{
February 10, 2005
MEDITATION
The Kings Mountain Herald
CHURCH NEWS
Page 5B
Sleeping and
hearing can
be good thing
As a pastor I've heard
more jokes about people
going to sleep during a ser-
mon than I can count. In
fact, I've heard some over
and over
specifics
have
always
changed,
but the
heart of
each joke
has
remained
the same.
Perhaps the idea is that if
you change the names it
will protect the innocent.
But whatever the case may
be, it seems that it always
lightens the mood of a
church gathering to joke
about people falling asleep
during the sermon.
Now I have to admit that
though these jokes are
sometimes funny, I can also
speak from experience that
it’s not always easy to know
what to do when it happens
to you. For example, a
friend of mine was telling
me about an occasion when
she was delivering the
morning sermon in her
church.
“Right in the middle of
my sermon,” she exclaimed,
“a man sitting on the front
pew dropped his head and
began to snore loudly.”
Being taken by surprise, she
left the pulpit, walked down
to where the man was sit-
ting, shook him with her
hand and then looked him
straight in the eye and
shouted, “Wake up, sir, I'm
preaching here!”
Though I admired ny
friend for her boldness, I
didn’t think that was the
best way to deal with the
situation. A better example
comes from the pen of Fred
Craddock, a popular
preacher and author, who
told of an experience he had
while waiting in an airport.
Sitting in the terminal, he
Jeff Hensley
Meditation
struck up a conversation
with a man from the
University of Utrecht in the
Netherlands. This learned
professor was here in this
country working on a book
that described the results of
his research into how the
conversations of doctors and
nurses affected surgery
patients who were under
anesthesia.
The professor had discov-
ered that if the doctors and
nurses were negative and
grumpy, then the patient
was depressed and pes-
simistic after the surgery.
But if the doctors and nurs-
es were upbeat and cheerful,
then the patient was
euphoric and optimistic
after the surgery.
When boarding time final-
ly arrived, Craddock
thanked his new friend for
the conversation.
“Why,” the man asked,
“are you a doctor?”
“No,” replied Craddock,
“I'm a preacher, but if it'll
work in surgery, it'll work in
the sanctuary.”
From that time forth,
whenever he saw someone
sleeping during one of his
sermons, Craddock comfort-
ed himself with the idea that
several days later they
might get a little spiritual
twitch. “They won't know
what caused it,” Craddock
said, “but I'll know.”
The results this professor
discovered are not new. For
the Bible says, “A gentle
answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up
anger.”
And I feel confident that
this works in surgery, in the
sanctuary, and in the rest of
our lives. Though my
friend’s boldness may have
kept her parishioner from
sleeping during her sermon,
I suspect it also kept him
from hearing what she had
to say.
Rev. Jeff Hensley is pas-
tor at Kings Mountain
Baptist Church.
CHURCH NEWS DEADLINE
Deadline for receiving church news is 12 noon Monday.
Bring news by The Herald, fax 739-0611, phone 739-7496 or
e mail gstewart@kingsmountainherald.com
Moore to give Luther monologue
Friday at Joy Performance Center:
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
Area resi-
dents can
learn more
about early |
Protestant |
reformer
Martin
Luther
February 11
at7 pm.at |
Joy
Performance
Center.
Rev. George Moore, for-
MOORE
Lent series begins Wednesday
Kings Mountain
Ministerial Association will
hold its annual community
lenten services each
Wednesday at noon from
February 16 through March
16.
The services will be held
at different churches in the
downtown area, and will
feature a different speaker
each Wednesday.
The service will last from
12-12:20 p.m., followed by a
light lunch. A $3 donation is
requested for lunch.
An offering will be
received at each service for
the Crisis Ministry of Kings
Mountain.
The schedule of services is
as follows:
mer pastor at Resurrection
Lutheran Church, will give a
dramatic monologue of
Luther. A screening of the
2003 motion picture
“Luther” will follow.
Thrivent Financial for
Lutherans South Bridge
Chapter will sponsor the
event and Resurrection and
St. Matthews Lutheran
churches are coordinating.
Rev. Ken Gillikin of
Resurrection describes the
production as not a
Lutheran event but an edu-
February 16 - Central 8
United Methodist; speaker
Rev. Roger Woodard; Ser-
mon topic “Bread of Life”
from John 6:43-51.
February 23 - First
Presbyterian Church; Rev.
Jody Griffin speaker; sermon
topic “Light of the World”
from John 8:12.
March2 Boyce Memorial
Associate Reformed
Presbyterian Church; Rev.
Moses Neuman speaker; ser-
mon topic “Good Shepherd”
from John 10:11-18.
March 9 - Resurrection
Lutheran Church; Rev. Jamie
Billlings speaker; sermon
topic “The Vine” from John
15:1-8.
