Mr. and Mrs. Ethan G. Flatt

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ON TRACK RESUMES
September 2
GOSPEL MEETING
The Gardner Church of
Christ, 440 Highway 431,
Martin, is hosting a Gospel
Meeting with Kevin Williams
August 16-19, 7:00 p.m.
Monday—Wednesday.
Those To Serve: August 23, 2015
Singing: Greg Ferguson
Lord’s Table: Chris Gooch
Randy Brann, Tony Henson, Wade Henson
Wyatt Henson, Curtis Aaron, Evan Rippee
Read Scripture: Brian Clark
Closing Prayer: Keith Conner
Power Point: Phil Green
Prepare Communion: Dobbins
Greeters: Don and Linda Allen (side)
Aaron Tittle family (back)
BRIAL
SHOWER
DRS. ALLEN AND CYNTHIA GOOCH
All ladies are invited to a Come and Go Bridal
Shower this afternoon from 2:00
to 4:00 p.m. for Katie Gooch,
bride elect of Ethan Flatt, in the
Activities Building.
INVITE YOU TO A CELEBRATION
INTRODUCING
YOUR INPUT NEEDED:
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Mr. and Mrs.
Ethan G. Flatt
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, 2015
FROM 2PM TO 4PM
AT THE GOOCH HOME
423 NORTH OLD TROY ROAD
TROY, TN 38260
If you would like to receive an electronic
copy of New Pathways For Children’s
newsletter, there is a sign-up sheet on
the Information Station board.
When Ron finishes the Sunday
morning series from Ephesians in a
few weeks, he plans to revisit his
“Because You Asked” sermon approach which generated a lot of interest about three years ago. He
will answer questions suggested by
you about biblical topics or specific
scriptures of interest to you. Submit
them in writing and drop them in
the box beside his office door. (No,
it isn’t necessary to sign them.)
YOUTH NEW S
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Those Serving This Week
“To serve and lift up our God to the best of our abilities, and to unite as one
to lead others.“
Greetings to all!
Just a reminder about the Made to Order Bake Sale! We are still taking orders
on baked goods to benefit the youth trips coming up in the fall. All orders are
$5.00 each and we have a list of yummy items to choose from. Find a teen and
place your order soon!
We will soon be kicking off our Fall Family Devos, with the first one happening
on August 23rd! We still do not have a location, but I will let you know as soon as
we get one
Also, OnTrack is just around the corner and I would love for anyone who has
the time on Wednesday afternoon's to come help out! Its no big production or
anything like that, it will just be hanging out with some really cool kids and
showing them that we love them and that we are glad they are here. Please consider helping out at OnTrack, even if it for just one Wednesday and month, it will
make an impact on the student's lives.
----C y b e r m e l o n---This is a throwback illustration to the days when I was just a jr. high student in
my youth group up in Missouri
So, we all know that this world is messed up, and becoming increasingly
messed up as the days go by. TV shows are turning the idea of a "family" into a
group of irresponsible people lead by a bumbling oaf (dad). We have successfully
made it to where most of America's population think love = sex and sex =
love. We see that it is now believed by many that the life of a wild animal is
more precious than an unborn human child. And to top it all off, it seems that we
have more people basing their choice for presidential candidate on weather or
not this person "will make history?", rather than "Does this person respect our
country's history and will they do the best for our country and not for themselves?". To echo Ron from a few weeks ago, we see that it's a mad world.
And yet...
We in the Church still try so hard to draw fulfillment out of things of this
world. We try to be fulfilled with our jobs. Our bank accounts. Our cars. Our total
amount of "likes", hashtags, or re-tweets. We realize that we have a big void in
the middle of our lives and instead of filling it with God like we are supposed to,
will pile in all this junk that belongs to the world! And here is the illustration. Trying to gain fulfillment from things of this world is like trying to get internet from a watermelon. Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
Why? To quote C.S. Lewis, "If I find in myself desires that nothing in this world
can satisfy, then the only logical explanation is that I was made for another
world..." John 15:19 rings a bell. Read it. Then realize we are just visitors here,
awaiting our call home...
Think on that... and then live like you believe it.
Have a great week.
— Evan
POST OFFICE BOX 216
TROY, TN 38260
PHONE: 536-4611
RON (HOME): 536-4655
Taking Christ to Our
Community
Sunday Services:
9:30 a.m.—Bible Study
10:30 a.m.—Worship
6:00 p.m.—Bible Study
Wednesday Services:
7:00 p.m.—Bible Study
P r ay e r L i s t
Troy Church of Christ
August 16, 2015
Norman Cousins’ discovery has become legendary. He relates his story in The Anatomy
of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient first published in 1979. It is the story of healing from a
patient’s point of view. Moreover, it is Cousins’ personal story of his successful fight against a
crippling disease. It is the story of a partnership between a doctor and a patient in beating the
odds.
When Cousins was diagnosed with an incurable disease, he checked out of the hospital.
He was already aware of how negative emotions can harm the body. He logically hypothesized
that the reverse would also be true: positive emotions and attitudes could affect the body positively.
He borrowed a movie projector and prescribed for himself a treatment consisting of
Marx Brothers films and old "Candid Camera" reruns. (For those who don’t know either of these
references, search the internet and discover the humor in both.) Before long he discovered that
10 minutes of laughter provided him with two hours of pain free sleep. Everyone was astonished
when eventually his debilitating “incurable” disease was eventually cured. His experience was
written up in the New England Journal of Medicine, after which Cousins received over 3000 letters from other doctors expressing their appreciation for his contribution to understanding the
affects of laughter.
I don’t know if Cousins read the Bible at all. If so, perhaps he had the seed for his “cure”
planted by Proverbs 17:22 which says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit
dries up the bones.” Indeed!
There are perhaps multiple lessons to be learned from Cousins’ experience. There’s a
lot to be said about tenacity, thinking outside the proverbial box, the willingness to try something
new when the old isn’t working, etc. Perhaps the greatest lesson is his demonstration of what the
mind and body working together can do to overcome insurmountable odds.
A person's mental attitude has an almost unbelievable effect on one’s powers, both
physical and psychological. The British psychiatrist, J.A. Hadfield, offered an illustration of this
power in his booklet, The Psychology of Power. He asked three people to submit themselves to
test the effect of mental suggestion on their strength, which he measured with a dynamometer to
determine grip strength. They were to grip the dynamometer with all their strength under normal
conditions. He then hypnotized them and told them that they were very weak. Finally, under hypnosis again, he told them they were very strong. The average “normal” grip strength was 101
pounds. The average “weak” grip strength was 29 pounds. The average “strong” grip strength
was 142 pounds. Nothing had changed other than the suggestion planted in their subconscious
minds that they were weak or strong, and their bodies performed accordingly.
Having a positive attitude is not a gimmick or quick fix when things go sideways in life.
It’s not about an event; it’s about a lifestyle. To use Paul’s words in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.” Those
thoughts translate into attitudes which in turn move us behaviorally. You want to do good and be
positive? Then begin by thinking good positive thoughts.
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