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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2017)
Page A-6 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, February 22, 2017 President Trump - Keep us out of Syria: by Dr. Glenn Mollette President Trump must not authorize troops on the ground in Syria. Once our troops are moved to a country they never leave. Iraq and Afghanistan are cases in point. Part of our economic despair in our country can be traced to the trillions of dollars we’ve spent on foreign soil the last 16 or so years. This doesn’t include all the countries where we have troops and bil- lions of dollars invested in military bases. America is scattered out around the world. Our soldiers go and are killed or are maimed for life. We reverence all they do for America but in the meantime our gov- ernment continues to send thousands of troops overseas. There is now a buildup of troops in Poland on the Rus- sian border. I am sure Poland does not appreciate Russian aggression against them. Is it America’s job to send thousands of troops to this region of the world? More is now being said about troops on the ground in Syria. Once we start we will be there for years and maybe forever. What will be the defining moment that stops our country from making every world problem and conflict our problem? Will it be when all Americans are poor and hungry? Will it be when we no longer have bridges that we feel safe crossing or roads in such shambles we can’t drive on them? Will it be when we are so drained from spreading ourselves around the world so thinly that we can no longer defend ourselves? Inside of our own nation we are spread too thin. We have welcomed the world to come here for many years. Many of our major cities are beyond recognition, as thousands of internationals have become a major presence in our country. They need money, medical care, housing and on and on. In the meantime we have hungry Veterans and homeless Americans sleeping in cars, under bridges and in city parks. I see it all the time and it’s not pretty. I understand life is not pretty in Syria or many other places on the planet. We cannot fix them all. ISIS is a threat to America and destroying their oil refineries, bridges, commu- nication abilities and airports is something we can do from the sky. That doesn’t require military bases and thousands of troops stationed in Syria. Plus, we can’t kill them all. There is not a silver bullet that will eliminate the entire ISIS cell groups scat- tered in Syria and now in other parts of the Middle East. Please President Trump, do not put our troops on the ground in Syria. We don’t want to lose another thousand Ameri- can lives, spend another trillion dollars and try to police another nation that we will later have to rebuild. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated columnist and author of 11 books. He is read in all 50 states. Visit www.glennmollette.com or contact him at GMollette@aol.com. You can like his face- book page at www.facebook.com/glennmollette. Church News Valley Evangelical Free Church Ordinary days Have you ever noticed that life is made up mostly of ordinary days? People ask what is going on and we half-heartedly reply, “Noth- ing, just the same old stuff.” We wish for some excitement and noth- ing happens so we go looking for it. Some head for the movies, some to the local bar, and others to find drugs to numb the sameness. Still others spin donuts down Main Street at 2:00 in the morning or throw rocks through the local church windows. And when it is over, the excitement is short lived or nonexistent. We still face another ordinary day. May I suggest another approach? Listen to what Jesus said to a lawyer who asked what the greatest commandment is. Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mat- thew 22:37-39 New King James Version) When you love God, He will show you beauty in the midst of the ordinary. When you love God, he will show you things to get genu- inely excited about. When you love God, the ordinary is not quite as ordinary. When you love your neighbor, you will find their ordinary day may be more of a struggle than your ordinary day and you can help them cope with it. When you help a neighbor cope with their ordinary day your day becomes less and less ordinary, it becomes extraordinary. So, in the midst of your ordinary day, look for the extra ordinary happenings. In the midst of your ordinary day, do something for someone else to help them through their ordi- nary day. In doing those things, you will find your day not quite so ordinary. In the meantime, if you need help cop- ing with your ordinary days, come talk with me. Maybe both our days will become extra ordinary. In Christ, Pastor Marvin Community Bible Church Love covers a multitude of sins 1 John 4:9-11 (NKJV) 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Love in its truest form is sacrificial, it costs us some- thing, and we willingly pay that cost. The following story is old – from the days when the United Soviet Socialist Republic existed. It drives home a most important point: Katherine, a single woman of about 40, was a resident of one of the labor farms in Siberia. She was of Mennonite background in Russia, and because of her Christian persuasion, she and others of her faith had been transferred to work on a labor farm which was nothing but a slave labor camp. They lived in a disgraceful barracks situation with no central heating, only a board with some straw on it for her bed and inadequate blankets for warmth. Her relatives in Canada had for several years tried to get permission from the Russian government for Katherine to come and visit them. Finally permission was granted for a three-month visit. Her relatives sent her a ticket and paid all her expenses. When Katherine arrived in Vancouver she was like an “Alice in Wonderland.” She just couldn’t imagine that people could live with so many possessions. She went from relative to relative in their beautiful homes with their lovely cars and was treated royally. Of course, the intent was that she would defect from Russia and stay in Canada. After weeks of moving around among her relatives they began to hear her say, “I will be so glad when my visit is over and I can go home.” They were puzzled and couldn’t figure it out. They had told Katherine that they expected her to stay, that she could find work and would be cared for by her relatives. But about two weeks before the time was up she sat down with her relatives and said, “I want to know for sure; is everything in order for me to return in two weeks?” “Katherine, you can’t be serious,” they