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My Favorite Garden
IN AND AROUND THE WORD with Zita
By David Olson
AROUND THE GARDEN with Margaret
Praise time
Do you love to minister behind the scenes?
The Baptists Did What?
IN THE KITCHEN with June



Jessica’s GARDEN OF VERSES

This month, to our sorrow, Jessica is taking a leave of absence from her column. She has been with us from the very beginning, and her work seems essential to the Newsletter. However, she prayed earnestly about this, so we will trust the good hand of our God to help her in her many responsibilities, to speed her return, and to bless the continued ministry of the Newsletter in her absence.

Several years ago when we did an issue on gardens, I learned that Carolyn Chambers’ grandparents’ garden had a special place in her heart. She agreed to share that with us this month. The editor.

My Favorite Garden

My grandparents were farmers. When they retired in town, they continued to raise chickens and plant vegetables, fruit, and flowers. While I sometimes helped gather eggs and spent many hours playing throughout the garden, it was the flowers I liked best. Larkspur, snapdragons, Queen Anne’s lace, calendulas, marigolds, carnations, gladiolas, and my favorite, pansies, were among the many varieties that grew in profusion.

When I was in elementary school, I would often stop by on my way to school to pick flowers to take to my teachers. Many flowers from my grandparents’ garden decorated our church on Sundays. Thanks to another faithful lady who scoured local gardens, we had several vases of fresh flowers in the sanctuary every Sunday, year round.

Although my grandparents have been with the Lord for many years, their beautiful flowers live on in my memory and in the many pictures my grandmother painted well into her nineties.

By Carolyn Chambers

IN AND AROUND THE WORD with Zita

The blessed hope! What an excellent theme to challenge our Scripture study for this year. The term blessed hope is a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ, including the resurrection and the reign of the saints with Christ in glory (II Timothy 2:10, Titus 2:11-14).

In January, Pastor Franklin reminded us that those who believe in the blessed hope have the responsibility of believing in, obeying, and worshiping Christ. We are to think, act, speak, and live under God’s control. Listen to the sermon tape for January 12, 2003. Why does God consider obedience to be a priority for the Christian? We Christians live in a supernatural relationship with the Lord. We are aware of His involvement in our daily living and have learned of the hope He gives to those who obey Him. Read Ephesians 3:14-21, II Corinthians 5:17-21, and I John 4:12-17. The question we should be asking is really, “Why should we not obey?”

Scripture is written “for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). From the above Scriptures we see three major benefits that develop for those who persevere in the blessed hope. First of all, “happy is he whose hope is in the Lord” (Psalm 146:5). In other words, that person lives a contented life. Secondly, one who understands all that the blessed hope encompasses lives a life of effectual moral behavior (I John 3:3). Thirdly, those whose faith is steadfast in the blessed hope are able to suffer cheerfully (I Thessalonians 1:3-6, Romans 5:3-6, and I Peter 8:12, 13). The word hope as used in the New Testament speaks of a certainty not yet realized.

By David Olson

A debate is raging in Christianity today that is pitting brother against brother and tearing churches apart. The topic is music, and the question that is being debated, is whether or not there should be a standard in Christian music. Most Christians would agree that the believer should not listen to secular rock music, but when it comes to Christian Rock or Contemporary Christian Music many would say that there is no definite line, that it is just a matter of preference. Although this debate has ranged far and wide and over many different topics, I think that the whole debate is hinged on one question. Is music morally neutral? Is there a right or wrong in music? In turn, this key question is itself hinged on one point. Music has a direct effect on the emotions.

The fact that music affects humans emotionally is something that I believe most everyone would agree on. The business world is well aware of the effect that music has on people, the soundtrack industry being a prime example of this. What good would there be in having a soundtrack with a movie or TV ad if it did not emotionally affect the majority of people listening? Mike Coyle, a French horn virtuoso and a Christian wrote an article that the Baptist Bulletin issued in April 1983. He wrote, “All emotions are not good ones...An emotion like lust is never right...Since music is an emotional language, and since some emotions are wrong for the child of God, then some music is wrong for the Christian.”

How should this simple insight impact our choice of music? It is undeniable that much of the music that is called “Christian” today is just rock music with Christian words. Secular rock star David Bowie in the February 12, 1976, issue of Rolling Stones made this comment, “I believe Rock ‘n’ Roll is dangerous...I feel that we are only heralding something darker than we are.” Many other quotes back up what Mr. Bowie said. And we are going to use this style of music to praise God?! I must say, in closing, that I am very worried about the Christian music of my generation and that I am very grateful that our church is still holding strong against the tide of popular Christianity.

(This is a condensation of a speech given in Pastor Franklin’s Introduction to Speech class last fall by David Olson, age 19.)

AROUND THE GARDEN with Margaret

MARCH IN OUR GARDENS

Potpourri—a little of this and a little of that—an appropriate theme for marching in our gardens in March!

We begin with cleaning the flowerbeds and garden plots of all leftover debris. Either burn it or send it away with your trash haul so no insect eggs or disease will be left over from last year.

