Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Tuesday, January 17, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
5 My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. - Psalm 62:5-7(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. - Jude 1:20-21(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
It is not mine to question the judgments of my Lord; It is but mine to follow the leading of His Word. - C. Austin Miles -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
A truly contented person enjoys the scenery along a detour. - From Reminisce Magazine -
Happiness often sneaks in through a door we didn't know we'd left open. - From Reminisce Magazine -
br /> NOTES
Today has been mostly sunny but very cold, much different from the warm weather yesterday. A cold front came through sometime after midnight. Low temperature for today is the current temperature of 31 degrees. I had lunch with Charley and Bill. I went to the post office. Around 12:30 p.m. I went to Walmart and the Petsense store. I took my nap this afternoon. Emmy was on my bed with me. At 4:00 p.m. I listened to the tunes from 1943 from the e-mail that I sent you last week. That was the year I was a senior in high school but like all the other boys in my class I went in the Army. November 19, 1943 was the date I went in the Army. World War 2 was at it peak during that time. One of my favorite songs of that year was "When The Lights Go On Again All Over The World." Vera Lynn is a British lady that sang this song back then. I think she is still living. She would be in her nineties. I am going to leave you a link at the end of the Good Things to click on so you can hear Vera sing this song back then if you desire to hear it. This song has always touched my heart. Since World War 2, we have never had to go through a time like it was during that war.
The cats are fine. Little Girl and Rascal are asleep in their usual places at the present time. I have seen all of the cats today including Lucy and Tony.
I hope everyone has a nice Wednesday! I will see you next time.
In Christian Love, Everett.

Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzlFaY0s_QI

Daily Jewel

by pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Jan. 17, 2012

“The Solid Rock”
“By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations; by understanding He set the heavens in place…" – Proverbs 3:19 (NIV)

I am not a builder. In fact, when it comes to construction I am downright terrible. If I buy anything that requires assembling – I set aside pretty much an entire day because I know my limitations. We recently bought a slide for our granddaughter. The outside of the box said it takes approximately 10 minutes to put together. Dianne, knowing my “ability” said, “let’s plan on thirty minutes.” Good plan!
Despite my deficiency – this one thing I do know; without a solid foundation a house or building will not stand the test of time.
Jesus spoke about foundations when He taught about two men and the houses they built. One was built with a sandy foundation and one with rock-solid foundation. I think His listeners understood that Jesus was not necessarily talking so much about houses as much as He was life. A life built upon principles and values that have meaning and purpose will stand the test of time! Guidelines and Laws not created by man for man – but those designed by God for those are created in the image of Himself.
As a parent – I cannot begin to ever imagine telling one of my children when they were younger; “Stick your hand on this hot stove and see what happens.” I know exactly what would happen, they would burn themselves, and as a loving parent I would do anything to prevent that from happening. Why, then, would anyone think that God’s Laws are anything less than the Words of a loving Father, preventing His children from doing something that would harm them – maybe leaving permanent damage? A popular but false and dangerous philosophy would have us believe that rules and foundations are nothing more than soft guidelines that if or when broken is no big deal. The following quote pretty much sums this up: "Laugh here, smile no matter what you're going through, give everyone a second chance, and don't ever forget...rules were meant to be broken...life is too short to be anything but happy." (Unknown)
I don’t disagree that people deserve a second chance or that life is too short to not be happy, the problem is, how would breaking the rules make a person happy? How would living wrong make a person right?
The writer of the Hymn, “The Solid Rock” really puts this in its proper perspective. Most of us know the words but here are the words for us to think through today. In fact, quite often we know the words of hymns so well that we rarely pay attention to what we are singing. Read the words slowly and think through what they are saying as if you are reading them for the very first time. You may be surprised by how –through all these ages these words remain fresh and strong! The reminder that by His divine wisdom – He laid down the foundation for us to stand upon when we need it most!

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name!
When darkness seems to hide His face, I trust on His unchanging grace.
Through every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His Covenant, His blood – support me in the whelming flood
When all around, my soul gives way – He then is all my hope and stay!
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand!

God knew what He was doing as He laid the earth’s foundations in place—not just as a builder but also as a Father. His guidelines still matter. They still stand!
Pastor J. T. Carnell

Submitting Poems to WC

by Quentin Clingerman, Calabash, NC
Jan. 17, 2012

I have had a request as to how to submit poetry to WC. Since I cannot directly reply to the person because she didn't leave an email address, I will post it on the Blog where the question was asked. Go to www.wordchimes.com. When the page comes up scroll down and click on the visistor icon. The next page will give you instructions as to submitting poetry. Please read the criteria for posting before submitting. Thank you. Que

Good Things

by Everett Christian, McAlester, OK
Monday, January 16, 2012

GOD SPEAKS TO US THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD
(Peter said) 19 "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, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 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 3:19-21(New King James Version).

