i ome
i Consider a couple of stories,
“one that is funny and another
‘that is serious. The funny story
‘is about a man who was about to
i make his first parachute jump.
“The plane took off and slowly
(& carried the man to an altitude of
I 10,000 feet. “This is it,” shouted
{ ¥ the jumpmaster, “jump!” Taking
‘a deep breath, the man jumped
from the plane, counted to ten,
"and then pulled the ripcord, but
:! ‘nothing happened. Falling rap-
idly, the man began to see his life
"flash before his eyes. He pulled
his emergency ripcord, but again
jimothing happened. And just
WORSHIP
CE
then, he looked down toward the
ground and was surprised to see
another man hurtling up
towards him. He couldn't
believe his eyes. As the two men
passed each other, the falling
parachutist yelled out, “Do you
know anything about para-
chutes?” To which the ascending
man cried out in return, “No. Do
you know anything about gas
stoves?”
The serious story comes from a
battle between the Greeks and
the Persians in 490 B.C. The
Greeks were the underdogs in
this particular battle but, though
i
‘®CHURCH BRIEFS
the Persians were
expected to be victori-
ous, they nevertheless
emerged as the clear
victors. The place of
the battle was called
“Marathon” and,
though the Greeks had
certainly won the bat-
tle, they had not totally
destroyed the Persian
the Persian fleet was
certainly going to attempt to sail
around Attica and then try to
take the city while it was unde-
fended, a young soldier named
Jeff Hensley
Meditation
army, and knowing that sss
The Kings Mountain Herald
Phaedippas was chosen
to take the message
back to Athens. The
distance between the
cities was about twen-
ty-six ~~ miles, and
though the poor soldier
ran all the way, shout-
ing “we have won” as
he went, he was so
exhausted upon his
arrival that he fell down
dead.
Harking back to this historic
event, a popular magazine once
ran an amusing cartoon that
depicted a rather nerdy-looking
runner at the completion of his
twenty-six mile run, ready to
announce the good news of vic-
tory to an expectant crowd. The
only thing was that he had
worked so hard to win the race
and was so out of breath by the
time he was finished that the
only thing he could say before
fainting was, “Uh, um...I forgot
what I wanted to say.”
There is something to be said
for having the right information
at the right time. If we wait until
we are plummeting to earth or
exploding upward to heaven
before we ask about parachutes
or gas stoves, then our informa-
tion is too little too late. And if
we finish the long run but forget
the message, then of what use
was our effort? In the New
Testament book of Ephesians we
read that our purpose in life is to
be “imitators of God,” and if we
ever forget that this is the “mes-
sage” we have to bring to the
world, then we will be no better
off than the parachutist or the
Greek runner in these stories.
Jeff Hensley is pastor of
Kings Mountain Baptist
Church. ©
' St. Matthews Lutheran
“Church will host the Kings
‘Mountain community lenten
“service Wednesday, March 28 at
“112 noon. Rev. James Lochridge,
# pastor of Second Baptist Church,
“will be the speaker. The sermon
dwill last 10 minutes. An offering
“will be taken for the Crisis
" Ministry. A light lunch will be
served for a donation.
Pathway Baptist Church, 3100
Parkdale Circle, Kings
# Mountain, will have its 29th year
“homecoming March 25. Rev.
Buddy Williams will preach at
the 10 a.m. worship service.
Special music at 11 a.m. will fea-
are. “The Providence.” Dinner
ill be served afterward. For
nore information call Rev. James
‘amrick at 739-3728.
/ 2. Cherokee Street Baptist
+ Church, 423 Cherokee Street,
Kings Mountain, will host the
Bluegrass Gospel Tones” in con-
ert Saturday, March 24 at 7 p.m.
{he public is invited.
Refuge Ministries will spon-
Trip to
Ley
sor a “Fisher of Men” communi-
ty Bible study Thursday, March
22 at 7 p.m. at the Cleveland
County Library in Shelby. The
theme is “From Repentance to
Restoration.” For more informa-
tion call 704-236-2542.
Patterson Grove Baptist
Church, Kings Mountain, will
host “Connecting Through
Story,” a story telling concert and
dinner featuring Donna Marie
Todd Saturday, March 31 at 6:30
p-m. Admission and dinner are
free. Reservations are required
by March 27 by calling 704-739-
5826 (day) or 704-739-6351
(night).
Galilee United Methodist
Church Senior Ministries will
hold its fifth annual prayer
breakfast March 31 at 9 a.m.
Speaker will be Sister Rebecca
Wright. Admission is a $5 dona-
tion.
El Bethel UMC, 122 El Bethel
Road, Kings Mountain, will
sponsor a spaghetti supper and
singing featuring the Songsters
“Los Wages”
‘op prize for Chamber's
07 membership drive
EMILY WEAVER
eweaver@kingsmountainherald.com
¥* We Kick-off lunch for this
K's annual Chamber of
merce membership drive
charged with incentives
ay afternoon at the First
nal Bank in Shelby. Paul
ir, founder of the Chamber
ommerce Consultants from
it Worth, Texas, told a room
y itll of Chamber members that
: the top prize for the top dollar
producer is a trip to “the city of
~ - Lost Wages (Las Vegas, NV).”
2 “I suggest you go to Lost
= Wages and don’t gamble.
