The Visitor » The Visitor – June 20, 2010

Here and There by Wes Price will resume when Wes recovers from surgery. We pray he will be back with us soon. =========================================
KNEE-JERK REACTIONS
Roger Owen

I have been intrigued by two events that have just happened recently that shows us just how “reactionary” we really are to situations around us. The first event happened a couple weeks ago in South Carolina. A young man in his twenties paid the $10,000 filing fee to put his name on the ballot for the Democratic Party Primary election for United States Senator. The only other candidate on the ballot was the incumbent who was seeking his fifth term as Senator. The young man did no fund-raising, held no rallies, and almost literally did no campaigning. He still lives at home with his father, and doesn’t have a “steady job” of any kind. Interviews I saw indicated that he really had no idea what the Senate was all about, he just wanted to run for it. When asked if he had held any campaign rallies, his answer, was, “I had a few friends over for a party.” This young man received sixty percent of the votes and literally destroyed the incumbent in this primary. Talk about a “knee-jerk reaction”! The voters were just determined that they were going to vote for ANYBODY who opposed the guy who had been there helping the current administration! The incumbent has been duly punished by his constituents. But…what if this young man wins against the Republican candidate in the final election? Will the country be better off with a congress of Senators who have no clue what it is all about? I guess it depends on just how angry voters are at the current administration.

The second event that has happened over the last two weeks involves college football and the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska decides they want to go to another conference. The next thing you know other schools in the Big 12 Conference panic and start worrying about their future. A third conference starts inviting the Texas and Oklahoma schools, minus Baylor, plus Colorado, to join their conference. Baylor cries “foul” and begins lobbying for them to be the sixth school and not Colorado. So Colorado prematurely jumps to join that conference to keep Baylor from possibly squeezing them out. Now the Texas and Oklahoma schools have decided they are staying put and the Big 12 Conference will continue on…minus Nebraska and Colorado. Again, all of these events happened suddenly as “knee-jerk reactions” for fear that someone else might beat them to something. I have a feeling that some time later both of these two schools will secretly neglect having made such spur-of-the-moment decisions without taking time to consider all the apsects of their actions.

How many times have we had “knee-jerk reactions to situations in our lives because of anger or impatience due to the fear we might miss out on something? I chuckle at Jonah when he finally got to Nineveh and preached of the impending destruction that God was bringing upon them. Nineveh repented and God relented and decided Nineveh was to be spared. Jonah was angry because he thought Nineveh would think of him as an idiot because what he predicted did not happen. His “knee-jerk reaction” was to pout and to tell God, “See, this is why I fled to Tarsish. I knew you would do something like this and leave me looking like an idiot! So, why don’t you just take my life because I would be better off dead than alive.”

Jonah proceeded to go outside the city and fix him a perch to sit down and pout and watch the city to see what happened. God planted a plant to grow up and shade Jonah from the sun and Jonal enjoyed it. When morning dawned God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it withered and died in the hot sun and wind. I can just hear Jonah saying, “O, great, now the worms are even after me!” Again, he pled with God to let him die. Both times God asked Jonah the same question, “Do you do well to be angry?”

When we are angry and impatient, “do we do well to be angry?” Are we practitioners of the “knee-jerk reaction” syndrome? I am thankful God does not operate this way. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8 ESV). We would do well to also be slow to react when our anger or our impatience is riled up.

On another note, Linda had encouraged me to pass on her heart-felt thanks to the anonymous person who blessed her and several others with blankets in the pews to help keep them warm. Her name was pinned to hers and everything! What a terrific gesture! Thanks again – whoever you are!
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PRAYER LIST
Wes Price–Charlton Methodist– A Tower, Room A 3117. Wes is steadily improving. Please keep visits to 10 minutes.
Evelyn Dillon is home and feeling better. Son, Larry, is staying with her Jimmy Mooney- Charlton Meth.- had day surgery on June 18th.
Also remember his mother Dorothy Mooney. Lois Rodriquez is home and will have 3 more chemo treatments and then a CAT Scan. She hopes to be back at church soon.
Let us all pray for the Tyson Family.

