Senior Connection. Articles, News, and Activities Calendar. for Senior Members at Netherwood Park church of Christ February 2017 Volume 13 Issue 2

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1 Senior Connection Articles, News, and Activities Calendar jcb for Senior Members at Netherwood Park church of Christ February 2017 Volume 13 Issue 2 Join Us This Friday - February 17, 2017 Hosting: Pat Gay and Tena Jones Decorations: Nancy Clements 11:30 am Lunch: Catered by Four Joys Chinese Restaurant, $7.00 each 12:25 pm Announcements: Bob Lunsford 12:35 pm Devotional: Skip Cole 12:50 pm Entertainment: Fellowship Please Bring a Guest! What is Going On? Last Month's Luncheon All fifty-four attendees wish to thank Leonard Armijo for sharing with us his devotional, Standing in The Gap. We also thank Jerry Longbotham for sharing his exploits of cycling in the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride. Remember, we love our guests! Cinema Matinee The February movie, God s NOT Dead 2, was enjoyed by 17 movie goers. If you didn t attend, we hope you will have an opportunity to see this movie, because it By Jim Guthrie relates to what is happening in our country today and encourages us to stand firm, as Christ would. Inside An Elder s View Anna s Little Corner... 6 Colysta s Collection... 5 Happenings... 7 Laura s Movie Review... 4 Milestones... 8 Recipes... 3 What Is Going On?... 1 Next month s movie, in the Senior Cinema (March 3 rd, 1:15pm), is Eddie The Eagle, a sports movie of inspiration. Read Laura s Movie Review and plan to come to our movie to enjoy all the amenities of our theater, refreshments, and time to fellowship

2 Condolences to the Family of LuAnn Marpel Netherwood Park has lost an iconic Christian sister with the passing of LuAnn Marpel on January 9, LuAnn touched all of us in many ways and will be remembered as a loving, caring, sweet and always smiling Christian lady. She was the church secretary for 21 years and was also involved in helping us publish and print the Senior Connection. We miss her! We offer our condolences to Dwight, Brian, and Stacey; Lynda Gompert; Judy, Emily and Stephanie Marshall and the rest of the family. Senior Transportation As a reminder, Netherwood now has transportation available to those of us that need a ride to the doctor, grocery store, etc. Call the church office to schedule your transportation. Happy Birthday! The seniors of Netherwood Park wish a belated happy 100 th birthday (January 10 th ) to Victor Casares! Victor has been a serving member of Netherwood since It is this writer s sincere apology for failing to mention Victor s milestone in our January issue of the Senior Connection. Elder s View This month Scot Ruska gives us 5 key principles to keep in mind when we study End Times, the events surrounding the end of the world. His article starts on page 10. Midweek Small Group (Hosted by Scot and Paula Ruska) We d like to let everybody know that Netherwood Park has a mid-week small group that meets on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m., at the church building. We would love to have more members! This group is open to everyone, but we started it especially because we know that, for various reasons, there are those who may not be able to attend midweek services in the evening. We are studying books of the Bible. We would love to have you join us! *****WE ARE FAMILY***** - 2 -

3 Mary March Buttermilk Pie This was a delicious pie created by Mary March s mother. Mary has shared it with us at our Senior Luncheon s and she hopes you will make it and enjoy it with your family and friends. 6 Eggs 3 Cups Sugar ½ Cup Flour 1 Cup Buttermilk 1 Cup Butter 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Beat eggs and then add sugar, flour and mix well. Add buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Bake in 2, ready-made, 9-inch pie crusts at 350 F, until done. Billie Rice White Chocolate Trash 1 c. Rice Chex 1 c. Wheat Chex 1 c. Corn Chex 1 c. Cheerios 1 c. Pretzel sticks broken into pieces 1 c. peanuts (I use honey roasted) 2 pkgs white chocolate chips (11.5oz) or (1 23oz pkg) 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil In large bowl stir together everything except chocolate chips and vegetable oil. Melt chocolate chips and oil (I do microwave on high 2 minutes, stir, then 1 minute, stir). Pour over cereal mixture and stir until cereal is coated with chocolate. Spread on wax paper and let harden. Break into small pieces and store in cool place

