Adaton United Methodist Church

No doubt  you have seen the horrific news about the events that took place on the campus of Virginia Tech University.  The news was terrifying and unimaginable.  I say terrifying because it took place on a college campus.  As I watched the events unfold and this morning when I saw the names come across the bottom of the screen of the victims, it hit me that this could have just as easily of been Mississippi State University and those names could have been the names of the young men and women in our church.  As with you, I have asked the same questions.  Questions that were asked after Columbine, the same questions that are asked anytime something like this happens.  Why?  Why would anyone be led to do such an awful thing.

 The police have released the name of the young man who committed this atrocity.  He is a 23 year old student from South Korea.  23 years old!  Now we will never know what was going through his mind, but what would make a 23 year old kid think that this was his only course of action?  What would make him so angry to take a gun and kill over 30 people?  We may never know, but it does force us to take a hard look at some of the influences we see everyday that relate to this.  After flipping from Fox News where they were discussing the shootings, I came across a commercial for the new DVD “Smoking Aces” and the whole commercial was showing people shooting each other.  A commercial for a movie and the name of the film escapes me but it showed a lady putting a gun to her leg and shooting everyone.  Think about the video games that kids play today.  Games in which they can go and be the killer!  Where they can hijack a car and have a gunfight with the police!   We live in a violent society.  Now when you mix those influences with an isolated kid who is filled with anger, the result is deadly. 

This may seem like a rant and it is, because this is something that is happening far to often.  Of course the one to blame for this event is the shooter, but we must look at the things that went into creating this.  I just can’t fathom why a 23 year old kid would do something like this.  I have thought, “Where did he get the guns to do this?”  I am for gun rights, but what does a 23 year old kid need with a gloc?  Didn’t the salesperson ask?  There are many questions to ask.  For the parents in our church, please take a peek into your kids rooms and see what games they are playing and what music they are hearing.  Check the television and the movies they are watching.  What images are your kids seeing and what values are they getting from them? 

We here at the church have your kids for 1-3 hours a week, sometimes not even that much.  We try to get the Christian values across but for every hour they spend in church they are watching 3-4 hours of MTV.  You need to enforce the Christian values in your home and let your kids see them in you.  Also, talk to your kids.  This goes for all of us in the church.  What is going on in their lives?  What problems are they going through?  Let’s give them an outlet for their anger and frustration.   And pray for our young men and women.  Pray that they will choose to follow Christ and to live by His standards and not the standards of Quentin Terrintino or Snoop Dogg. 

Again, this could have as easily have been Mississippi State instead of Virginia Tech.  It could have easily have been Starkville High or Starkville Academy instead of Columbine.  Let’s do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen here.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the families of the victims of this horrible tragedy.  This week especially, make it a point to pray for our children, pray for the young men and women on our college campuses, and pray for ourselves that we may live our lives in such a way where we set the example for others to follow.  

On a different topic, I want to let you know that I am involved in a charity trying to raise money for the Relay for Life here in Starkville.  You’ve probably seen the posters around town advertising this event.  This event is to raise money for cancer research.  All of us in this church have been impacted by cancer one way or another.  On May 5^th from 5pm to 1 am, we will be walking to raise money for the relay for life.  If you would like to donate to this cause, please get with me anytime here soon.  This is a great cause to support.  Also, if you would like to join me in walking on May 5^th, please let me know.  I would like to get as many people from our church to walk as possible. 

This Sunday we will be continuing our sermon series on “With the Risen Christ I Can…” and we will be taking a look at how with the risen Christ I can Change Where I am Going in Life”  The text is from Acts 9:1-20.  This is the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  As most of you know, Saul would later become Paul and become the best missionary this world has ever seen.  1/3^rd of our new testament is written by him.  One thing that you will find very often in the new testament is Paul’s testimony.  Skim through the New Testament and try to find how many times you see Paul telling some one about how he came to know Christ.  Let’s just say it is more than once.  And Paul was proud to be a Christian.  Paul knew the power of the Gospel because he had experienced it first hand.  In this text, look to see what Saul was doing and where he was going.  Try to think about what Saul’s mission in life was at that point.  Then compare that to Christ’s mission for Paul.  Think about how this experience changed Saul and his direction in life.  How was it humbling?  How was it empowering?  Would you have expected this to happen to Saul?  Why or Why not?  Is there someone who you might compare to Saul, someone who you think is the last person in the world who would follow Christ? 

