I am taking the occasion of this church blog to send a up a tribute to my mother, Irene Smitheran. I gave this tribute at her funeral on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 in Bolivar, MO. There are too many memories of my mom to include here, but of all the things I remember most, I remember that she made a killer meat loaf. I’ve tried to duplicate it but have not been able to as yet. She told me it was because she put diced ham in it along with ground pork, beef and bacon, but she must have put some other spices in it because I haven’t been successful in copying it yet. She also made fried chicken in such a way it was better cold the next day than it was hot, and it was very good hot. I know she used a cast iron skillet and not too much oil in frying it, but no matter how she did it, it was always good and better cold. We also had roast nearly every Sunday; she would sear it in the old electric skillet we had and then drown it before we’d go to church. It was always done when we got home but to this day I won’t have roast on Sunday unless I just have to. Her roast was good, but not every Sunday; how about spaghetti or chili or hamburgers, mom?

My mother endured the Great Depression in her childhood. She told me the story of seeing the local banker approach the front door of the home her and my grandpa and grandma lived in to tell them they were repossessing the farm. She did not tell me that story until she was in her 70’s, and even after all those years she cried as she told it. The events of the Depression formed her life’s choices from that point forward. She would save every little bit of food after we ate, no matter how small, even though we always had plenty.  She saved every little margarine container in order to save those little bits of food; we found dozens of those containers in the cupboard. She saved the wax paper that lined cereal boxes, using that paper over and over again for a variety of uses. Bread bags, used aluminum foil, item after item would be saved. After she told me the story of the banker I realized what all that saving had meant to her; it was her way of surviving those awful times. Those in my generation and younger cannot begin to imagine the sacrifices and hardships that my mom’s generation went through. And after the Depression, they faced WWII and the sacrifices that meant. My mother’s generation truly was The Greatest Generation, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for all she did to give my sister and me and good life. She did a great job and I salute her.

My mom and dad raised two kids, both of which entered the ministry. My sister, Barbara Lingo of Brighton, MO, has been a missionary, a teacher of missions at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO, and a pastor’s wife. Her and her husband David currently minister at the Berean Baptist Church of Bolivar. I have been in the ministry since 1981, so mom has left a legacy in the ministry that has far exceeded her humble beginnings. I know she never set out to raise kids for the ministry, for there was nothing in our background that would indicate that would be the direction we would take. But she made every attempt to teach us correctly and keep us on the straight and narrow, and the results were nothing to be ashamed of.

Mom, I salute you: you did a good job. And say hello to Dad for me. I sure do miss both of you.

Emily Irene Smitheran, 84, passed away December 25, 2011 in Brighton, MO. She was born July 17, 1927 in La Cygne, KS, the daughter of Edwin and Eva Leona Bartlett Riley. After graduating from Osawatomie High School in 1945, Irene began her career as a secretary which she practiced until her retirement. She married E. J. (Red) Chandler and they were parents of 2 children. E.J. passed away in 1969 and she later Raymond Smitheran who also preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her parents, and sister, Esta Brown of Osawatomie, Kansas.

Irene was a member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary in Mound City, Kansas.
Irene moved to the Brighton area from Arkansas City, Kansas, in 1996. She was an active member of the Berean Baptist Church, Bolivar, MO.
Irene is survived by a son, Greg A. Chandler and wife Ruth, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; daughter Barbara Lingo and husband David of Brighton; a sister, Margaret Wilson of Mound City, Kansas; 5 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, December 28, 2011 in Bolivar, MO. Interment is at Green Valley Cemetery, Osawatomie, Kansas.

Last Sunday night December 18 the church enjoyed a performance from the Songspinners the Colorado Springs Show Choir. Our "beloved" pastor and member Nancy Jenkins are a part of this choir and the church thoroughly enjoyed the show. We all enjoyed our pastor making a fool of himself for the fun and enjoyment of all, certainly a worthwhile pastoral activity! Thanks so much for these great people for putting so much work and energy into our church Christmas celebration. Merry Christmas to you all!

I had made an offer to the church last Sunday that if we sold 100 cookbooks between now and December 18, our Christmas fellowship, I would shave off my beard at the fellowship. Yesterday morning someone came forward with a razor, scissors, shaving cream and 100 $10 bills to purchase 100 cookbooks. So, off came the beard at church. The last photo was taken at home after I got a chance to more "properly" shave the beard off. Be careful what you ask for as a pastor, right? The Lord bless all who make our church a fun place to be .  (We're not the worst church you'll ever attend)

Blowing Into Fall

We recently completed our study of the Minor Prophets in our Sunday morning worship sermons. Our study began with the books of Joel and Micah and finished up in September with the book of Hosea. The study of the Minor Prophets revealed that God could simultaneously judge His people for their egregious sin and show them grace by promising the coming Messiah and the Millennial Kingdom. As God’s children we must see both sides of God’s character, judgment and mercy, and learn to live on His merciful side as much as we possibly can.

