7 Tips to Prepare for Passover - United Church of God

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Birth Defects: No Justification for Abortion■ The residents of a carefacility for people withdisabilities opened my eyesand convicted me that qualityof life arguments for abortionare absolutely wrong.by Heather DisherI was unprepared for the scene beforeme. To my right, a woman in her 40s satcross-legged on the floor, leaning into theTV screen as she enjoyed her daily cartoonsand cereal. She gave my class a shywave; we were touring the care facility thatshe had called home for many years. Weheard a soft, pitiful cry of a newborn as thesix-foot-tall man in the next room had hisdiaper changed. As I examined the homeyenvironment, our guide turned our attentionto the figure seated in the back of theroom. “Sean” was reclined in an easy chair,holding a walkman. He wore headphonesand a dreamy smile. I remember his new,white, unscuffed sneakers and his brownunruly hair. But mostly I remember hiseyes. They weren’t there. I scanned backand forth over his face, my mind reelingfrom this revelation. The hollows wherethey should have been were just…blank.Sean’s caregiver explained the cause,I’m sure, but truthfully I don’t remember.Whatever the cause, he was born this■ A wooden spatula gave me asplinter, which made me stopand think about our purposeas tools in God’s hands.by Debbie WernerOne morning I was cooking some eggsfor breakfast. I grabbed my wooden spatulafrom the canister next to my stove soI could flip the eggs. Ouch! A jagged pieceof the wooden handle unexpectedly gaveme a granddaddy of a sliver. After breakfastI put the just washed spatula asideso that the jagged edge could be sandeddown. Utensils aren’t allowed to bite backin my household—and I needed to fix theproblem.This incident got me thinking abouthow sometimes God needs to sand downour spiritual, emotional and mentaljagged edges. Sometimes He does thisthrough trials. As anyone who has accidentallycaught some skin while sandpaperingknows, this can hurt. But trials areultimately for our benefit as Paul pointedout when he wrote, “No discipline seemspleasant at the time: but painful. Lateron, however, it produces a harvest ofrighteousness and peace for those whohave been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11,New International Version). The key isto allow the trials to remove things inour lives that make us less usable tools inStock.Xchng/vivekchugh Thinkstockway, and it was all he had ever known.His legs were twisted inwards and he hadnever walked. His hands were curled anddistorted. He was “profoundly mentallyretarded.” He could neither bathe nor feedhimself. He was in his mid-20s but hadthe functional capacity of an infant.Some advocates of abortion would sayGod’s hands.Sometimes God sands us down throughinteractions with other people in conversationsor by learning what to do or notthat a person like Sean could not possiblyhave any quality of life; that it is selfish togive birth to such a child. What does lifehave to offer you if you can’t walk, talk,see, or reason? I can’t speak for everyone,but I know a little bit of what Sean’s lifewas like.Sean likes music. His “family” at theHow Smooth Are You In God’s Hands?We should be helping each other gently smoothout any rough edges, exercising wisdom andkindness as we do so. Any roughness in ourcharacters not only hurts God, but those aroundus, including those we love.to do by their examples. A proverb speaksto this directly: “As iron sharpens iron, soa man sharpens the countenance of hisfriends” (Proverbs 27:17). We should becare home brings him new songs to listento, but he also has his favorites. Sean likesgoing to the movies. He and his housematesgo to the theater once or twice amonth. He can’t see the images, but he canhear the music and dialogue, and he likesthe smell of popcorn. He is shown loveand affection in every way that he canreceive it, and it showed on his tranquil,joyous face. There are many things that hecan’t do, but still many things that he can.Does Sean matter? Is he important?Does anyone care that he was born? Theanswer is yes. Absolutely yes. In