Now there are a lot of subplots in this story.  I love the story of Ananias.  Think about how hard it must have been for Ananias to do what God was calling him to do.  One author I have been reading on this puts it this way.  Paul was the mighty hunter, who found himself being hunted, who was captured by Christ. Then the mighty hunter who had come to wreak havoc on the Christians of Damascus was led into town blind, weak, and impotent.  Then something else happens.  The hunter is ministered to by the hunted.  Remember, Saul was coming to Damascus to arrest and kill Christians like Ananias, and here was Ananias and others like him taking care of Saul.   And then Saul became a hunter again, but this time not to destroy Christians, but to make Christians.   What a great miracle!!!  Now the direction we will be going in this sermon is to look at how God had plans for Saul even though he was not living for Christ at that time, and how God also had plans for Ananias who was living for Christ.  Those plans weren’t what they had planned for themselves, but they gave in to the leadership of Christ and you see what happened.  Think about how God has a plan for you right now.  No matter where we are in life or where we are spiritually, God has a purpose for all of us.  I’m sure as we study this, that you will find a little bit of Saul, a little bit of Ananias, and a little bit of Paul in all of us. 

Some other tidbits before I close this out.  This upcoming Wednesday at 10 am our friends at the Carrington Nursing home will be throwing a Volunteer appreciation party and those who are involved in our Monthly ministry there are encouraged to attend.  At 2 pm on that same day, Ms. Nancy Critz will be leading the program at the nursing home.  If possible, come and join us for this ministry. 

Also, the actual softball team will not begin playing games until late this summer but we need to start practicing here soon.  I am asking for volunteers to help us get the field next to our church ready to practice on.  If you have any skills in making a field ready for practice, please help us get the field ready.  Also, we need players. This will be a co-ed league so we need to have plenty of women to play as well as plenty of men.  Remember this is for fun.  You don’t have to be a Babe Ruth or a Mickey Mantle to play softball with us.  It’s great fun and great exercise.   

To get you thinking ahead, remember that our 5^th Sunday service will be held at our sister church Longview UMC at 11 am on April 29^th.   This is a chance where we come together as a charge to see familiar faces and get to know the new ones.  We will be having a potluck dinner afterwards so be thinking about some neat new cuisine you can come and impress your fellow parishioners with. 

As always, thank you all for being such a great church.  Please keep our church in your prayers and me as well.  You all are great!

In Christ,

Barry

  Link of the Week:    www.gbgm-umc.org/Umhistory/Wesley/index.html

Quote of the Week

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

T. S. Eliot

Good day everyone!  I know it has been a while since the last letter but it has been pretty busy around here. I want to start off by thanking all of you who helped make our holy week services happen.  I think that all the services were meaningful and moving.  On Sunday morning, I was glad to see so many of our friends with us to worship.  In case you were counting, we had 103 in worship on Sunday, give a take 1 or 2 either way.  I want to thank all of you who invited your friends and family to come and worship with you.  I want to encourage you to do the same each week.  One of my professors was telling our class a story about a man in his church who told him that he thought the preacher was in a preaching slump because every time he comes to church he preaches on the same topic.  The man only showed up on Easter Sunday. 

I was so glad to see Ms. Louise Reynolds in church with us this past Sunday.  Louise and David have been through so much and it was so wonderful to see them in that back pew.  I know how much being in church means to David and Louise. 

Tonight we are continuing our new Mid-week Bible study on the “Purpose Driven Life” book written by Rick Warren.  This book clarifies the 5 purposes we have in life, purposes that God has made for us.  This study has the potential to transform your life so I encourage all of you to come and attend.  Our study begins at 7 pm in the fellowship hall of our church. 

This upcoming Sunday we will be starting a new sermon series entitled, “With The Risen Christ We Can…” and it is going to be looking at the difference in our life we have because Christ is risen.  Think about it.  What difference does it make to us in a practical sense that Christ is alive.  This past week I had a chance to teach the Youth Sunday School class and we came up with the 12 top issues/problems that we are facing in our lives and in this world and then we had to relate how the cross of Jesus and His resurrection impacts those problems.  By the end of the class we had addressed every issue.  It was very powerful (at least to me.)  

This week we will be looking at the difference the risen Christ made in the life of Peter and his boldness.  The text is Acts 5:27-32.  As you read this text, keep in mind what Peter has done previously.  Peter had denied that he even knew Jesus not once , but three times. And this was to a slave girl and to others like her.  So here in the text, look at the boldness of Peter to proclaim Jesus.  As you study this text, a couple things that make this passage so powerful to me that you may want to keep in mind as you read.  First, notice who the people are that Peter is being brought before.  What is their history and what have they been known to do, especially to Jesus.  Also, how do you account for Peter’s new found boldness.  What reasons does Peter give?  The disciples were told not to teach in the name of Jesus.  What are some modern day parallels to this?  How do we respond when faced with that decision and why can we be bold in the face of such opposition? 