GOD'S PROMISE TO US FROM HIS HOLY WORD
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. - Proverbs 8:34(New King James Version).

A QUOTE
We all need to be encouraged when downhearted. - Dr Steve Stephens -

THOUGHTS TO REMEMBER
The perfect guest makes his or her hosts feel right at home. - From Reminisce Magazine -
Don't drive the car of the future through the rear view mirror of the past. - From Reminisce Magazine -

NOTES
Today has been partly cloudy with a high temperature of 70 degrees and a low temperature this morning of 58 degrees. I had lunch with my brother, Charley, and friends, Bill and Steve. Bobbi was our waitress today. I went by the post office but there was no mail in my box. I went to the cemetery. I missed going to the cemetery last week. I took my afternoon nap. When I went to sleep this afternoon there was no one with me but when I awakened there was Beau sleeping with me. He likes to feel me close to him as he sleeps. Last week I sent everyone an e-mail called "Great Tunes From Back In The Day" with the top tunes for every year from 1940 through 1999. I have been listening to the tunes from the 40's. So far I have gone through 40, 41 and 42. It sure brings back memories. At 5:00 p.m. I put out treats and food outside for the cats and then came in and watched "Trains and Locomotives." As you know I didn't do Good Things last night. When I get home from church on Sunday night I am busy putting out the garbage and fixing me a bite to eat so I skip the Good Things frequently on Sunday night. Since the Good Things went out on Saturday night I have had e-mails from Mary Jo, Quentin, Geneva, Alice, Debra, Tiyan and Michelle. I won't show any letters tonight but I want you to know that I always appreciate your e-mails.
The cats are fine and accounted for. Little Girl is on the back of the couch and Rascal was here to check on me a little while ago.
I hope everyone has a nice Tuesday. I will see you next time.
In Christian Love, Everett

Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Jan. 16, 2012

“Tree-ology”
“Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed." – Proverbs 3:18 (New International Version)

I love trees! I love how they blossom in the spring – a vision of new life, a new beginning. I love them in the fall – a rainbow of colors to adorn the countryside. They are sturdy yet delicate. They are friendly and yet dangerous. (For those living in Southeast Oklahoma we remember very vividly what happened a couple of years ago during the ice storm!)
When we lived in Northwest Oklahoma the thing that I missed the most was the lack of trees in the area. It’s not that there were not trees – they just did not exist in great numbers as what we have in this area.
One of my earliest memories of my childhood is of a large Elm tree that was in our yard on the farm I lived on in the Ozarks of Southern Missouri. Not only was it great for shade on a hot summer day but also my father had attached a tire-swing on one of the branches. He also built for me a large sandbox and put it on the other side of the tree making sure that it would be in the shade. I grew up as an only child and I spent many days either on that swing or around that tree. One day I returned home from school to discover that my “swing tree” was gone! It had been cut down – a victim of both disease and termites. In their effort to console me my parents tried to explain to me that if a strong enough wind came the tree that brought so much joy could have been a hazard to our home and even to our lives. I’m not sure if it brought any comfort at the time but I look back today and see that it was the right decision at the time.,br /> I think back to that and I never would have guessed that there was anything wrong with that tree. From the outside it looked perfectly healthy. But on the inside it was being eaten away—destroyed from within.
We must not forget that the condition of humanity stems from what Adam and Eve took from a tree – the forbidden fruit. But then the eternal salvation of our souls was provided by a tree – or more specifically from the One who hung on that tree at Calvary.
Wisdom tells me that when I embrace Christ, when I cling to Him, embrace His laws and His love – my life will be blessed. I will have life the way it was meant to be lived. And all that is available to me and to all in this world thanks to a couple of pieces of wood.
Something we do not like to admit but the truth is we are diseased as well. We may appear fine and good on the outside but on the inside effects like bitterness, greed, pride, hate, prejudice, lust, are attempting their worst to destroy us. But Thanks be to God, Jesus took our disease – the sinful nature – and nailed it to a tree!
By the way, it was early spring when my father had my “swing tree” cut down. About June something happened that was unexpected. Mushrooms grew where the tree had fallen and my parents feasted on them throughout the summer. From something diseased came something beneficial. It still works that way today!

Pastor J. T. Carnell
Church of The Nazarene
McAlester, Oklahoma