We Can Do It

by   December 12, 2022 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

Can you keep a secret? There’s stuff going on at church. Big stuff. Does it scare you to hear that? It does me. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s a lack of trust.


Now for the secret: There’s definitely stuff going on at church. Good stuff; the kind of stuff that God stands up and applauds. The kind of stuff He blesses. Good ideas and plans to reach out to people in a whole new way. Is the leadership perfect? Good gracious no. Do they fail? Often, just like the rest of us people who are made of dust. Does our ministry rise and fall on mere men? Thankfully the answer is NO! Praise God!


So where are we going on day five? Just a reminder that our leaders will have ideas that are not always mainstream. God placed them in leadership to give us a direction and a purpose. Are we to blindly follow and eat poison and drink beer? [Still trying to make a sermon out of the mouse story on day four] The answer is of course a resounding NO. But here’s a lesson from Nehemiah 2. Verses 11-16 tell about Nehemiah’s discretion. Everything will not seem logical to everyone at all times. Discretion is key. So if you hear of a plan in the works, trust the leadership of those God has placed in position. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Pray often for them. And when a new idea is presented, you will have prayed ahead of time, and it will be easier to say, like the folks Nehemiah shared his vision with in 2:17-18, “’Good! Let’s rebuild the wall!’ So they began the good work.”


Wouldn’t you hate to be named with the guys in verse 19, who, when they heard of the plan, “scoffed contemptuously?” Sounds like some business meetings I’ve attended. So today, pray for your leadership, for exciting plans, for stepping out where no one has gone before. The sky really is the limit. God has no need of one more church that sits around holding hands with each other saying, “We’ve never done it that way before.” The world is watching to see if we care.


More Nehemiah 2:9-20
Prayer: Lord please strengthen us today with positive words, and support for our leaders. Help us when we doubt, to look to You, knowing You love Your church way more than we do. Give our leadership great wisdom, and wonderful ideas for reaching a world that has no hope. They need You so badly. Help us to love them enough to risk a little change in order to meet them where they are, for Your glory.

Joy

by   December 10, 2022 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            I store most of the outside Christmas decorations in the attic. When I was putting the things away in the attic last year I decided that it would be my last trip up there. I am getting older and pushing all those decorations up there has become quite the challenge. When I pulled down the stuff this year I got everything Christmas out of the attic…no more trips up there for Christmas for me.

            Twenty-plus years ago my mother made each of us kids a wooden reindeer planter that held an arrangement of poinsettias. He is Rudolph complete with a cute red nose. Several years ago as I was lifting him out of the attic I lost my grip and he fell on the concrete floor. He hit his antler and one of them broke off. Rudolph hasn’t made it in the house since. As I lifted everything out of the attic this year Rudolph made the flight down, too. I pulled him out of the bag he was in and still think he is cute. The flowers had seen their better day and I pulled them out. He couldn’t come in looking like that. He needed to get his antlers fixed.

            One of my neighbors has taken up woodworking. I sit on my porch and listen to him sawing, sanding, and nailing things together. I wondered if he could fix Rudolph. He was out talking to another neighbor one day and I picked up Rudolph and headed in their direction.

            He saw “us” coming. After a bit of laughing and teasing about what really happened to old Rudolph, he studied the situation. He said he thought that Rudolph would survive an “operation” and said he would give it a try. The three of us laughed and my neighbor carried him home like an injured pup.

            That evening I was walking when he and his wife started to pass in their car. They slowed and he rolled down the window. “Doug,” he said solemnly, “Rudolph is on life support. I sure hope he makes it.” The three of us burst out laughing and they drove away. The next day he saw me leaving for a walk and called out, “Rudolph is on the operating table now and I think he is going to pull through.” We both laughed again.    

            My neighbor brought Rudolph home the other day. His antlers have been repaired. I thanked my neighbor and we shared another laugh. He told me that I would have to see a plastic surgeon to fix his puff ball nose and tail, which made us both laugh again. What a silly thing to get two grown men to laugh so much.

            I decided later I would send some pictures of Rudolph getting his tail and nose fixed to my neighbor. Then I thought I could take other pictures of Rudolph sitting by the Christmas tree, outside practicing flying lessons, and looking up the chimney waiting on Santa Claus. I kept laughing and thinking of all kinds of things Rudolph might do. 

            Rudolph has sparked some holiday joy for me. But all this fun can’t compare to the joy that should surround the Christmas season. Why are Christians joyful at Christmas? It comes down to the fact that our sin separated us from God. He is holy and couldn’t be intimately connected to us. So God in His love decided to fix the problem. He asked Jesus to come to earth, live a sinless life, and then die on a cross as the perfect sacrifice to make it possible for God to reconnect with mankind. Jesus agreed and fulfilled the mission.