Some other news and notes I want to pass on.  This Sunday there will be a youth rally for the Starkville District of the United Methodist Church on the MSU campus.  I want to take as many of our youth as possible to this.  I will be getting in touch with the youth and their parents before Friday with more information about the event.  Also in May, the Methodist Men Group of our church will be taking the women of our church out to eat one night for Mother’s Day.  Now this is not just for mothers, but for all women in our church.  We are working on the where and when of the event and we will get more information to you.  Also, we are trying to get a softball team together for this summer and this year we want to play in the Co-Ed league.    If you would like to be involved, please let me know.  We need to start practicing here soon. 

Also, the Carrington home will be having a volunteer appreciation event on April 18^th at 10 am.  This is for all of those who participate in our monthly service their at the Carrington home.  If you would like to attend, please let me know as soon as possible so I can get a number of participants to the director their at the Carrington home.

Some other things about this upcoming Sunday.  This Sunday we will be celebrating the baptism of Ms. Emily, the daughter of Bart and Cynthia Williams.  This is always a special event in the life of not only the parents and family, but in the life of our church as well.   So make it a point to be in church on Sunday to celebrate with Bart and Cynthia. 

Keep in your prayers Lane Godwin who will be having knee surgery on Thursday.  Also, many of you know Alice and Buddy McClelland who have attended our Wednesday night study.  This past week Alice found out that she has a mass on her brain.  The doctors don’t know yet if the tumor is malignant or benign.  She and Buddy really need our prayers at this time.  If there is any other prayer request that you can think of, we have a white board in our chapel that if you will write that name down we will mention them Sunday during church. 

As always, I want to thank you for being such a wonderful church and if you need anything from me please let me know. 

In Christ,

Barry Robinson.

Quote of the Week

This is a prayer that was originally given by Bob Russell at a prayer breakfast for the Kentucky governor.  A fellow minister named Joe Wright of Central Christian Church asked for permission to use the prayer and he adapted it when he was  the  guest chaplain for the Kansas House of Representatives.  The  prayer angered a lot of people. 

“  "We confess we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem." ...As one legislator walked out and another sat down, Wright continued. "We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment."

Link of the Week:    www.hymnsite.com

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ!  This week begins to me what is one of the greatest weeks of the year!  Yes, even better than the week of Christmas and New year!  It is the week of the 1^st and 2^nd rounds of March Madness.  There is so much excitement to it.  First, you have the big upsets.  Who is going to be this years David and knock off Goliath!  You have the buzzer beaters.  That shot from 5 feet beyond the three point line that banks off the backboard and goes in to win the game as you watch the entire team dive onto the poor guy who made the shot.  I love this time of year!  One thing that I try to keep in mind, and this is especially true after I have had a chance to go to a few games and watch the teams play, is that these are a bunch of kids playing and having a once in a life time experience.  Now I know some are cynical and will say that they are just in it for the money and they are playing to go pro.  Well, only a handful will go pro.  The rest are 18-22 year olds who are trying to balance a full school load with playing a full time sport and are having a blast doing it.   So I love to see the excitement on the faces of the kids (especially the ones in blue!).  I have my brackets filled out, and if anyone would like to compare (or challenge!) yours and my brackets, bring them to the bible study on Wednesday night. 

This past week Denise and the girls went to Waveland, MS to spend the weekend with Denise’s parents.  Denise’s dad is a pastor there and he is going to retire this June, so this is really the last weekend the girls will have to go down and hear their papaw preach.  So I have been the Bachelor this past weekend (Pizza, hot Wings and nothing but ball games, yeah baby!!!).  I also had a chance to go see a movie this past week and I was really excited about seeing it.  Many of you know that I am a history nut.  I love studying the past-especially the significant events in the past that helped shape where we are now.  That’s why I love church history so much.  So when I heard a while back that they were doing a movie about the battle of Thermopylae, I was excited.  This battle helped save Greek culture which would become the basis for the Western world.  Also, on the other side are the Persians led by King Xerxes, who you may remember took Esther to be his queen (Read the book of Esther) and is also mentioned in the books of Ezra (Ezra 4:6). So not only did it have a historical aspect that I was interested in, I was anxious to see how they would portray Xerxes.  Honestly, I had in my mind a movie much like Braveheart that starred Mel Gibson.  So when the commercials for the movie 300 started showing, I noticed that it showed some monsters and such, but I thought, perhaps that is a dream sequence and such.  It wasn’t!  To say the least… It was a horrible movie!  DO NOT GO SEE IT!  It was very bloody and gory, and included some awful scenes where I had to turn my head.  (To read a full review of this, follow this link to a Christian movie review site.  http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2007/3002007.html)

One thing that I did pick up on was the idea of bravery and sacrifice from the king of Sparta.  He was wanted to die and considered it one of the greatest honors to die for his country.  The film spoke about sacrifice and such, and it portrayed the king as sort of this king who was willing to sacrifice himself.  Yet, he was only willing to sacrifice himself in a blaze of glory.  Only with a sword in hand killing would he sacrifice himself.  As I watched, I kept thinking about the way Jesus Christ, our King, sacrificed Himself.  He didn’t have a sword in hand, in fact He had to tell Peter to put his away in the garden. He willingly laid down His life and He did so out of love.  In the movie, the King of Sparta is killed and is filled with hate for those who are doing it.  One other thing, Jesus had the power to defeat those who were killing Him,  He had a choice and He chose to die for us.  What a difference!