responded, “You want to go back to those conditions you’ve told us about with no conveniences of life – just a cubicle with nothing in it? What are you going back to?” With a very contemplative look, she said, “I don’t think I can explain to you why it is I want to go back. All I can say is over here in this country you people have your things and you are busy all day long with your things. Over there we don’t have anything, but we have each other. I want to get back to my brothers and sisters in Christ where we live for one another.” To live for one another; to live for God may be the pur- est essence of love. See you Sunday. In Christ, Pastor Dave Ministry at CBC Sunday Morning Worship 10:30 a.m Praise and Prayer 6 p.m. Wednesday AWANA 6:15-8 p.m. Preschool – Grade 6 Community Christian Academy Preschool – High School Senior Exercise Class Monday, Wednesday, & Friday 9-10 a.m. in Dining Room Good Shepherd Lutheran Church What’s your Son Sign? When I was a kid, one of the things I looked forward to was when my mom would treat me to my very own horoscope from the grocery store. I know what the Bible says about fortunetelling, but it wasn’t the predic- tions I wanted. Maybe that was because I don’t think there was ever one of those predictions I liked. I would carefully unroll those pretty, little scrolls that usually said something like: “You will face many obstacles this week,” or “Your perseverance will help you triumph over your troubles.” This was not what dreams are made of. The part of those little scrolls that I did find fascinating was the personality analysis. I’d read the descriptions and try to decide how well they matched up with me. Sagittarians are supposed to be social, and I guess that de- scribes me. I’m not a hermit or painfully shy. Sagittarians also suffer from foot-in-mouth dis- ease, and I do resemble that description from time to time. Apparently being born in Decem- ber gives me an excuse for those past mistakes. But the thing I liked best about those little scrolls was they helped me figure out who I was; to understand my identity. I bring this up because identity is such an important part of understanding who we are and how we relate to the world. A zodiac sign is a trivial example, but changes in identity can have real impact on us – psychologically, emotionally, spiritually. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was challenging those around him to change their hearts and their identities. He was challenging them, and us, to re-create the world; to reconstruct human life and rela- tionships in a way that will reflect and embody the Ultimate Reality. It was shocking, disturbing, and unset- tling for his listeners to redefine who they thought they were as Jews. He was asking them to change their thinking and reimagine their identity, and their entire lives, in new terms. For Jesus’ listeners, their changed identity would require acting on new ways of living out Places of Worship BRIDGEVIEW COMMUNITY CHURCH 5181 Holland Loop Rd., CJ 541-592-3923 “Come Join the Worship!” Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. Pastor Sonny Moore www.bridgeviewcc.org * * * 7th DAY ADVENTIST 265 S. Old Stage Rd., CJ Sabbath School - 9:30 a.m. Saturday Worship 11 a.m. Pastor Christian Martin Church (541) 592-3218 Madrone Adventist School 541-592-3330 * * * IMMANUEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 200 Watkins St., CJ Phone 541-592-3876 Pastor Charles Chase Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. Sunday Worship - 9:15 a.m. Child-care for small children *** Illinois Valley Praise Center 28569 Redwood Hwy. CJ Non-denominational Bible-believing Church Sunday school - 9:30 a..m. Sunday Service 10:30 a.m. Thursday Seekers 7 p.m. Youth group Thursday - 7 p.m. www.ivpraisecenter.com COMMUNITY BIBLE CHURCH Pastor Dave Gordon 113 S. Caves Ave., CJ Office: 541-592-3896 Email: cbccca@gmail.com Sunday Worship - 10:30 a.m. Christian Academy Pre-K to 12th grade Awana - Wednesdays - 6 p.m. * * * ST. PATRICK OF THE FOREST CATHOLIC CHURCH 407 W. River St., CJ 541-592-3658 Fr. William Holtzinger, Pastor Mass - Sunday 11 a.m.. Sacrament of Reconciliation Sunday - 10:30 a.m. Holy Days TBA * * * TAKILMA BIBLE CHURCH 10343 Takilma Road, Takilma Pastor Dan Robinson Bible Study / Prayer Time 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship 11 a.m Wednesday Bible Study 7 p.m * * * First Baptist Church of Selma 18285 Redwood Hwy., Selma 541-597-4169 Pastor Monty Pope Sunday School - 9:45 a.m. Worship - 11 a.m. GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH East River Street & Lewis Court, CJ Annemarie Richardson Lay Pastor. Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. Sunday Worship - 10 a.m. Church Phone: 541-592-2290 www.goodshepherdlutheraniv.net * * * VALLEY EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH 498 Laurel Road, CJ P.O. Box 1248 Pastor Marvin Porter Sunday School - 9:45 a.m. Worship Service - 11 a.m. evfree@frontiernet.net 541-592-6160 * * * FOUNTAIN OF LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD 451 S. Junction Ave., CJ 541-592-3956 Pastor Mark McLean Morning Worship 9:30 & 11 a.m. Wednesday - 7 p.m. Adult Bible Study * * * ST. MATTHIAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH 25904 Redwood Hwy., CJ 541-592-2006 Rev. Bryant Bechtold Sunday Worship Service 10:30 a.m. THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS 209 S. Junction Ave., CJ Sacrament Meet - 10 a.m. Sunday School - 11:20 a.m. Priesthood, Relief Soc. - 12:10 p.m. Bishop Larry Hammersmith 541-592-3919 * * * Illinois Valley Baptist Church 541-592-6149 102 S. Redwood Hwy. (in the County Building) Sunday Worship 10:30 AM Wednesday Bible Study, Prayer & Youth Program 7:00 PM Friday Ladies Bible Study 11:00 AM the Law in love, and we face that same chal- lenge today. Jesus’ words in the Gospel readings for Epiphany, continually challenge us to see the world with new eyes and to witness to those in our lives who have a vision clouded by the norms and laws of this world. He calls us to testify to our changed identities that serve as reminders of the living God incarnate among us. And so, in the event should someone ask, “What’s your sign?” I hope we’re bold enough to answer: It’s that water; it’s that bread and wine; it’s that cross: signs that proclaim the mystery of our faith and the glory of our sav- ior, Jesus Christ. The recent published booklet on Christian History by Dr. Carroll Bierbower a Baptist minister is now available without charge to those requesting it. To receive a copy, please send your mailing address to P.O. Box 1944, Cave Junction, OR 97523 or email it to drcrb@icloud.com