: There's a lot of other things to do
4 3 and we don’t furnish money,” he
© said, as the room broke out in
|; laughter. He added that they are
= going to try to talk the winner
: E into coming down to Fort Worth,
- © Dallas. “We're gonna buy you
| tickets and take you or send you
\ = to the four most popular reli-
~ gious services in the world. Y'all
: know who they are? The Dallas
- Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, the
“= Dallas Mavericks, which are on
: top now and going to win the
© whole thing, and the Dallas
~ Stars,” he said, adding that
© Chairman Roger Holland said it
*. depends on who wins the airline
: tickets whether they are one way
~ = or round trip.
There are 2900 businesses in
| © the Cleveland County service
“= area to make members. The best
< way to tap into that potential,
& Oliver suggested, was to use the
“ PEC method (Pride, Enthusiasm
£: and Commitment). For Pride, he
it said, “You've got every reason in
. the world to be proud of your
. Chamber. You're not asking
. these people for a donation or a
i them for money. You're giving
them the opportunity to get on
board so we can promote (their)
i= business.”
{ method, he said that if you are
| enthusiastic about something
as
© For the Enthusiasm part of the
then it is easier to tell other peo-
ple about it. “You can get enthu-
siastic about it because of what
you guys are doing for these
people. When you hear that they
are going to get three or four
times what they are paying for
youll be more enthusiastic
about it. But you've gotta believe
it,” he said. “A man can no more
do what he don’t believe in than
he can come back from where he
ain’t ever been.”
The most members someone
has recruited on one of his drives
so far is 32. The Cleveland
County Chamber was charged to
either match or beat that goal.
Everyone will be rewarded, he
said. Oliver added that if some-
thing comes up this week and
you can’t make it to your ses-
sion, come at a different time
and work for your team.
Commitment - “You've made
a commitment which we really
appreciate. There is another
commitment that I want you to
make and that is please be on
time and don’t try to leave
early,” he said, adding that if
you do theyll “dock your pay
and talk about you something
awful.” Chamber members and
teams will work the phones for
three hours trying to recruit new
businesses. He charged the
teams to compete against each
other. The seven teams agreed
that which ever of them gets the
most recruits will be taken out to
dinner by the other six teams.
Kimberly Rice wins
Reader’s Choice contest
Kimberly Rice was winner of
the recent Reader’s Choice con-
test.
Kimberly's entry form was
selected from all of the entry
forms submitted to The
Cherryville ~~ Eagle, Kings
Mountain Herald and
Belmont/Mount Holly
BannerNews. She received $25.
Quartet on Sat. March 24.
Serving begins at 5:30 p.m. and
tickets are $6. Proceeds benefit
the building fund. The singing
begins at 7 p.m. and a love offer-
ing will be taken. Call 704-734-
1876 for tickets or more informa-
tion.
IRC Outreach Ministries, 906
Mountain Crest Drive, will host
the Holy Voices of York, SC and
The Gosplettes and
D’Termination of Gastonia in
concert March 24 at 6 p.m. Doors:
open at 5:30. For more informa-
tion call 730-0339.
Beulah United Methodist
Church, 1534 Stoney Point Road,
will host a buffet breakfast
Saturday, March 24 from 7-10:30
a.m. The cost is $5 for adults and
$3 for children.
Westwood Heights Baptist
Church Senior Adults, Shelby,
will sponsor a chicken pie sup-
per Wed., Mar. 28 for the church
fund raiser fund.
Sandy Plains Baptist Church,
5323 Union Rd., Gastonia, will
host the annual “Pro-Life
Concert and Supper” at 7 p.m.
Friday, March 30 in the Family
Life Center. A poor man’s supper
will be served from 5:30-6:45
pm. A concert featuring The
Songsters and the Golden
Chorus will begin at 7 p.m.
Admission is free to both events
but donations will be accepted
for New Life Pregnancy Services,
Inc.
Second Baptist Church servic-
es on Sunday, April 1 at 6 p.m.
will feature Rev. James
Lochridge presenting a “sermon
in chalk.” The public is invited.
CHURCH BRIEFS DEADLINE
Deadline for church briefs is 12
noon Monday. Bring them by
The Herald at 824-1 East King St.,
call 739-7496, fax 739-0611 or
Email gstewart@kingsmountain-
herald.com. When space is limit-
ed, only the events coming up
during the current week will be
published.
The first thing you'll realize at The Human Motion Institute
makes our Joint CarePlus program different is our emphasis
..at Gaston Memorial Hospital, is that if you're having a knee
‘or a hip replaced, you're not alone. In fact, a big part of what
on group rehabilitation.
WILL ALL THOSE WHO
JUST HAD A SUCCESSFUL KNEE REPLACEMENT,
PLEASE STAND UP.
You'll meet as a group weeks before your surgery where
you'll learn what the program will be and have all of your
questions answered. You'll check in on a Monday or Tuesday
wearing sweats, not hospital gowns. Being treated like a
person who's had a joint replaced, and not as if you're sick.
The Human Motion Institute at Gaston Memorial Hospital.
Another reason why some of the most advanced healthcare
in Charlotte is actually right here in Gaston County. Ok, you can
sit down now.
yl HUMAN
ah
) Gaston Memorial
Hospital
For more information: 704 834 4057 www.CaroMont.org
and check out before the weekend.
In between, there will be group physical
therapy. Helping to build confidence, and
maybe even a little competition. All the time
rh Ca aroMont
H