Keeping kind of with that theme of the love of God, this week we are going to continue our sermon series “Making our Way to the Cross” by looking at a very familiar text and that is the story of the Prodigal son found in Luke 15:1-3; 11-32.  This is perhaps one of the most beloved stories in the bible and it talks about our rebellious nature of trying to find greener pastures outside of God and the amazing love that Christ has for us even in our rebellion and the reconciliation and restoration that takes place.  One commentator said that the story can be summed up this way: Sick of Home, Sick, Homesick, Home.  This passage is connected with two other stories that Christ told that deals with the issue of Christ having fellowship with sinners.  The Pharisees were flabbergasted by the very idea that Jesus was speaking to these so called “awful” people.  Remember, that in that culture to eat with someone meant that you were not just friends with that person, but you were intimate friends.  It indicated a connection.  That is why the text in Rev. 3:20 is so powerful.  Christ wants to come in a dine with us.  So when the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the “sinners”, they thought how dare He have any connection with those wicked people. 

Now what makes this sad in my mind is that the Pharisees and the other teachers of the law were supposed to be caring for these people.  They were supposed to be trying to lead these “sinners” back to God, but instead they decided on their own that God should have nothing to do with those people.  So Jesus reminds the Pharisees that God doesn’t give up on wayward people and He illustrates this by telling the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep.  Two key verses to understanding this passages to me is Luke 15:7 and 10.  Luke 15:7 in the NIV says, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  And I love the way the Message Bible puts vs. 10.  It reads, “Count on it— that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."  Kent Hughes wrote that “tears of repentance are the wine of angels.”  These verses illustrate to us the passion God has for even the most wicked sinner.  The first two stories in Luke 15 tell about God’s searching for us, the story of the Prodigal son tells us the part that we play in coming to Christ.

In the story the younger son decides that it is time for him to leave home.   We don’t know why he wanted to go, but I know from experience (and I’m sure many of you do as well) that when you are at that age of your late teens and early twenties, you want to get as far away from home as you can.  I’m guessing that this kid was tired of the rules, and having to put up with not only his dad, but his brother as well.  Also, I think that the kid probably thought that he could make it out on his own. That he could succeed without his father.  Plus, it is believed that he would have to wait until he was about 30 to start enjoying his wealth, and some folks just don’t like to wait!

Whatever the reason, his statement to his dad must have shocked him.  He basically said, “Dad give me my share of the inheritance.”  Now that is shocking, but what is more shocking is that the Dad gave it to him!  Now why do you think he did that?  Do you think that this Dad was naïve and could be manipulated and controlled by his children?  Or do you think that this was a classic case of “this is the only way you will ever learn-you have to learn the hard way.”  Try to relate this to our relationship with God.  Does God keep us from making every dumb decision we make?  Does God stop us from walking away and trying to do things on our own?  Think about how this plays out with the issue of our free-will and compare this with the two previous parables.  If God is searching for us, does He then let us walk away?

The Son ends up going and wasting his money away. It says it was on wild living so I get in my mind the image of  wild parties, being the guy who buys the round of drinks for his buddies, and all that.  But one thing about money.  It goes fast.   And pretty soon this young man found himself far from home and broke.  Do you think his friends stayed around?  

He then went to work for a citizen of the country. Now you can’t say enough how degrading this would be.  The Jewish people at that time were a proud people.  Yes, they were being ruled by the Romans, but this idea that this Jewish man became a servant to a gentile was a horrible humiliation for a Jew.  Also he was a day laborer, the lowest of the servants and his duty was to go work with the swine.  Now we can’t say enough how degrading this was to a Jew. Pigs were considered unclean animals (not just because of the mud!).  For him to be working with the pigs, for a gentile, as a day laborer meant that this young man had firmly hit the bottom.  He even wanted to eat what the pigs were eating (YUCK!).  Think about what life was like just a few weeks before for this young man.  Oh how quickly things can change.

When he hits rock bottom, that’s when the young man comes to his senses and realizes that he ought to go back home.  Ask yourself why you think that it is often only when we hit rock bottom that we start searching for God.  Have you had this happened to you before?  What happened when things got better? Did you stop going to God? 

