It rained REALLY hard last night and again while we were at church this morning. It is 4 PM and just started raining again, after maybe an hour with no rain. Most of the time when it wasn’t raining hard it has been sprinkling.
We went to Liberty for church this morning. Last week I almost enjoyed the contemporary music. I REALLY didn’t care for the music the first week and again this week. I think if I were going to be down here I would still attend the church, but I wouldn’t go into the service until the music was over. Guess I could set out in the hall and listen to southern gospel on my phone <grin>. There seems to be so much good going on there that my dislike of the style of music would be a minor inconvenience.
Today’s message was based on the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-42). The Jews looked down on the people of Samaria and tended to not even enter the country unless it was absolutely necessary. Not only did Jesus go into an area that most Jews wouldn’t enter, he talked to a woman who even the local people probably shunned because of her lifestyle (5 previous husbands and currently shacked up with a guy). His witness to her not only turned her life around it ended up turning around the entire town where she lived. We need to be aware that God will sometimes ask us to go into places where were may be intensely uncomfortable, and talk to people who our “worldly” selves find to be unlovable. (It may be our workplace and someone we have be around at work.) If we pray about the situation God/Jesus will open our hearts so that we can love those our worldly selves find unlovable. The Pastor noted that we all have 3 options. We can be a “player”, someone ACTIVELY involved in sharing how God has blessed our lives; or a “bench warmer”, someone who sits on the sidelines but who just doesn’t have the drive to get very involved; or we can be someone who sits in the stands and just watches life pass us by.
Both Liberty and the church we attend while in Crossville appear to be growing at a fast pace. Both seem to have many activities (small groups, study groups, church dinners, rummage sales, etc.) occurring on regular basis. I wonder what type of spark it takes to generate the excitement I feel among members when I attend those churches.
We drove up to Summerdale and had lunch at a “Mom & Pop” type restaurant. The food and prices were good. I had beef tips and rice, au gratin potatoes and fried squash. Kathy had chicken tenders, pinto beans and cabbage. We both had coffee to drink and peach cobbler for desert. The desert was included in the meal. With tax the cost was less than $17. The “fried squash” was breaded in what I thought might be the breading they use on onion rings, and deep fried. It was really good.
We are still on track to leave for TN in the morning. If I were tough, like my brother-in-law Tom, I would drive all the way in one day. He never took more than a day to make the trip between Tampa and Crossville, which is a lot further than we have to go.
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