May 9 , 1990» The Portland Observer, Page 7
RELIGION
Strengthen fo u r fa ith Through Tray er A n d feguiar Church Worship
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Thidippians 4:12-13
Part II:
Love And M arriage. . .Hate And Divorce
by Mattie Ann Callier-Spears
When a couple stands before the
altar and repeats the vows o f marriage,
they should be strongly advised before
making this final decision. A good.
Bible-teaching, Christian counselor
should be employed six months, to a
year, before taking that long walk down
memory lane.
When you say “ I do! ” at the request
of the minister, are you in brach of
promise before you even leave the
church? How often are the w ords o f the
marriage vows repeated carelessly and
callously? Consider th is . . . the world
was brought into existence, by God A l
mighty, with a spoken word. The words
o f our ancestors, the words o f the poets,
the words o f the prophets and the words
o f Jesus C hrist linger in our hearts and
minds longer than anything that is done.
L e t’s take a child, for instance, when it
is very young. They look directly into
your mouth to see the forming o f words.
To hear the sounds. To feel the vibra-
tion o f the words from your bosom, as
they lay and are o f curiosity upon you.
The words are stored and catalogued.
The content and quality o f those words
depends solely upon the parent speaker.
Well! How important are the words
that you speak and repeat in your vows
o f m arriage? They should be as im por
tant as the first words that you spoke
and heard when you were a very small
child.
W e are bound by our words. “ A
m an’s word is his bond,” I remember
my elders saying. So it should be today
and including the vows o f marriage. ‘‘I
prom ise to love, honor, cherish and
obey. To kep only to him /her as long as
we both shall live. W ith all my worldly
goods I to thee endow .” These words
alone have gotten more couples in trouble
before they even get to the altar. ‘‘I’m
not going to promise to obey anybody ! ’ ’
is the usual exclamation, of guess who?~
the bride. Now, if you already have
these preconceived ideas, in your mind,
why would you stand up there ‘ ‘in front
o f God and these w itnesses” uttering
words o f untruth? W e condemn our
selves by our own words coming forth
from our m ouths. There is an old say
ing ‘‘Engage your heart before you
open your m outh.” Many should take
this in consideration.
Couples should consider the why-
fors and the what-fors before making
marriage their final step. Because--
there are all kinds o f implications to be
had as a result o f things done in haste.
G et to know one a n o th er-y o u meet,
you fall in love, now what? “ C ’mon
le t’s get m arried.” Stop and ask the
question, ‘‘How much do I know about
this person?” Do you like this person
as well as love this person? If you get
into an argument, can you still be friends
after the argum ent? Or, are you ready
to get rid o f each other because o f a
m inor dispute? If you are angry, do n ’t
sin by nursing your grudge. D on’tle tth e
sun go down with you still an g ry -g e l
over it quickly; for when you arc angry
you give a mighty foothold to the devil
“I promise to love,
honor, cherish and obey.
To keep only to him/her
as long as we both shall
live. With all my worldly
goods I to thee endow.”
These words alone have
gotten more couples in
trouble . . .
[Eph. 4:26-27]. As I stated in last w eek’s
article, ‘‘Learn how to pray together.
Hold hands and pray.” You don’t have
to wait until you get married for you to
begin praying together. Establish a strong
UCC Commission For Racial Justice Calls For EPA Study
On Pollution In Racial/Ethnic Communities
The church office that conducted
landmark research on toxic waste in ra
cial/ethnic com m unities has called on
the Environm ental Protection Agency
to carry out its own study on the subject.
M eeting in Cleveland last weekend,
the commissioners of the United Church
o f C hrist’s Com m ission for Racial Jus
tice voted ‘ ‘ full support’ ’ for a proposal
that the EPA ask the National Academy
o f Sciences to conduct a study on the
“ effects o f environm ental pollution on
minorities and low-incom e populations
in the United States.” Introduced by
Rep. John Conyers (D -M I), the pro
posal is an am endm ent to a congres
sional bill to elevate the EPA to cabi
net-level status, also backed by the
national church agency.
The Commission is author of a highly-
praised study released in 1987 on “ Toxic
wastes and Race in the U .S.” The
study found that race, even more than
poverty, correlates with the placem ent
o f toxic sites. The more racial/ethnic
people, the more toxic waste sites. Three-
fifths o f A frican-A m ericans and His
panics and one-half of Pacific- and Asian-
Am ericans and Native A m ericans live
in areas with toxic sites.
