Pas= tor Randy

D= an Shilling

Mic= hael Blakeney

Church Office

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From Pastor Randy

Nobody wants to be a fool. After all, a fool is some= one who is lacking in judgment and will repeatedly make the same mistake. They will play near the edge of a cliff and never think "This is dangerous. I should be more careful." Fools never learn. They will often try to justify their behavior by claiming its normal. Only when they wind up in pieces at the bottom of the cliff do th= ey give any thought to doing things differently.

Our society has become increasingly foolish in a lot= of areas. The one that astounds me is how our society treats premarital sex among teenagers. The experts declare kids are going to do it anyway, so t= hey should be instructed on how to engage in sex responsibly.

This "there is nothing anyone can do about it&q= uot; approach is shown how foolish it is when you apply it to other areas. Let’s apply this mentality to cheating as an example. Young pe= ople have been cheating for centuries, but it seems to have escalated in = the past few decades. Since it is clear that students will cheat and there is nothing we can do about it, maybe we should offer classes about cheating. Once students have decided to cheat we should make sure nothing is going = to stop them. The students should be told that it is not morally wrong to cheat, = and students who choose not to cheat are not living by a higher standard, just differently. Then they should be taught how to cheat more effectively and have access to the finest cheat sheets available. If a student decides to be a cheater, the parents should never be told because they mi= ght over react. After all, the parents might still be stuck in the 50's and ground the student.

When you take the current approach to premarital sex= and apply it to cheating, drugs, or alcohol it becomes apparent just how fool= ish it is. Parents are just as foolish if they buy into this philosophy. Don't let the world steal your morals. Walk in wisdom, applying God's Word to y= our life and your families.

This will help make GBC a place of…=

Growing Discipleshi= p

Bonding Fellowship

<= /b>Caring Witness.

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1776 by Dan Shilling

Every = July 4^th Betsy and I watch the movie “1776.” It is an entertaining, musical version of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaratio= n of Independence. At one point in the movie, amendments, additions and deleti= ons are being suggested to Thomas Jefferson concerning his freshly conceived document, and the newly appointed chaplain for the Congress, Reverend John Witherspoon states, “Mr. Jefferson, nowhere do you mention the Supr= eme Being. Now surely this was an oversight, for how could we hope to achieve= a victory without His help. Therefore I most humbly suggest the following addition to your final sentence. ‘… with a firm reliance on t= he protection of divine Provide= nce…’” Thomas Jefferson then agrees to the addition.

I wonder if such a declaration of the Supreme Being = might be allowed today if we were writing such a document to define our nation.= I doubt it would be considered “politically correct.”

America’s founders did not intend for God to be left out of the affairs of state, a= s is also shown by the fact that all 50 states acknowledge God in their constitutions. The preamble to Alaska’s constitution reads as follo= ws, “We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded = our nation and pioneered this great land, in order to secure and transmit to succeeding generations our heritage of political, civil, and religious liberty within the Union of States, do ordain and establish this constitu= tion for the State of Alaska.”

“Those people who = will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” William Penn

Salvation and Belief by Michael Blakeney

Last month we looked at the life of John and how he = worked to spread the gospel. He authored one of the most elegant and beaut= iful passages of all Scripture. Here are John Chysostom’s thoughts= on scripture, “The Bible is a river in which infants can wade and elephants can swim.” When you read the opening verses to John’s Gospel you can see this.

A good company knows the value of a good logo. = Who doesn't recognize the golden arches, that big purple bell, or the girl wi= th red pigtails? These pictures represent the company. When we s= ee them, we think of the companies they represent. They are backed by everything the company is. When we see them we think of the qualit= y, the food, the aroma, and the service they offer. The beginning vers= es in the book of John state, “In the beginning was the Word, and the = Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John uses the metaphor of the “Word” to describe Jesus. The word “logo̶= 1; is an ancient word. It’s the same word John uses to describe Jesus. The Greek word for “word” is “logos.” John tells us that Jesus Christ is the highest revelation from God. John tells us that this revelation not only perfectly reveals God to us, but also that the “Word is God.” We read that, Jesus Christ always existed, “In the beginning was the Word,” Jesus Christ always existed with God, “the Word was with God”, and Jesus Christ is God, “the = Word was God.”

Not only is Jesus the revelation of God to humanity,= but He is also God. From the beginning of time we see God revealing Him= self to people. From the daily walks with Adam, to His glory dwelling in= the Temple, God has revealed himself to men. It all culminates to the perfect revelation of God in Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus is God. Just as a company’s logo communicates something about th= em, Jesus Christ completely communicates who God is. So when people ask, “Who is God?” We answer, “Jesus Christ, full of g= race and truth.” We are reminded of the thesis for the entire book= of John found in John 20:31, “But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may ha= ve life in His name.”

(By the way, if you’re still trying to figure = out the logos I was talking about, they are McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s)

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July Events

July 4=

Independence Day<= /o:p>

July 6=

Church Picnic (12:00 p= .m.)

July 6 and July 20

Biggest Loser (5:00 p.= m.)

Every Tuesday

Dan’s Small Grou= p (7:00 p.m.)

Randy’s Small Gr= oup (7:30 p.m.)

July Birthdays

1

Carl Duncan

1

Dodie Warren

2

Marjorie MacDonald

2

Patty Borgesen<= /o:p>

3

Richard Predmore

6

Leanne Beutler<= /o:p>

8

Cyril John-Baptist

8

Pat Fencl=

15

Betsy Shilling<= /o:p>

15

Santana DiMassimo

15

Allan Bagley

21

Traci Warren

21

Rich Kirk=

25

Natalie Mobley<= /o:p>

27

Mely Colburn

28

Joseph Predmore=

28

Bridget Tate

28

Edward Young

29

Joshua Beutler<= /o:p>

Nursery Schedule<= /b>

July 6

July 13

July 20

July 27

Bed Babies

Gladys Brown &

Fran Lewis

Dottie Johnson &

Sue Shotts

Al & Perla

McCoy

Jim & Jane

Dunlap

Toddlers

Brandon & Carolyn Lyons=

Mark & Jean

Johnston

Teo & April

Ransum

Allen & Lisa

West

3 yr. old –

Preschool

Sara Latto &

Cathy Kane

Joshua & Serena

Beutler

Anne & Richie

Predmore

Traci & Shelby Warren

From Pastor Randy

1776 by Dan Shilling

Salvation and Belief by Michael Blakeney

July Events

July Birthdays

Nursery Schedule<= /b>