4 Eddie the Eagle They say that God loves a trier. If that s true, then Eddie The Eagle Edwards will be guaranteed a seat at Heaven s top table when he eventually skids off his mortal coil. [Used idiomatically, the phrase means "the bustle and turmoil of this mortal life".] At the 1988 Winter Olympics, Edwards became the first person ever to represent Great Britain in ski jumping. That s not to say he was actually any good at it. It s no spoiler to say he was not victorious. Far from it. Yet, encapsulating the typical British approach to sport, Edwards charged on optimistically against all likelihood of victory and came home a hero, no medals weighing him down as he was hoisted on the nation s collective shoulder. The director, Dexter Fletcher, has turned Edwards By Laura Riehl story into a comedy of soaring delights, a sports movie where it s genuinely the participation that counts. Through Wild Bill and Sunshine On Leith, Fletcher has shown himself to be a director who likes to hope for a happy ending, whatever gloom might block it from view, which makes him the ideal match for this material. There is an easier film that could have been made here, one that played Edwards failures for laughs. He is inherently easy to mock, watching from behind bottle-thick glasses as everyone in his field sails beyond his abilities. Yet Edwards is very rarely the butt of the joke, at least for the audience. He s treated as a hero, and not because he might win (because he won t), but because he achieves his dreams by his own hard work. As a physically disabled child Edwards doesn t accept that competing in the Olympics might be beyond him. When he finds a sport that might get him there, he doesn t accept that the UK team doesn t want him. It s all much more exciting than if he achieved his goals through natural talent. Evidently quite a lot of the story is fabricated, like the entirely fictional coach (Hugh Jackman) settling old scores with the sport, however there s no damage done by the half-truths. The point is that what Edwards did, not who helped him along the way, appears to be mostly accurate. The inventions, by debut screenwriters Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton, plot happily with the truth. Fletcher has a ball playing with the standards of the sports movie: training montages, bullying rivals, the lot. Taron Egerton, as Eddie, is charm personified. He doesn t caricature his eccentricities and keeps a glint of optimism, even as the obstacles look insurmountable. Jackman makes a great foil, playing about a seven on his scale of gruff irritation, if we re using Wolverine as a ten. They sell their mission and their friendship so hard that by the time it comes to Eddie s big moment, teetering at the top of a potentially fatal drop, you re willing him, internally screaming for him, to achieve victory even though you know there s no chance. As a man, he may never have made the podium, but in the movie Eddie The Eagle flies. The film turns a long-running joke of British sport into a crowd-pleasing story of inspiration. It s a solid gold winner

5 Colysta's Collection End Times All Times Before the world, time was not yet; Day and night had not yet met. God spoke these times by his own word; Every time you ve seen or heard. For every time and for everything; Hear the words of our great King. Just so you know and understand; All our time is in God s hand. Time, times, and half a time how much? Do not strain your mind on such. For every form of end of age; Time s always a different stage. Our life-time is to do God s will; With a strong heart, calm and still. By Colysta Wallers When Jim Guthrie told me Scot Ruska was going to write an article on End Times for the Senior Connection, he asked me if I had a poem that would go with this subject. I said I would try to come up with something. I pray that these words do not detract from Scot s article. Scot s class on End Times has been extremely enlightening for me, and I thank him and lift him up to our Lord in prayer as an elder in this congregation. Time to give birth, time to die; On this fact you can rely. Time to be silent, time to speak; This time is often unique. Beware the times you occupy; Seek God and Him glorify. Pray judgment end times comes for us As Heavenly Exodus! Colysta Wallers, February 17, 2017 May not be copied in any form or media without the written consent of the author - 5 -

