Oktoberfest

DON'T FORGET THE MEN'S GROUPS "OKTOBERFEST" CELEBRATION
CLAPP'S CHAPEL METHODIST CHURCH
SEPTEMBER 24, 2011
4:00 PM TO 7:00 PM

MENU
BRATWURST OR HOTDOGS WITH BUN
SAUERKRAUT OR RED CABBAGE
FRENCH FRIES
GERMAN POTATO SALAD
CAKES AND PIES
TEA AND LEMONADE

ADULTS: $7.00
CHILDREN 10 YEARS OLD AND UNDER: $3.00

BRING YOUR DANCING SHOES AND COME ENJOY SOME GOOD COMPANY

CARRY OUTS WILL BE AVAILABLE

UP

This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.
At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time is UP!
Don't screw UP.
Now I'll shut UP!

"A Father, a Daughter and a Dog"

by Catherine  Moore

"Watch out! You nearly broad  sided that car!" My father yelled at me. "Can't you do                           anything  right?" Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump  rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another   battle. "I saw the car, Dad . Please  don't yell at me when I'm    driving.." My voice was measured and  steady, sounding far calmer than I really  felt. Dad glared at me, then   turned away and settled back. At home I left Dad in  front of the television and went outside to collect my  thoughts.... dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of distant thunder seemed  to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about  him? Dad had been a lumberjack in  Washington and Oregon . He had enjoyed being outdoors  and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess. The years marched on  relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy  log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw   him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger  man. Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An  ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen  flowing. At the hospital, Dad was   rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he  survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest for  life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were  turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad  was left  alone.. My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We  hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help  him adjust. Within a week after he moved   in, I regretted the invitation. It seemed nothing was  satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became  frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up  anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad 's troubled  mind. But the months wore on and  God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it. The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the  mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered in  vain. Just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article.." I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing  home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibility for a  dog. I drove to the animal   shelter that afternoon.. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed officer led me to the  kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as  I moved down the row of pens. Each contained five to  seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs all jumped up, trying to reach me.  I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons too big, too   small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his   feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It   was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But   this was a caricature of the  breed.  Years had etched his face   and muzzle with shades of gray. His hip bones jutted  out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that    caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they   beheld me   unwaveringly. I pointed to the dog. "Can  you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook    his head in puzzlement. "He's a funny one. Appeared  out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We   brought him in, figuring someone would be right down   to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard   nothing. His time is up tomorrow." He gestured  helplessly.  As the words sank in I  turned to the man in horror.. "You mean you're going  to kill   him?" "Ma'am," he said gently,  "that's our policy. We don't have room for every    unclaimed  dog."  I looked at the pointer   again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll   take him," I said. I drove home with the dog on the   front seat beside me. When I reached the house I  honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch... "Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad !" I said   excitedly.  Dad looked, then wrinkled  his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would   have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better  specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want  it" Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back   toward the  house.  Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into   my temples. "You'd better get used to him, Dad . He's   staying!" Dad ignored me.. "Did you  hear me, Dad ?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled   angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes  narrowed and blazing with hate. We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw..   Dad 's  lower jaw trembled as  he stared at the uplifted paw Confusion replaced the  anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then  Dad was on his knees hugging the  animal.  It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer   Cheyenne . Together he and Cheyenne explored the  community. They spent long hours walking down dusty  lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of   streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to  attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew  and Cheyenne lying quietly at is   feet. Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable throughout the next three years.. Dad 's   bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many  friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel   Cheyenne 's cold nose burrowing through our bed  covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at  night.. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my  father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene.  But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the  night. Two days later my shock and  grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead  beside Dad 's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a  favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for  the help he had given me in restoring Dad 's peace of mind. The morning of Dad 's   funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks   like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the   aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised  to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made  filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It  was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed   his life.  And then  the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Do not neglect to  show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have  entertained angels without knowing  it." "I've often thanked God for  sending that angel," he said. For me, the past dropped  into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen  before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the  right article... Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at  the animal shelter. . ....his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father. . and the proximity of   their deaths. And suddenly I understood. I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.

How Were People Saved Before Jesus Came in the Flesh?

by Steve Fazekas, AiG—U.S.

May 10, 2011

 

Introduction

Since the Gospel message is based on the death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1–4), many have wondered how people who lived prior to the Incarnation of Christ could have been saved. In Hebrews 11, sometimes known as the “gallery of faith” or the “faith hall of fame,” we have a sampling of Old Testament saints whose lives pleased God. These heroes of the faith provide for us, even in these latter days, example after example of how to both live and die in times that are anything but receptive to the God of the Bible.
Yet, a question continues to be raised over the faith of these heroes. Who or what was the source of the salvation and the object of the faith of men like Abel and Enoch? How did Joshua and Jeremiah exercise saving faith? How did redemption touch the lives of Ruth and Rahab?
Personal salvation by grace through faith in the atoning work of Christ on the Cross may not have been as clear at the time of Noah as it is to us today. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world came to the nation of Israel approximately four hundred years after the Old Testament canon was closed. How then could there be a clear object of faith if the object had not yet appeared?

