GRANT COUNTY CHURCH OF CHRIST
JULY 26, 2009
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BLUEGRASS BIBLE INSTITUTE

The Bluegrass Bible Institute is being organized in Grant County. The school will be a satellite campus of the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions in Knoxville and will be under the oversight of the Grant County church of Christ.
Classes will begin Thursday September 3, 2009 at the Grant County church of Christ building. Classes will meet at 7 and 8 p.m. each Thursday for the Winter and Spring Quarters. There will be no Summer classes.
Anyone who is interested in a deeper understanding of the Bible and related subjects is encouraged to attend. The classes are open to current and prospective preachers, Bible class teachers, Deacons, Elders, and anyone else who is interested in studying the Bible on a College level.
This is an exciting step for the church here! Please pray for this additional effort to teach the “Book of Books” to all who are willing to learn its eternal, immutable precepts!

“Something Great”

Many of us should be familiar with the story of Naaman from the Old Testament. He was the Syrian commander cured of his leprosy by dipping in the Jordan River seven times (2 Kings 5). Although Naaman eventually heeded Elisha’s instructions for healing, his initial reaction was less-than-receptive.
You see, when Naaman learned that Elijah could
heal him, he envisioned exactly what that miracle would look like. Washing in the Jordan River seemed too simple for Naaman. He first expected Elijah to wave his hand over the leprosy and show his prophetical powers of healing. And if dipping in a river was required, Naaman thought that using the
beautiful rivers of Syria would be far better than the dirty waters of Israel’s Jordan.
In Naaman’s mind, being healed of leprosy deserved something bigger and better than dipping in the Jordan River. It was Naaman’s servants who finally convinced him to go through with Elijah’s instructions. Here’s what they said: “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash and be clean?’”
Naaman wanted something great; God gave him something simple. How often do we repeat Naaman’s mistake? We may shirk God’s instructions for us, thinking that they’re too simple to heed or no big deal to obey. We also might ignore doing simple acts of service because we’re waiting for something bigger & better or more glorious to do. Sometimes we minimize the value of normal, everyday obedience because it’s not unique or noteworthy.
If “only a cup of cold water” is noteworthy to Jesus, we should count it just as meaningful and special (Matthew 10:42).
While some wait for “great things,” God often just asks us to do something simple. And doing the simple things is something great in itself.

A Diamond Ring
By Steve Higginbotham
Not long ago, I was preaching in a gospel meeting and I
sat down across a table from a little 8-year-old girl. I noticed she had "diamond" earrings in her ears so I decided to have a little fun with her. I asked her, "What does a girl get from a man who wants to marry her, and it begins with the letter "D." She
thought for a moment, and in all the innocence of an 8 year-old child, she said in an uncertain tone, "Disrespect?"

Ouch! Disrespect? Well, at first I laughed because she didn't understand what she said. She was just grasping for a word that began with the letter "D." But upon reflection, this little girl spoke more truth than she or I realized.

Statistics tell us that nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce. Then consider too, how many of the marriages
that aren't broken in the courtroom, are broken in the heart.

Friends, we have work to do, and as I see it, that work consists of two things:

We must teach what God's word says about marriage, and how the husband and wife are to treat each other (Ephesians 5:25-33).
We must also begin to model our marriages before our youth so that they can see what God intended marriage to be.

Marriage contains too much potential for good for us to sit back and watch it be destroyed and dismantled by people who do not know the joy and fulfillment it can bring if it is done God's way. We must begin to speak with our words and our deeds!

Men, when you asked the woman you loved to marry you, did she end up getting a "diamond" or "disrespect?"
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