            God, full of joy, can now reconnect with us. We can be filled with joy because we had this debt for our sin that none of us could pay that Jesus paid for us. In essence we won the lottery. All our sin is cleansed; we win a relationship with our loving Heavenly Father. On top of that we can be assured that we will go to heaven and be with Him for all eternity. That reality should fill all our hearts with uncontainable joy.

            I want to encourage you to receive the greatest gift ever given: a baby born in a manger. If you will open your heart to Jesus I promise that you will discover a joy that will overflow your life. You will still have to go through hard times, but now you will have Jesus and the Heavenly Father on your side to see you through. Open your heart now and accept Him.

Follow Rudolph’s adventure at encouragingu.com. Look on the home page and scroll down…. You will enjoy his adventures!!

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

Paw-Paw and More

by   December 9, 2022 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Over his almost eighty years of life, James Hilton served many roles. Younger than James and a hopeful football player at A.L. Brown High School, I stood in awe of his gridiron powers. He and Jimmy and all those players were the ideal for all of us younger boys. Their school mascot was the Wonders and that name described them well because they were wonders. But because James dated and eventually married one of my older sisters, Linda, I was privileged to watch him grow into much more than the fellow who hit a Wyncoff player so hard that his hit not only caused the runner to lose the ball, but he also lost his helmet. One James Hilton hit produced three flying objects.

James always was present but never in the way. His strength was quiet because he was secure in his abilities and he had no need to be loud and obstructive. His still water ran very deep, and James did not tell us what he could do but in his quiet manner showed us how to do. In the late 1970’s when he was renovating a house that he and my sister had purchased, I was helping him. A small upstairs bathroom needed a floor covering, so James studied the room. He then measured for the tub, the sink and its two pipes, and the toilet. He then took a piece of linoleum into the hallway, turned it upside down, and marked it for cutting. After that he turned it right-side up and placed it in the bathroom where it fit snugly around all the pipes, tub, and toilet. He said to himself as he walked out of the room  “That oughta’ work.”

Waste was the enemy of James. About fifty years ago when Linda and he lived in Tarboro, my family visited them. In his shop I noticed several boxes of broom handles, but none had the broom still attached. I remember that the bright colors of each had been worn off by use, and I asked James about them. “Oh,” he said, “the plant (where he then worked) was going to throw them away, so I brought ‘em home. Somebody might need ‘em.”

In As You Like It, William Shakespeare writes,

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,”

James did have many parts or roles during his time on our stage. All the people gathered in West Point Baptist this past Saturday knew him in some of the same roles and in different ones. Some that he “played” like the revered football player we all shared. Some roles like Paw-Paw are cherished by six grandchildren. Some roles were that of older brother, or father, or husband. But all the gathered in his family church knew James as a kind man who never refused a request.  

In his poem To An Athlete Dying Young, A. E. Housman writes,

                         The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

Fortunately for us, James Hilton lived a long life unlike the young man in Housman’s poem, and when we finally had to bring him home we are better for having known, loved, and shared James’ life.

Cross Country

by   December 8, 2022 with No Comments

By David Freeze

This past weekend was another exciting one for Catawba’s freshman phenom Madison Clay, their girls’ cross-country team and Frank Adams IV. I promised an update and there is plenty of good news.

Between the men’s and women’s teams last Saturday, Catawba had five All-Region selections, all finishing in the top 25 individuals.  Coach Jason Bryan said, “That’s the most in school history for us, making a very special day. Both the men and women ran with everything they had.”

The men just missed out by one spot on qualifying for nationals for the second year in a row, but sophomore Oussama Ajala (Gastonia) finished 7th and qualified as an individual. Other All-Region selections were Erick Ramirez (Dobson)(15th) and EJ Threatt (Pageland, SC)(20th).

Bryan continued, “The women had a historic day with Morganton’s Madison Clay becoming the first Southeast Region Champion in school history while leading the women’s team to a national championship birth with a 3rd place finish. Clay claimed SE region runner of the year honors as a freshman. Raina Andrews (Rock Hill, SC) finished 4th with another All-Region selection while Natalie Almond (Oakboro)(26th), Mikayla Jones (Aurora, Ohio)(27th), and Aislynn Reagle (Nashville, Tennessee)(30th) all finished in the top 30 to round out scoring.

