Thursday

“Blessed be the Lord,

because He has heard the voice of my supplications!”

~Psalm 28:6~

Update on Greg Tanner

He is doing much better. He went back to work today. Got a long way to go, but he’s healing alot faster than the docs expected.

Chapmans

Good day/bad day. Good: Emma is now home, just can’t jump around or play hard for 6 weeks. Bad: Dad went from active hallucinations to quiet sleep to stopping breathing. They shocked his heart into starting, but he is now on life support. Had to break the news to Mom, who just began therapy today. Don’t know what happened or why. My sisters and I meet with doctors tomorrow to discuss options. Please pray.

Pray for Jimmy Schwartz as he makes a decision about knee replacement surgeries.

Pray for the Dukes family as they have the memorial service for Mrs. Retia Dukes today in Florida.  Pray for all of them in the coming days as they make the necessary adjustments from the life they have had for the last four months since the accident.

Pray for the Henson family, church family, and friends as services are held today for Maggie Lee at 1 P.M.  You can go to http://www.fbcshreveport.org/ at 1 P.M. today to view the live celebration of Maggie Lee’s life.

Earl Dennis Becnel, Jr.

(August 3, 1940 – August 5, 2009)

Died at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at Kentwood Manor Nursing Home in Kentwood, LA. He was a native of New Orleans, LA and a resident of Kentwood, LA. Age 69 years. Graveside Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. Interment Woodland Cemetery, Kentwood, LA. He is survived by his 3 sons, Michael Becnel and wife, Gina, Kentwood, David Becnel and wife, Tanya, Slidell, and Mark Becnel and wife, Laurie, Picayune, MS; mother, Frances Becnel, New Orleans; 2 sisters, Patsy Fox, New Orleans and Catheline Becnel, New Orleans; a brother, Ronnie Becnel, New Orleans; 5 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father, Earl Dennis Becnel, Sr. McKneely Funeral Home, Kentwood, in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Lula Mae Will

Visitation will be at the McKneely & Vaughn Funeral Home, Amite, on Thursday, August 6, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. until Religious Services in the funeral home Chapel at 11:00 a.m.

LEAVING COLLATERAL

I accompanied my husband when he went to get a haircut. Reading a magazine, I found a hairstyle I liked for myself, and I asked the receptionist if I could take the magazine next door to make a copy of the photo.

“Leave some ID, a driver’s license or a credit card,” she said.

“But my husband is here getting a haircut,” I explained.

“Yes,” she replied. “But I need something you’ll come back for.”

We are familiar with the concept of collateral.  Perhaps many of you have been in a situation, as I have in time past, where you pumped your gas or bought some groceries but then realized that you didn’t have any cash.  The cashier wanted something (usually a driver’s license) as collateral to serve as proof that you would return to pay the full amount.

In the Old Testament, the word that is most often used to describe collateral is “pledge”.  You may recall the story of Jacob and Tamar in Genesis 38, where Judah had sex with Tamar, thinking that she was a prostitute.  As payment, he offered to return home for a goat, but Tamar wanted collateral:  “What will you give me a pledge till you send it?” (Gen. 38:17).

Under the Law of Moses, if you needed collateral, you could take a person’s garment, but “If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down.” (Exodus 22:26) because that’s what he used to keep warm at night.

In the New Testament, the word that is most often used to describe the idea of collateral is “guarantee”.  Three times (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:14), the apostle Paul says that God has given us His Holy Spirit as a “guarantee” that there is more to come.  We can be assured that God will keep all of His promises and give us great blessings (including a home in heaven) because we have the Spirit to serve as collateral.

“For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.  Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” (2 Cor. 5:4-5)

Trust me, that’s something God is definitely coming back for!

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina