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B2 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY,THURSDAY, AUGUST 20,2020 Church Hartman to Heart: Feed the Hungry BY PASTOR CHUCK HARTMAN Up River Friends Isaiah 58:10 instructs us to feed the hungry and help all who are in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. When I think about this verse, I consider that there are all kinds of hunger. Some people are physically hungry, but there is also a spiritual hunger, and physical hunger that does not involve food. Some people hunger for God’s Word. They long for communi ty with other believers to talk about the importance of Scrip ture and its life-giving applica tion. There may be others who do not know that it is God’s Word for which they hunger, and until someone brings the Word to them, they will not know it is His Word, which will satisfy their need; this is spiritual hunger. Psalm 34:8 reminds us to taste and see that the LORD is good. Only God can satisfy our spiritual hunger. One can help meet the need of hunger through volunteer ing—meeting the needs of chil dren who hunger for love and attention or visiting at a nursing facility, turning loneliness into happiness. These are examples of physical hunger that do not involve food. Regardless of how one meets a hunger need, it feels good to meet the needs of others. See, God works through our hands when we help others. If we keep our hands, hearts, and lives closed to others, God will not work through us. Maybe the people who com plain that they never witness God at work in our world, do so because we are falling short of meeting hunger needs. What if we stand before God one day, and He says to us, why did you not show Me through the life I gave you? When we open our hands, hearts, and lives and work with others and extend opportunities for hunger to be addressed, something beautiful happens, we reflect the light of Christ in this dark world. Isaiah goes on to state, feed the hungry, help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the dark ness. Isaiah continues, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. There is no arguing that the sun seems to be brightest at noon—because it is during the noon hours that the sun appears to be at the highest place in our sky. What else does the sun do? It reflects light on the moon, planets, asteroids, natural satellites, and comets—making them appear to be as bright as the stars. When we meet the needs of others, not only are we bringing the light of hope to the darkness, we reflect the light of Christ in the darkness. We have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. Thus, our great power is from God, not from ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:7). Is there someone in your life to which you can lend a listening ear or a helping hand? Sharing His light is pleasing to God as it glorifies Him. Meeting another’s hunger need is pleasing to God as it also glorifies Him. I challenge you, feed the hungry, regardless of how that hunger looks. CHUCK HARTMAN Pat Says: ‘What Is Fake?’ BY PAT THROCKMORTON Are you done hearing the word “fake” applied to almost everything these days? Fake this. Fake that. Whether we like to admit it, we do encoun ter things counterfeit throughout our lives. The first to come to mind are false friends. You know who they are. They are like a bee on honey to your face yet try to destroy you at your back. Fake Christians? Of course, the world is filled with them. There is a word from the Vietnam War era that you may have forgotten or maybe even have never heard. Revitalized it was with the public in the mov ie Wolf of Wall Street; Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) ex plains to Jordan Belford (Leonardo DiCaprio) his thoughts on the forecasting of stock prices. Hanna: “Nobody knows if a stock is gon na go up, down, side- ways or in circles. You know what a fugazi is?” Belford: “No — Fugazi. It’s a fake...” The word has shown up in the gangster mov ie Donnie Brasco with Al Pacino. A hot dia mond one of the char acters wanted to sell American Family Association Supports Pastor’s Lawsuit FROM STAFF REPORTS TUPELO, Miss. — A Virginia pastor who un til last week was facing jail time and a $2,500 fine for holding services during the coronavirus pandemic is suing the state for violating his religious liberty, draw ing support from the American Family Asso ciation (AFA, www.afa. net). Kevin Wilson, pastor of Lighthouse Fellow ship Church, defied Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to limit reli gious gatherings to 10 people by allowing 16 worshippers into his 293-seat sanctuary on April 5. Officers interrupted the worship service to issue a summons that threatened a fine and in carceration. AFA — along with the U.S. Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence — has expressed support for Wilson’s religious liberty suit against Virginia. was pro nounced a fugazi - a coun terfeit. Justly so, a Cubic Zirconia is a fugazi diamond. The word is slang, though, and not considered proper English. Counterfeit bills flow in and out of our pockets without our even being aware. What about funeral and cem etery fraud. Millions of Americans enter into prearranged contracts to prepay some or all of their burial expenses. My mother was one of those. Dutifully, she paid her monthly remu neration for years. Near the end of her life, she kept reminding me that I need not worry - her funeral would be paid in full. And, she handed me the document of proof that stayed in a safe and secure place. Upon her death (87 years old), I presented the ma terial to the funeral di rector. Apologetic as he was, the fact remained the paper was a fugazi, a fake, counterfeit The most difficult fu gazi to swallow are fake Christian pastors and church leaders. Perhaps AFA Executive Vice President Ed Vitagliano says the abuse of pow er suffered by Wilson and his congregation reflects a deep-seated prejudice against Chris tianity in American cul ture. “While the vast major ity of Americans have been struggling to cope with