As some of you may know, I live in the Tuscaloosa, AL area. While living here I have been a part of the Central Church of Christ family for the majority of these years. However, on Wednesday, April 27 our building was hit hard by the tornado and will have to be re-built. We have received an enormous outpouring of love, help, and donations up to this point. We are overwhelmed with joy to see our Christian brothers and sisters step up to the plate. We pray this support will not go away in the weeks, months, and years to come, as this city won't be rebuilt in a week. We will still need your help in the long term. Here are some ways to help:
Dear Church Family Across the State: This is how you can help Tuscaloosa through the Central church of Christ. 1. Sit tight: At this point, coming to Tuscaloosa to see what you can do without contacting appropriate agencies may actually make clean-up efforts go slower. There is a lot to do, but limited infrastructure and capacity to get it accomplished. 2. Don't forget about us: If you would like to help Tuscaloosa through Central church of Christ in the coming weeks and months, sign-up to help here: Central Church of Christ Tuscaloosa Relief Volunteer Sign-up There will also be a link to this form from the church website http://www.centralchofchrist.org/ and the student center website http://www.tide4christ.com/ in the next few days. (Actual link is): https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGJWQzlWLXVuSlhVREdSTy1kdXo4QWc6MQ The damage is extensive. There will be an ongoing need for volunteers and this will allow us to keep track of who wants to do come help and when. With a little more time, we will have an infrastructure again to do things such as dispose of debris efficiently, communicate and organize, rebuild, etc. Think now how you could donate time to help in the following months; there will be large projects to undertake. We need the Church to step up even more than ever at that time, when we can really make a difference to individuals trying to recover. Prepare for these projects now by setting aside time and money. 3. “But I want to help now!” We are accepting donations for 3 causes. 1) Central Church Building Fund - The building has been demolished and will need to be replaced. Yes insurance will help but it will still be very costly. 2) TCSM Building Fund - TCSM is our Tide for Christ Student Ministry. Our UA Christian Student Center, located beside the church, was destroyed. Once again, insurance will help but it will still be very costly. 3) Disaster Relief Fund - This money will go towards the various items needed to help immediately meet the needs of those in our community and to help rebuild our Tuscaloosa communities. This fund is definitely an immediate need. Through the Church of Christ Disaster Assistance, other churches from across the nation, and individual donations that just keep pouring in, we are helping feed thousands daily from our parking lot. There are many relief agencies in Tuscaloosa. If you want to help fund the one that is set up in our parking lot, be sure to send the money to the Central Church of Christ. Send checks to: Central Church of Christ 304 Hargrove Rd. Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. (Our mail is safe. It is being picked up at the Post Office.) 100% of all funds will go to the desired location you provide on the memo section of your checks. You can also make electronic donations through: http://www.everribbon.com/r/CentralChurchofChrist Please consider helping in the following ways that have been mentioned! I know you will! Also, visit the disaster assistance blog which will update progress for each day: http://www.disasterassistancecoc.blogspot.com/
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Mayberry was a simple town and part of Small Town, USA. They did not have any major crimes and the sheriff watched over his people. Andy did things for them that a sheriff normally would not, because he cared for the people of Mayberry. Sometimes with the hustle and bustle of life, we lose focus on the small things and that is why With every episode, Andy Griffith insisted there be a moral to it. When analyzing the town of Mayberry, you can see within the lives of each character that they are church-going, G0d-fearing people. Thus, the "Finding the Way Back to Mayberry" series was born. During each episode a moral is presented, which generates discussion on biblical principles. Each episode should create a "parable" - a earthly story with a Heavenly meaning - and bring to light such biblical principles as submitting to authority, friendship, humbleness, and others. You would have never guessed that one TV show to create biblical discussion, however, that is what we will endeavour to do on Wednesday nights in the CYM Power House! Generally this series is for adults, but we are going to revamp and rework it to fit for the life of a teenager, because these principles can be applied to their lives as well. If you are a teenager in the Tuscaloosa area, I encourage you to visit us on Wednesday nights at Central Church of Christ. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or need directions! Yesterday, as you may well know, was Valentine's Day! A day for everyone to go out and buy flowers, candy, cards, GiGi's Cupcakes, or whatever your heart desired to give to your special someone. However, I have never been a fan of this "holiday". I guess you could say I am a scrooge when it comes to Valentine's Day! Yes, I said it! I do not like this day! Why? What is there to like about it? If we love someone should we not express it to them everyday in some form? So, why make such a big deal about it on this day. For those that are married, doesn't your anniversary serve as this purpose to celebrate your love for one another? Good job on the consumers to make this day more than what it should be! It seems as if some people make it out to be Christmas all over again with the money and gifts they spend on their special someone....
