Charlie Harrison is one of the strengths of the Lord's work in New England.  He has ministered the Brunswick, Maine congregation for almost two decades and has served camp Gander Brook during that time.  He updates me that the porch did not collapse during the winter but will be replaced this fall, if the Lord wills.  There is a need for funding this worthwhile project.

 

Charlie also corrected my spelling of Sabattus, Maine.  Sorry Leo!  Leo Woodman is the minister there and his son, Luke, is planning to attend Heritage Christian in Florence, AL this fall.  Please keep them in your prayers and support if you would.  Thanks Charlie!

 

Sometimes I am too careless in submitting information to this site.  I forget that people do read this and I am thankful for you doing that.  I am thankful and encourage you to correct anything amiss in my writing. 

 

Jake Wayne, minister in Philadelphia, corrects me in that he is not from Africa but did spend 10 years there when his family moved there from the states.  I also made a statement that his work had not been successful in the Philadelphia area and I must correct that also.  There is no unsuccessful work in the Lord's kingdom and I can attest to that personally.  Jake is to be uplifted and encouraged for taking on the difficult task the Lord has chosen for him.  Encourage him by sending him a check and praying for the Northeast Philadelphia church of Christ.  Thanks Jake!

 

 

THE FEW

 

Throw the masses a bone unless they rise up and squelch the system of greed and avarice.  The slaves of the new millennium are the working class of men and women who are controlled by the minute few who dictate the controllable factors of a man's condition.  This probably has been more the system of history, but is more disguised today; with terms like pension, social security, retirement, bonuses, insurance, salary, and compensation we  are blindly but slaves of those who would be the greediest of all.  

 

Go to thy place of abode and enjoy your favorite intoxicant, your easy chair with remote controlled entertainment and do not think too deeply of life that is passing before your eyes; the reality of existence.  We will give you enough to think that you are doing well in this freedom of democracy; but just enough.  A few we will elevate and declare their glory, but to most a silent struggle from day to day. 

 

We will establish oil prices, interest rates, and insurance coverage, and you will pay.  You will labor to pay for the freedoms that you think you have.   It will cost you to be born, it will cost you to be sick, and it will cost you to die. 

 

We will allow you to dream but only the select will fulfill their dreams.  We will allow you the freedom to object but only to a certain level.  We will give you representation but they will be on our payroll and it will be to them to cajole and assure you of your proper place in your land of free.  And if you get to agitated we will give you a credit card law and high definition entertainment.  There will be an increase for you to pay though. 

 

Come and be a part of this.  It is not difficult and you would only come for your own greed.  You would enslave yourself to a foreign regime only for the coins he would throw you.  This is but greed and the poverty you flee may be more of a freedom of life than the ridicule you will endure in this promised land. 

 

You will never be denied the worship of your God; but we must change his teachings because they are not in our best interest. Men will be permitted to sleep with men and you must not frown upon them.  Babies will be squandered because they are not in one's interest.  We will make it easy for you to gamble away the coins we give you.  See what choices of freedom we have allowed you!  You also could win the Powerball; see what dreams we give you!

 

The intimacy designed for the husband and wife will permeate your very being and will dictate every aspect of your life.  We will be a society with sexual driven connotations; everything will be constructed around the idea of sex.  Nothing will be frivolous with mans desire for erotic pleasure. Our society is driven by greed and sex. 

 

There will be tax upon tax with fewer and fewer benefits that you will ever see from the proportion of your coins you parlay in the name of government.  And on a regular basis some smiling face will tell you he will change this if you will give him a chance but once there, he too will become the dunce of the few.   

 

There was a Nicodemus in Jesus day and throughout history a stellar man might stand forward for a few days, but if he is in existence today; I do not know him.  Even among those close to me, most are blindly walking as slaves of the coins thrown their way; or they have reached a point of hopelessness of the vastness of the wrong around us.  What can one person do? I am so small!

 

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.  There is a freedom and there is a truth that overrides the apostasy of reality.  The way of the world and way of the Lord have always been.  The way of the world has always garnered the attention while the way of Christ reflects a narrow way that few choose to follow. 

 

Thus we have two groups of few.  The few who dictate the way of the world and the few who follow the narrow way of truth.  

 

 

 

 

One of the characteristics of a Biblical church is that it is missional.  By that the church supports works other than what benefits themselves.  The most disturbing factor of our recent financial hardship is that we have had to cut our mission outreach programs. 

 

As we plan our 5th Sunday contribution, I would like for us to earmark some of those funds for mission work.  We probably will not be able to send much but we can send some.  When we do this even if we are not successful in our own work, we can contribute to the success of the Lord's work somewhere else.  

 

Here are some opportunities that have crossed my desk recently.  Please prayerfully consider them and let me know of the works that interest you.  Also on the 5th Sunday, May 31st, make plans to give extra.  Carole and I are going to try and double our contribution for that day. 

 

Heritage Christian University, Florence, Alabama

I worked with this institution for five years and I know they are productive in preparing men and women for service in the Lord's kingdom.  We had a group of men from this school come and spend a week with us a few years back and I would like to try that again sometime in the future.  My dad was one of the founding directors of this institution and served on their board for a number of years.

 

Sebatus Church of Christ, Sebatus, Maine

I have been an encourager and contributor to this work since it started almost five years ago.   They serve the Lewiston/Auburn area of Maine which is the second most populous area of the state.  They now have about 25 in attendance and are the only church of Christ in the area. 

 

Camp Gander Brook

This is the camp I go to each September for a men's retreat and it is a very special place to me personally.  It has brought numerous young people to Christ during the summer months of camp over the last fifty plus years.  This winter due to unusual snow falls, one of the main buildings collapsed and they need funds to help rebuild.

 

Concord church of Christ, Concord, NH

This is the only congregation in the capital city of New Hampshire.  They are sending out "House to House" publication to the homes around their building   but would like to expand to cover more of the city.  They need help doing this. 

 

Northeast Philadelphia Church of Christ

Jake Wayne is a graduate of Heritage and originally from the west coast of Africa.  He has struggled in the city of Philadelphia for a number of years without much success.  They have just lost one of their contributors and need help to continue.     

 

Nepal/Bangladesh

These are good overseas works under the oversight of the Highland Park church in Muscle Shoals, AL.  Mike Brooks has updated us on these and there is current literature on these works in the foyer.

    

 

 

 

"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."  Hebrews 13:4 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dry Season

 

May is usually a very dry month in this part of the world and if a typical season, will end dramatically with the beginning of the tropical summer month of June.  As of May 1st I began my sixth year working with the Midway family and my sixth dry season. 

 

Even though the season is dry, there is no need to thirst.  Midway is a source of living water that streams on a regular basis, even in the dry season.  God’s word is proclaimed continually and effectively for the benefit of all who will come and drink.  If you are not attending all of the studies and services at Midway, let me encourage you to do so.  We do have some of the best classes that I have ever been involved with and good discussion of a wide range of subjects.  Come and drink from the word of God and taste the living water. 

 

In this month we are tentatively scheduled to continue our study of Revelation on Sunday morning at 9:30 and study through the book of Romans on Wednesdays at 7:00.  Here are other topics that are at least scheduled right now:

 

Morning (10:30)                        Evening (6:00)

May 3 Why We Come Together    Teach Us To Pray

     10 A Mother’s Day                 Church Growth I

     17 What Must I Do?         Intro to the Gospel of John

     24 Surrounding the Table       Refuge  (Mills)

     31 But to Serve                    Singing Night