CBC Happenings

Burnt Biscuits

2009-11-15T14:06:00.001-06:00

When I was a little boy, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said, "Baby, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Mamma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"

You know, life is full of imperfect things...and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

Unknown.

Sermon Without a Word

2009-11-11T12:38:00.002-06:00

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone sitting before a blazing fire.

Guessing the reason for his preacher's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home, but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

We live in a world today which tries to say too much with too little, consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Happy Birthday

2009-11-11T09:40:00.000-06:00

08 - Jamey Dennis
09 - Mickey Jones
16 - Bobbie Jones

THINKING ABOUT GOD

2009-11-11T00:48:00.001-06:00

Richard Fairchild tells the following story in his book, "Not Far From the Kingdom of God":

In the days of the circuit riders a minister was out riding one afternoon and came upon a man out working in his field.

"Fine day, isn't it?" the minister called out.

"It's fine for you", the man replied, "All you have to do is ride around on that horse thinking about God all day long, while I have to sweat here in this field and then walk home afterward. I don't think it is right you should have things so easy while I have to work so hard."

"On the contrary", the minister answered, "thinking about God is one of the most difficult things you can do. And to prove it, I'll give you this horse if you can think about God and nothing else for one minute."

"You're on," said the man and immediately he sat down in silence. Thirty seconds later he looked up at the minister, and said, "Does that include the saddle?"

I would agree that thinking about God and nothing else is a very difficult thing to do. I would also add, though, that it is just as hard for ministers as it is anyone else!

The apostle Paul wrote, "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:2).

But our mind is filled nearly every minute of the day with things on this earth -- concerns about things that have happened, concerns about things that will (or might) happen, concerns about what we have (or don't have), concerns about how to get what we don't have, concerns about people that have done us wrong, concerns about what we want others to do for us.

And our mind is so crowded with the things of this world, that there's just not much room left for God. It's hard to think about God and God alone, for there is so much competing for our attention.

Allow me to give you this challenge -- think about God and nothing else for one minute. If you can achieve that goal, strive for five minutes. May thoughts of God increasingly fill your mind so that you can eventually say with the Psalmist all day long, "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works." (Psalm 145:15)

Have a great day!

The Greatest Paradox

2009-11-08T00:34:00.001-06:00

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. James 1:2

Many things about the kingdom of God seem odd to those who are not its citizens. Kingdom citizens gain by giving, live by dying, and become great by becoming least. But perhaps the greatest oddity in the kingdom of God is when Christians find joy in pain and suffering. There is something unnatural about rejoicing in the midst of trials.

But a clarification must be made. The Bible says we are to give thanks "in everything," not "for everything." The Bible is transrational, not irrational; it represents thinking at a higher level, not a lower level. "In" the experience of trials and trouble, joy can still be found because we know that every experience has a purpose and place in God's plan for our lives. Who would not find joy in having his faith proved to be genuine? Peter writes that trials and suffering come for that very reason: to prove that the faith we cling to is the real thing (1 Peter 1:6-7). In such revelation and confirmation is found true joy.

If you are experiencing a painful moment in your life right now, you don't have to fake having joy "for" the pain. Your joy is to be in the knowledge that God is in control and your faith in Him is unshakeable.

"It is the very joy of this earthly life to think that it will come to an end."
Charles H. Spurgeon

It's Your Birthday!

2009-11-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

01 - Jessica Shankles
03 - Daniel Borntrager
05 - Deborah Redditt
08 - Jamey Dennis

Happy November Anniversay!

2009-11-01T10:30:00.002-06:00

03 - Jackie & Joann Myers
16 - Brad & Belinda Barksdale
19 - Jonathan & Leah Perkins
23 - Fred & Carolyn Shankles
24 - Clyde & Sandra Killian
25 - Katrin & Ronald Smith
26 - Dee & Bill Fortner

Katie to be Scheduled for Surgery

2009-10-29T21:14:00.000-05:00

Katie found out this evening that her gallbladder surgery is going to be on Nov. 17 at Gadsden Regional. It was so late when she got out of the surgeons office that we don't know a time yet. The office is going to call the hospital Friday and get a time scheduled. I will let you all know the time as soon as I find out. Brian

Birthday Time!

2009-10-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

27 - Dean Patton
28 - Donnie Myers
29 - Carl Clayton
29 - Aimee Clayton Talley
29 - Jessica Nelson
31 - Mary Berry Stephens
31 – Jade Burke

Prayer Request

2009-10-21T18:22:00.001-05:00

Please pray for my friend David Jordan and his daughter Emily. Pam Jordan, wife and mother, died tragically last night.

Mamie

Tonya Is Home

2009-10-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

Today we were met with somewhat good news. This evening we were met with some not so good news. The urologist came in this morning and said the urine culture grew out a bacteria that he couldn't even pronounce and he wasn't sure what to treat it with. We waited until 5PM on the infection control doctor to come in. He said the good thing was that he knew what type of bacteria the culture grew out but the bad news was Tonya is allergic to the antibiotic that they would use to treat it. He sent Tonya home and said he would look at the culture again tomorrow with the biologist in the lab and call her, hopefully with a solution. Right now it is a wait and see thing but at least Tonya is home for now.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers during this time. If you would like to call Tonya our number is 442-4740. Brian

Happy Birthday This Week

2009-10-19T10:10:00.001-05:00

19 - Lynn Beene
19 - Faye Ryan
19 - Kevin Siniard
22 - Wesley Hamiter
22 – Cagney Buchanan
23 – Bill Fortner
23 - Dale McKee
24 - LaNelle Taylor

Tonya Update 1

2009-10-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

Just an update on Tonya. She is still in the hospital and this morning the urologist came in and said the culture wasn't growing anything. The infection control doctor came in around 12 and said the culture was starting to grow something. He said he would know more Monday so we know that she will at least be there until then. I don't expect to hear any new developments before Monday.

