The Rose Hill Herald

October 1, 2010 – Volume 4, Issue 10

 

1. Pastor’s thoughts

 

I recently received an interesting summation of possible future changing events from a childhood friend now a pastor and wanted to share them with you:

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come! 

1. The Post Office.  Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to survive, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.. 

2.  The Check.  Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business. 
 
3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services. 

4.  The Book.  You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real  book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book. 

5. The Land Line Telephone.  Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes. 
 
6. Music.  This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading.  It is the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. (Older established artists.) This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies." 

7.  Television.  Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV.  Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix. 
 
8.  The "Things" That You Own.  Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.  
 
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert. 
 

9.  Privacy.  If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. Try Google search on your name and see how much information is available‚ you will be appalled.  There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again! 

All we will have that can't be changed are "Memories."

2. Something to think about:

      “Some people give God a tenth – a tenth of what they ought to give.”

      “We are only rich through what we give, and poor only through what we keep.”

      “Your use of money shows what you think of God.”

      “When giving to God, we are just taking our hands off what belongs to Him.”

      “Don’t try to cheat the Lord and call it economizing.”

“God has enough money in the pockets of Christians to do everything he expects        

  the church to do.”

 

3.  “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones”

(Proverbs 17:22 NIV)

           

A man and his wife were walking in a crowd.  The husband delighted his wife by taking her hand.  She asked, “You don’t want to lose me?”  He replied, “I don’t want to have to look for you.”

 

“I’m really worried,” said one little boy to a friend.  “Dad slaves away at his job so I’ll never want for anything, so I’ll be able to go to a university if I want to.  Mom works hard every day washing and ironing, cleaning up after me, taking care of me when I get sick.  They spend every day of their lives working just on my behalf.  I’m worried.”  His friend asked, “What have you got to worry about?’  And he replied, “I’m afraid they might try to escape.”

 

A little boy had developed a bad habit.  He was always lying.  Once when he was given a St. Bernard dog for his birthday, he went out and told all the neighbors that he had been given a lion.  The mother took him aside and said, “I told you not to lie.  You march right upstairs and tell God you’re sorry. Promise God you will not lie again.”  The little boy went upstairs, said his prayers, then came down again.  His mother asked, “Did you tell God you are sorry?”  The little boy replied, “Yes, I did.  And God said sometimes he finds it hard to tell my dog from a lion too.”

 

There was an elderly lady who said to a little girl, “How do you do my dear?”  The girl replied, “Quite well, thank you.”  After a long pause the woman asked, “Why don’t you ask me how I am?”  The child paused and said calmly, “Because, I’m not interested.”

 

4. Nazarene websites:

Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene: www.rosehillnazarene.org

South Arkansas District: www.southarkansas.org/default.aspx

Nazarene headquarters: www.nazarene.org

Nazarene Bible College: www.nbc.edu

Southern Nazarene University:  www.snu.edu/home.asp

 

5. Rose Hill news:

 

The Sunday school is having another one of those wonderful down home cooking breakfasts on Sunday, October 3^rd at 8:30A.M.  And the best is…there is no charge!  Come and join us.

 

Prime Timer’s group meets the first and third Thursdays at noon for a potluck lunch and a time of fellowship.  If you are 55 or over you are invited to join them at the church.

 

Ladies Bible Study is every Tuesday at 10:00 A.M. at the church; and the men meet the third Saturday at the church sanctuary at 8:00 A.M. for prayer breakfast.

 

The Tribe of Faith small group will not meet the first and second Mondays of the month, but will be back on schedule on the third.  The small group that meets at the Bratton’s home will not meet on the first Thursday of the month but will be back on schedule the next Thursday.

 

Rose Hill will be hosting missionaries Phil and Martha Patalano from Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday, Oct. 13^th at 7:00 P.M.  After they speak to us we will meet in the fellowship hall for a time of fellowship and good food.  Please bring your favorite “finger foods.”

 

Donna will be introducing the Christmas cantata this month.  Choir will meet on Wednesday the 20^th and 27^th of this month at 6:00 P.M. in the sanctuary.  If you have ever wanted to sing in the choir, why not try it out.

 

On Saturday, October 30th at 5:30 P.M. the Sunday school will be sponsoring a bonfire and weenie roast in “the back 40.”  Games, hay ride, good food and fellowship and cash awards for the one who invited and brings the most “un-churched.”  Details will be posted around the church.

 

Sunday, October 31^st will be the last day to add your name to the list for the Ladies Shopping Trip to Hot Springs on Saturday, November 6^th.  See Pat Means for further details.

 

October birthdays at Rose Hill include: Carolee Cox (9^th), Terry Baldwin (18^th), Faye Williams (21^st) and Jonathan Marshall (31^st)

 

Anniversaries include: Mark & Dana Burnett (18^th).

 

Again, I leave you with this question: “Who do you know that is not attending church?”  Can you see their face clearly?  Pick up the phone and invite them to come to Rose Hill this Sunday for a “free” country breakfast!

 

Your response to the Rose Hill Herald is always welcome.  If you have any suggestions, articles or links you would like to submit, please do so!

 

Thanks for reading the Rose Hill Herald!

 

Pastor Steve Comeans

 

Rose Hill Church of the Nazarene

11001 Kanis Road

Little Rock, AR 72211

501-225-1082

www.rosehillnazarene.org