6 Extended Commentary on the Movie: It s a Wonderful Life Laura Riehl and I must have been on the same wavelength during the holidays when she picked this movie for all to watch, but I fell behind during the holidays. I know what some of you are thinking; the holidays are over so why talk about a movie like this. Because, in my mind, this movie merits talking about anytime. So, with Laura s permission, I would like to add a few extended comments. What is it about this old movie, produced in 1946, that makes it stay a classic and hang around through the years? What is it that I should see or like so much about it? If you can find a movie that teaches a good lesson on life and is still greatly entertaining, I rate this movie an A+. By Anna Lewis First of all, this movie illustrates how you and I could have a better and more fulfilling life while living in this old world! We can observe in this movie some of the best actors and actresses in our time. This movie teaches about the joy of love, serving, giving, and how you can overcome and have hope no matter how bad things in life become sometimes. A short list of redeeming qualities that describe and highlight this movie might be something like this: 1. A great story about life; 2. As good as it gets in acting; 3. People want to watch the movie because they need to be motivated to improve their own life; 4. Opens our eyes and heart to love and hope. There are a lot of wonderful characters to observe and, of course, at the top is George Bailey and Mary Hatch, along with some other wonderful characters. We might ask ourselves, Which character do we identify with best? If you say none of them, you are probably not being completely honest. More than likely you identify a little with several of the characters. I think almost anyone can play a role, so to speak, in this movie. Try it out next time. Let s take a look into the scene where George Bailey is visiting Mary in her home, so as to get more of a feel about the character of Mary and George after they are grown. Mary is bubbly and good hearted, with a clever streak. At first George acts like he doesn t want Mary s affections, although he cares for her deeply. Mary has always been head over hills for George and she knows just how, at this point, to get his full attention. George appears to not be interested in married life and snobbishly sees it as best fit for those with no other ambition, however he just can t stay away from Mary. One evening he finally makes his way to Mary and her mother s house for a short visit. He will not confess that he desperately wants to see her and so shuffles around the room aimlessly, grumbling in disgust for being weak. Meanwhile, Mary is being sought after by a wealthy out of town guy named Sam, who is also a friend of George. Mary s mom really likes Sam, probably because he is well off. When Mary s mother notices George with Mary she demands to - 6 -

7 know what he is doing in their house and Mary calls out, He s making violent love to me, mother! About that time, Sam calls long distance and Mary begins talking to Sam in a fake flirting way to get George s attention. When Sam realizes that George is there, he asks to speak to George. Mary and George end up trying to listen on the phone together, causing them to stand very close, with lips almost touching. They simply end up embracing, kissing and crying, all at the same time. Whoa! This is a deep, strong and passionate love that has exploded! Before you know it, George and Mary get married! More about the character of George Bailey: George has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people in Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel, but never had the opportunity. He sees the need to stay in Bedford Falls to prevent the selfish and conniving Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. George s father is the founder of a modest building and loan company, but as it nears Christmas Eve, George s uncle Billy makes a huge mistake. George is running the business and Uncle Billy is on his way to deposit $8,000. But Uncle Billy accidently leaves the envelope of money inside Mr. Potter s newspaper. The cruel Mr. Potter discovers the missing money, knowing full well what it was meant for, and he keeps it. He even gloats about the situation that George finds himself in whenever George pleads with Mr. Potter for help. Eventually, George becomes so depressed that he wants to take his own life; but the prayers of his loved ones, including his own children, result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming down to earth to help George and, at the same time, earn his wings. Clarence starts out by jumping into the river, knowing that George Bailey will then jump in to save him, which George does. This is the beginning of a relationship between the two of them. Clarence also decides to show George what Bedford Falls would become without George being there, and it is a sad part of the picture. He is finally able to make George realize that he has touched many people s life in a positive way and that his life had been a wonderful one, one of great value. George then becomes very repentant and starts sobbing. Immediately, the old home town of Bedford Falls comes back to life, including his friends and family. Nothing can stop his positive attitude now! No one is more thankful to God than George right now. At this point I can see an explosion of love and hope. And what about love and hope? Love is a key to obligation, as noted in Romans 13:8 (NIV): Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. Then there is hope, hope being the key to motivation, as seen in Romans 13:11: And do this, (love your neighbor as yourself) understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. What better way to end a story than with a daddy holding his child in his arms and the child hears a small bell on the Christmas tree make a lovely sound and the child exclaims, Daddy, when a bell rings like that it means an angel has gotten his wings. Daddy then says, That s right, that s right, and then raises his eyes toward heaven while softly saying, Way to go Clarence! I almost got a tear just thinking about it. Never stop watching this movie. After all, it continues to give us HOPE! - 7 -