If anyone would like to call her room number is 205-838-6654, or she has her cell phone 613-3486.

I will send another update if there is anything new that comes up between now and then. Brian

Tonya Now In St. Vincent's East

2009-10-14T20:43:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

Once again Tonya was put back into the hospital today. She is at St. Vincent's East in Birmingham. The number to her room is 205-838-6654. Or she has her cell phone with her and that number is 256-613-3486. She has another kidney infection and is dehydrated. Her urologist put her in this time so maybe he can get her well before she comes home.

Just letting everyone know.

Updates tomorrow, Brian

What An Awesome And Orderly God

2009-10-09T23:11:00.002-05:00

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.

For example:
-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
-those of the canary in 14 days;
-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-the eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
-those of the mallard in 35 days;
-the eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only the One who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.

God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains.

-Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind.
-Each orange has an even number of segments.
-Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number.
-The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all kinds of weather.

All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundredfold - all even numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!

Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.

Only the God-planned safe life is successful. Only the life given over to the care of the Lord is fulfilled.

I HOPE YOU FIND THIS AS FASCINATING AS I DID.....WOW!!!!

WHAT AN AWESOME AND ORDERLY GOD

Way To Go Shawn!!

2009-10-08T14:18:00.003-05:00

Shawn Ross, who is in his second year at Northeast College,

has been invited to join

Phi Beta Kappa.

Nice work, Shawn!

We are proud of you!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-10-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

01 - Craig & Rebecca Fields
03 - Faye & David Ryan
14 - Mark & Glenda Morgan
15 – Justin & Allison Foster

Congratulations!

2009-10-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

Brian's Father Diagnosed With Lung Cancer

2009-10-02T23:48:00.001-05:00

Just a note to let everyone know that today my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. He begins radiation treatments Thursday. The doctor told us because of where the cancer is and due to my dad's C..O.P.D. surgery is not an option because my dads other lung would not be enough for him to sustain life. I need your prayers because my dad, as far as I know, is not saved. I have made several attempts at witnessing to him and so has Tonya but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. He has survived 2 heart attacks and a stroke and now this has come up out of the blue unexpectedly. Maybe this is God's way of saying now follow me because this is your last chance.

I refuse to give in to satan and I am believing that God will heal my dad. This is the only thing that is going to help right now.

Thank you all for everything you do, Brian

Rejoice!

2009-09-21T09:18:00.000-05:00

Paige Bivens, grand-daughter of Carolynne and Bob Gese, accepted Christ as her savior yesterday. We rejoice with Paige, and her parents, Stephen and Caryn Bivens, and welcome a new sister into the family of God.

Tonya Update 7

2009-09-19T22:17:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Tonya came home about lunch time today. She is still feeling kind of puny but at least she gets to sleep in her own bed tonight. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Brian

2009-09-19T10:55:00.004-05:00

John Elliott Morgan

John Elliott Morgan of Goodlettsville, TN. Passed away on Thursday, September 17, 2009. He was 91. Mr. Morgan was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Kathleen Wilks Morgan; his loving wife of sixty-seven years, Joyce B. Morgan and his sister, Sorena Anderson. Mr. Morgan was retired from the Nashville Banner where he served as Chief Color Photographer for forty years.
He was a proud combat photographer in War World II and the Korean War, serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He attended with his family First Baptist Church of Goodlettsville. Mr. Morgan is survived by his son, Rev. John E. Morgan II and his wife Gloria; daughters, Pat Tippit and her husband Tilden, Kathleen Singletary and Martha L. Morgan; adopted daughter and caregiver, Dianne McClintock; sister, June Cooper; eight grandchildren; five great grandchildren; two great great grandchildren.
The family will receive friends on Sunday, September 20, 2009 from 4-6 p.m. at Spring Hill Funeral Home, 5110 Gallatin Rd., and where funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 21, 2009 with Rev. John E. Morgan II officiating.
Honorary Pallbearers: Nephew, John E. Holder, brother-in-law, Thomas Bradbury, Jr. and good friend and golf partner, Robert Shumate. Grandchildren will serve as Pallbearers. Interment will follow in Spring Hill Cemetery with Military Honors.

SPRING HILL FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY

(615) 865-1101

Tonya Update 6

2009-09-18T23:05:00.001-05:00

Tonya had her endoscopy today and everything was normal.... Well, as normal as it can be for Tonya. The doc said there was no inflammation or any ulcers. This was good news but we also didn't expect him to find anything wrong anyway.

Tonya is down to be discharged after breakfast tomorrow. I will email everyone when she gets home.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers, Brian

Christian Sympathy

2009-09-18T16:58:00.003-05:00

Please remember Brother John and his family in your prayers,

as they deal with the loss of his father, John Elliot Morgan.

They will be in Nashville until next week.

Tonya Update 5

2009-09-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

The doc came in this morning and said since Tonya's side was still hurting he was going to order a CT scan to make sure nothing else is going on. Tonya is still very sick at her stomach so he is going to contact a gastro. doc to come and talk to her too. There isn't much else to tell right now. I will let you all know the outcome of the CT and what the stomach doc says when I find out.

Brian