The bill with am endm ent already
has been passed by the House o f Repre
sentatives. The Com m ission for Racial
Justice has written to all senators to ask
for their su p p o rt
In other business, the Com m ission
asked executive director Rev. Dr.
Benjam in F. Chavis, Jr. and United
Church president the Rev. Dr. Paul H.
Sherry to arrange for a delegation of
denominational leaders to travel to W is
consin in support o f Native Amreican
treaty rights there.
Tensions have been high between
whites and Indians in the northern part
o f the state, as in many parts o f the U .S.,
around the question o f whether treaty
rights still should be binding. Right-
wing groups are fanning these tensions,
the Com m ission points out, with rheto
ric maintaining that Indians are getting
rich w hile whites lose homes and prop
erties as a result of treaties. M ajor cor
porations dealing with mineral resources
also have a stake in whether treaty
rights are repealed, the Commission
adds.
The church body is worried about
violence during the spring as the Chip
pewa Indians carry out their traditional
practice o f spearing fish on their ceded
lands. Last year, anti-Indian dem on
strators in Wisconsin carried signs read
ing “ Spear an Indian, Save a Fish” ,
and they have threatened to stop the
fishing this year.
The com m issioners also called upon
the entire United Church of Christ to
increase education and action around
Native American treaty rights and other
issues impacting American Indians.
Installation Service
For Rev. Paul A. Spurlock This Sunday
CHURCH OF
GOD IN CHRIST
NEW TESTAMENT
Weekly Service Rotter
Elder Leon Brewer, Jr.
Sunday: Sunday School - 9:30 am Morning W orship-11:15 am
Pastor
Y.P.W.W. - 7:00 p.m. Evening Worship - 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday: Prayer & Bible band - 7 3 0 pm
Thursday: Praise Service - 7:30 p.m. Pastoral Teaching
Saturday: Morning Prayer -10:00 am
1237 N £ . Failing / Portland, O regon 97212
Church phone 284-7594 / Home phone 283-4382
Happy mother's Day
B erna P lummer
Republicans and
Independents Can Vote
for
B erna P lummer
Your Vote Can Make
The Difference
May 15th-
Tuesday
B erna
Ainsworth United Church o f Christ
will be hosting an installation service
for their minister, Reverend Paul A.
Spurlock, on Sunday, May 13 at 4:00
p.m.
Reverend Spurlock comes to A ins
worth Church from Heritage United
Church o f Christ of Denver, Colorado.
He was bom and reared in Denver and
attended both public and parochial
schools in his hometown. He attended
the University of Colorado, but received
his Bachelor’s Degree from M etropoli
tan S tate college. Later, he attended the
Univeristy o f Denver School o f Social
W ork, but received his m aster's o f D i
vinity from Iliff School o f Theology,
also o f Denver.
Reverend Spurlock com pleted his
field work and served as interim m inis
ter at the Sixth Avenue United Church
o f Christ and M ayflower Congrega
tional Church o f Christ. He provided
ministerial support services to the
churches o f Arriba, Flaler and E ver
green united Churches o f Christ in
Colorado.
Reverend Spurlock served for a period
o f tim e in the U.S. N avy, and later
received com m ercial instrum ent in ulti-
engine pilot ratings. M ost of Reverend
Spurlock’s work experience has been
in Social and Human Services. He was
head of personnel for the Opportunity
Industrialized Center in Denver and a
former mem ber and m oderator o f Park
Hill Congregational Church.
His wife, Sally Steiner-Spurlock, is
on leave, pending transfer, from US
West. His daughter, Lisa, isa congres
sional aide to Rep. Ben Nighthorse
Campbell in W ashington D.C. His son,
M atthew, is a sophomore at the U niver
sity o f Colorado at Boulder.
The congregation o f Ainsworth ex
tends a warm and hearty welcome to
the Spurlocks.
Reverend Clyde Miller, Conference
M inister from The Rocky Mountain
Conference, will be guest speaker for
the installation service, and Reverend
Don Sevetson of the Pacific Central
Conference will be officiating.
Ainsworth Church is a multi-cul
tural and m utli-elhnic congregation and
is located at 30th and NE Ainsworth
streets. Sunday School for all ages
begins at 9:30 a.m. with morning wor
ship beginning at 11:00 a.m. Call 284-
8767.
ARANATHA
C h u r c h
4222 N.E. 12th Avenue
Portland Oregon
Sunday Services
for Representative in Congress
3rd C ongressional D istrict
Paid for an Authorized by People fo r Plum mer
Beginning May 6, a 12:00 noon
Mass will be celebrated outdoors each
Sunday, weather permitting through
September.