Our Sunday School lessons have been most fruitful as we have been studying other denominations, a study that I call “Dueling Denominations.” We have been concentrating on a simple overview, knowing that to study each denomination in detail would take years. We began with Catholicism and then studied Episcopalians, Lutherans and are currently studying Presbyterians. In order to understand the beliefs and practices of others a working knowledge of church history must also be studied, so we have been learning much as we have gone along in our study. We are certainly looking forward to the study of the Baptist church so that we can figure out what we’re actually doing (.....?)

 We will be finalizing our Christmas celebration schedule for this year. We have the opportunity to have a special fellowship this year and with the Songspinners performing with Nancy and Greg, but it will have to be another night other than December such as Friday night the 9th. We can then have our potluck fellowship on Sunday night the 18^th; be thinking about what we can do to celebrate the season.

Daylight Savings Time ends November 6^th this year
Christmas and New Years will be on a Sunday-we will have worship services those mornings at 10am with no Sunday school (unless there are any other ideas about the scheduling of those two Sundays)

Current Sunday School: Dueling Denominations
Presbyterians: Lesson #3
Exists today in America in two main groups, PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA) and PCA (Presbyterian Churches in America)
Reformed Theology vs. Presbyterian Church theology
Major differences with Baptists: baptism, Lord’s Supper, church government, beliefs on predestination and freewill

Sunday October 16 Sermon
We will study the book of John section by section-not as a series-with topical sermons presented to break up the study; John was studied in 1990 and it’s time to update
John 8 – The Light of Jesus Still Shines
John 8:1-11                    Woman in Adultery/Pharisees in Hypocrisy
John 8:12-20                  Jesus the Light of the World

Pastor's Catch-up

Some meanderings while catching up on the summer of 2011 for Freedom BC:

We had a great Sunday August 14 with Missionary Ed Potter and his wife Abbie at the church. We also had the privilege of welcoming the Potter clan and the Rogers clan from Pueblo in our services. We had a great fellowship following the service. The presence of Ed and Abbie and the Pueblo folks was most appreciated by our Freedom folks. You guys are welcome back anytime, and make sure you bring the grandkids!

Greg and Ruth have had the joy of several trips this year: last December to Virginia Beach, VA to move Tim and Christa. We traveled back to Virginia Beach in April for the birth of our 4^th grandchild, Neva. We went to Bolivar, MO and Branson in July to visit Greg’s mom and Ruth’s mom and dad. Christa and Neva joined us along with Ruth’s sister Mary, with Shawn and Josh. Then August 1-12 we went to Ketchikan AK to see our daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren, Bethanne, Melody and Tate. It was wonderful to see everyone but we are glad to be home.

The church updated the kitchen to include cabinets and a sink so we now have a more normal fellowship area. We also recently painted the interior of the church so our little storefront is actually quite comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to worship in. We thank Johnie and Jackie Jackson for obtaining the used cabinets and Johnie for installing them.

I have been preaching through the Minor Prophets recently, a sermon series that the folks will tell their grandchildren about, and mightily bored they’ll be! It is good to be reminded of the great prophetic messages that God gave to His people through these shorter books (hence the name “Minor” only in volume, not content). The prophecies and events mentioned in the Minor Prophets are forerunners of our future. We have studied Joel, Micah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah so far and will conclude with Haggai, Hosea and Nahum. (We have previously studied Obadiah, Jonah, Zechariah and Malachi.) The common theme through these books is that even though the Lord brought judgment against His people because of their disobedience, He also brought restoration and blessing. He will do the same for us: even though the future may have some dark days of judgment ahead, the Lord will bring restoration and renewal. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.

At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD. Zephaniah 3:17, 20 (KJV)