The top three teams in the region get an automatic bid and the men’s team just missed out on an at-large bid. The national finals will be held in Seattle, Washington, on Dec. 2.

Madison Clay said, “I’ve been running on and off ever since I was very young, but I didn’t really get into the sport until my high school sophomore year. I had a wonderful coach who made everyone feel important, even if they weren’t overly fast. That really motivated me to keep going.” Clay dropped her 5K time from 29:58 during her sophomore year to 17:38 this year.

She continued, “On average, I usually run around 60 miles a week depending whether it’s a training or recovery week. I used to really enjoy biking and bike workouts, especially when I was injured for a period of time in high school, but I haven’t needed any cross training in a long while. In all honesty, I really just love the training, going outside and being with my teammates. The achievements and awards are more so an added bonus than anything else.”

Clay is much more than a runner and excellent student. She said, “Outside of running, I love music and art. I started playing the violin when I was 5 years old and the piano when I was 6. Then in middle school I picked up trumpet and ended up being in band/marching band all the way up through high school. I even auditioned and made it to the district level for trumpet (not to toot my own horn). To this day, I still love playing all three instruments and it brings me a lot of joy when I learn a new song.”

Frank Adams also loves running and has become a local favorite. He’s been training with a group out of Concord and has continued his improvement while running in the 8 and under USATF 2K division. Adams has won three consecutive races including the state and regional championships. He posted a time of 8:07.80 to win the regional in Greensboro last Sunday and has qualified for a trip to the Nationals in Texas.

Adams said, “This race was a challenge! I was competing against most of the boys I had raced against the last two races, and they were coming for me. I knew I had to go out fast and take the lead in order to win.”

Mom Allison Dupree Adams said, “Frank did a great job with his race plan. He got out to a fast start and made the others run his race. He pushed hard in the cold to get his personal best time in a 2K, equivalent to a 6:30 per mile pace. Frank definitely has the love of running, just like my dad (Ed Dupree), and works hard to achieve his goals.”

Next up for local runners and walkers is the Freeze Your Buns 5K in Spencer on Dec. 3. Look for this and other events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Seek Him

by   December 7, 2022 with No Comments

By Ed Traut

Psalms 63:1 O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

  • Sometimes we go through dry patches which seems so hard but it only makes us become more dependent upon Him and appreciate Him all the more.
  • He is our God and when we seek Him we focus on Him continually.  He becomes our main goal and purpose in life. 
  • A happy place it is when we seek Him, because He will be fond of us as He promises us.

Prayer:  I do long for You Lord continually and I seek You because there is just no one like You.  You have never let me down or disappointed me and I love You with all my heart.  I bless Your holy name today.  Amen. 


Ed Traut
Prophetic Life

Shopping

by   December 6, 2022 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

The wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus. They were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

If the wise men went shopping, so should we.

Thanksgiving Day — 3 p.m. Stores were opening. The shopping season had begun. I refused to believe that Black Friday had the best deals.

Not me. I opted for shopping from home on Thanksgiving Thursday. A cup of coffee, a slice of pecan pie and my computer. I smiled as I saw that everything was 40% off! I knew it! Shopping with the crowd on Black Friday had no real advantage!

I shopped. I did it! I got $600 worth of stuff for only $360. I proudly shut down my computer — and rewarded myself with a turkey sandwich. I was a super shopper!

Friday morning arrived. An email informed me that everything was now 50% off. Mental math informed me that my $600 purchase could have been $300 — not the $360 I had spent. It was heartbreaking.

Too much time had been spent looking for what I thought was the best deal — and it ended up not being the best deal.

However, there is one great deal none of us can afford to pass up! Here is the info:

DEAL OF THE DAY! IT’S FREE! You do not even have to make the purchase! Jesus died on the cross for our sins to purchase our salvation!

Don’t know how to locate the deal? Here is the special access code: John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

As for Black Friday?  And the greatest Door Buster?

No sale — or gift of any price — could begin to compare with the gift the world was given on the darkest Black Friday — as Jesus gave His life for our sins.

And three days later, He became the real Door Buster, as He burst forth from the tomb, giving the world the greatest gift ever given  — victory over death!

It was — and is — the deal of a lifetime!

Lord, help us to never become complacent about the gift of a lifetime that You freely gave to all who will accept it. Amen.

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

Listening

by   December 5, 2022 with No Comments

Have you ever just needed to talk with someone? Well, there is a man named Al who will listen. I want to encourage you to LISTEN to this story by Steve Hartman. Be encouraged…..