8 February Weekly: Tuesday 5:30 pm Wednesday 7 pm Thursday 9:30 am Women of Truth Bible Study - FH Wonderful Wednesday Thursday Ladies Class February 17 11:30 am February 19 12:15 pm February 19 3:00 pm Senior Luncheon Singles Potluck Netherwood Book Club March Weekly: Tuesday 5:30 pm Wednesday 7 pm Thursday 9:30 am Women of Truth Bible Study - FH Wonderful Wednesday Thursday Ladies Class March 3 1:15 pm Senior Cinema March 3 7:00 pm Celebrating Our Blessings - Chris Swinford VP of Advancement, Sunset Bible Netherwood March 4 8:00 am Area Wide Men s Netherwood March 9 6:30 pm Ladies Game Night March 11 3:00 pm Singles Game Nancy Clements March 12 Aluminum Recycling March 17 11:30 am Senior Luncheon - 8 -

9 February Vanita Southerland 2/08 Bill Lewis 2/20 Greg Wentz 2/09 George Chavez 2/21 Laurel Wilkerson 2/11 Larry Cochran 2/24 Jean Sims 2/17 Stephanie Lunsford 2/26 JoAnn Temple 2/17 Ragon Michael 2/27 March Maria Najera 3/05 Orval Talley 3/20 Patty Martin 3/17 Ruth Wallace 3/24 Jim Banks 3/17 Don Osborn 3/26 Wayne Rorie 3/17 91 yrs Judy Wilson 3/29 Anniversaries February Wayne & Marjorie Rorie 2/1/ yrs Steven & Pam Beach 2/14/ yrs Jimmie & Lorraine Lewis 2/6/ yrs John & Judy Walker 2/18/ yrs Jack & Laura Riehl 2/8/ yrs March Don & Mary Sue Osborn 3/26/ yrs - 9 -

10 An Elder's View Principles for Studying the End Times This quarter we offered a class called, What does the Bible Tell Us about End Times? The End Times - the events surrounding the end of the world - have always fascinated Christians. We gave a class on this topic because much is being said about it in the world around us and much of what is being said is not scripturally sound, so when we don t speak out it suggests that we don t know better. We wanted to increase our Congregational knowledge about what is taught and our confidence in our own understanding. Since not everybody can be in the class, I wanted to take this opportunity to present some key principles for the study of End Times. So here are five things to understand when we study. By Scot Ruska 1. We are told all we need to know, but not all we want to know. Peter says the Bible gives us all we need to know of life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3). But Moses told the Israelites the secret things belong to the Lord (Deut. 29:29). We can only know about the future what God has revealed we tend to get into trouble when we insist on filling in the gaps. God does tell his people about the future, including the ultimate future, but not just to satisfy our curiosity. He tells us for a purpose, useful to God s people in the time and place that He speaks, and He tells us what to do with the information. 2. Start with the clear passages, understand them, accept them, and use them to understand the less clear passages. There are a handful of New Testament passages which very clearly tell us specific things about the End Times, for specific purposes. Any understanding has to start with these things, and any view that doesn t fit with these things has problems. In Acts 1:7-11, an angel speaks to the disciples immediately after Jesus is taken up into heaven. He tells them that Jesus will come again, in like manner to the way they saw him taken up. Hearing this, they stop staring into the sky and return to Jerusalem, as Jesus had told them to do. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul talks to the Thessalonians about the resurrection of the dead because they are worried that those who die before Jesus comes back may miss out on Heaven. He tells them that Jesus will return, in a way everybody will see and hear, and that both the dead in Christ and the living in Christ will meet Him in the air and be with Him forever. Continuing in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul tells them that the Day of the Lord will come as a surprise, like a thief in the night. He then gives them an application, that they should live

