Special Note for This Sunday (Sept. 25)

This Sunday Daniel and D'Ann White will be with us again, and Daniel will be ministering to us in the morning meeting.

There will be a brief time of open sharing for the men, but we will save Hebrews 3 till the following Sunday.

Lord's Day, September 18, 2005

Scripture Passage of the Week: Hebrews 2

We were delighted to have Mike and Allison Bailey and their four precious children visiting with us Sunday. The Bailey's are from the Ashville area.

John referenced v. 5 ... "and was confirmed unto us by them that heard them" ... to remind us the responsibility of teaching our children in the things of God.

Craig spoke of Christ becoming a man, subject to weakness, pain, hunger, etc. He is the perfect Mediator because of His humanity. We, too, have our greatest ministry opportunities to those who have walked in the same shoes we have.

Mark cited verse 3 ... "How shall we escape if neglect so great salvation" ... as the theme of the book of Hebrews. Other scriptures speak of eternal security, while Hebrews gives the practical warning to professing believers that if we neglect the gospel--turn from it either dramatically or gradually--we will not escape the judgment of God.


Prayer Burdens:

We had special prayer for Dianne for recent physical difficulties.

John awaiting results of interview process
White family as they travel
Steve Spires family from Slidell ... God's provision

The Whites: Serving the Lord in Mexico

Tuesday night Daniel and D'Ann White and their five beautiful children were with us to share about their missionary work in Mexico. What a joy to meet this dear family!

Tough Break

In breaking news ...

Lord's Day - September 11, 2005

Scripture Passage for the Week: Hebrews 1

Mark talked about the background of Hebrews ... these professing believers were faced with a decision when it became obvious that Christianity could not simply be added to Judaism ... the gospel was not a both/and thing, but an either/or thing. It is for us as well.

Craig spoke of the supremacy of Christ in Hebrews 1 ... over prophets, angels, and traditions of men. He pointed out some modern examples of worshipping angels or other intermediaries.

John talked briefly about the danger of following tradition.


Prayer Burdens

We had special prayer for Rachel ... she leaves Thursday for two months in Oklahoma City working with the Character First program.

Daniel making good progress ... has completed the Auditory Integration Therapy.

Eloise's Mom

Shana's brother's family situation

John's interview process continues Wednesday

Faith Harris (infant needing heart transplant)

Indianapolis Adventure

Thanks for praying for Hannah's trip to Indianapolis. She had a wonderful time, made lots of new friends, and came back safe and sound.

Click here to see some video highlights of Hannah's trip.

Tuesday Night Special Meeting

Don't forget, this coming Tuesday night (Feb 13) at 7:00 we will be having a special fellowship time with the Daniel White family, missionaries to Mexico.

Please bring desserts and/or finger foods.

Daniel and D'Ann and their five children (Caleb, Susanna, Josiah, Joanna, and Samuel) serve the Lord in the northern Coahuila region of Mexico. We are looking forward to meeting the Whites and learning about their work.


Full house at a recent worship service on the field in Mexico.

Here's a link to the Whites' website.

Katrina and Us

Good news from Gulfport

Lynn's parents' house was relatively undamaged ... some roof damage and structural damage to the porch, but nothing severe. The interior was in good shape, with flooding in only one room. Some trees fell, but providentially did not hit the house or garage.

There is no electricity ... water is available but not safe. Lynn, Eric, and Rebecca went with Lynn's Dad yesterday to Gulfport to check the property out ... they should be returning tomorrow (Thursday).


Katrina and Our Church

We will be talking Sunday ... or perhaps before ... about our church sending a cash gift to the hurricane relief efforts of The Chapel, an evangelical church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

You can read about The Chapel and their Katrina relief work by clicking here.

I'm sure there are many other works just as worthy, and we can discuss other possibilities. But we don't want to spend too much time deciding which good work to support. Time is of the essence, and $100 now may be better than $1000 a week from now.

We have put out feelers in several directions about the possibility of helping a family that needs temporary lodging or help in relocating. Continue to pray that God will bring to our attention a family that we can bless.


Katrina did not spare First Baptist Church, Gulfport, Mississippi.

Auditory Integration Therapy?

Since we're praying for Daniel as he starts AIT -- Auditory Integration Therapy (or Training)-- I thought it might be nice to know a little about it.

Here's what I was able to find in a brief Web search. I think there are differing techniques used, so the process described here may not exactly apply to Daniel, but it gives some idea.

Mike and Eloise can fill us in more later.

Auditory integration training (AIT) was developed by Guy Berard in Annecy, France to help people with auditory processing problems. According to Dr. Berard, processing problems may occur if one hears some sound frequencies much better than other frequencies. For example, a person may be hypersensitive to the frequencies 2,000 and 8,000 Hertz, but hear all the other frequencies in the spectrum at a normal level. The frequencies to which a person is hypersensitive are referred to as 'auditory peaks,' and these peaks take on the appearance of a mountain range in one's audiogram.

AIT is accomplished by a device which randomly selects high and low frequencies from a music source (a cassette or CD player), and then sends these sounds via headphones to the trainee. In addition, if the trainee has auditory peaks in his/her hearing (as evident from an audiogram), those frequencies are filtered out completely (blocked out) or partially (stressed at only a low level) from the music.

The trainee receives AIT twice a day, each time for 1/2 hour, for ten days. During the first five hours of AIT, the sound level for both ears is equal. For those individuals who have speech and language impairments, the sound level is reduced in the left ear after five hours of training. Since the right ear is connected more directly to the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere, and since the left hemisphere is responsible for processing speech and language, Dr. Berard believes that a higher sound level in the right ear will stimulate the left hemisphere.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Lord's Day - September 4, 2005

Scripture Passage of the Day: Philemon 1

Mark gave a brief introduction to Philemon ... then focused on Paul's prayer for Philemon in verses 4-7, asking the question: Am I a refreshment to the saints? ... to the church? ... to my family?

Craig presented two principles from this short epistle: (1) The principle of forgiveness/restitution ... forgiving those who have wronged us, and going back to make things right if needed. (2) The principle of equality. While the New Testament does not specifically forbid slavery, verses like Philemon 16 lay the groundwork for ending it. Verse 16 "brings us into an atmosphere where the institution of slavery would wilt and die."

Alan asked the question, How would I receive this letter if I were Philemon? Knowing what we know of Philemon, he must have received Onesimus back and written off the debt. How do I handle those who have wronged me? Alan also noted the principle (also seen in the Good Samaritan) of voluntarily taking the burdens of others ... especially fitting in light of the recent Hurricane Katrina destruction.

We meditated on verses 17 and 18 as a picture of what Christ has done for us ... "receive him as you would me" (we are accepted in Christ before the Father) ... "if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account" (Christ has taken our debt upon himself). We sang ...

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow!

Greg noted that based on the description of Philemon in verses 4-7, if Philemon were faced with a disaster like Katrina, he would certainly open his home and heart to those who needed help.


PRAYER BURDENS:

We spent much time discussing our church's response to the needs of those displaced by Katrina. We prayed among other things for God to bring across our path a specific family we could be a blessing to.

Chief Justice Rehnquist's death ... pray for America.
Josiah A. (5 year old with brain tumor)
Michelle M. (13 year old with serious cancer diagnosis)
Shirley W. (Alan met her this week) ... pray for her neighborhood ministry to children.
Lynn's parents as they return to Gulfport.