So, you may ask... Well, what did you give your valentine? Joy and I went out and had a nice meal at Hokkaido Japanese Steakhouse. Nothing special, just plain and simple because we have that ability to express ourselves every other day of the week and I do not have to make her feel like she is special only on one day because I do it all the time! There you have it, my rant about V-Day! Well, it happened! It finally did what the weather man said it would do. Although I was very skeptical all day long considering the temperatures hovered around 50 all day and it did not seem to be getting colder. Then, around 6:30 the skies just opened up and it began to snow. And it was good! It was a steady snow, but still I doubted it would stick to the ground. However, I walked out of church and the ground was covered in snow, as well as, my car. I would say we got a good inch of snow. As I drove home, it was neat seeing all the families, students, and friends outside playing in the snow, building snowmen, and having a snowball fights. We finally were not disappointed in the weather. I can't help but to think that this could be a metaphor of our faith sometimes. We sometimes doubt that God is going to provide for us, and do the things He says he will do, until we have proof. At times, us humans, believe that God has given us false hope and a false perception about things in our lives and/or our future. Did I fully trust in the weatherman that their would be snow? Absolutely not! Why? because this was like the third or fourth time snow has been talked about and all we have recieved was ice up until this point. But guess what? God never fails us! God always keeps His promises, and always blesses us at just the right time. The problem is, we bring in the human element of not being patient and trying to make our own path when God has other plans for us. The snow finally did come, but we had to wait on it. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31 As I read through my bible, particularly Mark I see a passage in Chapter 16 around verse 15 that simply tells me to go. Not to stand still, not to sit back and watch everyone else do the work, but to get my hands dirty and to go. Go for who? Go for the Lord and do what? Give the good news to everyone we see! Two years ago, I had the opportunity to "go into all the world." A third world. To the country of Panama. For a week, I worked in the city of Las Garzas teaching the children, supplying meds, and giving them good news about my Lord and Savior! It was the best week of my life! And I can tell you, I have gotten to do many things and go to many places, but this truly was the most rewarding week of my twenty-three year old life! It was humbling to see what these people had, but were willing to sacrifice so that we could have food or something to drink when they barely had a roof over their heads. I could go on and on about this, but I have posted a video that I made after my last trip there two years ago. Now, I have been called again to go. To go get dirty again for my Lord and to give people the good news to Panama once more. However, I will go to different regions this time. In order for this to happen, I need prayers. Prayers that God will guide me and lead me to Panama, so that I may spread His message and further build His kingdom here on Earth. I, also, need around $1,500 to get me there. I know that God will provide me the resources I need and I fully trust in Him to make this happen. People have always been willing to help support missions, and I don't expect anything less this go around. So, I am asking you to pray about it and see where you might can help. Anything helps, whether it is money to help offset travel expenses, snacks to offset my grumbling stomach, a donation of medical supplies, etc. I know that in this economy it may be hard to find extra money just laying around, but even $1, $5, or $10 helps. No matter the size of the gift, it will help in making this trip a reality! Thank you all so much! Checks should be made payable to Central Church of Christ and in the memo line you can write Andrew-Panama. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] May God bless us all, as we continue the work of the Lord. In continuing with the theme on musical instruments, here are some more quotes that I have come across specifically dealing with instrumental worship. Note the authors, it is interesting to note that these are not of a "Church of Christ" background, but you have Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, and others.. I hope you enjoy reading what they have to say.. I was reading over a list of qoutes that someone compiled about musical instruments in worship, and I was amazed at what some people said including the likes of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley condemning the use of insturments in worship. Funny isn't it? How do we have the Wesleyan and Lutheran church WITH instruments used in worship, but the men who the denomination is formed around specifically spoke out against it.... How do you mess that up? Anyways, here is the list of qoutes including some background and history to the introduction of instruments into worship.