REMEMBER ALL OTHERS ON THE PRAYER LIST
Adrain Arthur (great nephew of Theresa Bersano); George Bailey; R. C. Bell; Addie Bennett; Dr. “J” Coats; Perry Cotham; Urbanelle Cox; Carol & Peter Diamond; Tom Duvall; Ruby Faas; Gloria Garcia; Rita Harrison; Doris Henry; Bill Hinton; Bob and Madeline Hinton; Ed Horn; Mary Catherine Jayroe; Jean LaPine; Nancy Lindley; Mark Locke; Sylvia & Muriel McMillion; Billie Morgan; Bobby Muirhead (sister of Billie & Jean Thompson); Lula Murray; Henrietta Pummill; Rick Ramsey; Sherri Reynolds; Mary Russell; Mildred Sala, Nancy Spurgeon; Treva Traylor; Cathy Wood; Marie Works.

** Please add to your list of June Anniversaries: Please take note: June 21st – Steve & Ann Browning – Anniversary (their anniversary was left off of the calendar by mistake) ——–

We want to offer our congratulations to the following: Jean Lovell has a new great great grandson and all are doing well.

Spencer Ross’ baby son has arrived and all are doing well.

Paul Delgado graduated from the Brown Trail School of Preaching: ——–

New address for Dorothy Jackson Bell Aire Crestview Ct. #211B 224 W. Pleasant Run Road Cedar HiIl, TX 75104 Phone: 972-291-3883 ——– We want to offer our love and sympathy to Pat Morris and family. Mary Russell, Pat’s mother, passed away June 14, 2010 at the age of 95. Her funeral was Thursday, June 17, 2010. Mary wil be missed.. Address for cards. Pat Morris 239 Autumnwood Trail Gun Barrel City, TX 75156
‘Looking Forward” by Jack Armstrong This past week we received a real sweet letter from the Buck Reed family thanking all for the love and care we showed Buck. He was always ready to help out in any way he could right up until he had to go to the center. He and Bro. Ramsey Wright were both hard of hearing and the two of them would keep right on talking after the service started, but no one ever said a word to either of them because we loved them and knew of their hearing problems.

Sometimes we just can’t help looking back to some of our dear friends who have gone on before us, but they are happy memories in most cases.

I remember when Clinton White, Jimmy Morris and I used to climb those stairs in the back of the auditorium to count the collection each Lord’s Day and Clinton would almost run up those stairs even in his eighties and Jimmy and I would huff and puff behind him.

Then it comes to mind how Glen Payne used to love to kid our preacher. How our dear sisters have always had some good advice for us before the service, like Baby Jones, Sue Lawrence, Estelle McLarty, Addie Bennett, Henrietta Pummill, and last but not least, Maurine Fleming. By the way let’s all start wearing our name tags again to make it a little easier on Bro. Roger and Linda.

We received some great news on June 13th. Bro. Wes seems to have turned the corner and is getting better now. He may have started eating some real food. Let’s all be cautiously encouraged and keep him in our prayers that he gets better each day, and keep Alma Faye and their family in our prayers, too!

Once again I want to say how fortunate we are to have Roger and Linda Owen here with us in Wes’ absence. He is one of those fellows who you like right off the bat, and grows on you the longer you know him.

We want to say a word or two about another very, very important person at the JBCoC, and that man is Bro. Jacob Locke, who has really had to double up since Wes has been out. Go by and tell him how much we love and appreciate him for all he does. We would be lost without him and Joyce! Folks this is on top of all the volunteer work they do over at Methodist Central Hospital, and have been doing for many years. In my book that is going way above the call of duty. Semper Fidelis i(Always Faithful) ================================================This congregation has been invited to share the program and lunch at the Iglesia de Cristo Church of Christ today at 11:45a.m. The church is the former Edgefield Church of Christ – 420 N. Edgefield at Seventh