MIDWEEK MESSAGE #113<\/p>\n
Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #113.\u00a0 The weather this week has been pleasant so far and I hope your week has been the same. Prepare yourself for a somewhat disjointed MM.<\/p>\n
I wanted to let you know that I will NOT be doing a MM next week. I know you are disappointed but with the July 4th<\/sup> holiday and the office closed that puts us a day behind. The Building Team will also be heading to Graber Post Buildings in Montgomery, IN on July 7th<\/sup> to look at possibilities for our new addition. \u00a0Thanks to your continuing generosity, we now have $211,538 in the Building Fund. We promised at the outset we would do this wisely and in a way we felt would honor God (doing it debt-free) so it may seem slow to you.\u00a0 But this is a significant step for the Building Team because we have an idea of what we would like to build. We now need some clarity for direction.\u00a0 All that to say: it will be a short but very full week, especially for Diana, so I\u2019ll be a super good guy and let her have the week off from her editorial duties. J<\/p>\n On Friday, December 10, 2021 an EF4 tornado with winds cresting at 190 mph and lasting 2 hours and 54 minutes crashed its way through Mayfield, KY and surrounding areas leaving at least 57 confirmed dead. Besides the death toll, the devastation of property is beyond imagination.\u00a0 Rescue efforts began immediately by FEMA, Samaritan\u2019s Purse, and other organizations. Pastor Ryan has wanted to get the youth group involved in some way but has been unable to make connections. Until now. Now that the main rescue organizations have closed up shop, it is up to others to help with clean-up and relief efforts. During the week of July 18th<\/sup>, Ryan and Hope East and Cassie Linville will be taking a number of our youth with them to help with the clean-up of communities near Mayfield.\u00a0 To help with funding for the trip, the young people will be hosting a Mac & Cheese bar with all the fixin\u2019s on Saturday, July 8th<\/sup>. The dinner will be from 5:30-7:00 with doors opening at 5. There is no charge but donations are welcomed and accepted. If you cannot make it, there will be a jar for you to make a donation. Speaking personally, I am thankful that Pastor Ryan models and teaches a servant\u2019s heart to our young people.\u00a0 After the trip I will list all the participants.<\/p>\n Since this coming weekend is Independence Day weekend, I wanted to give myself some space to share something from my files that I clipped back in 1996 from Focus on the Family Citizen. It was a piece written by Tom Minnery, VP of Public Policy. To make room I will be editing it from its original writing:<\/p>\n \u201cIn the early decades of our nation\u2019s history, a devout, learned lawyer named Francis Scott Key became so taken with the power of Christ\u2019s gospel that twice he considered entering the ministry. Although he never did, Key became known around Washington, D.C. for his acts of charity and generosity. He worked tirelessly to improve the lot of Georgetown\u2019s poor children, and, along with others, toiled to create a free nation in Africa for the liberated slaves-thus inviting the displeasure of Southern slave owners some 50 years before the Civil War began.<\/p>\n Key was a follower of William Wilberforce, the Christian statesman in England who spent his entire adult life in his ultimately successful pursuit of ending England\u2019s slave trade. {Note: he was on his deathbed when the vote was taken to abolish the slave trade} Wilberforce\u2019s writings confirmed Key\u2019s growing belief that religious faith and patriotism went hand in hand, and that the Christian Gospel was a blueprint for public service.<\/p>\n On the evening of Sept. 13, 1814, at the height of the War of 1812, the 35-year-old Key gave of himself yet again. This time, however, he embarked on a mission of mercy fraught with danger. An elderly physician named William Beanes had been captured by the British and was imprisoned in the hold of a British warship. With President James Madison\u2019s blessing, Key set sail from Baltimore along with a prisoner-exchange officer to search the ship and negotiate Beanes\u2019 return.<\/p>\n Incredibly, they found the ship and freed the doctor but the small party was barred from leaving the warship that night. They were about to attack Baltimore and their first assault would be on Fort McHenry, which protected the city.<\/p>\n Key and the others were forced to watch as the British warship bombed the fort all night long. Cannon after cannon blasted away and it wasn\u2019t until the first light of day Key was able to see the American flag still flying above the fort- a majestic emblem of the failure of the British attack.<\/p>\n Swelled with pride for his country, and grateful to God for sparing the city (the British had sacked and burned D.C. just three weeks before), Key wrote what we now call our national anthem, the \u201cThe Star- Spangled Banner.\u201d\u00a0 We know and hear sung over and over the first stanza of that great anthem. But it is the unknown and seldom-sung fourth stanza that shows Key\u2019s intent with the song. Here are the words: \u201cO! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand\/ Between their lov\u2019d home and the war\u2019s desolation\/Blest with vict\u2019ry and peace, may the Heav\u2019n rescued land\/Praise the Power that hath made and preserv\u2019d us a nation!\/Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just\/And this be our motto– \u2018In God is our trust!\u2019\/And the star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave\/O\u2019er the land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.\u201d<\/p>\n There are a lot of people spouting a lot of hate these days. We have people using vulgarity to describe their feelings. One musician said, \u201c(Expletive deleted.) I\u2019m renouncing my citizenship in America.\u201d\u00a0 I say, \u201cGood-bye.\u201d America has it issues, no doubt about it. BUT, and this is a big BUT, it is still the greatest nation on this planet. For those who want to disgrace America with their vulgarity and disobedience, try going to another country and do that.\u00a0 Their head will be on the chopping block, if it makes it that far. I am proud to be an American, but I am more proud to be a follower of Jesus. My citizenship may be as an American, but my greatest citizenship in in heaven.\u00a0 I may \u201clove\u201d my country, but I love Jesus more.\u00a0 And while I may live in and enjoy the benefits of this country, I don\u2019t worship it nor can I forget the benefits I have from the Father in heaven who loved and loves me and gave His only Son for my salvation.\u00a0 THAT IS THE GREATEST FREEDOM OF ALL.<\/em><\/strong> Celebrate Independence Day but if you are a Christ-follower, you have a greater independence nothing on earth can compare to.\u00a0 He who has the Son is free. That truth will set you free. (John 8: 32)\u00a0 I love you all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pastor Bill<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MIDWEEK MESSAGE #113 Hello and welcome to Midweek Message #113.\u00a0 The weather this week has been pleasant so far and I hope your week has been the same. Prepare yourself for a somewhat disjointed MM. I wanted to let you know that I will NOT be doing a MM next week. I know you are … <\/p>\n