Where is the necessity for instrumental music? Is it the need for entertainment in worship? Is it the need to draw in the masses through music? God never makes it a need in the New Testament. God never authorized intstrumental music. Man did. At what point do we discern the "feelgOne of the arguments used to justify instrumental music in worship is the use of the word “psalms” in Ephesians 5:19. By definition the term means “a set piece of music; i.e., a sacred ode (accompanied with the voice, harp or instrument; a psalm)” (Strong’s). Vine’s says, “Primarily denoted a striking or twitching with the fingers (on musical strings); then, a sacred song, sung to musical accompaniment, a psalm.” The advocates of instrumental music believe the inherent meaning of the word psalms are “songs to be sung with stringed instruments,” hence, the justification for its use in worship.
What are some things to consider from this reasoning? (1) All must use an instrument. If the inherent meaning of psalms is “to sing with a stringed instrument” then everyone must sing with an instrument to sing psalms! We cannot obey the inherent meaning of a word without obeying all of its meaning. For instance, no one can be baptized without being immersed in water because the inherent meaning of baptism is “to immerse.” A person cannot be sprinkled or poured with water for baptism because these do not meet the inherent meaning of the word. Likewise, if Paul was saying to use stringed instruments in worship then that’s what we must do to obey the command to sing psalms. He didn’t tell a select group to use the instruments, as with the Levites in the Old Testament (2 Chron. 29:25), but he did command all to sing psalms to one another. How else can we obey the “inherent” meaning of the word without each of us using instruments in worship? (2) Instruments are only authorized in singing psalms. Paul told Christians to sing “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” in worship. If instrumental music is justified by using the definition for psalms, then instruments can only be used when singing psalms. “Hymns and spiritual songs” do not have that inherent meaning, so where is the authority to use instruments in songs other than psalms? (3) Could not sing without mechanical instruments. If the only way to sing a psalm is with an instrument, then how did Jesus and the apostles recite psalms without instruments (Lk. 20:42; Rom. 3:9-18)? How could they have respected the inherent meaning of the word without using an instrument every time they either sang or referred to psalms? Or did they use a harp every time they quoted a psalm? The fact is, it is possible for a person to sing, recite or read psalms without instrumental accompaniment. The psalms may have been sung with instruments in the Old Testament, but Paul specified how they were to be used in New Testament worship, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…” (Eph. 5:19; see also Col. 3:16). If the inherent meaning of “psalms” requires mechanical, instrumental accompaniment, there would be no other way to sing or read a psalm. (4) The context says to sing. The Greek word for psalms in Ephesians 5:19 is psalmos, which comes from the root word psallo (“to twitch, twang, or to move by touching”). The argument is that since the definition of psallo once carried the meaning to play on a stringed instrument, then we can use instruments today. But that is not the only meaning of the word. “In the N.T., ‘to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God’” (Thayer’s). The inherent meaning is to twitch or twang something. YES, it was used to refer to musical instruments in the Old Testament, but how is it applied in the New? How did Paul tell Christians to psallo or to use psalmos? By “singing and making melody in your hearts.” Today’s meaning of psallo is “to sing; to chant” (Kyriakides) and “to chant, sing religious hymns” (Sophocles). And psalmos is “a set piece of music” (Strong’s); “a sacred song” (Vine’s). These definitions agree with the New Testament. Which instrument have Christians been told to use: the heart or the harp? Friends, if God wanted us to use instruments in worship He would have said so. “Where did God say not to?” is likely the response, but when God revealed the new covenant He did not have to list every contrast with the old. Where is the verse that says we are to no longer burn incense or to wear special garments in worship? “That was the job of the Levites, and was the Old Testament way of worship; God hasn’t told us to do those things today.” And that is my point regarding music. God wants us to play our hearts as we sing unto Him. Thoughts? It's been a long two nights. First, on Monday I left my wallet in Joy's car from the weekend and her car was in Birmingham. So, thankfully she's awesome and brought it back to me so that I could pay rent, buy gas, etc. AND have my driver's license. As you may know, I am in a production of Children of Eden presented by The ACT (Mar. 4-6th at the BAMA Theatre). I have had rehearsals the past two nights until 9pm and I am exhausted. I guess I am out of theatre shape, because I have not done this in about two years. I never thought coming back would be so draining. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I forgot about the work involved. Anyways, I am one of Noah's sons (Ham). You don't see my character until the Second Act, but thats okay. I really didn't care if I got a role this time, I just wanted to be in a show because I missed it so much. For those who do not know about the show, Children of Eden is a show loosely based on the book of Genesis with the First Act focusing on Adam and Eve then moving to Noah and his family in the Second Act. The music and lyrics are written by the same guy who wrote Wicked and Godspell. Support the Arts! PS- I know my blog has been lacking substance, so I will try my best to make up for it tomorrow. It's Monday. It's rainy. What a perfect day to stay at home and be lazy, but alas I am here at work (working hard, you know!). I am trying to blog daily so maybe I can get more followers. Any takers? Hmmm... all you have to do is click Follow this Blog. It's as easy as that. Try it, it's so easy even an Auburn fan can do it... Okay, I probably lost a few followers with that comment..
