In Your Own Words
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In Your Own Words: The Lord’s Supper
In Your Own Words: The Lord’s Supper
(aka: Reader Polls)
When partaking of the Lord’s Supper, what do your thoughts focus on?
The events leading to and the actual crucifixion
• Christ’s death for me, but sometimes I get distracted
• Christ dying on the cross for me
• Each time is different, but mostly on the Christ death on the cross and the suffering he went through before he died.
• Christ on the cross
• Christ’s Death
• The Lord’s crucifixion
What methods do you use to keep from being distracted by your children or other distractions nearby?
• Reading one of the accounts from the Bible
• Taking notes is the best thing for me, that way I listen better to write down scriptures, etc.
• Trying to visualize the suffering Christ bore
• If I have trouble focusing, I either read about this event in the gospels or read a song which tells me about it. I pray mostly.
• Keeping my eyes closed, reading passages in the Bible
• Sometimes reading scriptures & sitting near the front
• I try to think about the song that was just led or I get out my Bible and look up the account in Matthew 27
Published in the Spring 2010 issue V3N2
What Advice Helped You Most in Your Marriage?
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series “Older Women…train the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4)
Marry a Christian.
~ Linda Keene
Wherever you are, whoever you’re with or wherever you go—remember who you are first: a child of The King.
~ Barbara Ainsworth
Many say marriage should be 50-50 but I don’t believe that. Marriage should be 100-100. Marriage is wonderful if you are both giving it your all.”
~ Connie Ball
No matter what, ALWAYS be faithful.
~ Mildred Achimon
My mother always told me that marriage was for a lifetime and a long time and I could never come back home. I always remembered those words.
~ Jane Ruyle
Others in the Series:
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
How can a Christian wife encourage and uplift her husband?
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series “Older Women…train the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4)
Give him special notes or cards when he does well. Small things can really make a big difference. It can even be as small as picking up his socks without being asked to.
~Linda Keene
The best way to encourage and uplift your husband is to not take him for granted. Be quick to praise him when he does well and be sure to say thank you.
~Barbara Ainsworth
Show him you appreciate him all the time. For the way he dresses, for making a living, for being considerate, or any other way you can. Let him know that you are proud to be seen with him and that you enjoy being with him.
~ Connie Ball
Others in the Series:
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
How Can a Christian Wife Help Her Husband Who is Hurting Spiritually?
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series “Older Women…train the younger women to love their husbands and children” Titus 2:3-4)
Love him, pray for him and be patient. Pray for yourself and that the Lord will help you help him.
~ Connie Ball
Be the best example you can be: serve him, put him first, go out of your way to leave notes of love in unexpected places but never give into missing church services.
~ Linda Keene
Pray, pray, pray. Stand ready to comfort and help him. Realize that it must be his decision. You can not make it for him.
~ Barbara Ainsworth
Always stand by his side and give him support.
~ Jane Ruyle
Do all that you can to encourage him and be an example to him.
~ Mildred Achimon
Others in the Series:
Encourage and uplift
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
How Should a Christian Wife Help Her Husband Cope With Losing His Job?
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series )
Discuss options you have for withstanding the transition. Be careful to not put him down.
~ Mildred Achimon
Do not nag him but be patient and encourage him in looking for another job.
~ Jane Ruyle
Cut back, be encouraging, be positive and let him know that he is still your lover. Ask his opinions and follow his advice.
~ Linda Keene
Do everything you can to reinforce his self-esteem. He will probably be beating himself up. If you have a job, do not rub it in that you are bringing in a paycheck. Save everything you can and go to the Lord for help.
~ Connie Ball
Others in the Series:
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
Words of Advice for New Brides
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series )
Remember that you are not only marrying your husband, you are also marrying his family. Strive to love them.
~ Barbara Ainsworth
Compile a list of items dealing with household responsibilities and have your husband rank and assign them like dusting, making the bed, bathing the children, and mowing the lawn. Which tasks are his, yours, or both? Which ones are most important? Which ones are least important?
~ Linda Keene
Your husband needs a help-meet—not a CEO. Always love and respect him. Put God first, your husband second and yourself third.
~ Connie Ball
Always strive to be an example to your husband and be helpful. Remember Ephesians 5:22 “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”
~ Mildred Achimon
Others in the Series:
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
How Should a Christian Wife Deal With Anger Towards Her Husband?
(Words of Advice for a Christian Wife – An “In Your Own Words” Series )
An important thing to remember is that whatever is causing you anger will pass. Stay calm, talk about your problems together and pray
together.
~ Linda Keene
Try to not let pride get in the way of working things out. Hold your temper and think before you speak. Words that are spoken in outbursts or anger are of little value.
~ Barbara Ainsworth
Pray for your husband and yourself. It is difficult to remain angry and talk to God at the same time. God is the one who can ultimately help you resolve problems.
~ Connie Ball
Remember to be slow to anger. Try to calm down and give yourself time to think things through before sitting down to talk about it.
~ Mildred Achimon
Sometimes it is easier to avoid saying things in anger if you get away for a while. Take a walk by yourself to clear your head and think things through or get busy doing something to take your mind off it for a while.