I don’t want to write a whole sermon here (you still need to come Sunday!) but the son goes to his father with a humble spirit-not demanding that the father give him this and that, but that he just wanted to go home.  And the father saw him which meant that the father was looking for him (connect with the previous two stories), and ran to him.  Picture that image in your mind.  What a hallmark moment!  And not only does the father welcome the son back, but he restores him as well.

Some key themes that I want you to think about this week is our desire to do our own thing away from God, God’s love for us to allow us the freedom to choose, God’s pursuit of us even in our rebellion, what repentance is, the conditions of forgiveness, and above all else the amazing love a our wonderful Father in heaven.

Some other tidbits that I want to say.  First a reminder that we do have Wednesday night bible study this week.  We will be looking at two groups this week, the Nation of Islam and the British-Israel groups.  Both deal with using religion as a means of racial superiority.  Our study starts at 7 pm.  Also, don’t forget that the chapel is open for prayer at 6:30.  

Once again I want to say how much I appreciate all of you and I hope that you have a terrific week.  For those of you on Spring break please have a safe and enjoyable time and get some much needed rest and relaxation. (Just don’t be late on Sunday morning!).  If any of you need me for anything, please don’t hesitate to either call me or stop by to see me.  I am in Memphis on Mondays and Thursdays, but I still have my cell phone on me.  My cell phone number is 617-1584 and I have it on me at all times (unless it gets lost, misplaced, not charged, etc.).  Again, I think the world of you and I believe I serve two of the greatest churches in the conference.  Thanks again for being so wonderful.

In Christ,

Barry Robinson.

Quote of the Week

“Because God is self-existent, His love has no beginning;

Because He is eternal, His love can have no end;

Because He is infinite, His love has no limit;

Because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity;

Because He is immense, His live is an incomprehensibly vast bottomless, shoreless sea.”

-A.W. Tozier in “Knowledge of the Holy”

Good morning everyone.  Sorry this email is getting out later than normal.  This past Monday when I went to school in Memphis, I left the power cord to my computer plugged into the wall at my school.  When I went to go plug my computer in Tuesday morning, I realized it was missing and I had to wait until Thursday to get it.  You don’t realize just how addicted you are to checking email until you have to go a few days without it.  I might check myself into email rehab. 

            I want to thank everyone who participated in this past weeks revival.  I thought it was a success.  We had some great singers share their gift with us.  I want to thank our friends “Long Way to Go” for singing on Sunday night.  They sang wonderfully.  (Oh by the way, congratulations again to Amanda on her marriage to Alan Sibley. Can you imagine the musical talent their kids will have? Watch out Nashville!)  And I hate that I missed hearing Rick Chambers on Monday night but I was told that he did a wonderful job.  Rick has that rich deep voice that I love to hear. Also, I would like to thank my wife Denise for singing on Tuesday night.  I can’t say enough about Denise.  She is just a wonderful woman and as Tom Whitfield says, “She dropped her standards to marry me!” And I loved not only the singing, but the testimony as well of Josh Buford on Wednesday night.  For those of you in Mathiston, make sure you look up Josh whenever he is speaking or singing. 

            I enjoyed the preaching of Mike Childs.  Mike has a preaching style that I enjoy hearing.  It is humorous yet confronting and he pulls no punches but yet speaks of the grace of God.  I wish I could have been here to hear the monkey story because I heard that it had people rolling.  The best thing about Mike is that his preaching comes from his love for Christ and his conviction that the scriptures are indeed the word of God. 

            I also want to acknowledge the work of Tom and Vivian Whitfield and the entire Witness Committee for helping to put together this revival.  They worked hard getting all the special musicians lined up and the meals squared away. When you see them make sure you tell them that they did a great job!  Also, make sure you thank Jeanne Whitehead for playing the piano for us each night.  We are so blessed to have Jeanne as our piano player. Not just because she is so gifted playing the piano, but because she has such a heart for God that is contagious.  

            Now that are revival has come to an end, I know that a lot of you are wore out and exhausted.  I hope that you will take today and tomorrow to catch your breath so that on Sunday morning you will come to church ready to worship God with a sense of eagerness and excitement.  Our sermon Sunday will be on the passage found in Luke 13:1-9 dealing with people’s attitudes toward some tragedies that had taken place there in Jerusalem.  The Galileans were known for being a bit hot-headed and some of them got killed while at the temple.  Although we can’t say with 100% surety that this is the event described in this passage, most scholars agree so we can say it is about 95%.  The event that is believed to be described here is that Pilate was building a water duct for Jerusalem, and so he thought it would be appropriate that the people of Jerusalem pay for it, so he took the money from the Temple to pay for this water system.

