Douglas and Valorie Chance are trying to arrange for us to eat catfish at a small restaurant in the big city of Allentown, GA in Twiggs County. I can vouch for the restaurant, as I have eaten quite a few catfish there. The plan is to eat Friday evening, January 18, 2013. If you want to attend this culinary experience, I need to know ASAP, as Valorie needs to advise the cook so she will know how many catfish to catch. The time will be announced later.

I need to hear from you, if you desire to attend. You can leave a comment on this post and I will get it.

Looking forward to seeing who can eat the most catfish: Mac, Travis, Larry, or Jerry (you can guess which Jerry!).

Today Bob’s Doc released him to DRIVE!! Watch out traffic, as he has been out of the saddle for several weeks and he feels like a freshly minted 16 year old with a freshly issued driver’s license!

Please keep both the Tweddle family and Mildred Brandful on your prayer minds.

Blessings!

Mac

Am I just living on another planet, or do we have the best congregation on this planet? I am not very smart, especially at my age, but I am smart enough to know that God is blessing us and then some. Thank you so much for simply being who you are and, especially, for being a part of Grace Christian Fellowship. This pastor’s heart is very full tonight, as I realize again just how fortunate I am to be where I am and doing what I love.

Blessing to each of you!

Mac

Yesterday I visited Peggy Seymour at Flint River Memory Care Center. No, she does not have a room there, yet; instead, she operates the Carrot Top Beauty Salon located on the premises. Because she has no shingle hanging outside the door, I am having one made as soon as I can find the proper sign shop. The picture I have included here will definitely be a part of the sign. I think I got permission from the lady sitting in the chair. When she sees the sign, I am sure I will find out the truth.

Anyway, if you haven’t already visited Flint River Memory Care, there are many people awaiting your visit. Feel free to visit anytime. When you pass by Peggy’s office, be sure to sign the sign, and stop in for a conversation. It is amazing what a body can learn from visiting The Copper Top Beauty Salon.

Roger’s oncologist was very happy with the results of the PET scan! Nothing has changed from the last scan and everything is stable! This is GREAT news to begin the New Year!

Because he has Stage 4 cancer, the Doc will continue chemotherapy indefinitely. Thankfully, it doesn’t debilitate Roger, as it does some. This is a good thing–a blessing, indeed!

Please continue to pray for both Roger and Barbara! How I praise God for them and for the blessing they are to me!

Grace & peace!

Mac

To each of you GCF folk: it is my sincere prayer that 2013 will prove to be the best year of your life. I am very aware that there will be some rain and some sunshine, some fun days and some not-so-fun days; however, I am trusting that, through it all, the joy of the Lord will prove to be your strength.

Remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive; it is better to give your life away, than to keep it; it is to your advantage to love your enemies and to pray for them; it is an often forgotten truth that God doesn’t need you, but your neighbor does; it is very wise to learn to be a good listener; and, finally, it is utterly foolish to take your eyes off Jesus and put them on your circumstances.

Regardless of what this New Year might hold for you, remember that God is still God, that Jesus is still Lord, and that both of them, along with the Holy Spirit, are on your side. Because they are for you, no one can successfully be against you.

Forward ho!

Knowing that this is a busy time of the year, I wanted to remind you that we will be  gathering this Sunday morning to worship Him, so plan to be present and accounted for, as it will do you good and help you, too. Jesus will smile!

The text: “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

I have the feeling that all of us will need to plug into those truths, as we begin this new year at the bottom of the cliff; whatever, that means.

The truth is, we are not going to be at the bottom of any cliff because we are seated in Christ at God’s right hand in the Heavenly Places! Not to shabby for the likes of us! A thing of grace–indeed!

It is my prayer that each of you had a wonderful, happy, and blessed Christmas. I am wondering just how many of you got a visit from Santa? I remember something about it being a bad idea to be naughty. I won’t call any names, not to worry, but I might, if I change my mind. I considered offering some initials, but I will wait and see for now.

This year is about to come to an end, so you had better get busy and do whatever you need to do prior to that day. I am rooting for you!

Blessings!

Mac

Now that you have had time to digest today’s message (I know you have spent all afternoon doing just that!), I have a couple of questions about my “pretend” moment with Kevin:

1. Without the benefit of outside help, how long do you think it would have taken Kevin to figure out that Macon was celebrating the birth of Jesus?
2. What kind of outside help would he have needed in order to realize that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus?
3. How difficult would it have been for that “outside” help to explain to Kevin the correlation between what he was seeing and the birth of Jesus?

I won’t be a bit surprised, if Jesus calls off the entire celebration until we get our act together. Now don’t go and misunderstand that! I am simply trying to point out that using Christmas to drive the economy not only drives struggling people into varying states of confusion, but it also drives hungry folk away from the true message of His birth.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD!

My brother, Bruce, and I were invited to a BBQ lunch over in Reynolds today, the town of our growing up. The host was Ray Tincken, the owner of Ray’s Body Shop. Actually, his son, Tobey, runs the place now, as Ray is like me–too old to run anything very far. This father-son duo has been very successful. The “bodies” they work on are not the kind I used to work on, nor are the the kind that Playboy shows off; they are cars and trucks that have been damaged by various altercations with other objects of substance. Ray and Tobey are the best in the business. Their body shop is cleaner than most folk’s kitchen, and they can make a total wreck look better than new! For some reason they are very kind to both Bruce and me. Bruce and I love both of them. It is not very hard to love someone who is always kind to you. I really like being around kind people. Kindness is contagious. I couldn’t help but notice that today, as I mingled with the folk of Reynolds. Paul said that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit, which means that it is not something we muster, but something that the Holy Spirit produces in God’s children. In other words, kindness and self-centeredness cannot coexist, i.e. one never boasts about being kind.

On my way home today, I had to stop at Home Depot and Sams and Bath & Body Works (from what I could see, these are the kinds of bodies that Playboy shows off!) to pick up a couple of things. I couldn’t help but notice that I was not the only one running a little late with this shopping thing. People were shopping like they had money to burn and the store was about to run out of whatever they wanted. One thing stood out to me: most people were not practicing kindness.

Since God obviously knows it is Christmas, I suggested to Him that it would be nice if He would allow the Holy Spirit to stir a bit more kindness in the lives of His children. If He doesn’t, I am afraid Jesus might call off the celebration for next year. The truth is, based upon what I saw today, in and around the malls in Macon, most have a strange notion of what that celebration is about, anyway.

Maybe everyone needs to stop and take a few deep breaths, and then pause to remember The Reason for the season. Somehow, I have the strong feeling that Ray  and Tobey have already done that.

Some important person once said, “Be kind to one another.”