You probably heard it from your parents when Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show years ago…”The World is going to Hell in a hand basket”. “What is happening to kids today?” It was worse when The Beatles appeared on that same show some years later. You would have thought the world was ending! Then the Hippie movement arrived with the attendant long hair, loose morals, free sex, drugs, and flag and draft card burnings. Our parents were apoplectic!
I was a parent of teens in the 1980’s. Things seemed relatively calm on the national scene. It was a time of the “Me” generation. There was relative prosperity. We saw the demise of communism. All-in-all things were not too bad…seemingly. As a parent, I did not like my kids’ music, but what else is new!
Now here we are in 2011. Our economy is on the verge of collapse in light of our enormous and ever growing debt. America is losing its status as the superpower of military and industrial might. Institutions like marriage and the church are under attack to a greater degree than ever. Our country seems no longer to shine as a beacon of freedom in the world. We are involved with wars in two countries and militarily involved with one more. Our country is more politically polarized.
Where is all this headed? Who knows?
Until a few years ago, I did not care for uncertainty. I liked to know what is happening next. I liked being in control. Then, Peggy and I had the opportunity to travel to Italy. We did it “on the cheap”. We bought a 3000-kilometer train ticket and had “Buddy Passes” given to us to get us over there and back. We knew the places we wanted to see, but we had no itinerary other than the first night in Milan. Now, my “modus operandi” for travel was usually “pack it all and sort it out when I get there”. This was not going to be possible. We had to pack very lightly. We would be gone for about ten days. We did not want to lug big suitcases around Italy. We ended up with one small backpack/suitcase each and did fine. As we moved from town to town, we would ask the concierge at our usually three star hotels to help us make arrangements in the next town with the help of our Rick Steve’s Guidebook to Italy. At first, this stressed me out “to the max”. As time passed, however, I began to relax and see each day as a new adventure.
Oswald Chambers, in his devotional for April 29th, speaks of uncertainty. If you will allow me to quote him, "Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life-gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises."
I love the saying,"I do not know what the future holds, but I do, however, know the One who holds the future." That works for me.
MINISTRY NEWS
As of the writing of this newsletter, final preparations are underway for the 1st Annual “Duck If It’s Buck, Plaid Pants Open” Golf Tournament to be held on May 6th at Marietta Country Club. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for the many people who have worked so diligently to make this a fun and different golf tournament. I would particularly like to single out the work of the tournament committee members: Ed Brooks, Marshall Dye, Dr. Dan Norris, and Neal Sisson. I would also like to thank Marie Sisson and Cindy Dye, who are working on the Women’s Round Robin Tennis Tournament to be held in conjunction with the golf event. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the wonderful hospitality of Marietta Country Club, particularly Kathleen Pappaterra, Membership Director, Stephen Keppler, Director of Golf Operations and Joe DeFoor, Director of Tennis Operations.
I continue to enjoy leading the Friday Morning Bible Study each week. We had an especially poignant discussion on Good Friday.
I have had a great many opportunities to walk alongside men in their day-to-day struggles and offer counsel and encouragement.
***Please note***
We have a few more slots open for golfers for our tournament. Call 678-986-4814 to reserve your slot.
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC. EXISTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING TOGETHER GOD’S PEOPLE AND HIS RESOURCES TO PRESENT THE HEALING MESSAGE OF CHRIST’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, THROUGH WORD AND DEED, TO A HURTING AND LOST WORLD.
NET WORK MINISTRIES, INC.
2671 OLD HICKORY DRIVE, N.W.
MARIETTA, GA., 30064-1833
770-422-8638(office) 678-986-4814 (cell)
E-mail address – buckreese41@yahoo.com
Website: www.networkministries.blogspot.com
Christ - The ReeseSource - The Newsletter of Net Work Ministries, Inc.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
MARCH 2011 EDITION
It is a nutty time of year! One day it is 35 degrees, the next it is 85 degrees. Who can figure out how to dress for the day? Also, It is also a time of year when we get violent storms. This causes sleepless nights for me. If we have a lot of rain and the power goes out, my sump pump in the sub-basement will not drain the incoming water. The result is that it would be flooded and ruin the furnace. I have taken some precaution. I bought a gasoline-powered generator that I can use in such an emergency. However, this necessitates my being aware of the power going out, hence the sleepless nights.
Then there is the pollen! If you don’t live in the south, particularly in the Atlanta area, you do not understand pollen. When national pollen counts are measured as extremely high at 200, we “enjoy” counts of 9000! Everything wears a coat of yellow powder for several weeks. Everyone suffers, spring allergy sufferers and non-allergy folks alike. A malaise sets in on each of us, as the air is thick with pine pollen. The good news is that there is no more beautiful place on earth in the spring than the Atlanta area when the dogwoods, wisteria, forsythia, and azaleas are in bloom. Spring green replaces winter gray and brown. The earth experiences a sort of resurrection.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a popular English preacher, speaks of another sort of resurrection, a daily resurrection. Let’s look at what he says.
“Every morning is a sort of resurrection. At night we lay us down to sleep, stripped of our garments, as our souls will be of our bodily array when we come to die; but the morning wakes us …even thus shall we be satisfied when we wake up in our Master’s likeness, no more to put on the soiled raiment of earth.
Now, as every morning brings to us, in fact, a resurrection from what might have been our tomb, and delivers us from the image of death which through the night we wore, it ought be saluted with thanksgiving. As the great resurrection morning will be awakened with the sound of the trumpets far-sounding music, so let every morning, as though it were a resurrection to us, awaken us with hymns of joy.”
