change to remind us of His death on a tree and the brutal pain He endured.

Four More Counties

by   March 30, 2023 with No Comments

By David Freeze

I had a free day on Wednesday, so I loaded up my notebook, iPad, oversized Road Atlas and several layers of running clothes, then headed north. Wednesday morning’s low of 25 degrees made me wonder if north was the right direction, but all worked out.

My first stop was Taylorsville, county seat of Alexander County, and in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains. The town was formed in 1847 and likely named after General Zachary Taylor who was then fighting in the Mexican American War. I found a nice downtown with light traffic and a good mix of old and new.

The premier building in town is an old jail built in 1913. The jail now holds some city offices and a small museum about the jailers who served there. The courthouse is modern and the grounds honor those who died in the military from Civil War to present. Murals highlight the town’s little league area and the Alexander Railroad Line that carried freight from Statesville to Taylorsville. The ball field mural depicted an almost forgotten memory of donkey ball. Players rode an almost unwilling donkey as they played their game.

The most unique thing I saw was a community blessing box, similar to those “leave a book, take a book” stands but built into the side of free meal site. The sign read, “Take what you need, leave what you can, above all, feel blessed.” Bread and canned goods filled the box.

Next stop was Wilkesboro, county seat of Wilkes County. Dominating the beautiful downtown area were the spectacular old courthouse, built in 1902, and the Smithey Hotel, built in 1891. Both are still in use. The courthouse is the home of the Wilkes Heritage Museum and the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame. Formerly gray, it is now a spectacular white. The Smithey Hotel features a wrap-around porch on the first two floors. It isn’t still listed as a hotel but has several retail businesses on the first floor.

The Brown-Cowles house is the oldest known house in Wilkesboro, dating from the 1830s, and is complete with a slave kitchen and curing house. There is also a fantastic mural of Doc Watson, the local musician who helped to start Merlefest, a four-day music festival that hosts 80,000 attendees.

Hungry by late morning, I stopped in at Mr. Toro Mexican Bakery. Often willing to try an unusual baked good, I asked the owner about something that looked like a hard turnover. He called it a “corn cookie.” Priced right at a dollar each, I got two. Not sweet but still delicious, it was a cross between a hard biscuit and cookie.

Wilkesboro is proud of its history and has multiple walking tours since most of the historic sites are close together, many on Main Street. Wilkesboro is also proud of its moonshine heritage, proclaiming itself the “Moonshine Capital of the World.” I left town on U.S. 421 while getting a good view of the renovations at the Wilkesboro Speedway, where some of the local moonshine drivers like Junior Johnson showcased their racing skills. Nascar’s all-star race will be held here this May.

Next stop was Dobson, county seat of Surry County. Dobson is the home of the largest winery in North Carolina, Shelton Vineyards. The area is heavily agricultural with corn, soybeans and tobacco. Tabitha Holton was the first licensed female lawyer in the Southern United States in 1878. The courthouse is modern in style.

Sonker, a unique dessert, was thought to originate nearby in the mid-1800s. Similar to a cobbler, it is made with dough and fruit or sweet potato. There is actually a “Sonker Trail” with eight restaurants that serve it, but none are actually in the current town of Dobson. Disappointed, I stopped for pizza slices at New York Pizza and talked with Tom Nelson and Tiggy Garrett.

Yadkinville was the next stop and is the county seat of Yadkin County. Yadkinville was formed in 1850 and became the county seat in 1851 at a time when there was only one house in town. The town was originally named Wilson, but leaders discovered that another Wilson already existed in North Carolina. The town was then named for the Yadkin River which forms the northern and eastern boundaries of the county. Residents resisted the railroad until the 1880s, but soon after a line was extended to Mocksville helping attract some industry to town.

The courthouse in Yadkinville is modern in appearance, but the most spectacular building in town is a huge Cultural Arts Center. The town has dedicated most of a block to the center, art studios and related businesses.

I enjoyed the day tremendously and wind was only a factor in Dobson, where the courthouse sits on top of a long hill. My on-foot tours of the four towns totaled 6.83 miles. I went overboard a little in Taylorsville and Dobson. I did stop on the way home to see the burial plots of Daniel Boone’s parents, but that is part of a story for another day. Eight counties down, 92 to go.

The Mt. Hope Church 5K is Saturday, March 25. Look for this and other events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.

Sowing Works

by   March 29, 2023 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Ecclesiastes 11:6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

  • There will always be a seed time and a harvest – sowing is a principle that God blesses.
  • Often we are looking for immediate fruit or dividends, but one does not always know when and how the results come.
  • We are not to sit around after sowing and do nothing, but to keep diligently working because we are not sure exactly how God will achieve His plans through our sowing or reaping.