Many Jews didn’t like the idea that God’s money was being taken and used by the Romans.  So it is believed that some Galilean came to the temple to revolt, but Pilate knew about it and had some of his soldiers dressed in casual clothing mingle with the crowd, and at the signal they drew their weapons and dispersed the crowd.  So the blood of the people mixed with the blood of the sacrifices of the Temple.  It is also believed that the accident Jesus refers to happened while the water duct was being built. It is believed that the tower stood where the south and east walls of Jerusalem came together.   

Now the Jewish theology of that day was to always equate suffering with sin.  Much like people refer to karma today.  If something bad happens to you, you must have done something to deserve it or it wouldn’t have happened.  This is evident in the book of Job when Job’s friends come by and try to get him to confess to sins he didn’t commit.  This is also seen in John 9 with the man who was born blind.  The disciples see him there and they ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or this man’s parents that he was born this way?”  They even thought that a baby could sin in the womb!  So you can imagine when these events happen, how people were talking about how much they deserved what they got.  Can’t you hear them saying, “That’s what they get for protesting!”  or “That’s what they get for working on a water system paid with God’s money!”   And what Jesus says is, Don’t think that they are worse sinners than you! 

This got me to thinking about how we often tend to do this.  If something happens we want to find a reason for it.  They must have done something for this to happen.  From a psychological point of view, the reason people do this is to distance themselves from the possibility that it would ever happen to them.  If a woman is raped, you will often hear people say something about the way she was dressed provocatively and that is why she was raped.  The reason they want to say that  is that they can then say, “I don’t dress that way so it will never happen to me.”  Or you may hear someone say, “He got cancer because he didn’t eat right and take care of himself. I take care of myself and watch what I eat so I will never get it.”  So we want to equate suffering and sin so that we can say, I don’t do that so it will never happen to me. 

There is something very unsettling about the idea that bad things can happen to us at random.  We want to have a world that makes perfect sense, and the problem is that we live in a chaotic world.  Bad things happen at random.  So Jesus is saying for us not to equate suffering with sin all the time.  Sometimes there can be a direct connection, but be careful in making that link.

The other issue that Jesus is dealing with here, and I think an issue that is very important, is that there were those who were thinking that they were better then other people because they didn’t have the trouble in their lives like others did.  This is the main direction our sermon will go on Sunday.  They were thinking that they were some how superior morally because their lives were good.  They were blessed so they thought they were somehow earning the blessedness.  What Jesus is saying in this passage is that you are no better than they are and what they have to do is the same thing you have to do.  You must repent.  Now I don’t want to give away the whole sermon, but you can get the direction I am going.  So a few questions I want you to focus on before Sunday:  Do I ever think that other people need Jesus more than I do?  Now think about this one.  This week during our revival, did you think about so and so a few pews ahead of you and how much they need to go to the altar and pray?  Did you ever think that maybe you needed to go to the altar and pray?  So the question is, do I think I don’t need to do what I think others need to do.  They need grace, I don’t (at least not as much!). 

Also, ask yourself about how we tend to view different sins as being worse than others.  Often we tend to think of the sins we can see, like a habit, a life-style, or adultery as being far worse than others.  Yet think about the damage that is done from the sin of spiritual pride, or when we covet that which belongs to another, or when we see others as being below us.  We can’t see these sins as much as those others, but these sins are often at the root of the more visible sins.  Often, we tend to classify sins as acceptable and unacceptable.  Acceptable are the ones that I am guilty of, unacceptable are the ones everyone else is guilty of.  But the point of all this is that we all are guilty and we all need to repent and we all need the grace given to us in Jesus Christ!  

Some other notes before I end this.  Be in prayer for Emily Hughes as she is going to be involved in the state gymnastics meet in Tupelo on Sunday.  Also, be in prayer for Ben Harris of our church who has been suffering from Kidney Stones.  There is a dry erase board in the hallway by the Chapel.  If you have a name you would like to have on our prayer list, please place the name on that board and the chapel will be open at 6:30 on Wednesday nights for prayer. 

Thanks again for everyone’s involvement in this years revival and your involvement in the church as well.  I want to encourage everyone to be inviting your friends and family to our church services every Sunday.  If you have any questions of me, please don’t be afraid to ask me and I will do my best to help you out.  I think the world of our two churches and you all are all terrific!  I’ll see you Sunday. Oh, and don’t forget about the time change (and no, it is not an excuse to miss church!)

In Christ,

Barry

Quote of the Week:

“Repentance is the process by which we see ourselves, day by day,

as we really are: sinful, needy, dependent people.

 It is the process by which we see God as He is: awesome, majestic, and holy.

