There are two areas in which we are prepared to offer assistance:

First:

To anyone in the area who is needing help in light of the recent flooding, we have just received a truckload of items including food, clothing, and cleaning supplies that are free to whoever needs them.  On Saturday, May 8, from 9am to 2pm we will be set up to distribute these goods to anyone in need.

It would be our privilege to help you.  Please come and see us.

Second:

Saturday, May 8th, from 8am to 4pm we are offering free childcare for anyone with small children (12 and under).  Whether you need someone to watch your children while you clean your own house, or whether you are wanting to volunteer at someone else’s house, we are happy to keep your children safe and entertained [...]

Dr. Ed Gray from the Harding Graduate School gave us an informational and inspirational weekend.  Those 60 and over had a special Saturday morning session to emphasize the great value of seniors in the church.  Saturday evening was geared toward married couples.  On Sunday we got some good lessons about family and forgiveness.

Be sure to stop by our picture gallery in the members’ section for some photo highlights of the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

-Mark

Recently, Donna Louise Greenwell of Pitkin, LA was sentenced to fifteen months of imprisonment at hard labor. She was convicted of attempting to sell a five year-old boy and a four year-old girl to a couple in a neighboring town.

While the crime is bad enough, it was the fee she received that put this event on the news. For the two children Mrs. Greenwell was to have receied $175 and a cockatoo. That’s right — two children in exchange for a smart bird and a small amount of cash.

Before we file this news item, we should pause to reflect how often people trade very important things for little or nothing. A teenage girl trades in her virginity, reputation and self respect for a wild prom night. A talented businessman risks his job by viewing porn [...]

How comfortable are your feet right now?  When I ask this, do you suddenly become aware of them?  At any given moment, we can feel our feet, but if we’re not thinking about them, we don’t really notice how they feel.  Perhaps even as I say this, you suddenly pause and realize the need to adjust a sock or tighten a shoelace.  Your feet have always been there, haven’t they?  But just before you read this, you weren’t thinking about them.  Awareness is everything.

Once in chapel at the Harding Graduate School, a man got up to lead our prayer.  He was from Africa, and he could pray unlike anyone I’ve ever heard.  He spoke with a booming voice and a thick accent.  The first half of his prayer he spent simply acknowledging the majesty of [...]

Dean Pierson was a struggling dairy farmer in Copake, NY who last Thursday reached his breaking point. He went to his barn, barricaded the door, systematically killed each of his 51 milk cows, and then turned his rifle on himself. A murder-suicide with a different twist.

We immediately ask ourselves the question, “Why?” What drives a person to take such drastic action. While few details have been published, one neighbor did say, “These are hard times to be a farmer.”

It is hard to look forward to anything, when our problems consume our “vision.” Hopelessness and despair come when we don’t see any way out of our bleak circumstances. Yet, it was for just such a reality that Jesus came. Peter writes in I Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [...]