I am involved with three situations where I am using the statement, "you cannot help people that will not help themselves."  Is that a true statement or is that just an excuse on my part to not get too involved with difficult circumstances?  What do you think?  Is that true or not?

We had a good look at 1st Corinthians 13 last evening. It truly is one of the great chapters of the Bible.  Love is the answer.  Georgia is facing a difficult situation in her family, with the health of her daughter's husband.  We all have our problems and some are a lot worse than others.  My family members who are away from the Lord concern me to the point of burden.  May the Lord bless us!

We sent this link to a few selected addresses yesterday.  If you were one, please forward to someone else. 

As I prepare to begin a new week, it is cool for this time of year and it is dry.  We have not had but a trace of rain the entire month.  We pray that the Lord will bless this week and that what we do will have a positive affect on others. 

 

I am to visit the Manatee Jail today and I pray that we can say the things that need to be said.  We pray that we can help others to change their lives.  The only way to do this is to point them to Jesus. 

We should not speculate concerning the tragedy concerning the Winkler family. Our prayers are with them.  It is a shame that it is a dark event that many will associate with this family that has done so much for the Lord's family. 

 

Wendell Winkler died this past October after serving the church as a preacher for 61 years.  He was noted as "a preacher's preacher."  His death did not make the front page of our newspapers, nor did it make the news broadcast of the national news stations. 

 

There is something wrong with this picture.  We want the bad news and not the good. 

 

 

We continued our study on spiritual gifts last evening and will be doing so over the next couple of Wednesday evenings, if it is the Lord's will.  We have several special people who are worshipping with us on a regular basis and they have special needs.  Please be aware of this!

 

Jim was buried in a snow storm on Tuesday morning and I am sure Pat is completely drained at this point.  Pray for her strength!

 

Just when you think everything is going well, one little problem after another start landing at your feet.  The Lord does test us to grow us.  I wonder if being a parent was always as difficult as it seems to be today. 

Ruby, Gerie, Sue, Georgia, Kris, Carole and I drove to Clearwater last evening and heard Alan Highers. We were welcomed and had a good time of fellowship. 

Several of us plan to go to Clearwater tonight to hear Alan Highers preach.  Last year we heard Tom Holland and Wayne Jackson and enjoyed the trips tp there and back.  It was a good time of fellowship. 

 

I am already missing Jim and it was a strange weekend knowing that he was not active in the church.  He will be buried tomorrow in Muncie, Indiana. 

Jim Lee died this morning after midnight.  The family had been with him until 8:30 and they tucked him in, and he died in peace.  I visited with him a couple of times yesterday and he was aware and ready.

 

Jim was a very vital member of the Midway congregation, serving as deacon and treasurer.  He formerly served as an elder here and was a dedicated worker.  As his health deteriorated he became more frustrated that he could not do all the things he once could.  He will be missed very much!

 

There will be a viewing at Browns in Bradenton tomorrow evening and the burial will be in Muncie, Indiana.   

Please give me feed-back on whether this section of the WEB site is beneficial to you or not.  If you do glance at these journal entries on occasion, let me know and we will make more of an effort to maintain them.  If not we may do something different here. 

 

We are concerned about Jim Lee and the prognosis is not good for him.  The children are in town and the family needs our prayers at this time.

 

We plan to go to Clearwater next Monday and hear Alan Highers.  We have a van full already but if you are interested let me know and we will make other arrangements. 

We enter the book of Deuteronomy in our Sunday Bible study and we have a lesson from 1st John 1 scheduled for the morning worship hour.  This will be our 5th lesson from this chapter which is more than I like to do but this has been an interesting chapter to disect.  Sunday evening we examine another teaching of Jesus, "The Unjust Steward," from Luke 16.  Come and be a part of our day at Midway. 

Sometimes we let things bother us that should not bother us.  We have to have bad days to appreciate good days.  When these events occur, we should do our best just to get on by them.  Tomorrow is a new day and a good nights sleep can change a lot of things.  At other times there are situations and issues that need to be faced, and determining which ones do and which ones will take care of themselves takes patience, prayer and wisdom.  May God bless your day!