11 awake and sober, ready at any time. In Matthew 24-26, Jesus has a long talk with the Twelve answering three questions: 1) When will this [destruction of the temple] happen? and 2) What will be the sign of your coming? and finally, 3) What will be the sign of the end of the age? Concerning the end, He says that his return will be as obvious as a lightning flash (24:27), that all will see it, that he will gather his elect (24:30-31), and that the time of His return is not known even to Him, but only to the Father. It will be a complete surprise (24:36-41). He then gives them an application (24:42-44): they should always be ready. In Matthew 25 Jesus teaches two parables, the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Bags of Gold, to emphasize being ready. In Luke 12:39-40, Jesus again tells his disciples that His coming will be unexpected, and they should always be ready. Peter (2 Pet. 3:10ff) also explains to those who questioned why the end hasn t come, that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief and the elements of the earth will melt in fire. When we put these passages together, here are the things we clearly know about the end: Jesus will come again (Acts 1:11, 1 Thess. 4:13-18). His coming will be sudden and unexpected. (Matt. 24:44, Luke 12:40, 1 Thess. 5:2, 4, 2 Pet. 3:10) and known to all (Matt 24:27). There will be a new heaven and earth, and this world will be destroyed (2 Pet. 3:10-13). The saints will be caught up to meet Jesus when he comes back (1 Thess. 4:17). Last Judgment: All will be judged by God (Heb. 9:27, Rom. 14:12, 1 Pet. 4:5, etc.). Christians will be judged by God the Son (2 Cor. 5:10, Rom 8:1). We are told this for a reason: so we may always be ready!!! 3. Learn how to deal with figurative passages. The Bible is full of figurative language: the use of words not to factually describe something, but to emphasize how something is similar to something else so we can understand it better. The classic example is when Jesus, speaking of King Herod, said, Go tell that fox. King Herod was not a fox. Jesus didn t mean that he was a fox. He was making the point that Herod was like a fox - he was sly and vicious. We are cautious about considering a Bible passage to be figurative, and this is right. Much harm is done when we take something God meant to be literal, and explain it away as figurative. But, it s also wrong to take as literal the passages God intends to be figurative. So how should we understand the many places in the Bible where prophets are shown visions by God? In many cases, the prophet is given an interpretation along with the vision, so we can know what the meaning is. In other cases, although the meaning is obscure when the vision is given, it is fulfilled at a later time and with hindsight we can see what the vision meant. What about when we don t get an interpretation or see a historical fulfillment? In these cases, we can use what we learn from clearer passages how to search for the meaning. In these cases, we should be humble about our opinion