Abraham Was Saved by Grace Through Faith

The Apostle Paul dealt with an issue in Romans 4 that helps us answer this important question. He used the Old Testament to show salvation has always been by God’s grace and can only be received through faith. While addressing those who thought they could save themselves by adhering to the Law of Moses, Paul made a brilliant argument.

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness . . . . Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. . . . Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:1–5, 9–10, 16)

To demonstrate his point that salvation comes through faith instead of works, Paul referred to Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish people. He cited Genesis 15:6, which reveals that Abram (Abraham) “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Circumcision was not introduced to Abraham and his descendants until Genesis 17—more than 10 years later.

Gospel Theme in the Old Testament

The Old Testament sets forth a gospel theme that people were saved from sin by grace through saving faith in the Lord and His promises.
Several texts from the New Testament illustrate this premise.

Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:10–12, emphasis added)

This text reveals some important ideas. The “prophets . . . who prophesied” longed for the arrival of an era of grace. The “Spirit of Christ” within them was filling them with this great desire, witnessing through them and to them in advance of the work of Christ.
The prophetic message was often a gospel message since it told of the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. The Spirit of Christ witnessed in advance about the sufferings and glories of Christ. The text indicates the prophets studied their own utterances and writings to plumb their depths. Yet according to this text, a Christ-led, Spirit-given understanding of this gospel theme was the core of the prophetic message.
The New Testament serves as the inspired commentary on the Old Testament, and it is an incredible blessing to have this in our hands. However, even before the completion of the New Testament, the Old Testament served as the Scripture for Israel, and it contained a gospel theme concerning the coming, sufferings, and glory of Messiah.
The second text underscoring the gospel theme of the Old Testament was spoken by Jesus Himself.

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25–27)

Here, Jesus spoke to a pair of His followers on the road to Emmaus. Notice the extent of His teaching. He began with Moses and the Prophets and opened to them in all the Scriptures the things pertaining to Himself, that is, His sufferings and His glory.
Later in the same chapter, Jesus spoke of His presence in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:44–47)

This text is loaded with gospel significance given by Jesus to His disciples. He referenced His presence in the Law of Moses, presumably the Pentateuch. He claimed the Prophets testified about Him. He also showed that He could be found in the Psalms. Then Jesus collected these three areas and predicated them under one title—“the Scriptures.” Again, the gospel significance of Old Testament content is remarkable. Central to the Lord’s teaching about Himself in the Scriptures was the necessity of His suffering, His Resurrection, and His call to preach repentance for the remission of sins.
One final text illustrates the gospel theme found in the Old Testament, and it also spoke of things that took place before the Incarnation of Jesus upon this earth.

But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:18–24)

The Apostle Peter preached from Solomon’s Porch and called for the people to repent. He reminded the listening crowd that the suffering, Resurrection, and glory of the Messiah have been the major theme of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures teach that Jesus is its central theme. The primary message of the Bible is about His suffering, death, Resurrection, and glory.

Conclusion

So were there multiple ways of salvation prior to the coming of Jesus in space and time to die as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind? The answer must be a resounding “No.” Paul explained in Romans 4 that salvation has always been and will always be by God’s grace and received through faith alone.
Genesis 3:15 promised that Someone would come to clear up the sin problem created by our first father, Adam. As the Seed of the woman, He would be the one to battle and defeat the serpent. Even Abel understood the nature of a bloody sacrifice and the death of a substitute, and because of his faith in God, he was regarded by God as righteous (Hebrews 11:4).
Thus, saturating all of Scripture, there is a gospel theme that showcases the suffering, Resurrection, and glory of the promised Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the central object of our faith and the fulfillment of all that the faithful who have preceded us down through the ages had believed in.

For more articles like this you can visit http://www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers

Touching and Moving

Good end of summer movie

Rules from God for 2011

                  1. Wake Up!!   Decide to have a good day.
                  "Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it"  Psalms 118:24

                  2.  Dress Up!!   The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart."
                  I Samuel 16:7 

                  3 . Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3

                  4. Stand Up!!..... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good."  Galatians 6:9-10 

                  5. Look Up !!... To the Lord.
                 "I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."
                  Philippians 4:13

                  6. Reach Up !!   For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path."
                  Proverbs 3:5-6 

                  7. Lift Up !!...   Your Prayers.
                  "Do not worry about anything;
                  Instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING."
                  Philippians 4:6