Here follows Spurgeon’s challenge to us…
“Let us take care, while we are still fresh, to give the cream of the morning to God.
It is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning until you have looked into the face of God; an equally good rule always to have business with Heaven before you have any business with earth. Oh, it is a sweet thing to bathe in the morning in the love of God.”
Do we attend to this? I am afraid we are in too much of a hurry, or we get up too late. Could we rise a little earlier? If we could steal even a few minutes from our beds, those few minutes would scatter their influence over the entire day.”
Ouch! As it is sometimes said, “Now he’s gone from preaching to meddling!” But it is good stuff, nonetheless!
MINISTRY NEWS
MEN’S RETREAT – DR. BOB MITCHELL LED A DISCUSSION BASED ON THE BOOK “RADICAL” BY DAVID PLATT – THERE WERE EIGHT MEN IN ATTENDANCE.
CRIME VICTIMS ADVOCACY COUNCIL HOTLINE RESPONDER POSITION – SPOKE WITH OVER EIGHTY INVIDUAL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAD LOST A RELATIVE WHO WAS A VICTIM OF MURDER.
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT CORPORATE SPONSORS –
DOUG HAYNIE – SILVER SPONSOR
ROB GARCIA – BRONZE SPONSOR
FIRST LANDMARK BANK – BRONZE SPONSOR
COURTMAKERS – BRONZE SPONSOR
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT COMPANY SPONSORS
BRUCE CHASTAIN CONTRACTING SERVICES
DYE AVIATION FACILITIES
ZACK BARFIELD – HEALTH PLAN DESIGN
WEST COBB DINER
MIKE AND KAMBRIA ROBERTSON – HOUSE OF HOPE – GUATEMALA
CLELL DEAVER – ATLANTIC CAPITAL BANK
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT FAMILY SPONSORS
JOHN AND JUDY MCMENNAMY
WARREN AND ELEANOR HERRON
MARSHALL AND CINDY DYE
PETER AND GAIL RE’
NEW NET WORK MINISTRIES E-MAIL ADDRESS – buckreese41@yahoo.com
Then there is the pollen! If you don’t live in the south, particularly in the Atlanta area, you do not understand pollen. When national pollen counts are measured as extremely high at 200, we “enjoy” counts of 9000! Everything wears a coat of yellow powder for several weeks. Everyone suffers, spring allergy sufferers and non-allergy folks alike. A malaise sets in on each of us, as the air is thick with pine pollen. The good news is that there is no more beautiful place on earth in the spring than the Atlanta area when the dogwoods, wisteria, forsythia, and azaleas are in bloom. Spring green replaces winter gray and brown. The earth experiences a sort of resurrection.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a popular English preacher, speaks of another sort of resurrection, a daily resurrection. Let’s look at what he says.
“Every morning is a sort of resurrection. At night we lay us down to sleep, stripped of our garments, as our souls will be of our bodily array when we come to die; but the morning wakes us …even thus shall we be satisfied when we wake up in our Master’s likeness, no more to put on the soiled raiment of earth.
Now, as every morning brings to us, in fact, a resurrection from what might have been our tomb, and delivers us from the image of death which through the night we wore, it ought be saluted with thanksgiving. As the great resurrection morning will be awakened with the sound of the trumpets far-sounding music, so let every morning, as though it were a resurrection to us, awaken us with hymns of joy.”
Here follows Spurgeon’s challenge to us…
“Let us take care, while we are still fresh, to give the cream of the morning to God.
It is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning until you have looked into the face of God; an equally good rule always to have business with Heaven before you have any business with earth. Oh, it is a sweet thing to bathe in the morning in the love of God.”
Do we attend to this? I am afraid we are in too much of a hurry, or we get up too late. Could we rise a little earlier? If we could steal even a few minutes from our beds, those few minutes would scatter their influence over the entire day.”
Ouch! As it is sometimes said, “Now he’s gone from preaching to meddling!” But it is good stuff, nonetheless!
MINISTRY NEWS
MEN’S RETREAT – DR. BOB MITCHELL LED A DISCUSSION BASED ON THE BOOK “RADICAL” BY DAVID PLATT – THERE WERE EIGHT MEN IN ATTENDANCE.
CRIME VICTIMS ADVOCACY COUNCIL HOTLINE RESPONDER POSITION – SPOKE WITH OVER EIGHTY INVIDUAL FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAD LOST A RELATIVE WHO WAS A VICTIM OF MURDER.
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT CORPORATE SPONSORS –
DOUG HAYNIE – SILVER SPONSOR
ROB GARCIA – BRONZE SPONSOR
FIRST LANDMARK BANK – BRONZE SPONSOR
COURTMAKERS – BRONZE SPONSOR
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT COMPANY SPONSORS
BRUCE CHASTAIN CONTRACTING SERVICES
DYE AVIATION FACILITIES
ZACK BARFIELD – HEALTH PLAN DESIGN
WEST COBB DINER
MIKE AND KAMBRIA ROBERTSON – HOUSE OF HOPE – GUATEMALA
CLELL DEAVER – ATLANTIC CAPITAL BANK
UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT FAMILY SPONSORS
JOHN AND JUDY MCMENNAMY
WARREN AND ELEANOR HERRON
MARSHALL AND CINDY DYE
PETER AND GAIL RE’
NEW NET WORK MINISTRIES E-MAIL ADDRESS – buckreese41@yahoo.com