the challenges presented by Covid-19, something else has be come very clear: the la tent hostility of the sec ularist left,” Vitagliano said. “The virulent an ti-Christian bigotry in our nation has been eye-opening. For police in Virginia to rush into a church and charge a pastor with a crime for holding a worship ser vice makes it stunningly clear that the God-hat ers were merely wait ing for their chance to pounce. “Those with a mind to preserve religious liberty in America, pre pare to defend your selves.” you have encountered a few. Jesus spoke about these in the parable of the wheat and tares (weeds). “A man sowed good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the weeds also appeared. The own er’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.” Mat thew 13:24-28 NIV. The farmer surprised the workers by saying just let the wheat and weeds grow together so as not to upset the roots of the good grain. However, he went on to say, at the time of harvest, the weeds will be sorted out from the wheat and destroyed. Perhaps this is an indi cation that we should spot fake Christians yet include them in our prayers. Is this alluding to death and the rapture as well? Some questions you may ask yourself of those who claim Chris tianity. Do they walk in the Spirit - do they have a new nature? “So During the period in which Wilson was served the summons, Northam was encour aging mass protests and holding press con ferences that did not abide by a 10-person limit, according to Mat Staver, Wilson’s lawyer and the founder of Lib erty Counsel. The Department of Justice submitted a statement of interest in support of Lighthouse Fellowship Church on May 3. “This case raises is sues of national public importance regarding the interplay between the government’s com pelling interest in pro tecting public health and safety from COVID-19 and citizens’ fundamen tal right to the free ex ercise of religion,” the DOJ statement asserted. “There is no pandemic exception to the Con stitution and its Bill of Rights.” The charges against Wilson were dropped on July 10. I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.” Galatians 5:16-17 NIV. Do they show agape love? “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 NIV. Be on guard in all that you do to side-step the fugazi’s you may encoun ter in your journey. God bless you, and God bless America. “We always welcome new patients.” COMFORT • QUALITY • EXPERIENCE Modern Dentistry in a relaxed environment for tne entire family. dental Associates ]Q3 Mark Dr. Edenton, NC Quintal and Cosmetic ^entishy (behind Chowan Hospital} STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA UTILITIES COMMISSION RALEIGH DOCKET NO. G-9, SUB 771 BEFORE THE NORTH CAROLINA UTILITIES COMMISSION In the Matter of Application of Piedmont Natural Gas ) Company, Inc., for Annual Review of Gas ) Costs Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 62-133.4(c) and ) PUBUG rict Commission Rule R1-17(k)(6) ) NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the North Carolina Utilities Commission has scheduled a public hearing to conduct an annual review of the cost of natural gas supply, storage and transportation for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (Piedmont). The public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 6,2020, at 10:00 a.m., in Commission Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building, 430 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. The hearing is being held pursuant to the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 62-133.4(c) and Commission Rule R1-17(k)(6) for the purpose of comparing Piedmont’s prudently-incurred gas costs with costs recovered from all of the utility’s customers served during the test period. Public witness testimony will be received in accordance with Commission Rule R1-21(g). Piedmont filed testimony relating to the subject matter of this hearing on July 31, 2020. Further information may be obtained from the Office of the Chief Clerk, North Carolina Utilities Commission, 430 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, where a copy of Piedmont’s testimony is available for review by the public. Also, documents can be viewed on the Commission’s website at www.ncuc.net. The Public Staff is authorized by statute to represent consumers in proceedings before the Commission. Correspondence regarding the annual review proceeding and the hearing thereon should be directed to the Public Staff and should include any information which the writer wishes to be considered by the Public Staff in its investigation of the matter. Such statements should be addressed to Mr. Christo pher J. Ayers, Executive Director, Public Staff, 4326 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4300. The Attorney General is also authorized by statute to represent consumers in proceedings before the Commission. Statements to the Attorney General should be addressed to The Honorable Josh Stein, Attorney General, c/o Consumer Pro tection- Utilities, 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-9001. Written statements may be emailed to utilityAGO@ncdoj.gov. Written statements are not evidence unless the writers appear at a public hearing and testify concerning the information contained in their written statements. Persons desiring to intervene in this proceeding as formal parties should file a petition to intervene pursuant to Commission Rules R1-5 and R1-19 on or before Monday, September 21,2020. Such petitions should be filed with the Chief Clerk of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, 4325 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4300. The direct testimony and exhibits of expert witnesses to be presented by intervenors should also be filed with the Commission on or before Monday, September 21,2020. This the 4th day of August, 2020. NORTH CAROLINA UTILITIES COMMISSION Janice H. Fulmore, Deputy Clerk ^Mill^^^B^M^^—il^M^^^
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Aug. 20, 2020, edition 1
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