Truth

This was on my heart and mind before the power went out and I feel the need to share it. It is based on a message given by Craig Groeshel of Life Church.tv.

Psalm 97:12
May all who are Godly be happy...

The above scripture sounds correct, doesn't it. Surely God wants us to be happy.

Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man but leads to destruction.

In America we often pursue the false gods of comfort, money, pleasure, and things. On TV we are bombarded with the message that personal happiness is what we should all strive for. The pursuit of hapiness becomes our driving force. I mean after all if it makes me happy it can't be all bad?

The other message we recieve in America is that there is no absolute truth. Who are we to tell someone else that they are wrong in thier beliefs? If Zen Buddhism makes a person happy and gives them peace, that how can we be so arrogant to say that Christianity is the only way. Humanism and Subjectivism are the accepted truths of the time. And if there is no absolute truth than whatever is true is whatever makes me happy.

The reality is this, whether it is popular or not. Nothing on Earth will make you more than temporarily happy. Earth is not heaven, and after the fall it was not made to be heaven! It is important for us to remember that that we were not made for life here on fallen Earth. There is an absolute truth. It is more correct to say that truth is not just a what, but a who. Absolute truth is Jesus Christ. The pursuit of hapiness can replace the pursuit of holiness. And happiness does not trump holiness. If we are not careful, the trap of comfort will give us a fall since that if something has discomfort, delay, risk, suffering, inconveneince, or obstacles that it is not of God.

Now back to the above scripture:
Psalm 97:12
May all who are Godly be happy...

Lets finish that scripture. May all who are Godly be happy in the Lord and Praise His Holy Name.

See God does not want us to be happy, he wants us to be blessed! And there is a difference.

God Bless,

Mark Jackson

Power Outage

It has been a crazy last week or so. A week ago yesterday Sikeston and the surrounding areas was hit by a major winter storm. About 2 and 1/2 inches of ice and a couple inches of snow fell on Sikeston. The combination created havoc all across the region. At one point the entire town was without electricity and even as I write this today, about half of the town does not have electricity. Power lines, electric poles, cable lines, phone lines, and transformers are down all over the area. I heard Ameren UE sent 4500 workers to the area to try to get people their power back. We did not have electricity for about 6 days. We have missed 6 days of school and will be out again tomorrow as the district tries to gets schools ready for the return of students. We did survive, as we had a natural gas fireplace that kept the house warm and our pattio and gas grill served as our kitchen. I must confess we are spoiled and extremely soft. The town looks terrible since the ice has melted as almost all the trees in town have been damaged by the ice. It almost looks like a tornado hit the town minus the structure damage.

The good that came of this is obvious. People have stepped up, pulled together, and helped others in need. Family and friends did whatever was needed to make sure that everyone was okay, warm, and had food. The Fieldhouse became a warming shelter and more than 200 people stayed there in order to stay warm. Kim and I helped on the first day as they attempted to get organized and take care of the people that needed help. The Red Cross and Salvation Army stepped in took care of the people who needed help. It takes a natural disaster to get us to slow down and notice others.

As for us, we had our friends the Hensons stay with us for a couple of days as they did not have any heat at their house. We also fed them several meals, which was good and kept food from going bad. One of Kim's coworkers also stayed at the house since she did not have any power,heat, or electric. We made several other invitations to people who had other places to go. It was good to be able to help others out, especially the Hensons who have helped us out so much. On Sunday when the power did come back on, we had church and Kim and I helped out with praise and worship.

There is still much more to be done as the recovery and clean up begins. There are many needs out there that still need to be taken care of. In particular one of our football players in wrestlers lost everything in a fire and on Thursday, I plan to see what I can do for him to help him and his family out.

Serving others is rewarding a great way to strengthen relationships.