West Main

Christopher Hitchens is dying of cancer.  He is one of modern times’ most vocal and famous atheists.  He wrote the best-selling “God is Not Great.” It is a violent rant against all things of God.

Since his illness made the news, many Christians are publicly asking people to pray for him. There was an online push designating yesterday, Sept. 20, as “Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day.” There’s a Facebook page for those committed to Praying for Christopher Hitchens. This story is major news.

He has made it clear he wants NO prayers for salvation! He was asked by a reporter, “Does it offend you that people are praying for you?”  “No, no,” Hitchens replied, “I take it kindly on the assumption that they are praying for my recovery, but not to be saved.”  And just in case a rumor might circulate that at some point during this process of dying that he has made some death-bed confession, Hitchens warns people to not believe it.

Does he have the right to be suspect of the reasons why Christians are compelled to pray for his salvation when he doesn’t see us bother to pray for the salvation of the child next door, the grocery store clerk or that good friend from college? Why are so many people campaigning for Hitchens’ salvation? Is it because his salvation would in some disingenuous way affirm their own? Or do we simply wish to use his healing as a launch for our cause?  Could it be many of these prayers are not truly sincere?

He believes that for the Christian community he’s the Big Fish. Netting him would be like hauling in Jonah’s whale. The salvation of Christopher Hitchens would get wide-spread news!  Maybe this is why Hitchens doesn’t want our prayers.

Can we justify praying for him when there’s a vast wilderness of people lost?  Are we truly feeling a pain for the lost in this world, as we should? And can we say in all truthfulness that we are praying as earnestly for those whose names aren’t among the celebrated notables?

Let us pray for every lost soul in this world.  Let us do our part to bring Jesus to everyone, whether celebrity or totally unknown.

(Many excerpts taken from the article titled “Praying for Christopher Hitchens Simply Isn’t Enough” by Karen Zacharias)

– Pannell

LOOKING BACKWARD IN TIME

Eight times around the world in one second!  The speed of light travel is that fast!  Yet this is slow compared to the size of the universe, which is still growing in its expanse.

Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the universe is expanding was supported by his measurement of distances in space using some unusual stars called Cepheid Variables.  These distances have turned out to be unthinkably enormous, and are measured in light years, or the distance light will travel in one year.  Current measurements from the space telescope named after Hubble have indicated that the universe is some thirteen billion light years in its expanse.

Therefore, because the speed of light is slow compared to distance in the universe, when we are looking at distant stars we are looking backward in great leaps of time.  What we see today through the eye of a telescope is not a current happening, but events that took place many, many years ago.  Historians also give us a look at ancient times, but space-time distances dwarf those of historians.  However, just as history helps us to understand the present, looking backward in the star world also helps us to understand the way things are now on earth.  This makes the work of astronomers and cosmologists more pertinent to life here on earth.

Because we are able to look so far back into time, we can see a myriad of happenings in the star world that have taken place long ago.  The birth and death of stars can be seen in considerable detail.  Stars vary greatly in size, and the forms they take in death are also varied from neutron stars to black holes that devour all light and matter that come near them.

Because we can learn about the life of a star of a given size, estimates of the life span of our own Sun are possible.  In this we learn that our solar system was not designed to last forever.  And it is fatally dangerous to live near a dying star.

In the 1960s, Penzias and Wilson, experimenters with Bell Telephone Laboratories, discovered a band of radio waves of about seven centimeters in length coming equally from all directions.  It was finally decided that this radiation had originated from a burst of light from distant time near the beginning of creation.  The expanding universe was thought to have Doppler shifted the wavelengths to their present thermal range from their former place in the band of light wavelengths.

The observation of distant happenings in the universe is humbling.  In I Corinthians 15, apostle Paul alludes to the diversity to be seen in the heavens as an evidence of God’s power to create a new body for us in the resurrection.  We can also conclude that our eventual home with God, in the world of the unseen, must be a place beyond our wildest imagination.  That is why speculative books telling what heaven will be like are distasteful to me.  If I cannot get my mind around the universe that I have been allowed to see, how could I comprehend the unseen world that I cannot see?

– James Gibbs

Deacons and Ministry Leaders Meeting will be this Saturday, September 25^th, at 8:00 a.m. at the home of Dan Beeks.   Breakfast will be served and then we will hear a presentation by Al Vice.

Directory of Professions – In these tough economic times, we all need to help support one another.  With that in mind, we want to put together a “directory of professions” so that you may contact a fellow member if you need to hire some help or wish to buy something that they make or sell.  Some examples of things we are looking for in this directory are: handyman services, plumbing and electrical services, contracting services, yard and tree maintenance, wood for sale, quilting, crafting and specialty gifts, car washing, housecleaning, childcare, petsitting, tutoring, cooking, catering, etc.   Teens: this includes you, too!  Please put your profession or jobs that you feel you can do, along with a contact number on your Fellowship Card this Sunday.  We need your information as soon as possible.  Thank you for your help.

2010 Women’s Retreat

October 15-17

Little River Christian Camp

This year we will have returning, the fantastic, enthusiastic, excited and fun to be with guest speaker, Clara Hinton.  Retreat cost will be $65.00 and includes everything!  Please make plans to come, and invite someone.  Recruit for me!  Registration forms are available in the lobby.  Grab one for more information and to register now.  Contact Jessie Pannell with any questions.  Thanks!  It’s only 3 weeks away!

**ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY**

has been moved to November 14.

Prayer Requests . . .

EvaLoy Knight requests your prayers as she has been diagnosed with lung cancer ... Lillian Casebier as she recovers from knee surgery at RVMC, Rm 5352 ... Ernie Strawn as he recovers from having a pacemaker put in on Wednesday ... Laura Drew requests prayers for her friend, Rachel, who was approved for a bone marrow transplant and for Rachel’s sister, Becca, as she helps the family ... Doris Sutherlin requests prayers for the family of her cousin, Mickey Douglas, who passed away this last week ... Barbara Garlitz needs your prayers for her health ... For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

Placing Membership

We want to welcome Vivian White and her daughter, Mary, who recently placed membership with us.  If you haven’t met these two ladies, please do so this week and welcome them to our family at West Main.

Youth News

Youth Cell Group this Sunday is at the home of Brian Pannell.  We will have dinner and a devotional.  Girls please bring drinks, and guys please bring chips or cookies.  Please be there by 6:00 p.m.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Oct 15-17: Women’s Retreat at Little River Christian Camp

Oct 23: Harvest Party at the Winters’ Home

Nov 14: Anniversary Sunday and Potluck