Health Awareness
at Bynum’s Chapel
New Bynum'’s Chapel
AM.E. Zion Church, 213
North Cansler Street, Kings
Mountain, will host a
Health Awareness program
Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in
Family Life Center.
J. Warren Holshouser,
MD, from The Sanger Clinic,
will speak on “Heart
Disease Detection and
Prevention.”
The program is free and
open to the public.
Refreshments will be
served. Call 739-9586, 739-
2606 or 730-0027 for more
information.
Meal Sunday at Bynum Chapel
Bynum Chapel A. M.E.
Zion Church, Kings
Mountain, will celebrate
Black History Morith with a
Soul Food Dinner at the
Family Life Center, Sunday,
Feb. 13, from 12:30-3 p.m.
The cost is $7 per plate
which includes drink,
fried /baked chicken, chick-
en & dumplings, potato
salad, pinto beans, rice,
steamed cabbage, slaw,
green beans, yams, corn-
bread and rolls, assorted
desserts. The public is invit-
ed. For more information
call Gale Hunter at 739-2616.
Cleveland County
SAFE
In Recognition of Child Passenger Safety Week
eat Checks
, Boiling Springs
land County SAFE KID,
UY FROM CARTER
eck their Car Seats
ary 17
gles Market,
52
Cleveland Regional
Medical Center
Carolinas HealthCare System
201 East Grover Street
Shelby, NC 28150
A:
cational program for the
entire community.
“Martin Luther has had
an impact on the whole of
western civilization,” he
said.
Rev. Moore served
Resurrection from 1959 to
1965. He has presented
monologues for the past 30
years including Judas
Iscariot, Pontius Pilate and
Joseph of Arimathea.
The February 11 event will
deal with Luther leaving
law school at the University
of Erfurt to join the
Match. 16 - Bynum Chapel
i AME Zion Church, Rev.
Chip Sloan speaker; sermon
topic “The Resurrection and
Augustinian Order. The
monologue will fill in gaps:
in the film. b
“It is an excellent film uk 2
FEI ISN ES
there are some omissions |
critical to Luther’s own ref-i -
ormation,” Moore said. |
Moore has authored two
books, “Preaching Is
Drama” and “The Scrolls,” a : :
novel about John the Baptist.
The event is free, includ- ;
ing concessions. An offering
will be taken for tsunami
relief. For more informatior] |
about the film, visit
www.lutherthemovie.com.
EE
Life” from John 11:17-26.
For more information call
Rev. Eddie Gray at 739-3215
or 616-8136.
Personalized Service from Hometown People
Mortgage Concepts, Inc. 704-867-7200 8
1562-C Union Road, Gastonia, NC
Personalized Service
Dependability
Flexibility
All Good Reasons To Make Us
Your Financing Choice!
*Less Than Perfect Credit OK * Apply By Phone
Lawyer
Brought to you by Harris, Ragan, Patterson, & Rodgers
| was in a wreck
s recently and the
> other driver ran a
stop sign and hit my
car. When | made a
claim with his insur-
ance company they said
that the wreck was par-
tially my fault and they
wouldn’t pay anything.
How can this be?
While this may
seem like a very
clear fact pattern,
when someone runs a
stop sign and hits anoth-
er driver on a main trav-
eled roadway, these are
cases that can result in
the person being hit col-
lecting no damages.
North Carolina is one of
aféw states that still has
hCONTRIBUTORY
NEGLIGENCE. What
contributory negligence
means is that if any
party is partially at fault
for a wreck even one
percent (1%), they can-
not damages
from the other person.
The insurance company
is claiming that your
negligence or failure to
follow the standard of
due care contributed at
collect
pIRHARRIS
™ RAGAN
PATTERSON,
BE & RODGERS ric
Bm Trial Attorneys
least partially to this:
wreck. Despite the fact |
that the other person ran
a stop sign, if you were |
inattentive or perhaps
speeding and that con- |
tributed to the accident, |
you can not collect your ‘ff
damages.
The other aspect of this
evaluation is to deter-
mine if your negligence | i §
was the proximate cause |
of the collision. There |
are a number of situa-
. tions where even though {§
. . 4
you were negligent it}
f
*Fast Preliminary Approvals *Free Mortgage Consultations fl
was not the cause of the |§
~ Remember ;
these are all decisions:
that ultimately a jury!
would have to decide if
your case is tried. A jury
of twelve (12) people
_can often reach different
decisions or conclusions
given the same fact pat-
tern. You should have
your claim looked into
by an attorney so that
they can assist you in
evaluating your poten- |
tial for success on this
claim.
collision.
Brent Patterson
Attorney at Law
SR ———
Ho Free: 1-800-858-4808
This column provides general information only and Is not a substitute for specific
legal advice from a consultation with an attorney. No attorney/client relationship with
the column's author or Harris Ragan Patterson and Rodgers Is intended or implied.
www.clevelandregional.org
704-487-3182
KIDS
[XIEXD
Coalition
A member of the
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
~<
A
—,