What a great weekend! I wish I had pictures to document it. I am terrible at remembering to pick up my camera. I have one on my IPhone, but I still do not take very many pictures, so my camera camped out in my suitcase all weekend. Poor fella. Anyways, Friday night I traveled back home to the little town of Caddo, AL (don't blink, you'll miss it) with Joy for my Christimas present weekend. We arrived in Moulton, AL to eat at "The SteakHouse" as the locals refer to it, aka Western Sirloin. My grandparents were waiting there with a table ready to go for us. It was a pleasure getting to visit with them and enjoy a meal together. Joy and I both just got cheeseburgers, which were delicious, and a salad bar. By the way, if you are ever passing through Moulton I would recommend stopping here just for the salad bar. YES! The salad bar at a steakhouse, I know.. kind of odd, but nonetheless, true. We were going to watch the Frozen Tide play in Decatur, but the match was not until 9:45pm which was late for me, now that I am turning into an old man. However, I decided to make the trip a bit interesting. I had thought I would bring my laundry home with me, so that I could wash. Therefore, I did not pack in underwear. It just so happened that I forgot to bring my laundry with me. As you can probably guess, this left me without underwear for the whole weekend. Thank You Wal-Mart for always being there to help me out in a bind! Saturday, Joy and I woke up to get ready for the day she had prepared for me. We made breakfast that include waffles, bacon, and sausage. Of course, nothing that we do is uneventful. In our first attempt at the waffle maker, we forgot grease the grill, so when we opened it the waffle stuck to the maker and split in two pieces sticking the top and bottom. Lesson learned! Next, we were off to a full day in Huntsville ending with going to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast while sitting on the front row! Wait, what did you say? The show is at 2pm, Joy? Okay, I guess we will do things in reverse order and go see the show first! Told you that nothing is ever normal with us.. So, we headed to a full day in Huntsville beginning with Beauty and the Beast while having front row tickets! The show was great! I loved everything about it! After the show, we went over to Bridgestreet to look around the shops and eventually eat. I had picked the SmokeHouse restaurant, which turned out to be a FANtastic choice! Our waitress, Jeri, was super nice and when we arrived they already had a table reserved with OUR name on it! Wow! I felt like royalty! The food was excellent. It is an upscale BBQ restaurant, but you can find steaks and other things there as well. After the meal we had planned to go to the Monaco to watch a movie, and our waitress informed us that with a movie ticket you could a free appetizer. So, we took home with us two free appetizers with us to eat for later PLUS our leftovers, because the portions were texas sized! And just a side note, if you eat at the Smoke House, you can valet park at the Westin Hotel for free! The night ended with us watching a movie at the most upscale movie theatre I have ever seen (reserved seating included). They had a bar for patrons, and if you wanted to enjoy a whole different viewing experience, then you could buy tickets to the 21+ Prive VIP Lounge where you can watch a movie from your own leather recliner... We watched "No Strings Attached" and called it a night... What a long, but wonderful day! Spent with one of the most wonderful people in my life, Joy Crawford! Merry Christmas to ME! | AuthorAndrew Thompson ArchivesMay 2011 |