12 Let s look at a clearly explained example, Ezekiel s Valley of Dry Bones (Ezek. 37). The prophet in the Spirit is shown a valley full of dried-up bones, and God asks, Can these bones live? He wisely replies, Sovereign Lord, You alone know. God tells him to prophecy to the bones, and they reassemble, grow flesh, and then, with God s further instructions, receive spirit and live. Does this represent something that will physically happen in Ezekiel s future, or a figure teaching him an important truth? God immediately gives an answer: Son of Man, these bones are the people of Israel. Israelites, at this time in Babylonian exile, consider their nation dead, but God promises them restoration. As we know, this is fulfilled in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. This vision vividly answers a question of desperate importance to the people of Ezekiel s time. The vision is in no way a movie of the future for Ezekiel. Studying passages like this, I conclude that these visions are figures, given to God s people to teach them, and us, an important spiritual answer. To understand these texts, we need to ask what truth the figure is telling us, not to look to it as a physical depiction of future events. This is true even of visions that seem to include end of the world language. Consider Joel 2: The prophet speaks of pouring out the Sprit, but also of the sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood. But we don t have to wonder if this pertains to End Times, because Peter tells us when it was fulfilled: on Pentecost. As the Spirit descends on the Apostles, Peter says This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel and then quotes this passage (Acts 2:16-21). 4. Understand the role of the Church as the true Israel. A number of Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in New Testament times in Christ s church, as was Joel above. This explanation of course does not satisfy those who don t accept the New Testament. And it bothers others, who feel that the Old Testament prophecies are promised to physical Israel. But, the New Testament makes clear that it is Christ s church which is now the true Israel. See Romans 9:6: For not all those who are descended from Israel are Israel. And, among others, Romans 11:5, 11:26, Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 3:6, and Hebrews 8: Understand the misunderstandings in a current popular view of End Times. A certain teaching, popularized in the Left Behind books and movies, has the technical name of Dispensational Pre-Millennialism (DPM). DPM will have every Bible vision literally fulfilled for the benefit of physical Israel. To allow time for this to happen, DPM distorts two Bible references, the Rapture and the Millennium. The Millennium is the thousand-year reign of Revelation 20. Rapture comes from 1 Thess. 4, when Paul promises that we will be caught up to meet Christ in the air. The Latin word for caught up is raptus, from which rapture is coined. The catching up is Biblical, the DPM description of the event is not. DPM holds that the 1000-year reign will be literal on this earth, during which God will physically fulfill all the allegedly unfulfilled prophecies for physical Israel. To give room for

13 this to happen, the Church is taken out of the world first, in a silent rapture in which we all suddenly vanish from this world. Then all the events of Revelation follow, physically, in a world in which those Left Behind by the silent rapture may work out their spiritual issues. This teaching disregards many of the principles we have laid out. First, the silent rapture is nothing like the return that Christ described, which will be obvious to all (see Matt. 24:27). Second, their insistence on taking visions as literal movies of the future is contrary to what we have learned. Thirdly, they ignore the NT teaching about the church as the true Israel and the examples of OT visions which are fulfilled in the church (Joel 2/Acts 2, Malachi 4/Matthew 17). Why does it matter so much? There s surely room for different views about end-times, but the DPM teaching is dangerous spiritually, because: DPM implies we can see the end coming. Jesus said we couldn t. The danger is that we won t be always ready if we think we will have advance warning. DPM implies we will get a second chance to get right with God after the rapture. We won t. When Jesus comes, our future is fixed. Fascination with the details of the DPM plan can distract us from what we need to work on in our Christian life. DPM offers a temptation to take pride in our knowledge of these esoteric details, which can become spiritually destructive (consider the Pharisees in John 5:3-40). So, finally, what can we know about end times? If we take these principles and apply them to challenging Bible passages, we can learn a lot and gain confidence in our understanding. But at the end, we will come back to the things we are told clearly: Jesus will come again. His coming will be sudden, and known to all. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and this world will be destroyed. The saints will be caught up to meet Jesus when he comes back. All will be judged by God. Christians will be judged by God the Son. We are told this for a reason: SO WE MAY ALWAYS BE READY!

14 Senior Luncheon Friday, February 17 th, at 11:30 am Please come and join us! Schedule: Luncheon: Catered by Four Joys Chinese Restaurant Announcements: Bob Lunsford Devo: Skip Cole Entertainment: Fellowship Deadline for information for the March Issue is March 7, 2017 Netherwood Park Church of Christ 5101 Indian School Road NE (I-40 at San Mateo exit) Albuquerque, NM February Senior Connection