The Champions Spirit
Volume 68, Issue 20
May 24, 2009
“He Doesn’t Even See Me”
She was standing behind the counter at the gas station, and I was standing in line. (OK, I was paying for a coke...not gas, but that’s not the point of this story.) The gentleman in front of me stood in a strange position. He didn’t have a “crick” in his neck—he had a “phone in the ear.” Now he was going through all kinds of contortions—trying to get his money out of his billfold without interrupting the conversation he was having on his cell phone. Eventually, he paid for his purchase and headed for the door, all the while never missing a beat in his conversation (which all of us around him were “privileged” to be a part of) but that’s another story....”
After he left, I asked the cashier what she thought about it and her response was interesting. She said, “I don’t think he ever even saw me.” What’s she saying? Here she was...providing a service, and she felt basically invisible.
How many of us have done the same thing? Perhaps we did it in the same manner, cell phone in hand (or ear). Or, perhaps we did it by just never making eye contact, never saying a kind word, never smiling, never acknowledging the help or presence of the other person.
How many times do we do something similar, not to the “public” but in other settings? What about our homes—to our own family members? What about in our community—to our neighbors? What about at work—to our colleagues? What about in the church—to our brothers and sisters?
Do we validate others by acknowledging their presence and thus, importance? Or, do we violate others by ignoring them completely? Do we tell them that they are “somebody” or would they say of us, “He Doesn’t Even See Me?”
—Larry Keele
FAMILY MATTERS...
We are thankful to have each of our guests today! Please complete a visitor’s card to give us a record of your attendance. Come again soon!
Our hearts were touched with the coming of Ray Waddy last Sunday as he requested prayers in his behalf as he is going through some difficult times. Surely help and comfort can be found in God...and in His people.
We were blessed with the coming of Gregg and Janie Chappell, Sr. to place their membership with the Champions family. We look forward to serving our Lord with them!
Our Fireproof weekend was a great blessing and success! Many commented on the movie. This fall, we plan to have another viewing of the movie and a follow-up six-week “Love Dare” program.
Tonight, we will be blessed as Josh Willis will bring our lesson. Josh is back from his work at David Lipscomb and will begin his work as a youth intern in Conroe before long. We look forward to hearing his message from the Word.
We now have a system that will enable us to call every family in the congregation (and/or send them an e-mail) within a couple of hours. This will be a great communication blessing. Hopefully, we will have it up and running shortly.
Dates to remember:
- Senior Sunday—June 7
- VBS—June 8-12
Parting Thought: The trouble with doing nothing is that you never know when you’re finished.
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
BENJAMIN TREME ~ SUMMER INTERN
Dear Champions Family,
Recently I have been hired as the youth intern for the summer of 2009. I cannot tell you how excited I am to work and grow with you over the summer. God has blessed my life tremendously and I am so glad to be part of the Champions family so I can share those blessings. A little information about myself before I get started. My name is Benjamin Treme. I am 19 years old and attend Harding University. I have lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, my entire life and love it there. I was blessed to grow up at Boulevard Church of Christ, which I still call home. God has worked in my life in ways I hope to share with you over the summer. One significant one, however, was allowing me to attend Harding, where I am studying Youth and Family Ministry. Harding is a place where faith comes before anything else. This has impacted me in so many ways. I am so glad to have the past experiences there and throughout life that have helped mold me into what I am becoming. Please keep me in your prayers. God is molding me and I pray he is working in your life as well.
I hope to develop a deep relationship with the Champions family, and hope to remain in your prayers even after my stay in Houston. Jeremy was my youth minister in Lake Charles doing the essential years of my teens. He helped me develop a deeper faith and realize what I am here for. I am here to serve not to be served. One thing I am striving for in my life is Ephesians 5, to imitate Christ in all that I do. I love viewing the church as a cruise ship or a battleship. The more you think about it, maybe you understand. A cruise ship is a place where people go to be comfortable, to indulge, to relax and be served. A battleship is completely opposite in its purpose. A battleship has a mission, a purpose, to serve and protect, not to be served. I try to maintain a "Battleship" view when it comes to the church, realizing that I am here on a mission to serve. Jesus was the ultimate example of this and if I strive to imitate him I will be doing the same.
My prayer is that I may encourage others to be like Christ, to realize the power He has, and the relationship He wants with you. Teens are truly the future of the church and should be constantly encouraged as they are being pulled in two directions. I strive to be an example of Christ to teens, to show them the love He has for them, and to teach them the gospel so that they can fulfill its purpose. We serve an awesome God! We serve a God who is loving and forgiving even when we do not deserve it. I pray that while I am here at Champions, I can teach these things: love, seek, serve, and save! Please keep me in your prayers and the amazing youth we have here at Champions!
Hebrews 3:23 - But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today; so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness!
In Him,
Benjamin Treme
John's Jogs
CARRIE PRAJEAN – MISS CALIFORNIA
This is a story I’ve had the urge to write about from the beginning but decided to wait for it to play out. This article is not about her morals, good or bad, because frankly I don’t know what they are ultimately. Neither am I considering beauty pageants either good nor bad. Rather, we’re considering two major and important issues; 1) The effect of her statement and 2) Her character in making the statement.
Just in case there may be someone who has not heard the story, Miss Prajean is the runner up in the Miss USA Pageant. She was asked a question by a judge, Perez Hilton (a professed homosexual and a historical activist agitator for that cause). The question was to the extent “what do you think about gay marriage?” Watching a rerun of the event you can see she had a brief moment hesitation before answering something like “ I do not wish to offend anyone but I was brought up believing and still do that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
Within 24 hours Perez Hilton on another TV program ranted with vile terms about her. She started accepting TV interviews suggesting she thought the statement cost her the Miss USA crown. We’ll never know whether it did or not but we do know that Hilton gave her a very low score. That’s not important here. The media picked up the story and reported that the California Pageant and the USA Pageant were both considering withdrawing her wins. This fueled the fire until last week Donald Trump, owner of the USA Pageant called a meeting of all parties and announced a meeting of minds and that she would remain Miss California and First Runner Up to Miss USA.
In an interview, she said she knew Hilton and perhaps others wanted her to give the politically correct answer. She recalled that her grandfather had fought in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII and had often told her “I fought for you to have the right to speak your mind. Therefore, always speak what you believe.” I want all our young people to take note of this: Her staying true to herself has brought her notoriety that she never would have otherwise. A multitude of doors have opened to her – Liberty University has offered her a full four-year scholarship. Where Hilton sought to sabotage her, it backfired on him and gave her a stage to promote herself and the idea he despised.
A twenty-three year old young lady had the backbone to speak her mind to a national audience advancing the God-given definition of marriage. We are losing this battle because the large majority of Christians of all stripes will not take a stand and speak up on this issue. We do not want to be controversial. May God forgive our timid omissions! Young people, do better!
—John Qualls