Father's Day Lesson 2011

Teach Your Children A Divine Imperative
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
·          The fundamental truths of life are to be handed down to our children
·          Speak to the children what is in your heart, not just academic knowledge, “shall be in thine heart, and you shall teach them diligently”
·          More than doctrine (teach that also, this is a propositional statement), but your life with Christ: tell them what you’ve been through, what you’ve felt with Christ, the personal times you’ve had with Jesus
 Proverbs 22:6
·          A general principle, not a warranty
·          But one thing is sure: if you don’t train them up in the right way, they will not have anything to depart from and thus no good foundation from which to base their decisions
·          Do not minimize the old adage that when the pressure is on we “run home to momma;” that is, we revert to what we were taught by our parents
 Proverbs 17:6
·          “Children’s children” are grandchildren, the crown of old men and women: it is a blessing to know our children’s children
·          “The glory of children are their fathers” is that children take pride in their parents, even when they wear the wrong clothes and embarrass them; this pride is from teaching them the truth, not in being fashionable
·          Adolescence does not count: this starts about the time they hit 22 yrs old (LOL)
 Psalm 127:3-5
·          Children are a blessing from God: there are joys that can only be known through children
·          It’s not a right, for not all can have children; there are many other blessings out there
·          But it is a blessing of its own flavor, and is to be appreciated for the blessing it is
·          Raising children and experiencing children is a divine gift; and there’s nothing wrong with a lot of them
 1 Samuel 1 (26-28)
·          Hannah was barren but offered to the Lord her child if He would grant her prayer
·          He did and she did; she knew that children were not her possession, but the Lord’s
·          Honor the Lord through the children, not with the children; they are a part of your life with Christ, not your exclusive possession
 Ephesians 6:1-4
·          A Spirit-controlled life (5:18) has an impact on the family relationship
·          Children obey their parents because this is pleasing in the Lord’s sight
·          The Lord blesses this with prosperity and longevity: it is a general rule that those who honor the God-given leadership of their parents avoid a lot of the pitfalls that come on those who do not, pitfalls which result in bad decisions
·          Fathers are the spiritual leaders of the family but must not exasperate their children with inconsistency, tyrannical demands, or petty favoritism
 Proverbs 10:1
·          Wisdom is the thing, and words of wisdom can bring wisdom to our children and our joy
·          Children can send us to the heights of euphoria and the depths of despair
·          There are no guarantees, only guidelines: with hope and prayer
 Joel 1:3
·          Hand down the truth from generation to generation: let the children know and hear your words
·          They will hand it down; the greatest legacy is not in what you leave them, but what you show them
 Mark 10:13-14
·          The spirit of a child is the spirit of Christ’s kingdom: humble, trusting, loving
·          And of the sin nature, which cannot be dismissed: demanding, selfish, rebellious
·          The teachings of Christ’s kingdom are designed to deal with the ravages of the sin nature
·          So let the children come: it is a divine imperative
You will be known by what is handed down to you and what you’ll do with it
You’ll make your own way with what you were given, in freedom and responsibility, but “that life” is handed down by the parents to the children
“That life” was not always easy and not perfectly lived (some crying involved), but you know they loved you
So, teach your children well; it does have an impact; maybe not immediately visible, but like the pull of gravity we will remember and base our lives on those handed-down values

Memorial Day Thoughts

Although this is a few days after Memorial Day, we should honor those who have given all to protect our freedoms.
John 15:12-14
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Those who have laid down their lives to protect the freedom of their countrymen paid the ultimate price. Freedom comes with a price: the responsibility to obtain it and then maintain it. This requires vigilance, courage, sacrifice, and honor. Recognizing heroes gives us hope.
·          You don’t have to be a believer to be a hero, to love something else more than self
·          Even those who are not saved give tribute to the values of vigilance, courage, sacrifice and honor
·          Why? Because it is instinctive to give self to something bigger; we are all created in the image of God, and this instinct comes to us from God
·          We know these things instinctively (“we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”) because God has placed them in us, regardless of the problem of sin
·          We all long for a better life, a better home, a better country, and a better world; this too is instinctive
·          God has provided these things upon our faith in His Son, who truly loved us more than self and was the ultimate hero that should be remembered/memorialized
·          Christ is the ultimate example of the selfless hero: all other heroes (whom we honor on Memorial Day) are following His example
·          This does not save them personally, but observing their sacrifice is another revelation of the love of God to mankind
 
Jud 17:6            In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Jud 21:25          In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
1Ki 15:5             Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
·          These Scriptures contrast those that did only what was in their self-interests and a leader that did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (and even he was not perfect as noted)
·          It is a necessity for social order that our leaders see themselves subject to a higher calling and not just personal pleasure
·          This is how freedom is won and maintained
 
Why bother to sacrifice since we’re going to heaven anyway?
·          It is difficult for people to understand why Christians should engage in social and civic responsibilities when:
·          This world is not our final home
·          We are longing and striving for heaven
·          There is a “sweet by and by”
·          The atheist doesn’t have to explain why there is suffering, but they do have to explain why there is any good at all.
·          It is the existence of heaven that requires dealing with conditions here on earth, conditions that we will try to improve by defending truth and justice
 
So why are we involved?
·          For freedom – men are only truly free when free from sin; no political body can change the soul; and we are only free from sin when have the guarantee of heaven
·          For accomplishment – to work is honorable, to sacrifice divine; before we enter the presence of God, we first have His presence enter us in this sin-cursed world to transform our lives
·          For our fellow man – to lead them to faith as we have been led, out of a sense of gratitude of the blessings we have received with the desire to share this with others: “greater love hath no man than this”
·          Heaven is the search for satisfaction (Heb. 11:13-16)
·          Even though dissatisfaction can be a result of sin, it can also be the inherent longing for a “better life” because of the heaven-shaped vacuum in our souls
·          We know we are not complete, so this dissatisfaction is a necessary pain in order to endure this life

We were built for heaven

·          Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:7-9, made for man)
·          The tree of life for the healing of nations; we were born to long for this place (Rev. 22:1-2)
·          The better country, the shining city on a hill, the Promised Land: the song of our soul
·          Life is a journey, not a destination
Being a hero, honoring heroes, and making this world a better place with truth and justice, are a part of the journey (I Peter 2:13-17