Charles Colson (1931– )

Good afternoon everyone.  I hope that this week’s email will find you doing good and being good.  I want to thank all of you who sent me emails back and encouraged me with your words as I went before the ordination board this past Thursday.  Everything went great at the interview.  They asked a some questions but nothing really difficult.  I had prepared and studied many nights and I was all ready to debate, clarify, and shoot down any arguments (in a loving manner of course) but they didn’t give me a chance.  I had my six shooters loaded but I couldn’t shoot.  Which is a good thing actually.  But in all seriousness, thank you to all of you who prayed for me and encouraged me.  You all are great!

            This upcoming week is going to be a busy week for our church.  In addition to our Wednesday night bible study, we will be having our Methodist Men’s breakfast at 8:30 on Saturday.  Now I know that a few of our men have been staying away because either it has been to cold to get out or that it was deer season and Saturday was their hunting day.  Well, now with warmer weather and the end of deer season, I hope to see a great crowd Saturday morning for our breakfast.  We will have a great time of laughing and joking together so come and join us. 

            Then on Sunday, we start our revival.  Our guest evangelist for our revival is Rev. Mike Childs who is the senior pastor at Louisville First UMC.  Mike is a leading proponent for the historic Wesleyan faith, and is very active in evangelical movements across the state.  He has spoken at conferences and is a dynamic speaker.  We are blessed to have him to come and speak to us for our revival.  Our music on Sunday nights will be our good friends “Long Way to Go”.  Heath, Caleb, and Amanda are three of the most talented and fun persons around.  We have been blessed by their talents in the past and we look forward to hearing them on Sunday night.  On Monday we will have the rich voice of our own Rick Chambers.  On Tuesday night we will have a woman who is after my own heart come and sing for us, my wife Denise (Stay away from her guys! She’s with me!).  On Wednesday we will have the music of Josh Buford to close us out for our revival. 

            I hope that you will pray that God will pour His Spirit out upon us during this revival.  I have felt that our church over these past few months has been missing something that I just can’t put my finger on it.  It appears that we have hit that awful wall and we need to have a lift up over it.  I ask that we all begin to pray for a revival to take place in our own hearts and in our own families.  And I want us all to pray for this upcoming revival.  Pray for our musicians, pray for speaker, and pray for our church.  This Wednesday night we will have the chapel open for people to pray at 6:30. 

            In addition to our Wednesday night prayer meeting, I want all of us to fast and pray this Friday during our lunch hour.  We will have the church sanctuary open from 11 to 1 for those who want to come and pray during that time frame.  This will be a time for us to focus our hearts toward God and to truly and honestly pray for this revival.  If you can’t fast due to health reasons this is understandable and don’t feel bad for not being able to fast.  Even if you can’t fast during this time, I still ask that you pray for our revival. 

            With regards to our revival, on Sunday night we will be having a covered dish supper at 5:30 pm.  (I know, I just spoke about fasting and now I am talking about food.)  We will have our musical guest Long way to Go and our speaker Mike Childs as our honored guest so please come and join them in our meal and make them feel welcomed and appreciated.  

            On Sunday morning we will be continuing our sermon series “Making Our Way to the Cross”.  This Sunday’s text will be Luke 13:31-35.  In this passage Jesus is approached by a group of Pharisees who tell Him that King Herod is out to have Him killed so He better high tail it out of town.  Read this passage to see how Jesus responds for it may shock you.  If you have the image of Jesus as always having a smile on His face then you are in for a rude awakening as you read this passage. 

            This passage is interesting for a couple of reasons.  First we have to think about the motivation of the Pharisees in warning Jesus.  William Barclay suggest in his commentary that these were good Pharisees and they were genuinely concerned about the welfare of Jesus.  Now in the immediate passage we have nothing to doubt that claim.  While it is true that not all Pharisees were bad (Think of Nicodemus), I don’t think that these  Pharisees are really concerned about Jesus.  Jesus had some harsh words for the Pharisees back in Luke 11:37-53 which ends with vs 53 saying, “When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose Him fiercely and to besiege Him with questions waiting to catch Him in something He might say.” 

            I think that the Pharisees were playing nice trying to get Jesus out of their way.  I compare it to when I was younger, I had a friend who lived right next door to me who wanted to go to the dance with a girl that I thought was very, very cute.  So I convinced him that he would be bored at the dance and that she really wasn’t his type so he shouldn’t ask her to the dance.  He thought I was looking out for him, but the truth is…I was going to ask her out myself.   Now it came back to bite me because she came by to visit me and I wasn’t at home, so she went next door and she asked him out.  I ended up going to the dance stag with them two.  (Love can be tough on a 6^th grader.)

            But as you read the text, remember what we spoke about last week about the temptation of Jesus not to go to the cross.  What do you see in this passage that would indicate that temptation and the determination of Jesus to go forth no matter what. 