Matthew10:29, God shows that all life is preciousto Him. “What is the price of two sparrows—onecopper coin? But not a singlesparrow can fall to the ground withoutyour Father knowing it. And the veryhairs on your head are all numbered. Sodon’t be afraid; you are more valuable toGod than a whole flock of sparrows.”Although you and I lead lives much differentthan Sean’s, we all share the samefuture. When Christ returns, we will allbe judged for the choices we are makingnow. What will Sean have to answer for?No one can know. But I know one thingfor sure: We will all answer for how wetreat people like Sean. For the way we useor abuse our power over the weak, thesmall, and yes, the unborn. UNThis was originally posted to UCG.orgas a web-first article on Dec. 7, 2012helping each other gently smooth outany rough edges, exercising wisdom andkindness as we do so. Any roughness inour characters not only hurts God, butthose around us, including those we love.Similarly, through Bible study, meditation,prayer and fasting, we can smoothout the rough edges in our own lives. Thisis the ideal way to learn and grow since itinvolves the least amount of pain. If wedon’t seek to learn this way, God will finda way to finish the work He has started inus (Philippians 1:6) in a more painful way.After all, He doesn’t want to have to saythis about us: “My people are destroyedfor lack of knowledge. Because you haverejected knowledge, I also will reject youfrom being priest for me…” (Hosea 4:6).A useless tool that cannot be fixed shouldand will be thrown away.So what’s the ultimate result if we yieldto these methods of smoothing downthe rough edges in our lives? We becomethe perfect tools that God wants us tobecome. We are fully usable for the purposeHe has uniquely designed for eachof us. So the next time it feels like Godis sandpapering my life in some way, I’llhopefully think back to this incident andremember that He’s doing it for my owngood. God doesn’t let His spiritual toolsbite back either. UNThis was originally posted to UCG.orgas a web-first article on Feb. 19, 20136 UNITED NEWS MARCH-APRIL 2013 United Church of God, an International Association
Jamie SchreiberAnnouncementsScott Buchanan and Lauren KellyEngagementsScott Buchanan, son of Hugh andBoni Buchanan, is engaged to LaurenKelly, daughter of Stuart and TammyKelly. Scott and Lauren, both of Cincinnati,Ohio, plan to be married on May 26,2013, in Cincinnati.Matthew Hernandez, son of DavidHernandez and Roxana Smith, is engagedto Kristen Rich, daughter of Daniel andJeanette Rich. Matt, who lives in Cincinnati,Ohio, and Kristen, who lives inRaleigh, North Carolina, plan to be marriedon Aug. 25, 2013, in the Raleigh area.ObituariesRichard Lee Bazemore died unexpectedlyof a heart attack on Jan. 12, 2013, inSiguatepeque, Honduras.He was born in Talladega, Alabama,on Oct. 1, 1949, a son of Virgil and EdnaBazemore.He is survived by his wife Dolores, sonsJonathan (Sylvia) and Richard David, ofGreeley, Colorado, grandchild Kristen(daughter of Jonathan and Sylvia), oldestbrother Glen Bazemore, nephews Kenand Jeff Bazemore and families, cousinsCarol Backus and Stanley McClellanBazemore, Allan Pernel and Conny Pernell.He grew up in Greensboro, Alabama.Richard was always interested in tryingnew hobbies, and this spilled over into hisemploy over the years. One of Richard’snot so well known jobs was in radio. Notonly did he have a small radio station inhis home, but he was a DJ for WSGN—“the Big 610”—in Birmingham, Alabama,known by his airtime name Jon Bass.People used to pass by his home blowingtheir car horn to let him know they werelistening.He attended and graduated from theUniversity of Livingston in Alabama,majoring in economics and history.He and Dolores were married Sept. 20,Dana MossRichard Bazemore1974. Both he and his wife were baptizedby Ken Martin in June of 1975 in Birmingham.He moved to Honduras in 1977 workingfor Phifer, a wire company with officesin San Pedro Sula. In 1979 he took employwith APGreen, working with a wellknown geologist. At this time he beganto become keenly interested in refractory.He noticed that many of the areas in Hondurascontained clay that worked well