~ Jane Ruyle
Others in the Series:
Originally printed in the Summer 2009 issue
“What does it mean to be “clothed in righteousness”?
If you are clothed, then you are covered and everyone can see your clothing. The type of clothing you are wearing is visible to everyone. Therefore, you should ask yourself, “Am I wearing clothing that reveals who I am? Does my clothing say that I respect myself and people around me?”
So, to be clothed in righteousness would mean you are wearing your righteousness where everyone can see it. You are wearing your righteousness with a fashion that reveals your respect for yourself, your respect for the people around you and most importantly, the respect you have for God.
~ Brandy Mann
Being clothed in righteousness is having your heart and soul full of God’s word and love and always being active in trying to fill your heart with good things. Any void that we may have in our lives will be filled by Satan if we don’t continually battle him. What would happen if we were not fully dressed and went outside in freezing temperature? We would not survive the elements for long. We would eventually freeze to death.
The same thing will happen if we are not clothed in God’s righteousness. We cannot survive the elements of sin for long. We must have the proper clothing. In order to be protected we must be wrapped and covered to shield ourselves from sin. When our guard is down, Sin will sneak in at times, but we must immediately ask God to forgive those sins. Isa. 61:10 says – He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, He has clothed me with garments of salvation. Job 29:14 – I put on righteousness; and He clothed me; my justice was like a robe. Heb. 4:13 – Nothing is hidden from God’s sight. All is open. If our heart and soul has the right clothing we will clothe our bodies in acceptable clothing. Rev. 3:5 – He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life.
~ Mary Stonebarger
Originally printed in the Winter 2009 issue
In Your Own Words: Laboring in the Fields and Harvesting Souls
Readers were asked to answer these questions:
“Have you ever labored in the fields?
What do you remember about harvest time and how does it relate to harvesting souls?”
Answers:
I grew up on a farm. My dad grew cotton, peanuts, corn etc. We were also expected to help in the vegetable garden. We had nine children in our family (not all home at the same time). Once our crops were in, we would meet with other farmers and help them as well.
There are so many ways to compare harvest time with harvesting souls. As our peanuts would grow we were expected to dig the weeds out to prevent them from choking the peanut vines. If the vines were not weed free the yield was much smaller. We can compare the harvesting of the peanuts to the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8. As long as the above example was weeded and taken care of it produced 100 fold. If we let the weeds take control the yield was much less. My dad was there as the inspector. God is our inspector. In order to please Him we must stay on task to prevent the loss of souls.
We also helped pull the cotton when I was very young. We put on our gloves and pulled our sacks through the rows to gather the cotton. I can remember lying down on my sack and scratching my nose to make it bleed so my dad would allow me to go home. I could fool my dad but we can not fool our Father in Heaven. We are guilty of the same actions in our adult responsibilities. We can compare my actions to the two sons in Matt. 21:29. I put my gloves on and went but had no plans to work when I arrived. With this attitude we will not be successful in gathering souls.
We lived a self‐sufficient life style on the farm. We cannot live a self‐sufficient life without obeying the commands of our Lord. We must go out to harvest. The Lord will provide the souls.
By Mary Stonebarger
Our family did have a large garden. Dad had all of the family involved in planting, weeding, and harvesting our garden. There are two things I remember about harvest time. First, my dad kept a watchful eye on the garden to see when it was time to pick. Second was the preparation of the supplies that were needed to freeze or can the vegetables.
My dad’s watchful eye on our garden could relate to our being watchful and searching for opportunities to share God’s Word. The preparation of supplies before we processed the gathered food is likened to our being prepared before we encounter those opportunities.
Our garden was a lot of work, but we all realized the benefit when it was time to eat.
by Susan Carter
When I was about six years old, my grandmother had cotton fields next to her home. We were thrilled as youngsters to help pick cotton. Our cotton bags were about a third of the size of the regular bags pulled by the cotton pickers. When we finished, we took our bags to the scales which were on the back of a truck. We got paid by the pound. Needless to say, we didn’t get rich. As young children, my sisters and I weren’t required to work in the fields, we did it for fun. When we grew tired, or wanted to do something else, we quit working. As to how this relates to harvesting souls today, many of us are like children, when we grow tired or something distracts us from our goal, we quit. We should keep in mind that not only are we reaping a harvest, but the reward is great!
by Kathy Medford
I only “Helped” as a child with my mom. I remember walking down the rows of cotton with a hoe in hand. I think I chopped down more cotton than weeds but I was helping…. so I thought! It was hot and took lots of time to chop cotton. The plants would grow and the field turn white. Then Pappy would fix me a cotton sack….made out of a feed sack, so I could pick cotton for him when it was time to harvest. It was just my size. I remember playing in between the rows and sitting and drinking water in the shade in the field. We had a good time working and playing together. As I grew older, I realized the importance of chopping out the weeds so the tender plants could grow and produce. So it is with harvesting souls. The tender souls (babes in Christ) need lots of care. We need to keep the weeds away from them so they can grow strong and develop into strong Christians. Then, they too, can labor and play in the harvesting of more Christian souls.
By Judy Finney