Prayer:  Holy Spirit help me to stay diligent in sowing and to be glad to give and make sacrifices and also to expect a harvest.  Help me to always be diligent and not to idle in any way shape or form.  Thank You for Your word.  I praise You this morning.  Amen.
 

Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

Inept

by   March 28, 2023 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I’m kind of clumsy when it comes to social graces. Like Don Rickles on the Andy Griffith Show, I’m rather inept. To me, people are scary… down right intimidating. However, for twenty years I worked at the front office of a small school. All day long I dealt with people. I was a little bit good at that. I think because I could help them quickly and they’d be on their way without too many words. If I had to make a phone call, I learned to practice what I would say beforehand. Even now, I do the same. Like last week I needed to check on strawberry plants at the local nursery. In my head, I had the questions ready but when a gruff old dude answered, my words came out “blah blah blahder berrydo have you some?” Also “what is the time of which you shall be closed?” I sounded like Yoda but not as intelligent. Maybe that’s why I write.


Annyyywayyy…


It turns out I’m not real savvy with the technology talk either. Someone was trying to call while I was listening to a Marco message from Permaculture Daughter. I thought I could just hit the orange button that popped up to see who was calling. But somehow I got Google assistant who said, “Try saying, ‘Remind me to take out the garbage.’” So I hit that button trying to get rid of her since my cell was still ringing and Marco was still playing. Of course Google Lady said, “Okay! I will remind you at nine o’clock tonight to take out your garbage.” She seemed so pleased to help that I hated to disappoint her. Without practicing, gently I said, “No Google Lady. Do NOT remind me about the garbage to be out at nine o’clock.”


Bless her heart. I think she was trying her best, but she informed me in her very-pleased-to-be-of-service voice. “Okay! I will remind you NOT to take out the garbage at nine o’clock.” So I gave up on her and hurried to answer my incoming call. But alas. They were gone. So I continued the tour of my daughter’s backyard garden on Marco. At least I’m savvy enough to send her a well-deserved thumbs up, heart AND happy face. I’m sure she was impressed. Plus! No words were harmed in the process.


Sadly, the call I missed was something from a desperate prince who needs money. I’ll have to catch up with him later. Maybe I’ll just text him so I can plan my words. I sure don’t want to insult the royalty which is surely him by misspeaking. But first, I might ought to take a nap. I have a call scheduled past my bedtime to remind me NOT to take out the trash.
Lord help me!


“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer.” -Psalm 19:14

A Quiet Handful

by   March 27, 2023 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Have I mentioned that I have two new grandbabies?

One of them is now 14 months, and the second one is 14 days. GG loves them very much.

The 14-month-old has learned a wonderful trick. Every time he sees me, he reaches his arms up to me, so I can pick him up.

It is a quite effective trick, as it works every time. How he can appear to be so desperate to be held in my arms, I really cannot understand. He either really loves me or he feels as if he can accomplish something great while in my arms that he cannot accomplish while standing there all alone.

He is right about that, you know.

Once I pick him up, he is no longer “alone” in the room.

He feels the power of the human touch.

From there, he is able to receive and receive and receive, while carried from place to place and more. He will be read to, talked to, sung to, walked around, bounced around, played with — the list is fairly endless.

Sure, I could do those things without touching him or holding him, but why would I do that?

When he arrives for his visit, his car seat is placed on the kitchen table, so he can be unstrapped. When he sees me, he begins kicking his feet and flailing his arms around, excitedly waiting to be held by his GG.

No words are needed.

Oh, he knows a few words, but why bother?

I will speak on his behalf. I have heard him say Mama, Dada and pig. I assume the word pig comes from the stuffed pig he carries around from the book, ‘If You Give a Pig a Pancake.’

Yes, he is a precious little guy who still speaks more with his eyes, hands, and feet than with his voice.

So I call him my quiet handful.

Quiet means peace, calm or still.

A handful means as much or as many as the hand will grasp.

Yes, I want as much peace, calm, or stillness as my hands can hold. Peace means tranquility and freedom from disturbance. Calm means peaceful. Stillness means the absence of movement or sound.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 says it is better to have one handful with tranquility than two handfuls of hard work and of trying to catch the wind.

Another translation is, ‘Maybe so, but it is better to have only a little, with peace of mind, than be busy all the time with both hands, trying to catch the wind.’

Catching the wind?

Really?

We know we cannot catch the wind. So why do we waste our time and energy? Peace? Calm? Stillness? Where is that?

It is in us.

1 Corinthians 3:16 says that the Spirit of God dwells in us. Dwell means lives in. The Spirit of God dwells in me. A quiet handful of peace, calm, and stillness dwells in us.

Hold out your hands

— Ask God to remind you of that quiet handful of peace, calm, and stillness that dwells in you.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

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