The Gift Shop sum m er hours are
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. effective June 1
through September 15.
l’/E L E C T
JIM DUNCAN
for
State Representative
____ House District 19
JIM DUNCAN
“ State priorities must reflect the
needs of the people. Voters in HD 19 are concerned
about Education, Crime, Drugs, Property Taxes, and
declining Human Services.”
JIM DUNCAN
says :
knows that :
Funding for Education from State must be increased to create
an offset to local property taxes.
Crime and Drugs are out of control. Our parks are not safe.
More State intervention is needed if we are to remove the
“crack houses” in NE Portland.
More help and services by HD 19 Elderly and by HD19 Parents
with MR & ED Children in the State Hospital at Fairview.
Problems in the Workers Compensation System and with State
Accident Insurance Fund must be solved. Injured workers and
employers are in a hostage, no-win situation, as long as the
system remains unchanged.
Some of our community leaders, individual citizens, and
business owners in HD 19 feel they do not have ACCESS to
GOVERNMENT through the present elected leaders.
JIM DUNCAN will make your safety, your
concerns, your welfare, his primary emphasis.
Call him at 287-9462.
INDEPENDENT VOTERS: Please remember you have the
right to vote in the Oregon Republican Primary.
Jim Duncan has been endorsed by the 1990 Oregon Black
Political Convention.
Authorized by ELECT JIM DUNCAN COMMITTEE, P.0. Box 8604, Portland, OR
97207-8604. Ron Hall, Treasurer
Jesus Loves You!
Ailaa itaffa ffl
4236 N.E. Eighth Avenue
(corner of 8th & Skidmore)
Portland, Oregon 97211
(503) 287-0261
Phillip S. Nelson, Pastor
-------
Morning Worship
Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor
116 N.E. Schuyler
10:30 A.M.
•
(503) 284-1954
3 MORNING WORSHIP SERVICES
8.00 A.M. - WORSHIP SERVICE 10«) A.M. - WORSHIP SERVICE
U JO P.M. - WORSHIP SERVICE
CHURCH SCHOOL: SATURDAY MORNING 9 A.M. TO 10 A M
BIBLE STUDY:
Maranatha School of Ministry
6:30 P.M.
7:30 P.M.
Grotto Goes to Summer Hours
MT. OLIVET BAPTIST
------CHURCH
9:00 A.M.
Mid-Week Services • Wednesday
be their God and they shall be my people.
That is why the Lord has said, ‘Leave
them; separate yourselves from them;
do n ’t touch their filthy things, and I will
welcome you, and be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daugh
ters.’” [2 Corin. 6:14-18]
D on’t believe the subtleties o f the
world. The devil is the ruler o f this
world and all its crafty, ludicrous and
cynical standards. Satan tries so hard to
lure you into his way o f thinking. B u t.
.. if you have a strong prayer life and you
are strong in the W ord, you can stand the
wiles o f the devil. ‘‘For if a person ju st
listens and doesn’t obey, he is like a man
looking at his face in a mirror; as soon as
he walks away, he can ’t see him self any
more or remember w hat he looks like.
But if anyone keeps looking steadily
into G od’s law for free men, he will not
only remember it but he will do w hat it
says, and God will greatly bless him in
everything he does.” [James 1:22-25]
Continued Next Week.
'A Teaching Church 'With A “
Reaching M inistry.
Sunday School
P lummer
prayer base before you make that pledge.
There are several very important ques
tions that should be answered before
marriage. Are you both believers? Are
you both Christians? And, if so, are you
both baby Christians? Are you equally
yoked? Does one person have more edu
cation than the other? Does that m atter?
Can one person do some things better
than the other? Does that matter? Are
you having to tell lies about yourself to
be accepted by the other person? ‘‘D on’t
be teamed with those who don’t love the
Lord, for what do the people of God have
in common with the people of sin? How
can light live with darkness? And what
harmony can there be between Christ
and the devil? How can a Christian be a
partner with one who doesn’t believe?
And w haqt union can there be between
G od’s teple and idols? For you are
G od’s temple, the home o f the living
God, and God has said o f you, T will live
in them and walk among them, and I will
Rev. Wendell H. Wallace
Senior Pastor
10:30 A.M. -12 NOON - WEDNESDAY
6:30 A.M. - S«0 PJH. - WEDNESDAY
Radio Ministry Each Sunday, 8.00 A M . - KBMS