Tim Perry
March is here and with it, the “winds of
change” will soon arrive. Now is a good
time for each of us to evaluate each of
our lives and determine if there are any
areas in our lives also needing change.
It is so easy to get caught up in the
affairs of this world, that we sometimes
forget and/or stray from what should be
our foundation…God. If you are a
husband with problems at home, a parent
of a wayward child, or in the midst of a
multitude of other personal challenges,
are you trying to tackle them on your
own and leave God out, or do you rely
solely on Him?
God gives us such a simple solution to
our problems and worries. Do we put our
abilities and ourselves first, or do we
put God first? Do you give God your
“first-fruits” whether it is your time
or tithes, or do you just give God the
leftovers? Do you read your bible daily
or hear a few verses on Sunday morning?
Do you have nightly devotions with your
family? All of these point to putting
God first. When things sometimes seem
to get worse in our lives with increased
problems and anxieties, do we turn to
God first, or do we automatically try
and solve the problem ourselves and in
the process, move farther away from God
and His grace. Does our pride in
“making it right ourselves” continually
distance us from God?
Before any particular area in our life
can ultimately improve, our walk with
God must come first. There is an
important verse to keep in the forefront
of our minds.
”In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
paths” (Proverbs 3:6-KJV).
You’ll find once you make a commitment to put God first, all
other areas of your life will
gradually improve. Challenges will always arise throughout
life,
but your perspective will be greatly changed when you are in close
fellowship with a loving Savior . If you have not spoken to
God
in a while, why not start right now? He’s waiting to here
from
you.
Just think, of all the places in the universe God chose to live,
He chose to live in your heart!!
In Christian Love,
Tim Perry
Pastor
Steve Weaver
Resurrected to New Life
One of
the things I like most about spring time is the new life. You can see
it in the trees with the green leaves sprouting
out. And the flowers blooming...with a dazzling of colors and
the
sun warming your skin. It's as if the death pall of winter has been
shaken off and all of creation is being resurrected to new
life.
That's as it should be. Every year in springtime we celebrate
Christ's resurrection. What does this new resurrected life mean for you
and me? Plenty! Dug deep down into the soil of God's Word is the truth
that can
revitalize your soul. Paul says in Romans 6:4 that, " We
have been buried
with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised
from the
dead ... so we too might walk in newness
of life." Did you
catch that? "Newness
of life." That's
resurrection. That's
springtime
in your soul! Through faith in Jesus' death and resurrection, we can
experience new life from the dead. I pray that for you. God wants every
person
to experience a new life from Jesus that transforms and makes all things
new. No longer do you have to be stuck in a spiritual death existence.
No more
does life have to be perpetual winter; cold, dark and drab. God's got springtime
for you. And it's available through faith in His son. It's not the
church, or religion, or ritual. It's a Person!
Jesus said, "I am
the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if
he dies," (John
11:25). And then He asked
this
personal question, "Do you
believe this?" (John
11:26b) That's the question
He asks
of each of us. "Do you
believe I am able to resurrect your life? That I can bring new life to your
soul?" If you answer "yes" and you accept Him, you will have springtime
of the
heart that will never end!
Do you believe? I hope so!
Have a
blessed spring,
Pastor Steve Weaver
Donnie
Prince
Making The Grade
For the past 23 years my wife has been
a teacher in the North Carolina Public
School System. During that time I have
also seen my two daughters, now 22 and
18-years-old respectively, graduate from
our public schools. Over the years I
have watched my wife and my daughters
work diligently to make the grade. Both
of our girls were outstanding students.
(Thankfully they got their commitment to
their education from their mother.) The
reason they were outstanding students
was because they chose to put forth the
effort and took responsibility and
worked at their studies. Now both of our
children had numerous teachers over the
years who contributed to their success,
but ultimately it was their commitment
to achieving the high standards they set
for themselves that made it possible for
them to succeed in the classroom.
Although I have never been a public
school teacher myself, I have seen
firsthand the late nights of grading
homework papers and quizzes. The long
hours of working with kids after school
and speaking with parents on the
telephone discussing their child’s
performance outside the classroom. In
addition to that I have seen both of my
children up studying late at night after
coming home from an out-of-town tennis
match or swim meet. While the work was
not easy, both my wife and my daughters
put forth the effort to accomplish the
task at hand, they did that because they
made the commitment and took
accountability for the results of their
performance.
In American education today, instead of
taking accountability for results,
students and parents are looking for
someone to blame for their own failures.
And as “passing the buck” has become
politically correct, our federal, state
and local school administrations have
chosen to measure teacher performance by
the test scores of what are in most
cases unmotivated students raised by
disjoined parents in an attempt to
rationalize students who are not making
the grade. As a result, America
continues to move farther away from our
founding principles of personal
responsibility as our liberal leadership
points the finger at our professional
educators, trying to deflect attention
from our failed social programs that
have paid children to have children,
which in large part has contributing to
the escalating discipline problems in
the classroom, which take the teacher’s
focus off of their charge, which is to
teach.
This past year, I had the privilege to
give the commencement address at my
daughter’s high school graduation. What
made that moment all the more special
was that my youngest daughter was also
on stage as the class valedictorian. As
I sat there on stage that day, I looked
out among the graduating students, many
of whom I had come to know over the
years while Mary Katherine attended
public school. There were members of
that graduating class who excelled in
the classroom, on the athletic fields,
in local and state competitions in math
and science, while others contributed to
blood drives and volunteered in
community and civic programs. These kids
had made the decision that it was worth
the effort to do what was necessary to
make the grade.
Our nation’s educational
system will
never be adequately measured by test
scores, nor will state and federal
competency exams tell the story of the
professional educator’s commitment to
the students whose lives they endeavor
to positively influence. Our educational
system can only be evaluated by the
quality of students at the highest level
of success. Because those are the
students that chose to take full
advantage of the educational
opportunities available to every child
in our public schools. And for those
students and their parents, who chose
not to take advantage of the
opportunities that were available to
them, well, they have no one to blame
but themselves for not making the grade.
Bio
Donnie Prince is a businessman and
author living in Wilson, North Carolina,
with his wife Kathy of 26 years. They
are the parents of two daughters, Sarah,
a graduate of East Carolina University,
and a kindergarten teacher in the North
Carolina Public School System, and Mary
Katherine, is a freshman at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Mr. Prince is the founder of Play
2 Win Live 2 Serve, a publishing and
apparel company whose mission is to
promote conservative principles while
spreading the gospel message of Jesus
Christ. To learn more about the mission
of Play 2 Win Live 2 Serve, visit the
company website,
http://www.play2winlive2serve.com
Doug Tidwell