            A couple of other things to remember.  Herod wanted Jesus dead.  Now why do you suppose that?  Herod Antipas was not a good guy by no means.  He was married to a daughter of the king of the Nabatean Arabs. Herod had a brother in Rome called Phillip. Phillip stayed in Rome and was a wealthy private individual, yet he had no kingdom of his own.   So on a visit to Rome Herod Antipas seduced his brother’s wife, and persuaded her to leave his brother and to marry him (This would be great for Jerry Springer!).  In order to do so he had to put away his own wife.  He had divorced his own wife without cause, and he had married his sister-in-law, which under Jewish law was an improper relationship.  So most folks were to afraid to say anything about it, but John the Baptist was no ordinary person.  John told Herod that he was wrong and that he needed to repent of this sin.  Now this upset Herodias and she held a grudge against John and wanted her husband to kill him.  Yet Herod feared John and strangely enough loved to listen to him.  Yet when Herod was seduced by the dancing of his step-daughter/niece (didn’t I tell you this would be perfect for Jerry Springer!), he promised that he would give her  what ever she wanted.  Well, you know the story.  Herodias had her daughter ask for the head of John the Baptist and Herod to weak to do the right thing, gave in and had John killed.  This decision haunted John.  So when Jesus came around preaching and everybody else was debating who He was, Mark 6:16 says, “But when Herod heard this, he said, John the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”  Now remember that John the Baptist and Jesus were relatives and probably had similar characteristics.  So Herod was terrified, as probably was Herodias. 

            Now what makes all this really interesting is that in our text when the Pharisees come and tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill Him, Jesus says you go tell “that Fox”.  Now what is interesting is that the word fox is used in a feminine way.  So it could also be translated “Go tell that Vixen!”  Perhaps Jesus knew who the real person behind the threat was. 

            Now the reason I bring all this up is that John the Baptist has been killed by Herod.  So when the Pharisees come and tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill Him, this is not an idle threat.  Herod has already had a prophet killed.  Also, I want us to focus on Jesus’ love for Jerusalem even though they were going to reject Him.  I don’t like rejection.  Rejection hurts.  Especially the more you pour your love into someone, it just hurts to have someone throw that love back in your face.   The title of our sermon is “When Opposition arises, we must rise to the challenge.”  The main point that I want us to get from this is that even though Herod wanted to kill Jesus, and even though the Pharisees were trying to get Him to leave, Jesus not only continued to go to the cross, He didn’t let the opposition and hate that the Pharisees and Herod have for Him change His love for them.   How do we respond when someone opposes us?  Do we have the courage to stay the course?  Do we have the courage to love even when hated?  How do we respond to those who oppose the Gospel?  Some passages for us to look up that will help us in this study are as follows:  Romans 12:17-21;  1 Peter 2:18-25; Genesis 50: 15-21; Mark 6:14-29;  Luke 12:1-11; Luke 11:37-54.  Matthew 23:1-39; Luke 23:34-43.

            Some closing notes that I want to pass along.  First a reminder that there will be a workshop on March 4^th from 2 to 4 pm at Griffen UMC in Starkville.  There are plenty of workshops for all areas of the church.  If you want to attend you need to let me know by Wednesday so we can assure that you will have the materials for the workshops.   Also, I am preparing a sermon series for this summer over questions you have that you would like to have answered or addressed.  These questions can be over a biblical passage or over a current topic in our culture or just a question you have over any topic.  If you can submit your questions to me by sending me an email I would greatly appreciate it. 

            One last thing.  Next time you all see my girls offer your condolences to them.  Our dog Scooby died last Thursday.  When the girls found out, they went out to his body and offered up prayers for him and then we had a funeral service for him.  The girls all wrote letters to Scooby and they are so sweet.  It was truly a blessing for the dog to die, but it still hurt the girls.   So just keep them in your hearts.

            As always, I want to thank all of you for being such a great church.  You all are wonderful.   Please pass this email on to others you know and let’s invite others to come to church with us.  If you know someone who would like to read this email but doesn’t feel safe giving out their email address, there is a link on our web page for the blog and it has the email on it.  Also, on our webpage Samuel Knight has done a great redesigning it to make it more attractive and easier to use.  On the website you will find all kinds of information about our church.  If there is something you would like to add to the web page please email Samuel and he will help you out.  His address is there on the webpage. 

Also, I have included an attachment prepared by Butch Stokes, our finance chair, that let’s us know how we are doing financially.  Butch has done a fantastic job and we are blessed to have him as our finance chair.  Thanks again to everyone.

In Christ,

Barry

Quote of the Week:

“I am only one, but I am one.

I can’t do everything, but

I can do something.

And what I can do, I ought to do.

And what I ought to do, by the

Grace of God, I shall do.”

-Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909)