Set out all the chrysanthemums, azaleas, and camellias you got for Christmas. Divide perennials that have multiplied; these include chrysanthemums, Shasta daisies, carnations, yarrow, hollyhocks, ferns which have outgrown their space, and bearded iris, if you haven’t already done your iris. The iris may not bloom so well this year, but left undivided they will certainly not do well, and blooms will be scarce. Fertilize all your new plantings with a careful hand, saving the larger doses until they have become established.

Now is the time to plant potatoes, onions, garlic, and do try some shallots; they are wonderful in scrambled eggs, salads, soups, and for covering a roast. Leeks are also a good vegetable for soups, stews, and to cook with other vegetables such as summer squash. Beets, carrots, turnips, and spinach can still be planted.

Start the summer feeding of camellias, azaleas, ferns, and hydrangea; prune back only branches that are dead, diseased, or overgrowing their area. Wait until the danger of frost is over before pruning hydrangeas, as they will start new growth at the cut, which will freeze. Roses should be fed now with a good, balanced rose food.

If the weather is settled and killing frost is unlikely, tomato, eggplant, and pepper plants can be set out in the garden. They will still have to be protected with one of the handy things you can find at the nurseries: plastic cloches, Wall-O-Water, or the old standby, paper Hot Kaps. You can even use 2-liter soda bottles with the bottom cut out, or you can cut the top off below the neck of the bottle to the point where it bulges out, turn it over your seedlings, and push it down into the soil firmly to give it protection from blowing over in the wind. Of course, all the covers must be stabilized to prevent toppling over and exposing your plants to the frost and crushing them as they blow over. This is at the last of the article, because this should be done at the end of the month!

Praise time:

When I, Oh Lord, behold Thy vast creation,
The wondrous works which Thy great hands have wrought,
And when I view in awe and admiration
The mighty worlds which Thou hast formed from naught.

Then all my heart cries out, My God, to Thee,
Great is Thy love, great is Thy love.
Then all my heart cries out, My God, to Thee,
Great is Thy love, great is Thy love.

(From the Swedish lyrics by Carl Boberg, Swedish folk melody)

Thank you, Lord,

Margaret

Do you love to minister behind the scenes?

We need new cushions; our stack in the back of the auditorium is getting old. See Loretta Saul (241-6590) to get started; the church will purchase the materials.

The Baptists Did What?

A letter from the Baptists of Virginia to General Washington written on August 8, 1789, at the suggestion of James Madison

“When the Constitution first made its appearance in Virginia, we, as a society, feared that the liberty of conscience, dearer to us than property or life, was not sufficiently secured. Perhaps our jealousies were heightened by the usage we received in Virginia, under the regal government, when mobs, fines, bonds and prisons were our frequent repast. Convinced, on the one hand, that without an effective national government the States would fall into disunion and all the subsequent evils; and, on the other hand, fearing that we should be accessory to some religious oppression, should any one society in the Union predominate over the rest; yet, amidst all these inquietudes of mind, our consolation arose from this consideration—the plan must be good, for it has the signature of a tried, trusty friend, and if religious liberty is rather insecure in the Constitution, ‘the Administration will certainly prevent all oppression, for a WASHINGTON will preside.’ Should the horrid evils that have been so pestiferous in Asia and Europe, faction, ambition, war, perfidy, fraud and persecution for conscience’ sake, ever approach the borders of our happy nation, may the name and administration of our beloved President, like the radiant source of day, scatter all those dark clouds from the American hemisphere.”

The reply from General Washington

“If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed by the Convention where I had the honor to preside might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of religious persecution. For, you doubtless remember, I have often expressed my sentiments that any man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience. While I recollect with satisfaction that the religious society of which you are members have been, throughout America, uniformly and almost unanimously the firm friends to civil liberty, and the persevering promoters of our glorious revolution, I cannot hesitate to believe that they will be the faithful supporters of a free yet efficient general government.”

“A month after this correspondence James Madison, with the approval of Washington, brought several Constitutional amendments before the House of Representatives, and amongst them moved the adoption of this: ‘Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....’ This proposition met with great opposition in Congress, but it passed that body September 23d, 1789, and was submitted to the several states for ratification.... Thus, the contemned, spurned and hated old Baptist doctrine of soul-liberty, for which blood had been shed for centuries, was not only engrafted into the organic law of the United States, but for the first time in the formation of a great nation it was made its chief cornerstone.” (Italics mine, editor)

Excerpts are from Armittage’s History of the Baptists, pp. 806-807.

IN THE KITCHEN with June

This week as I was visiting with my neighbor she told me

she was expecting company and was going to make a Luau Pie.

Since I am always on the lookout for new recipes to share with you gals, I informed her that the pie was something new to me, and would she please give me the recipe. Here it is.

Luau Pie

Begin with a basic lemon pie filling. She uses this one from the cornstarch box; if you use it, add at least 1 tablespoon more cornstarch. You may prefer to use your own recipe

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 ½ cups cold water

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

grated peel of one lemon

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbsp. butter

1 baked (9-inch) piecrust

In medium saucepan combine 1 cup sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in next three ingredients.

After cooking, add ½ cup coconut, ½ cup crushed pineapple (drained well) and one banana, cut up. Then pour into the baked pie shell. You can top it with meringue or wait until it cools and top it with whipped cream. My neighbor guarantees there will be no leftovers!