inmaking the bricks that would work well inhigh temperature ovens. He and Doloresstarted a refractory business that grew toa well known company in the years thatfollowed.He and his family moved to the centralmountain city of Siguatepeque in 1999.Richard was well known as a faithful servantand hard worker, both in and out ofthe Church of God.He and his wife were instrumental inmaintaining contact with the many membersin Central America, and have been avery key part of the support structure ofLatin America for decades. Richard wasalso well known for his continual contactand correspondence with many brethrenMatt Hernandez and Kristen RichRichard Lee BazemoreUnited Church of God, an International Association UNITED NEWS MARCH-APRIL 2013in the United States via e-mail and Skype.Although the only members in Honduras,they faithfully observed each Sabbathconnecting via sermons and webcast withUnited congregations in Latin Americaand the United States.Those who have known Richard willmiss his presence, especially at the Feastof Tabernacles in Central America, wherefrequently he could be seen sitting talkingwith young and old alike about the Kingdomof God.Public funeral services were held atJardines del Recuerdo in San Pedro Sulaon Monday, Jan. 14, by Guatemala pastorIsrael Robledo. A private family memorialservice was held on the Sabbath, Jan. 19,at the Bazemore home in Siguatepeque,with Scott Hoefker officiating.Lillian Elmer of Ann Arbor, Michigan,died on Jan. 24, 2013. She was 83. BornLillian Jeanette Jones on Dec. 15, 1929, toFloyd and Susie Jones in Ferndale Michigan,she was one of 10 children.Although she grew up during the GreatDepression and World War II, she hadmany happy memories of her childhoodJohn Kosmalskiand often shared those memories withher own children.She met Eugene Elmer (deceased 2010)through a friend, and they married onOct. 27, 1951. Eugene was in the Navyat the time, and after the wedding theymoved to Washington State where Eugenewas assigned on a naval base. After completinghis duty in the Navy, they movedback to Michigan, where they began theirfamily.They had four children, Candice(Chuck) Bartley; Patricia (John) Kosmalski;Katrinka; and Kraig. Lillian alsohad four grandchildren: Jill (Kevin)Daugherty; Joanna (Chris) Gordon; JeffKosmalski; and Kyle (Sarah) Bartley; andfour great-grandchildren: Garrett, Carter,Reece and Brennan.Lillian was, for the most part, a stay athome mom. She and Gene enjoyed takingtheir young family camping. Manyvery good family memories were madeon those regular camping trips.In 1972, Lillian and Gene began keepingthe Sabbath and attending a Sabbathkeepingchurch. She was baptized onApril 3, 1983. With their family grown,they began to travel the world with tripsto Jordan, Czechoslovakia, Germany,Austria, Israel, Mexico, France, Switzerland,Spain, Uruguay, Thailand, Kenya,Turkey, Chile, Costa Rica, China, Greece,Peru, Egypt, many Caribbean islands andmany states in the United States includingHawaii. She really enjoyed these trips andwas always willing to go on an adventuresuch as riding a camel, donkey, horse andan elephant.Most of these trips were taken in conjunctionwith the Feast of Tabernacles.On many Feast trips, Gene and Lillianwould take whatever gifts they thoughtmight be a blessing to the other Churchmembers they would meet at the Feasts,especially when the location was not asblessed physically as we are in the UnitedStates. Gifts such as Bibles, toys, coloringbooks, shirts, flashlights, just to name afew, were much appreciated by the localbrethren they felt privileged to meet.Lillian made friends wherever she wentand kept in touch with many whom shemet on her world travels. She was anactive and dedicated member of the UCGAnn Arbor, Michigan, congregation. ShePlease see next pageLillian Elmer7
Page 2 and 3: ■ The New TestamentPassover needs
Page 9 and 10: Munster Fun Show2013The Munster, In
Page 11 and 12: 7 Tips to Prepare forPassoverContin
Page 13 and 14: Children of MerciesThey Had to Kill
Page 15 and 16: AT A GLANCEContinued from page 1wel

7 Tips to Prepare for Passover - United Church of God

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?