The Champions Spirit
Volume 68, Issue 6
February 15, 2009
In This Issue
The Thrill of Victory
Tonight I watched the Fiesta Bowl—Texas verses Ohio State. (No, this article wasn’t written January 5th, rather this past week.) That being the case, you might wonder why I would watch a football game that had been played a month earlier. Glad you asked! Being a Longhorn fan, I wanted to watch the game again. Now I can say that I enjoyed watching the plays, both gains and losses, the close calls, the touchdowns made by both teams, and even the instant replays. The interception didn’t upset me. There was even peace when Ohio State went ahead with just a couple of minutes remaining in the game. Obviously, you know why those events could happen and not affect my blood pressure, don’t you? The reason is simple. I already knew the final score! I enjoyed knowing that a “W” would be the result for the ‘Horns. Knowing the outcome made all the difference in the way I watched the game. (By the way, no, I don’t want to re-watch the Texas-Texas Tech game!)
Now, this isn’t written to brag on a football team but to make a very important point.
On March 1, we will begin studying the book of Revelation. I am excited as we will not only be studying the book in the classroom, but, Lord willing, several sermons will also come from that last book of the Bible. Revelation can do for our spiritual lives what that taped game did for me. Revelation tells us, in no uncertain terms, “Christians win!” Knowing that final outcome makes all the difference! Terrible persecutions and difficulties faced Christians in the book. Yet, as horrible as they were, Christians could handle them for they were also told how the game would end! They win! The application should also be made to our own lives. When the “bad calls” come or when Satan’s team looks intimidating, we aren’t devastated—we know the outcome. In the Lord, we win! I hope you will make it a point to be present each Lord’s Day for Bible class and worship as we study this wonderful book of hope together. It’s important! It will make a difference in how you respond in the “game of life.” It will give you, as a Christian, The Thrill of Victory.
—Larry Keele
FAMILY MATTERS...
Welcome to Champions! If you are visiting today, we hope that you will be drawn closer to our Lord as a result of the precious time we share in study and worship. Thank you for coming our way.
Wednesday, the angels rejoiced as Emmett Gaines was immersed into Christ by Jason Freed. The Freeds first met Emmett at his work and in conversations with him set up a Bible study. As the Word pierced Emmett’s heart, he acted on his faith and was baptized into Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins. We are proud of our new brother! Certainly, this conversion story encourages us all to go everywhere sharing the Good News.
I hope you were right again in answering our questions about our special day! September is the right month and the 13th is the right date. “Come Home Sunday” is the right theme. Today’s question: Who is supposed to be here for our “Come Home Sunday?”
Parting Thought: "Faith is not belief without proof but trust without reservation." —E. Trueblood
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Bill's Bits
Join Us for a Men’s Day at the Circle B Ranch
Saturday - March 7th
Bruce Black, the pulpit minister for the Fairfax Church of Christ in Fairfax, Virginia, will be leading our time together. Bruce has been with Champions before and we were blessed by the insights he had to share. Join us this year for: Facing the Giants.
We will begin at 9 a.m. and lunch will be served. Bring your softball gear and lawn chairs. A signup list is posted on the north bulletin board.
We hope you will join us for a day of faith, food, fun, and fellowship!
Pick up a flyer on the round table in the foyer for directions.
—Bill Rasco
Jeremy's Junction
For those who missed it....
A lot was said about my brief talk Wednesday night. I shared a story that really got a reaction from the crowd. While attending a family reunion in Kentucky when I was 12 years old, I was attacked by a deer. The place had many animals including deer. They let one deer out and it came down to the picnic area where all the of us kids were hanging. My sister and cousins all got to pet it. I, however, was not so fortunate. The deer and I looked at each other for a brief moment, and then the beast jumped in the air and clobbered me on my forehead with his mighty deer hooves. It barked, yes barked!, as it viciously stomped my helpless body as I laid on the ground. Heroically, I kicked the deer and took off running. The deer cunningly chased me down and beat me down again. Finally, with one last burst of massive strength, I kicked the deer and climbed a high-rise bench. When the adults arrived, the deer was trying to climb up there to finish me off. Imagine that paranoid feeling every year when Christmas came around and children began to speak of flying deer coming to your house. Chilling!
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
You can run, fight, or hide, but Satan will always find you. Only when you lift your eyes on high, lifting yourself to where it is truly safe from the beast below, will you find peace. God is God, and He will always keep you safe from whatever temptation may try and seize you. All you have to do is look up to Him and ask.
—Jeremy Geurin
John's Jogs
COMMERCE ON THE LORD’S DAY
In America, keeping the “Lord’s Day” has largely become an antiquated idea but when the nation was founded Americans took seriously keeping Sunday as a day for worship and rest.
In their book, Blue Laws: the History, Economics, and Politics of Sunday-Closing Laws, authors David Laband and Deborah Heinbuch give an historical account from the year 1789, telling of a certain man (in fact, a dignitary of great importance) who was forced because of urgent business to travel on the Lord’s Day. He started in Connecticut and needed to get to New York City. He and his entourage got up at daybreak and saddled their horses and set off down the dirt road leading south. They had not gotten far when they were stopped by a local constable. Why, he demanded to know, were they taking a long journey (which he could see by the horses laden with traveling gear) on the Lord’s Day? Of course everyone in the party knew of the laws that had been in effect since colonial days prohibiting travel, either walking or riding on the Lord’s Day.
The travelers avoided going to jail by convincing the constable that they were intending to carry on to New York the next day but planned to stop in the next town to attend church services.
What makes this account extraordinary is that this party was headed by none other than the newly elected President of the U. S., George Washington. What also makes it extraordinary is that it demonstrates how solidly our nation was built on the laws of God.
Hold on to this image of early American life in contrast with the attack on the Lord’s Day-keeping that gained momentum and force particularly in the 1960s. In 1961, the first of several legal battles reached the U. S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of keeping the “blue laws,” however, the ruling allowed state legislatures to control them. So throughout the late 1960s and 70s, grocery stores and drug stores slowly began to open on Sundays followed by department and gift stores. America’s day of rest and worship slowly began to change. Consider where we are today.
This occurred under the mantle of progress. I ask the question, has it really been progress? Look at what has happened to the families and the overall culture of America in these past 50-60 years. Where will America be in the next 50 years? Pray for America that we may return God to his rightful place in our culture.
—John Qualls