The Difference

by   December 5, 2022 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

Last week we rented the old John Wayne movie The Cowboys. Why you ask? What better way to celebrate 50 years together! In the year of our Lord, 1972 a very quiet guy in my high school took a chance and asked me to the movies. He had no idea that John Wayne was an icon in our home; the picture of all things tough and heroic. I guess the Lord saw to that small detail ahead of time. But even better, the next week he asked me to a Bible study. Not John Wayne… my new friend David. That night my life changed. It was the first time I understood why Jesus went to the cross. Suddenly it made sense. I could never measure up to God’s holiness, so He died in my place. OH! What a difference that single decision made. Because a quiet young man stepped waaayyy out of his comfort zone and asked a feisty girl to a homemade Bible study, at least the next 50 years were changed.
I went home and spoke to my little sisters about Christ. One trusted Him right away; the other understood a few weeks later. Fast forward to the families of us three sisters. We each married men who love the Lord, raised three kids apiece to honor Him; they in turn are raising children to love Him as well. The ones who don’t have children yet are making a difference in the lives around them. Sure we have a few prodigals in the mix, of whom I am chief. The point is not to brag on our great family. Lord knows that’s not the goal. We sure don’t want to invite the scrutiny that would bring. The moral of the story is to say, take a chance. Invite the stranger. Reach out to someone the Lord puts in your path. Who knows what ripple effect you could cause in the next fifty years.
Maybe even for eternity.

Peace

by   December 3, 2022 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            My neighbors and I work hard to decorate the outside of our homes over the Thanksgiving weekend. It seems that almost all my neighbors put out some kind of Christmas decorations. I like seeing them during the daytime but really enjoy seeing the whole street lit up at night.

            We want to bring the spirit of Christmas to our community. We chat and encourage each other as we are out there working. Each year I think we are beginning to question how many lights we are going to put out, but then as the season rolls around we find the energy to decorate again. It makes me feel good to see all the Christmas lights.  

            We used to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday and I would return home to a Christmas wonderland. I would feel the need to get going on the decorating when I got home. We haven’t traveled the last couple of years so I have been able to decorate over the Thanksgiving weekend. Actually, I think I need more time. I think it has something to do with the gray hair on my head.

            I should clarify that the outside is all decorated. I haven’t even considered starting the inside decorations. This is an area where we have kept to our family traditions. When I was a small child Santa came and decorated the house and set up our Christmas tree on Christmas eve. I could never figure out why my parents were so tired the next day since Santa did all the work. As we grew a little older Santa needed our help. Our tree would go up about a week before Christmas and come down on New Year’s Day.

            We have decided to find a compromise between those who put their tree up the week of Thanksgiving and sometime right before the big day. So while I am itching to get started, I am glad to take a breather after getting everything put up outside. In the meantime, I enjoy walking through our neighborhood and seeing everyone’s trees shining through their windows.

            Many years ago, I was walking through Lowe’s looking to see what was new for Christmas and I found something called a yard card. It is a four-by-eight-foot banner that says “Peace” with a beautiful white dove on it. It has more parts than you can count and takes a while to put together. I love it and look forward to putting it out each year. We’ve had it for a number of years and it is showing some wear. The strings have broken and been repaired. The stakes have also broken. One of the poles snapped a few years ago but I was able to reinforce it with some tape. The banner itself is holding up well. It takes some tender care, but it is up again this year and looking good.

            I stood out in the street to admire my work the other evening and my eye was drawn to that old peace sign. With all the tender loving care I have given it, the sign shines brightly in the spotlight. Peace, it proclaims. Peace on earth and good will towards men. If only the passers-by knew how tattered and tenuous that peace was in my yard.

            The sad truth is that peace does not exist in our world. It seems almost weekly there is another mass shooting in the U.S. The war between Russia and Ukraine still rages on. North Korea is shooting off missiles. China is experiencing unrest and even protests. Where is this peace on earth that was promised?

            The peace He promised is not a worldly peace but rather an inner peace. The world may go crazy around you but the peace of Christ can reside in your heart. The only requirement is that you ask Jesus into your heart so He can bring His perfect peace to you. His peace is like nothing else. It is available to all who would open their hearts to Him. It is the peace that goes beyond understanding that can guard your hearts and minds. You only have to invite Him in.

            I want to encourage you to invite the Christ of Christmas into your heart and allow His peace to fill your heart and mind. The holiday season can be a crazy and stressful time. Don’t allow all the craziness to distract you from that little baby born in a manger who came to bring you a peace and joy that will far outlast this holiday season. May His peace encompass you and your household this holiday season.  

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

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